Here we go... again

We are days away from our return visit to India.  The journey getting here this year has been less difficult.  We did not have to change gears quite as much this time.  We have decided to take Lane. That fact thrills me and makes me want to throw up all at the same time.  I bounce between excitement that he gets to do this with us and "What the heck were we thinking".  I am really excited that he gets this opportunity at such a young age.  Scott and I will never be the same after last trip, so we are hoping that maybe it will change the way Lane sees the whole world.  It is really hard to come home and think that this is all there is.  That the world revolves around you.  Because, Clearly, it does not and there is so much more.  As we have been thinking over last trip and trying to process some of the things we have seen, we have come to the conclusion that there is no answer for some things.  Some of life does not have an answer.
 It is as if I am walking around with a question in my hand and have no place to put it down.  ie) why do they do that? I thought human nature was like this? What, how... did you see that monkey on the power pole?
So much of life is lived outside of my home.  So much hurt and evil has been going on for far too long.  It says in the book of James, that if you know the good you ought to do and don't do it, it is sin for you.  So there you have it.  We have left people we have grown to love on the other side of the earth.  We have heard their heartbreaking stories and can no longer turn a deaf ear or look away.  We have nothing to give but our small amount of help, our breaking heart and our love.  We really hope to encourage, but are inadequate. We really hope to help, but are inadequate.  We really hope to show God's love, He is adequate.  When we are weak he is strong.  And it is with these thoughts and promises we turn around and subject ourselves to 18 hours of flights.  We will go, and trust God to do the rest.

Photography

For those of you who taught me how to use my camera...thank you.  These are for you.

Nice Hair

Sorry.... but this one is so funny.  This is me Blogging after a fulfilling and tiring day.  Enjoy

Warm welcome home

The kids checking out their loot.

 

 

Our welcome home sign

 This is how we feel - tired, sick and happy to be home.

Welcome Home

 Train station

 Monkey on a stick

 In a rickshaw

At the Taj...

 

 

So after spending the last week unplugged, (sorry) we are finally home.  We traveled to Dehli and then spent the day looking around.  The next day we went to Agra to see the Taj and then off the next day home.  We made it home while food poisoning worked its way through our team.  So great..... so now we are home but we had to drag ourselves here.  We are thinking that one day we will laugh about having to get out of the security line up to run to the bathroom or using the barf bag on the plane.  About 90% of the team was sick, not sure about the rest.  Maybe today was a rough day for them.  But we are home and I got to ride in a rickshaw and see the Taj. Bucket list...Check.

October 30

It is with sadness that I typed in the date... Cant belive we are heading home today.  Well actually we are leaving for Dehli today.  We still get to go to Aggra and see the Taj mahal and then we get to spend the day in Dehli and have dinner with all the kids who have graduated from the home and are now living in Dehli.  So we still have lots of adventures to come even though this chapter has ended.  Martine, we are slowly on our way home to you.  Lane we will bring you some chocolate, Autumn here we come. (we will bring you all chocolate, they say the airport in london has good chocolate)
- Ps. I forgot to tell you, we sang the "hockie pockie" at church at the top of our lungs, so funny, so fun.

October 29

Today was our last day at the home.  We knew it would be emotional but it was such a sweet sadness.  During the day we finished up the last of our work.  We got most of the projects done.  The only thing left was hanging the eves troughs (spelling?) and they got made but not all hung.  We finished up the painting and then spent the day cleaning up the mess we had made.  We scraped paint of the floor and carried wood, and swept up.  There was a tree that had to be cut back in order to paint all the way around and it was really ugly right at the front of the school, so one girl got the idea to make a birdhouse for it.  So we pulled together some scraps and were going to make a birdhouse when we were done.  There is an older boys ( he is 24) that is from the home, his name is Deepak.  Scott and him have been talking lots and have created a bond.  Well he saw that we were going to make a bird house and so the next morning when we got there he just finishing the roof for us.  He had made a plan in his head how to do it and then we all worked to make this bird house.  It was so sweet that someone who looks so tough on the outside saw what we were doing, our plan was inferior for sure, and helped us out.  It shows his sweet spirit.
- At night we had closing program. (A side note, this part of the trip i dreaded, I thought how awkward but everyone who has come here says it is a highlight and now I know why)  The kids did traditional Indian dances for us. One dance from Napal, one from Punjab, one from Himachial Pradesh (the province we are in).  It was so much fun my face hurt from smiling.  The kids all sit on a carpet in rows and they let us sit cris cross with them, all snuggled up. We all sit so close my feet go to sleep. There is always at least three girls touching you.  After the dances we had bible reading and farewell speeches and things and then as a secret three of the boys on our team had put together a dance to do for the program.  Us girls got wind of it and put together our own dance for the kids.  But the dance the boys did, I have no words.  So funny.  Kyle has bought himself a track suit from the Gorka military base and so he keeps talking about how we is a Gorka.  So he wore his track suit and they danced to a hindi song and tried to do the dance moves that the boys at the home do.(they also did the lawn mower, sprinkler, and the shopping cart.)  It was really awesome how they had picked up on the boys moves and tried to do them.  I actually meant a lot to the boys at the home that they would make fun of them.  The kids have a great sense of humor so it was really cool to bug them back.  At one point i was actually jumping up and down i was laughing so hard.  And no Indian party is complete without fire works. So scary but fun to scream and run for cover.  I stood next to the pregnant lady, I thought that would be the safest.  And after that pounding out the punjabi and hindi dance music (and more justin beiber) and we had a dance party till all the little girls were asleep on their Didis and it was time to go.  Then the goodbyes and then onto the bus at 11pm.  It was a pretty quiet ride home, but it is better to feel sad because it means you have had a good time and have learned to love the kids.  And we really have learned to love the kids, the home, the staff, everything about Shanti Nikatin.
- John 15:16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit - fruit that will last.