Moments

Handed in my last 3 assignments, packed my bag and went to London for 3 days.

Sharing a dorm with other back packers, with a map and travel card – that was my London trip.

When I was happily taking photos of big ben, here comes a bunch of people surrounding me and my friends, trying to give us flowers and asking for donation. We were not allowed to give coins, only paper money. Next, we were approached by another group of people wearing royal costume, trying to persuade us to take picture, and of course, asking money from us. We gave the first group, not the later. So, to warn you who are visiting England, do not accept anything from strangers and say no to any type of donation when you feel uneasy about it.

Do I feel angry about it? Yes…definitely.

Later we heard from a friend her experience about being cheated by landlord. Obviously our case was comparatively less serious than hers.

Do I feel relieve about it after all? No…cheating is cheating, it doesn’t matter how big the amount is.

Overall it was an eye opening experience to me.  

***

I shifted to another hall a month ago

I realize that cooking is a good way to release stress

I learn that it is okay to ask for help

I accept it when people refuse to help. It just simply means I have to figure out some other ways on my own.

It is okay to say no when I don’t feel right about it.

I know who to turn to when I have problems.

I know how to manage to my emotions.

Most importantly, I am learning to acknowledge my moments – happiness, sadness, bitterness…

I cried more than ever when I am here compare to KL.

I refuse to be perfect, because no one is.

I stop trying to be one, because I know where my “Exit” sign is.

It seems like I have a life over here.  

That is something I never know I can do.

***

When I am filled with myself, God cannot come into my life.

That’s where I lost my way to the “Exit” sign.

“What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?”   

- Luke 9:25

God wants my real emotions, not how well I can hide them from others.

He wants me to ask Him for direction, not how well I can survive without Him.

When I know I have God behind my back, I have the strength to go through tough times.

“The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” 

– Mark 12:31

When I cant get real with myself before God, I am torturing myself.

So friends, stop torturing and start forgiving yourself.

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” 

 1 John 4:18

I always have this in my mind - God is holding my hands tight no matter what.

Similarly, He wants the same from you.

He is there when you are releasing your anger, when you are crying, when you are laughing…

He wants to know the real you.

Give God your moments.

Tell God when you are angry, complain to Him your bitterness…

Don’t forget about Him, He is always there waiting at the exit, waving His Hands to show you the direction.

Live your life with God, let Him peel off your mask and carry your emotions. You don’t have to face the world alone.

God loves us. So start loving yourself today. 

When I know you can take good care of yourself, I have no worries about you taking care of others.

Let me ask you again,

What were your moments with God?

Hm...

Let us not forget about the greatest gift from Heaven, given by the Lord for us today.

Merry Christmas.

By,

Word n Music

The Messy Phase

3 weeks have passed since I got my posting on 10th Nov 2011.
How time flies...
But I'm still in the transition period.
I'm still adjusting myself to this brand new phase of my life;
afterall I had been living sedentary lifestyle in the past 5 months while waiting for my 'love letter'. = D

It was not easy especially for the first 2 weeks.
My brain was not efficient as all.
It was so lazy.
And I wasn't familiar with my new working environment as well as the workflow there,
so I was inefficient and I felt really useless.

I had high expectations on myself.
I was drowned in all the 'don't know's.
I gave myself tremendous pressure.
In just 2 weeks time, my soul was so downcast and I was basically dragging myself to my workplace each day.

Until God spoke to me..
He reminded me that there's a messy phase before things turn out to be beautiful.

Somehow this question came into my mind,
'Have you ever seen a beautiful concrete house appear in an overnight time?'

NO, of course.

Before every beautiful house was fully constructed and renovated,
it definitely needs to go through a messy phase.
A phase where you see cement everywhere;
stacks of red bricks at the sides;
paint spilled here and there;
wiring hanging around visibly, etc.

It's ugly.
It's not beautiful at all.
But it's a MUST.
There's no other way.
This is the process that needed to be gone through in order to reach the beautiful phase.

The same goes to human beings.
In terms of knowledge,
I can't reach the 'expert phase' before I go through this 'don't know phase'.
And for character wise,
God is using this situation and this transition to shape me and mould me into a better person.
A person that resembles Him
and a person that's beautiful in His eyes. = )

I came across this article during a cell group gathering last 2 months.
It goes like this..

A woman was watching a silversmith.
He held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up.
He explained that in refining silver,
one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.

Then she asked the silversmith,
'How do you know when the silver is fully refined?'

He smiled at her and answered, 'Oh, that's easy- WHEN I SEE MY IMAGE IN IT.'

So, if you too, are in the same situation as me,
just wanna say, 'Rejoice and press on, for you are on the way to the beautiful phase~~' ; )

Wish you awesome days ahead.
God bless you. = )


By His facilitator