A whole lot of visiting in INDIA.

On the top of the ta-do list in India was meeting John's parents for the first time. They were not able to come out to the wedding, so we went out there (almost a year later). I was pretty nervous, but then again, I figured that the damage was done. Too late. What was the worse that could happen?

Another painful process that had to take place was visiting John's extended family, and I mean extended. I got sick right away with a cold, so I was in no mood to go calling. Here is another case to prove I'm a numb skull sometimes. This is the story from the journal.

Peace that passes.

I met a woman today with peace that passed the test of legitimacy...

This woman, I guess, use to be a dentist. John said I wouldn't recognize her if I saw old pictures. She has a rare disease that shrinks the skin. The first thing I saw, was not the crippled fingers, the tiny body, the swollen cheeks, or the brace on her neck, it was the bright eyes and the smile. She lay on her bed looking up at us as we walked in, with the Psalms and Proverbs beside her. Not a single complaint sprang from her mouth. Clearly, she was trusting in someone Who was her Comfort.


Visiting sometimes required that we catch a train and ride for a couple of hours to our destination, hence the picture at the top. In fact, quite a few of the pictures I took involved trains. Hmmmm? In the picture above, John's parents are on the far left. Terribly sorry, but I'm the worst daughter-in-law. I pretty much forgot everybody's name. I'm telling you, I visited half of India!


I connected with the lady above in the red and black sari for a couple of reasons. The first reason is that when we came for lunch she made about twenty dishes. (Fish down there, by the way, is awesome. John won't touch the stuff up here in Germany. Now I know why.) So after the twenty dishes that I could not possibly taste adequately, we later referred lovingly, to her as "twenty dishes," so that I knew who she was in later conversations. The other reason I connected to her is that she is a lyricist. She wrote Christian lyrics that her family members put to music. I have the CD. It's pretty good.

Here's Dad John and I, sitting where? Uh huh, on a train. If you haven't noticed, I have about two Indian outfits at this point. That's because I hadn't discovered 'fabindia', yet.

John's Mom and Dad tried in vain to connect me with everyone. I would get the run down of the family tree starting with the forefathers, etc. I also got to see the family rubber plantation and the houses where rich relatives live. Of course you know, I was hot, tired, mosquito bait, and I just plain forgot to bring my notepad to jot down the details. John said I did fine. He said, "You just have to smile and nod." I did have one Uncle tell me that I should memorize everyone and teach it to John (because he doesn't even know all of his family members). I was thinking...."right. I'll get on that right away." It's not like we had deep conversations with everyone, we just had to visit. That is the Indian custom. This is hard for an American to swallow. I'll end with another story from the journal.

Experiences that find me totally unaccostumed are few and far between, though, meeting Christ will definitly be a first.
On this earth we protect ourselves by remembering something similar that happened like in the case of auto-rik-shaws. I resigned myself to recalling the German autobahn, both will kill you if you screw up your driving.
Today, for the first time, John and I experienced the pleasure of meeting complete strangers who came by the house to stare at us. One let herself in and then proceeded to sell life insurance policies, and the other was a school girl with her little friend. What did she want to do? Just see me. Can you imagine how awkward I felt?