Well, not quite July, but pretty much!
This month flew by. This year is flying by. This school has flown by.
There are just five days left of this wonderful (stressful, annoying, obnoxious, inconceivable) School of Biblical Studies. No, I really have enjoyed this school though it took a while to get here at this current level of enjoyment.
My time and commitment at this place is quickly coming to an end. The graduation for this school is on Friday, this upcoming Friday, and then I get one week of a break where I will be laying in bed all day reading fantasy and/or dystopian young adult novels any time I am not sleeping. Then, after the week break I will be continuing my "commitment" for three more weeks and then I am DONE. Finished. Completed. No more commitment. No more stress (haha, that's funny). No more responsibilities. No more worries. No more forced conversations. No more frustrations with The Man. At least for some time.
I am looking forward to a much needed break. After three years of non-stop working, I look forward to resting and focusing on my marriage and getting back to the U.S.
I have loved this season of my life. I have loved meeting all these new students and staff. I have loved reading assignments and laughing or crying because of the student's personal stories. I have loved working with these people who have come to become my family here in India. I have loved teaching and sharing my heart with the staff and students, even if some don't listen or understand. I have loved eating rice and daal and other masalas with these guys for the past three years. I have loved making new life-long friends through this campus. It's been an amazing, challenging, stressful, and fulfilling time. I got married here! I cannot and will not forget how this place has changed the course of my life. Many things have happened that have made me wish I never came, but many things have also happened that reminded me that I am where I am supposed to be and have been here for a reason over the past three years.
I have peace when I think about finishing up the next month and being done with my commitment. I know that now is the time to still live in obedience but focused on a different "mission" in life: family. Establishing and continuing friendships and family relationships at home, a place I have not been for a long time. I am ready to stay in Minnesota for more than two months. I am ready to invest in people's lives at home. I am ready to process and reflect on my time in India the past four years.
I am ready for something new yet familiar. I am ready for my husband to set foot on American soil. I am ready to always have access to whole grain bread, hundreds of different apples, whipped cream, Ben and Jerry's, Starbucks, and STEAK. I am ready for those things. I embrace this change and shift in life focus.
I will always feel like I belong to India and when I am in the U.S. I know that I will stare at Indians there as they stare at me here, wondering where they're from, how I can become friends with them, will they let me babysit their children, and other questions that cross my mind.
India is a part of me; a part of my life. It always will be and I am happy for that. India is not a perfect place, but it has been a perfect place for me to experience God in ways I never would have in the U.S. When I look back on my life to a time my faith was really tested and strengthened it will be this time.
When I sat down to write in my blog today I was not even thinking to write about all this, but it seems my fingers have spoken without me even really trying. Thanks for following me over these past three-four years. I have also beenstalking following most of you as well. I'll continue to write in this blog until my very last breath, and once I'm done with my commitment here I will probably write in it a lot more often which will mostly be daily posts full of stories and pictures of my cats.
This month flew by. This year is flying by. This school has flown by.
There are just five days left of this wonderful (stressful, annoying, obnoxious, inconceivable) School of Biblical Studies. No, I really have enjoyed this school though it took a while to get here at this current level of enjoyment.
My time and commitment at this place is quickly coming to an end. The graduation for this school is on Friday, this upcoming Friday, and then I get one week of a break where I will be laying in bed all day reading fantasy and/or dystopian young adult novels any time I am not sleeping. Then, after the week break I will be continuing my "commitment" for three more weeks and then I am DONE. Finished. Completed. No more commitment. No more stress (haha, that's funny). No more responsibilities. No more worries. No more forced conversations. No more frustrations with The Man. At least for some time.
I am looking forward to a much needed break. After three years of non-stop working, I look forward to resting and focusing on my marriage and getting back to the U.S.
I have loved this season of my life. I have loved meeting all these new students and staff. I have loved reading assignments and laughing or crying because of the student's personal stories. I have loved working with these people who have come to become my family here in India. I have loved teaching and sharing my heart with the staff and students, even if some don't listen or understand. I have loved eating rice and daal and other masalas with these guys for the past three years. I have loved making new life-long friends through this campus. It's been an amazing, challenging, stressful, and fulfilling time. I got married here! I cannot and will not forget how this place has changed the course of my life. Many things have happened that have made me wish I never came, but many things have also happened that reminded me that I am where I am supposed to be and have been here for a reason over the past three years.
I have peace when I think about finishing up the next month and being done with my commitment. I know that now is the time to still live in obedience but focused on a different "mission" in life: family. Establishing and continuing friendships and family relationships at home, a place I have not been for a long time. I am ready to stay in Minnesota for more than two months. I am ready to invest in people's lives at home. I am ready to process and reflect on my time in India the past four years.
I am ready for something new yet familiar. I am ready for my husband to set foot on American soil. I am ready to always have access to whole grain bread, hundreds of different apples, whipped cream, Ben and Jerry's, Starbucks, and STEAK. I am ready for those things. I embrace this change and shift in life focus.
I will always feel like I belong to India and when I am in the U.S. I know that I will stare at Indians there as they stare at me here, wondering where they're from, how I can become friends with them, will they let me babysit their children, and other questions that cross my mind.
India is a part of me; a part of my life. It always will be and I am happy for that. India is not a perfect place, but it has been a perfect place for me to experience God in ways I never would have in the U.S. When I look back on my life to a time my faith was really tested and strengthened it will be this time.
When I sat down to write in my blog today I was not even thinking to write about all this, but it seems my fingers have spoken without me even really trying. Thanks for following me over these past three-four years. I have also been
I will be getting these two in two weeks. The white/orange one and then that tiny one with the red circle over his/her face. We do not yet have names for them but as I mentioned above, I'll keep you all posted on anything that has to do with my kitties.
