India

As pretty much everyone who knows me knows India holds a very dear place in my heart. My first trip was a tough 3 weeks in Calcutta that left me thinking I would never go back to India. In fact when I landed in Thailand on my way home I kissed the ground (I have a picture of it) and said, "I'm never going back to India". God has a funny way of nudging me to do just those things that I say I will never do. In college I felt a building desire to go back to India and ended up going for 2 months to work at a hospital in the foothills of the Himalayas. It was amazing and life-changing.


I haven't been in 7 years and have had both a longing to go back and at times a dulled interest as I've been quite caught up in my surgical training. In the past few weeks I have sensed God really softening my heart after a pretty brutal 2 years of surgical residency. Heather, my college roommate, suggested I read, "The Hole in Our Gospel" by the President of World Vision.



Before I even started the book something crazy happened to me Sunday night. Kerwyn and I went to church and they took a week break in the series they are doing and had a "vision night". They are very committed to sending missionaries- both short and long term and were casting vision for the teams they plan to send out all over the world in the coming year. I immediately noted the trip to Chennai but told myself that we shouldn't go on that trip. I had all the usual reasons- the high cost for such a short trip, it wasn't using any of our medical training, and it just didn't make sense. Then they showed a video of a guy who went to India last year and he said, "There's nothing like it" speaking of being in India. I found myself getting teary eyed but was trying to hold it together. Then another man got up and spoke. At one point he played a sound recording of one of the 5 daily calls to prayer he heard for the Muslim community. As soon as I heard the sound it took me back there and I just started sobbing. It was crazy because I'm not one to cry but I just couldn't stop crying for the billion people of India- many of whom don't know Jesus and lack the means to even care for themselves and their families. I couldn't stop crying. I told God, "I get it. I'll go, but can you help me stop crying?" I eventually did and headed home confident that we should take a trip together to India to serve and really listen to where God is leading us as a couple. As soon as Kerwyn saw me crying he knew we were going to be going to India soon. I love that he just knew what was going on in my heart.



So anyways, we're going to continue to pray and brainstorm ideas on where to go and what to do. We had planned on having one big trip before going back to real hospital work July 1st so instead of a crazy European bike tour or some other trip we'll hopefully be going to India together for the first time. Thankfully we have no shortage of contacts there. We're open to ideas so let us know if you have any!

Crossfit

A few weeks ago Kerwyn and I took a Crossfit exercise class with our friends Paul and Shawn (she's a trainer at Crossfit Carmel). It was insane. We only did half the amount of each exercise as the regular folks but I was sore for days.

Any workout where they have to explain rhabdomyolysis (muscle breakdown due to over-exertion or injury that can damage your kidneys...) to you at the end is perhaps a bit excessive...which is probably why I loved it so much. At one point Kerwyn looked at me and said something to the effect of, "you're really enjoying this aren't you?" with a look of disbelief in his eyes.

While the crossfit gym is too far to attend reguarly we've been incorporating some of their principles into our workouts. As a result I'm sitting on the couch tonight with a heating pad on my hamstrings from a workout over 2 days ago. Good times....

The Windy City

Twice last week I traveled to Chicago. The first time was with my mom and her small group for a fun birthday celebration for her. It was fun to meet more of her friends and hear some of their stories. I don't have any pictures since I didn't have my camera with me. You'll just have to imagine pictures of mom and her friends laughing with their hair blowing perfectly in the wind.

Later in the week Kerwyn and I spent a day in Chicago wandering around. We had lunch at Harry Carey's (great restaurant), wandered around, saw a couple of wedding parties taking pictures, and took in Navy Pier. We even had a very enjoyable, although short, ride on the ferris wheel. I do have pictures from that trip because Kerwyn is very good about taking pictures.

Neither trip had a very smooth train experience. The first trip was marred by a train sliding door smashing my face in. That might be a bit dramatic but it hit my temple hard enough to leave me pretty dazed for a day or so and with a nice swollen and tender area around my right eye. On the second trip Kerwyn and I were enjoying a peaceful trip when they made us get off the train in Gary, Indiana of all places to get onto a bus for a few minutes and then reload onto a different train a few miles down the track that apparently was undergoing repairs. You can imagine it wasn't a quick process to unload what ended up being 4 very full busloads of people off of and back onto a train (hence the picture of Kerwyn with the thumbs-up in the very classicly decorated bus). Either way it was a fun couple of days in Chicago.

Canoe Trip

Kerwyn and I spent a wonderful afternoon in prime fall weather canoeing. It was beautiful. To call the canoeing company sketchy would be an understatement but they didn't harm us as we feared they might. We decided that next year we need to do one of their longer trips.

Turkey Run

This has become one of my favorite parks for several reasons.
1. It's beautiful.
2. I forget I'm in Indiana.
3. It's where our engagement pictures were taken.
4. We've shared some great times hiking around together here.

October is probably the best time of year to go so we spent an afternoon wandering the trails. Weather permitting, I'm hoping to go canoeing here next week.

Julie and Julia

The first movie Kerwyn and I ever saw together was Julie and Julia. I did not enjoy it. He did. I think I just wasn't interested in cooking so I felt like I was watching a cooking show for two hours. However, thanks to the generosity of many people who have blessed us with a well-stocked kitchen I am thoroughly enjoying cooking. Plus, I miss operating like crazy and so cooking is the only opportunity I've found to cut stuff. Kerwyn and I are enjoying trying new meals together. This was my first time making steaks (thank you mom and dad for giving us Omaha's finest). Kerwyn mastered the side dishes.

Go Irish

Kerwyn and I were given tickets to last week's ND vs Pitt game for our wedding. It was Kerwyn's first college football experience and we had a great time cheering our (I use that word loosely although I think he's becoming a fan) Irish on. We even went to the pep rally Friday night with my parents. It was quite the scene. I could have done without the cheerleaders but that's pretty typical for me I guess.