Umm, G-d tastes good?!

Um, G-d tastes good?!

It was in INCREDIBLY blessed day I just had. We had the amazing
pleasure of inviting two of our Kazakh co-workers to attend a service
at a local Kazakh ch-rch with us. It was amazing for a few reasons:
1) This was only the third time that we've been able to attend a
service here because of security reasons. 2) Our Kazakh friends are
both from Mus backgrounds, and it was cool to introduce them tangibly
to what we believe. 3) I got long, tight, joyful hugs from 3 small
Kazakh kiddos I met on Christmas. I love kid hugs. LOVE.

The second I walked into the room this morning, I could tell I was
walking into the house of the L-rd. It felt different. It felt SO
good. It felt like the presence of the 01y Sp1r1t. I knew I was
surrounded by 20 national bel!evers. I knew G-d was there and working
so powerfully. MAAAAAAN oh man, I miss ch-rch. There was a sudden
calm upon entering the sanctuary, a sudden peace, an instant family, a
perfect place. All in all, A GREAT MORNING.

At the beginning of the lesson, before my translator arrived, I was
just sitting in the back row, smiiiiiiling and not understanding a
word that was being said (the church is held in the Kazakh language,
not Russian). And I was smiling for good reason…I was in ch-rch! The
pastor then began talking about the joy on the faces of the people in
the back row (and I knew this only because every single person turned
around to look at the two beaming faces in the back) and then
exclaimed (in English, no less), "Americans with Hollywood Smiles!"
Everyone laughed and so did we.

The lesson given by the pastor was about joy, and how joy shows on
your face and through your actions. He quoted Ps. 34: "Taste and see
that the L*rd is good." My translator was good, but that verse
confused her. She looked at me, puzzled, and said, "Um, G-d tastes
good?"

I never realized until I was here what an incredible blessing it is to
be part of a ch-rch. Friends, TREASURE IT and (cliché coming) stop
taking it for granted! It's a real GIFT that you get every
Sunday…whether or not you actually go to ch-rch, it's your decision!
How awesome is that?

Later, we walked through this new supermarket that we'd never been in
before, and you'll never believe what we found: Philadelphia Cream
Cheese! We didn't buy because it was a little out of our price range,
but we did do a little (and very American) happy dance with some
excited squealing in the store that caused many a national to point
and stare and laugh a little bit.

Tonight, the weather was in the low 60s, so we took a walk, got ice
cream, and talked. A wonderful end to a wonderful day.