Well, I have been here a little over a month now. I think yesterday or the day before marked one month exactly. I was thinking the other day how some things just seem common place to me now. Every country has there own way of doing things and you just start getting used to it. I wanted to share a few with you, so here are things that should be strange but just don't phase me anymore:
- the fact that the drain from my bathroom sink is connected to a rubber tube that leads to another drain on the ground. And I have no idea where that one leads...
- the fact that my kitchen has little ant-like creatures that crawl around on one of the cabinets, but it's okay because we just keep our food on the other cabinet.
- the fact that every room has a ton of light switches and it's impossible to learn what they all go to... like our kitchen has about 10 light switches on one panel and I have to keep pushing switches until I finally find the one I'm wanting
- the fact that there are always cows walking around on the streets. They don't really surprise me anymore, but it amuses me when they are walking across the street and the cars have to stop and figure out how to get around them
- the fact that when I see a rat on the street, I have zero reaction
- the fact that I bobble my head without realizing it now, even when I'm talking on the phone and the person can't see me (Indians tilt their head to the right and left to say okay- they don't nod)
Another thing I have gotten used to, sadly, is getting sick. There's really no way of knowing what will make me sick, so I just eat without fear, knowing I'm in God's hands. I know it's just a fact of life when you live overseas. And it's nice because it comes and goes quickly in my experience, and for people who might be traveling here later, don't worry- I feel like I'm the only one that has been persistently getting sick and most people I traveled with didn't get sick at all. Yesterday was funny because I got sick after lunch and ended up throwing up in a Cafe Coffee Day. It wasn't too bad because I was able to get to the bathroom and got it mostly in the toilet (sorry, I was trying to decide if I should include this or not, but just decided to because it happens). It was sad though because my friend was trying to tell the girls who worked there what happened in nice terms, but they weren't understanding so I had to come and explain to them, with hand motions, what happened. Suddenly I could see the light dawn in their eyes and I just apologized- It wasn't exactly my fault, but still isn't fun for them. There's nothing like humbling yourself after you get sick. I probably won't go back to that particular Cafe Coffee Day. But I came home and was still having problems. I talked to a lady that has lived in North India for awhile and is a pro with sicknesses. She suggested I take a "dewormer" because I've been having stomach problems for a bit. I guess that means I might have a worm. Dewormers are great, though, because you just have to take one and it clears up everything. You just take a 2nd pill after 10 days as a follow-up, but it only really takes one to do the job. I was feeling better this morning but took it just in case. We'll see if everything gets better, but I feel confident it will.
There is a group of college students here right now, so I've been going out with them during the days. It's been fun getting to know them and God has been doing so much in the past couple of days. I feel like I'm seeing breakthrough in listening to the Holy Spirit's voice and being led by Him throughout the day. A couple of days ago, I went out with a girl from the trip and we just asked God where we should go. It was such a restful time of going out and seeing things that God had spoken to us come to be. There were so many awesome conversations we got to have that day, but I'll just tell you one so this doesn't go on forever. We had stopped at a coffee shop to get something to drink and reconnect with God. When we were ready to leave, we asked God to speak to us about where to go or anything else directional, and then we just waited to see if he said anything. I feel like whenever I do this, I always have random pictures come to my mind, but lately I've been taking them seriously and starting to see that a lot of times they do have a meaning. This particular time I had a picture of a star on top of a Christmas tree come to my mind. I shared it with my friend but was thinking, yeah right, where am I going to see a Christmas tree in India in June? My friend felt like we should stay in the mall we were in, so we just started walking around. We got up to the 3rd floor, and I turn my head and see an ad on the wall that has Santa Claus on it. I was thinking, Are you serious?!?, and went to look at it. It didn't notice a Christmas tree, but it said the "Visit upstairs for International Brands" or something like that, so we went up a floor. And sure enough, on that next floor there was the picture of the star with a Christmas tree that I saw! So both my friend and I were like, wow, God wants us to talk to someone here. The only problem was that it was the men's department and there weren't many girls there. But I saw a girl and felt like I should go over to talk to her. She was there shopping with her brother and I got to share with both of them about Jesus. They are both from an unreached people group that is normally hard to share with. They had heard of Jesus before and the brother had even seen a film about Him. I got to explain more and they were both interested in meeting again to talk more about Him. I texted the guy the other day to see if they wanted to meet, and he replied, "we both are so interest in Jesus Christ & believing him... I really would like to meet u". So I should be meeting them tonight with a friend who is visiting town and actually speaks their language. Pray that God would really reveal Himself to them and they would know that Jesus is the only way to get to God (John 14:6).
And pray for continued grace and breakthrough to abide with the Lord and be led by Him. I personally don't care whatever fruit comes out of it, but I just want to follow what the Father's doing here. There's such freedom in knowing that regardless of the outcome, I can just be obedient to God and enjoy His presence. That's all that matters. Until next update! (Maybe I can make them more frequent so they aren't so long... I'll work on that!)
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