whew. these last few days have been a WHIRLWIND. a really good one, but still a whirlwind. my boss messed up my schedule, so i didn't start work until this morning (a day i told her i could not work, mind you). a lot of good came out of the 5-day delay though...mom and i drove to north carolina wednesday to surprise jules! she totally freaked out and cried when she saw us-- it was worth the 13 hours cooped up in the car with my mom (and the 13 hours back, i suppose). ha. we enjoyed our time. i met her class one morning, went shopping another day, went out to dinner and had dinner made for us by pete, went to watch jules coach softball, visited the airborne museum, etc etc etc. i'm so glad we went.
when i got back at 8:10 last night, i hurried to take the fastest shower of my life and then met ashley and kallie at pizza hut at 8:30. impressed? :) we chatted until 10:30ish and it was great. i love hearing how God is moving and causing others to grow. what a blessing.
because of my late night and exhaustion from being in the car all day, i decided to wait and pack all my things for my move to indy this morning--bad life decision. i had to be at work at 10 am, so when my alarm went off at 7:00 so i could be adequately prepared, it was not a good moment for me. i slept until 7:35. i was rushing around like a mad woman, but actually managed to get to work on time. i am glad to be back at maggiano's, although the vulgarity started early on. trey said, "welcome back, stace!" after some lewd comments were made. i did meet a fellow Christian today though-- the only one in the restaurant i believe. he's new...comes from muncie and has a wife and 8 kids he's trying to support. lost his job as a mortgage broker along with 3000 others at his bank and the market is just not good for him right now. still, we talked about how God wil provide. He always does.
i got let go early today and came back to the house to unload my things. i was here for a bit and then drove to pick up jess to go to our meeting in anderson about INDIA. i leave four weeks from tomorrow. holy cow. it was such a blessing to meet with tom and rhonda, steve and lynn, eric, liz, and jess, and i learned A LOT. mainly about things to be prepared for, watch out for, etc. but also about the indian culture a bit more. the children we will be ministering to are mostly Christian but come from families that have very strong hindu backgrounds. hope home is unique in that it is a Christian orphanage, but it serves destitute and non-Christian families. i discovered tonight that most orphanages in India are Christian but essentially are Christian boarding schools for children that come from 2-parent Christian homes. tom touched on the fact that the church should be taking care of its own, not an orphanage. he wanted hope home to be a place to reach the destitute and lost. what a great vision it has been. he also explained that in indian society, the children we are going to be loving are considered to be some of the "untouchables," the lowest caste in india. they come from generations of untouchables because in their country, no one tries to better their status in life because they see their caste placement as punishment for sins from a past life. they simply try to be good people within their life situation in hopes that in the next life, they will come back as part of a higher caste. in america, we believe that if you are born poor, there can be a way out-- pull yourselves up by your bootstraps essentially. there, there is no progress because their status is divinely appointed. the thought of that killed me tonight. they are "untouchable" because of their sin? that is so backward from what Jesus taught-- He came to save the lost. it is the sick that need a doctor, not the well, right? *sigh. as sad as that is, it only makes me more excited to love and show affection to children that might never have had it before in their life. they are worth something-- they have something to offer the world. it is my prayer now that God would give me eyes to see the needs of individuals and then the strength and enablement to help meet that need. i am ready to be broken for His people and i am ready to serve.
empty me, Lord, so that i can be Your vessel alone.
when i got back at 8:10 last night, i hurried to take the fastest shower of my life and then met ashley and kallie at pizza hut at 8:30. impressed? :) we chatted until 10:30ish and it was great. i love hearing how God is moving and causing others to grow. what a blessing.
because of my late night and exhaustion from being in the car all day, i decided to wait and pack all my things for my move to indy this morning--bad life decision. i had to be at work at 10 am, so when my alarm went off at 7:00 so i could be adequately prepared, it was not a good moment for me. i slept until 7:35. i was rushing around like a mad woman, but actually managed to get to work on time. i am glad to be back at maggiano's, although the vulgarity started early on. trey said, "welcome back, stace!" after some lewd comments were made. i did meet a fellow Christian today though-- the only one in the restaurant i believe. he's new...comes from muncie and has a wife and 8 kids he's trying to support. lost his job as a mortgage broker along with 3000 others at his bank and the market is just not good for him right now. still, we talked about how God wil provide. He always does.
i got let go early today and came back to the house to unload my things. i was here for a bit and then drove to pick up jess to go to our meeting in anderson about INDIA. i leave four weeks from tomorrow. holy cow. it was such a blessing to meet with tom and rhonda, steve and lynn, eric, liz, and jess, and i learned A LOT. mainly about things to be prepared for, watch out for, etc. but also about the indian culture a bit more. the children we will be ministering to are mostly Christian but come from families that have very strong hindu backgrounds. hope home is unique in that it is a Christian orphanage, but it serves destitute and non-Christian families. i discovered tonight that most orphanages in India are Christian but essentially are Christian boarding schools for children that come from 2-parent Christian homes. tom touched on the fact that the church should be taking care of its own, not an orphanage. he wanted hope home to be a place to reach the destitute and lost. what a great vision it has been. he also explained that in indian society, the children we are going to be loving are considered to be some of the "untouchables," the lowest caste in india. they come from generations of untouchables because in their country, no one tries to better their status in life because they see their caste placement as punishment for sins from a past life. they simply try to be good people within their life situation in hopes that in the next life, they will come back as part of a higher caste. in america, we believe that if you are born poor, there can be a way out-- pull yourselves up by your bootstraps essentially. there, there is no progress because their status is divinely appointed. the thought of that killed me tonight. they are "untouchable" because of their sin? that is so backward from what Jesus taught-- He came to save the lost. it is the sick that need a doctor, not the well, right? *sigh. as sad as that is, it only makes me more excited to love and show affection to children that might never have had it before in their life. they are worth something-- they have something to offer the world. it is my prayer now that God would give me eyes to see the needs of individuals and then the strength and enablement to help meet that need. i am ready to be broken for His people and i am ready to serve.
empty me, Lord, so that i can be Your vessel alone.
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