Proverbs 16:9

Doli and her family

From the beginning of this journey to South Asia the Lord has given me the promise of Proverbs 16:9, "The heart of a man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps."  If you know me at all you know that I am a planner and a list maker!  At the end of the day I like to be able to look back over my list and check things off.  However, the longer I follow Jesus the more I realize that even our best laid plans are worthless if He is not establishing our steps.  While spending some time in the capital city I was reminded yet again of this lesson and grateful that the Father will direct our steps.

One morning me and two colleagues were sent out to a specific part of the city.  We were doing some PR walking and talk to some of the ladies hoping for an opportunity to share the one henna story we knew Hindi.  As we passed by Doli we were greeted with a smile and one of my friends engaged her in conversation.  It wasn't long before we used all the Hindi that we knew and we were struggling to get to actually telling her the story.  We figured that would be the end of the conversation, but she picked up her phone and made a call.  When she hung up the phone Doli motioned for us to follow and said, "Come, come."

As we followed her down a winding alley the three of us each wondered where she may be taking us and even at times if this was a wise decision.  Before long we arrived at her house and her teenage son, who spoke great English greeted us inside.  She had brought us to her home so that he could translate for us.  It was here that I received my first lesson in South Asian hospitality.  I know I am from the south and we "southerners" like to pride ourselves on southern hospitality, but we don't have anything on South Asia!  This woman welcomed us into her one room house and offered us all that she had.

She immediately gave us water, which she made sure we knew was filtered (my stomach was so grateful for that!).  As we were drinking the water she sent her son to get some cookies which she served to us with the best chai I've ever had.  Before we had even finished the chai she was cooking us lunch.  After lunch we had the opportunity to practice our hindi while we told her a story from God's Word.  It was a great time of fellowship and a reminder to me that God really does ordain our steps and give us opportunities if we will simply follow Him!  All this to say that I will be sure to leave room in my lists/planning for the Father to direct my steps each day.