It's Finally Here!!!

PRAISE THE LORD!!!  Our car finally arrived this week.  God is so good!  He literally gave us all of the money that we needed for a brand new car in 3 weeks time.  The Church responded and every single dollar was provided for!  We have never been given that much money, and I have never in my entire life owned a new car.  This car however, does not feel like "my" car.  It truly feels like God's car that he is loaning us for this year.  We want to say a huge thanks to all of you that donated to our car fund and for those of you that lifted up this need in prayer.  Truly we have been humbled through this experience and it has only increased our faith in knowing that the Lord will provide for every need that we have.  

I included a few photos of the car for your viewing pleasure.  It's nothing big or fancy, but it will be sufficient for what we need.  It is an Indian brand of car called the Tata, Nano.  Kris has already given me 2 driving lessons (it's a manual transmission and I have never driven anything but an automatic).  Hopefully this won't put me into pre-term labor, but I really want to learn!  There are a few driving obstacles that I must overcome:  

1. To learn how to drive a stick.  

2.  Learn to drive on the left hand side of the road.  

3.  Drive on the right hand side of the car. 

4.  Blinker and windshield wipers are on the opposite side of the steering wheel from what we are used to.

5.  Large potholes, frequent speed bumps, people/vehicles/scooters/motorcycles/cows everywhere.  

So wish us luck as we learn to navigate the streets of Bangalore!  If you live in Bangalore, be on the lookout for a silver Nano on the loose...we might be semi-dangerous!

"It's a beaut Clark!"

Getting the keys at the dealer.  We may look like giants standing next to our small car, but who cares... it's a car!!

Kris driving home from the dealer.  FREEDOM!!!

Only 57km on this bad boy.  Yep, it's brand new folks!

Molly was just as excited as we were to get a new car!  She was sick of walking everywhere too. 

This car couldn't have come at a better time.  My pregnant self is getting large and tired, so walking or should I say waddling, has become quite a bit more difficult.  Only 3 more weeks until my due date.  Now we just need to figure out how to get to the hospital.  Maybe we should practice a few times in the next couple of weeks!  Thanks again, and I'll report back on how the driving lessons are going.  Pray that Kris won't have a heart attack while trying to teach me!

More from ACCEPT

Just thought I would post a few more photos from our visits with ACCEPT.  We truly look forward to each visit with the kids.  Molly just LOVES to play with all the kids.  On this particular visit I brought along all of the children's books from Molly's small collection that we took from America.  They just loved sitting and reading all of the books!  Even the older kids were reading them.  We also brought along a small ball.  I used the ball to get to know their names a little better.  Each time they would throw it to me they had to tell me their name.  (I am terrible with their names!!)  Kris is so good with remembering their names, but maybe thats because he is used to seeing so many Indian patients at the clinic.  The girls also sang us a few songs.  They are beautiful singers!! I wish I could post the video of them singing.  They tried to teach me the song, but it was in another language...yeah so that didn't go so hot, but I tried :)  

Time for some R & R

Kris has been working non-stop since we arrived in Bangalore, so we decided to go on a little trip for Christmas.  Jude and Roopa and their family took us to a little hillstation outside of the city called Ooty for some much needed rest and recuperation.  The trip was about an 8hr drive (supposed to be 5hrs, but the traffic was terrible) through winding hills and hair pin turns.  The roads were quite rough, but all was worth while when we reached the beautiful town up in the hills.  It was also quite refreshing to take a breath of fresh mountain air, instead of the usual dust and pollution that we experience daily in Bangalore.  The temperature was also much cooler, which was a nice change too.  I posted a few of the many, many pictures that we took while there.  I'll post the rest on facebook for those that are interested in seeing them all.

DAY 1

This is a picture of one of the views while we were driving on the way to Ooty

We stayed at an old English Bungalow in Ooty that was over 100 years old.  Once we arrived the kids simply enjoyed playing in the grass and being outside!

The first night we ate supper at another old hotel that had a fire going in every room and even some live Christmas music.

DAY 2

We took a train ride from Ooty to another hillstation named Coonoor.  It was about an hour long train ride that rode through more tea hills providing lots of scenic views.  This was probably my favorite part of the whole trip.  The 6 of us shown here rode this train for $.50 total.  I thought that was incredibly cheap!!

This is an overlook of the city of Ooty

DAY 3

On day 3 of the trip we took a little boat ride around one of the lakes in the city.  Don't mind our ugly orange life vests (they were a 1 size fits all kind of vest).  

Kris and Molly riding the bumper cars (or dashing cars as they called it at this particular place)

One more fun ride for the kids.

Later that day we went to the botanical gardens.  It had all sorts of crazy trees and plants we had never seen before.  We were also requested to take photos with complete strangers on multiple occasions.  Kris even had to hold a stranger's baby and stand with their whole family while they snapped a picture. 

Roopa bought Molly a bouquet of flowers outside the botanical garden.  So many pretty flowers!

DAY 4

We went to a lookout point to see all of the beautiful rolling hills.  There were so many amazing views it was hard to capture on camera!

We traveled to a tea factory to find out how tea is made.  This was not a factory that usually provides tours, but there was a friendly worker that was more that willing to tell us all about how his factory works.  

These are some of the women that go out in the fields to pluck the tea.  They work for very very little money.  

Endless views of rolling tea hills.  It was so nice to see green everywhere!

We ended the trip by going to a chocolate museum.  All of you that know me well, know that this was a highlight for me!  I can never get enough chocolate!!

On the way home we rode through a national forrest/game reserve.  We were fortunate enough to see some wild elephants that were grazing along side of the road.  It's pretty rare that you site them from the road unless you actually go into the forrest on safari.  We were all pretty excited!!

Overall it was so nice to go on a small trip and see life outside of the busy city of Bangalore.  It was also fun to see such a beautiful side of India that I didn't know even existed.  We are so thankful to Jude and Roopa for planning and taking us on this trip.  It will definitely be one to remember for a lifetime!  

Looking Back

Happy New Year to you all!  It is so amazing to look back at 2013 and see what God has brought us through.  I can remember some very sad moments, but I can also remember so many happy ones too.  If I could sum up 2013 into one word, I would say the word "CHANGE" describes it best.  God has brought us through sooooo many changes, more than I could have ever imagined as I started 2013.  Who knows what God will do in 2014??  Hopefully you have had some time to reflect on the past year, but also time to look ahead to the adventure that God may bring you through in 2014!

Today as we celebrate the first day of 2014 I asked Kris if he could share one patient experience as a testimony to what God is doing at the chiropractic clinic.  Although, I would prefer if Kris would share it himself, he is extremely busy with hardly any time to spare.  He, on average, is seeing about 20-30 patients per day, which gets pretty hectic.  He comes home very tired, but always with a smile on his face.  He has also been quite sick over the past 3 weeks, but never missed a day of work.  On most of his days off he simply just rests.  So today I sent him to take a nap with Molly while I try to describe his most memorable patient experience to date.

This particular patient is a 40 year old male.  He came to the clinic with 3 major complaints.  He complained of insomnia and reported only getting 1-2 hrs of sleep per night.  He also had symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome and diarrhea after each meal.  Third, he had frequent headaches.  He has never seen a chiropractor before.  He recently was separated from his wife and was also experiencing a lot of stress at work.  He looked tired and run down.  He was hardly able to even open his eyes or stand up straight.  After doing a thorough history, Kris felt his main problems were probably stress and anxiety/depression.  In the US Kris hardly sees patients for these symptoms, but here he sees patients with all sorts of crazy symptoms that have tried everything but chiropractic.  They see the clinic as their last hope.  He proceeded to give him an adjustment, but after the adjustment felt lead to pray for this patient.  This is not something Kris does regularly with each patient, but God prompted him to lay hands on him and pray for him out loud and the patient was agreeable.  (This particular patient is not a Christian, but probably a Hindu).  That week, Kris saw him 3 times and prayed for him after each adjustment.   After the first week of adjustments the patient reported some significant improvements in his symptoms.  He was able to sleep for 7hrs in a row for 2 nights straight!!

Now that Kris has adjusted this patient about 9-10 times, he reports that his irritable bowel symptoms are completely gone; he can sleep 7hrs each night; and he only rarely gets a headache.  But the most important improvement is what Kris can visibly see in this patient.  He went from looking hopeless, tired, and run down; to a smile on his face, eyes shining bright, and excitement to receive each treatment.  He genuinely looks forward to each treatment and reports significant improvements because of them.

This is the power of God at work!!  We are praising God for the healing that has taken place in this individual.  We are praying that the Lord would soften his heart to hear the gospel message and be saved.  Kris has many stories similar to this one that I'm sure he would love to share.  We will try to give testimony to more stories as we witness God's miraculous power at work. We ask that you would continue to pray for Kris as he works with these complex patients.  Kris is asking that we pray for God to fill him with more boldness to pray over patients.  Also, that he would be sensitive to hear God's voice as to which patients need prayer spoken out loud (as he doesn't have time to do this for every patient that he sees throughout the day).

Once again we thank you for taking interest in our journey and hope that God is glorified through the work of our hands!