Happy birthday Ma!

(Yesterday was my Mom's 51st birthday and this post is dedicated to her.I wrote this exactly a year ago for her 50th birthday)

I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life. ~Abraham Lincoln

If you have a mom, there is nowhere you are likely to go where a prayer has not already been.  ~Robert Braul

I call her 'Amma ‘ and my brother called her ‘Me’(Short for mummy).In my 22 years of life’s journey with my Mom I can say SHE is no ordinary woman!Well,Its her 50th birthday today(Sep 23,2010)and I am so proud she is mine!!

Life has never been easy for her and I still wonder how she managed the house, ministry and the family simultaneously.A typical day for her  would begin like this-She would wake up at 4.00am and spend her quiet time with the Lord till 6 am..family prayer till 6.30(which means that we can never stay in bed after 6!)and then off she'd go to the kitchen(She is an excellent cook by the way!). By 7.15 breakfast and lunch would be ready on the table and after making sure that we've had our breakfast and have taken our lunch she'd rush to work at 8! As soon as she came home from work she would run to the slums in the area to take Sunday school for the kids there/conduct a prayer meeting. She would return home and make us dinner and our family time is the one thing that I’ve always enjoyed and that would sometimes extend after midnight! The nights she spent with us when we were younger  telling us amazing stories from the Bible is still so vivid in my memory.She definitely was and still is a great story teller! She works tirelessly from dawn till dusk ,making sure everyone is loved and cared for! Amazing woman!Ain’t she??

She’s not only my biological mother but also my spiritual mother (To my brother and dad too!). She loves the Lord with all her heart and lives out her faith. She forgives quickly ,never holds a grudge and I just love listening to her stories of faith even though I have heard it a million times before!I wonder how many are blessed with godly and loving parents.I sure am!The tears ,the prayers,the energy and the effort that she put into bringing us up did bear fruit . She raised her family differently and  the difference  that she raised us  with was Christ.All that was said in Ragil’s funeral(my only brother of 24 yrs who passed away unexpectedly in an accident) is evidence.She always wanted her kids to be firebrands for the Lord.She is my critic ,my greatest teacher ,a source of inspiration and  blessing not only to me but to everyone who has come her way!!

At 48,she responded to God’s call for full time ministry and God has blessed her ministry in leaps and bounds.I admire her oratory and writing skills-skills that have been used by God to touch the lives of many!It’s been 3 months since Ragi left us to be with the Lord and her faith has strengthened all of us through these difficult times. If Ragi was here he would definitely agree with all that I've said.I can go on and on but words just can't contain her. She is indeed an ideal mother that every daughter could be proud of and look up to.I only wish and pray that God may grant her many more birthdays and use her mightily for His glory.Happy happy birthday ma!Luv you!!

''Her children arise and call her blessed;  her husband also, he praises her:
 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;   but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised''. Proverbs 31:28,30

31 girl!

'Paapaa!!!Start some serious exercising..you're putting on too much of weight!",'Don't sleep in the afternoons!","I am going to put you on a diet from now on"(which by the way meant only oats for dinner and no rice!) -These were pieces of advice(accompanied by a loud,commanding voice)offered by my well-meaning Mom who,of recent,has become overly concerned about my weight!

We live in an era where immense care is taken to beautify one's looks.Every girl dreams for a  beautiful skin,shiny and flowing hair(like they show in the ads)and longs to look like Aishwarya Rai-thanks to the booming cosmetic industry that's come a long way in fulfilling this dream with its products,advertising and marketing strategies!Indians ,especially, are so obsessed with fairness,that no amount of fairness creams would suffice their cravings for a white skin.Not to mention the fact that the biodata of every Indian boy seeking marriage would contain something like this-'Expectations-white/fair,tall and slim girl'..Funny how we Indians seem to conjure up with ‘white’ to ‘black’ within the color brown.I agree that it is important that we look presentable and well groomed but most of the times it is overdone and the simple fact that beauty is only skin deep is completely forgotten.


The Bible,in Proverbs 31,talks about a woman of noble character.

A wife of noble character who can find?

   She is worth far more than rubies.

²⁶ She speaks with wisdom,

   and faithful instruction is on her tongue.

²⁸ Her children arise and call her blessed;

   her husband also, and he praises her:

³⁰ Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;

   but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.

How very true! A woman of noble character is hardworking,kind,gentle,wise,strong,honest,trustworthy and covered in love.True beauty is not on the outside..its on the inside -the only place that matters to God..Someone whose writings I admire blogged this -'God's idea of beauty is so far removed from ours for He looks directly into the heart. He seeks selfless hands calloused with helping others constantly, tired feet cracked with travelling miles out of the way for someone else, eyes reddened with tears for a neighbour's pain and lips worn with speaking words of comfort to those who need it. Every laugh line that came from making a saddened heart smile and every wrinkle that came from worrying for a friend's sake are precious in the Lord's sight. To Him, that is true beauty...the beauty of the soul inside the shell. Don't waste your time then on superficiality 'cos honestly, God doesn't care whether or not you permed your hair lately.'

So,girls,let's work on true beauty -Beauty that honours God - beauty portrayed by the woman in Proverbs 31-THE 31 GIRL!

A Thankful Heart!

"Every single cell in my body is happy

 Every single cell in my body is good

 Thank you Lord!I feel so good

 Cos every single cell in my body is well!"

This song,that I learnt as a kid,kept ringing in my head today as I walked through the corridors of the rehabilitation centre in the hospital nearby.I had accompanied my mom who conducted weekly services for the patients.Many,old and young alike, had turned up in the small, beautiful chapel,some on stretchers and some in wheel chairs in a desperate attempt to find God and plead with Him for a miracle.They had no other hope.Paralysis,caused by trauma or spinal cord injury had rendered them incapable of walking , attending to their daily duties, sitting up and had even deprived them of their ability to feel .They needed assistance for everything..and I mean EVERYTHING!!I could do nothing but sympathize with them.Having made a short and silent prayer,I quickly left the place with a heavy heart but with a whole lot  of things to ponder on.

I looked at my own fully functional hands and feet.How many times have I complained when I had to walk home..or the times when I felt physical pain..or when the bed was not comfortable enough to sleep in? There've been times when I've taken so many things in life for granted....Did you know that just a stroll through the hospital corridors can put all of life in perspective?The very fact that I'm alive and well today gives me reason enough to thank God!I am indeed thankful for every single cell in my body that is happy,well and good!What are you thankful for today?

If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice. ~Meister Eckhart


Need more reasons to be thankful? Check out this video :

The Last enemy!

There's nothing certain in a man's life except this: That he must lose it. ~Aeschylus, Agamemnon

True enough..Death is inevitable and we all know that someday we will surely die,but just that it's not today or tomorrow....maybe when we are 80 or 90 years old..definitely not when we are YOUNG!Nevertheless,fact remains that life's clock never asks you when to stop.Accidents,incurable diseases,and ever increasing crime rates are so rampant in today's world that you never know when your time's up.This week I was quite disturbed when I heard the demise of two young people I knew.One of them was my exceptionally intelligent classmate I had known for three years whom I had always thought would make it big someday.He had decided to end his life.The other was a young medical student who had given up her fight against a dreadful disease.Two deaths in a week..that too of young intellectuals..Sometimes life doesn't make sense and seems so unfair!

Recovering from the tragic and unexpected loss of my own brother,I know the pain and all that goes with the loss of a loved one.But hang on....There's more to death than just grief.As a Christian,I know that all who believe in Jesus Christ enter a life of eternity  with Him -A life devoid of pain,suffering and sorrow.And that we will soon meet our loved ones on the other side.That,indeed,is comforting!

However,there still remains two questions to be answered.As an individual,am I prepared to face death ANYTIME? I don't have to live in fear of death.Death is certain and can be sudden.To a christian,it is just the passing from one life to another-a new one.Two,What am I striving to accomplish in life? My knowledge,my wealth,my ego,my status..none of it is going to come with me when I'm laid to rest...Am I fulfilling the purpose that my Creator has set for me? I have a sincere answer to these questions.Do you?

Always be thou prepared, and so live that death may never find thee unprepared.

  -THOMAS A. KEMPIS, The Imitation of Christ