Tihar, Diwali, Halloween, and Thanksgiving. We love learning
what our friends celebrate and sharing why we celebrate holidays here in
America. This has become one of our favorite parts of building relationships
here in Clarkston.
Sisters blessing their newest brother
IMAGINE rainbow powder and glitter glued onto your forehead
as a blessing from your brother or sister. Wouldn’t it be great if we had a
festival like Tihar where we did not celebrate just our mothers or fathers, but
also celebrated the relationship between brothers and sisters?
IMAGINE celebrating one of the biggest Indian festivals
(Diwali) hosted by post-doctorate Indians. Add in the most intense Pictionary
game you’ve ever seen, with fifteen people crowded around the table yelling and
screaming for the person who is drawing and having to shove and to push through
people just to see the person’s pencil eraser. Then after two hours of eating,
picture a room full of VERY intelligent Indians playing the newlywed game.
IMAGINE explaining about Halloween, where Americans hollow
out a pumpkin (which would make perfectly good curry), carve out a weird face,
and stick a candle in it for decoration.
We are very thankful for our Nepali brothers and sisters
IMAGINE telling the story of the first Thanksgiving to your
Nepali friend. Then, struggling to explain that the “Indians” are not actually
from India, but they really look more like your Nepali brother than the white “Natives”
of America that they know. And imagine giving your Nepali friend the honor of
carving the Thanksgiving turkey, only to watch him raise the knife and begin chopping
the turkey.
We live in a world that is incredibly huge and diverse. Here
in Clarkston we are reminded of this almost daily. But as Christmas, another of
our festivals, approaches we are reminded that our Savior “became flesh and
dwelt among us”. The God who created every culture and people in the world came
down and lived and celebrated and gave His life, so that we might know Him. So all of us are also called to follow His example by sharing life and sharing eternal truth with those around us.
What is service? What is the point of “missions”? Why do we serve the poor and feed the hungry? What makes you a “missionary”? Sometimes I find myself serving people just for the sake of doing it because God would be pleased or because it was what I was taught Jesus did. And we should do what Jesus did. But I knew deep down that there was another level to this service that followers of Jesus are called to. For what purpose do we serve people? Just for the sake of helping people? What good does that do in the end? They are happy now, but what about when something bad happens? Or a loved one dies? Or when they die? What’s next? My hope is in our future life with Christ. Can I paint you a picture?
Imagine a place where the hurting people of this world no longer hurt. A place where the blind can see again. A place where broken families are renewed. A place where there are no fatherless sons. A place where the depressed have eternal joy. A place where there is always enough to eat. A place where floods, earthquakes, and genocides don’t take thousands of people’s lives. A place where the ruler is good and kind and fair. A place where the people in this land can trust their ruler and lord, knowing that he is looking after their best interest and cares for them. A place where all types of people are working for one purpose, the praise and worship of their King, the creator of the universe.
This place is the hope I have for the future because of my trust in Jesus as this ruler. The amazing thing is that we can start living that life with Christ now and making this amazing kingdom happen now. I choose to live now with God’s kingdom in mind, and I truly believe that if people get the taste of the kingdom of God and the true life He wants us to inherit, they will want to be a part of this kingdom and to make Jesus Lord of their lives right now. So I challenge you to think about: What is your background? What are you good at? What drives you? Now think about how God has probably worked all of that in your life for the good of His kingdom and for you to use all those things to serve Him. There is a deeper level of service that the Lord really desires from us. God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in Him and when we use our talents and blessings to make His kingdom come to our broken world now. What could you do to make God’s kingdom come now?
Rach and I talking about our weekend on the long car ride home and realized how crazy and different the places are that we have been in the past 24 hours. We had an absolutely amazing time with Greg and Lori May at their wedding on Saturday. It was hands down the most fancy and posh wedding/reception that I have ever been a part of. When we got to the reception I told Rachel that I felt like we were in a movie or something. It was so much fun to spend a great night celebrating two of my most favorite people with so many good friends.
It felt so strange though to be around wealthy white people again. I might have even lost some of my refugee-english while we were there. Haha. But it just reminded me again how different our life is going to look than so many of my friends.
So then, this morning we take off to go to morning worship at FUMC in Amory. Small town Mississippi church meeting. Again very different than where we had been the night before and where we would lay our heads down tonight.
It was so good to see "my kids". I have missed them and their teenage antics... Well maybe not the teenage antics but definitely them. It was so hard to not stay all day and visit with all of them. Some short conversation before and after worship would have to do. Those students will always have a piece of my heart wherever I go.
And then, home-sweet-home, we finally got back to our wonderfully beautiful community from everywhere in the whole world. It felt very right to come home to our amazing community of believers, this crazy diverse mix of people we call neighbors (including the band of small children that bombard us with hugs when we come back from anywhere), and the place we affectionately call home.We are not worthy Lord, what more could we ask for?
What a crazy diverse weekend. It flew by and now its back to the crazy thing we call normal life.
I love new seasons, for the most part, because of the freshness of it and the excitement of newness. And along with those things I have grown to appreciate the way the Lord humbles me through them and reminds me how much I need Him.
Day four in Clarkston is over and I continue to feel like a wide-eyed child more and more. I also am more and more aware of how much bigger than myself the task ahead of me is.
1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them 3and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.4 Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. - Matthew 18:1-4
Through the newness and unknowns of this place that is unlike anything else I have ever experienced, the Lord is teaching me so much about becoming like a child.
Like being a learner, watching and listening to understand the peoples and cultures around you.
Like trusting the one leading you, knowing that the Lord has brought us here with a purpose and continuing to trust and follow after Him as he leads us in that.
Like remembering that we are small and weak, the Lord is doing a lot of amazing things in Clarkston and He doesn't need us for any of them, but like a loving father He desires to help us be a part of His great work in this city.
Our Father has been so good to us over the past few days and I know that He will continue to lead us and guide us, so that we can be a part of the amazing ways He is making His name great among the people of this city.
Pray for us that we would continue to walk as children being led by our Heavenly Father.
Luke 5:11 - So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.
I am not really much of a stuff person. So preparing to give things away and leave things behind, for the most part, hasn't been that hard for me. But yesterday we gave away the first of our three dogs. Abraham was my first dog to have since living on my own. He was my constant buddy while living all by myself here in Amory. So needless to say yesterday was a very sad day for me and for Rachel too.
But I will praise the Lord in this. We were very worried we weren't going to find homes for our dogs and would have to take them to the animal shelter. But over the past few weeks we have had so many leads and two of them have led to homes for Abe and Sheba. God is so good to prepare a way when you need it the most.
But all that to say I have come face to face with what it means to leave something you hold very dear to you behind, and know that this world and all of the things in it will pass away, including your favorite pet (sorry all you hardcore animal lovers). So, I fix my eyes on Jesus and press on knowing that the things that pass away because of this would fade and fail and pass away anyways.
Let me start by saying the Lord has been so good to us. Rachel and I currently have enough support to fully pay tuition for Training School and for living expenses while we are in Clarkston. We are so appreciative to all of the people who have been a part of the Lord's amazing provision for us.
Please continue to pray for the Lord's ongoing provision as we prepare for the years to come in India.
After months of wedding planning, the momentous/emotional/surreal day finally came. Our wedding was such a beautiful mix of our lives joining together, of all of our close family and friends celebrating with us, and of the Lord's name being glorified. For all of you who came, it meant the world to us that you were there to support and celebrate with us.
For me, as the main wedding planner (with the wonderful/much-needed help of my mom and our wedding coordinator, Paige), the day was a beautiful moment of all our hard work reaching its climax as I walked down the aisle. Floods of relief (that our planning was ending with this exciting moment) and waves of emotions (from realization of the weight of what Grayson and I were doing) overcame me. All that to say that our ceremony was more meaningful than I could have ever imagined, AND boy was I glad that I never had to plan my wedding ever again.
After the ceremony we journeyed to Seattle! Where we drove to the Olympic Peninsula and stayed in Port Angeles for two nights then stayed on Bainbridge Island in the Puget Sound. While in Port Angeles, we made sure to venture out to the Olympic National Park where we spent a day of driving and going on random detours where we saw things like Sol Duc Falls.
We picnic'd at beautiful Cape Flattery and saw the west coast in all its glory.
As we traveled around the Olympic peninsula and the Puget Sound, we saw sweet things like black bears, an otter, deer, and tons of awesome priceless views that are unlike anything we'd ever seen. Our trip can be summarized by the word DETOUR. Our favorite way to adventure is to drive around and find cool things. One of our favs was the detour up a gravel road with a sign that said "Tsunami Evacuation Route." Of course we had to check it out. After ten minutes of winding and a treacherous (slightly painful) climb up a crumbly rock, this is what we found...
In Seattle, we went to some of the scenic places like Pike's Place Market, the first Starbucks, the Space Needle (which we didn't go up in b/c it was way overpriced), and the new Experience Music Project (which was closed when we got there). Who needs to actually go into those famous tourist places anyway? But you bes believe we got our monorail ticket's worth by having a photo shoot with all these famous places.
I'll give Seattle 3 words: Eclectic. Granola. Environmentally-friendly. It was like no other city I'd ever been to. Very neat city to visit if you get the chance. Overall, our trip was superadventurous, relaxing, and of course filled with lots of good foreign food eating. My favorite was definitely our first dinner as a married couple eating Pho Ga at a small Vietnamese place in Port Angeles :) love being in cool places eating good foreign food.
We're so thankful for our opportunity to travel to a place that we've really wanted to go to and for the relaxing vacation that it was. Now we're back to semi-normal life. The big difference is that now we're doing life together. In the same city. In the same house. Always with the same God. Our adventure totally didn't end with the honeymoon.
Way more to come with "Fleas, Flumes, and a Forgotten God"... so till then, peace and blessings!
Rachel Luther
So the wedding will be t-minus 14 days tomorrow, and I am so stinking ready for it to be here. All of the most important things are pretty much done and ready, so now is just me waiting for that wonderful moment to be here. And then whirlwind through it to the honeymoon. Haha. The feelings I am having for the marriage are very similar to what I feel like our world is feeling right now. It seems that everyone and even the earth itself is groaning more and more in anticipation of Christ returning for His bride and making all things new and right. Its like all of creation is crying COME ON JESUS!! WE WANT YOU NOW!! WE NEED YOU NOW!! But it is not yet here so we patiently wait in anticipation. And I patiently wait in anticipation. Anyways, know that many of you reading this will be there to celebrate along with us, and we are so excited to be able to share this moment with all of you and hopefully share our life together with you as well. Whether that is here in the States or in India or wherever the Lord may lead us. Many of you know that instead of registering and asking for wedding gifts to start our home here, we are asking that you would send support to help us start a home in India. We ask that all of you would consider regularly supporting us either with your prayers or monetarily or both. Let us know if you would like to commit to doing that so that we can send you updates of what is going on in our lives. And if you would like to send us support please make it out to Grayson and Rachel and send it to:
Heritage United Methodist Church
3 Baracuda Drive
Hattiesburg, MS 39402 We love and thank all of our wonderful family and friends that have encouraged us along the way. Please let us know if there is anything we can do for you or ways that we can pray for you.
Much Love Grayson
So in case you didn't know, I got back from a scouting trip to India a week or so ago. I feel like I should post about that, but I'm gonna save most of that for another day. I had heard that even from a shorter trip there is some reverse culture shock that happens after you get back, but I didn't really know what that would look like for me. Well, seeing your fiancee after three weeks of being on opposite sides of the world was pretty stinkin awesome. Just sayin.. But, I have been struggling to live in light of what I saw and experienced, while life is pretty much the same as a month ago before I left. One of the things that the Lord really put on my heart was being aware of the spiritual warfare that is going on around us all of the time. Just really being aware of the schemes of Satan to distract us and pull us away from focus on Jesus. Another was praying with faith in the power of Jesus name. While we were in India prayer became my lifeline. I could feel the darkness of that place, and besides I felt very small and powerless in a world where I don't speak the language or understand the culture. So, prayer was my connection to a power that has overcome that darkness and is over all cultures and peoples. And the Lord really convicted me while I was there that prayer is something that I so often forget here where I feel like I have things figured out. So, since I have been back I have been trying to spend more and better time in prayer with the Lord. Especially, as Rachel and I are preparing to make this huge commitment to one another. So pray for us as we are preparing to become the beautiful picture of Christ and the Church that marriage is. And pray that we would continue to rest in the power of our Lord and not in our own strength.
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Phillipians 4:6-7
14And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
So, what every person has been dying to hear… our story! How this power couple was formed! (Haha, just joking, we’re not a power couple, just a couple that the Lord brought together for His glory. So I guess we are a power couple that the Holy Spirit empowers daily. I digress...) So here goes, just a (maybe not so) brief (with some details of course and slightly more from my point of view) overview of how we got to be 100 days away from our wedding day. Brace yourself.
First off, I’ll start with a few interesting facts about us to set the scene.Grayson was born in Arkansas in 1986, and I was born in Mississippi in 1989.However, we both moved to Mississippi to suburban cities our junior year in high school.We both share the same middle name (Leigh/Lee) and both are the oldest child.Grayson and I both have siblings that are 2.5 years younger than we are.I’ll be graduating from Mississippi State in April with the same degree Gray received (Communication with an emphasis in PR, and a minor in Religion) and both having been Wesley Foundation interns. Kinda fun facts.
Our story started my freshman year at the Wesley freshman and transfer chili dinner, where Grayson was an intern. Let’s just say I’ve had a crush on him ever since (and jus throwin it out there, I’ve had a lot of crushes in college, but he was definitely the longest running one). We were friends and whatnot, and I thought for a bit maybe he was into me and almost got the courage up to invite him to a date party, but alas! I misread him.Which I was pretty bummed about, but whatev, I was still a sophomore when he graduated so kinda lost track of him after that.
That is until I got back in touch with him the summer after my sophomore year to get his help with my internship. So we grabbed dinner when I came back to school just to catch up b/c he wanted to hear about what cool stuff I got to do that summer. (Aside: At this point, I was reminded about how much I used to crush on him, but had come to terms with the fact that he just wasn’t into me. Crazy how when I get to a point in my life when I’m really not looking for anything how the Lord changes my path.)
Alright, so I will attribute the first time we started talking after he DJ’d for Klub Wesley.After that, it was kinda down hill, we texted a bunch, he came down for a few different events, I stopped through Amory a few times when I was driving between Alabama and Starkville, which led to eventually us talking on the phone.He came down and met my family in December and we started “officially” (whatever that means, sorta means commitment I spose) that day. Also, first kiss. Bleck! Terrible. My fault. Enough said.
After that, I met his family and his super legit and special friend group the next month. No big deal. Mighta been a bit nervous. They’re kind of a big deal. I had the best (and first ever) Valentine’s Day date I could ever imagine and a sweet (by this I mean awesome) birthday trip the next week.
Throughout our dating, road trips pretty much identified our relationship: backpacking, beach, Atlanta visiting and concert, Birmingham, to name a few. And the best one yet was last summer in July when we drove to Baltimore to have fun and visit my aunt and uncle.Such a blast. Really great time together after half the summer apart while I was at camp.
Alrighty, so by the time September rolled around, it was about a year since we had started talking, and we hadn’t said the “L” word. Not that you have to say it a certain point or anything, but by this point, I had really prayed and thought through a lot of my feelings and was dying to tell him how I felt. So yep. I told him I loved him first, and I wasn’t expecting him to say it back, but yeah, he sure did. Little did I know that once he said it, he was fully committed and all it took was a Labor Day trip to his favorite place on earth (Mountain View, AR) to seal the deal.
One month later, I was accidentally finding pics of rings on his phone and freaking out. We got engaged in Natchez, MS by HOT AIR BALLOONS! (My personal fav, very thoughtful.)
THE MOST IMPORTANT PART. I fully believe that the LORD has brought our lives together, because He will be most glorified by our lives being joined. I’m very excited about the way I have grown and matured in my relationship with Christ because of my relationship with Grayson. We both know that the Lord has called both of us to a life of sacrifice, service, and ministry. In response to the call on our lives, we will be moving to India in about a year to LIVE A NEW LIFE and spread the good news of Jesus Christ for at least two years with a team of our brothers and sisters in Christ.
There will be more to come soon on India, but until then, I will leave you with a verse that was really encouraging and challenging to me when I was in a period of uncertainty about my future (it’s all about a daily seeking of the Lord and His kingdom rather than a planning of future events and plans):
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” –Matthew 6:33
We are just two young people who love God and love one another. Both of these passions take us to new places and on new adventures. Currently, our adventure takes us to live in South Asia. Thanks for visiting our blog. Read on for some of our adventures and lessons from the Lord. Cheers!
