I would kill for some chicken right now.
These hot days and cold nights are really messing with me.
The food. I can literally feel it causing my stomach to twist into a million knots.
The people. Amazing and so hospitable.
I get to see dogs every day which is nice.
Waking up at 6:00 am to a worship sesh going on with the students at the school I am staying at, that’s what makes my heart sing.
Some Chickfila lemonade sounds amazing right now. Well, Chickfila period.
TEAAAAA(M) TIME!
These are some of the things running through my mind. India has been great. Different, but great. The people, the food (in some ways), the things around me, everything. It has been definitely somewhat of a culture shock but I love it. Yes, it might seem like I am having a negative attitude while being here thus far, and maybe to a certain degree that’s true. However, the Lord has been doing so much in the short amount of time I have been here, so much to the point I can’t help but to be filled with joy and excitement for what is to come. The travel here was a journey. 11 days, change of plans for what ministry looks like in India (where we are staying, who we are staying with, etc.), an 18-hour plane ride (while having the flu), a 24-hour layover in an airport (not as bad as you would think), multiple 7-hour bus rides, a train ride (my very 1st one!!), and 3 countries later. I can honestly say I survived this, by the grace of God.
So far, we have done quite a bit. We did VBS at the school we are staying at the first few days. I didn’t know this at the time, but all of the kids that attended the VBS would be going to the school and I would get to see them again! The next week we went to another school a couple villages over and did VBS over there. We also helped with working on a new church they were constructing in a village called Manikbond. I got the privilege of speaking at this church, my very first sermon! The village we were living in, Dhamptura, stole my heart. The people there are so welcoming and kind. The whole time there if I didn’t have a smile on my face, my heart definitely was. I made many great friends there; sadly, most of which I might not get to see again until heaven, but they will always be in my heart. This week, we taught in classes at the school we are staying at. I am not much of a teacher, so it was definitely outside of my comfort zone. However, I loved the experience of getting to do something uncomfortable and serve the Lord as well as the wonderful kids and teachers at this school. One day, I went down to the lower level of the school where all of the little kids were. It was filled with tears (mostly the little kids because of leaving their parents, some from me), so many little nuggets, and smiles. When I was looking around the room, a little girl caught my attention. She was crying and no one was trying to comfort her. I went up to her trying to comfort her, and at first she wouldn’t look at me. Then, she said that she wanted her mommy, in Hindi. When I asked what she said from the translator and she told me, it absolutely broke my heart. The next hour, I held her in my arms, and she fell asleep while I was comforting her. In this moment, I saw through the lens of how the Lord sees us. He just wants to hold us in His arms and comfort us; He just wants to love on us.
It is currently 7:46 PM here, yet it feels like it is getting close to midnight. We wake up at the crack of dawn, and go to bed no later than 10 PM; it’s awesome. (I am saying this after I have gotten used to waking up so early, not being a morning person and all). As I am writing this, after a day of feeling nauseous, frustration due to lack of words for this blog, laughing with my dear friends, seeing the Lord in the small things, feeling His undeserving love, hearing our amazing liaison singing his favorite song, dancing and shouting, “I AM FREE”, I cannot help but to feel so blessed. The past couple of months have been hard. They have been filled with conviction, tears, facing fears, exhaustion, sickness, and weakness. I have felt like I am constantly falling, getting the air knocked out of me, right after the Lord picks me up. Isn’t that a beautiful example of life though? That is what life is! Us falling, and the Lord always there to pick us up. I would rather live a life of constantly falling and getting picked up by Jesus, than one where I stand and never know Him. I feel blessed because I have a life-long, constant companion. One I didn’t ask for, yet One who wanted to give everything to be on this walk with me. One that walks through the fire, the storms, the trials with me. One Who is patient when I question who knows what’s best for me (news-flash: not me). One Who never condemns me. One Who has been and always will be. Jesus. No matter what I am feeling or going through, I have Jesus in my life. That is a blessing in of itself. This blessing is why I am here, why I am on the Race. Yes, traveling the world is something I have always dreamed of. However, the Lord has redeemed my old dreams and replaced it with a different, yet similar one: sharing His love with everyone I meet, and if that means traveling the world, awesome. Solely traveling the world is no longer my dream- Jesus is my dream now and glorifying Him is what I so desperately want to do.
