Will you wait for Him?

What to tell you? What to say? It seems like the last week has been uneventful. If you are looking for excitement and a story to scare the moms with, then you need to check out Jordan’s blog. He had a pretty odd day two days ago. I don’t want to steal his thunder. Plus, the story is better told from his perspective…

Day by day the kids are beginning to return to the orphanage. I am excited to see some of the familiar faces that left us for their families a week into our stay and at the beginning of the Nepali festival.

Oooohhhh, I almost forgot about the festival. Rina and her husband, Santosh, took us to the Royal Palace on Saturday. As part of the deshai festival, they had a concert featuring several bands and musicians. They took Jordan and me to the nice part of town. We had not been there yet. We had lunch at a restaurant that reminded me of a 50s diner. Ok you all, we had pizza and a chicken burger. Lunch was topped off with hot fudge and caramel sundaes!!! It was truly delightful (said in my best British accent). Afterward, we listened to the Nepali musicians. Most of them were okay, with the exception of the last band we listened to. They basically covered every 90’s grunge band in America. It was awesome!!! Brarendra, one of the older boys here, went with us. It was good, quality time with just him. He is becoming one of my favorites around here (you didn’t hear it from me). He is a very smart 19 yr. old. Consider him the go-to guy around the orphanage. I really like his personality—a very calm, collected man. He gives careful consideration to the words he uses. He doesn’t talk much, and when he does you can tell he has thought about what he’s going to say. He spends a lot of time in our room and we have had some good times. All of the kids here respect and listen to him. He is a leader!

Yesterday, Rina invited Jordan and I to attend dinner with them at their friend’s house. They brought out Nepali foods of all kinds. We had spicy black-eyed peas, chips, black beans, fish, chicken, and some unknown Nepali fruit that tastes like a sweet tart. We filled up on all the great tasting foods. “Seconds anyone? You bet!” Afterwards, around 8:30-9:00pm-ish, we were all watching TV and just visiting. I was fighting falling asleep! Mommy (Rina’s mom; everybody calls her this) was already asleep. Jordan and I wondered why we hadn’t left yet. It was getting late. And then…oh yes…an hour later…the actual dinner. Who knew? They brought out rice with soup and more spicy black-eyed peas. We had no idea there was another course to the meal, as we had filled up with what we thought to be dinner. I, being the growing skinny boy, enjoyed another chance at a meal. Jordan, on the other hand, was struggling. I think the aquarium nearby might have gained some unwanted weight from Jordan’s leftover soup. Well, not really, but he almost did. I had to intervene! That’s what brothers do!

On the way back, closing in on 10:00pm now, we all crammed into the orphanage jeep and headed back. Santosh unexpectedly pulls the car to the side of the road in the middle of nowhere and shuts off the engine. “What is going on,” I asked in a very patient voice. Supposedly, a cat crossed the street ahead of us back on the road somewhere, and it is Nepali bad luck. He informed us that we were supposed to wait until somebody passed us either from the front or back to reverse the bad luck. I checked the road ahead and the rear view mirror—nothing. Not a car in sight. I wondered how long we would wait and even suggested that I could get out of the car and "pass by.” Eventually, we were up and going again.

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You must know that the kids here are truly amazing. I wish I could bring all of them home to America. It will be hard leaving them come next June when we depart from Nepal. At the moment, as I sit here updating you about the week, they sit parched around my computer demanding I show them a game or a movie. Don’t worry, its not you, they just want to see something a little more entertaining than a word document.

I hope each of you know the eternal investment you have made in the lives of these Nepali children by simply asking the Father on their behalf. They will forever be changed!

I must say that God has been opening my eyes in respect to the life of a missionary. As I have looked at Paul’s life and the very first Biblical missionaries, I am realizing how much they suffered. I think about all the differences we have had to deal with, and they are nothing compared to the life Paul lived—Shipwrecked, without family and friends, hungry, several times 40 lashes minus 1, stoned, beaten, and verbally mocked and abused. And, yet Paul received all with joy and hope in Christ and His Resurrection.

Oh, that I would learn from the life Paul lived, and live more fully for HIM!!!

It has been an AWESOME adventure and I have noticed such a change in my heart since being here. Sometimes we have to lock our door in the morning to get alone time, but the time is so sweet. I spent some time on "our little mountain" that is a short hike away (in which it overlooks all of Kathmandu). I began to notice how often I ask God to meet with me and am only willing to wait sometimes a few minutes to actually sense his presence. I am realizing that waiting on the presence of the LORD is a patient process. How can I, a mere human, demand that a wild, mighty, powerful, UNTAMEABLE God show up on my time. Most of the time He wants me to wait for HIM, to test my heart.

I would like to leave you with a journal entry recorded yesterday on Wednesday, October 18, 2006:

“The LORD is never late; we are impatient.” --Unkown

A thought grazes my mind and my heart, and I am left in humility. The God of this universe met me in a place where I have longed to find Him...my heart. And it is not something that I demanded, willed, or even controlled. It was freely given at the right time—a joy unspeakable. On several occasions—I would even go as far as saying, “almost every time I sit or kneel before the LORD in eager expectation”—I have [pleaded with] the LORD, God to be in my presence. I have even used Jesus’ words, “Ask…and it will be given to you,” as leverage, [except, I am too impatient to wait on Him]. And, even then, sometimes my requests have been left unfulfilled. As I sat in prayer three days ago, I quickly became dissatisfied and frustrated [after a few minutes]. Every morning I ask the LORD to reveal His presence to me. In a way, I pridefully demand it. And…[because of my impatience]…I don’t see or feel Him. In the midst of prayer, I began to pour out the frustrations of my heart, and they turned to humble requests—an invitation to the Living God—to see Him. As God revealed to me His splendor and majesty, I quickly grasped and felt the heart’s message behind John 3:30, “He must become greater and I must become less.”
I live in a world, a place, where my desires, pleasures, demands, delights, and my cravings are met the instant my heart first beckons them. If I want something, I buy it. If I am hungry, I eat. I don’t wait long for anything, and I am fully catered to. And, for some strange reason, I believe, and was convinced, that the same theory holds true within the spiritual realm. “God, make yourself known to me, right now. I ask for it. I want it. I demand it!”
…Why?...
Does God work in my timing or His? I serve a god that cannot be controlled. His timing is perfect. Because my God loves me and died for me, and because He says so in His Word, I know He will reveal Himself to me [at his choosing], and I know that He will answer my prayers. But, one thing I must remember, in His timing and for His glory. Not mine!

“God is NEVER late; I am impatient.”