Sidhara Udalagama
10 min read ⭑
“I can’t quite explain the feeling when the words start to flow or the ideas suddenly come together, but there’s a strong sense that this is not just me. Simple surrender to God doesn’t take much, but I have found that it changes everything.”
From Sri Lanka to England to Australia, Sidhara Udalagama’s life has always been marked by travel. Nowadays, she loves to travel the world with her husband, Dev, while eating good food and sharing truth from the Bible. She uses her God-given gift of communication to serve a global nonprofit, speak at corporate and Christian events, and create heart-changing video and Bible study projects with platforms like YouVersion and RightNow Media. Today, she’s getting honest about her new-found love of baking, why Sabbath is essential to her spiritual growth, and more.
QUESTION #1: ACQUAINT
There’s much more to food than palate and preference. How does a go-to meal at your favorite hometown restaurant reveal the true you behind the web bio?
Uh oh. How long do we have? I could talk about food all day long, and trying to narrow down a single favorite meal or restaurant is nearly impossible for me. But I’ll give it a go!
I was born and raised in Sri Lanka, spent my late teens and 20s in England, and now live in Perth, Australia, so my definition of “hometown” is quite fluid and broad. While I can easily rattle off different types of meals I’m obsessed with (I’m trying to restrain myself here!), the one that has stood the test of time is a traditional Sri Lankan dish called kiribath. Kiribath literally means “milk rice,” and it’s rice cooked in coconut milk, usually served with a curry and stunningly spicy chili sambal.
When I moved to England to go to university, I remember coming back to Sri Lanka during the university breaks, and my mum would always have kiribath on the table. It didn’t matter whether my flight landed at 1 a.m. or 3 p.m.; there would always be kiribath. We would sit around the table and eat together once again, laughing, joking, and enjoying each other’s presence. Nearly 20 years later, that tradition has not changed. Now, with husbands and wives in tow, my brother and I still go back to the table at my parents’ house, and kiribath is always on offer. It’s a meal that signifies the love of family, the joy of being present, and the ties that bind us together no matter where in the world we are.
LAUREN GRAY; Unsplash
QUESTION #2: REVEAL
We’ve all got quirky proclivities and out-of-the-way interests. So what are yours? What so-called “nonspiritual” activity (or activities) do you love engaging in, which also help you find essential spiritual renewal?
I have never been called Martha Stewart in the kitchen, and for good reason! Cooking and baking were never skills I had acquired—or tried to acquire, for that matter. All that changed when the pandemic entered our lives, and we were forced to stay indoors. While I am a self-professed baked goods enthusiast, my skills lie in consuming rather than creating said goods. With all the time we had on our hands, I decided to reverse those roles and give baking a go. That kickstarted a love for baking that I never knew existed and a ritual of sorts that has continued to this day.
For me, the world stills and the noise in my head (that can sometimes be loud) dissipates as I weigh chocolate or cream butter and sugar together. There’s something therapeutic about the kneading of dough and the mixing of ingredients. The process of taking raw materials and putting them together in such a way that creates something delicious to give people joy is a beautiful journey.
I find God in this process. In this slow, steady, creative, life-giving, experimental space. I find him as Creator, and it releases his creativity in me. It gives me perspective. I see how his hand is at work behind the scenes of my life. And there in the kitchen, as the cinnamon rolls start their second rise, I feel grounded again in the simplicity of trusting him with it all.
QUESTION #3: CONFESS
Every superhero has a weakness. Every human, too. We’re just good at faking it. But who are we kidding? We’re broken and in this thing together. So what’s your kryptonite, and how do you hide it?
Kryptonite? Well, there isn’t just one! The list is too long, but for the sake of time, I’ll pick one I’ve journeyed with for a long time: the fear of failure.
Growing up in the culture I did, there was always a desire in me to be perfect, always do the right thing, and never get anything wrong. While I am driven and want to do things to the best of my ability, the shadow side of that drive for excellence is an unhealthy desire for perfection due to a fear of getting it wrong. Failure has never been something I’ve been comfortable with, and it takes me a while to get over it. The interesting thing is that while I hold myself to a standard of perfection, I don’t have that same standard for other people. Often, we can be kinder to other people than we are to ourselves!
Today, with the help of the Holy Spirit, I’ve come a long way, but there are still many moments I have to ask for God’s help to overcome my fear of failure. I am better at not dwelling on mistakes and kinder to myself when I make them. Appreciating progress over perfection is an art. It’s still very much a work in progress for me, and perhaps, to a degree, it always will be.
QUESTION #4: FIRE UP
Tell us about your toil. How are you investing your professional time right now? What’s your current obsession? And why should it be ours?
I love collaborating with other organizations and platforms to help people find their place in God’s story and have a real, authentic, and living faith in him.
RightNow Media is a great platform that helps individuals, small groups, and churches do just that by engaging with meaningful content. I’ve had the privilege of working with them on a series on racism in the past and have a few others currently in the pipeline.
The most recent series is The Wonder of Grace, in collaboration with Freedom in Christ Ministries U.K., and it will be out later this year. I’m so excited for people to dive into this resource and discover God’s unbelievable, wonderful grace and how it impacts their daily lives with him.
QUESTION #5: BOOST
Cashiers, CEOs, contractors, or customer service reps, we all need grace flowing into us and back out into the world. How does the Holy Spirit invigorate your work? And how do you know it’s God when it happens?
I don’t know if you’ve ever had the experience of staring at a blank computer screen for any great length of time, but let me tell you, it’s not fun! A lot of the work I do involves writing and creating with authenticity, passion, and sincerity. That’s not always an easy process. It gets significantly harder when I try to do it in my own strength without turning to God for his wisdom and guidance.
There are many times when I’ve tried to find the right words, picture an experiential moment, or imagine the flow of a video script, but I just can’t quite seem to get it. One practice that I’ve adopted over the years is to take a quick moment to pray and ask God for his help before I start any piece of work. When I step on a stage to communicate, whether that’s at a church or organization or in front of a camera, I take a moment to quickly kneel and give that piece of work to God and ask him for his help in delivering what I believe he has laid on my heart. These moments might be quick and simple, but I’ve found them to be powerful.
I start with God at the forefront, reminding myself that he is working in and through me. I sense his presence in the work of my hands and the words in my mouth. I can’t quite explain the feeling when the words start to flow or the ideas suddenly come together, but there’s a strong sense that this is not just me. Simple surrender to God doesn’t take much, but I have found that it changes everything.
QUESTION #6: inspire
Scripture and tradition beckon us into the rich and varied habits that open our hearts to the presence of God. So let us in. Which spiritual practice is working best for you right now?
Sabbath. So much to say about this practice!
It’s a spiritual practice that my husband, Dev, and I adopted a few years ago, and it has anchored and blessed our lives in the biggest way. In its simplest form, Sabbath is taking 24 hours to stop, rest, reflect, and delight in God.
In a world that is constantly on the go, we all live full lives. And that’s not a bad thing, but it does mean that it’s increasingly hard to find time to breathe, rest, and just stop. Stop achieving, producing, and being busy. Sabbath gives us space to enjoy God and the life he has given us, to stop in a hurried world and delight in being human. It reminds us that the world doesn’t fall apart when we stop! That God is the One who never stops working, and we can trust that he will still hold it all while we rest.
Dev and I do a Saturday Sabbath. When we first started, it felt quite uncomfortable. That’s a whole day without chores, errands, work, or productivity. It almost seemed impossible to set that time aside. I mean, who has that kind of time? I often speak on Sundays, which means I have to get all my prep done before Saturday so I can do Sabbath. I remember my husband saying to me that God would honor our decision to honor him with our time and that we can trust him with everything that it involves. Of course, he was right.
We have found that Sabbath is not a sacrifice; it’s an integral part of our week that is indispensable to who we are and how we live. It helps us to work from a place of rest rather than for rest, and that has changed everything.
QUESTION #7: FOCUS
Looking backward, considering the full sweep of your unique faith journey and all you encountered along the way, what top three resources stand out to you? What changed the game and changed your heart? What radically altered your life? What changed your reality?
I have been so grateful for many outstanding theologians, writers, podcasters, and content creators who have influenced my life in so many ways. But if I had to pick three, these would be the ones that come to mind (in no particular order!):
1. The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer.
I was so inspired, challenged, and hungry for God after reading this book. It lit a flame inside me as a young 20-year-old, and beautifully, that flame has never been extinguished.
2. The Bible Project and the YouVersion Bible app.
Okay, I cheated—that’s technically two, but they’re both digital resources so can they go in one category, right? The Bible Project takes theological concepts and explains them in a way that is engaging and understandable. Outstanding! The Bible app has the most incredible short Bible reflections and Bible study plans that are so helpful to my daily walk with God.
3. Garden City by John Mark Comer.
I love the way this man writes, but more than anything, I love how committed he is to living a life devoted to the presence of God. The ideas of rest, Sabbath, work, and the world are all explored in a compelling, biblical way that is essential to the world we live in.
We all have things we cling to to survive (or even thrive) in tough times—times like these! Name one resource you’re savoring and/or finding indispensable in this current season, and tell us what it’s doing for you.
I have found going back to basics so helpful in the middle of an ever-changing global, political, and spiritual landscape. There seems to be so much going on all the time in every corner of the world, and for me, simplifying my focus has helped immensely.
I am obsessed with the Rule of Life podcast by Practicing the Way. Spiritual formation isn’t an automatic process, and each of us is called to engage with the work of the Holy Spirit in us.
The Rule of Life podcast takes spiritual practices like fasting, solitude, Sabbath, and prayer and breaks them down in a conversational setting. Going back to the foundations of our faith and the practices that keep us anchored and grounded in God and community has been so life-giving these last few years.
QUESTION #8: dream
God is continually stirring new things in each of us. So give us the scoop! What’s beginning to stir in you but not yet fully awakened? What can we expect from you in the future?
At the moment, I’m thinking through what being a follower of Jesus looks like in my daily life. It might sound simple, but I’m challenged by the concept of being a disciple (which essentially means to be a follower!), not just in church but also at work, in the gym, out in the park, in my grocery store, and so on.
I often find that the next “thing” comes out of the next “me.” And by that, I mean God’s revelations and words that tend to shape and mold my thinking and being in that season. So it’s all still unfolding. I’m equal parts nervous and excited to see where it will lead. Watch this space!
Earlier in our interview, while Sidhara was discussing her struggle with perfectionism, she said:
“While I hold myself to a standard of perfection, I don’t have that same standard for other people. Often, we can be kinder to other people than we are to ourselves!”
Is this true for you? If so, consider trying something new this week: Take 15 minutes to be alone and think about a particular struggle you have or an area where you fall short. Then, write a letter to yourself as if you were writing to encourage a dear friend dealing with the same struggle.
Once you’re done, read your letter out loud. How does it feel? How does it change your perspective of your struggles and imperfections?
One final question: What is God calling you to do with this new perspective?
Sidhara grew up in Sri Lanka but spent her adult years in England working in full-time ministry after graduating with an M.Sc. in organizational psychology. She’s worked as a leadership coach for nonprofits and corporations, and she currently works as a communications specialist for a global nonprofit and a speaker for corporate and faith-based events. With a passion for helping people grow their faith and fulfill their God-given potential, she loves teaming up with organizations like RightNow Media and YouVersion. Sidhara is married to Dev and enjoys good food, traveling the world, and repeating those two things—preferably together!
