5 Ideas to make Christmas Special

Here are 5 ideas to turn your Christmas into an extra special day...

1. Have a home made family dinner: Get the family together, and dine on home cooked meals, which are prepared together with the family members. Make the cooking and dining a fun experience and get together with your loved ones to share the special time.

2. Send anonymous gifts: Be a Santa! Send a gift to someone you know who has been keeping down, or is not well, or someone who is not expecting a gift. Send the gift anonymously. Do not forget to give something really good, something that the receiver would really appreciate, it need not be something expensive or very flashy, just something that cheers the other up. What makes Christmas better than making Christmas better for others! And I promise, deep down you feel very good.

3. Call friends instead of SMSing them: How dry would the wishes be if we just SMS our friends on the Christmas day! Call them, all of them, and wish them a very Merry Christmas, in a very merry voice. Forget the bills and balance for a while, and live the Christmas spirit!(And anyway, I think the mobile carriers will charge on 25th, so why not make a call instead.)

4. Watch 'A Christmas Carol' with your friends and family: A very well made movie indeed. Even though it is an animation film, it will capture the attention of a mature audience as well. The movie will surely help us to look back at our lives and change it for good. (Though I won't recommend it to kids younger than 10, some scenes are scary.)

5. Pray for a better year ahead: No, I do not mean the 30 second, close your eyes, clamp your hands together, "God please..." type of a prayer. Pray all day long, while working, cooking, cleaning, greeting, smiling, sleeping, dancing, whatever you may be doing, keep communicating with Jesus, in the depth of your heart, open up yourself, and share your fears about the coming year, your expectations, your shortcomings. Just keeping talking, praying, asking, sharing.

Hope you have a Very Merry Christmas!

The Christmas Story

Three days to go....

Everywhere I turn, I see the nativity scene displayed. The great Christmas story retold. And I wonder...

Which Christmas character am I?

Mary: Righteous and meek, she gave her all for God. Submitted to His seemingly impossible plan, risked her life for the love of God.Am I like her? Do I care about the worldly laws or about God's great plan?

Joseph: The man who supported something that he, I am sure, was not able to comprehend fully. Helped the hand-maiden of God, was equally vital in the birth of Our Saviour. Is it me? Do I, like Joseph, help others carry out the Divine plans?

Innkeepers:'No place. No place'. They did not have place to help poor, needy people. They had to run a business, and businesses are not run on sympathy, isn't it? Do I fill my life with such a lot of worldliness that when Joseph and Mary along with the unborn Redeemer come knocking on my heart, I shout 'No place. No place'.

The Magi: The wise men of East. They traveled thousands of miles, carrying gifts with them, never losing the track, ever focusing on the star. Bringing gifts to lay before the King. Do I seek the Lord, ceaselessly, caring gifts of my talents to lay down at His feet?

The Angels:  Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. The angels, we all know, praise God all the time. And on this particular occasion, they praise and sing and tell all who would hear about the Glory of God, and about peace and good will toward all men. They spread the word to the shepherds, so that they would see the Blessed Babe. Is this me? Spreading the Good News? Giving never ending praises?

The Shepherds: Out of the town, in the cold night, tending flocks, these simple folk were one of the few to leave everything they were doing to go and meet the Promised One. Can I leave aside by daily tasks, to witness the beautiful, marvelous events that God directs...

There are many more, but I do not want to make this post extremely long and boring.....


So what role are you playing this Christmas????

Last Few Days of the Year

So, it is. The year 2010 coming to an end. And I am busy running about, completing pending tasks, shopping for the Christmas season, decorating, cleaning, eating, singing, dancing. And I am trying to fit in a lot of activities in these last few days of the year.

It is almost like a ritual every year, come the last two weeks of December and we all are deeply engrossed in our end-of-the-year work list, meeting friends and relatives, setting up parties and meetings. A mad rush to get the best out of the days.

But this year, I want to sit and reflect, I want to see what I did all year long, what did I find, what did I lose, how did I utilize this special and precious year of 2010? To analyze and learn from my mistakes, to strengthen my good points (yes I do have good points!) , to fix the hearts that I broke, to thank the people who helped me when I was down.

I want to switch off the hectic schedule for a while, and thank all my friends of old, who stuck by my side even though I was not exactly a great friend. I want to thank the new friends I made, who accepted me with open arms, the way I am, overlooked my downside and  helped me feel better about myself.

The elders I cannot forget, for their constant support and guidance, my mum who made sure I remained rooted in reality, my sister who keeps tolerating my extravagant behavior, my brother who still treats me like a baby! All these people have been with me, helping me cope throughout this year.

 I cannot forget certain people too, who have been by my side or sometimes against me, but each time teaching me something new, helping me grow in wisdom and understanding. I say a prayer for those who do not explicitly come in the category of friends or family, but have still played a vital role in shaping my life.

And I say sorry too, for all my stupidity, for every time my tongue caused a wound, for all the things I did which I should not have done and for all the things I ignored.

As the year dies slowly, so do I wish that my faults die with it, and as the new year arrives, may I be a fresh and new person with the conviction of constant improvement.

Love you all who helped me!

May God Bless All.

PS: Hey friends, the comment section is open for all who would like to thank me ;-), sorry's are accepted too :-D

Awaiting the best time of the year

CHRISTMAS IS HERE!

You might say it is a little to early to shout that, but I really can't wait for 25th of December to dawn. I am already under the influence of 'Christmas Spirit'!


It is indeed the best time of the year, the cold winter, bells chiming, carols being sung, Santa and his gifts, friends, family, cakes, sweets, and the loving and innocent Babe in the manger.


The three kings, and shepherds and angels, Our Lord made a real entrance into this world. No other baby boy must have created such a lot of hype and happiness and political upheaval at his birth.


I am preparing for Christmas, I am preparing for the coming of Christ, I don't want to be like the inn keepers who said no to Mary and Joseph, I want to invite them into my home and into my heart. I want to spread the news and the Christmas cheer about His coming. I want to make sure this time the King gets a royal place to be born in. A clean and loving heart is what would be fitting for Him.


I want to know this young lady who took up such a daring task of delivering the Child of God against all odds. I want to know how did Mary get the guts to say YES and how can I get the same conviction to say it. How did she believe in God's plan and stuck to it till the end, when all I do is try to run away?


It is a marvel and a mystery, this birth that took place more than 2000 years ago, the event still makes people to pause and think, it still ignites the fire of God's love in every heart, it still shows that there is good on earth and it will remain forever. God becoming man, becoming a Baby so pure, frail, innocent. I do not comprehend it in its fullness, this act of kindness, mercy and love of God, but I am glad He was born for me, for you, for all who are alive, for all who are dead and gone, for all who are yet to come.

Merry Christmas!