Take good care of your health

Every now and then, we read in the newspapers about someone ostensibly of good health suffering from an unexpected heart attack and passing away suddenly. Or perhaps you may have read of a young child suffering from cancer or other illness.

I know of a young girl who passed away from cancer at the tender age of 5. About a year later, her mother had a dream. In the dream, she saw her daughter blowing candles on a birthday cake at a birthday party. She asked her daughter who were those people next to her. Her daughter replied, "My new family.".

I know of another young lady who discovered in her mid-20s that she had stage 4 lung cancer in her lung. According to her doctor, this type of cancer was the slow-growing type and she probably had it for about 10 years already. She had no symptoms except for incessant coughing for about a year and vomitting of blood. Numerous tests (including X-rays of her lungs) revealed nothing wrong. The family was devastated as there was no smoker in their midst and the young lady did not go to pubs or other places with heavy smokers around. She bravely started on radiotherapy and then progressed to chemotherapy (when radiotherapy failed). In the meantime, the cancer cells spread to her back, her bones and her head. She went for an operation to remove the tumour in her head. After her operation, the side of her head where the tumour was became sunken due to the removal of the tumour.

The young lady lived longer than the doctor expected. She fought the good fight and never gave up. Most of all, she kept her head up and remained of good cheer, always believing that everything will be well. Shortly before Chinese New Year about 2 to 3 years ago, she was in hospital abroad and it was a public holiday that day. When she started gasping, the nurses could not locate the doctor. By the time the doctor came, she had been heavily pumped with morphine in an attempt to ease her pain. She died with her eyes open. And yet, after the death of a lovely young lady who was gentle beyond reproach and of a kind and generous heart, numerous friends and relatives came forward with heartwarming stories of how she appeared in their dreams, showing them in their dreams that she was happy and at peace. Her mother was travelling on a highway once and she looked up when she was thinking about her daughter. At that point in time, the clouds parted and formed the letter "M" (ie. for "Mother"?).

Life is very fragile. You would probably have come across the phrase "here today, gone tomorrow" often.

So let us take good care of our health but do not end up being a health fanatic. There are people who visit the gym daily, exercising for several hours each time. They refuse to partake any meat and restrict themselves to fruits for dinner.

By all means, maintain a healthy lifestyle but more importantly, have faith that His blood has washed us clean and purchased for us a clean bill of health. When He is for us, who can be against us?

The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want

Have you ever noticed that in life, it never seems enough? How did the phrase "The grass is greener on the other side" come about?

There is a Chinese phrase "Zhi Zu" (LSD - quick, please let me know the words in Chinese character). If only we are all more like this.



Society creates new wants. When we should be satisfied with our life, we always seem to want more. When we have in our possession a walkman, we want an ipod. When we own an apartment, we want a landed property.

If we always aim for more and better things, we can never be happy with our lot in life. We have much to be thankful for. We live in a safe country and we have friends and loved ones around us. We have health and we have food to eat. We have a roof over our head and plenty of laughter to go around. If, however, we keep looking towards having more and more, we will only end up bitter and disgruntled. Have you ever noticed that in some of the more "backward" suburbs in some countries, the people are happy and contented even though they seem to have less than us?

It is not wrong to have ambition in life. However, there comes a point in time when we have to be thankful for the blessings in our life.

I read in the newspapers about a 61-year old transvestite who was murdered, allegedly by his lover who is less than 1/2 his age. There is a related article about how transvestites cope with growing old. I have often wondered about people who are unable to come to terms with what they are (eg. born a male) and want to "go against nature" and cross over to the other side (ie. become a female). I am not in favour of this phenomenon but I do not intend to judge the person who is caught in this dilemma. I am acquainted with such persons and I can say that they are generally nice people. They are no different from you and me, with wants, needs and goals in life, just like everyone else. The difference is that they feel like a stranger in their own body. However, do you know that the body that we have is just a shell and it is our spirit inside that is the true us? That is why when we die, our spirit goes up to heaven and joins our Lord and Saviour, who waits for us.

Jesus is all we need. When we have Jesus, everything else pales in comparison. He is the perfect one in the midst of our imperfections. He is the lion, the man, the eagle and the ox => He represents all the facets of our life. When we abide in the shadow of the Almighty, we have protection beyond all comprehension.



When you look in the mirror each morning, what do you see? Do you see a person who is unhappy with his/her life? Or do you see the glory of the Lord in your reflection?

My friend, we are made in the image of God. The power that God has given us is against the devil, and not people. Learn to "let go" and to live a blessed life. It is there, right in front of us, but can we see it? Or are our eyes blinded by the pursuits of life?

My soul finds rest, in you my Jesus. A hiding place, amid the storm. In pastures green, you lead me down to rest. By waters still, I shall abide. By waters still, I will abide. http://www.imeem.com/people/CSLu9-/music/bqNl7nmB/new_creation_church_my_rest/

Oishi!

It was with a feeling of anticipation that I woke up this morning.

We were supposed to meet up with Da's 2 nieces for dinner last week but they had to take a raincheck at the last minute. The dinner was rescheduled to today.

Knowing that the girls like Japanese food, Da suggested Hanabi Japanese Restaurant located at:-

331 North Bridge Road

#01-04
Odeon Towers

Singapore 188720

Tel: +65 6338 6626

I checked out Hanabi Restuarant's website and discovered that they serve ala-carte Japanese buffet. It seems that they have more than 110 items in their menu. Oishi!

We met the girls at Hanabi. They had gone out earlier in the day to meet their mother at TCC for coffee and cake at Marina area and they walked to Odeon Towers from there.

Brown Eyes has grown up to be such a pretty and gentle girl. Her little sister, Swimmer, takes great delight in telling me about the guys who try to chat up Brown Eyes. I remember that when I first knew Da, Brown Eyes was a little girl and doted on by everyone. She took a liking to me and she started to "stick" to Da and me. We often brought her out. Over the years, she has matured into such a lovely girl and a wonderful older sister to Swimmer. I was concerned when both girls said that they did not need us to fetch them for the dinner and insisted on making their own way there. My concern was unfounded. Brown Eyes is a responsible girl and she takes good care of Swimmer.

We had a lovely dinner. It was an ala-carte buffet dinner and we let the girls choose whatever they wanted. Gosh! They have such small appetites. Brown Eyes suggested that we refrain from ordering too many sushi items as the rice would fill us up.

We tried the beef ramen, chawanmushi, California maki, eel hand-roll, yaki tori, garlic fried rice, yaki udon, sashimi platter, assorted tempura, etc. The food is quite nice and the ambience is very cozy. The Odeon Towers outlet is not very big and I noticed that the tables would fill up quickly each time a table was vacated.

As the menu showed about 125 items, we had a difficult time choosing the food. Fortunately, Brown Eyes has been to Hanabi several times and she was able to recommend the nicer dishes.

After 2 or 3 rounds of food, the girls said that they were full. Da looked uncertain and I knew that he was nowhere near full. So, I asked him to order some more food. Caught up in the excitement of ordering more food, the girls placed some more orders of food for themselves (thank goodness, else Da and I would have looked like greedy pigs eating another round of food while the girls watched!).

I would recommend Hanabi Japanese Restaurant to others.

Do you know that "Hanabi" means "fireworks" in English?

TGIF

Thank God it's Friday!

Phew! I made it through a work week. I am so thankful that the weekend is drawing near.

It is now 6.15 pm and I am looking forward to meeting 2 of my long-time pals for dinner. I have not seen them for some time. We have arranged to meet outside the Body Shop at Raffles City. As I did not drive to work today, I had suggested meeting up at Marina Square, Suntec City, Raffles City or Bugis Junction, all of which are accessible by MRT for me. My pals chose Raffles City.

This afternoon, I asked LSD for some recommendation of nice eating places at Raffles City. The dear girl gave me some suggestions before (sigh... typical of youngsters), she sent me a http link instead. My girl, you have to realise that I am lazy to read operation manuals, do research via internet, etc.

I did not have time to read LSD's post in her blog yesterday but she has forewarned me that she has managed to write a post that is far longer than my post of yesterday. Okay, my dear girl, you win this time "hands and feet down". There is no necessity to gloat. Sooner than later, I will overtake you again. Isn't this friendly competition exciting?

I have been meaning to ask AC whether her 2 boys read my blog. I have taken pains to show off my command of the English language by inserting some "bombastic language" every now and then in the hope that YX and ZX will pick up a tip or two from my posts. Hey guys - I know that you are loathe to read storybooks to improve your command of the English language and I feel like a naggy old lady each time I encourage you to read. I am a voracious reader. Actually, I have to retract that remark. I am a voracious reader of romance novels, Archie comics and Reader's Digest. Beyond that, I simply do not have any more energy left to read anything else.

Hi AC, if you read my post of today, do encourage YX and ZX to read my posts. I would love to send little messages to them from time to time in my posts. It will be fun, trust me!

Goodness me

This morning, while I was standing at the lift lobby waiting for Da to lock up so that we can go to work, the 3 little boys from the neighbouring unit on my floor came rushing to their door to chit-chat with me. I cannot explain this (since I do not have any children of my own yet), but kids seem to like to talk to me. These 3 boys are very young, with ages ranging between 2 to 5 years old. Whenever they see me, they like to tell me about how their day went, what they intend to do for the rest of the day / the next day, what they bought recently, etc. This morning, they were busy showing me their toys. The 2 older boys (aged 4 and 5) even had toy mobile phones whose display screens would show the English alphabet when you press on the keypad. What an ingenious educational toy that appeals to the current generation as well!

On an unrelated note, I have been placing some thought to my playlist and I have decided to separate the Praise & Worship songs from other English songs. As such, I have created a separate playlist named "Praise & Worship". So far, I only have English worship songs in it but I am open to the idea of adding worship songs in other languages. I have so far heard some worship songs in Chinese and they are very beautiful. Erm.. as usual, I have no idea what they are singing, please pardon my poor command of the Chinese language, but you can feel the spirit in the song. It is very difficult to explain the feeling.

Praise the Lord! I just found some lovely Chinese and Hokkien worship songs. I have added them to my "Praise & Worship" playlist. I especially like the Chinese song sung by Adeline Gan. http://www.imeem.com/people/zR91bF/music/3qrgNDZx/unknown_artist_track_1/

You would not believe this. I just found a worship song in Cantonese! I have added it to my "Praise & Worship" playlist. No, LSD, do not ask me what the lyrics are. I only know that the song title is "神大愛". http://www.imeem.com/people/BpYix5G/music/hihI3RYj/amazing_grace_worship/

To my 3 technical consultants (you know who you are), I have noticed that in some blogs, YouTube videos have been posted. How do you post a YouTube video?

In yesterday's post, I mentioned corneal erosion. I have since found out that recurrent corneal erosion is a condition affecting the outermost layer of corneal cells called the "epithelium". In such cases, the bottom layer of epithelial cells adhere poorly to the cornea. The pain and discomfort can be intense. There is usually an underlying disorder that causes recurrent corneal erosions to occur, eg. a previous corneal injury or corneal disease. People who suffer from corneal erosion often experience severe pain, blurred vision and light sensitivity. Even when the cornea heals, the problem may recur unless the condition is treated. Recurrent corneal erosion may affect one or both eyes, depending on the underlying cause. Unlike what I mentioned to Da yesterday, current medical technology is such that the patient may not necessarily need cornea transplant. It seems that salt solution drops or ointment are usually prescribed initially. Artificial tears are also recommended to keep the cornea moist. Those with more severe cases may be advised to seek additional treatment including procedures where the superficial layer of corneal cells are removed using laser.

At the end of the day, our eyes are very important and we should take good care of them. That means we should avoid crying excessively, rubbing our eyes, being on msn until the wee hours of the morning or staying up till unearthly hours to watch soccer. Oops! Pot calling kettle black! Much as I would like to say that I practice what I preach, I have unfortunately fallen on the wayward side. This is probably why I do not get enough sleep each day and I have difficulty waking up each morning (often resulting in my telling Da, "five more minutes, please.....").

Yours eyes are the windows of your soul. Take good care of them.

Thy loving kindness is better than wine

I have often heard Psalm 91 preached in church. I have also seen countless miracles happen in my life. Things just seem to fall into place. It was not due to my effort. I know that the Lord has made it happen. I thank Abba Father for opening my eyes and giving me little nudges from time to time to let me know how much He loves me.

When I was at my lowest the past few days, the message in the Daily Devotional yesterday (or was it the day before yesterday?) was that the Lord wants us to declare by faith that all is and shall be well with us, and expect to see just that. And then, no matter how bad the situation is, an explosion of restoration will take place, and we will see the miracle.

The miracle has indeed happened. Thank you, Father.

When things go wrong and everything points towards a disaster, somehow suddenly there is an about-turn and I see miracles happen, again and again. Last year, I was sharing the miracles with GP at such a frequent rate that she was stunned. You are a good friend, GP, and I thank the Lord for you. Now, can we finally meet up, please? Okay, okay... I know it is my fault. I simply cannot bring myself to travel all the way to meet up with you at HDB Hub. It is too far, my friend! :)

A thousand may fall at my right side and ten thousand on the other side, but it shall not come near me. The anointing oil of my Father protects me and keeps the enemies out. Their attacks will not bite me.

You won't believe this. I was chit-chatting with a friend this evening. She is Cantonese and likes to speak in Cantonese. She started speaking to me in Cantonese. To my own amazement, I managed to have a short conversation with her in Cantonese (ie. I actually spoke Cantonese!). heehee..... Now, I have to brush up my Japanese so that I can communicate with my friends who speak Japanese.

Speaking of the Japanese language, I have been thinking of adding a Japanese/Korean playlist to my blog. Hey LSD, Ah Boy and Ah Wen, any suggestions as to songs?

I had dinner with Da at the nearby hawker centre today. He was telling me about his friend who has an incurable medical condition called "cornea erosion". Goodness me! I have heard of detached retina but this is the first time that I have heard of cornea erosion. I told Da that he should ask his friend to put himself on the cornea transplant list as soon as possible. From what I know, the waiting time is probably very long because Asians tend to be superstitious and are reluctant to donate the corneas of their deceased relatives (the belief being that one should not go to the grave without one's eyes). On this note, it is often reported in the newspapers that there is a shortage of organ donors.

My friends, do you know anything about this condition called "cornea erosion"? If so, I would be grateful if you could share the information with me. Thank you and God Bless.

A sigh of relief

Life is strange. I woke up late this morning with terrible back pain (from the excessive hours of typing on my computer yesterday drafting, re-drafting, re-re-drafting and re-re-re-drafting a document. Not only that, my left eye was swollen, in pain and shut tight. Try as I might, I could not open the eye. Worried, I dripped quite a fair bit of eye drops and finally managed to slowly pry my left eye open.

Goodness me! When my left eye was finally open, I felt a lot of discomfort. Approaching the mirror, I realised that my left eye was almost shut and it was red and teary. I could barely see out of my left eye.

I made my way to the GP (I do not have a regular family doctor because I rarely have time to see the doctor, but there is a friendly GP in Marine Parade that I go to because he is very patient and he explains in detail) and managed to arrive just as the GP was about to leave for lunch. When the nurse saw the state of my left eye, she very kindly asked the GP to delay his lunch so that he can attend to me without delay.

I left the GP with medicated eye drops (and medicine for my flu as well). He offered me medical leave but as usual, I declined because there is urgent work to be done in the office and I was worried about the work. When I sms-ed Da and told him what happened, he replied that I should have taken the day off. I cannot explain why I keep doing this. Why should I care so much about the work or worry that my team may not be able to cope if I am not there? I should learn from some others and place myself before everything else. But I am not like this and I often care too much. I think this is the crux of the problem.

LSD told me last night that my posts tend to be Christian-like and reflective, so enough of that for today, save to say that a lot of things fell into place today, for which I am thankful.

I have something funny to report instead => after I saw the GP, I went for a quick bite. The girl who sat next to me was talking to someone on her mobile phone. From her end of the conversation, she seemed to be ordering a further supply of slimming pills. Suddenly, she told the other party, "I'll call you back. I'm going to order dessert first.". I nearly laughed. What is the point of taking slimming pills if one cannot resist dessert? I waited to see what she would order. She came back with black glutinous rice dessert drizzled liberally with coconut milk. I found it so amusing that I sent an sms to LSD to let her know what happened.

I am listening to the playlist in my blog at the moment. I have been listening to the playlist in LSD's blog and I am so excited that I have my own playlist and I can choose the songs that I like. Okay, okay... for the Cantonese songs, Hokkien songs and Chinese songs, I have no idea what the singer is singing but hey... I chose the songs based on whether the song sounds nice and it is not too noisy. LSD told me that my playlist doesn't seem to gel with my image. I asked her why. She said, "Hokkien songs?!" heehee. I am thinking of adding a Thai playlist also as I have heard some Thai songs and they sound very nice. So, LSD, Ah Boy and Ah Wen, do you have any nice Thai songs to recommend to me?

I miss Perth. I wonder if Da and I can find time to visit it again this year. Da and I used to go there every year during Springtime to visit friends, etc. Initially, we would stay at a hotel in town area. Then, one year, Da's friend invited us to stay at his house (see picture on the left). It is a beautiful 1-storey house in Canningvale area. We stayed with the friend (who was such a hospitable person and an excellent cook!) on our visits for several years in a row, then the friend passed away unexpectedly. He was recuperating from an operation to clear blockage in his arteries leading to his heart (something like a heart bypass?). The operation was a success. However, with the passageway cleared, a clot in another part of his body started to move and it was this clot that ultimately killed him. I cried when I heard the news about his death. It is so unfair! But it also shows how fragile life is and how we often live with regrets. So to all my loved ones and friends, if I don't say this often enough, YOU'RE THE BEST! MWAH!

A test of faith

This blog is meant for 23 June 2008 but I have only just finished work for the day and it is now way past midnight. Better late than never.

I have come to realise something. The more I want to learn about our Abba Father and the more I want to walk in faith and see the favour of the Lord multiply in my life, the more the devil attacks me. It has happened more than once. In particular, when I am especially moved by a message I hear in church on Sunday, the attack from the devil comes as swiftly as the next day, which was what happened on 23 June 2008.

In all my years of working, I have had ups and downs. I have gone through trials and tribulations. I have come across my fair share of difficult and on the other hand, wonderful, clients. But never have I sat down at my chair as I did today, dazed, exhausted from crying and seriously considering throwing in my resignation.

I go to church every Sunday and learn about how the Lord loves us and wants us to enjoy a blessed life. And yet when I go to work the next day, I wonder how I ended up with such tremendous stress and inequality in treatment at my workplace. I reflect on it and wonder how can this be a blessed life?

I do not yearn to climb the corporate ladder. It has never been and will never be my priority in life. I do not deny that there are others who misunderstand my passion for my work as competition or ambition, or God knows what else they think. But it saddens me to see many people who work for the sake of working but who do not really enjoy what they do. In such situations, work becomes a chore for them and merely a means to an end (ie. salary). Interns and pupils that I have trained have often asked me what keeps me going at work. I tell them truthfully that I enjoy what I do.

Each day, I receive the Daily Devotional online. I usually print it out at the beginning of the day, but I only get an opportunity to sit down, read it and reflect upon it during lunch time or at the end of the day. Today, I had to work through lunch and I did not have any food to eat till late at night. Considering that I ate very little at breakfast (as I am down with very bad flu, etc), I wonder how I found the strength to sustain me for the whole work day. I know that the strength is not from within me but from my Father above.

I read the Daily Devotional for 23 June 2008 in the evening. It simply amazes me how Abba Father knows what I am going through, for the Daily Devotional that I received in the morning talked about the grace of God being the "undeserved, unearned and unmerited favour" and how the Lord want us to know that His favour in our life can be increased.

Father, You know that the more I behold your Son and His love for me, the more the devil comes against me. I reject the attack in Your holy name and I confess that Your favour is on me and is ever increasing.

Jesus is all you need

It's the Sabbath again!

I woke up with a feeling of anticipation. Today, the Pastor is going to anoint the oil that we bring to church. Prior to this, we were wondering what type of oil to buy. We were only told to buy olive oil. My thinking was that as such oil was used to anoint priests, etc, it would have to be something that can be used on the face as well. In the end, Da bought Ginvera olive oil for face & hair. Ta-da! He was spot-on because Ginvera brand was specifically mentioned in church today.

San called me yesterday, asking what type of olive oil to buy. I recommended Ginvera. Later, I sms-ed her to ask whether she had bought the oil. She said yes. I asked her whether she bought 1 gallon of oil (a running joke in church because we were asked not to over-do it and bring 1 gallon of oil!). The dear girl replied that she only bought the normal size bottle because the 1 gallon version is too heavy for her to carry! haha!

After praise and worship in church, there was communion. It was amazing because the Pastor who was on stage told us not to care about whatever pressures that are thrown at us because Jesus is all you need. I felt the Lord speak to me again. I have been facing a lot of pressure lately and many have been placed upon myself because I care too much or I worry too much.

You will never know that Jesus is all you need until you know that Jesus is all you have.

It was an amazing revelation to learn in church last week how the Bible always mentions bread/grain, wine and oil in the same context. Bread and wine, as you know, represents Communion - in remembrance of our Lord Jesus Christ. Oil is used for anointing and I have learned that it can be used for just about any area of one's life. It takes faith to believe that by an act of anointing, there is protection.

Come Holy Spirit! Come pour out Your anointing oil on my family and loved ones!

I pray for the blessing of Abraham upon my family and loved ones.

A lazy saturday

I am so thankful that the weekend has come!

I woke up this morning with a swollen and painful left eye. My left eye is very red right now and I am probably seeing more out of my right eye as I type this post. The swelling and pain will likely go away as the day progresses (otherwise, my dear eye doc will be earning consultation fees from me this coming Monday). It is probably due to the fact that I was up till way past midnight yesterday working on a document for her matter that I am covering. Guess what? Late last night, she sent him an sms to the effect that she will not be able to handle the file anymore. Since when did "cover her" become "take over her baby"? I certainly would not mind taking over her baby if it is a real life baby (another bundle of joy to add to my blessed life!), but insofar as work is concerned, this is unfair. To make things worse, he is letting her get away with this. He also came to my room several times last night (while I was struggling with a document that I am not familiar with and with a client whose commercial needs I am not aware), to shout at me and to chase me. I ended up crying for the 3rd time yesterday (once during office hours, once in the evening and once last night). It was bad enough that my eyes were already in pain from the strain of the small print of the document (Ah Boy, please help me! Please adjust my computer screen such that the document is bigger in size. I don't mean the font (which is currently Arial 11). I think it is possible to adjust the percentage?). In the end, I managed to work on the document but by the time I finished, it was way past orh-orh time. Da came to fetch me and I crawled into bed when I got home.

Enough of that.... today is another day and it is a great day! The sun is shining and I am happy to be alive and well. We have much to be thankful for in our lives. We are children of the Most High and He loves us so much.

The next part is probably 2 days overdue, but hey! Better late than never..... Ah Girl (aka L'il Sister Devil or "LSD" (?) for short) and I went for retail therapy on Thursday, 19 June 2008. It was supposed to be a night out with her and retail therapy for her (for her to drown her sorrows in the ringing of the cash register) but who says we cannot kill 2 birds with 1 stone? I was the one who ended up being the shopper. I was already looking for 2 pairs of shoes - 1 black pair and a brown pair. For me, insofar as court shoes are concerned, I can only wear leather shoes (ahem! I cannot help it if I have expensive feet) as non-leather shoes somehow cause my feet to end up crampy and in pain (once my feet are cramped, I have difficulty walking). I didn't see any shoes that I liked in the 1st shop that we patronised. When we went to the 2nd shop, goodness me! Shoes galore! I have never shopped there before, so I was pleasantly surprised that they sell nice leather shoes. I could not find any nice brown shoes, then we chanced upon some nice black leather shoes. Mind you, I had every intention to buy one pair of black leather court shoes.... I have no idea how I ended up with 2 pairs of black leather shoes... 1 pair of court shoes and 1 pair of slingback shoes. So, for you curious friends out there, ta-da! May I present.... THE SHOES:-

As you can probably tell, I am new to adding images to my post. The picture of the shoes would look nicer in the centre of the post but try as I might, I could not move the image.

I just had a nice short chat with Ah Boy over msn. Okay, I admit that I was consulting 1 of my 3 technical consultants over technical issues (what else?). You 3 kids know who you are!

Ah Boy and Ah Wen, enjoy your outing! And remember your Ah Jie and me while you are busy singing at your KTV or wherever you are going! Is our Bangkok trip still on? Your Ah Jie is asking.....

YX, ZX and JX came over with the gang for tom-yum steamboat dinner. We had a lot of fun. After dinner, I was happily serving them fruits, coffee, cheesecake, chocolates, cookies and home-made lime tea (anyone wants the recipe for the lime tea? It is very good for digestion. Who knows? Maybe it can help with weight loss also.). I was about to serve them warm muffins when they decided to call it a night. Hey, gang, too much to makan, ah? Variety is the spice of life. I count my blessings that I am still able to eat (unlike some people who have to be fed through a tube, etc).

Goodness me! I heard that YX and ZX had a fun time chatting on msn with Ah Girl, to the extent of sending her numerous nudges via msn and chatting her up (eg. telling her that she is pretty, then asking her for lunch treat, etc). These boys are learning young! Way to go, boys!

Oh.. on a sober note, Da and I drove past an old man with no legs below the knee on our way back from the supermarket. He was being pushed in a wheelchair. I was very sad when I saw that. I told Da that I do not wish to live a life with only 1 leg or no legs. What kind of quality of life is that? However, on reflection, at least the Ah Pek is alive to smell the roses and to enjoy the beauty of creation. The Lord will take care of us in His way. Have faith.

A day of reflection

Have you ever wondered whether it is true that if someone strikes you on one cheek, you should turn the other cheek for him to strike, instead of retaliating?

Is there such a thing as retribution?

If the Lord Jesus died for our sins and by His death, sin is no longer imputed to us and we have eternal forgiveness, how can it be right that someone can get away with doing wrong to us again and again? It is so unfair and it is very difficult to reconcile this with the concept of forgiveness. Oh sure, the wrongdoer is forgiven eternally, but what about the victim? How can it be right that the victim has to suffer this?

What do we do in situations like this? It can occur anywhere - in the workplace, amongst relatives, anywhere. I have often reflected on this but sad to say, I have not been able to come to terms with this.

I am not saying that I am unwilling to help others. I am more than willing but sometimes I sit back and wonder what I am doing. If I cover a colleague for an urgent matter while the colleague is away, is it right that the file gets dumped on me permanently? Is it right for the colleague to coincidentally/conveniently go on medical leave/urgent leave (God knows what other leave) at the crucial time and for the file to explode in my face? Perhaps, if it happened only once, we should be more graceful and be the Good Neighbour. But when it happens again and again, where does this leave us? Do we stand back, look like the fool and take this lying down again and again? Our human nature says, "No! Fight back! Retaliate!" But how do we reconcile this with the concept of a forgiving spirit and letting our heart be established by grace?

Abba Father, I am amazed how You always know what I am going through or what I am going to go through for the day, and You speak to me in subtle ways. I wish to learn to hear Your voice so that I can walk more in the fullness of Your grace and learn to live a "let go" life.

A whole new world

Wow! I can't believe myself! I was checking out my cousin's blog (which I just discovered today) when I came across something called "create blog". I started inserting the details and lo and behold! I have created a blog.....

This is so new to me. I have not done this before. As it is, I am wondering how some people like Ah Girl and my cousin (yes, dear... I read your blog entries) have so much to write everyday. Gosh! I stopped writing diaries years ago!

Ah Girl warned me not to reveal my identity in my blog address, so how about http://www.jesuslovespebbles.blogspot.com/? Goodness me! I just realised something. Quite a number of my pals know that my nick is PEBBLES.... ok, fellas, you know who you are.