Cut short

    Last night I made a silly decision.  Instead of heading down at 6 pm for evening prayer with the girls, I decided to pack so that on Wednesday I could spend the entire time with them.  Funny thing is I will no longer be here Wednesday.  This morning I was informed my flight from Salem to Chennai is canceled.  Thankfully, God had it covered, He knew my flight was going to be canceled so this morning He made sure my waiting list ticket for the train to Chennai tonight became an official ticket.  Can we just say GOD IS GOOD!

    As I was packing last night I thought, "I should maybe just go down," then I said to myself..."Hey you have one more night with them tomorrow you can."

    We are promised nothing in life, never knowing when Jesus will come back or when we may breath our final breath.  Life catches us off guard and changes our plans with out inquiring how we feel about the new plan.  The Bible encourages us to live every moment like it is our last.  For we never know the time or the hour.

     The last couple of nights I have spent the evenings sitting on the steps with the girls, just "chilling" :)  They yell over one another trying to teach me the correct punctuation of the Tamil song they are teaching me.  Or to get my attention and ask me what their name is.  As I sit there I think to myself, "If this was America I would have no patience for this loudness and yelling, especially this late at night."  Somehow the Holy Spirit has filled me with patience, as I sit there absorbing their presence knowing that in a few short days I will not see their faces for sometime.  They dance for me, they sing, I sing, we sing, we laugh, we joke, we praise our Father.

    Sitting with them, I remember earlier in the day when they took me to a room on the south of the girls community of hostels, they call it "circus" room.  Entering the building I notice scraps of bright colored paper all over the floor.  Lining the walls are old metal bunk beds, pushed up against each other in disarray.  Right in front of the door is a table, propped up to form a slide.  Laughing the girls slip down the wood surface of the table.  Confetti falls from the fan as a girl stands on top of one of the bunks throwing the paper scraps from the floor into the circulating fan.  Joy is in the air, and I am in awe of the simplicity of their entertainment.  They make the most with what little they have.  All the girls stand to the side, "You play?" they ask.  I nod and take my turn down the slide, confetti falling into my hair, a smile running across my face.  I thank God for this moment.  I thank God for these girls.

I am going to miss it here, even with all the bumps in the journey.  Pray for these girls, that they never lose sight of God's love.

Also pray for me, that my travels home are safe.