Emmanuel

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In times of joy and peace, when life is good
I thank You for You're there
In times of trials and pain, when life is tough
You're the God who sees me through
For You promised to be with me
Emmanuel
As I cast all my cares upon You
You deliver me from them all
Emmanuel

There are carols in the air wherever we go during this Christmas season. Peace and joy are always the themes of many Christmas carols. As I ponder upon the many dinners and programs, my thoughts are with some of you reading this blog, whom I know, and also those whom I have never met who are going through worrying or tough times in your health, career , marriage, family or finance. Let me encourage you that God is a God who never fails. That is how impressive His track record is. One of the greatest comfort anyone can receive this Christmas is Emmanuel, meaning God with us. Yes, God is with you through thick and thin. This is a song written just for you. Remember to cast all your cares upon God, because He cares for you. If only we realized that the creator of heaven and earth cares about us, we will be more than able to face our tomorrows with greater confidence and courage. I remember when I went through very tough times, one of the greatest comfort I received from God was knowing that He knew about my pain. Yes, knowing that He KNOWS is enough, very good enough, because our Heavenly Father is able to get you out of any trouble because He knows. When facing big bullies, little children always say this: Wait till I tell my father.... Yes, your Father in Heaven already knows and He is working behind the scenes to help you. May the peace of God surround you and I declare His everlasting goodness over your life. He will bless you and keep you this Christmas for He is faithful.

This Christmas

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Lord, This Christmas
I come before You
Bow at Your feet, I worship You
The King of kings
Came as a humble child
I know You came for me.
Christmas lights, Christmas stars
There are all here
Remind us of the Season that changed our lives
Light a light, and start a fire
I’m burning again
A revival is ignited to mark my Saviour’s birth.

The lighting of the Olympic Torch during the 1992 Barcelona Olympics was probably the most dramatic in the history of the Games. Also fresh in our minds was the spectacular lighting of the Olympic flame during the Beijing Olympics recently. These are defining moments of the beginnings of great events.

I have been very busy lately, but deep inside I desire something more than the Christmas lights that I see everywhere. God spoke to me this morning about reaching out to Him and for Him to ignite the flame in me so that I can be passing on His flame to others.

About 100 years ago, a man named Evan Roberts started seeking the Lord fervently and God rewarded him with a nation-wide Welsh revival in 1904. Evan Roberts said: I have touched the flame of God. The result of this revival was people’s lives were changed, great miracles from God became a norm.

Friends, if you ask God for a flame to burn in your heart, He will give you a revival that will change your life, and you will never be the same again. This is the victorious life that God intended you to have. Also, the flame of revival is contagious. It will surely bring changes to people around you, and joy will fill your entire household and surroundings.

Just as the annual lighting of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree marks the beginning of the holiday season in New York City, I pray that this Christmas, you will join me in seeking God for His flame. Lets ask God to ignite the light of revival in us as a mark of a truly meaningful Christmas, and you will have a very happy and bright new year.

If you have not made a decision in accepting Jesus as your personal Saviour, why not make this Christmas a special one by doing so, and joy will come to you today.

Merry Christmas !

Working Holiday

Normally school holidays are pretty quiet and I only pop into the office averaging twice a week and even then its only a couple of hours max. But this year I am popping into the office almost daily and for longer hours too.

It's half way through the holidays now and my stress level is still on the high side. Every other day something would just crop up and there are days I wait with bated breathe for the outcome of decisions. Needless to say, many SOSes have been sent heavenward for great favour and grace.

Just last week, I had to do a power point presentation for the Ministry of Education and guess what... my school does not even have anything remotely resembling a power point to begin with, so we had to start from scratch. My victim...is none other than Philip. I know nuts about computer and he had never done a power point before so he had to get cracking. It's one of those times in the history of our lives when “I don't know how” is just not acceptable. He managed to complete it in time and I was simply amazed!!! It was beautifully done and I almost wanted to put in a slide to thank him!!!


So many unexpected things happened at work this holiday. I really need quantum of solace and also yearning for a break. In the midst of all these challenges, I am learning to have peace and to trust God for every decision made. It's training myself to take every thought captive and not let it run like a runaway train. Tho I may not like some of the circumstances , yet I can't deny that it is in these situations that God is moulding and teaching me His precepts for abundant living. Knowing His word is one thing but to put into practice is another thing. It's really all by His grace.

Christmas is Here Again

Last nite we went to “tHe Spring” to do our Christmas shopping and boy am I impressed. This is the first time we in Kuching actually have a nice place to shop at Christmas. The mall is beautifully decorated and it lends a Christmassy feeling to the air. Also it makes you want to spend money. That's the dangerous bit.


It was really nice just wandering around the mall and seeing people of all races mingling and smiling. And of course Kuching being such a small city compared to London....( we are actually peanut size compared to other bigger cities), hence we end up meeting many familiar faces.

At home, the decorations are up as well. The tree needed to be repaired. The poor thing's leg broke but as usual Philip being very handy managed to fix it so its standing tall & proud. The stockings will soon be bulging with goodies. The kids are looking longingly at the presents under the tree and wondering when they can open it. This is the true test of self control for the kids.

Our calendar is starting to fill up with more and more Christmas parties and dinners. There are a few pot bless dinners to go and I have yet to scour the recipe books which are collecting dust on the shelf. There are a few dress up dinners to go so it will be ransacking the wardrobe for the right attire.

Philip and Heather are caught up with various church activities....practices and more practices until the real thing.

Christmas can be so FULL of activities, food and merry making that we can end up forgetting the REAL REASON for the SEASON. I have to slow down and remind myself that the very familiar story of the babe in the manger is a powerful event in history which has a profound and everlasting effect in my life. He continues to change lives and give hope to everyone who reaches out to Him. Our family's life has been totally transformed by this babe in the manger. He is worthy of our worship.

“Studious” Mom

I can still remember vividly when we sent Heather off to Primary 1 at my alma mater in Jan 2003. It only seems like it wasn't too long ago and here we are at the threshold of secondary school.





Last day in Primary School



6 years of primary education and together we slog through BM . Mind you.... BM is tough for me especially since I only studied it as 1 subject in school. I had virtually forgotten many of the words let alone simpulan bahasa. The dictionary was our constant pal. Thank God when Heather started Pri 1 she had Science and Maths in English. God knows beforehand that this poor mom would not be able to cope teaching her everything in BM.

We spent many hours studying together in the afternoons. It was like a journey back in time for me as I tried to recall all that I had learned all those long years ago. Now with Heather starting Form 1 in Jan, I still have 5 more years of primary education with Jordan. Second time around, my BM has certainly improved....if I might say so!!!!




Jordan hitting the books.




Having this opportunity to teach both my kids is certainly an eye opening experience for me. It shows how IMPATIENT I can be. It reveals to me my kids character and their learning styles. On top of that it was also a revelation for my kids... that mom doesn't know everything.

So now school's out and the hols are in full swing. I get my well deserved break from all those studies and exams. YIPPEEE!!!

Of Wine, Cheese & Fruits

An evening of wine , cheese and fruits with good friends. That's an invitation too good to pass. So there we were and as usual our host and hostess outdo themselves. The long table was beautifully laden with 2 bottles of wine (white & red, no idea of the name!!!!),a bottle of Baileys, wine glasses, strawberries, grapes, apples, cheese (feta, gouda, camembert, smoked cheddar ) and crackers ,ham, salmon etc etc. It was gorgeous!!! The setting is somewhat like what you get when you open one of those very “angmo” magazines.
Then came along these group of not so ang mo friends. Adam kicked off the evening with “Who farted?” (yes.... indeed what a shocker to begin with. But you must understand. We have been friends sooo long that a question like that means the perpetrator has to own up without being offended). Bill was quick to add...that he was looking around for a corner to hide ...to avoid the smell. That shocking statement was met with indignant looks from especially the ladies. The ladies are more well informed. It's the cheese ,silly. Yes, the perpetrator is the camembert cheese. From thence it lost its name. The rest of the evening, it was known as farty cheese or “chaochao” cheese. But it taste GREAT with the biscuits!!!!

The white wine was easy to open but the red wine was the problematic one as the cork was brittle to begin with. So the usual wine opener failed....and many other apparatus were engaged and finally the solution was to poke it with a chopstick and filter the wine later as none had the desire to eat cork for the evening. The filtered wine was then served from a metal mixing bowl!!!! The ultimate in class!!!!

As the evening progresses, conversation flowed freely from loosened tongues but you hear none of the refine language used to describe wine. No one said about it being dry, or the bouquet was excellent or it had a fruity finish. The best we could do was “yes this is good or ya this one is drinkable.”

Other hilarious comments were “There are certain wine which after you drink it, you feel its like someone stabbing you in the throat with a knife” or the difference between good and bad wine is this: when you drink the latter, it sends your body into convulsions and in the midst of this spasmodic attack you know that in future this is the one to avoid.”. All these comments came with very graphic visual demonstrations which have been clearly imprinted in our very sober minds.


Wine connoisseurs will certainly be horrified at our total lack of class but we had absolute fun and no one was drunk. All names have been changed to protect the identity of our friends so that they will still get invites to high class wine tasting sessions. In other words no one will think they have no class !!! Ha ha.

We Worship You

We Worship You - Upload a Document to Scribd

We worship You
We worship You
In the splendor of Your holiness
We seek Your face
In Your embrace
We can feel your goodness

For You are holy
There’s none like You
Oh...You are the great I AM
Jehovah Yahweh

Hallelujah
O taste and see
The Lord is good
Hallelujah
We worship You today

The Bible says: “ Sing to the Lord a new song… “ and I have taken that literally to mean that there will always be a new song in my heart to praise God in every season of my life. We need to stay close to God every day in order to experience God’s goodness and listen to His voice each day. Our expression of praise to Him is actually a response to His love for us. All of us are very quick in responding to a fine performance of music or sports by our applause or our instant laughter in response to jokes. Our response is usually quite instinctive. I am still learning how to be more instinctive in responding to God’s greatness through my worship. If worship is a deliberate effort to sing a few songs, then we miss the point. Of course there are times we have to make an effort to worship especially those times when life is tough. However, in ordinary times we also need to have a lifestyle of worship. Let’s take time today to think of His love for us, count our blessings and be amazed once again by His greatness and respond to Him in praise.