sunshine and wine

i'm not sure how to introduce this post and i've wasted too much time with my finger on "delete" so i will forgo any witty statements.

i met a woman during my first two weeks in Kolkata whose name i cannot remember. she's from California. at that point i'd not met many Americans and was still overjoyed when i did find one so i grilled her.
She'd been wanting, for years, to visit Kolkata and work with the Missionaries of Charity, alongside Mother Theresa and the sisters. the only thing keeping her from it was the task of raising her four daughters. Mother Theresa, of course, passed away but her desire to be a part of her work was stronger. last year, with one of her girls away at college and the other three in their teens, she realized that she was depriving not just herself but her daughters too of the experience Kolkata would provide. so she packed them up and made the appropriate arrangements to take them out of school and across the world. that's where i met them, the young, vibrant, blond girls full of joy and love. i saw them love the kids at Daya Dan with unmatched intensity. they took each task and performed it with ease, never once mentioning the difficulty or unpleasantness of what they did. i know i'm still young but something in me wishes that i'd gone there when i had more energy and required less rest, when my knees weren't screwed up and my body felt lighter, when i wasn't so jaded.
I admire that mother more than most because she was unafraid to take her children away from their comforts and show them a different way to live and love. she set down logic and "the norm" and found the beauty of letting go and trusting God with the outcome. and mostly because she loves Jesus and it shows.