Thought for the Day

:D

Boundless: Advice by Scott Croft

I love the Advice section in Boundless. Thought I'd repost one of their articles.

Is church the only place I can meet a Christian woman?   
 

Question :

 

I'm 24 and have been actively seeking a Christian woman for quite some time now. Not only have I been seeking, but I have been failing.
Everywhere I go, I try to be proactive in meeting a godly woman, but how am I supposed decipher between the godly women from the ungodly women?
Sometimes I'll find myself outside church wanting to strike up a conversation with a beautiful woman, but I don't want it to lead somewhere, get interested in her and develop feelings just to find out she's not a believer. It's almost as if I have to meet a woman at church or some type of church-held event, because then the chances of her being a believer are 100 times greater.
Any advice?

 

Answer:

 

Thanks for your question. First, I commend you for being deliberate about dating only believers in Christ. I've written this before, but it seems I can't write it often enough. Godly marriage can only be undertaken by growing Christians who are relying on Christ. The Bible is clear that believers are only to marry other believers.

In 1 Corinthians 7:39, Paul instructs that marriages of believers are to be "only in the Lord" — that is, only to other Christians. Also, Ephesians 5:22-33, the fullest explanation we have in the Bible of what a godly, biblical marriage is, makes clear that what God calls us to in marriage — to bring God glory by intentionally reflecting the way Christ has loved the church and the way the church responds to the leadership of Christ — can only be carried out by people who are themselves in Christ.
 
As for finding a potential wife who is a believer, there are some really helpful steps to take. It's not entirely clear from your question whether you've already done this, but in case you haven't, find a good, biblical church and really get plugged in. In your question, you mention being at church, but it's unclear how involved you are.

If your church has membership — which it should — join formally. Make it a priority to be at every service. If the church has small groups or other discipleship opportunities, take advantage of those things. Get to know people, and just as importantly, be transparent and let people get to know you. Look for ways to serve others. Be involved in the church's ministries.

Why am I encouraging you to do these things? First, and most important, it's for your spiritual good. All Christians need to hear and read God's Word regularly, and we need other believers around us to build us up, hold us accountable, help us examine ourselves to make sure we are in Christ, and help us grow spiritually. Second, and more to your question, it will put you in a better position to find a woman who clearly loves Jesus and whom you might pursue as a potential wife. The more you build your life around serving God and His people in the church, the more you will be able to see who the women are in your church who have the same priorities. You'll also see how they interact with people and how they serve in ministry

Remember, you're not looking for the most physically attractive woman from across the room; you're looking for consistent evidence of faithfulness and godly womanhood as defined by Scripture (see 1 Peter 3, Proverbs 31, Titus 2). Though as finite human beings we can never know with absolute certainty whether another person is truly a believer, the consistent choices and priorities in a person's life pretty reliably tell us a tremendous amount about what is in his or her heart. A woman who is consistently involved in and under the teaching of the type of church I have in mind is about as safe a bet as it gets in a fallen world.

And there's even more! (This is starting to sound like an infomercial.) As you get to know more mature Christians and are discipled, there will be people in your life who are able to teach you about godly marriage and help you discern how to approach it. They can also vouch for potential spouses to you and vouch for you to others when and if that becomes helpful. As you serve in the church and minister to others, you will be around other godly single people — not a bad thing — and you will learn skills and characteristics that, among other things, will serve you well in marriage.
So, do you have to find a potential spouse through involvement in a local church? No, of course the Lord can and does work in many other ways, but the Lord has given us the church as the source of true fellowship of many sorts among His people, so it's obviously a wonderful place to start.

I will pray for the Lord to give you wisdom and peace as you continue to pray and look for a godly wife.

For His glory,
SCOTT CROFT

Book Review: 8:28

I usually don't do book reviews.And the very few that I have done,have  probably had an impact on me. One such book that I read recently was Ian and Larissa's 'Eight Twenty Eight'. I have been following their blog Ian & Larissa for a while now and when I can came to know that they are going to publish a book I knew I had to get a copy.

In a day and age where the true meaning of love is so adulterated, it was good to read Larissa's account of how she continued to love the man she was dating after he met with a really bad car accident. Something that comes out very clearly from the book is that on our own, we cannot love someone unconditionally. It is because we have experienced Christ's love in our life- be it his sacrifice on the cross, or that he came down on the earth to save vile sinners like us or the daily grace and mercy we experience.

What I really liked about the book is that she was very honest about how she felt during the trials. Personally and as a family we went through a similar trial recently, and the comfort that i could draw from her experience, was that it is normal to feel tired and angry and sad. But at the same time not to wallow in it too much, as we have Christ as our sympathetic high priest.

I was encouraged that in a day and age where people divorce and break up for trivial reasons, they both persevered post his accident and even got married :)I would encourage you to read this book, but be warned there shall be many tears even as you read it- tears of sorrow and tears of joy as well :)

And It Finally Happened

I never thought we would ever move out of our old place. I accepted a long time back that I would probably never get to stay in a decent society. Don't get me wrong-its not like my old place was a dump. But just that it was way too noisy ( we lived right on the main road), dusty and high ( 4th floor without a lift). All of this combined together was never an ideal combination.

 

But it was for a time and season. We had to move out of that place for Dad's health and my knee condition. So grateful to God that everything went smoothly:) Even as I write this post I can hear my thoughts clearly. There is a heart of gratefulness for the small things- like an elevator in my society, bus stop right outside my house, a seat every time I take the bus from my place (as its the starting point) and the biggest of all my own room:)

 

I don't think these small things would have mattered to me as much, many years ago if I had got it all easy. Sometimes its good when certain things are taken away from you. You tend to appreciate it more when you have them.

 

All in all right now I am happy.. and that's all I have to say :)

Gym competitions and fun :)

Those who have been  reading my blog know that I love to exercise. After many many years my sister and I took part in the gym competition. It was soooo much fun :) The excitement, adrenaline, body aches, friends..all make a wonderful combination.

My team did not qualify post the initial rounds but my sister ended up in the finals and it was such a joy to be with her and the team. Even though they lost in the finals they put up a good fight. The other team might have been huge and muscular, but we were leading in each set of exercise. The tug of war was the deciding factor with ten points and that's where these guys lost. 

But I loved their spirit and joy :) The way we were cheering and congratulating each other after the competition, nobody would have thought that we were the losing team. In the end I am glad we all had fun and of course  we made some new friends : ) 

Here are some pics from the day:)

Burpees

Forearm planks with partner clap

Team+friends :)

The Team

You Can’t Catch Sin Like a Cold- by Barnabas Piper

It’s my favorite time of year. That time when we send our children off to slap five, share books, and suck on the same water fountains as hundreds of other little germ carriers at the Petri dish we call “school.” Every time one of my daughters comes home and says a classmate went home sick or missed school my wife wants to boil her in bleach, wrap her in Clorox wipes, and lock her in a hyperbaric chamber. If only we could quarantine them to keep them safe from all those nasty germs.

Sadly school is a necessary evil so we have to expose them to the ills and ailments. This is much the way many Christians think of “the world” – that necessary evil that we must be exposed to full of evil and vices and insidious temptations. If only we could quarantine ourselves from that too.

And many Christians do live in cultural quarantine, shutting themselves off from what they see as sinful influences. They avoid “bad” people and even places. They talk about those people and places like they are disease carriers – “We can’t have them around” or “We couldn’t go there.” They act like someone can sneeze sin onto them, that they will catch the bad decisions and guilt of another through physical proximity. What does his shunning communicate to those we have labeled “unclean”? Exactly that, Christians think they are unclean. Not the ideal way to draw people to Jesus. But sin is not an infectious disease

We don’t “catch” sin. It’s in us from birth. We are sin carriers. It’s only by the grace of God that we can become immune to the virus that lives in us, that we can live a life without its symptoms oozing and coughing and exhaling out of us onto others. Because of the work of Christ we are able to choose whether or not to sin. It is a decision, one that we often have a very hard time making, but a decision nonetheless. Sin is a theology too. It is a belief, or lack thereof, in the goodness and work of Jesus. It is this theology, this belief that informs our decision and drives us.

So, when we are around obvious sin, those people and places, we can’t catch their sin. We can choose their sin, but that is a matter of decision, of belief, of theology. If we hold fast to Jesus there is no risk of that sin invisibly taking hold of us like a flu bug might. How freeing! We no longer have to keep our distance or live in cultural quarantine. We can engage those people with grace and freedom without fear. Because we are near Jesus we can be near to anyone without fear that they will make us more like them than like Him.

But it would be nice if they used Purel and covered their mouths when they sneeze.

U2-Invisible

My favorite band is out with their new album :)

Bike Rides

I have always been a sucker for bike rides. Not than I can ride one but I like being the pillion rider. My love for bikes started at a very early age.I don't remember it myself, but mum would always keep telling me about how even as a 2 yr old my dad had to give me a short ride around our apartment before he went to work. It would not matter how late he got, Caroline always needed the ride in the morning :P Not much has changed over the years ( apart from the morning rides;) I still prefer to go with my friends who have bikes than cars :) Its also good to see a lot of good bikes on Pune roads like the Harley Davidson's. I know it seems like a far fetched dream-but hoping I can learn how to ride one someday:)

Mid Week Humour :)

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Most of the time if we were ever given a chance to wipe out some memories in our life, the bad ones would get the most amount of votes. This day last year was the happiest day for me in 2013. But given the option today, I would have it wiped off my memory if I could. Something that was meant to be really good ended up as a nightmare.

I was dreading the months of August and September this year, as I knew I would remember a lot of things from the past. I just did not want to go through the same flood of emotions all over again.

It was good to go to the Lord with my fears and weaknesses and insecurities and lay it out all on the table. Surprisingly though it has not been that bad. I know there are certain incidents that occur in our lives that will remain with us forever. I may never get an answer as to why I had to go through them, but my anchor as always will be trusting in a God who is good and Sovereign and knows what He is doing in my life :)

If You Love Someone...Just tell them already..;)

So the other night I watched the season finale episode of 'The Mentalist'. Finally after I don't know how many years, Patrick Jane( the lead character) conveys his heart felt feelings to Teresa Lisbon (the female lead). And this happens when she decides to move... to another state.. with her fiancé... to get married.

 

Why, why, why do we wait to tell someone how we feel about them ( and I am talking mostly about romantic feelings here) when they are leaving, or already said yes to someone else. Its so easy to take someone for granted when they are there with us all the time. We get so used to them, that it becomes difficult to really figure out what they mean to us.

 

And the kind of people I am talking about here are the ones who never show how they feel in general.. Usually reserved, they don't want anyone else to know what is going on in their head. The truth is, everyone knows. They are just being kind by not telling you that they know.

 

I laughed as I watched the episode as Jane openly declares in front of a lot of people how much he loves her. If he was wiser and smarter and I think a little humble- he could have probably had a  less embarrassing proposal;)

 

So here is the scene from the season finale.. Enjoy :)

 

 

Pranks:)

Changes

Its been almost a month I have written a blog post. There have been a lot of things happening, but I am not going to say that I was too busy and that I did not have the time to write. 

Work has been the usual, so not much change apart from the fact that a few people quit from my team,my workstation changed, and I am sitting with my team again.. and it can have its pros and cons.

A lot of my friends are getting married in the coming months. So I am excited for them :) Hoping to go to Goa this December and spend some quality time with some close family friends. This plan, I am hoping would materialize as I could use a good holiday.

Attended AWAKE this weekend and it was a blessing. I was surprised that I even went as I did not want to revisit some old memories. But God gave much grace and it was good to go to Him in much prayer and ask for strength.

Of course the hectic weekend and the changing weather did not do good to me. So here I am at home writing this post as I am down with the flu. I praise God for the rest He gives via sickness :)

Make a Joyful Noise to the Lord!!!

Singing this song today..to be reminded there is much to be joyful about :) Listen to it here

VERSE 1 
Praise the Lord, Oh praise His name 
From the heights of heav’n He reigns 
Seated in the highest place 
Surrounded by unending praise 
Praise Him for His mighty deeds 
Awesome in His majesty 
Praise Him now with trumpet sound 
Lift your voice and dance around 

CHORUS 
Everything that has breath, praise the Lord 
Everything that’s in us, praise Him 
Everything that has breath, praise the Lord 

VERSE 2 
Praise the Lord with instruments 
Praise Him for His excellence 
Look at what He’s done for us 
Bore our sins upon the cross 
Praise the Lord with all you are 
Mind and soul and will and heart 
From His hand comes everything 
He alone is God and King 

A New Model for Living Single- by OWEN STRACHAN

Be refreshingly honest, pour out your heart to a kind God, build a spiritual family, and live a full-throttle life.

When I was a teenager, a couple of guys from my school started a band called Phlux. The name got your attention instantly, and years later it still flits through my mind. The small-town Maine rockers sought by their band name to capture the instability and chaos of life, themes felt deeply, for example, at the fear-producing American institution known as the "high school dance." Years later, I still am proud of myself for surviving a handful of those harrowing affairs.

In 2014, we find ourselves in considerable societal flux (with apologies to the band). This is rarely more keenly felt than in the day-to-day experience of 20-somethings and 30-somethings. The life script that drove young adults for decades, even centuries — get an education, get married, have kids, get picket fence — is in upheaval. Couples are marrying later, having fewer children, and constructing fewer picket fences, in short.

In the midst of this turmoil, the church is starting to think afresh about single men and women, asking itself if it has cared well for them over the years. The answer seems rather plain: It hasn’t, as many a single man or woman can attest. Here's a sampling of unhelpful approaches to singleness that one might commonly hear:

• In some cases, we've shamed singles. "Can't you just find someone you'd like to settle down with? Is it really that hard?"

• In others, we've talked down to singles. "I want you to know that I am here to help you through this condition." We make it sound as if singleness is a disease — when the apostle Paul says it's the state he prefers. (See 1 Corinthians 7, for example.)

• At other times, we've simply ignored singles. Too many sermons and pastoral prayers, for example, treat only the realities of marriage. "We pray for husbands and wives for their flourishing, their protection, their happiness … and, Lord, for everyone else."

At a time when our culture is harmfully redrawing the boundaries of marriage, the church needs to give more attention not simply to this institution but to singleness. This is especially true as more and more people are entering the church with only a worldly understanding of their single state. Toward that end, here are four thoughts addressed to single men and women that I hope can be a part of rethinking singleness.

Four Thoughts

First, you should feel complete freedom to wrestle with your singleness.

Singles do not have a monolithic experience. Some are quite content to be single for all their days. I suspect that a larger percentage of single men and women go back-and-forth with their state. Some days they're excited by the liberties their life affords them; other days they find themselves wanting close companionship.

Whatever one's precise feelings, I think it important that the church gives singles the freedom to grapple with their state. We haven’t always made this clear; we’ve expected singles to accept their state as if it won’t pose some difficulties (like every major life experience). Evangelicals are going through a fresh and remarkably helpful reevaluation of the practical experience of living as a Christian in a fallen world. We're having a healthy dialogue, for example, about what it means to feel same-sex attraction but to strive for purity and spiritual health (see Sam Allberry's Is God Anti-Gay?, for starters). So we need to give single Christians the space to be honest about their singleness.

On this subject, we don't want to commend either doom-and-gloom sorrow or chipper-to-the-point-of-explosion piety. We do want to say this to singles: It is OK to wrestle. It is OK to have some days when you feel lower than others and must truly cling to Christ by a mustard seed of faith for your joy. It is OK to be charged up to accomplish great ends that only singles can take on one day but also to wonder on other days if you've erred in figuring it all out. Life is complex. God's will takes years, decades, even a lifetime to unfold. Though we sometimes pretend otherwise, this is true for every believer. Acknowledging this will clear us from feeling undue guilt and condemnation. It will free us to gladly admit that, despite the pointed questions sometimes asked of us by concerned church members, we frankly don't know the master plan of our lives. Only God does.

This truth shouldn't hamstring single Christians or cause them to embrace weak-hearted faith. As you'll see below, I want single men and women to find in their God-given state a means to action and a summons to joy. It doesn't help anyone to embrace a well-meaning spirituality that unwittingly makes "brokenness" and "mystery" paths to discouragement and laziness. But with that said, it's right for local churches to make clear to singles and to all believers that it's not bad for them to wrestle with their state. It's natural and even — to a point — healthy.

Second, if you do feel some desire to be married, pour out your heart to God.

 If you want to be married and if this desire persists through time, the absolute best thing you can do is this: Pray to a sovereign and kind God who holds your life in His hand. Without shame or hesitation, ask the Lord to bless you with a spouse. Leave your concerns with Him. Of course, it is wise to balance your prayers of petition for a spouse with prayers of petition for contentment and trust, come what may.

That last phrase is important. Your goal in life cannot be a spouse, whether God brings one or not. It can only be faithfulness to your Savior, come what may. The glorious truth is that we're free to make requests to a good and generous God without fear or anxiety. But our sufficiency, identity and hope is not a spouse or any other earthly thing. It is Jesus Christ. As believers, all that we need for life and godliness, we have (see the potent testimony of 2 Peter 1:3). This is not a cliché. This is truth, truth we all need.

So, be disciplined and balanced in your prayer life. Pray much more for unreached peoples and growing disciples and unborn babies under threat of death than yourself. But without hesitation, make your requests known to God (Philippians 4:6). There's no rule here, but my personal practice is to pray first for others and for Gospel work, and then to pray for myself.

Third, experience the electric satisfaction of building a family: a spiritual one.

This is the great privilege of all Christians. Through the Gospel and in service to the Great Commission of Matthew 28:16-20, we can "make disciples" of Jesus Christ, bringing people into the family of God. All who confess Christ are "one body" in Him (Romans 12:4-5). The natural family is given us by God. It owes to intelligent design, and it is good, marvelously good (see Genesis 2:14-25). But we must also remember that the natural family will give way to the ultimate family, the spiritual one, in the life to come.

This is exactly what Jesus said: "For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven" (Matthew 22:30). Every Christian who serves the local church and seeks in his own way to advance the kingdom of Christ has the awesome privilege of seeing people spiritually adopted into God's family and experiencing the happiness of it (Romans 8:1-16). Nothing beats that — nothing. Though singleness is not without its challenges, singles are freed as Paul makes clear in 1 Corinthians 7 to devote themselves to kingdom purposes. Like Jesus and Paul and so many others in church history, as a single person you can devote yourself to the Lord in a very practical way.

You don't need to be Billy Graham or Joni Eareckson Tada to serve in a meaningful way, though. Find your own niche. You may babysit the children of tired young parents who desperately need a night away. You might tutor children who don't have a father. You might start a youth baseball league. You might make food for church events. You might serve in the church's media ministry and improve the congregation's website. You might preach in the nursing home and visit elderly members during the week when they feel lonely. You might invite your neighbors over to watch a baseball game and tell them about Christ. Or you might go overseas to a closed country, start a business and carry out full-scale missions work. Whatever God gives you to do, there are many, many ways to serve Him and build into His spiritual family as a single man or woman.

Fourth, you should feel complete freedom to enjoy the life God has given you.

Sometimes Christians make life seem as if it's not really supposed to be fun, lively or enjoyable. We communicate that you're holier than others if you rarely laugh, avoid aesthetic and beautiful things, and grimly make your way to glory, glowering all the while. But this is both unfortunate and untrue. God hasn't made life boring or miserable. He's filled His created realm with gifts and joys. He's the one who invented happiness. At His right hand and in the indwelling presence of His Spirit, are pleasures forevermore (Psalm 16:11). Christianity is much more about joy than it is duty, much as the two are inextricably bound.

As a single person, don't get caught up in worldly hedonism. That's a counterfeit of true joy, which is found in walking with the Lord and soaking up His goodness. God gives us delight that lasts for longer than a pub crawl or a spending spree. This is true whether you're married or single. We all can approach life from a fundamental perspective of exhilaration, hope and happiness.

So if God blesses you with a single life, then live it to the full. Alongside the joys of church service and spiritual family-building, travel some place new. Plunder an independent bookstore. Eat some delicious food. Dig into your job — in fact, make it more than a job; see it as a vocation, a calling given you by the kindness of the Lord. Watch a movie that awakens your hunger and thirst for beauty and goodness and the divine. Master a new skill or a language or a trade. These and a thousand other pursuits and avocations beckon you and invite you to taste God's goodness.

Above all, recognize as a single man or woman that life is not given to us like a to-do list. It's a grand Gospel adventure. It's all about the Lord and savoring His goodness. It's calibrated not around safety and anxiety — avoidance and dourness and undimming chipperness — but around hard-won glory. Every Christian has been called to lay down his life for Christ (Matthew 16:24). Every Christian has been called to risk it all for Jesus (Matthew 25:14-30). Whether you go far or stay near, you have these sacred opportunities as a believer. Single or married, you have the chance to be refreshingly honest, to pour out your heart to a kind God, to build a spiritual family, and to live a full-throttle life.

Everything may feel like it's in flux. In whatever state you find yourself, you can rest confident in a God who creates order from chaos and makes weary travelers into joyful pilgrims. Whether there's a ring on our hand or not, we are making our way to a celestial city, and there is a slain and risen Savior walking right beside us, and so — whatever our experience tells us — we are never alone.

Copyright 2014 Owen Strachan. All rights reserved.

Mid Week Humour:)

I got a Rock

Someone I know was sharing about her life where at one point she felt that all she got was a rock (this is in reference to the statement made by Charlie Brown in one of the Peanuts cartoon, where they all go trick or treating on Halloween and everyone gets candy and Charlie Brown gets a rock)

I could relate to what my friend was sharing. I feel like everyone else seems to be getting candy bars and I got a rock. Life has just being throwing things at me one after the other where I have come to point that I am not even surprised.

Last year was just absolutely crazy and the past couple of months have not been easy either. Just when things seemed to get back to routine an old knee injury of mine came back and it possibly is a case of dislocation and weakened ligaments.

In all of these interruptions and interventions, I am trying really hard to keep my focus on the truth, and that comes only from the Word of God. I know this is a difficult season for me- be it my job, friendships, singleness or the more pressing matter, the state of my knee.But a midst all of this I have to drive it into my head that God is sovereign and in complete control and He is working in my life in a way that will draw me closer to him.

Something to think about...

Ha!

All The Things God Is Doing When It Looks Like He Is Doing Nothing-Stephen Altrogge

I am a full-fledged member of the instant generation. I want what I want, and I want it RIGHT NOW! I want to watch television shows on demand. What do you mean I have to wait until next summer for new episodes? I want them now. When I send you a text message, I expect you to get back to me immediately. Ain’t nobody got time to wait around ten of fifteen minutes! I need you to respond NOW! When I select “Two Day Shipping” on Amazon, I expect that package to arrive at my front door in exactly two days. I don’t want any excuses about shipping plant fires, UPS workers strikes, or snakes on a plane. I want immediate results. And if you have the guts to post a video on YouTube, it better play right away without any buffering. Otherwise I’m out. I’ve got other, really important videos to watch, mainly of people putting Mentos into bottles of Coke.

I have been trained, for good or for bad, to expect immediate results.

The only problem is that God doesn’t usually do immediate. He doesn’t usually do fast. He doesn’t do overnight shipping. He works according to his timeline, not mine. And the wonderful reality, is that God is usually doing a thousand things when it looks like he’s doing absolutely nothing.

While Joseph sat in prison, it appeared that God wasn’t doing anything. He probably felt forgotten, abandoned, discarded. He probably felt useless. Meanwhile, God was doing a thousand things as Joseph sat idly in prison. God was preparing Joseph’s brother’s for reconciliation, Pharaoh to receive Joseph as from God, and the entire nation of Egypt to depend on Joseph as a wise steward of food.

While David was a fugitive, on the run from Saul, it appeared that God wasn’t doing anything. David probably felt like his best years were being wasted. Like his talent was going to waste. Meanwhile, God was doing a thousand things while David hid in caves and pretended to be insane. God was working on David himself, preparing David to be a man after his own heart. He was teaching David to trust him and to wait on him. And he was preparing Israel to receive their divinely appointed king.

While John Bunyan sat in prison, it appeared that God wasn’t doing anything. Bunyan probably felt like his ministry was being hampered and hamstrung. He was a gospel preacher who wasn’t able to preach the gospel. Meanwhile, God was doing a thousand things while Bunyan languished in his jail cell. God was preparing Bunyan to write the book that would be read by millions and would inspire millions to love the Lord. Bunyan’s prison cell was the womb for Pilgrim’s Progress.

Just because I can’t see God working doesn’t mean he isn’t working. It may seem like my prayers for my children are pointless, because I can’t see anything happening. But my prayers aren’t useless. God is working, and someday I will see the glorious fruit of those prayers. It may seem like my prayers for spiritual growth are futile, because I can’t see much spiritual growth. But my prayers aren’t futile. God is working, and someday I’ll see the fruit of my prayers. It may seem like my prayers for reconciliation with a friend are wasted, because I can’t see anything happening. But my prayers aren’t wasted. God is working, and someday I’ll see the delightful fruit of my prayers.

Just because I can’t see God working doesn’t mean God isn’t working. God is doing a thousand things when it seems like he’s doing nothing.

I'd like to travel like this some day:)

If not all the countries, I'd like to travel to at least some in the near future :)

 

 

Brokenness

Lessons in humility can be learnt in various situations in life. It could be your job, relationships or even  friendships. The reason many a times we get hurt is because we have a lot of expectations from one another. We set a standard as to how a certain person should behave or respond. So when they don't, we are hurt.

I love making new friends, having a lot of friends and hanging out with friends. But sometimes that can become an idol too. So God being my loving Father and my best friend, showed me my own heart and many sinful areas I would have not noticed it, if a certain situation had not taken place. I expected to have been treated in a certain way- which of course I was not-hence all the pride oozing out. 

The moment you think you are doing pretty fine in your Christian walk (and this confidence is from self most of the times and not from depending on the Holy Spirit) Christ very lovingly will bring in situations or convict you from scriptures that apart from Him we are nothing. I know I have lost a lot of things last year. Its probably been one of the most toughest years in my life, be it relationships, my job or even friendships. But I'd rather be here, totally broken and dependent on the Lord for every area of my life, than having it all together in my own strength.

Jason Mraz on American Idol Finale:)

Happy Mother's Day!

From The Driver's Perspective...Literally

There will always be some sort of adventure in your travels, whether you like it or not. The few places I visited, I have had my share too. Be it getting out at the wrong destination or travelling in a new city using the public transportation, you have to admit that you end up having a good laugh in the end.

One of the more recent adventures I have had, and I must say I did enjoy, was my trip to Panchgani. As it is only 2.5 hrs from Pune, technically you don’t need to book bus tickets as the buses are available every 45 mins. Now, technically is applicable only in the off seasons. So we (I, my sister and a friend) planned this trip in the month of April. When the 7:45 am bus arrived, there was a huge crowd that ran in its direction. Everyone who is familiar with the Pune crowd won’t find this very strange.

So my friend managed to shove a few people around and got into the bus. She could get hold of only 2 seats. We looked at each other in desperation as we knew that one of us would have to stand in the bus for the entire 2.5 hour journey (which would eventually take 3 hours, thanks to the traffic). We were not in a mood to wait for the next bus, so we just stood in the gangway aimlessly. Seeing our plight, the bus conductor asked what is going on and we explained our situation. He then said there is one more seat is available- the one next to the driver (basically the bus conductor’s seat). As beggars can’t be choosers we said yes and paid for the ticket. I opted to sit next to the driver.

It was quite an experience. I had a better appreciation for all the comfortable travelling in the past. I was also quite grateful to the conductor who offered me his seat and chose to sit down. I did pay him a little extra after we got off at Panchgani. He deserved it because, the ride ended up being a long one and it got really warm in the end. All in all it was a fun experience. Usually I am not the whole spontaneous kind of a person- but then you don’t get to have these kinds of adventures either!

Here are some pictures I took :)

Traffic Jam at the Ghats

The  bus conductor

Enroute

Monday Laughs :)

Contentment in Singleness

Answered Prayer

Most of the time we get quite harrowed when we don’t get an answer to prayer. When we do, we are not so happy most of the time either. There was something on my heart for the past few months about a certain need/request that I laid before the Lord. Somewhere at the back of my mind I knew what the answer would be, but I still prayed about it. Not in arrogance, but as  child that goes to the Father just to make the request known.

 

I think the reason I prayed as long as I did, was because I always feared asking the Lord openly as to what is on my heart. If not anything, I  learnt  to persevere in prayer. I got my answer in much clarity and I praise God for doing so. But it was also sad at the same time, as I had hoped that things would go in a different direction. Yet in all this, I know my God is good, He is sovereign and things are going according to how He has planned. He knows the big picture which helps me to trust Him more. My knowledge of things going around me and in my life is puny.

 

I hope that in this time too, I will consciously bring to mind His past mercies and how He has always taken care of me. I think the struggle lies in constantly reminding myself this important  truth.

I am Officially Sleep Deprived :P