Journey Of Serenity

Now I lay me down to sleep....

2010-09-21T20:23:00.000-07:00

This is a beautiful prayer.... but the version I knew does not seem so applicable? I mean it is applicable but oh well, I think I like the other versions better! Here is the version I know.....

Now I lay me down to sleep,

I pray the Lord my soul to keep;

Guard me Jesus through the night,

And wake me with the morning light

And when I google, I found so many other versions... here are some of my favourite versions...

Now I lay me down to sleep,

I pray the Lord my soul to keep;

When in the morning light I wake,

Teach me the path of love to take.

Now I lay me down to sleep,

I pray the Lord my soul to keep.

Thank you for another day,

A chance to learn, a chance to play

I love you Lord

2010-07-26T01:10:00.001-07:00

I love you Lord,
And u know I always meant to do things right
I love you Lord,
When I think how I failed you … I can cry
And when I hear you calling me I want to run and hide
And You know Lord I love you so

I love you Lord,
Although I know my heart may not seem true
I love you Lord,
And I prayed for one more chance to prove I do
I want to live the past behind and feel your smile again
Oh Lord you know, I love you so, I love you so

So if you find in your heart to let me start again
I’ll be your witness Lord, your witness Lord, your witness to the end of my life
Let me make it right
Let me start again
I’ll be your witness to the end

So if you find in your heart to let me start again
I’ll be your witness Lord, your witness Lord, your witness to the end of my life
Let me make it right
Let me try again
I’ll be your witness to the end
…. to the end

Concept of the Holy Trinity.. for kids

2010-06-29T20:12:00.000-07:00

OK.. I may not be the best person around to explain about this... but so it happens that I am the ONLY one around to answer this mind-boggling question when my son happen to ask...

And so one morning, he so innocently asked... why "the name of the Father is in my brain??" OK.. I was confused for a second and then understanding struck me! Of course, he is referring to the sign of cross!!! Where you use your right hand to touch your forehead(saying "In the name of the Father"), touch your heart(saying "the Son", touch your left shoulder(saying "Holy")... and touch your right shoulder(saying "Spirit")... So, his question now makes sense???

And so, I answer the best I can... trying to explain about the concept of Holy Trinity... where God is the Father, Son and Holy Spirit...

Of course, my son did not understand!!! It's so complex that even adults do not comprehend... and so this genius mummy used the 3 in 1 Nescafe to try to explain to him...

See... God is like Nescafe... Got 3 things in 1...

Sunday School (Cathechism) soonnnn..

2010-06-29T19:51:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking about sending Joel to Sunday School for quite some time already... but just did not take any action until NOW... Well, every other week, I would have some excuse here and there to just not make it happen... and as he is growing very fast and I think it is now time I stop procrastinating... and hopefully, I will be able to make it happen this Sunday....

And I hope he enjoys it!

What is the right path?

2010-05-10T10:01:00.000-07:00

Dear God,

Sales has not been very good. Exchange rate has gone down... I have been getting more neutral feedbacks although I have been trying my best. Am I doing something wrong? Is this not the path that is meant for me? I feel really tired now... questioning myself whether I have the strength to continue... whether this is the path that is meant for me... wondering whether I should go back to a full time job...

God, please somehow guide me along the way... show me if I am on the right path, doing what I should be doing... as I have somehow lost faith in myself along the way... feeling tired to my bones...

Thank you God for listening....

Slacking off....

2010-04-23T00:50:00.000-07:00

Recently of late, I have been slacking off.... spent little or no time with God... :( Not good not good.... and also not spending time with Joel, reading bible stories to him... not good not good.... why? Hmmm... for no other good reason except the devil of laziness bug had bitten me....

How to kill the lazy bug??

Pray about it loh!!! I also know la... but then, I must have self-discipline... I must have self-discipline... (chants to myself... again and again)...

God has gone high-tech!!!

2010-04-21T07:11:00.000-07:00

I received this sms below from my mum yesterday.... here it is word for word:

Concentrate on this sentence: "The will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you."

Something good will happen to you today; something that you have been waiting to hear. Please do not break!

JUST 27 WORDS. GOD OUR FATHER, WALK THROUGH MYHOUSE AND TAKE AWAY ALL MY WORRIES AND ILLNESSES; AND PLEASE WATCH OVER AND HEALMY FAMILY IN JESUS' NAME... AMEN..

This prayer is so powerful. Pass this prayer to 12 people including me. A blessing is coming to you in form of a new job, a house, marriage or financially. Do not break or ask questions. This is a test. Does God come first in your life?

First thing I thought... we normally received emails that ask you to forward it to 10 persons to receive a free iPod... and now we are having sms that ask you to forward it on too??? And we are supposed to pass it on so that we get God's blessings??? God has gone high-tech!!! WAH!!!

Have faith!!!

2010-04-18T22:26:00.000-07:00

When things starts to go wrong, have faith... and pray!

But this is when we are tested most.... having faith! Recently for the past 2 months, my business has been bad.. real bad that I either only managed to break even.... or make a loss... and therefore, I had to dip into my savings to pay off the commitments like insurance, petrol (I no need to eat, but car need to eat loh...), child care, school fees etc etc... Now, you might be asking... what is my hubby paying for then? Eh, he bears a huge part of our household expenses lar... like the housing loan (that is the huge amount).... utility bills, household expenses (like food, groceries, toileteries, milk powder, pampers... geddit???) So, if you are the one managing the household finances, you can imagine what the amount can come up to...

Anyway, I really pray that my business will pick up real soon.... and pick up a lot!!! Cos I really need the money... that is my only income now....

So, I really offer this little problem of mine to God and ask Him to help me through this rough financial patch... and although I am still losing money, after praying, I don't feel so panicky.... really... seems like God is telling me... I will provide... have faith!!!

So, I will try to have faith and do my best... and I believe that God will do the rest... somehow, some way.... Have faith!!!

Fanatical Christian???

2010-04-14T00:00:00.000-07:00

Well, although I write this blog, fanatic I am not. I met Christians before who are really into the extreme. To me, I feel that they are living in their own little bubble. Their own little world. And I think that is not good.

I am just a normal, average person.... tempted by temptations... and with my own weaknesses. And unlike fanatical Christians that I meet, they will quote Bible verses, telling people why should it be this way or that way.. And also, refusing to touch the Taoist prayer items (like joss sticks, paper money etc etc)... I mean not asking them to use these items to pray... well, sometimes mainly just helping out at home as family members are non-believers... And to these fanatics, to even touch them is a sin??? OK... I don't get that... Also what is worse is they refuse to eat food that has been served as prayers during Taoist rituals... To me, food is food... If you don't eat them, don't tell me wasting them is a better way??? Wasting food is a sin OK? Well, it is not one of the 10 commandments... but then, there are lots of people around the world that goes hungry and does not have enough food to eat... but these fanatics would prefer to let the food go to waste than eat them. Go figure....

Maybe there should have been a 11th Commandment saying "Thou shalt not waste food"...

I believe that what is important is your heart and what goes on within you in your life... and not on "material" things like whether or not the items has been used/is going to be used for Taoist rituals. Or even quoting Bible verses here and there... After all, if you do not practice what you are quoting, what's the use?

Hehe... and I do confess that I get really p***ed off with these Bible quoters... I sure do not know my Bible verses... and what makes it so great that you can quote it and tell me that it is from which chapter and which verse??? *** Rolls my eyes *** Oh.. the reason why it p***se me off is because these Bible quoters makes me feel inadequate and so small.... Sheeessshhh... like I am no good and should immediately take up my Bible and memorise it from cover to cover...

Anyway, I am just ranting here :) You can agree with me or don't agree with me... Does not matter... After all, everyone is entitled to their opinion....

Canaan Home

2010-04-13T00:27:00.000-07:00

I was so glad that I found this place which was introduced by Teacher Lisa (soon to be Joel's piano teacher)... A long time ago, when I wanted to purchase Christian books and CDs, I will normally go to Salvation Book Store. Salvation Book Store has since closed down in Melaka. Recently, Glad Sounds has opened in Dataran Pahlawan. But it is in a very jammed up area. Also, it is about 20 minutes drive away (without jam). So, when I was introduced to this place, I decided to check it out. It is just located in the next taman (or housing estate), which I need to pass by every day to access the main road. And it is so convenient for me... as it is only 2 minutes drive away!

This place is called Canaan Home.... run by Uncle Nelson, a converted Christian...

He runs it from his home... He has a room with an outside access door where he sells all Christian books, CDs, gifts etc etc... LOVELY!!!

Uncle Nelson was very friendly and he recommended books that he thinks is suitable. He also shared with me the story on his conversion. It seems that he was not a believer although his wife is a Christian. He does not go to church. But one strange day, when he was at work, suddenly he felt the urge to leave early and go home to accompany his wife to church. And since then he has not looked back.... It took him more than 10 years to believe... and according to Uncle Nelson, his wife prayed for him every single day... Uncle Nelson's message to me here is to Keep on Praying... Prayers are powerful. God does not promise that things will happen immediately but it will... if we keep on praying and have faith...

Anyway, I was actually looking for some kid's Bible story books. And although the selection is limited, it is enough for me. And in the end I chose this book for Joel...

I like this book as it is an interactive book meant for an adult to share with a child. It contains little bubbles of words to engage the child interactively. For example, during the creation of earth, there is a little bubble which asks the child to close his eyes and hold his breath... Shhhhhh.... too mimic the nothingness that was there before God made earth.... The English is very simple and at age 5 he can read most of the words in the book himself already (or maybe Joel is now a good reader??). I have been reading and sharing this book with Joel for the past few days and so far he enjoys it. I hope that he will come to learn to love God and live out the good values that God teach us.

I have also bought a prayer book for kids... I have no problem teaching Joel English, Bahasa, Mandarin, Mathematics or guide him in his homework... but to teach him to pray is a totally new thing for me as it deals with the intangibles... how do you explain God to a 5 year old child and expect him to understand and pray to something that he is not able to comprehend?? I need guidance myself.. and so I purchased this book...

I have not started out on this yet as I hope to engage him through the bible stories first... and take it slow.... but I hope that I am able to teach him in a more meaningful way than I was taught when I was a kid. All I remember is that I was asked to memorise The Lord's Prayer - Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be etc etc... without even knowing what it means... until very much later... So pray for me that I am on the right track here with Joel....

For myself, I got myself this book as I find my faith wavering easily.... I took it slow and savour every word... and try to pray as I read this book...

So far, I find it really good for me.... and I hope to be closer to God as I progress....

And lastly, I can't resist buying these!!! One for Joel (he uses it as a bookmark now in his bible story book, one for Isabel (will give to her when she starts reading) and one for myself!

Cup is too full???

2010-04-12T09:04:00.000-07:00

What a co-incidence... one of the blogs that I read is The Obnoxious 5xmom. And just after I posted my previous post of Is your cup full? I saw this post on Full Cup Danger... Strange coincidence?

How often do you pray?

2010-04-07T23:06:00.000-07:00

Just a thought that came to mind now... How often do you pray? And what constitutes a prayer? Does it have to be preceded with the sign of cross? Hmmm.... I often "talk" to Jesus in my heart... Does that constitute a prayer?

Somtimes it is just a simple conversation... but mostly is when I hit a road bump in my life, only will I ask Jesus for His guiding hand to show me the right way to go.

So, if "talking" to Jesus is praying, then I do pray everyday.. Cheers!!!

Is your cup full?

2010-04-05T00:47:00.001-07:00

Food for thought.... I was talking to a friend a few days ago. And among one of the topics that came up was this. If your cup is not full, how could it overflow upon others?

In other words, you need to be sure and know yourself and God before you could talk to others (even my kids and hubby) about God. I have to have more than enough for my needs first before I could share this joy with others.

And to do that, my friend advises me to continue praying....

Hehe... you sure would not want to know what kind of awkward questions kids comes up with these days.... I'll share more when I have talked to my 5-year-old prince.... Pray that I know how to answer him..

Good Friday and Easter Sunday 2010

2010-04-04T20:09:00.000-07:00

It seems apt that I start off with Good Friday and Easter Sunday... after all, this blog was "born" with the resurrection of Christ this year :)

Well, I did attend the Good Friday service but did not attend the Easter Sunday one as it clashes with Cheng Meng (Qing Ming). If you do not know what is that, it is a traditional Chinese festival where the young and old pray before ancestors, sweep the tombs and offer food, tea, wine, joss sticks and burn paper accessories. And this is normally practised by the Taoists believers. I don't know if all Catholics does this but my family will normally just visit the tombs of our ancestors and say a prayer for them. We do not burn joss sticks or paper accessories etc. And we do not need to go on the actual day. We could go at anytime near to the date (normally 1-2 weeks before is fine).

OK, enough on the explanation on Cheng Meng. And well, the reason I did not attend the Easter celebration is because I need to go back to my in law's place for Cheng Meng. And being staunch Taoists, my in laws do not support or approve of me going to church. I could say that all this while I have been going to church behind their backs. And it hurts me too that they do not acknowledge or respect (or maybe I do not feel so) my religion.

To avoid disagreements, I just went along for the Cheng Meng celebration. I did not dare to suggest that something could be worked out so that I am able to go to church and also be in time for the Cheng Meng celebrations. I hope and pray that in time, I will be able to be strong enough to insist that I need to practice my religion and will receive the blessings to do so.