Unlimited grace
Oh,Lord…who am I to receive your unmerited grace? Many times I wonder what have I done or how “holy” I am to receive all these unexpected blessings from Him. But I know all these blessings is not about me. It is about Him, my God, my Saviour, my Friend.
From favours in my career to friends and family….it seems to be endless when I paused and think about it. What a shame if I complained when things do not go my way…how could I even forget these blessings and favours that bestowed upon me when I didn’t even do anything to earn it in the first place.
May I remember that year 2009 is the year of learning to receive grace from God endlessly and extending grace to those who offended me. Forgiveness is after all a graceful thing to do. May grace abounds in all of our lives! Amen…
Uncategorized | Comment (0)You Were His Prayers
Then Jesus went about a stone’s throw away from them. He kneeled down and prayed. Luke 22:43
This was what we learnt in Sunday School a few lessons ago. This was the first time the kids learnt in the Garden of Gethesamane, how human Jesus was. Our Lord prayed. He prayed the longest and most anguish prayer ever in his life time on earth.
But have we thought that the final prayer of Jesus was about you? About us? His final pain was for you. His final passion was for you. Before He went for the cross, Jesus spoke to the Father and you were in His prayers.
And God couldn’t turn his back on you. He couldn’t because he saw you, and one look at you was all it took to convince Him. Right there in the middle of the world which isn’t fair. He saw you cast into a river of life you didn’t request. He saw you betrayed by those you love. He saw you with a body which gets sick and a heart which grows weak………..
On the eve of the cross, Jesus made His decision. He would rather go to hell for you than go to heaven without you.
For that, He is worthy to be my Lord, my best Friend, my Saviour. Will you allow this great Saviour to come into your life?
Uncategorized | Comment (0)Lost in translation
Out of curiousity, I tried to use Google Translate to translate my previous japanese post and I ended up laughing!! The english translation is so different from what i intended to write and — meaningless! I wonder if it is my japanese language problem or difficulty of translating an asian phrase into english. Maybe it is a bit of both since my japanese is not that advance anyway….
Sigh…when can i continue to brush up my japanese language? Seems like these days most of the time are used up at work, part time tuition,MBA studies, housework, etc,etc…
Life isn’t supposed to be just busy,busy and busy. It supposed to be fruitful as well despite the busyness. How fruitful have i been this year? How fruitful have u been too? May we all be fruitful Christians in the midst of all the busyness and cares of this world.
Minnasan, shin nen ni ganbatte kudasai! (everyone, 加油 in the new year!)
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TEST ME
Test me,Lord, and give me strength,
to meet each test
unflinching, unafraid;
not striving nervously to do my best,
not self assured or careless as in jest,
but with Your aid.
Purge me,Lord, and give me grace to bear the heat
of cleansing flame;
not bitter at my lowly lot but mete
to bear my share of suffering and keep sweet,
in Jesus’ name……..
-Ruth Bell Graham-
Uncategorized | Comment (0)あいつらは。。。。。
あいつらは神に提出 ている。わかっているよ！！でも。。。このことは、かんたんじゃないよ。
あいつらは神を信じるている。。。わかっているよ！！わたしたちは、なんにもない知ると思いますか？あいつらに疲れて聞く。。
わたし。。。ほかのきょかいにいきたい。。。新しい環境にいきたい。。
でも。。。私たちの未来のことが神は最もよくしている。だから、しんぱいしないよ、クリステインちゃん。。
クアンタンにがんばります！
Uncategorized | Comment (0)Random Thoughts
It is quite troublesome that Facebook doesn’t hv a blog to write. Gotta come here when I want 2 scribble some nonsense. I m surprised to see most of my kendo juniors ended up in Japan. Wonder what r they doing there….. Can also see that Christopher, Nurlin are planning trips there end of this year too. Facebook is such a fishbowl 
Everyone knows what r u up to if u r active in it! But i think it is great tool to keep in touch. We are all such internet junkie these days.
Today is the 4th day at mum’s place after being discharged from the hospital. I began to appreciate the freedom of movement…hehehe… things that i took for granted as a healthy of person, i began to thank God for His grace… Yes, to be alive each day is already a gift from God which is why today is called the “present”. It is a gift nonetheless…
I used to complain that i don’t have the time to really finish a good book ever since I started working. I guess perhaps my prayers are answered in a way But then again, I found myself sticking to my laptop most of time since dad subscribed to Streamyx last month. Ahhhh….so blessed to have loving parents who seem to provide everything. I thank God for them always though mum can be over-protective most of the time.
In these times of restrictive movements (hehehe)….. God is the only source of hope and joy…it made me realise again and again….that He is our only healer and His grace is indeed sufficient for me. Just being basked in His love and peace is more than enough……the trick is…how to be continously be in this spiritual state.
I thank God for my hubby…though i wish he could spend more time with me, has been loving and supportive through this trying times. Many thanks to Da Quan, Aileen, Amber and Thomas who were there at the hospital…surely it is not a nice place to hang out at But your presence made a difference especially for our tired Ben.
Do u still remember the feeling when u first know the Lord at a deeper level? It is an experience one has to go through…not an easy task to explain it in words. It is the feeling of wanting to serve Him daily without complaining whether whose job is whose… It is the kinda feeling where it is so easy to love everyone around u no matter how unlovable they are….. Ya, the difficult part is to keep the momentum of being close to God all the time. When we start to serve with our own ability and wisdom, that is when the burn out comes in. The bitterness, the tiredness, the gossips start to roll in. Was chatting with Ps Jen from DUMC Children Church I realised that how far m i from the Lord compare to her…she is still so consistent in her passion and serving…every week, non-stop,not a hint of tiredness…. I wish I can have back those enthuasiasm i had when i was at DUMC.
Perhaps these 3 weeks break is a good time for me to find back the enthuasiasm spiritually……. but hey, my God is the kinda of God who never budge an inch from me….drawing close to Him requires an initiative from my side. Gotta get my knees working (as in prayer lah).
A verse for u who is reading this entry
Psalm 91:2
I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust.”
God loves you with an everlasting love….
You are valuable to Him not because of what you do
but simply because you are.
His thoughts of you outnumber the sand on the shore…
He lives to hear your heartbeat. He loves to hear your prayers.
If something is important to you, it is also important to Him.
God thinks you are worth His kindness…so be kind to yourself
because God loves you with a undescribable love…you gotta experiance it to feel it!
Take the step of faith and come to Jesus today 
Life Partner
FINDING AND KEEPING A LIFE PARTNER
by Dov Heller,
M.A.
When it comes to making the decision about choosing a life partner,
no
one wants to make a mistake. Yet, with a divorce
rate of close to 50%,
it appears that many are
making serious mistakes in their approach to
finding Mr./Miss. Right!
If you ask most couples who are
engaged why they’re getting married,
they’ll say:
‘We’re in love’; I believe this is the ..1 mistake people
make when they date. Choosing a life partner should never be based
on
love. Though this may sound ‘not politically
correct’, there’s a
profound truth
here.
Love is not
the basis for getting married. Rather, love is the result of
a good marriage. When the other ingredients are right, then the
love
will come. Let me say it again: ‘You can’t
build a lifetime relationship
on love alone’; You
need a lot more!!!
Here are five questions you
must ask yourself if you’re serious about
finding
and keeping a life partner.
QUESTION ..1: Do we share a common life
purpose?
Why
is this so important? Let me put it this way: If you’re married
for
20 or 30 years, that’s a long time to live with
someone. What do you
plan to do with each other all
that time? Travel, eat and jog together?
You need
to share something deeper and more meaningful. You need a
common life purpose.
Two things can happen in a
marriage: (1) You can grow together, or
(2)you can
grow apart. 50% of the people out there are growing apart.
To make a marriage work, you need to know what you want out of
life!
Bottom line; marry someone who wants the same
thing.
QUESTION ..2: Do I feel safe expressing my feelings
and thoughts with this person?
This question goes to the core of
the quality of your relationship.
Feeling safe
means you can communicate openly with this person. The
basis of having good communication is trust i.e. trust that I
won’t
get ‘punished’; or hurt for expressing my
honest thoughts and feelings.
A colleague of mine
defines an abusive person as someone with whom you
feel afraid to express your thoughts and feelings. Be honest
with
yourself on this one. Make sure you feel
emotionally safe with the
person you plan to
marry.
QUESTION ..3: Is he/she a
mensch?
A
mensch is someone who is a refined and sensitive person. How can
you
test? Here are some suggestions. Do they work
on personal growth on a
regular basis? Are they
serious about improving themselves? A teacher of
mine defines a good person as ’someone who is always striving to be
good
and do the right ‘;. So ask about your
significant other: What do they
do with their time?
Is this person materialistic? Usually a materialistic
person is not someone whose top priority is character
refinement.
There
are essentially two types of people in the world: (1) People
who
are dedicated to personal growth and (2) people
who are dedicated to
seeking comfort. Someone whose
goal in life is to be comfortable will
put personal
comfort ahead of doing the right thing. You need to know
that before walking down the aisle.
QUESTION ..4: How does he/she treat other
people?
The
one most important thing that makes any relationship work is
the
ability to give. By giving, we mean the ability
to give another person pleasure.
Ask: Is this someone who enjoys
giving pleasure to others or are they
wrapped up in
themselves and self‒ absorbed?
To measure this,
think about the following: How do they treat people
whom they do not have to be nice to, such as waiters, bus boys,
taxi
drivers, etc.. How do they treat their parents
and siblings? Do they
have gratitude and
appreciation?
If they don’t have gratitude for the
people who have given them
everything; can you do
nearly as much for them? You can be sure that
someone, who treats others poorly, will eventually treat you poorly
as well.
QUESTION ..5: Is there anything I’m hoping to change
about this person after we’re married?
Too many people make the mistake
of marrying someone with the intention
of trying to
‘improve’; them after they’re married. As a colleague of
mine puts it: ‘You can probably expect someone to change after
marriage
for the worse’ If you cannot fully accept
this person the way they are
now, then you are not
ready to marry them.
In conclusion, dating doesn’t
have to be difficult and treacherous.
The key is to
try leading a little more with your head and less with
your heart. It pays to be as objective as possible when you are
dating;
to be sure to ask questions that will help
you get to the key issues.
Falling in love is a
great feeling, but when you wake up with a ring on
your finger, you don’t want to find yourself trouble because you
didn’t
do your homework.
Another
perspective…
There are some people in your
life that need to be loved from a
distance.. It’s
amazing what you can accomplish when you let go of or at
least minimize your time with draining, negative,
incompatible,
not-going anywhere relationships.
Observe the relationships around you.
Pay
attention…Which ones lift and which ones lean?
Which ones encourage and which ones discourage?
Which ones are on a path of growth uphill and which ones are going
downhill?
When you leave certain people do you feel
better or feel worse?
Which ones don’t appreciate
you?
Which ones make you feel good, praises you,
boosts you with loving and
caring words or
annotations.
The
more you seek quality, respect, growth, peace of mind, love
and
truth around you…the easier it will become
for you to decide who gets
to sit in the front row
and who should be moved to the balcony of your life.
An African proverb states,
‘Before you get married, keep both eyes open,
and
after you marry, close one eye’; Before you get involved and make
a
commitment to someone, don’t let lust,
desperation, immaturity,
ignorance, pressure from
others or a low self esteem make you blind to
warning signs. Keep your eyes open, and don’t fool yourself that
you can
change someone or that what you see as
faults aren’t really that important.
Do you bring
out the best in each other?
Do you compliment and
compromise with each other, or do you compete,
compare and control?
What do you bring
to the relationship?
Do you bring past
relationships, past hurt, past mistrust, past pain?
You can’t take someone to the altar to alter them. You can’t
make
someone love you or make someone
stay.
If you develop self-esteem, spiritual
discernment, and ‘a life’; you
won’t find yourself
making someone else responsible for your happiness
or responsible for your pain. Seeking status, sex, and security are
the
wrong reasons to be in a
relationship.
WHAT KEEPS A RELATIONSHIP STRONG
IS:
1. TRUST
2.
COMMUNICATION
3. INTIMACY
4. A SENSE OF HUMOR
5. SHARING
TASKS
6. DAILY EXCHANGES (meal, shared activity,
hug, call, touch, notes, etc.)
7. SHARING COMMON
GOALS AND INTERESTS
8. GIVING EACH OTHER SPACE TO
GROW WITHOUT FEELING INSECURE
9.GIVING EACH OTHER
A SENSE OF BELONGING AND ASSURANCES OF COMMITMENT
10. CONCERN AND CARE FOR YOUR LOVER IN YOUR OWN
WAYS.
If these qualities are missing, the
relationship will erode as resentment
withdrawal,
abuse, neglect, and dishonesty; and pain will
replace.
Loved by Jesus — and friends + family
In the midst of busy preparing for the up-coming wedding, I realised that how blessed I m to have friends and families who are so supportive and helpful.
Their care and concern, endless help and encouragement, jokes, laughter and excitement….I ll keep them all in my heart.
I always thank God for you all… Thanks for love and friendship. I ll treasure them always
Snapshots of the bridal studio
It was a long long day. We were there from 9am to 11pm on 14th February 2008. Yup, our second valentine day was spent taking our bridal photographs. It was really really tiring but was fun nonetheless. Many thanks to Doris and Patricia (An Chi) for being there with us most of the time. They have been great help
The day before the photoshoot. Trying some dresses. This is one of my fave
On the day itself:
First look — The Victorian theme. Ben snapped this himself using his camera phone
That is the handsome bridegroom himself
And the 2nd look — 50s — taken w Ben’s cellphone as well
Getting ready to change into the outdoor look. Pat took this photo w her cellphone.
And it was Ben’s turn..haha…
And a shot of both of us b4 we head to the beach for photoshooting!
And getting prepared for the new-age chinese traditional costume after the outdoor shots.
Last but not least, the photos by the pro!
There are more but kinda lazy to post all of them here since the Friendster blog is quite unstable and i m tired of waiting for the photos to load. Hope this satisfy some friends who have been asking about the bridal photos. Thank God for a tiring yet an eventful day!
Marriage prayer
Recently, I received so many advises and stories on marriage from friends n families. It make me wonder if marriage is all hard work… Came across this article and thought it might help my married friends who are going "stale" marriage situation crisis. Whether you are a christian or a non-christian, hope this helps in some ways.
The Word for Today
By Bob Gass
Live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us.
Ephesians 5:2 NIV
Are you afraid that your marriage will never work? Are you thinking of giving up? If so, read the words of this prayer and make them yours today.
"Lord, how can something that started so fresh now seem so stale? Our intimacy is gone. Our love has lost its spontaneity. It all feels so cold and canned. Please, break through this veil of politeness that hides our hushed frustration and despair. Do something!
"Give me the grace to forgive when I face insensitivity. Teach me, because I don’t know how. Help me to realise that I’ll always have to love an imperfect person - and so will they.
"Today I feel like I’m learning so much about Your unconditional love for me, as I try to reach out to someone who’s so out of touch with where I am.
"You are the Potter and we are the clay. Take this relationship that seems so marred and make it over again. Fashion us for each other. Breathe life into it. Allow us to be friends once more: to love, to laugh, and to play together, for I miss the way it used to be.
"Thank You for knowing what to do with our hearts. Today I declare by faith that there will be a change because of You. Amen."
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