Around the World in Three Dishes

To ease the tension and soften the drudgery of daily life (I sound pathetic don 't I) I took inspiration from a cookery show and a blog and attempted 3 dishes yesterday and today.
Above is pita bread and hummus from the Middle East. The Mayer Family Blog ( they are missionaries in Spain)was the electronic inspiration here.
The hummus was excellent. I have made it before.Learnt it from Anju who made it with Lebanese bread.
BUT... my pita bread was quite a flop I must confess. I could not get hold of the right dry active yeast. I walked miles to 4 speciality stores which stock this kind of commodity. Two did not have any yeast, the packet in one store was out of date.The last one had a small packet but did did not work properly. So my bread turned out hard and crunchy.If only I had Fleischman Yeast, my dough would rise properly.
My poor Mom tried to eat it but gave up as her teeth would not cooperate.
I didn 't mind it as it was the work of my hands. And Sheba enjoyed it thoroughly.

This is an Indonesian rice dish called Nasi Goreng.It turned out to be really good.I did not have some of the Indonesian ingredients , I made an adapted Indian version which suited us very well.I saw an Indonesian chef make it on TV.

This is gnocchi. Today I saw a 17 year old Indian boy make it on TV And I said to myself, if this kid can make it, so can I and plunged into it like an Italian grandmother.It turned out to be really good. Sheba also fell in love with it.

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Now let me update you about yesterday. It was a peaceful day. Thank you for your prayers. Had a good service. The message was from the book of Esther, very timely,how God used her to save His people.

Conversion Fire -Kalesia in the Arena

Kalesia is the Hindi/Urdu word for church.
Persecution fire is spreading to various States of India. It started in Orissa,then MP, Karnataka , Uttrakhand and my state of UP.

Click on this link from COMPASS DIRECT NEWS to read some news stories.
A few days ago I got a text message from the Pastor of the AG church informing us that there is a threat of attacks on Allahabad churches this Sunday (tomorrow), specially a mega church , called Yesu Darbar on the outskirts of the city .

I am not afraid.Our trust is in the God of Daniel who stopped the mouths of the lions.People are interceding.
Here is a video about the violence in the South India




Some time ago I posted a comment on Julia 's blog responding to her post about atrocities against Christians in India.
I want to reproduce it here
WHAT IS CONVERSION AND WHO IS A CHRISTIAN
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The attacks against Christians in Orissa have triggered many a debate in the media and on the Internet.
People have questioned the conversion issue. Why Christians are so “aggressive “about their faith and evangelism among the tribal and low caste people etc.People are also accusing Christians of making converts by offering them money and worldly lucre.
I wrote a comment on Julia‘s blog which I want to reproduce here with additions.

First of all the VHP and RSS (right wing fundamentalist Hindu groups) have no right to speak on behalf of all Hindus, just as a particular group of Christians cannot represent all the colors of Christianity.
There are millions of Hindus who are moderate and do not adhere to the views of the Sangh Parivar. (Right wingers)

Secondly, if I want to change my faith, how does it affect the next man? Every human being has a right to believe in whatever religion or philosophy they choose to. It is a God-given freedom. God has freed humans to choose even not to believe in Him too. He is not going to force Himself down anybody’s throat. He reveals Himself in nature and the Holy Scriptures, but if one wants to turn a blind eye to it, so be it.
Even if the dalit (low castes) and downtrodden people of our country want to convert to Christianity, or any other religion because their religion has deprived them of their basic human rights , so be it whether it be for the sake of pure heart conversion or the attraction of a better life and dignity. They are free to do so and no one should object. It only shows what a poor hold their religion has on them in the first place.
The Indian Constitution gives us the basic fundamental right of choosing,practising and propagating our religion.

Now -why do Christians spread the Gospel - the good news of Jesus Christ?
1. It is a command given to us by Christ Himself.
2. Jesus Christ said,”IAM THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE, NO MAN COMES TO THE FATHER BUT BY ME. We have to share it with all men everywhere whether they accept it or not.
Its like a poor family living down the street, they have nothing to eat and you know of a place where plenty of nourishing food is available for free, everyday - how can you not tell them.
Somebody has said -Spreading the Gospel message of Christ is like one beggar telling another beggar where to find food.

3. We firmly believe that in order to be a Christian one has to be born again - which means accepting Jesus as one’s personal Saviour.You can be a name-sake Christian or a traditional Christian but that won’t do you any good. God does not have any grand children. He only has children. So if you want to enter into the kingdom of God you must be born again, accept Jesus as your personal Savior, as He Himself taught.
If a cat gives birth to kittens in a garage they don’t become cars, the same way a person born into a Christian family does not automatically become a Christian. Unless he accepts Jesus as his personal Savior. It’s a personal choice.
So if people are converting to Christianity for economic or social reasons even marriage, it really won’t do them much good in eternity. They can only improve their lot here on earth but not in the afterlife.

Many people followed Jesus as He was feeding the hungry and healing the sick and doing miracles, but He said GO BACK - you cannot be my followers unless you are willing to take up your cross and follow me. Don’t come to me for social and economic reasons. Jesus Himself discouraged crowds and emotional followers...and many turned away because they could not pay the price.
A rich young nobleman came to Jesus wanting Him to endorse his piety. But Jesus said;”If you want to be part of God ‘s kingdom, sell your possessions and distribute your money among the poor.” The man went away disappointed because he could not part with his wealth.
Christianity is dangerous, it can make you poor, empty your pockets instead of making you rich, as some mistakenly believe.
4. Being a Christian is a costly affair. It’s not a namby-pamby thing. Many Christians are not living the way Jesus commanded us to live and we are spreading the Gospel among namesake Christians too…Many people born into Christian families don ‘t know what Christianity is all about.
Jesus said "You cannot be my disciple unless you are willing to cut ties with your family and society and riches if they stand in your way.”

5 It is not true that only dalits (low caste people) and economically backward people have accepted Christianity. There are thousands of Christians who belong to the upper castes and strong economic backgrounds.

Many of them have been cut off from their families, inheritance and society when they accepted Christianity. If you want to be a true Christian, you have to be prepared to GIVE UP.

My great grandfathers left their home and wealth in order to become Christians. They were wealthy land owners of Western UP (thakurs).Many people are doing so today. I personally know hundreds of them.
My brother-in-law belongs to a high caste Tamil family.
My church padre (priest) comes from a Brahmin family. His forefathers were royal priests of Chattisgarh.But when he became a Christian, he was turned out of his house naked (his brother-in-law gave him his clothes) What was he getting in return ...food...money...dollars???
Sometimes he had to eat leaves to stifle his hunger. For more than 17 years his father refused all contact with him, but now he has reconciled with him, amazed by his son ‘s faith.. There are thousands like him.


So Christianity will make you poor my dear brothers and sisters - you will have to give up your family and relationships etc. Never think otherwise.

A very wealthy student from Nepal became a Christian and his father stopped sending his college fees, so we got together to pay it till he finished his MSc.His uncle came with a gun to shoot him when he visited Nepal, but God miraculously saved him.

This is not only happening in India but all over the world. You should read what happens to you when you accept Christ in China, many Muslim countries, communist countries, Burma, parts of Africa and South America.Even in the West true Christians are ridiculed and mocked.

Being a true Christian is a costly affair.
Be willing to be hated by the world. Jesus said,” The world hated me, it will hate you too”.

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News breaking on TV there has been another bomb blast in New Delhi

Matchmaker...Matchmaker

These photos are about 28 years old

when color film was a rarity in India

we three sisters were studying in a Convent

and life was young and fresh L-R Anju, Amrita, Namrita holding baby Raj our cousin

L-R Amrita, Namrita holding Raj and Anju
(names shortened for security reasons)
The reason for posting these photos is that last weekend
Aunt Ree, Raj 's Mom rang me up and asked
me to find a 'nice girl ' for him.
I must add that I was quite flattered by her confidence in me, it must be the grey in my hair!
In India traditionally arranged marriages are popular, but of course a lot of young people are going in for love marriages and partners of their choice.

Aunt Ree 's husband Uncle R is my Mom 's first cousin. They are very affluent. Raj, now 28 years old has a good job, and since he is the only child, he is a good catch.

Unfortunately they are traditional Christians...upscale by the world 's standards but nowhere in God 's kingdom.

I gave her polite answers. Mainly because we move in born-again circles and suggesting matches these days is pretty dicey because if the marriage develops problems, you can get blamed.

This afternoon Aunt Ree called again and said she found 2 local girls.

Girl A works in a private institution

Girl B works in a Government institution

She wanted Mama and me to help them make a choice.

We could have done Eena...Meena..Mina...Moe

because we don 't know the girls and their families are known to us only by their names.

But she really insisted that Mama give her some input, since she is the eldest cousin sister and has married off her daughters very well.

I prompted some guidelines to Ma

1.Don 't look for a girl from a wealthy background as you already have enough so you don 't need a dowry or more stuff.

2. The girl should be of sound character , God-fearing and good natured. (They know our testimony - we have evangelized them)

3. The girl should be well educated and compatible with your son.

But she wanted to choose between the girls working in the

a) Private place

b) Government concern

We sided with the Government as the salary is higher and there are additional benefits plus a life-long pension.

Now lets see which side the camel lies (English translational of an Indian proverb)

I 'll be sure to post the wedding pictures and more.
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Yesterday there was a bomb scare in a posh business building a short distance down our road.

Someone called an air-hostess training centre that they were going to blow up the building in 20 minutes.

There was high panic and the place was evacuated.The bomb disposal squad examined the premises and found nothing, it was a hoax.

But every call has to be taken seriously.

Little Crusader - Devli Kumari

Devli Kumari when she was 8 years old Devli Kumari is anxious about her forthcoming trip to New York – not about addressing the United Nations General Assembly on child labour, but because she fears her name may be struck off the school rolls if she takes longer than the five-day leave sanctioned to get back.
The 11-year-old Jodhpur girl, born in a family of bonded labourers who worked as stone-cutters, began work at four. The family of six would wake at 3 am every day, and work in stone quarries at Charkhi Dadri in Bhiwani district of Haryana till 9 pm. For this, they were given a kilo ( about 2 pounds) of flour once in two days.
“As soon as a child was able to clasp a hammer, he/she was made to break stones and load them on trucks”, she says, rubbing a scar on the back of her left hand. “A stone once fell and I got hurt.”
Till they were rescued in 2004, Devli and her family had never eaten a fruit or lived in a shelter with electricity. “They asked me what kind of potato the banana was when I offered one to them. Onions and potatoes were all that they used to eat,” recalls Kailash Sathyarthi, the founder of Bachpan Bachao Andolan, (Save Childhood Movement) the organisation that rescued Devli and her family.
They now live in accommodation provided by the Jodhpur district administration. Devli studies in Class 5 in Jodhpur's RSI Adarsha Primary School. Her track record is impressive - in 2004, she spoke at the World Social Forum in Mumbai, and in 2005 she attended the second World Children's Congress on child labour and education. “I want to learn English, I want to study till I'm at least 16 and become a teacher when I grow up,” she says. “It's considered a great thing in our community if you can read the numbers of buses and trains so that you are able to go where you want to on your own. And it's also easier to get a job if you're educated…" she then turns to her supervisor to tell her she wants to wear jeans and a t-shirt as well as a salwar kameez “but not without a chunni” for her UN meet. ( a salwar - kameez is a traditional Indian dress for ladies, it consists of a long shirt and loose pants, a chunni is a long scarf)
This article has been taken from the Hindustan Times newspaper -parenthesis mine.
A family of 6 surviving on a pound of flour a day with some potatoes and onion. Did not know what a banana wasThis is the world we are living in.This kind of story first makes me angry, then gives me hope.

Praise God, today my mother is much better.

She had some fruit juice and food.She 'll get over it.

Thank you for your prayers.

Sunday Blessings- There is Light at the End of the Tunnel

Had a good service, one of the students from the Bible Seminary preached.

Got a donation of Rs 500 ($10) for the PA system.

Mama had some tummy trouble after having fruit juice yesterday. We spoke to the doctor on the telephone.He advised further investigation.

I must be honest here. My mother 's physical problems have started to invoke spasms of depression and despair in me. It has not happened in these past 4 years since my Dad passed away.

When Mama feels ill a very dark cloud envelopes me

My head and heart start to feel heavy and an elephant jumps on my chest.

I echo the thoughts of Elijah in Beer-sheba

3

Elijah was afraid and fled for his life, going to Beer-sheba of Judah. He left his servant there
4
and went a day's journey into the desert, until he came to a broom tree and sat beneath it. He prayed for death: "This is enough, O LORD! Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers."

________________________

But like like Elijah in the shade of the broom tree God sends me bread and water in the form of Scripture verses and physical healing.

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5
He lay down and fell asleep under the broom tree, but then an angel touched him and ordered him to get up and eat.
6
He looked and there at his head was a hearth cake and a jug of water. After he ate and drank, he lay down again,
7
but the angel of the LORD came back a second time, touched him, and ordered, "Get up and eat, else the journey will be too long for you!"
8
He got up, ate and drank; then strengthened by that food, he walked forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God, Horeb. (1Kings;19)

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And I am revived and ready to step out on the next leg of my journey with God. I have my Mount Horeb where God speaks to me not in the whirlwind and earthquake or fire but in the sound of a gentle blowing and the light at the end of the tunnel begins to gleam brightly.
My grace is enough for you

for my Power is displayed in your weakness

( refer to 2 Cor 12;9)

Mama is better today and was able to eat without any trouble..

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Throughout this week churches were attacked and destroyed in South India. The state Home Minister brushed it away as minor incidents.

Would he have reacted the same way if it were a temple or a mosque?

13 Hours +

Above is a picture of a Latvian lamp.I got it from the web
Starting last night our city was lashed by heavy rain and strong winds.Our electricity went off at 7am and we got it back at 8.30pm. Water was also cut off. Although the weather has cooled off quite a bit, we were worried about the electricity and water.
I threw away some food and tried to finish some vegetable which I didn 't want to waste. I was planning to make coffee with the left over milk and feed Sheeba a large bowl of her dog food (endangering her with a tummy turnover), but I don 't have to do that as we got our power back. Hope it stays on.
I found this nice poem by Dean Thorpe . A scene I am familiar with.
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In the darkness by Dean Thorpe
Walking down the darkened hall, I hear a spooky sound Approach another corner, do I dare go round The darkness all around me, can barely see a thing What awaits me round the bend, what will the next turn bring I rush around the corner, and see a ghostly face I cannot see the details, my heart begins to race Feeling round I find a switch, I turn it on to see On the wall an old mirror, the face in it is me

A Mighty Fortress is Our God

The Lord 's faithful have sent us help and some have promised , so we set our carpenters at work to board up the insecure doors and fix new bolts. We are also getting a portion of the wall fortified. All this is very costly
but it is an unavoidable expense.

Violence against Christians has spread to the southern state of Karnataka.14 churches were descerated, ransacked and vandalized.

Here is a report from the Times of India newspaper

MANGALORE/CHIKMAGALUR/KOLAR: Even before the dust on the attacks on prayer halls on Sunday could settle, a fresh wave of attacks has been reported. Three incidents have been reported since Tuesday night even after the ruling BJP government threatened to act tough against those responsible for the attacks. Unidentified persons broke into a church in Ujire, 70 km from Mangalore, in Dakshina Kannada district and another at Gorigandi in Chikmagalur district and ransacked it, police said on Wednesday. In Kolar, a statue of Virgin Mary was damaged on Wednesday morning. At Ujjire, miscreants desecrated the St George Church belonging to Syro Malabar Catholic Rite under Diocese of Belthangady in the early hours. They gained entry by breaking the front door lock and burned the Bible, prayer books and destroyed holy icons. The miscreants threw away the tabernacle where the Blessed Sacrament was kept. They also set the carpets inside the church afire. The incident came to light when the parish priest, and others came to the church for mass at 6 am. They informed Joseph Valiaparambil, vicar general of the bishop's house. Joseph in turn informed the authorities. Stating that the police inspector and tahsildar arrived and assessed the situation, Jospeh said the diocese strongly condemned the act. "We are not violent and do not believe in violence. We respect the administration and the law of the land. We respect all religions. The Christian community needs protection from these kinds of anti-social, anti-religious activities," Joseph said. In Chikmagalur district, one church was vandalised by miscreants at Gorigandi. The St Thomas church was attacked by three people who came on a motorcycle and broke open the door and damaged prayer mater ials. Balehonnur police have registered a complaint given by Fagin. This is the fifth attack on a church since September 14 in the district. In Kolar district, miscreants damaged the statue of Virgin Mary outside the St Mary's church in Kolar town in the wee hours of Wednesday. They hurled stones at the church breaking window panes. As the news spread, people Christians assembled near the church and expressed concern over the incident. Chief of the Roman Catholic church Fredrick urged the district administration to take action to nab the culprits

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In today 's Hindustan Times Newspaper I read the following report .The police also joined in to perpetrate violence on innocent Christian women

Mnay women

turned up to pour out tales of excesses by policemen of this coastal city to Girija Vyas, chairperson of the National Commission for Women, here on Wednesday.
Sisters Selma, Denesia, Preethi and Rekha, all belonging to the Santa Cruz Convent next to Cordel Church at Kulashekar, showed their wounds to Vyas and told her how, on Monday, policemen had rushed into the convent and church wielding their canes and firing teargas shells.
“More than a hundred of us inside the convent were hurt. I was trembling with fear and managed to shout at one policeman not to touch my body. A few minutes later, another policeman hit me with a lathi ( a heavy wooden stick) as I was washing my face to wipe the effects of teargas shells. A little later, I found a boy in an unconscious state and bleeding in the head. We were scared to go out for treatment and sat trembling inside the convent for a long time,” Sister Selma, 61, said.
These women later mobbed Krishna Palemar, the district in-charge minister, and top district officers. Some of them met JD-S chief H.D. Deve Gowda, seeking his intervention.
Vyas said: “I was horrified when I met the nuns. The police action is awful and shameful. We want a separate inquiry against these officers. We want the government to answer why these policemen entered schools and churches and even got on to the roof to beat up women and children. We want peace to be restored and protection for these women. I have told the home minister (Dr V.S. Acharya) that he must taken action against these policemen and officers.”
Acharya admitted to cases of police excesses. “When policemen move in to take action against a mob, there are bound to be such cases. The good news is that the city has returned to normalcy on the third day itself. On Thursday, we will take a decision in the cabinet on who should head the inquiry into all these incidents.”

The Devil is going about as a roaring lion to seek whom he may devour.

Happy - Happy

Thank you Mrs Mac for giving me this gift. You are a special lady , wife, Mom and grandma and blogfriend. I admire the way you look after Nathan and give him so much love and care.He is such a sweet boy. You make all us smile so much.
You asked me to list 6 things which make me happy.
Let me see
1. My name is written in the Lamb 's book of Life.
2 My family and friends, specially little children.
3. The way Sheeba (my dog) welcomes me when I return home from a
trip out of doors.
4. The day when there are no electricity cuts.(LOL)
5. The day when there are no bills to pay.(LOL)
6. My blog friends , my growing family of God which gives me much joy.
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My friend Rebecca
asked me write some quirky things about myself. Sorry Rebecca it took me so long. First of all on my old keyboard the letter Q was not working so I couldn 't type the word and then I got caught with other things.
So here goes.
Some Quirks I have:
1. The pinky of my left hand is slightly crooked because of arthritis, but it doesn 't hurt.
2. I always remember the clothes and shoes I was wearing when something bad happened to me or around me and many times I can 't wear them again if the association is very strong, so I give them away.
3. I use both hands to eat.
I eat finger food with my left hand and use the spoon with my right.
I am sure I have lot more quirks, I am as quirky as one of the characters of The Pickwick Papers, but I have to re-read the book to find matches. LOL.

Now its your turn pals. Give us a list of your quirks and your haps (not mishaps).

Monday Moorings

Went to the court house this morning.The judge did not sit which really irked me because I hate to waste a single penny of the Lord 's money.



I am tutoring Simran in the evenings. She is a smart kid and applies herself to her studies very well.In the past 2 or 3 months she has picked up the English language very well.

She was wearing a nice T-shirt with the legend

Peace

Love

And

Lipgloss

So just had to take a photo of her.

I send garden vegetables home with her everyday.After studies Mama and I give her little Bible lessons. Today we taught her the Lord 's Prayer.

My mother has started eating a little bit. Thank you for your prayers.

This is a picture of the semolina halwa (pudding) I made. My friend Sara thought it was salmonela. I nearly died laughing.

Dear friends thank you for prayers and concern for my church and all of us here.We, in the body of Christ are part of each other.We build each other up and encourage one another.

Violence against Christians has spread to the Southern state of Karnataka. On Sunday 14 churches were vandalized and ransacked. A number of ruight wing Hindus have been arressted.

I feel very frustrated at times.My time online is greatly reduced becasue of electricity cuts and low voltage. Also shortage of time.I wish i had the energy I stay up all night and stay online. LOL.

Triple Whammy

Well actually we were hit by hit by several whammies

since I last posted on Sept 5th.

1. I lost my Internet connection that night and I complained and called up several officers, but to no avail.At last I managed to procure the cell phone number of the area officer or SDO.After that I kept calling him relentlessly.Pleading with him to get my Internet and phone restored.He gave me absent-minded assurances at first.

But I kept going. I was like the persistent widow in the parable of Jesus who kept on asking the judge to settle her case.When he got fed up with her begging he meted out justice to her.

When the SDO understood that I was not going to give him any peace he came to my house and for 3 days personally supervised the restoring of my connection as well as other neighbourhood connections.Very unusual for an official to do. It was a deep underground cable fault. I got my connection back on Friday evening. Persistence works.

Seek and keep on seeking

Knock and keep on knocking

Ask and keep on asking

In all areas of your life.

2. Mom got an abdominal infection and was quite unwell these past few days. Two days ago I called in our physician to see her inspite of her saying she would be OK. He prescribed a whole slew of medicines. She is better, praise God but still can 't eat much.

3. Last weekend there was a major theft in our church sanctuary.That just blew the wind out of our sails.

The thieves broke the window pane of a side door and stole

a) Our almost new Public Address system. It was very expensive and the pride of our church. Our pastor had raised money for it and his wife had contributed quite a large amount from her own savings.

b) Brass and silver metal flower vases I had given to the church.

c) A battery run generator(UPS) donated by a church member.

d) and a 100 pound block of iron used for construction purposes - very costly.

e) Some church crockery

f) Brass fittings from the toilet WC.

g) an old table fan.

We went to the police to report the matter but the policemen said they would arrest (manhandle) our church helpers.We did not want that ,for we know they are honest people and this is not their work, so we did not lodge a formal complaint. The thieves were from outside maybe someone who had worked on our construction team.

It a huge loss for our small struggling congregation and we don 't know how to recover our damages.

After this morning 's service one of our church ladies who gets Rs 500 ( $5 or 6) as her teachers pension contributed Rs 200 ($4) towards the P.A. system Fund. Its ridiculous no one can survive on Rs 500 a month, you can only last for 2 or 3 days, but God will bless her contribution.Thank you Aunty Indu.

The off-shoot of the theft is that we have to secure a part of our wall which the thieves easily scaled to enter our campus and also board up the doors and install new padlocks etc. Added expenses which we can hardly afford.

At the time we discovered the theft we were in much pain and shock, (an Indian) missionary friend of ours visited us.Julius and his family were away for a conference last December when they got a call from a neighbour telling them that their house had been ransacked by thieves.They are not rich people. All their clothes and valuables and household stuff was gone.Julius told us, he turned to his wife and said;" Manju now we are free, we are lite, we can serve the Lord better." This story really moved us so deeply.

The burdens have seemed so heavy lately that I was almost on the verge of depression but then I was reminded of 1 Cor 10;13 - my life verse.

I know you all will pray for us.I believe God will not allow trials which I cannot bear.If I keep this truth firmly embedded in my mind - depression and self-pity will keep at bay and I will find strength to do battle with the enemy of my body and soul.

Tomorrow I have to appear in court for our church court hearing.

You must have heard about the Delhi bombings. Those are the places we frequent when we visit Delhi.

Soul Giggles

There is all kinds of soul giggles

for the mind and body

Got the mind/heart dose first

Oue church odd-jobs man came around this morning and told my mother that there would be a

"mating"

in Aunt Virginia 's(elderly widow) house and we are invited.Further investigation revealed that it is the cottage prayer

"meeting"

So this evening Mom and I are going to this

"mating" oops "meeting"!!!

I made semolina/molasses pudding or

Gur ka halwa for tea today

Cook the semolina in a syrup of molasses and garnish it with dry fruit.

My Internet connection is very bad today. I 'll post the picture as soon as it improves.

Timeless Thursday

Kathryn of Pure Wells
gave me this award. Thank you Kathryn. I find your blog very inspiring and uplifting spiritually.You are a sweet heart.
Last weekend Prem, Anju, Ash and Mahima visited Prince Edwards Island.Here are some photos they sent.Wonder if Aunt Martha made her own chocolate.

Home spun fabric

Lobsters on the go.

Smile Please!
I love the Anne series. The charm and innocence of the old times is to be savored in these books. I treasure the old time values and traditions people like these upheld.

Oh Happy Day

The Golden Girls

Sandra, Gail, Mom Golden and Terry

Saija and a big buddy

Ring...ring...ring Miss Terry gave me such a thrill by calling me this morning all the way from Ontario. It was such a delight talking to you Terry. Suddenly I felt the planet earth has shrunk.
And by the afternoon post I got a lovely postcard sent by Saija in Manitoba. That was so sweet. And I felt 10 times better.
Actually the worst is over and I am feeling much better.Praise God, I was thinking it will take longer than this. But God is merciful.
And thank you for your prayers.

Today is Abner 's 7th birthday (Sonia 's son).
Happy birthday Abner.Sonia must be cooking a wonderful dinner for a family gathering. I will call them in a while.

Last night I felt so sick that I boiled a few potatoes and we had them with salt and pepper and a bit of left over curry. But tonight I made "French Fries" with colocasia (arvi) . Its a root. Very similar to potatoes.I just fried it in mustard oil with a bit of ajwain ( a spice like thyme), a pinch of asfoteda, salt and pepper.It goes well with bread.

Head Down

Since Sunday night I 've been quite sick. There is swelling on my face and nose with flu like symptoms laced with pain and discomfort.

I went to see my regular Doctor on Monday evening but his clinic was closed, so I went to see my cousin who is a skin specialist. He does all kinds of cosmetic and skin repairing jobs. He put me on anti-biotics.

After that I went to see his wife,who runs a computer training center for girls.In a largely conservative society many parents like to send their daughters to an all-girls institution.

This girl (cousin 's wife) is from a Hindu family and has put her trust in Christ. Now she wants to take official membership of a church.

She is a very loving affectionate person and I chatted with her for sometime and saw their Goa holiday photos and my cousin 's before and after surgery photos. I was very impressed with that.

I made scrambled eggs with tomatoes and onions for dinner which we had with sweet buns.Nice change from the traditional vegetable and bread routine.

This thing is making me very thirsty.Pray I may recover from it soon.