The spring sprung :)

When the bare nakedness of the trees are slowly being dressed by fabrics of pinks and reds and greens by the nature; and little family owned seasonal frozen custard shops are getting repainted, you know SPRING is here.

It's when the birds return home from the south and sing the tales of their adventures and the hearts are finally ready to open up. The blinds are pulled up to taste the crisp sunshine in the mornings and white is no longer what the world looks like. Spring doesn't only bring us flowers and warm weather but mostly it brings us hope and it teaches us faith. Hope that things won't always be windy, snowy and stormy and faith that there is a silver lining to even the darkest cloud.

Life is the same way and most of us have hard times understanding it. Just like the season has to face the brutal cold of winter and scalding heat of summer,life has to face problems and issues but that is the only way how we understand the true value of joy and cherish it just like we cherish the grandeur of spring. Life may not always be what you ask for and times might come when you just wanna be done with it but we have to understand that every night has it's dawn. HAPPY SPRING YAH'LL

The hairpin bends

No two moments of life are alike. Sometimes they are so different from one another, you almost feel like god switched your life's scenario from Disney where its all pretty and nice to some crappy Indian news channel full of bogus sad stories. Sharp turns and hairpin bends are like the flip side of the coin. Not saying they are always bad  but change itself is sort of hard to put up with. Changes happen and the power to conquer it don't come easy but hey ! gotta lose something to get something. This one is a huge shout out to those about to  make a big change , about to take a big step and to those who have already overcame the change and snatched what they wanted from life. This one is also a word of comfort to those, whose vehicle couldn't make it through the sharp hairpin bends. Life gives you more chances, just keep your eyes open to recognize it and your arms wide open to embrace it. Who knows? It might just get better !

KNOW MY FRIEND JUSTIN LIKE I DO

Folks! after coming to America, a lot of good things happened to me. One of the  best ones was encountering the O'Dells. They are a big chunk of my American life. Justin O'dell is one of the few people with the cleanest heart and great instincts. He is the man of god who wants to serve people and may be yah'll could help him do that. You will love Justin if you know him like i do!
Here is what he has to say:

Hello,

I am about to be sent out on another adventure into the nations!  The organization that I will be traveling with is The World Race.  This organization expands overseas and in the States.  It consists of a journey to 11 countries in 11 months to serve “the least of these” in the midst of real and raw community.  It facilitates discipleship through the process of discovering the abundant life He promised.  It requires Luke 10 faith: “After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go.  Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.  Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves.”  I am one sent out or a laborer that is willing to go and lay my life down in love to bring the Kingdom of Heaven to earth.  My offering to Jesus is my life.

I will be traveling to the following countries for one month each: Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam/Laos, Tanzania, Mozambique, Swaziland, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Moldova, Romania, and Ireland.  My launch date will be sometime in the month of September 2012, and I will not return to the States until August 2013.  Each day on the World Race will look a little different.  Some days could be slower as I will shop for groceries at the market, cook for my team, and spend time praying for the community that I walk through.  Every day will be focused on being a part of God’s Kingdom work, in every way!  I will be bringing the Kingdom of Heaven to earth where ever I go.

I am asking you to plant your seeds in fertile ground: “But others fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold and some thirtyfold;” Matthew 13:8.  By your prayer and support it makes it possible for the Kingdom of Heaven to be brought to earth through my life!  If it wasn’t for your amazing support then this couldn’t be made possible.  I am asking 500 people to donate $31 each and my race will be paid for in full.  May God bless your gift of prayer and or financial support.  I can’t wait to tell you all of the great miracles God does during this adventure with the King of Kings into the nations!

Love,

Justin D. O’Dell

All donations are automatically tax deductible.  If you chose to donate make the check out to “Adventures in Missions”.  Also, make sure that you put “Justin O’Dell” in the memo line so it goes directly to my mission account.  Mail to:

Adventures in Missions

PO BOX 534470

Atlanta, GA 30353-4470

RAINBOWS????

"Its not always rainbows and butterflies, its compromise that moves us along !" We might smile and we might sing but life sure aint pretty all the time. Holla! to all the people that carry the load of other peoples problems and try to please everyone yet their own pleasure might be in jeopardy. Dreams shatter and so do hopes but i know there is always a silver lining to the dark clouds and there is always a rainbow after the rain. That is how life should be, full of challenges and i also think it is perfectly normal to complain and be mad as long as you have a plan to overcome the stress. You gotta vent some way, either by being mad or just taking some time to hear yourself think. The world looks at you different when this one day your ever smiling face has a frown on and treats you like you did a sin by feeling bad for the sky that just fell on your world but expects your sympathy when their perfect pictures get scratched a little bit. This one is the shout out to the species that i like to call opportunists, we might jump along when you have the littlest problems and we don't expect that back from you either. IF YOU DON'T HAVE ANYTHING GOOD TO SAY , JUST SHUT UP PLEASE.

butterfly flew away!

Being strong is easy when its the only available option. This one goes out to all the little caterpillars, that left home with a thrive of being butterflies. The hype of real world could be pretty intimidating but those who believe, will survive. Its like Charles Darwin's theory of the survival of the fittest. The first night you spent without having the feeling of somebody being there if things go wrong is when you realize its time to grow up a bunch of notches and be an adult. A lot of life changes on top of this wild wild world is more than enough to break some plans you made in the bathroom of your parent's house but TRUST and FAITH are the key words. A lot of dreams take birth in a day and more than those die, be it because of lack of enthusiasm, be it distractions but this one goes out to those butterflies too that couldn't fulfill the need of immense strength and hence didn't make it in the real world. RIP to all your dreams.

the taste of first snow

When a piece of heaven falls down and touches the tip of your nose, you know the holidays are here. Endless memories, the red and the green, the sweet smell of cinnamon and the joyous Christmas lights come attached with the ice cold breeze of the first snow. That's when you know, there is moments in life that we still wait to live instead of dreading it.I saw it on a hospital bulletin board today " snow is just pieces of snowman that god forgot to put together". I thought it was too cute. I like how the white of the snow brightens up everything it makes me smile, just like a lot of other simple things do. First snow always brings out the best memories in my life and i am pretty sure that i am not the only one. Those moments might never come again and heck this moment might never come again. Cherish what you have and celebrate every passing moment cause no matter how awesome of a moment it might be, its a sad truth that you might never get to live it again.

respect yourself

The song you hum everyday and the person you think about while you do that are both better identification of you than your social security card or your driver's licence. Knowing yourself is a key to know whats the big step that would advance you to bigger endeavors. Some people are content in who they are and they trust themselves to take some big steps while some are busy reminiscing why they are not something else, something better and lagging behind. Trusting yourself is the biggest gift you can give  yourself. Trust yourself and see how the world trusts you, simply like a chain reaction. Everyone has flaws and nobody is perfect but the best bet is to identify the best thing that you love to do and use it as your new ID rather than pushing yourself too hard to be something you are not meant to be. The frustration is just not worth it. Food for thought: Believe in yourself and see how it makes a difference in your life as well as everyone else's! :)