Went On a Venture

Ever since arriving in South Asia, I have wanted to go exploring. My niece used to call it going on a "venture". Today presented the perfect opportunity.I found myself alone in my desire so I decided to go ahead and fly solo. I started this morning with a prayer "Oh Lord, I know I will get lost...just help me to not panic. Amen". I printed out a page from the Lonely Planet travel book of the places that I wanted to go. I walked out of my door, caught a rickshaw and sped away leaving nothing behind but the dust.

The first place I visited was some ancient tombs that is considered a World Heritage Site ( I am not actually sure what that means) As I entered the gates, a man approaches me and made some comment about me being prettier than the Taj Mahal. He somehow attached himself to me and started giving me a lecture about the historical significance of the place. I say repeadly, "No thanks, I can read about it myself" but I can' t seem to shake this guy. I ended up giving him a few bucks and he left me alone after that. From then on, I had the whole place to myself. I strolled around the gardens, climbed the ancient walls and walked on the soft green grass. At one point, I sat on a bench and watched some eagles fly around. It was quite and very restful.

My first place to visit went so well that I decided to go ahead and try another place of interest. As I was leaving, I got accosted by a very pushy rickshaw driver who just "knew" that I needed him to take me around all day. I am pretty sure he ripped me off but I finally negotiate a price with him to take me to the next monument site. As we are drove along, he kept suggesting that I needed to make additional stops. I told him "look....I don't have much money. The economy is failing as you know...please... just take me where I asked you to go" I actuallythought that I had come up with a pretty clever excuse to shut him up.... but oh no...he chatters on for the entire leg of the journey trying to coax me into giving him more money. Oh well... I will have to save the 'failing economy' excuse for another day

I finally reached my second destination. The rickshaw driver sped away- mad that I didn't hire him for the whole day.The second monument I visited had a more Persian flare to it. By this time, it is pretty hot in the day. This place was a lot more crowded so I had decided to not stay long. But providentially, I met up with a college student from the UK. We struck up a conversation and ended up touring the ruins together. She was going to a temple next and asks if I wanted to join her. So, I did. We visited the temple and we actually had a very good conversation about spiritual matters. She has been burned in the past by unkind believers. I just listened to her. I apologized to her for people mistreating and judging her. I told her about the Son. I told her to not look to people but look to Him. I told her that we will always screw it up, thats why we need Him. I told her about grace. By that point in the day, I was really exhausted. But I said goodbye to my new friend and I walked away joyful. It turns out that God had His own "venture" in mind for today. ;-)