Being an Indian, you are used to so much of noise everywhere: at home, on the road, shopping complexes, doctor’s office, railway station, campuses….. pretty much every place is bustling with activity and accompanied by a crazy amount of noise. US stands in sharp contrast to a country like India. At home the only sound I can hear (if Jaden is sleeping) is the ticking of the clock. 😀 On the road, honking is considered rude. Shopping malls are filled with people but definitely not 1% as noisy as our malls in India!!! When I first got here…… trust me……… I had to get used to the silence!!!!

If all the places which should be noisy are noiseless…. imagine a place which should be quiet!!! The Church: the silence and the quietness in the church is pin-drop silence!

EveryChurch has something called the nursery, where parents leave their babies and toddlers, during the church service. Babies as young as 2 weeks old are in there! For an Indian parent or grandparent, nursery is usually not an option at all. Nothing wrong or right about it, just that it is our culture to hold babies in our hands most of the time. 😀 Most babies get settled in pretty well coz they are used to the place from babyhood. Well, for Jaden that was not the case. For the first five months, Jeev and I took turns to keep him outside the church and then I was off to India. And when I got back, he HAD to go to the nursery.

I started leaving him at the nursery from the month of November. And he would just wail and cry when I walked out. The people at the nursery were very understanding and helped me every step of the way by giving me encouraging words like “He will soon settle in, don’t worry” and some even shared their experiences of their little ones being fussy even at 3 years of age. While this did comfort me to a great deal, as a mother to leave a crying baby at the nursery and walk away was plain HARD!!! One month went by….. two months…. And now I am in the third month of his nursery training.

This week when I walked into the nursery, Jaden started crying. (Now he knows the place. The moment he sees the walkway, he cries!!!) A gentleman offered to take him from me and I gave Jaden to him. Jeev and I quickly hurried outside the nursery and my heart was just melting for my baby. I could barely hold my tears. The moment I walked into the church and sat down, I could not help but just cry. I have been patient for almost three months now and Lord, still no signs of him getting adjusted to the place, I poured my heart to the Lord. But somehow after talking to the Lord, I could sense a divine peace in my heart!

After church when I went back to the nursery to pick up Jaden, to my great surprise there he was sitting in that gentleman’s lap and quietly playing. And for the first time, the folks at nursery said that he cried for very little time and then calmed down real fast. RELIEF!!! At Last!!!

Do you know what the shortest verse in the Bible is? YES!!! JESUS WEPT. John 11:35. The shortest, sweetest, and the most powerful verse in the Bible that stands as a sharp contradiction to all the other major religions of the world. What does tears signify for a human being? It signifies the state of helplessness or weakness. But the Bible says, Jesus wept. Does that mean, Jesus, the Son of God was helpless and weak. Absolutely not. He was God and could do anything!!!

When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied. Jesus wept. John 11:32-35 (emphasis mine)

When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. John 11:43

Before Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, Jesus knew well that Lazarus will come back to life. But as the word of God says, when Jesus saw her tears, he was moved with compassion!!! His heart melted for them. Jesus is still the same compassionate God. He cannot bear it when you cry. He will surely comfort you and give you your miracle at the right time. Just as he did for Mary and Martha, he sees your tears. You are not far from his miracle. Coz Jesus loves you!!!! When Jesus cries with you, it is not that He is a helpless God, but that He is the only God who is a compassionate God.

Clicked this week at the nursery….. 🙂

Have a fabulous month ahead!!!!