Another Upcoming Birthday - superly soon!

ATTENTION..ATTENTION...ATTENTION to all my beloved brothers and sisters,

let us not forget someone's birthday tomorrow (1st April) too!! jeng....jeng...jeng....

It is LILY's BIRTHDAY!!!!!

So yeah, let's wish her ya! be it via calls, sms, emails, or on the blog or during CG!!! hehehe...oppsss~ not to forget, presents too!!!!!! *wink*wink*






Ally <3

Alright, birthdays!

Did everyone remember to wish Alvin on Sun? :)

Up next, Lawrence's birthday is this FRIDAY (3rd April) so please do say something nice to him on the way in and out of CG!

The more creative amongst you could bring along something worthy of the occassion :)
Let's celebrate and appreciate one another on special days like these, yeah?

P.S. He's an ENGINEER...and he likes LEGO. Teehee!

Hey All . . .

Dear all,

First of all, i believe i owe all of you an update about my dad's operation..hehehe..so sorry about that ya! Thanks to all of you who prayed for him and also thanks to all of you who asked about his condition! thank you very very much and i really appreciate all your love and concern *hugs*
He is doing well right now and the operation is a success. fuh~ thank God! Thank you again for the prayers! (: I managed to share with him about God and i told him that i've prayed for him. and well, as usual, his answer is "alright..ok..thanks" - my dad is the cool cool type one, dont really express much, typical reaction for his age and generation i believe, hehe..but i know, deep inside his heart, he is thankful and glad that we prayed for him. tho he didnt show it out...

well, i have been praying for my family's salvation all this while and i am the only christian in the family thus far, the rest, they have yet to be a christian, but i have faith and believe that soon, they will all be the follower of Christ. Amen to that! hehehe..also, i have been praying that my family will know Chris thru me and i believe that God is slowly answering my prayer...

this is because, just last week, i got a call from my sister saying that my mum too, have to undergo the same surgery - cataracts. i know that this condition is very common and usual for people their age, but i was a bit shocked and shaken when i found out about that. i mean, 2 surgeries in 2 months time, under the same condition? that is pretty scary for me lor...my mum's surgery is scheduled in mid april and she found out about the condition last monday as she woke up feeling a little weird - blur vision. my dad had his surgery in march and my mum knew about the condition in march too~ so yeah, this is kinda a big news for me...

i have decided to pay for my mum's surgery. and i think, this is right as a daughter. moreover, i wasnt around during my dad's surgery in march, so this round, i just want to make it up lor..

well, can i ask for a simple prayer request? that you also pray for my mum? that thru all these, they will know Jesus? that God will use me and this situation to let His Glory and Love known to them and the rest of my family members? I pray that they will know God thru all the blessings that God has given me thus far - finances, work, safety, etc...i know that God has His timing and His timing is always perfect and i just want to stand firm in believing Him...

thank you brothers and sisters, i love you all!


ally <3

Email answer.

Hello everyone. =)
Firstly, i want to remind everyone that Kean Chai is doing a stellar job. Not because he does not make mistakes, but because he has put his heart into being a good steward. As his family, we should all support him and encourage him.It really is not easy to do this week in and week out. One way to do this is to really contribute to the group discussions. That is why i want to also suggest that we all take turns to write something once in a while, just so that we will also understand how sometimes it can be discouraging to share somethign and get no response. =)

BUT. . . . . . . .

I want to point out a few things:

the first thing on my heart was this: Not all people are inclined to speak out in public. But that does not mean they are not listening and are not attentive. We must learn to respect the differences in each other. I would rather we all feel motivated to share because we want to bless our brothers and sisters, rather than share because we don't want some cell group leader to kutuk me online. . . . . I am always very confident that every word that is shared in love will bear fruit. An immediate and vivid example i can remember so clearly is my dear sister vivian. I remember how when james wrote an email to us about no one remembering his prayer, she immediately replied! James - surely u were blessed by that? Good job Viv! Woot!

But that does not mean we should just sit there waiting for profound words to leap from our mouths. This is another way we grow. Now i don't expect all of you to be cakap banyaks like me - but instead, being mature means being balanced. Sometimes, if you know u are not the type, you should make it a point to try participating. Alvin - since u are my mentee - i will pick on you!Speak up more! hahahahaha (kidding).

With this, thats why i am really really encouraging everyone to go to the blog! Its an awesome tool - and James will be one of the first few to contribute to it. Thank you allyson for writing something too! It was an awesome encouragement to me, and i am sure to lots of us and Alyssia. Poor girl - put up the blog liao then like boh seng lee like that (for the benefit of surain - boh seng lee = no business / business ee'leh!).

Finally, it is good training for us to learn to share our lives. Right now - most of us are not good at it at all! I remember when we first started the CG (with jsut a few of us guys), we would talk about politics lah, work lah. . .everything. . . . .even holy holy stuff. . . .but we would never reveal our own selves. It takes lotsa practice! But it is God's guide for us to live. And it is going to take lotsa time and lotsa conscious effort. Some of us will have to fight against years of rejection, of feeling that our thoughts and our words are constantly judged and scoffed at. In the process, you will discover God, as He reveals more to you.

I really do miss you all. I hang the t-shirt u all gave me in my room, and every night i see it before i go to sleep, and i am reminded that we are God's gift to each other. Yeah sure we annoy the living heck out of one another, but that too is part of the growing process.

Do write me, and i will continue to write all of you. =)

Meditation of melody

Hey hope everyone is doing great! Its been a little quiet lately on my end, but its more because i am taking some time out to walk through some issues in my own personal life. But again, i want to share with you all this season of lent something that i have been able to do in my quiet time. I heard this song at church, and i decided to focus on the lyrics and share a little what this song means to me. I think Han Wei will know this one lah. . . .possibly aiching, KC and Lily also? Come to think of it, most of u should know this lah. Except small boy Alvin and not-so-small-girl Sandra!!!

I hear the Savior say,
“Thy strength indeed is small;
Child of weakness, watch and pray,
Find in Me thine all in all.”

Refrain:
Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

Lord, now indeed I find
Thy pow’r, and Thine alone,
Can change the leper’s spots
And melt the heart of stone.

When from my dying bed
My ransomed soul shall rise,
“Jesus died my soul to save,”
Shall rend the vaulted skies.

And when before the throne
I stand in Him complete,
I’ll lay my trophies down,
All down at Jesus’ feet.

O praise the One who paid my debt
And raised this life up from the dead

[I hear the savior say] A most intimate and powerful way to begin the hymn. Did Jesus send a letter? Pass the message to soemone else? No. Jesus speaks to me in the first person - something we must always remember - that the mediums may vary, but God speaks to us personally!!!

[Find in me thine all in all] Another intimate offer. Instead of limiting the reward / consolation / joy to something external, god associates with His very being. And being God, He is definitely capable of satisfying all!!! Reminds me of the time God told Abraham that He would be His great reward.

[Jesus Paid it all; all to Him i owe] The paradox of Christianity, freedom from sin to slavery to Christ. 'nuff zed. =D

[And melt the heart of stone] My heart melts too every time i sing this line . . . .

[Shall rend the vaulted skies] What a glorious transition and a great picture of our passing. As we lay on our death bed frail and weak, the next step is a powerful resurrection that can set assunder even the vaulted firmaments of eternity! awesome awesome awesome line there!!!!! And you know, this gets me thinking - if even in death we have such great victory, how much more in the petty struggles of this life?

[I'll lay my trophies down, Alll down at Jesus feet] this hymn begins with a stature of humility and weakness and frailty, and also ends with us prostrate at His feet. Gosh what a beautiful way to end a beautiful hymn.

[Chorus] You all have to hear this version on youtube! Such a wonderful thing to see that modern hearts can revive such a beautiful song in such a classic yet relevant way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqQhZKpZVCo

Hiking

There's nothing like the beauty of nature - majestic mountains, bubbling rivers, rustling trees - all filled with God's wonderful creatures. Woven through these beautiful places are pathways and trails. Without them, you'd have a hard time walking across a swamp, over a river, or up a steep hill.
Our life is like a big hike. It's a journey. And with each step, new things come our way. God help us on this journey with our Bible as our guide.
What are you looking for in your future? What is the plan? What is His will for you? What is your calling? God will show you the path to follow. He WILL WALK ALONGSIDE you. All we need to do is to ask Him...

"Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith" Hebrews 12:1-2.

- zonderkidz, backpack bible-

***

I had a bad day on Sunday morning, it happened exactly before i am going off to church. It is not such a pleasant day, i must say. Feeling hurt and disappointed, i started to sense the voice of the Holy Spirit asking me to open my bible. I didnt know how to and where to turn to, so i asked God "Open my bible? To where? To which page? I dont even know which chapter to look at"..having all these doubts, i sense that God is telling me "Just open it, and I will show you, I will speak to you through the bible, I want to talk to you through the bible".

So, i opened it..and yes, indeed, i did not hear God wrongly. He is really speaking to me through the bible - the whole passage i've written above, I hold my tears and I walked out of my house into my car, inside, i sense that God is telling me "Wait, dont go yet, read the bible again, I want to talk to you again." and there i was, sitting in my humble and faithful little iswara, reading my bible, enjoying the aircond..tears rolled down my cheeks as i read what He has written for me..

I know that I will never be alone and that He is walking alongside me through all my ups and downs. I know that at the end, I am a changed person, both for good and for God...

People will always disappoint us, be it our best friends, close friends, just friends, or colleagues. But, do bear in mind, my dear brothers and sisters, one thing for sure, one thing that will never change no matter what, is that - God will never fail us...

Amen~

Just.Me.All[y]

Deny Him?

Lent meditation from 14th March Saturday.

Growing up, I would often think that Peter was such a wuss. But really, as I grew up (and I always say, having more years means more opportunities of self-abasement and loathing, and a greater humility through the many many faults we accumulate) I found that really we all commit this same sin constantly.

And I asked myself – if people saw me today – would I even come close to even being recognized as a disciple of Christ? At least Peter was close enough / lived well enough to Christ to be recognized as a disciple. You have to be associated with Jesus before u can even have the chance to deny Him.

So, would I really be found as one of His by others? The answer does scare me.

Indeed, I have denied Him too in my choices, and in my conduct. God have mercy on me and forgive me and help me through.

I really know many things now - in my own life especially, why God called me back to Malaysia (called? He had to drag me back cause i stubbornly did not want to return. ). I don think i would honestly have been able to survive all the comforts this country has to offer. =)

Looking forward to seeing everyone again!

Lets really use this blog to be a blessing to each other. =)