17 Candles

ANDLES Year 4

Issue No. 17 Please send your suggestions & Articles for the next issue of CANDLES to “Mr. Chiradeep Patra, 11A/1A, Mahendra Chatterjee Lane, Kolkata - 700 046;

Asmita’s Desk

Be Satisfied

T

oday I want to share an incident with you all. Once from my workplace I got a privilege to go to see a cultural programme which was organized by Manovikash Kendra a society which deals with hearing impaired children at Science City, Kolkata. The honourable governor of West Bengal was invited as Chief Guest and at the end of the programme, he said, “all these children are stars on the earth and we have to take good E-Mail: care of them.” And he encouraged them to thecandles@sify.com move on with their talents.

Cell: 09230441416 All the articles should reach us at least one month in advance. The publisher reserves the right to edit, publish or reject the submitted articles. Articles submitted Cannot be returned, so please keep a copy of the article sent to us.

The programme was incredible. Everybody in the auditorium appreciated the programme very much. Some people were literally crying when the kids performed on songs like 'Tare Zameen Par' and 'Hum ko man ki shakti De' and enjoyed their performances in the song 'Rock on'.

Sitting there I was talking to myself, that how these children are performing and they are happy in their lives! Don't they ever ask God, Local Address 'why you created me like that?' Are they satisfied with their limitations in life and stay happy? Do they feel like killing themselves sometimes? for No. I don't think that they behave that way. They must be satisfied with New Delhi whatever God has given them. We don't get everything that we've Contact: wished for. We might have hundreds of problems to face. Are we Rev. Joshua satisfied with all that we have or we feel angry for not getting the things 109-B#Pkt - I, we want? If they can be so happy being a handicap then why not we?

We have to remind ourselves always that, in this world everything will Dilshadgarden never happen in our own way. We have to accept whatever comes on our New Delhi - 110 095 and move on & on. Discontentment will make our life difficult.We Cell:09810364986 way need to learn to be happy with whatever good things & talents we have E-mail: and try our best to reflect in this dark world. Then this world will be a seva_network@hotmail.com better place to live.

Asmita Patra is a wife & a wonderful homemaker.

“For Private She teaches small kids in a school. She is a gifted singer.

Circulation Only” She can be contacted at: asmita_patra@hotmail.com

General

Confidence = personal happiness

H

ear my cry, O Lord attend to my prayer from the ends of the earth I will cry to You. When my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For You have been a shelter for me and a strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in Your tabernacle forever; I will trust in the shelter of Your wings" Psalm 61: 1-4 Do you feel overwhelmed by your circumstances? Has it caused you to doubt God's love for you? This happens to a lot of us at one time or anotherwell, if we are honest, it happens quite frequently. It may come as a surprise to some, but Jesus promised, that's right promised, that in this world we would have tribulation (John16:33). But the best part is He didn't stop there.

He went on to say "But be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

So why is it that sometimes we are so quick to wonder why things are happening to us? For me, it happens when I take my eyes off of Jesus and I am so focused on my situation that I forget my heavenly Father is waiting for me to cry out in honesty before Him - just as David did in this Psalm.

Having confidence and joy in the Lord, doesn't mean we are to live in denial of our circumstances, rather, it is recognizing that we can take everything to the Lord and that He is more than willing, and the only one who is able to help us through with lasting results. Peter said it well: "Casting all of your cares upon Him, for He cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7) We might as well be honest with Him because He knows what we are thinking anyway.

"I will abide in Your tabernacle forever; I will trust in the shelter of Your wings" (VS 4) Unfortunately, running to God isn't usually our first choice; instead, we look to the world for answers and comfort. We buy into these answers against our better judgment, but we want the quick answer and frankly, sometimes God just takes too long.

However, true peace and freedom only happens when we come to the place where we are willing to say, "I will trust in the shelter of Your wings" Even so, what does this mean? It means reading His word. It means surrendering your will to His. It means surrounding yourself with strong Christians who will endure with you, and it means you are going to make a commitment to believe God when He says He will take care of you and you will wait it out - knowing the storm will end, knowing you will be a stronger and healthier person for it.

Taking these few steps will cause your heart to rejoice and before you know it, the doubt and fear will melt away and your confidence in the Almighty God will be restored.

From experience, I have learned that this is the way to personal well-being and happiness. Š Teresa Ortiz - In Season Ministries

Teresa Ortiz is a wife, a mother and most importantly, a daughter of the Most High God. She is the founder of In Season Ministries, a Bible teacher, an author, a speaker and a counselor. For more information, please visit : www.inseason2tim.com Page 2

Body & Mind

Benefits of becoming an early riser and how to become one - I

R

ecently, a friend of mine asked me about my habit of waking at 4:30 a.m. each day, and asked me to write about the health benefits of rising early, which I thought was an excellent question. Unfortunately, there are none that I know of. However, there tons of other great benefits.

Part I: Benefits of rising early: Now, let me first say that if you are a night owl, and that works for you, I think that's great. There's no reason to change, especially if you're happy with it. But for me, switching from being a night owl to an early riser (and yes, it is possible) has been a godsend. It has helped me in so many ways that I'd never go back. Here are just a few: 1. Greet the day. I love being able to get up, and greet a wonderful new day. I suggest creating a morning ritual that includes saying thanks for your blessings. I'm inspired by the Dalai Lama, who said, “Everyday, think as you wake up, 'today I am fortunate to have woken up, I am alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it. I am going to use all my energies to develop myself, to expand my heart out to others, to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings, I am going to have kind thoughts towards others, I am not going to get angry or think badly about others, I am going to benefit others as much as I can.�

2. Amazing start. I used to start my day by jumping out of bed, late as usual, and rushing through things while being late for everything. Not a great start to your day. Now, I have a renewing morning ritual, I've gotten so much done before 8 a.m., and by the time everyone else gets in to work, I've already gotten a head start. There is no better way to start off your day than to wake early, in my experience.

3. Quietude. No babies crying, no quarreling, no cars, no television noise. The early morning hours are so peaceful, so quiet. It's my favorite time of day. I truly enjoy that time of peace, that time to myself, when I can think, when I can read, when I can breathe.

Page 3

4. Sunrise. People who wake, late miss one of the greatest feats of nature, repeated in full stereovision each and every day the rise of the sun. I love how the day slowly gets brighter, when the midnight blue turns to lighter blue, when the brilliant colors start to seep into the sky, when nature is painted in incredible colors. Sometimes I do an early morning run during this time, and I look up at the sky as I run and say to the world, “What a glorious day!”

5. Breakfast. Rise early and you actually have time for breakfast. I'm told it's one of the most important meals of the day. Without breakfast, your body is running on fumes until you are so hungry at lunchtime that you eat whatever unhealthy thing you can find. But eat breakfast, and you are sated until later. Plus, eating breakfast while reading my book and drinking my coffee in the quiet of the morning is eminently more enjoyable than shoving something down on the way to work.

6. Exercise. There are other times to exercise besides the early morning, of course, but I've found that while exercising right after work is also very enjoyable, it's also liable to be canceled because of other things that come up.

Morning exercise is virtually never canceled.

7. Productivity. Mornings, for me at least, are the most productive time of day. I like to do some hardcore studying in the morning, when there are no distractions, before I check my email or website stats. I get so much more done by starting on my work in the morning. Then, when evening rolls around, I have no work that I need to do, and I can spend it with family.

8. Goal time. Got goals? Well, you should. And there's no better time to review them and plan for them and do your goal tasks than first thing. You should have one goal that you want to accomplish this week. And every morning, you should decide what one thing you can do today to move yourself further towards that goal. And then, if possible, do that first thing in the morning.

9. Appointments. It's much easier to make those early appointments on time if you get up early.

Showing up late for those appointments is a bad signal to the person you're meeting. Showing up early will impress them. Plus, you get time to prepare.

(Catch up with the next issue of CANDLES, to know ‘How to Become an Early Riser’ in the 2nd part of this article)

Sulagna Dasgupta is a writer & a counselor, who believes in continuous improvement of the self. Visit her website: www.changeyourlifenow.co.nr which contains her self-help blog, articles by herself and other self-help experts. She also provides individual free e-counseling through this site. She can be contacted at: sulagnaadasgupta@gmail.com with individual queries and requests for specific self-help related advice.”

Online CANDLES at: http://candlesmagazine.blogspot.com Join the Prayer Network at: http://prayingfriends.bravehost.com Page 4