It seems like we are having some sort of problem with our more recent videos (those posted after January 1st,2010). They work for a while, but then only show the message "This video is currently not available. Please try again later."
I am comforted to know that this seems to be a common problem faced by a number of bloggers recently. See the discussion at http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/blogger/thread?tid=7b7aa5bea6759f68&hl=en
I have posted my own question/ complaint at http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/blogger/thread?tid=76f34b0c803bec00&hl=en
but only got their standard reply.
I hope Blogger will be able to sort this problem out soon
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Power is on!!!!
Last Friday/Saturday our area got accumulations of 30 inches of snow!!! Our power went out Saturday at noon. The crews finally made it to our neighborhood last night (while it was snowing another 20 inches) and fixed our power. Being 4 days without power makes us really grateful to have it back on again. We've been so fortunate though, the previous owners of our house bought a generator and wired it to our house, so for a few hours each day we've had running water and heat. And, then we've all been sleeping in our basement next to our gas fireplace!
The girls have had a BLAST! It's nice to provide normalcy for them.
Anyway, I used to scoff at people who stocked up on groceries and supplies before a winter storm, I am now one of those people!!!
We were so fortunate to have the generator and feel so incredibly blessed. So many of our neighbors were totally stuck and moved out of their homes and stayed with friends while their power was out. And, I just pray none of their pipes burst because of the cold weather and the inability to run their water.
anyway, just thought I'd give you all the update in case you were hearing all of the reports of the snow storm here.
Love,
juliana
The girls have had a BLAST! It's nice to provide normalcy for them.
Anyway, I used to scoff at people who stocked up on groceries and supplies before a winter storm, I am now one of those people!!!
We were so fortunate to have the generator and feel so incredibly blessed. So many of our neighbors were totally stuck and moved out of their homes and stayed with friends while their power was out. And, I just pray none of their pipes burst because of the cold weather and the inability to run their water.
anyway, just thought I'd give you all the update in case you were hearing all of the reports of the snow storm here.
Love,
juliana
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Anand's Coming-Home Day!
Today marks Two Years since Anand came home to us. What wonderful years they have been!
We have decided to celebrate Feb 7th, every year, as Anand's "Coming-Home Day".
Arpita woke up early, and began work on Anand's cake. When Anand woke up, and went to the kitchen, he found the cakes baking, and the bowls that had been used for batter empty and ready for him. He loves licking the batter off the bowls.
He then washed up, and I took him to the market to buy something, He was happy to get the chance to hand over money to the shop-keeper.
On the way back, we went to the 'Well-Baby Clinic' where he had his polio drops (Today was also Pulse Polio Day). The nurse chatted with him while giving him the drops and making a mark on his finger with indelible ink. He then waved bye to the nurse and we began moving towards home, when he turned to me with a pleased expression on his face.
"I having (a) good day!"
His Good Day continued. Unexpected visitors from Vathsalya. Another cake-cutting. A big candle to blow out. Cupcakes to distribute to his cousin and friends.
We spent the day thanking God for His gift in Anand. We went through some of our old photos, and collected some of them into this movie (Our first project with Windows Movie-maker...Our verdict: a difficult and unfriendly program to work with. Very slow to start up, kept crashing, we kept losing our work, and this took a major part of our day)
Enjoy this video, and praise God with us for the past two years. Be sure to view it again in a few days. We hope to add on some photos (of the first photos in Vathsalya, and of Anand's dedication)
We have decided to celebrate Feb 7th, every year, as Anand's "Coming-Home Day".
Arpita woke up early, and began work on Anand's cake. When Anand woke up, and went to the kitchen, he found the cakes baking, and the bowls that had been used for batter empty and ready for him. He loves licking the batter off the bowls.
He then washed up, and I took him to the market to buy something, He was happy to get the chance to hand over money to the shop-keeper.
On the way back, we went to the 'Well-Baby Clinic' where he had his polio drops (Today was also Pulse Polio Day). The nurse chatted with him while giving him the drops and making a mark on his finger with indelible ink. He then waved bye to the nurse and we began moving towards home, when he turned to me with a pleased expression on his face.
"I having (a) good day!"
His Good Day continued. Unexpected visitors from Vathsalya. Another cake-cutting. A big candle to blow out. Cupcakes to distribute to his cousin and friends.
We spent the day thanking God for His gift in Anand. We went through some of our old photos, and collected some of them into this movie (Our first project with Windows Movie-maker...Our verdict: a difficult and unfriendly program to work with. Very slow to start up, kept crashing, we kept losing our work, and this took a major part of our day)
Enjoy this video, and praise God with us for the past two years. Be sure to view it again in a few days. We hope to add on some photos (of the first photos in Vathsalya, and of Anand's dedication)
Thursday, February 4, 2010
A Reply to Juliana's post
Thanks for your news, and the link to the 'Love and logic site'
It would be great if you could get a copy of the book across to us. We are grateful for any help and advice we can receive as we try to bring up our children.
I thought I would share some of the resources we are using at present. I would prefer to finish reading and listening to these resources before posting reviews on this blog, but thought that since the topic had come up, I would go ahead and write about them anyway.
My father has just loaned us a book called "Shepherding a Child's Heart". It seems to be a very highly recommended book, and certainly, I have already found the first two chapters very interesting. Maybe I will write more about it when I finish the book. Meanwhile you can find a review of the book here
We have also found this series of five sermons by the author of the book (Tedd Tripp) at this blog. We have listened to one of them, and, again, were quite impressed with what he had to say.
Arpita has read most of a book called 'Raising Godly Tomatoes' and has recommended that I read it. I will, before I post my opinion. Meanwhile, you can find the entire book here.
Do keep us posted on how your 'mom's group' progresses.
It would be great if you could get a copy of the book across to us. We are grateful for any help and advice we can receive as we try to bring up our children.
I thought I would share some of the resources we are using at present. I would prefer to finish reading and listening to these resources before posting reviews on this blog, but thought that since the topic had come up, I would go ahead and write about them anyway.
My father has just loaned us a book called "Shepherding a Child's Heart". It seems to be a very highly recommended book, and certainly, I have already found the first two chapters very interesting. Maybe I will write more about it when I finish the book. Meanwhile you can find a review of the book here
We have also found this series of five sermons by the author of the book (Tedd Tripp) at this blog. We have listened to one of them, and, again, were quite impressed with what he had to say.
Arpita has read most of a book called 'Raising Godly Tomatoes' and has recommended that I read it. I will, before I post my opinion. Meanwhile, you can find the entire book here.
Do keep us posted on how your 'mom's group' progresses.
Arno and The Pets
(HT: Vitamin Z)
Al Mohler with a very moving story from Haiti. I'll reprint the whole thing here because I think you should read it.
Arno was inseparable from Mr. Penguin. The little Haitian boy was almost three years old, and the plush penguin with the word "love" inscribed upon it was his most treasured object. The orphan and his penguin were always seen together.
The boy has been given the penguin just after his birth. A Dutch couple was in the process of adopting him almost from the start of his life -- they had been matched to him when he was only two months old. The penguin represented a promise.
The process of adoption took two years -- the length of time considered adequate to determine that no living relatives might claim him. According to official estimates, there were over 50,000 parentless orphans in Haiti before the earthquake came and orphaned many thousands more.
Richard and Rowena Pet were the young Dutch couple who wanted so badly to be Arno's mother and father. They has struggled with infertility for years before deciding to adopt. As they awaited the adoption of Arno, Rowena became pregnant. Last August she gave birth to Jim, who was left in the care of relatives as Richard and Rowena flew to Haiti in January to claim Arno and complete the adoption process.
The story of Arno's adoption is movingly told by reporter David Charter of The Times [London]. As he reported, "Arno was shy at first but within 30 minutes of meeting his adoptive parents he reached for Rowena’s hand and took the Dutch couple on a tour of the orphanage in Port-au-Prince where he had spent most of his short life. He began to call them Mummy and Daddy."
Richard had shared their joy with a friend in an e-mail:
“We got to the orphanage feeling a bit strange. We went around a corner and immediately saw Arno walking towards us. He was OK until he was about half a meter away, but then he panicked. The woman from the orphanage helped out and half an hour later he took Rowena’s hand for the first time. I’m sorry but I can’t help crying at the moment as I type this. Arno has been showing us everything in the orphanage. He showed us an old car they have for the children to play on. He was holding a birthday card we sent for his second birthday.”
According to Charter, adoptive parents often stay at the Hotel Villa Therese in the Pétionville district of Port-au-Prince. That is where Richard and Rowena took Arno. That is where they were when the earthquake came. And that is where they died together.
David Charter tells the story, with comments by Chris Spaansen, the friend to whom Richard had sent the e-mail:
Dutch TV cameras were on hand during the frantic search by an international rescue team with members from the Netherlands, Britain and Canada. . . . Lying there amid the rubble was the unmistakable blue and yellow toy bird, Mr Penguin, marked with the word “Love”, that went everywhere with Arno. “That toy helped them to make their first contact with the little boy. It had a really special place in the family. It was a very emotional moment for all of us,” Spaansen says.
Then this:
What the cameras did not show were the three bodies, found intertwined together, as if Rowena and Richard had tried to put protective arms around Arno as the masonry began to fall. The disaster cruelly destroyed the new family, creating its own orphan back in the Netherlands. Jim, just five months old, will be brought up by Rowena’s sister, who already has her own three-year-old boy.
The bodies of Richard and Rowena and Arno Pet were taken to the Netherlands together, just as they had been found together in the rubble of the Hotel Villa Therese. They had been a family for a few hours, but a family all the same. Arno had a tragically short life, but he ended that life in the arms of a mother and a father.
Who can read this account without heartbreak . . . and a heart warmed? Is there a heart so cold that it does not feel the pathos of this report, and sense the sentiment of this family's tragedy? At the same time, this is not a tragedy in the classic sense. The love of Richard and Rowena and Arno Pet transcends tragedy. That is why The Times published this report, and why it stays with you so long after you read it.
Of course, for the Christian there is far more to this story. In the story of Arno Pet we find a picture of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As the Apostle Paul wrote to the Galatians:
But when the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a virgin, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying "Abba! Father!" Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God. [Galatians 4:4-7]
Adoption is perhaps the most powerful depiction of the Gospel found in the Bible. We are all orphans, born under the curse of sin. By the sheer grace and mercy of God, those who come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ are adopted as sons. Redeemed sinners are adopted as sons "through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise and glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved." [Ephesians 1:5-6]
Arno Pet began life as an orphan, but he ended life as a son. He was abandoned at his birth, but he died in the arms of his parents. He did not die as Arno, he died as Arno Pet.
In the rubble of the Hotel Villa Therese the film crew found the bodies of Richard and Rowena and Arno Pet. In that same rubble, we find a picture of the Gospel of Christ. He who has eyes to see, let him see.
Al Mohler with a very moving story from Haiti. I'll reprint the whole thing here because I think you should read it.
Arno was inseparable from Mr. Penguin. The little Haitian boy was almost three years old, and the plush penguin with the word "love" inscribed upon it was his most treasured object. The orphan and his penguin were always seen together.
The boy has been given the penguin just after his birth. A Dutch couple was in the process of adopting him almost from the start of his life -- they had been matched to him when he was only two months old. The penguin represented a promise.
The process of adoption took two years -- the length of time considered adequate to determine that no living relatives might claim him. According to official estimates, there were over 50,000 parentless orphans in Haiti before the earthquake came and orphaned many thousands more.
Richard and Rowena Pet were the young Dutch couple who wanted so badly to be Arno's mother and father. They has struggled with infertility for years before deciding to adopt. As they awaited the adoption of Arno, Rowena became pregnant. Last August she gave birth to Jim, who was left in the care of relatives as Richard and Rowena flew to Haiti in January to claim Arno and complete the adoption process.
The story of Arno's adoption is movingly told by reporter David Charter of The Times [London]. As he reported, "Arno was shy at first but within 30 minutes of meeting his adoptive parents he reached for Rowena’s hand and took the Dutch couple on a tour of the orphanage in Port-au-Prince where he had spent most of his short life. He began to call them Mummy and Daddy."
Richard had shared their joy with a friend in an e-mail:
“We got to the orphanage feeling a bit strange. We went around a corner and immediately saw Arno walking towards us. He was OK until he was about half a meter away, but then he panicked. The woman from the orphanage helped out and half an hour later he took Rowena’s hand for the first time. I’m sorry but I can’t help crying at the moment as I type this. Arno has been showing us everything in the orphanage. He showed us an old car they have for the children to play on. He was holding a birthday card we sent for his second birthday.”
According to Charter, adoptive parents often stay at the Hotel Villa Therese in the Pétionville district of Port-au-Prince. That is where Richard and Rowena took Arno. That is where they were when the earthquake came. And that is where they died together.
David Charter tells the story, with comments by Chris Spaansen, the friend to whom Richard had sent the e-mail:
Dutch TV cameras were on hand during the frantic search by an international rescue team with members from the Netherlands, Britain and Canada. . . . Lying there amid the rubble was the unmistakable blue and yellow toy bird, Mr Penguin, marked with the word “Love”, that went everywhere with Arno. “That toy helped them to make their first contact with the little boy. It had a really special place in the family. It was a very emotional moment for all of us,” Spaansen says.
Then this:
What the cameras did not show were the three bodies, found intertwined together, as if Rowena and Richard had tried to put protective arms around Arno as the masonry began to fall. The disaster cruelly destroyed the new family, creating its own orphan back in the Netherlands. Jim, just five months old, will be brought up by Rowena’s sister, who already has her own three-year-old boy.
The bodies of Richard and Rowena and Arno Pet were taken to the Netherlands together, just as they had been found together in the rubble of the Hotel Villa Therese. They had been a family for a few hours, but a family all the same. Arno had a tragically short life, but he ended that life in the arms of a mother and a father.
Who can read this account without heartbreak . . . and a heart warmed? Is there a heart so cold that it does not feel the pathos of this report, and sense the sentiment of this family's tragedy? At the same time, this is not a tragedy in the classic sense. The love of Richard and Rowena and Arno Pet transcends tragedy. That is why The Times published this report, and why it stays with you so long after you read it.
Of course, for the Christian there is far more to this story. In the story of Arno Pet we find a picture of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As the Apostle Paul wrote to the Galatians:
But when the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a virgin, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying "Abba! Father!" Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God. [Galatians 4:4-7]
Adoption is perhaps the most powerful depiction of the Gospel found in the Bible. We are all orphans, born under the curse of sin. By the sheer grace and mercy of God, those who come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ are adopted as sons. Redeemed sinners are adopted as sons "through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise and glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved." [Ephesians 1:5-6]
Arno Pet began life as an orphan, but he ended life as a son. He was abandoned at his birth, but he died in the arms of his parents. He did not die as Arno, he died as Arno Pet.
In the rubble of the Hotel Villa Therese the film crew found the bodies of Richard and Rowena and Arno Pet. In that same rubble, we find a picture of the Gospel of Christ. He who has eyes to see, let him see.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Health Benefits of Hibiscus tea
Check out this link:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0ISW/is_259-260/ai_n12417466/
Is it easy to find Hibiscus tea in India? It's an Herbal tea.
~juliana
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0ISW/is_259-260/ai_n12417466/
Is it easy to find Hibiscus tea in India? It's an Herbal tea.
~juliana
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)