Happy Birthday India

Hard to believe that our kids are more Indian than American... they have spent much of their short lives here in this country!

Good chalk drawing Elise! We went to the roof for photos.. but no fireworks at night... we had to wait until some crazy hindu holiday to come up for the kids to see that!

When it rains it pours... but He is there for us.

Sometimes you just want to give up.

Kids screaming at each other, loud noises,

sickness, tiredness, breaks in sleep,

loneliness, depression, hopelessness...

these are all weapons of our enemy.

And they all seemed to be used on us just days after

leaving the country for refreshment and encouragement.

But God knows all things and does allow them all for our good.

We felt like we could not go on...

But then we got away and had time with friends

of encouragement and set out together on this road

with faith, hope, and love in our hearts...

now nothing can stop us...

because Jesus promised to leave us His peace...

he never said we would always feel it.

Sometimes the devil showers us with hardships...

and he is disappointed to see that just like the brief summer 

rainstorms here....

they dry up and we dry off...

get up clean and refreshed...

and go back harder and stronger.

You can't stop what God puts in motion... bring it.

Reflections from Ramadaan

With another Ramadaan behind us there are some discoveries that 

came that we did not know before...

First, Ramadaan is a time when many Muslims fast for 30 days from 

sun up to sundown in the middle of the summer!

They must get up at 3 AM to eat and then pray at 4 before the sun comes up at 5 AM.

If you think you took your religion seriously, you might want to rethink saying that

when these people are working on hunger and no drink for 14 hours+ then

eating like crazy and only getting 2-3 hours of sleep!

It will make you stop complaining and start praying more.

May we all learn from these hard working people.

Finally I found that there are few good conversations that happen when

someone is fasting all day...

but it sure is fun to go out to the bar-b-que and eat tasty 

grilled meats right outside the mosque in the fair-of-food at night!

God help us increase our love for these people!

Our little salesman

Elijah has become quite the little Indian salesman...

there are few shops he has not tried unsuccessfully to go behind the counter 

and begin the position of salesman

Here he is selling electronics to the electronics salesman...

His uncle would be very proud! 

It seems he will thrive in a country with no true juvenile laws!

Praying for Sha's Daughter

Just yesterday Sha, who cleans my home, was telling me how her daughter was sick. She said she's been hurting and was so hot. They took her to the hospital and the doctor told her to only eat rice and take the medicine he was prescribing. She'd been doing that ever since. She could sleep during the day, but had trouble sleeping at night, which of course made for a tired Mama.

I told her that I wanted to pray for her daughter in the name of Jesus if that was ok. I expected that she would be fine with that, and we'd pray together after she was finished cleaning. Instead, to my surprise, she asked if I wanted her to bring her daughter to me for me to pray for her. Wow, what a great idea, why didn't I think of that!

Sha's daughter playing with Elise on our roof two weeks ago.

Instead of her daughter coming here, I went with her downstairs to where she was resting. As I walked in her three boys stood up out of respect, and her daughter was starting to as well. I stopped her and told her it was okay to lay down. I told her I was there to pray for her because I wanted her to feel better. Everything I said was in Urdu, since that's all she understands, so it was somewhat broken.

I asked her where she hurt, and she pointed to and told me her head and eyes. Then I asked if I could put my hand on her head and pray for her. She was more than happy for me to do that.

After praying I stood up and one of her brothers stepped up and said his head hurts as well. I thought he was just saying that so that I'd touch him too. Really, I asked. His mom confirmed that every morning he complains about his head hurting, which I think is a sinus headache because of the weather changing and rain moving in so often. Sha had actually burned both of his temples with something hot because he'd been complaining so much. I questioned why she'd do that, but didn't get an answer except that it would help him and he'd been complaining a lot...so Indian of her.

So, I prayed for him.

As I was leaving they were all saying thank you over and over. I felt like I should give a little explanation as to Jesus and His ability to heal. So, again, with my broken Urdu, I told them that Jesus is all powerful, or that's what I wanted to say...but I didn't know the word for power so I used the only word I knew, which meant big in a strong sense...not really the same :( I continued by saying he wanted to heal people.  I knew that wasn't really conveying what I was talking about and I needed something more.

Stories...there's plenty of stories that talk about Jesus healing people.

So, I told them about Jesus healing the blind man and the story of him healing the leper 2000 years ago when he walked on the earth. They listened so intently and were amazed. I went on to say that he does the same today by praying in His name.

I came back to my house filling...full, cause that's why I'm here.

My Cleaners Perspective on Being Poor

Well before even moving to Garden City I'd been praying for a sweet cousin lady to be my new cleaner (a cleaner is a very common thing to have here especially since there's no dishwashers, lots of dust, and lots of people who need employment...and it's not expensive). I was so close to my cleaner in Kite City, whom I miss so much, and therefore desiring someone I could be close to again. This person comes into your house six days a week, they see you on wonderful and not so wonderful days, they become the most intimate friend to you and your kids because again, they're always in your home. Therefore, who this person is is very important to me, and I'd been praying for her.

After we moved into our new home, almost a month ago, the lady who helps clean the building, 'Sha', offered to clean my house as well. She'd always been really kind whenever she'd seen us before, and had already helped with getting our house ready for my family to arrive. The timing of when she could come clean wasn't my favorite, but we told her that would be fine unless we found someone who could do it at better times during the day. 

Since she's been coming Elise has no doubt taken a liking to her. She wants to see her wherever she is, smile, wave, say "Hi", and basically just follow her around. Regardless of what Elise is doing, when my Sha comes in Elise will stop to watch her and say Hi to her like 20 times in a row. It's so cute :) 

I've been able to have a good bit of conversations with her even though she's been here such a short time. I'm thankful that I already have a base in Urdu so that I can talk to her, as opposed to when I first moved to India. 

One day she was telling me how she likes working for me and that she doesn't feel trouble or problems, only rest in my home. She's actually told me that on numerous occasions. However, this particular day she started elaborating in saying that foreigners like me are all good people and all Indian people are bad people...this is a common thing for people to say. I corrected her by saying that some foreigners and Indians are good, and some foreigners and Indians are bad. I'd met plenty of good, kind Indians. It didn't matter where you're from, there's the same kind of people everywhere. 

She went on to tell me that it's like I see her and I'm not different to her. She said that Indian people know that she's poor so they tell her to go over there or somewhere else because she's poor. But I treat her just the same as I do other people. She didn't used to be poor growing up, but now that she's married and has her own family she is.

I explained that the people who are that way are followers of Jesus. I went on to say that God made all people and to God they are all equal. So, when I look at her or someone else they are the same in my eyes as well.

My heart hurts for her. It seems like she has a deep wound that only the Lord can heal. I pray that He uses me to speak His love into that wound and her heart. 

Eating is a Luxury

I have two thoughts in regards to the title "Eating is a Luxury":

First, being a mom of two small children I've come to realize just that, that eating is a luxury. If you actually have the time to put food in your own mouth it's awesome. Each meal my focus is on making sure my kids get fed and during dinner my husband as well. Neal's really good about helping me when he's here, so usually he helps feed Elise, or makes sure Elijah's food isn't going all over him when we sit down together in the evenings. But, when the kids are on different nap schedules during the day, and when lunch time for one and the beginning of nap time for the other are at the same time, it's hard to think about your own needs in regards to food. I've heated, reheated, and reheated my food so many times it's practically tasteless. But, that's ok, and that's just the normal life of a mom :)

Second thought in regards to the title is that eating is a luxury for so many people. Living in India makes me realize the plethora of food that comes in and out of my house. Not only does my family have plenty, we have over abundantly. I'm not complaining about that because I feel so blessed. But I realize how much I have when I talk to poorer families who tell me they ate rice and bread for dinner. Or, their kids ate a portion smaller than my fist and then went to bed. For many of he poorer communities here that size portion is even an abundant blessing.

"Give us this day our daily bread..." (Matthew 6:11)

Honestly, these words aren't something I've ever had to pray. But for so many here in India I'm sure they plead with the Lord for just that, because to them, eating is a luxury.