Cracked Feet, Lost Soles

God knows me so well...I had the privilege of doctoring a deeply cracked foot tonight after tution and devotion...which means soaking, scrubbing, cutting off dead skin, applying ointment and socking :) I am so into it...so the kids start asking if I'm a doctor! Lol. Then later the boy's mother showed up for round two of crack repair! *miracle. She said she could do it herself, but I figured she didn't show up here to do something she could have done at home, so I insisted on doing it for her. It was awkward at first and then she is saying how she could fall asleep when I was scrubbing her foot. The deeper mystery of the whole thing was how I got the divine privilege of washing the feet of the two most hard-hearted and skeptical Hindus of our whole bunch. #wowJesuswow

A couple days after this, we found out the boys had lice...again! I could not imagine how they got it this time! They had not been home, which is where they have gotten it before. When all the tution kids came that night, they began to tell us how they also had lice. This is after they tore apart the house(while I was in the other room scrubbing Harinadh's head with shampoo)...I really thought I was going to lose it on them! They really are challenge...every day. I just looked up, and was literally praying...oh Lord, please help me! I am at the end of my patience. Then I began to ask them...kindly, if they were washing their hair everyday and using lice shampoo and a comb. They said they were not. I was kinda kidding, but I was like, we are going to wash your hair right now! First I combed out Harinadh's hair...thank goodness I only found one lice. Then they next boy got in line. I asked one of the boys to get some oil. I got a nice handful and started working through his hair and scalp. In the moment I was thinking what an intimate thing I was doing and I was just so thankful for the opportunity to get right up close and personal with the mess going on in his head...and really, I am getting the same privilege every day to deal with all their bad habits, words, and attitudes :) Next, I did his brother. These are the two boys who are most resistant to our devotion...and really, are just the "badest" of the group. God definitely knows what He is doing.

I feel that these small things really help the kids to feel closer to me and to understand the heart of Jesus more. They aren't quite at the stage of letting me get that close to hug them or kiss their cheeks, but I will come up and pinch their cheeks. They are a little intimidated by me because I am probably the first foreigner they have been around this much...and we don't speak the same language. Although, it is amazing how much I feel we are getting to know each other just by body language. Probably helps that I am queen of facial expressions ;) Later that night, I played a couple new songs, and the one girl who comes regularly came up to sit with me on our prayer cushion(where I always sit to watch the kids dance) and watch the video from my phone. She stays at a distance more than anyone, but I noticed she inched closer and closer to me until she was hunched over with arms resting on my foot. I mean...if I could even put it into words. She sat so silently, so closely the whole video. It's hard to explain, but in those moments, I just feel the Spirit is reaching and touching in ways I could never understand. After this, the boys asked me to play Lead Me to the Cross with the video from the Son of God. All the kids gathered around me and my phone...and then I noticed her brother was sitting so close to me he was leaning up against my leg, and another kid was practically on top of me! haha. They all, again, sat in silence the whole video(true miracle for them) and in wonder of this touching and excruciating video. I sang the song over them, and they just kept looking at the video and them at me. Another priceless moment in the Spirit. At one point, I literally felt like I was in another realm....the fan was blowing the air fast around the room...and one moment it just touched me like it was the actual breath of God moving around us and between us. These are the powerful moments that make every dark and difficult day so worth the sacrifice.

The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." John 3:8