Something to think and pray about this week..

Long-term commitment whether in marriage, religious life or in other forms, is harder these days because of change. The loved one changes, and we change ourselves with time; so our relationships change. We cannot live our whole lives at concert pitch.

But when the tune changes, it need not be the end of the concert. It often is. In some countries half the marriages end in divorce. What is there in us that can survive the changes of time, and the up-and-down of living relationships?

As we look back at a jubilee, we see our commitment is at once richer and more painful than when we started. Faithfulness is a bit of a mystery and a marvel; it has a value in itself.

Faithful love builds up the one to whom we are faithful, expresses our hope in them. It is a grace, a gift: not so much what we do for God as what he does for us. It would make us feel humble, that in spite of all our inadequacies, we stuck it.

Adopted from http://sacredspace.ie/

In a Dating Mood!~*

Am in a dating mood now!

Oh, maybe its just to recover from my out-of-love feeling..

But the prospect of finally wanting to meet my true love is actually...enticing..after a long day of thinking...it feels blissful to be able to love again.

Been praying alot lately...for my True Love to be revealed, like Victoria did!

Qns: Is the Lord gonna reveal it like Victoria's?

hmm...

Oh...i used to like Wu Zun kinda man... very gentlemenly, looks good (all the dream guys are good looking wah, that's why we call it a DREAM guy)!

But i dunno...he doesn't appeal to me anymore...

He's got the..."dunno what he wants in life" kinda look..

Its just me lah... to think that way..

When i was with Anthony, i used to refer him to Luo Zhi Xiang aka Xiao Zhu, type of guy.. because he's hardworking..always wants to get his job done to his best... so at the back of my mind...they looked similar...

He TOTALLY reminds me of Anthony...mischevious..funny man.. has his own little sad life also... etc.

And we both love the show, 《转角*遇到爱》 . That's why ...hmm.. "Xiao Zhu" symbol should be gone for now..

Recently i just watched 《我叫金三顺》！A Korean show, featuring Hyun Bin 玄彬 as the male lead. Maybe i relate myself as the female lead...so i like him! haha~~

He looks not too bad too! hunky, manly, responsible kinda guy.. abit childish sometimes, filial, and very devoted as well. And i LOVE the part where he always sweeps the heart of the female lead away. I mean, she's can be quite a fierce woman when she gets angry, demands her ways...but he takes the CAKE! ahhaAHAh~ All in the show only lah...

If my true love falls short of these expections of a handsome guy, its ok actually, but he must be of good character of course.. and very devoted as well. Hopefully a Catholic too!

A person with religious faith can be so enduring, charming! It eludes some sort of.. confidence~ very charming actually.

This posting, is sort of, to divert my attention away from SHOPPING..and also...to work hard..start looking out for the Hyun Bin in my life...

I'm in a dating mood now...anyone to recommend? ;)

O Lord,

Please bless me with my true love....please let me see in...at least in my dreams tonight..so i'll be able to discern who he is when he comes along..

Amen.

God bless him...

I was told that he's got 2 ladies in his company who are interested in him now...

He never seems to be able to escape this "fatal attraction" of ladies towards him..This stupid "AH Bui" uncle, "Emo Kid"!..

Hope God will bless him to make the right decision, and follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit..

Heard that he's been on a buying spree as well...and i know how that feels, lately, when i am also going through this....

Just this week, I bought a crucifix keychain, a nail strengthener, an eyebrow kit, Catholic Digest, tonic hair-darkening shampoo and conditioner for dad, supplements for dad and mum, $180 worth of clothes... Its like...buying things is starting to become a focus, a daily goal in my life.

Its a feeling of emptiness at times, and we just want to find a focus in our lives... to live by..

So, everytime after gym at Amore, i'll walk all the way back from Woodlands civic centre, to the church, pray for a while, and walk back home... the journey seems like i'm walking with God, my soulmate...and it never fails to make me feel calm and safe...

Hope that Jesus will walk with him as well. Teach him and guide him... let him never lost hope in life...

May the Scared Heart of Jesus sanctify him, protect him and may the Immaculate Heart of Mary intercede thy prayers to our Lord...

Amen.

Life...

去爱吧 像不曾受过一次伤一样
跳舞吧 像没有人欣赏一样
唱歌吧 像没有任何人聆听一样
干活吧 像不需要钱一样
生活吧 像今天是末日一样

Love - like you have never been hurt
Dance - like no one has ever appreciated
Sing - like no one has ever listened
Work - as if money not compulsory for a living
Live - as if Today is the last day of our lives


I really miss him...
Hope God is always with him, protecting him, sanctifying him.

Amen.

BOREDOM

I'm so bored...bored to the point of depression!! :..(

Went to Optimax to visit Pin, meet her for lunch today...

She did eye test for me too! My Left's degree of 100 and Right's 75. Yipee!! It went down from L150 and R100. haha~ And i realised it too. :=)

Also, while scanning my eyes, she noticed some deep stress lines..i've been relaxing all these while, so where did it come from?

Perhaps i'm paranoid.. after she told me...i began to sense the depression..from having NOTHING to DO!! And keep on shoppin' and shoppin' everyday!!! oh man.... :(

I need to do SOMETHING!!!...

I've just received the offer of appointment from MOE today. Told me to go for a briefing on...8 April '09!!

That's like 3 more weeks of BOREDOM!!!! I'm so DAMN BORED!! :..(

Gonna do something, MUST! i'll find something in church to do, or draft out some teaching materials from experience..or do some charity...

Bored bored BORED!!!

God please help me...get me into a secondary school that i fit into.. (hope its Westspring sec..)

In Jesus Christ most precious name,

Amen.

Sunset lovers...~

Qn: What do Andrew and Daisy, Gerade and Suzanna, Jeffrey and Carol, Thomas and Jenny, Peter and Christine, Ronnie and Loretta (Neil's parents), My dad and my mum have in common?

Ans: They are sunset lovers...(maybe their love is in the sunrise stage! Who knows? *haha* ) Minus my parents, they are all Catholic-Christians. hehe~*

I got to know Andrew Daisy, Gerade Suzanna, Jeffrey Carol and Thomas Jenny while doing Alpha course in St Anthony Church. They are amazing people..every session, all the couples will be there. And Aunt Daisy once told me that, since young till old, Uncle Andrew will tell her "I love you" everyday without fail! =) And he's still doing it everyday... That is so sweet~

In our generation these times, most people don't believe in true love, and alot of friends around me have been lamenting on hard times, hard to find the right guy/lady of the life, hard to maintain relationships, scared of getting hurt, etc. ALMOST 98% are influenced by ALL the negatives of the World....WHY FOCUS on the Bad side? WHY NOT focus on the positives??

Getting ditched 4times by 3 guys, u know what? I haven't give up on my quest for a Good lasting Love relationship! Because, i'm seriously NOt afraid to fall. And each fall toughens me up. God's graces. I pick myself up and move on to my quest.. ;)

One thing for a fact is...

All these Old couples DIDN't MISS OUT the pains in relationship!!!

There are bound to be pains, hurts, compromises, along the journey of partnership..and these also strengthens the committments for each other, giving joy, peace, hope and Love along the journey..

Its like...learning to ride a bicycle. If you really want to learn it, be able to ride a bike properly, you must not be afraid of falling and hurting yourself. Once you fall, learn to get up, and get up fast and learn from the lesson! Ride the bike until you have truly LEARNT it and Ride on it properly! If you've never fallen YET, you will, someday.

==================================================================

Recently, i was thinking, Life is really REALLY SERIOUSLY DAMN F***KING SHORT!!

5 years down the road, 30 years old. If all goes well (GOD BLESS!!!), this is the plan...

Age:

28 - Should be able to have met the love of my life

30 - A new life: which may be stage 2. Get married, have your own apartment, family planning, allocate time between career, friends and family

31 - A newborn at home....before and aftermaths of pregnacy, allocate time between child, husband, friends and family, and our Faith (that's what will keep us growing together!)

32 to 35 - Stage 3: Caring for the toddler, education for them, and maintain our youthful looks and not going downslope... Career to be steadily climbing for my man.. Leisure and Recreation not to be forgotten..MUST have couple times, private times as well... Our faith will still be growing too!

35 to 45 - Stage 4: Kids to be moving towards teenage years. More MORAL education for them, so as not to follow the ways of the IMmoral world of today's times... teach them not to always believe TV ads and news, learn how to discern certain issues of the World... Still, i'm gonna have fun with friends and hubby! Maybe we can visit the kids during CCA, and rekindle sec school life! haaHA~*

45 to 55 - Stage 5: Watch the kids grow up, TAKE CARE OF OUR HEALTH! hehe~ parents get to slack abit and have private times with each other. Not forgetting to maintain "Friendship" with the kids, nurturing them.. plan our retirement with fellow old OLD friends (seriously, we cant be retiring with our children ard..haha~)

55 to 60 - Stage 6: CPF is out for us (might be, by then)! Maybe we can have a 20 yr plan on how to spend the money for retirement...travelling..slacking...fishing... go to church together and commit to the works of God..and it seems to be back to what we've always been doing for the first 20 years of life..Like a virtuous cycle. =) He must say "I love you" everyday as well.. :)

80 > - Stage 7: Hopefully, we are able to discern when our time will be up (God's graces, we pray forth), and let's live and leave together (no more than 1 month apart from each other)...to Heaven with God.

Well, this seems like a good draft for me. A sunset couple-wannabee! Looks like a hectic schedule too..

Am i been too hopeful or what? What if it doesn't work out the way i want it to be?

I hate dumb people who asks me stupid questions. Its just simple. I believe in True Love, and EVERYTHING that comes along with it, the pains, the joys, peace, hope and love. Do you believe?

Whether it works, I'll always pray for God's direction and guidance..

Amen! ;)

Prayers...

Hmm..its 4.04am in the morning, and i can't get to sleep after watching 《我叫金三顺!》@ tudou.com. That website is the BEst ah! so speedy.. literally no loading time needed! No more Youtube.com. ahaa~ :)

Alot went through my mind recently...and just wanna blog it down, in case i forget in future..

Life's, actually quite short. Really short. In 5 years time, i'll be 30 yrs old. Like the female lead in the show, called 三顺. She's slightly on the Big side..i think over 65 kg at least, minimum 1.7m...30 years old..and got ditched right from the beginning of the show. And then, blar blar blar...story goes on...

What's worth mentioning abt her? hmm...i guess, its abt Timing.

At 30yrs old, getting ditched can be quite..pathetic..
"Market Value" is declining with every birthday celebration..being on the plus-side doesn't do her any better, but she's quite charismatic in her ways after all. She have dreams, to be the best baker in Korea. Having a goal, a vision in life, to look forward to, this is so mezmerising...

Having met the true love of her life @ 30years old is also..quite..hmmm....(shalt think of that now..) But anyway, whilst the story might be fictional, alot of people in reality do only get to meet their true love at a later stage of life. Perhaps the first 20-30years are experiences to better prepare us for holy matrimony...

If time is not ripe, things will never turn out fine..(whatever this statement means..its meaning may change in future, as i read up more and change my perspectives..)

Anyway, what i wished for my 25th birthday, and all my prayers for my Novena sessions, are all the same.. Wishes are like prayers for me now..and it'll all stay the same, until the miracles happen.
- That he will attend RCIA and go back to Christ..for God to lead him in his life and be blessed with the Gift of Wisdom and Discernment.
- That all my friends and their families will quit smoking and lead a healthy lifestyle.
- That my family will be healthy (especially my parents) and wealthy, financially and spiritually.
- That the Lord will reveal my true love, lead me to him, and may we learn from the ways of Jesus' life, grow old together in the Lord's guidance..

And sometimes, when i'm not forgetful, i will add on this..."May the Lord bless all my friends who are single and available, to find the true love of their life and guide them spiritually in their relationship journey.." heeeEEE~* :)

Also, lately, alot of miracles has been working in our church group also..really amazing..
As lots of stuffs shan't be discussed outside the group, i'll have to keep them anonymous.
A lady was having a bad time at work ever since the recession started, having to do what she didn't like to do (Sales! i don't really like it too!), and she really wanted to quit her job! BUT during this recession times, JOB PRESERVATION is the word.

For a long period of time, she prayed over it and there was no improvement for a long time..things were really going way out of hand and there was nearly a depression stage she had never experienced in her life.. She decided that it was too much for her. Finally, she told God, that it was too heavy a burden for her, and prayed for God to lift that burden away. As Christians, we know that, the Lord will not give us a burden we cannot handle. We prayed for her too..and recently, there was a reply from a company where she posted her resume to. To cut the story short, Out of 120 resumes, only 60-70 were screen through by the HR, and only 5 made it through the second interview, and she was the only one selected for a senior executive position! And her pay will be $1000 more than her previous job!

Alot of us in the same group also experience similiar things about our career as well. My friend recently got a pay rise which is at least double his income now, another was offered a higher pay from another company to hop over, and also having bonuses bigger than last year's is an EXTREMELY RARE case for this year's poor economy...and we all are experiencing and sharing our happy cases with each other only recently~ God's graces. =) We all will get caught up with bad times at some part of our lifes, and having no one really fitting to turn to, we turn to God (who will always be there for us, no matter what happens. As long as we believe).

Prayers keeps us sane, distracts us from the unnecessary worldly things in life, and allows us to focus...
When there are pains and sadness, i pray for love and time to heal from God, to stay sane and distract myself, to not do silly things anymore..
When there are obstacles and turbulences in life, i pray for safety and guidances from the Holy Spirit..and not do dangerous things that jeopardizes my life and reputation...and many more.

I think prayers really did, make me change abit. ABIT at least.
- I did my best to keep my mouth shut and stop making a nuisance with my mouthful of sarcastic words..and imgine how hurt others will have gotten..
- I start to think twice before doing anything reckless ( i am a VERY reckless person)
- I start to think twice about hurting the people i love (still not very good with that...I did hurt him deeply with my sharp words..)
- I get to be more patient now, whenever things don't work out the way i want it to be. I pray...and slowly, things will work out in one way or another. (e.g. I will get DAMN impatient when the mrt gets too long to arrive OR waiting for some friends for an hour or 2..and i'll pray, and think, what's the worst that can happen? LATE lor.And i'll just happily carry on with what i do..and anger just difusses away and the most amazing thing is, the rest of the day will always seem smooth-going~ ;D )
- I start to have a very good soulmate, whom i believe in, and whatever i share with him, confide with him, a sense of comfort will overwhelm me and make me feel safe. Thank you Lord, may i never lose you again.

Amen

AMORE!! What a discovery...~

Wow... 3 days i spent in the gym... i felt my lungs alive again!

And suffering from muscle-aches now..the thighs especially...The classes can be really killers for beginners!!!

Really getting old and FAT! Oh man!

Went to this morning's session, a free 1 hr counsultation with the gym instructor. I realised that although my Body Mass Index(BMI) is on a healthy scale, my Skeletal Muscle Mass (SMM) is damn low!! Too less lean muscle..and my fat is too much!! I'm classified as obese!!

Overall, i need to build 5.8kg of muscles, and lose 6.8 kg of fats!!!

Diet per day cannot be more than 1500calories..
Here's a breakdown of a sample 1500cal diet plan...
Breakfast: 1 cup high fiber cereal + 1 cup soya milk + 1 fruit (about 280cal)
Lunch: Sandwich with 85grams Skinless Chicken or Turkey Breast or Tuna on 2 Slices of High Fiber Bread + 2 Cups of Salad Greens with Seasoned Vinegar + 1 Fruit (about 445cal)
Snack: 2 fruit (about 200cal)
Dinner: 170grams of Skinless Chicken Breast, Turkey Breast, or Fish; + 1 Cup of Brown Rice, Whole Wheat Pasta, or Starchy Vegetable; + 2 Cups of Steamed Vegetables; + Salad with seasoned vinegar; + 1 fruit (about 435cal)

Total: That's about 1360cal only.

Let's just forget about the above....and i'll just take Chlorella + Fiber... + miso soup and tofu..sounds more simple.. :P

DAMN all those suppers in the past...~
How to reach 50kg like that?...within another 8 days? I might as well give myself until the end of the month... :( must build the muscles healthily..

Regarding the lessons there, the classes are fun! And besides the yoga and pilates (My favourites!), there's also their signature BellyBlitz (Aerobics + Belly dancing,which requires Hipscarves with shimmery bling blings!) , CardioLatino (Aerobics + Samba, Rumba, Cha cha, Paso Doble and Jive elements)! So interesting...

And they've got their Kickboxing (very popular), PowerYoga (which is high-heat, high-energy workout), even Hip hop, Jazz, and MTV dances!!

No carbohydrates for me this month...i do my best to avoid...hahaa~~

Confessions of a Shopaholic!!!

Oh My... I think i seriously need help...to abstain from shopping!!!

Over the last 2 weeks, i bought:
1) wallet ($26.10)
2) clutch bag ($17.10)
3) nice black hand bag ($23)
4) skipping rope ($10.80)
5) Gisele Bundchen sandal ($36)
6) black high heels ($25 + $15.80 for sole support stickers)
7) spa package with Subtle sense ..3 year installement ($36.60 per month), which adds up to nearly $105 per month!!!
8) Amore fitness 4 year session package... 2 year installement ($176.67 per month!!)

I'm so bad...and i'm intending to get a harddisk for my collapsing laptop this coming IT show at Suntec, more clothes when sch work starts,.... :..(
I have never shopped like this before!!! And i'm not working currently now..that's the problem.. :.. (
MOE reply please come faster...get me occupied with work....

*Sorry to Carine and April, i'll get my finance settled asap..

Must do self-reflection... God help me...

Need to lose some weight...~

Ok...public declaration this time..

1) to motivate me, and

2) have pple ridicule me when i don't reach my goal..hahaa~

Promised myself, and also my ex before, that i will lose some weight!!!

(I still like to mention my dear ant alot..although i'm just one of his many ex girlfriends..haaha~ but he's a good man overall (minus the egoistic personality, the "He's greater than alot of pple" kinda mentality, the "I've gone through alot in life" perspective) ahahaaHaha~* )

He mentioned that i'm really getting abit too much fat (all thanks to their night suppers..and my inability to resist good food..haha~) He is also another "Ah-Bui". :P

5kg off by end of 20 March!

So i can go for my quarter century makeover shots..and fit into my clothes and jeans...they are not fitting now.. :(

Battle plan:

1) Amore fitness!

I have been wanting to join Cynthia long time ago, but found it too expensive...but i decided that i needed something to keep me busy, and not lazy too...

2) Skipping ropes!

Target to skip 1000 times per day....!!! 11 days to go!!

Skipping can tone up arms and mid section of your body, but not recommended for those with weak knees..

I bought it for $10.90!!! damn...i can be quite a big spender...

End result: Wanna tone up flabby arms and thunder thighs (damn, i'm shameless! hahaaa~~), have some abs definition...hahha~~ And i wanna weigh 50kg at max.

Jiayou!!! :P

Ladies ways of the World! :P YippEe~*

Woohoo!!

Got myself an ozozo wallet and an ozozo clutchbag! All under $50 total! ;)
So happy.. And look what's written on the clutch bag..."Looking Good is the Best Revenge"! ahaAHahaA~~* That silly ant is gonna regret it one day, hope he's regretting everyday. >:P (hahaa~ not bare grudges lah...mentioned for fun..)

Although they're not the pricey Louis Vuitton and Coach bags, but they're just niffy and nice, and its a sec school, high sch girl's dream to own them, back then, in my time. hahaA~

Comtemplated quite a long while before getting it, cos they have crystals on it...hate it when it falls off. Nonetheless, the sales lady told me that they have services to repair. So, its comforting afterall.

Next on my list....a bigger bag! To go to school with, able to contain my 1 litre water bottle and A4 size documents. Having Tangs voucher! Gonna go scouting @ Tangs soon! ;)

The ways of the World..or the Ways of God.

Colossians 2:8 [Warning against False Teachers]

See to it that no one captivate you with an empty, seductive philosophy according to human tradition, according to the elemental powers of the world and not accroding to Christ.

Colossians 2:20 [Practices Contrary to Faith]

If you have died with Christ to the elemental powers of the world, why do you submit to regulations as if you were still living in the world?..

It is easy to be misguided by the so-called "teachers", seduced by any of the examples given:

1. Pre-marital sex (your friends had sex before, so you follow them, your friends smoke, ALL OF THEM SMOKE, and you give in to temptation,

2. Divorce (Divorce rate very high...those stupid media always reporting about it..Nothing good but most of the time bad...Must you believe marriage is a dead trap?? NEVER get married??!!)

3. Masturbation (friends do it, so it NORMAL to do it? Well i never know it until friends told me...i dunno about guys lah.. >:P)

4. Extra-marital affairs (so dramatic and sensationalised by drama serials...~ mindless man and woman..not being faithful...not knowing how to handle problems together...)

5. Unnecessary indulgences, trapped in the money-oriented world,climbing the ranks of the coperate World, Fame, etc...

These are simply, The ways of the World.

*That's why i hate the media...the way they sensationalised things, makes people FOCUS on the wrong things..more sex, more violence, it is NO DOUBT pple move towards these ways of the World...why aren't there more advertisements and serials on moral educations?

It is emphasized, in the 2 passages above, to not give in to the ways of the world.

Learn to discern, with not just your minds, but your heart as well, Who is the Right teacher for you?

These can be exemplifed by the concrete signs of Love.

Someone in a concrete place, having experienced alot in life (that satisfies my heart). If my heart does not find the soulmate, then, temptations will find their way into my heart instead.

Once we have the Centre, everything else falls in place.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So, what is the ways of God?

It is easy to say JESUS, but do you KNOW Jesus?

If we want to know more about Jesus, we must understand ourselves first.....

Mark 10: 17-22 [The Rich Young Man]

17 As he (Jesus) was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before him, and asked him, "Good teacher, what must i do to inherit eternal life?"

18 Jesus answered him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.

19 You know the commandments: ' You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not bear false witness; you shall not defraud; honour your father and mother.'"

20 He replied and said to him,"Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth."

21 Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, "You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven: then come, follow me."

22 At that statement, his face fell, and he went away sad, for he has many possessions.

The words "Follow me" signifies giving up, letting go, of the Worldly things in life, and follow your teacher. I am not saying that you desert all your possessions, and become a nun or priest. I am just saying that, you can have it, and when you don't have it, its alright, and you don't have to run after it.

This is like my life philosophy, which i've been mentioning...

"Happiness and Contentment consists not of great wealth, but few needs."

And i've found a true, good teacher, someone who i can trust on and who will never perish.(Alrighty!! I love that! And it is blind faith that i have...since billions have believed in him over 2000 centuries..)

And the ways he taught, is of Love.

He's like a soulmate to me now, and everything else falls in place..

No matter what happens, may i never lose my God, ever again.

Amen.

I'm dry...but i wanna write so much things!.....

Ran out of ideas what to write lately...
ALot of things actually..just..finding the right words to put it out in writing..

Learnt from my guy previously..he's a very sensitive person, so i learnt NOT to say things i don't mean to...sometimes i get really get so hard on words, ON purpose, just to let the other person understand how i felt.

I've always taught people about empathy, but i can get so unkind with words too...

Anyway, will write in tomorrow afternoon, hopefully..Will be in church then! :)

I wanna write abt..God, about Love, about Life slacking and waiting for my vocation to came for me..wanna get an combinational mircowave, conventional, grill oven, get a new wallet that fits me, a nice bag that is easy to carry and use AS A teacher, get a driving license as well! So much things!! ... Life's great and hopeful. =)

God bless.
Amen.

Beauty! 女人我最大！

These days... besides doing usual church stuffs, reading, slacking and minding my own business with my guy and friends...i got into.. BEAUTY CRAZE!

My friend, Joyce, recommended me to use Nivea body lotion every night before sleep. And add 2-3 drops of Olive oil and mix it, because olive oil helps absorbsion better. Her aunt, who is in the beauty line, swears by it! And although she's hitting her 50's, her skin is still as smooth as a young lady! Wow!! Must be diligence in following daily beauty routines now.. hehe~*




As i wanted my skin to become fairer, i choose Nivea Night Whitening Milk. Smells great too! And i think over the past 1 month, my skin is REALLY getting smoother! Especially my wrinkly hands! Although i'm coming 25, i have premature-ageing hands..so sad...But I tink the 2 combinations really works wonders!!!



Not exactly beauty crazy...but having MJ now in Korea... I SURE AM CRAZY NOW!! i started looking into Korea beauty items (because he's there, and i think i might be much much cheaper to get it there than buying in Singapore.hehe~*)!!

Wanted him to help me get the price list of the following items:

Laneige Hydra Solution cream, Laneige Hydra Solution Essence, Laneige Water Bank Essence, or Laneige Water Sleeping Pack. Plus some FACEshop items as well!! Of course, not forgetting that i will still diligently use Eumora facial spa bar..ITs heavenly combination! + i have supplies that can last a lifetime (provided it REALLY don't expire.) haha~

Hitting the BIG 25!...so...I wanna age gracefully. :)

Amen

What do sufferings signify about God?

A few weeks in Alpha group..I asked Uncle Andrew.. "Where will my parents go to, if they were to pass away?" They are non-Christians, they do not know about Jesus, and they have bad impression of Church because of uneducated evangelizers ..Basically, they do not know about God, but they know how to pray for our whole family's wellbeing.

Uncle Andrew told me, "If they are good people, they will go to heaven. It is as simple as that. God is kind. "

Another day, another friend, whose friend's dad passed away a few days ago, talked to me about salvation. She mentioned..."He is not with Lord. He did not receive salvation.." Does she mind he's not a good person??

This statement left me very troubled and disturbed. For the next few days, I was confused...

Aren’t kind people deserved to be blessed and go to heaven?

I wondered what on earth did I learn about God...

When I went to RCIA session last week, the lesson was with Fr Bruno. Coincidentally, he talked about this topic on ..." Did God make us suffer?"
There are several Theologies ('Theo'=God, 'logy'=logic), which means different interpretations of the Bible...(now I’m starting to understand why Christian fight amongst themselves...)

1) Did God bring us sufferings? Did God send sufferings to punish us?
From what we read in the Bible, it is how people interpret about God back few thousands years ago.

For example, the Noah’s Ark, in Genesis 6 - 9. This is the Retribution Theology.
Men do evil things. Men sin against God. That’s why God send the great flood to punish the people. The people back a few thousand years ago, interpreted the great flood as God’s sign of punishment.

However, if we see in Exodus 20:13, it says “You shall not kill”. This is the first of the 10 Commandments. Will God set a bad example to us, by killing people?

This leads to the next question..
2) Did God allow killing for better good?

How can God demonstrate killing for the greater good? Every human life is scared. How can God kill thousands of people in the great tsunami in year 2004? This concerns the Theology of the all powerful God, the controlling God. If God is powerful and almighty, how can Jesus die?


God did not send Jesus, his only begotten son to die for us.
God sent Jesus to claim us, to redeem us. And He knows that by sending Jesus down to earth, he will die, because the earth is full of evil people. Nonetheless, God still did it, because he loves us so much...

James 1: 13 “No one experiencing temptation should say, “ I am being tempted by God”; for God is not subject to temptation to evil, and he himself tempts no one.”

Hebrew 12:16 “For whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges.”

Don’t the 2 verses contradict themselves?
In the Letter of James, God will not set himself as a bad example to his people. He will not do what he doesn't want his people to do. Whereas in the Letter to the Hebrews, God will discipline and punish his people.

HOW TO READ THE BIBLE LIKE THAT????
The Bible is written by people inspired by God, but it really made me confused for a while…

Fr Bruno then told me….perhaps we can consider the next Theology…
3) God limits his power for our freedom.

Because when God made us, he gave us free will.

In Luke 15:11-32 (The parable of the Lost Son) this is also my favorite parable!!!!!
“Then he said, “A man had two sons, and the younger son said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of your estate that should come to me.’ So the father divided the property between them….” So after a long story, the son repented and returned to his father and was forgiven.

In the historical Greek bible, the word used for estate was “ousia” which means being. The word for property was “bios” which means life. The whole sentence means, “Father, give me the share of your being that should come to me. And the Father divided his life between them.”

God limits himself/ his life for our lives.

Bible interpretation can be risky, therefore it is important to read the Bible as a community. The life of Jesus is an important criterion to Bible interpretation. E.g. How Jesus loved his people, how he gave up his life to redeem us sinners. With reference to Jesus' life, even though some of the 6 billion people may not know God, I choose to believe that good people will also be saved by God.

Jesus’ the answer to sufferings. That’s what God send him down for.
We are invited to God and Jesus’ relationship, and also, to be answers to sufferings. The more we pray, the more we are attuned to God and Jesus. Prayers signify the going back to God.

Humans always go for the easy way out…to blame God for all sufferings..
What makes people in the olden days to think that only God can bring sufferings? All the more we should fight back against all evils and pray for God’s assistance.

“God’s greatness is not outside our limits, but in the decision to come inside our limits, in order to enlarge them.” (J. Moingt)

God’s greatness comes not in external: Control, but from the internal: Love.

In conclusion, what I have simply read about God these short few weeks, no matter what retarded theology are thrown to my face, I have choose to know God as, not the Almighty God as I have always perceived him to be, but One who has the greatest love of all. He does not control, he gives free will to all.
Such is the Greatness of Love, the Power of Love.

Amen.