Reflections of the past year.....

Reflections of the past year

As the year, is ending it is time to have a careful reflection. Few more minutes and we will have a new year 2019 with a fresh beginning, a chance to start all over again, and a time to have changes in our lives. During the last days, some of us start making resolutions for the new year, that is very good to make, but we should also spare some time, to look back and to reflect on what we can learn from 2018?

I love, to spend a day simply reflecting and ponder on my old memories, remembering my happy moments, and sad moments, my painful journey and painless journey.

 In those times I just thank my God for leading me peacefully. When I was just recalling, I turned back to see how wonderfully God saved me and my family from the floods in Kerala, which happened on 14^th Aug 2018. As it is said in Bible “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28

When we feel, that nothing is working in our lives and days become more and more frustrated, remember He who has called you will lead you, guide you and help you to accomplish your dreams. Every difficulty in your life, whether big or small, is something God will use to produce more strength, faith and perseverance in you if you let Him! All your pain has a purpose. God has a plan for each and every one. A great purpose and a beautiful future for all. His plans for you are in His promises, and those precious promises can come alive only by seeking Him.

 My prayer …. Lord give me the strength, and courage to whatever I am going to face in my life. If you are on my side my Lord, I can solve all of my problems. Help me to follow you. Amen. Immediately the song flashed my mind…Count all the blessings name them one by one and it will surprise you what the Lord has done.A Very Happy New Year to All.

Famous Quotes: “As years passed away, I have formed the habit of looking back upon that former self as upon another person, the remembrance of whose emotions has been a solace in adversity and added zest to the enjoyment of prosperity”. --- Simon Newcomb

New year resolutions....

New year resolutions

The festive season, is continuing and all are still in that festival mood, few more days and all will be welcoming, 2019.

On arrival of the new year, all including me, are eager to adapt new resolutions of Do’s and don’ts. As we all are planning for 2019 resolutions, try to spend a few moments to evaluate your spiritual life last year, then think What, you can do in this New Year to grow more spiritually? Actually, it is not only new year, when we should make changes in our lives, but each and every day, we should; change by reevaluating ourselves. We should strive, to be better in all aspects.

Few, days back I took decisions in my mind thinking, if God gives, 2019 as a gift in my hand, immediately I sat down with a cup of coffee, grabbed a pen and paper, and started to write down all the things I would like to achieve or change in 2019.

New year resolutions are great if the priority is right. God should be our first priority in life. Some have commitments which is like quitting certain things from his or her life which is causing hindrances in their life like not to eat an un-healthy diet, to quit smoking, to stop drinking, to avoid bad behaviors. These are physical resolutions for some.

To speak truth, Practice forgiveness, be kind, Love everyone, Listen and help your elders, to pray more, to read the scriptures every day, and to grow more spiritually, to trust God more when you are burdened, to have a closer relation with God, to commit your ways to the God as He will direct your steps. Once we put and keep God first, life will become more manageable for us. He will keep us at peace through life’s storms. God will give us the desires of our heart as long as He is first in our lives. These are spiritual resolutions.

 Praise God for everything in your life.as whatever He does is only for our good. Try to maintain keeping your resolutions till the end of the year 2019.My only prayer to my God is to give me the grace to keep my resolutions for His glory even though I may have to walk through the valley dark and deep. His grace is sufficient for me.

Gift kept in the cupboard unwrapped

Gift kept in the cupboard unwrapped

This year is leaving from us, and most of us might be busy in packing, or buying gifts for your loved ones. Everyone of us like to get gifts. Have you ever thought of the gift which is kept wrapped in your cupboard but not opened? Have you ever, wondered what or which gift is kept there for a long span of time which is unopened?

During my college days, I remember, we used to celebrate new year, in a very joyful manner by giving cards and gifts packed and decorated. The gifts which were given, in occasions like birthdays and in new year, were all dumped in the cupboard. Mostly due to lack of time, or due to increasing number of gifts they were unnoticed. Then one day, while I was cleaning my cupboard, I saw a beautiful purple gift box packed tightly, unopened which might have been there for 3-4 years.

In the same way, many of the God given gifts go unnoticed by you and me. God has given each one talent, according to his or her abilities, He gave us the gifts not for the purpose to gather dust on them and to put them inside the cupboard, instead, gifts should also be shared with others and not only be kept for ourselves.

The talents can be compared with the muscles of our body, if we don’t use a particular muscle say our leg muscle then there will be wastage of the muscle and slowly it will be of no use. if you don’t use what God has given you, he will take it away and give it to someone else who will use it. And if you use God will give you more of the new gifts.

Whatever your talent may be, or whatever you are good in like writing, drawing, music, singing, cooking, praying; it should be used for God and should be done heartily. He didn’t gift you with talents just for your own benefit but to be useful for His kingdom.

As it’s written in scriptures, If God is pleased with us, we will hear him say, “Well done good and faithful servant” when we meet Him in heaven—then we must faithfully use our talents the way He wants us to.

Famous Quotes: Your talent is God's gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God. -Leo Buscaglia

Keep your holidays stress free...

Keep your holidays stress free.

Oh, so December is here. A festive season…Everyone is in a holiday mood and everyone seems to be stressed up thinking what to prepare for holidays, where to go for holidays, what to buy and how to decorate? Especially the moms are the stressed ones.

With so much to do to prepare for the holidays, sometimes we think if we had ten hands and two brain, we could have done all the work, we wait for some help which can be a support for us.

I remember when I was 10-year-old, during the festival season we children used to be enjoying holidays, but may be our parents were tensed. My sister and myself used to make noises, screaming, and putting our house topsy turvey. Those days we were least bothered to help mummy. Mummy used to do the shopping, clean, decorate the house then bake cake and make other eatables, then pack gifts and give to relatives and friends. All these were tiring and stressful for mommy to do alone, but the love, made her to do the activities. When I visited my friend’s house last day, I could see her stressed up with the holidays coming up.

I came to realize that mothers are so much stressed and want to tell them not to let holidays make you dreadful. Instead find ways to prevent the stress and depressions coming through such holidays. Learn to recognize what cause holiday triggers, such as financial pressures or work environment, then try to remove those factors which case stress by planning ahead and put positive thinking always. Get plenty of sleep. Set aside some time for yourself staying calm and clearing your mind with negativism.

Ask God how you can be ready to give yourself for others ready for a sacrifice, as God sent His beloved son who died for our sins and conquered death and will rise again which was a perfect sacrifice for all mankind. Because there is nothing other than the gift of love and help which we can give to others.

Famous Quotes:

 “The sacrifice which causes sorrow to the doer of the sacrifice is no sacrifice. Real sacrifice lightens the mind of the doer and gives him a sense of peace and joy. The Buddha gave up the pleasures of life because they had become painful to him.” - Mahatma Gandhi

Warm Blanket On A Cold Night

Warm blanket on a cold night

 December, a cold season with frosty winter nights. Everyone likes to be wrapped up in blankets and drink lots of hot cup of coffee, to keep themselves warm. 

It was 6.am in the morning when I opened my eyes, still it was quite dark outside, so I slept for another hour soundly, not noticing that it was late for my duty. Those days, going for duties was were very hard, because to leave the cozy and comfortable warm bed was difficult.

As a baby is wrapped in blanket to render a feeling, of love and protection or security to the child. Sometimes blankets are given as gifts to mother’s or grandparents to express the feeling of nearness or love.

As a blanket shows love, in the same way, during the lonely difficult, cold seasons of our life when we experience the depression in our bones and the whole mind and body is tormented with droughts of sleepless nights and pain we are reminded of God’s love and warmth. His love is magnificent and Immeasurable ;  If you see an Ocean, the depth, the length, the height, of it cannot be measured so is the love of our God who, came for you and me so that we may be delivered from our sins and who loves us so much that even, when we were sinners, He thought of you and me and gave up His life till His last breath. .... A beautiful chorus of God’s love flashed my mind…

Oh, the love that sought me,

Oh, the blood that bought me,

Oh, the grace that brought me to the fold,

Wondrous grace that brought me to the fold.

Other thing which a blanket, depicts is comfort. If we face difficulty or disappointment or any hardship, we should look on to God for He will comfort us. Nowadays there is danger wherever we go. When we make God our refuge, we have security in Him. Just like a newborn baby wrapped in a warm, secure blanket, God wraps us in His love, power and protection. If you are comforted try to comfort others.

God's Love and Care

God's Unfolding Plans

                       God’s unfolding plan                     

One day, my five year old niece was playing in our garden. She is fond of plucking flowers, there were some, beautiful roses. She plucked a bloomed rose and a bud too. When she noticed it, that a bud had been plucked too, she got scared, for the scolding which she will receive of plucking a rose bud.

After a few minutes, I secretly noticed my niece, she was trying to carefully open the petals, of the half bloomed rose. She tried this act of opening the rose bud, for quite a couple of minutes but failed. Crying, she came to me and started saying that she cannot open the bud, like the other rose.

 I hugged her, and told her that God has a plan and a time for everything. The plans of God cannot be unfolded by anyone, it will happen as HE has predestined. With our clumsy hands, if we try to open, it will be torn or will be good for nothing. Nothing can stop or destroy God’s plan. Trust and wait for His plan. Whatever God has planned for you that will surely be for your good. Keep everything in His hands and be still.

Then the lines of the poem, which I had read long ago flashed in my mind:

“It is only a tiny rosebud,

A flower of God's design;

But I cannot unfold the petals

With these clumsy hands of mine…………/

………So, I'll trust in Him for leading

Each moment of my day.

I will look to Him for His guidance

Each step of the pilgrim way”……………….Author Unknown

Thus, in this crossway of our life, when we are in dilemma as to take which way, just lean on Him as He will show you the correct way in which you have to walk.

Trusting God in the storms of life

Trusting God in the Storms of Life

One day when I was tired, I thought of going to my friend’s house, as I was overwhelmed with my tensions. I reached her house, we had a cup of coffee and snacks, then we started sharing our thoughts. We kept on talking for a long span, of time without noticing the clock and It became very dark outside with thunders heard from far.

I waved my friend goodbye, and drove off to my house. Then suddenly the rain started, with heavy downpour and fierce lashing of winds on the car from all sides, the trees swaying and heavy thunderbolts with flash of lightning. Seeing the situation, fear gripped me, after a few miles; my car too broke down. It was a dark and lonely road with no single person outside. I started to pray, pleading Him to send some help in the dark and lonely night. When I played my car stereo, I heard the sweet song…in Hindi dialect “Rahoein me kaate agar ho….”  Which means... In our lives we may find thorns and difficulties, but we shouldn’t stop in between just keep on walking. It reminded me how God carried me in His arms, when through pain and difficulties, I used to have many sleepless nights the time, when I was diagnosed with M.S.

When situations like these come, when you are down with your health, or there are zero finances, or difficulty with your children’s education, that is the time we we feel helpless, fearful, and broken down. Then we raise all these questions, as to why this happened, or why did God allow this in my life? Why did He allow this storm in my life?

No storm can last forever. Remember one thing that in these storms you are not alone, God is with you. Do not see how big is your problem, but rather you should know how big is your God. If you focus too much on the problems, you will lose sight of the promises.  He will bring peace and calm, to all your situations just trust Him and lean on Him.

Famous Quotes:

 “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze”. - Isaiah 43:2