the earth is filled with His glory

By the time we left Mumbai we were all feeling pretty homesick, not to mention that we were super tired of hard boiled eggs and toast (hotel Indian food is rather disgusting). I knew that if some change in my attitude didn’t happen quick the next 3 weeks were gonna be absolutely miserable. God totally answered my prayer though, and allowed us to visit Kingsley’s grandma after we left the airport. She and her husband were so incredibly sweet, and they both spoke amazing English, possibly because she is half swiss. She and her daughters made us the best meal we’ve had since being here, and we got to really enjoy just being part of a family again. We left there at about 10:30 to begin our drive up the mountain… we were all kind of dreading it, but it was actually one of my favorite experiences of the trip. As we drove higher and higher up the mountain listening to John Mayer and Jason Mraz the scenery became absolutely breathtaking and the air became cooler and cooler. After what seemed like no time at all we arrived at our awesome little wooden cottage surrounded by more greenery and flowers than you can imagine! The only set back to that night was that as Meret layed down on her cute little bed it crashed through the floor… when we told the pastor who owned the house he simply replied “it’s an old building, these things happen”… the Indians we interact with have such amazing attitudes! As a result of the hole in the floor, which led directly to the ground, our room was quite chilly at night, but thankfully they had given us five blankets each, so we weren’t too cold!
Considering that we arrived at about 4:00 am it really wasn’t a surprise that we slept through our alarm, but it did result in some frenzied getting ready for church… luckily I remembered to through on my running tights under my chooty though! Yes, they did look hot, but hey, I was warm. In order to get to the church we had to climb about 50 steps, and we heard that just recently had they even put steps in, before they just had to climb the hill! After about a 3 hour nap we headed out to another church, where we fit at least 25 people in an 8 by 8 house, with 6 people sitting in chairs… if Americans were as flexible as Indians, I would say we should all have church like that. The spirit was just so there, and after giving our testimonies once again they prayed for us… I have never felt so loved, appreciated, and believed in as I do when these wonderful people pray for me. Sudas, the man who helps Kingsley, was about to go into the ministry, but recently he decided to back out, for reasons that don’t quite make sense, I think we’re missing something because of the slight communication barrier, but his mother was at this church and extremely sad… please pray for Sudas and his mother.
After church we were surrounded by the friendliest people we’ve met here, even though they really didn’t know English. Most people here want to give us things and watch us, but these people just really wanted to be with us. The girls grabbed out arms and directed our every step back down the steps, which was extremely kind considering it was pitch black and freezing out! My wonderful friend Jen compared the drive from Kingsley’s grandma’s house to our spiritual journey… we don’t want to leave what is safe, what feels like home, what is familiar. But sometimes we are called to, but if we do, God promises what he has next is even better. It may not be the easiest journey, or feel like it’s at the best time, but God absolutely has greater things in store for us. We can’t just remain stagnant, we must keep moving, trusting in the Lord with all our hearts, leaning not on our own understanding. In all our ways we must acknowledge Him, and he will keep our paths straight.