3 days ago Kingsley let us sleep for 12 hours during the day, only waking us to eat what would be equivalant to a Ted's meal for every meal. We stayed up for about 3 more hours, then went back to sleep for the whole night! The next day we felt so much better though! After another huge breakfast we went to visit Kingsley's grandma with his wonderful sister ghetsy, then randomly dropped in to a Hindi family's house who rents from their family. They were so welcoming and gave us snacks and lemonade (much to the dismay of Kingsley who was just sure it was going to kill us, but we're all fine) and one of the daughters drew henna on our hands! After that Ghetsy taught us a song in Tamil we have to sing on Sunday, and I learned how to play it and a few more songs on the keyboard. After that we ate more food, rested, and then met the children at the school they run here! They were so adorable, and they had bought us roses for our hair! After that we were instructed to rest more (eat and rest are our basic commands), then we went to visit families from the church. We were supposed to go to 2 homes, but instead the 1st family we visited took us to a very sketch carnival!
After that we ate dinner and we were able to go up to the roof to talk about everything we had seen, but we also talked about the things we're struggling with and just other questions we have about God... it was ideal, absolutely ideal (movie?)
Today we worked on our devotionals we gave to the people we visited tonight... Kingsley really helped us and I finally realized that maybe I really could have my mom's gift of teaching... never thought that would happen! He taught us it's all about relating God to your life, and then back to the rest of the world. The people tonight were so wonderful! They gave us so much food but more than that love... love is something that transcends all language barriers... they actually gave us some nasty coconut milk straight out of the coconut at one house but I was very tricky and said I just had to have a picture of it, so I took it home with me and pinched my straw everytime I took a drink. Other than that I have not had any problems with the food, it really is good, but more than that it just means so much to the people that we eat or drink it!
Tonight Kingsley bought us all jasmine for our hair and one of the girls was very allergic to it, but when she told Kingsley he said no, it's not that, it's all the cold water! He tells us all the time that we drink way too much water, and that we would not be so full and would have better digestion if we did not. All the fried foods we eat are "good for your health!" India is wonderful though... the people here are amazing and I can't remember the last time I felt such a closeness to God... but I'm coming to realize while my relationship with God is important we need to share much much more with other people than we do... everyone has struggles, but we are so selfish and prideful we only worry about what's going on with us, without thinking about how what we're going through could really benefit others. We all have strengths, and we all have weaknesses... we need to share all of them.
ps I'm not going to be on e-mail or facebook barely ever... Kingsley has an addiction to facebook that rivals mine, so computer time is limited, but I have no problem with that :)
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Miriam what state is Alex from? like where in Karela or however you spell it
ReplyDeleteIt was fabulous to hear from you tonight. Rebecca is coming over, and we are crafting for the arrival of Isabella Grace!!!!
ReplyDeleteI know that you can share your love through so many ways, but knowing that you are finding a way to do it in spite of even language barriers just thrills me!!
My love and hugs are being wafted over the servers of this computer!!!
wow. I just got done reading your post and it sounds amazing. Please stop drinking that lemonade, though- it can't be good.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I am even more amazed by the comment section of this blog- I'm learning things about my mother I've never known. Crafting for the arrival of Isabella Grace? What does that even mean? I cannot wait to find out.
My love & hugs are wafting to you as well. Really? Wafting?
hahahaha yes I was actually wondering the same thing! since when are you a crafter dear mother?! I have now switched to lukewarm cows milk. Accidentally.
ReplyDeleteWell, Alex is still sleeping, but I will try to find out about what state he is from and let you know. By the way, please pray for his dad because he is in the hospital with REALLY low hemoglobin and not doing well.
ReplyDeleteYay, I have finally managed to figure out how to post comments from home by enabling my cookies - all without any help from any computer experts! Sorry I'm typing 2 in a row, but I didn't want to type a huge one first in case it didn't work!
ReplyDeleteAbout the crafting for Isabella, I think you should know that Alex saw some really classy cross-stitch pictures on the Splash Mountain ride at Disney World and decided mom should cross-stich Isabella's name for her room! I think the actual picture will be cool, but I'm not sure what he saw in a "Can't run from trouble...ain't no place that far" sampler that made him think it was a good idea! Oh, and also, Austin is crafting her a quilt...so boo-ya (oh, I guess Alex must be up!)
Anyway, I love you and am praying for you...both that you will have a wonderful ministry and experience and that you will soon be able to eliminate the word sketch from your vocabulary!
Oh dear, I'm afraid I'm becoming a serial poster! I just talked to Alex's mom, though, and she says they are from either Ciruvalla or Tiruvalla (I couldn't tell if she was saying T or C for the first letter!).
ReplyDeleteBy the way, it's awesome that you said your basic assignments so far have been to eat and sleep. That was the total basis of last week's sermon at Life - Craig preached about Elijah and how, when the angel came to him after he had run away from Jezebel's army, the angel didn't tell him to get up and fight or go witness or do something awesome. He just told him to eat and rest and then the assignments came later!
hahahah ohhh man i remember them telling us everything greasy and fried was "very good for health". actually, i had them write that on my birthday cake when i was there. ha!
ReplyDeletei've been enjoying reading your updates! you are so right about being prideful and only worrying about what is going on with our own selves.
have you eaten the mangoes yet?!?
Hey Aubrey!
ReplyDeleteIt is sooo great to read about your experiences so far. Getting some inside scoop about your crafting and wafting family is quite a bonus. :) From my China experience, I can relate to your comments about the driving, massive crowds, and advice on drinking water. In the midst of the many differences, I hope that you would also be able to discover some beautiful similarities. I am glad that your introduction to India has gone well, and I am so excited to continue reading of God's exploits in you and through you. My prayer for you, Aubrey, is that God would heighten your spirit and your senses to be able to soak it all in...the sights, the sounds, the faces, the stories. May the volume control of your heart be cranked way up.
When I read about your eating and sleeping eict, I also thought of Craig's teaching about Elijah. So rest up, my friend, and be ready to go do what you do.
Much love and many prayers.
This has definitely turned into a family blog in which we are all staying in touch through YOU...I actually think we have talked many times about the fact that it is that way when you live right here in our city, and it is so heartwarming to think that you can be in INDIA, and have it still working.....THANKS to you and JESUS!!! We are all quite focused on you and what is happening in your life, whether you are in ministry, the work place, college, or just hanging out...it could probably be called "close family ties"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI REALLY miss you on SUNDAYS....so many people asked about you at church, and I couldn't help wondering what you had for Sunday Dinner, and who you shared it with.....you know, motherly thoughts!!!
The next thing that people ask, and I am very embarrassed by my answer, is "now just where is she in India???" I always say, "Well, according to what I read in Southern Lights, she is in WEST India!"...that pretty much covers my info concerning where on the globe you actually landed...." Maybe we will be able to point to a spot someday!!!!
I so pray for you to be given opportunities to truly share the love of JESUS in natural, common ways every day that you are there...I know that your influence in attitude, life style, and personal characteristics are the things that will remain, whether or not you happen to share the same language.
Know that you are loved, missed, and prayed for in rather large volumes these days!!
thanks for all the wonderful comments guys!!
ReplyDeleteKatie, I have tried the mangoes... and I actually hate them, they kind of make me gag, but I still eat them! lol do you like them? That's so awesome that you put that on your cake!!
Ms Kelley, your comment meant so much! I hope you come back and read this... Everytime I get signed on is kind of a miracle so I really don't know if an e-mail would send to you, but it's reall great to hear from someone who knows what it's like to be in a completely foreign country, but how to really learn from it too (you and Katie both). I loved what you said about noticing beautiful similarities...
mom I had a huge Sunday dinner here cooked by Kingsley's mom... she doesn't eat with us but this week hopefully she will teach us how to cook,or rather fry, some things! hahaha I am actually not in west india... my team is called india west, but I am in the west district of Tamil Nadu, in Musiri. Which is actually southeast india...
and I am very glad y'all stay in touch through me, that makes me feel wonderful!