For Chiann

My dear friend, Melbourne has claimed you citizen, but your veins flow the Malaysian blood, still firmly rooted in your Chinese origins.

Time has passed us by, how we have grown! How our paths have separated! How we have parted in our ways! Yet, our paths have crossed again, despite the many times they have went where destiny beckons.

I thank God for every time that we meet again, fellowshiping and praying together, watching the stars at night, counting the meteors, pillow talks... And I thank God for this friendship that flourishes despite the distance and difference of our destinies. Who can understand this mystery, but the Lord who brings all things good together for His glory?

Lord, I pray, please bless this life. Wherever You lead, may she be given wisdom and understanding of Your divine destiny for her. And wherever You lead us, let us meet again, not only in heaven forever, but here on this earth. May Your beauty and glory be upon her, that she would shine for You, the way You have destined for her to be. Crown her with righteousness and bless her with grace everlasting.

And as Your words says that You have thoughts of peace amd not evil for us, that You will bless us with a good future and hope, that as we seek you with all of our heart we will find You, Lord, let it be true for us both.

Chiann, I miss you... God loves you. ^_^

Melbourne!

This is my first overseas trip, first time that I have flown 8 hours, and my first time in Melbourne, Australia. It has been an awesome time for my mum and I, getting around the beautiful city on our own and visiting the wonderful sights. There's not enough words to describe all the overwhelming expriences, so I shall let the pictures speak for themselves :)

Waiting to board the plane

Mum and I

We have arrived! It's almost 1 a.m. (Melbourne time)

On the free Tourist Shuttle taking pictures of buildings in the city.

Steel sculptures by the Yarra River bank

Melbourne city trams -- takes you everywhere you want to go, literally

The City Museum

The Parliament -- open to public when not in session

At the Melbourne 360-degree Observation Deck at Rialto.

Me posing with sculptures in front of the Rialto building. (The Great Reunion)

Sunset view of the Melbourne City from the Observation Deck

The Southern Star at Docklands / Newquay -- largest of its kind in the southern hemisphere

Beauty!

Queen Victoria Market, where everything's fresh, fruits and vegetables are in abundance

The Public Purse, by Simon Perry, in front of the GPO at Bourke Street

The GPO. Previously the General Post Office, it has been turned into a mall

Graffiti art in the city

Another sculpture art in the city. There's a lot of sculpture like this right in the heart of the city

The GPO at night

Flinder Street Station -- one of the train terminals

Wall of art made up of beautiful coloured mosaic

Cathedral. Melbourne city is a blend of gothic, heritage buildings and modern architecture.

At the Yarra River bank

By the way, this is where we stayed -- Miami Hotel Melbourne. Nice, clean and good service for a backpacker's hotel

Oh, we also went to the Melbourne Zoo, Melbourne Aquarium, The Great Ocean Road and Mount Dendenong, but there's just too many photos to upload them all. Hence, I shall end here and post some more interesting sites that we've visited in another blogpost. Hang on there...

Direction Found >>

"Looking for Direction?" shouts the flyer for Graduates Seminar.

Personally, it was a night of liberty for me. I hope many of my friends and church members who attended the seminar had found direction in their life with regards to entering into the working world.

As for me, I believe I have found guidance from the Lord, even though I myself was one of the speaker for the night.

The night started with us picking up the food from food stalls, getting the hall ready, welcoming friends and church members, distributing the door gifts to them, enjoying the light refreshments, etc etc. I was feeling nervous about what I was going to share, as it has been quite some time since I have delivered a testimony. I had only started to prepare my script about two days prior to the event. Oops.

Ps. Monica shared about tips for interview, what's the right job, confidence in interview, etc. Her topic was actually a long, extensive sharing if it should be carried on without time constrain. However, she only managed to skim through the booklet on all the topics; yet it was good enough to let the audience read on their own so they get the full picture of it. Praise God, it was a good delivery.

Ps. Lois' sharing was enlightening. She shared about Peter and his fishermen partners at the shore and how Jesus called him to be a fisher of men, even though they were total failures just the night before, having caught nothing for the whole night. She shared that God is able to use us. Even if we have made mistakes before, but He is able to help you let go of the defeat and failure and to let us start afresh. I could relate it with myself, having made countless mistakes... It was really comforting knowing that the Lord could let me start afresh, if I would just put my trust in Him...

As for my part of the sharing, actually it's already in this blog, titled 'The Rainbow'. I spoke about how the Lord had blessed me in this job, about how He has seen me through many times that I had wanted to give up -- even right when I was sharing the testimony (though I didn't announce it to the audience, of course). I spoke about the Rainbow -- the one that the Lord has created for me to see so that I could set my eyes on Him.

I had wanted to leave so badly, but there were so many things that happened and caused my plans to be thwarted. For the first time I understood what it means to be hindered by the Spirit of the Lord, like how Paul was hindered from going to Macedonia initially. I experienced and knew the difference between a holy hindrance and a hindrance sent by Satan, a.k.a. a thorn in the flesh. I felt it in my spirit.

This very night that I shared my testimony again about God's Rainbow of Promise, it seemed that there was a clarity in my spirit against all the confusion that has been built up in me for the past few months. As I finished my sharing and sat down at the back, I felt an assurance deep down in me, and I know that I know that I know that Jesus was speaking to me. He wasn't just telling me that He loves me; He was saying that He is with me, right where I am, right where He will be bringing me.

There are times it seems that we have been running for a long time for a long distance and we suddenly feel so tired of everything in life. We look at others and we start to compare. We wonder how it would be for us if we were at where others are. We ponder about how it would be if we were at a different environment. But we don't really have the answers. I didn't have the answers, and I don't think I ever will, but I knew it deep down inside that it was never meant to be. I would rather be at a place where I know the Lord is with me than at where it seems good to human standards but it's not God's will for me.

Just want to encourage you, deep down inside you will find the answers, because God reveals them to you.

Verse to Remember:

"Then you will call upon me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord…” -- Jeremiah 29:12-14

The Best is Yet to Come

Keep Your Fork -- Author Unknown


There was a woman who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and was given 3 months to live. As she began getting her things 'in order', she called her pastor and asked for him to come to her house to discuss certain aspects of her final wishes. She told him which songs she wanted sung at the service, what scriptures she wanted read, and what dress she wanted to be buried in. She also requested to be buried with her favorite Bible in her left hand.

Everything was in order and as the pastor was preparing to leave, the woman suddenly remembered one final request that was very important to her. "Please Pastor, just one more thing," she said excitedly. "Sure, what is it?" came the pastor's reply. "This is very important to me," the woman continued ... "I want to be buried holding a fork in my right hand." The pastor gazed at the woman, at a loss for words.

"That surprises you, doesn't it?" the woman asked. The pastor replied "Well to be quite honest, I am puzzled by the request".

The woman explained. "You see, Pastor, in all my years of attending church socials and potluck dinners, I remember that when the dishes were being cleared after the main course, someone would inevitably lean over to me and say, 'Keep your fork' ... it was my favorite part of the meal because I knew that something better was coming, like velvety chocolate cake or deep dish apple pie. Something wonderful to end the meal!"

The pastor listened intently and a smile came upon his face. The woman continued, "So, I just want people to see me there with a fork in my hand and I want them to wonder ... 'What's with the fork?'... then I want you to tell them: "Keep your Fork ... the best is yet to come".

The pastor's eyes welled up with tears of joy as he hugged the woman good-bye. He knew that this would be one of the last times that he would see her before her death. But he also knew that the woman had a better grasp of Heaven than he did.

She knew and trusted that the best was yet to come. At the funeral, everyone who walked by the woman's casket saw her wearing a beautiful dress with her favorite Bible held in her left hand and a fork held in her right hand.

Over and over the pastor heard people ask the question, "Why is she holding a fork?" and his smile began to get larger and brighter each time.

During his message, the pastor told the people about the conversation that he had with the woman shortly before she died. He explained the fork and what it symbolized to her. The Pastor told everyone how he could not stop thinking about the fork and told them that they probably would not be able to stop thinking about it either.

He was right. So the next time you reach down for your fork, let it remind you ever so gently, that the best is yet to come.

Friends are a very rare jewel, indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed. They lend an ear, they share a word of praise, and they always want to open their hearts to us. Show your friends how much you care. Remember to always be there for them, even when you need them more. For you never know when it may be their time to "Keep your fork."

Cherish the time you have, and the memories you share... being friends with someone is not an opportunity but a sweet responsibility.

Quote to remember:
Has this world been so kind to you that you should leave with regret? There are better things ahead than any we leave behind. -- C. S. Lewis

Jesus, I love You

Last year, a brother in church composed this song he named "More than anything". It's a very simple song with simple lyrics and simple chords, composed in the simplicity of heart, I believe. Yet it's such an impactful song. It has touched my heart countless times when I sang it or played it. It's a song that sings that cry of my heart, that desire to love the Lord more, more than anything. It's a song that speaks of the crave for Jesus, that I really need Him.

I had this imagination (or impression) some time ago, where I was a young girl, and my Lover was the Lord Jesus. We were sitting together by the stream, our bare feet soaking in the cool water. He was holding me in His embrace, just loving me tenderly. We were silent all through, just watching the waves in the stream, enjoying the beautiful scenery, oblivious of time and space. My worries melted, my burdens lifted, and that joy as He kissed my forehead and smiled at me...

There are many times in life when we face challenges, difficulties, struggling through quicksands, having great waves coming; when we are distressed, upset, depressed, hurt, angry, disappointed -- it's times like this that we always tend to ask a lot of questions of why's. But it's also times like these that we really need to tell God, "Lord, I love You", to just worship Him and tell Him how much you really miss Him and want to be with Him.

Someone once said that there are some questions in life that no matter how many times you have asked it or much you try to find the answer, there just isn't an answer to it. So quit asking and give it a rest! The Lord doesn't owe us any explanation. He just wants us to trust Him that He will lead us through any situation, and through it all, to grow in faith and to be more like Him. He wants us to reflect His strength so that others would experience Him the Almighty.

There will be times when God doesn't answer us the way that we want to. He doesn't tells us the things we want to hear, but what He wants to tell. He doesn't answer us the way we want it to come, but the way He wants it to be answered. Many times, He won't tell us 'yes' or 'no'; He'll just be silent or say 'wait'. Many times we will need to be the ones making the final decision, especially if the decision will not cause us to love Him less, but to trust Him more.

Joyce Meyer said: we have no testimony without a test (Beauty for Ashes). I learned (am still learning) that God really does make things work out for good, even when we go through times that we don't fully understand what was happening. He makes things work out for good, because He wants to give us the opportunity for testimony -- to glorify Him.

Really, if our lives are made to glorify Him and to make manifest His glory, to witness of Him and preach His love and greatness, how will we do it if we don't have a personal experience of His glory? And how will we experience His glory if we refuse to let go of ourselves to let Him have His way in our lives? How will we experience Him if we keep asking 'why' and not rest in Him? How can we say that we love Him if we don't want to be intimate with Him in worship?

Tell Him that you love Him. Tell Him, singing, "Jesus, I love You, more than anything..." so that you can tell others that He loves them.