Tag Archives: life

What Season Are You In?

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I think I can safely say it’s my season of “plowing”. Last week I was reading Proverbs 20 and came across this verse: Proverbs 20:4 NIV Sluggards do not plow in season; so at harvest time they look but find nothing. I love this farming analogy that God uses, it’s so perfect. Sowing seeds, tending the fields, plowing, so the crops can be prepared for harvest…that’s how life is!

A little background, I quit my job at the end of last year, started a company and since then have been working on my own. I’m still figuring stuff out and sometimes I just feel like, “what am I doing??” and then I read this: The seed is the word of God. – Luke 8:11.

And that made me happy. Think about all of life’s different seasons. God takes you through each and every one of them for a reason. To make it to harvest though, all you need is the word of God…that’s it! First, plant the right seeds in your life (speak God’s word into your life to match whatever season you’re going through), then plow them (pray, believe), and keep going until harvest comes! Yes, this is super simplified but that’s pretty much what it is!

I’m plowing in my season right now, but I know harvest is coming. Who knows how long this season will take or how long “harvest” will be. Of course I want harvest to come sooner rather than later haha, but I can find peace in knowing that what I am doing now is taking me somewhere. The work, the learning is not in vain.

1 Corinthians 15:58 says to stand firm and let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

God is preparing you for harvest. So stay focused and keep going.

With love,

Rinny

Life Is A Gift

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Anybody realize how crazy this world we live in is? While I was still in India/Dubai (promise I’ll finish blogging about the trip soon), I read about a shooting at LAX. I was talking to my sis and parents about it and just thought how ridiculous that was. I returned to NY on a Wednesday and never thought I would experience something similar on a Saturday night, tonight.

Tonight I realized how much I take my life for granted. It really is a gift!

What a precious gift. I’m more thankful for his grace and mercy towards us. I’m sharing this story just to show how amazing God is. A group of us went out to celebrate our friends’ 24th and 25th birthdays. We were a pretty big group.

Most of the group went skating while a few of us decided not to skate and chill in the warmth at a coffee shop in the park (Bryant Park), including me. I was on the edge about skating. I reallyy wanted to, but I sprained my ankle about a month ago and thought it wasn’t the best idea for my first real physical activity (besides walking) since injury to be ice skating. Really though, this was nothing but God that kept me off the ice tonight.

After about an hour ish of being at the park, we heard three loud noises. These didn’t really sound like gun shots, but we realized they were after seeing people running and hearing screams. We all got up and ran. The six of us that were sitting, chillin got to a safe place and tried to get in touch with our friends on the ice. Worried about them, we couldn’t do anything but pray. Finally, we got in touch and heard that all of them were safe, no harm, no injuries. Praise and thanks to the most high only!

Several of my friends were just feet away from one of the young men that was shot on the ice. Nothing but God’s grace that saved them. Just as we started our night with praise, our night ended in praise. Thank you Father for life.

Besides reflecting on God’s grace and protection, this experience made me question how I’m living. If this night were my last, would God be pleased with me? Would I hear, “Well done my good and faithful servant,” at the gates of Heaven? Would you?

Living life to the fullest isn’t YOLO as the world says it, but YOLO for eternity. You only have one shot at eternity and that’s while you’re here on earth living.

With love,

Rinny

You Are Wanted

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I don’t mean wanted by your bf or gf, significant other, mom, dad, sister, brother, friends, co-workers, the people we usually seeek validation from…I mean wanted by someone faaar greater than any of these people, God.

He is looking for you, calling you, waiting on you. Ever hear a word that just touches you? That wasn’t a coincidence, it was God talking to you.

In your loneliness, Jesus is your companion, in your trials, He is your comfort, in your depression, He is your hope, in your confusion, your clarity. Everything you need is in Him. Philippians 4:19 And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.
If you’re longing for someone, for love, for peace of mind, if you feel empty, don’t turn to people or to things of the world to cope. Go to the one who wants you the most, who loves you the most, who hurts because you hurt. He’ll pick you up and place you on solid ground if you just trust in Him. Psalm 40:2 He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.
What’s kept me all these years has been my dependence on Christ. Even before I completely surrendered everything (i.e. career, relationships, etc) to him he was calling me, wanting me to acknowledge him in everything, loving me the whole way 🙂 Lucky me, right? It’s the same for you!
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. Ephesians 3:19.
God loves us all the same, and way more than anyone else can ever love you. Through the sins and mistakes, he’s still pursuing you. Just run to him.
With love,
Rinny

Life Is A Race. Run It To Win It!

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Life is a race and we’re all running it to win it.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 24 Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! 25 All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. 26 So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. 27 I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.

How can you win if you don’t train properly? Different sports and positions require different types of training: strength training, endurance training, sprints, healthy diet, stretching…you get what I mean. Different workouts, different equipment for each of these things…it’s just like life. The various seasons of life brings you different lessons, the trials, the happiness.  Each experience you go through is for a reason. Even when you don’t realize it, you’re taking away something from every experience: wisdom, discernment, faith, forgiveness, etc. I just hope you’re learning the right things from everything you go through lol 🙂 Your workout IS life.

God wants to strengthen you with the tools to keep running faster and stronger. Train with the word daily and I think you’ll have a good chance of winning. Equip yourself with the right tools and you’ll have an even better chance of making it to the finish line strong. What are these tools? Besides the word and praying and having a relationship with Jesus and knowing Him for yourself, a few things that I think are important are:

– A clean heart and pure spirit, one that is forgiving and giving

– Surrounding yourself with good spiritual (God following, loving, fearing) leaders and friends, people that will hold you accountable. Ones who will encourage you as needed and discourage you in your wrong ways. You need peeps that keep it real!

– Give thanks, have faith, love, be positive

– Discipline. Staying focused on God. Lay aside your fleshly desires, resist temptations (esp ones that you’ll regret later). You can do it! — Matthew 6:33, 1 Corinthians 10:13

– Healthy diet: Stay hungry and thirsty for the word. Feed your spirit with truth and life, the Bible.

– Strength training: Trials you go through (fights with family, friends, career issues, death, relationships)

– Endurance/sprints: You’re never in it alone. First you have Jesus. Then, these leaders/friends mentioned above (and fam of course) are there to help you.

Of course there is a lot more, these are just a few that are top of mind for me. What do you think is most important? As you run this race called life, don’t forget to stay in your lane. You are only purposed to run your race, God has not called nor equipped you to run someone else’s. We all play different positions 🙂 Our goal shouldn’t be to beat each other, instead it’s to beat the negative influences, the bad, the wickedness that’s all around us.

What is winning? For me, it’s eternal life and living in His will, not by my own strength but through God and glorifying His kingdom. The sacrifices we make now are so little when we compare them to the everlasting blessings we are storing up.

Lots of love yall!

❤ Rinny

A Life Changing Message

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“This is going to be a life changing message.” That’s kind of how last week’s Friday night young adult service began. *sigh* (confession) Sometimes when I hear that I’m like, is it really though??

Good news, it was a powerful message…and so I’m sharing 🙂

The Power of The Word

You can’t win at life if you’re not reading the Bible! We’re in a daily battle…with ourselves, spiritually and with the world. Are you equipped to fight?

In Matthew 4:1-11, Jesus went head to head with Lucifer and was tempted three times. Check out the scriptures, “it is written…” Jesus said that each time he defeated the devil. This is a prototype for us. We have to use the word of God to fight and win…and sometimes, just to make it through.

Some of you might not understand this at all, what is meant by “fight the enemy” or being in a “daily battle”. Take a sec and think about your day yesterday, were you tempted to do anything you know you shouldn’t do (lie, cheat, fight, drugs, sex, etc.)? These are just some of the daily battles we have to overcome. Obviously, we experience much bigger battles in life too. So, how do we win?  

Jesus used the word from the book of Deuteronomy to defeat Lucifer, and even Lucifer used the word to tempt Jesus (Matthew 4:6). If Jesus needed the word, how much more do we need the word?

The pastor said a few other things that really got my attention:

– He never met a person who prays for 30 min and reads the word for 30 min daily who can’t defeat their problems

– If you get one thing down, reading the Bible, you’ll self correct several other things. (The word is life, it’s how you win.)

– Only study the truth so you can identify the junk, no matter where it’s coming from (sometimes people preach but they don’t preach the truth…you need to be spiritually strong enough to discern this)

– Other people can’t fight your battles for you (yes others can pray, give advice, etc, but if you are not in the word, it’s gonna be tough!)

Let God turn your Bible into a weapon. He loves you soo deeply and he always wants you to win. He’s patiently waiting for you.

Here’s a challenge for you: start reading the Bible daily. Even if you start with just a few scriptures, a chapter…it counts, just be consistent. Every book in the Bible is meaningful (even if it’s not making sense lol). Are you hurting, looking for purpose, struggling with something? You have the BIGGEST help from your Father up above. Can you know God’s voice if you don’t know Him, his word?

If you’ve fallen away from your faith, if you need strength, even if you don’t believe…just try it and see what happens. I want that W, that victory for all of us (Matthew 3:17)

With lots of lovee ❤

Rinny

P.S. Thanks to our guest speaker, Pastor Tim Dilena of Brooklyn Tabernacle, for the awesome word. http://www.brooklyntabernacle.org/

Questions, thoughts? Feel free to comment! 🙂

Having A Rough Day?

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I always say that I LOVE it when my mom writes me and my sibs emails because she writes the best emails ever. This one in particular I have to share because it’s amazing might I say…and I think someone will take something away from this.

From the heart of my mommy:

Subject: It’s me!

I went out shopping today and I was tired when I came home, but refreshingly so, and when I took a deep breath, it actually felt so good. The problem was that I couldn’t pass a single person who I was drawn to without sharing something on this level.

Having a rough day? Place your hand over your heart. Feel that? That’s called purpose. You’re alive for a reason. Don’t give up. I went through a phase in life, wondering if I was ever going to find a purpose in life. What helped me was following my heart. Although, it didn’t always lead me to sunshine, it did always teach me a lesson along the way. Finding your purpose in life doesn’t happen over night, it’s a life-long journey.

So hang in there, and if you continue to believe that you’re here for a reason, then eventually you’ll understand your purpose in life. Look forward to how good that will feel and that will help you feel great today.

Knowing that you all know this, share at your own pace and from your own encouraged heart.

Andrea shared something with me yesterday…I thought I was aware of all the simple things.  She said that we live our lives comparing it to what we see and hear around us. We sometimes desire these things that are right for others and think they should be right for us now too.  We should learn to be happy for being our own wonderful selves, and more wonderful things will follow.

This totally hit home for me yesterday. Just want to add a scripture for ya, Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Also, check out John 15:16. God has a plan for you. Don’t forget your purpose 🙂

With lots of love,

❤ Rinny

Mother India…I’m home!

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HYDERABAD, INDIA. Mother India, merii ghar men hoon! Hindi for “I’m home.” I landed FRIDAY morning around 3:45AM after 20+ hours of traveling. (Thank goodness for good seat mates on the plane. No crazy stories here..just a lot of loud babies crying.) Sidenote: sweatshirt, oversized tee, comfy pants…best travel fit.

You can imagine how happy I was to finally touch down in Hyderabad. I walked off of the plane soo excited, quickly went to baggage claim, customs, etc. to go meet my dad/mom who were picking me up from the airport. Mini reunion in India 🙂 I hadn’t seen them since the end of August. We finally get home to my aunty’s place around 5:30AM. I get ready for bed and surprisingly knock out until 10ishAM…No jet lag! Hollerrr.

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I woke up to say hi to the fam and eat breakfast: fresh fruit – custard apple (it’s not at all like the apple that you’re thinking of, buutt…new fav!), idli, sambar, chutney…wish I had taken more pics for y’all! Everything was so yummy.

custard apple

After breakfast, we all headed out for the day, aunty took me/mom saree shopping to a designer nearby, errands, dr visit for my sprained ankle (womp…but I went to an amazing tendon, bone, joint specialist. 3 more weeks til I’m back to normal :-/), met up at home for lunch, went for tea at a famous restaurant called Paradise (phenom! Iranian chai is what it’s called)…and in the evening, went go karting at Runway 9 with the family. I heard some great stories about my cousins and how they were champs in the Indian Go Karting world…SO MUCH FUN.

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SATURDAY morning. It is so beautiful here. I’m enjoying every bit of being here. I woke up early to pray and get some work done. It’s so peaceful. My aunty came out and started doing yoga/meditation. She’s pretty legit. I’m sitting, working on my laptop, and I look up and see her in sirsasana pose (headstand). I definitely have to join her the rest of the time I’m here. She wakes up everyday and does yoga and meditation…yes to healthy living!

I took a break from work and walked outside on the terrace to the view below. God loves us so. Took a few moments to take it all in, the morning prayers, the man across the way doing laps on his rooftop, the beautiful sunset. Pure amazingness. Thank you God for love!

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It’s amazing. As you can tell, I’m LOVING every bit of it 🙂 More shopping, more food, more Hyderabadi livin

1 Chronicles 23:30

❤

What is Love?

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So real. Saw this on a website a few months ago.
The kiddies say it best. ❤

“When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.” – Billy, age 4

“Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.” – Karl, age 5

“Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.” – Chrissy, age 6

“Love is what makes you smile when you’re tired.” – Terri, age 4

“Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.” – Danny, age 7

“Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss.” – Emily, age 8

“Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.” – Bobby, age 7

“If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,” – Nikka, age 6

“Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday.” – Noelle, age 7

“Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.” – Tommy, age 6

“During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn’t scared anymore.” – Cindy, age 8

“My mommy loves me more than anybody. You don’t see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.” – Clare, age 6

“Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.” – Elaine, age 5

“Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Brad Pitt.” – Chris, age 7

“Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.” – Mary Ann, age 4

“I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.” – Lauren, age 4

“When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn’t bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That’s love.” – Rebecca, age 8

“When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.” – Karen, age 7

“You really shouldn’t say ‘I love you’ unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.” – Jessica, age 8