India day 7-9
When stepping off the plane in Calcutta, you are welcomed with wind that feals like a blowdyer. You constantly feel like you are swimming because you are hardly ever ever in a/c. I drink about 3 L of water a day and I still feel thirtsy from the amount of sweat I am producing. Today...we said it literally felt a bit like Hell. There are crows lurking everywhere. The first night I had a horrible dream that all I want to do is forget. It smells...and I am one who doesn't have a hightened sense. It's dark, figuratively. There is oppression to the point of literally feeling it. And I've been told this is better than it has been before.
Yet, there IS [my middle name].
Don't get me wrong, I am enjoying it here. It just takes his stength and relying on him as my refuge and fortress.
Favorite moments:
* Getting to know a street family with precious little girls, Lucky and Mina. The mother blessing ME with Chai [fyi, I am loving that I get chai at almost every meal here]
* Volunteering at a Mother Teresa Home for disabled [mental and physical] children. I did physical therapy for a little girl named Sneha [prounounced without the "S"]. Learning that His love is a lot like physical therapy. It is hard to do in the moment because you know the child is hurting, but you press forward because you know that you are bettering the child for his or her future.
* Learning the difference between serving just for social justice or for the expansion of his kindgom.
* Visiting a redlight district [where they filmed "Born into Brothels," one of my favorite documentaries] where we went to an organization that helped give handbag-making jobs to women who want to leave the sex industry. It's beyound frustatiung not being able to communicate with the people here...yet, I've never been more grateful for the message a smile gives.
Something to think about:
There have been thousands of [father lovers over seas, starts with an M] here but why has there not been a change of heart here...why is this city still worshipping idols? The Ms have come and gone, just as readily as other parts of the world, yet it remains so unchanged....
We believe that the biggest thing standing in the way is the distraction of meeting needs. Hard to swallow, yes. But a father's love thinks of the child's whole [eternal] life and it's this pure love that makes me push on to keep my mind focus on meeting the eternal need of each of his children here....not just the current moment's need.
Digest that and be moved to apply the same there in the US. Mountains may be moved.
Love you. Miss you.
