Dental Work Anyone?

I had to go to the dentist this week to have a crown put on my tooth. This clinic is at a local hospital and from what I hear is pretty new. It was very clean, spacious and even had a seperate waiting area. I've devised a plan for anyone in need of dental work and would like to come and visit us in India while you're at it...

Dental work, like doctor visits are dirt cheap here compared to the states. For example, I paid $7.70 for the office visit and $100 for the crown. A crown in the u.s. ranges anywhere from $500-$3000, an office visit around $50-$100, plus x-rays $50..

So here's my plan...roundtrip airfare to India is about $1200. You can come to visit India plus have your dental work done all for the same low price you would have paid in the u.s.!! You can even get an appointment the next day at this place--you'll be in and out in no time! Same goes for doctor visits, surgeries, etc--they're a steal here--so why not make a trip out of it?:D

Sound good?:)

Half Way Thru Book Review

Last week was a challenge...leaving our family and friends behind in one "world", trying to transition back to our other "world", being sleep deprived and having kiddies waking up at all hours of the night. It called for quite the deserving pity party I thought. But thankfully the Lord had a better plan...

I had ordered a stack of used books from Amazon to arrive in the U.S. to take back to India. Most of the books are about people with great faith. I'd previously read two books while here (about Corrie ten Boom and Brother Andrew) and they really put my life (that I was moaning and groaning about) into perspective for me--I have it soooo easy and my faith is so weak. I really need to read these types of books to help focus on the Kindgdom picture, not my microscopic, self-absorbed little world.

I had heard of Amy Carmichael, the single missionary who lived a hundred years ago. I've heard quotes and hymns by her, but when I bought the book I had no idea she was a missionary to India and had lived in Bangalore for part of that time!!! It's so amazing that the Lord had me buy this book that I really didn't know much about and use it to get me out of my pitty pit! This lady was so tough, her faith so strong, her standards so high. She fell ill numerous times, lived with all kinds of creepy crawly animals:), laughed at danger and mockery, witnessed to anyone who breathed, withstood hostile and angry crowds surrounding her home (tent), lived with the people, rescued little girls from a lifetime of service to temple gods, suffered the loss of many children in her care from disease, lost many loved ones, didn't take a furlough for 53 years, didn't see her family for that long as well, was disliked by fellow missionaries, seemed never to be shaken no matter how powerful the blow, and loved India...i'm sure there's more but i'm only half way through the book.

If you ever need to be inspired, lifted up, become un-self-absorbed, see what a life of rock solid faith looks like or realize how easy your life really is...please read A Chance to Die by Elisabeth Elliot. You'll be revived!

"You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, that I may sing your praise and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!" Psalm 30:11-12

Red Dirt

Another little observation about Bangalore is the red dirt, which creates red dust. I'm not sure if it is too expensive to plant and maintain grass here but there's not much to be found and therefore the dust abounds. I think that's why most people here have housekeepers b/c sweeping and mopping are a daily "must".

Being a typical woman I moved here with 14 pairs of shoes (that's after giving lots of shoes away before moving:) I wear just 2 pair of flip flops (one of which i bought here) and haven't touched the others due to the dirt. It just really doesn't matter which shoes you have on, they are going to get dirty so why bother?:D

Again, I hope it doesn't sound like i'm complaining...i really just like sharing with you a taste of what it looks like here in the "Garden City" (Bangalore's nickname).

The Teeth

When my sister-in-law saw Kai's teeth in TX she couldn't believe I hadn't blogged about it to show everyone his new choppers:) But actually the lower two teeth are not that much different from most baby teeth. The upper two are a different story. The first top tooth was coming out as we flew over the Atlantic ocean going to the states (maybe that's why he didn't sleep for 16 hours:) and the second top one was emerging as we flew back over the ocean to Bangalore:) Both daddy and momma had big buck teeth as children so the child can't espcape it:D They just add a little more character to those chubby cheeks and big belly:)

Cravings

As I reflect on our trip to the states, i thought i'd share a little insignificant information that made us happy (besides seeing family and friends:)...that is food:) We do sometimes long for and dream of foods that we can't get here. We had a list of places we were craving and had to consume while there...here's what we accomplished...

Whataburger (Brian's #1) (this was his first and last meal there:)
Taco Bell (twice)
Mom's cooking!!! yum yum
Fried Shrimp Po-boys (from Louisiana)
Sonic
Papacito's Mexican Food (Colette's #1)
Freebird's Burritos (this was a weekly dining experience for us when we lived in Houston) We also got Ben and Jerry's ice cream on this outing--thanks Jarrad and Chrissy!
Double Dave's pizza rolls (thanks to our old D.D. dining buddies--the Van Essens!)
Domino's (twice) (with meat toppings!)
Chic-fil-a
Frozen waffles every morning for breakfast (boys' #1)
Lots of good home cooked food (thanks Mom, Dad, Joni, Grandpa and Grandmother B, Carlisa, Candice and Ryan)

Maybe all this junk food will hold us over for awhile:)

Glitch in the System

As I was sitting here typing the previous post, the electricity went out and caused the post to take 3 times longer than it should have. It reminded me that I don't recall sharing about the daily outages here. Most days the electricity "flickers" on and off about 6 times for a period of about 10-15 minutes. Usually this happens more than once a day. I'm so thankful that it doesn't stay off for long periods at a time which I've heard happens in some residences. It does tend to interrupt some things like the computer, which "unplugs" hardware devices in ways the computer doesn't appreciate, causes the internet to act up, etc. Most times when it does come back on it fails to restart one fuse which supplies power to the washer, dryer, microwave and stovetop. So if we are washing or cooking it takes a little time before those things come back on--sometimes til the next power outage:) Pretty much every building in Bangalore has a back-up generator due to the unreliable power. I know some third world cities around the world probably experience power outages for days at a time so I'm not complaining--just thought I'd share:)
And while I'm on glitches I'll go ahead and mention the internet and cable...we are really blessed to have DSL, but in Bangalore that means you'll only to get to use it about 1/2 of the time. The other time it's won't connect. (We haven't been able to access CNN this week...we think it's possibly being blocked due to the crisis in Pakistan.) The same daily occurance happens with cable(which we are also blessed to have for free!!)
Compared to those living around us who have none of these amenities, these are only minor glitches in ones day! But after just being in the states it reminded me of one more thing I take for granted there--power:)

Four Wheeler Babies

Every time we visit my parents house the tradtion for the boys and PawPaw is to ride around the lawn on his red four wheeler. My dad takes them around in circles (very slowly:). They LOVE it! Kai had his first riding experience this last visit so I decided to look for pictures of the other boys' first rides. I found this one of Haddon but couldn't find any of Corban as a baby. I soon remembered that, as with most first babies, the video camera was pulled out for the "monumental":) first event and we have no less than 30 minutes of riding around the yard over and over:) so I can't include his:)