A nice video picked up on Arpit's blog
Friday, December 9, 2011
Monday, December 5, 2011
How Doctors die
An interesting article that I completely agree with.
It is important to talk these things over, so that there are no misunderstandings and strained relationships among those left behind when our time finally comes!
It is important to talk these things over, so that there are no misunderstandings and strained relationships among those left behind when our time finally comes!
Thursday, October 20, 2011
When the Saints
I love this song and this version of it. Sara Groves has made a newer version, but it's not as profound to me for some reason.
I find the pictures on the you tube video to be terribly distracting so maybe minimize the screen and just listen. :) It's beautiful!
Enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEtVikNFPS0
I find the pictures on the you tube video to be terribly distracting so maybe minimize the screen and just listen. :) It's beautiful!
Enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEtVikNFPS0
Monday, October 10, 2011
Monday, September 12, 2011
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Real Male Leadership at home: Always Apologize First
(HT: Vit Z)
Barnabas Piper:
I occasionally get asked for advice about being a new husband or a first time dad. Since I got married young and had kids young I have “experience”, I guess. By “experience”, of course, I mean battle scars and bruises from my regular encounters with my own idiocy and penchant for mistakes. I must look like a weathered veteran or something.
When the question is put to me “what piece of advice would you give to a new husband/dad” I always want to come up with something that would make Solomon jealous and Confucius plagiarize. Instead, all I have ever been able to come up with is this: “Always apologize first.”
Somewhere along the way I was given this piece of advice (or pieces of advice that added up to it) by a particularly wise counselor, and it has been an astoundingly prescient word by which to live. It falls under the banner of “A soft answer turns away wrath.” It enforces humility and self-examination. And it douses the flames that threaten to burn bridges between wife and husband or father and children.
Barnabas Piper:
I occasionally get asked for advice about being a new husband or a first time dad. Since I got married young and had kids young I have “experience”, I guess. By “experience”, of course, I mean battle scars and bruises from my regular encounters with my own idiocy and penchant for mistakes. I must look like a weathered veteran or something.
When the question is put to me “what piece of advice would you give to a new husband/dad” I always want to come up with something that would make Solomon jealous and Confucius plagiarize. Instead, all I have ever been able to come up with is this: “Always apologize first.”
Somewhere along the way I was given this piece of advice (or pieces of advice that added up to it) by a particularly wise counselor, and it has been an astoundingly prescient word by which to live. It falls under the banner of “A soft answer turns away wrath.” It enforces humility and self-examination. And it douses the flames that threaten to burn bridges between wife and husband or father and children.
For your Weekend Enjoyment!
Calvin and the Snowmen:
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
(HT: Trevin Wax)
(Click on the Images to see a bigger version: Or, just click on the link above to see them on Trevin Wax's blog)
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
(HT: Trevin Wax)
(Click on the Images to see a bigger version: Or, just click on the link above to see them on Trevin Wax's blog)
Friday, September 2, 2011
Thou art coming to a King! Wow!
John Newton
Come, my soul, thy case prepare
Jesus loves to answer prayer
He Himself has bid thee pray
Therefore will not say thee nay
Thou art coming to a King
Large petitions with thee bring
For His grace and power are such
None can ever ask too much
(HT: Dane Ortlund)
Come, my soul, thy case prepare
Jesus loves to answer prayer
He Himself has bid thee pray
Therefore will not say thee nay
Thou art coming to a King
Large petitions with thee bring
For His grace and power are such
None can ever ask too much
(HT: Dane Ortlund)
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Our latest family photo (22/8/2011)
We are now planning to photoshop out the background, and get this printed
Monday, August 22, 2011
Enough to Feel Guilty, But Not Enough to Be Happy
Ray Ortlund, Sr. to his son, Ray Ortlund, Jr.:
“Listen, son. Half-hearted Christians are the most miserable people of all. They know enough to feel guilty, but they haven’t gone far enough with Christ to be happy. Be wholehearted for him!”
(HT: Pure Church)
“Listen, son. Half-hearted Christians are the most miserable people of all. They know enough to feel guilty, but they haven’t gone far enough with Christ to be happy. Be wholehearted for him!”
(HT: Pure Church)
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Five Ways to Make God Known at Work
John Piper in 1988:
I have in mind at least five things—five ways to make God known through your secular job and all of them are important. When one of them is missing, the witness to the truth of Christ suffers.
1. The excellence of the products or services you render in your job shows the excellence and greatness of God.
2. The standards of integrity you follow at your job show the integrity and holiness of God.
3. The love you show to people in your job shows the love of God.
4. The stewardship of the money you make from your job shows the value of God compared to other things.
5. The verbal testimony you give to the reality of Christ shows the doorway to all these things in your life and their possibility in the lives of others.Excerpted from "Tentmakers" in Minneapolis.
(HT: Desiring God)
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Less Like Scars, More Like Character
It's been a hard year
But I'm climbing out of the rubble
These lessons are hard
Healing changes are subtle
But every day it's
Less like tearing, more like building
Less like captive, more like willing
Less like breakdown, more like surrender
Less like haunting, more like remember
Less like a prison, more like my room
It's less like a casket, more like a womb
Less like dying, more like transcending
Less like fear, less like an ending
And I feel you here
And you're picking up the pieces
Forever faithful
It seemed out of my hands, a bad situation
But you are able
And in your hands the pain and hurt
Look less like scars and more like
Character
By Sara Groves from the album All Right Here
(HT:Josh Harris)
But I'm climbing out of the rubble
These lessons are hard
Healing changes are subtle
But every day it's
Less like tearing, more like building
Less like captive, more like willing
Less like breakdown, more like surrender
Less like haunting, more like remember
Less like a prison, more like my room
It's less like a casket, more like a womb
Less like dying, more like transcending
Less like fear, less like an ending
And I feel you here
And you're picking up the pieces
Forever faithful
It seemed out of my hands, a bad situation
But you are able
And in your hands the pain and hurt
Look less like scars and more like
Character
By Sara Groves from the album All Right Here
(HT:Josh Harris)
Friday, August 19, 2011
I'm Back!
It has been quite a while since I did any serious blogging. As you all know, I have been very busy with work for the past three months. In addition, I had an exam on August 1st.
But, I must say, the main deterrent to blogging has been the depression of having lost all our photos and videos when our computer crashed. I had saved the photos taken before December 2010 on a disk, but had not gotten around to saving the photos taken subsequently. This has been a terrible loss.
I have begun saving the photos and videos taken after May 2011. I have also uploaded a number of photos on a new Flickr page. Some of the older photos can be seen on the older Flickr page.
Here is one beautiful photo taken by a student at CMC, that has survived.
I have made an important change at the blog, and would like to know what you think about it.
I have now set things up so that a copy of every post and comment on this blog will be delivered to our gmail inboxes. I am doing this in the hope that each of us will be aware of all that is being posted and be able to particpate more in this blog.
At the rate things are going, I don't think our inboxes are likely to be flooded, but do let me know if you feel that is a concern. I, personally, would love to have my inbox flooded with stuff from each of you!
I am looking forward to blogging more over the next few days while at Delhi.
But, I must say, the main deterrent to blogging has been the depression of having lost all our photos and videos when our computer crashed. I had saved the photos taken before December 2010 on a disk, but had not gotten around to saving the photos taken subsequently. This has been a terrible loss.
I have begun saving the photos and videos taken after May 2011. I have also uploaded a number of photos on a new Flickr page. Some of the older photos can be seen on the older Flickr page.
Here is one beautiful photo taken by a student at CMC, that has survived.
I have made an important change at the blog, and would like to know what you think about it.
I have now set things up so that a copy of every post and comment on this blog will be delivered to our gmail inboxes. I am doing this in the hope that each of us will be aware of all that is being posted and be able to particpate more in this blog.
At the rate things are going, I don't think our inboxes are likely to be flooded, but do let me know if you feel that is a concern. I, personally, would love to have my inbox flooded with stuff from each of you!
I am looking forward to blogging more over the next few days while at Delhi.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Thursday, May 19, 2011
A path worn by the feet of many pilgrims
“Thousands and tens of thousands have sought for pardon at the mercy-seat of Christ, and not one has ever returned to say that he sought in vain. Sinners of every name and nation—sinners of every sort and description—have knocked at the door of the fold, and none have ever been refused admission.
If the way which the Gospel sets before us were a new and untraveled way—we might well feel faint-hearted. But it is not so. It is an old path. It is a path worn by the feet of many pilgrims, and a path in which the footsteps are all one way. The treasury of Christ’s mercies has never been found empty. The well of living waters has never proved dry.”
— J.C. Ryle
"Forgiveness"
(HT: Of First Importance)
Monday, April 18, 2011
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Speak, Lord, and give me understanding
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.
I am your servant.
Give me understanding that I may know your ordinances.
Incline my heart to your commands.
Let your speech distill as the dew.
The children of Israel once said to Moses:
“Speak to us and we will hear you. Don’t let the Lord speak to us, lest we die.”
Not so, Lord, not so do I pray.
Rather with Samuel the prophet I entreat humbly and earnestly:
“Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”
Do not let Moses or any of the prophets speak to me;
but you speak, O Lord God, who inspired and enlightened all the prophets;
for you alone, without them, can instruct me perfectly,
whereas they, without you, can do nothing.
They, indeed, utter fine words,
but they cannot impart the spirit.
They do indeed speak beautifully,
but if you remain silent they cannot inflame the heart.
They deliver the message;
you lay bare the sense.
They place before us mysteries,
but you unlock their meaning.
They proclaim commandments;
you help us to keep them.
They point out the way;
you give strength for the journey.
They work only outwardly;
you instruct and enlighten our hearts.
They water on the outside;
you give the increase.
They cry out words;
You give understanding to the hearer.
- Thomas a Kempis, The Imitation of Christ (adapted)
(HT: Trevin Wax)
Monday, April 11, 2011
Friday, April 8, 2011
Friday, March 18, 2011
This is a pretty shocking and convicting article on tithing.
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/december/10.24.html?start=1
Saturday, March 5, 2011
cute picture of Ashish with the girls....
They are growing so fast and are so delightful. I just find so much joy and fulfillment in my days thanks to them. God has been so good to us; we are so thankful!
Love,
juliana for all of us
Friday, March 4, 2011
The Kimyal people receice the New Testament
A powerful video of the Kimyal People Group in Indonesia receiving the New Testament for the first time in their language. Watching their excitement and joy moved me to tears as I reflected on how little I value the Bible myself
(HT: Z)
(HT: Z)
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Today's assassination
I don't know if you've heard about Pakistan's Minority Affairs Minister who was assassinated today. It seems he was a Christian, and was killed because he opposed the infamous blasphemy law. BBC has an interview with him from 4 months ago, when he talks about his faith, and his willingness to die for his convictions.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Try this out!
Scroll to the bottom of your Facebook page where it says in little blue letters, "English (UK)" or "US", or whatever you selected. Click on it. When the language box pops up, click on the arrow next to "English (US) and select "English (Pirate)."
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Kindness
Here's a recent recording of a song that was written by our former pastor and sung by Steve Bell, a Canadian contemporary singer.
http://stevebell.com/wp-content/jld_ecards_files/02-Kindness.mp3
It's a beautiful song.
You can also check out the whole album of Bell's, here:
http://stevebell.com/kindness/
Love,
juliana
http://stevebell.com/wp-content/jld_ecards_files/02-Kindness.mp3
It's a beautiful song.
You can also check out the whole album of Bell's, here:
http://stevebell.com/kindness/
Love,
juliana
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Sick Bay
It has been Sick Season at our home these last weeks.
First affected was Namrata. She developed cholera. We still do not know how or where she managed to pick this bug up, but with her uncanny ability to zero in on anything 'interesting' and put it straight in the mouth, this was a disaster waiting to happen.
We watched as her intake of fluids became progressively inadequate to compensate for the amount of fluid she was losing, and she became dehydrated, dull and drowsy. We knew that if she was not able to drink enough fluid, we would perhaps have to admit her for IV fluids, but we also knew the trauma associated with repeated pokes to get an IV access in a small, dehydrated child, and the further difficulty in trying to keep this line going. Invariably, she would have been kept restrained and yet, an IV line would have had to be restarted in a few hours....all in all, an unhappy option.
And so, we decided to rehydrate her by passing a fine naso-gastric tube directly into her stomach (you can hardly see the tube in the picture!) through which we fed her about 30 ml of Oral rehydrating solution (ORS) every half an hour through the night, while she slept.
I'm happy to tell you that by morning she was well hydrated, passing enough urine, and generally more cheerful. By evening, her diarrhoea had settled, and she has now completely recovered.
(Important disclaimer: Arpita and I can afford to do this sort of thing, and take these 'apparent' risks because
1. We are doctors and know how the system works, what to look for, and signs of danger developing
2. We are surrounded by other doctors, and have other safeguards in place to ensure we are not doing something abjectly stupid. Vinod (my cousin, a paediatrician) dropped in from time to time to see her, and we also spoke on the phone with Dr Puliyel in Delhi
3. The hospital is always only 2 minutes away.
Even so, I will confess that I was very scared, and a lot of prayer went up that night for this little helpless baby girl.
Please do not try doing something like this unsupervised!)
Next down was Anand. His peculiar sickness was a single episode of fever (about 101F) that lasted about an hour, before coming down and lingering for some more time. However, during this fever (about 3am to 4am) he was wide awake, happy, exuberant, bursting with creativity, and, wait for it, talking in rhyme! We were amused and yet wondered whether this was some vague manifestation of delirium, or something else! By the next day he was perfectly well.
And then it has been my turn. Since Monday I have been having high fever and severe body aches. From Wednesday onwards, I have been on sick leave, and I feel totally drained and run down. From Thursday, I began vomiting. Yesterday, briefly, my temperatures reached normal, but were up again by night. Today, finally, I have started feeling better. All in all, it looks like a severe viral infection, though I am being treated for typhoid.
But let me say, it has been such a privilege to stay at home, and be entertained by the three cutest people you could imagine! I wish I could record the various things that keep going on all through the day.
Please do pray for Arpita. With all the stress she is under, she cannot afford to fall sick. And continue to pray for the rest of us as well.
First affected was Namrata. She developed cholera. We still do not know how or where she managed to pick this bug up, but with her uncanny ability to zero in on anything 'interesting' and put it straight in the mouth, this was a disaster waiting to happen.
We watched as her intake of fluids became progressively inadequate to compensate for the amount of fluid she was losing, and she became dehydrated, dull and drowsy. We knew that if she was not able to drink enough fluid, we would perhaps have to admit her for IV fluids, but we also knew the trauma associated with repeated pokes to get an IV access in a small, dehydrated child, and the further difficulty in trying to keep this line going. Invariably, she would have been kept restrained and yet, an IV line would have had to be restarted in a few hours....all in all, an unhappy option.
And so, we decided to rehydrate her by passing a fine naso-gastric tube directly into her stomach (you can hardly see the tube in the picture!) through which we fed her about 30 ml of Oral rehydrating solution (ORS) every half an hour through the night, while she slept.
I'm happy to tell you that by morning she was well hydrated, passing enough urine, and generally more cheerful. By evening, her diarrhoea had settled, and she has now completely recovered.
(Important disclaimer: Arpita and I can afford to do this sort of thing, and take these 'apparent' risks because
1. We are doctors and know how the system works, what to look for, and signs of danger developing
2. We are surrounded by other doctors, and have other safeguards in place to ensure we are not doing something abjectly stupid. Vinod (my cousin, a paediatrician) dropped in from time to time to see her, and we also spoke on the phone with Dr Puliyel in Delhi
3. The hospital is always only 2 minutes away.
Even so, I will confess that I was very scared, and a lot of prayer went up that night for this little helpless baby girl.
Please do not try doing something like this unsupervised!)
Next down was Anand. His peculiar sickness was a single episode of fever (about 101F) that lasted about an hour, before coming down and lingering for some more time. However, during this fever (about 3am to 4am) he was wide awake, happy, exuberant, bursting with creativity, and, wait for it, talking in rhyme! We were amused and yet wondered whether this was some vague manifestation of delirium, or something else! By the next day he was perfectly well.
And then it has been my turn. Since Monday I have been having high fever and severe body aches. From Wednesday onwards, I have been on sick leave, and I feel totally drained and run down. From Thursday, I began vomiting. Yesterday, briefly, my temperatures reached normal, but were up again by night. Today, finally, I have started feeling better. All in all, it looks like a severe viral infection, though I am being treated for typhoid.
But let me say, it has been such a privilege to stay at home, and be entertained by the three cutest people you could imagine! I wish I could record the various things that keep going on all through the day.
Please do pray for Arpita. With all the stress she is under, she cannot afford to fall sick. And continue to pray for the rest of us as well.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
an interesting discussion on Summer/Winter Christians:
This helps me as I seek to try and apply 1 Philippians 2:1 - ...
http://preachermike.com/2011/
I can identify with both types but also not totally with either. So, this article was also helpful for me.
http://experimentaltheology.
I would consider myself a Winter/Autumn. How about you?
http://preachermike.com/2011/
I can identify with both types but also not totally with either. So, this article was also helpful for me.
http://experimentaltheology.
I would consider myself a Winter/Autumn. How about you?
Monday, January 31, 2011
Juju to Mubarak
Some priceless advice to President Mubarak of Egypt from an eight year old girl Juju in Saudi Arabia
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Another Martin Luther King quote
(via Between Two Worlds)
From MLK’s sermon “Loving Your Enemies,” delivered on November 17, 1957, at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama:
To our most bitter opponents we say:
“We shall match your capacity to inflict suffering by our capacity to endure suffering.
We shall meet your physical force with soul force.
Do to us what you will, and we shall continue to love you.
We cannot in all good conscience obey your unjust laws because noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good.
Throw us in jail and we shall still love you.
Bomb our homes and threaten our children, and we shall still love you.
Send your hooded perpetrators of violence into our community at the midnight hour and beat us and leave us half dead, and we shall still love you.
But be ye assured that we will wear you down by our capacity to suffer.
One day we shall win freedom but not only for ourselves.
We shall so appeal to your heart and conscience that we shall win you in the process and our victory will be a double victory.”
From MLK’s sermon “Loving Your Enemies,” delivered on November 17, 1957, at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama:
To our most bitter opponents we say:
“We shall match your capacity to inflict suffering by our capacity to endure suffering.
We shall meet your physical force with soul force.
Do to us what you will, and we shall continue to love you.
We cannot in all good conscience obey your unjust laws because noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good.
Throw us in jail and we shall still love you.
Bomb our homes and threaten our children, and we shall still love you.
Send your hooded perpetrators of violence into our community at the midnight hour and beat us and leave us half dead, and we shall still love you.
But be ye assured that we will wear you down by our capacity to suffer.
One day we shall win freedom but not only for ourselves.
We shall so appeal to your heart and conscience that we shall win you in the process and our victory will be a double victory.”
Monday, January 17, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Nab Barsh ke Shubh Kamanaye
Spent New Year’s Eve on a train…from Madhepura, Bihar to Sealdah, Kolkata. Was visiting a hospital to help out with designs. As always, Kolkata, has this ability to overwhelm…. The noise, the bustle, the crowds, the very visible poverty….But my recent visits to the city have been balanced by hours spent in Asha Niketan. On a plot adjacent to the Missionaries of Charity in Tangra, it is a haven of peace and the minutes spent with Madhu da or Bulani da or little Kusum help me see the humanness in everyone and remind me to search for it even in the masses of Kolkata. I leave in a bit to Howrah station to catch another train back to Orissa. From my many rambling thoughts, I leave you with this prayer that I have been pondering over as a blessing for the new year!
Oh and a new year greeting for you that I received from an elderly Bihari gentleman on the train "Nab Barsh Mangal me rahe!" (May you be blessed/happy in the new year)
A Four-fold Franciscan Blessing
May God bless you with a restless discomfort about easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships, so that you may seek truth boldly and love deep within your heart.
May God bless you with holy anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may tirelessly work for justice, freedom, and peace among all people.
May God bless you with the gift of tears to shed with those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, or the loss of all that they cherish, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and transform their pain into joy.
May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you really CAN make a difference in this world, so that you are able, with God's grace, to do what others claim cannot be done.
And the blessing of God the Supreme Majesty and our Creator,
Jesus Christ the Incarnate Word who is our brother and Saviour,
and the Holy Spirit, our Advocate and Guide,
be with you and remain with you, this day and forevermore.
AMEN
Oh and a new year greeting for you that I received from an elderly Bihari gentleman on the train "Nab Barsh Mangal me rahe!" (May you be blessed/happy in the new year)
A Four-fold Franciscan Blessing
May God bless you with a restless discomfort about easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships, so that you may seek truth boldly and love deep within your heart.
May God bless you with holy anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may tirelessly work for justice, freedom, and peace among all people.
May God bless you with the gift of tears to shed with those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, or the loss of all that they cherish, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and transform their pain into joy.
May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you really CAN make a difference in this world, so that you are able, with God's grace, to do what others claim cannot be done.
And the blessing of God the Supreme Majesty and our Creator,
Jesus Christ the Incarnate Word who is our brother and Saviour,
and the Holy Spirit, our Advocate and Guide,
be with you and remain with you, this day and forevermore.
AMEN
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