India Update # 3

God is faithful!
That is my reflection as I try once again (I have already made two attempts :D) to get this third updating sent out.
This Thursday it will be two months since I boarded my flight that began my journey to India. This Thursday we will be making another trip in the dark to the airport. Although this trip will be dark because of the lateness of the hour, instead of how early it is:)
Also, this trip will be a pickup trip instead of a drop off:)
We will be picking up some family members who are coming in to see my grandma, who we found out (just days after I arrived back home) has blood cancer.
It has been a very busy month! Not only did we find out about my grandmas health situation, but my sister, Kayla, and her husband and two baby's are living with us as they await the finishing up of the house they are waiting to rent. So there has been much transition over the last month being home, and it has been very busy! My grandma requires pretty much 24/7 care, so that leaves us little spare time on top of all the other things we have going here:) Hence the delay in getting out these updates.

Step Three: Getting There 

What an amazing thing international travel is! 

My great-grandparents would have had to take a ship for months to travel what we did in less than 24hours. 

However, that does not mean that it was a "walk in the park" experience :D  

It was a long trip!

I remember vividly that night trying to sleep. Shifting in my seat on the plane. Thankfully next to Rachel, after we found out for some reason the seats we had selected were not on the tickets we got. We were not supposed to be seated together according to our new ticket numbers. However a helpful gentlemen switched with Rachel, which was very nice for us! 

I remember Rachel giving me the rundown on proper airport exciting technique in India. I remembered that women should not make eye contact with men (easer said than done for these American eyes that have been well trained in the "polite" gesture of making eye contact accompanied by a smile and slight nod). We exited the runway and followed the crowd through customs. Showed our passports and visas to the man at the customs exit, collected our bags and went to find our drivers. 

We had been told that a man would be waiting for us at the front exit with a sign that said Rachel's name. We were also told that he might not speak very good English, but if we spoke slow he would get it. 

As we walked out and strode down the line of men holding signs behind a little fence-like barrier, we spotted two men, one holding a cardboard sign with the name "Rachel" penned on it. "Is that them?" We hesitated a bit. They saw us and motioned for us to come over to the gate, where they introduced themselves as Sontush and Joshua. Sontush reached for my bag, I hesitantly gave it to him. We then proceeded to follow Joshua as he lead is to the car. 

One must really put their trust in The Lord at this moments when you are in a strange country walking to a strange car with two strange men. And when one does this, one is at perfect peace. It is wonderful to have a good God to take care of us! 

On the ride "home" I experienced the smell of India. 

I imagine that anyone who has been to India will know that smell. However, if you haven't been, just know that it is distinct and foreign. 

As we sat in that car and drove through that city it was not a very romantic moment. 

I was so tired, and everything was so foreign, and for a moment I wondered what I was even doing here? I just wanted to go to my home and see my family and crawl into my bed. Yes, I know it was only a couple of days. Sometimes I can be a bit of a baby:D 

But it was too late for that. I was here and here I would stay for the next month. 

How silly we can be. We ask and ask and ask God for something, then He gives it to us and how often do we say "on second thought, I'm not so sure I really wanted that after all" yet if He doesn't give it to us we ask "why?". 

I am so thankful that my whim in that moment did not become my reality in the next. 

I am so thankful that God kept me in that place for the next month.