Mrs. Smith's First

I thought the first post should include the story of how we came to live in India. Mr. Smith agreed. So, for better or worse, here it goes.
In January or February of 2006 Mr. Smith came to the conclusion that his job, and many others with it, would eventually be outsourced to India. This was not a problem for him in theory, he understands what drives business decisions, but the reality was worrisome for him and his many direct reports. Because Mr. Smith is a man of faith, he made it a matter of prayer. After some time it came to him very clearly that with more open business associations between the west and India, the gospel would have a better opportunity to become more widely accepted. This calmed his mind and he was able to set it aside. Then a few days later (I am not sure of the timing) he had a dream that our family moved to India. Mr. Smith has dreams like we all do, but every once in a while he has a "dream" that means more. This was apparently one of those dreams. Being a smart guy, he didn't mention it to me right away. I do remember him mentioning it in a very off-handed, silly sort of way. I responded in a "not in a million years would I move to India" sort of way. April 1st rolled around and we played a fun trick on the kids and told them that Mr. Smith had been asked to move us to India. They were dumbfounded, except Number One Son who was excited. All of them were very relieved to learn that we weren't actually going (again, except Number One Son) and Mr. Smith and I congratulated each other for pulling off such a good prank.
Eventually Mr. Smith told me about the dream and a feeling he had that he needed to approach his boss about outsourcing. I could tell he was worried about my answer, but I told him that if he had the feeling again, he should do it.
Frank has been Mr. Smith's boss for over 10 years. Well, to call him his boss is fudging a little because there has always been 2 or 3 bosses between them, but Frank is the kind of man who recognizes his employees and calls them by name. He has always recognized the potential in Mr. Smith and has been very generous in providing him with opportunities for growth. One day Mr. Smith was in Frank's office when he was overwhelmed with the thought that this was the time to bring up outsourcing. When he did, Frank was shocked. "We have just decided that we need someone in India to represent us. We would love it if you were that person, but we didn't think you would consider it because of the size of your family." For the next seven months our family went through many rounds of prayers. For the girls the answer was always a feeling of comfort, for me it was always a knowledge that my family would be cared for. Thankfully, so far they have been.
Many people have said that they can't believe that we would move here at all, let alone with seven children in tow. I will tell them what I told my dad before we left, I would never move to India for money or career advancement. The only thing in this world that would convince me to move to my family to India is the Lord telling me to go. So we moved.