a moment of joy

on Friday morning, feeling more than a little down and out of sorts after the hard day that Thursday was, i sat down to try and gather myself for the day ahead. I grabbed the Jesus Storybook Bible, and turned to the story that happened to be next to read, and it was the story of when Jesus calms the storm. it was one of those weird coincidences that seem much bigger than coincidence. this "passage" was meant for me on that day. it was meant for the whole Sari Bari community. a much needed reminder as we were trying to sort things out after the rug was pulled out from under us...

there are some phrases in the way Sally Lloyd-Jones uses that were exactly what i needed to hear...like after Jesus calms the storm...
     "Then Jesus turned to his wind-torn friends. 'Why were you scared?' he asked. 'Did you forget who I Am? Did you believe your fears, instead of me?'"

(oh, was that written just for me? just for now?! i think it might have been...)

and then then conclusion...
     "Jesus' friends had been so afraid, they had only seen the big waves. They had forgotten that, if Jesus was with them, then they had nothing to be afraid of.  No matter how small their boat - or how big the storm."

on Friday morning i needed to be reminded of these truths. and i figured my sisters at Sari Bari might need a reminder too. so, i sat with the women, and showed them the pictures out of the Jesus Story book Bible, and did my best bengali translation of this story and these idea.

so fast-forward to today.

i went to visit the hospital, the SB woman who is admitted there for quite awhile. i went with a second SB woman. while we were there, in the course of conversation this story of Jesus calming the storm came up, so we talked about it again.

Then, on our way home we were at the train station, going back into the city at the same time when all the daily commuters were headed out of the city. it was crazy, and a bit stressful (although thankfully not for too long).

as we were leaving the train station this is the awesome conversation i had with "S"

S: the difference between us is that your'e tall and i'm short. I want to be tall. I'm praying that God will make me tall.

M: Well, i don't think that's going to happen. I think that the height that you are now is the height that you're going to stay.

to which she replied so matter of factly...

S: well, if the wind and storms listen to his voice, then i think he can make me a little taller.