I went to India (Part 2)- and THE lesson God had for me that I really did not expect....

    As soon as I decided that my answer to God was "yes", and that I was actually going to leave my family for 12 days and travel across the planet, the fun began. Preparation to go on a major journey is always complicated, but when one is leaving such a large group of children and responsibilities behind, it becomes a truly daunting task. There were schedules to arrange, meals to plan, bills to pay, etc, on top of the actual training for what we would be doing in India. I met my team and instantly fell in love which each and every one of them. One of the first things my team leader said was that this trip was going to be a huge vacation for me! I laughed at the thought, because I was going to a third world country on Missions, for goodness sake! How "vacation-like" could that possibly be? I was preparing for long hours of hard work, sub-par sleeping conditions, and strange foods.  She kept saying that since my life here is so often INSANE, that this trip would be refreshing! She would tell me that she felt that Jesus was taking me away on a little honeymoon, and that this time would be a sweet time with Him loving on me. I laughed every time she mentioned this.

   A few weeks before the trip, I posted on Facebook after my youngest child woke me from a Nyquil induced sleep by climbing on me and projectile puking on my face. All over my head. What a fantastic way to wake up! Well, she texted me again saying that Jesus was whisking me away on this special time with Him. I realized I did really need some of that, but really I am going to WORK!

  So off we go on our way to India, and friends, from the minute I left the craziness of my life, Jesus did just what my sweet friend said He would do. He started LAVISHING His love on me. In crazy ways. We got unexpectedly upgraded on our 13 hour flight from NYC to Dubai. And when I say "upgraded", I mean to the lap of luxury! We were in the upstairs of the world's largest plane. Each of us had our own little "pod" for the flight, with our fully reclining seat, personal TV and tablet, unlimited food and drinks, free designer bag with toiletries, and private lounge! Oh. my. heavens. We actually felt guilty enjoying such luxury while on Missions. For a minute- we felt guilty for a minute. My sweet, beautiful flight attendant had a lovely British accent, so it felt like Mary Poppins was taking care of me. She would nudge me awake and ask, "Would you care for a spot of tea and a hot towel to freshen up?" Ummmmm.....yes! I have never been so well taken care of in my life. It was amazing. And the WHOLE time I kept hearing in my head that Jesus was taking me on a honeymoon, and it really felt like it. He was lavishing His love on me!

   When we got to our hotel, I felt His love again as it was one of the most breathtakingly beautiful places I have ever seen. It is important to have good security at a hotel in India, and there were not a lot of choices that fit that requirement. This place was amazing, and comfortable, and the staff was beyond lovely. Again, I felt the Lord was taking such care of me!

  We spent a couple of days doing ministry of various kinds, and then it was my BIRTHDAY! I was so excited to spend my birthday in India! And, we were going to get to play with orphans that day, too! I knew it would be the best birthday ever. Once again, God exceeded all my expectations that day and extravagantly poured out His love on me. I woke up to a little knock on the door from my sweet housekeeping staff, who had 2 dozen roses for me. What?!? I don't get flowers. Like ever.
Then we went downstairs for breakfast and the restaurant had a cake for me. I really can't remember the last birthday cake I had that I didn't make myself. What a sweet surprise, complete with trick candles!

  Back upstairs to get ready to leave for the day, and cake #2 is in my room with more flowers from the housekeeping staff....

   Downstairs, the amazing Suresh came to pick us up with ANOTHER cake, folks. Yes, this is 3 cakes and it is only 9:00 AM. AND he brought a tiara, too, because birthday girls should be princesses, right? The hotel gave me a garland of flowers and made a big deal of taking pictures for my special day. As a mom, my birthdays at home are usually a lot like every other day. I still have to feed people and do laundry, and all that regular mom stuff. So, being treated like a princess was such an unexpected treat. I felt Jesus lavishing His love on me with each one of those cakes.

   Off we went then to spend the day with the most amazing kids, from the Neolife Mission. We got to go with them to their new land, where their new home will be built. We played sports, and bubbles, and painted nails, and giggled a lot. It was awesome. And we got to pray for salvation for one of the local workers! And also, like you might have guessed, they gave me a cake. That is 4 birthday cakes, friends. And they were all chocolate, in case you were wondering. Jesus wasn't skimping out on any white cake on this day!

   And then that evening, I got sick. SICK. Really grossly sick. I joked I was a real missionary now, but it was no laughing matter. I was miserable.

   The first two days of being sick were rough for me emotionally as well. I felt like a FAILURE. Here I was, stuck in bed, when my team was out ministering and doing what I had prepared and trained for. I felt I was letting them down. I felt I was letting down the people who donated support money for my trip. I felt most of all I was letting God down. I had come all the way across the world to obey His call and do His work, and now I physically COULD NOT. Ugh. I was a mess.

   And then, God started teaching me THE lesson He sent me all the way to India to learn. THE lesson He had for me (and for YOU). My team came into my room with a guitar, and sat on my bed and worshiped all around me.  I slowly started to feel His love WASH OVER ME. I remembered what it says in Psalm 23:
      He MAKES me lie down in green pastures.
      He leads me beside QUIET waters.
      He RESTORES my soul.
   
   Do you see that it says He MAKES us lie down in green pastures? That sort of means to me that it isn't always a choice by us to be side-lined for a bit. I was SICK. He was MAKING me lie down. And boy, were my pastures green! I was resting in a beautiful, comfortable bed in an elegant hotel. And those waters being QUIET? I never get quiet, I have 6 children. When I am sick at home, I cannot rest. You know I am right, mommas. When we are sick, we still have kids jumping on our heads demanding peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. This time, I had true quiet. I was able to sleep. For three whole days. I have not slept like that in 16 years. It was glorious. A doctor came right into my room to my bedside and gave me shots and medication. Room service kept bringing me Sprite and cracker, with flowers on the side even when I did not request it. I have never been taken care of like this before. It was His love to me.

  During the quiet of those few days, I had such sweet time with my Savior. He was telling me that HE LOVES ME, oh, how he loves me! He loves me with an extravagant love! And He was assuring me that IT DID NOT MATTER that I was not out there on the mission field "working", that His love is NOT dependent on that AT ALL. He loves me no matter what I do! Me doing "good works" has no bearing on His love for me.
   Of course good works should naturally follow salvation. We should all desire to do good works. But the lesson He was teaching me was that those works can never add to His love for me! In Isaiah 64:6 it says that all our righteous acts are like filthy rags. They can never compare to His act on the cross. They cannot add to my salvation. Ephesians 2:8-10 says "For it is by GRACE you have been saved, through FAITH- and this is not from yourselves, it is the GIFT of God- NOT BY WORKS, so that no one can boast."
   He was lavishing His love on me on the other side of the world, to teach me a lesson that my crazy, busy schedule at home didn't give me enough *quiet* to learn. He loves me. He loves you. More than you can EVER comprehend....

   I did get better after 3 days, hours before I was to put in a hospital for dehydration. I got to spend a few more amazing days in India, falling in love with the people there. I will blog more on what else God did while I was there later.

   And then it was time to go home, and guess what? He upgraded us on our long flight again. Yes, He did. For me, because...