Annie's Diary

 Hey, I just wanted to let you know I am planning to run the London Marathon 2025 for a charity named CCS. It is a charity that works with disadvantaged children. I have been with Nisai Group for 10 years now, an organisation which aims to educate children with special education needs. Hence it is a cause close to my heart. This would all seem pretty impossible at the moment but I am putting my trust in God. If you fancy supporting me, please use the link below to donate: https://www.justgiving.com/page/tibysamuellm2025 Thank you so much for your generosity! JESUS, I Trust in You.

Marriage is not just about falling in love and deciding to spend the rest of your lives together. It is actually an agreement made between three persons - husband, wife and God. It is essential not to forget about God in your relationship. It also takes a lot of effort to make a marriage work. This is the case for both love and arranged marriages. For those who are wondering what an arranged marriage is - it is the process by which a man's family or a woman's family selects the groom or bridegroom for them instead of the couple themselves finding their love. Ours was an arranged marriage. So I always wonder about love marriages - Do they feel differently in their relationship? Do they feel more intimacy? Does their initial spark which made them to choose each other remain throughout their lives? From what I have seen so far around me, I believe it does help to choose the person whom you dearly love as your life long partner but the first feeling they had might not last forever....

If you have read my previous post, you would have got a small hint of what I was going through. I was being tempted by the devil just like Jesus was tempted in the desert for 40 days. However, my temptation didn't last that long. It stretched over the month of May during which I felt I can no longer bear it but I kept remembering the word of God where St Paul says in his first letter to the Corinthians 10:13 - "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it" I kept saying this to myself even though it was really hard for me to believe in this bible verse. I was so severely tested like gold melted in fire to purify it. There were times when I thought I would just fall down somewhere as I tried hard not to sin.  But today, I can say proudly that I have passed my test and I am standing here as a t...

I have been recently very close to God especially since my father-in-law passed away. I hear a lot of devotional talks and encourage my family to pray more (not that they enjoy it lol) but they still do it for my sake. What especially came across these talks was the importance of suffering in Christian life and how we are called to join our suffering with Christ's suffering on the cross. Then, I used to think - I don't really have that much pain in my life to unite with Jesus' pain. I was on a short Indian trip last month to help my mum to travel to Germany because my parents had to go there to finish few things off before they settled forever in India. A heart-breaking pain was given to me after such a long time. One would have thought, you wouldn't face such trials again when you are in communion with Christ (partly the reason why I decided to bravely expose myself to this trial). I was hurting so much which I shared with one of my closest friends only. Day 1 passed b...

  Scene 1: Valentine's Day We don't normally make a big fuss about Valentine's Day. I am not sure if it is because there is nothing really big to celebrate or is it because we think there is no need for a special day to express our special love for each other.  However, I did wish "Happy Valentine's Day!" to echachen first thing in the morning. I can never resist myself doing that! I have, however stopped buying gifts because I am not sure if Echachen cares about them :) I would, on the contrary, for sure appreciate receiving some flowers or gifts or at least a card, may be? This Valentine's day, I was for some reason, hoping to be gifted with a flower bouquet. It was also the starting of lent also known as "Ash Wednesday". The priest would put ashes on our head to remind us that we are made of dust and to dust we shall return and also to mark the beginning of a season of fasting and abstinence so that God will forgive our sins. We went to church...

  The melody of comfort Who would have thought, the sound of a snore would become music to your ears one day? Who would have thought, the loud disturbing noise would make you so happy that you would decide to record that moment? My mum suffers from Parkinson's disease for the last 15 years and she is looked after 24 x 7, most loyally, by my wonderful dad, trying his best to accommodate all her needs in midst of all my mum's constant complaints and requests. He is himself suffering from heart disease but not for one moment giving up on what life has thrown at him. So, let me get back to the actual point. Recently, I decided to visit my parents for 2 weeks so I can also be away from the hustle bustle of my life being a mother of 3 lovely kids and a part-time job holder. I slept in the same room as my mum and dad and during the initial two days, I could see how my dad was not getting a tiny bit of rest at night. It is either, my mum needs the toilet or she might need to eat someth...

 You know what's one thing I hate? It is when people appear to be secretive in front of us. Either they should include us in whatever they are conversing about or they should never be discussing secrets in public places while everyone is freely talking to each other. I absolutely detest it when people avoid including me in their conversation. I might be taking this too seriously but that is how I am. I believe in one big group of friends where we share everything with everyone. As I said, it is just my view :) God bless! Happy Sunday

 Hey, I have been inspired by my dear hubby to start blogging again or rather to do something consistently every day. I am still in that never ending journey of finding my own destiny or goal in this world (which many of you have already identified or achieved, well done!) My hubby thinks the best way to achieve it is to be persistent and keep doing a task/activity every day of your life. This is very difficult in my case since I have this habit of starting something and then abandoning it after a few days. I have never known to be continuously working hard towards a goal. Well, may be it is time now finally to make this happen. I know you must be already getting bored reading this but I have no choice but to keep going :)  I have an issue where I am unable to maintain a healthy relationship with people. I tend to either love them and all the freedom with them or not talk with them at all. Recently, I have been making some new friends but every time I start to talk to them ope...

Hi, It's been a long time since I have blogged anything at all. I felt like I should make this a habit so that I could keep track of my kids' milestones and achievements and treasure those beautiful moments and crazy moments. Iris, if she gets something new on a day, she will definitely go to sleep with that thing. For example, today Echachen bought her a Kinder Joy egg on his way back from office. She loves to eat the chocolate first before opening the gift unlike many children I have seen. Today, her egg contained a jumping red frog on a spring. The frog was wearing a cooling glass too! Also, today she took off the long banner from the wall which was put there on Nehemy's birthday (which happened 3 months ago but we were too lazy to take it off ;) ). So, as I was saying, when she went to bed today, she took these 2 things with her. If she wakes up in the middle of night, the first thing she would look for will be these treasures that she had taken with her. To...

Hello, It's been sometime since I have posted anything on my blog. I had been busy with my little naughty girl for sometime now. She is 16 months old now and she does keep me on my toes. She has learned to speak few words and the best one among that is "Attichum" (means "Will beat you"). The actual malayalam word is "Adikkum" but she says it like this. Even though she says it angrily, it sounds cute. My hus took her for a walk today and while she was running, he poked her back and she turned around raised her index finger and said "Attichum". He he. She is real fun to be with. She has got elephant ears or we say "Aana chevi" in Malayalam. That is considered as a sign of luck among people of Kerala. Just thought of googling about it but couldn't find much info. These are all just rumours, I believe. Anyway, it is nice to hear such funny facts. It makes you feel good about your child. One another thing is that she has ...

In our home in Kerala, we used to light the candle in the evening at about 6pm and pray the Trisandhya Japam. This is a tradition in India, mostly in Hindu homes where they will light not a candle but a lamp using oil and a small thread. If you take a stroll at this time you could see a divine light coming from each home. But in christian homes like ours we light a candle and say the prayer called "Trisandhya Japam". Today I would like to share it with my malayalee readers(if any) ;) This prayer is also known as "God's Angel Declared" in English or "Karthaavinte Maalagha" in Malayalam. It is a very small prayer and can be followed easily everyday without fail. I am sure it will bring lots of blessings to your home. ത്രിസന്ധ്യ ജപം കര്‍ത്താവിന്റെ മാലാഖ മര്‍ത്തമറിയമിനോട്‌ വച്ചനിച്ചു; പരിശുദ്ധാത്മാവിനാല്‍ അവള്‍ ഗര്‍ഭിണി ആയി. (നന്മ നിറഞ്ഞ മറിയമെ....) ഇതാ ഞാന്‍ കര്‍ത്താവിന്റെ ദാസി, നിന്റെ വചനം പോലെ എനിക്ക് ഭവിക്കട്ടെ. (നന്മ നിറഞ്ഞ മറിയമെ...) വചനം ശരീരിയായി, ...

Hi all, It is long time since I have blogged anything and thought of sharing the recipe of Parippu curry. I had a dinner party yesterday night following the blessing of our new rental house in Saudi. The dishes I prepared were Kerala boiled rice, parippu curry, chicken curry, fish fry, carrot thoran and pudding. Everyone liked parippu curry the best (my good luck) and for my bad luck it was over in few minutes... I had prepared only less amount of it and couldn't supply more :) This is the first time I am preparing food for such an occasion and that too for 9 people. I am very much happy that it was a success. They all said it was a very delicious dinner and I was in the seventh heaven of delight. I bragged about it to my parents too. So I will stop bragging more :P Parippu Curry Home Style Ingredients: Parippu- 1 cup (of 250ml size) Grated coconut- 1 cup Cumin seeds- One pinch Green chilly- 3 (small size) Shallots(chuvanna ulli or cheriya ulli)- 6 Garlic-2 Turmeric powder- 1/2 tea...

Hi friends, Thought I would start blogging again after 2 years. Felt really good when I read through my previous two blogs after a long time. I believe blogging is quite useful and just like a diary where we can put in our thoughts, our dreams, our day to day life experiences. Anyway, I don't want my readers to get bored. I had a very busy day in office today because of which I am feeling so sleepy. I will stop here for today. Watch out for more interesting episodes of my life ;) "Keep Smiling" like my best friend always used to say :D See ya.

Hello guys, One more day to XmAs and I'm waiting for SAntA cLaus!!!! May be its only a story. But I want to believe its true. Wish Santa would leave me a gift or two under the xmas tree..hehe I was not at all excited about this christmas and I hadnt set up any xmas tree or crib. Our xmas tree is more than 10 years old. So all its leaves and stem are broken. So I didnt want to set up that old tree. hmm... I thought of setting up some natural leaves from our garden but couldnt find any leaves like that of xmas tree. So I had quit that idea too. But when papa asked me whether we are setting up the tree, I thought, after all I would make the crib and xmas tree. So I and papa took initiative and we started building up our very old xmas tree and also crib. While setting up the tree, I went and set free our dear Rony doggiee. He ran and came to where we were working. Then he started smelling all the xmas decorations and also tree. After that he settled down near us. The fun part is that I...

Hi Everyone! This is my first blog. My best friend told me to try blogging. Thats why i'm here. hmm... so as the title says there are 7 more days to xmas. There is no big celebration going around here. Anyway we hung up a RED star as per my decision. hehe. Then today i wrote christmas cards for everyone. But after writing up all those cards, I realized that i lost my slam book which had all the addresses in it...So i ended up with a lot of written cards and no addresses. i was looking around for that lost slam book the whole day and i cudnt find it :( Thats all for today. Byeee