Tuesday, 26 July 2011

Birthday House

This year  God is  giving  opportunities of  celebrating the  birthdays  of  some  of  our  family  members and friends.

In April  we invited  my  mother 's   friend Miss  Jha to  celebrate her  birthday. She  is  a  retired teacher. She  tried very   hard   to  find  a  post  retirement  job , but  was  not  successful, so  she  is  returning  home   mid-August.

In May  we  celebrated  10  year  old  Simran 's  birthday. She  is  my   cousin' s   daughter. They  have  a dysfunctional  family. Her father  was  not  even  home  for  her  birthday.  We   are  praying  for  this  family  to  be  saved.

Last  week  on July 21st we celebrated  Auntie  Maya 's  73rd  birthday. For  lunch  I  made  a dumpling  curry  called   KADHI.  We  were  expecting  her  family  and  friends to  visit   in  the evening  so  I  got  the  house   ready  and arranged  for   snacks  and   cold  drinks. Auntie is  suffering  from 5  kinds  of  medical  problems   and  is  on  a  restricted  diet.

It was  a very  hot  and   humid  day (like   today)  and  I  was  extremely   exhausted.
Her  son   said  they  would   bring a home made  packed  dinner   eat  with  us, so  I  also  made   CHOLE  PANEER (with  cottage  cheese). And  kheer  or  rice  pudding  for  dessert. (Check   out  the  recipe  links)

It rained  heavily  that  afternoon.  Out   first  visitors  were  Diana   and  her  son  Ben. They  are  Americans. Di  is  married  to  the  brother  of  Auntie 's   son-in-law. Lovely   Christians. I  meet  them  occasionally. Di  brought  Auntie  a  lovely  eggless  cake  and  sugar free  cookies  and  a bouquet. They  sat   for   an  hour  and  a  half while  it  poured  outside. We  had  a good   time.

It  rained  so  hard   the  streets  got  flooded and  so  for a  while  we   thought    Auntie 's  son  and daughter and  their  families  would   not  be  able  to  come.  But   they  did  come  a  bit  late  after   the  downpour  abated  and  we  had  a  second  round   of  celebration. Her  daughter  brought  steamed   savoury  snack  called  DHOKLA

Auntie' s daughter-in-law  brought   us   dinner,  but   i was disappointed  that  they  did  not   eat  with  us. I  had   cooked  lots of   food.It  sort of  hurt  me   too. But  they  are  known   to decline eating outside  their  home. Strange  behaviour.

In  all  cultures   eating  together  has   great  value  and it  brings  friends  and families   together. One   feels  hurt  when  a meal  is  rejected. Remember  the  parable  of  Jesus  .   Luke 14:12 -24   A  rich  nobleman invited  his  friends   for  a banquet and all   of them made  lame  excuses not  to  attend. So  he  directed  his  servants  to  bring  in   the  lame, lost  and   poor  from  the  streets . These  so called  rejects  of  society became  his  honored   guests.

This  story   is  interpreted in  various  ways.
God  invites  us  to  be   part  of  his  family  and have  fellowship with him, but   if  we  reject  his   invite, he  will  call  others, maybe those whom we  don 't deem  worthy.

God   gave  the  nation  of  Israel a  special status of  being  his chosen people,  they  spurned  the Messiah, Jesus  ,his Son,   and  now  the invitation is  open  to  all  people  of  the  earth. They  are other  deeper interpretations  of  this   story  , but  I won 't  go  into  those. You  can  share   your  views  on  this  if  you  like ,  I am interested  in  knowing them.



The  birthday  girl  with  her  eldest 
grand daughter Alisha
Auntie, Diana,  Ben  and  Mama

I  wanted  to  take  some pictures 
but  as  I  was  getting up  to  it,  a
friend  called  me  and while  I was talking  to her 
all  the guests  left.

8 Fertilize my soul:

monsoon dreams said...

hello dear,
this post made me hungry.all about food!i love dhokla.one of my friends here makes it so tasty!yes dear,it feels bad when someone rejects food.whatever be the reason.i never disappoint anyone.even when i am full,i make sure i eat the food offered to me,lest i make the giver sad.

Anonymous said...

I will have to check out the recipes..there are no Indian restaurants in our town but I would love to try some.....and I am so sorry your guests wouldn't eat...its just not polite not to partake...and not a little rude....the Lord will sort this out one day, of that I am sure.....

Nadwrażliwiec said...

I wish all the best for Your family and many God's blessings for Them!
We have high humidity too and much of rain. In some villages in South Poland there is flood again, but we are hope that it won't be this same big flood like year ago.

David C Brown said...

I like the lines of the hymn,
"O feast upon the love of God,
For Christ His Son has died!".

We celebrate my mother's ninetieth birthday in about six week, if the Lord will!

Mari Nuñez said...

Amrita, what a blessing to get to celebrate all these birthday. Your auntie looks awesome. I interpret this verse like a lesson to be learned about how we sometimes plan and offer things, but it is up to the Lord with whom our blessings are to be shared.

The cake was beautiful. God Bless :)

Donetta said...

hello old friend
it sounds of celebrations that they forgot to celebrate you and your beautiful heart.
I will. Thank you for all the cooking that your loving hands prepared. They don't know what they missed.

I trust that your well. Things here are busy with all the upcoming events.

Shirley is doing well. We see each other less often now.
I was just thinking of you this morning and wanted to come give your heart a hug.

Amit Charles said...

Belated Birthday wishes.

A moving blog, indeed.

God bless!

keep it goin;)

Amrita said...

Hello Amit, welcome to my blog and thank you for commenting.

Bangalore is a fantastic city.