Final day . . . Some final thoughts!

Again, I have positioned myself in the warm sunshine.  It is early afternoon on my last full day in Dehradun.  I leave by car tomorrow at noon for Delhi.  I will have dinner and a shower, possibly, at an old student's house who will get me to the airport in time to leave on my 3:15 a.m. flight to Amsterdam, JFK and finally Richmond . . . gaining time all the way, I am scheduled to arrive at 4:46 p.m. at RIC.

This visit to India has been such a blessing as I have visited several places and groups of people that were important for me in days gone by.  Touching base with old friends, former students, and making new friends has been a delight!  This a.m. at church without the GA boarders felt a little bit empty, but saying farewell to some of my new friends was special with the genuine invitation to return!  I hope to do that whilst my visa is still good . . . still about three years on it.  Let's see how the Lord leads.

Being in Mussoorie for Christmas was 'different'.  Oh yes, I was at the same places, but they didn't hold the same 'magic' for me as they had in the past.  In some ways I felt like beating myself up for not returning home sooner, but then I see this as another gift from the Father.  That old say, "You can't go home," has been ringing in my ears, and though six years ago, after Mother's death, it was extra special to return to Mussoorie for Christmas,  I see that my Christmas celebrations of the past should just be enjoyed in my memory!  I have already started asking the Lord about where I will spend next Christmas . . . will it be VA, FL . . . someplace entirely different!?  I don't know and right now, I really don't care!!!

The time in Mussoorie just enjoying the beauty of the place, and some special times with people who are in the generation below mine were my greatest joys.  I see clearly how easy it would be to 'get stuck', and I desperately do not want to 'get stuck' in anything!!!  In 2016, I want to continue to grow and be changed by the work of God's spirit in my life.  I sense that we have begun something new and different, and I want to go on to know Him better.  I see how I have been 'stuck' in Richmond, not knowing how to fit in, not really exercising my gifts, not wanting things like my church to change . . .  holding on to 'the way things were'.  It just isn't to be . . . I am asking the Lord to show me how to fit in, how to kick the old rejection beast to the curb, and how to claim my place in His freedom to be all that He has for me wherever I am.  Yes, it is true, India reaches out and loves me, and I do so appreciate and enjoy that.  But, I think the way ahead is to see that I LIVE in Richmond, and I VISIT India.  Let's see what unfolds in 2016.

I am looking forward to being back in my own bed, with my own things and the relationships that I have left behind.  So much of what I have drawn on for devotions with the students and others here has been from the Tues a.m. study.  I think that is likely what I am most looking forward to!  I think I am also ready to embrace the new SPC, something that I have definitely struggled with . . . I don't want to get stuck in a rut!  Help me, Lord, because you and I both know that I can't do it without you!

An in between day!!!

Everything is over here on the GA campus.  Friday's performance of Pilgrim's Progress was delightful.  I was the Chief Guest which is a much bigger deal than I had realized.  India is a land of pomp and circumstance, and the protocols that were followed seemed a little over the top for me, but . . . I had to make a speech, and kept it short and sweet as I was warned that people don't generally listen to the CG's speech!  I borrowed a sari from a friend, which thrilled the kids, and I have gotten good reviews from friends on the speech!  It was sad to say goodbye to the kids in boarding, and reaffirming to hear several of them tell me in devotions Thurs night what my time here had meant to them.  I have, admittedly taken them into my heart as well.  They seem genuinely sad that I won't be here when they get back on Jan 15.

I am having an 'in between day' because my friends that I am staying with initially in Mussoorie are traveling back from Mumbai today!  So, tomorrow I will lock the door here and look forward to spending the rest of the year up in Mussoorie!  I will 'shift' to a second location on Christmas Day.  More on all of that next week.  I do hope to get to see my second bride and groom while I am up in the mountains, and three of the girls from Grace Hostel live up there, too.

It has become chilly, and I realize that I am not adjusting so easily to the cooler temps with no 'creature comforts' . . . The best place to be warm is outside in the sun, where I am now, or in bed, where I do spend more time than usual once the sun goes down, usually reading or playing games on my iPad!

I sense that one of the reasons that I am on this current 'pilgrimage' is to help me see that although my memories are rich beyond measure, coming back to India to live permanently isn't the best thing for me.  I have a sense of anticipation to see what will happen when I get home, two weeks from tomorrow!  Yes, I have started packing . . . for Mussoorie, and for home!

I trust that you will have the Merriest of Christmases.  I admit that it doesn't seem like Christmas at all.  Perhaps that will change when I get up to Mussoorie, and the people I'm staying with are getting ready to celebrate!

Light to warm us . . .

 Above is the title of the chapter in the book on Advent that I am reading for today.  It couldn't be more appropriate to the situation in which I find myself today here in Dehradun.  You see, the Winter rains came on Fri, and this time it wasn't a 'tease'!  Colder temps are settling in, and it is colder inside than out at times since houses in India are built for the heat of summer, and do not have central heat!!!  Sun, though not our friend in the summer, is our best friend this time of year.  It never managed to peak through the clouds yesterday!  My Yahoo weather assured me that this entire week would be sunny which I was looking forward to, but . . . this a.m. it took awhile for the fog to 'burn off' and the sun to break through.  I wanted to attend the assemblies for grades 3 to 5 and Nursery to grade 2 this a.m.  In the fog, that was a chilly experience.  I got some pics though . . . this is the last week of school . . . I can procrastinate no longer!

Birthdays, mine as well as other members of my family, a special event at church, Christmas, a few creature comforts that I miss . . . I have to admit that I have had a tinge of home missing since the beginning of Dec.  I love being here, but I also miss being there.  I love friends here, old and new, but I am missing out on things with friends there who are going on with their lives without me!  Of course, that is natural, and I know that.  Yesterday I read this on FB . . .

"You will never be completely at home again.  Because, part of your heart will always be elsewhere.  That is the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place."

All I could do was thank the Lord for this reminder.  The quote is actually written for TCKs, and I am not one, but I think I qualify as a TCA and have always been helped by things that I have read about those who have become 'green' as we are neither blue or yellow . . . because our passports tell us we belong one place, but our hearts tell us differently!

My birthday has come and gone.  The lovely cards that the girls made for me were endearing and reassuring.  Many have said that they are sorry that this is our last week together, that they will miss me when they come back, and that I MUST return!

I am the Chief Guest at the final program on Dec 18th.  They are very excited about that especially since many of them now know that I intend to borrow a sari for the event!

I support one of the boys here by contributing to his boarding fees.  It has been nice to get to know him a little bit.

I am going up to Mussoorie for the day on Wed to attend the wedding reception of Birju, and I hope to find out more about the plans of the first set of friends that I am staying with to see exactly when I should head up the hill for the holidays.  I will move to another friend's home on the 25th where I'll stay for a week.  We plan to take a couple of long walks that I have been longing to take for sometime but never seem to have time to do so!

This trip has been so reassuring that all of the years that I have invested in this great subcontinent have been worth it!  Thank you, Lord, for your good gift to me.  I am looking forward to learning what is next!

I just gave up!

Everytime I blog, I run into the frustration of not being able to edit it like I would like to, and I don't want to take the time, or go through the frustration of getting it just how I like it, so I posted!  Now, as you read 'Tis the season, please accept my apologies if there are mistakes.

I left off with the girls liking my hair!  It's now back to normal because I don't have a blow dryer with me nor would I ever have the patience to go through with all that the stylist did!

The other big thing that is happening here this week is a bonfire on Sat night!  The girls are really looking forward to it, there will be more performances . . . something else to practice for.  Apparently, there is also good food, but no marshmellows!!!  S'mores some other time back in the US of A!!!

I am going to spend the week after Christmas up in Mussoorie with friends, and I am looking forward to going on some of my favorite walks during that time.  I still haven't made a final decision about returning to Delhi for my flight on Jan 5th @ 3 a.m.!

'Tis the season . . .

I'm overdue for a post.  I have had very spotty WiFi connections this week, and am so thankful to be up and running here at the flat, at least for now.  My other alternative is to go over to the school.  I can't really concentrate over there, and so I am really pleased to be able to get this done here on my dining table/desk.

It's my birthday . . . the last in this decade, which is sobering at best!  The girls in the Hostel know because when they were over, they guessed!  I have tried to keep a pretty low profile otherwise!  In India, YOU treat on your birthday.  So, I have ordered a huge cake for the 91 Boarders to enjoy tonight, but I don't want to have to share treats with everyone, and I don't want them to feel like they have to do anything for me.  Things are also VERY busy here with the end of the school year activities and seemingly endless practices.  More on that later!

Yesterday I took Maria and Judy out for lunch, they are mother and daughter!  It was kind of an early celebration for me and a thank you to them for their warm hospitality.  In addition to that, the cantata at PTS is largely Judy's 'baby', and I wanted to celebrate with her that it was over, and a success.  I also had dinner with former mission colleagues last night . . . two Western meals, including meat, and no rice yesterday . . . that in and of itself was a celebration!

I enjoyed the time with all of the girls.  I still don't have all of their names straight, but I have made some progress.

On Dec 1st,, the school timings changed!  Because of the cold mornings, and the absence of central heat, school now starts an hour later, and finishes an hour later!  That means it is nearly three when we have lunch, and after three for those who are in the final program, Pilgrim's Progress, on the 18th!  I am the Chief Guest . . . if we are friends on FB, you can check out the invitation!  I've never been a Chief Gues before!!!  Pictures of the girls in their class groupings are also on FB.  Some of the girls race back when practice is over about 3:10, and those who play band instruments have another practice at 3:30.

Last week I also spent a fair amount of time at this table/desk prepping!  In addition to the two devotions a week that I lead for the 'kids in Boarding', I took staff devotions on Thurs and addressed the Sr. School assembly on Fri.  I appreciated the positive feed back from several of the teachers, I get little or no feed back from the kids, though I have a feeling that they like the things we have talked about.  One of the 11th grade girls told me last Fri, "Good job, ma'am . . . short, sweet and to the point!"  That isn't the usual style of some assemblies, appartently!

On Sat I once again spent the day out in greater Dehradun with Maria, Ramesh, Sophia (3) and Nadia (1.5).  Maria's cousin was also with us most of the time.  We went to a food festival at one of the other 'institutions of higher learning' in the area and even took in one of the big new fancy malls here in town.  During my first year at Woodstock, this area formed a new state, and now DD is the capital. It has grown and changed so much over the past 20 years.  Some of that is nice, other factors, like the traffic, make you miss the good old days!

Sun after church, I went to one of my former favorite places to eat in DD, in fact, I would say that WS staff frequented there regularly . . . they even gave us a discount!  A sizzler was among the favorite things to order.  So, I indulged on Sun.  I was there earlier than most Indians eat, and so spent an hour all alone in the restaurant eating at my leisure and reading.  Then, the people started filling up the tables and I exited to return to the Seminary grounds for the Cantata, a favorite thing to do here at Christmas time when I am here.  Tea on the grounds afterwards is always a nice time to meet and greet.

With much fear and trembling, I went to get my hair cut on Mon.  I went where Judy gets her hair done, and I was pleased to find one person in the shop who spoke English.  I got a wash, cut, and style for less than $3.00, and I must admit that I am pleased.  The girls raved over the style which lasted on

Time's beginning to fly!

So, here we are on another Mon in Dehradun.  It is sunny and pleasant when you are outside, but still chilly inside, especially in the early a.m. and in the evening!  One day last week it rained, I can't remember which one, and this time of year that generally means that the temps drop, but they haven't, and thankfully the sun has shone brightly ever since!

Another surprise today was that school lets out early on the last day of the month.  There were workmen in my place this a.m. searching for a Christmas tree that was put away somewhere last year, but no one seemed quite sure where!  Oh dear!  They returned once, but I haven't seem them since!  I also spent an hour and a half waiting for the dobi, the man who does your laundry, for a price, of course, to come and pick up some things!  He'll bring the things that just needed ironing back in the a.m. and the things that need washing will come back on Wed.  The labor intensive society is working for me this week!

Last week on Tues and Wed, I helped Mashaphi, who looks after the girls in Boarding oversee the study times . . . school was closed, but the Boarders have to spend four hours in a study hall!  Yikes!!!    So, I had time to work on my devotions, read and even played a few games on my ipad!  It did work for me to have two groups of girls over both of those days!  I have enjoyed getting to know the girls better, and they seemed to enjoy coming over for 'treats' and a chat.  They have wanted to know more about me and have enjoyed looking at the pictures I have in the ipad . . . can't believe I don't have any of when I was in school, young, etc!!!  They think Virginia is beautiful!  Today is Class five, tomorrow is Classes three and the one second grader that is in Boarding.  I know that's young, but . . . Then, I've had all 60 over.  Their parents do a variety of things including Bible translation, teaching in a school setting, medical work, teaching/preaching in a church setting, training, etc.

I gave myself permission to take Thurs (Thanksgiving) 'off' and went to Rajpur to pick up what I had left the week before to be 'stitched' as they say here.  It was a disappointment, but I did enjoy the different kind of a day.  Maria, a former Woodstocker with an American mother, had me over for dinner that night and cooked up quite a tasty 'Thanksgivingish' meal.  Ramesh, her husband is a gem.  Their two little girls are amusing at best.  We had such a good time talking and catching up!  Ramesh teaches at PTS.  Maria's father has been the principal there for quite awhile!

Sat was an inter-house Volleyball tournament . . . houses, its a British thing . . . and I also attended a marathon Christmas songs competition.  It lasted well over 5.5 hours, was in English and Hindi, solos and choirs . . . our English Choir took second place.  I had been warned, but couldn't have anticipated how long and tiring the evening was going to be!!!  I was really tired when I got home, and all of yesterday!

So, with the coming of Dec, I have started thinking earnestly about what I am going to do after the 25th . . . need for some things to become clear . . . in the mean time, I am happily hanging around here, and trusting that the Lord is using my thoughts and words as I live among these 'kids'.

To God be the Glory!

Settling in . . .

So, it has been a week since my return to Dehradun!  For me, things have been fairly quiet here.  The world around me, however, is a busy one!  It has been nice for me to sleep until I wake up and then have breakfast and a Quiet Time here in the flat before going over to the Girls' Hostel for a.m. tea where I am able to check in with the girls and Mashaphi who looks after them on what just might be up for the day.

School ends at 2 and more than a few of the girls are involved in practices for the final program which will be on Dec 18th.  Some are in the choir which practices behind the building where I am living.  Others are practicing for the play Pilgrim's Progress.

I have taken devotions with the Boarders twice this week . . . there are 91 Indian MKs who study here and live in the two hostels.  I shared Tues on what the Lord was teaching me about trusting Him, even in hard times.  On Fri I spoke about lessons I've learned from Joseph on God having the Big Picture which helps us realize in the midst of 'hard times' that we can TRUST him.  I am planning two or three more lessons on Joseph.  I am not sure what the schedule is for this week.  It seems that Tues and Wed are holidays . . . we have lots of them in India because of there are several religions practiced here . . . this week they are Sikh holidays, I believe, and no Sat school!  Yes, they DO go to school two Saturdays a month.

Another thing that the students are practicing for this week is a Christmas song competition between church choirs which will be held on Sat.  Our students sound pretty good to me.  Let's see how it goes.

At the end of devotions, with just the girls, last night I began teaching them FINGERPRINTS OF GOD by Steven Curtis Chapman.  I learned earlier in the week that he wrote than for his daughter which makes it more meaningful for us  girls, I think.  Several have told me that they like it.

On Fri I went out to Rajpur, a town on the way up to Mussoorie.  It is where Sharp Memorial Blind School is located.  It is run by a couple that I was in OM with 40 years ago.  Their children went to Woodstock.  It was lovely to catch up with them, and I also ordered a sweater to be knitted by some of the blind women who live/work there.  Unfortunately, I lost my black sweater the first week I was in India, and have been borrowing one that belongs to a friend that was knitted by a Sharp Memorial knitter.  Of course, the 'problem' is that I need it by Christmas, if possible.  Apparently, their fastest knitter, a woman in her 80s just fell and broke her hip.  They think they can get it done if several women work on it.  I think it would be special to own such a sweater.

I also went to Chhaya Cafe which is a place where women who are poor and need employment have learned tailoring and cooking.  I had a delicious lunch there . . . nice to eat Western after a steady diet of Indian food . . . they are going to make a skirt for me out of some Indian fabric that has been lying around waiting for something to happen to it for the last 6 years!  It is a tribal 'outfit' that needs to be wrapped, and I have not been able to remember how to successfully wrap it.  I will be interested to see how it turns out.  I'm also looking forward to the return trip, if for no other reason to visit the lady who started the place . . . PTS and WS connections there also!

Church this a.m. in one of my favorite places on this side of the world . . . Presbyterian Theological Seminary . . . sitting on the Chacko's front porch while the children were in SS is another treat that I enjoy!

This week I am planning to have all of the girls over to my flat in Class groups . . . all of those in Class 12, 11, etc.  Otherwise there is just no way that I am going to learn everyone's name, and I don't want to spend 5 weeks with them and not know who they really are.  Of course, I am also interested in what their parents are doing and where they are working.  Several are on the 'count down' for the end of school for this year and Christmas break.  The older girls have lots of extra classes to help them prepare for their so I am hoping it will all work with the time slot that has been given.  Maybe with these two days off that I didn't know about things can be worked out nicely!