A month has gone by

I know it's been a while since I posted something here.. Life has been busy.. it's been so crazy. I can't believe that more than a month has gone by since I last posted. So many things have happened.

I've come closer to some people and have drawn far from some. I've taken on more responsibilities and I've let some go. I've made new friends & reconnected with old ones as well. Time will tell whether they are for keeps. I've gone through excruciating pain & also amazingly surprising happiness. I've traveled on work & managed to have some fun times with people. I overcame the barrier of physical distance in one relationship & actually made use of the physical distance as a barrier in another. I've been terribly discouraged & incredibly encouraged. People I didn't expect showed support and people I thought would support showed doubt..

There have also been some happenings in my spiritual life. And I'm glad because I really feel like God is drawing me closer to Him. I know there have been some struggles & some difficult times where this is concerned. The last one month feels like a roller coaster of fighting battles & times of receiving strength from God. But even as God restores & refreshes me, I wait in anticipation of what's going to come up next. Any inconsistency (I know for sure) is from my end.

Everything else in my life be it work, be it church, be it my personal life is in some way or the other connected to the whole spiritual aspect. And despite all the difficult things that have taken place this last month and despite the extreme agony & pain, God has really blessed me with some amazing support in the form of some very dear friends. They may not understand me all the time, but they love me enough to be with me when I need them.

In conclusion, here is a passage that came to me quite strongly some days back. And it gave me immense encouragement to know that even though things don't look that great, we have to exult & rejoice in God and He is the one that gives us strength & victory to walk in high places.

Habakkuk 3

17 Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,

¹⁸ yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.

¹⁹ The Sovereign LORD is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to go on the heights.

Love is a verb

Some years back I was listening to a song without paying much attention to the lyrics. And then suddenly one of the lines just stood out. It said - Love is not a feeling but an act of your will. That line took hold and it refused to let go. So I thought about it.. And it changed the way I looked at love.

Love, I realized, is a verb. It's an act of your will. It's something you consciously do. It's not a noun. Therefore it's not a thing but an action that you carry out. Love does not happen to you. People don't fall in love. They decide to love.

My perspective on love changed. I realized that I'm in control of how I feel towards anyone. It was my choice whether to hate or love or get annoyed. If I hated some one, it was not out of my control to change it but I also realized that I would need some help with this kind of change. This is where God comes in because the human love is so conditional. But God's love is not. It's pure and unconditional and freely available.

Since then my prayer has been that God would fill my heart with His love and enable me to love others just like He loved us. So try it out, people! Make a conscious decision and spread the love around!

THE ROAD NOT TAKEN

- by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I --
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Can I judge?

Yet another day of internet failure and the only thought that’s running through my head is that I could’ve stayed at home, gone online and gotten some work done or I could’ve slept an hour more or so and come in a little later.

The other thing that was going through my head on my commute to the office this morning was how we all have sinned. And this has no exceptions! Even the best and the holiest person you may know has definitely sinned sometime or the other.

I remember one time, a friend asked me to pray for him because he was struggling with sin in his life. Then he looked at me as if to say - why are you not judging me for what I just said? At that time, I just smiled and held his hand and prayed with him and then we went on to discuss other things.

But now when I think of it, I wonder what gives us the right to judge people when we ourselves are in the same boat. Is it not said in the Bible that all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God? That right there is such an equalizer. Even though we categorize ourselves on the basis of gender, caste, creed, race, religion, culture, habits, etc. We have something that makes us equal in the eyes of God. We are all sinners.

What right do we have to judge people then? We all are guilty of this behavior. Some of us even more than the others. Some of us don’t even give people a chance to prove themselves before we judge them based on something really frivolous or something they may have done in the past. We are even willing to write people off because they do not fit the idea of how we think they should be. We put people in boxes that fit our convenience. It is so sad!

In Matthew 7: 1-5, Jesus says - 1"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 3"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

The consequences of judging people are very clear!

P413!

I've had this up as my status on google for quite some time. It stands for a verse from the Bible. It's from Phillipians 4:13 and it says - I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

This verse has been such an inspiration in my life and has turned things around. I don't remember the exact moment I started believing this verse... I don't remember any thunder and lightning happening when the meaning became clear to me.. Don't remember skies opening up and light falling on my face... In short, it was not a dramatic moment but somehow I started believing that I can do all things because of God's presence in my life.

Note that it does not say I can do 'one' thing.. It does not say I can do 'two' things, 'ten' things or 'hundred' things' or 'a million' things... No! Not even 'many' things... But it says I can do 'ALL' things... And all includes everything!!!

Once I started believing this, my life changed drastically. I changed! My perspective changed! My fear of attempting hard things was gone and things that looked impossible before, didn't anymore. I knew that God gave strength, grace and courage for those things that we think are not possible or are too hard or problematic or unpleasant even.

So, people, I would like you all to understand and believe this... There is nothing more empowering or liberating than knowing that you can do ANYTHING when you have the backing of the most Almighty, Powerful God. So go ahead and don't be afraid.. Remember you can do 'ALL' things through Christ who strengthens you!

Yet another quiz

Once again the internet was not working which gave me some time to fill out a quiz that my ex-colleague made up after getting a little tired of all of those surveys made up by high school kids. Any one of you feel like taking this one?

1. What bill do you hate paying the most?
Cell phone, Internet and Electricity bills.

2. Do you miss being a child?
I miss being carefree and not having any responsibilities sometimes.

3. Chore you hate the most?
Ironing clothes!

4. Where was the last place you had a romantic dinner?
Bangalore (more than a year back and it was not romantic but very close but not getting into too many details)

5. If you could go back and change one thing what would it be?
I would make more efforts to never judge the person by the externals. Would want to give the person a chance to show what he/she is made of and who they really are.

6. Name of your first grade teacher?
Asha Ahuja

7. What do you really want to be doing right now?
To be on a beach or to go to water kingdom with my closest friends

8. What did you want to be when you grew up?
Teacher, Pilot, Fashion Designer, someone famous, list is endless…

9. How many colleges did you attend?
One

10. Why did you choose the shirt/dress/clothes that you have on right now?
I hadn’t worn it in a really long while and it was ironed.

11. What are your thoughts on gas/fuel prices?
It seems to me that they raise the prices on whims and fancies of a few selected people.

12. First thought when the alarm went off this morning?
Can I still make it in time to work if I sleep in for an extra half hour?

13. Last thought before going to sleep last night?
Thankful to my friend for persistently calling and checking in on me to see if I was ok because he thought I sounded a bit down.

14. What famous person would you like to have dinner with?
Johnny Depp

15. Have you ever crashed your vehicle?
No

16. If you didn't have to work, would you volunteer?
Yes. I would volunteer with a cause related to kids.. would volunteer even with the work I'm doing currently.

17. Get up early or sleep in?
Sleep in! Sleep in! Always sleep in! I’m so not a morning person.

18. What is your favorite cartoon character?
Jerry who absolutely drives Tom up the wall.

19. Favorite lunch meat?
Chicken

20. Do you go to church?
Yup! Regularly since childhood

21. Do you think marriage is an outdated ritual?
Nope

22. Movie you like but wouldn't want anyone to find out about?
Sound of Music

23. What's your favorite drink?
Lemon Flavoured Iced Tea

24. Who from high school would you like to run in to?
None. The ones I want to, I’m already in touch with.

25. Worst relationship mistake that you wish you could take back?
Taking it for granted that the person will always be around.

26. Do you like the person that sits directly across from you at work?
We get along.

27 Have you ever had to use a fire extinguisher for its intended purposes?
No.

28. What music are you listening to currently?
Stuff on my ipod of which Don’t cry Joni – Conway Twitty is sticking out like a beacon

29. Last book you finished reading?
The Chronicles of brothers

30. Do you have a teddy bear?
Ummmm No. Not right now.

- Taken on the morning of June 08, 2009

Dare you to move

For today's post, I thought I'd post the lyrics of a song that I really like a lot. At different points in my life, it has moved me to tears, encouraged me and just generally made me look beyond the point of failure. It's a song called Dare You to Move by Switchfoot. Let me know what you think of the lyrics.

Welcome to the planet, Welcome to existence
Everyone's here, Everyone's here
Everybody's watching you now
Everybody waits for you now
What happens next?, What happens next?

I dare you to move, I dare you to move
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor
I dare you to move, I dare you to move
Like today never happened, Today never happened before

Welcome to the fallout, Welcome to resistance
The tension is here, The tension is here
Between who you are and who you could be
Between how it is and how it should be

I dare you to move, I dare you to move
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor
I dare you to move, I dare you to move
Like today never happened, Today never happened before

Maybe redemption has stories to tell
Maybe forgiveness is right where you fell
Where can you run to escape from yourself?
Where you gonna go? Where you gonna go?
Salvation is here

I dare you to move, I dare you to move
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor
I dare you to move, I dare you to move
Like today never happened, Today never happened before