"I got a flat tire.....jack!"

When purchasing a car in India, there are three absolutes the car must meet to even be considered:

1. A Good Horn (this is like unto the human heart--it will need to stay in constant use for one to be alive.)

2. Trustworthy Brakes (this would be equivalent to oxygen--without it, you are dead.)

3. A Negotiable Price (this is like a delicious piece of homemade apple pie--no matter where you start from, it is going to get smaller.  If it won't get smaller, it probably aint worth eating.)

When attempting to drive in India, there are three absolutes for getting a license:

1.  You have to be 21 years old.

2.  You must be fearless.

3. You need lots of good luck!


In America, we call it "Every man for himself."  But over here, it is not so.  India has a very interesting system.  As someone put it today, driving is not about rules, but relationships.  Picture cars, dogs, buses, a girl herding goats, trucks, motorcycles & bicycles, a man pushing a handcart, miscellaneous cars coming straight at you, a camel, some cows, a guy standing in the road with a suitcase.....and put all that and more on a paved road that intermittently ends and broken gravel begins........and what do you have? Somehow through it all, what you have is a system that works.  Every random thing on the road ebbs and flows between other random things and while it is tremendously frightening for a Westerner to sit helplessly in the backseat, a sort of unspoken communication becomes evident.  Dogs and cows inevitably seem to possess the sense to yield, cars use their horns to alert other drivers (protecting themselves and those around them), and like yarn in a blanket, everything just weaves in and around each other.  And.....it works.

So, when a nice man in a huge truck rolled up next to us and shouted at Driver in Hindi "You Have A Flat Tire!!," I thought, "yes, yes, of course we do........"

John trying to help Driver change the flat tire...

Driver saying "No."

John, not taking no for an answer, tried to lay the
"persuasive lawyer" trick on him....

Driver refused.  And the lawyer lost.

During it all, I hid under my scarf trying to look like anything
other than a white, female tourist.

 After Driver fixed our tire, we set out again.  We passed a woman on the side of the road with a very long pole in her hands--reaching as high and steady as she could, she carefully swatted at the branches while her three children danced gleefully under the tree waiting for the fruit to fall.  The scene was perfect.  While we kept driving, I found myself lost in my thoughts.  Comparative to this last scene, I thought of all the times in the grocery store that, annoyed, I had to ask the kids to just shush and quit chattering so I could shop from memory since I left my "grocery list" at home.  I watched that scene of the woman and her beautiful children play over and over again in my mind.  Why are we so busy in America?  And why, oh why do we tell our kids to shush?  

Don't let my descriptions sound anything other than explanatory of the differences between cultures.  We so appreciate the uniqueness of this place and the way that it truly seems each person finds their own way to thrive in the system.

Driver was like an Indy car driver today, and honestly, John was so cranky by the end of the 6 hour drive that I was nervous he was going to get out at the end and kiss the ground.  I'm really not sure why, but (just like when there is massive turbulence on an airplane and you are certain the airbags will drop at any second), when the drive became most rocky, I would drift to sleep like a baby.  That's either being blissfully unaware, or just a form of peaceful preparation for death.  I'm not sure.....




We did make it back to our hotel and said our goodbyes to Driver.  John and I grabbed some lunch and loaded our things into our room, because we were quite anxious to get here:

 Another long story short, Pastor Jeremy Dawson, of Delhi Bible Fellowship happens to be friends with a Mr. John C Ivins Jr.  Their ministries go back a ways in time, and through the last almost 10 years, they have continued to keep in contact.  Pastor Jeremy, and his church are one of the reasons we find ourselves here in Delhi.  Not wanting to just take a regular honeymoon, John and I both felt like a time of travel together and a time of exclusive ministry together would be a perfect way to start our marriage.  (A quick shout of THANKS to my mother for staying home with the younger 4 to help make this trip happen!!)  We had the excellent privilege of leading worship today for Saturday night church service.  John was right at home......he SO loves this!

It was so great to be a part of their evening and to rekindle a relationship started by God so many years ago.  We had the honor of eating with the Pastor Jeremy and his wife and got to hear how God is moving in their church and among this people.  Quite memorable.

As is consistently true, we love and miss you all.  We are grateful to be here and to be able to continue to soak in the sun that sets over India.

Oh, and Driver?

 His actual name is Hardev.