Happy New Year

Hello to my family and Friends–
Cusi Newya Barsa (Happy New Year in Nepalee) I cannot believe that 2009 has come. Wow.. seems like 2008 just got here and I was celebrating my first New Year In Nepal. Cannot believe that I just celebrated my second. New Year always causes me to reflect. I have spent some very rich quiet time with the Lord reflecting on all the amazing blessings of 2008. Through the good times and the bad, God has BEEN.. Has DONE, has MOVED, Has touched, Has planted, Has sown, Has healed, Has provided, Has… I could keep going with all the amazing things He has done.

I had a great new Year’s eve and New Years Day. I am so thankful that God has given mes such rich community here! And we mi*ss*ionaries make it a point to celebrate BIG. And we appreciate small things much more then I ever did in America.. so it’s fun. I think God rejoices over as we celebrate Big. So for New Years Eve started out the day redeeming my free 2 hour massage at my “happy place” as I call it.. that’s always a WONDERFUL way to start out a day huh? then came back and studied for Bible study. I taught on all the gifts God gives us that are new everyday, not just on New Years. Like Lam 3:23 how His mercies are new every morning and 2 Cor 5:!7 How God has made us new creations. It really blessed me because I always start out every Bible study with the Nepalee ladies asking them tyo hapto kun ashish paremesore dinabyo (what blessings did God give you this week). This time I asked what their biggest blessing of the year was. It blew me away because they all said this Bible study. Just a reminder to me of the awesome grace of God. How He promised to equip the called, not call the equipped. How He promises to be our mouth and Let HIs word come out– How He promises His words do not return void. Every week I bumble through trying to communicate the Truth of God’s word in a language not my own and God takes His word and does return it void. What a blessing that 1 year ago He literally dropped these ladies and this Bible study in my lap.

Then after Bible study joined 5 of my good friends for a yummy meal at a fancy Japanese restraunt. It was hilarious because we just ordered this set meal thing and I have no idea a lot of what we ate.. but it was good. My poor friend Paul ordered the wrong thing and it came back staring at him! (it was a fish with eyes !) We had a great time laughing and enjoying ourselves. Then over to my friend Jessica’s house.. where we had a PJ party and staying up until midnight where we celebrated by toasting Mango Apple sparkling Cider and singing our version of Auld Lang Zien (ok.. so have no idea how to spell that!)

The next morning we lounged in our PJ’s for a long while– glorious feeling and laughed and talked some more. Then we treated ourselves and went to the spa at the hyatt. We paid to spend the day hopping from their hot tub, to sauna, to hot tub.. to hot shower, to hot tub again. IT was awesome. I have not had such fun in while. Please remember folks.. it’s very rare I get a hot shower, so this was living the good life for us! Then we went out to dinenr again and splurged for desert and had the only thick milkshake that you can find in Nepal. It’s interesting… because as we sat there laughing and talking and sharing crazy stories from the lives we live in this crazy place called South Asia.. I just imagined that God was right there celebrating our year with us. I think we forget to celebrate life to often sometimes. I want to live each day celebrating the concept of NEW. My friend Jessica had us think of themes for 2009 instead of resoluations and well.. we were trying to rhyme them which ended up being really funny. But mine is going to be living alive in 2009. Why? because God came to give abundant life. Not EASY life.. but abundant life. You can celebrate living alive even in the worst of circumstances. I am practicing that now adays. WInter is a hard time to live here. It’s freezing cold in your house and you never get warm.. to top that off right now we have 12 hours of power outage a day, soon to be 14, then 18. That means we spend a lot of time in the cold and dark. But I have been asking the lord to help me not become depressed and cold and bored.. but to use these hours of darkness to do things like spend more time in prayer, play games with leah ect. So I am going to practing living ALIVe in 2009. What is your theme for the year? Please leave a comment and let me know. The most creative one will get a prize of some sort from me 🙂

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9 Comments

  1. HAPPY NEW YEAR! 2009 is the year that my daughter comes home to see what God has for her in the next step of her wonderful life with Him! You may not have a lot of things there like hot showers and electricity but you have a lot more that money can’t buy. You are amazing, you make the best of everything that God has for you. Everybody loved the gifts that you had brought home for them and thought that it was so wonderful that you brought gifts home for the family when you came home in August of 2008. That sounds funny that it was now last year that you came home. OK here it is “God’s time line in 2009”. I want to do things in God time not Vicky time, whatever is in God’s timing. I hate that you are going to be having less electricity because that means that we get to talk to you less. We love you very much!!!

  2. That’s funny Jenn because I’ve been thinking of two themes at our church: one would be “generous living” which you could make rhyme with 2009…generous in every sense..with worship, relationship, money, etc. and the other theme I thought about for the youth would be “Word Alive”…I’m really excited about that possibility. I’m excited about our youth getting into the Word of God for themselves. For Michelle, Alex and I..we have talked (well, Alex has just cooed, not talked) about this year was going to be the year of miracles or year of impossibilities. We want to see God do the impossible and He already has. “Year of Impossibilities in 2009.” for me personally I think the theme could be “Refined in 2009.” I don’t know…let me think on that. I just read about John the Baptizer this morning so based on that I could use “locusts and wild honey but no wine in 2009” or something to that effect. well…love ya and praying for you.

    -Todd

  3. If I go with the rhyming theme, it would be ON the Word Dine in 2009 or Letting Go of Pride in 2009. but if it doesn’t have to rhyme, it will be Choose Life! From Deut. 30 which I have been studying at the beggining of this new year.

  4. Hey Jenn,

    It is so nice to see a post from you. I am super jealous of the 2 hour massage, but I think the endurance of the chilly air in your home along with the cold showers, you deserve an all day spa treatment 🙂 At my house when it is really cold downstairs we like to say it is refreashing to keep us from being miserable, he he.

    My churches theme for last lear was Simplify to Glorify, and I think that one will hopefully follow me through my life. My my persoanl theme I am seeing alot of the color yellow and calling it “A Fresh Start” in ’09. My faith has been stuck in someplace very ugly to me over the last 5 years, and I feel like I am beginning to see a light at the end of the tunnel, so i am choosing to surround myself with a fresh cup of joe each day and have private worship (now it’s not so private, huh?) I am thinking yellow b/c it is bright and not depressing. Pink is usually my color choice, but something about yellow feels fresh and has life.

    I think as your blogger fans, we should fast some type of technology at least 1 hour a week for you and spend it some how reflecting or praying for you…I will pray about this and let you know what I come up with. I know it must be so hard to be litterally living Little House on the Prairie every day. I find myself praying for you each day when I am standing under hot water in the shower…coincedence?? I don’t think so…

    love ya!
    leanne

  5. Jenn,

    Happy New Year a bit late. I wish I could express to you how God is using you to change my outlook for the better! I am talking to Abba about you sis! I cannot imagine how hard it is to have such cold weather, and no power most of the time! God’s grace in your life is such a bright testimony! It is so wonderful to hear who He is answering my request to assure you in this season. My theme is In grace and trust I abide in 09′, Love you!

  6. I just found your blog and have enjoyed reading your posts. I’m Heather, a Christian married woman and adoptive mom to Rocco, our Vietnamese son. I have been praying for my husband to decide to adopt again. I’ve researched adopting from Nepal. I enjoyed viewing the pictures of the Nepali people on your blog. How awesome that you are able to minister to them about the true God.

    Heather

  7. Okay, so I read/skimmed through your entire blog. . . all the way back to 2006 when you started it. It sounds like we are from the same parts. I grew up only a few minutes from TN Temple college and I-75 was the interstate we used. Small world.

    Your love for the Lord shines through. I pray God will continue to use you as a vessel for him.

    http://www.willisadoptionstory.blogspot.com
    Heather

  8. Jenn,

    I hate to think about you sitting in the dark and the cold. I’m amazed at the things God is teaching you in the midst of such hardship. You are so inspiring and so willing to be pliable in the Potter’s hands.

    My theme for 2009 is: “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” Philippians 4:6 (NLT) I want to fully trust God and not to be fearful. He’s proven to me over and over that I can trust Him, so why don’t I?

    Thank you so much for making us think about our theme for 2009. Just look how God is using you even while you are sitting in the dark hugging a hot water bottle!

    Love you bunches,
    Sandra