Kenosis

So I meant to have a post about my title much earlier but time got away from me. So here is the long awaited explanation for my title. :)

Kenosis relates to 

"the doctrine that Christ relinquished His divine attributes so as to experience human suffering." also, 

it's from the "Greek word for emptiness κένωσις (kénōsis)) is the 'self-emptying' of one's own will and becoming entirely receptive to God's divine will."

In India, I was on a journey of emptying myself of the familiar, the comfortable and those that I knew and loved. I  wanted to be receptive to what God would teach me through this experience. It was a difficult one, but one that I am so glad that I went on. It taught me even more about what it meant to leave everything behind ( at least in a sense cause lets face it--social networking and e-mail are still very present today), meet new people, eat new food, trying to understand Indian ways, and wrestle with the understanding of what it means to love "other". 

I've realized that in my"self emptying" in India I have left pieces of my heart there. You will find them in the song of a friend who sings "Great is Thy Faithfulness", in the smile of Susetra (Susie), in the parantha shop, on the bus to Kavundapalayam, in CoffeeDay, in the circled sidewalk and butterflies of the neighborhood, in the tears of one of my dear friends, in the Vasan Eyecare center, and in the twinkle of the old auto driver's eye.

Apart from India, I have realized that self emptying is a process entirely apart from a specific time and place. It is a process. A process that takes ones entire life. It doesn't stop when you come home or when you go to school.
It's also a process I can't do by myself. It takes the love and grace of someone greater than me and a persistent perseverance to run the race. It's the journey, the choices, day by day that shape me, and who I choose to look to as my source of strength.