At the beginning of June the invitation came to return to India. By the beginning of July, I began trying to meet with church leaders to discuss the matter. By the beginning of Aug, the meeting took place, and life has been "full out" logistics ever since!!! What an exhausting push, what an unbelievable response from many with words of encouragement and gifts to launch me into this new adventure!!! Thank you, and thank you, Jesus, for helping me get it all done! Here we are now at the beginning of Oct, and the dust is beginning to settle. For all intents and purposes, I am 95% ready to go!!! Departure is set for Tues, Oct 4th.
This a.m. my devotional book gave me what I sense is my passage for the next six months! This was such an encouragement to me because just last week I told the Lord that I felt badly about the fact that I was just doing so much practical preparations that I wasn't really preparing my heart! I have been consciously trying to prepare my heart since that realization.
Matt 11:28 - 30 says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (NIV)
This is so meaningful to me on a number of levels. On this date two years ago, my mother was in her last days. She had taken a turn for the worst, and I sensed that the Lord was calling her home. My sister and brother in law were on their way up from FL. I called them and said, "Mom is waiting for you." It was a Sat in the early afternoon when she said to me, "When are they coming?" I replied, "Maybe around 4 or 5." She sort of moaned, like that was too long to wait! Early on Oct 4th, a Sun that year, the rehab facility where she was called to say that she was gone. Immediately, the Lord gave me a picture of her walking the streets of gold, and EVERYTHING worked.
I had left my beloved India to return to the US in June of 2002 in order to be close to Mother. I had asked the Lord to allow me to return. I knew, however, that in my heart I wanted to return to what I call the "real" India, not the somewhat idyllic life lived in the beautiful Himalayas. I also sensed that the Lord was going to do something big about the fact that the Gospel has been preached for so long in India and yet the percentage of the vast population hasn't responded. Still, because of who He is, it was bound to come. "May I be apart of it when it does, Lord?" I remember asking. Reports indicate that there is a turning to the Lord in India that is new, fresh, and largely among the poor. That is the part of society in which I will be working.
Shortly after Mother's departure from this world, I returned to India for six weeks. It was the most wonderful time! I saw Him at work in the generations. I reconnected with many people that I love, a few that I hadn't seen for 35 years. I sort of wished that I had planned to stay longer, but my future was so uncertain, and I'd felt before I left the US that I needed to return before too much time passed in order to get things more settled.
Since that time I have struggled to find a spot in this world! Either unemployed or underemployed, I asked the Lord for direction, but didn't seem to get any guidance! Then, out of the blue, comes this invitation from an old friend who I didn't even know was in the US, let alone in the same city that I was visiting. It struck a cord, was in a place that I had once lived, but was across the country from where I had most recently lived and sort of expected the Lord to return me. Still, I could see the wisdom in having a fresh start.
How grateful I am for my history in India! In the Spring of 1970 I went into India for the first time. Due to extenuating circumstances, I went by train alone into Delhi. I was young, and so inexperienced in all things cross cultural! I don't remember much about that trip, but am so grateful for the time and the organization with which I worked. They gave me the idea that I should go to serve my Indian brothers and sisters. At that time, India was just 23 years into independence. What a revolutionary thing that was at that time . . . something that I have just considered lately. Now that democratic India and I are in our 60's, maybe I am older and wiser. I am again going into Delhi alone, though this time on a plane, and this time into the arms of dear friends from my Woodstock days . . . both former staff and former students. I can't wait to see them!!! I will be in Delhi for four days before going on to Kolkata. I didn't even think about this before it actually started coming together, but the experts in transitions tell you to plan in a buffer between departing one place and arriving in another!
I chose to fly on Mom's death anniversary for practical reasons . . . it is cheaper. At the same time, I hope it honors her! I came home to honor her. I am leaving because she no longer needs me, and the Lord has apparently worked out enough in me that I am ready for something new. I do sense that I am so very ready for a change!
Back to the verses. I am weary, especially from the fast tracked preparations. I have been burdened by life's uncertainities. Now the Lord has begun to give me some rest in the fact that things are in place to leave. I believe that He will give me rest in Delhi from the 24 hour trip and the 9 and 1/2 hour time change. He will refresh me by time with old and dear friends! Then, there is the yoke . . . something you see often in India. The oxen yoked together, and you understand this verse more clearly than you might have if you hadn't seen them first hand. What a joy to be yoked with my savior! What a joy to be able to go and work with an Indian organization with no agenda other than to serve and see how I might lightened the burden of my friend Premila. Thank you, Lord, for this reminder. I am taking this with me as my verses for the next 6 months. Please prepare my heart to serve, and to walk in closeness with you!!!
My house is cleaner and tidier than it has been in a while. The weather outside is glorious and a chill is in the air. I will miss both of these things, and though the weather isn't as hot in India as it is in the hot season, it will not require a wrap for a couple more months. I'll miss my car, my freedom of movement, my independence. Yes, and I will miss friends and family. Still, I have this sense that there are new friends and a new family out there for me to meet and become apart of. Thank you, Father, for working this out for me!!! Lead on, oh King Eternal!
This a.m. my devotional book gave me what I sense is my passage for the next six months! This was such an encouragement to me because just last week I told the Lord that I felt badly about the fact that I was just doing so much practical preparations that I wasn't really preparing my heart! I have been consciously trying to prepare my heart since that realization.
Matt 11:28 - 30 says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (NIV)
This is so meaningful to me on a number of levels. On this date two years ago, my mother was in her last days. She had taken a turn for the worst, and I sensed that the Lord was calling her home. My sister and brother in law were on their way up from FL. I called them and said, "Mom is waiting for you." It was a Sat in the early afternoon when she said to me, "When are they coming?" I replied, "Maybe around 4 or 5." She sort of moaned, like that was too long to wait! Early on Oct 4th, a Sun that year, the rehab facility where she was called to say that she was gone. Immediately, the Lord gave me a picture of her walking the streets of gold, and EVERYTHING worked.
I had left my beloved India to return to the US in June of 2002 in order to be close to Mother. I had asked the Lord to allow me to return. I knew, however, that in my heart I wanted to return to what I call the "real" India, not the somewhat idyllic life lived in the beautiful Himalayas. I also sensed that the Lord was going to do something big about the fact that the Gospel has been preached for so long in India and yet the percentage of the vast population hasn't responded. Still, because of who He is, it was bound to come. "May I be apart of it when it does, Lord?" I remember asking. Reports indicate that there is a turning to the Lord in India that is new, fresh, and largely among the poor. That is the part of society in which I will be working.
Shortly after Mother's departure from this world, I returned to India for six weeks. It was the most wonderful time! I saw Him at work in the generations. I reconnected with many people that I love, a few that I hadn't seen for 35 years. I sort of wished that I had planned to stay longer, but my future was so uncertain, and I'd felt before I left the US that I needed to return before too much time passed in order to get things more settled.
Since that time I have struggled to find a spot in this world! Either unemployed or underemployed, I asked the Lord for direction, but didn't seem to get any guidance! Then, out of the blue, comes this invitation from an old friend who I didn't even know was in the US, let alone in the same city that I was visiting. It struck a cord, was in a place that I had once lived, but was across the country from where I had most recently lived and sort of expected the Lord to return me. Still, I could see the wisdom in having a fresh start.
How grateful I am for my history in India! In the Spring of 1970 I went into India for the first time. Due to extenuating circumstances, I went by train alone into Delhi. I was young, and so inexperienced in all things cross cultural! I don't remember much about that trip, but am so grateful for the time and the organization with which I worked. They gave me the idea that I should go to serve my Indian brothers and sisters. At that time, India was just 23 years into independence. What a revolutionary thing that was at that time . . . something that I have just considered lately. Now that democratic India and I are in our 60's, maybe I am older and wiser. I am again going into Delhi alone, though this time on a plane, and this time into the arms of dear friends from my Woodstock days . . . both former staff and former students. I can't wait to see them!!! I will be in Delhi for four days before going on to Kolkata. I didn't even think about this before it actually started coming together, but the experts in transitions tell you to plan in a buffer between departing one place and arriving in another!
I chose to fly on Mom's death anniversary for practical reasons . . . it is cheaper. At the same time, I hope it honors her! I came home to honor her. I am leaving because she no longer needs me, and the Lord has apparently worked out enough in me that I am ready for something new. I do sense that I am so very ready for a change!
Back to the verses. I am weary, especially from the fast tracked preparations. I have been burdened by life's uncertainities. Now the Lord has begun to give me some rest in the fact that things are in place to leave. I believe that He will give me rest in Delhi from the 24 hour trip and the 9 and 1/2 hour time change. He will refresh me by time with old and dear friends! Then, there is the yoke . . . something you see often in India. The oxen yoked together, and you understand this verse more clearly than you might have if you hadn't seen them first hand. What a joy to be yoked with my savior! What a joy to be able to go and work with an Indian organization with no agenda other than to serve and see how I might lightened the burden of my friend Premila. Thank you, Lord, for this reminder. I am taking this with me as my verses for the next 6 months. Please prepare my heart to serve, and to walk in closeness with you!!!
My house is cleaner and tidier than it has been in a while. The weather outside is glorious and a chill is in the air. I will miss both of these things, and though the weather isn't as hot in India as it is in the hot season, it will not require a wrap for a couple more months. I'll miss my car, my freedom of movement, my independence. Yes, and I will miss friends and family. Still, I have this sense that there are new friends and a new family out there for me to meet and become apart of. Thank you, Father, for working this out for me!!! Lead on, oh King Eternal!
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