I promised one more India post, and although it's late, here it is. Enjoy!
I learned a ton this summer. After thinking and praying through it, I made a list (because I love lists) of some of the big things I've learned. Here are a few:
-I'm really dependent on my friends and family. This summer I was forced to depend on the Lord and prayer, and it was incredible and necessary (and an answered prayer!).
-God is faithful. I knew this before, but didn't experience like I did this summer. He is faithful to come through always and in His perfect timing (example; support). He is faithful to answer prayers, and He is faithful to always listen to us and love us even though we don't deserve it. One small way I realized that this summer was when I was praying about our trip to the Taj. Among other things I was praying for a safe trip because it was a 4 hour drive, and driving in India is scary to me. I've prayed for safe travels many times, generally because I feel like I should, but this time I really felt like we needed the Lord to get us there and back safely. At that moment I realized on a very small scale how faithful He is to listen and care for us, and answer us even when we aren't praying for the right reasons. Needless to say, I feel like I know His heart and desire for us to pray much more now than I did before. That makes my heart smile.
-God is good and merciful in all situations. Even when we were in the slum, even when we were hot, even when I saw beggar children, God was and is always good. One way He really blessed Beka and I this summer was by giving us the ability to not be blinded to the horrible things around us (like the beggar children or the dead rats we were stepping over in the slum water that the children played in), but still not to be so overwhelmed by them that we couldn't function. As I said earlier, India bombards all of your senses, and there is just so much going on that it would be really easy to focus on that instead of what we there to do. God allowed to see and experience so many things, but not be overwhelmed by them.
-Just by working with both Hindu and Muslim women this summer, God grew my heart for both of them a TON! I have prayed for Hindus and Muslims many times, but again, it was more because I should, and I wanted to be obedient.
-I learned a lot about the importance of rest this summer. Spiritual, mental, and physical rest. Indians value rest, I think, much more than Americans do. Granted, we may get more done in a day, but Indians value relationships more than getting stuff done. This can be frustrating, but through Didi caring about how much rest we got I learned a lot about how much God cares for us and our well-being.
Even though the summer is over I would love to ask you to continue to pray with me. Here are some things I'm praying for:
-Each of the women I met/worked with this summer. I would LOVE to give you a specific one to pray for if you'd like. :) Seriously, ask me.
-That I wouldn't put this summer away in a shoebox, and pull it out just to tell stories. I want God to continue to work in my heart with the things I experienced this summer.
-For guidance. I graduate in a year and have no idea what I'm going to do. That is both scary and exciting.
Here are 2 videos for you if you're interested. The first one is about the organization we worked with. The second is of my sweet friend, Priyanka. The slum you see in the videos is the one we worked with, and the women/children shown are the ones that we worked with as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RABTX2rHyGY
I will attempt to keep up this blog thing during school for those of you that have asked, but don't get your hopes up. :)
Lovelovelove.
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