The Priceless Gift Who am I? I suppose no one could answer this question
more truly than I. People praised me for all my positive aptitudes: ability to
sing, ability to speak six languages, ability to get excellent grades in classes
regardless of me being a visually impaired student. However, none pointed out my
negative characters and thus I had to realize my wrong doings and mend them for
myself. Thankfully this reckoning day arrived sooner than expected: November 2,
1998. “ All passengers ware going from India to the United States, please come
to gate# five for boarding.” The hustle and bustle of the crowd in the airport
made
me feel very excited. As we reached our gate, we entered a very long line
meandering ahead of us, so we decided to make ourselves comfortable by sitting
on the near by couches. My parents sat beside us and asked us to hold their
hands and pray to Jesus for
traveling grace. Since I was a Buddhist at that time, I refused to follow my
parent’s instructions.
You ask me why I was a Buddhist and why my parents were Christians? It’s a long
story but I’ll try to summarize it as shortly as possible. In the summer
of 1990, my parents brought me to a boarding school, when I was three and half
years old: It is very common in India for the working parents to leave their
children in boarding school at this age, so that the children could grow up to
be independent and educated in the best way possible. Everything was very
strange. I didn’t understand the local languages spoken in my boarding school.
Also the people were very different looking. I was stuck with this
overwhelmingly new and strange environment for a year. Days began to roll.
Many people came up to me and comforted me by assuring me that my parents would
return soon. Unfortunately, it didn’t stay like this for long. When my Tibetan
friends, with whom I mostly spent my time with, came to know that my parents
were Christians. They began to despise me and mock me. At that time, I didn’t
know why they had such boiling hatred towards Christians when their own sponsors
from foreign countries were Christians. Until this day, it’s been a mysterious
behavior to explain. I couldn’t take the persecution very much, so I converted
to Buddhism, hoping to find some common ground with my Tibetan peers. Now back
in the airport, when my parents asked to hold their hands and pray to Jesus for
traveling grace, I
instead asked them two questions: why do you always pray for everything such as,
journey to America, going on a car trip, or even for eating food, and where is
this God whom you always pray to. When hearing this question, my parents
for the first time began explaining that Jesus lives in their hearts, so it’s
not necessary while praying that He has to physically be present. He also
explained that whether we eat food, or we drown in an ocean, we need his help
and guidance: plus prayers are very powerful. My mom began reading scriptures
from the Bible (John 3: 16 – “For God so loved the world that He gave His one
and only son, for whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have an eternal
life”) and explaining that Jesus sacrificed his life as a perfect lamb to wash
our sins so that when we believe in Him, we are forgiven of our sins. I was
truly amazed by the words, which were coming out of my mom’s mouth. Not because
this was so unusual of her to speak her mind, since she always was outspoken,
but because I was struck by the truth that I was a sinner. Reflecting
back, during the boarding school memories, I could vividly remember what I had
done to others. I had always been very parsimonious in caring for others. I used
preposterously cruel language to express my disappointment, when my way wasn’t
done. I would often bully kids to carry by school bag, or use their writing
utensils etc. When reaching the United States, I asked my parents if I could go
to church with them and learn more about
this mysteriously attractive God of theirs. After couple of weeks later, I asked
Jesus to come into my heart and mold me into a person whom He and the world can
look and say, “Wow! What happened to her?” It’s been almost 5 years now since
Jesus has been my
foundation in every decision I make. Thus, I rejoice every moment as a
Christian. I’m as you can say, officially a “Jesus freak.” Whatever I do, I do
it to praise Jesus, some may be pleased, and others annoyed. I know that the
judgment of people don’t matter to me
as long as I’m doing the will of God. The moment when my parents shared Jesus
with me, I have transformed from an egotistical maniac to a person who is
working her best to be selfless and compassionate. This moment has brought me to
my senses of how I should
live in righteousness with compassion, mercy for others and endure all hardship
as follower of Jesus: Having God in my life, this passion to become a physician
and go to Tibet someday to serve there by sharing whatever skills I have, has
been burning in me. I Pray, that many more will have the opportunity to become a
better person from inside by hearing the good news that leads them to salvation
which is free of cost and the best gift!
All graphics
(pictures and drawings) that your seeing on this web page were done in
Flash, Fire Works and Paint Shop Pro.
Paint Shop Pro comes
with a really good help program that teaches you everything. There are
so many things you can learn to do it's amazing. The pages below are
just simplified for hard heads like myself. ;o) Mighty man and I
are always Learning new things on the computer.
Click here
for some quick easy lessons to
help get you started drawing and painting on your Computer in
Microsoft Windows Paint..
Painting:
suggestions, if you want to use paint or felt pens with color book
patterns below. Cut smooth thicker felt pen paper down to
standard inkjet size and print on it.Also you can transfer the pattern onto
thicker paper, fabric, or an art canvas.Be extra careful with your printer. Some
printers allow for thicker paper, and some DON'T.
All coloring book pages print about the size of standard inkjet paper.
Once you click to start printing follow your printing directions. It may
take a couple moments before your printer starts printing. For a faster print,
close all your programs and extra open pages.
