The Humbling

It is very humbling moving to a new country.  In the US, I drove my own car, communicated effectively, blended in, knew the rules and expectations for myself and my children.  Here, I know nothing.  I cannot even drive myself to the store.  I am at the mercy of other people every minute of the day.  We have a driver here.  (if you don't understand why, please google Indian driving and/or Indian traffic)  Although in theory it seems nice to have someone drive you around all the time, in reality it looks more like me crying, while riding around town, with my driver, well after dinner time, trying to find pizza hut, just so I can provide for my family.  I do not like to ask for help.  I do not like to feel dependent on other people (some may even call me stubborn), so this is all very difficult for me.  Humbling if you will.  Yesterday I saw 2 live turkeys outside the butcher shop.  I got SO excited!  Maybe we really could have a Thanksgiving after all!  Then I remembered that we don't have an oven.  (Oven's aren't really a thing here)  And there it was again, the humbling.  I cannot even take care of my family in the way that we are accustomed.  And that's frustrating, but ok.  I'm ok not having a turkey or a pie for Thanksgiving.  I really am.  That's not what we are here for.  Yesterday a boy asked me to pray for him because he had exams coming up at school, so naturally I prayed for him.  Done and done.  Not so fast Deb.  Then an older lady came up and in Telegu asked me to pray for her health.  They interpreted that she wanted a Christian to pray over her.  Check and double check.  So again, I prayed over this lady and her health issues.  Then another lady comes forward.  She matter of factly told me that she needed prayer because her husband has left her and now lives in another state.  Um, what?  I thought we were just keeping it light and easy here.  Tests and arthritis, I can handle.  Restoring a marriage, yikes.  So of course I got about 3 sentences into the prayer before I lost it.  I'm sobbing.  I am broken for this lady, who's entire life and future has been ripped out from under her.  And she's turning to me for help.  She thinks that I have the answers.  That is humbling.  I am not qualified to help her.  I am not qualified to do any work here.  I have no discernible talents to bring to the table.  I think Paul said it best when he said " I am the chief of sinners", because I am too.  But never in the bible did God call the qualified, or even the Righteous.  He called the screwups, he called the losers, he called the unremarkable.  Because His glory is revealed by working through the nobody.  So that's what this nobody is going to continue to do.  To take a hurting soul, and direct them to the only one who can heal/redeem/restore/make new.  Because at the end of the day, that's all I am, a road sign.  Pointing the way home.  And that is not humbling.  It is the greatest work.

We have arrived

We have arrived in India!  Finally.  It was a long journey getting here.  Literally and figuratively.  After 2 years of dreaming, hoping, praying, and stepping out in faith we have arrived at our destination.  And we are thrilled to be here.  The plane ride(s) was brutal.  The first leg is 13 hrs from DC, so, after 4 hours in the car we were ready to start the trip.  Did I mention that 2 out of 3 of our kids get motion sick?  Yep, it's not just for cars and boats apparently... There was so much vomiting.  keep in mind everyone is very concerned with Ebola and such, so I was terrified of getting put in quarantine.  The flight attendants kept asking me to fill out a form so they could contact a doctor in the states.  Um, no thanks.  The AC was broken on the flight.  There was straight heat pumping down onto my seat.  It was so bad, that the Indians on the flight complained about the heat.  It was so sweaty and uncomfortable.  Plus the vomiting kids, a tiny cramped plane for 13 hrs.  All I could think about was breaking a window to get some fresh air.  I figured the Air Marshall would understand.  When we landed in Abu Dhabi for our 2 hr layover, we realized that our late takeoff in DC only gave us a 20 minute layover.  So, yep, missed our flight.  We were so close, but still so far away.  I would have cried, but I was so dehydrated from the sauna flight that I didn't have any available liquid to spare.  Some wonderful man took pity on us (read: wanted my screaming kids out of his airport) and got us food vouchers (no Abu Dhabi money on us), a car service, and a hotel with breakfast buffet, and booked us on a flight for the next day.  We got to our hotel around 1:00 am UAE time.  I gave up trying to figure out American/Indian time at that point.  We tried to wash out our sweaty/vomity clothes in the bathroom, but our car was coming at 8:00 am, so it was a very short night.  Breakfast buffet was awesome.  Had some beef bacon (guys, don't waste your time.  it's NOT bacon!)  Made our flight, which was pretty uneventful.  Except the tv's were broken.  At least it was only 4 hours.  No barfing that go round.  Then we landed.  And it was glorious.  I'll have to tell you all about it...someday.