3,2,1 ...

The kids started their countdown from 150 and we are now at 3 nights before we welcome baby into our home. I am going for a cesarean on Friday morning. It's very special for us that al three our children will be born in India, at the same hospital with the same doctor with a period of 7 years and 4 moves in between. Please pray that everything will go well in Friday and that we will be able to come home soon.

In the mean time Nadia became 10 and Anandi became 7 years old. The weather finally sizzled down after a very long, hot summer. After experiencing some back pain, the children and I decided to join a swimming club for almost 2 months. It was just what I needed to cool down and feel as light as a feather. The zoo is doing well too. Happy and Lucky are big and naughty. Squirt got a new fish tank as home and discovered ways to ask for food if we are too slow. We almost had baby birds too, but they did not make it - that was almost a relieve. In our garden we've discovered bees, giant bats, monkeys, chipmunks, a snake, rats, etc. Stephan is going to write a book one day called "Hunting domestic animals".

I find life in India more and more harsh. I see more selfishness, hardness and arrogance. It is difficult to be different, when you feel bullied all the time. But God asks of us to bear His fruit like love, patience, friendliness, humbleness and selfcontrol. He also gives us the power through His Holy Spirit to do this. But I still blow my horn sometimes and I want to hit back when someone tries to harm me in some way. It's a daily struggle, but what a difference it would make if someone decides not to hit back any more, but rather turn the other cheek and forgive. I hope to become more and more like Jesus.

"But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with everincreasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." - 2 Cor. 3:16-18, The Bible.