Boats of Hope

My Sunday school kids and I decided to make small boats of hope and write “Smile, Jesus loves you :)” on each of them so that we could give it to a person who is not smiling or someone close to us.

Once I told them what to write, this seven year old wrote “Smile, Jesus loves me” so I asked him why did he write like that cause my whole idea or lesson for the day was around giving this boat to person who is not smiling.

This young boy’s answer took me by surprise. He told me “My mother is smiling, my father is smiling but I’m not smiling so I

need this”

His honest and innocent answer got me thinking.

How many of us are so innocently honest like this seven year old?

My surprise didn’t end there.

I had the “boat of hope” that I call, which I made so I asked the rest of the class if we could give it to this boy who felt he needed it the most and to my surprise they wanted him to have it.

Do we do this growing up?

Are we sensitive of our feelings as well as the feelings of those around us?

Has growing up changed the way we feel, think and react?

Would you make yourself a boat of hope today?

Why I called it the boat of hope?

Well Noah was one of the only Godly men during the difficult and tough times. God told Noah to build the ark and he didn’t question God or ask for an action report as to why he should build the ark nor did he know why. He just built the ark and slowly he saw the big picture and the why’s and the when’s.

So when you build a boat of hope for yourself it’s a symbol of hope that God is there with you and you are not alone.

So build yourself an ark of hope.

When God takes the drivers seat

In our Uber/Ola trending world, how would you feel if your driver could not read the google map and drop you off at the right location?

Not so calm, especially if that is delaying you to your very important meeting that you absolutely must reach on time and since you left home extra early you thought you could save a few pennies by booking the pool/share.

I have felt so helpless that I have no clue where I am nor how to reach my next destination, all I could do was trust my driver to take me to my right destination how much ever time it takes.

If I can give up so much of trust to a man who was matched to me through the wonders of technology to safely(sometimes not so safely) still drop me at my destination, why can’t I let God take the drivers seat in my life?

I used to think that proper study of situations and scenarios would help me list out the pros and cons and help me in my decision making. I have hated waiting for things from my food to my results to my flights. God has never ceased to surprise me in any of these areas now that I look back.

I learned to relinquish and eventually let go of the drivers seat of my life when God asked me- “Why are you downcast,O my soul? Why so disturbed within me?”

Psalm 42:5a

And he answered to my cries“ Put your hope in God”

Now I enjoy the views, the scenery, the rain, the sunshine, the mountains and the valleys as my father in heaven is behind the wheels.

Broken Crayons Still Colour.

Back when I was a kid, I received a huge Crayola box full of crayons and I felt like I held in my hand, every colour in the world.

I remember how sad I used to be whenever a crayon broke, and how the broken pieces were so small compared to the others in the box.

While the ‘perfect crayons’ stood tall and proud, the ‘imperfect crayons’ cowered below, short and stout. The ‘perfect crayons’ held their place, while the ‘imperfect crayons’ wiggled out of the box and sometimes even got lost. The ‘perfect crayons’ were easy to colour with, while the ‘imperfect crayons’ were hard to hold and even more difficult to colour with.

It is easy to feel overwhelmed by the brokenness in your life, but you must never ever let your past, your brokenness and your hurt define you, but let them mould you into someone stronger than you were as you redefine what lies ahead.

No matter how broken you may be, what you’re made of hasn’t changed. No amount of brokenness can change that. You are still you, and all of your broken fragments too.

You were created in the glorious image of a God, who wants to carry your hurt and your burdens for you, and He wants you to see you healed and restored and whole again.

You may think you’re a mess right now, but you are one beautiful and unique colour in God’s masterpiece. There is no one like you.

You are your own crayon, full of vibrancy and life. You are purposeful and you add your own signature hue to all you do. There is no colour like you.

You may not see His big picture right now, but God has already drawn the outlines, and He knows where each colour will go to complete His work of art.

God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness. His masterpiece consists of a colour palette so beautiful and varied because He uses all the crayons in His box – the broken and the unbroken.

Our past may have broken us, but that does not mean we cannot colour out a beautiful future.

Broken crayons still colour.

So will you.

Faith that Walks on Water

“Hold my hand and just climb up”, said the man to the girl in the pit.

She couldn’t trust him with her hand cause she had been betrayed before. How can she trust this man to actually help her out? What proof is there that he would stay till she’s rescued out? Who is this man? Why is he even interested in helping me out? Does he know anything about rescuing me? It’s a deep pit, can he even handle my weight?

Those were the thoughts in Susie’s mind during her therapy sessions that she took during her period of depression. She was far from God, trying everything worldly to help her sleep and to help her out of this deep pit she was in.

She did not let her therapist help her a bit because she knew for sure that he wouldn’t be there when she woke up crying the next morning.

Little did she hear the voice of her Father calling out to her to hold His hand. Her thoughts were clouded with all the pills she was taking and she couldn’t hear it, even if she tried. There was just too much noise in her head.

Are you like Susie?

Are all the noises of this world not letting you hear the voice of your Father, your Creator? He has been there by your side throughout – when you chose the world against Him, when you sought out help from everyone else other than Him, even at your darkest night when you called for help from everyone else except Him.

He was there.

He’s not angry with you. He is not upset. He is standing there still, ready to help. He is saying “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.”(1 Peter 5:7). You don’t have to carry it all around. You can rest now. He says “Come to me all those who are heavy laden for I will give you rest”

He knows it’s hard and all He’s asking is one step from you. He’s stretching His hand out, are you ready to take it?

A Desire to Kill.

Samantha wanted a teddy. There was this small brown one that she had been eyeing for days! She asked her parents but they didn’t give her a response. A few more days went by before she placed this request again. This time also, her parents were busy. In her restless waiting and her relentless desire, she decided that she was done. It was time to take matter into her own hands! She went to the store and enquired about the price. “$15”, the shopkeeper said. Hopeful, she went back home to open her piggy bank. “1…2…3.. That’s a total of $1 and 24 cents!”, she declared. Determined, she started helping out around the house and even opened a lemonade stand to help her get the money. The only thought that was running through her mind was, ‘I want that brown teddy’.

A few days went by and she still didn’t have the money for the toy. Over a week, she managed to make two extra bucks and a few cents. She even gave up on ice cream to save some quarters. She had collected $5 and 12 cents. Hopeful, she went into the store to buy her teddy. The shopkeeper who had seen this girl before, politely told her that she could not afford the bear she came in for, however, there were other toys she could get for $5. Upset, she went back home. The little thing cried herself to sleep.

Soon she woke up to a gentle, yet familiar nudge. As she opened her eyes, she saw the teddy she had been longing for. ‘Surely this must be a dream’, she thought. But she saw then, her parents handing her a big, brown tear with beady eyes, a shiny nose and a big, red bow! Suddenly, her efforts didn’t seem futile and her joy knew no bounds. Seeing her constant and persistent efforts, her parents bought her the best teddy bear that the store had to offer! Although it was expensive, they knew that their daughter deserved every bit of it.

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We all have a wonderful, provident Heavenly Father who know our every need before we ask Him. He knows the perfect gift, the perfect time, the perfect place and the perfect situation to present it to us. Very often, we get caught up in our desires for what we believe is the best, that we fail to wait on the Father. The Father, who knows best, waits for us to kill our desires to be able to prepare ourselves better for His present. He never gives us anything unless we are ready to accept His will first. But first, we need to be be dead to our desires and patiently wait on Him.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us..

-Ephesians 3:20