Risk the Journey

"Risk the Journey."  Just a slogan I saw on my dad's office mug a couple months back, but this phrase has stuck with me and and been a kind of theme this summer.  Such a simple phrase with such radical consequences.  To me, it kindles an anticipation of unknown serendipitous events, a kind of expectation that there is an adventure to be had in even the mundane.  And I think this is biblical.  Romans 8:28 clearly says that God works all things out for my good.  All.  That's a lot of things.  So why not live life in a risky manner?  I know that God's sovereign hand is stringing together unimaginably good gifts for me (James 1:17, Eph 1:3, 3:20).  So in a way, if I am listening to Jesus and doing my best to follow, there is no risk, because 1) I am in His perfect will and 2) I have a reward in heaven.  Sure, there is still risk.  But I would much rather take a risk and receive the good and bad (or, more accurately, unpleasant) consequences than live in fear, uncertainty, and anxiety as good gifts from God pass me by.

I haven't mastered this yet, but I am learning to live with a risk-taking mindset.  I believe God sets all kinds of opportunities up for me each day.  It may not necessarily be sin if I miss out on them, but there is definitely a reward to be had.  I'm not even talking specifically about spiritual things.  I think our heavenly Father loves for us to take risks and search out adventure in everyday life.  So here's an adventure I had today with some crazy, Jesus-loving friends in Bangalore, India.

Some friends and I went on an excursion to Bangalore Palace.  The tour was mediocre at best.  The once spectacular palace has fallen into disrepair.  We made our way through a somewhat monotonous tour filled with useless facts and mostly uninteresting pieces of information.  To cap it off, we listened to a traditional, very out-of-tune military band play a song or two.  I walked out of the palace somewhat disappointed that I had spent my last Sunday afternoon in Bangalore in such a stale manner.

That's when the adventure started.  We decided to walk through what I can only imagine was once a majestic garden filled with tropical flowers.  We meandered, at first aimlessly, through this unruly collection of plants, when we spotted an abandoned building in the distance.  As we made our way toward it, we realized this was not just a single building - it was an entire compound.  What once probably served as the royal servant's quarters had been forgotten and succumbed to the slow decay of time. We cautiously entered the ruins and found a maze of rooms, some that had probably not been entered in a long, long time.  Vines, tall grasses, and even small trees impeded our progress - the roof of the complex had either been destroyed or never existed.  We came to a staircase that led to a view of the crenelated battlements surrounding the compound.  It was obvious that no one had been there in a long time as we had to pick our way through thick vegetation to get there.  Finally, after some time spent enjoying the view and imagining all that once was, it was time to conclude this part of our journey.  After descending the vine-riddled stone staircase, I approached an ancient-looking door and tentatively pried at its old wooden deadbolt.  To my surprise, it gave way.  I slowly drew away the old piece of wood and put my weight on the decaying door.  As it slowly creaked open, I was filled with anticipation and thrill.  The door was a long-neglected exit that brought us out of the compound.  But the real thrill came not in the destination that lay beyond the door, but in the uncertainty of the journey.  As I opened that door, I had a kind of epiphany.  That prophetic act of opening doors long shut is exactly what we are called to do everyday in the Kingdom - whether it be sharing with a co-worker, giving generously to one in need, or serving an enemy, we are called to open the doors of peoples' hearts so the King can come in.  

We continued to explore and came upon the royal stables, still filled with beautiful horses.  We stood in awe as these mighty beasts deftly leapt over hurdles with such controlled power and grace.  It was a magnificent sight.  Finally, the time came for us to leave.

As I am leaving in two days, I do not know when I will next see either of them.  But, wow, what an adventure!  Most would have given up and headed home to salvage the rest of their Sunday afternoon after a disappointing tour.  But because we were willing to risk wandering off in search of adventure, we discovered long-forgotten royal grounds.  We cracked doors no man as opened in many years.  We navigated through vine-covered staircases and stood atop battlements no warrior has been on in decades.

And I fully believe that the time we spent exploring like little children was pleasing to my heavenly Father.  It may not have been 'spiritual,' but I really believe that the entire expedition was a gift from a doting Father to ignite a further desire for adventure, an unquenchable curiosity, and a thrill for the chase of life.  I think that my Dad wants everyday to be filled with that same thirst for the unknown.  I want to live each day with a bold, pioneering spirit and a quiet confidence that, through my Father, I can victoriously navigate whatever adventures come my way.

I don't ever want to be so engrossed in the day-to-day that I miss the palatial ruins God has for me to excavate, if only I will look a little harder. Indeed, I choose to risk the journey.

Bangalore

So much for using this blog to keep people up to date... it's been close to two months since my last post.  Oops.  Bangalore has been incredible.  How to sum up two months in a few short paragraphs? 

I arrived in Bangalore May 14.  My adventure started at the airport, navigating my way to my new home after midnight without any help.  For the first two and a half weeks, I was living alone in a cool little serviced apartment (mix between a hotel and an apartment) called Sterling Suites.  There are four guys that work the place and wait on me hand and foot- it's pretty sweet.  They serve me breakfast each morning which includes fruit, freshly squeezed juice (it's different everyday), and either an omelette or indian breakfast.  

The first three weeks in India were kind of difficult.  To my surprise, I actually experienced some culture shock.  I figured that since I had already been to Bangalore, it would be a cinch to jump in and hit the ground running.  While I would say I made a good adjustment, I did find living alone for 3 weeks difficult.  Things greatly improved when my friend got here. He is such a refreshing man who challenges me to love Jesus and people better. 

Fast forward.  I've been working at SUNZER (recently rebranded from Vertical Learning) for about two months now, and have 5 days left.  I depart Bangalore in exactly one week.  In the past two months, I have helped write and edit web content, designed a talent management system, owned the roads with my trusty scooter named Shadowfax, made Indian headlines (more on that later), gorged myself on some of the greatest cuisine, built rich relationships with both Indians and Americans, learned valuable business skills, gained much-needed experience, and had a blast.  What a well spent 2 months.  It's hard to believe it's almost over, and part of me dreads leaving.  

In the near future I will write more about my time here and include some pictures.  In the meantime, you can pray for me:

• To finish strong, giving every ounce the next week to leave the company with lasting, excellent work.
• To be wise in investing time outside of work so as to maximize impact in my relationships here.
• For closure here.
• For direction for the future as I head into the last semester of school.

Singapore: Looking Back

Well, I've been in Bangalore for about a week now, but I want to take a minute to reflect on a wonderful week in Singapore.

Singapore is probably my favorite city on the planet.  Modern and developed, diverse and cultured, urban but beautiful, and so full of character.  There are a lot of cool things about it, but probably my favorite is the amazing mix of people that have created a unique culture, language, and cuisine.  Singapore takes the best of Indian, Malay, Chinese, and Indonesia and combines them to make a truly special place.  Needless to say, I had lots of good food: stingray, mee goreng, chicken rice, char siew, indonesian bbq, fishball noodle soup, cereal prawn, sushi, chili crab, mango and sticky rice, and french toast, to name a few.  I legitimately devoted a page of my journal to planning meals, and we pretty much planned our days around where were going to eat.

That doesn't even go into beverages.  Singapore has an amazing coffee (and tea) culture.  There are special shops that only serve kaya toast, tea, coffee, and fried eggs.  My all time favorite of theirs is 'teh tarik' which literally means 'pulled tea.'  They pour the tea from one pitcher to another, increasing the distance between the pitchers and 'pulling' the tea as they do it.  It gets pretty theatrical at a good tea stall.  They even have tea-pulling competitions.  We probably had at least 3 teas a day, and I could have gone for more if I'm honest.

I also got to see some great high school friends, Kiyoko and Jon! It was great to reconnect after several years and see what God's doing in their lives.  Here's the crazy thing: Jon is a friend from 10th grade I know from Kunming, China.  Kiyoko is a friend from 11th/12th grade in Singapore.  Now they're dating, and I got to hang out with both of them together! What a small world.  There's a couple of pictures below of us.

The food, drink, culture, and friends were great, but the best thing was just to see Mom and Dad.  I have been blessed with the greatest parents in the world.  Although they were pretty swamped with meetings, we squeezed every minute out of the week.  They are two of the most refreshing people in the world: humble and servant-hearted, extremely wise, fun, generous, and in love with Jesus and each other.  In short, they're pretty great.  It was a blessing to get to see them back in Singapore.

Thanks for bearing with me through such a long post.  Here's a couple of pictures of Singapore to reward your efforts.  Go have an adventure!

Eating chili crabs a Jumbo Seafood on the riverfront.

Having a teh tarik and some stingray at Lau Pa Sat, a famous outdoor hawker.

We like teh tarik. A lot.

Celebrating my Mom at the Fullerton, an old-fashioned British Hotel on the bay.

Singapore

Made it in to Singapore yesterday. Get this- I left Waco on Saturday at 1pm and arrived in Singapore at 6am on Monday. That included a brief stop in Moscow.  I was in the air about 22 hours and also spent a good amount of time in airports.  But it was so worth it.

Singapore is wonderful.  More beautiful than I remembered, and the food is incredible.  Random aside - America is so unimaginative when it comes to food.  Today I had chicken rice (a Singaporean classic), char siew (a sweet pork on rice), and roti prata (an indian/singaporean tortilla type dish).  To drink, I had the classic teh tarik (pulled tea) and lemon juice.  The food here is so diverse and delicious!  I have a week here (praise the Lord!) before heading to Bangalore, India for a nine-week internship.  I hope to snap some pics later this week to post.

Prayer requests:

• That this would be a restful week.  God is already answering this one.  I slept until 10 am today! Take that, jet lag.  I really want to make the most of this special week with my parents and serve them well.
• That I would get refreshed with Jesus and grow in intimacy with Him.
• That I will hit the ground running in Bangalore and be able to contribute to Vertical Learning while also growing professionally and spiritually.

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog! I created this to keep track of my adventures. My first adventure: Singapore and Bangalore. I am in the Houston airport and will be taking off for Singapore via Moscow in about an hour. I'll spend next week painting Singapore red with my folks, and then I'm off to Bangalore where I will be interning with Vertical Learning, a leadership development consulting firm, for the next 9 weeks. I will be using this blog to keep everyone up to date on my life, so check back every now and then. So long, America.