gratitude # 563 – 586.   Friday, April 15, 2011 a new friend, sent at just the right time drinking coffee and munching popcorn and talking about childhood favorite books . . . Anne of Green Gables and Emily of New Moon and Little House on the Prairie Judah is so close to swimming all by himself Amie is gaining confidence in the pool grace for David’s trip this week he is flying home this afternoon sleepovers with Judah in my bed Judah and Amie’s fervent, sometimes-understandable prayers the chaotic, happy fun of pizza night at the Iversons’ Maggie’s new sari Judah nicknames: “Ams” (Amie), “Moms” (Mommy) Judah’s friendly…

  summertime boy. Wednesday, April 13, 2011      

  morning glory muffins. Wednesday, April 13, 2011   Slowly but surely I’m finding my way back into baking.  It looks a little different here, because I have to use ingredients that are available.   We love these Morning Glory Muffins from allrecipes.com.  I halved the sugar, omitted the raisins, and substituted mashed bananas for the apple butter.  Yum. Ingredients 11 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 21/2 cup whole wheat flour 31 1/4 cups white sugar 41 tablespoon ground cinnamon 52 teaspoons baking powder 61/2 teaspoon baking soda 71/2 teaspoon salt 82 cups grated carrots 91 apple – peeled, cored, and chopped 101 cup raisins 111 egg 122 egg whites 131/2 cup…

  one month from today. Tuesday, April 12, 2011   I want to eat a thick, juicy cheeseburger.  Filet Mignon straight from the grill.  Guacamole with big, creamy avocado chunks. Publix bakery Italian bread.  Real cheese . . .  sharp cheddar and fresh-grated parmesan.  I want a huge fried-chicken salad from Ruby Tuesday’s.  And ice-cold two percent milk by the glassful. I cannot wait to drive.  To walk out of the house and climb in the car and go wherever I want.  To change my mind mid-trip and stop by a friend’s house or pick up a mocha from Starbucks. I want to wander the aisles of favorite supermarkets –…

  letting go. Sunday, April 10, 2011   We’re going on five months now.  Slowly but surely, we settle into this space.  We begin to find our routines, our familiar places and rhythms.  We marvel at the ability of human beings to adapt to a whole new world.  We marvel that life really does go on, and, when all is said and done, our South Asia rhythms of grocery-shopping and reading books to our children and bed-times don’t look all that different from those at home. David and Amelie and I have had stomach troubles on and off for a month now, since our early-March trip to the north of…

ordination exams. Friday, April 8, 2011 A group of pastors and I made an overnight bus journey north to G., a town in our state surrounded by unreached villages.  We conducted three days of ordination exams. I was shocked by how little Bible knowledge several longstanding pastors had – like identifying Moses, Joshua, Cornelius, or when the Flood happened.  But others had studied well and passed.  Their names will be submitted to Anugraha Presbytery for consideration of ordination. After passing my own ordination exam this month last year, it was very nice to sit on the other side of the table. Of course, after several full days of exams, we…

welcome home, daddy! Thursday, April 7, 2011 Four nights.  Three days.  We missed you.

  tea party on the porch. Thursday, April 7, 2011      

  he says she says. Wednesday, April 6, 2011   (We walk into a cell phone store today, and I go up to the counter.  Judah, meanwhile, finds his own store employee . . . ) Judah: “I’m looking for a phone charger for me.  Just one will be fine.” ————— (To me — in front of a group of strangers) Judah: “You uncultured swine” (The funny thing is he has no clue what that means.  Still, we are having conversations about the appropriate time to make Toy Story jokes) ————— Amie words: “muck” (milk) “choc-a” (chocolate) “Bahss!” – with a lisp (Buzz Lightyear) “moozie” (movie) “tay-too” (thank you) “pees”…

  hmmm . . . Wednesday, April 6, 2011     . . . not a very exciting start to summer vacation. So we’ve been doing a lot of this: