What a Month in India will get you..

I still can’t process that I have been here for a month! But
on February 21^st, it was official; the only white people in Barasat,
Kolkata had been in India for 31 days. And here is a little summary of what
that month has been comprised of:

What I have learned:

• Crossing heavily trafficked streets is hard, but has been
  successfully mastered.
• Any mode of transportation you take through these streets is
  an adrenaline rush.
• Which vehicle honk is for the traffic and which one is for
  us.
• We are kind of like celebrities here. Kind of.
• All guys will holler, stare, and smile creepily. Women will
  just stare. Girls will giggle, and kids will wave and yell ‘Auntie!’ til they
  are blue in the face.
• Our sweet kids love to return the teaching favor. I now know
  a worship song and some phrases in Bengali.
• I can finally decipher these precious kids’ English:
  “Auntie, look I’m rounding!” or Auntie, paining!” Means ‘look at me spin!’ and
  ‘I hurt myself!”
• My team is awesome!

God has taught me:

• Patience- Running out of internet before I get to Skype, or
  having a stubborn little boy to tutor; God has taught me to just breathe and
  take it all in stride.
• How powerful He is: He shows himself in the tiniest of ways,
  and prayer walks have been amazing! God has been healing and working where we
  go.
• Joy- finding it in the little things, the big things, and
  when I just don’t feel like being joyful.
• To remember where I am- I’m in India! It is easy to just
  settle into a routine and let that slip in the back of my mind. God has me here
  for a purpose; to love His people.
• That spending time alone in His presence is essential-Whether
  it’s plugging the headphones in for worship or digging into His word, that time
  continues to strengthen my relationship with my Heavenly Father.

And that is all just a tiny look into my world. God teaches
me something new every day, and I love it.

I love being here, I love these kids, and I love being
around these people. I love worshiping with my team, and I love praying and
listening to this all powerful, all mighty God who has absolutely no need for
me because of my sinful nature, but loved me so much, He loved US so much, that
He sent His one and only Son to take the crushing weight of every single sin
past present and future in our lives so that we can be with Him, and because I
accepted His love He is using me to tell the people here about that love.

And I love it.

If He taught me all that in one month, I can’t wait for the
next two.