How Dare You?!

How dare you question the goodness of the infinite omniscient God? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all (Rom 8:32). And this Son, who was not spared, this Creator and Sustainer of the universe, who is all knowing, all powerful, all good. Stooped so low to save us from eternal damnation and continues to be our Shepherd, who only desires what is best for us. How can you question His goodness? What right have you to speak? Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him? Let Him who accuses God answer Him! (Job 40:2)

What suffering are you going through that you do not deserve? Are you the only one in the world who is suffering? Have you no blessings at all to count? Would you spit in the face of the One who loves you and gave Himself for you by being discontented after He has done everything to give you every spiritual blessing? (Eph 1:3). Will you be spoilt, rebellious and insolent? Questioning His all sufficient and perfect care? Don't you dare! Don't you ever dare!

Do things that come easy get taken for granted?

the answer would usually be a resounding, "Yes!"

you don't really need to look far for the answer... i'm sure you have one in mind before i start listing examples down...

whether it is spoilt brats with their expensive toys or grown ups who got things too easy, to children who don't have an interest in their parent's passions... it's quite natural for humans to take things for granted when they didn't have to work too hard for it...

which brings me to the point of my post... do i take salvation for granted? how about God's grace and mercy then? of course i know that our salvation came at a tremendous cost, and that cost is appreciated greater the more we know about the person and work of the Lord...

that point aside, how about 2nd generation christians? kids who grew up in bible believing homes, where the things of the Lord are taught from infancy... we've always had the answer, we've always known about faith, God and His plan of salvation, we've been trained in disciplines that make us who we are...

but did it come too easy for us that loving the Lord is harder? because we never had to search, or have a truly life changing, 180 degrees turn-a-bout...

and does the familiarity decrease the appetite for the Lord's things?

as you can see, the scope of this discussion is so wide and many facetted, which is why i blog so little... because i think of something, wish to put it to text, then find myself not really doing justice to the subject....

so there you have it... my unfinished, uncompleted, half-left-hanging thoughts... hope it may stir a useful thought in your mind tho...

He leadeth His own with a gentle hand

I found this entry in one of my many started-but-never-continued diaries. So much so that I don't even know what year it is...

25th Feb

Felt stressed over taking charge of Teen's Club. How do I fill Chee Ching's shoes?

Ex. 36:1 "to whom the Lord has given skill and ability to know how to carry out all the work"

It is only by God's grace and empowering. May I never boast or feel proud of myself.

I really have no idea which year this was. But it must have been many years ago, since I remember Ivan and Timothy were in Teen's. And now they're almost out of YP! How the Lord has in His grace guided us and supplied us the strength and wisdom to do the things He has given us to do! This comes as a very much needed reminder as I start 'worrying' about what the DRAMATIM will come up with for the July Youth outreach meeting. Thank you Lord!

DRAMATIM production

Here are the videos from our Easter Outreach presentation.

This one had to be edited in the end with the first performance clip as the camera didn't focus properly.

You can hear a glitch, cos i haven't learnt how to use the video editing software properly...

kreekree... kreekreee...

that's the sound of crickets chirping telling me it's time i updated this blog... :P

Pics from the garden

Here are some pics as promised. You'll be surprised the amount of interesting things you can find going on in the garden. First, here's a baby praying mantis... Saw him on this leaf and he's on the same leaf everyday. Will try and get a better pic with tripod and macro filter soon, before it grows up and moves on...

We also have wasps in the garden. Will try not to burn or get rid of it unless completely necessary ;)

First passion fruit from this new plant!

And the mango tree has flowered too, as mention in previous post. See the little baby mangoes! Have to find out if i need to wrap them up or just leave them to grow...

The ficus outside has been plagued with all manner of destructive pests. Often, it gets eaten botak, then grows new leaves again. We've seen so many types of leaf eating bugs, from space aged looking ones, to sticky slimy ones so much so that these one looks so 'normal' :)

Our pond has reached an 'equilibrium', according to Hans. There is moss, but the water is nice and clear. I feed the fishes everyday, so we'll see how big they grow... Actually, the fishes are just there to eat any mosquito larvae :)

Ho Hum

Ok. so. looking at my previous post, i can safely say that i have not done any of the things i set out to do. so what's new. anyway, we finally cancelled our astro, so there's one distraction less. the computers have also been a huge distraction, so no more bringing my macbook back during weekdays cos i will waste time on it. bloc's back from the vet and technically i have been spending more time with him cos i have to feed him meds twice a day. wait a minute, it was cheryl that i was supposed to spend more time with! hahahahaha... i have decided to get back to gardening too. i believe there was a reason why God created the perfect garden and put adam and eve in it, to till and enjoy it. there is so much you can learn about the Creator from His creation. our new passion fruit plant is flowering finally. i hope it will not grow too out of control like the previous one. definitely looking forward to passion fruits. also, the mango tree has been flowering but no signs of fruits yet. will post photos soon. saw a really small cute baby praying mantis on the passion fruit plant leaf today but couldn't capture it (on camera) cos i was already late. have been arriving at least half an hour early to work everyday and intend to visit dealers on a more organised, regular basis. dennis is no longer leaving for australia, so i don't have to look for new staff. i am also journaling the teens meetings weekly on another blog so as to help me remember what happened at the end of the year. we have had 4 new children this two weeks! oh, bella is getting seen to, and i hope to be able to drive her around a bit more soon. mei's time back seemed to fly by but the prospect of our going over in september is keeping things from looking glum. also, sue mei and khee guan are coming back in march with the kids! i promise more pictures in the next post... ;)