Tea Tales

The second day in Coimbatore we woke before the sun to travel to Ooty, a hill station located about three or four hours north. Ooty is a popular attraction for tourists as well as locals. It offers a beauty and escape that can only truly be experienced to be fully understood. Reaching an elevation of just under 8,000ft, Ooty was an adventure to drive up and down. Tea plantations cover the landscape as you ascend and it is beautiful! Monkeys and colorful flowers beg your eyes to be diverted from the nauseating roads. There is a mountain face that takes your breath away, especially at sunrise!

D’Jonna, Katie and I got to bunk in a very cute British hotel that had a heater we all thought looked more like an overhead projector, and only found it after a night spent under all of the covers with our jackets on, lol! Yes, it actually gets cold in India! It was a lovely stay and our hotel made us feel extremely spoiled with all of its amenities.

In among these hills rest several churches that we had the pleasure of visiting. Our first day we attended five churches and were delighted in each by their warm hospitality and genuine worship! I was lavished with gifts at almost every stop and was humbled by the joyful and selfless generosity that overflowed from these precious and content hearts. In the evening we were able to attend two house churches and my spirit felt very close to Heaven; being around Jesus in people makes me want to be with Him in person!!

Tea has a way of making me miss my Mom! She loves to drink tea and often :) She and I have enjoyed sipping the tea that I bought while in Ooty and sharing stories of the ways in which God continues to grow our faith in Him, not too different than the way that tea grows and is then exposed to the harsh conditions (heat, pressure or both) which arouse its flavor and prepare it for use. I came home with a deeper appreciation for my family. My parents and I have always been close, but while in Coimbatore I was inspired and convicted about how the west seems to view family compared to the east. I will say, as an American, that I have much to learn with regards to relationships. Blesson and I were able to have a discussion about arranged marriages one afternoon and I was struck by the blessing of parental involvement and the essence of prayer, trust, and dependence on the Lord and wisdom from our family to heed His direction in choosing a mate. He gave the analogy that dating can sometimes be like tape stuck and unstuck continuously, leading to, over time, the loss of its stickiness. I was thankful to listen and learn from his wise counsel. I am extremely grateful that God has blessed me with godly parents who are praying for the Lord's will to be done in my life! I know He answers those prayers, because He says so: John 14:14 and 1 John 5:14, and He can be trusted :) It is easy to want my will instead of His; I am being taught what obedience looks like in this area currently.