my silver lining on a gloomy day...

plant update

buttercup plant broke during heavy rain cos i tied it with wire... it had previously fallen down but not broken...


new water lily bud...

bountiful harvest

we had a pleasant surprise when we returned from camp... so many passion fruits had dropped!

can i afford to be too busy?

All the believers were one in heart and mind

Last night at bible study, we discussed the importance of participation in essential assembly gatherings, namely for teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer (as found in Acts 2:42).

I have been wondering recently why we aren't quite as 'one in heart and mind' as we should be. Some are suffering in silence, or going through times of testing alone. Is it because we do not share enough? Because if we do not open up and share, then how would others know we are in need of encouragement? Unless the Spirit guides us to encourage that person. Why is it that only during camp, we have the time to sit and share our fears and frustrations? Or is it only me?

Verse 42 of Acts 2 says that they devoted themselves to those things. Maybe the question is how devoted am I? We always say that if the Lord's things are close to our hearts, we could not stop talking about Him and would long to be with His people.

There are two things I can see the immediate need for improvement in my life. More time spent in studying the Word and in prayer for others...

Gently, He Provides...

Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day's journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. "I have had enough, Lord," he said. "Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors." Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep.
All at once an angel touched him and said, "Get up and eat." He looked around, and there by his head was a cake of bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.
The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, "Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you." So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by the food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.

Even after God has shown His tremendous power to us, and we win a big battle by His strength, we may succumb to fear and discouragement even to the point where we feel like we don't want to live anymore. Yet, our God is gracious. And the Lord Jesus himself comes to tend to our needs. He knows what we need, physically and spiritually and He is gentle and gracious in His providence.
God provided Elijah the strength he needed to recover and get to Mt. Horeb and then He dealt with his problem. This also shows how our physical condition may affect us spiritually.

Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, He said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."

number plates...

saw this plate recently... it's my initials... wouldn't mind having the car either...



saw this one yesterday, you'll have to pay me to drive around with a plate like that... hahah...

Count Bloc

Poor Bloc has skin problem again... when i put medicine for him, he runs away, then he licks it up, then the flies come and lay eggs, then he has maggots in his wound, then he has to go to the vet, then i have to pay a big bill.... sigh....

more flowers

Finally posting a pic of the water lily flower... the color sucks cos i set the camera to the wrong setting... the flower lasted for a day, then all the petals dropped off...


got loads more buttercups tho ;)

blooming idiot

the water lily bud has opened into a huge flower... not exceptionally beautiful because it's a rather plain kind of off white, but fascinating none the same... So, i rush out to snap a few shots with my camera and realise that i left my memory card stuck in my pc... bummer...

new flowers in the garden...

being sick for more than 4 weeks means that stuff that's supposed to be done doesn't get done. so, our garden has been neglected quite a bit. i managed to mow and clear the weeds in the front portion but the lalang has grown and spread a fair bit...

i just mentioned to cheryl last fri or sat that i wasn't sure what a certain plant in the garden was. it hadn't given us any flowers and i was wondering if it was just going to stay that way. then to my surprise on sunday morning i noticed pretty yellow flowers sticking oddly out of the top...


we also have a water lily bud growing bigger by the day...

welcome home lil sis...

Aunty Gaik's balloon says it all :)

Time and Time Again...

When i feel pressured, i wonder if i have bitten off more than i can chew. I get blur and dazed and inefficient. I've always believed that having no time is never an excuse for anybody. Basically, everyone has the same amount of time, it's just what we choose to do with it. So, if i find i'm not having time to do something that i consider important, then something else has to go. Of course the easy way out is just to plonk myself in front of the tv and escape. But that only makes matters worse, because before you know it, time has flown and you haven't achieved a thing.

I know it all boils down to time management and planning. Setting down what i need to do and doing it. Usually, the more busy i am, the more organised i should get. Because suddenly, time is precious and i can't simply waste it. The problem with being in the store is that people can just walk in anytime and demand my time. Well, not exactly demand, but i end up spending alot of precious time talking to them. I guess that's part of the job...

So, what IS the point of this post? I have no idea... Time to get back to work...

it's all about the point of view...

i have always believed that how we view a certain situation depends so much on where we see it from. and that is why we can always seem to look back at difficult situations in the past and laugh at them. let me explain my thoughts. to a child going to school for the first time, how he or she feels depends largely on what he or she has been exposed to. how the parents have prepared this little one and what he or she has heard or seen. for example, if lil fred has a bigger sister who comes home each day with exciting stories about what happened in school and who did what and what she ate during recess, then he'd be pretty excited about finally getting to go to school and feeling all grown up and important, just like his sis.

and it just happens that everything we see happening around us seems that way. some people have phobias due to some bad experiences, others have their minds set that a certain way is wrong (or right) based on facts (or fantasies) that they have read, heard or seen. some people base their judgment and trust in certain things or people on what their friends tell them, or what they see on tv, or what they read in the papers. that's why so many old ladies lose their live savings to some con men because they've put their faith them.

so, the truth will set you free. free to make the right decisions based on well, the truth.

then again, everything is relative. something may seem trivial to one and the same thing may mean the world to another. how sad it is when we see people killing for a few hundred dollars, or getting so caught up in their emotions that they are willing to take their lives over a lost relationship or gambling bet. from the outside, we can see that it doesn't make sense, but for the person, his life has collapsed around him and life is meaningless.

how relative is relative? what we can spend on a nice dinner, may feed a family for a month. but there are others who have 'nice' dinners everyday. the problem that has given us sleepless nights may just take a minute for someone else to solve.

so we enjoy watching movies, where the hero is unfazed by the overwhelming circumstances surrounding him, because he seems to know exactly what to do...

well, we do have a hero, and He knows everything. He is not bound by time nor space and if we do trust in Him, we should be like movie heroes too... unfazed by circumstances surrounding us...

car for sale

time to say goodbye to my ride...

Perodua Myvi 1.3SXi Manual
2005 August [correction - it's actually march 2006]
Sparkling Silver with Black tint
70,000km
AirBags & ABS
Full maintenance record - Serviced by Perodua every 5,000km
Engine mod - 4-2-1 Extractor
RM35,000 neg [so the price goes up :) RM38k now]
Call me at 012-2755777

updates

sick again... started with a tiny sore throat and by evening it was full blown fever... well, i prefer fast and furious rather than slow and painful...

my meds are so purrrrdyy.... and i feel so grogggggyyy....


got my neighbor to make a balloon twist flower for me a few days ago... now i have been practicing so we can liven the teens carnival up with these... the ones in this pic look faded cos they are a day old, they look shiny when new.... :)

more flowers!

i was pleasantly surprised a few days back when i notice some flowers at the back of our garden while driving off to work. one of the wild plants that i brought back from janda baik jungle had flowers blooming. it wasn't until yesterday that i found the time to take a few shots of it. looks like each bud will bloom and each flower stays for a few days... :)



this one is one of the plants aunty Rajesh passed to me. planted it in a hanging pot so i didn't notice the flower till i brought it down...


this is from my stunted plant. pa and mum's have grown so well and flowered so often that they have many 'offspring' by now. my silly plant is only just flowering. wait, it can't be the plant that is silly, silly, must be the gardener! :P

air plants

many years ago when i was in college there was a shop in atria that sold air plants... they had them stuck on rocks and so on and sold them for a premium...

years later the fad has died out but Hans has been crazy about them for a while and last night he was generous enough to give me some of his. i now have 4 types hanging in my garden. not sure if the environment is suitable but it's shaded tho not as humid as in his place. he has a pond with a fountain and a netting shading them. so, i have prob got to mist them daily... hopefully they dont die...

a day of broken hearts and bruised bums...

Saturday started off fine, besides having to wake at the unearthly hour of six and getting ready to pick the kids up. Left home at 10 to 7 armed with cheryl's homemade muffins and a change of clothes. Spent the next hour picking up 8 children and piling them into the van. Stopped before the first toll to turn the seats around and to commit the trip to the Lord. Oon Hou sat in front cos I picked him first and he yakked all the way, as usual. I could only grin to myself as he talked about his new pet cat, Stripes, and everything else from rockets and cars to cotton candy.

we arrived at FRIM and paid the entrance, drove to the souvenir shop to get our tickets for the canopy walk. Had to wait 15 mins for them to open at 9. Then we were off to Rover track headed for the canopy walk. The place was full of joggers and mountain bikers. Not too long after the kids started feeling tired, the canopy walk entrance appeared. We waited our turn and were briefed on the rules. Grace decided she was scared and didn't want to go. So, she sat and waited for us. After completing the canopy walk, we tracked back along the trail to get Grace and retraced our steps all the way out.

"So nice la the canopy walk, you didn't go...", "Yeahlah, wasted only la you..."Children can be pretty ruthless when it comes to making people feel rotten... Anyway, we headed to the waterfall and were pretty disappointed with it. I promised to take them to a better place next time. (they're already asking when!) We did have fun splashing around and stuffing ourselves with burgers but time was running out and we had to rush back. I had to start picking other children up for teens at 3.

After dropping Oon Hou, Hsin Ren and bringing Rexcy to get his bag, we headed for my home where the others had a quick shower. We had only 15 mins! Dropped them off in centre and shot off to pick my usual load.

Ok, you must be asking where broken hearts fit into this fun but hectic day. When i got back to centre, the Tiah family drove up and Mrs. Tiah came over to talk to me. She said Oon Hou had convinced her that he wanted to come for teens. (they were supposed to go visit a relative and for a buffet dinner and he was supposed to skip teens). But just as they were leaving, the ran over his cat. The poor kid was sobbing away at the back of the MPV. Sigh, it sure isn't easy growing up is it? But then, death is never easy whether you're grown up or not...

3 months of silence...

it's been exactly 3 months since my last entry... i don't know if anyone still bothers to read this blog anyway...

much has happened since, though i cannot remember much... i wonder if there is really something wrong with me, i cannot seem to remember details... maybe my brain is just distracted...

so, what's been happening?

- bloc's been to the vet for a 10 day stay which set me back by 850 bucks
- oh, i got my open water certification by God's grace... need to learn swimming before boss will take me diving...
- our roof has been repaired, which set us back by 3000 bucks
- i'm doing bible study with Eugene, who is from aunty Gaik's church
- we have a garden shed now

i am reminded why i've been silent for so long... it's such a pain to post pictures in my blog compared to facebook...

well, hopefully i'll take the trouble to post pictures after my outing with the teens this saturday...

wooed by bn...

haha... i was pleasantly surprised when mum told me the bn flers (as patrick teoh writes) came to look for me last week... here's what they left me...

1. a brochure on hoh hee lee with all the newspaper cuttings of him doing stuff... to bad i cant read... or rather it will take too much effort...
2. a cigarette lighter with barisan nasional name and logo. they prob thot it was a good idea cos every time you pull out the lighter to light up and satisfy your addiction, you'll see the name and subconsciously feel positive about them. too bad i don't smoke. i will remember bn every time i use the lighter to burn off leeches when i go hiking instead...
3. a slip containing my polling information. this has got to be the most useful of the three...