What is India

I’m sitting on our porch watching what typically happens on a Sunday morning in Ongole. The building directly next to us did have kids playing on the roof but quickly went downstairs when monkeys leapt to the ledge of their roof. One of the monkeys is now walking down into their house. I think their aggression makes them able to do whatever they want. I was hoping for a friendly encounter with monkeys in India-no such luck and no such hope. 

For the past two years or so I’ve been dreaming of India. I knew the Lord was calling me here and because it was repeated so many times I thought India would be the solution; the solution to finding my calling or the solution to becoming a new person. I think it is part of both but only the beginning. My heart aches and breaks for India but I think India is work. It is all that I must do to lay the foundation for the fortress the Lord is building. He is tearing down the measly house that I had built and called myself. I am called to greatness and I think starting here was the only way I would get to where the Lord really wants me to be.
It is so easy to only see earthly things in India. It’s phenomenally different than anything I’ve ever known. In just this month I know the Lord is going to shatter my pitiful American bubble. He’s teaching me to see the unseen, which is hard for me. I want it badly but I know a struggle lies ahead of balancing what I see and what is really going on.
I LOVE that here it’s so easy to look into the lives of others. There is nonstop interaction between people. I can’t shut out the noise of women washing their clothes or sweeping their houses out. Children yell “hi!”, and “bye!” as we drive by. The young women get bashful when we smile at them. It’s so wonderful to be here with these people. They’re so full of life and devotion. I wish they knew how much they’re teaching me just by living.