Lamer

I've been sporting slightly wavy hair for quite a while until one fine day, I decided to straighten it. I went for magic straight instead of the usual rebonding because the former only last for two months. I dun want to keep my hair so straight for too long.

After 6 months, I wonder why my hair is still so straight. Then I realised, of course lah, i'm born with straight hair mah, duh

Lame

RQ: Close the door, wait the air-con will run out har.

Me: Air-con got legs to run out meh? :P

RQ: -_-"'

Sashimi and Mi

I remember watching some chef serving fish raw on some TV cooking show when I was a kid and thought that was so gross. As a child, I could never imagine eating any animal raw.

Never in my widest dream would I know that someday I actually grow up to be huge lover of raw food, from raw vege to raw fish to beef..........

yah, I prefer salad to cooked vege, and I always insist on having my steak partially cooked. Well done steaks are overdone steaks. And yes, I'm the biggest sashimi fan. In fact, I suspect I'm a sashimi addict. The twist and turns of life events can be amazingly interesting. Imagine falling in love with the very thing I thought was gross.

Joseph's Example

The life of Joseph only takes up a small portion in the bible (Genesis 30-50), and yet, it consist of the essence of how we should be leading our lives.

During his younger days, he had many things going against him. First, his brothers din really like him, they had wanted to kill him, but decided to sell him away as a slave. Just when things got better, he was framed and thrown to jail and got stuck there for many years.

I can imagine, many people would have been so bitter if they face the same situations. Yet this is one guy who bloomed where he was planted. Instead of complaining and feeling sorry for himself, he does his best in every situation he's in. Where he was sold to as a slave, he was eventually trusted by his master who put him second in charge in the household. Though he was framed and thrown to jail, he became the overall in charge there. Finally, he became the ruler in the land where he was sold as slave.

I couldn't help feeling so amazed, how he had turned his situations around. The life of Joseph is so inspiring..............

I will trust and not be afraid, knowing that His plan is always the best.

Listening Room

I'm on the book of Proverbs right now. During my listening room, one particular verse caught my attention and spoke to me in a special way.

Commit to the Lord whatever you do,
and your plans will succeed.
Proverbs 1:3


This is how my Life Application Bible Interprets the verse:
There are different ways to fail to commit whatever we do to the Lord. Some people commit their work only superficially. They say the project is being done for the Lord, but in reality they are doing it for themselves. Others give God temporary control of their interest, only to take control back the moment things stop going the way they expect. Still others commit a task fully to the Lord, but put forth no effort themselves, and then they wonder why they do not succeed. We must maintain a delicate balance: trusting God as if everything depended on him, while working as of everything depended on us.




Interestingly, this seems to be the theme for my day. I started the day with this thought, and ended the day, chancing upon this verse.


I was just thinking, so often, we treat God like He's a genie in a bottle, asking for things to go our way.

Lately, I have made some personal discovery. I realized that I can live my life in fullness only when I surrender my all in all. Whatever we think is best for us may not really be the best for us. When I tell God, whatever I do, all I want is just to glorify Him, to worship Him by putting in my best efforts.................. I get amazing results. It's hard to explain this, one has got to experience it to understand this feeling of freedom. This feels like getting a pair of wings.

Bloom Where You Are Planted

It is not our circumstances that make our lives good, it's our attitude towards life that makes circumstances good.

If we have the wrong attitude, things will always go wrong, no matter where we are. It's so important to take things with the right spirit, and grow from whatever that comes along the way. I mean, everyone will be a good person if all things in life are so perfect and rosy. It's adversity that shows us who we really are, what we're made of.

If we hold the right attitude, we'll prosper wherever we are. Just look at Joseph and Daniel.

Choices

One thing caught my attention in particular when I watched the latest Spiderman movie. He ended the movie with the following statement, and I thought it was really meaningful:

"We always have choices. It's our choices that make us who we are. We can choose to do what is right."

That is so true. Every moment, we are presented with choices about how we gonna perceive things, and how we're gonna let events influence our lives. Our choices craft us to become who we are eventually. That's why, every moment of choice is an opportunity to either become someone better or worse.

Happy Birthday Cousin

Cousin J and me grew up playing together, but I never know when is his birthday. I mean, I know it's roughly a couple of months after mine, but never sure when it really is. And yah, mean me, I've never bothered to ask :P

Thanks to Friendster, now I finally know the exact date, hee

For the first time since we're kids, I wished him happy birthday, hahahaha, by posting a comment in Friendster.

Me: Happy birthday cousin, actually I never really know when's your actual birthday until now, feel guilty


His reply was quite funny:

=) from ur cousin j

heh heh,

tat's a long overdue well wishes then my dear cousin, haha.

thanks for the tot, gee must be very concentrated since this many yrs though.

cheers,
J

There is little wonder why the scripture says:

"Whatever you do, work at it with your whole heart, not unto men, but do it unto God............"


When we do things to please men, it cripples us and stops us from moving ahead with the power we should. Thing is, people have very different measures for deciding what is good. And what someone else decides as good may not be really so. Things can be subjective at times.

Once this thing is out of the way, life gets a lot easier. God is our partner, every step we take, do your best and He'll show you what's next.

When you have an excellent spirit, it shows up in the quality of your work, and the attitude with which you do it.

Bi Guan Xiu Lian

I know I seems to have vanished in thin air again......... have locked myself up for assignments......

Dear buddies, so sorry about this, will catch up soon :)

Some Random Thoughts

Decided to pop by Mrs' blog for some words of encouragement before doing my serious stuff. Am deeply bless by her latest entry. She wrote about the unnecessary burdens we so often carry, such as the burden of worry, weariness, discontentment, guilt, self-reliance........... her entry can be summarized in Psalm 23. Psalm 23 is one of my favorite chapter in the bible, but I've never read this deep into it. I din know it can be dissected in this way. Very blessed by the fact that my day started off with such a great blog entry. Thanks Mrs, for maintaining such a blog........ it ministers to me, every time I read it.

I did a bit of random blog surfing and chance upon someone talking about how hard she works, yet her life is so unfulfilling. This reminds me of all the big moves I made to rearrange my entire life. I strongly believe, we need to find meaning in what we do. Our efforts have to contribute to a worthy cause, something worth fighting for........ and living for.

Thing is, we can have all the riches in the world, and still feel that something seems to be missing. There will always be a void in our hearts until we find that something.

A Surprise In The Mail Box

I got an unusual letter in my mail last night. It's bulky and.......... sticky tapes were used on every possible area. Wah lao, the sender is super kiasu (grin) RQ held it in his hand and I was trying to snatch it..........

Me: "I want to see........... let me see............."

The word Dearie caught my eye.............. I'm curious........................... what's that bulky letter. And it says it's sent from "someone very beautiful"....... Pengz........... this person damn thick skin....... Taking a closer look, I recognise the handwriting............... it's from my dearest dearest Small Fish :D

Me: It's from Small Fish............. it's for me one :D

RQ: It's also for me mah (so thick skin, assume that all gift are shared)

Me: Ei, still got plastic bag one (after I opened the envelope)

RQ snatched the plastic bag and kept squeezing it, trying to figure out the content.

Me: Oooiii!!!!!!!!!! You'll spoil it by squeezing.

Guess what's inside. It's a pink torto!!!!!!! My Favourite...... I love these little stuff toys, been eying on it for months. Yay, now I've got one. And it arrived right in my mail box as a surprise :D I was jumping around in joy when I saw it

Now Small Fish's green torto has a companion.

All pictures are grabbed from:

http://moibeautifullife.blogspot.com/

I wanted to photograph it and put it on my blog, glad that Small Fish already did it, now I just need to kapo it :)

Thanks Small Fish, for this cheerful gift. Just when I'm so stressed up and stuff.......... you've brighten my day in a beautiful way :)

The Beauty Of Creation

I have decided, I shall not let life pass me by without enjoying and appreciating the beauty of creation.

Leading high speed urbanized lifestyles often mean that we'd be rushing from projects to projects........ quickening our pace to complete our tasks on time............ and not to mention tight schedules which leave us with little time to smell the roses.

But seriously, we need time to smell the roses......... to appreciate all these great things.......

How often do we get to peep out of the window on a late morning to see the sun rays dancing cheerfully, and the refreshing greeneries. Not sure about you, but they never fail to cheer me up.

I recall this little incident when I was walking along a pathway, feeling rather down. And along the path, I saw these beautiful yellow little butterflies fluttering........ there were so many of them......... that sight changed my mood instantly...... right there and then.

I really think, the best things in life come free. They are free and available for those who choose to receive them.......... but they are also invaluable.......... because no amount of money can buy them.

I'm a designer by training........ and I understand the concept that every master piece is plan, conceptualized, designed and carefully crafted. This beautiful creation is the best design ever created............... by the greatest designer ever

A Winning Plan

So often I question why, doesn't things happen just the way I want. As time goes by, I began to understand why. Everything happens for a reason...... and a greater purpose.

With a little patience and waiting, the great plan began to unfold piece by piece.

Even for those times when I screw up, when I thought I have dug my own grave........... things are turned around. Bad experiences are used for a greater purpose. Everything contributes to the big picture He is painting.

And I began to witness, indeed all things work for good, for those who love Him. His faithfulness never fail....... time and again................. I experience grace. Grace to lift me out of my pit.

Thank you God, for the winning plan.

Assignment Time

I foresee I'll be burning quite a lot of mid night oil in the weeks ahead............. but it's for a worthy cause.

Listening Room

During my listening room this morning, was very much comforted by Psalm 124. Speaks directly to my heart. Just what I need.

Psalm 124

A song of ascents. Of David.

¹ If the LORD had not been on our side—
let Israel say-

² if the LORD had not been on our side
when men attacked us,

³ when their anger flared against us,
they would have swallowed us alive;

⁴ the flood would have engulfed us,
the torrent would have swept over us,

⁵ the raging waters
would have swept us away.

⁶ Praise be to the LORD,
who has not let us be torn by their teeth.

⁷ We have escaped like a bird
out of the fowler's snare;
the snare has been broken,
and we have escaped.

⁸ Our help is in the name of the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

Appreciation

Appreciation always does magic. Last few days, I was working on a tedious project. I mean, the kind that is low impact but tedious to do. Patience almost ran out while working on it.

Anyway, finally got it done last night.

Got a call today and the person told me I did a good job, better than his work.

Feels good to be appreciated.

Wonder if I've mentioned in my blog that I can no longer accept things that are not done to my best efforts. Hmmmm....... let's just say, there are some things we can do better and some things we don't do so well. But I have decided, everything I do, I'll do it to the best my abilities allow.

And certainly, it's also about learning and improving along the way.

Why the change in attitude? Because I finally understand what my road map has been trying to say

Your Best Life Now

There are books which I read for recreation and those which I read for information.

Then of course, there are some special books which are life- transforming for me. Not many, but here are those precious few:

1. The Bible - this is my road map. I call it my instructional manual. It teaches me how to go about life and what to do in different situations. I'll be totally lost without it.

2. The Purpose Driven Life (By Rick Warren) - One of the best books I've ever read. Shed light into many queries I had.

3. What On Earth Am I Here For (By Rick Warren) - Summarized version of The Purpose Driven Life. It's so tiny, you can finish reading it in less than 30 mins.

4. Your Best Life Now (By Joel Osteen) - Really love this one. Great book to read when I need encouragement. Like the way he put things and his writing style.

Am thankful to the authors for writing these books, because they have such a big impact in my life. Been very blessed and encouraged.

Where to get them: Either from Popular Book Shop or Life Book Shop.

P/S - I promise I'm not getting any commission out of this.

TGIF

Distracted while the rest figure things out. Hmm..why was I staring at the floor?