Well here we are again, another month has passed by like the wind.
We are returning to our usual format but will do another collection of photos perhaps for the Christmas edition.
I was reading Exodus 20:1-17, that led me to Wickipedia, then to various other on line article's about what have become known as 'The Ten Commandments' (that's if you don't count the at least other 600 plus laws guides or ritual laws of the old testament)
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Home
We are returning to our usual format but will do another collection of photos perhaps for the Christmas edition.
I was reading Exodus 20:1-17, that led me to Wickipedia, then to various other on line article's about what have become known as 'The Ten Commandments' (that's if you don't count the at least other 600 plus laws guides or ritual laws of the old testament)
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Herbert Huffmon considers the Ten Commandments to concern matters of fundamental importance: the greatest obligation (to worship only God), the greatest injury to a person (murder), the greatest injury to family bonds (adultery), the greatest injury to commerce and law (bearing false witness), the greatest inter-generational obligation (Honor to parents), the greatest obligation to community (truthfulness), the greatest injury to movable property (theft).
Huffmon writes that the Ten Commandments were written with room for varying interpretation because they are fundamental. They are not as explicit or detailed as rules and regulations or many other biblical laws and commandments, because they provide guiding principles that apply universally, across changing circumstances. They do not specify punishments for their violation. Their precise import must be worked out in each separate situation. (Wickipedia)
Where am I going with this?
I do not profess to be a bible scholar or theologian but I have got a measure of common sense that if applied here I believe makes the commandments alive and very relevant for us all today.
The very first of the commandments Exodus 20: 2-3 ( Also found in Deuteronomy 5:4-21 in a slightly different format to this but for consistency I will stay with Exodus, mostly because I love the story of Moses).
I do not profess to be a bible scholar or theologian but I have got a measure of common sense that if applied here I believe makes the commandments alive and very relevant for us all today.
The very first of the commandments Exodus 20: 2-3 ( Also found in Deuteronomy 5:4-21 in a slightly different format to this but for consistency I will stay with Exodus, mostly because I love the story of Moses).
Think about the 1st commandment and Huffmons comment on it, ....our greatest obligation is to worship only God.
' I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.'
'You shall have no other gods before me'.
Seems simple enough doesn't it I have freed you from slavery (both physical and spiritual)..........so don't build idols or take part in other rituals to different gods. But is it that simple for us in today's world?
'No other god'.........does that mean no idols in the cupboard that we secretly worship, no images that we bow down to, or does it perhaps mean what we put before God in our day to day lives?
What are our other gods?
We have been thinking about our life and the way we now live it. We are not living as we should, we are not following God's commandments as we should.
So we have made a list, not down to tiny details but broadly applied to how are we living, is it in Gods grace?
What are our other gods?
We have been thinking about our life and the way we now live it. We are not living as we should, we are not following God's commandments as we should.
So we have made a list, not down to tiny details but broadly applied to how are we living, is it in Gods grace?
This is our list concerning our other gods, its not meant to be complete or judgemental other than of us, you will no doubt have your own list.
The television.........cant miss the cricket or F1 racing?, 'put the telly on' has become the standard, what happened to the quiet evening with the Lords word?.
Money..........We can afford to pay the rent or to go out, or do we give to Gods work because it is needed now, not when it suits us and trust in Him to help us?
The pressure of day to day life/worry over things we have no control over........... Kris and I have been through a quite worrying time over the last few months, things beyond our control back in the UK but that will ultimately effect us and our life here.
I could go on but I think you get the point, now we will read the word and the TV will stay off, not all the time but from now on it will never be our first choice.
Then there's money, remember 'You cannot serve mamon and God' .........no doubts there then. How did we forget this?
When we came here it was following Gods word in complete faith, we had perhaps in some way forgotten that until recently when we were reminded that God comes first in all things.
So here and now we give it all to God, we will no longer worry, it is as it always has been and always will be, in his hands.
It just feels so good to say that, to turn to Him and say again 'Do with me as you will, I am yours now and forever I lay my life in your hands'.
Please look at the other gods in your life, what do you put before God? Make your own list, sit as a family and talk about it, it wont be easy to put God above all, in practise you may feel you have to work on a Sunday you need the extra money, ( there will be some who like Kris as a Nurse had to, some always will have to) Perhaps you just cant give up some vice (yet) or miss some television program but try, in trying we glorify him and by example to others spread his word.
We believe that being a Christian should not only be about how often you read your bible or how often you pray, it must also be in the example you give to others by living in Gods grace, by obeying His commandments.
We listened to a sermon recently (on line) where the pastor stressed that they were Gods commandments, not His list of good ideas to live by, or suggestions for a fuller life if you have the time,
NO they are commandments, orders from Him to us that we are meant to obey!
We listened to a sermon recently (on line) where the pastor stressed that they were Gods commandments, not His list of good ideas to live by, or suggestions for a fuller life if you have the time,
NO they are commandments, orders from Him to us that we are meant to obey!
Our greatest obligation to worship only God, we couldn't agree more.
May God bless you.
Home
Its the monsoon season, how can I ever describe to you what that really means. In the UK it rains, very occasionally you have flash floods that cause death and destruction and wash houses and sometimes even villages away,( I'm thinking of the occasions in Cornwall (Boscastle I think) that cost so many lives). It doesn't rain here............water falls out of the sky in amounts that seem impossible until you see it for yourself. Rivers become moving lakes taking all before them away, in the north east there have been floods so bad that for three weeks major towns were cut off, villages just disappeared, a temple and statue of solid stone the size of Durham cathedral just washed away. The level of destruction caused is unbelievable to western eyes, Kris and I were expecting rain, not this.
Here in Udaipur it is very gentle compared to some other places, it rains most days usually in the afternoon or evening but mostly what you would call heavy we call gentle! We did have one very small disaster a few weeks ago during a full on downpour one of our inside drains (yes drains in the house...now we know why) suddenly became a geyser and put an inch of water through the lounge. Well placed towels and a lot of holding down the drain kept things under control! No damage done but now we also know why most Indian furnature has legs to lift it even a couple of inches from the floor. One or two really bad storms but so far we are doing ok. Next month is the peak, we really could do with more rain as the lakes are very low still and Rajasthan depends on the monsoon for a years water supply.
Kris is painting, I love her work. She has even got me to try! She has done one of a night scene weird and full of darkness, called 'Moonrise'. I am afraid the photo just doesn't do it justice
Here in Udaipur it is very gentle compared to some other places, it rains most days usually in the afternoon or evening but mostly what you would call heavy we call gentle! We did have one very small disaster a few weeks ago during a full on downpour one of our inside drains (yes drains in the house...now we know why) suddenly became a geyser and put an inch of water through the lounge. Well placed towels and a lot of holding down the drain kept things under control! No damage done but now we also know why most Indian furnature has legs to lift it even a couple of inches from the floor. One or two really bad storms but so far we are doing ok. Next month is the peak, we really could do with more rain as the lakes are very low still and Rajasthan depends on the monsoon for a years water supply.
Kris is painting, I love her work. She has even got me to try! She has done one of a night scene weird and full of darkness, called 'Moonrise'. I am afraid the photo just doesn't do it justice
Kris will no doubt complain at me for doing this but this is another of her paintings I love, its called 'Divali' and represents all the light and fire works of the festivals here.
I am so pleased she is painting again, an exhibition of her work is planned for Oct/Nov at the resort here and a gallery/shop wants to display her work to sell.
Now some really important news...................I have found coffee beans via a friend who goes to Mumbia, real coffee oh it is lovely, top quality Mysore beans, mmmmmmmmmmmm.
Work.
The English course I have written has now been adopted by a school in Surat, and another NGO here in Udaipur wants me to train some of their English teachers in its presentation so they can use it.
Besides that I an about to begin teaching it in a college here on a Saturday, two sessions, one AM and one PM.
We are still working towards water heating as we now have a cheaper easier design we intend installing a test version here this winter! If it works in winter it will be a sure thing for summer!
We are about to get really involved with a new project to provide clean drinking water to all.....
Comments from Kris
We are going to introduce SODIS water purification system here in Udaipur City for the start of Summer when it will be most needed. This is a fantastic system and once set up costs nothing to maintain, set up costs about Rs250.
All we need is lots of clear 2 litre/2.25 litre PET bottles such as used by Pepsi and Coca Cola, anything bigger than this does not work. If you want more information go to the SODIS website.
We have received our first donation to our projects of Rs5000 which is excellent news, we have personally collected about a 100 bottles and the mountain is still growing. We have other people collecting too. We are about to go into schools to get them collecting and supporting the initiative and we are starting with St Matthews School. It is all very exciting and it will transform peoples lives having safe, pure water to drink.
I am about to start teaching First Aid to a group in college who will then go out to the villagers as First Aiders and trainers, I will then teach on various Health Subjects. I am very excited as this means my teaching will reach many more people than if I went out to the villagers and relied on an interpreter.
On the subject of Hindi I am slowly learning, I like Chris understand more than I can speak, but I am trying to use the language where I can. If I was younger I am sure it would be easier but God loves a trier and I am not going to give up.
Last month Chris and I went to Surat to a school, where we met lots of lovely people too many to mention here. There was one person who stands out for me though. She was the grandmother of our hosts who had invited us for dinner. (this is the same couple whose wedding we attended here in Udaipur at the local resort). This lady's grandson told me she actually knew Indira Ghandi, I could not believe it to meet someone who knew this tremendous lady was such an honour. It turned out not only did she know Indira Ghandi but that she worked with her when she was in Politics, the impact Indira Ghandi had on her life was such that when she heard Indira had been assassinated she retired permanently from Politics. For me Indira Ghandi was inspirational and I had hoped that in Thatcher we might also have had a truly great leader, how wrong I was. I was deeply shocked at the assassination of Indira Ghandi and feel she was not only a great loss to India but to the World. There are a few figures in the world that have touched my life deeply and I was devastated at their deaths but alas I could count those on one hand which is a poor reflection of society today. ( I do not include here family or friends whose deaths have had an impact on me)
We have been busy planting seeds from cabbage, lettuce, onions to some lovely flowers, some Indian some British. Chris replanted our Mango tree from where it was failing to centre of the lawn, advice tells us it will lose all its leaves which is happening now and then hopefully it will start new shoots in a month. It needs gentle care and watering well twice daily as well as the monsoon rain it is getting. We have every faith it will recover and give us a fantastic Mango tree as the centre piece for our garden. We are planting a variety of flowers in a bed around the tree. We are continuing our bamboo theme by surrounding the flower bed in a bamboo wall. It looks good now but it will look even better when the flowers are planted and the Mango tree flourishes.
Weeding is an ongoing task the rain encourages plenty of new growth. We will show more photos of the garden as it starts to flourish once more.
As I sit here I am working at our computer station and in front of me to the right of our dining room table and left of the lounge furniture sits Chis's beloved Royal Enfield Desert Storm. Chris rode it in a couple of days ago to the absolute amazement and stunned neighbours who were having one of their chats at the end of their drive. I think they believe we are crazy. Its in for a good clean and some work Chris wants to do on it.
At the moment though he is not up to doing anything, Sunday he started with an upset tummy and today Thursday is still not eating and as he puts it whatever goes in comes out 10mins later., thats why I am writing more of the blog than usual. If his system doesn't cope with it in a day or two it may mean Imodium but then he will kill all the bugs we have developed to deal with the food here over the last eight months, catch 22.
(Chris. I just found this on face blurb......'Lord empty me of me so I can be filled with you'
Yes, ok I do agree but right now.........Lord I am empty!!!) That's quite funny but I will continue to pray for healing.
I started a children's ministry group at church a few weeks ago and sometimes we only have 2 children but we had 4 last week not big numbers but for the size of our church not bad. I believe it will grow and hopefully we will have as much fun as we did on Sunday when we did the battle of Jericho.
I am stopping writing now as I must go shopping ( I am probably the only woman I know who hates shopping). Mind you I enjoy going to book shops, art shops etc.
I continue to be amazed at the things people carry on motorcycles, yesterday I saw a pillion passenger carrying at least 15 boxes approx one and an half feet square they did not appear to be tied together. I counted 15 but there may have been more, I would have difficulty holding one box, so I remain very amazed.
The other thing I still find amazing is that the locals try so hard to please you. I was in a couple of shops trying to buy a t shirt for Chris, they were the wrong size but the assistants tried so hard to convince me they would be ok and were the size I requested. It is not that they are trying to deceive it is just not wanting to let anyone down.
The monsoon has mean't that the roads are slowly deteriorating, lots of pot holes which is ok when there is no rain as you can see them, but when the road is flooded with water it is so easy to hit a deep hole without realising it. More need to take care at this time of the year. I just came back from the city and the roads have deteriorated further since yesterday. I dread to think what it will be like when the main rain comes. The road to the college and school are really bad, potholes and mud, I went there the other day and it was a nightmare, I am looking at alternative routes with less potholes and mud.
Chris has been looking at our Christian films so we can show one a month at the college, there are lots of films to review and check for suitability but the major difficulty appears to be their length some running to 3 hours. We decided on 3 films for the colleges approval and the first is to be shown on Saturday, it is Esther. It is an older film but the English is easy to understand and should help the students with their English skills.
Janet appears to be settling back into things since her return from England, and Mark and Elena arrived last week so it was good to see them.
We have not had time to go to the gym or go swimming lately and Chris is definitely not up to it at the moment. We may start going again soon when he recovers.
Hoppity the three legged dog who appears to have adopted us, is still going strong. He still dislikes strangers, rickshaws and motorbikes he does not know. As long as no one goes to kick him he is ok, but like all animals if provoked he will retaliate.
I expect it won't be long before the Christmas decorations start appearing in the UK, the local leather man I know in the old town said they are starting on getting their stock ready for Christmas, some to sell here in India and others to import to Europe etc. Apparrently he has quite a market overseas for some of his products. That is enterprise for you. I met his family the other day, I had already met his wife, child and his mother but was introduced to more family. They are all very nice and welcoming.
The things I miss, well not as much as one would expect but here goes.
Brillo pads, Furniture polish, beeswax type, HP Fruity sauce. Varieties of cheese, I am sure Chris must be missing his Stilton. If I think of anything else I will add it.
Chris and I are looking forward to the next Royal Enfield ride out, it is on August 15th which is Independence Day the plan is to ride with Indian flags on the bikes, Chris will ride with the Indian flag our adopted country and the Welsh flag his birth country. I have no problem with that as it is his bike and after all I will just be a pillion passenger. It will be a good event in any case as they are a great bunch of guys, it is a shame that more women do not come there has only been the occassional woman along from time to time.
Then in October there is another ride with his club IBRMC which is a Desert Meet, that again sounds good and we are both looking forward to it. There seem to be a few rides coming up in the next month or two which will be good.
Unfortunately the last ride was not my best one. There were quite a few Royal Enfield Riders and another woman great. We went to a Jain Temple which was very interesting at a place called Ranakpur Tirth which was about 90 kms away. We had a nice simple meal there and a good ride out. Unfortunately within a short time of leaving I felt quite ill, dizzy, the runs and feeling sick. I managed to stay upright on the bike for a short while although it was a close thing, then I told Chris I was desperate for the bathroom ( open air toilet by the way in any place I could find that was private). After that I knew I was done in, fortunately on this ride we had an accompanying car and it was arranged for them to drive me home. Chris had the opportunity for a short while of riding solo with the group, although he kept a close eye on my welfare. I have never been so pleased to get home in my life, I do not know what triggered it but I did feel awful and did not want to ruin the day.
Now some really important news...................I have found coffee beans via a friend who goes to Mumbia, real coffee oh it is lovely, top quality Mysore beans, mmmmmmmmmmmm.
Work.
The English course I have written has now been adopted by a school in Surat, and another NGO here in Udaipur wants me to train some of their English teachers in its presentation so they can use it.
Besides that I an about to begin teaching it in a college here on a Saturday, two sessions, one AM and one PM.
We are still working towards water heating as we now have a cheaper easier design we intend installing a test version here this winter! If it works in winter it will be a sure thing for summer!
We are about to get really involved with a new project to provide clean drinking water to all.....
Comments from Kris
We are going to introduce SODIS water purification system here in Udaipur City for the start of Summer when it will be most needed. This is a fantastic system and once set up costs nothing to maintain, set up costs about Rs250.
All we need is lots of clear 2 litre/2.25 litre PET bottles such as used by Pepsi and Coca Cola, anything bigger than this does not work. If you want more information go to the SODIS website.
We have received our first donation to our projects of Rs5000 which is excellent news, we have personally collected about a 100 bottles and the mountain is still growing. We have other people collecting too. We are about to go into schools to get them collecting and supporting the initiative and we are starting with St Matthews School. It is all very exciting and it will transform peoples lives having safe, pure water to drink.
I am about to start teaching First Aid to a group in college who will then go out to the villagers as First Aiders and trainers, I will then teach on various Health Subjects. I am very excited as this means my teaching will reach many more people than if I went out to the villagers and relied on an interpreter.
On the subject of Hindi I am slowly learning, I like Chris understand more than I can speak, but I am trying to use the language where I can. If I was younger I am sure it would be easier but God loves a trier and I am not going to give up.
Last month Chris and I went to Surat to a school, where we met lots of lovely people too many to mention here. There was one person who stands out for me though. She was the grandmother of our hosts who had invited us for dinner. (this is the same couple whose wedding we attended here in Udaipur at the local resort). This lady's grandson told me she actually knew Indira Ghandi, I could not believe it to meet someone who knew this tremendous lady was such an honour. It turned out not only did she know Indira Ghandi but that she worked with her when she was in Politics, the impact Indira Ghandi had on her life was such that when she heard Indira had been assassinated she retired permanently from Politics. For me Indira Ghandi was inspirational and I had hoped that in Thatcher we might also have had a truly great leader, how wrong I was. I was deeply shocked at the assassination of Indira Ghandi and feel she was not only a great loss to India but to the World. There are a few figures in the world that have touched my life deeply and I was devastated at their deaths but alas I could count those on one hand which is a poor reflection of society today. ( I do not include here family or friends whose deaths have had an impact on me)
We have been busy planting seeds from cabbage, lettuce, onions to some lovely flowers, some Indian some British. Chris replanted our Mango tree from where it was failing to centre of the lawn, advice tells us it will lose all its leaves which is happening now and then hopefully it will start new shoots in a month. It needs gentle care and watering well twice daily as well as the monsoon rain it is getting. We have every faith it will recover and give us a fantastic Mango tree as the centre piece for our garden. We are planting a variety of flowers in a bed around the tree. We are continuing our bamboo theme by surrounding the flower bed in a bamboo wall. It looks good now but it will look even better when the flowers are planted and the Mango tree flourishes.
Weeding is an ongoing task the rain encourages plenty of new growth. We will show more photos of the garden as it starts to flourish once more.
As I sit here I am working at our computer station and in front of me to the right of our dining room table and left of the lounge furniture sits Chis's beloved Royal Enfield Desert Storm. Chris rode it in a couple of days ago to the absolute amazement and stunned neighbours who were having one of their chats at the end of their drive. I think they believe we are crazy. Its in for a good clean and some work Chris wants to do on it.
At the moment though he is not up to doing anything, Sunday he started with an upset tummy and today Thursday is still not eating and as he puts it whatever goes in comes out 10mins later., thats why I am writing more of the blog than usual. If his system doesn't cope with it in a day or two it may mean Imodium but then he will kill all the bugs we have developed to deal with the food here over the last eight months, catch 22.
(Chris. I just found this on face blurb......'Lord empty me of me so I can be filled with you'
Yes, ok I do agree but right now.........Lord I am empty!!!) That's quite funny but I will continue to pray for healing.
I started a children's ministry group at church a few weeks ago and sometimes we only have 2 children but we had 4 last week not big numbers but for the size of our church not bad. I believe it will grow and hopefully we will have as much fun as we did on Sunday when we did the battle of Jericho.
I am stopping writing now as I must go shopping ( I am probably the only woman I know who hates shopping). Mind you I enjoy going to book shops, art shops etc.
I continue to be amazed at the things people carry on motorcycles, yesterday I saw a pillion passenger carrying at least 15 boxes approx one and an half feet square they did not appear to be tied together. I counted 15 but there may have been more, I would have difficulty holding one box, so I remain very amazed.
The other thing I still find amazing is that the locals try so hard to please you. I was in a couple of shops trying to buy a t shirt for Chris, they were the wrong size but the assistants tried so hard to convince me they would be ok and were the size I requested. It is not that they are trying to deceive it is just not wanting to let anyone down.
The monsoon has mean't that the roads are slowly deteriorating, lots of pot holes which is ok when there is no rain as you can see them, but when the road is flooded with water it is so easy to hit a deep hole without realising it. More need to take care at this time of the year. I just came back from the city and the roads have deteriorated further since yesterday. I dread to think what it will be like when the main rain comes. The road to the college and school are really bad, potholes and mud, I went there the other day and it was a nightmare, I am looking at alternative routes with less potholes and mud.
Chris has been looking at our Christian films so we can show one a month at the college, there are lots of films to review and check for suitability but the major difficulty appears to be their length some running to 3 hours. We decided on 3 films for the colleges approval and the first is to be shown on Saturday, it is Esther. It is an older film but the English is easy to understand and should help the students with their English skills.
Janet appears to be settling back into things since her return from England, and Mark and Elena arrived last week so it was good to see them.
We have not had time to go to the gym or go swimming lately and Chris is definitely not up to it at the moment. We may start going again soon when he recovers.
Hoppity the three legged dog who appears to have adopted us, is still going strong. He still dislikes strangers, rickshaws and motorbikes he does not know. As long as no one goes to kick him he is ok, but like all animals if provoked he will retaliate.
I expect it won't be long before the Christmas decorations start appearing in the UK, the local leather man I know in the old town said they are starting on getting their stock ready for Christmas, some to sell here in India and others to import to Europe etc. Apparrently he has quite a market overseas for some of his products. That is enterprise for you. I met his family the other day, I had already met his wife, child and his mother but was introduced to more family. They are all very nice and welcoming.
The things I miss, well not as much as one would expect but here goes.
Brillo pads, Furniture polish, beeswax type, HP Fruity sauce. Varieties of cheese, I am sure Chris must be missing his Stilton. If I think of anything else I will add it.
Chris and I are looking forward to the next Royal Enfield ride out, it is on August 15th which is Independence Day the plan is to ride with Indian flags on the bikes, Chris will ride with the Indian flag our adopted country and the Welsh flag his birth country. I have no problem with that as it is his bike and after all I will just be a pillion passenger. It will be a good event in any case as they are a great bunch of guys, it is a shame that more women do not come there has only been the occassional woman along from time to time.
Then in October there is another ride with his club IBRMC which is a Desert Meet, that again sounds good and we are both looking forward to it. There seem to be a few rides coming up in the next month or two which will be good.
Unfortunately the last ride was not my best one. There were quite a few Royal Enfield Riders and another woman great. We went to a Jain Temple which was very interesting at a place called Ranakpur Tirth which was about 90 kms away. We had a nice simple meal there and a good ride out. Unfortunately within a short time of leaving I felt quite ill, dizzy, the runs and feeling sick. I managed to stay upright on the bike for a short while although it was a close thing, then I told Chris I was desperate for the bathroom ( open air toilet by the way in any place I could find that was private). After that I knew I was done in, fortunately on this ride we had an accompanying car and it was arranged for them to drive me home. Chris had the opportunity for a short while of riding solo with the group, although he kept a close eye on my welfare. I have never been so pleased to get home in my life, I do not know what triggered it but I did feel awful and did not want to ruin the day.
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| Just arrived and this is half the bikes the other ones are in front of purple tree |
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| Local mischief makers in tree near where bikes are parked |
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| Jain temple more impressive inside well worth a visit. |
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| Stopping for Chai at a roadside cafe on route to temple, all Royal Enfields. Well not sure there is anything else to add so I think this is it for this month, hope everyone is well back in the UK and God bless to all those in other parts of the world who read this blog. |
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