High Calorie Days

Sonia 's (my adopted sister) visit means high calorie days. Her MIL is a control freak and does not permit her to cook the food she likes, and when she does the monster -in -law criticizes her so much that poor Sonia gets disheartened. Her hubby loves her cooking but can 't say a word to his mother. So when she visits us, Sonia cooks all her favourite food...lamb, fish,chicken,eggs, Chinese, western food, pilaf, kebabs and koftas.We also had some sausages after ages...snacks and ice cream.

After she leaves, we will come down to our regular dal/rice, veggies chapatis etc.A more controlled diet which we have due to health and economic reasons. We also eat the common man 's food to identify them.

I know some missionary families who used to have simple rice and lentils for lunch in order to identify with the common man and they had western food for dinner.This way you can have a taste of both worlds and keep within your budget.

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Since the past week my Internet connection was giving me trouble and yesterday I lost my landline and Internet connection completely. This morning I got it back and its not too bad.

On May 28th I published my 300th post.

Relaxing Peacefully

This photo was taken about 20 years ago, when we had our German Shepherd- Lassie and Mixed Lab - Jackie.
Lassie was a good dog. Her previous owners (our family friends) were very rich people living in Kuwait.When they visited from there, they fed her dry fruit, which irked us quite a bit as they were too expensive to waste on a dog.Well, every dog has his day.
Jackie was a great guard dog. No one could enter our place without his permission.He used to walk our maid home, so as to protect her on the street.And when my English friend Ruth (birthday picture) visited, he walked her to her hotel every night.
Jackie prevented our place from being burgled.Some one who had mischief on their minds poisoned him.
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On Monday we did not have electricity for 5 hours, but it rained , so it was bearable.Sonia and I went shopping in the rain.
Yesterday we did not have electricity for 8 hours.I was sick by the end of it.The heat fries your brain.And when we can 't run our water pump our tank is depleted.
But I comfort myself by saying I am not the only one going through this -millions of my compatriots are reeling under the blow.Suffering means - I am a card carrying member of the human club.Maybe I 've got a gold card membership.
I wanted Sonia to stay longer but her hubby phoned her yesterday saying he is planning a holiday in Ludhiana (the Punjab) and Simla (hill resort), so she will leave a few days earlier.
Sometimes I wish for get a few days off where I don 't want to be responsible for anything - that will be my holiday. Just switch off my body and brain for a while - is that possible above the ground?
But I will hold on to the words from the Bible - Do not be weary in well doing for you will get your reward in due time. And Jesus said;In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer I have overcome the world.
The second WORD is specially for when there is no electricity and water and the heats killing you.
P.S. Premission granted to use this as a sermon illustration. LOL

Sunday Blessings-Happy Birthday & A House Full of Children

Good church in the morning. This has been a weekend of birthdays Today is Anju"s birthday. (my sister). I called her up and later spoke on Yahoo Messenger.They were leaving for church.Anju you look lovely as a bride . I have your sari hanging safely in my wardrobe. You must wear it again one day. The silver purse - where is it?

Today also is my friend Ruth 's birthday.She is a very dear friend from Woodstock School. Paul and Ruth were teachers while their 3 children went to school.They live and work in UK now.Happy birthday Ruth.

Yesterday was Sinran 's birthday. She turned 7.Shalu invited us for dinner.

Today these kids had a rollicking time in our house.Here are Babu, Abner and Simran .

Here is another one of them making faces.

Jack and Jill

Last night we had a huge MacBeth -type rain storm with thunder and lightening and strong winds.It lasted for over an hour. I enjoyed the storm inspite the mess it created.And as a result we were without electricity supply for more than 12 hours and no water.
Our government supply was not coming and we could not operate our well pump without electricity.
We ran out of cooking water.So Sonia , Abner and I went down to the roadside manually operated hand pump well to see if we could get some H2O. But that well was not working.
When we got back, we got our electric supply just enough to fill half a bucket We thought we could manage lunch. But later on we kept getting electricity for short periods of time and we could fill a larger bucket.
Now, after 6pm things are fairly normal.
So unlike Jack and Jill we escaped a bumped head.
The rain has cooled down the weather and that is a welcome respite.
Below are some of our summer flowers
Guava (fruit) blossoms
Summer lilly, has a very short life and smells really pungent

Sunflowers, its hard to keep the parrots away from them.

Storm Fruit and Flowers

There have been quite a few dust and rain storms in our area during the past week.It was a great loss to the mango farmers as they lost tons of unripe fruit, but a boon to the pickle and preserve industry.
Here are some mangoes in our tree

In the dust storm a tree outside our wall fell. We got a bunch of flowers. They don 't last very long.I don 't know what they are called in English.In hindi they are called Medina.

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Later on I got news that Daddy Jeyapaul has gone Home to be with the Lord, Mummy Jeyapaul preceded him by two weeks. It is a double shock and bereavement for the family. Please remember them in prayer.the four children, Prem, Janet, Dolly and Anand.

Daddy was the chief engineer of Western Railways , a man of God. He was on the board of several mission organizations and President of the Union of Evangelical Students of India, which is a sister organization of Inter Varsity Fellowship. He will be missed a lot.

Sunday Blessings - And Veggie Tales

Sonia called on Friday saying she was arriving on Sunday.So here she is with Abner and hubby. Hubby will leave after a day or two. So have we lots of company and the house feels full.Sonia (my adopted sister) will stay till the middle of June.
We 've had a number of dust storms this week and I 've had a hard time keeping the house dust free.It seemed every time I cleaned everything up a fresh storm would pour water ...er...dust over my hard work.

The above photo has been taken in Rajasthan.

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Pumpkin Eater
I finally got to make my pumpkin stir fry yesterday. When I bought some pumpkin last month my fridge busted, so I put it in Aunt Virginia 's fridge., When I went to get it, I found that her maid had cooked it thinking it was her 's.
Last week I bought another pumpkin and this time my fridge thermostat was on high (a mistake I rectified) and my pumpkin froze.and you just can 't cook a defrosted pumpkin, I can tell you that by experience.
So I bought a fresh pumpkin and cooked it immediately without any mishap.Now I feel like singing the old nursery rhyme
Peter, Peter pumpkin eater
Had a wife but couldn 't keep her

Today while cooking Sunday lunch I listened to Dr Ravi Zacharias ' 'message entitled What Can the Righteous do When the Foundations Crumble? Oh, it is such a soul stirring speech.
Urgent Prayer Request
Please Pray for Daddy Jeyapaul. (Prem 's dad)He is admitted in Intensive care with jaundice and other complications.His condition is critical. Mother Jeyapaul passed away two weeks ago.

Terra

I took these photos of clay figures at the Craft Fair - Nov 2007.

There is a cock among turtles in the first one. The second one has pipe players and a man smoking a hookah or water pipe.

This week 's been tough due to Aunt Sybil 's illness, but praise God she is better now.

Jesus ' words "Come unto me all you who are burdened and heavily laden and I will give you rest" shone through.

Following the news stories about Burma, China and the bonb blasts in Jaipur (North Indian city) added to the pain in my heart.

Last night I saw the movie 'The Last King of Scotland ' based on the life of Idi Amin of Uganda. That hurt a lot too.

On Christ the solid rock I stand

All other ground is sinking sand.

And although we are made of clay, like those figures in the photos it is Christ who gives us gives us meaning, identity and purpose.Without Him we will fall apart and be crushed into dust like those mud statuettes.

Sunday Blessings - On the Mend

Chummu, Karan and Ravi (Dec 2007)

PIcking up the story from my last post. Over the weekend I ran into Chummu 's cousin Ravi (alias Pandit - as he was the first in his family to go to school - Pandit means "a man of learning") He told me that Chummu is working in a nice uptown restaurant. I was so happy to hear that because his family received several setbacks due to his bad habits.



I sent Mama to church and stayed home with Aunt Sybil.Her dementia has increased and she can 't be left alone. I must confess that her strange and confused behaviour causes a lot of
consternation
alarm
anxiety
sadness
and also irritation (and in me impatience)
in Mama and me. Sometimes we share a smile or two. But its not easy.

Psalm 99;9 says ...".we finish our years with a groan"

I know this is negative but sometime seeing the decline of the elders around me and serving them I pray Lord shorten the length of my life, so that I may not suffer like them.That will be God 's greatest mercy.

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On Friday Pastor Shay bought a car.We all rejoiced with him and shared rounds of coconut burfis (Indian sweets). Almost like coconut fudge When Shay first came to live on campus he had a bicycle.After a year or so he bought a motorcycle and now a car. He also was promoted in the Bible College.Now he has been made the head of the distance education department. The Lord has prospered him.

Sunila (his wife) and daughter are away for 2 weeks visiting her parents,so I am sending him food, which is a pleasure for us.

In June they will be gone to the hills for a 2 week conference.



Nearly everyone I know is leaving for summer holidays and conferences etc.Makes my heart long for a getaway.We used to go for camps 2 or 3 times a year, but now its not possible for me.The last holiday I had was 3 days in the hills in 2001.

But the Lord knows my heart.This is a lesson in grace and self-denial.I have to learn to be happy in whatever circumstance I am. (Including the six and half hours electricity cut yesterday LOL)
Have a good week.

Exodus 20;12

"Honor your father and mother that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you". Ex 20;12
I have constituted this award for my friends who are such adorable,sensitive and nurturing Moms to their children.You can pass this on to others
Mother 's Pride
Donetta
Kimmie
Zen Master
Sita
Deborah
I am really sorry I can 't create links for Kimmie,Zen Master and Sita, however hard I am trying. there is something wrong with blogger.I will try later.The lights are gonna go out and I have household choeres.

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This a Mother 's Day photo of Daughter-in-law, grandson Karan and Grandma Kamla.

This family lived in our church outhouse (servant quarters for more than ten years. The man worked in the Forest Dept, Kamla was a housewife with 2 sons and a daughter. They are peasants from the Sonar caste (jewelry-makers) Amongst Hindus they are a backward caste.When the lived here they did odd jobs for the church and in return could live on the campus.

But the lesson here is that Kamla was not a very wise mother. She spoilt her son Chummu (pictured below with his pretty wife...Baby Karan is his son). We shared the gospel with them and sent the kids to children Bible class and camps, but to no avail.

Chummu became a thief, still we gave him chances to reform.But when he robbed a man at a bank and was imprisoned, we asked the family to leave.

They went to live in their village where they have a small house and farm. The father had a govt. house in the city.They are not happy there, and remember the time they lived here. They say often you tried to teach our children good things but they did not pay attention.

Proverbs 10;1 ...

A wise son makes a father glad

But a foolish son is a grief to his mother.

Jehovah Jireh

Yesterday I received a generous gift from my blog-friends S and R (Donetta 's parent - in-laws) for our well project. Thank you so much for your love towards us.To be honest two days ago I was literally counting out small change (pennies) from our money box to pay the man laying the underground pipes.And how God provided enough to pay him and our other dues. We had to pay our water tax bill of Rs 17,00 which is quite a lot. Praise the Lord.

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Last night we had a real electricity scare. our phase went out whilst everybody was getting their supply.Then the whole neighbourhood blacked out.This happened from 10 pm to 1 am. I was so stressed out.I get nervous when the lights go out at night.
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Shady Dwag
Shampooed Sheeba this morning so I thought I 'd Warholize her photo.I got this website from Mother Jones.(side bar).

Knot for Life

24 years ago Prem and Anju were wedded together in holy matrimony , blessed by God.I remember the day so well.

It rained that day and this morning also we had a nice surprise shower.

It was the only time I had a bath with ice cold water.We ran out of water and I asked a cousin to fetch me a bucket of water, he got me water from the ice cooler meant for Coke.AS I poured the first mug for the bath I screamed with cold.But it was good in the heat. Think he played a joke on me.

The present Bishop of the ECI church of North India, who was a pastor at that time said it was the first wedding he attended which had a distinct Christian spirit.

God bless you Prem and Anju and give you many happy years ahead.

Sunday Bleessings - Farther Along We 'll Know All About It

Had good church this morning. Our temp. is hitting 110 and more 44.5 c but its not humid yet which is OK for me. Its the humidity that i can 't bear.Our plumbing work is almost done the underground pipes have to covered

After church we got a call from Prem saying his Mon had slipped into a coma. She was at home with her family, the way she wanted. We called up Chennai and talked to Prem 's brother Anand.Mama wept as she comforted him and asked him to release his Mum into God 's care.Heaven 's door had opened for Mummy.

Later on in the evening Prem called again to say that the Lord has his Mum home.

Please pray for the Jeyapaul family.

We called them up and other relatives too.

Aunty Jeyapaul was woman of faith, a great home-maker, wife, mother and patient care-giver to Dolly their developmentally challenged daughter.She was a mathematics teacher but she left her job to look after Dolly, which she did for more than 45 years.

This photo is 24 years old from Prem and Anju 's wedding reception

L-R Dolly, Anand,Uncle Jeyapaul, Prem, Anju, Aunty Jeyapaul, and Janet.

After hearing the news, I just wanted to catch my breath so to speak, so I turned on God TV and on Charles Stanley 's program there was Ricky Scaggs singing"Farther Along" That song and Rev Stanley 's message on the resurrection of Lazarus really comforted us.

Search Light

My friend of Mother 's Pride tagged me almost a month ago and I unable to compose a post about it. But here I am at last -

1. What was I doing 10 years ago-
Breathing...and fighting illness, loss of employment etc.
2.Five snacks I enjoy
Salted peanuts, fruits (except papays) Indian sweets, Indian salty snacks - they are a mix called dalmote, crisps/chips (but I refrain from them)
3.Things I would like to do if I were a billionaire
Turn our church campus into the Garden of Eden
Set up an organization to help widows and old people abandoned by their children.
Renovate my house make it fully air-conditioned.
Go on a European holiday- UK, Italy, Greece, Spain and Vienna (for the music)
Visit my family in Canada
Buy a new car and employ a 24 hr driver.
I think I would run out of money right here!
4. Five jobs I 've had
Pre-school teacher
Home school teacher
Middle school teacher
ESL- English as a Second Language teacher
Now care-giver and church ministry
5. Three of my bad habits ( Lucky I 'm only asked to list 3)
a) Procrastination
b) Day dreaming - too much self talk
c) Lack of patience
6. Five places I 've lived in
Allahabad
Chennai (short while)
Coimbatore (short while)
Mussoorie
All these are located in the Solar System so I 'll add that, although I 'd like to zoom out into space too.(Silly)

My Cup Overflows

A well watered garden.

On April 29th, late in the evening this Crompton and Greaves pump was installed and our well started functioning.

Pastor read from the Psalms ,a hymn of praise and gave thanks to the Lord.Then we all had Indian sweets to celebrate.

You are right Felisol, we also took it as a oppurtunity to share God 's love with our Muslim workmen.

Now the plumbing has to be laid out and electricity supply has to be secured plus finishing touches. Pastor 's brother is helping us without charges.We are using the cheapest possible materials to keep our ballooning costs down.

But I must record the hurdles we had to overcome since we embarked upon this project.

The Devil 's Salvos

1. On Day One our concrete water tank broke draining away precious expensive (tanker) water.

2. On Day Three the generator broke down causing a delay.

3. Yesterday was a close call for me. In the afternoon when I went to withdraw money for the project there was a robbery at the bank.Praise God I was safe but the 3 robbers in their getaway speed crashed into our stationary car ( it was being driven by Pastor 's brother) and created a dent into the side.They were caught by the police.All this drama took place as I was stepping out of the ATM cubicle.A large crowd had collected near our car.When I got the story I praised God it was not me they had robbed, we just scraped through with the dent! We are making 'Rush Hour ' Part 3

4. Later on Pastor S, his brother and a friend faced quite a bit of difficulty while buying plumbing hardware.They spent several hours in the shops but found very little stuff they approved of.Today again they will go hardware hunting. We are doing this to keep the costs down.

5. During some point of their shopping expedition Pastor 's brother was driving his (pastor 's)motorcycle without a helmet and was stopped and ticketed by the police.Now why would this want to happen when there are thousands of people buzzing about without helmets in our city? They will go to the district court to get their vehicle papers back today.

So please keep us in your prayers. We need protection, guidance, wisdom, God 's favor and a good bit of humor and physical strength to combat opposition.

Yesterday we did not have electricity for more than 6 hours and after that the supply was so weak that I could not run the computer. I can only use it for a short duration in the mornings.

Whether our cup overflows with joy or sorrow...Jesus is the Lord.

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers,against the authorities,against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.Therefore put on the full armor of God,so that when the day of evil comes,you may be able to stand your ground,and after you have done everything to stand."Ephesians 6:12,13 (Bible)