Roses are for Valentines

To  tell  you  the  truth  I  am  not  a  great fan  of  Valentine' s  Day.
Love  means  never  having  to  say  'HappyValentine 's Day ' So  says  Seema  Goswami and  I  somewhat  agree  with  her. 
Well  first  of  all there is  the  sheer  pressure  of  it. All  the  entire  world seems  to  become  a  part  of  a  giant  global conspiracy to  turn  14th  Feb. into  a  day  for  celebrating  romantic  love ,  sh e says.Read  the  rest  of  her  article entitled BIN THE  RED  ROSES.
http://seemagoswami.blogspot.com/2011/02/bin-red-roses-love-means-never-having.html
In  case  you  think  I  am  the  Grinch  who  stole  Valentine 's Day  I  am  sharing  my  lovely  V roses  from  my  garden.

Had  a  very   peaceful  and  happy  day  today. Applied  henna  to  my  hair and  paid  some  bills. Now  I  am  going  to  make  minestrone  soup  for  supper.

Tomorrow  my nephew  Ashish (Ash  for short)  and  his  friend  Megan are  going  to  begin  the  first  leg  of  their  journey  to  India  from Canada. They  will  arrive  in  Kolkata  Wed 16th midnight.  From  their  they  will fly  to the  NE  to  visit  my sister  Namrita  and  then   come  to  Alld. on Feb  24th. We  all  are  so  excited.  And  I  am  busy  preparing.

Megan  is  a  Navigator' s  missionary  in  Ottawa. This  is  her  first  trip  to  India. I  am  really  interested  to  know  how  she  will  react and  what  her  observations  and experiences   will be   on  the  short  trip. I  am  making  so  many  plans to  give  Ash  &  Megan  a  good  time and  also  ensure  their  comfort  and  safety in  an environment  which  is  so  different  from  theirs.

I 've  had  many   foreigners -missionary  friends  come  and  stay with us.but  they  were well  settled  in India  and  knew how  to  take  care  of  themselves  etc.  Megan  is   brand  new - , hope  she   will  have  a  positive  experience.

Please  pray for  Ash  and  Megan  as  they  begin  their  journey tomorrow.

Sunday Blessings -Songs Of Redemption

Yesterday I attended a Christian Rock Music concert called Redemption II. It was organized by a group of University students who call themselves Youth Arise.

The first artist was Benny Prasad from Bangalore.  (Check  his linked  website) He has a world record for visiting 245 countries in a very short time. You can read his powerful testimony on his website.

This 35 year old man suffers from a rare disease. 60 % of his lungs were damaged and he has arthritis - he said his fingers were broken. Doctors told him he would die at the age of 16. Discouraged and disheartened with life he was contemplating suicide when he met God and he was healed and blessed with the gift of music.

His scientist father hated and abused Benny because he was not doing well in his studies and was a failure in life. He could not accept his weak son.

At this point of his testimony Benny said something which touched my heart. He said his father was good in his own way (because all parents want their children to do well in life) but he was not right because he rejected his useless sick son. That struck a chord in my heart.

Parents can be good but not right. Indian parents specially should pay heed to this. Children are put under undue academic and other pressure to succeed in life and fulfil their dreams and ambitions.

Now Benny is the pride of not only his family but also India as he travels all over the world sharing his testimony and playing his custom made guitar for the glory of God. He has performed with the top musicians of the world.

He has played at the Viking Festival in Norway. The FIFA World Cup and the Greece Olympics. What a life! I relate with Benny specially because of his physical challenges.

Another group called Adonai led us in worship both in English and Hindi.

There were close to a thousand people in the audience. Mostly college students.

Everybody was enjoying the soul stirring music.

Above is Manjit Joseph the last performer. Hi s version of Petra 's Our God is an Awesome God really brought us close to heaven and I felt like a 16 year old in the middle of the college crowd. LOL.

Its amazing to how how these talented musicians have dedicated their music for the glory of God.

.

ADONAI

Manjit Joseph