Knots.

Annie is obsessed with twisting up her hair into terrible knots. She just sits and twirls away at it until it's nearly impossible to get out. Here's the most recent knot up close. (She puts these things all over her head.)

In other knot news:

-I took Annie and Will to join the Preschool class at school this morning (as we have a habit of doing on Fridays), and the class got to spend about an hour in the gym climbing wall area. Will and Annie both got into harnesses and 'climbed' up a little bit on the walls. (Don't worry, they were securly fastened with ropes and knots), and they got to swing briefly way up high. They LOVED it.

-"KNOT" bad: Will hasn't had a seizure in 10 months! We praise the Lord for medicine that he takes well.

- "KNOT" great news: the Pappa is packing his bag up for a week-long hike, and we'll be on our own for too many days. He hasn't left yet and I already can't wait till he gets back.

calories?

Last night I went to the gym by myself for the first time. I played 2 on 2 basketball with three very athletic guys and being very out of shape myself, I was certainly no competition for them, but they humored my interest in playing the game and I lasted for about an hour. Then I headed to the weight-training room which is usually full of intimidating "weight-trainers" and I have very little experience weight-lifting. Last night there were only two guys there and they were busy being serious about their weight-lifting, so I took advantage of the emptiness and tried out all the machines- a little of this, a little of that... it was nice. I went finally to the treadmill, and asked if I could use the T.V. that's mounted above it (ok, I admit, the only reason Nate and I talk about ever using the treadmills is to watch T.V.) I watched the news (I'm generally pretty out of touch with the world), which was interesting for a few minutes. Then I glanced at the treadmill screen. It was telling me about my 'workout' - how fast I was running, what the incline was, how good it was for my heart, and then the word "calories" popped up in front of me and I thought: CALORIES?! I just wanted to laugh out loud. You see, after gaining about 20 lbs my freshman year of college, I began to mildly keep track of calories as I ate and exercised. I watched them when I was pregnant with Will - at first to make sure I didn't overeat, and then the doctors told me I had to eat more and more and more because I wasn't gaining enough weight with him. (He turned out ok anyway- was 8.5 lbs at birth!) and then I quit counting calories.

That was 4 years ago. I haven't even THOUGHT about calories since then. The closest thing I can think of is this past year and how I'd compare milk and food labels to see "how many grams of FAT does it have in it?" ... because our diet here is super lean and I've been desperate to fatten up my little girl, so we now stock up on all the fatty foods we can find and we try our best to get her to eat them heartily. :) It's worlds away from my college days of calorie-counting, and it was just weird to recall a life I can barely remember now.

I imagine that when I move back to the world of great food, I'll count calories again since I'll want to eat tons of everything. But for now, I am appreciating loving rice and lentils and getting to eat as much I like of sweet treats like cake and brownies with full-fat cream on them. Calories...mmmm!

Another Birthday Boy

It's my Nate's birthday today... he's such a great husband to me. I have really enjoyed the years we've been given together and I have loved watching him become a father - an amazing one! I love how he plays 'rough-house' with our kids and is so gentle with them and how he listens to me and supports me and gently corrects me when I'm wrong. I love his enthusiasm for things in life that are beyond my comprehension- like the beauty of the Golden Rectangle, Game Theory, and Calculus. I love that he can re-read Sherlock Holmes endless times because he just loves a good story, and he can keep up with Roger Penrose in his "Road to Reality". I love the way he clearly expresses himself all the time in contrast to all my fumbling around for saying what I really think I just might mean. I love his devotion to God and the quiet way that what he knows is true- is such a firm, integral part of who he is. He is an incredible listener and he asks great questions. I love his honesty and his tactfulness when speaking with anyone about hard things. I love the way he always accomplishes what he needs to do (and does it well) and doesn't drag projects out or procrastinate. When I interact with his colleagues, I feel like he is respected among them and well-liked. He's a hard worker, but he sets a good example for me of making time to rest and play and laugh. I think he's the most handsome man I've ever met and I can hardly believe that God has blessed me with getting to build birthday cakes and wrap presents for this birthday boy for the rest of our days. This list barely touches on a few parts of who you are, but mostly I hope you know that I love you, Nate. Happy Birthday!

quilts 'n blankets

Here's Annie's quilt, which I started two summers ago and am now working on hand-quilting:

And here are my kids sitting in front of the blankets my mom made for them awhile ago:

I've been sewing/quilting/knitting lately and it's been fun. I hope to finish Annie's quilt before her birthday (or at least before Christmas!) and I also hope to finish making a snowman for Will
before Christmas. We'll see how I do. I've got a few other projects in process that will hopefully be completed before Christmas as well- but I'm probably just dreaming about getting all of this done.

Ezekiel 14

This is rather un-related to my previous posts, so just release that thread of discussion for a moment if you will, and let God speak to you through some eye-opening verses.

I recently read a very rich chapter of the Bible: Ezekiel 14 and wanted to share ten points which God used to speak to my heart. (Just a note- the book of Ezekiel contains so much absurdity that I find myself sometimes shocked and appalled as I read it, now laughing, now nearly in tears picturing the life of a man who was created to be a SIGN -12:6 - and hearing God's message through him. I've read the book before a few times, but it seems that I have completely forgotten the storyline since then - and God is blowing me away as I read it anew these days.)

1. vs 3 - "...these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces..."
2. vs 5 - "I will do this to recapture the hearts of the people of Israel, who have all deserted me for their idols." - God speaking about the terrible things he will do to the people he loves so deeply.
3. vs 6 - "...This is what the Sovereign LORD says: REPENT! Turn from your idols and renounce all your detestable practices!"
4. vs 7 - "When any Israelite or any alien living in Israel separates himself from me..." This reminds me that God has always called Isreal AND other peoples to align themselves with Him.
5. vs 11 - "God says he'll make things terrible for all who turn from Him -->SO THAT His people will not stray or defile themselves, but instead, "...They will be my people and I will be their God, declares the Sovereign LORD.'"
6. vs 13 - "If a country sins against me by being unfaithful..."
7. I find it interesting that Noah, Job and Daniel [?] are God's chosen "even if"righteous examples (vs 14, 16, 18, 20)
8. vs 15 - If God sends "wild beasts throughout that country... so that no one can pass through it because of the beasts..." - Monkey terror where I live makes me able to almost feel what this would be like.
9. vs 22 - "Yet there will be some survivors... and when you see their conduct and their actions, you will be consoled regarding... every disaster..." WOW!
10. vs 23 - "You will be consoled... for you will know that I have done nothing in [Jerusalem] without cause, declares the Sovereign LORD."

...that blows me away.

clarifications

Thanks to all who have shared valuable insight with me in our conversations, in the comments of my posts, through emails. I want to state a couple of clarifications since I have opened such a complex discussion on living for Christ in a foreign land (or anywhere, I suppose.)

First: I pray that what I have written in my previous post "First or Nothing", does not come across as a judgment on other Christians here or elsewhere. I am NOT trying to condemn, but rather to ask some important questions that I have found easier avoided for a long time. Now, I think, God is stirring my heart to consider how He wants me to see the cultural-spiritual battle and how He wants me to live for Him in relation to it all. In many ways, I am the one confronted by the Truth through wrestling with these things. I pray that my written thoughts will spur you on toward the Truth as well.

Secondly: From what I'm learning about Yoga (correct me if I'm wrong!), it seems that the goal is to be joined/one with the god Brahmin (sp?) and therefore in practicing Yoga, one is practicing drawing close to that god, becoming that god. Three wise older Christian friends with whom I have talked about Yoga (now that it's on my mind and I don't know much about it), have advised me that it is treading shaky ground to 'practice' Yoga, no matter to what extent, because at the heart of it, to quote one of them (from my memory of what she said): "Satan knows that you're inviting him into your life when you do these hindu things, even if you don't know you're doing that, and he will take advantage of the offer". Valuable perspective, I think. I don't want to forget that there's a spiritual realm that is very active especially in this place* and the people who I think will best be able to discern which things are cultural and which are of the evil-spirit realm, are the 'natives' who know the Lord.

*One friend actually witnessed a metal craftsman making an idol for a shrine here in town, and the people of this community actually invoked spirits to come into the idol.

"First or Nothing"

I read a wonderful book (A Severe Mercy) this summer that I have been coming back to frequently in my thoughts on a couple of issues. When Nate and I watched "Slumdog Millionaire" last night (which is, from what I've seen of India, quite realistic), I was reminded of a number of social injustice issues that I think about but don't know what to do with. I often have to lay aside the frustration of being unable to do anything to change the world and focus on: How AM I living for God where I am right now? Lots of times I see how bad things are around me and I just pass by because I don't know what to do. I think that's how most of us are. Some people are able to actually make a practical difference... I have so much more thinking to do about all of this- maybe I'll write again on it sometime.

One thing I do NOT want to do is put up 'stumbling blocks' and live in a way that confuses people about WHO I live for. This is hard, especially in a 'christian' culture that seems to cry out: "embrace everyone and everything - be a nice person!" and in the midst of a national culture that lures people of many nations to hunt for 'peace' through hinduism or buddhism. I wonder what messages we foreign Christians send when we put up buddhist prayer flags, take yoga lessons, burn incense, celebrate Diwali, decorate our bodies like Hindus, admire Hindu and Buddhist temples and practices... the list goes on.


I am confident that my God is above all things and is alive and well. I am also certain that evil not only exists, but we are in the thick of a spiritual battle that rages in this land. I find it very difficult to sort out the 'cultural' from the 'spiritual' here and I had one short interaction with a canadian yoga instructor this weekend that clarified it a bit for me. In response to someone asking him if his draw to yoga was physical or spiritual, he answered, "I see them as completely related." (I would have answered that too, but I suspected that I thought that because I am a Christian... now I find out that someone who is deep into yoga also sees the connections- they really must be there.)


Somone else brought up the point to me that we're all essentially searching for the same things in this life and yoga is yet another type of worship - the worship of self - stripping everything else away until you are simply your 'perfect' self. In Christianity, however, I believe that I am only to worship God - He is what completes me and makes me whole and peaceful. He is the source and the end of all I am. And I want to live that out in a real way for people to see - and I pray that my embracing of certain cultural things here does not invite evil into my home/heart. I pray that I and fellow believers here will be very discerning and wise. I want to learn how to engage others in discussion about how the spiritual/cultural of this nation does or doesn't fit with what we believe. And I want to do it in a way that is 'seasoned with salt'.


I want to be First and only, God's child.


"Christianity was a faith.
And by now we knew that it was important. If true... - it was, very simply, the only really important truth in the world. And if untrue, it was false. No halfway house. First or nothing. I wrote:
It is not possible to be incidentally a Christian.' The fact of Christianity must be overwhelmingly first or nothing. This suggests a reason for the dislike of Christians by nominal or non-Christians: their lives contain no overwhelming firsts but many balances."
-excerpt from A Severe Mercy - by Sheldon Vanauken, chapter IV : Encounter with Light

ah! Many balances. Isn't that what so many cultures are striving for today? It's dangerous, though, I fear, and if we're not careful, we'll get tricked into settling for 'a balanced life' too.

*** If you have insight or responses to these thoughts, I want hear what you have to say. I wish so much that I knew more about all these other religions and could sort things out better than I can. Thanks for bearing with me as I fumble for words and meaning to make sense of it all.

Where HAVE I been?!

A: In my house, without internet and therefore no blog posts. Oh yeah, and my computer crashed and I had to re-format it ALL BY MYSELF... for the 3rd time this year. and now it's finally up and running -mostly.

I have thought of a number of things to blog about and I have thought of lots of things I need to write to people about - and I've even started thinking about writing snail mail letters again since I don't have much way to communicate... we'll see.

One great benefit of not having a working computer and internet is that I've been able to get some sewing done. I'm finally doing the hand-quilting on Annie's quilt that I started last summer. I've also pulled out a couple of other old projects and think I might actually be able to finish them up sometime soon. I've borrowed my neighbor's sewing machine and it's working perfectly, so that makes sewing lots more fun!

Well that's a word from my corner. I'm off to cook some rice and dal for lunch! YIPPEE!!! (more about rice and dal and PICKLE later I hope!) All for now.

Where did the time go?

Not so very long ago...

... and then we had to show him off to everyone:

...and a great big crowd came to our tiny apartment to welcome him:
... and all of our siblings became aunts and uncles and our parents became GRANDparents for the very first time!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WILL!
Today he turned 4 years old! So yesterday we had a birthday party for him.

• When I asked Will what kind of cake he wanted, he promptly said: "an airplane cake!"
• I baked a round cake
• Nate proceeded to draw and cut out from paper how he would use EVERY piece of that round cake to make an airplane shape.
• I was a little disappointed that I wouldn't get to nibble the extra bits, but very impressed that my man could manage this (you can see the little paper circle he used to brainstorm the idea on the bottom left corner of the picture)

The kids were so excited to watch us decorate the cake.

Then our friend Beth came over to our house, helped with the last-minute decorations, and ran a bunch of games with the other 3 and 4 year-olds who came to celebrate with Will.

There's the cake, all finished and lit up.

It was a beautiful afternoon and the monkeys left us alone for once, so the kids could eat and play in the yard. Presents!

More games:

(Thanks Beth and Dave for all the fun games!)

It was a very happy birthday party.

The next morning we woke Will up with traditional singing and candles and cake:

This 4-year-old wanted to cut his own cake by himself:

Now they know how to show how old they are on their fingers:

We had a wonderful birthday celebration.

Happy Birthday, Will! May Jesus Bless You!

list 1

It's been a long 3 years- now just 8 months to go. I've restrained myself from writing this list for too many months/years, so I apologize for being negative, but this is real for me these days (and I suspect that it will be an important list someday when I am gone from here and am remembering how perfectly marvelous this place was).

Things I will NOT miss when we leave from here:

1. monkeys stealing my laundry off the laundry lines and making my little boy sob in anger as he watches them steal it


2. the fear of the monkeys whenever we go for a walk, play outside, dare to eat outside... i hate the monkeys.


3. feeling excluded in such a small community because i am a stay-at-home mom


4. endless computer/internet problems


5. having spent all last night walking in the Bazaar, trying not to forget to buy anything, dragging it all back home, only to find that I didn't even think to buy ribbon, which I have to have for my little boy's birthday party tomorrow. OH to have a car and a store nearby where I could go with my kids to pick up last-minute things when I forget.


6. feeling like a failure every time someone asks me if I speak Hindi... that was just one of the many things I didn't manage to do during the past 3 years here!


7. having to have a lady helping me clean my house 5 days a week (i know it sounds great, but she doesn't do a great job and i'm tired of having her in 'my' space all the time.)


8. borrowing a hand-crank sewing machine that barely works, although I AM thankful for the use of a machine at all... it's just frustrating


9. my teeny tiny ovens (although I am very thankful that I even HAVE an oven! -in fact, 2 ovens!)


10. having to wipe black mold off the walls every week


11. dreading figuring out something to cook for dinner almost every night because the options that we enjoy are so few and so much work


12. butter shortages, milk shortages, "no cocoa powder until Monday, Ma'am", no molasses, weird-flavored vanilla 'essence', no good cheese, no beef, and rarely lettuce. I just won't miss these things!


13. skype frustrations and any other downloading of almost anything, which take eeeeeooooonnssss to complete (oh yeah, I already said internet problems, didn't I?!)


14. getting sick from food/water so often and having to deal with the health centre/hospital and all their run-around-info

Well, I'm running out of things to complain about for now, so it's probably a good time to quit. The wonderful thing about this sort of list is that as I hunt for lousy things, I remember scads of things I WILL miss. That list will come soon, I promise! :) I DO have it pretty good, I'm just so weary of some of this stuff. Of course, every place has some good, some bad...

Most of the time I really like living here and I am so thankful for all the ways that God has provided for us.

Hanumanchatti Hike pictures

Here are some pictures from our hike. I've been experimenting with panoramas so here are a couple from way up high. (I think you can click on them to see them better.)Above, a panorama from just above Seema- where we camped our last night. Below, a panorama from way above Seema- where Beth and I climbed up to early in the morning. Her head is near the center of the picture,where we were standing, and we were thrilled to finally get up to that ridge where we could see the mountain ridges falling far below us on almost all sides.

The start of our hike: Hanumanchatti - and yes, those are massive piles of potatoes.
The Hanuman Ganga river.

Donkeys hauling potatos:

Where we camped above Kondola:

The field we camped at above Kondola:

Seema- the mist rolling in:

My man fixing a campfire for us with soggy wood:

Nate's night photography of the Bandarpunch peaks- check out the stars and all the colors that showed up in the long exposure:

Bandarpunch peaks up close (you'll recognize these peaks from my title picture-they're to the left of the first D of Detta ar Dagen. I took the title picture from the top of our mountain, so you can see approximately how far we went from where we live-the peaks are much bigger here):

Beth up on top of the world!

:)

It was a great hike!

Time away from the parents!

Will and Annie had lots of fun with our friends who took them for a little holiday for the long weekend. They did a wide variety of things, and passed on lots of pictures to us, but I wasn't there, so I'll just put a few of them here. Check out Will's face as he's just jumped into the pool above. :)

The fancy place Will and Annie got to stay.

By all accounts, it sounded like Annie happily threw things into the pool, but wouldn't dare go in it herself!

Watching TV on a very fancy 4-post bed. This is the life! What a huge gift it was to all 4 of us that our friends took these two on a little trip for a few days.