Addicted to Rehab (WR)

There are times to blog on the race, occasions, events, harrowing tales that just must be told.  Then there are those times when it feels obligatory.  For example, to wrap up a month, or to move into a new one, like right now.

It wasn’t like Nepal wasn’t wonderful.  To say anything negative about my experience with the Nepalee people would take some deliberation and ignoring all the abundance of good we were showered with.  It’s just that day after day we lived our life.  I can’t put my finger on one particular big thing to write about… it was just… good…every day.

When that grows to be the standard, you know you can’t ignore and not write about it, but things that might have seemed great other places and in other situations begin to be what you are accustomed too.  I think that happens in the States a lot.  We have so much.  We are blessed with so much, that to complain would be shortsighted and kinda silly to say the least.  But we go thru time periods when nothing is bad, but nothing stands so far beyond everything else.  It’s just day to day life, and it’s good.


Our month spent nestled on the outskirts of Kathmandu with the Gurung family was like that.  We got to walk a lot.  We got to pray a lot. We got to speak a lot.  From prayer/cottage meetings, to church service, to youth group, to women’s meeting(not me), to rehab center meetings(and now I’m addicted to rehab), we got to stop in the street for random dance parties, we were repeatedly asked and blessed to be able to “share a word from the Lord.”  We held our hands in front of our chest, slightly bowed, and said “Namaste” a LOT.  We got to pick up trash at a school with the help of the unexpected help of the children.  We got to visit mountain top Tibetan Buddhist monasteries.  We got to play with children and laugh along our way.  We got to visit a meditation center and speak with a “seeker.”  

 

And at the end of the month we got to stay at a flippin sweet hostel, “The Sparkling Turtle.”  If you’re ever in Kathmandu… check it out. (And if you do… Order the “Matt Burger,” but only if you like chicken, buffalo, bacon and cheese).

                              
It was, for all intensive purposes a pretty chill month in terms of our definable ministry.  We had time to think, to reflect, to read, and pray on God’s word and His will as we move forward in this journey.  We had time to grow more together as a team and get adjusted to the change without a ton of extra “ministry” stress. 

We were so incredibly blessed to live with Megh, Bem, and their son Subash(really the spellings of these names might not be right).  They showed us so much love and care.  “Poppa Chicken” or “Kukhura Pa” as I call him is a great father and husband and a great host.  He cares so much for people and does it in a great way.  He’s done a great job raising a tremendous son, who we hope to see in Atlanta real soon.
       

Ok… so I kinda lied a little.  I’ll pick out something that stood out and share a little story.  (Yeah I could delete that part in the blog, but I'll just keep it...)

The last two Tuesdays we were able to visit a rehabilitation center for people who’d been struggling with drug addictions.  In the first of those visits I was able to share the love of God and how these men could be who God said they were, not the lies that the world, the enemy, their family, friends, or even themselves had been feeding them for so many years.  I was able to share with them truth that their past, much like the past of some of the Bible’s great people isn’t perfect.  For example, David murdered and committed adultery, Moses murdered and was afraid to speak, Abraham was fearful and lied, the twelve disciples screwed up time and time again, Paul murdered Christians for fun and money.

(Picture to come in the future... Lord Willin' )

What made all these men great wasn’t their doing, obviously, but the work of the Lord to use any and everyone is what comes to light here.

The same is true in all of our lives.  Our pasts, even though they have brought us to our current spot, don’t define us.  Our current place in this vapor called “life,” the spot that our pasts have brought us to are very real, but nonetheless whatever consequences or rewards we have, are, or will experience don’t define us.

We are defined by who we are, not what we’ve done or what has happened to us, but too often we let what we’ve done and what’s happened to us determine who we THINK we are.  Then we live behind that lie, letting the wrong thing drive us, and that feeds into more of the same.  The best way to spend our lives spending out who God is, and what He says about us, and as we find that helping others do the same.

The same Spirit and God that freed those men from those pasts, frees and lives in us today, and empowers us to be able to live the same kinds of lives.

So let’s live em.


(Now this doesn't fit at all in what I said, but I thought I'd share a list of blog titles I passed up... you're welcome?)


 
"I Can't Believe it's Not Buddha"
"Hallelujah Man"
"Gigri Man"
"Nepal My Exes Live in Texas"
"Wanna go to Nepal? Sher-pa"
"Getting High in Nepal"
"KathmanDon't"