A lesson in humility...

Of course, it usually take the hard way to learn right? But even then we fall back and fall back and fall back, after mustering the effort to sprint away from the conviction of pride.

Upon arriving, I thought I would be able to pass by and create smoothness when interacting in the cultural situations, the weird part is.. though I might have understood the things to do in my head, I no longer acted in such ways. Naturally I am a loud person. Here... No No. It annoying (as it can be in many countries). I had been trained well in Japan, but though I was trained, i saw that the more I tried, the less I began to "fit in".

So frustrating! Have you ever come to that moment where you had it all planned out but nothing seemed to go the way you had planned it? I began to see my self and the ugliness of boasting! Today it hit.
My friend that I have been writing about, bless the Father for his grace, she has been taking the time to train me. Each day, especially when she sees me trying to take over and do everything on my own (aka-dishes), she stops me and reminds me to take time to stop.

The first time she literally called me out and took me outside. There she gave me five minutes, and told me to just observe around me, with out doing anything. Just you and God. Sit and be still, listen.
Wow!!! Sounds simple right?? So difficult!!! My mind would race around every topic. Did you know you can eat some Orchids?? We did at a cafe one day--because they use them for garnishes. They taste like vegetables.

But anyways... The thing that hit! Praise God for letting me see how my way will NOT work. It will not work here, or anywhere. For things to work, I have to have Him at the core. I can not take his praise unless I seek the same result as Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4. (He was called out to be like the beasts because of his pride which caused him to fall). The pastor at the Thai church we went to today said that "just because something has not happened yet, does not mean that it will not happen". When we get caught up in pride, it will lead us to a hard fall. Praise God for his grace in these first few weeks. Better the first than the middle or rest of the time. Once we acknowledge we can not do anything, God will get glory for anything that happens. That is when you see miracles and wonders of not people but Light. That is when we will not hold on to our self worth over the worth of others. That is how we can preach a living gospel. If our Savior came to serve, how much servants should be we.

Really cool thoughts. Heavy to think, hard to acknowledge, but rich and refreshing to understand.

Don't believe it? Check it out for yourself.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Daniel+4

Update of funding to come...
Update on Pictures, also to come :)

~Rachel
Listening to :
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=C0z0mkR1kT8 How beautiful are Songs in every language. How beautiful it feels to just sing. ~*~