Resuming my Postings

It has been such a long while since I blogged!

May till August, that's like three months! I recently came back from a Genting trip. I was shocked by the length of time taken to travel by bus up to Genting - 7 whopping hours!

Whilst there, I had an enjoyable time. Most importantly, grandma had an enjoyable time. It's such a joy to see her happy, at ease and just having her own fun. This trip, was one of the rare ones where Grandma posed and smiled for my camera!

Grandma had her nasi lemak on the second day. Made me smile whenever I see this photo.

She also had her fun of playing with the jackpot machine, and a great affinity with a particular jackpot machine with an old man picture in it. She kept getting the old man carrying the money tray! Old man lurves old woman. =p

Had a good time catching up with her sister too. I learnt many things from this trip. Especially on how to age gracefully. Plan for the old age, so that you can relax when it is time to relax. Work hard now, to enjoy later. The experiences that all these people I travelled with added up is an exorbitant number. They are all rich in a different sense - wealthy in their numerous lessons in life learnt.

Makes me wonder when I get that old, how much would I have to share with people in terms of my experiences in life? Will I also be that fun loving and life loving then?

Amazing Grace

A song that never fails to put me at the brink of tears when I hear it, and to tears at worship. It brings one through every critical experience that the person has with God. It brings reflections and thanksgiving to an all new high. Truly a song inspired from God.

Written by John Newton, who was an ex-navy officer, and later became embrawled in slave trading. The turning point in Newton's spiritual life was a violent storm that occurred one night while at sea. Moments after he left the deck, the crewman who had taken his place was swept overboard. Although he manned the vessel for the remainder of the tempest, he later commented that, throughout the tumult, he realized his helplessness and concluded that only the grace of God could save him.

The inspiration for this song came from 1 Chronicles 17:16-17.

16 Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and said, ‘Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? 17And even this was a small thing in your sight, O God; you have also spoken of your servant’s house for a great while to come. You regard me as someone of high rank, O Lord God!

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That sav’d a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears reliev’d;
How precious did that grace appear,
The hour I first believ’d!

Thro’ many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;’
Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promis’d good to me,
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.

Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease;
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who call’d me here below,
Will be forever mine.

John New­ton, Ol­ney Hymns (Lon­don: W. Ol­i­ver, 1779)

Fairness Vs Justice

I read the following in bible.org

God never claims to be fair--only just. Fairness is a human standard that changes as often as our perceptions change--God never changes, and His decrees are never altered. God is not, and cannot be, judged by any standard manufactured by men!”

The preacher opened his Bible and read several verses out loud that spoke of God’s ruling the affairs of nations, and of His plan for redemption through the sacrifice of the Cross. Was it fair for God to send His Son to die for us? Did God ever promise anywhere to take our thoughts, whims, and petty human pride into account in His eternal councils? No! God is either absolute, or He is not God!”

Sounds pretty harsh. Yet, it is so true. I learnt this lesson the hard way. So I always remember that life is never fair. Only God makes it just. The imbalance I feel, is something to live with. Yet, I can always find the assurance in God, that He is in control, and justice is always in His hands.

It's scary to think that if fairness is based on our human minds, how "fair" can it be? How true. Our own standards, are really not a standard. Why? Because we always change. We always have the tendency to judge, to side, to give our own opinions on fairness. At the end of it, one person's fairness is always different from another. We end up in a circle arguing over something that can never be reached. What's the point?

Help. Again.

I think, quite a while ago. I wrote on this. This morning, I was reminded of this. The importance of help, and how to receive it.

Acts 18
9One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: "Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. 10For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city."

When I read this, it spoke to me rather instantaneously. As my Dad in Heaven always know what's going on in my heart. That's the personal part. Now, the other part. Things that got me pondering more.

The first four words that God told Paul - Do NOT be afraid. Implication? Paul is afraid. The "great and fearless" Paul is afraid! The Paul with great convictions and confidence in speaking the truth is afraid! That got to me. Sometimes, I forget that anyone can be afraid.

The second part - God gave Paul the assurance that He is with him, and even further assurance that nothing will happen to him in this city. The verse after this showed that Paul accepted this word from God, and went forth to fearlessly proclaim the gospel.

Accepting help. This can be tricky. It takes a few parts:

1. Knowing you need help

Sometimes, you know you need help. Sometimes, you don't. There are times when I am in a difficult situation, and I keep piling things on my plate, adding on to the workload. I need help. But do I see it? If I do, why do I still add things on?

2. Someone/something to give you help

Where does my help come from? It can be from anyone actually. However, sometimes, it takes one to realise that that is "help". I need to recognise help when it comes, too.

3. Humility to accept help

Now, this is the difficult part. To accept help means to acknowledge and confirm a lot of things. It would mean that I am weak, I need the help. It would mean that I need to lay down my pride, to accept the help. It would mean that I am not as good as I want others to think I am.

At the end of it though, if I don't be humble, who is to suffer? I guess, no one else, but me. Help is a two-way process. The relation between the helper and the receiver. God gives helpers. But, do we look out for them, and acknowledge them?

I think, at times, I need helpers to identify helpers! Oh dear, I have opened another can of worms.

Problem with Pain

Was reading from the book written by C.S. Lewis - just the first chapter, on the problem of pain.

Pain - is universal. It transcends culture, age, continents, time, etc. Everyone, at one point of their life, will undergo the experience of pain. Be it emotional pain or physical pain.

It is really difficult to explain pain, or define pain. In fact, it is impossible. No one person can really say that my pain is greater than yours (with a standard). It is subjective to threshold.

As the author aptly says, it is just his thoughts on the issue of pain that he is writing about, and he is open to ridicule if it looks dumb. Even the great C.S. Lewis had to give a statement like this.

The author and perfector of faith went through the greatest pain in all history. Seeing His created torturing Him. Yet, through His death, He paid the ransom for the created to be saved.

Christianity, really doesn't bring a clear understanding of pain. Indeed, it also has pain in it. It all depends on whether we want to see that how pain comes about - the fall of mankind from the days of Adam & Eve.

O what a pain!

Encouragements from Ms E

Ms E, as I affectionately call her, is an old friend of mine. Back in JC days. We are usually found in the canteen, snacking, and chatting.

Well, it's eight years now, since we graduated from JC. She has since went into full time music, and I went into full time facing the music from the people I work with...haha not always...but sometimes...

Today, I received an encouragement/insight from her, as a fellow sister in Christ. Something that refreshed me.

16:59:49 cherrytoes says:now doin bs on genesis. really frm genesis noe alot of things. wat God has given us. the authority to 'guan2 li3'. he told man to take charge of the garden. all tat is created is under charge of man

17:00:56 cherrytoes says:so its like music is given to me, its all out there. in my bank. i jus hav to noe how to b in charge n spin out the melody hahhah.. same for every occupation n wherever u r

We've heard this before. That all riches are given unto you, it's a matter of whether you want to tap on it. Today, she mentioned it again, and it brought to my mind again. Am I withdrawing from the ever-full bank?

Inter-Institution Bowling Championships

After about 2 months of hard work at weekly trainings, this is the eventual result! Ha! Seriously, it came as a surprise!

It was cluster wide, with 15 teams. Overall, my institution came in tops in pinfall, taking scores from the top two teams fielded by each institution. Quite cool!

My first two games only averaged around 130-140. My third game however, I managed to understand the lane conditions, and guided the ball to the right place. That pushed me to 2nd place for high individual game, ending off at 181. Phew.

Thank God for His peace within me when I tackled the third game. I think, without Him, I'd have lost my cool. My team was one of the last two teams to end the game. This is the most drastic outcome - meaning everyone else will be staring at you, because there's nothing left to do!

The biggest challenge? CEO was standing behind us and "supporting" us. Sweat. Because of this "support", the team was more on form! :P

Overall, it was a wonderful experience. Most importantly, really want to thank our coach. He came down to support us to the end. He also helped in our teething problems. Really appreciate his extra mile!

It was indeed a time of jesting, coupled with some stress, but eventually victory! Thanks be to God, for watching over all of us. Interestingly, the entire team was either catholic or christian, including the coach! lol. I guess, some were praying hard!

Weightage

Some things add on a weight to you. Even if you don't want it to come, it flows like clock work. That is something I learnt over the past two days.

The moment you decide to embark on a new stage of your life, there is no turning back. There is no way for you to stop things from happening.

That's the scary part.

The other scary part is - if you don't start, you'd never know what you are missing out on.

Paradoxes. How nice.

Delighted

I came to know of two good news today. Both having to do with romance!

Two girls whom I am happy for. One for a possible romance, the other who began hers! I guess, this is one of the things I like about being a woman. The feeling of squirmish-ness and anticipation, coupled with girlish tickles of laughter! The endless banters over coffee, and the sweet exchanges that go on during such sessions. The air seem to smell of strawberries today. Lol. Okay, that's a bit over the limit.

Hope to hear more of such good news soon! Joel and Jeremy's union today is one wonderful example of matt 6:33. Seek first His Kingdom and righteousness, and all other things shall be given unto you. Another example of how I can trust Him in delivering His goods.

Love is in the air... ... ... (:

Random joke on romance. Was watching Seducing Mr Perfect just a while ago. It's a story about this boss and his subordinate. He was that ever charming and confident guy, and this woman was a desperado in the area of love.

She pleaded with him to teach her how to win men like him. Here goes the dialogue (paraphrased):

Woman: Please give me some tips to improve myself, please please please

Man: It doesn't work... ... you are a 386, you can never be a pentium

Woman: Why not, you can always install new programmes

Man: You do not have the capacity to put those programmes in. Your system will crash!

Woman: ... ... ...

I just lurve such wit!

Meaning

It's been a long while since I had last visited the night scene of Singapore. Last night, I did, with an old friend. He somehow led me to a history lesson of my own life, without knowing it.

I guess, some things never change. But I guess, I did. It was a good nostalgic time looking at myself of what I used to do in the past from a different view.

As Ecclesiastes aptly puts it. Everything is meaningless. There is only one thing that is not. Now, I know that even better.

O My Valentine's!

What did I do on this supposedly most romantic day of the year?

1. Stare at my excel spreadsheets, did my Vlookups, MID, DATEVALUE functions.

2. Went to the gym in the afternoon, and to experience what I had always projected in my mind - WHAT IF, the showers do not work! lol. It happened. I had to mop clean today. No wonder I didn't sweat much. It was for a reason! Phew

3. Rushed to finish my spreadsheets, which didn't happen. Dropped my work at 630pm, to attend bowling practice with 2 of my colleagues. That coach was theoretical! Very theoretical!

4. Finally, ending off the night with my colleague driving me back to the video shop near my place to grab a dvd which was needed for work tomorrow. Apparently, the two dvds that we had required were not found in HMV, Borders, TS, Laser Flair and etc, but in the humble abode of a neighbourhood Video shop! He definitely owes me one this time round!

5. As I had my dinner at 10pm, something flashed across my mind. The farewell of a particular manager. She was giving thanks to God for the blessings that she had received, and also the blessings that she managed to give to the people around her. She is definitely heading for a higher calling. As I always say, this is an organisation where I can see people who work for the passion that they have in it. Nothing can bring them away from the work which they will always profess that they are "called for". A calling, is indeed higher than a job. Once your job is your calling, you make a great difference. I have seen many lives like that in this place. No matter how "terok" the situation, if you believe you are called to the purpose of work in the place you are, it makes all that difference.

She mentioned to a few of us that it's God opening the doors for her to go to another place to make a difference. It may not be a big difference, but as long as she is able to, she is happy. As I traced back my thoughts further to 2007, her life might have been very different today if her supervisor had chosen a different track for her (I was involved in this part), but because of her manager's decision not to, she is still a "free" woman today to decide to leave for another purpose in her life. Indeed, God's plans, is impeccably intricate. Everything is woven so beautifully, perfectly, and precisely. A single "wrong" step would have meant a particular milestone in life being not able to happen. This is one great example I have seen for myself. This really made me fall in love again with my perfect lover of all time. The one and only, whom I can totally trust in.

What a memorable Valentine's!

CNY

Every CNY eve, I feel like a maid, I work like a maid, and definitely look like one. =p
But, I do enjoy housework! It's therapeutic!

What was I doing? Well straight after work, buy lunch for the hungry people at home, then started to clean the sty, after that, start to do the cutting, slicing, washing of the raw food, then dinner! Nope, it doesn't end here. Then wash dishes, sweep floor (for the last time before the clock strikes 12), then mop!

As the clock strikes twelve - Salvation and that sense of liberation finally arrives! Kiddin!

I tried to wake at 8am this morning. That was ambitious. After much negotiation with my snooze button, it won me at 9am.

Began Lunar New Year with a good run this morning.

Afterwhich, my aunt, uncle, cousins, nephews and my newly added niece came to visit! My niece reminded me of when I was young.... I shan't say what aspect of it!

Then it dawned on me....my Grandma, is now Great-grandma of three! *gasp* It took darn long for reality to set in. Ha ha.

Next up....more visitations!

It all Started with Good Morning!

My eyes barely opened, it was more like a slit. I pressed the alarm off my handphone, and the numbers that peered back at me was 06:10. Alarm bells went off, I scrambled to the bathroom, and out of it in a dash. In lightning speed I was out of the main door of my house, only to rummage through my belongings to find that my ticket onto the bus wasn't in it. There goes another dash back into the house, and finally out.

I reached the bus stop at 06:25. Now I know I can get out of the house within 15 minutes. But I don't want to try that again! The bus came at 06:40. Now, I realized that I wasn't the only one late. It was supposed to have arrived at 06:30.

I reached my office building, walked into the lift, in a semi-dazed state, and was clearing my sms inbox.

"Good Morning!", a voice reverberated through the lift.

I thought they just turned on the radio station louder or something, or he who walked into the lift was speaking to the guy behind me. Then I realized, I was wrong. The conversation continued to talking about going to the gym ( I was in my gym wear), and so on so forth. I bade him goodbye.. ...

Until I walked out of the gym again..this time round, he went, "That's fast!"
My thoughts were, "Hmm....you again?!" (Disclaimer: Not in disgust)
I just uttered," Yeah...you going for your ward rounds?"
"Yep!"
And I left it at that. If I bump into him a third time today.. .. I think, I should ask for his name. IF.. ..

Seldom you get people so chirpy in the morning. This's one for you.
Yet, it made the day more lively. Just a simple "Good Morning!"

"Good Morning! Abba Father!"

Visit to T3

Like most other fellow country men who ran out of ideas for entertainment, Grandma, bro and me trotted down to T3 for lunch and sight - seeing.

That's me and my beautiful Grandma with the backdrop of the T3 Transit Lounge behind us.

Seeing Beyond What You See

These past days are interesting. Be it in my experiences with people and reading God's truth.

All the things that God spoke to me was basically pivoting upon this verse which I remember:
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1

What I read this morning in John 6 speaks of feeding the 5000. Once again, looking beyond the resources that we have, and allowing God to multiply and do His wonders.

As I sense circumstances upcoming, His faith and peace is the key to my life. Once again, it's such moments like these, that I am grateful. Grateful for a moment with my Heavenly Father, who ever so lovingly prepares my heart and mind for things. As long as I listen, He is always there.

A tribute once again, to the unfolding of the third year of this blog - Moments Like These.

Are You Sure?

I was at my bus stop waiting for the bus to bring me to my dinner.

Standing next to me was this mother and daughter pair. Two indian girls in their saris. The girl was about 8 years of age. The mother was around her late 30s. She had her head covered in a scarf, and was looking apprehensive.

The young girl then walked towards me and asked," Does the service number 228 go to Bedok Interchange?"

I replied," Yes, it does!"

She asked again,"Are you sure?"

I wanted to jump! I have been staying here for the past 21 years, and you are asking me "are you sure?"

At that same split second. The other thought came to me. I just exclaimed to my brother and dad who were next to me,"This girl is smart!"

At the next moment, another thought dawned on me. This girl is really cynical. For a girl of her age, she does not trust the stranger. A bus drove up, stopped, and she asked the bus driver, "Does this bus go to Bedok Interchange?" Only when the bus driver gave the affirmative, did she lead her mother to board.

This simple incident led me to a few lessons:

#1: Never take things at face value (Management lesson)
It is always better to check, and double check.

#2: It never hurts to be more inquisitive (Another management lesson)
If you don't know the whole picture, ask more.

#3: Trust or lack of trust
It is really difficult to place your trust in people these days. It is something to be thankful for when you have people whom you can trust.

#4: Trusting God in everything
Just as I am more than 100% sure that the bus is going to Bedok, God is more than 100% sure about the steps that I am taking, and will be taking in my life. "Are you sure?" is a statement that is very cutting to the heart to someone who knows the situation well. I was taken aback by that comment. At the same time, I thought, God must have been very upset at each time I ask him "Are you sure?" in the many things in my life. He knows everything, created me, and loves me so much. Yet, doubt is always the thorn that comes in to ruin the whole relationship. Yes, I know I asked Him a particular question ever so often. This is the answer to it. To trust Him in what He is going to do in my life. Because, simply, He is sure. Affirmative.

Jeremiah 29:11 (NLT)
For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.