'W'

I read this in my bro's Chevening British Scholar Guide for International Students. I bet he never read a sentence!

As per research, the 'W' is how you will feel/your mood will swing, when you get to any new place. You will first be excited to see the new place, meet new people, which will slowly be followed by loneliness, and you feel homesick. You then hit rock bottom in the first dip of the letter 'W'. Then you get along, get used to the change, you make friends, start liking the place and getting settled, you reach the second high in 'W'.

Here's the next downturn, you get back to your homeland, you miss the place you had just been. Miss the friends, the place, people, the lifestyle. Long for it. You hit the second rock bottom..Then you get used to the change, your old life, get settled and reach yr peak high.

I guess, it is applicable to any change a person might have in life. The challenge is never to stay long enough on any of the rock bottoms, but to bounce back with full strength, knowing a low will always have a high following.

Okie, am up on the second high.. and I know what to expect now :)

The ground rule

I was talking to a missionary. An american , who had lived 8 years in India, spending his life, energy, money, time and age for Indians, for whom he had the passion and love of Christ. I cannot sit and fathom, all that he had sacrificed, the big perspective shift, he put himself through, to understand the culture, life, language, food, and oh yeah, the weather!

It just drives me crazy, to know the extent a person could/would do, all for the love of Christ, forsaking comfort, pleasure, family, friends, security. Across seas and continents, in this present age! I praise God, for he still has the fire within, burning for Christ. Below, are his words, when I asked, how he brought himself to leave a country of freedom and opportunity, of safety and security, of pleasure and happiness, to a place which is the all opposite of America. Here's his reply.

"The baseline is, we all came from Adam, one blood line. It doesn't matter if you are an Indian, an american, any race/caste/language. All it matters, is that you are God's family. And we belong to the kingdom of God, to last forever."

Am still amazed.

In the background...

This is the time of the year, when we stretch late hours. The Year end processing(W2s, T4s), the Tax update,payroll issues, GL issues, the air is thick, and ‘the payroll dept’ is called ‘the panic dept’. Everyone is on the other’s nerves. Pointing fingers, blaming, racing against time,to meet the deadlines. Wuf !

We all needed a break, but it came all of a sudden, in the middle of hectic work, as the network went down. You can’t access anything on online. Basically, we all came to a grounding halt. With no news of when it will be rectified, we just lazed around. Its been 2 hours, of utter ‘no work’. I was sipping coffee, and looking out the busy road from the third floor, when I realised, that someone was working against the SLA’s to ensure that we got our network back. . Crazy, when I am relaxing, someone was brought in, with Critical priority, and was sweating it out, to ensure that we are back in business again.

If I can easily accept this fact that, though we don’t really see all things happening in the background, they are very much happening. I pick my tomatoes from the refrigerator, with no thoughts on how it grew, the hands it passed on, or its means to get there. If I can just blindly go by, why is it tough, to believe, that my all powerful God, has a plan and is working in the background for me and my future?

Elaborate details..

Our pastor, stuck the nail thru my head, when he taught us this. In Exodus, there is an elaborate detail, of how the tabernacle should be built. The kind of wood, length, breadth, width of the poles, tables, type of curtain, the altar, the ark, the lampstand. In DETAIL. I usualy skip through these passages.

Mike's friend, who had just started reading the Bible, loved reading this dreary passages! How? well, the way she saw it was, if God could have so much intent care and concern on the minute details of building a Tabernacle, how much more would he be interested in my life?

My walk/talk/sleep/food/dreams/aims/health/hair/desires/
longings whew! All that I need to do, is look upto him for detailed specifications ;)

The 80-20 principle

The 80-20, that I knew was on the Quality Management, that I learnt at work. The Pareto Chart/Rule states that ‘80% of the defects are caused by 20% of the causes. So by focussing on the 20 causes,you eliminate maximum defects.

Well, well, the other 80-20 that I just learnt, was the ultimate. An average person is 80% good. 20% bad. Before you critise/judge/fret about a person, stop. Can you can list his 80% of his goodness? If you can’t, then don’t go for his 20%!

Uncertainty.

All of us would have seen this in our lives. Where a kid is thrown up on the air, and caught by the beaming dad.

Does the kid, think about the force with which she'll hit the ground, the height from which she'll fall incase she's not caught, or does the kid think about what she'll eat for dinner, or what she'll be doing tomorrow, or the next week?? NO.

All that the kid does, is gaze at his dad's eyes and giggle. And probably ask for, 'one more time dad'. She enjoys the moment. The pure excitement, of not just being in the air, but being held by strong hands.

Well, as I see myself up there, I should not be thinking about what's gonna happen next, how will things work out, what ifs, buts, may be, may just not be. But should just enjoy being held by strong arms. The hands that has nutured me, protected and loved me like nothing on this world could ever match for. Am just fixing my eyes on him, and giggle and ENJOY being with him. Oh, the adrenalin pumping of going up in the air, with nothing inbetween my feet and the ground, with nothing to hold or grasp and the probability of may be thrown up the cliff, and hitting the rocks, or thrown up in the ocean and getting drowned... Huh WHO CARES. Am in safe arms.. I know my dad holds me tight and secure. The apple of the eye. printed in his palms. my lover of my soul. :)

Plastic life..

Its not making sense to me. All seem to be vapor. Nothing lasts or is true. Plastic smiles, blank laughters, blunt handshakes. Beating about the bush, getting what one wants, by hook or by crook and then it all ends. The priorities in life now, are not the same in the past, and wont be the same in the future, and then why the dedication, hard work and all the effort into what I think is the most important task at hand, right now!? Then, someone goes past, saying, that can wait till tmw, or next year. When a change, that happens seem to be so overwhelming, that you can never learn to live in the beginning, seems ordinary after few days, month. Its all so dumb.

Lord, come soon. Or take me soon, its bugging here.

Safe?

When a sudden strong wind blows, which almost knocks you down, you stabilise,and when you look around, its gone. You wonder, what it was, why it came, and why you weren't guarded then. What happened to the shield? and all the protection? You are not injured, or even bruised, but you cant help thinking, how come and why?

I remember the poem about the footprints on sand (http://www.llerrah.com/footprints.htm), where He carries you through your toughest times. But now, it seems, I was made to walk!

I bet He would say,
"Well girl, you get numb from being carried for so long,
its high time, you learn to walk!"
and so you learn one of the lessons of life, in an unexpected, strange, unwanted way. But you learn to walk.

Evergreen

When the cool wind blows, nothing remains bright. No smiling flowers, no swaying boughs, no bright colors. The cold suffocates and kills life. The animals go hybernating, the crops fail, people go indoors. It sure is a pretty white, but it covers up everything like a shroud.

I heard about the evergreens at church. The wreath on the door post, is traditionaly made of evergreens. Evergreens, stay green, during the severe cold weather. When everything else struggles and fades away into nothingness. Evergreen endures the harsh weather, and stands as a symbol of something to hope for.

With Christ in our hearts, we can remain green, and be sure we wont/cant die being an evergreen!! When everything around us is hopeless,helpless, and lifeless, we know, that we will thrive amidst it, steady and sturdy, for He sustains us. Whew!

Pain and Suffering.

Had thought they come hand in hand. Until that cold winter morning. We were walking from the parking lot to the office. Its a 2 mins walk, from the car, to the office. My eyes were watering, as the chill wind blew. I was shivering, with a sweater embracing me. And my friend with just a shirt on, was walking with his hands in his pocket. I couldn't help but ask ' Aren't you feeling cold? ' His reply made me stop dead on my tracks. I had to ask him to repeat it, to let it sink into me. He said 'Pain is inevitable, Suffering is optional'.

It seems true. Not just on tht cold winter morning, but all of our life. Our life and the choices we make.