Chile Earthquake

I think one of the greatest things I've taken away from this 8.8 magnitude quake is the feeling of gratitude to God that everyone I know and love is okay.

THANK YOU LORD!!! For everything!

Lessons about anger

Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret-it leads only to evil (Psalm 37:8).

A fool shows his annoyance at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult (Proverbs 12:16).

Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing (Proverbs 12:18).

A wise man fears the Lord and shuns evil, but a fool is hotheaded and reckless (Proverbs 14:16

A quick-tempered man does foolish things, and a crafty man is hated (Proverbs 14:17).

A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man displays folly (Proverbs 14:29).

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger (Proverbs 15:1).

A hot-tempered man stirs up dissension, but a patient man calms a quarrel (Proverbs 15:18).

Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city (Proverbs 16:32).

A man of knowledge uses words with restraint, and a man of understanding is even-tempered (Proverbs 17:27).

It is to a man's honor to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel (Proverbs 20:3).

Do not say, "I'll pay you back for this wrong!" Wait for the LORD, and he will deliver you (Proverbs 20:22).

Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control (Proverbs 25:28).

Mockers stir up a city, but wise men turn away anger (Proverbs 29:8).

A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control (Proverbs 29:11).

An angry man stirs up dissension, and a hot-tempered one commits many sins (Proverbs 29:22).

You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, "Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment." But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment ... first go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift (Matthew 5:21-24).

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21).

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs (1 Corinthians 13:4-5).

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions (Galatians 5:19-20).

"In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold (Ephesians 4:26-7).

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you (Ephesians 4:29-32).

Let your gentleness be evident to all (Philippians 4:5).

But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips (Colossians 3:8).

And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful (2 Timothy 2:24).

My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires (James 1:19-20).

Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing (1 Peter 3:9).

convos with BFFs

I am beginning to think that the conversations of people in their twenties revolves mostly around love and relationships.

But still, I had the most fun conversations with BFFs this week:

Some take aways include-

BFF of 9 years: Definition of HANGING OUT and DATING is homogenous. No clear distinction whatsoever.

BFF of 5 years: "Take care of yourself and find a boyfriend who deserves you." (awww, right? I really miss her now)

BFF of 3 years: "if the gal like the guy and the guy like the gal, it's gonna be very obvious

so it's gonna be easy for the guy to initiate. the gal dun even need to initiate." (in another conversation about someone else's situation)

Maybe it's just me. Maybe it's just the constant yearning. Maybe...

Lord, please be my lover/ boyfriend for now until I meet the one you have destined for me. Although I suffer from feelings of loneliness sometimes and the oddity of having confusing and conflicting situations, I have full confidence in the plans you have for my life.

Please be the one to hold me daily and enfold me in times of crisis and be the protector and leader of my life. You're the one I want to comfort me and keep me close. The one I want to build me up and tell me of all your secrets. To tell me how precious I am to you.

For now oh Lord please be that for me. You will always be my first love.

Song of Solomon

And so... today's bible reading takes me to the book of Song of Solomon (SOS). hahahaha. very apt.

Let me explain why. Recently, a significant date has passed by on the world calendar. 14th February. Besides the fact that it was Luigi's, Cam's and Aaron's birthday... it was also the most expensive day for purchasing flowers and chocolates.

I think that Valentine's day only seeks to raise the levels of urgency in one's biological clock. It results in the maddening thoughts of being loved and accepted by people you admire or the constant reminder of past failed attempts at "securing" love. Its fingerprints include the repeated attempts to confess or confuse others with your actions, words or gifts... Most of it ending up in the perilous pagan problem of high abortion rates 8-9 months later.

As believers we're supposed to approach love differently.

1 Corinthians 13

⁴Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

⁸Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. ¹¹When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. ¹²Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

¹³And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

I believe that the Lord draws the blueprints of our life the way He wants them to. This also includes our love life/ future partner/ husband/ wives. There is no way that He can be excluded from our plans if we yield ourselves to Him.

Song Solomon 8

⁶ Place me like a seal over your heart,
like a seal on your arm;
for love is as strong as death,
its jealousy ^[a] unyielding as the grave. ^[b]
It burns like blazing fire,
like a mighty flame. ^[c]

⁷ Many waters cannot quench love;
rivers cannot wash it away.
If one were to give
all the wealth of his house for love,
it ^[d] would be utterly scorned.

When one reads and understands that falling in love with God and placing Him as a seal over our heart is the way to go, then only can everything else fall into place for him/ her.

So in this crazy times when "the hormones turn on and brains fall out" (Daddy, 2010) it is comforting to know that through it all. LOVE, the one and only... never fails.

We come full circle... =)

What you got if you ain't got love?

The kind that you just wanna give away

It's okay to open up

Go ahead and let the light shine through

I know it's hard on a rainy day

You wanna shut the world out

And just be left alone

But don't run out on your faith

'Cause sometimes that mountain you've been climbing

Is just a grain of sand

And what you've been out there searching for forever

Is in your hands

And when you figure out

Love is all that matters after all

It sure makes everything else

Seem so small

It's so easy to get lost inside

A problem that seems so big at the time

It's like a river that's so wide

It swallows you whole

While you're sitting around thinking 'bout what you can't change

And worrying about all the wrong things

Time's flying by, moving so fast

You better make it count 'cause you can't get it back

Sometimes that mountain you've been climbing

Is just a grain of sand

And what you've been out there searching for forever

Is in your hands

Oh, and when you figure out

Love is all that matters after all

It sure makes everything else

Seem so small!

Sometimes that mountain you've been climbing

Is just a grain of sand

And what you've been out there searching for forever

Is in your hands

And then you figure out

Love is all that matters after all

It sure makes everything else

Oh, it sure makes everything else

Seem so small

everyone needs to be remembered in prayer...

I think times of crisis and suffering really makes one stronger. At least that's how it has always turned out for me.

So Lord, I am grateful. Eternally grateful.

I am hoping that a dear one will continue on her path with You, Lord please guide her and protect her and lead her heart to fall in love all over again with You. She needs You now more than ever.

I pray for him too, dear Lord that he finds his purpose in You and sees the hope you have for him. That the years of giving and sowing will result in a harvest far above and beyond what he can imagine.

I pray for this him too, that his priorities will always be You and not the computer, the games or his new found friends. But that he will grow in wisdom and in stature, in favour with God and man.

And Lord, also look after her. A woman who has so much potential but often fails to see pass past mistakes. A woman who could be so much more for Your Kingdom. Speak to her Lord and heal her heart. Teach her that You are her Father now.

My prayers also go out for those whose lives I carry in my heart, but are so far away right now.

Heavenly Father that you strengthen Zheng Yue in the ways of you.

That you provide your protection and providence for Ryan and teach him how to harvest the precious souls that went with him.

That you look after Leslie, Ivan and Aaron who are overseas and so far away from me right now.

Lord I also pray for Nat in Cornell and Melinda in Adelaide, that their hearts will constantly seek and find You in their everyday lives. That you shower them with Your goodness.

Lord I pray for Sugi, that his heart will always search after You. That You will be his first love above and beyond all else. And that he will diligently seek after You and find his satisfaction in You.

Heavenly Father, I also pray for Parkie: that you teach her that she is fearfully and wonderfully made, loved by you and by our family for who she is. And that she is beautiful in Your sight.

Lord God, that You prove Yourself real to them and show them Your wonders in their lives.

Dear Father, look after Sean even as he enters NS, to learn more about service to You as a soldier and warrior in Your army. I pray that You grant him his heart's desire of entering OCS.

Heavenly Father, I also pray for my BFFs who are in Singapore, bless them with good grades, a good internship, good friends to surround them all the days of their lives and whatever their heart desires. Lord that you bless them in their coming ins and their going outs. (and if they so wish for a 4.0 GPA, a lexus and a job as a CEO, do it in your time dear Lord. hahahaha)

Last but not least dear Father, I pray for the Berkleys, may Your comfort be their strength and may You bring people across their path who will constantly love them and tide them through.

In Jesus' most precious name, Amen. =)

I don't wanna go ...

You changed my world,
When you came to me,
You drove a passion,
In my soul down deep.
Lord, to follow You in everything,

CHORUS:
I don't want to go somewhere,
If I know that You're not there,
Cause I know that me without You,
Is a lie.
I don't want to walk that road,
Be a million miles from home,
Cause my heart needs to be,
Where You are,
So I don't want to go.

So come whatever,
I'll stick with You,
I'll walk, You lead me,
Call me crazy or a fool.
For forever I promise You that:

I don't want to go somewhere,
If I know that You're not there,
Cause I know that me without You,
Is a lie.
I don't want to walk that road,
Be a million miles from home,
Cause my heart needs to be,
Where You are,
So I don't want to go

Without Your touch,
Without Your love,
Filling me like an ocean,
For Your grace is enough,
Enough for me,
To never want to go somewhere,
If I know that You're not there.

No More...

Sometimes in your life you just have to get up and tell yourself... no more.

Sometimes things hurt, go wrong, family cracks, people can be mean... but there is a line that shouldn't be crossed.

The one that was drawn from heaven to earth, the relationship line that is drawn with God. Whom He drew with His own blood to redeem you.

I won't ever forget this night, 4th February 2010.

Lord, you made a change then. And you, dear one, made a promise to me. Never to forget that "we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places, Ephesians 6:12."

A woman of destiny can sometimes be challenged by the very things which she has been called to take down for the Kingdom of God. But you know that you have been chosen and called by the Most High for a purpose and to accomplish something great for the Kingdom of God.

You can choose to be like everyone else, to fit in, to take on the characteristics of the world, but then, you will never be salt and light then. You will be "just like everyone else".

"Let your light shine before men, that they may see Your good deeds. And praise your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16"

So dear one, whom I love so much... I dedicated this post to you to remind you. That being different, sometimes is the thing that saves you. "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. Matthew 7:13"

I know I'm a cool person. LOL. You even had prayer backup cause people care a lot about you and your WALK with God. You know you love me. ^_^

XOXO, me.

You were there...

I had a very long chat with a BFF today about certain things that happened almost a full year ago...

And I came to the realization that while I was so "busy" being wrapped up in my own issues then, that I had forgotten about everyone else around me and wasn't able to put the brakes down when certain issues hit a brick wall.

I still can't believe things turned out this way. I mean, how could I have been so blinded to one person that I didn't even see that others were being hurt by that person. So much for being discerning... tsk.. need more training for this, especially in areas of loving people too much.

Maybe if things don't make sense right now, they will in time. I just felt so bad to hear BFF talk about a "wasted summer" when all that everyone had to do was to ask God for direction and learn how to respect each other's differences. That's what brought us together to serve in the first place. Our love for God and each other.

What comforts me about this situation is the fact that You were present and still are in control of our lives. I will understand how You worked through us, only in the years to come but I am grateful for the people You brought together because of this.

On another note, prof was exceptionally funny today and dinner with him proved to be a hilarious conversation about how to enter into a Godly relationship. =) Apparently guys are visual and girls are tactile. And Prof stated that we should group date until the right one comes along. And declare our intentions openly so that your social networks will give us the necessary support. He's a really brilliant person and is a lot of fun when you get to know him.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EE SUAN!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAPA WAYNE!!!

May this year prove to be a great year overflowing with blessings!