Last night we were involved in a horrible accident. At about 10:30 at night, our car struck a 16 year old boy who had darted out in front of us while trying to cross the street. I want to take a minute to describe how thing unfolded that evening.
As I blogged a few days ago, Hailey’s birthday was on Friday, so we decided to take her on a surprise trip on a house boat in the backwaters about an hour away from Trivandrum in the city of Kollam. We were supposed to leave at 4PM to board the boat at 5:30. At about 4:30, we realized that our driver was heading in exactly the opposite direction of Kollam, toward a town called Kovallam. Adam had even shown him the city name in writing to make sure he knew where we were headed. So he apologized and turned around, but now we were going to be over an hour late to get to Kollam.
When we were within about 10 minutes of our destination, we noticed a government official in the road. He let the car in front of us go but then waved us to take a detour. Apparently some local political rally was starting, and they were blocking the streets. Our detour led us into these remote fishing villages with single track roads. Immediately we were stopped by a train crossing and had to wait about 10 minutes for it to pass. A few minutes later, our drive followed the ‘lead’ car in the detour line around a tight turn that didn’t look like the proper route, only to find that it wasn’t- it came to an even tighter turn and just as you came out of the turn was huge pile of golf ball-sized gravel. The car in front of us landed right in the middle of the pile. He proceeded to try and get unstuck by gunning the engine, which set these rocks firing into our car at high speed. Our drive couldn’t back out because there was a line of cars behind him wedging us in. It was so frightening because these rocks were coming right at Adam’s side window and the front windshield where he was sitting. By a miracle, the car was undamaged. With direction from the local villagers, the line of cars backed out and we were on our way.
When we eventually came to the main road, our driver was lost and had to ask several people which way to go. At this point, we were over an hour and a half late, and Adam and I began to question whether or not to cancel the trip. We’ve grown to become suspicious when several weird things like this happen in a row. We decided that we’d driven so long and were so close that we might as well continue. We found the dock and went out and had a nice time celebrating Hailey’s birthday on the boat. We started to head home at around 9PM.
Adam and I have noticed that in general, traffic has changed here since our last visit several years ago. People used to just step out in to traffic, and the cars would drive around you. That is not the case anymore; cars are not stopping for people as they cross and driving is even more aggressive. It was dark as we drove home, and the whole way Adam and I both had a bad feeling. Adam even joked with our driver Rinish that he was earning his money tonight and that driving at night was a lot harder. I was in the back with girls, and I kept seeing these huge buses crossing into our lane and coming closer than normal to hitting us head on. Rinish would have to pull way off to the side of road to avoid some of them. At one point, we were in a stretch of road in a sparsely populated village area that had relatively few cars, so Rinish started driving fast to make up time. He must been going double the speed we normally do, around 45 miles per hour.
Then it happened- I heard a crash, felt Rinish jerk the car to the right, and saw Adam’s side window shatter two inches from his head. He was choking out ‘oh my God, oh my God’ over and over again, and my blood ran cold. I was afraid to even ask but yelled back ‘what did we hit’ and he said ‘we hit a person’. The tinting on the window must have prevented it from shattering all over Adam, and I could see part of the window broken inward toward him, and the side mirror was ripped off and dangling. I was so afraid that he had been hurt. He told me he was alright, and Rinish pulled over and stopped. Adam immediately got out of the car and ran into the darkness toward the boy. It was a fair distance away because at our speed we had covered a lot of ground before stopping. Rinish followed Adam. Thank God the girls had both been sleeping and had missed the whole thing. They woke up to me crying and praying loudly and calling on Jesus to be in the situation. I didn’t even know what to pray at that point. I knew Adam had just witnessed something horrific and was most likely about to see something even worse, so I prayed for protection over him.
When Adam got the scene, the locals had already started gathering. He saw them drag the limp body of the boy by one arm off the road. He was shocked at the sight of the boy laying limp and at the callus manner with which the people were handling him. The locals then dropped the boy in a heap on the side of the road. Adam lifted his hands and prayed loudly and eventually dropped to his knees in prayer. He prayed that God would miraculously heal this boy, and that God would be glorified in the situation. Back at the car, I was praying the same thing. A few minutes later, a car pulled up and the locals dumped the boy in the back of it, and as Rinish tried to walk away they grabbed him and shoved him in as well and took off.
The girls and I stayed in the car as these few minutes unfolded. The crowd had gathered around us too, and a man opened the driver’s side door and got in the driver’s seat. I immediately yelled at the girls to get out. I had no idea what this guy’s intentions were and envisioned him driving off with us in the back seat. The crowd surrounded us, and Adam could see this so he started running back toward us. He could hear a guy running behind him and feared that it might be a relative thinking he was fleeing the scene, so he started walking. While I was standing there, I was crying because looking at the damage to the car, I thought this boy must be either dead or severely wounded. The local men kept telling me, ‘don’t be upset, it happens all the time’. They were completely unmoved by the situation and didn’t understand why we would be crying. Adam finally arrived, and we prayed together as a family. We again prayed for the boy and that Jesus would be glorified in this situation. At one point when the girls and I were standing there, I looked over at Hailey. She was standing there silent and a foot or two away from me. I expected that she’d be like Jackie, clinging to me with her head buried in my stomach crying. I thought she was in shock or something and asked her if she was alright. She looked and me and said, ‘I’m praying!’ and broke down in tears but stayed where she was. I was so moved to see that she didn’t turn to her earthly parent but turned instead to her heavenly parent for comfort.
Adam called his boss who arranged for another car to come and get us. When the car finally arrived, his boss called to tell Adam that he had made some other calls and found out that the boy was alright! From what we gather, he didn’t even have any broken bones. This boy who was hit at 45 miles an hour, shatter the window and left huge dents in the side of the car, and was unconscious on the street and appeared dead, was unharmed. We are convinced that God did indeed do a miraculous healing on the boy.
Needless to say, we were pretty shaken up on the drive home, even knowing the boy was alright. Today, we were still emotional over the whole event when we went to church. I might not have blogged about it before, but for several weeks now we have been going to a new church. Its small with only about 12 members or so. After each service, they invite anyone who wants to share up front to tell about what God is doing in their lives. Adam went up and shared our story from last night. After service, the congregation has lunch together, and after lunch today the pastor, Pastor Thomas, called Adam back into his office privately. Pastor Thomas had called Adam earlier in the week wanting to come over, but we were entertaining two other Americans from Adam’s work that night and couldn’t. Thomas explained that he had wanted to come over to get to know Adam because he felt God tell him that Adam was supposed to teach. He said that after hearing Adam speak today, he was convinced that this was the case. He told Adam that he had moved the congregation more in his short time of sharing than he as pastor had during his whole sermon.
While we were praying the other day, I prayed Romans 8:28, how ‘we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.’ I do believe that God has worked this situation for His good. Perhaps God is calling Adam to a new purpose. Please pray with us for guidance and wisdom.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
Hailey turns 12
Today is the 19th- Hailey’s 12th birthday. I would say that its hard to believe that she’s twelve, but I actually find it hard to believe that she’s only twelve. She has always been very mature and independent- perhaps a little too independent. As our friends can attest to, I was beside myself when she went off to music camp for a week the summer after 2nd grade. Here was this second grader wanting to go off to camp for a week completely alone to a city two hours away! That’s how old Jackie is right now. I just can’t imagine it looking back. Hailey has made amazing progress in her spiritual growth since we’ve been here. She has a tender heart and is a peacemaker for sure. I just read the comment that my niece Bonnie left on last weeks’ posting, and it made me realize how similar she and Hailey are. Bonnie is a great singer and is at college on a music scholarship, and Hailey has a lovely singing voice as well. Both girls have similar personalities too. Hailey has shown amazing endurance and patience lately, thanks to the many prayers of our friends and family.
This week, the girls and I went to a ladies’ group meeting at the Indian lady’s house. She is the one married to a Dutch guy. I’ll call her Ruth. They have a nice house and their cook makes incredible food! We get the royal treatment whenever we go there. The girls and I went over ourselves last week, so Ruth and I could socialize for a few hours. The agenda for the ladies’ get together was to learn bead jewelry work. Ruth is incredibly talented in so many things, like pastel drawing and doll making, and she is also an ex-lawyer. She makes amazing jewelry and wanted to show us all how to make a bracelet. Mind you, this isn’t just stringing beads on a thread. Its more like sewing. It was a really difficult stitch, but once I mastered it, I was hooked on beading! We took our work home to finish before the second lesson next week.
The nice thing about this beading is that it allows me to listen to sermons while I’m sewing. I’ve done this the past two nights, and I was amazed that as I ‘randomly’ chose sermons on my MP3 player, they were exactly what I needed to hear each night. What struck me in the sermon from last night was how God answers prayers, often in ways we might not neccessarily like. For example, if someone prays to be more loving, God may put a person in their lives that is not just unlovable but downright unlikable. I recalled many of my prayers over the past few months. One was a prayer that the girls would be each others’ best friends and have a bond that would last a life time. Its hysterical to think that here they are, spending 24 hours a day together with no other friends for 6 months! How’s that for bonding?! I had prayed many prayers long ago about us getting out of our comfort zones as well. I can only imagine how many other prayers God is answering through this trip. I was struck with guilt and shame over being down so often while being here and felt a huge need to confess and repent over it. I felt like such an ungrateful child. I am determined to lean more on the Lord and be grateful in all things. In his tragedy, Job in verse 1:21 said ‘The Lord has given and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.’ It’s not like I’m suffering any tragedies, but it’s a great reminder to bless the name of the Lord ALWAYS, in whatever circumstances.
Its been interesting- each morning when I wake up, I have a worship song in my head. It’s a different one each day. As I go over the words in my head, I’ve come to realize that it’s what I need for that particular day; that I need to think about and embrace those words. Its been quite uncanny. If I had memorized more scripture, perhaps God would have brought passages to mind each day, but I guess He’s using the limited resources that He has to work with. :) Its just one more reason why I’m so glad that I’ve stopped listening to the secular music that I used to listen to. The last thing I need is Morrissey (80's music for you young-ins) in my head- with songs like 'Girlfriend in a Coma', 'Unhappy Birthday', etc. 'Meat is Murder' is still okay, though. Just kidding!
This week, the girls and I went to a ladies’ group meeting at the Indian lady’s house. She is the one married to a Dutch guy. I’ll call her Ruth. They have a nice house and their cook makes incredible food! We get the royal treatment whenever we go there. The girls and I went over ourselves last week, so Ruth and I could socialize for a few hours. The agenda for the ladies’ get together was to learn bead jewelry work. Ruth is incredibly talented in so many things, like pastel drawing and doll making, and she is also an ex-lawyer. She makes amazing jewelry and wanted to show us all how to make a bracelet. Mind you, this isn’t just stringing beads on a thread. Its more like sewing. It was a really difficult stitch, but once I mastered it, I was hooked on beading! We took our work home to finish before the second lesson next week.
The nice thing about this beading is that it allows me to listen to sermons while I’m sewing. I’ve done this the past two nights, and I was amazed that as I ‘randomly’ chose sermons on my MP3 player, they were exactly what I needed to hear each night. What struck me in the sermon from last night was how God answers prayers, often in ways we might not neccessarily like. For example, if someone prays to be more loving, God may put a person in their lives that is not just unlovable but downright unlikable. I recalled many of my prayers over the past few months. One was a prayer that the girls would be each others’ best friends and have a bond that would last a life time. Its hysterical to think that here they are, spending 24 hours a day together with no other friends for 6 months! How’s that for bonding?! I had prayed many prayers long ago about us getting out of our comfort zones as well. I can only imagine how many other prayers God is answering through this trip. I was struck with guilt and shame over being down so often while being here and felt a huge need to confess and repent over it. I felt like such an ungrateful child. I am determined to lean more on the Lord and be grateful in all things. In his tragedy, Job in verse 1:21 said ‘The Lord has given and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.’ It’s not like I’m suffering any tragedies, but it’s a great reminder to bless the name of the Lord ALWAYS, in whatever circumstances.
Its been interesting- each morning when I wake up, I have a worship song in my head. It’s a different one each day. As I go over the words in my head, I’ve come to realize that it’s what I need for that particular day; that I need to think about and embrace those words. Its been quite uncanny. If I had memorized more scripture, perhaps God would have brought passages to mind each day, but I guess He’s using the limited resources that He has to work with. :) Its just one more reason why I’m so glad that I’ve stopped listening to the secular music that I used to listen to. The last thing I need is Morrissey (80's music for you young-ins) in my head- with songs like 'Girlfriend in a Coma', 'Unhappy Birthday', etc. 'Meat is Murder' is still okay, though. Just kidding!
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Struggles
I will be honest- today was not such a great day, so it’s hard to sit down and write with the weight of that hanging over me, but the reason that I write these blogs is because I feel like it’s my little ministry while I’m here. I don’t know how successful I am at it, but I feel like God has called me to share, open and honestly, about our experiences here. It would be a disservice to those that I hope to edify if I were to sugar coat everything. Life is not like that, no matter where you are. When we truly commit to following Christ, we will have our struggles. Hopefully through sharing mine, others might feel like they are not alone or any less in God’s eyes because they fall short of where they think they should be (me included) in their Christian walk.
That being said, life here continues to have its ups and downs, both in their extremes; the highs are very high, and the lows are very low. Some days I wake up and anxiously wait with anticipation to see what new person God puts in my path. When several days go by and no person is put in my path, I’m deflated as the girls and I spend the time in isolation with each day feeling like its 48 hours long. Adam leaves for work at 8AM and doesn’t return until 6:30 or 7PM most nights, so the girls and I have many long hours to fill. We do spend Wednesdays with the European ladies at the weekly luncheon, but the between days can be difficult and lonely. Most of the European ladies either work or volunteer in their kids’ schools to occupy their time. They have moved here permanently, so most have decided to enroll their kids in local schools. Their kids are also very young, which helps with the integration.
I do think we have all pretty well adjusted to the culture here, though. We know where to buy everything that we need, how to get around, etc. The girls and I often make trips during the week to the stores and library to try and get out. The library is very small and mostly has fiction books, but it is a real Godsend considering how much Hailey reads! Life in this small town (even with its 2 million people!) is still pretty rough. The girls and I have started painting with some of the European ladies before our luncheon on Wednesdays, and the ladies were lamenting how this town has nothing to do in it, especially compared to larger cities in India. One lady is an Indian from Mumbai, and she hates it here. Apparently the local ladies even snub other Indians who are not Malayali (locals). She tried to make relationships, but no one would ever call her or invite her out, which is why she engaged the Europeans (that and her husband is Dutch). Social outlets in general are very few. There is only one coffee shop in town, for example (and as an aside, they serve instant coffee). There is no place to hang out, especially for younger people.
While our days are rough being cooped up in the apartment, Adam has been enjoying working at an office for a change. Working from home in Idaho, he would be on the phone in his office for hours on end and not get out much. Our roles are slightly reversed here, but in Idaho he didn’t have the girls sitting in his office with him for 12 hours a day and no other grow ups to talk to the entire time. Hmmm….it kind of makes me smile to think about that scenario…. He is settling into his new role and I think being an overall positive influence there. He shares about his faith were possible and appropriate as well. Yesterday, there was a meeting where they ask the host of the event (him) to light the flame on one of the Hindu oil offering vases before the meeting. The tricky part about the Indian culture is that Hinduism is completely intertwined with their national identity. In studying Indian history with the girls, I’ve found that this was the case extremely early in their history- like 300 A.D. early. It’s almost impossible to separate studies of their history from Hindu history and tradition. Anyway, because it’s so closely linked, many rituals like this lighting ceremony can be overlooked as being just a ‘culture thing’ when in fact it is agreeing to participate in a pagan ritual. Adam and I prayed the morning before this event that God would provide a way out, so Adam wouldn’t have to do it (he had already voiced the fact that he did not want to do this prior to this but to no avail). God provided a way out through a guest speaker who was happy to do it.
Coming full circle back to struggles, I read the other day in Francis Chan’s ‘Forgotten God’ book about a Korean woman named Esther Ahn Kim. During World War II, the Japanese occupied her native Korea, and being a Christian, she refused to bow down at the shrines that the Japanese had erected in her country. She knew that it was only a matter of time before she was arrested, so she began to ‘train’ herself everyday for her imprisonment by searching out and eating rotten food. When she was eventually arrested, she embraced the deplorable conditions of her six years in prison, and God used her to lead numerous women to Christ in that place. I have not been able to get this woman’s story out of my head for several days now. How does a person get to that place in their relationship with Christ, where they are that strong in their faith and fearlessly pursue what He has for them, no matter what it is? Perhaps they have that gift of faith that is above and beyond what most other Christians have. While I beat myself up over the times that I’m down, especially when comparing myself to people like this, I must remind myself that God has made us all differently, with different strengths and weaknesses. I doubt He is comparing me to that woman, even though I am doing it myself. He is most likely comparing me to the potential He knows is in me- in us- and encouraging me [us] to reach it, and I do find comfort in that. He is that dad with his arms out, beckoning that baby to take its first few steps and eventually run into His arms. I feel like I’m taking those first few steps into total trust. It reminds me of that DC Talk song that says:
‘What if I stumble, what if I fall?
What if I lose my step, and I make fools of us all?
Will the love continue, when my walk becomes a crawl?
What if I stumble, and what if I fall?’
Which is followed by:
'I hear you whispering my name,
“My love for you will never change”'
Blessing to you all.
That being said, life here continues to have its ups and downs, both in their extremes; the highs are very high, and the lows are very low. Some days I wake up and anxiously wait with anticipation to see what new person God puts in my path. When several days go by and no person is put in my path, I’m deflated as the girls and I spend the time in isolation with each day feeling like its 48 hours long. Adam leaves for work at 8AM and doesn’t return until 6:30 or 7PM most nights, so the girls and I have many long hours to fill. We do spend Wednesdays with the European ladies at the weekly luncheon, but the between days can be difficult and lonely. Most of the European ladies either work or volunteer in their kids’ schools to occupy their time. They have moved here permanently, so most have decided to enroll their kids in local schools. Their kids are also very young, which helps with the integration.
I do think we have all pretty well adjusted to the culture here, though. We know where to buy everything that we need, how to get around, etc. The girls and I often make trips during the week to the stores and library to try and get out. The library is very small and mostly has fiction books, but it is a real Godsend considering how much Hailey reads! Life in this small town (even with its 2 million people!) is still pretty rough. The girls and I have started painting with some of the European ladies before our luncheon on Wednesdays, and the ladies were lamenting how this town has nothing to do in it, especially compared to larger cities in India. One lady is an Indian from Mumbai, and she hates it here. Apparently the local ladies even snub other Indians who are not Malayali (locals). She tried to make relationships, but no one would ever call her or invite her out, which is why she engaged the Europeans (that and her husband is Dutch). Social outlets in general are very few. There is only one coffee shop in town, for example (and as an aside, they serve instant coffee). There is no place to hang out, especially for younger people.
While our days are rough being cooped up in the apartment, Adam has been enjoying working at an office for a change. Working from home in Idaho, he would be on the phone in his office for hours on end and not get out much. Our roles are slightly reversed here, but in Idaho he didn’t have the girls sitting in his office with him for 12 hours a day and no other grow ups to talk to the entire time. Hmmm….it kind of makes me smile to think about that scenario…. He is settling into his new role and I think being an overall positive influence there. He shares about his faith were possible and appropriate as well. Yesterday, there was a meeting where they ask the host of the event (him) to light the flame on one of the Hindu oil offering vases before the meeting. The tricky part about the Indian culture is that Hinduism is completely intertwined with their national identity. In studying Indian history with the girls, I’ve found that this was the case extremely early in their history- like 300 A.D. early. It’s almost impossible to separate studies of their history from Hindu history and tradition. Anyway, because it’s so closely linked, many rituals like this lighting ceremony can be overlooked as being just a ‘culture thing’ when in fact it is agreeing to participate in a pagan ritual. Adam and I prayed the morning before this event that God would provide a way out, so Adam wouldn’t have to do it (he had already voiced the fact that he did not want to do this prior to this but to no avail). God provided a way out through a guest speaker who was happy to do it.
Coming full circle back to struggles, I read the other day in Francis Chan’s ‘Forgotten God’ book about a Korean woman named Esther Ahn Kim. During World War II, the Japanese occupied her native Korea, and being a Christian, she refused to bow down at the shrines that the Japanese had erected in her country. She knew that it was only a matter of time before she was arrested, so she began to ‘train’ herself everyday for her imprisonment by searching out and eating rotten food. When she was eventually arrested, she embraced the deplorable conditions of her six years in prison, and God used her to lead numerous women to Christ in that place. I have not been able to get this woman’s story out of my head for several days now. How does a person get to that place in their relationship with Christ, where they are that strong in their faith and fearlessly pursue what He has for them, no matter what it is? Perhaps they have that gift of faith that is above and beyond what most other Christians have. While I beat myself up over the times that I’m down, especially when comparing myself to people like this, I must remind myself that God has made us all differently, with different strengths and weaknesses. I doubt He is comparing me to that woman, even though I am doing it myself. He is most likely comparing me to the potential He knows is in me- in us- and encouraging me [us] to reach it, and I do find comfort in that. He is that dad with his arms out, beckoning that baby to take its first few steps and eventually run into His arms. I feel like I’m taking those first few steps into total trust. It reminds me of that DC Talk song that says:
‘What if I stumble, what if I fall?
What if I lose my step, and I make fools of us all?
Will the love continue, when my walk becomes a crawl?
What if I stumble, and what if I fall?’
Which is followed by:
'I hear you whispering my name,
“My love for you will never change”'
Blessing to you all.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Festivals and Protests
“I am woman, hear me roar, in numbers too big to ignore…’
That Helen Reddy song from the 70’s came to mind this weekend, when we witnessed yet another Hindu festival that closed down businesses. Over 3 MILLION women descended upon the city from surrounding villages, cities, and even the adjacent states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, to celebrate a festival called Pongala. There is a Hindu temple in town called Attukal Bhagavathi, and the women sit mile after mile along the roads that lead to the temple. According to the myth, they cook rice in clay pots as an offering to the goddess Kannaki to appease her after her killing rampage when her kingly husband was wrongfully killed. The Friday before the festival was crazy with a ton of traffic. Everyone warned us not to travel on Saturday either, and on Sunday most of the roads in town where closed to traffic. We managed to hire an auto-rickshaw and got close enough to some of the streets to take photos. Some of our European friends went out in the morning to the heart of the event and said that the smoke in the air from the cooking jars was so thick it choked them.
If it isn’t a Hindu festival in this town, it’s a political protest- I’m surprised anything gets done here. Adam had to work from home on Tuesday because there was a transportation strike. All buses, cab drivers, auto-rickshaws, private drivers, etc. took the day off to protest an increase in gas prices. I read in the paper that in one part of the state, the cars of private individuals were smashed in with rocks when they were driving on the roads. We decided to take a short walk on the road by our apartment to witness India without cars! As we were headed back, we saw 12 government buses in a row driving down the road, all with armed personnel in the passenger side seat. The crazy thing about Kerala is that they elected a Communist government in the last elections. It seems like an oxymoron. Apparently, they have free elections again next term during which they can vote them out. I don’t get it. Its still weird to see the posters all around town with pictures of Che Guevara in his classic beret, and the soviet hammer and sickle. Its one of the most political states in the country, we’re told.
We as a family are really growing through this whole experience. The girls have had some really tough times this past week with missing friends and their school. They knew it would be hard being here, but they both, especially Hailey, underestimated just how hard it would be and how long 8 months really is. It may be that God wanted us here to grow as a family together and closer to Him. Hailey goes into Junior High this fall, so maybe part of why we are here is to solidify her faith before these teen years (she turns twelve on March 19th). I have definitely grown as well. Earlier, I felt like I was in a prison being stuck in the apartment all of the time. I expressed this to my friend Suzanne Sieker on the phone, and she said that she knew that God did not want that for me. She prayed that I would learn to find joy. I feel like I am almost at that place. Instead of thinking of how much time we still have here, I’m thinking of how LITTLE time we have left here. I’m trying to help the girls to see that as well.
I wrote before about the Holy Spirit. Before we left, Suzanne and I were doing a study on the Holy Spirit because I really wanted to learn more about what that power looks like. I read a book by D.L. Moody, but it wasn’t quite answering my questions. I’ve been reading Francis Chan’s new book ‘Forgotten God: Reversing our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit’, and it is really hitting home. I wouldn’t say it’s the most lofty of books, but in typical Francis style, he gets to the heart of the matter and pierces you through. He asks those of us who have wanted to have the power of the Holy Spirit why we want that power. Is it for selfish reasons or for the glory of the Kingdom? I had to really examine myself on that one. I have grown to really know the Spirit in a much more intimate way being here. I told my friend Margaret that its more like a quiet strength for me at this point, which is not what I expected. He holds us up in such a tender way. Francis also discussed how the bible tells us that the Spirit prays for us on our behalf. That is too awesome to even get my mind around.
Thanks to everyone for your prayers and support, especially for our girls. We miss being at the Welcome Table at The Pursuit, fellowshipping with our friends as we get ready to worship, and worshipping together in the passionate way that our amazing band inspires!
That Helen Reddy song from the 70’s came to mind this weekend, when we witnessed yet another Hindu festival that closed down businesses. Over 3 MILLION women descended upon the city from surrounding villages, cities, and even the adjacent states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, to celebrate a festival called Pongala. There is a Hindu temple in town called Attukal Bhagavathi, and the women sit mile after mile along the roads that lead to the temple. According to the myth, they cook rice in clay pots as an offering to the goddess Kannaki to appease her after her killing rampage when her kingly husband was wrongfully killed. The Friday before the festival was crazy with a ton of traffic. Everyone warned us not to travel on Saturday either, and on Sunday most of the roads in town where closed to traffic. We managed to hire an auto-rickshaw and got close enough to some of the streets to take photos. Some of our European friends went out in the morning to the heart of the event and said that the smoke in the air from the cooking jars was so thick it choked them.
If it isn’t a Hindu festival in this town, it’s a political protest- I’m surprised anything gets done here. Adam had to work from home on Tuesday because there was a transportation strike. All buses, cab drivers, auto-rickshaws, private drivers, etc. took the day off to protest an increase in gas prices. I read in the paper that in one part of the state, the cars of private individuals were smashed in with rocks when they were driving on the roads. We decided to take a short walk on the road by our apartment to witness India without cars! As we were headed back, we saw 12 government buses in a row driving down the road, all with armed personnel in the passenger side seat. The crazy thing about Kerala is that they elected a Communist government in the last elections. It seems like an oxymoron. Apparently, they have free elections again next term during which they can vote them out. I don’t get it. Its still weird to see the posters all around town with pictures of Che Guevara in his classic beret, and the soviet hammer and sickle. Its one of the most political states in the country, we’re told.
We as a family are really growing through this whole experience. The girls have had some really tough times this past week with missing friends and their school. They knew it would be hard being here, but they both, especially Hailey, underestimated just how hard it would be and how long 8 months really is. It may be that God wanted us here to grow as a family together and closer to Him. Hailey goes into Junior High this fall, so maybe part of why we are here is to solidify her faith before these teen years (she turns twelve on March 19th). I have definitely grown as well. Earlier, I felt like I was in a prison being stuck in the apartment all of the time. I expressed this to my friend Suzanne Sieker on the phone, and she said that she knew that God did not want that for me. She prayed that I would learn to find joy. I feel like I am almost at that place. Instead of thinking of how much time we still have here, I’m thinking of how LITTLE time we have left here. I’m trying to help the girls to see that as well.
I wrote before about the Holy Spirit. Before we left, Suzanne and I were doing a study on the Holy Spirit because I really wanted to learn more about what that power looks like. I read a book by D.L. Moody, but it wasn’t quite answering my questions. I’ve been reading Francis Chan’s new book ‘Forgotten God: Reversing our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit’, and it is really hitting home. I wouldn’t say it’s the most lofty of books, but in typical Francis style, he gets to the heart of the matter and pierces you through. He asks those of us who have wanted to have the power of the Holy Spirit why we want that power. Is it for selfish reasons or for the glory of the Kingdom? I had to really examine myself on that one. I have grown to really know the Spirit in a much more intimate way being here. I told my friend Margaret that its more like a quiet strength for me at this point, which is not what I expected. He holds us up in such a tender way. Francis also discussed how the bible tells us that the Spirit prays for us on our behalf. That is too awesome to even get my mind around.
Thanks to everyone for your prayers and support, especially for our girls. We miss being at the Welcome Table at The Pursuit, fellowshipping with our friends as we get ready to worship, and worshipping together in the passionate way that our amazing band inspires!
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