Merry Christmas, Happy Birthday and Happy New Year

I have uploaded about 70 pictures from November, Christmas and December to the web at http://picasaweb.google.com/ryan3120k .

Pictures of many of our work parties, Anna with our friends and flood pictures have been uploaded. Ryan has added a comment for each also, thanks Ryan.

Also an early birthday happy to Anna for this Friday. We leave Thursday night for Pune to attend an Interserve conference until January 4th. The train ride is 24 hours. Anna will spend all of her third birthday on the train, pray for us as this is our first long distance train ride and I have no idea how Anna will do.

Keep us and all the others attending the conference in your prayers, for the travel, concentration on the messages, the fellowship time there, and the return trip home.

Chicken Biriyani

Today is Christmas, that means yesterday was Christmas eve. In preparation our families sent us gifts from the states. We went out and bought stuff. This morning I woke up, Nancy served breakfast of French toast and sausage. Then it was time to get ready for church. Church was good, not the typical message, but about how Mary a nobody was like Moses a nobody and so many others in the bible accepted God’s challenge of ‘I dare you’. I also am a nobody. I took the dare once, and know what… God will dare me again… and again…

For Christmas we thought long and hard about what to get for our friends in the slums, we wanted to give - ‘Lord help us give the right gifts’ - thread and scissors for Mary Gloria, yes good for her tailoring class. A toy car for Samuel, good he is the only boy in five girls. A letter puzzle for sweety Angel, good not only for her but also the older kids. Books, markers, crayons, books, notepads, and other fun stuff like that for the kids. While it is not something special for each child, it is much abundance. Oh also for Elevarase a saree… oh we have to stop somewhere. Set it all out on the table, ok the child’s dress will not go, sorry ruthmary but you like to draw and I know Marygloria went to Saravana and bought you a dress. Some of the coloring books can stay here, same with some of the other books. Ok Lord, this is not much… but to them it is so much.

Each party we have gone to has had chicken biriyani and I am not a big fan of chicken cooked in rice. But Joseph helped put it into perspective. He got a 200 rs bonus for working as a guard at the nearby apartment complex. With it they bought a chicken, and made biriyani. Oh… I see… chicken biriyani is very special the chicken is very special because it costs them so much.

Visit the tailor after church, the top is not ready, visit us at three, lunch, visit some stores… three 5 minutes after three try the top on, it is good. Auto ride home, crash for a nap. Visitors. Ah peace to write a journal entry… looking at gifts for Anna, for Nancy, for me. Maybe we will open tomorrow, we must leave for the play soon.

Gifts opened when we got home… wow our family misses us.