Eat, Pray, Love

Although I did enjoy Eat, Pray, Love as a novel/motion picture, that is not what the title is referring to.  Here is my version.

Rachel and I decided to go to the Llama Temple first and meet up with the other girls at the Silk Street Market later in the afternoon. Right when you walk into the Llama temple they hand you a box of incense to burn. And there are people just kneeling and bowing and lighting incense and praying. This was an oddly beautiful and spiritual experience for me. I lit incense and prayed not to the Buddhist statues, but to my Heavenly Father. It was so liberating to stand in the midst of hundreds of people of different faiths and backgrounds and block everything out except the feelings of my soul. The temple is huge with statues of Buddhist gods throughout the different rooms. In each succeeding room the statues get bigger and bigger and bigger until even when straining your neck you can barely make out the faces. Rachel and I got separated and we just walked apart praying and observing everything around us. Honestly I just did alot of thinking and good old soul searching. The atmosphere was just so perfect that I wanted to stay forever just to dig deeper into my mind! All I can really say about what I learned or what I gained is peace and knowledge and truth.

I spent several hours in the temple and then there was one problem. I couldn't find Rachel. I waited by the first section of the temple for a while waiting for us to magically reconvene. When that started to feel impossible, I prayed. I prayed just to know what I should do. I sat there a few moments longer and then decided to walk to the very very front. And there she was right before me. It sounds simple and almost stupid, but its so powerful to see immediate results from prayer. I often have thoughts come into my mind I know are not my own, but this one seemed so blatantly obvious that it was hard to ignore or deny. Moments like that are worth gold to me.

We then headed to the Silk Street market to meet up with the other girls and get some of our shopping done. I bought some goods for my wonderful sisters and then decided it was time to treat myself. Coconut ice cream that I will never forget and never be able to remember because it cannot be recreated.

Rachel and I then went to meet up with Shelly for dinner! How great is life that I am in China and can still meet friends for dinner?! I just can't get over that. We went to Wagas which is so cute and so western and so what I needed. A salad never looked or tasted so good. And seeing Shelly was pure bliss because she is one of those people that is just genuine and good and real. It made me so grateful for life and friendship and food and God.

So hence, Eat. Pray. Love.