A Simple Masoor Dal Recipe

(Google   image)

On  Facebook   I  mentioned   that  I   made  Masoor   or  Red  Lentil  Dal (Soup) and  many  of  my  friends  wanted  the   recipe. I  shared  a  recipe  from   the  web  there  but  I  want  to  share  my  own  simple  home made recipe.So  here  it  is  for  anyone  who  wants  to  try  this  delicious  mildly  spicy  red  lentil  soup.

Ingredients
1 cup cleaned  and   washed  Red  Lentil  or  Masoor  dal
2 or  3  table  spoons  of  chopped  onions
2 tablespoons  of  vegetable oil  or  butter
1 teaspoon   peeled  and  finely  chopped  garlic
1 teaspoon of turmeric powder
1  or  2  dried  red  chili (optional)
salt to taste
fresh  cilantro leaves  for  garnish

Method

In a pan heat  the  vegetable  oil add the  red  chili (if you  are  using  it)  , chopped  onions  and  garlic.
Stir fry  for  2minutes  till  they  change  colour .
Add  the  red  lentil /masoor  dal and  mix  it  well  with  the  fried  onion  and  garlic.
Add  3 cups of  water .
Add  turmeric  powder  and  salt  to  taste.
Cook  dal on  medium  heat  for  15  or  20  minutes  until  soft  and  well   blended  with   the  water.
I  cook  my  dal  in  a  pressure  cooker  for  5  or  6  whistles.
Garnish  it  with  fresh  cilantro leaves.
Its  ready  to  serve. You  can  eat  it  with  plain white  rice   or  chapatis or nan. Rice  and  dal is  the  popular  lunch meal  in  India. It  can  be  eaten   with vegetables,  poppadoms  and  salads.

Calling in The Reapers

Calling  in   the  Reapers, a  painting  by  Jules  Breton  (1859) was  added  to  Napoleon 's   collection. The  statuesque  figures  and  clear  expressions  on   the  faces   of the  reapers enhance   the  painting.
Makes   me  think of  Ruth  gleaning   the  fields  of  Boaz. There  to  be  a  camaraderie  existing   among   the   women.

"Great  friendships with  women are  life' s most  difficult and  caring  intimacies. If I  work harder at  them I hope  to  have  them  forever".
Wendy Wasserstein - American  playwright

Who Am I?

You Are His


God’s grace defines you!

Society labels you like a can on an assembly line. Stupid. Unproductive. Slow learner. Fast talker. Quitter. But as grace infiltrates, criticism disintegrates. You know you aren’t who they say you are.

You are who God says you are: “spiritually alive.” Heavenly positioned, “seated with him in the heavenly realms.” “One with Jesus Christ.”

Of course, not all labels are negative. Some people regard you as clever, successful. But it doesn’t compare with being “seated with him in the heavenly realms!” God creates the Christian’s resume!

Grace defines who you are. The parent you can’t please is as mistaken as the doting uncle you can’t disappoint.

Listen, God wrote your story. He cast you in his drama. You hang as God’s work of art, a testimony in his gallery of grace.

According to Him, you are His. Period.

“And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2:6
By   Max Lucado

I  believe   what  God  says  about  me.  I  am  His   sheep.   Dear  friends thank  you  for  praying  for   me.  I  still  very  weak hardly  able  to exert  myself physically. The   cough  rattles  me  up. I  need  more  prayers.   God  bless  you.

I   was  quite  sick  these  past   week.  Viral  fever  with  cough  and  cold which  has  left  me  very  weak and   tired.
But   in the  midst  of   this  trial  God  has  been  with  me. His   people   cared for  me and  prayed  for  me.
The  Good  Shepherd 's shadow   was  upon  me.
I  am  some better.  The  cough  and  weakness  persists and  I  have  lost  my  appetite. Please  do  pray  for  my  recovery.

Not me its the other guy

I AM . ..       THE OTHER GUY IS


TOLERANT -   LACKING CONVICTION



FRUGAL -        STINGY



CARING -        A GOSSIP



HONEST  -       INSENSITIVE



HOPEFUL -      NAÏVE



A REALIST       TOO NEGATIVE



SENSITIVE       LACKING COURAGE



FORGETFUL    INSINCERE



JUST                    UNFORGIVING



NUANCED          INCONSISTENT



HONESTLY MISTAKEN -      DECEIVED



GENEROUS-    A SPENDTHRIFT



A PEACE MAKER - A COMPROMISER



HARD WORKING -  A BROWN-NOSER



EASY GOING  -      LAZY



DISCIPLINED-  WOUND TOO TIGHT



DISCERNING  -  JUDGMENTAL



HUMAN -     AN IDIOT



LOVING -    SENTIMENTAL



A DISCIPLINARIAN - HARSH



COMMITTED     - RIGID



MERCIFUL   - WISHY-WASHY



VERY SOCIAL - A GADABOUT



UNDERSTANDING - SPINELESS



DELIBERATIVE - INDECISIVE



BOLD     - RISKY



RELIABLE  -  INFLEXIBLE



DECISIVE-  SHORT-SIGHTED



SOPHISTICATED- A SNOB



PRINCIPLED - A RELIGIOUS LEGALIST



DETAIL  ORIENTED - OBSESSIVE



ORDERED  - CONTROLLING

1.The essence of all religion, including Christian religion, is to excuse ourselves and accuse others.

2.Without the resurrection power of the new creation at work in our lives, every virtue will eventually become a vice. The essence of the manifested life of Christ is not the acquisition of moral virtues. Fundamentalist moralism of all sorts is a counterfeit gospel.

3.Only the Holy Spirit, in and through us, can effectively administer the right grace, for the right need, in the right way, at the right time, for the right person, for the right reason. Virtue exercised outside of His administration, is no virtue at all.

Marvel not that you all must be born again – John 3:7

Be constantly being filled with the Spirit – Ephesians 5:18

(Dr  Stephen   Crosby)
www.swordofthekingdom.com

Sunday Blessings - Come Together

Every  Sunday  evening  we  have  our  church  outdoor  meeting.

It  is   amazing  to  see  people  coming  in   the  oppressive and  humid  heat.

People are   desirous  to hear  the  Gospel  message  and take 

part  in  worshipping  the King of  Glory.

Nowadays  because of   the  rains  we   are  having 

indoor  meetings  which  are  well  attended  too.

Yesterday ,  August  1st 

we  had  our  first  mid-week  Bible  study.

I  was only   expecting  10 or  12  people  to   show  up,  but 

more  than  20   came,  some  from 

far off  places , taking   inconvenient  public transport,

travelling  on  rough, rain  damaged  roads and  braving

traffic  jams.

Shows  how  much  they  covet  fellowship

and  teaching  of  the Word. The  faith   and enthusiasm  of  new  believers 

is a   lesson  to  us.

Angel  baby ,  cynosure  of  our   eyes.

                                  Her  smiling parents and  brother

People  lining up  for  prayer

Grandma  praising  the  Lord

Mother  and daughter  together

A   newly  married  couple

_________________________

I  read this  instructive   story which  I want

to  share here.

There's a story about a ceramics teacher who divided his class into two groups. One group would be graded on the quantity of their work. They were to make as many pots as possible. The other group would be graded on the quality of their work. They were to make as perfect a pot as possible. When the day came to grade the students, the professor was amazed to discover that the group being graded for quantity also had the best quality. The group churning out the most vessels made the finest pieces. The reason? They were learning from their mistakes, so their work was constantly improving. The "quality" group spent all their time working on a single pot, but without the benefit of failures, mistakes, or experience.

Don't be afraid to fail. Proverbs 24:16 (NLT) says, "The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again." If you've made a mistake or encountered a failure, don't stay down. Failure is often the back door to success.


Success is simple. Do what's right, the right way, at the right time.

Arnold Glasow

Massive Power Outage Affects North India

This  news  made  the  headlines   all  over  the  world 3  days   ago. Many  of  my  blog  readers  and  Facebook  friends  asked  me   about  it so  I  will  tell   you  what  we  went  through.
We  have  our  routine power  cut everyday from  10AM  to  1 PM  and  because  I  did  not   listen  to  the  news  I  did not  know  what  was   happening.  I  have  a battery  powered  inverter which  supplies limited  power to   a  fan  and  light  bulb  for  a  few  hours.
At 4 PM  when  we  still not get our  lights  back  ,  I  turned  on   the TV  and  heard  of  the  massive  power  crisis  which  had   hit  most  of  northern   India,  affecting  19  states more   than  600  million people. Three  national  grids  had   failed .   They   were  overloaded  as   all these  states   were  drawing     much  more excessive   amount  of  electricity  than  what   was  allotted to  them.

Without  electricity life  came  to  a  standstill.
Hospitals  were  paralysed - specially  the  government  run  ones  which   don 't  have  adequate  generators.
Businesses   were disrupted
Offices  shut  down and  people  went  home  early.
Trains  stopped  running,  passengers  were  stuck  midway.
Don 't  talk  about  the traffic lights.
Miners  were  trapped   underground  in  Bengal state.
In  some  place s  the  Internet  services  were  affected,
Airports  were  affected.
There   was  no  water  supply

In  some  states   people  spent  a  sleepless  hot   night  -  the  old,  sick  and babies  were  most   vulnerable.

I  was  very anxious  by  nightfall because  I  did  not  wan t to use  up  my emergency  inverter  battery. I  turned  off my  fan  and  lights  and  sat  out on the   porch , fanning  myself   with a hand fan with Sheeba   for company. I  lit  two  kerosene  lamps,  but  its  scary to be  alone in the  dark. I  sent  text  messages  to  my  friends and  called up  my  sisters -  same  story  everywhere. I  could  not   even listen  to  the news as  my  TV  remote  control got  spoilt and  I could  not   turn  it  on (I  patched it  up  today,  so its  working  now).

Praise  God   we   got  our lights   back  late  night . We  had   some  more  cuts  in  the   middle  of  the  night ,  but   my   inverter   held  on.

This   is  all a  result   of  mismanagement  and  corruption. Hope it  never  happens   again.

You can  read  a  BBC  report HERE