I love going to the Elijah House prayer ministry training for a few reasons. One, to get help and find freedom from the bitter roots in my life. Two, to help others discover their bitter roots and be there for them as they achieve breakthroughs in their lives.

And lately, I’ve discovered that there’s a third reason – to behold the loving faces of the senior facilitators who started Elijah House Malaysia.

There’s one lady whom I particularly looked forward to meeting and exchanging words and hugs with. She has been there from the start – a calm, quiet, gentle and loving person who helped out in whatever ways that she can. The reason that I did not immediately notice her much at first was simply because she never drew any attention upon herself.

She’s always dressed in a simple manner and when her husband stood in front the other day to teach us and in the process shared a bit about some of their problems, she was quietly doing some registration work.

“Hee hee, he’s talking about you, CM,” I turned to grin at her. “It’s quite funny leh.”

“I know, dearie,” the older woman with curly hair smiled sweetly at me. “It’s ok, I’m secure with whatever he shares about me.”

Wow. If I were her, I would have given him a pointed look or a cut-throat gesture or something.

But something good often comes forth when you spend time with people who bring love and life wherever they go. After many months of spending time with loving people like her, I find myself practicing in a small measure the good things I had learned so subconsciously. That gentle smile to the people around me who had nothing to do and therefore, do not need to feel the brunt of the emotional chaos that I go through sometimes. Those arms that were made to hug friends who have shared their sorrows and needed some reassurance. The soft probing eyes and insightful questions to encourage folks to share the convulated matters of the soul.

For all the years that I’ve been in this school, the greatest lessons that I’ve learned did not come from the immense theoretical knowledge that was imparted, but rather from the loving hearts and actions of the trainers, facilitators and fellow students.

It’s like what I heard someone say before – if you can learn the language of love and practice that one lesson well, you would have learned the greatest lesson of life.

Knowledge puffs up
but love builds up
~ 1 Corinthians 8:1

Thanks, EH…

** Note of warning: If you think that I’m referring to you, please clarify with me first. I’m just venting here because I feel helpless seeing a friend being bullied by a parasite. No offense intended, ya?**

Compared to some of my friends, I am a cool-hearted woman. I can spot users and abusers a mile away. And heaven help those who try to sink their claws of manipulation upon me. I have a few weapons of defense up my sleeves which I’ll be glad to share with those who have difficulty getting these parasites off their backs.

When I hear of people complaining about their boundaries being encroached by others and that they have difficulty saying no when asked to do something that was hateful to them, I would feel genuinely puzzled. Now, I do have my share of problems and weaknesses in life. But generally, not in the area of establishing proper boundaries with people who are toxic.

With people who seemed to take delight in harassing me and trying to pile guilt upon me for making them the depressed person that they already are, I’ll gently but firmly tell them that they are adults already and if they want to be depressed, it is solely their decision for wanting to be that way. And I’d tell them that I hoped they would leave me in peace. That usually works. Note: When it comes to threats of suicide, it’s best to take them seriously and refer them to a mental health professional promptly.

However, the downside of having such a powerful anti-parasite radar and knack in resisting being used by others, is that I have also unknowingly rejected some genuine pleas for help by others. And that’s bad – for an abundant life is one that is meant to bless and be blessed by others – even the ones that appear to be not so lovable at first sight.

I was reading this today. Part of me went like, “Aiyo, it’s just a picture with a hot supermodel. What’s wrong taking a photo with her?” And another part of me was touched, so touched that he said no.

Thanks, Aidan, for reminding us that true beauty is not merely skin-deep.

Ever since I heard about James’ experience eating Egg’s Benedict, I’ve developed a craving for it. So much so that I’ve put it in my food hit list.

Bezzie’s beau, Wu, in his efforts to win over my approval, offered to cook me a meal as per the rules that had been so eloquently laid out.

“What’s your fancy, O bezzie of Rina? Thy wish is my command,” he said in a most sincere manner.

Wow, I realised that this was my one chance to satisfy a two-year craving. “Egg’s benedict!” I said esctatically. “And I want to watch you cook it, too. To ensure that you are not cheating.”

This cool dude was amazing. He just nodded and said, “No problem!”

And so, the date was set. He had problems buying English muffins in our Malaysian supermarkets, so we decided to use toasted white bread instead – which we discovered to be a good substitute. Here are the results:

The yummylicious Egg’s Benedict

A close-up shot. Are you drooling yet?

The Attack of the Egg’s Benedict. Muahaha…

The Egg’s Benedict tasted heavenly. It took nearly two years but it was really worth the wait. Thanks, Wu – you have my heartiest approval! *happy burp*

For you cooks out there, here’s the Egg’s Benedict recipe:

INGREDIENTS:
8 egg yolks
105 ml lemon juice
2 g ground white pepper
1 ml Worcestershire sauce
30 ml water
455 g butter, melted
3 g salt
16 eggs
10 ml distilled white vinegar
16 strips Canadian-style bacon
8 English muffins, split
55 g butter, softened

Spread toasted muffins with softened butter, and top each one with a slice of bacon, followed by one poached egg. Place 2 muffins on each plate and drizzle with hollandaise sauce. Sprinkle with chopped chives and serve immediately.

“Aiya, I think I saw them looking this way lar… Quick, hide behind this pillar!” I whispered urgently as Rina and I quickly ducked behind the air-cond vent pillar at the KLIA airport.

We felt like we were starring in a B-grade spy movie where we are stalking some international pervert spy.

Our mission was to send our good pal back to the US. But we also wanted it to be a surprise. However, in the course of our conversation to ensure that he won’t go into the gates before we had a chance to get there, he sort of got a whiff that he would see someone familiar there. The family were also expecting some of his other good friends to send him off and hence were looking out this way and that, so it was difficult to remain inconspicuous for long. We decided to forego the surprise element and just make ourselves known.

Anyway, it was great to be able to see him off, impromptu though it was. And I found out that saying bon voyage to a dear friend isn’t that bad after all. Have a safe flight, TK!

Haha, we were not at all deceived by TK’s crocodile tears.

*Attention, attention*

I don’t do this very often but when it comes to a cause I support, I will start pimping it. A long-time blog reader, commentator and pal has finally revealed himself to be a Hakka. And the freaky thing was, he guessed that I was a Hakka, too – all from my Chinese name. He begged me not to reveal who he is, nor to advertise his all-things Hakka blog. But I think it’s good to let people know what we Hakkas are really like. Not all of us eat dogs, you know.

Anyway, hope over to As Hakka As We Get to immerse yourself in some of our culture and cuisine. It’s a fairly new blog, so I’m hoping that it will get populated with more juicy stuff as they go along.

Before I request for things from my boss, I would normally check for the weather forecast first.

“How’s his mood today? Good ar?”

“Good, very good,” replied his secretary.

And so I proceeded to request for the things that has been

There we were, the three of us, in an intense discussion of life and love. Of the birds and the bees. Each bearing different perspectives. Each convinced that their point of view is right.

And the strange thing was, we discovered that each of us came pre-wired with things our parents have drummed into us ever since we were young.

“Above all, treasure your independence! Never give up your job no matter how rich or successful your husband is.”

“Don’t trust someone with all your heart – even if they are married to you. They will just disappoint you.”

“For a marriage to work, someone must give in. Two proud logger-heads will split a marriage apart.”

And so on and so forth. Like a broken recorder, we found ourselves repeating the words that our mothers spoke to us. Some things were good. Some were neutral – just a different way of looking at life. But some others were not.

It was scary to discover that. Scary because we know that from observing our parents’ marriages there is no such thing as a perfect marriage. Scary because while those theories wrought by experience have worked for our parents, it might not work for us because we are made of different stuff these days. Scarier still because most of the pre-programmed information might only surface after the marriage deed was done or when the children comes.

I guess that’s where pre-marital counseling would help bring out some, if not most of these issues to the surface. And I think it helps to have both partners being willing to change and seek help and do what they can to make their marriage work.

For all the good intentions that our parents have in warning us not to trust people easily nor be a blind good Samaritan, some of their teachings might not bear good fruits. Yes, we do need to honour them by listening to their viewpoints with love and respect, but we owe it to the wellbeing of our marriage and our children to un-learn the old patterns, re-learn the wholesome ones and practice the new habits. And we pray that we are not too blind our own set patterns of behavior to change. Otherwise, we would find ourselves doomed to repeat the same old pattern and be stuck in the same rut in our own relationships.

Nobody reads my announcements section :(

CC, Jenn, Jenn’s niece and Rina

We celebrated our dear friend Jenn’s birthday yesterday at Hartz Chicken Buffet yesterday. The whole place was nearly empty saved for our large group. We suspected that it was because of the bird flu. Bezzie and I decided to just go ahead and plunge into the main course – chicken – because well, we’re eventually all going to die anyway one day and it’s better to die risking bird flu on a beloved friend’s birthday than to die for any other superficial reason. Right, Rina? Errr… Rina?

One of the highlights of the evening were the games organised by Jenn’s mischievous brothers. The two clowns split the group into two – an all-girls group and the other was an all-guys group. Each group was given a piece of paper, a marker pen and we formed two lines. Jenn was seated in the middle and was instructed to pose like a model in an art class. Each contestant was given 5 seconds to draw Jenn’s portrait before passing the pen on to the next person.

This was the result. Can you tell which one was produced by the girl’s team? Hint: I was the one who drew Jenn’s nice eyes :P

Another hint: Guys can be so evil

And since Jenn is still a hot single, her naughty brothers rigged a game where only the single guys could participate. The winner would get a movie ticket to watch a show with Jenn last night. She managed to persuade her brothers to let us gals participate but a single guy won the game anyway. Haha, nice try Jenn.

Overall, it was a great time of catching up with old friends. Rina and I left the party thinking how blessed Jenn was to have such wacky brothers who cared so much for their sister’s welfare.

Happy birthday, Jenn. Hope you had a great time last night at the movies :D