Wednesday, October 27, 2010

India (Part 2?)

So I am dusting off the old blog. I haven't posted since we were in India in December. I guess the irony is I am now talking about India. So the short of it is I am heading to India again on November 11th. But the journey to this point is well, a bit interesting.

It all began in the spring. Woodside Bible was planning to send a women's team to India led by my dear friend Lana Seidel. When I first heard about the trip I was extremely excited for this trip. Obviously, I had just been there so I was excited to hear of anyone heading to India! When I talked with Ed about it, he asked me if I was going to go. I replied instantly in the negative. After all, it was time for others to experience what I just had. That and homeschooling was a big factor. But I knew that I wanted to be close to this team to help them prepare and to pray for them. I even threw out to my single gals the challenge that I wanted one of them to be on this team.

Fast forward to May, the team was set and planning to meet with Dr. Sheila Daniel our missionary partner from Chennai. Blessy and I cooked an Indian feast for the team to give them a taste of what was to come. And so the team began their journey of discovery together as they read through books and had team building activities. In August, two members of the team dropped out and 2 more rose to the occasion. Tick, Tick, Tick.

In September I was asked to come back and spend the evening with the new team talking about culture. Again, such a pleasure to spend the evening with this awesome group of ladies. Watching their faces at some of the stuff that they would encounter was a special treat. But as I sat there, I couldn't help but have the feeling that God wasn't done molding this team. The next evening I shared this with a couple of the team members. They couldn't believe that in the short time period things would change. I shrugged my shoulders and told them that I couldn't explain it, it was just a feeling.

Enter October: Sunday, October 10th, two significant events happened. At the time, neither seemed to have much importance. One of the teenagers that had gone to India with the summer team borrowed a power inverter. I got it back on this particular Sunday. As I put it in my purse, my thought was, "where am I going to store this so I remember where I put it. After all, it will be awhile before we need it again." Later that morning, I was asked a question about how I enjoyed our trip to India. The last question that was asked was, "Would you go back?" My response was immediate, "IN A HEARTBEAT!"

Tuesday 6:00am October 12th. Tuesdays are my early days. I meet with my mentor at 7am. For those who know me, I don't do mornings, but these times are special and I can't imagine not getting up for it! I rolled out of bed and grabbed my phone. To get the brain going, I started reading my email. The first one to catch my eye was titled, "INDIA." Of course I read that first. One of the team members was unable to go to India due to illness. Would I consider taking her ticket? WHOA! You could have knocked me over with a feather. I believe I was a little light headed. BRAIN FULLY ENGAGED! Now I had a LOT to think about. I thought of ALL the reasons why I couldn't go. Kids, homeschool, family, kids, money, did I mention kids? Ed was scheduled to be in NY over that time, this seemed impossible. But this was ultimately my prayer - God, the obstacles are great, but if this is Your Will for me then I will go. I had a few others praying for direction and resolution to the obstacles. Within 24 hours the biggest obstacle had been resolved. My dear friend volunteered to take the kids while Ed was gone. So now it was down to me. This was huge and I wanted to be sure that this was indeed God's will and that I wasn't going out of my own desire. So, I asked God for a sign in the form of a dream. That night I did dream about women and India. But I was still unsure. After all, dreams are a way of processing through what is going on in your brain. So 8am Thursday morning, October 14th, I asked for another sign. By 9am, that sign had been granted. Time to put the "fleece" back in the closet. I AM GOING TO INDIA!

As for money - well, the God who calls is the God who provides. I believe that with all my heart. I am sure that story will be worthy of it's own blog post.

As of this morning I have a freshly inked Indian visa in my passport and I swear if I am called again, I am going for the 10 year tourist visa!

Just another day in Rodenville.....