How great Thou Art, O' Lord

Yesterday morning, it was flurrying a bit. The snow flakes fell one by one, some in little groups, very slowly and softly on my porch. I watched them for a while and then I wanted to see a little more closely.

I stepped out to see that little flake sitting on my porch, and the others which sat with their friends, huddled together as if, trying to avoid the cold (14F).

I took my camera and took a picture of them lying on my porch and I witnessed the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my whole life. Those tiny tiny, even less than a millimeter in diameter, were so amazingly beautiful and intricately designed, I just was in awe of my God, who had made them so beautiful. I had been wondering, how the people had come up with such a wonderfully geometric and beautiful shape for a snow flake, because I used to think they were like round cotton balls, but I was so awestruck when I found out ,they weren't round and boring, but so amazingly beautiful, really really.

I am not much of a designer, I can look at something and draw it-copy a drawing, but I cannot think of something unique and beautiful on my own, I can copy something as close to it as possible, but I cannot create a unique design off my own mind. After seeing the snow flake, I realised, "Hey, I can ask the Chief Designer, from whom everyone else takes inspiration (whether they know it or not), to help me out in designing pretty faces for my blogs. "
We've been placed in God's art gallery and it never ends to bring joy and peace to us...Nature, flowers, people , animals, insects, birds...mountains, valleys...and sunsets...they never repeat themselves, every one of them unique and beautiful.

You and me, unique and beautiful, all His handiwork.
Oh, then sings my soul, "How Great Thou Art O Lord"

I am Different and maybe weird, but I am still Loved

I don't want to write about "me", but I sure would like to write about the One Who made me, the way I am.
When I went to college, I was surprised at the new world I was going to live in. I had a culture shock, because I come from a town called Jamshedpur in the North East part of India, a sort of mordernised town, and having its own character. So when I moved to Kerala for my college, I wondered how could people possibly live like this!!!...I'll tell you what I saw.
Women weren't that bold, they were supposed to behave shy and quietly. The quieter the better. Oh boy, now that was a culture shock to me, because my parents had always treated me as good as a boy. There was nothing I was not allowed to do, just because I was a girl. My mom always calls me "beta"(pronouced as "bay-taa") meaning my son in Hindi. No wonder I was into sports, into singing and into anything I wanted to do. I had no sisters to play with, my cousins were all boys, and I have 2 younger brothers, so I played cricket, football, and all those rough games. Thanks to my loving mom, she fought to get her college degree and she is still working with Tata Motors, she wanted me to be free to do whatever I wanted to do and become all that I could become.

At college we had a prayer group where I used to go with other christian friends, but I was an extremely extremely outgoing person. I had soooooo many friends, and I was and still am very very talkative. The only difference now being, I don't have many friends around here to talk to...

Anyways, all the girls in the prayer group would sit very gently, and "shyly" and quietly and with their heads down, except to look at the speaker. Well I was the only one looking all over the room, at all the people in the room..and the speaker, of course...I was "different".

I was definitely and distinctly different, and stuck out like a sore thumb. I had short hair, everyone else had atleast 2mtrs of hair. Well I had more like a mushroom cut...so I even "looked" different. In all of this, sometimes I used to get discouraged, because I was different and I didn't want to be. Some thought I was a snob (people think that, if you've got short hair like a foreigner). I wasn't a snob, thats how I was. I tried hard to blend in, and managed to some extent, learnt their local language and few things like being a little more quieter. Till this day I feel left out even when I'm with them, I don't know why.

But you know what the most beautiful thing I realised was, I really was always excited because God was constantly at work in my life and I loved His Presence every moment. I found God was also talkative, just like me. He loves to talk to me and hear me talk to Him. So in the midst of it all, I found my Friend, Who liked me just the way I am, and though I have faltered many a times, I have always found Him standing by my side, like a mother, protecting me when I'm alone, encouraging me when I'm down, loving me when I feel unloved, helping me when I'm helpless, caring for me when no ones there..and above all, talking to me when I need the right Word for my situation. Oh He is so wonderful to me, I wonder what I would have done without Him, my Lord and Love, Jesus. Well,I still don't know how to blend in, but now, I don't want to blend in anymore.

My Testimony

I was born and brought up in a wonderful Christian family, by a very godfearing couple. We weren't very rich, but my parents did their best to give me and my 2 younger brothers the best that our little town could give. We got the best schooling and encouragement to do whatever we wanted to do.
My grandparents used to visit us often, they used to rise up early in the morning about 3 am and pray for all of us. It made me wonder, why would someone with common sense, ever want to lose precious sleep and pray??? Of all things. I sometimes even heard my name being said in their prayers. Well I thought that was being stupid with time. I was 10yrs old then
In the summer of 1994 we (the 3 of us, me and my 2 brothers Abraham and David) were sent for VBS (Vacation Bible School) at a church a little away from home. I learnt some real strange stuff, I learnt that our Lord Jesus was not an ordinary God, that He wanted a personal relationship with me??? This was a strange thing to me, though I was brought up in a Christian home, and my parents being believers and all, I thought being saved and all that jazz was for the old folks. My life changed with one statement, from Matthew 10:32"Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven." I knew I had to do something and I did, I acknowledged Jesus as my Saviour before that circle of children seated around the fire, on camp fire night(the last night of the VBS camp) and it felt good, light and happy. I was in 10th standard in school then.
When we went back to school after the summer had ended, I didn't know how different life was going to turn out for me. I had been an above average student, a good girl, a good daughter, good at sports and everything else, nothing special had ever happened to me. However God had planned to make me stand out, I was no longer ordinary and part of the crowd anymore. The school board chose me to be the Vice Captain of the "Yellow House" and during my graduation from school I received the "Outstanding Sportsperson" of the year award too. I was thrilled the way things were going. Well God didn't stop at that. 2 yrs from then, something great was going to hit my family.
I went to a Hindu based school nearby for my 11th and 12th standard, in Maths and Science. I was in for a bigger surprise when they chose me to be the "Sports Secretary" there. I wasn't ordinary..yippee I wasn't. I was a leader there too. By the time 12th standard ended, everyone in the class, started preparing for entrance exams to get into various engineering and medical colleges. I did too. I prayed hard and I prepared and I got through, not by my might, but by the wisdom and knowledge of the Spirit of God. I got through India's 2nd best chain of Engineering Institutions.
God showed me that day, nothing was impossible for Him and I knew it in my heart, God and me made a great team and I wouldn't trade that partnership for anything.
(more later...)