Trip to the Beach

Thursday, December 28, 2006

"Smile buddy, I'm going to put this on the net." Don't worry, it's not your fault the car broke down. These things happen." We were somewhere in the Ghat Mountains, and had to hitch a ride to the next big village. So we flagged down a "taxi". We climbed into a rickshaw which moves between villages, picking up locals.

Amber watches the scene. The weather was gorgeous, mild and the driver was friendly. We meandered the thin asphalt road, and wondered what we'd find. We had no fears, but laughter at the situation. However strange, the driver managed to fix the car, and then beat us to the town. It was bizzare, but we're begining to find these things normal for India. His efforts didn't help much. About 30 minutes after he found us, the car died again. He called his boss and they sent another taxi.
This man hopped in along the way, and wanted his picture taken. "Smile buddy, you'll be on the net also!"



It's my secret dream to take groups of ungrateful people and make them live in a place like this for a month. (see below) I'd make them fast for the first 3 days, and then feed them a basic, nutritional diet from then on. We would conduct physical, agricultural labor during the day, pray before we ate dinner, and read excerpts from 'Johnny Got His Gun' at night. Daily, everyone would have to speak of something they are grateful for. There would be no soda, junk food, television, or celebrity magazines on this holiday. Rather, long periods of silence and meditation on what it means to live in the west, with careful consideration given to what is and is not important to the spiritual and physical survival of a human being. We would relearn about our relationship to nature, and to the responsibility we have towards it. At the end of the month, I would release them to their families in hopes that they would attain a new sense of what it means to live with abundance.


"Goat meat anyone?"



This little lady lives in Ranthombore. It's an animal reserve, and home to 40 tigers. There were many deer, birds, monkeys, a croc, boars and tour guides who knew very little about the 1000 year old ruins that lay all around.



Monkeys are sooooo cool!





Though seperated by language, culture, borders, continents and oceans, people of faith can often come together and worship their God. "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth." Hebrews 11:13














After a long day, we had finished our labor and were headed back to camp. We laughed a little and were happy that the Sabbath was near. I turned to see how much sun was left and this was the scene. It was beautiful, glorious, and it made my heart jump a little.

See ya next time!!

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

"The sun is burning hot again on the hunter and the fisherman, and he's trying to remember when, but it makes him dizzy...
Seems like I've been here before. Seems so familiar. Seems like I'm slipping into a dream within a dream..." - tool















They say that pictures say a 1000 words. Right now, I'm lost for descriptions beyond what you can see. I'm looking into new formats for the blog, and figuring out how to make the pics larger. We're backed up on photos, and we'll start rolling them out regularly. After a voyage to Tx and Pa, we're looking towards returning to Hindustan. We're a little sad to be leaving, but looking forward to new situations and towards meeting new people. God is Great and has left many of us blessed with our lot in life. With these blessings, we have a greater responsibility towards those in need, to those who hurt, and for those with no hope. I'm talking to myself as much as all of you, and am asking for prayers for those under persecution. Thank you all for checking in, and we'll try to have a killer blog this year! We wish you all Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. Nick&Amber