A not so ordinary year

2011 started off as yet another ordinary year.  But somewhere in the middle, it drastically changed everything I thought about me, my future and my Master.

At the end of this year, I have an entirely new perspective about where I’m heading to and my assignment.

Long ago, I scribbled in my journal,

“Though I'm clumsy
Its because of You're Grace, I am called
To live for Your Glory
And to care for Your flock

Maybe not in ways
That I have dreamt it to be
But surely in Your mind
There is an assignment for me.”

And once when I was frustrated with questions about my life, I wrote,

“Coz' while it seems like I am waiting
I know that you are working
You neither sleep nor rest
Lord please help me to see
That You'll always be
Better than my very best...”

And after a tiff with my Master, I finally concluded

“God, You see beyond my plastic smile
Deeper than the reasons on my tongue
My thoughts, before they were born
And the life for which I long

My pain before it even hurts me
Unsaid prayers in the tears that run
The desires that's hidden in secret
And my dreams that's lost and gone.

Sometimes You seem so far
But that's when You’re really near
And everytime I ask You "WHY?";

To my  finite mind,
Your answer can't be clear.

That's why I trust this life,
Every bit of it,
In Your Hand.
I’ll seek to hear Your Voice
And just wait to understand...”

There were times I thought that God didn't really care about my dreams. I always knew that I was inadequate but I still believed that I had a chance to live a life who's first cause would be God's vision for mankind. But I was heading in a different direction. With the passing of each day, I thought that I was moving one step away from my divine mandate. Little, did I then know that I was actually proceeding forward.

Today, I've landed in a place I'm least likely to be in. Today, I have a bigger loving family and a husband who always puts my Master first. God has given him a ministry and I believe that supporting him would mean enabling him to do well, what God has called him do. 

Being a wife of a pastor is a role I never imagined.  But right now, I don’t see any another task, and I believe God will help me do this well. My mantra for life remains the same,

"That's why I trust this life,
Every bit of it,
In Your Hand.
I’ll seek to hear Your Voice
And just wait to understand...”

Nevertheless,  God knows me too well that He will only let me do what I’m wired for, that’s why in all my overwhelming moments, when I ask Him, “Are you sure about me??”, He whispers in return.

 

"Daughter, I have searched you and I know you". (Psalm 139:1)

Gratefully,

Callie

Can I forget my father’s house?

If you’re a girl stepped out from home because of the nuptial knot, I hope this post speaks your thoughts too.

Home, was the most comfortable place I could be. I loved to be in the comfort of my house, in the company of my family. Mom, dad and sis – That’s my favorite world.

So you can imagine how much this question would have nagged me.

However, I am so grateful that my husband’s house is only a 10 minute drive from home :)

In the real sense, forgetting your father’s house does not mean that we have to disregard our family or be ungrateful to them – rather it’s about leaving behind the ‘normal’ things of your life and adapting to the ‘NEW NORMAL’.

There’s a pretty interesting Scripture that talks about this.

Listen, O daughter, give attention and incline your ear:

Forget your people and your father’s house;

Then the King will desire your beauty. (Psalm 45:10-11)

The context of this Psalm, is a poem celebrating the king’s marriage to a lovely princess. The psalmist praises the king for his military ability and commitment to justice, and urges the bride to be loyal to the king.

The psalm suggests that the marriage was arranged as part of a political alliance between Israel (or Judah) and a neighboring state, so the bride would therefore be a foreigner.

Quite obviously the psalmist asks the bride to forget her home and her own cultural practices. The psalmist says, “Forget your folks, then the king will be attracted to you.” (You don’t need a scholar to tell that the author of this poem was a male!)

This is hard truth. But it still is the most important principle for a happy marriage (Ok! It’s just 2 months and I’m already talking like I’ve been married for 20 years! Looks like marriage makes everyone philosophers!)

Recently, I had a little tiff with my husband, because I was insensitive to the NEW NORMAL that I had to adapt. Though the argument was extremely trivial, I started feeling homesick; and I missed my old comfortable normal life. Thanks to a man who understands the moods of his crazy wife, he got me back to normalcy.

Rigidly holding on to my old and usual practices caused me to miss my home and get unhappy. Consequently, it had the potential to diminish my attractiveness to my husband.

An important lesson is this – An exercise I need to do everyday day of my marriage life is to overcome this temptation to think about “old normals” and not let unhappy feelings take over. Instead, I need to fill my mind with thoughts of joy as I think about the goodness of my husband and the purpose of his call. This will make me attractive, and Mr.Callie would be drawn to my natural beauty.

Our Christian walk is almost similar. We can look attractive to our God, when we happily leave behind the things that are a part of our OLD life, and look forward to live in His newness.

We often expect a magical execution of this Scripture “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here – 2 Corinthians 5:17”.

My few days as a married woman taught me that this does not happen magically; rather it is something we need to do every day. We need to overcome our personal tendencies to turn back and see our past. We need to face the challenges of the present with an attitude of faith, instead of dwelling about the comforts that exist in our memories.

We're happy about new things, until we have to face a CHALLENGE. The moment we see something difficult or face something that we did not anticipate, we look back. All the Israelite folks wanted to be out of Egypt, they were happy about the new destination, but every time they faced a hurdle, they looked back. This made God mad.

Can you imagine praying, "I don't think You're plan is good enough for me, I'll go back to where I came from." No way! that is nonspiritual, un-scriptural unholy and totally unacceptable.

Whenever we turn to look back and long for the comforts of our past life, we communicate the same thing to God.

But, just like how I have a husband who will not judge me and encourages me as I take my baby steps to adapt to my new wife-life. We have a God who will not judge us, who will always give us a second chance, and give us His grace and strength to live the new life that He has called us to live.

And when the Omnipotent, Omnipresent and Omniscient KING is enthralled in your beauty, He will fill you with incomparable joy, that cannot match ANYTHING that you enjoyed in your old life.

There are things I need to leave behind and I've made my list. Have you made yours?

Love,

Callie

Will I look like a princess on my wedding day?

Stop grinning! And yes, that was a question that I had. I’m someone with a minimalist style. I don't mind wearing jeans for a wedding or being labelled as the one with 'poor' taste for a sophisticated party.

However, I don’t know what swept over me that I became a little concerned about bringing my best version out on the wedding day. I wanted the best sari, the most elegant necklace and the prettiest hairdo. I wanted to look like a princess.

But I was Afraid that I’d be sneered at for this ‘sudden change’ and compromising on my stand against ‘materialism’, so I kept my desires, safely to myself – and it was a secret well kept.
Thanks to my thoughtful parents, sister, SILs, MIL and husband-to-be, that I got my not-so-spiritual prayers answered too. I did land up looking like a minimalist princess on my wedding day ;) – good enough to satisfy me!

On the wedding day, after I dressed up, when I looked at myself in the mirror with the veil over my face and an elegant tiara on my head, I could not believe my eyes. Within moments, I was going to be a proud bride ready to walk up the aisle holding my daddy’s loving hand. And ready to walk down the aisle as a handsome man’s beautiful bride.

As the church doors opened, and I stepped inside holding my daddy’s hand tight, all the cameras were on my face, but I didn’t care to pose for them, instead, I was trying to catch a glimpse of the tall young lad waiting for me at the altar. In an instant, he turned his head to see me putting on his signature smile. (Now, he confesses to me that he was trying to fight away the thought of turning his head to see me, but he failed! )

A man of few words, he wouldn’t tell me how he felt when he saw his bride. But his smile told it all.

There will come a day when we will see our Heavenly Bridegroom face-to-face. I wish I could imagine what kind of ceremony it would be. But I am so sure that it will not fall in short of anything less than Grandeur and Majesty.

When my Bridegroom looks at me, Would HE smile? Will HE be a proud about his Beautiful Bride?

Will I look like a Princess, adorned with the finest clothes?

"Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.
Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” Revelation 19:7-9

When Jesus comes in the mid air to receive me – with all his Splendor and Majesty, what if he finds me wearing rags and tattered clothes? When He returns, to hold the hands of His Bride, will He be amazed at His Bride’s beauty or will He be disappointed to find a shabby, untidy bride?

Our Bridegroom has already dressed us with the Clothing of Salvation and draped us in a Robe of righteousness. He has already adorned His Bride with the finest of Jewels.

“I am overwhelmed with joy in the LORD my God!
For he has dressed me with the clothing of salvation and draped me in a robe of righteousness.
I am like a bridegroom in his wedding suit or a bride with her jewels.” –
Isaiah 61:10

But, are we careful about our garments?

My earthly wedding gave me a whole new perspective of how I need to present myself to Jesus on the day of our Heavenly Wedding. If I have to look like a princess on my Wedding, I must take care of my bridal clothes. I shouldn’t let things to blemish my beautiful dress. I should not be negligent about righteous deeds motivated by love, or I would have no jewelry to wear on the day of my Heavenly Wedding.

Jesus gave up His life, He gave himself as a sacrifice so that He can see us in those Beautiful clothes on the day of our Heavenly Wedding. The garment of salvation and the robe of righteousness are not cheap stuff. Our Bridegroom suffered a painful death to get us our Bridal attire. Salvation is not free because it is cheap, but because we can’t fix a price for it.

What are we doing to guard our saved lives?

I want to be the bride who was READY to be received by her Bridegroom - appealing to His sight and a pleasure to His Heart.

… For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.- Is 61:10

Will you look like a princess on your Wedding Day?
Have you checked your Bridal Clothes?

Callie

From the heart of a Bride to Be - First Note

My earphones weren’t ringing Toby Mac; this time it was a familiar voice – but a voice that grew to be more than just ‘familiar’ now. It was yet another day, when we lost track of time and suddenly he said this,

He: I’m grateful to God that He’s let you be a part of my life… you are exceedingly abundantly more that what I can ever ask or imagine.
Me: And in you, I see a chance to see all my dreams come true…

In my mind I saw my hands placed over my mouth. “Man, what did I just say? Callie!! Is that YOU?? I thought I’ll be spared of all these mushy dialogues”. And having observed my groom-to-be from a distance for a while, I didn’t imagine that he had the ability to say things like this too. It came as quite a shock, when both of us were speaking to each other wearing entirely different personalities. But that’s how the pre-wedding days went by.

Being a bride-to-be was the most out-of-the-world experience of my life. It changed my routine, my work habits, my sleep patterns, and suddenly it looked like everything I felt, thought and said was so noticed and evaluated – sometimes appreciated and sometimes made me look like a fool. You feel like you’re the most important person in a stranger’s world... Man! That is Too COOL!

My days as a bride-to-be let me see a dimension that I least expected from myself. The phone-calls, the gifts, the words of reaffirmation, and the expressions of affection made me feel so valued. So far so loved, and now I felt loved even more.

But deep inside my heart; despite the security, the comfort, the sense of purpose and the depth of love, my heart, as a bride-to-be was always in a state of chaos. I used to get up every morning with a new 'What if?’ the unearthing of new expectations drove in doubts and fear.

As much as I was comfortable about my newfound love, I wondered every day, if I can ever expect a life close to what I was living so far, a life of freedom and acceptance. My heart drowned with questions, and I reached certain points when all my Reasoning failed, but one thing remained strong and that was FAITH!

I could foresee in my eyes of faith the kind of things the Master could do with our partnership as husband and wife. Whenever those giants of fear came by, my Master pushed me to see the PURPOSE in His Mind. The purpose I saw was like a giant gift, wrapped in the most attractive paper, I had no idea about its contents, but I was rest assured that God had a plan. That was enough! That kept us going…and will keep us going too.

Though, I spent most of these days listening to my pastor’s voice ( ;) my husband is a pastor) God was kind enough to let me hear my Master’s Voice too.
Penning down some thoughts!

Hope you like them!

Love,
Mrs. Callie Ariel

Why we lose our battles?

I am on the winning side
The winning side, the winning side

I am on the winning side
The winning side all the time. – Sunday Class Song “Jesus is the winner man”

"Christians don't tell lies they just go to church and sing them" - A.W. Tozer.

After having a hectic, stressed out week, if I were to sing this song on Sunday mornings, Man…It’s a LIE. I know that you’d probably argue with me that it’s a positional truth. (The Bible talks about, Practical, Positional and Permanent Truths) But for an ordinary earthling, when I sing this song, my head does not resound theology; rather it sighs --- “Now, C’mon, from the kind of week that you just had, Are you sure about those lines??!!” but then, I have to sound spiritual, so I just blurt these words in a melody though I really don’t mean them in my heart.

The title of this post is a question. “Why we lose our battles?”

If you’re probably expecting a deep, spiritual analysis and unearthing of some undiscovered Biblical secret (What am I thinking? Why would they expect this from me...I’m Callie, not Tozer) as an answer to the questions. Then you’d probably be disappointed. Because most of our problems (spiritual and carnal), have very simple solutions. That’s how God wanted it to be. Because the Bible is for everyone and not just for the scholars.

And this question also has a simple answer.

Disobedience.

Judges 1:19 (NIV)
¹⁹ The LORD was with the men of Judah. They took possession of the hill country, but they were unable to drive the people from the plains, because they had iron chariots.

God was with the Hebrews, they could walk through the Red Sea, break the walls of Jericho, drink water from the rock and be fed and taken care of in the wilderness without losing their sandals. But now these folks couldn't confront their enemies just because they had iron chariots. Strange eh?

Sometimes life feels like that too. We would have won certain great battles in our life, survived through rock-bottom times and made a comeback when all thought it was over. But now,there's an iron chariot that we can't confront, we have a problem that's so overwhelming and we can't claim victory.

The Israelites reached the Promised Land, now they had to inherit the land that was allocated for them. But that wasn’t easy; the Canaanites put forth a tough fight. The Israelites had to win these battles to acquire their possessions. God allowed these battles because he wanted to teach the young Israelite generation faith and obedience. The battles faced by the Israelites were their moments of testing.

A Test if they would keep the way of the Lord and walk according to His commands (Judges 2:22).

God had the power to give victory to the Israelite warriors over the iron chariots. But He did not choose to. The Jehovah Nissi. The Lord our Banner - did not give them victory.

That’s because the Israelites had some fundamental problems.

Lethargy

First, though they had a pretty clear goal, and well defined objectives, they lacked the discipline and energy to reach it. They wanted an easy way. Maybe they had the “mood-swings”. Maybe they were lethargic and lacked the drive.

Lack of Gratitude

Secondly, Fear gripped them. Fear prevails where Faith fails and Faith fails where Gratitude is lost. Looks like the Israelites forgot the Mighty Hand of God that preserved them. Somewhere in their heads they thought that it was their strength that brought them so far. So, now they were afraid the enemy was too strong for them and the iron chariots seemed unbeatable.

Comfortable with sin

Thirdly, they were getting pretty complacent with sin. Instead of driving out the roots of sin from their lives, they allowed sinful practices to coexist. This caused a spiritual decay to set in. Therefore, they lost their faith, their purpose and their direction.

When we see iron chariots

Sometimes, the only thing that we can see are the iron chariots. Our vision gets fuzzy. But you need to know that the IRON CHARIOT is not the real problem. The real problem, the real devil is within us. The problem is our disobedience and our resistance to change.

I think God gets pretty mad when He hears stuff like, “That’s my character…I can’t change..”.C’mon when Jesus can give up His Kingship and glory for OUR benefit, giving up small personal tendencies that are sapping us of our potential and drive from inheriting God’s provision for us shouldn’t be a big deal.!

Every problem HAS a solution, but the solution starts with a change in us. But most of the times we expect the solution to just sweep across from the outside. We think that things will become better if our parents change, if our spouse changes, if our family gets organized or if others can become more considerate. However, the solution starts from US. If we are not gonna change, nothing is gonna change FOREVER.

Heroes who overcame the iron chariots

It’s amazing how just few chapters down in Judges, there were other folks who easily handled the iron chariots. And they are the famous duo, Deborah and Barak.

Judges 4:12-16 (NLT)
"When Sisera was told that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, he called for all 900 of his iron chariots and all of his warriors…Then Deborah said to Barak, 'Get ready! This is the day the LORD will give you victory over Sisera, for the LORD is marching ahead of you.' ..When Barak attacked, the LORD threw Sisera and all his chariots and warriors into a panic. Sisera leaped down from his chariot and escaped on foot…"

These guys operated in obedience to God, discipline, faith, and unity of purpose. Result - God gave them victory.

So that clears the point, the iron chariots are no big deal for God. But the question is, are we ready to keep his commands and follow His ways? Are we ready to allow God to change us or are we giving excuses?

How to win our battles?

Obedience.

Learning to obey,

Callie Ariel

I WANT MILK!

My mother would often tell me that weaning me from mother's milk was an extremely tough task. Distractions, formula milk, music, "kuchy-kuchy-koos", didn't work. The combined innovations of grandparents, aunts, uncles and whole lot of people had no effect. I was pretty adamant about what I wanted, and nothing else seemed to satisfy me.

Mom would say, that with the feeding bottle in my mouth , I would stare straight at her face with a look that could probably burn her down and then break into a high-pitched wail. Weeping, and wailing and highly irritated was what I always was….

Finally, when all methods were exhausted, I decided to let go. Clinging to my mother’s bosom, I decided to give other food a shot. That’s how I got to have the most critical and demanding taste-buds in the whole house. ;)

I don’t know if babies think --- Do they?? But if they do; I guess these would have been the thoughts in my mind, “Ohmygosh!! They are cutting my food supply, how cruel and mean!”, “What’s this new stuff they’re giving me? It doesn’t taste like mama’s milk, I’m not used to this”, and then of-course… “WAAAHHHHH!! I want milk.. I am hungry….and I can’t eat this..”

Sometimes God stops certain supplies in our lives. Yes, Jehovah Jireh – the provider of all our needs --- stops our provisions sometimes. And no matter, how much we throw tantrums, box the air, and wrestle with circumstances; it’s not going to come back. Yes, it’s not going to come back.

My dad has always taught me, “you grow when you are uncomfortable”, and that’s exactly what God does to us to push us to utilize our potential. God purges away the comforts and pushes us out of our comfort zones. He does this, so that he can nourish you with new lessons, new challenges and push you to consume the next level of blessings in your life.

David writes beautifully,

Instead, I have calmed and quieted myself, like a weaned child who no longer cries for its mother’s milk. Yes, like a weaned child is my soul within me. Psalm 131:2

I'm unsure about the exact circumstance for which this Psalm was written. (Let me know if you know that...) But, it speaks to our situations. And I think that what David did, is something that we need to imitate as well.

Used to mama’s milk, so comfortable in familiar life, suddenly, we’re shoved to change. We’re pushed to unfamiliar terrain. At such times, we have a choice; we can lament about our past providence, and cry and complain about our present situation, OR, we can calm our soul and quiet our minds believing that as long as we are in the bosom of God, everything will be just fine.

A weaned child no longer cries for mother’s milk, instead, she surrenders to the will of her mother, rest assured that she is in the safest place in the world. A weaned child has no clue of what she’s going to be fed, but believes in nothing but the face of her mother.

No matter what supply God is taking away, or what boundary he’s pushing you out of. Remember, that it’s only to feed you with something bigger and better to make you stronger and more useful.

When your mind takes those free roller-coaster rides, give yourself a break, and take a moment to gaze at your Father’s face. I think a lot myself, but quite often I’ve realized that too much thinking can get morbid. To remain calm and stay peaceful is a choice that we have to make. Because only then, we can work with God to see His purposes come to pass in our life.

Sometimes, I get upset about stuff. And then after a conversation with God, I can almost hear him say, "Hey kid, I need you to do some stuff..maybe it's not big and all..but it's still my stuff, and I need someone like you..btw don't get into those..."I-give-up-Lord" modes often and waste your time..we need to work on how to get things done...we can't keep working on fixing your emotional swings always!!"

If you're like me..that's what He's got to say to you as well! :)

Let's be like David..

...I have calmed and quieted myself, like a weaned child who no longer cries for its mother's milk. Yes, like a weaned child is my soul within me. Psalm 131:2

Learning to remain calm... in HIM,

Callie

Work Done list

It's one thing to say, "God, I will do this, I will surrender, I will leave this, I will give this away.." and it's another thing to say to "God, I have done this, I surrendered this, I left this, and I have given this away."

There was someone who prayed this kind of prayer. Any guesses ??? When this thought first came to me, I said.."Yes I know! It's the Pharisee, he was the one who went around saying, I fast, I give.. blah blah.." (Luke 18). And I was waiting for a lesson from God on those lines.

But that was not the lesson and the person was not the Pharisee, it was Jesus. And Jesus said this to God. (John 17:4,6,8)

"I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.

"I have revealed you to those whom you gave me."

"I gave them the words you gave me."

When the world for which we work and slog for, expects measurable results,  Why can't the All powerful God expect the same too? God expects results from my life. That's the lesson I had to learn. 

We can't be fooling around with our good intentions alone. When it's all been said and done, we would have to give God the specifics. Well, that's what Jesus did. Are we working towards that too?

Somethings are easier said than done. It's our first big problem in trying to figure what we have to do, let alone trying to produce results. But I guess that's where relationship plays a role. A sense of purpose, and a clarity of destination does not happen from intelligence, experience or wisdom. It births from a thriving relationship with God. That's what Jesus had, and that's why He produced results. 

I'm not saying that God too looks at us based on our 'performance', NO, that's not true. God's love for us is unconditional and it's by Grace we have access to Him. Nevertheless, God prunes all His children, as a garderener prunes a vine. Watering and pruning till it grows into the sunshine. And he longs to see fruit in you and me. 

Have we given enough thought to this? Well, I haven't and I hope to seek God in this direction. To get closer to Him and produce results. So that I too can give a 'work done list' to God.

When my beat is about to stop, and when there's just few more moments to pass, I wish I can breathe these words to Him "I surrendered all, I surrendered all, All to Him, my precious Savior, I surrendered all."

Learning to produce,

Callie

Image Courtesy

http://www.trybpo.com/5-creative-ways-to-put-your-virtual-assistant-to-work/100834-134/

Why I CAN'T BELIEVE?

 
As I write this post, I'm surrounded with several friends. They're my only company in the nights. Just that, when they're around I need to rub my feet against each other, or clap or slap my hands from time to time. And yeah...I'm talking about mosquitoes.

I'm tired with the manual confrontation, so I resort to technology. I reach out to take the mosquito repellent and plug it to the socket. Flashing a small LED, it starts working and keeps the mosquitoes away. 

Summer has set in already, and it's beginning to get hot. Grabbing the AC remote, I switch it on.

The mosquito repellent needs just 5 watts of power, and the air conditioner requires almost close to 1000 watts of power. However, both of them are connected to the same power source. 

If the current supply gets cut off, both of them are not going to work. 

Our lives are quite the same too. But somethings makes us think that we need to be empowered by God only for the so called 'big' things in our life.  For the rest, we assume we can take care by ourselves. Little do we realize that small or big, we can do all things only by God who strengthens us.

We all face 'big' challenges in life, and at such times, we say …"Hey! NO way, I can't do that." If you're saying that, then ask yourself, "Was it really me, who did the other stuff in my life?" 

I have a chronic problem of faith-deficiency, and in each of those cross roads I remember this verse, “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13

This time, the word ‘everything’ spoke to me. 

Though I was working on having faith for the ‘big’ things in life, I failed to realize that the strength for every ‘small’ thing I do is also from Him. It’s the same Source.  The same power supply. My real problem was not my lack of faith, but my inability to be grateful.

If I had realized that the ‘so far’ in my life is God’s hand, and not my plan, it would be easy for me to believe Him for the 'hard' things. But somewhere in my heart I tend to think, that it’s all been because of me. It’s my effort, my brain, my work,  and my resources. Therefore, I define what is 'easy' and I define what is 'impossible to achieve'.

There are these really beautiful verses in Psalm 44.

“It was not by their sword that they won the land, nor did their arm bring them victory; it was your right hand, your arm and the light of your face. For you loved them.” - 3

And the poet goes on write

“I put no trust in my bow, my sword does not bring me victory; but you give us victory over our enemies, you put our adversaries to shame. In God we make our boast all day long, and we will praise your name forever.” 6-8

When we boast of God for the small things, we can be sure He'd let us see the BIG things as well. But we boast of ourselves in the small things, and struggle to have faith to see destiny come to pass.

It'll be easy to trust God in big things, when we remember that the small things we do is also because of Him. 

When Thanks comes first, Faith comes easy.

Learning to be grateful,

Callie

Image Courtesy 
http://www.comicrelated.com/news/3230/dc-for-december-09

What the Spider taught me..

It's hard for me to romanticize the rain, see beauty in the beetle, be charmed by flowers, or be taken captive by the moon. But, I like catching cockroaches and pulling their legs off. Also, when I smash mosquitoes, I take a moment to see its tiny body covered in its own blood - or mine. If all this counts..then I'm a nature-admirer too.. :)

There was this big cobweb in the elevator with a fat spider enthroned right at the center of the web, waiting to catch it’s prey. Now, the spider web was really large. It was almost the size of both my palms placed beside each other. Right above my head, hung this really complex construction.

I don't know how a spider weaves a web, but I'm sure that it definitely is a tough piece of work. However, for the all powerful me (who knows nothing about spiders or weaving webs) it would only take a minute to dust away that intricate and complex structure.

Absorbed in the pleasure of its own work, I bet the spider never realized my power to destroy its weak and delicate web.

Studying, working, earning, saving, getting accepted, building houses, castles, dreams, getting married, raising kids..Whew! our life is complicated too, and just like the spider, we sit on the throne we've built for ourselves assuming that we are in full control. Our webs are intricately complex and exceedingly beautiful. But quite often we forget that our web which looks strong enough to hold us, is actually flimsy and temporal.

It seems like we’re in control of everything, until our life comes crashing down on us. That’s when we realize that we were NOT in control. No wonder people seek God when all is gone.

It’s true that we were created to work, labor, relate and build our lives. But, we shouldn’t forget that there is a God, all powerful, all knowing, and all seeing God who holds the real control. Whatever we do is subject to Him.

Whenever I go through a rough patch, I say to myself, “Hey…Don’t worry, God is in control.” But when I started to get increasingly obsessed about planning and building the details of my own life, the spider taught me. “Slow down.. Be careful..Do you remember that God is in Control? And NOT you.”

I don’t believe in a punishing, unjust or unfair God. Yet, there are times, when I realize that I better be careful that I don’t overindulge in self-love, overstep His commands, ignore His direction, or get too busy to spend time with Him. Thanks to Mr. Spider who reminded me this.

"There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the LORD. Proverbs 21:30"

Be thoughtful, Be Grateful. Remember He is in Control.

Learning to let go,

Callie

Wait before you Date

The right one
My own shooting star
That someone
Who won't break my heart
And I'll wait forever until we meet
You're one in a million
The right one for me..

That’s “The Right One” by Stellar Kart…

Not many people started life like him.

He had tremendous potential.

But he was pretty impatient in trying to find his right one.

And yes, I'm talking about Samson.

Delilah was a part of Samson’s life for a short duration. Yet, she caused a catastrophic effect on his entire life. Samson could strangle a lion but he was as weak as a lamb in Delilah’s lap.

Delilah wasn't the right person for Samson because,

• His relationship with her completely destroyed his relationship with God and with his family.
• Her demands and need for attention showed no evidence for true love towards him.
• She did not help to bring out the best in him. She took advantage of him four times. He did not understand her deceit even after she let him down so many times. Blinded by love, he fell prey to her schemes.

I know that you're giving me this look and saying, "Hey! I'm not like Samson and my valentine is definitely not a Delilah-kind-of-person. Our love is pure, it's been there for so many years now."

Well, that's great news.

But we need to understand that every good person and every spiritual friend is not necessarily the right person for us. Marriage has a unique purpose in our lives. It isn’t just about two ‘compatible’ individuals getting together. It’s about two unique people having a definite role to play in the destiny of each others’ lives.

My parents' are entirely different people, my dad is an introvert, my mom is an extrovert. My dad is intellectual, my mom is emotional. My dad thinks about the future, my mom makes a pleasant present. My dad invests on materials, my mom invests on relationships. Entirely different people, with entirely different aspirations.

But together, they make a great package. They fulfill their roles in each others' lives. They complement each other, fill each others' gaps and together they've built a balanced family.

Marriage is definitely about being happy together, but there's a bigger picture when God is writing your love story. You have a role to play in your partner's life, and that's what journeying together is all about.

That's why it is so important to be patient. Because it takes time to see things in God's perspective.

Love isn’t blind, rather it makes us blind. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against ‘love marriages’ (really silly term we use in India, like other marriages are hate marriages or what??) or courtship. I'm just saying that you don't have to be in a hurry, stay close to God and allow him to direct you. The key to this is to stay patient and wait for your right one.

“Do not arouse love or awaken love until it so desires.” Song of Songs 8:4

There’s no hurry to let him know how you feel by this Valentine’s Day itself. Seeking God’s will is not asking for His approval for a decision you’ve already made, rather it is to surrender, and stay still.

Also, dare to break up from a relationship that wasn’t meant to be. It would definitely be hurting, but it’s worth the pain. Jesus understands us; he knows that we can get hyper-messy sometimes.

“For, I do not have a Master who is unable to sympathize with my weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way, just like me, but was without sin.” Hebrews 4:15

Talk to Him, surrender to Him, the key is to remain patient.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Callie