I'm smelling coffee, math is calling just inside...

November 17, 2009
Today was one of those days, where you just feel kind of off from the start, and aren’t quite sure exactly what’s wrong or how to change it. But, I didn’t want to be grumpy and short all day, so I just begged God to change my attitude and heart. I just didn’t have the energy or patience to deal with all the kids and math and everything, and I had about 30 minutes before picking the kids up from school. That and I was so craving the fellowship of another human being my age. But I decided that I’d have to just choose to have joy, even though I totally wasn’t feeling it!

So the kids come galloping home, and God lifts my spirits as I begin to joke and tease them! Raju might be my favorite one to tease, because he now knows enough English to tease back, but not enough to say anything other than “SISTER!” when I scoop him up and swing him around and tickle him mercilessly! I begin my hours of helping with math, and one by one my charges finish up until I’m left with just my class 8 and 9 kids, who are pretty easy to help as their foundations are a little better than the rest. It’s coming near devotional time, though, and this man shows up named Somdesh. He lived at the hostel and was the kids first tutor about 6 years ago! The kids love him, and he’s spent the last few years living overseas somewhere working as a factory manager.

While he’s Nepali so there’s no cultural gap for him with the kids, he also understands the occasional trying times and the many joyful times of living with and teaching 15 kids at once! So, I’m pretty sure God prompted him to invite me to a cup of coffee, which was exactly what he did as we got ready for devotionals. Since one of the kids was leading devotionals tonight, I happily agreed, and we set off for a restaurant just down the road which I’d never noticed before!

We sat down and ordered coffee, and began to just talk about our families and our jobs and life in general! The coffee was AMAZING, and so was the chance just to sit and talk with someone about nothing and everything all at the same time. We got to share some thoughts on God’s church being an international body which knows no boundaries and the fact that God truly is a God of the nations. It was so refreshing! And, I got to have Momo, which is this steamed thing like ravioli, and I had mine with buffalo meat inside. It’s really really good! Then, we had another cup of coffee (I really might become a regular there; it was that good!), and we headed back to the hostel. I felt as though God had literally used a couple cups of coffee and some meat to refill my cup to overflowing!

We got home, and after two cups of coffee, I was pretty wired, which was good because my class 8 and 9 kids had a TON of math left, but they could do most of it on their own. So, I sat there with them, helping this one or that one every few minutes. The hours ticked by, until it was 11. And they were pretty much finished at that point, so I headed back up to my room. Which is where I am now. Writing. And contemplating the grace of God. Because God provided Somdesh at exactly the moment that I needed a friend, and though he’s leaving the country again soon, I have one more friend that I’ll be able to greet by name when we get to heaven! And God filled me to the brim with joy in the form of coffee, Momo, and conversation. I wonder how many other times God’s filled me at just the right moment and I haven’t even noticed?! I think that of all the things I’ve learned here, the thing that I’ve learned the most is to notice God, every day, all day. Because He really is in everything. From a former teacher to a cup of coffee, God fills us up however He chooses! And for that, I am incredibly thankful!