Bye, Bye 2010

Bye bye 2010
Time has come for us to let you go
2011 is waiting at the door
to be welcomed in with blasts of fireworks
and splash of hope for a bright New Year.

This year had been tough on many
for the nation's economy took a
downward spin and made most despair
Many lost their jobs
some lost their houses
some businesses merged
and some were forced to closed down

Yes, moneywise everyone felt the pinch
but on the bright side
it brought family support much stronger
it taught us not to see our identity in
job we do, house we own or money we posess
For all these things can be taken away from us
without any notice, and without our permission.

 Blessings do come in disguise at times
And what we see as loss, could be a blessing, who knows
2010 surely brought clarity and solidarity in many peoples lives
rather than prosperity and productivity we all longed for
This year , otherwise, had been a good year nationwide
No tsunamis, no hurricane and no fire or earquake to make us flee

Personally it had been a good year for me too
God blessed me to see my daughter graduate from college this year
And helped me to start a women's writers group and facilitate a Bible study
And getting into blogging, gave my creativity a boost too
 Also, my  work at office further strengthened my commitment and confidence
My health too didn't suffer much for me to complain.

So, as I sit here on the last morning of the year 2010
I thank the Lord for the lessons He had taught me  this year
and the closeness He had brought me towards Him and towards others
I thank for the opportunities He had given and new friends He had brought into my life
I thank Him for the love of my family and the health and safety He provided
 I thank Him for His  "Yes"s and "No" and "Wait"s
For if not for them, I wouldn't have learn to trust Him as He want me to do

So, bye bye 2010
You have been good to us in so many ways
We cannot blame you for the downspin of our economy
Nor for the disasters and damages done in this year
It's us and our doing
so depart from us with clear conscious
and worry no more what we think or talk about you
Good Bye 2010!
Good Bye and Bye!***

A Memorable Christmas

I can't thank the Lord enough for bringing my niece and family to spend Christmas with us this year. Surprise it was, when my niece sent me an e-mail two weeks before Christmas to tell that her family decided to visit California during Christmas time. It was like my wish coming true for this Christmas, and I wasted no time planning for their visit from that moment onwards. With four grown up children aged 26, 23, 17 and 15, it was a stretch to accomodate them in our two bedroom apartment. But when heart and will joined in alliance, overcrowding never seemed like a barrier.

Thankfully I'm blessed to have a sister in Christ like Trish living in my apartment complex. She and her husband were leaving to visit their parents on Christmas morning and her apartment, just opposite to ours would be empty except for their dear cat for at least a week. Normally I'm a person shy to ask favor from others even if it's very urgent. I don't know what pushed me to ask, but I did ask Trish if we could use her apartment when my nieces family come over.

 Kind and generous as she is, she was too willing to not only allow my guests to sleep at her place, but also to shower, rest and for them to feel free to use it as their own place. She put fresh towels to use, provided her pull-out bed and blown-up mattress for them to sleep with the comfort of her soft and cosy fleece blankets and so forth. She also allowed me to store my 15lbs fresh turkey in her fridge until need to be roasted. Her oven, cutlery and dishes, she lovingly offered us to use. Yes, she was the good neighbor Christ would have been proud of, and it was His mercy that enabled us to have this Christmas a memorable one for me and my family.

My niece's family arrived on Christmas eve after we returned from our candle light service. That evening they had attended the candle light service at Saddleback church where pastor Rich Warren is the senior pastor.  Oh, how joyous it was to hug and welcome them when they all arrived around 9pm. at our door. I had made saffron rice, lamb curry, eggplant chutney, devilled shrimp and tomatoe salad in yogurt for Christmas eve supper and they all loved it, including the children who don't normally like rice and curry.

Because my niece requested no Christmas gifts given or exchanged to her family, I was compelled to honor her request. So, my own family exchanged gifts on the 23rd evening instead of the usual 25th morning. For Christmas, I planned to roast the turkey, but I had no idea how it would turn out in the end. Only once I had roasted a turkey before and that was at least five years back. Since our family is not much for turkey, I usually roast a chicken and cook lamb curry for Christmas meal. So, on Christmas morning as I thanked the Lord for Christmas, I also asked Him to help me with my turkey roasting too.

Yes, it sounds silly, but if a child needs help, won't she go to the father for help? That's what I did. If you have a close relationship with your Father, He wouldn't  mind the request is small or big, sound silly or serious. That's what the blessing of having an intimate relationship with the Lord. We can go to Him at anytime for anything, especially when you find yourself helpless.

On Christmas evening, when the roasted turkey came out of the oven, it looked shiny golden brown like the one exibited in Martha Stewart's cookbook. The turkey looked so beautiful in Trish's large green leaf like porcelein plate that my nephew couldn't help but take a couple of photos of it from different angles.

Marinated in freshly ground ginger, garlic, bayleaf and other herbs for six hours, the meat was  tender, juicy and tasted sooo good.  Everyone complimented me for roasting such a tasty turkey, but inwardly I was thanking the Lord for answering my prayers. Isn't it amazing that the King of kings has the love ,time and patience to attend to a simple request like mine. . In fact, when I told my daughters that I truly sought God's help for roasting the turkey, my oldest said, " Mom, you don't pray about roasting a turkey." Well, I did pray and He did answer as I requested,  and that's all I can say.

We didn't exchange gifts with my niece's family at Christmas, because that's the way my niece wanted it to be. But we exchanged love, laughter and stories till late into Christmas night.  True,  Christmas need not be about gifts. It need to be about Christ (the greatest gift of all)  family and friends. It's about love, joy and peace. It's about giving and not getting. Because I had the blessing of enjoying all of that, I value this Christmas 2010 a memorable and precious one to cherish.

It's Christmas, 2010

It's Christmas day, my Lord
It's Your birthday that we celebrate today
It's on this day, two thousand years ago
You were born in Bethlehem
Because there was no room in the inn
You had no place to sleep,
So, wrapped in swaddling clothes, You
the Son of God, the King of kings
layed in a manger with sweet smile on Your face
Shepherds came to see You by night
Wisemen from the East brought you gifts
Mary and Joseph, the most blessed parents
to be on earth watched you with care and love

Yes, it was two thousand years ago
You came on earth to save me and mankind
Let me not ever forget You on this blessed day
It's not about turkey
it's not about gifts or guests we've at home on this day
It's about You, it's should be always about You
The world which we live today
may want to rob You out of Christmas
it may push us to celebrate this day deleting Your name
Christmas without Christ, would be just 'mas
Yes, it would be surely a mess, this day without Christ
You came to save us from getting into a mess
So, why do we want to get back to mess, I don't understand.

On this day, as I celebrate Christmas with my family and relatives
I bow before You my Lord, for coming to earth to save us from sin
Angels had sung on sky to announce Your royal birth
Shepherds had seen God's glory shine on that starry night
Let me too see You  on this day in a glorious way
to love and worship You with joy and love in my heart
Come Jesus, Son of Almighty God
Come and abide in my heart forever
It's You, Christ Child I want to celebrate
It's to You, the Babe in the Manger,
I give myself as a gift on Your birthday.

Happy Birthday Jesus, God's only begotten Son
Glorious day this is for us, because You had come.
I praise and worship You on this Christmas morning
I rejoice and thank You for coming to us as God's precious Gift!

Joseph, the overlooked character in the Nativity Story

Mary, Baby Jesus, angels, shepherds, the Star and the manger mostly stole the spotlight in the Nativity scene while Joseph moved about as a shadowy figure in the picture. We haven't heard of any carol sung about him or a song equivalent to " Mary , do you know your Baby boy," that asked Joseph what he thought about bringing up the Christ Child as his own baby boy.

What a tremendous responsibility and high expectation were placed upon his shoulders,yet no one bothered to write a song pondering about Joseph's situations. I hadn't given much thought to him either until  my pastor focused his entire sermon on Joseph on last Sunday.

Joseph was  no ordinary man as we assume him to be. According to Gospel of Mathew 1:19, he was a righteous man, meaning he stood right with God. Because he stood right with God, he had the wisdom to do the right thing at the right time.

Any other man in his shoes would have dragged Mary to a public place to be stoned to death no sooner he heard about her pregnancy from Mary's own mouth. But Joseph chose not to do that. That showed how much he must have loved and trusted Mary enough to not to disgrace her publicly. He could have easily cleared his name and protected his reputation by condemning Mary with adultery.

If Joseph chose to marry the pregnant Mary, his  community would definitely spit on his face for impregnating a virgin before marriage. No one would have bought Mary's story of angel appearing to her and she becoming pregnant by the power of Holy Spirit. Joseph was sure of facing the scorn of his parents as well as Mary's parents.  His also faced the risk of losing his business customers and his livelihood for the sake of his support for Mary. From every angle Joseph  must have foreseen the humiliation and rejection from his people.

Gone were the nights, which he spent on dreaming of the wonderful life he was going to have with Mary and the dream house he was planning to build. All those dreams must have got shattered when Mary broke the news of her pregnancy to him. Now, he had to come up with another plan to get out of the marriage without dragging Mary's reputation in the mud. So, he decided to divorce her quietly,

His new plan didn't work either, for an angel of the Lord interrupted his sleep in a dream and told him what he need to do next. It wasn't what Joseph planned to do. Yet, he was willing to change his plans and act according to God's plans. No wonder God chose no other man, but Joseph to bring up His only begotten Son down here on earth. Joseph was a righteous and obedient man of God, a perfect role model for Jesus to grow up under his roof.

The Bible also records that Joseph had no union with his wife Mary until she gave birth to God's Son Jesus. Yes, Joseph honored Mary's hallowed call on her life and let go of his husband right. He put Mary's purity and comfort before his need and pleasure. No husband would want to make that decision on his wedding day. Yet, Joseph did. By doing so, he stood taller than any other man in honor. No wonder, God chose no other man, but Joseph to be the earthly father to love and bring up baby Jesus to manhood.

When the call came to him in a dream to take his wife and baby to Egypt, Joseph raised no question. Later, when he was commanded to go back home, he acted at once. His trust in God must had been so strong and steadfast, he showed no hesitance whenever God asked him to do something. It's no surprise that the eyes of the Lord which are on the righteous chose Joseph to be the perfect father to bring up Jesus on earth.

Mary, the highly favored one was called the blessed one among women, and Joseph was called the righteous man. Both had a high calling in their lives to raise God's Son in a loving and healthy environment and both did their part well in raising boy Jesus to become what His heavenly Father intended Him to be.

What a great couple, what a strong marriage and what a holy family to remember during this Christmas season! Yes, no one wrote or sang a song, " Joseph, did you know that the Baby in the manger would one day raise the dead and make the blind see?" Yet, that doesn't diminish the important role Joseph played in the greatest story ever told on earth-the birth of Jesus.
(Published in Precious Moments on 12/23/2010)***

Gifts without Wrappings

Past is history, tomorrow is a blur, but today is a gift from God.
Sun, moon, stars along with snow and rain fall into similar gift boxes. So, do family, food, friends, jobs and health. Writing for God's glory is our call. It is also our gift back to Him. Put as much into it, work hard for it and quit not from it for any reason. Pay is not our primary goal, neither fame nor riches. It is our birthright to sing and worship and to put in writing how faithful and kind our God is to all who trust in Him.

In today's world, you and I must hold onto our faith tightly. World can trick us , laugh at us or try to drag us into its band-wagon. A world without Chirst is dark, chaotic and unforgiving. Christmas is the reminder that life is worth living on earth because Christ came to show us the way. If our focus is on Him and not on our surroundings, victory is ours to gain. Trials and triumphs pass through our paths to train and mold us for God's glory. Praying and waiting upon Him daily payback in wondrous ways.

So, on this Christmas, as you unwrap the glossy and glittory wrapping papers off the gifts your loved ones have given you, look around and count the number of unwrapped gifts God has given you. Let Christ hear your song of thanksgiving as you put Him, the everlasting, unwrappable gift to be your main focus on this Christmas.

O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant
      O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem;
Come and behold Him, born the King of Angels,
      O come let us adore Him, Christ , the Lord.

CNN's 10 Heroes.

Last Saturday night, I sat and watched the CNN's fourth annual recognition of the top10 heroes of the world. Out of the 10, 000 nominations from more than 100 hundred countries, these heroes were selected  by the viewers in an online poll that ran for eight weeksto on CNN.com.

In order to get more people watch the event,the executive producer of CNN had made it a star studded program with celebrities like Hallie Berry, Renee Zeilweger, Demi Moore to present the awards and Grammy Award-winners Bon Jovi, John Legend and Sugarland to perform on the stage.  However, in the eyes of the audience at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, CA and of those who watched the program from their homes, the stars who glittered brighter and outshined the sheen of the celebrities on that night were the ten heroes who walked up the stage to get the awards.

Here the 74 -year old Guadalup De La Vega founded a hospital in Mexico that treated freely about 900 patients daily.  Despite the violence in the city, the 74-year old Dr.Guadalup De La Vegathe travels several times a week to attend to her patients at the hospital she founded in Mexico. Her hospital gives free treatment to about 900 patients daily.

After her son's tragic death, Susan Burton got into drugs and other problems that led her to spend years in prison. When she left the prison gate, the guard there told her that she'll be back soon like most inmates. Determined to not to return to prison, Susan sought the support of those who refused to give up on her and turned her life around. Through her fitness and nutrition program, Linda Fondren has helped the obese people in her hometown in Mississipi lose nearlyr 15,000 Mississippi hometown's battle with obesity.Today, her nonprofit A New Way of Life Reentry Project provides a home and support for the women released from prison. Here women are given opportunity  to get trained and  prepared to find jobs.

Narayanan Krishnan provides hot meals and dignity to homeless and destitute in his hometown Madurai in South India. He drives his van through out the city looking for the desperately poor and abandoned people, feed them, and if needed he even gives them a haircut and a bath. In his kindness, the poor and outcasts find hope and dignity. Narayanan gave up his dream of going abroad and pursuing his catering career and chose to serve the poor and destitute instead. Since 2002, he had provided 1.2 million hot meals.

Since 1997, Harman Parker has helped build 45 footbridges for people in Kenya so that they didn't need to walk across the perilous crocodile infested rivers.  The footbridges he helped to build helped the children go to school safely and for the people to go to the markets to buy or sell easily.
Aki Rai, a former child soldier helps to clear landmines in his country Cambodia. Since 1993, he and his Cambodian Self Help Demining  had helped to clear about 50,000 mine.

Evan Wadongo, aged 23 saw the need to invent something to bring light to his darkened village. With the cost of kerosine high rocketting and eyes of children getting damaged by reading under smoky kerosine lampspoor and dim light, Wadonga decided to do something to help out. So he invented solar lanterns using solar power and distributed them freely to rural families. Through his Use Solar, Save Lives program, he's distributed 10,000 free solar lanterns.

Since, 2005, Dan Wallrath, a Texas home builder had built veteran homes and given morgage free to injured Iraq and Afghanistan soldiers.

These people, once unknown and unrecognized in their own village or town have done extraordinary things for people in need. That's what set them apart from all the others in their communities as well as in that auditorium that night.

These were everyday people who performed extraordinary things when they saw a need in their communities.  They could have easily walked away as others do or could have left the need to be attended by the government or a charitable organization. But they didn't.to solve. Instead,when they saw the need, they stepped in to help in whatever way they could.

Out of the chosen top ten heros,Anuradha Koirala from Nepal was named as the 2010 CNN Hero of the year. Since 1993, through her organization Maiti Nepal, Koirala has rescued more than 12,000 women and provided shelter homes for them. Along with shelter, these homes provide hope, healing and  skills to find jobs.

 Barely five-footed Anuradha Koirala,draped in a colorful Indian silk sari stood next to Demi Moore with her face beaming with joy, and received her award on the stage for $100,000 to continue her work, she pleaded with the audience to join hands with her to end the heinous crime called human trafficking. " Demi Moore, who introduced Koirala on the stage had  founded  DNA foundation along with her husband to eliminate child sex slavery worldwide. It's so appropriate that CNN chose Moore to introduce Koira on that gala night.

Human trafficking, I've read about it and  seen some documentaries on television, but never gave much thought to it. And, two nights back I saw the movie Trade which dealt with sex slavery and that truly caught my dire attention. The movie is about two young girls, one of them barely thirteen and was happily biking in her neighborhood when she was pulled into a car and kidnapped by two men, and the other was a young woman who comes to America from Russia to join a modelling agency. Whoever had produced the movie had a great job to let the world know what a heinous crime this human traffiking is. The beating, the drugging, the raping and animal like treatment these young girls, some barely 10-12 yrs old  undergo is heartwrenching.

I live in a city  close to Mexican border where drug and humantrafficking continues even with heavy border patrols and strict government reguations. Innocent children are being kidnapped on their way to school, work or even from their homes and driven across the border and across states and sold for sex at high price. Yes, police and some organizations are working hand in hand to eliminate this atrocious crime. But that doesn't seem to be enough. Unless more and more Koiralas  rise up to do something, this is going to be an unending battle.

So what can you and I do? We can support a trustworthy organization that help to eliminate such traffiking; volunteer in shelters to bring hope and love to the victims; and Pray. Yes, pray on a regular basis for this cause. Prayer does has power, and God does hear heartfelt prayers. If one of those girls kidnapped is our own, won't we cry out to God? So, lets cry out to God together so that no son or daughter of any mother need to go through such horrendous suffering any longer.. If a simple, ordinary woman like Anuradha Koirala from Nepal could rescue 12000 women, can't we in North America be instrumental in helping at least one child from sex slavery by our prayers, financial support or volunteering to help in some ways? Sure we can.***

Why God chose Shepherds to be His first Messengers?

Christmas is just twenty days away and already the  stores are buzzling with early shoppers, and brightly colored lights have started to twinkle from most house- tops. Even the trees along the streets are displaying the joy of Christmas by turning into festive yellow, orange and red. It was really a delight to see the trees down the street leading to our church flashing bright in crimson all the way.

"Messengers" was the title of the sermon this morning and the messengers whom Pastor Bob chose to speak on were none other than the shepherds to whom the glory of Christmas was revealed on a silent starry night. Of all the people, why  did God choose those shepherds who ranked like outcasts in status, smelled like sheep,  owned no proper dwelling nor had any education.?

Yet, God Almighty chose to send His angel to announce the birth of His Son to them first. Yes, these  poor shepherds who ranked low in their communities  got to hear the first Christmas Carol ever sung on earth.

Why did God choose shepherds?

In the hustle and bustle of Jerusalem, no one would have had the ears to hear the voice of an angel or had the leisure to look up the sky to see the great performance ever staged on sky. If it had been the religious pundits, they might  have probably stood there debating with the Angel over the prophesies in the scriptures and thus missed the joy of hearing the heavenly chorus on that night. If any king had been told, he might have brought costly gifts in his hands to the new born King, but sheepish in his mind, he might have plotted something bad to get rid of the child on that very night.

On the other hand, the shepherds were unhurried enough to listen. They also had the heart to believe what the angel said. They didn't summon  a meeting with fellow shepherds in the neighboring fields to discuss and analyse whether what they were told was true or not. Instead, no sooner the carol singing ended and the angels vanished from their sight, they said to one another, " Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has told us about." Luke 2:15. They wasted no time to ponder or to find a perfect gift for the new born child.  Overjoyed by the message, they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph ,and the baby who was lying in the manger.

Yes, the shepherds may have ranked low in IQ in people's poll, but they had the wisdom to know when to hurry and when to stand still and listen. When the call was given, they acted at once and had the blessing of seeing the Baby before anyone else. Even the wise men from the East with their vast knowledge of astronomy couldn't find their way to the manger before them. Yes, God chose the unhurried, humble and believing shepherd to be the first to see His Baby Boy.

The shepherds could have bowed before the Christ child, shown their delight to Mary and Joseph and left. But they didn't.  "...they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them." Luke 2: 17-18. Yes, they became the first messengers to spread the Good News. Yes, those shepherds, however sheep like they smelled, did know how to stay still, when to hurry and also what to share.

Finally, " the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told." Luke 2: 19-20. Praise and worship wasn't an event or  cliche word for the shepherds when they returned to their fields. Though empty handed, they went to see the Christ Child, when they returned, they carried away with them a wealth of joy in their hearts and praise in their lips.

During this advent season, why not we take some lessons from these humble shepherds and truly celebrate Christ's birth as they did. Do not mind the smell of their clothing, the manner of their speech or the style of their dwelling. God didn't mind it. So, why do we?***