Memorial Day in Mongolia

Seriously?!  Snow on Memorial Day?!  Whatever happened to BBQ and pool parties?   I started the day in t-shirt and jeans and ended it layered in my snow gear with Bing Crosby Christmas Songs playing in our apartment. 

Monday night is one of the nights that we teach English lessons and it was time for Michelle and I to go.  As the snow started to come down harder and harder, we called the pastor of the church to ask if we should still go to English since it was so nasty outside.  The conversation was very short...

Michelle: "We don't need to go to English lessons do we?  People don't actually go out in this weather right?"
Crosslin Family: "Hahahahahahaha.  Yes, people will be there."

Apparently, this isn't Texas.  Life still goes on when it snows.  But, our two teammates, Erin and AJ, who had come over to do laundry and are now "snowed in" and staying the night at our house.  I guess we aren't that adjusted.

So, I decided to make this my first ever blog post.  Had to happen sometime.

Happy Memorial Day.

John
 

Life in the Second World

I'm currently boiling a pot of water so I can take a warm "bucket shower" to wash off my crusty body from the dust storms that have swept through the city the last two days.  When we arrived in UB on Sunday night I learned that our apartment would be out of hot water until sometime in June.  I originally thought that it was simply because it would take a few weeks for the utility bills to transfer over to our name since we were renting an apartment from another family.  And although it's inconvenient, I could understand that if all paperwork needed to be filled out and filed the old fashioned way.  Then I learned that the ENTIRE CITY of Ulan Bator is without hot water and has been for over a month now!  What? How?!  The hardest part of this reality is that I now have lost confidence in the fact that the hot water will even stick around for the 30 below winter season if we ever do get it back.

 

I still don't know technically why there isn't hot water, but I do know that cold water takes on a completely new meaning over here.  I've taken plenty of cold showers in my day (thanks, Southwestern Company) but those cold showers pale in comparison to the liquid ice that barely trickles out of the faucets in Mongolia.  I think the water wells are underneath the permafrost ground in the northern part of the country.  My hands ache in pain just from washing them for a few seconds.  So I have no choice but to take the extra hour to get my warm water bucket ready each morning and night, thank you very much.

 

Not having a dishwasher wasn't supposed to be a big deal to me; I've washed plenty of dishes by hand in my Grandma's kitchen sink after many huge holiday family meals.  But I've learned that dishwashing can only go as fast as the small sink drain decides to empty the dirty water so you can rinse and start the next round of pots and pans.  So in my case, dishes took over an hour last night.  And after breakfast this morning, I can say that in the last 10 hours, I have spent two of them just. doing. dishes...

 

Caroline spit up on me this morning and I hollered "help!" to John and he quickly brought me a new clean burp cloth rather than the one we just used a minute ago.  I snapped at him, "why didn't you just give me the one we just used! Laundry takes so freakin' long over here!"  It was at this point of craziness I realized that I had already had enough of life in the "second world".  Four days down, roughly only 196 to go.  Way to go, trooper.

 

John lovingly and patiently requested that I get some time with Jesus while he finished up with Caroline.  In a ticked off tantrum, I threw open my journal and began to write:

 

"Lord, life here is so frustrating!! Everything takes so much time. Let's not even talk about the broken elevator, 9 flights of stairs and carrying Caroline on my back just to get outside every day! Ahhh!  People here don't have as much "life" to live because they spend so much time doing the crap that shouldn't take so long.  Isn't it better that we hurry up with the mundane tasks of life so we can spend our time on the things that matter?  Your Word and caring for people, right?  Isn't that what's most important to you?! ... I spent that extra time back in Dallas indulging in things that have no profit for me -like Instagram, Downton Abbey, etc. Actually at times those sorts of things have been used as fuel to take my heart further from you.  How often have I been ungrateful because I have been jealous of someone's perfectly filtered picture?  So with less free time, you are saving me from unprofitable activity and you are forcing me to pick -pick wisely the activities to spend my life on." 

 

Feeling the shame of my anger and the conviction of so much wasted time, God spoke to me Zephaniah 3:17 "The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you (my temper tantrums) by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing."

 

"Thank you for your patience and loving kindness, Lord.  I don't deserve it.  Thank you Jesus for taking the punishment that I should have for my ungratefulness and impatience.  Thank you for convicting me.  Help me to spend my time wisely.  I desperately need you."

 

Then He led me to Ecclesiastes 5:18-20 which says "Even so, I have noticed one thing, at least, that is good.  It is good for people to eat, drink and enjoy their work under the sun during the short life God has given them, and to accept their lot in life. And it is a good thing to receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it.  To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life --this is indeed a gift from God. God keeps such people so busy enjoying life that they take no time to brood over the past." 

 

So there is hope that life can be fulfilling even in the actual work of living life, no matter how difficult, trivial, or mundane.  In fact, a life lived in relationship with God is the only way at all to enjoy our short time here on earth.  Once I've learned to abide in Him in ALL THINGS great and small, then I will be so distracted by this Joy that it won't matter what task is actually at hand.  So Father, I gratefully accept my lot in life here in Mongolia.  Thank you Jesus for paying my admission price into this abundant life lived in fellowship with You!

 

 

Me and Caroline waiting for the elevator that never arrived.

 

 

Buying gifts for your Dad

 

“Jesus said, Truly I say to you there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the gospel who will not receive a hundred fold now in this time houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.”  Mark 10:29

On Sunday, April 28^th we left Dallas for our Mongolian adventure.    Earlier that morning in church our pastor encouraged us with this verse from the book of Mark.  I don’t remember ever reading this passage, although I’ve probably read it a hundred times.  Perhaps it never meant much to me before because up until now I haven’t left much of anything or anyone in order to share with others about Jesus.  Until now, sharing the Gospel has more or less always been on my terms. 

After reading this verse, I found myself curious to figure out what this promise of God will actually give me.  My human nature says “what’s in it for me, God?”  This scripture says that I will receive “a hundred fold now in this time” what I am leaving.  So do I actually get more houses since I left the one in Dallas?  Do I get a bigger family now since I’ve left everyone behind?  (Don’t worry Momma; no one will ever replace you!)  I’m not sure that this scripture means quantifiably more homes and family, but as I think about this promise, it seems like a pretty unfair trade for God.  Why should we get more in return for giving God what already belongs to him?

Yesterday during our missionary training we were asked a question: “What is your favorite thing about Jesus?”  I thought about Jesus for a second and my heart’s response was that Jesus came to save people that, in my opinion, weren’t worth saving.  Jesus isn’t fair in the way He loves us.  The Almighty, Creator God, living in perfect unity and fellowship with Himself does not need my friendship.  The mystery of this Love of God is that even though He doesn’t need me, he still wants me.  He gives me value because He sent his Son as an exchange for my junk so that I could know Him as a personal friend. 

Romans 5:8 says “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” 

 It was in this moment of meditating on the unfair love of Jesus that I was convicted for the ways I have had a bad attitude about moving to Mongolia.  In the painful and inconvenient times I have often thought more about what I was leaving behind instead of focusing on what I was gaining.  Jesus demands the full obedience of our lives because HE PAID FOR IT.  I think choosing to use your life to tell others about Jesus is like buying your Dad a gift with his money that he earned. 

My dad has a “man cave” room at the house where he saves all of the cards and tacky nic-nacky things we’ve gotten him over the years.  It’s really pretty hilarious when I stop to think about the things we bought Dad as kids.  One time I made him a puppet out of a Slurpee lid that I folded in half.  I called it “Mr. Cheapo” and my Dad still talks about it to this day.  As silly and unpractical these things were to my Dad, he loved getting them.  He liked them enough to save them and even display them in the house!  (Well not Mr. Cheapo, but he has saved most things.)  When my dad received our gifts, he enjoyed seeing what we did with his money because our motive was to love him.  Our gifts warmed his heart and made him smile.  In this same way, God gets enjoyment out of seeing what we do with our life when we choose to spend it on sharing about His Son, Jesus.

So I may not end up with 100 houses in return for trading in 5510 Ridgedale.  No other family or friendships on this earth would be a better trade for the ones I’m leaving behind.  What I do know is that I’ll gladly leave it all behind to share with others about Jesus because that makes my Daddy smile.