Random thoughts

You taught me much, even against my will, you stilled my soul and taught me peace within,
These last twelve months, a learning curve, i hope some purpose they will serve,
another year gone, some lessons learnt, how not to get my fingers burnt,
I'll tell them young ones,as time goes by, of the lessons learnt and the fingers burnt.

The year 2007 AD is officially over. I am beholding 2008 AD. A New Year has rolled in. A leap year....another year. But I have not made any resolutions for the New Year....not yet. Instead I am looking back - and in retrospect, 2007 was such a jam-packed year. I notice that the past year, has impacted me a great deal, I find myself dwelling on the events long after they are over. Emotionally, many times, I have experienced exhilaration and exhaustion.

Death was a prominent newsmaker for most of the first half of the year, I attended many funerals including my own Ammachy's funeral. Kangazha ammachy, as we fondly called her, lived till the ripe old age of 85. I oscillated between accepting the profoundity and inevitablity of death of the elderly and coming to terms with the seeming absurdity in the untimely demise of young people, many of them in the prime of their lives. Their Funerals, had a humbling effect on me. A grim yet hopeful reminder of the fact that though death is inevitable, it is important to live the Abundant life, each day...everyday. 2007 was also time for baby boom. so many couples, I knew were either having their children or fell pregnant. I gushed at many of those babies, blessed them within my heart. Many young hearts were united in Holy Martimony pledging their lives together forever. I was also silent witness, to many couples choosing to end their matrimony, their lives separate forever.

Personally, changes and challenges were in plenty. I witnessed the ultimate mayhem created by the MCD sealing. With no clear directives in place, and rules changing everyday, the newspaper notices were our closest ally in understanding whether we fell within the ' to be sealed' zone. Unfortunately, for us, we did and our space was sealed and overnite, we had no office to work out of. The hunt to find a good office space, brought me in close proximity with landlords and property dealers, a shrewd lot of people most times wanting to palm off a not-so-appropriate premises, to a desperate tenant, almost always on their terms. The good side was that through those trying times, I learnt to appreciate, the strength and wisdom of Mancha (Manoj) my husband, whose confidence in me kept me going. There were other changes too. I changed my job, we changed our car, I travelled 4 times to Kochi, celebrated my Anney ammachy's 80th birthday in April, i created my own blog, met old friends on Orkut etc etc etc...the list is endless. through it all, there were many lessons learnt...many unlearnt, these events taught me a great deal, they have changed my impressions about people, about things, about events. They helped in shaping my view about life.They are part of the effort of making me the Unique Woman of God that Christ has intended me to be. They have taught me to see the hand of God in my life. He has a reason and a season for everything!!!

As I behold 2008, i am overawed by the presence of the Lord in my life. What am I that the Lord who created the universe is so in love with me!!! " You are His favourite" my friend remarked with a pinch of friendly jealousy, in a conversation we had sometime ago.Though said in passing, it was a comment that left me feeling very good. it was one thing to be favourite friend, daughter, sister, quite another to be called God's favourite. I know God has no favourites, He loves all His children but there is something magical about His love that whoever He loves, if the person chooses to revel in that love, will always feel that God loves him/her as though he/she were the last person on the planet!!! well! that's Jesus for you!!!

i want to end this post with the following verses from a song, coincidentally these were also on my wedding card....this will sum up my expectations of the year 2008!

I do not know what lies ahead, the way I cannot see, but one stands near to be my guide, He'll show the way to me, I know He holds the future, He will guide me with His hands, with God, Things Don't just happen.....everything by Him is planned.

So is it going to be just another year in my life...hopefully not.....Happy New Year, everyone!!!