At the last staff meeting before we left, everyone laid hands on us and prayed over us. As they were praying, our elder and friend, Jeremy, prayed that we would stay in step with God during these two months in Nepal. That phrase came flooding back during our first attempt at getting to the "other side".
Crossing the road in Nepal is…let’s just say… an adventure. Think bicycles, taxis, cows, trucks, people, motorbikes beeping, and a partridge in a pear tree, all at once, coming from the opposite direction you are used to. Now picture our family, from suburbia America, all 7 of us trying to get to the other side of the street in Kathmandu. We tried to prep the kids for this. We talked to them about the importance of staying right in step with us. We told them.
Stay in step, they said. It will all work great, they said.
But when the time came to actually cross the street, it didn’t quite go as we imagined. One of the kids froze. Just froze. Right in the middle of the street, crippled with fear. One thought independence was the route to take in a situation like this. A couple of them grabbed onto us for dear life. We made it across, obviously. And from that two minutes of organized chaos, we learned an incredible lesson.
Stay in step with the One who has called us here, the One who has gone before us. Stay in step without letting fear cripple us. Don’t run ahead, thinking we know what the next step should be. Just stay in step with Him!
We are so thrilled to be here. It has been hard to write as much as we expected. Getting our internal clocks set to a 10 hour time difference has meant zoning out during the times we would normally be able to write. But, we are settling in and adjusting well. All of the kids are doing great. It took them a total of about 15 minutes to become “one of them”.
Dylan says these are the “best buddies” ever..
Todd and I just sit back and watch how God has shaped our family for a time such as this. Now don’t be mistaken. We have experienced some challenges.
Madi had a cockroach the size of my thumb crawling on her neck while she slept last night. Yep, just stop and say a prayer that this doesn’t happen again. I think all of Nepal woke up.
We have already washed some of our clothes by hand (mainly because two of our bags didn’t arrive, so the girls and Todd only have three outfits, and well let’s just say the Nepali food hasn’t quite agreed with Dylan.)
One week is gone already. Crazy! We are thankful to be here, and we want to stay in step with all that God has in store for us.
If you want to see more pictures of our trip, you can follow us on Instagram at toddfoster1970 and sheafoster. You can also friend us on Facebook at Todd Foster and Shea Williams Foster.
