Our Christmas Card to You!

Well, let me tell you...having a family photo shoot is quite different in India. We recently went to our capitol city for Thanksgiving, and while we were there a "friend of a friend" took
some family photos for us. Our friends took us to a very "Indian-looking" part of town, and we quickly became the interest of many families and children in the neighborhood :) Really, living here is the most like being a celebrity that I could ever imagine....oh, the enthralled onlookers! Since there were 7 of in all (another sweet family was with us), including 3 children, we became quite the show. Though we frequently had to "watch our step," sanitize our hands, and avoid the chickens, we got some pretty good shots. So forgive us for not sending Christmas cards this year, but from our family to yours...Merry Christmas from the Flemings!

Choosing to be Thankful

Sometimes thankfulness isn't easy to come by around here. Especially for me (MP). With never-ending laundry, meals to prepare, language to learn and practice, a family to take care of, and a culture that at times feels so alien, I have to force myself to be thankful. Just because we live in India is no excuse, I'm sure many of you can relate, where ever you are around the world. A friend here texted me Colossians 2:6-7 the other day. It was a good reminder. As we are in the midst of the holiday season, we have so much to be thankful for! Here are some visual ways we reminded ourselves of G o d's goodness to us this November.

Our Thankful banner hung on our closet (puja room for most people) door all month, and we were able to share several times why we are called to be thankful for all G o d has blessed us with. 

This is a tradition that Toby thought of! One Sunday we wrote the names of many people (I kept thinking of more even after we finished) who have touches our lives and Father has used to teach us various things. Afterwords we took some time to pr@y for these individuals, asking that Father would continue to use them and reveal Himself to them. 

Our thankful tree... It's not full here, but by the end of the month we  had a lot of leaves covering it, each telling something we are thankful for! 

We went to our capitol city to visit with some dear friends there. Look at our Thanksgiving day feast :) Yum!

Enjoying so much delicious AMERICAN food. We even had ham; I think it was the best I've ever tasted in my life :)