Today has been a beautiful day off. I got up and talked to Andrew since we haven't had much of a chance to communicate lately, and I started my Kilimanjaro workouts (oh yeah, i'm confirmed as climbing mount kilimanjaro in September, by the way), and i got caught up on so much rest that i've been needing. I stayed inside all day today to try and beat the heat, although i think i've now realized that you don't really beat the heat in Delhi - IT beats YOU into a bloody submissive pulp. At least i now know my place in the Indian feudal system where heat is king.
It was so good to have the GBC team here. As i mentioned, the busyness with them and service opportunities were wonderful, and it was amazing to have some family among them!
During a recent car ride, I heard a friend of mine say he was proud of his country. I can appreciate this sentiment, but I have never been able to identify with that kind of emotion as connected to a country which is at best a politically enclosed entity. I don't and can't love everything about America, nor do i or can i love everything about India. I find pockets of beauty and comfort in both places. That being said, though, Helena and Becca were such a sweet taste of home in my life. The team left late last night after eight solid days of nonstop ministry. They are brave ones, and they are resilient - none of them even really got sick. They were such a fresh change of pace.
I have fewer things to write about these days, i think because fewer things in Delhi excite or surprise me. It's just a sign of being very at home here - a phenomenon which i'm very thankful for. Of course it's sad to feel right at home when suddenly your plane ticket has been purchased and you have three months left before more major life changes. It's a strange place, this in-between, but i'm trying to live all of my time out here before i try to shift mentally. (Engagement makes that next to impossible) :)
I want to keep you updated, though, as life is going on here regardless of whether i tell you about it or not!
For the next three months, I am the assistant coordinator of Babel, the new Language Institute of PMI. I'm working with a friend of ours here named Nirvan to make a self-sustaining language center which will house qualified teachers of a host of different languages and will eventually help to fund some of PMI's ministry. It's an exciting start, and tomorrow is the first day of our 3-month trial run. It will be great to see how we can build relationships through this institute and how it blossoms - if it's given time and patience, i believe it will really take off.
Exam results are back, and it seems all of our sophomores and all of our juniors in CHEP have passed! We are so proud of them - and I want to thank specifically those of you who have prayed for their studies and well-being. We love them so much.
We have a singles retreat coming up at church this month as well! I'm excited to travel to Sattal and enjoy getting to know some of my friends here better. And not only that, i think i will finally get my first chance to ride on a train! It's a fair distance from here and we should be going by sleeper train, which i'm more excited about than i think i should be ;)
It's so nice to have days like this just to stay in and be here. I have been learning recently about intentionality in prayer, and i enjoyed using my down time to cultivate that. Prayer is one of the most valuable things i've learned to return to in India. I know it must seem a strange thing for me to say, but i have really struggled with prayer as a discipline and as a legitimate practice, so it's beautiful to be talking to God again.
I'm thankful for his sustenance and his closeness even through my faithlessness and my struggles to be like Him. I'm so glad He knows my heart even when I'm tired or when i fail or when i act selfishly.
I'm thankful for the pockets of beauty he does place in my life for me to find - the reminders of His presence and His unending love.
I pray you find the evidences of Him around you today, too.
Love from Delhi,
Julie, relaxed.
It was so good to have the GBC team here. As i mentioned, the busyness with them and service opportunities were wonderful, and it was amazing to have some family among them!
During a recent car ride, I heard a friend of mine say he was proud of his country. I can appreciate this sentiment, but I have never been able to identify with that kind of emotion as connected to a country which is at best a politically enclosed entity. I don't and can't love everything about America, nor do i or can i love everything about India. I find pockets of beauty and comfort in both places. That being said, though, Helena and Becca were such a sweet taste of home in my life. The team left late last night after eight solid days of nonstop ministry. They are brave ones, and they are resilient - none of them even really got sick. They were such a fresh change of pace.
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| sweet kids at the Civil Linds medical camp |
I have fewer things to write about these days, i think because fewer things in Delhi excite or surprise me. It's just a sign of being very at home here - a phenomenon which i'm very thankful for. Of course it's sad to feel right at home when suddenly your plane ticket has been purchased and you have three months left before more major life changes. It's a strange place, this in-between, but i'm trying to live all of my time out here before i try to shift mentally. (Engagement makes that next to impossible) :)
I want to keep you updated, though, as life is going on here regardless of whether i tell you about it or not!
Exam results are back, and it seems all of our sophomores and all of our juniors in CHEP have passed! We are so proud of them - and I want to thank specifically those of you who have prayed for their studies and well-being. We love them so much.
We have a singles retreat coming up at church this month as well! I'm excited to travel to Sattal and enjoy getting to know some of my friends here better. And not only that, i think i will finally get my first chance to ride on a train! It's a fair distance from here and we should be going by sleeper train, which i'm more excited about than i think i should be ;)
It's so nice to have days like this just to stay in and be here. I have been learning recently about intentionality in prayer, and i enjoyed using my down time to cultivate that. Prayer is one of the most valuable things i've learned to return to in India. I know it must seem a strange thing for me to say, but i have really struggled with prayer as a discipline and as a legitimate practice, so it's beautiful to be talking to God again.
I'm thankful for the pockets of beauty he does place in my life for me to find - the reminders of His presence and His unending love.
I pray you find the evidences of Him around you today, too.
Love from Delhi,
Julie, relaxed.
I wish I had something meaningful to say in response to this great post. My stomach made embarrassingly loud noises while I was reading this - that's all I've got.
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