My 2 Cents Worth

A Tale of 1 Cheerio 'O'

2011-08-23T12:30:00.001+08:00

Note: I wrote this a few months ago, probably in June or something. It is one of the many unfinished blogs under my draft folder. I think it's high time it makes its appearance. =)

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My colleague and I usually have cereal for breakfast at the office and it so happens that in the middle of this year, we were both of Multigrain-Cheerios. This is what I wrote to her on SMS one evening:

"I was doing my routine exercise of going under my table to turn off the power switch for my laptop when i discovered something peculiar... There is was, a single Cheerio 'O' lying under the thin space of our desk partition, waiting, longing and yearning to have someone notice its existence. The poor 'O' had most likely lost its way from its box while heading towards being savoured by its owner. There is no certainty as to whether it was your 'O' or mine, as it was lying smack right in the middle of our shared partition. The mystery remains...

Subsequent to the discovery, I did what any wise and responsible person would have done: I lifted the 'O' from under the partition... and dropped it into my dustbin, took my belongings and went on my way. Such is the fate of a stray Cheerio 'O' in Bayan Lepas."

Totally random, I know.. But my colleague, who didn't exactly have a great day on that very day I sent the SMS, laughed her head off.

Mission accomplished. =)

Heck It, Just Write La..

2011-04-25T23:02:00.004+08:00

Okay, so I've not been as consistent as I would like to be in blogging. I've not had a blog entry since September last year. Not that it really matters since no one actually reads this blog anyway (I am partially to be blamed because I refuse to promote it) but I am making it a point to write/ blog more consistently from now on.

I admit, I have been busy and lazy for that matter and at most times, uninspired to write, I guess. My sense of perfectionism has also contributed much to my long blog silence as I usually refrain from publishing anything that I feel is not good enough for public consumption. Not that perfectionism is not good but I realised that it is this very perfectionism that has in some ways kept me from doing anything at all because nothing is ever 'good enough'.

But I have decided to that it is really OK if my blog entry isn't perfect. What matters more is for me to be able to express my thoughts. Simply put, it's better for me to have at least tried to blog and express my thoughts and feelings than not do anything at all. So yeah, as I had mentioned earlier on, I am gonna try and write as much as I can.

That's all for now. Tune in for more soon blog updates soon!

God is More than Enough...

2010-09-12T23:44:00.002+08:00

I read Jaeson Ma's blog this afternoon and found this entry that he wrote about 3 weeks ago. It kinda summed up some of the things that I was feeling this past weekend and I was really encouraged by it. I am thankful and amazed at how God has used Jaeson Ma's testimony and articles to inspire me this year. Am sharing this in hope that you guys will be encouraged and inspired too. God bless.

Yinz

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Wrestling Through...

Life isn’t always fair. Seldom does life turn out the way we hope it does. When we are young we have ideals and dreams. We believe anything is possible and the world is our frontier to conquer. As we get older, many of our hopes get dashed, our dreams become forgotten and our expectations are shattered. We can’t predict exactly how life will turn out, not for ourselves or anyone else.

Many people I know are frustrated, discouraged, depressed, hurt or bitter at life. When things in life don’t turn out the way we want them to, it’s easy to get upset and lose trust in ourselves and other people. I’ll be honest, through the years although I’ve had many ups, equally I’ve had just as many downs. I’ve had major disappointments in my relationships, my family, my pursuits and dreams, but what do you make of it all?

This past weekend I decided to take a day out and just “drive”. I have the luxury of being able to live around the most beautiful beaches in the world here in Los Angeles California. I decided I would go and take a Saturday to just drive towards Malibu where there is a 27 mile stretch of gorgeous beaches and coastlands. I wanted to just get a way, get alone with God, pray and spend some time thinking about things I normally don’t get to think about.

Normally, I’m so busy doing projects, meeting with other people, or helping other people that I hardly get any time to think about things that are important to me. We tend to push things that are important to us, or things that are too hurtful to think about, or issues we don’t want to confront deep down into our subconscious. We sort of just keep going and going in life when these issues are just too hard to understand or to deal with.

Well, this weekend I was able to get away and “confront the issues” that have been on my heart. I was going to wrestle with them myself and with God. I ended up finding a random beach café on the coastal highway. I was hoping that somehow God would lead me to a quite destination, some secluded beach where I could walk and talk with God. When I felt this strong leading to make this turn into this small entrance to this beach café, it turned out to be the most beautiful and perfect spot! It was a beach cove, with a secluded and quite beach and I could walk for miles on my own with time to myself.

I ended up spending the day walking the beaches, and pouring out my heart to God. I kept telling him all the different things that I wanted, I desired, things that made me disappointed, personal struggles, people who hurt me, and dreams that were dashed. I also shared with Him my hopes, my plans and my deepest wants that not anyone knows of… it was great to just get it out. We need to do that sometimes, just let go and let God take our burdens, we may not find the answers but just knowing that He hears and that He cares is enough.

When I started my walk on the beach my heart was heavy, burdened and weighed down. I didn’t even really know why, but past issues, pains, and hurts just began to surface. I wept, I laughed, I cried, I screamed, I sang, I was still before God and in the end I knew He heard me.

I came to my own peace with God and myself. If I never saw the desires of my heart fulfilled, if I never got those things in life that I really wanted, if things never did turn out the way I would like to have planned, if my hopes and dreams were never realized, I would be okay. Not because I want to be defeated, but because indeed just knowing God, and having a relationship with Him was more than enough. I only asked God for one thing, “Wash me clean of my sins and keep me faithful to the end!” When I die, I only ask that I die with one thing in my heart and that is… integrity.

God bless,
Jaeson Ma

Adapted from www.jaesonma.com (26 August 2010 entry for East Week Magazine HK)

Random Thoughts on Love

2010-08-21T21:52:00.002+08:00

I just got back yesterday after 4 days and 3 nights in KL. I will at some point blog about the trip [at some point :)] but just had a random thought after those 3 nights:

- The greatest commandment is to love God and to love others as ourselves. As we have been shown grace, mercy and love by our God, we should also show grace, mercy and love to others in the likeness of our God.
- Worship is our response to God's love. As we are all different, there will therefore be many different expressions of worship to God. We need to learn to accept one another in our differences and strive for love and unity in diversity rather than merely conformity or uniformity.
- Transformation into God's likeness is from within, not from without. Just because people do not look Christian from the outside does not mean they are not true believers and followers.

Lord, Your love be the ultimate example of how I am to love. I want to love You with all that I am and I want to love others like You do. Fill me with more of Your grace and love that I may be able to love other with Your love. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Forwarded Encouragements: You say, GOD says...

2010-07-19T00:18:00.002+08:00

I was clearing out my draft blogs and found this. I don't remember the source but I hope it will inspire you anyways. ;)

You say: "It ' s impossible" God says: All things are possible (Luke 18:27)
You say: "I ' m too tired" God says: I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28-30)
You say: "Nobody really loves me" God says: I love you (John 3:16 & John 3:34 )
You say: "I can't go on" God says: My grace is sufficient (II Corinthians 12:9 & Psalm 91:15)
You say: "I can't figure things out" God says: I will direct your steps (Proverbs 3:5-6)
You say: "I can't do it" God says: You can do all things (Philippians 4:13)
You say: "I ' m not able" God says: I am able (II Corinthians 9:8)
You say: "It's not worth it" God says: It will be worth it (Roman 8:28 )
You say: "I can't forgive myself" God says: I Forgive you (I John 1:9 & Romans 8:1)
You say: "I can't manage" God says: I will supply all your needs (Philippians 4:19)
You say: "I'm afraid" God says: I have not given you a spirit of fear (II Timothy 1:7)
You say: "I'm always worried and frustrated" God says: Cast all your cares on ME (I Peter 5:7)
You say: "I'm not smart enough" God says: I give you wisdom (I Corinthians 1:30)
You say: "I feel all alone" God says: I will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5)

1 Corinthians 7: To Be Married, to Be Single...

2010-07-18T21:38:00.009+08:00

I decided to blog about this touchy subject after encountering the following scenarios within the past 20 days:

1. At my cousin's wedding, my aunt asked me when will she get to attend my wedding dinner.. Okay..
2. While chatting to a homeless lady, she asked how old I was and said I should get married before I get along in years... that was pretty random...
3. While fetching one of the teenagers home after Youth Meeting, he asked how old I was and why I am not getting married yet... *sweat*

Three occasions within less than a month... I guess it is the perfect time to write on this subject matter.

I am obviously still single at this point and frankly and seriously, it ain't all that bad. I have to admit that for most part of my young adulthood, I idolized the whole idea of marriage. I had my personal grand plans about marriage: I wanted to be swept off my feet by the man of my dreams and be in a relationship and get married, latest by 28 and have my first child before I turn 30. Well, I have obviously by-passed my personal 'optimum' age for marriage and will also reach the big three zero in less than 4 months so yeah, my so-called grand plans have been shelved, or I guess been thrown out of the window. ;)

But as always, God has His wonderful plans and thanks be to Him for His amazing and abundant grace unto our lives. For a long time, I have always wondered why I am not 'wanted', but in the past couple of months, I am beginning to see more and more from another perspective, that it is really okay to be single. After years of struggle, I have finally experienced a breakthrough, all by His grace. I am thankful to God for GoodTV's interview of Pastor Jaeson Ma. I kinda 'accidentally' watched the interview, thinking that it was about Vanness Wu but I believe it was the best 'mistake' I have ever made in my life. The interview wasn't about Vanness Wu but on Jaeson Ma's testimony and I believe God used that interview to speak into my life. I was heavily impacted and encouraged through that message to commit to give my best to God all the days of my life and to trust Him as the real Author and Perfector of my faith and my life. A few days after that interview, I went for church camp and there, I was also touched by the Lord. Within less than a month, I received a long-awaited breakthrough, having failed for years trying by my own strength, and it was all due to His grace and strength.

I know and acknowledge that life is not a bed of roses and there will be days in which I would feel the 'pinch' of wanting a relationship but I do know that I want to desire more of God and I want to depend on His love to satisfy me more than anything else in this world. While I do still wonder whether I am meant for marriage, I do also know that all things are in His plans and whatever His plans may be, the blessed assurance that I have is that His plans are always perfect because He knows best and whether single or married, I will always have His love. As aptly stated by Eugene Peterson in his Message translation of 1 Corinthians 7:17:

...don't be wishing you were someplace else or with someone else. Where you are right now is God's place for you. Live and obey and love and believe right there. God, not your marital status, defines your life.

In a nutshell, I am very open to the idea of marriage and I want to give my best to my future husband and our children but one thing's for sure: I do not want to idolize marriage anymore. I want to desire more of Jesus than a life partner. Whether or not I get married, God's will is for each of us to be prepared as the bride of Christ for the coming of the Bridegroom. Rather than to spend the time worrying about when I will meet the guy, I know I should spend more time and effort in preparing myself and the church for Jesus' coming again. So my conviction is that right here, right now, there is a purpose for me to be single in this season. My life is not defined by my marital status. However long God wants me to serve and honor Him as a single, by His grace, I will serve Him with all I am and as best as I can in every way. And I know that His grace is sufficient for all of us. ;)

P/s: Btw, if you are interested to know, I told the homeless lady that it is okay if I get married or don't get married and I told the teenager that it's okay cos I am in God's will and purpose. But I guess my favourite was my reply to my aunt (and honestly, without any malice intended): "You wait lah."

Romans 12

2010-06-11T00:04:00.005+08:00

As I struggled with some unhappy thoughts tonight, I was reminded of Paul's sharing in Romans 12 which I had just read a couple of days ago. It brought a lot of comfort and peace to my heart and I hope you will also find hope and rest in God, just as I did. ;) Enjoy!

Romans 12 (The Message)

Place Your Life Before God
1-2 So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

3I'm speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it's important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.

4-6In this way we are like the various parts of a human body. Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around. The body we're talking about is Christ's body of chosen people. Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body. But as a chopped-off finger or cut-off toe we wouldn't amount to much, would we? So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ's body, let's just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren't.

6-8If you preach, just preach God's Message, nothing else; if you help, just help, don't take over; if you teach, stick to your teaching; if you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don't get bossy; if you're put in charge, don't manipulate; if you're called to give aid to people in distress, keep your eyes open and be quick to respond; if you work with the disadvantaged, don't let yourself get irritated with them or depressed by them. Keep a smile on your face.

9-10Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.

11-13Don't burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don't quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.

14-16Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they're happy; share tears when they're down. Get along with each other; don't be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don't be the great somebody.

17-19Don't hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you've got it in you, get along with everybody. Don't insist on getting even; that's not for you to do. "I'll do the judging," says God. "I'll take care of it."

20-21Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he's thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don't let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good.

Something To Be Thankful About Everyday... ;)

2010-04-29T00:27:00.002+08:00

Lord, thank you for the food in my fridges. Many times, I know I take these small little things for granted. Thank you for your provision and for reminding me to practice the lifestyle of a true worshipper through living in gratefulness daily. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus' name, Amen!

My Idea of Home-Cooked Lunch

2010-03-30T12:31:00.005+08:00

This was lunch for today.

I have decided to turn over a new leaf and lead a healthier lifestyle; hence I've been trying to eat healthy for the past 24 hours. Fine, it isn't long but hey, at least I'm still on it! By eating healthy, I do not mean I am doing the whole no carb. regime. I still take carbs but just less; mostly at breakfast, a bit at lunch and minimal at dinner. I was in the mood to whip up my own lunch today and since there were ingredients available (the benefit of having family members who cook daily, unlike slackers like me), I threw a few things together: Romaine lettuce (I THINK they are Romaine), tomatoes, cucumber and 2 eggs and voila, I have a salad! Took me about 45 minutes to finish preparing the salad because I had a last-minute inspiration to throw in some steamed chicken and prawns. It was nice and very filling. Would be perfect if I had some cherry tomatoes, plain yogurt and some nuts in the salad but I guess whatever I had was also good enough. So contrary to what we usually think or believe (that "Salad chiak beh pa leh!"), they can be very filling and satisfying to your tummy. What are you waiting for? Go make a salad today! ;)

Unconditional Love

2010-02-18T23:35:00.004+08:00

God,

You amaze me with Your love, how You love each of us despite our unfaithfulness, despite people not loving You back. I am finding it so hard to love and care for people who don't love us or care for us in return. In fact, I feel like it is almost a betrayal. But I guess that's what unconditional love and giving is about - we cannot give love and expect the people to return the love and we cannot give and expect to receive something back. Struggling to accept the fact and am finding it hard to be like Jesus. ;(

But thank You for reminding me about 1 Corinthians 13:4-8:

4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8Love never fails.

The more I read through the verses, the more clearly I see that I haven't truly mastered and understood Your true meaning love. I am a direct opposite of what the verses say. But Your Word is not to condemn but to lead us in Your perfect ways. Lord, help me embrace Your Word and emulate Christ in all that I do daily. Even when things get tough, help me to cling on to Your grace and peace instead of allowing myself to wallow in the mud of anger. I am in need of Your love and grace each day. I love You, Lord and I place my trust and hope in You alone.

Psalm 42: 11
11Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.

August and September Happenings and the Flu Bug.. sniff..

2009-10-11T21:10:00.006+08:00

I'm writing again after a long period of silence. Thought I'd blog a bit before the spiders come and spin cobwebs here (Do they even call it 'spin'?).

August and September has been great. In August, I was informed of my promotion at work. Praise God for His goodness and favour. All glory to Him alone. :) Went to Singapore for the 2009 IDMC at the end of August. It was so good that we signed up for next year's conference there and then! I'm looking forward to it. In September, Erika was back for a weekend visit which was really awesome! I attended the Plan 09 which is a youth missions conference and man, I had a really awesome time. I'm thankful to God for the opportunity to attend the conference because I believe He has really deposited something in my heart and mind that has changed my thought pattern since then. It's AWESOME! No, wait, it's more of 'God is AWESOME!' Will be blogging on it soon. Check it out when it is up. ;)

The girls and I have finally found time to go and have fun in the Genting Highlands on the first week of October and it is actually my first real holiday/ break since May so that was good. I've been a bit under the weather though. My cough started just before my weekend getaway to Genting and come to think of it, it's been more than 10 days. Shucks. And my flu has also worsened. I hope I don't have to make a second visit to the doctors. I hate medicine.

Got to go and clear my nose now. Sigh...

Bowling, sweetened green tea (yuck!), rat (double yuck!!) and the likes...

2009-07-08T22:45:00.005+08:00

As the headlines of this blog post sums it, the past 3 weeks have been pretty eventful... maybe not.

Rolling Stone
Those who know me know that I am pretty bad at games and sports. I do try but more often than not, I will run out of steam before we reach half time. That's how realiable and valuable a team member I am. Anyways, I went bowling about 3 Sundays ago when Pastor Anthony was in town. Now, bowling is yet another game/ sport that baffles me. On hindsight, it looks pretty easy and straight forward. Just aim, swing and release the ball and make sure it goes straight... or something to that extent. Well, if it baffles me, it OBVIOUSLY wouldn't be as simple as that...DUH, me! Safe to say that my entire bowling experience thus far has been pretty.. uhm, humbling. As far as my memory serves me right, I've never gone beyond the 100-point mark yet. I've had days when nearly every ball I throw inevitably finds it way into the gutter. Half of those times, I played either because I had Bowling Competitions at work that I had to participate in them or because I had to practice in order not to embarass myself at those competitions. I've often been very discouraged from even trying to bowl because of my terrible bowling skills but thank God, I didn't shirk from it. And surprise, surprise, I have slowly improved. On that day, I scored 71 for the first game and 84 on the second. Best thing was, I got to hog the whole lane to myself! ;) Cool! Bowled again just last week at the Youth Group Bowling Night. Didn't do too well this time. Only managed 76 in the first game and 60 in the second. ;( Oh well, at least I tried!!!
Who Moved My Cheese.. i Mean, Tea?
Dear Boh Tea producers: It would be really great if you guys could tag your kocha and ocha teabags DIFFERENTLY so that people will not put sugar into their ocha, thinking that it is actually kocha because they all have the same tags!!!

I had a drink-malfuction incident at the office a couple of weeks ago. They had taken the jar of BOH tea bags from the pantry to the meeting room and so I didn't have any tea supply. There was this single tea bag in a plastic container at the pantry and my colleague said I could take that. I hesitated because honestly, I have NO IDEA how long that tea bag has sat in that container. Out of desperation for red tea, I relented but made sure I took extra steps of precaution. I put the tea bag into my cup and poured a bit of hot water into it to wash away any "dust" / residue on the tea bag, just in case. I was surprised at the fact that there wasn't much of a change in the colour of my tea after pouring in the hot water (usually, the kocha will already "permeate" into the water at this stage). I poured out the water from the cup and filled it again with hot water, this time to really make my drink and added the sugar. I had poured all the water in and took a deep breath to smell the tea and then realised the big mistake: The tea bags in the plastic container were ochas! I tasted the tea and it was horrible! I couldn't tell the difference between the 2 flavours because there was no clear marking or indication on the teabag tag that it was of another flavour! Being in the pantry without the lights on in this afternoon also added to my 'blindness'. I obviously didn't like my sugar-infused green tea but it did teach me a good lesson learnt today: I need to appreciate and fully utilise all my God-given senses everyday and that would obviously include common sense.

Flattened Mickey... Not Quite, Unfortunately

On the same day I spike my Green Tea with sugar, an interesting incident happened. I actually stepped on a rat that was running across my path. Surprisingly and unfortunately, the rat didn't die under my weight. I suppose that is also because I didn't really, fully step on the fella. I walked, it ran across my path, I stepped (without seeing it), it squeaked, I squealled and and jumped (which explains the "I didn't really, fully step on the fella" part), it ran away. Sigh... But i guess it would have been pretty disgusting if I had really stepped on it and killed it... Bleh...

The Tee-Off

I had my first golf experience yesterday. It was quite nice eventhough we didn't really get to go to the putting green. It was just the driving range (For 3 bucks per person, no complaints). We learned and practiced how to swing and hit the ball. To sum it up: It was harder than it looked. There was at least a few times in which I missed the ball while trying to hit it. Trust me that it does look silly hitting the air but I guess at the end of the day, it's all about enjoying ourselves in the game, so all is good. ;) Will upload the pictures soon.

That's all for now. God bless!

It's June already!

2009-06-20T20:34:00.006+08:00

Wow... It's been 4 months since I last blogged. I have so many thoughts that I would like to blog/ write about but could not seem to find time to pen them down or in this case, type them out. It also doesn't help when the creative juices do not seem to flow as consistently and frequently as I would like them to. I guess this is a good time to start blogging/ writing again to keep myself from getting rusty.

Time sure flies. It's coming on to the second half of the year. The past 6 months have been pretty challenging. Been tired, exhausted, stressed-out, hit the wall countless times, just to name a few things. Having said that, I have picked up some valuable lessons and experiences (both positive and negative ones) along the way, which I am thankful to God for and will try to remember them as long as my memory allows me to. Will blog more on those soon enough.

That's all for now. Stay tuned for more. Thanks for reading. ;)

De-Stresser - The Most Effective Way to Reduce Cost

2009-02-13T12:46:00.004+08:00

A colleague forwarded this comic strip to me while I was having an absolutely stressful day. I thought it was pretty hilarious. I hope it will help you to de-stress and may it brighten up your day just as it did for me. ;)

Source: Unknown (Please inform me if you know the source so that I can properly quote and credit the person)

Blessed 2009

2009-01-01T19:51:00.004+08:00

Blessed New Year to everyone! It's amazing how each of the 366 days in 2008 have sailed by so quickly... well, most days anyways. Looking back, there were good days and there were also challenging days but most of all, I am thankful that no matter what kind of days they were, God was there with me. He is still here with me today and I know that He will always be with me in every single day, from now to eternity. I thank God for the many successes and the failures throughout the year, for He has taught me much through them. I am still struggling in certain areas of my life but I know that He has helped me come this far and I will continue to lean on Him and look to Him for His strength and complete healing. He is the Author and Perfector of my life and He is the One who will bring to completion, the works that He has begun in me.

I would also like to thank everyone who has been encouraging, supporting and praying for me. Thank you for being my family in Christ and thank you for your wonderful support. I am deeply blessed by your love and kinship in Christ.

Although the world is facing deep economic concerns, it is truly my belief that we as children of God live in His economy and in His supernatural world and we will lack no good thing because our Father withholds nothing good from us. Therefore, I know we can look forward to greater things in 2009, for our personal lives, our families, our jobs, the Church and God's ministries, the State, the Country, etc., as we continue to trust in Him.

Every new year beckons a new beginning for all things and for 2009, I want to begin afresh. I have made a few statements of faith for myself for the New Year:

1. It is not about me. It's all about Him and His business.
2. I don't have to be the smartest, the prettiest, the riches, the best, whatever to be loved by Him. He loves me just as I am, despite all my faults and failures because the blood of my precious Redeemer, Jesus Christ has redeemed me from my sins. There is nothing I can do to earn His redemption and love. It had been done and it is finished.
3. I will trust God and I know that He is bigger than I can ever imagine Him to be. He is Jehovah, He is the Almighty.
4. I don't have the earn the approval or praises of man to feel worthy. I am always precious in my Father's sight.
5. I will trust Him to provide for every single need that I have.

New resolutions are a norm for everyone during the new year and it is no different for me but I have decided not to call it "resolutions" but instead, commitments. By His grace, I want to really carry out what I have committed towards. Here are some of my commitments for 2009:

1. I will read the Bible and pray daily.
2. I will try to bless at least one person a day.
3. I will set more time aside for my family.
4. I will learn to build disciples rather than just run programs.
5. I will learn to prioritise and learn to delegate.
6. I will do my best to let go and let God.
7. I will try not to get discouraged easily but to always look to Him in all things.
8. I will not procrastinate with my work.
9. I will exercise at least once a week.
10. I will try to be on time for my appointments.

Father, I commit myself to You for Your works in 2009 and beyond. Mould me and shape me to be more like your Son, Jesus each day and use me in whatever areas that You desire to glorify Your Name and to bless others. I am Yours forevermore and may my life daily reflect the beauty of Your majesty, that people will see You in me. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Say HELLO to LOVE...

2008-11-15T23:36:00.004+08:00

Need I say more... ;)

I cannot describe the huge grin my face when I received a call from Baptist Book Store just before I left the house to go to church this afternoon, that it has FINALLY arrived... I have enquired about the album long before it was even released in early September and I've been hunting for it ever since it was released so that tells you how much I wanted this album and how long I've waited for it. =0) Will blog my review of it soon. Only listened to just a little more than half of it right now but I like it already.

Yasumi!!!

2008-11-03T23:14:00.002+08:00

It's FINALLY OVER... my Japanese language evaluation test, that is.

It's been about 4 months since I started taking up Japanese lessons and it's a known fact that as we approach the end of the course, there will be an evaluation of our primary understanding (or the lack thereof...) of the language. Being the busy procrastinator (cheem... I think I just created a new term) that I am, I naturally dragged my feet at keeping up with my revisions. I have also been a bit busy my work and other activities and they all kinda add up towards the lack of study time. But God, being the Faithful Father that He always is, extended grace to me whereby He actually made it possible for me to at least spend some time in doing my revision in two ways. First and foremost, our Sensei decided to announce a study week for us ie. she gave us an extra week to study for the test... Praise God, He bought me time! Secondly, we were then told that since it is just a simple evaluation, it would be an open book test, meaning, we can refer to our text books for reference if we need to... DOUBLE YAY! If only all exams were like this... ;)

So anyways, 10 days, at least, before the evaluation, I practically had my head buried into my Japanese text book every day.. what to do, I am kiasu... I didn't want to do badly even if it is just an evaluation. And worse of all is that I had to say no to my social activities and dinners because of this... I was suppose to have steamboat dinner with some friends!!! Haih... Anyways, when the evaluation day came, I felt God's peace and rest in my heart and in many ways, on that day, I kinda got tired of cramming information into my brain and I just really wanted to get it over and done with so that I can move on with my life. Praise the Lord, the paper was actually quite straight forward. In the first part, I tried to work on the paper without referring to my book because I wanted to see how much I really understand the subject. It was up to a certain point that I gave up and referred to my book because I couldn't understand what some words meant. Confusion had began to set in but thank God, I managed to figure most things out. I got my results the week after the test. By His grace, I got near perfect score. ;)

Honestly, if I were to make a list of things that irk me, examinations will definitely make it to the list without much issue. I hate exams. I hate the fact that I spend WEEKS and MONTHS attending classes and studying to understand the stuff and they make me write out whatever I think I know within a 2 to 3-hour time frame to prove that I know my stuff. I know exams are to evaluate our understanding of the subject but I can't tell you how much I abhor the process of churning out the information onto paper within a certain time frame. And worse of all, we get so caught up in the "How-Many-A's-Did-You-Score" rat race, we forget that the ability to memorize facts does not equate to the ability to apply the knowledge into pratical use. Basically, although I may understand Japanese on paper, I still cannot speak the language decently. Sigh... but I am looking at the positive side. At least, I have my social life back now... ;) Steamboat anyone?

Simple Pleasures

2008-10-16T23:20:00.000+08:00

They say necessity is the mother of invention... I found it to be very true. I've been bring food from home for lunch this week because I'm on an austerity drive after purchasing my 'new' gadget: I got myself a 10-month old HTC Touch phone. Although it is a used item, it is still in good condition and I guess I wanted to give myself something for my upcoming birthday... no, wait... that's just an excuse. I got it because I couldn't afford the iPhone. Sigh...

But I digress.

So buying the phone has set me back by quite a bit this month so I have resorted to keeping my expenses and expenditure low for at least the next few weeks. One of the ways in which I am cutting my expenses is by bringing my own lunch from home. So far, it has been pretty interesting. My aunt made chicken porridge with dried scallops for me on Monday and that was delightful meal... I LOVE porridge. On Tuesday, I decided to make egg sandwich for lunch. I made some scrambled eggs and put them in a separate container from my bread because I didn't want my bread to be soggy by lunch time. I threw in some raw onion rings too, put the meal together at lunch time and it was absolutely satisfying. :)

The best had yet to come. On Wednesday, I had no clue on what to make. I came back from the market quite late and I have no idea what I wanted to eat. I thought of making a salad sandwich but there wasn't enough bread. I looked through the fridge and vegetable basket and decided to throw a few things together, namely a large tomato, some cabbage and 3/4 of an onion. It suddenly occurred to me that I should add some hard-boiled eggs to enhance the taste. The salad looked so colourful and I surprised myself by being so excited about a salad! And praise God, the egg and vegetable salad did taste fantastic.

Looking at the satisfaction of having the egg sandwich and the joy of putting my egg and vegetable salad together, I found that there is so much to be happy and thankful about daily. I have found cooking to be rather therapeutic for me. I don't have to be a posh restaurant (although I am not against the idea of dining at a posh restaurant) or pay a fortune to truly have a delightful meal. The joy is found when I truly enjoy what I have and when I am thankful for being able to have food available before me daily. And I am thankful that He has and will always provide for all my needs.

Young Adults' Home Group BBQ Dinner (01 February 2008)

2008-10-13T22:31:00.005+08:00

It's time for retro rewind again... Today, I am highlight the pictures taken from the Young Adults Home Group BBQ dinner at Vincent's apartment in February, just a week before Chinese New Year.

Sharon, Ashley and Daniel. Ashley looks absolutely cute in this picture! ;)

The Happy Chefs!

Derek, Raymond, Daniel and Victor.

Jessica, Alicia, Ashley and me. Girl power!

Group Picture 1

Group Picture 2

Andrew and Barbara's Wedding (22 December 2007)

2008-09-26T00:20:00.001+08:00

Time to update my blog with pictures and happenings from the years yonder... okay, so I am exaggerating. Today, I am highlighting pictures from Andrew and Barbara's wedding on 22 December 2007. :) I didn't take any pictures of the church service in the morning (I cannot remember why I didn't take any) but I did however capture some shots at the wedding dinner. Enjoy!

Me and some of my ex-schoolmates

Me and more ex-schoolmates

My Dee Dee, me and Joey

Ashley ;)

The Fellowship of the Youths...

Our signature post... look to the ceiling and act cool... *swt*

Some of the guys...

Some of the ladies...

Gary and Khai Ven

Kevin and Sharon...

Champagne Pouring Ceremony

YUMMMMMMMMM SEEEEEEENGGGGG!!!!!!!!

We then became the "Yum Seng cheerleaders" for Andrew and Barbara... it was fun... ;)

I cannot believe that we were all so into it!! hahaha...

Post-Party Pictures at the lobby.

Me, my Buddy and the Christmas Tree... hey, it rhymes!

Jessica, Aunty Jackie, Roffina and Anthony (and not forgetting the Christmas Tree)

Jessica, Barbara and Roffina

Group Picture (You can still see Christmas Tree!)

Benkyoshinasai!

2008-09-10T17:50:00.002+08:00

One hour to class... well, less than one hour by the time I finish this... and I am so not ready to go for it... sigh.. anyways, I did some revision on greetings and numbers yesterday (which is only like what... 1 percent of what I am suppose to study?.. *sweat*) and I fell asleep after reading half a page on how to tell time in Japanese... *more sweat*... That's what happens when you study on your bed. But I am looking at the positive side. I fell asleep on my book at about 10:00pm and I got up around 4:45 - 5:00am-ish when my alarm rang for the umpteenth time (it automatically snoozes on its own after ringing for around 1 minute... I am not sure if that is a smart or stupid function) . I knew I was suppose to wake up to work on my assignment or continue my revision but decided to forget about it and go back to sleep. And I am glad I did. Woke up at around 7:30am and in total, I got around 9 1/2 hours of sleep, the longest I've had this week and maybe this month... I felt absolutely fresh when I went to work. And by God's grace, I'm about 60% done with the assignment that is due on Friday and I think I should actually be able to get it done by tomorrow, God willing. Looking forward to a work-free weekend! Woohoo...

I have to say thanks to my buddy, Jess though for sitting through my language revision with me for about half hour. She now knows a tiny bit of Japanese because I made her learn (because I learn best when I teach others) and she, being the creative word-master that she is, made a parody out of a few songs by replacing them with her newly-learnt Japanese words... *shudder*... Mo-ichido would never be the same again...

Got to go. Ja ne!

Stressed and Uninspired...

2008-09-08T18:04:00.004+08:00

Sigh and more sighes... I am so uninspired to write these days. I don't know what is wrong. Tired? Maybe. Busy? A bit. Sigh... was just thinking about my Japanese class this Wednesday... Oh wait, did I tell you guys that I am currently taking Japanese language for beginners? I lost track of how long already. But anyways, I digress. I got myself into an unnecessary stress frenzy because my thoughts were on the amount of work that I have to finish before I can spend time to revise through my Japanese book. I have a couple of work deadlines that are due this Friday. I am teaching this Friday at Youth homegroup and the lesson is barely in gestation. I also have to work on the September Youth Bulletin and write this month's article... and it's 8 days late already *faint* Sigh............ Actually, I didn't feel so bad about not revising until 2 days ago, when we were at Kevin and Sharon's wedding dinner and Joey wanted to know how we say "67" in Japanese. If he had asked me the same question 3 weeks ago, I would have been able to answer that in split second. But unfortunately, after enjoying 3 weeks of break from class, I realised that I couldn't remember what it was... my thoughts froze! What IS 67 in Japanese?????!!" I struggled to come up with Roku and i said Ji and then Shichi. Duh!! It wasnt' JI! It was suppose to be JU. JI is for time! ARGGGGHHHH... YinZ, that's BASIC Japanese!!! Sigh... so yeah, anyways, the conclusion is that I seriously need to study my Japanese book. Got to go. Time to carry my computer home to work again... *sweat*... Bye.

P/s: 67 is "roku ju nana" in Japanese by the way, in case anyone is interested to know.

Must-Read Books

2008-09-03T12:42:00.009+08:00

On Tuesday (2 September 2008), the R.AGE section of the Star newspaper featured an article on reading habits and in one of the sub articles, they highlighted a list of 101 must-read books that was adapted from the book "1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die" (Peter Boxall, Peter Ackroyd). A book about 1001 books... *sweat*

Source: The Star, 2 September 2008

Anyways, I did an online search on this book and lo and behold, I found the list of the 1001 books in full. I looked through the list and realised a few things:

I have only read less than 1% of the books that made it to the list of must read books
The books that I have read that made it to the list were all written BEFORE the turn of the new millennium... That tells you how old-school I am...
I can't remember how many times I have read Little Women.
I can't tell you how much I DIDN'T want to read Treasure Island in English class when I was in school. And the horror of being made to do assignments on that book!! Why can't they pick a more interesting book than that????
Some of the books that made it to the list have been sitting on my shelf since year 2003. Wait... that's not right. I did shifted their location to another shelf to make way for my Christian books... Honestly, I love classics and I have been intending to read Pilgrim's Progress, The Idiot, Emma and Les Misérables for like the longest time but I just don't have the time and it's not on top of my priority books... I will TRY to read them soon. Let's wait and see when that will happen... cows may have come home by then.

Interestingly, the website also highlighted that there is actually a group of people trying to read all of the 1001 books... *sweat x 1001 times* ... And NO, I am obviously not going to jump on that bandwagon. I still have my own pile of books to finish. Anyways, reading is fun. Pick up the habit today!

Got to go. Bye for now.

Updating My Blog

2008-09-01T16:53:00.003+08:00

To all the dudes and dudettes (if such a term exists) who have been asking me about my blog... *drum roll*... I'm pleased to inform you guys that it is not dead cos I AM actually in the process of "resusitating" it. Really! I AM updating it. It's just stuck under draft because I have no time to finish them. Yes, I know it is VERY hard to believe but anyways, I am working on blog entries on events that have taken place since December 2007 (when I stopped blogging because I have been too busy with work, ministry and etc. etc.). Will be posting them up from time to time so stay tuned for more pictures and stories.

Fitness Freak.. Not quite yet

2008-08-14T22:08:00.005+08:00

I made history: I hit the gym twice within 4 days. That is a huge achievement if you know me. Went to the gym at Jessica's apartment on Monday and today and it was great to be able to work out, sweat it all out and release stress after a crazy day at work. Next sweat it out will be on Sunday - hiking to No. 3. Will write more then. Back to work now. I am SO gonna have to burn the midnight oil tonight... sigh... need to hand up my work tomorrow. I am only at Book #5 of 8 books. *faint*. Gotta go now.. tata!

Here We Go A Carolling... (23 December 2007)

2008-08-11T18:18:00.014+08:00

Imagine a group of young people barging into your house, yodeling "Joy to the World" off pitch... harrowing thought, isn't it? Being the youth group that we are, we sort of brought this harrowing thought into reality.... (*thud*... Did I hear someone faint?)

The Youth Ministry went on a mission to bless some senior folks from our church by dropping by at their homes (for some, unannounced... eeek!) to sing some Christmas carols. Our mission began at Aunty Shirley and Aunty Ivy's house. Aunty Shirley had a fractured leg so we thought she'd be happy to have a group of noisy young people to cheer her up... and she was! She was as chirpy and welcoming as ever despite being confined to her wheelchair. She was expecting our arrival because we told her we'd come over. We sang and prayed for her and she invited us to come back again!

Our pianist at work.

Daniel is plotting his next trick while David poses with the song sheet.

Group picture with Aunty Shirley.

We then moved on to Mr. and Mrs. Chew's house. Danny and Gary's mom was also there with their niece when we arrived. I hope the kid didn't get a shock from our singing...

Sharon tries to look cute, as usual.

Group picture... the baby seems fine. Suku tries to eat Daniel while Rachel tries to dodge something...

Next stop was Uncle Ang. I think we woke him up from his afternoon nap... sorry!

This is how tall Suku is...and how short I am.

Ken Jin and David got distracted by Sukumaran. Boys, the camera in in front, NOT at the side.

We stopped at the Spoelmans to drop Rachel and Lizzy back and we sang for them too. It was great to be able to see Cindy who had been at home nursing her fractured ankle. Uncle Brian requested for us to sing a carol which most of us did not really know so it sounded... errm... err.. okay, I'll leave for Brian to comment on that.

The Spoelman clan with the rest of us.

Baby Sarah looks a bit lost in the crowd.

Praying for the family and also for Cindy's speedy recovery.

We then dropped by at Aunty Letchumi's place to sing and pray for the family.

Group picture

We went by Cycelia and Joseph's on the way back and we yoddled / shouted (anything but the word "sang") "We wish you a Merry Christmas" from the van at their house entrance. Aunty Fong Moi was amused and sang along with us. It was pretty cool actually... hahaha... we should do it again next year...Well, Uncles and Aunties, Merry Christmas!... we will work on the pitching but do know that we mean well!

2007 Christmas Celebrations

2007-12-30T12:00:00.006+08:00

For Christmas, our church organized the second installment of the Rock of Ages Concert, which is a reprise of the inaugural concert in Easter. The pre-concert a bit of a mayhem for me because I was working on the opening video till the very last minute because my computer was giving me so much problems. It 'hanged' a few times and trust me, I so wanted to strangle the computer (although it wasn't exactly its fault that the raw video files were so big). When it was done, it was time to convert the file into MPEG format, I had the worse thoughts because it was a big file and it may take a long long long long time for it to convert or it would probably KO on me again. I said to God that if He wants this video to be up, I believe it shall be up and if He doesn't want it, I am okay if it is not used at all. I left the PC to convert the video while I went out to do something. When checked on it, it was done and ready to be used! I was surprised and amazed (me of little faith). Praise the Lord! The performances of the night were all good. Although no one came out at the invitation to receive Christ, I believe seeds were sown and planted that night and by God's grace, may these seeds land on fertile ground and produce fruit in His time!

Some interesting pictures from the night:

The Program sheet.

Kenny flashes a victory sign.

Everyone seems enchanted with whatever they are watching on the screen... what are they watching anyways???

The Dancing Queens... they are cool cos they are my friends!

I have no name for our quartet but one thing's for sure, I am NOT calling ourselves "The Fettes"!

Me and my cool sistas!

Me with my DeeDee and my Buddee! Rock on sistas!

A ultra cute Sarah Rose and Uncle Brian. Interesting how Jeremy, Su Jen and Joel are also in this picture. Good friends always stick together.

Makan and Fellowship.

Barb's Bridal Shower (15 December 2007 )

2007-12-15T23:54:00.000+08:00

Barb's getting married soon! =) A group of us cool ladies got together for a bridal shower in honour of her. We had food, glorious food and then after, Aunty Nee Jin gave a short sharing on marriage. Each of us said a blessing over Barb and prayed for her before we adjourned. On the overall, I personally enjoyed myself as it was great to be able to get together and fellowship and rejoice over Barb as she prepares to stp into another phase of her life. Many blessings of joy, peace and happiness from our beloved Heavenly Father to you, Barb! =)

Sharon and Ash playing "1, 2, tali som!"

I don't know what Joel is trying to do but whatever he is attempting, he definitely looks real cute doing that!

Sharon trying to look cute...

Food, glorious food!

The Bride-To-Be =)

Ashley and ~YinZ~!!! Aren't we cute?! =) (Picture by Sharon Lee)

A group shot with the lovely ladies... and a boy. (Picture by Sharon Lee)

Group picture everyone! Why is Jess covering her face??? (Picture by Sharon Lee)

Everlasting God

2007-12-01T01:03:00.000+08:00

I've been hooked to this song for the past few days. Simple message, lovely melody. I heard this on KLTY for the first time this week and it was a version performed by Lincoln Brewster. Just found out that it was written by Brenton Brown and is one of the tracks on Chris Tomlin's album. I think it is fantastic. =)

Everlasting God

Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord
We will wait upon the Lord
We will wait upon the Lord

Our God, You reign forever
Our hope, our Strong Deliverer

You are the everlasting God
The everlasting God
You do not faint
You won't grow weary

You're the defender of the weak
You comfort those in need
You lift us up on wings like eagles

God the Provider

2007-12-01T00:41:00.000+08:00

Pondering on what has God showed me this week, I realised that He has been showing me that He knows our thoughts and anxieties and that He is the faithful, prayer-answering God. At our ladies Bible study last Saturday, Heidi shared on how God was faithful in answering prayers eventhough it may be a seemingly simple and small need. And thank God she shared her testimony because I remembered what she shared when my faith was put to test on Sunday. We had arranged for a hiking trip up to No. 3 and on Sunday morning, I wasn't even sure if we could make it. I initially cancelled the hike but "resurrected" the plan after Kevin and Sharon said that they'd join us and that Kevin can drive the van. However, I got 2 missed calls from Sharon at around 3 something and when i returned her call, she mentioned that the van key was not available for some reason. So at that point, i panicked a bit cos there was no transport. I called James to see if he can drive or if he would allow me to drive his car and he said no. So eventually, we all went by faith, trusting that it will turn out well. On the way to church, I prayed a very simple prayer committing the hike to God. I checked my handphone and got an SMS from James, asking me to drive his car! Praise the Lord, we have transport. When I arrived at church, I found out that Clement and his cousin, Gary can go on Gary's bike. To my biggest surprise and delight, Brian and Isaac decided to join us for the hike and is willing to drive! Hallelujah! From having a lack, God provided to overflow because by 415pm, we had more cars than we needed. Isn't He amazing? =)

Believing God

2007-11-27T23:32:00.000+08:00

A group of us girls and ladies from the church had gone through a Bible study recently on Believing God, based on a book by Beth Moore. Although I have yet to finish all the homework that I am suppose to do throughout the weeks of study, I have been blessed by God's Word through Beth Moore's teaching and the sharing session that we had in the group. Here are some pictures that i took of our most recent bible study session.

I'm Back!!

2007-11-15T23:45:00.000+08:00

There is this new blogging craze among the Youths so I thought I'd jump onto the bandwagon along with them. hahaha... I hope I can keep up!

Where am I?

2006-06-06T23:15:00.000+08:00

My best friend has been bugging me about updating my blog. Yes, I admit my blog has been rather quiet since last year. Well, I am back. Where have I been? Still in Penang. Where am I now? That is sometimes a question that I don't even know what the answer is. I know I'm still in the same season for a long, long time. Am I ready for a new phase? Maybe yes, maybe no. I really don't know but I know that wherever I am, God is ever faithful, ever true and ever by my side.

I'm looking for the place where I belong. I know I will only be able to find it in God alone.

I'll sing Your praises forever.
Deeper in love with You.
Here in Your courts where I'm close to Your throne,
I've found where I belong.

From the song: You are Holy by Hillsong Australia
© 1997 Reuben Morgan - Hillsong Australia

Take Me Deeper

2005-08-31T18:20:00.000+08:00

Jesus, hold me into Your heart
Into Your heart
Lord, my soul delights
And I know You hear my prayer
Take me deeper, Lord

[Chorus of: Deeper (Hillsong United) from the album Look To You (2005)]

Lord, this is the cry of my heart, that You will hold me into your heart and take me into Your arms. Through life's successes and circumstances, let my eyes look to You alone. I want to delight in You, to be in Your presence each day. Change me, O Lord to be more like You. And Lord, take me deeper in love with You.

He Will Carry Me

2005-07-28T05:21:00.000+08:00

Going through a bit of crisis. But this song came on the radio and I believe God is trying to encourage me. There is a huge storm battling within me and I am hanging on to what is left of my strength. The Lord knows I do not want to hang on to what is not in His will, to be humble, to remove the pride I have build throughout the years, to be more teachable, to know that it is ok to be weak and most of all, to behave the way a Godly WOMAN should behave. But the process of it is a long and hard road. But I know i am walking on... There are times where I don't know how far I am from God but I know He is faithful and He has never left my side. I am tired and weary. I need to take time to just rest in the Lord. I don't know when but I really hope it is soon.

HE WILL CARRY ME
Mark Schultz
From the album – STORIES AND SONGS

I call, You hear me
I’ve lost it all
And it’s more than I can bear
I feel so empty

You’re strong
I’m weary
I’m holdin’ on
But I feel like givin’ in
But still You’re with me

And even though I’m walkin’ through
The valley of the shadow
I will hold tight to the hand of Him
Whose love will comfort me
And when all hope is gone
And I’ve been wounded in the battle
He is all the strength that I will ever need
And He will carry me

I know I’m broken
But You alone
Can mend this heart of mine
You’re always with me

And even though I’m walkin’ through
The valley of the shadow
I will hold tight to the hand of Him
Whose love will comfort me
And when all hope is gone
And I’ve been wounded in the battle
He is all the strength that I will ever need
And He will carry me

And even though I feel so lonely
Like I’ve never been before
You never said it would be easy
But You said you’d see me through the storm

Some Moral Stories

2005-07-21T07:46:00.000+08:00

I got this from a friend. Pretty good.

TRUST

Trust is a very important factor for all relationships. When trust is broken, it is the end of the relationship. Lack of trust leads to suspicion, suspicion generates anger, anger causes enmity and enmity may result in separation. A telephone operator told me that one day she received a phone call. She answered, "Public Utilities Board." There was silence. She repeated, "PUB." There was still no answer. When she was going to cut off the line, she Heard a lady's voice, "Oh, so this is PUB.Sorry, I got the number from my Husband's pocket but I do not know whose number it is." Without mutual trust, just imagine what will happen to the couple if the telephone operator answered with just "hello" instead of "PUB".

NO POINTING FINGERS

A man asked his father-in-law, "Many people praised you for a successful marriage. Could you please share with me your secret?" The father-in-law answered in a smile, "Never criticize your wife for her shortcomings or when she does something wrong. Always bear in mind that because of her shortcomings and weaknesses, she could not find a better husband than you." We all look forward to being loved and respected. Many people are afraid of losing face. Generally, when a person makes a mistake, he would look around to find a scapegoat to point the finger at. This is the start of a war. We should always remember that when we point one finger at a person, the other four fingers are pointing at ourselves. If we forgive the others, others will ignore our mistake too.

CREATING PERFECT RELATIONSHIPS?

A person visited the government matchmaker for marriage, SDU, and requested "I am looking for a spouse. Please help me to find a suitable one." The SDU officer said, "Your requirements, please." "Oh, good looking, polite, humorous , sporty, knowledgeable, good in singing and dancing. Willing to accompany me the whole day at home during my leisure hour, if I don't go out. Telling me interesting stories when I need companion for conversation and be silent when I want to rest." The officer listened carefully and replied, "I understand you need television." There is a saying that a perfect match can only be found between a blind wife and a deaf husband ,because the blind wife cannot see the faults of the husband and the deaf husband cannot hear the nagging of the wife. Many couples are blind and deaf at the courting stage and dream of perpetual perfect relationship. Unfortunately, when the excitement of love wears off, they wake up and discover that marriage is not a bed of roses. The nightmare begins.

NO OVERPOWERING

Many relationships fail because one party tries to overpower another,or demands too much. People in love tend to think that love will conquer all and their spouses will change the bad habits after marriage. Actually, this is not the case. There is a Chinese saying which carries the meaning that "It is easier to reshape a mountain or a river than a person's character." It is not easy to change. Thus, having high expectation on changing the spouse character will cause disappointment and unpleasantness. It would be less painful to change ourselves and lower our expectations..

RIGHT SPEECH

There is a Chinese saying which carries the meaning that "A speech will either prosper or ruin a nation." Many relationships break off because of wrong speech. When a couple is too close with each other,we always forget mutual respect and courtesy. We may say anything without considering if it would hurt the other party. A friend and her millionaire husband visited their construction site. A worker who wore a helmet saw her and shouted,"Hi, Emily! Remember me? We used to date in the secondary school." On the way home, her millionaire husband teased her, "Luckily you married me.Otherwise you will be the wife of a construction worker." She answered ,"You should appreciate that you married me. Otherwise, he will be the millionaire and not you." Frequently exchanging these remarks plants the seed for a bad relationship. It's like a broken egg - cannot be reversed.

PERSONAL PERCEPTION

Different people have different perception. One man's meat could be another man's poison. A couple bought a donkey from the market. On the way home,a boy commented, "Very stupid. Why neither of them ride on the donkey?"Upon hearing that, the husband let the wife ride on the donkey. He walked besides them. Later, an old man saw it and commented, "The husband is the head of family. How can the wife ride on the donkey while the husband is on foot?" Hearing this, the wife quickly got down and let the husband ride on the donkey. Further on the way home, they met an old Lady. She commented, "How can the man ride on the donkey but let the wife walk. He is no gentleman." The husband thus quickly asked the wife to join him on the donkey. Then, they met a young man. He commented, "Poor donkey, how can you hold up the weight of two persons. They are cruel to you." Hearing that, the husband and wife immediately climbed down from the donkey and carried it on their shoulders. It seems to be the only choice left. Later, on a narrow bridge, the donkey was frightened and struggled. They lost their balance and fell into the river. You can never have everyone praise you, nor will everyone condemn you. Never in the past, not at present, and never will be in the future. Thus, do not be too bothered by others words if our conscience is clear..

BE PATIENT

This is a true story which happened in the States. A man came out of his home to admire his new truck. To his puzzlement, his three-year-old son was happily hammering dents into the shiny paint of the truck. The man ran to his son, knocked him away, hammered the little boy's hands into pulp as punishment. When the father calmed down, he rushed his son to the hospital. Although the doctor tried desperately to save the crushed bones, he finally had to amputate the fingers from both the boy's hands. When the boy woke up from the surgery & saw his bandaged stubs, he innocently said, " Daddy,I'm sorry about your truck." Then he asked, "but when are my fingers going to grow back?" The father went home & committed suicide. Think about this story the next time someone steps on your feet or u wish to take revenge. Think first before u lose your patience with someone u love. Trucks can be repaired.. Broken bones & hurt feelings often can't. Too often we fail to recognize the difference between the person and the performance. We forget that forgiveness is greater than revenge. People make mistakes. We are allowed to make mistakes. But the actions we take while in a rage will haunt us forever.

Bienvenido A Mi "Blogspot".

2005-07-15T15:26:00.000+08:00

I still can't believe I'm doing this... I am blogging??? Is this me or what? But anyhow, greetings and welcome to my humble blog abode. I wish I could write fluently in Spanish to at least start my first blog in Spanish but my fast fading memory of the beautiful language does not permit me to do so. But for a start, I'll just share one of my favourite psalms in Espanol.

Salmos 84

¡Cuán amables son tus moradas,
Jehová de los ejércitos!

² ¡Anhela mi alma y aun ardientemente
desea los atrios de Jehová!
¡Mi corazón y mi carne cantan
al Dios vivo!

³ Aun el gorrión halla casa,
y la golondrina nido para sí,
donde poner sus polluelos,
cerca de tus altares,Jehová de los ejércitos,
Rey mío y Dios mío.

⁴ ¡Bienaventurados los que habitanen tu Casa;
perpetuamente te alabarán! Selah

⁵ ¡Bienaventurado el hombreque tiene en ti sus fuerzas,
en cuyo corazón están tus caminos!

⁶ Atravesando el valle de lágrimas, lo cambian en fuente
cuando la lluvia llena los estanques.

⁷ Irán de poder en poder;
verán a Dios en Sión.

⁸ Jehová, Dios de los ejércitos,oye mi oración;
¡escucha, Dios de Jacob! Selah

⁹ Mira, Dios, escudo nuestro,
y pon los ojos en el rostro de tu elegido.

¹⁰ Mejor es un día en tus atrios
que mil fuera de ellos.
Escogería antes estar a la puertade la casa de mi Dios
que habitar donde reside la maldad,

¹¹ porque sol y escudo es Jehová Dios;
gracia y gloria dará Jehová.
No quitará el bien
a los que andan en integridad.

¹² ¡Jehová de los ejércitos,
bienaventurado el hombre que en ti confía!

Psalm 84

¹ How lovely is your dwelling place,
O LORD Almighty!

² My soul yearns, even faints,
for the courts of the LORD;
my heart and my flesh cry out
for the living God.

³ Even the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may have her young—
a place near your altar,
O LORD Almighty, my King and my God.

⁴ Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
they are ever praising you.
Selah

⁵ Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.

⁶ As they pass through the Valley of Baca,
they make it a place of springs;
the autumn rains also cover it with pools.

⁷ They go from strength to strength,
till each appears before God in Zion.

⁸ Hear my prayer, O LORD God Almighty;
listen to me, O God of Jacob.
Selah

⁹ Look upon our shield, O God;
look with favor on your anointed one.

¹⁰ Better is one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

¹¹ For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
the LORD bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
from those whose walk is blameless.

¹² O LORD Almighty,
blessed is the man who trusts in you.