Quiet Achiever

I am reading this book about the life and times of Tan Sri Dr Tan Chin Tuan, one of the greatest bankers and history makers in Singapore. It's always inspiring to read biographies of great people that had lived and are still living in our times.

I've learnt more about Singapore's history too. Didn't know that so many big name companies are OCBC-linked! Like Raffles Hotel, Robinson, F&N, Great Eastern Life...etc.

Great men change history!!

Feel a sudden rush of patriotic feelings...hee...hee...feel more Singaporean haha!!

Birth pain

It's hard work to carry the child for 9 months in a womb and extremely painful to deliver a child. However real parenting work only begins when the child is born. The many years that the parents need to feed and take care of her child until the child is independent. The harder part is to teach the child to walk in the right path.

My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you, how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you! - Galatians 4:19-20

To be a parent is not easy. Parents need to have strong and big heart for the ignorant, naughty little ones. Our parents need to bear with our nonsense when we screamed and cried over the things we wanted at the shopping malls. When we fell down and bleed, they ran to us. When we were bullied in school, they stood up and defended for us. When we are in pain, they felt the pain. Their desire is always for our good and that we will love them in return. When we walked in the wrong path, our parents get hurt.....

Have you stop and think from our parents' perspective?

If I am in their shoes, I will think why do I need to go through all these heart-ache to see growth in my children's lives? Is it worth my energy and love in doing all these? What do I gain at the end of the day?

If our parents have given hope on us for being naughty when we are young, what will become of us? If my parents have not spent their hard-earned $ on me so that I can have good education, what will I be doing now? If my parents have not taught me good values, what kind of person will I be?

My church is like a family to me. I am thankful for the many things that I have learnt and gained in my church all these years. Growth is a process. I have my rebellious days too. I hurt my mentor several times during my younger days as a Christian. I believe I have "trained" her to be stronger ;p I thank God for her patience and love for me. If not for her, I may not be who I am today. She has taught me values that helps me in my daily life. I have several opportunities to participate in various public events and learn to be confident in public speaking. I learn to work in teams. I learn to love others. To know who I am really.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. - 1 Cor 13:4-8

A.S.K ;-)

Yesterday I went out with a group of friends for dinner near Raffles Place. We had a great time together. One of my friends shared her stories when she visited France. She was there alone and she was trying to find someone to bring her around in France. Everything was in French and she was kind of lost. Then she had a bright idea! She tried to look out for someone on the street to ask him/her to be her one day guide. Something which I would normally not do ;p She saw her "target" and then approached him.

She said:"Excuse me! I need someone to bring me around in Paris."

He replied:"You can take the tour bus to bring you around."

She insisted:"I have a problem. I don't understand French. I need someone who speaks English to help me around."

After much persuasion, he replied:"Ok. I shall be your one-day tour guide. You are lucky. I was actually on-call to fly today but I was just told that I am off."

This man really brought my friend around Paris and they really enjoyed themselves..or should I say my friend enjoyed herself ;p

Her story reminds me that we need to be bold to do things that is out of the norm. You can reap unbelievable results. To be persistent in what we really want in life. Like the parable of the persistence woman. Ask, Seek, Knock (ASK) ;-)

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. - Matthew 7:7-8

"Complete" by Parachute Band

I like this song, "Complete", by Parachute Band.

Here I am, Oh God
I bring this sacrifice--my open heart.
I offer up my life.
I look to You, Lord
Your love that never ends
Restores me again

So I lift my eyes to you, Lord
In Your strength will I break through, Lord
Touch me now, let your love fall down on me
And I will be complete in You.

Here I am, Oh God
I bring this sacrifice--my open heart.
I offer up my life.
I look to You, Lord.
Your love that never ends
Restores me again

So I lift my eyes to you Lord
And by faith, I will walk on, Lord
Then I'll see beyond my calvary one day,
And I will be complete in..

I look to You, Lord
Your love that never ends
Restores me again

So I lift my eyes to you Lord
In your strength will I break through Lord
Touch me now, let your love fall down on me
I know your love dispels all my fears.

Through the storm I will hold on Lord
And I pray I will hold on, Lord
Then I'll see beyond my calvary one day
And I will be complete in
I will be complete in
I will be complete in You

More women lifting weights

Reference to the article, 'More women lifting weights', on The Straits Times dated on 14 Dec 05.

Do you do strength training? When I was in my secondary school days, I carried weights to give me additional push when I sprinted on the tracks. Now I still carry dumb-bells but not as regular ;p

This article encourages me to do more strength training ;-) Encourage all to do it too beside cardiovascular exercise like running or swimming.

An extract from the article:

Women and men begin to lose muscle in their late 30s. Over 10 years, a person can easily lose 1kg of muscle.

For women, such muscle loss is a major factor in osteoporosis because bones weaken as they are asked to carry less and less weight.

The muscle loss also leads to falls in old age, a leading cause of accidental death in people 65 and older. It also depletes a woman's energy and ability to enjoy routine activities.

Strength training, on the other hand, actually helps a woman have a more youthful body, Dr Nelson says. It restores muscle mass lost to the natural ageing process.

Her studies have shown that weightlifting relieves symptoms of osteoporosis and arthritis, and helps symptoms of sleeping disturbances, Type II diabetes and depression.

Strength training, which usually consists of weightlifting but also incorporates core body training, works because new muscle tissue is produced when muscle cells are required to lift something heavy on a repetitive basis.

The load, or the amount of weight lifted, signals muscle cells to produce more protein. It cannot happen just from consuming more protein, she says.

The extra weight from the load also causes subtle neurological changes in the muscle tissue, she says, and helps the fibre become more synchronised.

It is those subtle, cellular changes that lead to better balance and strength over a period of time.

25 Dec 05 - Tsunamis' memorial

Time flies. One year has passed since the day when the tsunamis hit Asia on Christmas day. Much to think about how we are going to live our lives in the coming year. Life is short. Play hard. Work hard. Rest well. Love people around you.

It has been a busy week for me and many of us especially during Christmas time. It's time to slow down to reflect on how we have led our lives in 2005 and what we want to do in 2006.

In 2005, I made a BIG decision to go to Rome, Italy for 6 months. I quitted my job and left my "loves" back in Singapore. Maybe that's why I did not bring the "LOVE" cup that was given to me by friends in church to Italy ;p It was the greatest trip of my life. I've made a lot of international friends and most importantly I have learnt much about myself and who God is in my life. Though I did not get a job in Rome, I'm glad to be back home. There's none like home :-)

So what's next for me in 2006? Hmm....

God is never short of surprises for us. He is good all the time. We need to be patient and wait for His best ;-)

Midco came to my house today and we took some photos together ;-) Thank God for the friendship we share ;-)

Midco

Dee and Midco

Midco and my sis

I and my bro

Cris, a Brazilian friend shared with me this website about the Lagoa Christmas Tree, a floating megastructure standing 82 meters tall over the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon in Rio de Janeiro. It is the largest floating Christmas Tree in the world by the Guinness Book of Records. Enjoy!

"Rabanada" is a traditional Brazilian Christmas dish. (with pictures)

24 Dec 05 - Christmas Eve Party

Skyscrapers in the day time

Irving and Yihong's caregroups combined to organize a Christmas eve party. We had a great time of food, games, singing Christmas songs, SALSA (wow!) and gift exchange.

I went early to Riverwalk apartment, which is near Clarke Quay MRT, to practise Salsa with Gabriel as we are going to do Salsa with our friends during the Christmas eve party in the night. This was my 2nd time dancing salsa. I tried once when I was in Rome during my birthday party. Hee..hee..we managed to dance. After the practice, we were both perspiring....;p

Some links on Salsa:

http://www.ballroomdancers.com/Dances/featured_steps.asp?Dance=SAL
http://www.bustamove.com/cgi-bin/scripts/post_link.pl?p=salsa&d=&b=963482178588

We helped with the decoration and then I practised caroling with Mervyn, Andrea and Yi Hong.


I was impressed with the decoration team. The decoration was really beautiful. I like the beautiful ribbons made by Reina, the Christmas tree and the ornaments hung on the ceiling. Wow! Bellissima!


We had great fun together with our friends. We played a few games. I like this game that we played. We were asked to blow a balloon and then we are to tie it to our legs. We formed 2 teams and then each one of us was assigned a number. The faciliator called a number from each team and the person with the assigned number needed to come out and then tried to burst the balloon of his/her opponent. A very exciting game!!

Dee, Angelina, Audrey

John and CK

Jun Ming, Celine, Audrey, Jay

Mery and Taeko

Edmond with Sidney

It was time for salsa. It was fun. After that, we sang a few Christmas songs and Irving shared something with us. We had our countdown together and then we had gift exchange.

Beautiful night scenery

23 Dec 05 - Kopitiam Christmas

This year my church has a musical drama called "Kopitiam Christmas". It has catchy theme song..haha..that will resound in your mind for a while.

It's great to celebrate Christmas with my friends. There's no greater joy than to be able to share this Gift with friends who has yet to know Him. To know the reason for this season.

Synopsis of the musical drama, 'Kopitiam Christmas':

In a Kopitiam (a hawker centre where local food and drinks are sold), there are different characters that have different stories to tell about their lives. Each longs for a different path or life and an incident draws them together.

The Lady Boss, Ah Nek had toothache for 3 months and did not want to see a dentist and her son, Alex spent what she has been saving. Alex was later caught stealing and to save his own face accused Ah Hock and Ah Nek of having an affair. He ran away from home and spent all his $. Ah Nek was so heart-broken by this false accusation. She later revealed that Ah Hock was actually the son of his husband's wife in China. This secret was kept between Ah Hock and Ah Nek as Ah Nek did not want to give Alex a bad impression about his father.

Tutti loved Alex but Alex has his heart set on another girl. Tutti was willing to be just friends with Alex.

Mr Lee ate Char Kuay Teow every morning and later revealed that her daughter was Grace, one of the stall owner.

Kai Poh and Grace, the chicken and fish ball stall owners respectively, often fought over who's the best in town. Grace grew up with her grandmother. Her mother left her when she was very young with another man. She longed for her own family.

Ah Nek was always longing for the return of Alex. Finally the prodigal son returned home, returned back to his family, this Kopitiam.

Dance by the youth



Christmas Choir

Ps Jeffrey shared about the Parable of the lost son from Luke 15:11-24. An inspiring and humorous sermon that touched many hearts I believe ;-)

Home usually touches the deep chord in the hearts of many. This is the place that means a lot of many of us whether it stirs up sweet memories, bitterness or pain.

In this sermon, the father refers to God and the son refers to you and I.

The gist of the sermon is as follows:

God is patient with our wrongs.

He is passionate about us.
The father ran to his lost son who returned. In those days, great men do not run but this father ran. This father represented God. God is passionate towards his son.

He accepts us as who we are.

Pizza Making

Pizza making. Looks simple..haha.

Glassy Classical Music

Tartufi al cocco - receipe

I was looking through my mega database of photos taken in Italy and Europe. I saw this receipe on how to make Tartufi al Cocco. You can give it a try. It's really nice!!


Ingredients:

Biscuits, Cocoa powder, Sugar, Milk, Rum. Mix all these ingredients together.

Roll them into a ball and coat it with cocoa powder and coconut powder.

Finished product

Merry Christmas!!

Click here
(Hokkien version)

Buon Natale! Joyeux Noël ! Fröhliche Weihnachten!

Everyone did as he saw fit

"In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit." - Judges 17:1

World history tells us a lot of things about us, human beings, the higher beings in the animal kingdom. The rise and fall of empires. The power struggles among nations. What happened in the past happened in our time as well. Like it or not the core of who we are is the same today, yesterday and tomorrow! We are just so inclined to look to ourselves.

I am now reading the book of Judges. Wow! U will see or rather read about the degeneration of the Israelites' moral values as they moved away from God and did as they saw fit. The atrocities that they did really disgrace the name of God.

Israelites, the chosen race that bears the name of God, forgotten their roots and the reason of their being, took things into their own hands and did things which they thought is right or benefitted themselves. A race that is supposed to be selfless became selfish. A community that is supposed to be the light for the world became a shame in the world.

Is this God's will?

I believe God's will is always for our good but He has a condition. To learn and obey His commands.

The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. - Deut 28:13

We heard of many stories of successful men and women who fell because of corruption, greed, lust, illicit affairs..etc. Embroiled themselves in sin that trapped and destroyed them. What is supposed to be freedom is actually a trap. A trap that will in the end brings us to our end if we do not leave the trap. Temptation is everywhere in our lives. Are we strong enough to withstand all these temptation?

I have to admit that we are weak. You read all these news on the papers, TV, Internet everyday. How much good news can you hear? Not much actually.

The admission of weakness is a start to be strong. When we realize our weakness, we should seek someone who is strong enough to rebuild and restore this broken down part of us, our character. This part of us that we can nuture and grow unlike the external beauty that will fade as years pass by.

For me, I'm grateful that I've found my strength in God. A personal friend who sticks by me through thick and thin. There's none like Him.

"I can do everything through him who gives me strength." - Phil 4:13

Da Vinci Con

Da Vinci code, the religious thriller that earns millions of dollars for Dan Brown incurred lawsuit for plagarism and also upset the Catholic and Protestant communities for the inaccurate facts presented in his book.

A few friends believe in what Brown has written. A ficition book that becomes gospel truth. How does people arrive at such conclusion? Isn't it easier to believe in a Bible that has gone through much testings and trials?

A gist of what this book is about can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Da_vinci_code

The book's opening claim:

"Fact: (...) All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate."

Others, including the author, note that the "fact" statement does not claim that the theories presented by the characters in The Da Vinci Code regarding Mary Magdalene, Jesus of Nazareth, and Christianity's past are accurate.

Bible does not have a disclaimer but Dan Brown's book has a disclaimer.

"The last word: Da Vinci Con" by The New York Times said that ''The Da Vinci Code,'' like ''Holy Blood, Holy Grail,'' is based on a notorious hoax....Plantard's hoax was debunked by a series of (as yet untranslated) French books and a 1996 BBC documentary, but curiously enough, this set of shocking revelations hasn't proved as popular as the fantasia of ''Holy Blood, Holy Grail,'' or, for that matter, as ''The Da Vinci Code.'' The only thing more powerful than a worldwide conspiracy, it seems, is our desire to believe in one.

I believe that what is true cannot be refuted ;-)

14 Dec 05 - Chek Jawa again!

Today I met ex-colleagues for lunch. It has been more than 7 months since we last met one another. It was great to catch up again. I guess I would not have much opportunity to catch up with friends when I start my work so I need to do it while I have time. JUST DO IT!! haha!! After the lunch, I left for Pulau Ubin from Tampines.

It is my 2nd OJT to Chek Jawa. It is still a good trip. Every trip is a 'new' trip as you may or may not see the same creatures or if you are lucky you may even see new ones.

I saw another kind of sea star called Ferrari sea star (not the real name ;p) that can 'run' faster than the other kind that we normally see.

We saw a deformed sea star with only 4 arms. A normal one will have 5 arms.

There was also one 'diseased' crab that was 'conquered' by the barnacles. It will no longer be able to reproduce itself but rather it will reproduce barnacles instead. Poor crab!!

Tom, the guide for the group, knows just where to find the ball sea cucumber. He just went to a particular spot and then digged out a ball sea cucumber. Amazing!

We also saw a flat worm and a sea horse.

There was a cute and active little boy in our group today. He likes to walk around and touch here and there. He walked away from the group and landed one of his feet in the mud. He struggled to pull his foot out of the mud but failed. He stared helplessly at his mother and we could not help but laughed at this scene. His mother went to his rescue. His mother pulled out his leg without his shoe ;p Such adorable kid!!

** Didn't have my digicam with me today so I can't share with you the beautiful creatures. Please imagine!! Haha!

IQ, EQ and SQ

I read an article and I find these 3 'Q's interesting. The first time I heard about SQ in the corporate world.

• IQ, or intelligence quotient, was discovered in the early 20th century and is tested using the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales. It refers to our rational, logical, rule-bound, problem-solving intelligence. It is supposed to make us bright or dim. It is also a style of rational, goal-oriented thinking. All of us use some IQ, or we wouldn't be functional.

• EQ refers to our emotional intelligence quotient. In the mid-1990s, in Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ, Daniel Goleman articulated the kind of intelligence that our heart, or emotions, have. EQ is manifested in trust, empathy, self-awareness, and self-control, and in the ability to respond appropriately to the emotions of others. It's a sense of where people are coming from; for example, if a boss or colleague seems to have had a fight at home before coming into the office that morning, it's not the best time to ask for a pay raise or put a new idea across.

• SQ, our spiritual intelligence quotient, underpins IQ and EQ. Spiritual intelligence is an ability to access higher meanings, values, abiding purposes, and unconscious aspects of the self and to embed these meanings, values, and purposes in living a richer and more creative life. Signs of high SQ include an ability to think out of the box, humility, and an access to energies that come from something beyond the ego, beyond just me and my day-to-day concerns. SQ is the ultimate intelligence of the visionary leader. It was the intelligence that guided men and women like Churchill, Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., and Mother Teresa. The secret of their leadership was their ability to inspire people, to give them a sense of something worth struggling for.

Source: http://www.leadertoleader.org/leaderbooks/l2l/fall2005/zohar.html

11 Dec 05 - Pride and Prejudice

Today Yi Hong, Pei Shan, Andrea, David, Jon, Bernard and I went to Orchard Cineleisure to watch "Pride and Prejudice" based on the book by Jane Austen. A simple romantic story where the dream of a woman is to find her prince charming.

This movie was set in class-conscious England at the end of the 18th century. Initally when I watched this movie with a lot of dancing with partners in a party, I got kind of bored with the slow-moving dance. It seems to me that during that time, girls were only interested to find the right man and get married. They seemed so desperate. Oh no! But as the story developed, I was moved at several scenes when there were battle of words between Lizzie and Mr Darcy. There are a few funny conversation as well when they played with words. Sweet ending!

10 Dec 05 - Italian lunch at my place

An Italian lunch party was organized on 10 Dec 05 at my house.

A friend asked me, "Any Italian?"
I replied, "No. Only Italian food."

It has been a busy 2 days for me as prepared for the lunch party at my place today. Housekeeping, buying all the necessary ingredients, cooking...a lot of work to do. My parents and my sister will be happy to see the house spick and span after they are back from their holiday ;p

It was the first time that I organized lunch at my house with most of the cooking done by myself for 20 people. It was a challenge!!

Estella and I made the tiramisu yesterday together. It's fun to see how the egg yolks and egg white thicken when they are beated at high speed. A few asked for the receipe for tiramisu today. I made a mistake, I should put the tiramisu in the freezer to harden it.

The preparation for the Bolognese sauce took a lot of time. I do not have enough time to make it until it is thick and juicy like that I've made in Rome. So you guys tasted a half-done Bolognese spagetti ;p We also had pesto with mushroom spagetti and salad.

Audrey made brownies ;-) and Mihai bought a panetone from Perugia in Singapore. Some bought sparkling juices and red wine.

Taeko, a Japanese whom I met at the Italian Cultural Institute, shared her experience when she was in Singapore. She saw a few T-shirt wore and bags carried by some locals with Japanese characters and pictures which made no sense to her. It's funny how she described all that she saw. She was shocked when she saw the three big fat terrapins in my toilet. She wanted me to 'remove' them so that she could go to the toilet. Taeko, you are not the first to be shocked!! haha!

Hwee Yee and Estella

I met Hwee Yee at the Italian Cultural Institute when we watched "Caterina va in citta'". We can share so much about our experience in Italy and also we can practise speaking Italian with one another too.

Jay, Andrea and Beck (The German beer?!)

Dee and Celine

Lynette, Lewis and Lisa (Yi Hong's cousins)

Taeko, Carol and Pei Shan

It was a good time together. Getting to know new friends and to catch up with some friends as well. Thank God for friends and everything ;-) He is good all the time!

Audrey, Mihai, Jay and Carol were playing Cluedo

The power of touch and companionship

Brielle and Kyrie Jackson were born 12 weeks prematurely in Worchester, Massachusetts in mid-1996. Both babies were placed in separate incubators, a standard practice to reduce the risk of cross infection. Kyrie, who weighed 2lbs 3 oz, was making good progress and gaining weight, but her tiny sister had breathing and heart-rate problems, there was little weight gain and her oxygen level was low.

The twins' parents had little hope for her survival until a nurse at the hospital made an unheard-of-suggestion - to put both twins in the same incubator. Nurses and doctor watched as Kyrie put a comforting arm around her sister. To their astonishment Brielle's condition began to improve immediately and she made a full recovery.

Story from http://www.justthefacts.org/

It's very endearing to hear this story and also to see this beautiful picture. Indeed there's power in touch and companionship.

Mika ;-) , A test question?, The Old days!

I have new friend now...so cosy and nice.

Having her regular shower..haha

Mika, the norwegien rabbit, sneaking out from the bin ;-)

Lately, I have been watching and reading up quite a bit on nature, this part of our world that I would care less about. The more I know about the natural environment around me, the more amazed and intrigued I am by the wonder of creation. We should stop and observe the other kind of life around us.

• Do you know the clown fish can change its sex from female to male when there's an imbalance of the sexes in its population?

• Do you know that male seahorse carries the youngs in his 'belly' until the youngs are born?

Q: Does Adam have one less rib than Eve?

But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. - Gen 2:20b-22

Many years ago, a Christian friend told me that man has one less rib than woman as God took one of Adam's ribs to create Eve. I took his word for it since he is a much 'older' Christian than I. Just happened to do a simple research and found that this myth is not true. Check out this website at http://biology.clc.uc.edu/courses/bio105/ribs.htm

We should learn from the Bereans to examine and check what others said is true especially in areas that are of great significance and importance.

Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. - Acts 17:11

Blog: Good Morning Yesterday

I happened to find this informative blog about the old days of Singapore. Check it out yourself at http://goodmorningyesterday.blogspot.com/ and see how much we, the younger generation, miss out on.

Singapore Marathon

As I was reading the Straits Times, I saw something that caught my eyes. '"Hope Church" is one of the top 10 non-profit organizations that have completed the most distance in Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2005. Wow! It's a great surprise for me. How I wish I am part of the team as well. I will try next year ;-)

http://www.singaporemarathon.com

Kopitiam Christmas!

Wow! It's the TIME of the year...many activities coming up...gonna be busy as Christmas day draws near..a time to remember the reason for the season.

A coffee a day keeps the heart pumping!! This year we are going to have Christmas at Kopitiam. Interesting! All are welcome to join us! For more details, check out http://www.hopesingapore.org.sg.

4 Dec 05 - God, you are still great in my life!

Journey...

As usual I took MRT to Somerset for morning church service. On my way there, a mother and her son caught my attention. She took a timer out from a bag and a file. Her son is reciting something so fast that I could not catch what he was saying. Little did I realised that his mother is timing his recitation of the words in the file. As I continued to observe, I felt an unjust for the child to go through such tough rote learning. He memorised word for word from cover to cover in the file. The man who sat beside me shaked his head at disbelief that a mother did that to his son. I was planning to read my bible on my way but I was not able to concentrate.

How can a mother do that to his son? Will any good come out of it in the long run for her son? Will her son resent learning in time to come? Does she know what her son really like to do?

I believe the mother loves her son but I think there's a better way of teaching her child. Has she forgotten the most important aspect of child education? To build up her son to be a man of integrity. A man of his word. A man who can be relied on.

Testimony..

Today in service, Jun Ming shared how he got to know God and our church through an internet portal. It's enouraging to know that we can use various media to communicate God's love to others. Share with u an online video, "How blogging can't be ignored". http://www.edelman.com/events/UK_Blog/startwm.html

Sermon..

The sermon today sets my mind thinking and evaluating my life in 2005. Have I grow as a person? To be more Christ-like. Have I grow in my understanding of who God is in my life? Do I have more joy in my life?

It's true that in our pursuit of achievement in our lives, we can still be poor in our personhood. How do u measure success? Is it measured by the wealth, fame, friends...that you have? It is not wrong to have these but in our pursuit for them, have we failed in our personhood? Have we lose our integrity to gain them? Who is glorfied when we have all these?

Character determines the depth of a person. Build up this important area in our lives, that we always fail to do, as it will determine where we are heading towards. Success that lasts or success that lasts for a moment?

Time to make new year resolution. God bless me with great success!

Another aspect that was mentioned is about friendship. I agree that we should lean towards friendship than stewardship.

Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence. True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation. ~ George Washington

True friendship is indeed a rare find in the world that we are living in now. A friend that loves at all times...where can we find?

I remembered those days when my friendship with my friend was on the rocks. Both of us 'hated' one another and I even have thoughts of ending this friendship. But thank God we passed this testing and came out stronger in our relationship. Now we are the best of friends ;-)

In each of my friends there is something that only some friends can fully bring out. By myself I am not large enough to call the whole person into activity; I want other lights than my own to show all his facets. Hence true friendship is the least jealous of loves. ~ C.S. Lewis

No man is an island. I am thankful to have many friends around me who molded and shaped me to be the person I am today. Though there are still many areas that I need to grow in. Thank God for the many good friends that He has blessed me with.

Secrets to Longevity

Wow! To live beyond 100 years old...how would I look like??

What are the tips to live such long lives?

• Have a positive attitude
• Have the ability to adapt to challenges
• Have strong family ties
• Be a hard worker
• Keep to a simple, healthy diet
• Have faith or spirituality
• Live in a rural area
• Have parents who had lived long lives
• Have a sense of humour

Check out this short sypnosis by National Geographic, http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0511/sights_n_sounds/index.html

P.S. Got to know about this from Ps Ben's blog.