Pete n' Repete Were in a Boat...

Kripa = कृपा = Grace

Just another one of those nights,


"are you awake? how bout now? what are you doing? are you asleep yet?"


Anyone who has ever spent the night with me knows how this is.. So once again I am awake as the rest of the world sleeps. I just gave up o my semi-conscience roommates, so I ask you. How are you? Is there ways I can be praying for you? 


I don't know who is reading this, of if anyone even does. But if you are I want to hear from you! 


Today was an awesome day. It's incredible what God can do if you just let Him.  I so often find myself so wrapped up in how others view what I do or say I put a limit on the Lord, I ignore what He is telling me or give excuses as to why His idea is silly. Naturally, I am the one being silly, because ultimately what He wants will get done, I just miss out on an opportunity to see Him at work and the privilege of Him working through me. 

So everyday for lunch since we arrived in India we have been having lunch at Nestle Cafe. Its kind of like a coffee shop, except I'm pretty sure its not actually coffee, and there's no comfy couches and most of India has yet to discover what WiFi is, but other than that it's just like a coffee shop. Through our daily visits we have become friends with the two girls that work there (Sneha and Archana), they are so great! One is Hindu and one is Catholic, but they seem like typical teenage girls you would meet in America. So today, as we were sitting and drinking Cardamom Tea (one of the most delightful things I have ever had, its like Chai but with a vanilla sweet impossible to describe twist!) a girl was standing at the window begging. Now, this is something you see every day here, and sadly something over time you find yourself far too comfortable with. We know not to give money, because; for those of you who have seen Slumdog Millionaire, you know how it works. It is such a helpless feeling when you want to give to them, but you know in the end it is not going to help them... It was only the two of us and the Hindu girl (Sneha) in the cafe at the time and we were just sitting and reading our Bibles when the Lord showed me how ridiculous the whole thing was. There was a girl in need outside and I was sitting and enjoying the A/C and a nice cup of tea reading my Bible! Of course being the stubborn and proud person I am I convinced myself she just wanted money. The Lord wasn't so easily convinced however, and He reminded me that I was here to show his love to ALL the women here not just the ones in the classes but the girls He leads us to along the way, like the cafe girls. What kind of an example of His love was I being to Sneha as I read my Bible and ignored the the hungry girl in need, the very one He called me to love. At that moment Matthew 25:35-46 popped in my head..


"The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you,to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’" ~ Matthew 25:40


I knew what I wanted to do, I laid down my pride and brought her in, we got her something to eat and something to drink and  she sat and talked with us. She was only eleven and could not speak english so Sneha translated. (just another cool way the Lord works, it was the first time we had ever been there without the Catholic girl, Archana, there too) She told us about how her father left and her mother wouldn't let her go to school, because she had to beg and collect trash for money while her younger brothers were in school. She told us how much she wanted to be in school and she wanted to learn, and how she couldn't go back because she didn't remember how to read or write and her mother wouldn't allow it. We sat and talked with her for about an hour and invited her and her mom to come meet with us on Monday. Through God's grace we hope to get her a tutor and get her back in school! 

If I had let my fear of what Sneha would think, or my worry about what would happen, keep me from trusting God and allowing Him to work through me, instead of me trying to work for Him, I would have missed out on an awesome new friend and the chance to show the difference between a religion and a relationship with a god; with the God. After all He is God He doesn't need me to get things done. I am so blessed to be used by Him. 


"For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him." ~ Philippians 1:29


Ciao Bella.

Love is Calling YOU.

Pyaar = लव = Love

"...But the greatest of these is love."   ~   1 Corinthians 13:13

This week we've spent a lot of time looking at love, what love is and where love comes from. It's a word defined in so many small ways, but can literally change someone's world.

" My own family doesn't care about me... why do you?" ~ Raju

This statement brought tears to my eyes as Raju spoke after telling the tale of how she had attempted suicide earlier that morning. Their pain is so real and so deep.  Raju's story is one of many taking place daily here and all throughout India. These women have lost all hope and seek the only escape they know.. They are why I am here. Bringing God's unfailing love to the children His heart yearns for.  

"Father break my heart for what breaks Yours, give me open hands and open doors, put Your light in my eyes and let me see that my own little world is not about me... "

So often I get so caught up in my own little world, my troubles, my wants, my needs. Me. Me. Me. Living in the midst of the least of these makes me realize my constant selfishness. My own little world is NOT about me. This is what God is always reminding me of, in those moments where I am hurt or upset He puts in perspective my short comes. It is through His love that I love.  There is nothing I could give these girls without Him, it is His hope and love they so desperately need...

"So when you get the chance,
are you gonna take it?

There's a really big world at your fingertips

And you know you have the chance to change it

There's a girl on the streets, she's cryin'

There's a man whose faith is dyin'

Love is calling you..."

Ciao Bella.

Harder. Better. Faster. Stronger.

Pratīkṣā - वेटिंग - Waiting


I just wanted to share what the Lord's been teaching me, as I learn to wait on Him and His timing in all things..

Going anywhere in India is a process; waiting for the bus to come, waiting for the the bus to leave, and waiting on the bus ride.  Coming from the country that opened the first fast food joint and developed the first microwave, the concept of waiting is totally foreign.  We are taught faster is better; faster cars, faster food, and faster lives. It's a culture which leads us to believe having down time is wrong, wasteful even. Yet without time to just be, life passes you by, its gone before you know it. I love to take these opportunities to think and breathe. A wise person once told me, "Life is a balance." In my own life I have found this to be true, to much of a good thing for instants spoils the joy found in it. Though one might argue you could never spend to much time with the Lord, if you don't share what He gives you then how is that loving, the greatest of His commandments. While being here I find my peace during these daily rides into town. Its where I spend a lot of my time chatting it up with the Almighty. When I am running low He always knows what to say to fill me up again... We talk most trips to and from town, however today was just one of those days I just needed Him to talk...

Music is where I turn when I need inspiration, comfort, energy, or just a smile.  Music is often how He moves me and through music He shared with me today as I was lost in my own troubles, so I wanted to in turn share with you...


"You're not alone for I am here let me wipe away every fear, my love I've never left your side, I have seen you through the darkest night and I'm the one that's loved you all your life.. "



This is His promise to each of us, and after His reassurance of His ever present help He preceded to gently remind me why I am here...


"They took the heart of a little girl and made it grow up too fast ... Those damaged goods they see in their reflection, Love sees them differently, Love sees perfection, this is a song for the broken girl the one pushed aside by the cold, cold world ... now be amazed by how Grace can take a broken girl and put her back together again"  ~ Matthew West


Every word in this song speaks of the hearts and souls of the broken girls I try desperately to love each day here and the ever pressing call we all have to love.


Ciao Bella.