Himalaya Mountain High

I am sitting in 10x10 room at the foothills of the most majestic mountain range in all creation. In a smaller adjoining room our boys are down for an afternoon nap. Above my head our clothesline is strung from one corner of the apartment to the other. There is a clothesline outside, but the monkeys (who pay us frequent visits) have a reputation of thievery. Toys, dirty clothes, and language books are scattered across the living space leaving only a small path to move around. I’d like to say everything was neat and tidy, but raising two boys out of a suitcase doesn’t lend itself to tidy or neat. Last night the owner of our hotel won a local election and the resulting party brought drums and fireworks outside our door until early in the morning. When the party was over all became silent enough to hear the raindrops hitting the tin roof. It’s colder than any of our advisors expected and keeping warm has been an adventure. We came from 110-degree heat in our city to almost half that here. We found fleece jackets for the boys for around $3 each. Food is provided at the hotel, which means a daily diet of porridge, rice, curried vegetables, and our favorite wheat tortilla like bread called “roti”. Water sanitation here is questionable so we tote 5 liter bottles back and forth to the store a half-mile up the staircase like road the town is built around. For the first time since moving to India, all four of us have been sick. We aren’t sure of the cause, but from what we understand this place is known for upsetting the tummy. The language school we attend is another quarter mile up the mountain and I take classes until lunch while T watches the boys. We switch in the afternoon and study together in the evening while the boys usually watch Scooby Doo on our computer. The school is full of people from all over the world learning Hindi for all kinds of reasons. Next door a Swedish man is seeking truth and says Hindu scriptures answered all his questions while the Bible just left him confused. We have been here a week with four more to go before packing our bags for our next journey. All of our things are now crammed into a small room the house we will be occupying in the fall. Just before coming here we packed all of our stuff in the back of a dump truck like vehicle and made the 10hr journey to our new city. We all made it in one piece, but some of our furniture lost arms and legs along the way. We got to our mountain home just in time for Mother’s day, but found internet access difficult to come by in this historical city. We finally found an Internet café down the mountain run by a very polite man in a turban. He allowed me to tell my mom I love her while a room full of natives watched the foreigner with wet eyes having a conversation with his laptop. The next day I took T to a five star hotel that didn’t seem to mind non paying American guest using their playground for the afternoon. From the swing set of this roof top park we set our eyes on the most beautiful mountain view any human being deserves to see. Our eleventh wedding anniversary is next weekend and I think I might just have to cough up the $300 for a night’s stay at this Himalayan palace.

There is always more to tell about life here, but I hope this gives you a glimpse of our story. Some days we wake up asking ourselves what in the world have we gotten into, but even in our bleakest hour we can’t keep from thanking God for the privilege of getting to be where we are to do what we do! Thanks for being with us!!

Pictures: The town, the lime green building is the place we stay, T and boys on momma’s day, T at the language school, our moving truck.

In Transition!

Hey!! Just wanted to let you know that life is a bit chaotic for us these days. We are moving which is something that our family is no stranger to, but here things just take longer and are always more difficult than expected. For instance, yesterday I made a quick run to the store for eggs. Our normal shop was all out so I found another place I thought might have some. The owner assured me he did, but after waiting 10 minutes I ask again and he said he was vegetarian and didn't eat or sell eggs. I assume something was lost in translation? The only thing so far that happened immediately was the disconnection of our internet services which adds travel to a friends house to our daily schedule. Despite these minor irritations we are all doing very well and are excited about what is ahead of us. Updates may be a little slower for the next month or two because of all the shifting around we will be doing. We move to the BIG city on May 1st. Then we go up in the mountains to a language school for 5 weeks. Then we have to leave the country again for visa purposes and meetings (Thailand). Then back to settle into our new home (July 6). Please ask that our interactions with people would not be hindered by our scattered brains, that we would have safety in travel, that we would have supernatural understanding of language, that the boys would get all of mom and dad's attention they need, and that we would trust Him instead of the circumstances! The picture if of an elephant that visited our house. Just another day in India! We love you all!!

Change in Plans!

One thing that we are learning about life here is that everyday is a new adventure. Flexibility is not just needed, it is non-negotiable! For example, we found out last week that we will be moving sooner than we had planned. This change is effecting many decisions we previously made. C was set to start school tomorrow, but now it wouldn't make sense to send him. It will be better to wait until we get settled in our new city. We know that many of you where really interceding for us about this and we can't tell you how much we appreciate your support. Now we need you to ask for wisdom concerning which school in our new location will be best for him. In case your wondering, C took the news pretty well. He was very excited (as were we), but he is learning early that there is ONE who is sovereign and neither mommy or daddy are Him! Also, we have had some interesting encounters trying to get a diagnosis on some kidney pain that T has been having. You guys would be proud of her and the way she handled the seriously suspect clinics available here. Further testing is required and will probably mean going to a larger city this week. Please ask for a clear answer as to what is causing the pain and for safety in travel. By the way, you have no idea how good it feels to hit this send button and know that within a few hours people who really care will begin to join us in the journey!! The picture is of our family worship time we have every night. We are always giving thanks for you!!!

happy holi!!

happy holi!!

Easter took on a whole new significance for us this year. The calendar fell in such a way that India's celebration of spring (called Holi) and Easter fell on the same weekend. There are too many stories to tell about our experiences so we will let the pictures do the talking. It will look like we decided to color ourselves instead of the eggs this year. Our entire neighborhood came out to smear colored powder on each-other and we were treated like royalty (everyone royally colored the Americans)!! They were all honored that we took part in the celebration and loved it when we tried to speak Hindi. The Holi festivities were Saturday, Sunday 3 of the men from the neighborhood came over to our house to watch "The Passion". They all ask good questions and left with tears in their eyes! Please ask that it would not let go of them! One of the men is pictured above walking with me. We found a little pool and put it on the roof of our house. It's amazing what joy a little water can bring. Thanks for your support of our family!!! We hope you enjoy the pics!!!

A Yard from Hell!

"Some people want to stay within the sound of a chapel bell, but I want to live a yard from the gates of hell!" I heard this statement as a 20 year old college student and it has never let me go! I think it reveals the heart of our Father. He leaves the 99 to go after the 1, but somehow most of His children are quite content living among the 99 and forgetting about the 1. This quote became a sort of life purpose statement for me then and has greatly effected my decisions (and the decisions of our family) every since. Sometimes this has been relatively easy, but sometimes it has been down right hard! Last week I found myself a yard from hell and I'm writing to testify that our Dad still cares about the 1!

On Tuesday our landlord told me he was leaving for Varanasi to celebrate a festival dedicated to Shiva (one of the many Hindu gods). He ask if I wanted to come along and I politely declined and ask for a rain check because my schedule was so, "busy". As I walked away I felt my heart crack and I became overwhelmed with the compulsion to go with him. I went back to him and ask the details and he began to describe what I knew would be one of the most uncomfortable experiences of my life (including an all night worship service by the Ganges). He was now walking out the door and I ask for 30 minutes to make my decision. Everything in me wanted to stay with my family and work in my safe, secure, and familiar office. At the same time there was a stronger Power working in me, compelling me to go. T was also sensing this direction and gave me the green light to obey. Finally our landlord came up to our flat and ask if I was in our out and before I could think my head began to shake, giving him the affirmation of my company.

For 3 days he was neck deep in Hindu life and worship and there I was right beside him. I took the position of an observer and tried my best to understand what drove this mass of people to give sincere devotion to a stone image (shaped to look like the male reproductive organ) and to a river which everyone acknowledges to be as nasty as any sewer you can find. By the time we returned our relationship was at a whole new level. Instead of acquaintances we were now friends. I heard his whole story and gained new insight into the passion that drives him. He also heard my WHOLE story, watched me open my Book each morning, and was forced to answer my questions (most of which had never crossed his mind before). More happened in 3 days than in the previous 3 months! Reluctantly I had obeyed and with my feeble faith I see a mountain moving! Please ask to this end!!

Above are some of the pictures from the trip. One is the two of us having a yogurt type milkshake called a "lassie". The fire you see is a place on the Ganges where they cremate bodies before dumping the remains into the river. We arrived just as a family brought their loved one. Another is beside the river. He and his friend always visit this man who gives them a blessing after they swim/bathe. The last is of the two men giving worship to an idol in a temple. I didn't get a photo that did justice to the sheer number of people at this festival. Imagine being shoulder to shoulder and seeing nothing but faces in every direction and you will get the real picture of the setting.

Squatty Potty Diary!

We recently decided to enroll C in a school just outside our city. We are very excited about the new experiences and friendships awaiting him (and us) as a result. He will be the only foreigner in the school, which is and will produce some interesting challenges. The lessons will be in English with a heavy Hindi accent (we call this Hinglish). However, all his classmates will speak their mother tongue outside of class time. I fear that as a result of this immersion, C will be fluent in Hindi way before T or I. Another interesting situation has to do with the potty!! When visiting the school I took a peek in the bathroom and found both western and eastern toilets (the kind that you sit on and the kind that you squat over). At first I was relieved that he would as least have familiarity in this crucial arena, but upon a closer examination I noticed that all the western toilet seats had footprints on them!! This is common here because folks are so use to the squatty they don't know how to use the western style toilet. In considering the situation (the questionable sanitation and possible unavailability of the western toilet) we decided that learning the eastern approach is a must for our son. C and I have undertaken this adventure together. T has chosen to maintain her old habits and currently B only likes to take care of business in his own bath water!! Luckily we have a squatty potty in our home. We had been using it for draining the washing machine, but I recently reclaimed it's original purpose and prepared it for use. Another issue is that the natives don't use toilet paper, but I'll save this discussion for another time!!!

Our family is doing really well these days!! Language study is very difficult and intense, but every failure seems to be followed by a victory that keeps us encouraged and mentally engaged. Please ask that these blessed experiences will continue. Sometimes we learn a word and use it only to find there are two words for that object and we learned the less popular version which makes the whole exercise a wasted endeavor. Then just when we are ready to throw in the towel, a native speaker responds positively to our attempt and we are energized to go another day.

We were also recently given a little valentine retreat that breathed life into our work (and even more importantly) our marriage. We were invited to attend a two day conference with other couples like us. The discussions were great, the time with friends was wonderful, and the food was incredible. A fellowship in the states funded the event and we were so thankful for the investment in us. We even got to go on our first date in 4 months!! I got T a new nose ring for her V-day present. This piece of jewelry has a lot of meaning here and tells everybody that she is a married women. She loved the gift, but neither of us anticipated the pain she would endure to have it installed (I'm sure there is better vocabulary for this, but I'm a guy so give me a break). Never the less after 2 days of struggle, a good deal of blood, and the assistance of a stranger she loves her gift!