Reflections from India

I am sitting in the quiet stillness of my little room that I share with a Indian believer. The babies are napping and Kirsten has gone out to do her daily shopping. As I sit, I am reflecting on my time here in India. I have learned so much. One of the things I have learned is that I am not called to live my life in India as my son and daughter-in-law are; however, I am called to shine His light to the world no matter where I am.

As I counted down days for this journey to start, now I am counting down days until it ends. As I was walking up the 50 stairs to our apartment carrying Selah who was fast asleep, I thought “I only have one more trip up these stairs carrying this child.” It made me very sad. As I ate rice and dal at lunch, I was thankful I only have one more lunch left.

I have met so many nice people who have been kind to me. The Aussies who oversee the ashram, the other two American couples at the school, the Indians, the school leader and his wife...amazing people with even more amazing stories.

My first two weeks here were filled with sickness and even a bit of depression. I was not ready to live like I have lived for the past almost 7 weeks. There are not words to express the living conditions. Every day you walk into the streets and try to avoid cow poop. My feet are literally rotting on the bottom. I need a pedicure so bad, but would be so embarrassed for anyone to see the condition of my feet. The smells, the noise, everything was overwhelming. It took almost 3 weeks for me to get the hang of living in India. CL and Kirsten gave me so much grace. I was able to take care of the children; but everything else was too much. There were nights I cried myself to sleep. I was exhausted.

Another thing I learned is that as Americans we are so fortunate. We have so much that we take for granted. I can’t wait to sleep in the king size bed on clean sheets and a ceiling fan or air if needed. I long for a warm shower with water that is fine to drink if it gets in my mouth. I look forward to opening the refrigerator and grabbing Yoplait yogurt ( knowing that no flies have been sitting on top of it). I look forward to putting my glass under the ice maker and knowing crushed ice is coming out and then pouring Diet Mt. Dew over that ice.

I look forward to seeing my family and my friends. My sweet husband gave me his support for this journey. It had to be harder on him than me. After all, I was with the kids. I miss talking to my mother-in-law. I’ve missed phone calls with my sister-in-law during Alabama football. I’ve missed my nieces and have felt terrible that I have not been in Mississippi to support them as they take care of their dad who has cancer. I have missed my friend Sara. She would have jerked a knot in me and helped me though this time. I have missed my friend JJ who I know has prayed for me every day. There are too many people to name that I have missed; but I can’t wait to see you all.

There are a few things I will not miss: cows who head butt you, cow poop, walking in the dark without a flash light, rice and dal, cold showers (even though they feel good when you are hot), hearing the Muslim call to prayer every day at 1:00 pm, stray dogs, the constant honking of horns.

So my journey here in Varanasi ends on Thursday. CL and I will leave school at 1:00 pm and head to the airport. We are heading to Delhi where I will still dodge cows and cow poop and it will still be noisy; however, there is a TGIFridays and other American chain restaurants and I can’t wait to taste something that tastes like it is from home.

Friday we will go to some of the markets, see a few places that are not on our Sunday tour and eat. Saturday we will be leaving by train at 6:00 am for Agra. The Taj Mahal is our first destination and then the Agra Fort. We will have time to shop for beautiful marble elephants before returning to Delhi. Sunday we have an all day tour arranged with a driver and an air conditioned car. I will be able to go back to the hotel and shower before I head to the airport for my 3:30 am Monday morning flight. I fly to London and then on to Dallas. Home around 7:15 pm Monday night. That is about a 26 hour time span.

I want you all to know that living in the USA we are blessed beyond measure. All it took was turning into the little gully in Varanasi for me to know my life will be forever changed.

Love from Varanasi!