Let me tell you all a little bit about life here in India. To start off India has been complete opposite of all my expectations coming in. Imagine every typical thing you would expect from India and then think of the opposite. Instead of a crowded city we live in a wooded area surrounded by mountains. Instead of being surrounded by Hindu temples we live in a Christian community and are staying on a seminary campus. Spicy food? Not here, we have the occasional kick to some meals but nothing like I was expecting. Life in India has proved very different from any and all expectations I had coming into these two months.
As different as it is from what I had thought, it’s a good different. I think our expectations limit the possibilities of being surprised. They take the allure of the mystery out of equation. Life is supposed to be a surprise! Having all of my expectations for India be wrong threw me for a loop at first, but now I see that because of those surprises I have loved it here so much more. India has taken my expectations not only for a culture, but for God, and cast them aside. In their place new surprises and a deepened fascination has come to light. The way God works has been reimagined in my mind, in a way that evokes pure awe and wonder in my soul. Our squad has been intentionally focusing on prayer this month by doing corporate prayer once a week and by doing our second prayer burn (having groups of people pray every hour of the night, so our group is being lifted up in prayer for 12 hours at a time). Through this my enhanced view on the power of prayer has allowed me to fight for the people I love, in such a way that I never knew existed.
Expectations can trick our minds into thinking we can have a looser grip on trusting the Lord, but I think when we do this we miss the opportunity to see God move in the little things. Or at least it takes us longer to see His hand in those little things around us. In a month when I pack up my little life here in India I’m going to challenge myself to trust the Lord for what life in Guatemala will hold, over setting expectations for it. I’ll let you know how it goes!
Prayer: I realized I haven’t posted much at all about how you can be praying for me, so if you are interested, here you go!
- my team, one of my team members Sophie Ball headed home this week to seek medical care back home. She’s been sick for the majority of the past two months and multiple visits to doctors has turned up little to nothing. She plans to join us again in Guatemala as a healthy girl! Please pray for us as we adjust to life temporarily without a loved team member and for her, that the doctors would be able to get to the bottom of this
- Prayer, as I said before I am learning a lot about prayer but I’ve never been great at disciplining myself in this area. Please pray that I would seek out intentional time everyday for prayer
- Kingdom mindset, I am a little over half way through my trip. Please pray that I would continue to be present where I am, and that I would remain focused on the mission of why I am here
Thanks everyone! All my love! – Julie
