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I got an email from a girl one day. It had information about her qualifications, parents, career, favorite animals etc. in good detail. I was a little puzzled when I read this and called my parents in India to see if they knew about her. They told me that one of our relatives had given my contact information to this girl. I realized that the motive was to get us married. So I responded by giving some information about myself. I was not actively trying to getting married at that time but was open to the idea if the match was good. However there was one major obstacle.

I am from a traditional Brahmin family in Chennai. I was an agnostic (did not believe that there was any proof to the existence of God) in India although I participated in all the religious ceremonies and temple visits with my parents. After coming to the United States I experienced some strange events which made me wonder if God is real not just an illusion. I researched Hindu scriptures - Bhagavad-Gita, some Vedas etc. for evidence of God. Unfortunately I could not find any evidence although some of the verses were profound and interesting. My next search for God was in the Quran and I was not convinced about it too. My thought was, if there is a God, why would he try to confuse me? Moreover a book written by God would be simple to read for anyone, intellectual or not, since God does not show partiality to the intelligent.

Then I started reading the Bible. It was very interesting and in chronological order, like a history book. It was simple to read and understand and I thought God could have written this book.  While I was reading the first few books, one day I was looking at myself in the mirror and something wonderful happened. I KNEW for sure that there is a God and that God created me and I did not evolve from apes. This changed my view of life and I started dealing with issues differently from then on. As I read further and into the New Testament I realized that Jesus is speaking the truth and he really is God’s son. God sent Jesus so that he can show us what we need to do to be accepted in God’s Kingdom (or Heaven). It is similar to preparing for a career on earth. So slowly my belief in the teachings of Jesus got strengthened and I started experiencing changes in my life, in relationships, money matters and health. I wanted my future wife also to learn what I did.

I wanted my wife to be from the same background as I - language, culture, food, music etc. The dilemma was If I did find a girl that matched my preference, most likely she would not be interested in reading the Bible or understanding its message. So I wanted to find out what this girl’s interests were. My questions revolved around movies of interest, goal in life, books etc. Her questions were about animals, places, colors etc. I found that her favorite author was J. Krishnamurthy. I did not know anything about this person so I did some research. I found that Mr. Krishnamurthy is from South India and he taught philosophical subjects on the meaning of life, how to live life, its purpose etc. In fact, his followers thought that he was the Second Christ!! This motivated me. My thought was, if she could believe in the second Christ, she could believe in the first. So when I first visited her, I presented her a bible. I asked her to read some portions of it and ask me questions. To my surprise she did that and the questions were anything but superficial. It took me several years of study to arrive at these questions. Just for information, it took me 8 years to believe that Jesus is indeed God’s son. I was encouraged by the questions and slowly I revealed my faith in Jesus and asked if that bothered her. She paused but then said NO. Yahoo… I was relieved.

I wanted to do further tests to see if this was really a match made by God. I used to believe in reading and interpreting horoscopes. That was no longer the case. But just for test purposes I sent both our horoscopes to four different astrologers all over India. My experience with astrologers was that no two of them agree in all aspects. To my amazement all four astrologers I contacted came back with good information saying this was a great match!! That is a miracle. Trusting in God, I agreed to the marriage.

My friends (many of them Christians) opposed to this match. They claimed I was a Christian but this girl was not. This would not be allowed by Christian doctrines. Moreover I had my Green Card so it would be tough to bring my wife into the USA. My response to the first point was that I am not Christian but I believe in who Jesus is and his teachings. My perception is Christianity today is not a faith but just a religion similar to Hinduism and Islam. Religion is the cause of most wars today and I did not want to have anything to do with that. To the second issue, the green card, my answer was if God made this match, He will do whatever it takes to keep us together. So it is really not my problem to worry about how we are going to stay together.

So I got married in December 2001. I came to the USA using my Green Card and my wife came on a visitor visa that was valid for 6 months. Towards the end of 5 months, my friends were again getting worried about her stay here. I was working part-time as a consultant for a USA based Company. I asked the company if they could sponsor H-1 visa for my wife with her qualifications. They agreed and I filed the H-1 application through a lawyer. It was June 25, 2002 and still there was no response from the INS. My wife started packing for her return to India on July 3 as per flight schedule. We got the H1B approved on June 27 with validity for 3 years!! We were so thrilled and thanked God from our heart. We got it extended after 3 years. Today I am a US citizen, my wife has a green card, and both our children are US Citizens. All glory belongs to God who has been the director in my life and continues to do amazing wonders each day to keep me focused on His purpose in my life.

To those who love God:

I am glad for you. Try to read more about Jesus if you have not because I think you too will be amazed by his practical application of his teaching ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself’. You know the blessed life I am talking about. A prosperous life is not just to have lots of money but good health, relationships, joy and peace. May God continue to bless you and guide you.

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nice article(i really inspired while reading this article)
written by a guest , July 10, 2008

I believe in Jesus n practical changes occurred in my life r good , although some failures have come converting them to positive.

one thing i have to say- we should not test GOD(before reading Bible i use to do, whtever favor happens to me then i think Jesus is there) but true belief is must.

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written by a guest , November 02, 2008

No one can prove the existence of God by logic. If you believe there is God, well He is there for you. If you are sure there is no God, well that again is true for you. Also, you can choose to live as an agnostic. All problems arise when someone tries to force his faith on you. Allow others to choose a God or not. Leave him / her to him/herself. Let us not assume 'my logic is better than yours'. B S warrier

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