Unpredictability and patience are the names of the game. I've never been in a place that operates so differently. The immediate gratification and efficiency that every American holds dear becomes a comical joke the moment your foot hits the ground in Bangalore. You think you're going to walk onto the lot and an hour later walk off with a scooter? Guess again, wait times range from one week to several months. You think you're going to drive your scooter the day you get it? Guess again, you get food poisoning the day before. You think you have hotel reservations and a place to minister? Think again, theres a wedding that bumped your reservation and a pastor's death that cancels your ministry. You think you're going to arrive somewhere in the usual 15 minutes? Guess again, there is a train coming, a massive traffic jam, or possibly, the road has been dug up and will be repaired tomorrow. You think you'll go out and buy what you need tomorrow? Think again, it's 1 of 1000 Hindu festivals you know nothing about.....you get the point. Patience and the flexibility to go along with whatever happens is a virtue that is highly valued but not as easy to come by. I'm learning day by day that plans are fluid and everything is out of our control. As much as we desire to dictate every moment of our waking lives, to never depend on anyone but ourselves, and to control whatever we can get our hands on, ultimately we have control of nothing. "Instead you should say, if it's the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." James 4:15. That verse has a whole new meaning to me here. I can make all the plans in the world, but ultimately my days are ordained by God. Just so you know, in the long process of finding and buying my scooter, a man received Christ. The day of the hotel debacle and pastor's death, our ministry was rerouted to a village where there was no Christian representation....7 people were saved that day. Letting go of our own agenda gives us the ability to partner with His. Then, things happen....I'm learning to let them.
