Dress Rehearsal

For the past 2 weeks we've had a team with us in town (they're from IWU, the university Kyle, Sheila and I went to...so its kind of fun to play the "do you know...." game).

It has been both refreshing and exhausting to host this team. I am so thankful for their presence, for their questions, for conversation with them. I have loved participating in and leading various discussions with them. Their questions and perspective remind me that it has been a long process for me to arrive where i am today.

The first day they were here we were walking down a street that i'm on with fair regularity. and one of the girls said, "oh, its pretty the way the trees are lining the road" and i thought to myself, "oh, her perspective is going to be so good for me" - cause i have never thought that road was beautiful...but she's right, the trees are beautiful.

When we host teams we always do a walking tour of the city (and by walking tour, i mean "various modes of transportation" tour). We started our tour at Sari Bari - which is a great place to start. As we were preparing to leave Sari Bari someone mentioned how peaceful and beautiful it is at Sari Bari (which is true...its quite literally one of my favorite places in the world). And i told them that not all of the city is like Sari Bari. I told them that we would see suffering and poverty, but that there is also incredible beauty to be found in the city...you just have to look harder for it. After the walking tour as we debriefed over lunch I loved hearing their impressions. What they saw. The questions...and most of all, i loved hearing about the beauty they'd seen as we walked. It was a privilege. it was encouraging to me.

Being with this team has reminded me why i volunteered to host this team...and why i volunteered to lead a servant team. My shepherd heart has been awakened. I'm really enjoying their presence and walking with them through their time in Kolkata.

in some ways i feel like this team is like a dress rehearsal for the servant team...i've been reminded that i really do love investing in people...and i'm learning how to do this better. I'm learning how to carry the responsibility for others in the midst of kolkata's chaos. I'm forced to figure out how to take care of myself with added responsibilities. Its been really good. I'm glad they're here!