Back to "Normal"

A photo of one of the Home of Hope girls running in a park, with more open space and freedom than she has ever known:




Of course, the night Rebecca is supposed to land, Delhi invites a monsoon thunder storm over itself. All day I'm thinking, oh no! Will her return be delayed even more??
But all is well, the Rescue Arts boss is back from her Visa "run" (more like the length of a marathon), and we are settling into some old routines at the apartment, like banana pancakes and Friends episodes.

In these first days we have had many ministry meetings and personal reunions over chai/tea/coffee. As we map out the spring season, which consists of visitors, teams, and trips, I reflect on how thankful and delightfully surprised I was with our forced two months apart. I look ahead now with a new sense of confidence, a new appreciation for the life I have in Delhi, and some irreplaceable memories.

Some of those memories come from my time staying in the Home of Hope. I won't be staying there from now on--better for them not to depend of foreigners or get so attached to someone who is going to leave-- but during that time, besides really growing to love North Indian food (I'm serious!), I got to participate in so many of those precious, behind the scenes moments of caring for these beautiful three children

Such As...
When we go in the bedroom to wake them up for school and find one child's feet sticking out from under the quilt, another child lying sideways in the bed, and the third fully hidden under the blanket, her head out of sight.

Three kids on two stools crowded around a tiny sink, and someone always gets toothpaste on someone else.

Their complaining about the top button of their school uniforms, and watching them shine their little black shoes so seriously, like little old men.

Girl drama, how they get mad at each other and then love each other 20 times a day.

Teaching them to say "excuse me" before leaving the table, and the power struggle of what they want to eat versus what they should eat.

We took them to the mall, and as we drove into the parking garage and the road spiraled underground, all three girls grew wide-eyed in their seats and screamed, "whooaahh!" Moni propped herself on the dashboard to get a better view.

One time Moni insisted that my ears were dirty and stuck a Q-tip inside, assuring me that she learned how to do it from her mother, and don't worry.

All of these mundane things are beautiful and sacred because I first met these girls a few months ago in a very different place. Arpita and Moni, for example, have been reunited in the home after having been former residents of Delhi's largest red-light area and schoolmates at a dilapidated daycare. Those days I got to comb their hair after a bath, or tuck them into bed and tickle them, I just studied their faces and thought WOW.

During prayer time one night, Moni said with her hands folded and eyes closed, to this God she is just getting to know, who is already revealing Himself to her as real and living and responding and good...she said: "Remember my mom and my sister. And thank you for bringing Arpita here. Thank you for these all these didi's (big sisters) who play games with us and do so much for us. Please bless them. And please take care of us."

Vinita, our Home leader, wiped the tears from her eyes. "How blessed I am! How blessed!"

How blessed.