I Know you Love me!

I spent last evening with my niece, Steffane who is three. She is the happiest child I have ever met with constantly twinkling eyes, a bubbly spirit and a charm with both expressing and receiving love that makes her absolutely adorable! :)



Well, Chithi as I am called is on her favourite list and trust me I am humbled to be on it.



We went for a drive and I said to her "Steffane, Chithi Loves you". If you know Steffane, you will know that she is very dramatic about everything she says...her intonation, tone, volume, actions, reactions everything add up to make every sentence she speaks come alive. She replied "I know!" in a super confident, cool, matter of fact way. "oh but Chithi Loves you very very much" I continued. "I know, I know you like me!" she said again and somehow in that "i know" was a confidence that I loved her to the degree of being crazy about her.



My little nieces sister has the same confidence in Gods love for her. She knows him personally has a BIG God who made the universe for her and loves her very dearly.



It dawned on me that being secure in a relationship is like a cornerstone. It's not built overnight and takes time, effort and investment into each others lives but the benefits are phenomenal. There is nothing like the joy of having the cool confidence in a relationship to be able to say at any given time "I know you/he/she loves me".



Dear Mister God this is @ina... May we always be secure in our love for each other and your love for us.

340 days of Happiness

Last November I was driving to church and happened to listen to a radio program where a lady in her mid thirty's was being interviewed. She was single and the talk show was about single women. She talked about how she would often feel down but then told God, that she was going to make an effort to stay happy 340 days of the year. 15 days was her allowed lot to feel sad or sorry for herself, and these could be special days when she missed having a family more than on other days. She stays positive that God will bring someone into her life if it was meant to be but while she waits she decided to quit wailing.



She struck a cord in me. I was single then and made the decision myself that I was blessed in so many other ways and should refuse to allow myself to be unhappy about not having a family. Well, lately I have realized that single or married life has different challenges to throw at us constantly - A fiance waiting to be with the one she loves, a wife hoping to be a mother, a widow living in the shadow of the past, a mother lost in the memory of a child... the list is endless. And besides these there are everyday challenges that threaten out happiness even in what seems to be a perfect life.



Today, I decided that I was going to challenge myself and my husband to an oath of happiness in the Lord whatever comes our way 340 days of the year.



Dear Mister God, this is @ina... Give us wings of peace that rise above situations, a crown of happiness that renews our mind in you and a cloak of submission that strengthens our inner man.

God of Prayers Small and Big

My heart and spirit have been thrilled to bits this week as I have been finding God in so many answered prayers Small and Big. Just like he parted the Nile, he can make what seems to drown us a miraculous walk in one moment of surrender to God! :) What happens when we miss asking Him? We wallow in our own thoughts making mountains seem bigger and valleys seem deeper than they really are.



Anyway this week just felt like God was giving me a BIG bear hug by answering small prayers like giving my husband affirmation at work, the ability to enjoy work, the strength to deal with some other things etc etc... If he would listen to every such small prayer, passing thought, desire then how much more does he know our biggest needs. Sometimes we hurt so much when our needs are not met but if he should deny them it must be for a darn good reason! I have seen a multitude of small prayers answered over the last few months yet one Big one denied... Through it am learning to trust in my maker who sees the whole picture not just the next few days, months or even years of our lives and is the master artist of the tapestry of our lives.



Dear Mister God this is @ina...Thank you for sending me a bouquet of flowers when I only asked for a rose! :)