It seems like our days are so full of family fun, hindi learning and ministry opportunities. Maybe we're still in our "honeymoon phase" of culture shock but we feel so blessed by God to be living this life and our so thankful to him for all that he has provided and the way he has kept us so near to him each day. There are definitely those cultural things that tempt us to be upset, such as auto drivers trying to charge a super high price because we're foreigners, or the fact that beef is illegal in our state.. yep! haha, but God has poured and poured his grace upon us to truly be able to see these things as blessings wrapped up as trials because they grow our character and strengthen our reliance on him and that is what we MOST desire- more than fairness or food we long to walk deeply with God and be made like him for his glory.
I was recently told by a wise mentor that these blogs will become a great treasure of memories and that is so true. I haven't been very consistent with them but her words have inspired me to really try to record our memories, trials and victories every week or two because in 20 years they will so so treasured!
So.. our past couple of weeks have consisted of...
Finding a very creative way to have a bath in India. Bath tubs are rare here but Luke worked with a toy store shop keeper to try to find a kiddie pool that was shaped like a bath tub and he did!
We all took turns blowing it up... even Ezra! haha This was seriously the most comfortable bathtub I have ever sat in! Baths always have hard backs and awkward neck positions but this is like laying on pillows and after 3 months of no warm baths I was in heaven! :) We have a huge unused bath room in Ezra's room so just store it there .. such a silly but great blessing!
I've been working on craft projects throughout the house. In our room I'm doing a design with the shape seen in the photo and after I'm done I'll paint the pencil marks light gray to match our comforter. I found the idea on pinterest (where I get all my great ideas) haha. People will often say I'm creative but really I'm not.. I'm recreative.. I can't come up with these things on my own but I have a steady hand to copy other's ideas. :)
Ezra was "helping mommy" but soon ditched me to watch cricket with daddy. (Cricket is a beloved sport in India similar to baseball.)
Yesterday was Luke's 25th birthday!!
He had such a great birthday!!! We went to our first movie at the theaters in India, then went to one of the best malls in Delhi with lots of our friends and ate a Chili's.. oh Chili's how I love thee!!
My friend Kathy is in town so I have really enjoyed seeing her and her family this week. They came to the mall too and us girls got to get a pedi before we ate while the men played with the babes at a toy store. Such servant hearted husbands! :)
Our new family favorite hang out is Dunkin Donuts. It has a very relaxing environment and Ezra is free to walk around, stare at the donut case and visit with the workers. Plus we can get two donuts, a bagel and a coke for the same price of a coffee at Starbucks. haha
Last weekend Passion came to India!! It was such an amazing sight to see thousands of Indians worshiping the one true God and though it was only a tiny percentage of the 24 million people who live in this city it was so encouraging to see that God IS at work here. In my day I may not pass by a single Christian on the street but I have seen that he is at work and he is a mighty God who is capable of mighty things.. oh so exciting!!
We have been blessed to have one bible believing church in our colony that is actually led in English! It's a completely Indian congregation but their heart languages aren't Hindi and there aren't enough other believers to have a church for each of the thousands of native languages in India so they make up one congregation of about 50-75 people. They have been so sweet and welcoming from the first day we met them. They love Ezra and are a wonderful group of people to fellowship with on Sunday. This is Ezra and one of our brothers playing on someone scooty.. hope they don't mind. :)
There is a park right outside our apartment building where kids play cricket almost every day. But, one day Luke took out some clubs and taught them some golf basics. They have a lot of fun hitting foam golf balls in the park and will come to the door asking if Luke and Ezra can come play golf.. haha.
There is a great import store that just opened up down the road and they occasionally have buffalo steaks!! Their pretty expensive both worth it for an occasional dinner. This week we had our first "America dinner night"- it was awesome! Totally unhealthy.. but so awesome. Oh you will also notice real mac and cheese from the box. We loved this stuff in America and I found some at the store that was only $2 instead of the normal $5.. so we bought them all. We now have 6 boxes of mac and cheese in the pantry.. haha. And I'm counting that up there with top blessings from the week! ha
Ezra is getting so big but is still so sweet! He loves to sit in my lap and snuggle. I LOVE it too! He even is learning to give kisses. :)
We passed by this really cool castle thing on the road the other day. Awesome old castle in the middle of modern busy India.. haha
Last Saturday we went to the zoo with some friends.
It was really fun!
The boys checking out some animals.. probably deer.. there were tons of deer there..haha.
Our friends and us striking a pose before we left. Yes that's an ice cream cone in Ezra's hands. haha They were about 20 cents! So I had 3 throughout the day.. haha.
Right now is strawberry season so we have been stocking up and freezing them so we can make fruit smoothies this summer. Ezra is definitely a strawberry fan. As we were cleaning and cutting them he was "taste testing" them.. and had a mouth full! haha
I have always had a thing for cows and let me say.. India is a GREAT place to live when you like cows. We were walking home from class the other day and passed by a small herd. They are worshipped here so I usually don't touch them but no one was looking so I got to pet one and take a picture with "Bessie" haha
My face is half excitement of touching the cow and fear of the cow with horns that was just 10 feet beside us.
The kids are on a small school break so the boys in our neighborhood have played cricket each morning in the park across the street. Ezra LOVES to sit and watch them play! He is already learning to swing a cricket bat and I imagine him playing in the parks with the other boys soon.. well in a few years. :)
Whew.. that is a lot of GREAT memories in just a handful of days!
We're further than we've ever been from everything we've ever known but walking closer with God than we ever have and that makes ALL the difference! It makes the bad things good and the good things great. I'm so thankful to serve a God who is so wonderful!!
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