Longing

I've been rather busy these past couple days so I could not update you guys on the latest happenings although I really intended to do so several times this week. HH Nitai Chand Goswami came into town this past Sunday and Giriraj has been keeping me engaged in His most blissful service since then. I've been truly blessed to receive the association of incredibly saintly people in this lifetime and hopefully that will never change. For those of you who've been living under a rock for the past few years, Srila Nitai Chand Goswami no longer retains a sannyas position but out of deep admiration we still address him respectfully as 'Maharaj'. Throughout my writings I refer to him in short as 'Maharaj' and unless I specify otherwise it is safe to assume that I am referring to him. When Krishna Chandra heard that Giriraj and Maharaj were coming to town, he began jumping and shouting happily throughout the entire house, this usually happens whenever Giri-Govardhan decides to bestow His mercy upon us wretched folk, so we are usually prepared for it. This time, we couldn't calm him down at all until he got into the van and starting sighting "mighty machines" along the way to the airport, i.e. bulldozers, cranes, scoopers, dump trucks and cement mixers. Last time Maharaj came to town, we had time to sit and inquire about topics related to sadhana, philosophy, etc.; while these conversations are usually very enlivening and thought-provoking, I usually sit in the background and listen intently while not fully grasping the highly-elevated subject matter. This time, I wasn't given the opportunity to sit at my leisure to eaves-drop upon the conversations of mahatmas(and probably speculate as well); instead, Sri Giriraj decided to accept service from me in the form of elaborate meals mixed in with short darshans and preaching opportunities masquerading as family emergencies. Who knows why Sri Govardhan loves to simultaneously shelter and test His devotees while gradually increasing the impetus for transcendental devotional service? Recently, our friend, who is also my husband's boss' wife, had a baby boy and this called for a lot of schedule-shifting and adjustment for both our families while she remained at the hospital; this has gone by fairly well with Krishna Chandra, it seems that he wasn't bothered too much by it and resisted very little. I can not express fully how I appreciate him for it, it's unbelievable how considerate children are when you're under pressure and he's shown exceptional tolerance and flexibility under change. Today, Maharaj departed and as usual, has left us bereft of his association and with a longing desire to serve Lord Giriraj once again... I wonder when He will decide to bestow His causeless mercy upon us? Until next time, I will cherish the moments that I had with Him and pray that next time He will allow me to serve Him yet again. Jaya Giri-Govardhan ki!