Climbing College Hill

On Friday, we climbed College Hill, a small hill behind the college campus.It was wonderful to watch Anand's excitement. He took to hill-climbing like a natural, and wanted to do everything himself. With very little help, he managed to do the entire climb.





We made it to the TOP!






and spent our time at the top watching cloud formations, watching the tiny people and vehicles, and eating grapes.





That's Toad Hill in the background. It gets its name from the small toad-like rock on the top. Maybe we'll climb that next.




Arpita felt an appropriate song for the climb down was "She'll be sliding down the mountains when she comes!"

BTW, how do you like Anand's summer hair-cut?

A song for good friday

http://www.michaelkellyblanchard.com/cdsbooks/tlotf.mp3


I could listen to the above song over and over and over again!

I hope you all have a wonderful Easter weekend. This has been one of the most powerful Lent seasons for me in my memory! I feel as though I've been brought to a deeper understanding of some of my greatest frailties. There's a name for this - conviction!

So often I look in all the wrong places for what God so willingly offers me (of all people) in Ephesians 1:3-8! Read it! And, claim it! (I'm mostly telling myself this) ;)

On the home front, the girls are doing really well. Safina is getting so big and she is so smart. She's so confidant and exuberant. She smiles at all kids in the park and introduces herself like this, "My name is Safina and I'm three years old."

On Monday she was snipping at a magazine with some child-scissors and when I went to put some dishes in the dishwasher, she snipped at a chuck of her hair. So, I spent a few days talking to her about some of our options. And, we ended up cutting 11 inches off and donating it to Locks of Love. I wasn't sure if she would go for it. But, I knew we were going to have to make a dramatic cut anyway and I told her this way, some child who has lost their hair can now have hair. So, she felt good about it. She got two lollipops from the hair salon and a certificate for donating her hair. I'll post a few pictures soon.

Serena is crawling all over the place. I need to upload a video of how she's crawling. She is so adorable. Both of our girls remind me SO much of Mummy! Right down to their little toes! Serena, even more so than Safina curls and bends her toes in the same way her granny does! It's fascinating to watch.

Sharing is a hard thing. Serena is getting tired of having her big sister grab things and lets her voice be heard. Safina is quite the tough big sister at times. But, when Serena is really really sad, she'll go over and comfort her and caress her and give her lots of kisses.

We feel so blessed to be their parents! And, hope and pray we can honor God as their parents! It's a challenge on a daily basis for sure. But there are so many teachable moments for all of us. I'm always so struck by how much the girls teach me about the love of Christ!

May you each be filled with the Spirit!

Love,
juliana

Today's links 2/4/2010

Short clips from two sermons by S. M. Lockeridge

1. "That's My King!"




2. "Sunday is Coming"



(HT: Justin Taylor)


3. A nice post from Shaun Groves (accompanied with some great photos) where he explains how the death of one of his teachers taught him how to live, and says that, for him, "Retirement is Now"


4. A nice sentence I found in the "Profile" of a blogger......

Just trying to be a Mary in a Martha kind of world.


5. Grace Driscoll answers the question:

"As the wife of a pastor and the daughter of a pastor, what are your thoughts and feelings about the precedent Dr. Piper’s announcement makes for his family and the families of other ministry leaders who look to him for leadership?"

She writes that there are Eight Godly Precedents set by John Piper taking a Sabbatical

(HT: Vitamin Z)

"The Toll of our Toiling"

Most of you may have heard the "big news" that John Piper is taking a 8 month break, ("No sermon preparation or preaching. No blogging. No Twitter. No articles. No reports. No papers. And no speaking engagements."), because, he says, "the precious garden of my home needs tending." You can read his announcement here.

Christianity Today ran a surprisingly admiring article about this development, saying, "Thousands of ministers who have learned from Piper through his books, sermons, and conference talks will now have opportunity to learn from his silence."

The author gives examples of how "an intense work regimen was ingrained in several evangelical leaders of the post-war era." and concludes,

"Evangelical leaders serve out of their personal relationship with Christ, modeling the life of faith for others. Yet it is exceedingly difficult to tend to this most important relationship, not to mention our friends and family, when work consumes every day. To be sure, we're called to toil for Christ, "struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works" within us (Col. 1:29). Even during the busyness of this Lenten season, though, we might follow Piper's example and pause to examine the toll of our toiling and the state of our souls. Does our work truly point others to the power of Christ? If not, it may draw attention to the one who plants and waters, not the God who gives the growth (1 Cor. 3:7). Ministers who lose this perspective are in danger of losing their congregations, not to mention their families.

Instead, let us live up to our belief in the God who holds out the promise of Sabbath rest for his people. If God rested from his works, so can we (Heb. 4:9-10)."

Our new desktop wallpaper

Chosen by Arpita for April, this verse speaks so much encouragement to my soul.



(click on the picture for a better view)

Today's links 28/3/2010

1. Christ Conducts His Choir




(HT: David Murray )

"In this astounding video, American composer and conductor Eric Whitacre spliced together nearly 250 videos of individuals singing individual parts of “Lux Arumque.” He sent out the music, auditioned the singers, and then chose 250 of the submitted videos, which he spliced together to form this “virtual choir.”

As I watched in wonder, I could not help thinking of how Christ our Mediator gathers His people’s praises from every church and every believer in the world every Sunday and presents them, as a perfect choir, to His Father.

Then my mind went further and “I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sits upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.""



2. I recently spent two hours watching "An Evening Of Eschatology". This was a round-table debate between Doug Wilson (representing the post-millenial view), Jim Hamilton (representing pre-millenialism) and Sam Storms (representing amillenialism), and moderated by John Piper. I seem to be moving towards thinking that amillenialism is probably the correct view. What do you think?



3. (HT: Thabiti Anyabwile)

“It is a growing conviction of mine that no parish can fulfill its true function unless there is at the very center of its leadership life a small community of quietly fanatic, changed and truly converted Christians. The trouble with most parishes is that nobody, including the pastor, is really greatly changed. . . .

We do not want ordinary men. Ordinary men cannot win the brutally pagan life of a city like New York for Christ. We want quiet fanatics.”

John Heuss, Our Christian Vocation (Greenwish, 1955), pages 15-16.



4. I also watched this sermon By Michael Horton on Christ and the Workplace.

Christ and the Workplace from Westminster Seminary California on Vimeo.

This addressed a question I have often asked myself, especially with all that I hear about the Christian doctor. Dr Horton gave me much to think about, and so, I looked him up online, and found an interview he gave, where he discussed some of these questions, and found even more to mull about.



5. Talk Deeply, Be Happy

"Would you be happier if you spent more time discussing the state of the world and the meaning of life — and less time talking about the weather?

It may sound counterintuitive, but people who spend more of their day having deep discussions and less time engaging in small talk seem to be happier, said Matthias Mehl, a psychologist at the University of Arizona"



6. It's hard to stop laughing once you really get going, even when you know you should not be laughing in the first place!



(HT: Vit Z)

Oscar Romero: Reflections for Lent

It is 30 years ago this week that a sniper killed Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero with a single bullet that exploded through his heart as he said mass.

Read an article here.

Read some meditations of Oscar Romero in a book (download here) called The Violence of Love.

Excerpts:

People do not mortify themselves during Lent
out of a sick desire to suffer.
God did not make us for suffering.
If we fast or do penances or pray,
it is for a very positive goal:
by overcoming self
one achieves the Easter resurrection.
We do not just celebrate a risen Christ,
distinct from us,
but during Lent we prepare ourselves
to rise with him to a new life
and to become the new persons
that are what the country needs right now.
Let us not just shout slogans
about new structures;
new structures will be worthless
without new persons
to administer the new structures the country needs
and live them out in their lives.
February 17, 1980

This Lent, which we observe amid blood and sorrow, ought to presage a transfiguration of our people, a resurrection of our nation. The church invites us to a modern form of penance, of fasting and prayer – perennial Christian practices, but adapted to the circumstances of each people.

Lenten fasting is not the same thing in those lands where people eat well as is a Lent among our third-world peoples, undernourished as they are, living in a perpetual Lent, always fasting. For those who eat well, Lent is a call to austerity, a call to give away in order to share with those in need. But in poor lands, in homes where there is hunger, Lent should be observed in order to give to the sacrifice that is everyday life the meaning of the cross.

But it should not be out of a mistaken sense of resignation. God does not want that. Rather, feeling in one’s own flesh the consequences of sin and injustice, one is stimulated to work for social justice and a genuine love for the poor. Our Lent should awaken a sense of social justice.

Let us observe our Lent thus, giving our sufferings, our bloodshed, our sorrow the same value that Christ gave to his own condition of poverty, oppression, abandonment, and injustice. Let us change all that into the cross of salvation that redeems the world and our people. And with hatred for none, let us be converted and share both joys and material aids, in our poverty, with those who may be even needier.
March 2, 1980

Easter is itself now the cry of victory.
No one can quench the life that Christ has resurrected.
Neither death nor all the banners of death and hatred
raised against him and against his church can prevail.
He is the victorious one!

Just as he will thrive in an unending Easter,
so we must accompany him in a Lent and a Holy Week
of cross, sacrifice, and martyrdom.
As he said, blessed are they who are not scandalized
by his cross.

Lent, thus, is a call to celebrate our redemption
in that difficult combination of cross and victory.
Our people are well prepared to do so these days:
all that surrounds us proclaims the cross.
But those who have Christian faith and hope
know that behind this Calvary of El Salvador
lies our Easter,
our resurrection.
That is the Christian people’s hope.
March 23, 1980

Isaiah 26:3

My aunt sent me this. It is a tremendous comfort. And, it's so amazing how much depth there is to one verse in the Bible!!! I wrote this out and am taping it to our cupboard in our kitchen!

Is 26:3

You will keep in perfect peace him whose

mind is steadfast, because he trusts in You.

1. You will keep: Hbrw for keep is nasar

meaning to guard protect, keep, used to denote

guarding a vineyard, a fortress, God is a

watchman guarding over my thoughts 

2. …in perfect peace: perfect peace Hbrw

        means shalom meaning safe, peaceful, sense of

Well-being, prosperous relationship between

2 people.

3. …him whose mind is steadfast: mind in

Hbrw means is yester it means frame, pattern,

image, conception, imagination thought, device. 

It is what is formed in the mind-plans purposes.

Frame: more than physical, our minds work to

frame every circumstance, temptation and

experience we have,

Hebrw for steadfast is samak meaning to sustain,

to be braced, to lean upon to lay on, to lay one

hand on.  When temptation and troubling thoughts

come the steadfast believer chooses to lay her

hand on God’s word and know that it’s true.  

4.)  …because he trust in You: trust in

Hbrw is batach meaning to attach oneself,

to confide in feel safe, be confident, secure.

Like a small child who trust her parents. 

The Lord be the Watchman of my mind-help

me to love and trust you alone.

Excuse me?

Dinner done, Anand slid off his chair onto the floor. His parents, however, were still eating.

Mom: Anand, I didn't hear you excuse yourself. Can we try it again? Can you get back onto your chair, and excuse yourself before leaving the table?

(Anand climbs back into his chair)

Anand: Excuse me.....?

Mom: Yes, of course, baby, you may leave the table.

Anand slid off the chair again, and looked up at his mom, with question marks all over his face.

"What's the point, Mama?"

Swords into ploughshares contd.

Below is an article by Jeph Mathias published in the NZ Christian magazine "Tui Motu", which contains the compelling arguments I mentioned before. Feel free to comment. I've put it here with his permission, to help in our discussion.

International air travel, just like hitchhiking, tins you like a sardine: the doors close and you're packed beside another body fished from the human ocean, rubbing shoulders and breathing the same air. Even if you are from very different walks of life you might identify commonalities and intersecting interests, exchange what is in your head and occasionally your heart. Destination reached the door peels open like a lid, your canned-fish camaraderie is broken and you never see each other again. It doesn’t always work but 'sardine tin' conversations can be the best.

On my way to the health project we work on in a tiny Himalayan village the eleven hour Christchurch-Singapore sector put me next to Steve, a Central Otago grape grower and vintner off to peddle his wares at an international wine fair. We started with the Crusader’s chances in the super fourteen, the pleasures of parenthood, the world price of oil and the arcane science of turning thin sun, dry soil and cold air into fine wine. The harsher the conditions the finer the flavour Steve reckons. Then I opened the magazine section of the Sunday paper and found a large picture and long interview with Peter Murnane, the Dominican friar who broke into the US spy base at Waihopai with two others, popped a balloon and set up a shrine. Only the ‘balloon’ was an information collecting satellite worth $1million and they had illegally entered a national security installation. Cutting a 40,000V security fence to find it turned off no doubt has embarrassed somebody powerful.

“What d'ya reckon about these guys” I asked Steve.

He replied in a crisp end-of-matter tone “We'll just have anarchy if we don't lock their type up”.

He didn’t add “and throw away the key” but made it clear that for him it would be no bad thing if the key were somehow mislaid. I tried various angles to tease out the nuances of the issue, for instance

“D’y reckon it can be right to break the law if it is a wrong law”

“Dunno mate” he said “but those guys knew the rules and broke them. Lock 'em up.”

He turned on his monitor and started surfing the in flight movies, leaving me to ponder it all myself. Anarchy seemed to be central and “The Second Coming”, was it by Yeats?, came to mind. As best as I remember it goes:

Turning and turning

in the widening gyre

the falcon cannot hear the falconer

Things fall apart,

the centre cannot hold

mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.

“Things fall apart... mere anarchy is loosed up on the world.” Don't we all, at some level, fear the uncertainty that things might fall apart, our things… our safe thing-filled lives? “Anarchy” is derived from Greek an (without) and arche (rules). We want, need, no crave rules- glue to hold our centres together.

But turning and turning the word anarchy around in the gyre ever-widening inside my own head I began to doubt that a safe, predictable rule based world is necessarily a good world. When legal and moral diverge being a good law abiding citizen may be wrong. Take South Africa in the bad old days of apartheid. Most citizens, white and black, chose the legal, complied with immoral laws, kept their heads down and looked after their families. Yet they were grateful to Mandela and others who chose truth over the law. The centre, trying to hold itself together, gave Mandela “the terrorist” 23 years on Robben Island to ponder the nuances of legal and moral. When apartheid finally fell apart the Oslo committee gave Mandela the Nobel Peace Prize. We cheered and told ourselves we too would have chosen moral over legal.

Now let's consider the economic rules of the world in which we participate. These rules allow some people to fly around the world to visit health projects or sell wine for delicate palates while, debarred from most of the world’s resources, others live in villages and watch their children die of TB or malnutrition. Through that lens we see ourselves unquestioningly complying with an immoral global economic apartheid. Shouldn’t we resist, be a little anarchist?

The gospels often push me into the grey zone between legal and moral. I’m in the crowd around the adulteress turning and turning a heavy stone in my hand while some hippie talks of not following the law. And I’m a good temple-on-the-Sabbath Jew with my wife and children feeling things falling apart when a ranting madman appears, turning over tables and swinging a whip. When a paralyzed man gets up and walks would I have been with the Pharisees or the long haired guy? Time and again Jesus shows us how to choose rightly when the paths of legal and true diverge. And notice his answer when someone tossed him a coin. The moral dimension was not clearly identified, the question was simply about political power so he said “Rend to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is Gods” Great answer. Hard to live, the second bit at least.

But back to Peter and Co in front of their burst balloon and their shrine. I hadn't told Steve-the-vintner but I know Peter well. Long ago he was a priest at my church, visiting prisoners and refugees and quietly inspiring us to higher things. He married us, Kaaren and me but when I moved from Auckland I only heard of his more spectacularly news-worthy exploits: protesting the Iraq invasion by daubing a cross in his own blood (clandestinely secreted in a bag strapped to his leg) on the carpet in front of the gaping US consul, cycling from Canberra to Uluru to urge the Australian government to apologize long before Kevin Rudd’s famous “Sorry” and mot famously offering a home and support to Ahmed Zhaoui as the NZ government bent to the powerful world centre. They said “We’re breaking the rules to keep order but anyone else who does is a terrorist”. As yet another person was detained without trial most of us just looked on because the centre held us in its thrall. But Peter, again, tested the ice most of us blithely skate over by saying “He is a human being”. We need his type, prophets who fly falcon-like, shake the centres we crave to hold and loosen things we strive to keep together. Now he’s popped a balloon used to help USA's war of terror and he’s looking at me out of a Sunday newspaper.

Suddenly all was clear. Peter’s action/prayer is not in that fraught space between legal and moral where we sometimes find ourselves. The invasion of Iraq, lies about Sadddam's weapons, the coalition's own grotesque weapons of mass destruction, Abu Gharib and Guantanamo Bay ... these are all illegal and immoral. If Peter and friends get time behind bars it will be for going into the still more slippery underground room of our world. The room under the cellar door which most of us keep firmly bolted while we continue neatly ordered lives upstairs. The scary room. But we’re meant to go down. All my heroes did. Mandela got 23 years, Jesus got a cross. Gandhi, Luther-King and others died trying to bring light to where power grapples with truth. And there it was! Jesus’ message soft and clear: Love and Truth are your rules. Follow them. Live them. No matter what. If you meekly do what you’re told, go where you're pushed the terrible anarchy of unresisted power will be loosed upon the world.

Beside me Steve was asleep, head back and mouth open.

I reached my hand up to shake him awake, ready to say “Steve, Steve! Not breaking immoral laws- that’s what leads to anarchy.”

But I didn’t.

interesting perspective

Well, I thought I'd open another can of worms. Have you all heard of that saying? I tend to use a lot of American idioms without even knowing it sometimes.

Anyway, I'd be curious to know what your take is on this. I've read a lot of books by C.S. Lewis and have really appreciated his way with words. But, his view on the Bible could be viewed as highly controversial.

http://submerging.reclaimingthemind.org/blogs/2007/12/19/c-s-lewis-his-most-controversial-statement/

Swords into ploughshares

A friend of a friend... along with 2 other friends... are on trial this week in New Zealand.

Heres a question for us to debate... Would you do something illegal, if there was a moral imperative to do so?

In April 2008, three Christian pacifists, Sam Land, Peter Murnane and Adi Leason, entered the Waihopai spy base and deflated a pressurised dome covering one of the satellite dishes.
This followed in the tradition of previous “non-violent direct actions” by the Ploughshares movement in which military planes, ships, hardware and bases were symbolically disarmed. In the last 20 years Ploughshares activists have undertaken over 120 of these actions. One of these, in 1991, involved New Zealander Moana Cole who disarmed a B52 bomber by hitting it with a hammer. She was imprisoned in the USA for a year.

Sam, Peter and Adi, who are practising Catholics, used sickles to deflate the dome, symbolically disarming the spy base. Their aim was to draw attention to New Zealand’s involvement in the US war in Iraq through the presence of this base in our country. While waiting to be arrested, they prayed and set up a shrine in remembrance of victims of US torture, assassination and mass murder.
The hope of the Ploughshares activists is the closing of the Waihopai spy base and the severing of military links to the United States.
* Waihopai spy base is not a weather station, as previously reported.
* Waihopai is a major secret US spy base.
Waihopai is NZ’s biggest contribution to America’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
* Waihopai intercepts and records your international phone calls and e-mail.
* Waihopai is part of a five nation network of global surveillance known as “Echelon” which is implicated in the mass killings of innocent civilians.
* Waihopai does not operate in the interests of NZ or our neighbours.
* Waihopai is not effectively accountable to Parliament or the people. It is exempt from key provisions of the Privacy Act and Crimes Act
* Waihopai intercepts huge volumes of electronic data and sends it to Washington for analysis by the US military.
* Waihopai has cost the NZ taxpayer $500 million to build and operate over the last 20 years.
* Waihopai is shrouded in secrecy and key information about the base - such as who exactly is being spied on and what happens to the information - is classified

Also read profiles of the 3 men and an interview with one of them.

Did somebody say being a paediatric surgeon is fun?

I was called over to the pediatric ward to see a child who had developed a painful swelling in the buttock. He had been diagnosed to have leukemia, and started on chemotherapy.

So there I was, squinting at this kid's bottom, and wondering whether to drain this abscess, when he let fly with an expulsive explosion, and, (there's no pleasant way to say this) shat all over my face. There was stuff in my eyebrows, beard, and everywhere else. Fortunately, I had kept my mouth shut......

Today's Links 11/3/2010

1. Remember I wrote about the Modern Parables of Jesus. Arpita and I downloaded and watched The Prodigal Sons. (Notice the title with "Sons" not "The Prodigal Son" as it usually is). I found it powerful and thought-provoking. If you have never seen these films before, this is a great parable to start with. I found myself thinking about this parable many times during the next few days. I think I was especially impressed with the realisation of how BOTH sons dishonoured their father with their behaviour, and how 'right' the elder sons was in his response, and yet how wrong.



2. Russel Moore writes back to a young woman who asks him how much she should find out about her boyfriend's sexual past. Its a thoughtful post, and has much in it for both the younger and older of the Prodigal Sons, and ends with this great statement of fact that had me spinning...

"Jesus was a virgin. His Bride wasn’t. He loved us anyway."

(HT: Denny Burk)



3. Missy, a mother of four, writes an open letter to her children while waiting for the next child to be adopted from Ethiopia, explaining why she does not want them to be happy. Yes, you read that right!




4. The Scandal of Gendercide — War on Baby Girls. Al Mohler writes a review of the Cover Article of this month's Economist. It discusses the issue of 'Gendercide' (which includes what we in India have come to call, Female Foeticide')

(while the whole investigative report is only available in the print editions, an editorial Gendercide: the war on baby girls can be found online)

Here are some quotes:
* 'In its detailed and extensive investigative report, the magazine opens its article with chilling force. A baby girl is born in China's Shandong province. Chinese writer Xinran Xue, present for the birth, then hears a man's voice respond to the sight of the newborn baby girl. "Useless thing," he cried in disappointment. The witness then heard a plop in the slops pail. "To my absolute horror, I saw a tiny foot poking out of the pail. The midwife must have dropped that tiny baby alive into the slops pail!" When she tried to intervene she was restrained by police. An older woman simply explained to her, "Doing a baby girl is not a big thing around here."'

* 'In one hospital in Punjab, in northern India, the only girls born after a round of ultrasound scans had been mistakenly identified as boys, or else had a male twin.'

* 'Wealth does not stop it. Taiwan and Singapore have open, rich economies. Within China and India the areas with the worst sex ratios are the richest, best-educated ones. And China’s one-child policy can only be part of the problem, given that so many other countries are affected.
In fact the destruction of baby girls is a product of three forces: the ancient preference for sons; a modern desire for smaller families; and ultrasound scanning and other technologies that identify the sex of a fetus. In societies where four or six children were common, a boy would almost certainly come along eventually; son preference did not need to exist at the expense of daughters. But now couples want two children—or, as in China, are allowed only one—they will sacrifice unborn daughters to their pursuit of a son. That is why sex ratios are most distorted in the modern, open parts of China and India. It is also why ratios are more skewed after the first child: parents may accept a daughter first time round but will do anything to ensure their next—and probably last—child is a boy. The boy-girl ratio is above 200 for a third child in some places.'

* 'Mao Zedong said “women hold up half the sky.” The world needs to do more to prevent a gendercide that will have the sky crashing down.'

(HT: Challies)

"Parenting is your primary calling"

"You must regard parenting as one of your most important tasks while you have children at home. This is your calling. You must raise your children in the fear and admonition of the Lord. You cannot do so without investing yourself in a life of sensitive communication in which you help them understand life and God's world. There is nothing more important. You have only a brief season of life to invest yourself in this task. You have only one opportunity to do it. You cannot go back and do it over.

You live in a culture in which there are opportunities for you to do things unheard of in history. You are presented daily with scores of options for investing your life's energies and creativity. There is more than you could ever do. You must, therefore, prioritize.

Parenting is your primary calling. Parenting will mean that you can't do all the things that you could otherwise do. It will affect your golf handicap. It will mean your home does not look like a picture from Better Homes and Gardens.It will impact your career and ascent on the corporate ladder. It will alter the kind of friendships you will be able to pursue. It will influence the kind of ministry you are able to pursue. It will modify the amount of time you have for bowling, hunting, television, or how many books you read. It will mean that you can't develop every interest that comes along. The costs are high.

How can you measure the cost against the benefits. I have spent time with broken parents. I have seen the drawn faces of parents who have known the heartbreak of seeing their children fleeing a home in which they had not been understood or engaged by their parents. I have also known the joy of hearing children who have been biblically engaged by their parents say, "Dad, I am amazed at how thoroughly I have been prepared for life. I will always be grateful for what you and Mom have given me." What price tag can a parent place on that."

Tedd Tripp Shepherding a Child's Heart p97.
(emphasis mine)

What do you think?

On the one hand, I wonder if he is overstating his case. After all, so many people bring up their children with so little effort and inconvenience. They continue to lead busy lives, climb the 'corporate ladder' and pursue all that interests them. Their children don't turn out so bad either!

On the other hand, I fear he may be right. We will have only a short time to invest in our children, and help them find the resources they need to live their lives to accomplish God's purposes for and through them. Maybe it should be our top priority at this time.

Today's Links 5/3/2010

Brace yourselves. This is going to be a LONG post, coming, as it does, after a LONG time. Do go over to these links. I'm interested in knowing what you think about these random thoughts, and would LOVE discussing these links with you. So do leave comments, even if you completely disagree with what I've posted!

1. The MCI has proposed setting up 300 medical colleges to provide a truncated medical education to rural students and deploy them there to provide basic healthcare facilities to villagers. You can read two press releases here and here.

What do you think?
1. Do you think this will only perpetuate inequalities and disparities in health care, with villagers getting 'poor quality' medical care? Is this just?

2. Do you think the City-doctors, who have no intention of moving to the country, are right in trying to block this development?

3. Or is this an ingenious way of forcing a solution to a difficult problem.

(For the record, I think this is a great idea. I am not sure, though, that in the long run it will not create more problems than solve them.)



2. Suffering Well: Faith Tested by Pastor's Cancer....An article that appeared in the Associated Press, about Matt Chandler's battle with brain cancer.











3.While at Herbertpur, we had a vibrant Sunday evening Bible study group. At one point of time, we watched together this series of movies on the Modern Parables of Jesus. I found these movies very professionally made, thought provoking, and world-view changing. I can still remember watching this series together with friends at Herbertpur, the animated discussions that followed, and the way my understanding of many of these parables changed, and the effect that had on my life.

I have now found that for a "limited time" it is possible to watch all the films online, even though it is not possible to watch the application videos. Do grab the opportunity.



4. The nice truth about marriage (from a letter of John Newton to his wife, Polly)

"It is no wonder if so many years, so many endearments, so many obligations have produced such an uncommon effect, that by long habit, it is almost impossible for me to draw a breath, in which you are not involved."

(HT: 9Marks)



5. "Beneath the Sun" The heart-breaking (and very well-written) story of a child's liver transplant



6. Hard words from Robert Murray McCheyne (Works (New York, 1847), II:482.)


"I fear there are some Christians among you to whom Christ cannot say ‘Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you.’ Your haughty dwelling arises in the midst of thousands who have scarce a fire to warm themselves at and have but little clothing to keep out the biting frost, and yet you never darkened their door. You heave a sigh perhaps at a distance, but you do not visit them. Ah my dear friends, I am concerned for the poor, but more for you. I know not what Christ will say to you on the great day. You seem to be Christians, and yet you care not for his poor. Oh, what a change will pass upon you as you enter the gates of heaven! You will be saved, but that will be all. There will be no abundant entrance for you. ‘He that soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly.’

And I fear that there may be many hearing me who may know well that they are not Christians, because they do not love to give. To give largely and liberally, not grudging at all, requires a new heart. An old heart would rather part with its life-blood than its money. Oh my friends, enjoy your money. Make the most of it. Give none of it away. Enjoy it quickly, for I can tell you, you will be beggars throughout eternity"

(HT: Ray Ortlund)

Bangalore...Hyderabad...Delhi...Herbertpur...Delhi...Vellore in 12 days

Here's another long overdue post.

We're now back in Vellore, after an unexpected trip to Delhi (but, of course, you already know that!)

Thank you, everybody, for the great time we could have together. We feel pampered and spoilt by all the care and attention you took of us. It was especially good that Ashita and Granny could also be in Delhi at the same time, and that we could chat with Ashish, Juliana, Safina and Serena. We feel refreshed and blessed in so many ways.

Here are some photos from the trip (some taken by Anugrah)

Problem with videos

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

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

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)

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.

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.

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

Howard Zinn, 1922-2010

The great Howard Zinn's death has the ominous feeling of bringing too close the end of an era when some western intellectuals had the magnetism of rock stars, and when their ethical and principled stand against the dominant powers of the moment moved millions to see things differently, and to act.

continued... http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jan/28/howard-zinn-america

Also an interesting speech http://www.crmvet.org/comm/zinn05.htm

A good book for any one who interacts with children.

Hi all,

I'm starting a mom's group and am excited to get started. I'll be facilitating our meetings the last Saturday of every month.

The first book that we've selected to read is called, "Parenting with Love and Logic."

Here's a link for you to check out:

http://www.loveandlogic.com/

It's a great book and it really works quite well with Safina. She's incredibly logical in her conversations at this stage of development.

Anyway, if any of you are interested in getting a copy of this book, I'll send one your way, or bring you a copy when we come in October. The web site also has a lot of useful information.

~juliana

P.s. my brother, Jason, who is not a parent thought this was a really useful book too.

Google's Republic Day doodle

Aman went home to Jesus

18^th January 2010

In the early hours of today, Aman went home to Jesus. If you happen to call yourself evangelical (“true to the gospel”) you might initiate a debate with me on that. Aman was born into a Muslim family and died in a Muslim family and probably never heard about the remarkable story of God becoming flesh to bring us life. To me he was a bearer of that very message... similar to how a baby in a barn brought that message of hope to shepherds 2000 years ago.

A while back, while I was considering adopting a disabled child, as a pre-requisite I committed myself to spend at least 15 minutes of every day with Aman – carrying him, engaging with him and establishing a relationship with him. In addition to loving and being loved by him I wanted to experience a small part of the difficulty that his parents experience in raising him. I gave up very soon, primarily because it hurt my back to hold him for long. Also, after long efforts of animated discussions with him, he would barely respond to me. Occasionally he would gift me a slight smile and I would treasure those.

Aman was an angel sent to show me that God is love. His helplessness was an immediate reminder of a God who became that – helpless; to show me His heart... to invite me into relationship with Him.

Hey Aman, you lived well... you accomplished your task... you surely are a good and faithful servant of the King. You bore His image very well... Thank you... see you soon!

Today's links 24/1/2010

1. Slam poet Taylor Mali’s “Totally Like Whatever, You Know?”

Typography from Ronnie Bruce on Vimeo.

(HT: Justin Taylor)


2. How a Reformed Church Overthrew Communism in Romania....the truth is stranger than fiction


3. The results of a study that has concluded that "children spanked up to the age of 6 were likely as teenagers to perform better at school and were more likely to carry out volunteer work and to want to go to college than their peers who had never been physically disciplined, whereas children who continued to be spanked into adolescence showed clear behavioral problems."


4. Home-Schooled Children Excel as Adults: Another study that found that "home-educated adults in this study were very positive about having been homeschooled and toward homeschooling in general, actively engaged in their local communities, keeping abreast of current affairs, highly civically involved, tolerant of others expressing their viewpoints, attaining relatively high levels of formal education, religiously active and wide-ranging in their worldview beliefs, holding worldview beliefs similar to those of their parents, and largely home educating their own children."

(HT: Veith)


5. The Scary Idea of unmerited free grace - A nice quote from Tim Keller's book: The Prodigal God

"Some years ago I met a woman who began coming to Redeemer, the church where I am a minister. She said that she had gone to church growing up and she had always heard that God accepts us only if we are sufficiently good and ethical. She had never heard the message she was now hearing, that we can be accepted by God by sheer grace through the work of Christ regardless of anything we do or have done. She said, 'That's a scary idea! Oh, it's a good scary, but still scary.'

I was intrigued. I asked her what was so scary about unmerited free grace? She replied something like this: 'If I was saved by my good works - then there would be a limit to what God could ask of me or put me through. I would be like a taxpayer with rights. I would have done my duty and now I would deserve a certain quality of life. But if it is really true that I am a sinner saved by sheer grace - at God's infinite cost - then there's nothing He cannot ask of me.'

She could see immediately that the wonderful-beyond-belief teaching of salvation by sheer grace had two edges to it. On the one hand it cut away slavish fear. God loves us freely, despite our flaws and failures. Yet, she also knew that if Jesus really had done this for her - she was not her own. She was bought with a price."

(HT: Vitamin Z)

6. The Results Fit the Expectations: The story of Passion 2010, a conference in Atlanta, and what happened when 20,000 young people were presented with a big challenge. Do go over to the link, and read through. Maybe, as the point was made, we are not expecting enough from our young people and children.

7. A hilarious video on Moms.



(HT: Pramod)

A Christian Health Care option?

My sister-in-law posted a link to this "Christian Health Care Plan" on our family blog (which, you will notice, looks almost exactly like this one!). It sounded like a fascinating idea

With so many public health specialists, and health insurance specialists among us, I would be really interested in knowing what you think about this, and your thoughts on whether something like this would be possible in India?

The rest, as they say, is History

I was moved to tears today as I listened to this 17 minute speech, and thought of all the discrimination that still exists today.

I was also struck by the number of quotations from the Bible, and saw, perhaps, again, for the first time, the amount the Bible has to say about equality and justice.

10 Resolutions for Mental Health

(From a lecture by Clyde Kilby in 1976)

10 Resolutions for Mental Health

1. At least once every day I shall look steadily up at the sky and remember that I, a consciousness with a conscience, am on a planet traveling in space with wonderfully mysterious things above and about me.

2. Instead of the accustomed idea of a mindless and endless evolutionary change to which we can neither add nor subtract, I shall suppose the universe guided by an Intelligence which, as Aristotle said of Greek drama, requires a beginning, a middle, and an end.

I think this will save me from the cynicism expressed by Bertrand Russell before his death when he said: "There is darkness without, and when I die there will be darkness within. There is no splendor, no vastness anywhere, only triviality for a moment, and then nothing."

3. I shall not fall into the falsehood that this day, or any day, is merely another ambiguous and plodding twenty-four hours, but rather a unique event, filled, if I so wish, with worthy potentialities.

I shall not be fool enough to suppose that trouble and pain are wholly evil parentheses in my existence, but just as likely ladders to be climbed toward moral and spiritual manhood.

4. I shall not turn my life into a thin, straight line which prefers abstractions to reality. I shall know what I am doing when I abstract, which of course I shall often have to do.

5. I shall not demean my own uniqueness by envy of others. I shall stop boring into myself to discover what psychological or social categories I might belong to. Mostly I shall simply forget about myself and do my work.

6. I shall open my eyes and ears. Once every day I shall simply stare at a tree, a flower, a cloud, or a person. I shall not then be concerned at all to ask what they are but simply be glad that they are. I shall joyfully allow them the mystery of what Lewis calls their "divine, magical, terrifying and ecstatic" existence.

7. I shall sometimes look back at the freshness of vision I had in childhood and try, at least for a little while, to be, in the words of Lewis Carroll, the "child of the pure unclouded brow, and dreaming eyes of wonder."

8. I shall follow Darwin's advice and turn frequently to imaginative things such as good literature and good music, preferably, as Lewis suggests, an old book and timeless music.

9. I shall not allow the devilish onrush of this century to usurp all my energies but will instead, as Charles Williams suggested, "fulfill the moment as the moment." I shall try to live well just now because the only time that exists is now.

10. Even if I turn out to be wrong, I shall bet my life on the assumption that this world is not idiotic, neither run by an absentee landlord, but that today, this very day, some stroke is being added to the cosmic canvas that in due course I shall understand with joy as a stroke made by the architect who calls himself Alpha and Omega.

(HT: John Piper)

Anand's dedication ceremony

Though Anand is now over two years old, we had never actually had a dedication ceremony for him. This was primarily because we were always in a state of flux, moving between many places, and in search of a church we could be a part of. We also wanted to have people from both our 'families-of-origin' present as a part of this ceremony.

Just before Prem's wedding, we realised that we had a window of opportunity to have Anand dedicated. Arpita's mother was in Bangalore in order to visit Ashita and attend the wedding, and my family had come together as well.

And so, we grabbed the opportunity, and Anand was dedicated the day before Prem's wedding.

There were really three things we wanted to do.
1. We wanted this dedication to be a celebration of the fact that we have been adopted into God's family, and are now His children. We spent some time expressing our gratitude for the various benefits that have accrued to us because of this reality.

2. We knew that in addition to dedicating Anand, we wanted to dedicate ourselves. We wanted to express our prayer for grace to be good parents, in addition to expressing our prayers and desires for Anand.

3. We wanted every family represented that evening to be a part of the ceremony. We wanted to acknowledge that we were a part of a loving community that would bless and influence Anand in many ways.

And so we gathered together after dinner on Jan 1st. We were a small community of people who cared for Anand, and wanted to dedicate him to the Lord. After singing a song together, we went through this dedication that Arpita and I had written out together.

We want to thank each of you for your love and care for us as a family. Please do continue to pray for and with us, as we continue together on this exciting journey.

Jesus' Happy Birthday!

It is now about 3 weeks since my last post, and I can understand how difficult it is to start posting when you have not done so for a long time!

So for those of you who have not posted for a long time, let me suggest frequent posts whenever you get the time. Sustaining momentum is easier than starting to move....something to do with the laws of inertia that I seem to remember from looooong ago.

Here are some photos and videos from our family celebration of Christmas. The aim was to help Anand learn the story of Jesus birth through repetition. We also wanted him to experience the joy of anticipation that something exciting was about to happen, and the joy of seeing the promise fulfilled.

We tried to do this using candles and a crib.

We had dinner by candlelight for the last week before Christmas. We started out with one candle, and every couple of days or so, we would add on another one, until we had 5 candles on Dec 25th, with a new white candle representing Jesus. This was supposed to represent the increasing light of God's working in human history until Jesus birth as the Light of the World. I doubt Anand 'got it', but he enjoyed the candles, and especially blowing them out every day. He saw them as representing "Jesus' Happy Birthday candles"!





For family prayers that week, we read passages from the Old and New Testaments that talked about Jesus' birth.

After prayers, we did our version of the Advent calendar. Anand had painted,(with expert help from his architect aunt) a barn that we placed on a thermocol base. Everyday, we would give him a piece to place in the barn...for example, the animals one day, Mary and Joseph, and the shepherds, and the wise men, and finally a baby to place in the manger on Dec 25th. This was actually really exciting. We enjoyed watching his thrilled expressions and anticipation every day, and by repeating the story every day, we think he learnt a little of it by heart.







And finally, here's Anand enjoying "Jesus' Happy Birthday Cake" from Aunty Neema, on Dec 25th.