Momentum increasing

The ups and downs are becoming more ups now and we feel that things are beginning to take off.
Our friends Ben and Vinu arrived a few days ago and we have had our first official non official hui (gathering) that has really stirred an excitement in us. They are such fantastic people and even just having their presence here and knowing that God has bought them to us so we can be together is such a nice feeling.

The nice thing is that we have already made some local friends and we are enjoying having meals together and getting to know people. We met a couple after having lunch out the other day. We were paying our bill at the same time and started talking. This led to us exchanging cel numbers and then them coming for a meal later that week. We are now going to be going to their house sometime this week. They help run an orphanage so that excites me hugely.
It is nice to be filling our home again.

We have been making an effort to get out in our community and make ourselves known. Buying coffee at the local coffee bar for Rs7 (NZ .22c). To see smiles of recognition as we walk down the street because locals are getting to know us warms my heart. We need to have a presence in our community and to support our local community all that we can. As we build friendship and trust, it opens doors to all sorts of things. Some of the local shop owners are now friends that we have for meals (by that I don't mean we eat them). The relationship has changed from a commercial one to a personal one. It seems to be a lot more like that here than in NZ. relationship and trust is HUGE here. We go to a local spot to buy tender coconuts from a Muslim man. It has come to the stage now where if we do not have the right change he is happy for us to pay next time. The trust is there now.

We are seeing Gods faithfulness evident and He is cementing the truth of Seeking his Kingdom and righteousness and then all the other things will be added. Simple but true. It would be easy to give way to righteousness here in India because a) A lot of things you could get away with. b) The fines will be small so who cares. For instance, to break a traffic violation would be an instant fine of about Rs 100 (NZ$3) if in fact you got caught, but, it does not change the fact that the law is still there and therefore we should obey it if we are to be righteous. We are called to a higher set of values. Just one small example.

I am going on a bit sorry, I am not even sure if what I am saying makes any sense at all. The words are swimming in my head and I am just randomly blurting them out. It has been a long while since I have felt like this and have not had to force myself to write. I think it shows that I have come through to a better place now and I am grateful to all God has taught me in the process leading up to this time. Phew.... that was a mouthful.