A week before finals

Marhaban!
That is literally all I know in Arabic. Should I be scared? I logically think so, but in reality, I'm really not. Come at me, Jordanians, with all of your eloquent Arabic and mad Fallafel eating skills.

So on this beautiful Thurday morning when I should probably start studying for Organic chemistry, my mind went bloop! Time to start a blog. So I'm going to start a blog. I've never really blogged before, so everything that I say may come off as super awkward, but bear with me. The creation of this blog is for the sole purpose of relieving the burden off of my shoulders of having to remember every minute thing that happens in Jordan and retelling the same old story to everyone when I come back. oh. and also to update you all on my life as well. This blog is for me to ramble on and on about my life in Jordan, and to all of the grammar Nazis out there, I'm so sorry that very blog may be hindering to our friendship. This is where my frenzied brain will come to find rest, and consequently, there will be many sentences requiring your mercy. Grammar correction? Syntax error? Ain't nobody got time for that.


So.. pre-departure blog.
I will be evicted from my apartment in approximately two days and five hours. Then, I will be homeless for the next couple of days, probably bumming at the library and leeching on Amber and Ansley's refrigerator until my exams end.

I just came back from the doctor's office, and they were scaring the heck out of me by basically telling me that if I don't get seven vaccination shots before I leave, I might suffer from mad crazy traveler's diarrhea. My doctor also insisted on telling me all of the possible consequences that may result from this unfortunate illness. It scared me, so it looks like I'm going to be dropping the next couple of hundred bucks on injecting some really cute viruses in my arm. Super exciting!

Okay, but in all seriousness, I really wanted to open up this blog to share with you how God has been working in my life. All of this semester, I've been asking God in my prayer- "Lord, what is your heart?". When you're in love, it become natural desire to want to know what the other person is hurting from, what bring joy into their lives, and what makes them smile. It's not any different with God, and he's been answering my prayers by giving me this burden for Syria. I don't know if you guys follow up with the news, but there has been a civil war going on in Syria for the last couple of years. So many children have not only lost their parents, they have lost their childhood to poverty, insecurity, death, and reality. The pictures of these kids, mostly all under the age of 10, have seen too much and have matured too far beyond their age. Many girls have been raped, and even more have become victims of violence. As His hands and feet, are we to glance at them, feel bad, and go on with our comfortable lives, or are we called to do something?

I think about Esther, my sister who is my favorite kid in the whole wide world. I read about children her age who have seen the death of their family right before their eyes. I hear about girls her age getting raped. At the same time, I think about what the body of Christ is called to do regarding these.

James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

At first, not a lot of people were too fond of me going to the Middle East. I understand their point of view. I mean, they were just worried for my well-being. It is true that Middle East is not the ideal place for your typical family vacation, but what do I do, if the Jesus whom I love so much tells me that His heart rips when his children are suffering? Should I tell him- "No, don't send me to a place where I'm going to feel uncomfortable," or do I tell him, "Lord, Here am I. Send me".

I choose the latter because Christ is worth it all.

Only by His constant grace,
Soogyum