Food for Thought

My Reason for Praise!

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 1 Peter 1: 3-5

Beautiful

This sums it up! Enjoy the video. 

Morning Prayer: Psalm 138

I give You thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;

    before the gods I sing Your praise;

I bow down toward Your holy temple

    and give thanks to Your name 

for Your steadfast love and your faithfulness,

    for you have exalted above all things

    your name and your word.

On the day I called, You answered me;

    my strength of soul You increased.

All the kings of the earth shall give You thanks, O Lord,

    for they have heard the words of Your mouth,

and they shall sing of the ways of the Lord,

    for great is the glory of the Lord.

For though the Lord is high, He regards the lowly,

    but the haughty He knows from afar.

Though I walk in the midst of trouble,

    You preserve my life;

You stretch out Your hand against the wrath of my enemies,

    and Your right hand delivers me.

The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me;

    Your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.

    Do not forsake the work of Your hands.

Quote Unquote

Afflictions add to the saints' glory. The more the diamond is cut, the more it sparkles; the heavier the saints' cross is, the heavier will be their crown. Thomas Watson

The Chronicles of Travelling Sisters—Panchgani

This year is going to be all about travelling, seeing places, and visiting folks. My sister and I were due for a break and our first thought was Goa. But then later, we remembered ‘Panchgani’! Yes, that place has sweet memories for both of us. (Church camps and sweet fellowship!) And my birthday was near, so we were like, “Why not?” And off we packed our bags and left for Panchgani early Saturday morning with great excitement!

Panchgani is a hill station not far from Pune and takes about 2 hours to reach by car. We took the bus and we landed in Panchgani a bit later than usual, thanks to a small adventure on the way. (That’s for another post.)

We had made reservations in a place called ‘Eco camp’ owned by a couple. This place is beautiful, nestled near the edge of a cliff. It is covered with greenery and bright flowers. You can see the hills at a distance and the valley (if I may call it) and a lake. You have the option to stay in a tent or in cottage room for 500 rupees per night! We opted for the room.

The market is close by and we walked to take a look at this quiet place that I have come to love. Panchgani is famous for chikki, jams, syrups, and peanuts. Well, when we reached the market, we bought as much stuff as possible home. J

For us, it was a perfect weekend gateway. The beauty mingled with silence was magical. It was so good to be away from the fast-paced life and take in God’s creation. We sat on the bench that evening and watched the sun set behind the hills. We woke up early next morning to witness the sunrise but missed it because we were busy feeding the house dog! :P

After breakfast, we packed our bags to return to Pune with our minds refreshed, our hearts grateful to God for His creation, and with a renewed perspective about the necessities of life!

Thought I’d end this post with these verses from the Bible:

“I will extol You, my God and King, and bless Your name forever and ever.

 Every day I will bless You and praise Your name forever and ever.

 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable.” Psalm 145:1-3

Birthday Surprise!

I hit a major milestone on Monday when I celebrated my birthday with family and friends! I was looking forward to a quiet time with close friends. I had no clue what was coming. Seriously, I was clueless…..

It was supposed to be a time of coffee with my sister and a close friend of mine and later on lunch. My sister kept saying that she had a simple gift to give and that she had intentionally left it in her office. I simply believed her. :(

After picking up the gift bag from her office, she instructed me to open it in the coffee shop. She said it would suit the place. Her close friend and colleague gave the affirmative. Okay!  I was getting a bit apprehensive.  “Were they going to send me on a treasure hunt? Have they hidden clues in that coffee shop? Do I need to talk to strangers to get my real gift?”

Finally, we did reach the coffee place and as we seated ourselves comfortably, my sister asked to me to open the gift. Whew!  (Mind getting hazy!) Then sis pulled out her camera. Okay! Picture time. I am comfortable with that. Then she wanted to record my reaction as I opened her gift. Now, this is getting weird. What is this? Why should this be recorded?

When I opened the gift, I was shocked! A scrapbook? You got to be kidding me! Wow! That totally didn’t cross my mind! Sheesh! So much for my skills of deduction. Sis scored a point here! Hmmm….

As I opened the book and glanced at all the folks who had contributed to write a note for my big day, I was overwhelmed. I was moved to tears! It was a very touching moment for me. So many friends who took the time to write and wish me on my birthday! It was a marvelous experience!

So thankful to God for blessing me with a wonderful sister! She who painstakingly worked behind the scenes to bless me with such a wonderful reminder of God’s work in the years gone by and for the friends He brought my way. Thank you girl! I am honored to be your sis and best friend.

What makes it more special is that she was going through a very difficult trial in her life and yet, she sought to bless me and worked—to bring it to fruition. That is such an evidence of Christ’s transforming work in her life. J

And for my sister's dear friend who worked alongside my sis and helped to bring this project to life! Thank you and hats off to your creativity! I am still amazed. Thank you girl for your love and friendship. This will be a great reminder for me what a blessing it is to have friends like you!

And for all the dear ones who wrote and encouraged me: A big shout out to you’ll! You guys rock! J

This experience had made me love Christ more and pursue His likeness, to serve and be a blessing to those around. 

I am seriously blessed!

Finally, Friday is here!

Quote Unquote

You may look upon some providences once and again, and see little or nothing in them, but look “seven times,” that is, meditate often upon them, and you will see their increasing glory, like that increasing cloud (1 Kings 18: 44)-John Flavel

Pic of the day!

For more, click here. 

Sleep

Today morning, I thought of the blessings of sleep and rest. After a long day at work, it is so good to lie down and rest. Sleep is surely a gift from God.  To sleep and forget about everything around you is a blessing. Nothing rejuvenates like sleep. Things that trouble your mind seem trivial when you sleep over it and wake up the next day!

One verse that comes to mind is Psalm 4: 8

“In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for you O Lord make me dwell in safety!”

Monday Musings

“We are simple people. You can’t remember ten things at once. Invariably, if you could remember just one true thing in the moment of trial, you’d be different. Bible ‘verses’ aren’t magic. But God’s words are revelations of God from God for our redemption.

“When you actually remember God, you do not sin. The only way we ever sin is by suppressing God, by forgetting, by tuning out his voice, switching channels, and listening to other voices. When you actually remember, you actually change. In fact, remembering is the first change.”

– David Powlison, Making All Things New

Good Morning Weekend :)

Capturing Symmetry

I love taking pics from my mobile phone. They are random and yet I somehow try to capture symmetry in what I see!

There are no ordinary people

It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare.  

All day long we are in some degree helping each other to one or other of these destinations.  It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics.  

There are no ordinary people.  You have never talked to a mere mortal.  Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations – these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat.  But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit – immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.

 C. S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory (New York, 2001), pages 45-46.  Italics original