Shopping & Scrubbing

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Scrubbing and shopping – the two things we’ve been doing the most in the past 36 hours. I’ve been cleaning windows and getting the kitchen in order, and Andrew is out buying a refrigerator right now. We still aren’t quite ready to eat here at the guesthouse, but it’s getting a lot closer. J Okay…later: Andrew picked out a refrigerator, but couldn’t buy it today. He also purchased a cell phone but couldn’t get it activated today. Very warm-culture. Amos has been playing very well today by himself. Please pray for Justice – he has been very tired today and may be having some intestinal issues.

Andrew saw our apartment today – it’s quite large. It takes up the whole bottom floor of a building. The ceilings are REALLY high – like you could put a second floor in. We feel a little weird moving in there when the guesthouse is much more standard for faculty here. We would be happy staying in the guesthouse and making that our home. We’ll see what they say.

We can hear the Muslim call to prayer multiple times a day. In Allahabad, 20% are Muslims – a larger than average percentage.

I’ve seen a couple mice in Sundar Raj’s house, but none in ours so far. J We have one screen that needs replaced in our bathroom, so a lizard and mosquitoes have gotten in through there, but other than that, the house is pretty well closed in.

Today I have really missed talking and working with friends. There is so much to do, and it takes me so long to accomplish things on my own with two boys and the heat, that it’s kind of depressing if I think about it too much. We went out this evening again though, around the time when the children and adults come out (when it’s cooler – about 5:30-7pm), and I had a very nice time talking to two other mothers who live in the same apartment building. I’m really thankful for that. Amos and Justice had fun, too, with the kids. I also was encouraged by what I read in A Chance to Die, the biography on Amy Carmichael that I’m reading through. It was talking about when Amy’s mother and a close and trusted fellow worker both died in the same year – and how she had to accept the Lord’s will as being “to do without” for the time being.

So far, the topics of homeschooling and home births are very weird and “unacceptable” to the people here – we ask if it is okay to do, and they say, “No, everyone goes to the doctor,” or “No, homeschooling is not recognized.” This is really hard for me to deal with – I would really appreciate your prayers that we would have wisdom to know how to handle both situations. It also seems very much the norm for both the husband and wife to work outside of the home. They probably won’t understand that I want to stay home and take care of my family first and foremost. I’m thankful that both EFM and OMS, the mission organizations that we are working for/with, understand us and sent us anyway. J It’s just going to be interesting dealing with the subjects here on the field.

All for now – I need to get back and help get the boys ready for bed and spend some family time together.