A Typical Day, If There Is One

(The beauty of His Majesty here in the Himalayas never ceases to amaze me!)

People ask me often, “What is a typical day like in India”?  I am not sure there is an answer to that because most days aren’t the same, but I will give it a try. Most days I awake around 5:00am, get ready, and go to a morning group pr* time that goes from 6-7:00.  As a group, we seek the Father for the nations and wor$hip Him for His goodness.  From there, I usually sit and have my own quiet time with the Father until my tutoring starts at 8:30.  From 8:30-9:30, I have a Hindi tutoring session, and then go to the gym, which some peers have started here.  The gym is a great place to meet people from the community. After the gym, I run back home prepare for the day, and try to squeeze in a little Hindi homework study while eating lunch.  Usually on the way coming and going I run into multiple neighbors which results in conversation and usually an invitation inside and a cup of chai as well. Some days I stop along the way to give someone a ride on my borrowed scootie. Some days I run to the market and meet some shop keepers, or attend to some grocery shopping or such.  Some days I meet new friends or have lunch dates. Some days I simply clean my house in between coming and going.  By 1:00pm, I leave for school and usually have school until 5:00 for Hindi classes. After school some days, I study Hindi before going home or to the next place.  Some days I go straight home and prepare dinner for guests who are coming that evening. Some days I have plans to visit people in the community. Some days I have errands or business to do after school, but most evenings are filled spending time with someone in the community.  This is how I like it best. 

These days it's monsoon, so the endless rain, wet conditions, and mold growing everywhere add a lovely bonus of events to the day.  The goal is to be home, with your rugs and clothes and anything damp or moldy set outside when the clouds roll over and the sun peeks out. Even if just for a few minutes, it seems to make some difference.  It's an art I am learning. "Quick set it out while the sun is out, but don't leave it too long, as the clouds are rolling in". The clouds literally walk in your door in a visible way, and with it comes more dampness.  This art and skill of keeping your things nice is difficult in all the comings and goings and time spent in school in my day. Today, I cleaned off my photographs I brought from the States, reminders of home.  As I tried to remove the mold, while saving the photo, I cherished the faces on the pictures.  I set them out in the sun, and was thankful that today it didn't rain!

I have learned that I can plan my course, but the Father determines my steps, no matter how much I think I can plan out a schedule for myself, it doesn’t seem to be fulfilled.  I am learning to live minute by minute. Most days that I have a plan, the plan changes. For example, if I think I will walk to school, then when it’s time, it’s pouring buckets of monsoon water down the mountain and there is a landslide blocking the normal path. When I think I will teach Children’s Ch*, then I find out there is a team coming and they will teach.  When I plan to visit a neighbor, I notice her lock is on the door and she is gone, but I meet another neighbor calling me inside her house. When I soak beans and plan to make dinner, a family insists I stay with them for their evening meal.


I am a planner, I like plans and consistency, but one thing I am learning is to rest in the Father’s will and HIS plans for my life, day by day, moment by moment.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Bhindi or “Tikka” Mark on the Head- What is it?

Image
(Pooja tikka mark) Many westerners have asked me what the Bhindi or red “tikka” mark means or why I am willing to wear it as a Chri$tian. Many people associate this mark with H!nduism. In my contextualization classes we were taught about finding the difference between culture and religion. The scripture is clear that we don’t want to do anything to compromise our Chri$tian faith and values. At the same time the go$pel is full of the liberties that Chri$t brought to us through the cross. We are no longer obligated to religious practices and rituals. Chri$t fulfilled the law. As we work with non-believers we don’t want to make Chri$tianity another religion. We don’t want to make following Chri$t more difficult than it has to be. Following Je$us doesn’t have to mean abandoning culture, it just has to mean abandoning any other faith or practices of that faith. As teachers, we have to help our disciples find this difference as they come to follow the Father more and more. We don...
Read more

What’s It Like Here with Lockdown?

Image
(This woman sold her husband's phone for 2500rps ($33) to buy food.) I don’t think any country or family has it “easy” during these Covid-19 times, but I do think Third World Countries like ours have it a little harder.  Many of the people who are day laborers or migrants are really struggling. These are the people who work every day to get income to supply that same day’s food supply. Without it, they have no food to eat. With lockdown, most of this population is without income and therefore without food. Today, news came that one lady died from hunger in Nep@l.  Each day the news is filled with stories and pictures of desperate slum dwellers lined up at NGO doors for food donations or migrant day laborers walking thousands of miles to try to go back to their cities or countries to find food. The stories are gut retching.  In our personal city, we haven’t seen these stories first hand. Throughout the country, there are government programs ...
Read more

But God...

Every Knee Will Bow And Every Tongue Will Confess Truly everywhere we look is need- physical, emotional, financial, and spiritual. I see the man with elephantitis lift his giant leg to shift his position as he sits on a mat begging for money on the side of the road. I see a woman sitting on a patch of grass on the edge of a busy highway practicing her meditation attempting to find her inner peace. I see a young girl on her way to school stop to touch the street cow and then touch her own forehead in hopes that her Hindu practices will reap the blessing from her god (cow). Simultaneously, I see a shop keeper allow the giant cow to mosey along his street front restaurant; he even offers the cow freshly made roti (bread) as to not offend his “god” passing by. I see another person practicing yoga with all the pristine positions and poses. Her breaths are well practiced, yet her face is stricken with the look of anxiety and distress.  I see a young man who ...
Read more