4 out of 20 - Joyfully 30

My husband texted me from Atlanta at 12 midnight to wish me 'Happy Birthday'. His prayers for me are much appreciated. Apart from a few text messages - one from my dear friend in Alberta, few from co-workers, voice-mails from parents and brother and sis in-law, it was a quite day. Not to mention, Halloween was quite as well.

I went to my pediatric clinical today. I had a conversation about Christianity with the doctor which ended somewhere but I hope I was able to spark something. I came home around 6PM to a surprise package waiting for me in the mail from a stranger. Call it weird, creepy, or genuine but it was pretty interesting.

Ajo called me late evening, we talked for about 5 minutes or so. My in-laws had a surprise cake waiting for me after dinner. My dinner had my favorite rice and kerala potatoe wedges. Truly I appreciate their efforts.

The media coverage about the aftermath of the storm continues as people around the NY/NJ/CT area try to restore life to normalcy. New Yorkers are getting power back slowly, streets and tunnels under water are slowly getting pumped out and clean up is underway.

Joyfully 30

In the midst of all the havoc, I am joyfully 30. Over the past few months, especially over the past few weeks I have struggled about the 'turning 30' milestone. I am not sure what it is about the number 30 but sure it is associated with lots of expectations and associated gravity. The reason for my struggle is numerous but long story short, the Lord has given me comfort and peace and hence I have changed my entire attitude to 'joyfully 30'. I may have another 30 or more years to live or I may have less than 30 years but the truth is that I am 30. I am not here by chance, and 30 years of my life has been a gift granted to me. I am exceptionally blessed to taste and see that the Lord is good. A sinner as I am headed to destruction was redeemed by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. I can never repay for your mercy everyday and your grace still amazes me.

3 out of 20 - Life after the storm

Last night was quite a strange night. I was almost dozing off when Ajo's mom told me that there is a "burning" smell coming from the basement. After a closer investigation and failing to find any impending danger we had to believe that the source of the smell was our fireplace which may have blown off old ashes into the house due to the heavy winds. The smell gradually died down but when I returned to bed I couldn't sleep. I was scared to sleep alone and my mind was racing from one thought to another.  I remember texting Ajo close to midnight and our text went something like this:
Me: "Are you sleeping?"
Ajo: yes
I haven't really felt this way and despite of trying my hardest to fall asleep, I couldn't. I am not sure exactly what time I dozed off but it was probably early morning around 3am or so.

When we woke up this morning, the trees were calm with twigs, leaves and branches around our backyard.. The fact that we still had power felt surreal. I ended up going to work around 10am. The hospital was functioning in disaster mode with limited staff and resources.

A lot of  the damage from hurricane Sandy was not obvious in our neighborhood and it was not until I turned on the TV that evening, I realized the extent of the devastating catastrophe. It was heartbreaking to see the fires, and the floods, and excruciatingly painful to watch the reports of the loss of lives. I think the toll is 18 or so the last time I checked.

Millions of people do not have electricity and water. No subways, or buses, bridges closed, tunnels flooded, and hospital evacuations are some of the ongoing aftermaths from the storm. The water surge flooded a good number of neighborhoods and left people with no homes to return to.

Trees where uprooted on to roads, cars, and houses. Uprooted trees cost the life of many. The aftermath of Sandy is horrific. It will take days to restore power, months to rebuild home, and years to reestablish lives. The storm has left its fingerprints on the East coast forever and will never be forgotten to many.

2 out of 20 - The Storm

Today has been quite the day. I was able to go to work in the morning but able to come home by 2PM. Ajo had his 1st day of training today in Atlanta. I am happy that he is safe there.

Coverage about hurricane Sandy is all over the news. The winds started picking up in intensity around 5 and has been going on for the past 3 hours. Our lights are flickering from time to time, we hear occasional banging noises on the windows from flying debris, and branches are down in our backyard.

My in-laws just went outside to pick up Ajo's mom from work and thank God they returned home safely. The winds are pretty harsh and a lot of families have already lost power. I am praying for my co-worker Susanna who lives in Coney Island area. They just lost power as well.

Jesus calming the storm recorded in the Gospel has so much to offer us during this time of uncertainty.

Mark Chapter 4 verse 39
  There is sure power in the voice of God, our Lord Jesus.

When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm

 Here is psalm 29 - A Psalm by David.
 All about the majestic voice of God

¹ Honor the Lord, you heavenly beings
    honor the Lord for his glory and strength.
² Honor the Lord for the glory of his name.
    Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.

³ The voice of the Lord echoes above the sea.
    The God of glory thunders.
    The Lord thunders over the mighty sea.
⁴ The voice of the Lord is powerful;
    the voice of the Lord is majestic.
⁵ The voice of the Lord splits the mighty cedars;
    the Lord shatters the cedars of Lebanon.
⁶ He makes Lebanon’s mountains skip like a calf;
    he makes Mount Hermon leap like a young wild ox.
⁷ The voice of the Lord strikes
    with bolts of lightning.
⁸ The voice of the Lord makes the barren wilderness quake;
    the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
⁹ The voice of the Lord twists mighty oaks
    and strips the forests bare.
In his Temple everyone shouts, “Glory!”

¹⁰ The Lord rules over the floodwaters.
    The Lord reigns as king forever.
¹¹ The Lord gives his people strength.
    The Lord blesses them with peace.

1 out of 20 - The Take off

Today is Sunday, October 28, 2012, the long awaited hurricane 'Sandy' is expected to hit NY/NJ area within the next 12 hours or so. Preparations are underway, alerts are going out, and disaster plans have been activated.

Ajo also left today to Atlanta for a work related training. By God's grace he had an uneventful flight. Ajo doesn't particularly like air travel. It was definitely a struggle especially with the storm and windy conditions. God is always good.

This storm warning reminded me about Jesus calming the storm recorded in the Gospel. 
Here is a very comforting verse....
And He awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
From the Gospel of Mark


Ajo is going to be away for 3 weeks... to be exact 20 days. In the past 6 years of our marriage, Ajo and I have not stayed away from each other. It will be hard but the Lord is going to bring out something marvelous from this time we are spending away from each other. This will be learning time to love the Lord more, to love each other more, and to appreciate our marriage more.

Rear-View Mirror

Crossing Tappan Zee Bridge from Yonkers on a Friday evening is never fun. Bumper to Bumper traffic or at least slow traffic is a guarantee.  I have seldom taken that trip alone and today was one of those lucky days.

As usual traffic started way before the start of the bridge. Tired from a long day at clinicals, and adding to that the aggravating crawling traffic, the drive felt so long and cumbersome. Within seconds my thought wandered to Reno and how I wished I was there. The complainer in me came out and I went back and forth in my mind just thinking about how I hate traffic.

Slowly, traffic started picking up a little but still slow moving, I was getting closer to my exit. Suddenly my eye glanced at my rear-view mirror and I saw a lady driving behind me perhaps in her 30's wiping her tears. I watched her cry and wipe her tears multiple times. The exist for me to get off approached and I got off. She drove past me and that was the end to it.

I realized that very instance how my eyes are blind to the hurt in this world. There are countless people hurting every second and here I was driving and noticed one. My heart was crumbled yet humbled at what I was able to see. Who else other than God opened my eyes to notice a tear from a Rear- View Mirrow. That is incredible.

I have no idea who she is, neither do I know the meaning of her tears. I know for sure that those were tears of sorrow. I prayed silently in the car for her as I drove to my destination.

Until we meet again!

Ajo read from the following passage from Ephesians before we said goodbye to LK.

 When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.  And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.  Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3: 14-21

It was definitely bitter sweet to end our vacation in Canada and head back to NY. 

A cherished story - Meeting LK

We met LK for the first time in September of 2010. Wait a second!  LK is from Canada and you may be wondering how we met. Summer of 2008, Ajo and I moved to Reno. In October of 2009, a really close and dear person to us in Reno passed away. We met LK's mom at the funeral and happened to talk briefly at a prayer meeting. Meanwhile a year ago LK started her application process and planning phases to move to NY to do her Masters. LK's mom mentions this to us knowing that we will be moving back to NY in the summer of 2010 which was about the same time LK would be moving to NY to settle in.

I shoot LK an email a few weeks later which I never got a response to; only to find out later that she never received my email. End of August, 2010 we moved back to NY. One morning in September, I get a call from LK's mom from LK's NYC apartment stating that she is in town from Canada. At that time, I told her I will contact her and we will try to meet. Things got busy and I never called her back. Exactly a day before she was to head back to Canada, I literally got woken up from sleep at 8 in the morning and was just drawn to call LK's mom and call them over to dinner. Dinner happened that night with LK and her mom with our family. What a great beginning!. Talk about God ordained friendships. We feel so blessed to have experienced it.

The moments we spent with LK became memorable and a blessing to us. We will always remember worshiping together on Sundays, the late night fellowships after Chicken n' Rice, visiting NYC hot spots, walking the Brooklyn Bridge and many more other memorable meetings we had.

We hope to meet with LK every few years. At least that's the desire of our hearts. We pray that God will bring it to pass.

May our friendship stay strong, our families grow, and more over our love for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ grow deeper.

Until we see each other again
May God be with us always!

To our friendship - Alberta, Canada - May 2012

Good bye to Western Canada - Day 6

Sunday morning, we headed to the airport at 8 AM. We were flying on West Jet back to Newark. We thought the staff and the service was much better than Air Canada. Ajo sat next to a 30 year old guy who was visiting NY for the first time. They talked almost the entire time. Meanwhile, I tried to get some sleep. The landing was a bit bumpy but otherwise it was quite a good flight.

We were back in NY in our home around 7PM.

A few things in Canada that was different:
1) Long daylight hours till about 10PM
2) Metric system - km/hr and Celsius
3) Seat belt law for the back passengers