the time is drawing near...14 days till mom and dad waterman step foot on indian soil. still seems unreal...dad said the other day he was trying to think of how to prepare himself for being in kolkata, and decided that it must be like living on the State Fair Midway...and actually, if you've ever been to the Indiana State Fair, its not a far off comparison...fried foods on the streetside, lights and flashing gadgets everywhere...noise and music from all directions...odd smells...weird rides...cotton candy, ok just kidding there's not really much cotton candy here...and people people people.
i live on the State Fair Midway...hmm

in other news, Thanksgiving last week was beautiful as always. though of course my heart ached to be at home with family and friends as well. Our extended Kolkata family joined forces to bring Kolkata one of the best Thanksgiving dinners to date at BK Paul...sarah made pumpkin pie and pumpkin bread. we had stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls, corn, cider, cookies, apple crisp and of course that traditional holiday bird...Tandoori Chicken...some things will just never be the same...but it was a great day of watching Elf and cooking and basking in the warmth that is our Kolkata community. Toss in a few Irish and Kiwis and we had ourselves a true celebration!
A few pictures to commemorate the evening...


Time is moving fast these days, we leave for our North American staff retreat on Tuesday...up up and away into the Gangtok mountain air (near the Chinese border, you think they'd let me in for a little peak...)
Then another week and the Waterman family tour begins...another few days and Sari Bari celebrations will be in full force (we already have a house full of new sparkly saris for each woman's Christmas gift, what a fun time to pick out each lady's sari to fit her personality!) And then i'm off to Scotland to finally see my little brother in the icy cold European air.
All this to say, as this season's flurry quickly fills my schedule, i find myself wanting to stop take a breath, remember, and see that though the busyness quickly fills my time, i mustn't forget the reflection of Emmanuel's gift. the Pressence of Peace. the stillness of Power. the Hope that all things will be made new. Its the reason I'm here, watching that very promise unfold each and every day, and it should be the reason i celebrate, stay busy, host party's...As this season comes upon us, lets not forget the Hope...beauty in ash, dreams out of rubble, mosaics in the crushed and cracked...all things being made new...
and until next time...happy celebrating!!!
you all have a peppermint latte and some christmas cookies on my behalf...

cool mornings and wearing slippers in kolkata (not on oxymoron...truly it has happened)
watching movies with my roommates...
morning coffee rituals
kolkata sunsets
when i hear my name being yelled down the alley's of the gach..."PUUJAA"
my Sari Bari blanket
reading back issues of the Economist
discovering how to cook sausage patties out of chicken and random spices in the kitchen...and partaking in one of the best down home meals we've had in a long while...
when the ladies joke about my future husband
literagy at St. Paul's Cathedral
black fingernail polish
kyle's newest album (you need to take a listen if you haven't already...) http://www.freelyjesus.net/music/kylescott/
finding random treasures to make crafts out of on our roof (i'm sure they weren't going to fix that old door anyways right)
kenny g christmas album...i don't care what you people say...he moves me
saturday morning church with our SB ladies, and the sweetness of shared experiences

sometimes i just need to take a step back and see the little things...note the details...and enjoy.

"who is mother, father, sister, brother" jesus asked...
he who does the will of my father...they are who i call my family...

trying to translate this devotion into words my dear kolkata sisters can hear, take in, understand. takes more than just a mastery of the bengali language...simplified...
i realized, through choked up words and unashamed tears...that they have become my mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers...family.

in a place unknown and foreign. mother tongue unused, explanations understood. leaving my own mom and dad, beloved little brother. i explained that i had begun to understand what jesus was saying. that he wants us to love everyone like our own blood family. and for me that meant coming to love them...to many of these women, whose own mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers have left them, turning away in shame, received back only for the money they can offer, or in greed filled moments sold them to a red lit way of life...these words ring with a different tone...you are my mother, sister, daughter...and i, am yours.
what a 15 minute morning devo can do to change ones heart...

only appropriate that yesterday morning i also read some of the greatest news of my life...that my parents will be joining me for christmas in kolkata this year...full of sari bari teas and dinners in my flat...parties that will lodge in my heart and mind for the rest of my days...i never thought that i'd get to share this part of my life with mom and dad. never dreamed they'd set foot in the brothel alleys i spend most of my days, or shake hands with some of the people i've grown to love most in this world...its still unbelievable...and so exicting....
watch out kolkata mom and dad waterman are on their way...
goodnight.

seasons.
oh, these beautiful season changes...from the heat of summer to the easy sleeping breezes, whisking us towards the coming kolkata winter. the constant sweating has ceased. there's a sari bari blanket in use on my bed. and i have the desire to drink hot tea in the evenings again...as memories of may's heat fade away, my mind relaxes into the november sunlight and stretches out to see whats ahead. i love this season.
and yet, my mind's turned often to the color changes of my indiana home. cold november air. harvest remnants. layers of oranges, reds, yellows, temporary palettes. slippers and sweatpants. signs of the season's changes.
signs paralleling rich coloring palettes of my own.
i could blame my lack of communication on schedule's iron fist, or maybe my own lack of enthusiasm has left a blank slate rounding now towards 4 months of silence. but i'd like to remedy that, in the hopes of sharing again. i've often given myself the proverbial pep talk...writing witty antidotes, memorable quotes, candid city shots in my mind...but then i remain waiting for the right time, the right words, the right inspiration to hit. perhaps then i'd actually get it down to pen and paper (or key to macbook)...but the task of catching up on all that has happened in the last four months has been daunting, foreboding, and sensory overloaded. new introductions and 19 new sisters to add on our sari bari family tree, travels and goodbyes, sickness that has left us all a little more raw...so it will have to suffice to say, that it has been a difficult, powerful, life giving, and heart breaking last season. and from here i step forward. interested to have you rejoin the journey, ready to invite you back in.

i'll leave you with two things this evening...my amazing north american community...
i'd like to introduce you to: Kyle, Sarah, Anna, Asha, Brent and Melinda. dear sweet friends in a sometimes very lonely place... second...a little reflection from my time on the metro a few days back...ah the things we can learn about ourselves from crowded train cars...and yes, sometimes i do cut in front of old ladies...yes, still working towards transformation...

Shoulder brushes-shoved. Aligned. Removed. Unseen?
Move Aside. I'm out the door again.
Simple ride on the metro, turned fight for ones dignity.
Right to space does not exist.
Right to hold on. Stand tall. Falls under foot.
And the sliding doors give birth to a chance at humanty again.
And again...shoulder to shoulder. Shoved Removed. Unseen.
Ah but what a smile could do. Eye to eye, reminders of human life.
Easy to want to forget.
Caught in the act, aversion of the created.
Treat as Treated...adopted motto of survival.
Where's honor's space in that?
Because when its all said and done,
its really only 2 more seconds i've saved at the turn stile line...

sure is nice to be back home again in Indiana...though i'll be on the road again tomorrow morning on my way south towards wintery South America. it really pains me to leave the 70 degree weather behind...
Having been back just enough time to be in a good friend's wedding, see my little brother off to Scotland, and certainly eat my fair share of home cooking...i'm trying hard not to slip into panic mode as i walk down the fully stocked shelves of Wal-Mart and Target. i have to keep reminding myself i'll be back at the end of the month, to consume all things beef for 2 full weeks!
as always i'm grateful and thankful to see and be with such dear friends and family. and this blue sprawling sky and endless fields of green bring more life to my heart than i've ever remembered before. there really is no place like home i reckon...
but for now, Peru, Bolivia, here i come...stocking hat, mittens and all...

oh glorious. the rain has come, after two days scorching every living thing...finally a bit of reprieve. i love sitting on our veranda watching humanity emerge to the roofs and balconies to drink in a breath of fresh air, washing off layers of city grime. for a moment we're all in unity crying out sighs of deep relief from the oppression of the city's heat...as you can tell, i'm pretty excited about the rain tonight.

i've been unable to steal away a moment's rest to sit and write...or more adequately, i've refused to sit and reflect and see what pours out in these pages. paramount quantities of writer's block have left these pages empty and quiet. most days there's so much to fill my mind, so much to break my heart, so much to process and share but the daunting task of painting even a window's worth of understanding proves too much to handle, so i watch the Office and go to bed instead.

its has been a difficult few months. sadness has followed me through each day, as i've carried the scarring stories of my friends in the red light area. i've wondered at the placement of hope, and where goodness can be brought and found. i've wondered at where my own identity should be grounded, and how to hold back the tendancy to be found in what i do barring who it is i am in the body and blood of Jesus. and i'm rediscovering, practically daily, what the song of lament really means. and the power of hoping in a new creation, and the strength that floods in moments of sincere silence.

i'm thrilled to be going home in two weeks...to the Waterman farm and strawberries and steak. and a chance to find restoration and being...and that coupled with the symphony of rain outside my window is enough to make me jump for joy even when the heat index climbs above 120 in the course of an afternoon.

back from nepal and greeted by kolkata rain?...its cool, calming, refreshing even. the warmest of welcomes from our city of joy. i really am so glad to be home.
spent the last week in nepal introducing our servant team to our asia cousins to the north. always a sweet time to be with dear friends, always mind blowing to see the himalayas...always mouth watering to eat the sacred cow(unashamedly as many times as possible in a week's span)

as i reflect on a busy month's worth of life, there's a lot of thoughts jumbled, mixed, bound together. still battling busyness and space, anxiety with deep seeded peace, and how to love in the midst of so much ache and dispair...so at the closing of another month i'll leave you with a few foot trails written through the month, following me right down into the days ahead...may god have mercy as we journey on.

...New things, olden aged creation. prophecy stands waiting on the page. neatly arranged. look about and see-what goodness, found in deed. can make my feet unbound. in Kingdom blood, i can still become what was meant when life's first breath was placed.
New creation. here and now. stark harsh. life gleams below. now turn your ear, lets hear this story, one more time.
New creation. here and now. find passage through this heart of mine and lets remake the world.


...Layers peeled back. Expose. Somthing new. Unmake. Unmade. face of pure. Delighted in me. I've found You. Undone. Rebound. Renewed. Enjoy. Rejoice. Resounds in walls where worship finds center.
And peace results.
And body is broken. Blood still spilt.
And life restitched, made new. Needles pierce a patchwork canvas, unraveled. Mossaic's found a place among the poor. Heavy thought, pursued hope. Sorting through creation. snapshots of life unposed. Rake through the rubble, so much value in the upchurned story. Good intentions, a life poured out. Meaning of a ticket, entry into paradise. Salvations left to question. Its my Father's world, watch it take shape. swell and fall. rushing tide. Unbound. Retied.
Watch it take leave. and see reborn the Hand of God....

...Sitting, waiting, wanting to find peace. fully alive is my prayer. to thrive make life survive? there's more to this call to love. City of Joy, how do i hold you?
How do i welcome you
slap back
turn your face
stab in the back
hold your hand, by my side
i'm still unsure how to find my life...
i've heard it said...but still, i'm wondering how to love.