Out of having nothing better to do, I put some thought into how to lengthen my name. Bet ya can’t guess how! Or maybe just couldn’t be bothered about it. But anyway, allow me to divulge a little bit more into my new discovery.

Ok, ready? Here are the steps:

1. Get rich, powerful and prominent in Malaysia
2. Get a PhD or Medical degree while you are at it
3. Become a registered Engineer
4. Join the Toastmasters’ club
5. Join the Rotary club

And voila, you would have added FIVE extra titles to your previously plain name.

“Everyone, say hello to Dato’ Dr Ir Toastmaster Rotarian So-and-so.”

Hee!

Diana’s [url=http://www.rotary.org]Rotary Club[/url] will be having an official ‘Wheelchair handover’ ceremony complete with photo-taking sessions for their club magazine and dinner tomorrow. Guess who she invited to be the official recipient of the wheelchair?

Heh :)

I used to giggle when I see pictures of philantrophists handing over big mock cheques to needy people in the newspapers and magazines. Never thought I’d be the recipient of something like this. Could never really figure out what PR was all about.

However, being involved in PR for the [url=http://www.karnival.org]Carnival[/url] recently taught me about the necessity of publicity. Often times, it involves getting famous or important persons to lend their presence to the event to create more pulling power. Somehow, by God’s grace, we managed to get YB Chew to officiate the opening ceremony and P. Ramlee’s son to belt out a song and hand out the prizes for the P.Ramlee singing contest.

What the Youth Excel Services is doing for the community through the Carnival is great. The Carnival provides two days of wholesome family fun for free. A time for the community to let their hair down and bond with each other. Publicity will ensure getting the news out, generate an awareness of the event and draw the people in.

I guess, publicity is part of the way things are done in Rotary, too. Since it blesses the needies in the community, a little photo-taking session won’t hurt.

As long as I don’t have to give a speech, that is ;)

An Update to [url=http://www.coolcatalyst.com/index.php?id=P242]Needed – One Wheelchair[/url]:

Diana just buzzed me telling me that she was able to get a brand new wheel chair from her Rotary Club. Brand new!!! It will be arriving in 2-3 days’ time.

Thank you, Lord for Your provision for Jude’s dad! You are indeed a prayer answering God.

Needless to say, Jude is esctatic :)

Thanks all for your prayers and help!

For years, I have thought I knew all there is to know about what the closure of my previous church. The church members who were affected thought that one man (Mr. T) was responsible for all that and that he left the church later on his own accord to start another church of his own.

Some of us got over our hurts and moved on to other churches while others felt disillussioned about being in a church again. Personally, it took me a while before I could think of Mr. T without feeling angry at what he did to us, and for me to fully commit myself to a local church again.

Two weeks ago, one of my colleagues who is a member of Mr. T’s new church (what a small world!) told us of what really happened to Mr. T. Apparently, the previous church leaders staged a coup while Mr. T was conveniently sent away on an overseas assignment. In a twinkle of an eye, everything and most of everyone that he trusted and poured out his life to were fed with stories and turned their backs against him and ex-communicated him.

That same day, I also unexpectedly got news from another source which confirmed this.

After so many years, within a day of each other I finally heard the other side of the story of the whole mess that happened. And I felt shocked and sick at the whole thing. Whatever Mr. T did to my previous church, it did not justify the things that were done to him by his senior church leaders. It could have been conducted in a more humane and civilised manner.

I do not know what to make out of this piece of news except that it serves as a closure, somewhat. I am reminded that when an injustice or wrong is done, it will be revealed one way or another. Things that are manipulated will not stay hidden for long.

Many hearts are still affected by that church closure episode years ago. I pray that it will not be long before they are fully healed and be able to move on fully in their spiritual walk with God. For me, that church became a crutch that had to be taken away so that I can worship and know God for who He is and not hide behind a hectic life of service. Knowing this helped me accept the situation better but it still took a while before the wounds healed. Even now, I still miss the old friends and the nice times we had in the church. I still do keep in touch with quite a number of them, but we are no longer worshipping in the same church, and it will never be the same again.

As for Mr. T, I was encouraged to read on his church website that he appreciated his wife more after the turmoil with his previous church leaders. “When my friends turned against me, she stood by me like a beacon shining brightly through the darkest night. Where would I be without her standing by my side and continuing to believe in me?”

He moved on, continuing to start new things and building up people, doomed to repeat the mistakes of lessons that he has not learned. This is the cycle that I go through, and what we all go through. What has been concealed will be revealed. Mistakes that are not learned will be repeated again and again until we finally get it.

And sometimes, sometimes, we get closures like this when we least expect it. By God’s grace, it will happen at a time when we are ready to receive it.

What a trying week it is! Several friends are hard hit by pain, trauma and needs and most times the only thing I could do is try to be there for them and to pray. And I pray that the next week will be a better one for them.

By the way, does anyone know where to get a second-hand or free wheelchair?

During my lunch devotion today, I read a wonderful message about the importance of praying for and being the cultivater and hoer – and not just the harvester. To find out what I mean, read it here – [url=http://www.ivmdl.org/godsweek.cfm?article=25]Lord Of The Hoeing.[/url]

Too often we bear the needless guilt of not being the one to bring someone to Christ. We forget that if there is no one to demonstrate the love and care of God consistently in that person’s life, there will be no opportunity for ‘harvesting’ to take place. Reading the article I mentioned above sets this perspective right :) Be blessed!

Yippeedo!!! I finally got [url=http://www.gmail.com]G-mail[/url]! And it’s all thanks to the kind folks with g-mail invites who frequent [url=http://www.gmailswap.com]Gmail swap[/url]. I posted an ad to swap pics of Empress, my friend’s pug and within a minute, got a couple of replies and within 10 minutes, I got my g-mail account. Pretty neat, huh?

Thanks, Empress for posing for me and to the pug lovers who responded! Made my day!!! :)) Continue Reading »

Chapter 5: Vern’s Dilemma

Continuation from:
1. [url=http://www.coolcatalyst.com/index.php?id=P222]The First Engagement[/url]
2. [url=http://www.coolcatalyst.com/index.php?id=P225]Old Clear-Oof to the Rescue[/url]
3. [url=http://www.coolcatalyst.com/index.php?id=P226]Dog Tricks[/url]
4. [url=http://www.coolcatalyst.com/index.php?id=P229]Serving God, Queen and Country[/url]

“Coo, I hope I’m not too late for tea!” a cheerful and apologetic voice suddenly broke into the solemn tea party of five.

The five looked at the gate-crasher and everyone grinned in delight. “If it isn’t our good old buddy, Vern! There’s not much damage done to tea yet. Plenty of macaroons still to go around,” Phil got up and practically dragged Vern to join the others.

Vern resisted being pushed down on the seat, “Wait, Phil. Before I sit, I’d like to recite a short pome of mine first. Need to earn my bread, old chap.” At the outcry of the others who protested that he need not do such a thing to earn the right to have tea with them, he raised a hand to silence them. “Just an ‘xpression I like to use every now and then. Don’t mean anything by it.”

Larrie said quietly to Betty, “It’s just a way to get us to hear his pomes in case we forgot to ask him for it.”

Betty giggled, “He doesn’t have to resort to such tactics. We would have asked him anyway, we know how much he loves to share his pomes with us!”

Vern cleared his throat and recited his pome in a grave voice:

“They seek it here
They seek it there
But they can not find it anywhere
They will never find it by force
Even if they storm the heavens above
This mysterious, elusive thing called love…”

Fattie thought the first few lines sounded rather familiar but joined the others in clapping heartily at the reading of the poem. “Bravo, Vern, bravo! Well-done indeed and you completed it all by yourself, too!”

Vern grinned cheerfully and finally sat down at the seat Phil proferred to him, “It didn’t take me too long to finish it, too. Was inspired by a book I read about the Scarlett Pimpernell. It had such a catchy pome.”

Fattie was reminded of why he liked Vern – he was an honest and good-hearted chap – always giving credit where credit’s due. “You’ve evolved from mysterious houses to love, eh Vern? Have you been struck by this disease?”

Vern blushed an interesting shade of red, “Well…. I wouldn’t exactly call it a disease, I won’t. It feels too nice to be called a disease.”

“Aha! Our Vern is in love! Pray tell, who is this lucky lady?” Phil said not bothering to mask his blatant curiousity.

Even Larrie was very suprised at this new bit of news and gave a hard look at Vern in hopes that it will move him to confess to his superior. But Vern shook his head obstinately and wouldn’t spill a bean on something that was obviously so personal to him. “Won’t be right to tell it to all of you before ‘fessing it to the lady first.”

“Oh, so she doesn’t know yet?” Dotty shrieked in delight. “Well, you can tell me and Betty, Vern. We can help you find the right words to express what’s in your heart. It looks like a case that only a woman can handle best.”

Poor Vern! He turned to an even deeper shade of crimson. Betty felt sorry for him, having been the brunt of Phil’s and Dotty’s teasing for years. She glared at the others to discourage them from prodding him further. “What a wonderful pome you recited just now, Vern! Do you have any others that you want to share with us?”

He looked at the kind and lovely girl gratefully, “Yes, I have oodles of those to share. Here’s one about the crooked tree behind my house.”

And as he launched eagerly into his other pome, Vern made a mental note to ‘fess to his beloved the first moment he gets to be alone with her. His resolve was strengthened by the kindness she displayed to him that afternoon. Surely that meant that she would listen to his heartfelt words with an open heart? He couldn’t bear to think of any other possible negative outcome. He simply couldn’t..!

To be continued…

Harjit put her cat statue on top of her cubicle in hopes that it will scare the mouse away.

A close-up of the ‘Scaremouse’

Mike put a grasshopper on our cubicle after he saw the mouse. I haven’t the faintest idea of how that will help!

I got this mail from [url=www.palmdigitalmedia.com/ ]Palm Digital Media [/url] with the title, “Great Software Discounts – Perfect for Father’s Day!” and got to some reflective thinking – something which I don’t get to do much these days because of a flurry of activities.

It dawned upon me that it’s actually quite easy to get gifts for dads who are gadget freaks. I could think of a few gadget freak friends who are fathers and what their non-exhaustive wish lists are. While it’s not going to be a problem for their kids to think of what to buy for dear old dad, it can burn quite a hole in the children’s pockets.

My dad is no techno gadget freak but he has these ‘thing’ phases which he would not tell a soul saved for mum, and would go out and get those things himself. One Christmas, I got him a shirt and according to mum, he loved it and would only wear it on very special occassions. Other times, we would just bring him out for a good meal. That saves us from the hassle of thinking what gifts to buy for dad. As long as we remember to honor him, he’s happy.

This year, we finally got him to agree to watch a movie in a proper cinema as a family. The show? [url=www.disney.go.com/disneypictures/80days/" target=_blank]Around the World in 80 Days[/url]. And then to a nice dinner afterwards.

In many ways, I’m glad my dad doesn’t expect us to blow our pockets for him and is very appreciative at the nice practical things we do for him. I guess even my gadget freak dad friends would be equally thrilled when their kids give them something that’s non-gadget and non-expensive but given sincerely with all their hearts. Even if it’s a crayon-based portrait of him with a crooked smile.

I’d like to think it’s a universal dad thing :)