Giving Thanks for Friendship

The Defeat of Darkness

On  Dec  10th  we  witnessed a  lunar  eclipse  in  our  part  of  the  earth. It  was  a beautiful  sight  to   behold.The  moon  gradually disappearing   behind  a  cloak of  darkness  and   then  emarging bright  and  luminous  once  more. It  all took  more  than  an  hour . Scientists ,  researchers , students  and interested  people  gazed   at it  with  specialised  equipment and   the  naked eye. The  news  channels  did   their  best  to  show   it  to  us  at  its  various  stages.
Below  are  my  attempts  at  taking   some  mug shots  or  potshots  at  the  moon.

(Lunar  eclipse Dec  10, 2011)

It  was  a  rare  sight .  The  moon  being  enveloped  by  darkness  and  then  slipping  out  from  the  shadow in  all  its   silver  luminence.

Christmas  is  the  season  to  celebrate  the defeat  of darkness.

This  is   a  prophecy  made about  the  birth  of  Christ  by  the   Prophet  Isaiah hundreds  of  years   before   his  birth.
Isaiah 9 (BIBLE -OLD  TESTAMENT)
2 The people who walk in darkness
Will see a great light;
Those who live in a dark land,
The light will shine on them.
3 You shall multiply the nation,
You shall increase their gladness;
They will be glad in Your presence
As with the gladness of harvest,
As men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
4 For You shall break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders,
The rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian.
5 For every boot of the booted warrior in the battle tumult,
And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire.

6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
7 There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,
On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From then on and forevermore.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.

Joni Eareckson Tada   says,
"God permits all sorts of awful things to happen... things he doesn't approve of.
God allows others to do what he would never do. At the same time, he hates evil.
Please don't think that God sits back and nods appreciatively at the peddling of
drugs to ninth graders. He's not the one who fired the ovens of Auschwitz and other
Nazi death camps. He does not smile when doctors slip up leaving children with crippling
defects, or high school linebackers crush the neck of the opposing team's quarterback.

He hates these things

God is truly grieved over evil. He is grieved at how we've ruined the world and
abused each other. This grief is partly why he gave the Ten Commandments: don't
murder, he says -
 I hate unjust killing.
Don't commit adultery -
 I despise seeing
families ripped apart.
 Don't steal - society will crumble if you do.
God cannot
tolerate wrong...
This is why he sent Jesus to be born into our dark world. From the day of his birth,
the forces of darkness began plotting against the Babe in the manger. Why?
 Because
the adversary and his wicked hoards knew that this was the Child who would ultimately
crush Satan and bring an end to wickedness in this world. God is so grieved over
evil, that he sent his only Son to die in order that righteousness and peace, truth
and love would prevail... in order that we might escape the clutches of hell and
be welcomed into heaven. God permits what he hates to accomplish that which he
loves.

Celebrate the defeat of darkness by singing this verse today from the Christmas
carol, "Joy to the World": No more let sin or sorrow reign, nor thorns infest the
ground; He comes to make His blessings known far as the curse is found!

God rest ye merry gentlemen, let nothing you dismay, remember Christ our Saviorwe were gone astray,
O tidings of comfort and joy!"

===============

 This   is  Mary' s  soliloquy  addressed  to her  new  born  son. Max  Lucado  has  written  it   beautifully
Tiny Mouth, Tiny Feet

God. O infant-God. Heaven’s fairest child. Conceived by the union of divine grace with our disgrace. Sleep well.
Sleep well. Bask in the coolness of this night bright with diamonds. Sleep well, for the heat of anger simmers nearby. Enjoy the silence of the crib, for the noise of confusion rumbles in your future. Savor the sweet safety of my arms, for a day is soon coming when I cannot protect you.

Rest well, tiny hands. For though you belong to a king, you will touch no satin, own no gold. You will grasp no pen, guide no brush. No, your tiny hands are reserved for works more precious:
to touch a leper’s open wound,
to wipe a widow’s weary tear
to claw the ground of Gethsemane.

Your hands, so tiny, so tender, so white—clutched tonight in an infant’s fist. They aren’t destined to hold a scepter nor wave from a palace balcony. They are reserved instead for a Roman spike that will staple them to a Roman cross.

Sleep deeply, tiny eyes. Sleep while you can. For soon the blurriness will clear and you will see the mess we have made of your world.

O eyes that will see hell’s darkest pit and witness her ugly prince … sleep, please sleep; sleep while you can.

Lay still, tiny mouth. Lay still mouth from which eternity will speak.
Tiny tongue that will soon summon the dead,
that will define grace,
that will silence our foolishness.

Rosebud lips—upon which ride a starborn kiss of forgiveness to those who believe you, and of death to those who deny you—lay still.

And tiny feet cupped in the palm of my hand, rest. For many difficult steps lie ahead for you.

Rest, tiny feet. Rest today so that tomorrow you might walk with power. Rest. For millions will follow in your steps.

And little heart … holy heart … pumping the blood of life through the universe: How many times will we break you?
You’ll be torn by the thorns of our accusations.
You’ll be ravaged by the cancer of our sin.
You’ll be crushed under the weight of your own sorrow.
And you’ll be pierced by the spear of our rejection.

Yet in that piercing, in that ultimate ripping of muscle and membrane, in that final rush of blood and water, you will find rest. Your hands will be freed, your eyes will see justice, your lips will smile, and your feet will carry you home.
And there you’ll rest again—this time in the embrace of your Father.

Reformation Day and Halloween

Reformation  Day  is  observed  on   the  last Sunday  of October.
In  India  its   not  well known  but most  Protestant Christians observe Reformation Day in honor of Martin Luther and other Christians who removed false doctrine and destructive practices from the Christian church.

Because the Roman Catholic Church was desperate to raise money to complete St. Peter's in Rome during the Middle Ages, many clergy used fear as a tool to obtain money from poor and unsophisticated people. They told the people that they had to pay money to the church so that their sins and the sins of their families might be forgiven. The people bought pieces of paper called pardons and indulgences from the church so that they could believe that they would go to heaven when they died.

Luther was deeply disturbed by these and other abuses in the church. At the same time he was aware of his own sins and imperfections, and he tried very hard to make himself into a person that he thought God would like. The harder he tried, the worse he felt. He thought he was growing farther and farther away from God, and that it was becoming impossible for God to like him at all.

In despair, he began a deep study of the Bible, especially the letters in the New Testament that were written by Paul, most of all the letter to the Romans, and he began to understand what Paul had told the early Christians over a thousand years before.

In his preaching and writing, Luther began to emphasize two main points: justification by faith and the priesthood of all believers.

Justification by faith means that Christians can never earn God's love or forgiveness. All that Christians must do is to accept God as God, and God will love and forgive and cherish them.

The priesthood of all believers means that every Christian has his or her own personal relationship with God, reading the Bible and worshiping in his or her own language, and praying directly to God without anyone's going in between.

So Protestant Christians give thanks to God on this day for the opportunity to lead lives of faith, instead of lives of fear.

Reformation Day is observed on the last Sunday of October, during the Season of Pentecost. The symbol of Luther and Lutherans is the Luther Rose.
(taken   from  a  web  source)
___________________

I  read an  interesting  article  on  Halloween on   the  Resurgence  webswite entitled
WHAT  CHRISTIANS SHOULD  KNOW  ABOUT  HALLOWEEN

You  can  click  on  the  link

Birthday House

This year  God is  giving  opportunities of  celebrating the  birthdays  of  some  of  our  family  members and friends.

In April  we invited  my  mother 's   friend Miss  Jha to  celebrate her  birthday. She  is  a  retired teacher. She  tried very   hard   to  find  a  post  retirement  job , but  was  not  successful, so  she  is  returning  home   mid-August.

In May  we  celebrated  10  year  old  Simran 's  birthday. She  is  my   cousin' s   daughter. They  have  a dysfunctional  family. Her father  was  not  even  home  for  her  birthday.  We   are  praying  for  this  family  to  be  saved.

Last  week  on July 21st we celebrated  Auntie  Maya 's  73rd  birthday. For  lunch  I  made  a dumpling  curry  called   KADHI.  We  were  expecting  her  family  and  friends to  visit   in  the evening  so  I  got  the  house   ready  and arranged  for   snacks  and   cold  drinks. Auntie is  suffering  from 5  kinds  of  medical  problems   and  is  on  a  restricted  diet.

It was  a very  hot  and   humid  day (like   today)  and  I  was  extremely   exhausted.

Her  son   said  they  would   bring a home made  packed  dinner   eat  with  us, so  I  also  made   CHOLE  PANEER (with  cottage  cheese). And  kheer  or  rice  pudding  for  dessert. (Check   out  the  recipe  links)

It rained  heavily  that  afternoon.  Out   first  visitors  were  Diana   and  her  son  Ben. They  are  Americans. Di  is  married  to  the  brother  of  Auntie 's   son-in-law. Lovely   Christians. I  meet  them  occasionally. Di  brought  Auntie  a  lovely  eggless  cake  and  sugar free  cookies  and  a bouquet. They  sat   for   an  hour  and  a  half while  it  poured  outside. We  had  a good   time.

It  rained  so  hard   the  streets  got  flooded and  so  for a  while  we   thought    Auntie 's  son  and daughter and  their  families  would   not  be  able  to  come.  But   they  did  come  a  bit  late  after   the  downpour  abated  and  we  had  a  second  round   of  celebration. Her  daughter  brought  steamed   savoury  snack  called  DHOKLA

Auntie' s daughter-in-law  brought   us   dinner,  but   i was disappointed  that  they  did  not   eat  with  us. I  had   cooked  lots of   food.It  sort of  hurt  me   too. But  they  are  known   to decline eating outside  their  home. Strange  behaviour.

In  all  cultures   eating  together  has   great  value  and it  brings  friends  and families   together. One   feels  hurt  when  a meal  is  rejected. Remember  the  parable  of  Jesus  .   Luke 14:12 -24   A  rich  nobleman invited  his  friends   for  a banquet and all   of them made  lame  excuses not  to  attend. So  he  directed  his  servants  to  bring  in   the  lame, lost  and   poor  from  the  streets . These  so called  rejects  of  society became  his  honored   guests.

This  story   is  interpreted in  various  ways.

God  invites  us  to  be   part  of  his  family  and have  fellowship with him, but   if  we  reject  his   invite, he  will  call  others, maybe those whom we  don 't deem  worthy.

God   gave  the  nation  of  Israel a  special status of  being  his chosen people,  they  spurned  the Messiah, Jesus  ,his Son,   and  now  the invitation is  open  to  all  people  of  the  earth. They  are other  deeper interpretations  of  this   story  , but  I won 't  go  into  those. You  can  share   your  views  on  this  if  you  like ,  I am interested  in  knowing them.

The  birthday  girl  with  her  eldest 

grand daughter Alisha

Auntie, Diana,  Ben  and  Mama

I  wanted  to  take  some pictures 

but  as  I  was  getting up  to  it,  a

friend  called  me  and while  I was talking  to her 

all  the guests  left.

Today is my Mother 's 80th Birthday

Mama  is  80  years  old  today.
"What  shall  I  render  unto   the Lord for   all  Hi s benefits  towards  me". Psalm 116:12 (BIBLE)

How  can  you  express  to God  your sense of gratitude-for His  mercies and  His blessings  everyday renewed?
Just by passing on to others what  He  has  bestowed-sharing with the  travellers you  meet  upon  the  road...
Scatter wide  the  good  received your thankfulness  to  show. Cast  your bread  upon the  waters, gladly let it go.
(Patience Strong)
 

Mama with  a little  girl

With Megan

My desk top is not working, so  instead of  scanning  these photos I photographed  them.

Mama and Papa upon

graduating from  University.

Happy together

Proudly displaying  her  gladioli

In Nigeria (19 years  ago.

(Top photo)

with my  sister Anjali  and  her kids)

(second photo)

Worshipping at  a  Lagos church)

My  parents   with

daughter  Namrita

With me

Dancing with  Aunt  Maya

at  my  sister 's  wedding.

All these memories we  hold so

dear and  thank  the   Lord  for  them.

Wedding Bells

On  the  26th we  were  invited  to  a wedding  reception  of  a girl who was a  former  member of  our  church.  Her  parents  were  married  here, so  she  grew  up  with us.

The  couple  are doing  very  well  professionally and  they  held  the  dinner in  a  posh , upscale hotel close to our  house.

Here  are  some  photos I  would  like  to share  with  you.

A  family  friend prays  for  the  couple

It  was  a lovely  cake ordered 

from  an expensive bakery.

The  happy  twosome

There were about 200 invitees.

Quite  small  for  an  Indian wedding.

In  the  beginning we were served

colas  and  canapes

followed  by   cake  and  coffee.

Before  dinner  we had  soup

and  then  a wide  array   of  vegetarian

and non  veg  dishes and  salads

and  breads.

For  dessert ice cream was  served

with  various  accompaniments.

Sonia and  Abner

Me

The  bride 's  aunt,

who  is  a  member of our  church.

God’s vision for marriage

Spirit-filled married couples have the opportunity to know and accept each other deeply, as they learn that loving someone else isn’t natural, nor does it come easily. They get to love because Christ loves them (1 John 4:10–11). They don’t need to fear intimacy or confessing sin, they can walk in the freedom of faith and repentance. Since they have been graced and forgiven they can offer grace and forgiveness to each other. Because God has been kind to them, they can be kind to one another (Ephesians 4:32).

As helpful companions who see their spouse as a precious gift from God, together they get to face the blessings, trials, and unexpected surprises of life, saturate their children with Jesus, serve brothers and sisters in the church, and share the gospel with neighbors, extended families and co-workers. Just as Jesus continues to intentionally pursue and love them, they get to creatively pursue and love each other, building a God-honoring legacy as they grow old together.
( taken from  the  Resurgence  Blog)

10 Years Old on May 24th

We invited  Simran (Angela),

her  mother and  younger  brother

to  celebrate  her  birthday  with  us.

She  likes  paneer ( cottage  cheese)  and  egg  curries.

So we made  those   for  her.

This   is  a  dysfunctional family.

The  father  moved away more

than  a  month  ago.

The  parents  made a  lot of

wrong  choices and  lived an ungodly life  an d they

are  paying  for  it.

We  are  praying  for  them

and  try  to  counsel and  help

them  in  whatever  way  we can.

Please for  the  salvation  of  this  family.

Earlier  the  mother  had  no

interest in  the  things  of  God,

but  now  she  occasionally

goes  to  church, asked  me  to  pray

for  them and  sends  her 

children to Sunday  School.

They need  a  drastic  change  in

their  lives.

Simran and  Abner playing together.

On May 25th was  my sister  Anjali 's  birthday.

We  missed  her  and  talked  on Skype.

Tonight Sonia, Abner and  I  are 

going  to a wedding  reception.

The  bride grew up in our church,

but  now  she  attends   another  church.

We  are  looking  forward  to  this

nice  festivity and  i  will  take 

photos  too.

I  AM  HAVING  TROUBLE  POSTING

COMMENTS  ON  BLOGS IN WHICH

THE  COMMENT  BOX OPEN IN A WINDOW

BELOW THE  POST AND  ONE  HAS  TO

CHOOSE AN ID.

 BLOGGER REFUSES MY  ID

EACH TIME.

I CAN ONLY COMMENT  IN THE  WINDOW

COMMENT  BOXES.

(like  the  one  I  have)

I  always have  trouble  with those

below  the  post  comment  boxes

they  are  very  fussy  and

take  too  much  time.

I  don 't  like  them.

___________

Here   is a  lovely  verse for

  all  my   readers.

Set  your Face  towards  Light

Set your face towards  the  light

and don 't be led astray-

by the things  that  draw your  footsteps

down some other way

Steep and hard the road may be

with not a bend in sight-

but if it seems to run

in the direction of the light-

Keep to it

and do not turn aside

for anyone

Follow where it  leads you

Set your face towards

the sun.

"In Thy light shall  we see light".

Psalm 36;9

(Patience Strong)

The Royal Band Baaja Baraat ( Wedding)

Today  all  eyes  and  TV  sets  will  be  tuned  in  to  the Royal  Wedding.We  all  want   a  bit  of  fun  and  celebration. In  India  the  wedding  interest  is  high.

I  remember the  wedding   of  Charles  and  Diana.

I  was   a student  then and  since  TV had  not  yet

reached  our  city, I  heard   the  commentary  on  BBC  World  Service radio

and  baked   cookies.

No  one  can  beat  the  British

Pomp and Circumstance.

This  is  the Queen 's  official  approval of  the  wedding.

Today  is  nephew Ash 's  birthday,

so  double reason  to  celebrate.

I  going  to  make     English  muffins

and tea.  Put  out   some  Indian canapes,

and  don my   straw hat to get  into   the spirit.

A  Pastor  and his  wife are  attending

their  church  council  meetings,

so  their  daughter  Pinky

who  is  physically  and  educationally

challenged spends  the  day   with us.

She  is  fun company.

Pinky  wants  to  see the  Wedding Show  too.

Pinky  is  grown  up but  she  is  like  an

innocent sweet  child,  so gentle hearted

and  caring. Every  morning she goes to

a  nursery school  to  assist  a  teacher.

She loves  children.

She  is  also  writing  her  special education  exams.

P.S.

Watched  the whole  show  this  afternoon.

Good   fun.

The  part  I  liked best  was  the  procession  after  the

church ceremony  in the 

horse drawn  royal  coaches.

It  was  a  fairy tale wedding.

Did  you   watch  it?

What  was  your  favourite  part?

Watch  this  video.

Mr Christmas

These are my pre -Christmas photos. Did not get an opportunity to publish them until now.

I was out shopping and saw a lady with this very seasonal shopping bag. (top photo)Yes in India people associate Christmas with snow and snowmen.

I took pictures of a wayside Christmas decorations stall.. Many of the buyers were from other faiths. My newspaper held a Christmas tree competition and everyone on the winners list were Hindus.

India is a very homogeneous country and people enjoy each other 's festivals. I just pray they may know the real message of Christmas.

China , a country not very favorable towards Christianity is flooding the world with Christmas decorations. In India they sell more than Indian made ones. China is exporting Hindu religious articles also.

Here is the story of one man who tries to celebrate Christmas all through the year.

Andy Park (Mr. Christmas)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Andy Park, is an electrician from Melksham, Wiltshire, England, who styles himself "Mr. Christmas" after claiming to have celebrated Christmas day every day since July 1993.

In 2001, it was estimated that since he started celebrating, he had got through 30 artificial Christmas trees,

10,000m of tinsel

and 10,000 balloons,

at a (then) estimated cost of £100,000.

In 2005, he released a single entitled "It's Christmas Every Day", with a video featuring Mike Read and produced by Andy Whitmore. There were suggestions in the media that much of the information released by Mr Park was false, and simply to attract publicity for the single:

"His local newspaper, “The Wiltshire Times” tell us it has given up trying to do any stories on this man. Apparently, their photographer has shown up at his house several times, unannounced, in hopes of catching him celebrating. Yet, Mr. Christmas has not even let him in the door. So what exactly is going on here? This might shed some light. His latest video for his latest Christmas single. And it is just about as bad as his Christmas sweater. So there it is , media hustler. We‘re obviously outraged on behalf of ourselves and all other media giants who got even slightly taken in by this clown."— Keith Olbermann[1]

He claims that each day he eats breakfast (turkey sandwich and mince pies),

then goes to work, until returning around at lunchtime to eat a full roast turkey dinner before watching a recording of the Queen's Christmas speech, sherry in hand.

In 2006, it was reported that the Queen had politely declined an invitation to broadcast her speech from his house.

In an interview published in 2006, Mr. Park was quoted as saying that over the previous 13 years, he had consumed

4,380 turkeys (one a day),

87,600 mince pies (20 a day),

2,190 pints of gravy (half a pint a day),

26,280 roast potatoes (six a day),

30,660 stuffing balls,

219,000 mushy peas,

4,380 bottles of champagne,

4,380 bottles of sherry

and 5,000 bottles of wine.

However, in 2001, he was warned by his doctor that the diet was affecting his health after his weight increased to 19 stone (121 kg).

He claims that, on the 25th December each and every year, he does not celebrate Christmas.

This story is just too bizarre. This man might be a hoax.

You can celebrate Christmas everyday if you have Jesus in your heart.

It will not cost you your health or money.