FYI

I am still alive!! =)

It's been a fair amount of time since being back from India and I thought I'd stop by and let ya'll know that I am still alive.

Right quick like let me show some more pictures from good ol' India.

 

 Waiting at the bus stop...quite the traditional look =)

 A pretty flower in my hair from one of the girls =)

 Here's my shower, my sink, and my toilet...guess which one's which.

 Another traditional man waiting for the train

 Henna I did that took me THREE HOURS STRAIGHT!

 Just drivin' down the street

 Love him =)

And this my friend was a special meal...yes, we ate with our hands!

Love it.

Hakuna Matata

One Week

Okay team...well here I go posting the second post of the month!  Way to go Sarah. NOT.  And I think I might just be real original again and do a pretty simple update blog.  In my defense I don't have much time and have barely had internet access this entire month!  Yeah, that's a good reason.  Okay, here I go...

-I successfully have taken two buses and a sleeper train and made my way 10 hours north east to Tamil Nadu's capital, Chennai.  I am here visiting my friend, Joshua.  He was an exchange student in my home town last year and now it's his turn to host an American.  The only bummer is he has exams this week (fyi, Indian exams compared to American exams are like comparing...okay after sitting here for a few minutes trying to find something nonviolent to compare it to, I can't...so we'll just say they are like gosh darn stinkin' crazy!).  His last exam is tomorrow so after that we will have the rest of the day and the day Thursday to hang out...great!  I'm looking forward to it.  While I have been here in Chennai his mother (who is super kind and great) has been showing me around and taking me to the important places...you know, churches and malls.  Seriously, we have gone to probably 6 different churches and 4 malls/shopping centers.  Dang girl!  It's been fun though.

-I am now short 3 wisdom teeth and praising Jesus about how well it went.  Seriously, the cost was somewhere around $1000 cheaper than it would have been in the U.S.!  C'mon America!  You are killing me!  Anyways, no complaining here because I didn't have to pay that much.  They dentists were really really great, the surgery went super fast, and they told me they even prayed for me the morning of the surgery!  Woo-hoo!  Thanks guys, two thumbs up!

-Right now I am visiting the Oasis ministry in Chennai.  I got to come and see the office and then spend the rest of the afternoon with the girls in their program who have learned how to sew their own clothes.  Wow, I honestly cannot tell you just how delightful these girls are.  I am so sad I cannot spend more time with them here.  We talked for a little while about our families and such, then we played a few games (I guess all those youth group games can be put to good use after all), after that they went back to their work and to finish we danced and took loads of pictures.  I don't have my laptop right now or I would upload them...I will try to do so later.  But really, they were great.

-Ummm I leave in t minus ONE WEEK!  Did I just type that?  I have never felt the way I do right now about leaving a country/mission field.  Maybe I'll try explaining more in depth another time...even then I don't know if it's possible.

-I have henna on my hands!  Love it!  On my right hand it's Rajistan (an area in India I'm told), and the left it's Arabic.  Again, pictures later.

-I'm going to Bible school in January!  Have I told you yet?  Well there ya go!  And yes, I am stinkin' excited.  New Tribes Bible Institute.

-Christmas is soon...like 4 days away.  woo-hoo!

-Aaannnnnnddddd I'm out of this to say.

Love Ya'll!

As they like to say here in India, "Have a Happy Christmas!"

Update!

Here's a quick update as I am babysitting in a house that has internet =)

-Three months ago today I left for India! Weird
-God totally helped me through a month of teaching the girls (mainly) by myself and I learned a lot in that month
-Christmas is in like 20 days!!!!
-We have started the process of getting internet at our house so hopefully I will be blogging more soon!
-It's super cold here...you would never guess I am in India
-I love the little coffee shop workers here...they are so kind and make little smiley faces on the top of my coffee =)
-I am loving the girls so much it's getting ridiculously nerve racking to think about leaving
-I am getting my wisdom teeth out (all four of them hopefully) this coming Saturday
-I have been listening to some new music and you also should listen to...Andrew Peterson.  LOVE HIM!  All of his stuff is great...especially his Christmas album!  Go check it out!
-God has been showing me a lot through the story of Abraham and Sarah and Isaac...I shall blog about it when I have more time
-Go read Isaiah 43:1-2 and feel loved, because you are!

Love ya'll!  Hope you're doing great =)  Love from India!

Hakuna Matata

My Plan

God's plan was for me to come to India in September to work with rescued girls through Freedom Firm.  All of the details of that first sentence were made very clear to me before I had taken off. 

My plan was to stay for six months, but the more I have come before the Lord the more clear He has made it that His plans were different.  Two nights ago I changed my plane ticket and I now will be leaving India at the end of December (just about two months earlier than the original date).  This decision has taken a lot of prayer, thought, and advice seeking, but I have come to the point where I can honestly say I have heard His voice, and as far as I'm concerned He is calling me home. 

It's been crazy, I feel like I was born to live overseas.  Throughout my missions career I have never felt homesick, but have strongly felt a desire to settle in the land so my relationships and ministry could take on a deeper level.  This decision is conflicting in the fact that it is difficult and easy at the same time.  I find it difficult when I think of the judgment of man and how I think it will actually be harder to leave early than it would be to stay (for many reasons).  But I find it so simple when I think about what I want my life to be used for (glorifying God) and who I am striving to seek and obey in this life (Jesus), no matter how difficult it may be. 

I think of the story of Abraham in Genesis 22 when God asked Him to sacrifice His only son, Isaac.  The next sentence after God tells Abraham to go to the place of sacrifice simply says this, "Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey."  That is the kind of trust in God I want.  I want Him to be able to tell me something, whether it is, "sacrifice your son," or "go home," and as soon as I hear his voice I want to "load up my donkey early in the morning," with no doubt in His guidance.

There are times I feel as if I could stay and it would be fine, I mean surely God would bless my time here right?  I actually do believe that He would bless my time in India if I stayed the full six months, but to me that isn't the issue anymore.  The issue is God told me to go home, and I want to respond to Him the best I can.  I think of John 10:4 where it says, "...his sheep follow him because they know his voice."  Again, I have heard His voice and I cannot deny what I know to be true in my heart.

Of course this doesn't all make sense.  Why would God want me to go away from the mission field?  Away from a place where so much help is needed?  First I have to remember that wherever I am placed is my mission field, India, Michigan, and anywhere inbetween, I am a missionary.  Second I think of Isaiah's words in chapter 55 verses 8 & 9, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD.  "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."  This may be something I will never grow to understand, and I am okay with that just as long as I do understand that God is above me and He has my best interest in mind...even if I can't seem to understand it myself.

My plan now is to obey God, and as far as I am concerned in my heart and my mind, that is exactly what I am doing by flying home in December. 


Hakuna Matata