Why go?

I have been challenged recently to have an answer if and when people ask me why I am returning to India. 

Yesterday, I watched this documentary (link to the trailer): 

 And it was amazing, horrifying, and truly eye-opening. At the very end, the narrator gave a quote that went something like this: 

After this journey, I have been wounded, and it is a wound I hope to never recover from.

If ever a line explained what my first trip to India did to me, that would be that one. I find the burden of the fate of women and girls in India to be one that I carry with me daily. And with that burden comes the prayer and promise to God that as often as He calls me there, I will go. 

“You may choose to look the other way but you can never say again that you did not know.” 
― William Wilberforce

One year (and one month)

Little Man is now a one year old. It is amazing how fast that year went. In honor of him being 12 months old, here are 12 facts about him:

1. He has his own filing system.

Anyone who has spent any time around this little guy, knows that he is busy and loves to put things in other things. The other day, I had some time, so I followed him around to see if there was a pattern. Here is what I discovered:
- Paci's go in the trash
- Toiletries go in the Washing machine.
- Items from my nightstand go in the hamper.
- Shoes go in the diaper pail
- Remote controls go in the toilet

We are just thankful he hasn't found the laundry shoot yet.

2. He has a giant head.

This is not just a "we think his head looks large" kind of fact, but the doctor told us at his 12 month appointment that he is average height and weight, but 90% percentile for head circumference. Luckily for him, Jay and I also have extraordinarily large heads and we will be able to help him find the stores that sell hats in L/XL.

3. His first word was "Chango" because they are best buddies.

4. He is strong - he likes to try and pick up furniture and tip large items over.

5. He likes to read books 1.5 times. Seriously, if you can make it through a book 2 entire times, it is a miracle.

6. He will play peek-a-boo by himself until someone notices.

7. He would play in the toilet all day if I would let him.

8. The second anyone tries to hold his hand, he goes limp and falls to the floor in giggles. (makes parking lots exciting.

9. He tries to kiss my cheek, but usually just ends up biting my cheek.

10. I have been clapping and cheering for him to encourage him to try new foods and he recently began clapping for me whenever I take a bite too.

11. He wears a size 6 shoe (same size as his three year old cousin).

12. He is fearless and has taken head first dives off stairs, into pools, into bathtubs and more. Let's just say, he keeps me on my toes.

And a bonus #13 because he is now 13 months:
He runs into walls when angry - it is like Toddler Pin Ball.

Happy Birthday (now 13 months!) to my Little Man.

Let Me Tell You a Story . . .

It all began about 7 years ago.

I was sitting in Grace Chapel during a mission focused weekend listening to my future sister-in-law, Crystal talk about the 6 months she had just spent working in India. She is a wonderful singer/songwriter and finished her talk with a song that she wrote to honor the children she had worked with. Sitting there listening was one of the first times I remember clearly hearing God speak. A quiet voice said "You are going to do that one day. You are going to go and help these same children".

A vision had been given and since I was graduating college soon, I began to research what it would mean to go and work in India. A couple months later, my boyfriend became my fiancé and a wedding and job working with students with special needs halted any plans to go overseas.

But I still remembered the promise God made and lived with eyes open to how I could be a part of what God was doing in India.

Fast forward to 2011 and God provided the opportunity for Jay and I to travel to Chennai, India with Granger Community Church. The focus of that trip was to bring hope to the children of a single village.   On our last morning, Jay sang his sister's song, the same one from the mission's weekend, and I was able to celebrate that God keeps His word. I was made for such a time as that trip.
 

In partnership with Granger, we returned this past March to continue to try and bring the good news of Jesus to the children in India with plans to go back in the near future to complete the work

I sometimes get whiplash with how quickly God changes our plans! As I type this, I am reminded that at this exact moment, we were supposed to be in India with Granger, but because of some changes that Granger has made, our project we had been working on has been suspended.

This summer Jay left SpringHill and took a job with Bay Pointe Community Church in Traverse City, a decision that I admittedly have struggled with understanding until two weeks ago.

Bay Pointe is turning a portion of their mission focus to India. Two weeks ago I interviewed for a trip that is going to focus on the rescue and rehabilitation of women from the sex trafficking industry that is so prevalent there.

Because the need is immediate, we are leaving at the end of January (less than 3 months away!), and I am on that trip.

However, I desperately need your help.

First, I need prayer. Please consider leveraging your faith for this team. We will be traveling January 27-February 5 and could use prayers for God's provision on this journey.

Second, I need help financing this trip. The total cost is $4,000 with the first $1,000 due on December 1.

If you choose to give, here are a couple of ways to do it.

1) Paper checks, made out to Bay Pointe, with nothing in the memo line, can be mailed to me at 545 Edmar Dr. Traverse City, MI  49686.

2) Donations can be made through Paypal. Send payments to jaytaylor84@gmail.com. (This option is not tax-deductible.)

Thank you so much for reading this long post and for your support as God says "go" once again.

People of India - Keerthana

Dear Keerthana (*keer-ta-na) - how do I begin to tell people in the States about you?

I could begin with telling them about how you were boldly one of the first to approach us to play (you even beat most of the boys).

Or I could tell them how you were quick to show affection with hugs and hand-holding even though us Westerners were new to you.

Or, perhaps I could tell them how your family has suffered tremendously over the past several years in a house that was barely a shelter. Your mom, Mary, told us how the rains would pour in on you and as a family you would huddle under a cloth or umbrella to try and stay dry.

I could tell them about your quick smile or your willingness to try any of the crazy games I threw your way.

Or maybe I could just tell them how you rarely left my side or my arms during our final days in Koti.

Keerthana, I continue to pray for you and your family as often as I think of you, and I'm glad my friends were able to visit you this week. I am sure you welcomed them with the same love and joy as you welcomed us.

I hope the Lord brings us together again soon,

With love,

La-la-la-Liz

"Pure for Sure" - the return to southern India

Confession: This may be the most delayed update I have ever done on this blog. Little Man, new job, temporary single mom status and the start of camp have put me significantly on personal things like haircuts, grocery shopping (who needs fruit in the house, right?) and blogging.

This past March, Jay and I returned to India. Before we left, we knew it was going to be an entirely different trip from last year. We didn't really know the team we were traveling with (we met some of them once before we went) and we were being sent by Granger Community Church with a mission separate from the rest of the team.

We were asked to focus on children's programming and, since this was a construction team, we were given freedom to step away from the group and focus on the children.

The team was sent to a new village, nick-named "Koti", is just outside of Vellavedu in Tamil Nadu, India. We were the first team sent there and I am pretty sure they didn't know what to do with us considering many of our kid's min methods are seen as unique even in the States. Here are some photos as a quick overview of the trip:

5 are meant to go in a 2 seat rickshaw . . . 

We always had a crowd watching us, no matter what we were doing

Deconstructing a house

Love when children ham it up for the camera

Reunited after a year!

There is a story behind this photo, but the panic in my eyes was very real. (Note: Jay was about 50 ft. away at this point joyfully covered in sewer water.)

After school children's ministry

Planning for each day under the mosquito net the thatched roof hut - just another typical day for the Taylors.

Those Days

Today is just one of those days . . .

One of those days when no shower was possible (or even desired really).

When my hair is most definitely not brushed.

When I went into the office with carrots, apples and spit up all over my jeans.

When I question the majority of parenting decisions I am making.

When I miss my hubs terribly. 

When I feel like there is not enough time in the day to get everything for my job done. 

When I broke out new baby spoons from our gift stash because I was too lazy to wash dishes and when I used disposable diapers because I was unmotivated to wash the dirty ones.

It just was one of those days.

But it was also a day when I got to snuggle with my little man.

When I watched my dog and my son become friends (truly, they were playing with toys together)

When I got to spend time talking to God about worry and grace.

And when I got to dance around the office to Disney songs with my little man.

So, I will continue to survive these kind of days and look for the joy within them.

A Different kind of Mother's Day Tradition

Mother's Day is hard. 

I am a woman living in the land of infertility which means it has been really hard for years. As a friend of ours said the other night, it is like starving while everyone around you is enjoying a feast.

With that perspective, I entered into this Mother's Day knowing and understanding the dark sides of it. Don't get me wrong, It is one of the greatest joys in my life to be Little Man's Mom. His snuggles and sloppy cheek sucks are just a piece of the blessing it is to raise him. But I know that Mother's Day was one of the hardest days of the year for so long and still is for so many women. This Mother's Day was like going to Disney World after spending time in India. It was fun and celebratory, but the filter with which I was seeing the world had changed.

So Jay and I decided, as a family, we were going to have a different tradition in our house. Instead of breakfast in bed (I work for a church, it will never work on Sunday anyway), gifts,  or other grand gestures directed at me, we are going to make Mother's Day a day to honor the incredible woman who gave our Little Man life.

We are going to celebrate Birthmother's Day. 

We started this year by writing a brief update on our Little Man to send to adoption agency and praying with Little Man for his birthmom by name last night, and then God, in His perfect timing, caused this to happen:

       I was checking my email this afternoon only to find an email from our adoption specialist saying that Little Man's birthparents had requested an update over the weekend. It is the first contact with them we have had since birth. I quickly drafted an email, included lots of pictures and sent it away to hopefully bless them.

Our God does such crazy works in the world around us and I love to be in a place that I get to give testimony to that.