Watched [url=http://www.thedayaftertomorrow.com]The Day After Tomorrow[/url] on Sun and it was an awesome movie – with a message – Save the Earth. It also has heart as depicted by the sacrifices of various people (see the Read More section)
Here’s a brief rating on the movie:
Spoilers ahead in the Read More section… Continue Reading »
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Evaluation on the 2nd and final day of the video training course :
I think the course has opened up a can of worms for me. I thought I knew a lot after reading their books and attending one Elijah House seminar before, but oh boy, a lot more is revealed to me in this brief 2-day course. Even the facilitators shared that although they viewed the tape many, many times, they learn something new each time.
I felt rather miserable after watching the first tape on Pre-natal Wounds & Sins. I could identify with some of the traits associated with being a child who was born after a miscarriage and also a child which was born of the wrong sex. See, my parents already had two girls before me, so naturally, they were hoping for a boy but I came along. I had settled some of the issues which stemmed from them but this course highlighted other issues associated with it such as, performance-orientation. Gosh, I never realised I had this trait until yesterday. Quite a number of people who prayed for me before this have told me to just rest in the Lord and not to strive. But I didn’t get it… until now.
In my mind, I envisioned long, long years of sorting out the issues in order to be perfectly whole again. Then I heard real-life accounts of people who were not aware of their own baggages until years down the road.
“Aren’t all those years of not knowing and living a life that is not totally whole, a waste? Why couldn’t they know it and sort it out much earlier, Lord? They could have had a better life and avoided so many problems!” I asked God silently.
It’s becoming apparent to me that when I see something that is not right and is causing pain to me and others, I want it fixed and I want it fixed NOW. Hee.. A sign of performance-orientation perhaps?
Towards the end, God assured me that His timing is His to choose and He is never too early nor too late. And after the Fall of Adam, He did not promise us a life free from sufferings. In fact, after talking to my youth cell members yesterday during Word, we surmised that if it were not for the problems in our lives, we would not learn to come back to God and rely upon His strength.
And so, I prayed for patience. Patience to wait upon God’s timing and trust that He would complete the good work He has begun in me. I am probably ‘ripe’ to work through the stuff that has been revealed to me and that’s good. And for those areas which I am not aware of yet, He will reveal it to me in His time, when He knows I’m ready.
So, that concludes the 2-day video training course but I signed up for the Basic School 1 training (via video). I can’t believe it, but I’m actually going to go through an honest-to-goodness proper Elijah House (EH) course! Of course, my ultimate dream would be to go to Idaho and enrol myself in their advanced training courses. Still, it’s a delight to be able to go through an EH course since I read so many of their books which have helped me over the years and is still helping me along in this journey called life.
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Am attending the 2-day Elijah House – Keys of Transformation video training. As tired as I was (been sleeping really late these days – the cool night air somehow inspires me to read, write and think), I learned one main thing from it:
1. When we break God’s laws ([url=http://www.biblegateway.com/cgi-bin/bible?passage=DEUT+5&language=english&version=NIV&showfn=on&showxref=on]the 10 Commandments[/url]), we reap the consequences. This is regardless of whether we believe in those laws or not.
John Sandford states that most of our problems can be traced back to when we first broke commandment #5 which is:
“Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the LORD your God is giving you.”
We dishonor our parents by judging them when they hurt us or neglect doing things that we expect them to do. How many of us vowed to ourselves that “We will never become like our mom or dad” and to our horror, when we grow up, we start to talk or behave just like mom or dad!
When we dishonor them by vowing, “I will never marry someone like dad!”, and we deliberately choose a partner that at first appears to be poles apart from dear old dad, only to discover later that the person has evolved to be just like dad!
That’s the principle of sowing and reaping in action. We sow a judgement towards our hapless parent and we reap it later in our own lives with interest (that’s the law of increase in action!).
Well, I’m heading to bed now so that I can remember more than one thing from today’s seminar ;) Looking forward to it and the wonderful refreshments, too!
One of Kelvin’s wish (if he could turn back time) was having a kid earlier in his marriage. Not that he had an option over that since it is God who blesses couples (who are trying) with children after all.
So [url=http://www.xanga.com/judeong]Jude[/url] encouraged me to seek God in hopes that Mr. Right will come along soon on my path so that I won’t have my first kid in my 30’s. Hmmm, I believe that like children, good spouses are a blessing from God. You just don’t encounter them every day.
[url=http://www.ireneq.com]Irene[/url] has blogged some [url=http://ireneq.com/mt-archives/cat_hearts_flowers.php]great articles on her thoughts on marriage[/url] to which I heartily agree. Equally delightful was the fact that we share the same traditional views on who should make the first move! It’s getting rare these days to find people who think like that. A lot of helpful friends would quote the ratio of local men outnumbering women by 4:1 and surmised that with odds like that, a woman needs to have thicker skin and get that man!
Hang on a minute here… I thought God specialises in situations like that. What about [url=http://www.purechristianity.org/gideon_and_his_300_men.htm]Gideon and His 300 Men fighting against 400,000+ men?[/url]. What about [url=http://www.valleyviewseek.org/teach/031109.htm]Abraham and Sarah[/url] who had their first child when they were well-past child-bearing age? What about Hannah who got her son, and Moses who crossed the Red Sea, and many, many examples of biblical faith?
In the end, I think it all boils down to faith. Faith to cling on to God and wait for Mr. Very Suitable. While early motherhood would be a nice thing to experience, I wouldn’t mind waiting to share that special chapter of my life with THE man. Not just any man. THE man. And if it doesn’t happen before I’m 30, I know God will give me the grace to deal with it.
Oooo, here’s another version of Kelvin’s birthday dinner. It’s pretty hilarious! Check it out here: [url=http://www.xanga.com/item.aspx?tab=weblogs&user=JudeOng&uid=92596625] Jude’s version[/url].
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Evergreen verses from long ago…
If I were told that I must die to-morrow,
That the next sun
Which sinks should bear me past all fear and sorrow
For any one,
All the fight fought, all the short journey through:
What should I do?
I do not think that I should shrink or falter,
But just go on,
Doing my work, nor change, nor seek to alter
Aught that is gone;
But rise and move and love and smile and pray
For one more day.
And, lying down at night for a last sleeping,
Say in that ear
Which hearkens ever: “Lord, within Thy keeping
How should I fear?
And when to-morrow brings Thee nearer still.
Do Thou Thy will.”
I might not sleep for awe; but peaceful, tender,
My soul would lie
All the night long; and when the morning splendor
Flashed o’er the sky,
I think that I could smile–could calmly say,
“It is His day.”
But, if instead a hand from the blue yonder
Held out a scroll,
On which my life was, writ, and I with wonder
Beheld unroll
To a long century’s end its mystic clew,
What should I do?
What COULD I do, O blessed Guide and Master,
Other than this:
Still to go on as now, not slower, faster,
Nor fear to miss
The road, although so very long it be,
While led by Thee?
Step after step, feeling Thee close beside me,
Although unseen,
Through thorns, through flowers, whether the tempest hide Thee,
Or heavens serene,
Assured Thy faithfulness cannot betray,
Thy love decay.
I may not know, my God; no hand revealeth
Thy counsels wise;
Along the path a deepening shadow stealeth,
No voice replies
To all my questioning thought, the time to tell,
And it is well.
Let me keep on, abiding and unfearing
Thy will always,
Through a long century’s ripening fruition,
Or a short day’s.
Thou canst not come too soon; and I can wait
If thou come late.
~ Susan Coolidge (Verses)
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One of the things I greatly admire in Kelvin (my mentor Kat’s hubby and our Zone Leader) is his tenacity in clinging onto God and serving Him despite the many brutal setbacks he has experienced in his life.
He has experienced betrayal by his Christian business partners who were determined to put him through financial ruin and cut his reputation to shreds. The amazing thing is that his heart is still soft before the Lord, still willing to put his trust in people and still on fire to serve the Lord. If that’s not an example of gentleness and trust in the Lord, I don’t know what is.
Thus it was with great joy that we celebrated his 50th birthday yesterday. After a good sea food meal in Klang, we adjourned to his place for a chit chat. We took the opportunity of putting him on the hot seat. The people who are privileged to sit on the hot seat have to answer any question thrown to them. Jude asked him, “What is it that irritates you the most?” He pondered for a while and said, “Nothing specific that I can think of!” Ruth had a sneaky suspicion as to what exactly it is that will put a bee in his bonnet but she just mentioned it to me and we had a private giggle over it.
And it went like that for some time. When everyone had their fun, it was my turn to ask the birthday boy, “What advice would you give to us young people after living life for 50 years?”
Without hesitation he answered, “Three things:
1. When you serve God, do not complain
2. When you serve God, give your best
3. When you serve God, it is not in vain for He is no man’s debtor”
Ruth quickly shot him a question, “What do you feel about people who don’t want to serve God?”
Immediately he answered, “I will feel very annoyed!”
Ruth was absolutely correct in her suspicions!
He went on to say that, he would be annoyed over those who have tasted God’s goodness and yet refuse to serve Him. But he realised that everyone has their timing. He commended his sister-in-law who was present, “She used to live a defeated Christian life for years and only recently decided to do something about it and when she cleaned up the mess in her heart, she is now a cheerful, vibrant servant of God. Look at her now, she is a changed woman!”
For all his fervent almost zealot-like sayings, Kelvin never gives up on people and always believed in the best of them and keeps giving them chances to prove themselves. Such a tireless and often unrewarding task truly reflect the heart of God who never gives up on us.
Have a blessed birthday, Kelvin. We are already blessed by your leadership and wonderful example.
Eek… I just realised that a couple of days’ of worth entries disappeared just like that. It must have gotten lost somewhere in cyberspace when my host upgraded their servers. If memory serves me correctly, they are about my recent membership with [url=http://www.bookcrossing.com]Bookcrossing[/url], [url=http://cheekycat.bookcrossing.com]my bookshelf[/url], a book review of Wizard of Oz and exercising self-control over my indulgence towards food.
This reminds me to make a backup of things no matter how reliable my web host has been.
After all, Jesus saves. His disciples should, too.
Continue Reading »
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Every now and then I would think about cats and miss having one in my life. So now that I’m doing my regular makeover of this blog, I want to commemorate this as my tribute to the cats that have graced my path.
Here are some reasons why I think cats are so cool:
Ah… to the cats who were there when I was growing up and needed a gentle furry ear to talk to, this new look is for you. I miss you all…
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One of my new year resolutions this year was to allow God to cultivate more of the fruits of the Spirit in me. And like most difficult new year resolutions, I had forgotten all about it until Uncle Pong called me to ask how I was doing. Inevitably, this led to an inquiry about my job situation.
Things are fine – my bosses are treating me well and yet not that fine – in terms of growth and doing the thing that I think I was made to do.
“I don’t know…. doors are just not opening,” I said, discouraged.
“…yet,” Uncle Pong gently.
“Yet?” I repeated doubtfully. With every door that was shut on my face, a little of my hope died with them.
“Seems to me that this is a lesson in patience and long-suffering,” he continued. “You need to pray first before sending in your next job application. But don’t give up.”
Somehow, the conversation with dear Uncle Pong encouraged my discouraged heart. When the next friend called me up and asked how my job situation was, I told her that the doors are not opening… yet.
And I was reminded of my new year resolution. Talked to God about it and brought [url=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0736901884/coolcatalystc-20]A Woman’s Walk With God[/url] to read during lunch today. Will be zeroing into the ‘Resisting in Patience’ chapter.