Attractive Ice Skating?!?!

We have been seeing advertisements around town for “Attractive Ice Skating” for the last month.  I’m sure you are just as intrigued as we were about the prospect of ice skating in our little town (about 1 million people) in India...we had to check it out.  Dylan wanted to do it for his birthday so we decided to give it a whirl…with a name like “Attractive Ice Skating” it had to be GOOD!

Well, you may have guessed…as Tony did before we got there…that it wasn’t ICE at all…rather it was some kind of plastic floor…about the size of your living room.  We got fitted with real ice skates, knee pads, elbow pads, and wrist guards…way more protection than is ever used on Indian roads, where most people drive without seat-belts and ride motorcycles and bicycles with multiple passengers and without helmets.

Anyway, like I said the rink was about the size of your living room and it was made of plastic.  The room was outfitted with about 5 air conditioners to give the feel of ice…add some cool lights and some trendy music and you have “Attractive Ice Skating!”

It was an experience like we had never had before…but then we are used to those kinds of experiences!  Really, we had a blast!  The kids all want to go back again.  I must admit that when we go back…I will be watching from the sidelines…I realized that my body doesn’t take too kindly to major wipe-outs anymore! Oops!

Here are some pictures from our Attractive Ice Skating experience…hope you enjoy!

Uncharted Territory

For Kailynne’s 24^th birthday, we took a trip to Gangtok, a hill station in Sikkim.  Although Sikkim is technically a part of northeast India, it is restricted land and requires a special permit in order for us to enter.  It is bordered by Nepal, Tibet and Bhutan.  In the 2.5 years that we have been in India, we had never ventured into this territory with our family…but what we discovered propelled Gangtok to the top of our lists of amazing places in India.

In preparation for this trip, I sent days…literally…looking for a place for our family and our Dalmatian to stay. I finally found one…and it was amazing.  It was a family owned “cottage” off the beaten path, in a peaceful valley, among the Himalayan foothills.  Not only was the home beautiful, the beds comfortable, and the home-cooking fabulous, there was even grass for us to play in…I literally cannot remember the last time we have sat in grass, rolled down a little grassy hill, or took our shoes off and ran in grass.  Oreo has never been off his leash in a grassy area where we didn’t have to worry about him chasing cows, goats, pigs or mangy street dogs.  We could hear the sound of the stream from our rooms; we could sit out on the porch and listen to Christmas music…and we were completely alone.  It was a glorious oasis! 

One day, we hired a driver and a guide and got more special permits (all requirements) so that we could travel up to 12,400 feet, just 3 miles from the Tibet border, to visit Tsomgo Lake.  This is a lake formed by glaciers, that is frozen over a few months of the year.  We were hoping to encounter snow…but we did find a little ice…and we rode yaks!  Let me say that again…we rode YAKS!  It was an amazing day!

 

 

We spent the next day exploring Gangtok, the cleanest hill station in India.  We traveled up to Toshi View Point to get absolutely amazing views of Mt. Kangchenjunga among other Himalayan peaks.  It was breath-taking!  We also walked across a suspension bridge, visited a monastery, and then rode a cable car to get a birds-eye view of Gangtok...another amazing day!

We packed all the warm clothes we own…which isn’t much…in anticipation that we would freeze.  But, we didn’t even have to layer up until after the sun went down.  The kids wore shorts and ran around barefoot while we were relaxing at our cottage.

There are a lot of difficult things about living in India…but we feel blessed beyond measure by all the incredible opportunities that we are able to take, just a drive away, to experience the vast beauty of this country that we call our second home.  God’s handiwork is awe-inspiring in our “Incredible India”!

Blessed Reunion

You may remember when we were getting ready to come home for furlough in May, I wrote about having to say goodbye to two of the young people in our youth group.  They had passed their twelfth standard exams (equivalent to graduating from an American High School) and were getting ready to travel to southern India to train with YWAM for six months.  Well…they graduated from their YWAM program on Thanksgiving Day and boarded a train a few days later.  They travelled nearly 48 hours by train to return home.

Last night, after our regular youth group meeting, our entire family plus our small youth group loaded up in our tiny van and headed to the train station.  Their train was delayed, so we ended up driving all around town, singing Christmas carols and other random songs at the top of our lungs.

Two hours later than expected, their train arrived at the station and we had a blessed reunion.  It was so much fun to have the gang all back together again.  Our youth group is tiny…only 6 kids (five of which are foster brothers and sisters who have grown up in the same home together for the last 10 years).  These kids are so precious to us; we are so grateful that God brought us together in this place, for this time.

Please pray for these young people.  They have completed an introductory program with YWAM but now they have more decisions ahead of them.  They can continue on with YWAM to pursue their passions for youth work and worship leading or they may choose to head in a different direction.  They both are very gifted…I can’t wait to see what God has in store for them.  In the meantime, we will enjoy the time we have with our gang back together.

Below is a picture from our reunion at the train station…