Oh please....

The beginning of 2010 hasn't been that great for Malaysians as a whole. On the last day of 2009, the High Court ruled in favour of Christians using the word Allah for God. This sparked protests all over the country from some Muslims, and even caused division amongst Muslims - some supported the decision, some did not.

Over the past few days, there were arson attacks on 8 churches across the country. Thankfully, nobody was hurt. Political parties quickly condemned the attacks, and the government and Muslim NGOs offered to help and contributed towards the church rebuilding fund.

I kept wondering how God felt about all this...He must be sad. God sees our hearts and motives, and I think He would prefer it if we used all our time and energy to worship and get to know Him, do His will and learn to love each other instead of fighting over what we call Him. And He knows that though we may be passionate about fighting for justice or our rights, once this is over and done with, we might not even utter His name with a heart that loves Him.

Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. Matthew 22:37-38

2010, Here I Come

I woke up on the 1st of January 2010 with a sense of excitement that it's going to be a great year with lots of changes and surprises.

I've been asking God for new experiences in my life and I feel that He will unfold them for me this year. The condition is that I have to empty my cup, because God cannot fill a cup that is already full. And I have to trust and obey Him wholeheartedly and know that His plans are much greater than anything I can imagine.

God assured me that He can use anyone and He doesn't always choose the strongest, smartest or most beautiful ones. He chooses the ones who don't think they are good enough, and He makes them top of the class. God can use me, as long as I am willing and follow Him every step of the way.

Below are the pictures of the begonia plant that I propogated last year, a little shoot has grown out from it! It is the year of new beginnings :)

Nepalese Christmas Party

Hubby and I are involved in the Nepalese Ministry in church. It was started about 6 years ago by our friend Kelvin Yong who now heads the ministry. There are hundreds of thousands of Nepalese workers in Malaysia and they mostly work as security guards or factory workers.

Over the last 6 years, we have met many nice Nepalese friends, some of whom we have visited in Nepal after they returned to their country. Every year, we organise a Nepalese Christmas Party for them. We had a fabulous time and the Nepalese danced and sang their hearts out that night. Here are some pictures :)

Me, Umi and Julia

With our missionary friend, Heike

Nepalese food every year

The ministry leader, Kelvin

Christmas!

I'm feeling sad because Christmas is over already. Its my favourite time of the year. This month has been really hectic in church and I'm doing my best to enjoy December while it lasts.

I went for a Japanese buffet dinner with my family on Christmas Eve... that was nice. Woke up at about 6 something on Christmas morning to go to church. Of course, it was a working day for all church staff. We had 2 services, then off we went to Fui Ping's house for a Christmas lunch party.

Hubby and I had a Christmas party at our condo poolside with his cell group at night, and we had fun singing carols and just having a feast.

I started opening presents around midnight... what a long but wonderful day! Here are some pics :)

At the poolside

The delicious fruit cake that Stephanie baked
The pretty presents Fui Ping made for us

The presents (comprising lots of chocolate and candy) under the Christmas tree in church

The fun crew who served on Christmas Day

Busy December

It's been a busy month with the Christmas concert and video productions for the end of the year. Since I don't have much time to write, I will post some pictures I took recently.

Below: We keep ourselves occupied by taking photos when our subject needs to read up on his script during our video shoots.
Below: Spottie and Bully yesterday. I do miss them a lot and look forward to seeing them on my off days once a week. Here they are relaxing together :)

Bully is panting happily because dad just spent some time playing with him :)

Spottie enjoying mum's pretty garden :)

Taken minutes before the Christmas concert started. The picture below was taken in the Media Control Room... I have spent countless hours inside.
The crew for our Christmas Concert - 'God Came Near'. It was a simple yet fun production. One of the more stress-free productions we've done.

Have A Little Faith

I've just finished reading Mitch Albom's latest book, 'Have A Little Faith.' The book tells the true story of two persons, a Jewish rabbi and an African American pastor who used to be drug dealer.

Being a Jew himself, Mitch had known the rabbi since he was a young boy. However, Mitch was never really interested in matters of faith. One day, the rabbi asks Mitch whether he would be willing to write his eulogy. Mitch honours that request. Thus began a beautiful 8 year friendship between the two of them.

Mitch also tells the story of Pastor Henry and how his scepticism of this pastor turns to admiration as he hears stories of what this pastor had done for his church members - fed and clothed the homeless and even opened up his own home to them.

I liked how Mitch ties everything together with wonderful gems of true life stories and excerpts of the rabbi's sermons. The theme that resonated throughout the book was that there are times when we can't see a miracle happening, but it is happening. Sometimes we cry out in desperation, and God hears. Although we can't see Him, He's there. And we have to put our faith in Him.

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1

Christmas is here again!

I love Christmas! It's my first year celebrating Christmas in my new home so I've done some Christmas decorating and I'm enjoying every bit of it. As usual, most of my decorations are from Ikea :) I try not to overspend so I'm pretty choosy with what I buy. We don't live in a big place, just about 800+ sqft but I believe that a cosy home is what we make of it.