Update from India 17

Hi all,

Kris is going to do the blog this month as I still find writing hard work; however I still want to continue my series on the commandments.

So, this month it’s number six ‘Thou shalt not kill’.

Mmm hard one this isn’t it, on the surface it seems so simple but it is a deep dark pool indeed.

Since Cain killed Abel, the first recorded murder in the bible man has debated the rights and wrongs of this commandment.

Remember that Moses and the Ten Commandments was at a time when God killed many people for various reasons, the enemies of the Israelites, the children of Egypt, he even slew a man for touching the Ark of the Covenant. He destroyed a whole army at the crossing of the Red sea. So what about as it says in the Bible ‘I am a vengeful god’ what can we discern from this. 
The Old Testament makes it very clear God is to be obeyed, feared and sacrifice made to appease him for our sins. He is all powerful and feared and held in awe by his people for that power over them. Do you think I go too far, I dont think so, imagine yourself living at that time and being told by God that he required your only son ( Abraham and his son Isaac) as a burnt offering? I don’t know if I could obey.

As you can see God allowed killing under certain circumstances.

Since the coming of Christ all our sins are forgiven by his ultimate sacrifice on the cross. We are no longer required to offer sacrifices such as burnt offerings. So some will argue that we no longer have to obey the commandments, I disagree (for more on why see last month’s blog) in this the 21^st century I believe we need them now more than ever.

So what do I believe it means?

Is it acceptable to commit state murder as execution?

Can a man kill in war to defend his country’s political system?

Can a foetus be aborted? As separate questions we must also include …when it is convenient or when it is necessary for the mother, or perhaps the child is impaired in some way.

If you kill to defend yourself or your family is that acceptable?

If you deliberately go out to kill a person?

If you accidentally kill someone?

You I hope can see my point, the list is almost endless.

Jesus condemns killing, (Mathew 5 1-2, 21) The sermon on the mount,’ And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: And he opened his mouth, and taught them saying…ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, thou shalt not kill, and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment’.

As we have seen, under the Old Covenant God allowed humans to kill their fellow man under certain circumstances. However, what about today, and those who are now under the New Covenant, should we participate in the execution of a murderer? Should Christians involve themselves in warfare? 
They should not participate in such activities because the New Covenant is a covenant of life rather than death (2Corinthians 3:4-11).

Under the New Covenant, Christians do not execute people for sinning.

The most drastic steps anyone can take against an unrepentant Christian are withholding brotherly fellowship from him until he repents (1Corinthians 5:9-13; 2Thessalonians 3:14-15); Under the New Covenant a change occurred. Christians are not to execute sinners.

Although they should not wage carnal war they should engage in spiritual warfare (John 18:36; 2Corinthians 10:1-6; Ephesians 6:10-18; 1Timothy 1:18-20; 6:11-14; 2Timothy 2:3-5; 4:6-8). Christians must be peacemakers (Matthew 5:9, Romans 14:19), forgiving those who do them harm (Ephesians 4:29-32; Colossians 3:12-14; Matthew 6:9-15; Mark 11:25-26) and treating their enemies with love (Luke 6:27-36). Hatred which is the same as murder (1John 3:15), is unforgiving, vengeful and hostile towards Ono's enemies.

(With thanks to Calvin Lashway).

Some vegetarians even try to use this commandment as the reason not to kill animals although God gave us dominion over all animals for our use (Genesis 1:26-30  9:1-4).

I have seen quoted ‘Thou shalt not kill any living thing, for life is given by God, and that which God has given let not man taketh away’ from ‘Jesus, Gospel of the Holy twelve’. By this they completely ignore the fact that plants have life or do we now have to start defining what we mean by life? Oh deep deep water.

The Hebrew Bible states:

The Hebrew verb רצח (r-ṣ-ḥ, also transliterated retzach, ratzákh, ratsakh etc.) has a wider range of meanings, generally describing destructive activity, including meanings "to break, to dash to pieces" as well as "to slay, kill, murder".

Another verb meaning "to kill, slay, murder, destroy, ruin" is h-r-g, used of Cain slaying Abel in Genesis 4:8. When Cain is driven into exile, complaining that "every one that findeth me shall slay me" in Genesis 4:14, he uses the same verb.

The commandment against murder can be viewed as a legal issue governing human relationships. The Torah gives permission to kill a person as a result of a crime, murder, adultery, idolatry, having sexual intercourse with a person of the same sex, incest and more. Also to kill in war is approved.

(Chapter 68). Murderer and Protection of Life - Rotze'ach u-Shemiras Nefesh

It is forbidden to murder, as it says "You shall not murder" (Exodus 20:13, Deuteronomy 5:17).
A murderer must be put to death, as it says "He shall be avenged" (Exodus 21:20, see Leviticus 24:17,21); it is forbidden to accept compensation from him instead, as it says "You shall not take redemption for the life of a murderer...; and there shall be no atonement for the blood that was spilled... except the blood of him that spilled it" (Numbers 35:31-33). It is forbidden to execute a murderer before he has stood trial, as it says "And the murderer shall not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment" (Numbers 35:12). However, we are commanded to prevent an attempted murder by killing the would-be murderer if necessary, and it is forbidden to refrain from doing so, as it says "And you shall cut off her hand; you shall not be merciful" (Deuteronomy 25:12); and similarly for attempted fornication, as it says "[If the man seizes her and lies with her...] just as a man rises up against his friend and murders him, so is this thing"(Deuteronomy 22:26). It is forbidden to refrain from saving life when it is in ones power to do so, as it says "You shall not stand on your friend's blood"(Leviticus 19:16).  — Rabbi Dr. Azriel Rosenfeld

John Calvin viewed the purpose of this commandment as the safety of all being entrusted to each person. All violence and injustice, and every kind of harm from which our neighbour’s body suffers is thereby prohibited. Christians are therefore required to faithfully perform that which is within their power to defend the life of their neighbour, be vigilant in warding off harm, and assist in removing danger when it comes. Calvin asserts that the same rule must also be applied in regulating the mind against anger, arguing that since God sees the heart and mind, the commandment against shedding innocent blood also prohibits murder of the heart and requires a sincere desire to preserve our brother’s life. The hand does not commit the murder unless it is conceived by the mind under the influence of wrath and hatred. According to Calvin, where wrath and hatred dwell, there is an inclination to do mischief, quoting the Bible, “whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer”(1 John 3:15) and “Whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgement”                          (Matthew 5:22)

For me personally I can’t answer all the questions raised by this commandment, some I agree with others I have problems with, you will have to decide for yourself, do some more research if you want to, there are plenty of different opinions to look at, find your own answer, for me its best summed up by the following quote from an unknown writer,

‘Note that the first five commandments relate strongly to man's duty to God and that the latter five commandments describe duties toward humans. The commandment against murder can also be viewed as based in respect for God himself since man is made in God's image, the shedding of innocent blood is viewed as a direct offence against the Creator’.

It is after all God’s law we are talking about here.
What you believe really matters, it influences your daily life and in a wider sense society as a whole, can you countenance murder in any form? Remember Jesus when asked which was the most important of the commandments replied by giving us two, one of which is ‘love thy neighbour as thy self’. Is His message really that hard to understand?

Visitor to the garden 2.5" long no idea if friend or foe

'Long Melon' can't be grown in Rajasthan so of course we have to try!

'Loki' sort of a sweetish marrow, great in stir fries or curry, anywhere really. We have had a really good crop, given dozens away over the last year.

Comments from Kris

Well folks this month the main writing will be from me as Chris has not been well enough to do this as he normally does, more on this later. He is hoping to add his piece on the 10 Commandments.

Things I have been amazed at on the roads this month include:

Watching a guy reverse at full speed the wrong way up a dual carriageway towards me, this in itself is not unusual here, it was the fact that he could not see where he was going as he had the car packed to the rafters with clothing, bedding etc. and could not possibly see anything out of the back window and it did not look like he had any side mirrors,

I expect he was trusting in faith as a lot of Hindu’s do. 

Then there was the rickshaw in town that was so overladen with parcels hanging out the back and sides and wedged inside that there was just enough room for the driver, not sure how he managed to pull away as he seemed so weighted down. 

Saying that Chris and I once saw a rickshaw with a motorcycle in the back.

Well about Chris illness, where do I start? I will try to give an overview of events but forgive me if I miss something out. I reckon it started when we went out for a ride with India Bull Riders we were visiting a place called Chittogarh which is about 100Kms away then we were to go to visit a farmhouse which belonged to one of the riders. 

We did the first part but Chris was absolutely tired and his joints were aching so we decided to come home early and give the farmhouse a miss. Chris continued with aches and joint pain then started with a high temperature then chills this was the pattern for a couple of days before Chris would agree to see a doctor.

By this time he was alternating between spikes in temperature, shaking, and rigors and started to get a little confused and got really bad diarrhoea. A friend took us to a local clinic/small hospital in a local area where he knew the doctor as Chris did not feel he could make it to the GBH American Hospital which was in the city. The doctor was nice but he insisted it was food poisoning/ gastroenteritis which both Chris and I disagreed with as Chris was not eating and these symptoms were recent. I insisted they do blood tests for Dengue and Malaria and thought these had been taken. Chris commenced Intravenous fluids and antibiotics but remained in the clinic until 8pm that day with instructions to return early next morning for further treatment. It was when I got home that I asked Chris about the blood tests as we had not had the results, he was so ill and a little confused on occasion that neither of us were sure they had been taken. I had thought they had been taken when I was out of the room paying for the medication. I telephoned the doctor that night who again said he did not think they were needed and was a waste of money, I told him it was my money and I wanted them done as I thought Chris was displaying some of the symptoms of these diseases. Next morning again I insisted they do the blood tests and reluctantly the doctor agreed.

Chris continued with Intravenous antibiotics and Intravenous fluids and after lunch the doctor had to admit he had been wrong and that Chris did have Malaria as the blood test was positive but he would have the report at tea time, Dengue was negative.

It is rare to get a positive Malaria test result it is normally diagnosed on signs and symptoms, whereas Dengue does often show up in blood tests, Chris was so infected with Malaria that his test showed no doubts about it. Chris in fact had the 2 most virulent and dangerous forms of Malaria. I remained very concerned about Chris as he did not appear to be improving and was sleeping a lot of the time which is not like Chris. They commenced IV malarial drugs and kept Chris in the clinic till late that day. Next day we returned and when the doctor was sure I could give the IV Malarial drugs via the venflon (he knew I was a nurse but wanted to be sure which I can’t really blame him for) he agreed I could continue to do so at home to save Chris the journey. I talked to Chris and we both felt he should be showing some signs of improvement and after a lot of persuasion he agreed I could get him to the GBH American Hospital the next day. 

As Chris was so exhausted and weak and it was Diwali he felt it would be better to wait. Chris still had diarrhoea and his condition to my mind was deteriorating, I was particularly concerned that his abdomen was swelling visibly and I started doing Girth measurements which confirmed my fears in this respect. 

Our friend Eric took us to the GBH American Hospital and we got Chris seen immediately in the emergency room. I explained my concerns gave all the medical papers and drugs to the doctor and was relieved that they appeared to know what they were doing. Chris conditions started to deteriorate further once we got him into the emergency room and they immediately started to treat him, it turned out that Chris had not only one form of malaria but the 2 most virulent and serious strains, so needed 2 types of Malarial drugs IV. They were considering sending him to ICU but his condition had deteriorated and meant they had to treat him in the emergency room to stabilise him. 

While the doctors and nurses were looking after Chris, Eric took me through the admission procedure which is time consuming and lots of paperwork and consents to sign. During this time the emergency team were saving Chris life and stabilising him as he had gone into multi organ failure shortly after his admission. When I got back they reassured me they had stabilised him enough that he could go direct to the ward which was good as it meant I could stay with him.

Chris remained oblivious to most of this going on as he was so ill and out of it for the most part. He was confused still but considering that he had gone into liver and renal failure big time that was no surprise. At one point he told me not to put myself in debt to get him treatment, as if I had even considered that. I reassured him that he came first and we could pay the credit card later, he was the most important thing. In his confusion he even ordered me to go home and said he would get the hospital staff to kick me out. 

Needless to say I ignored him and remained with him. 

Several times Chris talked about dying and we both knew this was a real possibility, Chris had even written something for me prior to coming to hospital just in case he did not recover. Chris explained that although it was password protected I would be able to crack the code and not to read it unless the worst happened, obviously this upset me and I reassured Chris I would respect his wishes.

I assume he has now deleted it, I don’t know I have not looked on his PC for it and he knows I won’t. 

Over the next few days the doctors continued to get his condition under control and his blood tests started to improve slowly, he continued with oxygen, nebulisers, Intravenous fluids and drugs and became a pin cushion for the many blood tests he had to have. Poor thing his arms and hands were badly bruised as it was difficult to get blood samples as his body was shutting down. His platelet count was very low and he had 4 units of Platelets transfused the first day he was in hospital. To be quite honest he nearly died at least twice during his stay but due to the skill and expertise of the nursing and medical staff they pulled him round and for that I am eternally grateful. Whilst recovering Chris had great difficulty and pain whilst trying to pass urine and in the early hours of one morning went into retention of urine. I was able to explain to Chris what was happening and that they would have to do an emergency catheterisation to resolve the problem. We did not know why this had occurred and Chris was referred to a urologist, who thought he had Prostate Cancer, he arranged for a sonogram and blood tests which Chris had that day.

Boy was that a difficult day for us both thinking the worst but at the same time putting our complete trust in God. We got the results later that night and whilst the blood test was triple what it should have been the sonogram did not show any tumour just enlarged organs and a very large prostate 60gms instead of 12gms. The consultant felt it was 99.9% sure it was not cancer and that the high blood test was due to Chris’s multi organ failure and catheterisation, but to be sure we will have repeat tests in a month. 

Chris was eventually let home after 8 days in hospital as his blood tests were starting to come into normal range and he had to keep the catheter in for a further week.

Chris repeat blood tests continue to show improvement and his renal function is now in the normal range which is good, he is however anaemic and has low protein so has commenced a high protein diet. This is ironic as he was put on a low fat, low protein diet in hospital. 

He also has a really bad urine infection for which he is taking high dose of antibiotics for 10 days orally and has had to have 3 days of Intramuscular Injections of antibiotics twice daily so I have had the pleasure of stabbing him twice daily. Chris tells people he must not upset me as I am stabbing him hee hee. Chris now has the catheter out (I removed it as Chris was too ill to attend the hospital the day it was to be removed, I did have permission from the urologist to do so) which is great for him but he remains tired and does not have a lot of stamina and energy.

But praise God he is on the mend and he wakes up daily thanking God for the day. We both feel as if we have been given a second chance at life and for this we are still overwhelmed by God’s love and grace.

We were both blown away by the love and support of our friends from our home church in Durham, UK, America and Germany and our neighbours, who were all praying for us. We have had Hindus, Muslims, Christians and Sikhs praying for us, which is amazing. I know some Christians would say we should not accept prayer from people of other faiths but I cannot agree with that. Firstly I believe it would be arrogant of me to do so and I believe if someone’s faith is strong and they believe in one God as I do I will accept their genuine prayers for Chris and I. People who we have not even met have sent their best wishes via facebook! Our neighbours all came to visit Chris, we even had several of the guys from the resort come to the hospital to see Chris and our maid came to the hospital with her husband to see Chris. We cannot tell you how much this has meant to us.

I still find it very difficult to put into words how I feel that I nearly lost Chris; I still get quite emotional when I think about it. Chris has been told he cannot ride his bike till after Christmas and  must not go to work before then so we are currently taking each day as it comes and remain thankful that we have this time together. 

During his illness Chris had several episodes of confusion and started to have visual and auditory hallucinations, which was a side effect of the medication he was on in hospital he is on less now and one he is now taking is to reduce the size of his Prostate. He once thought it was raining heavily on the tin roof, it was not and we did not have a tin roof, and I had to explain that the 3 beautiful young ladies who came to visit were in fact real; they were the medical students from Church. Chris was seeing things on the ceiling which is a side effect of the medication; luckily these symptoms have more or less subsided now. It will be a slow road to full health but if we are sensible Chris will be raring to go in the near future. Chris has lost at least 2 stone in weight, and I have lost weight too, we both wanted to lose weight but would have preferred not to do it this way.

Well work on our garden is partly on hold and reliant on our handyman we sometimes use to do the heavy work, we are in the middle of a project to plant a rose hedge where we had privet. It had to go as privet attracts mosquitoes and Chris has to be careful as there is no anti malarial drug available.

 We have our bees back in the garden which is nice. There is a hive at the bottom of the garden which seems to be thriving. I have tried to save our sweet peas from being overtaken with weeds, I am afraid they had been badly neglected of late but I have now weeded them so hopefully they will start thriving.

The idea is that as they grow they will shade the windows and smell wonderful as a bonus.

Hoppity (aka Tripod) really missed Chris when he was in hospital and still mopes around him; he remains the best fed street dog I have ever seen.

Chris is frustrated he can’t work, but realises he is not fit enough to do so, as Chris uses lots of energy when he is teaching and the classroom is on the top floor which is a hike even when your well. 

As a compromise he has agreed to do one to one teaching with a boy who works at the resort who wishes to learn English. He comes to the house where Chris can sit and talk to him for 30 mins, this is the most Chris can manage at present. It helps keep Chris motivated and gives him something to aim for; 

I will start work again in the next couple of weeks when I feel I can leave Chris at home alone without worrying too much. I am to start conversational English classes which should be interesting, I am definitely not an English teacher but hope I can find some topics to encourage the students to speak in English. (Wish me luck) I am thinking of using Art or something similar to take the pressure off.

I have just looked at our sweet peas again today and they are starting to recover, Praise God. Our weeds need attention but they are a low priority at the moment, I will get around to them soon.

Chris’s illness meant we missed a friend’s wedding the full 3 days which we had been invited to in Delhi. Amazingly the groom (our friend) got Malaria and was hospitalised the week before Chris. He understood we could not make it and Chris promised from his hospital bed that we would attend the reception which was in Udaipur on the Monday evening. 

Well the day of the reception came and although Chris was still really poorly, we went as he had given his word and would not break it (which I admire tremendously). 

We arranged a car to take us and bring us back and attended (30 mins of the reception), they knew Chris had made an enormous effort to keep his word and I know the groom and his bride were very touched as were all his family. 

They have become great friends and it looked like it was going to be a fantastic event. Chris took a couple of days to get over that but it was worth it to see the smile on the family’s face that we attended, and yes I wore a sari, and Chris looked very smart too, shirt, tie, a really nice jacket he has and smart trousers and shoes! The bride and groom both looked so happy and stunning I can’t wait to see the photos of the whole event.

Air Con unit now gives us heat, as Chris has converted it to do both jobs; this is great as it means I will not get cold in the evenings this winter. 

Well this last month has been emotionally draining for me, what with Chris’s illness, I also had an aunt die and as she was in England we will miss the funeral. To top it off I also heard that a close relative had been diagnosed with Breast Cancer so Chris and I are praying for her and her family, to respect her privacy I will not name her but your prayers will be much appreciated.

Our new door bell was collaboration between Chris and I, he did the metalwork and putting it all together, I painted the snake, it is a wolf snake by the way. See our photo of it to decide for yourself. I think it is brilliant much better than having the 2 bells hanging on a piece of string which we had before. 

Well thats all for now till next month. God bless everyone and once again Thank you for all your prayers and messages of concern regarding Chris's Health, I can't tell you how much Chris and I have appreciated it.
Kris and Chris

Blog 16

Well hello again from India.

This month; Kris and I testify at a bike meet of 70 + bikers.

I prove I am not divine, or perhaps I took my eyes from Him, (see comments from Kris)

We have had a sad loss (melons)

We make the papers!

I am going to begin by continuing my series looking at the commandments and how they fit today into our 21^st century lives.

The fifth commandment

Honour your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

Firstly I want to deal with the second part of this commandment.

‘that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.’

It has been suggested by some that this is a bribe or an inducement to obey. Not so, what I believe God is saying is when love, honour, obedience and understanding is shared between parents and children, throughout the family there is harmony and peace where each helps the other, in this environment yes we may live longer but there is also the implied statement that by obeying Gods law the Jewish people as a whole ‘may be long in the land your God is giving you’.This I feel is about obeying just authority.

There are two statements here, one to obey your parents and therefore by implication God the father and the second, that by obedience to Him His people will prosper. Taken as a statement today I believe ‘the land’ can be looked at as the whole world and that by being obedient to Him all who come to Him will prosper, not in money or power but in their hearts and by gaining eternal life through His son Jesus Christ.

Many years ago I had I believed good reason to reject this commandment.

Those who have read my book will know the history behind that comment, for others I will only say my upbringing led me to a conclusion that over time I have come to regret.

I was abused as a child by my mother; regular sever beatings were the norm for me, my father for reasons of his own chose not to see it happening.

To honour one’s parents implies obedience, submission, and respect. Parents are to a child the ultimate authority. Parents are like a tool in the hands of God, moulding and shaping the child to maturity. It is their responsibility to guide the child as God guides them.

Obedience and submission are parts of a child’s healthy development as well as the demand from God that parents obey and honour him. I really do believe that if we truly lived in a society that honoured Gods laws above civil law we wouldn’t have the crime rates we do, the failure to have any moral standard or the misguided youth who know of nothing better in their sad lives, who believe in nothing, who will go on to achieve nothing. By this I don't mean they will not prosper in this life, I have known many drug dealers, thrives, evil people who live a materially rich life. But what of their spiritual life, in this they are totally ignorant of Gods love. All they have or will ever have is this life.

Obedience requires outward adherence to rules and commands, submission deals with the inward attitude and willingness towards those giving the commands. To obey is not enough.

This commandment becomes more difficult and complicated when applied in the context of dysfunctional, evil, or abusive parents.

A child has to obey, but when parents dishonour the child by ignoring Gods law then although the child must obey the parents they, not the child will be ultimately judged by God. The child may be powerless and although knowing the instruction is unfair, wrong or even criminal the child must obey or suffer punishment from the abusive parent(s).

This can cause many years of pain and a lifetime of mistrust for the child, but what of the parents?

After many years considering this very question I can give you my answer, please note this applies only to me as I cannot know all situations as God does, but if you are struggling as I did with abuse, please go now for help, do not allow it to continue, you are not to blame, then seek the love of Jesus, through Him you can be made whole.

I have often asked ‘why’ why was I abused, what had I done? The answer is of course I had done nothing to justify the treatment inflicted upon me. If this is so then one must ask’ What led to the abuse’ I believe in my own case it was the loss of another child, my brother born before me who did not survive that led my mother to treat me as she did.

For many years I could not forgive her, I could perhaps understand but to forgive requires much more.

Now as I sit here writing this I have forgiven, to not forgive would mean that I cannot allow God to show his mercy to me as I show it to my mother. To honour also means to forgive. What pain and torment she suffered I cannot guess, so truly I forgive and now honour my parents.

By honouring one’s parents, we also directly submit to God as the ultimate authority in our lives, He is our father so is head of the family of man. So to not honour your parents is to not honour Him.

So yes, honour your Father and Mother but accept also that they like you are far from perfect, pray for them and love them even when it is not returned for God made them, they may need His help, they may stray so far from His word that they never see the kingdom of God, all you as the child can do is obey God’s law and leave judgement in His hands.

 If like me you have reasons to find forgiveness difficult or for now maybe impossible then please try to understand that in this world there are forces that oppose God and delight in the hatred and pain that you feel. Some will call him Satan or the devil, the dark one, he has many names but he is as real as God, I know this, I have fought him and do so every day I remain a Christian. I was once his disciple, he wants me back, he wins the occasional battle, sometimes I am in despair but he cannot and will not win the war for my soul…. that belongs to Christ and armed with the shield of faith I am invincible.

Work

It’s week six for most of my students, time for the second of three tests they are given. In the first they each had an A4 with five pictures on it to identify. This time I did it as a ‘game show’ with myself as host. One by one the contestants were called forward to dip into ‘The bag of doom’ and withdraw a question (110 questions to choose from) and had 10 seconds to correctly answer. This may sound as though they were put under undue pressure but it was very light hearted and they all laughed if someone got a question wrong and clapped when they got it correct. From the results I am very pleased with the progress being made, scores were all 80% - 100% correct. I’m very proud of them all. I have also been asked to supply a teaching copy of Chringlish to a youth group teacher who having seen it pounced on it for her group!

Fame

The story is about 70 bikers who rode from all over India to a party weekend put on by the Udaipur Chapter of the ‘India Bull Riders Motorcycle Club’, (Bull as in Bullet, the bikes name, Royal Enfield Bullet). A great time was had by all; this picture was taken as we all went sightseeing in Udaipur. We partied, danced away the night and Kris and I were able to testify about our faith to many of them. Silly games played, new friends made we got home very tired on Tuesday, showered changed then returned to the venue so we could see the guys off Wednesday early morning, alas we overslept and missed most of them leaving……………….Ho Hum the best laid plans of mice and men.

Invite

This is the perfect time to visit India, warm in the daytime cool in the evenings. If there is anyone out there who knows us and would like to visit we have a spare bedroom, resort with bar and pool just 100mtr away, good food.

If you have always said ‘I would love to’ well this way there are no hotel bills to pay.

House rules. No drugs, no smoking, (Optional) Church Sunday Pm.

So, there you are an invite to visit.

Garden

Sadly we have had a loss, our melons all came up and then died. Our fault, wrong soil mix and planting time.

On the plus side we have a chest freezer just about full of veg from our garden. We now have overhead watering to cut down on the labour and combined with the summer shades we hope to extend the cropping season for some plants that can’t stand the summer heat.

The central bed in the front lawn is beginning to flower and we have baby tomatoes coming on our cherry tom plants. Bottle gourd is going well, bit like marrow in taste but a climber.

We are also for the first time trying spuds (potatoes) as it is hard to find big ones for baked spud! Radish are ready as are lettuce, Chinese cabbage seems to go on and on so never a shortage there. We have planted two papaya trees in the lawn border and a mango in the central bed.

Cherry trees look really good for two year plants, maybe first fruit next year! Maybe if we have time we will try strawberries again so far no luck, everyone says we can’t grow them so we have to try! The trees we planted in Kris’s herb garden (Orange, Lemon and Jack fruit) have all taken and are growing well, we have a pair of red berry (don’t ask me) bushes to put in now so got to get on with it………….apparently the fruit is used in chutney! Just now it is all slightly crazy trying to keep track of all that is going in or coming out but we are getting to grips with Northern Indian gardening. Oh by the way it’s now the start of winter, may drop to 7degC overnight if it gets bad.

The centre bed now starting to flower, new Papaya  tree's and a view of the bed through where the trees will grow.




If you look carefully you can see our now working overhead watering system, it does the entire veg garden. We have plans to extend it with drip feeders along the drive border.A 'ladies finger' flower.


'Ladies finger' fruit, slightly bitter, great with a curry! The cherry tomatoes are starting to flower.




This is a bottle gourd, treat as marrow although thinly sliced and fried with garlic it really yummy!

Things that made me go mmmmmm

Sitting on the bike cruising along at about 80K, the countryside is slipping by, the sun on my face thinking about God and his wonders. Getting back and seeing a post on face ache ‘Rather be riding my bike thinking of God than sitting in church thinking of my bike’…………….

Finding a new respect for spiders.

Kris cleaning up all the sawdust (I made) in the studio…………painting coming I think.

Realising again that Kris and I are so lucky, we are not rich but we have sufficient for our needs and a little left over to help others with, we have a nice house, we live in a nice area and have friends, above all we are happy in our love for each other and for God and what he has done for us and continues to do every day. We are content. Realising that as long as we give our lives to God we are ok, the problems start when we try to take control……….we have said this many times, we are in a small boat, we are rowing Jesus steering, as long as we keep rowing and let Him steer we have no problems, it’s when we think we don’t need Him to steer that’s when it all goes lumpy, ‘look out rocks ahead!’

Sitting in the garden watching all the life going on around me from insect to hawks over the mountains, some lovely butterflies here. Lizards wander through the veg patch hunting insects, it’s all so surreal at times.

One of our many garden visitors, this one eats the pests and any fallen fruit, better than insecticide any day.

Comments From Kris

Well here I go again, and here are my thoughts and observations in no particular order of time or date.

Chris and his divinity, well we were at a lake somewhere near the monsoon palace whilst on our time away with IBRMC (India Bull Riders Motorcycle Club) Desert Meet, when Chris decided to try and walk on water. Alas he must have lost focus on the Lord as he did not float but ended up nearly knee deep in the water. He announced to us all that he was not divine and it opened up a further opportunity to share our faith with others, isn't God good. The Desert Meet for me was fantastic it was my first such event. All the guys and the girls were friendly and welcoming, it reminded me of the first few bible weeks I attended in Builth Wells but the occasions I roughed it (Hee Hee) in Bed and Breakfast with hot water and cooked breakfast. We definitely had a great venue no camping outdoors and Chris and I bagged the bedroom with double bed, the other guys had the dining room with mattrasses on the floor. The Desert Meet will stay in my memory for ever with great hosts and some really fun events, Chris and I even danced in the evening. I admit my dancing is not up to scratch but who cares when you are having fun. I can't wait for our trip to Chennai which will be on a much larger scale.  

Things that made me go mmmmmmm

Well there is the pillion passenger carrying a ten to twelve foot ladder upright and keeping it well balanced as the rider of the motorbike weaves in and out of busy traffic. Yesterday I saw a pillion passenger holding onto a single sprung mattress with his right arm keeping the mattrass at the side of the scooter but keeping it off the ground. I thought I had seen everything, but no. 

Today I was riding in the city and it was even more crazy than usual and I wondered why, but then I realised it is coming up to Diwali. The city is beautifully decorated but you have to weave in and out of all the metal poles holding up the bunting and decorations which are spaced about 20 feet apart down the sides and centre of the roads. In between these up at the top there are metres and metres of tinsel and other glittering decorations, lights and material strewn across the streets. Traffic weaving in and out both on the right and wrong side of the road, well it is India after all. In a day or two some of these streets will be closed to traffic for the festivities. It is also a good time to buy things very similar to British Christmas and New Year Sales lots of offers on the go. 

I have just given flu symptoms to Chris as I am just trying to get over a bad cold, change of climate I am told and our immunity not up to speed with local bugs yet. 

Chris and I went on a ride to Chittorgarh Fort and surrounding areas the other day we did about 300Kms, my poor derriere was a little numb to say the least, but it was good practice for Chennai. We had a very close encounter with a cow, but we (Chris that is) managed to weave out of the way, it just dived onto the road from the central reservation, the car overtaking us on the inside of us slammed on his brakes, we don't know if he hit it or not but we were soooo close. I feel so confident being a passenger with Chris as he is such a good rider, I realise we may ditch the bike one day if the unexpected happens but Chris will do his level best to avoid hazards when possible.

My fingers are repairing but it is difficult when people grab your hand to shake it and I don't get time to warn them not too, I did knock my hand the other day accidentally and I am just getting over that as it was right where the worst break was, very very painful, I must take more care. 

We now have a new broadband connection and so far it is much quicker. I was stopped today by a stranger whilst out riding, he flagged me down so I pulled over to see what was wrong...had my number plate fallen off? it turns out he thought I was Swiss because of the St George Cross I have on my bike, he is married to a Swiss girl and they are about to open a coffee shop in the old town and Chris and I are going to be invited to the opening, isn't life interesting. 

Chris and I were invited to a pre Diwali event at a training school we know; where it turned out we were to be the honoured guests, the students are studying Hospitality and I guess we were the guinea pigs. It was a great evening where the students performed for us mainly dancing but some singing too, very talented guys. As Chris said to me do you remember when you were that agile, yeah I do but it was a very long time ago. Then there was some dancing for us all after that and food of course, all in all an excellent night just a shame we both had bad colds and were not at our fittest. *

We have been so very blessed by the people we have met since we came here and the people we continue to meet, it is all in God's plan as he is the one guiding our paths.

I expect that there are lots of Christmas decorations up all over the UK, there are decorations here too some of the Malls started decorating for Christmas a few weeks ago, more will go up after Diwali I expect. Well the monsoon is over and winter has arrived about 70F today, cool nights as well.

* Comment here from Chris, they also want to use Chringlish, amazed it has been picked up by so many English teachers for their early learners.

Update on Chris, it is not even man flu I have given turns out he has Malaria, and we have just spent  days at the hospital being allowed home only to sleep. Chris has had IV fluids, antibiotics and lots of tests, he still feels really poorly, poor thing. Chris saw our local doctor initially who thought it was mild malaria and viral, but his condition got worse so took him to local hospital as he did not feel up to longer journey into town to go to American Hospital. This doctor thought he had food poisoning and viral fever with gastro enteritis, we did not agree and after insisting I convinced the doctor to do tests for Dengue and Malaria as I felt Chris had symptoms of this, even if I was wasting my money. Test for Dengue negative but positive for Malaria He has Jaundice and is now having correct treatment. Chris persuaded the doctor to let me give the IV drugs at home and after the doctor checked my skills he agreed. So I gave first in hospital this morning and will give next 3 IV doses here at home then Chris starts oral medication. We have to have repeat blood tests in a couple of days. So a big prayer request can you all pray for a swift recovery and healing for Chris. He is feeling very exhausted and has really bad muscle and joint pain. Thanks.

With that we will close for now and hope enjoyed this blog. 

God Bless one and all

C&K