english, glorious english

for about a week and a half, i've been enjoying the united states of america. coming home from any place which speaks in strange tongues is always a relief. even bad conversations are good conversations.
it was quite enjoyable as the customs agent attempted to make me feel like a lesser person because i was not sure which line i was supposed enter this country through. i thanked him for cutting me back down to size. i was being smug, asking him for advice and all. honestly, it was just nice to understand somebody was, indeed, telling you that you were, indeed, an idiot instead of assuming that was, indeed, the case. indeed.

food has, by far, been the most popular topic. perhaps our collectively excessive girth can be attributed to a healthy obsession of food. for the record: soup, moldovans and i eat a lot of soup and seem to be a meat and potatoes kind of place. also, i have eaten at palmas twice, taco bell once (after receiving fillings that were three years over due) and have had pizza twice. cereal continues to be a popular part of my diet, but that shouldn't really surprise anyone.

am i in culture shock? no. i'm not. at this time, this is all i will say. i could talk about my reactions coming back into this culture for a long time and possibly will in the future. it should suffice to say that i am no more dissatisfied with the things this world has to offer than before i left. in any culture, people put things before God. and in any culture, this makes me uncomfortable. whether it be money, junk, looks, roosters, cars, sour cream, chalupas, macs, comfort, careers, alcohol, sugar cereals or jazz hands, anything put before God should make us sick to our stomachs and will never satisfy us like the God who created us to love and be loved by Him could, will and does. the extravagance of these things, on a strictly worldly scale, may change but the fact that they are all fallen substitutes for our relationship with God does not.

the world is groaning, from both poverty and wealth, not to mention a healthy middle class. Christ is the only thing that gives that groaning a hope, an expectancy and a purpose.

grace has sustained me these four months, like it has since i shot out of the womb 24 years ago. i've seen with fresh eyes how true this is and also how beautiful it is. grace isn't just about atoning for sin. it's about sustaining, energizing, teaching, providing, healing, hope, and more than i know. it is a powerful attribute of God's love and how grateful we should be to be heirs of it.

and it is God's love and grace that i pray those guys across the pond encounter in my absence. it is those things i hope they cling to, they accept, they claim and treasure. i ask you to continue joining me in prayer for them.

finally, i must say thank you all for all of the prayer and support you have given me thus far. it would be hard to express what it has meant to me. again, please feel free to email me at tim.bedi@gmail.com or comment below if you have questions or would like to get together. i leave the 4th of june. during the weekdays are the best times. i'll do what i can to accommodate your schedule. thanks again and Godspeed.