When the ancient church father John Chrysostom, bishop of Constantinople, was summoned by Emperor Arcadius and threatened with banishment, he responded, "You cannot banish me, for the whole world is my Father's kingdom." "Then I will take away your life," said the emperor. "You cannot," answered Chrysostom, "for my life is hid with Christ in God." "I will take away your treasure," roared the emperor. "You can't," replied Chrysostom, "for my treasure is in heaven, where my heart is." "Then I will drive you away from all your friends," the emperor said. "You cannot, for I have one friend from whom you can never separate me. I defy you," said Chrysostom, "because you can do me no harm." A few reminders all lumped together :D 1. Remember to bid for my board game on Saturday!! 2. Remember to pray and never give up when God delays His answer, pray expectantly, pray according to His will, purposefully, honestly, be real and pertinent enough to press on - give thanks and record down whenever God answers, but remember, God is not a vending machine, genie etc 3. Remember to call travel agent after my lectures next week 4. Remember to register with turn-it-in 5. Remember that God is my refuge, and that I can retreat to that safe and secret place - ANYDAY, ANYTIME and I don't need to try to be brave on my own 6. Remember that I don't need to feel guilty for taking care of and standing up for myself 7. Remember to watch less of the "Running Man" and "We Got Married" Korean variety shows, spend less time on facebook, and spend more time building relationships or working time on my assignments 8. Remember to prioritise my relationships with those near and far, and call my grandmas at least once a month 9. Remember to work more diligently in my studies as God has opened a place for me in my course - at the rate I'm going, I don't think God's very happy with how "diligent" I've been 10. Remember to surrender all the expectations I have of myself to God, and ask Him to help me to relax, love Him and just "be me" - be who He intended me to be 11. Remember to write down something God's taught me and 3 things I'm thankful for every night in my little diary 12. Remember to try and make salmon sushi 13. Remember that God is with me wherever I go and to always love God above anything and anyone 14. Remember to sign up for the Adidas run and prepare for the LMNZ school presentations 15. Remember not to layer my hair but get my hairdresser to cut it straight - I say that to myself every single year, but since high school, I have always layered my hair. HAIH. 16. Remember to take less orangey things - like mango, papaya, oranges, carrots; I think it's scary how orange I'm becoming 17. Remember to buy cinnamon biscuits for friend 18. Remember to contact my uncle about the trip and to get back to my friend on where she should visit in Malaysia 19. Remember to call cousin in Chch 20. Remember to actually put songs I like in the hand-me-down iPod my sister gave me 21. Remember that whenever I feel prompted to encourage someone, I must go ahead and do it 22. Remember, again, that it is okay to take time out for myself to take care of me, and that I don't need to feel guilty about it 23. Remember dad's birthday and mother's day is up soon 24. Remember that God will never place me in tough places without being there with me and to hold me up with His mighty hand 25. Remember to surrender my weaknesses, sins, desires, fears, weights that I'm lugging with me to God 26. Remember Psalm 13 27. Remember to print out those newspaper articles of my Nepal trip to show family in Kuching when I am back! Sigh, why didn't I bother cutting them out from the newspaper when it first came out, looks so much more legit 28. Remember to sing more often. Singing makes me feel so happy :D 29. Pay my library fine and return magazines :(
That's enough! I better stop here! I know I am capable of going up to 1,000. :D  | Standing | Apr 22, '12 3:13 PM
for everyone |
When I have compromised some of my values to fit in and even after I try to justify my actions.. When I feel too lazy to work wholeheartedly at work and university.. When I value earthly treasures over heavenly ones.. When I am too afraid to take risks for my faith.. When I feel I have failed one too many times to please God and want to abandon my efforts altogether.. When I still want to walk with God and honour Him despite my past failures..
1 Cor 15:58 encourages and strengthens me :-)! Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain. A Grace Disguised, by Jerry Sittser
During his years in Nazi death camps during World War II, [Dr. Viktor Frankl] observed that the prisoners who exercised the power to choose how they would respond to their circumstances displayed dignity, courage, and inner vitality. They found a way to transcend their suffering. Some chose to believe in God in spite of all the evidence to the contrary... They chose to love, however hateful the environment in which they lived.
In other words, they refused to yield ultimate power to their captors and circumstances. Though the world was horrible to them, they identified with another world - a world inside themselves, over which they had some control. They affirmed that they were more than the product of their circumstances. As Frankl observed [in his book Man's Search for Meaning], these few people tried "turning life into an inner triumph" and so grew spiritually beyond themselves.
It became clear to Frankl that "the sort of person the prisoner became was the result of an inner decision, and not the result of camp influences alone." In the end he asserts: "The experiences of camp life show that man does have a choice of action. There were enough examples, often of a heroic nature, which proved that apathy could be overcome, irritability suppressed. Man can preserve a vestige of spiritual freedom, of independence of mind, even in such terrible conditions of psychic and physical stress." ...
It was this power to choose that kept the prisoners alive, Frankl noted... They learned that tragedy can increase the soul's capacity for darkness and light, for pleasure as well as for pain, for hope as well as for dejection. The soul contains a capacity to know and love God, to become virtuous, to learn truth, and to live by moral conviction. The soul is elastic, like a balloon. It can grow larger through suffering. Loss can enlarge its capacity for anger, depression, despair, and anguish, all natural and legitimate emotions whenever we experience loss. Once enlarged, the soul is also capable of experiencing greater joy, strength, peace, and love. What we consider opposites - east and west, night and light, sorrow and joy, weakness and strength, anger and love, despair and hope, death and life-are no more mutually exclusive than winter and sunlight. The soul has the capacity to experience these opposites, even at the same time...
My own catastrophic loss thus taught me the incredible power of choice - to enter the darkness and to feel sorrow, as I did after the accident, even as I continued to work and to care for people, especially my children. I wanted to gain as much as I could from the loss without neglecting ordinary responsibilities. I wanted to integrate my pain into my life in order to ease some of its sting. I wanted to learn wisdom and to grow in character. I had had enough of destruction, and I did not want to respond to the tragedy in a way that would exacerbate the evil I had already experienced. I knew that running from the darkness would only lead to greater darkness later on. I also knew that my soul had the capacity to grow - to absorb evil and good, to die and live again, to suffer abandonment and find God. In choosing to face the night, I took my first steps toward the sunrise. I was just thinking about the prayer chain some of my friends in Fiji commit to every Friday, and basically, they pray all night long from 9pm to 6am in the morning. They all gather at the office, and they each take an hour or two hour slots any time within that time frame.
A friend of mine who participated in that prayer chain for the first time was relaying to me what the experience was like. He was telling me how it was just so inspiring that the Fijians looked forward to that Friday, every single week, saying that it was their favourite time of the whole week.
He was also telling me how he had the 2 to 3am shift, half asleep and jet-lagged, he prayed for Fiji and the areas affected by the floods, for the world, for things that God had put on his heart to pray for. At 2:45am, my exhausted and relieved friend nudged this 55-year-old Fijian lady, telling her that it was soon her turn to pray at 3am, and this was her enthused reply: "Ohhh, I can't wait! Finally, it's my turn!"
In the morning, he questioned the Fijians: "Don't you get tired from staying up all night, praying? Do you spend most of your Saturday resting?"
One of the Fijians replied (and the others appeared to share the same sentiments), "No, we just continue with business as usual, we don't feel tired at all, and we believe it's because those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength - Isaiah 40:31".
He was also telling me that he didn't feel the least bit tired after that all-night prayer time, in fact, he felt completely fine and much less jet-lagged. :)
I think I have a lot to learn from my Fijian brothers and sisters. How they so enthusiastically wait upon the Lord - Friday is one of my favourite times of the week, but not for the same reasons. My prayer life has become dull, uninteresting, dry. I push it aside when I am busy, and just read through my devotional instead thinking that I'll find some time to do it later in the day after I have finished my work. I worry that I'll be spent after I pray for an hour, leaving no time to brainstorm and work on assignments etc.
These Fijians are onto something! :) Through their example, I feel like Jesus is telling me what he told Martha: "Martha, Martha (Abby, Abby), you are worried about many things, but Mary (your Fiji friends) has (have) chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her (them)". The question now is, "will I heed His voice and make that choice?"
So, I just bought a new pair of shoes and left it in it's shoe box at the side of my bed. Then, I noticed something odd written on it - hmm someone had scrawled on the name, "Hanley Tan" with a silver marker. I sat on my bed - puzzling over this, utterly confused as to why this guy's name was written on the shoe box my new pair of shoes came in :(
FINALLY, I realised: "Hanley" were my shoes' name (not it's brand, but it's name) and "Tan" referred to it's colour.
*smacks forehead* hahaha! Author unknown
No chance hath brought this ill to me; 'Tis God's own hand, so let it be, He seeth what I cannot see. There is a need-be for each pain, And He one day will make it plain That earthly loss is heavenly gain. Like a piece of tapestry Viewed from the back appears to be Naught but threads tangled hopelessly; But in front a picture fair, Rewards the worker for his care, Proving his skill and patience rare. Thou art the Workman, I the frame. Lord, for the glory of Thy name, Perfect Thine image on the same. :) I just spent 3 hours at the Zealandia bird sanctuary with a friend and her family who are avid bird watchers - they taught me how to identify bird calls, tell the difference between a male and a female, and how to tell different types of birds apart. The Kakariki is a rare bright green parakeet that actually sounds like it cackles (well, it goes "ki ki ki" all the time) - there were eight of them all perched on one of the trees above us. The Saddleback (my favourite!) is a bird that's all black with an actual brown saddle pattern (I can't get over the fact that the name is so literal, and I was just so stunned at how beautiful it was!). The Takahe looks somewhat like a Pukeko except that it's fatter and flightless, but it has stunning blue feathers that gradually increase in intensity towards it's beak. The Tui is greeny-black with a distinctive white tuft at it's throat, it looks amazing when it's all "puffed up". And the fantail is just like it's name, it's got a majestic tail that fans out with vertical alternating black and white lines.
At the reserve, all we did was walk, and listen for bird calls, halt in our tracks, glance up, and slowly search for them. All the while, your heart would be beating wildly with excitement and upon spotting them, this sense of wonder and amazement gushes through you.
My friend and her family are practically members of the sanctuary so they come by very often, so they know which paths specific birds frequent.
Originally a basin, this place was turned into a sanctuary to re-enact how it would look like before man occupied the place. Zealandia spans a vast 225 hectares of regenerating lowland forest and wetlands and it's protected by a extensive predator-proof fence, especially designed to keep out non-native mammals.
I don't know why this verse never came to me while I was at the reserve, only just thought about it now. Today's experience gave me a deeper picture of what this verse means.
Matthew 6:26, "Look at the birds of the air, they do not sow or reap or sow away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not more valuable than they?"
Thank You, Lord :') That I'm more valuable than the birds of the air.. I saw today how precious and valuable they are to you, how you uniquely you designed each one, each feather, each call, how you provide them with nectar, berries, refuge - yet they do not sow or reap, they do not have to strive so hard to complete a painstakingly long degree that has so many challenges entrenched in it, so many situations different from what I'm used to, their lives aren't wrought with dilemmas or emotional burdens or pain or sorrow. Yet my heavenly Father still feeds them. At the sanctuary, I feel like I caught a glimpse of how much God loved and delighted in creating these birds, and how He now takes so much joy and pride in nurturing and sustaining them. Are we not more valuable than these birds?
In all these, help me to serve You, love You, put You first :)
Each little flower that opens Each little bird that sings He made their glowing colours He made their tiny wings.
He gave us eyes that we might see them And lips that we might tell How great is God Almighty Who has made all things well!
Okay, I just discovered that the thieves who broke into my neighbour's home actually tried to break into ours too. I know 'cos I can't close the gate as easily anymore - it seems to be moved out of place, and is somewhat indicative that someone's stood on it. Dad also said that he noticed that there seems to be signs around our windows that someone tried to break in but they weren't successful because he took some precautionary measures after our house (the same one I'm living in now) was broken into two years ago.
I actually did get around to baking my neighbour chocolate chip cookies, and she shared with me on how traumatised she was about the incident, and that she couldn't sleep that night, and their family might build a gate and even get a little yappy dog like ours that hopefully may deter the thieves.
Ah, having your house broken into is pretty traumatising especially if you've got children. When our house was broken into, I got quite paranoid that for a good few months, every time I was approaching my house, I'd put "111" into my cellphone, my finger was poised, ready to dial that number should anyone be around, and I would always dash to the front of my house prepared to run out of my driveway in case anyone was there. My blood boiled just thinking about those thieves who had no decency to go around stealing what belonged to others instead of earning it on their own (disregarding all the systemic factors I have learnt in psych that has developed a greater compassion and understanding in me for those involved in crime). And there's also my worry about my little dog being injured by the thief. I remembered hearing a story from one of my church members on how her dogs got hanged when thieves broke into their home
But since then, I've learnt to be a lot more vigilant in prayer - to just keep praying, praying that God would protect the safety of not just my family but of my home, claiming that Jesus' blood that protects and covers us would just encircle us with His protection. And I would extend that prayer to my friends around the world and my family back in Malaysia. I should pray for my neighbours too.
It is for that reason I believe that our house was not broken into. I give You glory, Pa! I'm quite shaken to be honest, having realised that they did attempt to break-in again, but I know I have no reason to fear because "He who is in me is greater than he who is in the world" and "The Lord is my light and salvation, of whom shall I be afraid?"
What a day! Woke up at 1am and crammed for my first test of the year (and you would think I'd be WELL-PREPARED for my first test). Left house at 6:30am to get to uni. Big eye-bags this morning. Finally passed the book I sold on trade me to the buyer. Then, met a friend for dinner. Car couldn't start (btw, his name is 'Bubbles'). We spent 25 minutes trying to start it, during that time, we prayed and checked every door and kept trying to turn the key ignition, contemplated calling AA - but flipped open the car manual which to my dismay was printed in Japanese (fail!) - thank God for diagrams that told us to turn the steering wheel and then, the ignition - and Bubbles started! Decided to go for dessert to celebrate this joyous occasion. Had such a great night, and was ready to hit the pillow and chill. But, I stubbornly ignored the directions my gps gave me - I missed the right exit, and instead of taking 15 mins to get home, I took 40 mins and passed through many areas of Auckland I have never been to, wondering if I'd ever get home. Heart was pounding as I passed groups of dodgy people in isolated roads. You have no idea how happy I was when I saw a road on my GPS that I had actually heard of before! Got home to dad telling me that my neighbour's house got broken into. Having my house broken into two years ago left me feeling sick to my stomach and disgusted at the act. Maybe I should bake cookies for them, haven't been baking in ages.
Now, I have to get ready for uni tomorrow and sleep. What did you make of my staccato-ed sentences? What a day! | Quiet | Mar 10, '12 1:09 AM
for everyone |
God, I understand a little better now. :) That you allow certain things to happen in life to create in me a purer and more compassionate heart, so that I can comfort others and be a friend to others going through difficult times even though our circumstances may differ. And I know the work you're doing in me, you're doing it in them too!
And if these things didn't happen to me, I wouldn't have the strength, love and compassion that You've placed in me through those rainy days to be a friend. I give You the glory.
I understand better now, Pa. I've been complaining and grumbling way too much about things, can You help me to complain less, but thank and trust You more? 'cos I know my closer friends are the ones who read my blog :) Just a note that I have just upped my privacy status for my facebook account so high that only me, myself and I can see posts from other friends while everyone else can only see what they themselves have posted - so it's not that I have started hating you or anything, I've just decided to select "Only me" for most options for everyone on my friends list. Oh, and likewise for photos. :)
I've got a friend who is really into art, and her favourite painter happens to be Claude Monet. Not even knowing that her favourite painter was Monet, another friend from a different continent sent her a beautiful book of his paintings, and on each painting there were bible verses associated with it.
YES, it turned out to be a book of Claude Monet's paintings. So, when I asked her about how she came about buying the book, she simply said that as she was browsing through books on Amazon, she just felt God prompting her to buy that particular book (and she had no prior knowledge of how much the other friend loved Monet's work!). So in obedience, she purchased it and arranged for it to be mailed over, where it found it's way to a very surprised yet delighted recipient!
I am so blown away by this act of God and inspired by how my friend was attentive enough to hear His still small voice (and while she was on the internet too, what more going through Amazon - I confess that my thoughts are faraway from God especially when I'm shopping online).
This little incident has really painted a picture in my mind of how personal and loving our God is and how involved He wants to be in our lives. Hang on, God wants to know us this deeply? We mustn't also forget though that God really wants to use us as His hands and feet to accomplish His purposes, and to do so, we need to be listening, seeking, soaking in His Word and involving Him in all we do.
Pardon me for my haphazard reflections on this wonderful anecdote, it's 2am, and my level of alertness is critically low. :)
One of my most loved movies/ books are the Anne series - written by L. M. Montgomery. A skinny red-haired orphan, Anne comes to live with the elderly siblings, Marilla and Matthew who had intended to adopt a boy to help them out with the farm work. Every character, every scene is just so relatable, so vivid, so beautifully depicted. Montgomery's gift and love for the beauty of words is so captivating and makes you want to re-read her books and re-watch the movies again and again. I personally feel that her books have this uncanny way of putting things into perspective, they bid you to slow down in this fast-paced world where you are able to appreciate the overlooked and long-forgotten beauty that lies in the simple pleasures of life. There's something very powerful about enjoying the moment you are in, as opposed to fretting over future or past events. A taster: “I believe the nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything very splendid or wonderful or exciting happens, but just those that bring simple little pleasures, following one another softly, like pearls slipping off a string.” – Anne Shirley Here are a few more quotes from the movies and books! :) Anne 1 "You print out A-N-N and it looks absolutely dreadful. Anne with an 'e' is quite distinguished." - Anne Shirley "Which would you rather be...divinely beautiful or dazzlingly clever or angelically good?" - Anne Shirley “My life is a perfect graveyard of buried hopes.”- Anne Shirley “Well, aren't you going to say anything, Matthew? I wouldn't give a dog I liked to that Blewett woman. It makes no sense to keep her. But if we did keep her, I'd expect you not to interfere with my methods. An old maid like me may not know much about raising a child, but I know a darn sight more than a bachelor like you. Oh, she could talk the hind leg off a mule, that's certain. Oh, wouldn't that be a change around here?” – Marilla Cuthbert “I enjoy babies in moderation, Mrs. Hammond, but twins three times in succession is too much.” - Anne Shirley "Mrs. Hammond told me that God made my hair red on purpose and I've never cared for Him since." -Anne Shirley "Oh, Marilla, I feel as though someone's handed me the moon and I don't exactly know what to do with it." - Anne Shirley "It's lovely to be going home and know it's home, I love Green Gables already, and I never loved any place before. No place ever seemed like home. Oh, Marilla, I'm so happy. I could pray right now and not find it a bit hard."- Anne Shirley MATTHEW: [Anne has come into the barn to thank Matthew for her dress] Puffed sleeves. ANNE: The puffiest!!! =) “You can punish me any way you like. You can lock me up in a dark dungeon inhabited by snakes and toads, and feed me on bread and water. I won't complain. But I cannot ask Rachel Lynde to forgive me.” – Anne Shirley "You set your heart too much on frivolous things and then crash down into despair when you don't get them." – Marilla Cuthbert “Good behaviour in the first place is more important than theatrical apologies afterwards.” – Marilla Cuthbert “I really am trying to overcome my faults, Marilla. I chatter on far too much. But if you only knew how many things I want to say and don't, you'd give me some credit.” – Anne Shirley “I can imagine I have a beautiful rose leaf complexion and lovely starry violet eyes. But I cannot imagine my red hair away." - Anne Shirley "Oh Marilla I thought nothing could be as bad as red hair. Green is ten times worse!" - Anne Shirley “Tomorrow is always fresh, with no mistakes in it.” – Anne Shirley "She had looked her duty courageously in the face and found it a friend - as duty ever is when we meet it frankly." - Anne Shirley “I don't think Mrs. Barry is a well-bred woman. I don't believe God, Himself, would entirely meet with her approval.” – Anne Shirley "A red haired person cannot play the Lily Maid. Tennyson would never approve." - Anne Shirley Yes, you, Anne of Green Gables...you amuse me. And precious little in this world amuses me at my age." - Aunt Josephine "Don't worry, Diana. I'll never forsake you. I'll nurse you back to health. Please stay until after tea." - Anne Shirley "Isn't it splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about? It just makes me feel glad to be alive--it's such an interesting world. It wouldn't be half so interesting if we know all about everything, would it? There'd be no scope for imagination then, would there?" – Anne Shirley "Dear old world," Anne murmured, "you are very lovely, and I am glad to be alive in you."
Anne 2 "When I left Queen's my future seemed to stretch out before me like a straight road. I thought I could see along it for many a milestone. Now there is a bend in it. I don't know what lies around the bend, but I'm going to believe that the best does. It has a fascination of its own, that bend, Marilla." – Anne Shirley “Make a little room in your plans for romance again, Anne girl. All the degrees and scholarships in the world can't make up for the lack of it.” - Aunt Josephine "Plum puffs won't minister to a mind diseased and a world that has crumbled into pieces." - Anne Shirley "Perhaps it's my wholesome Island upbringing, but I have no intention of becoming 'fancy's fool.'" - Anne Shirley "I would rather spend my time profitably than squander it on idle gossip, meddling in other people's affairs." - Anne Shirley “You may not have the use of you legs, Grandmama, but there's nothing the matter with your tongue.” – Emmeline Harris “For five glorious seconds, I really thought perhaps I could marry you. I used to dream of a moment like this. But now, I can't describe it. I need to go home.” – Anne Shirley to Morgan Harris "Why do people have to grow up and marry, change?" - Anne Shirley “No matter where I go or how I change, I'll always be your Anne. Anne of Green Gables.” – Anne Shirley "I'm not a bit changed, not really. I'm only just pruned down and branched out. The real ME - back here - is just the same." – Anne Shirley "It's all very well to read about sorrows and imagine yourself living through them heroically, but it's not so nice when you really come to have them, is it?" – Anne Shirley “We should regret our mistakes and learn from them, but never carry them forward into the future with us.” – Anne Shirley “When you've learned to laugh at the things that should be laughed at, and not to laugh at those that shouldn't, you've got wisdom and understanding.” – Aunt Jimsie "Because you made Josie Pye and Ruby Gillis and all of those wishy-washy young ladies who waltzed by him look like spineless nothings." Marilla to Anne on Gilbert "I went looking for my dreams outside of myself and discovered it's not what the world holds for you, it's what you bring to it. The dreams dearest to my heart are right here." - Anne Shirley (to Gilbert Blythe) "but wouldn't it have been more beautiful still, Anne, if there had been no separation or misunderstanding... if they had come hand in hand all the way through life, with no memories behind them but those which belonged to each other?" – Gilbert Blythe Side note: Anne's Fan Appreciation day was yesterday, so reading all the posts/ articles got me all excited! Here's a link to the first movie :P: Anne of Green Gables (loved the first and second movie, but the third was a let down) For once in the many years I've been here, the weather in Auckland resembles the rainy thundery weather I miss so much in Kuching! :) *heart skips happily* I heard THUNDER today like I've never heard before (:
"For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love and self-discipline." 2 Timothy 1:7
This year, I feel there are so many more things to be fearful about compared to the past two years, my rationale for this is because compared to the previous two years, this year, the possibility of things going wrong are exponentially higher, and should that happen, the repercussions would be more serious. For a girl like me who worries, frets and is fearful of so many little things, this verse is such a revelation & an encouragement to me - for all the things I lack, it is God's spirit in me that works and enables me.
And in place of fear (deilia: timidity, powerlessness, cowardice), in Him, I have power (dynamis: power coming in or resting upon hosts), love (agapē) and self-discipline (sōphronismos: an admonishing/calling to soundness of mind, to moderation and self-control)! May Your spirit prompt me and remind me and breath life in me, who is lacking in so many areas!
On another note, hoping, wanting and praying that I may lead a more balanced life this year.
Last year, I was really over-committed and it left me so wry and dry because the schedule I had planned out for myself overlooked my much needed & cherished "me-time". Last year, while studying full-time, I went on two mission trips (to Fiji and Nepal), was and still is a Leprosy Mission youth advocate where I give presentations on the work of LMNZ (that was fun! hehe, and got interviewed by local newspapers a few times), volunteered weekly as a telephone counsellor, at my local hospital in the Kids department, was and still is part of the Missions committee at my church (involved meetings, presentations, attending courses on missions), at a special needs school, oh, and did I mention that I was working with a client with a disability. How insane, right? What utter tomfoolery on my part! There was nothing sound about my decision! And I went ahead though many friends advised me against it. I survived and by God's grace my results were still quite okay but I wouldn't do the same thing again. Over-commitment really sucked the joy out of volunteering, because I learnt the hard way that you must take care of yourself before you can take care of others :( I didn't even join a bible study group last year though I did attend church regularly!
I remember God speaking so strongly to me when I was so worn out in Sem 2 last year using Eccl 3:1-8 (the verse on there's a time for everything under the sun and that He makes things beautiful in His time)! I know it was really irresponsible of me but that really gave me the guts to withdraw three of my commitments and I had more breathing space (and spent less on petrol too/ bus fares!).
This year - I'm cutting my commitments down drastically. I am only gonna be involved as a Leprosy Mission advocate (will be giving presentations at schools only in my 1st semester), work with my client with a disability and help out during service with the children's church (I love teaching kids!! But haven't been doing that for the past three years of my life because I've been too busy). So I will have more "me-time", time to attend my young adults group at church, more time for friends and more time doing whatever I love doing!
Putting on hold plans to go for Mandarin tuition (though I feel really strongly that I need to learn to speak it fluently) and continuing as a phone counsellor in the 2nd semester. Mmm, let's see how Sem 1 goes first. :) Haha, so evident that one of my weak points is "a sound mind" but I am learning and learning is funn ;)
| Why? | Feb 15, '12 1:48 AM
for everyone |
"Why?" is normally the first question that comes to mind when a tragedy arises for me. Sometimes God makes the situation clearer, sometimes he doesn't - but He is under no obligation to do so.
J.I. Packer writes about this in one of his books on prayer:
“If you ask, ‘Why is this or that happening?’ no light may come, for ‘the secret things belong to the Lord our God’ (Deuteronomy 29:29); but if you ask, ‘How am I to serve and glorify God here and now, where I am?’ there will always be an answer.”
Our Father in heaven will show us how to glorify Him, if we simply ask, ready to obey. So which question are you asking today?
“And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.” Isaiah 30:21 After a heart-to-heart catch-up with a good friend, I'm left with these after-thoughts:
Yes, in life, a lot of heartbreaking, unfathomable, painful, unfair, tough, terrible, confusing, overwhelming, unmanageable, plain horrible things happen to you and those around you. Yes, we are all somehow well-acquainted with that part of life.
But, a lot of healing, miracles, plain happy and blissful, fair, funny, good things happen to you and those around you too (however big or small they may appear to be).
Sometimes I'm so focused on the bad things that I don't have time to enjoy the good things, but now, I'm looking loooong and hard at those good things. And as I've just gotten started thinking about the good things God is doing for me and others, my mind is moving at the speed of a freight train and so many things are coming to mind (yes, I know, 'good' is relative and that 'all things work for good' but it's nice when He blesses you and those around you)! Wah, I feel so happy and thankful just thinking about all them! :)
Saat segala sesuatu tak seperti kubayangkan Saat segala sesuatu seperti tak ada harapan Saatku tak melihat jalanmu Saatku tak mengerti rencanamu Namun tetap kupegang janjimu Pengharapanku hanya padamu! :) | |
