Waiting For a Sign

                "God, I'm waiting for a sign!  God, what's the plan?  God, what's next?"  Have you ever found yourself asking God these questions?  Lately I have been asking these questions to the Lord on almost a daily basis.  God is able to speak to us in many different ways.  Sometimes He will speak through a particular verse in the Bible, or in quiet times of prayer.  Other times it's through worship, in singing praises or playing an instrument.  Many times I hear Him through a pastor or teacher as they preach.  I have also had God speak to me through dear friends that have come along side of me to talk or pray.  Most of the time I wish God would just write it on a sign for me to read and have everything all written out.  Wouldn't that be nice?  Then we wouldn't have to read between the lines what we think He is trying to tell us.  We wouldn't have to second guess decisions that we have made.  We wouldn't have to wonder if we are going down the right path.  

                   This is how I am feeling about God and my life right now.  I feel certain that God called us to move to India for Kris to work as a chiropractor.  I feel certain that I was supposed to have my second child in India.  I feel certain that right now I am called to be a stay at home mom to two wonderful munchkins, discipling them to follow Jesus.  But what I am feeling uncertain about is God's timing.  There are many questions that I keep asking myself and God on almost a daily basis…  "How long does God want us to stay here?...If we move back to America, where will we live?...If we stay here, how will we afford to live in India for another year?...What is your will oh God????"  Plus I'm a planner, so I hate not knowing the plan!! (Hint hint God; tell me the plan...please??)   

                     Unfortunately I don't think that God is going to write out the answer for me on some big sign.  He loves it when we draw near to him so that he can draw near to us.  He enjoys our company when we ask, seek, knock, and ask and seek and knock some more.  We tend to do this more when we feel uncertain about the life around us.  Ultimately I know that God's plan for my life is perfect.  Knowing how to follow that plan is easier said than done.  

                    Please pray for us as we are seeking God's will for our future.  We hope to make a decision rather soon about how long God wants us to remain here.  We know for sure that we will remain here until at least October (that is when our visas run out).  Beyond that we are uncertain.  We are thankful to all of you who are already praying for us on a consistent basis.  We would enjoy hearing any scriptures or words of encouragement that you may have for us in the weeks and months to come as we make important decisions regarding our future.  

I will leave you with some other signs (not ones from God) that we have seen here in India and have made us laugh.  I hope that it will bring a smile to your face too :)  Enjoy!!

This sign was in Mysore at the palace.  Foreigners usually pay at least twice as much almost anywhere there is a tourist attraction.  

This sign is in another language, but the pictures are hilarious.  We saw this one at the Mysore Zoo.  It's basically saying don't go in the cages or you will be eaten/mauled by the animal and possibly bleed to death and then taken away by the police.  Ok, I guess I won't try and get in the cage with the Bison.  

This sign was also at the zoo and written in another language.  I think it's saying that you shouldn't feed the monkeys human food because they might get fat and then deflate?  Or the bottom left picture looks like he is trying to poop?  I don't know...

You see this sign all over Bangalore on almost any fence.  You see men urinating almost anywhere in the city.  There was even a commercial on TV that said you shouldn't litter or urinate on the side of the road because that looks bad to tourists.  It was a pretty funny commercial, because there is garbage everywhere and you always see men urinating on the side of the road.  

This sign says to park vehicles orderly.  In America you wouldn't have to post a sign like this because people almost always park orderly…mostly due to our large parking lots everywhere. Here in India, it's always a good reminder.  People will park anywhere they want and in any direction they want.  Plus parking is always a problem due to lack of  space.  

This is my last sign from the zoo.  I don't really know what it means…so I will leave it's interpretation up to your imagination :)

We just thought that the lady and the man on this sign looked kind of weird.  Plus we don't really know what the flames underneath of them are for??

This is a stop sign near our apartment.  MC hammer all the way!!

This sign says "Chicken stop"  "Succulent things, juicy breasts and great legs."  I don't think I need to elaborate any further.

You see this sign all over the city.  Nobody follows traffic rules.  Period.

You also see this sign all over the city.  Nobody follows lane discipline.   I wish I had a good picture to show the crazy traffic here.  They say if you can drive in Bangalore, you can drive anywhere in the world!

Adventures Continued (Part 2)

Sam and Jill left Bangalore late Sunday night, but Dad and Arlys were able to stay an extra week.  This enabled us to do a few more fun leisurely activities with them.  We took them to one of the fancy shopping malls that Bangalore has to offer.  Bangalore is known for its good shopping and restaurants.    It was a great way to get out of the heat and enjoy some air conditioning.  

Molly and Nana riding the train at the mall

 One afternoon we found a pool close by to cool off in.  Molly loved swimming with Papa and Nana!

More selfies in the rickshaw

One afternoon we headed to WCOI (World Cassette Outreach of India) headquarters to learn more about their ministry and spend time with our friend James and his family.   Our church in Sioux Falls is planning a mission trip to India to work with the ministry in July.  WCOI translates the Bible and offers it to many villages and people groups around India in a digital audio form.  This is an extremely powerful ministry that is being used to spread the gospel message to many unreached parts of the country.  After hearing some amazing testimonies from James and his dad, I realized that I have totally underestimated the powerful transformation that is possible when someone simply has access to the Word of God.  Sometimes I get wrapped up in how we can reach people for Christ by giving things like food, clothes, or medical care.  But this ministry doesn't offer any of those things.  It offers the Bible in an accessible format, and so many people have come to know the Lord through His Word.  We hope to be able to join our church when they come in July to help distribute these digital players.  Thank you WCOI for all that you are doing to further the Kingdom of God here on earth!

On Thursday night we took Dad and Arlys out for their 10 year wedding anniversary.  We took them to an Arabian restaurant that is popular here in Bangalore.   I believe they found it to be a unique and enjoyable dining experience.  We teased them about how it would be hard to top celebrating their 10 year anniversary in India.  

Getting ready for the 10 year anniversary dinner

Celebrating Dad and Arlys' 10 years of marriage!

On their last day in Bangalore we decided to head about an hour outside of the city to Nandi Hills.  This is a beautiful hilly area that offers many scenic overlooks and some nice hikes.  Once again I always welcome any time we can spend outside of the city.   

Nandi Hills

There were many of these canopies on the side of the road that offered some scenic overlooks.  

This man was dangling off the edge just to measure the canopy.  

There were monkeys everywhere!  This monkey was eating garbage on top of the rickshaw.

The entrance to the park.

Dad rocking John to sleep one last time before they got on their plane to America.  

It was so hard to say goodbye!  I didn't know if I would be depressed or feeling rejuvenated to survive the next 6 months with no visitors.  The verdict is still out on that one :)  All in all we had an amazing time with our family and we were so happy that they made the extremely long trip out here to come see us.  I hope that these past few blogs have motivated a few more of you to think about coming to see us while we are here in India.  We would love to have more visitors and would show you a really great time!!  

Adventures Continued...

          Family time did not end with our vacation in Mysore.  We had to show them all of the sights and sounds that Bangalore had to offer.  Kris and I have had little to no time to sight see around Bangalore, so we were excited to go around the city and see some new things too.
          The day after we returned from Mysore I sent everyone on an adventure to Commercial Street.  This is a huge, busy, shopping area with many crowded vendors and shops.  Kris had to work, and I stayed at home with Molly who was running a fever.  They ventured out in a couple of rickshaws and amazingly came home safe and sound!

This is a view down one of the side streets near Commercial Street

The rickshaw driver even let dad ride in the drivers seat with him.  

Enjoying the rickshaw rides!

So many shops to see.  It can get quite overwhelming. 

Once they made it home from Commercial Street, Roopa took the ladies saree shopping.  The store we went to had walls and walls of sarees to choose from.  It was almost impossible to narrow it down.  Jill and Arlys managed to choose one.  I, on the other hand, will need to save up some money for my saree. Apparently I am too tall for some of the lesser expensive sarees and I will have to pay more money for one with more fabric.  I will get one some day!  

They lined up to show us all of their beautiful sarees.  It truly was a shopping experience that I will never forget.  

They draped each of us with a saree so that we could see what we would look like with one on.  I would compare it to shopping for a wedding gown.  You don't know if it's "the one" until you try it on and stand on the pedestal in front of the large mirror.  Then you oooh and aaaah and say that's the one.

The night ended on such a good note with Sam and Jill singing us a song that they had written for John.  This was their baby gift to us and I will cherish it forever.  I can't wait until they get us a copy that we can listen to over and over.  Thanks Sam and Jill for all of the time and energy you put into writing this!  We loved it!

The next day Sam and Jill went with a friend to see an art museum in the morning and then met up with the rest of us for lunch.  We had lunch with Jude and Roopa at an Indian buffet.  Then if was off for more shopping to the Harley Davidson Store and MG road. We finished off the day with Krispy Kreme donuts and a metro ride back home.  It was another busy, busy day!

It was fun to try so many different Indian dishes.  

Dad was in hog heaven at the Harley store.  He managed to find his souvenir here :)

MG road is another huge shopping area.  The ladies found some fun scarves to bring home as souvenirs.  

Papa and Nana treating Molly to some Krispy Kreme donuts.  YUMMY!!

Our last big tourist day with Sam and Jill was Saturday so we decided to go to Lalbagh, which is a beautiful botanical garden located in Bangalore.  I was pleasantly surprised by how large and green it was.   It was very refreshing to see such a large garden with so many unique, huge, beautiful, old trees.    It was also very quiet and less crowded than anywhere else in Bangalore.  So we packed a picnic lunch and made a day of it.  It was hot of course, but the trees provided a lot of shade to keep us somewhat cool throughout the day.  

This is a garden that is full of bonzae trees

So many large, beautiful trees.

This particular palm was just so amazing up close. 

We sat under this pink tree for our picnic lunch.  I don't remember the last time I had a picnic lunch!

This tree was at least 200 years old!

Lots of orange blossoms on many of the trees in the park.

It was so nice to see this part of Bangalore.  I hope to be able to take Kris there some day too.  

We walked around the park for as long as our legs could tolerate.  Then on the way home I let Sam, Jill, and Arlys check out KR market.  This is an extremely busy, crowded, narrow market where there are tons of vendors selling a variety of goods.  I did not dare to venture into such a densely populated area with 2 kids, so dad offered to stay with me and the kids in the car.  We only allowed them to venture out for 30min because, once again it is too chaotic of a place to have children.  In that 30min they saw so many interesting things.  I would like to go back there without kids and see it for myself some day.  

Can you see Sam in this picture?

The night ended with a home cooked Indian meal made by Roopa.  It was absolutely delicious!  Thanks Jude and Roopa for your hospitality!

Well that wraps up week number 1 with the fam!  Sadly, we had to say goodbye to Sam and Jill Sunday night, but we had such a great time with them.  They went full speed ahead for the entire 8 days they were here.  It was so much fun to see them soak up all of the culture that India has to offer.  They truly did not let a moment be wasted while they were here.  Stay tuned for week number 2 of family time.  We did slow down a bit after Sam and Jill left, but none of us minded:)