Something Inspirational

Thursday, September 29, 2005

A friend sent this email to me. Just want to share with you. =)
_____________________________________________
“A Little Boy At A Big Piano”
Author Unknown
But Greatly Appreciated!


Wishing to encourage her young son's progress on the piano, a mother took her boy to a Paderewski concert. After they were seated, the mother spotted a friend in the audience and walked down the aisle to greet her.
Seizing the opportunity to explore the wonders of the concert hall, the little boy rose and eventually explored his way through a door marked "NO ADMITTANCE." When the house lights dimmed and the concert was about to begin, the mother returned to her seat and discovered that the child was missing.
Suddenly, the curtains parted and spotlights focused on the impressive Steinway on stage. In horror, the mother saw her little boy sitting at the keyboard, innocently picking out "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."
At that moment, the great piano master made his entrance, quickly moved to the piano, and whispered in the boy's ear, "Don't quit. Keep playing."
Then leaning over, Paderewski reached down with his left hand and began filling in a bass part. Soon his right arm reached around to the other side of the child and he added a running obbligato. Together, the old master and the young novice transformed a frightening situation into a wonderfully creative experience. The audience was mesmerized.
That's the way it is in life. What we can accomplish on our own is hardly noteworthy. We try our best, but the results aren't exactly graceful flowing music. But when we trust in the hands of a Greater Power, our life's work truly can be beautiful.
Next time you set out to accomplish great feats, listen carefully. You can hear the voice of the Master, whispering in your ear, "Don't quit. Keep playing."
 
posted by Francesca Cecilia at 11:48 PM, | 0 comments

Just after lunch

Just after lunch.

One of my colleagues is real cuckoo – she just took the chinese version of the yellow pages to look for our company listing. To all our surprises, the company’s chinese name is 15 characters long! That is quite a mouthful when all along, all of us (including old-timers) thought that the chinese name is only 2 characters. This got the rest of the girls excited and the imagination of the cheekier girls just ran wild – thinking of ways to greet callers using the chinese names, greeting visitor ‘Welcome to da da da da a da’ … really hilarious!
 
posted by Francesca Cecilia at 4:41 AM, | 0 comments

Your Way or my way; Your Tots or my tots?

Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Maybe one last post before I retire for the night – human behaviour again.

Humans like to take things for granted, we lack the trust/faith and we rather depend on ourselves. I am guilty of this sometimes (or most time – but I am learning, ok! hahahaha).

We have a wonderful God who just won’t leave and forsake us though we may forsake Him (due to distractions/sins etc.) and if only we humble ourselves and open our big mouth to ask and open our numbed heart to receive, I am sure we can find His answer for us… then there is this part of not liking His answer … coz we humans have our own standards. But our dear Almighty God has already anticipated this sort of nonsense coming from us and in His own loving way; He has told us that “as the heaven is higher than the earth, so are His ways and His thoughts.”


So my dear friends (who are reading my blog) and myself included, we need to really humble ourselves to allow Him to teach us and for ourselves to be taught by Him.
 
posted by Francesca Cecilia at 2:08 PM, | 0 comments

Possible to find Buddy @ workplace?

Am I getting old and so grown up that it is difficult to find real buddy at the workplace - Real buddy at workplace is someone who will see through the thick and thin with you.

I am coming to 6 months in my new job but I have still not found a regular lunch partner, someone to talk to etc. … hmm, I miss my ex-colleagues!!!

In my first job, it took me 4 months before I finally got to know S. She was quite intimidating at first and I didn’t really dare to talk to her. Ha ha. But the moment we started talking, topics just flow non-stop! Along came A and R and my gang @ work soon expanded and going to office is no longer a chore. We have formed a support group during my time in my first job. Even when each of us had left the company, we still try to meet up as often to catch up. S – getting married (to my classmate), R & A had moved on to greener pastures and I have also moved on.

In my second job, I took about 4 – 5 months to warm up to the people around me. At about the same time, SF came along. She is really a loyal friend. A lot older than me, more sensible and mature. I learnt a lot of things from her and we usually give each other support and help each other out.

In my current job, I am unable to tell who can be real buddies or who are pretenders. It is scary as each person works behind a façade. To play safe, I chose to keep a distance while still observing them (I suppose they are also observing me).

I suppose when human beings are put in a competitive environment, the real/natural self of a person is hidden. Instead, the competitive or heck-care streak comes out. I suppose this is human survivor skills.

How I wish I can go back to school days where friends are just your friends without harbouring any other motives and going back to time of childlike innocence …

Will I grow old to become a great pretender @ work? I hope not.
 
posted by Francesca Cecilia at 1:56 PM, | 0 comments

Constipation


Does constipation bog you?

Severe constipation will cause one to have dark eye circles and may lead to depression (probably because you are constantly worried why the shit is not coming out and how to make it come out.)

I have discovered a way to prevent constipation. It’s hassle-free and no medication is involved.

Each morning, drink 2 glasses of lukewarm water or better still, water with apple vinegar or green lemon (recommended by some books). This will refresh your body and replendish your body with the water it requires.

Before eating your breakfast, eat an orange at abt 8a.m. (I like large ones coz it’s filling). A while later, drink some water. This will give a filling effect and the water, together with the fibre will aid in bowel movement.

Then have your breakfast (or mid-morning snack) at around 9plus or 10plus… Choose what you eat. I just had wholemeal bread with ham and cheese. On other mornings, I would take biscuits (but I scooped away the cream – it’s sinful to let those cream into your body!!!)

And for the entire day, please choose your food carefully. You need to eat in order for your body to function well but choose what you eat. Most importantly, abstain from coffee, tea, soft drinks – coffee and tea actually causes dehydration and soft drinks will make you FAT! Drink lots of water instead.

I have tried the above for a week plus and I realised that I am not so tired, and the bowel movement has improved!


 
posted by Francesca Cecilia at 2:14 AM, | 0 comments

What is LIFE all about?

Monday, September 26, 2005
Today’s theme: What is life all about?

Really, what is life all about?

I spent the morning at my Grandma’s house. She had cooked laksa today – super duper yummy. But as I watched her prepared the laksa, I couldn’t help but feel that she is very old (almost 80?) and she is still a very determined lady. I wish I could be like her – to face on life’s challenges as they come along but one thing I have to be different is to learn to be able to let go of my burden.

The last time I really spent time @ her place was like so many year ago – hmm, probably since my auntie took over the cooking. To prevent causing any inconvenience to my auntie, we decided to settle our own dinner on every Sunday and as a result, such family gatherings had decreased and it was also about the same time she had gotten naggy, always harping on old, repeated issues. I could say that those were her burdens which she either refused to let go or cannot bear to let go and soon, people around her got tired coz no amount of talking seem to help …….

What can I do? I suppose I can only offer my prayers and a listening ear. That she be strong no matter how badly people around her is treating her (because of their selfishness, for their own gain etc) and for her to let go of her burden. Or maybe that the thing she is holding on so dearly to has sentimental value for her – it is hard to let go when you have built your entire life around it…

How do I want to live my life?

Well, at first, the thought of being a career woman interests me. But what does it bring me? I realised that I am not cut out to be one.

What about a life as a single girl – earning her own money and spending it at her every own whims and fancy. Though it sounds fantastic, (I can go for all the spas I want, manicures and pedicures etc), I realised that it is rather empty …

I suppose it is through sharing (the good and the bad), and to be able to walk down my entire life together with the special person till we are both very old and yet still be very loving and patient (well, when one gets old, there is bound to be hormonal imbalance – woman will become like man and man will become like woman [e.g. naggy]). *ha-ha*

The beauty of life lies in the fact that when two different persons come together with one common goal to make their time on Earth well spent. For two persons to decide to come together, and to accept each other faults (even the bad habits of the spouse’s immediate family members) requires great amount of courage. We are always constantly filled with fear – “aiya, dunno can tahan his parent a not. Aiya, what if a better “candidate” comes along?” well, I can say that these worries are not bo liao but there is no point wondering all the ‘what ifs’ coz we cannot tell and it is not for us to say …

Our Big Boss decides all these ….
 
posted by Francesca Cecilia at 3:15 PM, | 0 comments

Weird Sightings .. ha ha ha

Saw something weird on the bus today.

Grilfriend took out a piece of sushi and forced her Boyfriend (apparently, the BF doesn’t really like sushi) to take a bite. She later fed the second half of the sushi to her girl friend. *YUCKS* why does she want to do that? The the girl friend did not ask her who took the first bite and ate the remaining half….
 
posted by Francesca Cecilia at 5:24 AM, | 0 comments

*Whistling away*

Sunday, September 25, 2005

Yipee! Finally finished what I was supposed to do (yes, I am in the office today.) I have never been so hardworking in my previous jobs …

Things I like about my job:-

Understanding boss – yes! She is the most understanding boss I’ve had so far. She knows her work and is interested in guiding me.

Culture – it is interesting to see how people work here, the way they make decisions – crisp and sharp (no ding donging!) and people replies emails (so things actually get done)

Challenging tasks – I like the challenges (but pls spare me the most difficult ones .. my grey cells are limited in processing them *hahaha*), learning new things


Things I dun like:-
Uncooperative People.
Some people are just plain uncooperative and scady cats in front of Authority. They totally do not understand the meaning of teamwork and how to be a team player. I had to call a meeting for all (during the meeting, it was as if the whole world has done injustice to him. he only talked nicely to all of us when my BIG boss came in) to meet and discuss certain workflow (all because of this uncooperative player), I took the pains to do up a memo and this fella refused to reply – whether agreeable or not! And currently, because of the attitude, there is some bottle neck along the chain of workflow. I’ve done my part – I’m going to wait and see what happens at the end of the month.

Seasonal – some days I can be very free, some days, I eat and sleep with my work – can’t we have more balance here?? Looking at the upcoming schedule, October is going to be a really break neck period…. Better play more first before I got to even come back on Sunday …


Well, I guess, there is bound to be some people illustrated above everywhere. Like my previous job, there is this young punk who is a pain in everyone’s neck (till now, I even had nightmares abt him) *scary*

 
posted by Francesca Cecilia at 5:55 AM, | 0 comments

Dedicated to Jeslin & Cynthiabuffer ...

Saturday, September 24, 2005
Dear all =)
May the Lord's peace be with you. =)
It really warms my heart to see that there are people out there who want to know more about this Faith.
I have actually drafted something out last night but due to some reason, I did not have the time to complete it (Thanks Francis for shedding light this topic to Jeslin.)
Hi Jeslin, I saw your post about your burden and your question. Thanks for sharing. I suppose you feel better after getting it off your chest. =)

With regards to your question about the difference between Christianity and Catholic, I will try my best to share my knowledge with you. My understanding may be limited as I am also learning. So to play really safe, you may want to join a church to find out more or like what Francis said, come along with me this coming Thursday to find out more or you can come to Mass this Saturday at St. Anthony Church to experience the Eucharist celebration yourself =)

Christianity is defined as follower of Christ. Like what Francis shared with you earlier, this faith has many denominations and Catholics is one of them (there is a lot of history involved on how this came about. ) Despite the many denominations, we have one common goal - that is, to follow Jesus.

I receive my calling in a Protestant church but ultimately, I was brought by the Lord to Catholic church. I guess ultimately, you should join a church where you are most comfortable in.

Like I said earlier, the focus of the Church is on the Father (the CREATOR of Man), this Son JESUSS (who died on the Cross for the sins of Man) and the Holy Spirit (who is Man's advocate sent to guide Man after Jesus is resurrected.) (At this point, you may ask me "eh, I tot Catholics pray to Mary ..." Well, let me correct you - we do not pray to Mary .. Our prayers are always lifted up to Jesus just like how protestants pray.) Catholics HONOR Mary and the other saints ... (there is a difference between honoring and praying).

I suppose the stark difference is how we worship - at the protestant churches that I used to attend, it is lively - we'll start with singing and worship and then service. For Catholics, we call it Mass (not Service and the pastor is called a Priest or Father.) and usually Mass is a solemn affair (with lots of rites BUT rest assure that we do not pray to statues.... ). At Mass, we would celebrate Eucharist, breaking of bread and we have communion. I used to think that Mass was boring and I really wished it was livelier but now I have come to appreciate the beauty ... =)

hmm, the above is just my personal tots abt the difference between the two groups of Christians. For more information, I would like to invite you to take on the courage to find out more yourself.

for Cynthiabuffer, why you do not have a good impression on Christianity? Maybe you can share more? (I reckon you had some nasty experiences? People tried to 'hard sell'the faith to you?)

on finding life's direction, yes - I was at that juncture - I searched high and low for answer - read lots of self help books, talked to friends but I still cannot find inner peace. Jesus gave me the peace. He gave me a reason for living. =) He tot me that only He can give me steadfast love, be there for Me when I am in the dumps and it is only through Him that I can find true love =) I hope that you will not let the nasty experience affect you. Take that as a challenge to find out more - to see if other people are telling you the truth.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us this wonderful thing called BLOGGING as it allows me to share my tots with people who are interested to know more abt You. Father, grant Jeslin and Cynthiabuffer the courage to take the first step out to seek Your Face. Lord, I pray that they will be receptive to Your call and respond for it is only through You that we will be able to find the inner peace that no other man or no other material things can give. Lord, knowing You is the most wonderful thing that has happened to me. Thank you for blessing me with this gift to put my tots into words and that I can be Your Lamp. I lift all these to you through Jesus Christ, AMEN.

 
posted by Francesca Cecilia at 4:15 PM, | 3 comments

Tap tap. Tap tap tap ...

Friday, September 23, 2005
The server is down. I cannot update my files. =(
This is my job - when things dun come in, they really dun come in. When it comes in, I'll just have too much to do.
Hmm, I should not complain coz it is a blessing that I am a useful person, putting what I have learnt to good use and sharing with people what I have (His Words, my life experiences, knowledge etc. =))
5 mins already. The server is supposed to be restarted in a short while... If it is not going to be up in another 15mins, I'm leaving the office - RCIA tonight! =) *Yipee!*
Just called up my mum to ask her to leave some food for me and yes, my grandma is cooking laksa this Sunday. Guess I got to make arrangements. =)

 
posted by Francesca Cecilia at 9:03 AM, | 5 comments

Frances or Francine (latin or french?)

If i am given a chance to give a name for myself, i want to be known as Frances (latin) or Francine (French). Why Frances? Isn't the name your parents gave you good enough?

Yes. The name my parents gave me suit me really well. But I aspire to be like St.Francis of Assisi. There is this particular pray that I always remind myself of and I would like to share it with you (the readers):-


Lord, make me a channel of thy peace;
that where there is hatred, I may bring love;
that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness;
that where there is discord, I may bring harmony;
that where there is error, I may bring truth;
that where there is doubt, I may bring faith;
that where there is despair, I may bring hope;
that where there are shadows, I may bring light;
that where there is sadness, I may bring joy.
Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted;
to understand, than to be understood;
to love, than to be loved.
For it is by self-forgetting that one finds.
It is by forgiving that one is forgiven.
It is by dying that one awakens to eternal life.


 
posted by Francesca Cecilia at 4:49 AM, | 2 comments

Me, my mum & I

Just had my lunch – it was superb! Hot soup, hot claypot veggies and cold weather. Think I will continue to join this group for lunch (p.s they are vegetarians). Towards the end of the meal, a warm fuzzy feelin just passed through me and I dun feel so cold … *smug grin*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hmm, some more time left – should I call my mum and talk to her? I guess I better leave things as it is for a time being. She’s still angry – maybe she felt that she has not done her part as a mum that I have become like this. *shrug* I have to focus on the Lord and do what is pleasing to Him…

It’s quite funny how all these happened. I’m like a prey. The predator just inched up to me step by step and strikes me when the time is ripe… it’s like, before all these, she has been asking questions like ‘how much did u pay for the retreat?’, ‘how come u are not in contact with your best friend?’ or she would secretly tell my dad “that is a church song” when the TV host is singing ELDELWISS …. *FAINTZ* etc … when she asked, I thought, ‘yea, she is finally softening …’ but last night, it seems like she is building her armour – collecting all related info so that she would strike me.

All the innocent, truthful answers became her tools to attack me. I’m so confused now. Haiz.

Why dun she understand?

Why must she get so hung up over my faith? I am still alive, making sane decision and I am still coming home to eat, sleep and interact with them? If she thinks I am too busy, can’t she view that I am working? (hmm, cannot be viewed as working coz I am not paid for my time. *haha*). When I was giving tuition, she said that I am keeping myself so busy … (DUH! I am confused by her…) what does she want?

Playing mind game is tough and I am a GROWN UP…. Let me have my own space….to grow and live, please…..

Hmm, there is another hoo-ha coming up this weekend. My grandma, despite her poor health (her legs are weak and the conditions of the bones are not bery good), is going to cook laksa (why must my auntie ask her to cook laksa? she got to stand and watch the fire? can't she just eat some other laksa - though it will not taste as well - or eat something healthier (she's also quite health conscious)? Haiz!). If I dun show up, she will complain again. Guess I can only pray about it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Father, please guide me through this weekend. I pray that You will clear this blockage for me by granting me tact, patience and love on them, I pray that You can make them understand that there is more to life than money and there is a time for everything. Thank you Father, for Your patient listening ears and love for me. I lift all these to You through Jesus. Amen.

 
posted by Francesca Cecilia at 4:20 AM, | 3 comments

Worldly views, worldly concerns?

Thursday, September 22, 2005
I was practising on my organ - just some hymns then my mum walked in, with a serious look on her face. she began telling me that i should not make myself so busy with church activities ... she continued to rattle on. a short while later, she went back to her room.

about 15 minutes later, she came back. with more rattling.... i sensed that she is confused with my behaviour, with what is going on around. usually i would try to correct her misconceptions about church and ministry. but this time, i kept quiet. i was even smiling at times. i know that i am being persecuted because i am walking closer to God, with God. She is seeing a change in me that she finds it hard to accept. for example, she said that last time, i am not so fervent (she is referring to the taoism thingy) ... and now that i have decided to join choir, she made comment like ï let u learn organ is for u to earn money, not to play for free..." ... hmmm, her list of counselling went on and on ... in short, she is saying that i am too involved while other christians around me just go to church on Sunday..

while she is saying, i just listened and made a small prayer for the Holy Spirit to send her a gift of understanding and patience for myself ..

throughout the "counseling", she would pop questions occasionally - like what u join? why u join? cant they sing without music? well, i can only tell her that the announcement has been going on for weeks that they need a organist and since i know how to play, i tot i should join them. are my BF , his sister, his father joining any activities etc and she even thinks that i forced my bf to go through the RCIA process with me . *faintz*,.

hmm, throughout the session, it's always "ÿou should do it for money, if u are too free, u should have more time for yourself and your bf, you should tidy up your room etc ..." .. such worldly things ... i would have agreed with her in the past (actually i am guilty of this as well .. i used to think that my best friend's priorities were wrong ..=P) but now, i dun see it that way ... there is the joy from serving Him....

she also mentioned abt the joss sticks thingy - i guess i am wrong here in a sense that i did not give ourselves more room tot discuss this a few mths back ..

well, i think as an obligation/out of respect to them, if they want me to go through the rituals, i would - BUT it is out of respect. she mentioned that she knows i am a christian and will not make me hold joss sticks etc ... haiz. i just will not worship other idols... my parents are not idols... one of the commandment is to love and honour them, if they want me to do it, maybe i should do it but before i do it, i must try my bery best to tell them why i should not do it ... y get so hung up over the joss sticks thingy? isn't it more important that how we should live our life on earth than to care abt all these "luxury" after death? cant she see that i am making time for her (on weekends that i do not have to go for retreat etc?) what does she want from me to be satisfied?

hmmm, i am too lazy to repeat all the cases that she has against me here ..but pray for me that her eyes will be opened one day and see the light!


 
posted by Francesca Cecilia at 2:21 PM, | 1 comments

My Best Friend

Blogging – helps one to relieve stress. By penning down tots/events that bog us, that makes us happy, that makes us sad, we are able to face life better (I suppose?)

I was reading the blog of my best friend. As I continue reading, a question came to my mind – where was I, in her life, during all these while? Especially when she needs company most, I wasn’t with her. I feel that I have let her down. I am so involved in my own life that I forgot abt her, thinking that she is strong and if she choses certain decision, she will have the strength to carry through and she has lots of other friends (or she doesn’t need friends) to see her through.

Many a times, whenever I am faced with problems (mostly self-created by myself ) or when I need a listening ear, I would turn to her for guidance, advice or just someone to talk to. She is always with me, supporting me. Though time and again, I have made the same mistakes, she never fails to lose her patience with me.

Probably it was how we met.

She was my JC classmate. Initially, my impression of her wasn’t very good. I thought that she was just one of those act sweet girl *puke*. I got to know her further when she initiated an outing – just the both of us coz I was feeling really down when I got an E8 for my English literature. Back then, my entire world just collapsed! I feared that I can no longer continue my studies at my favourite JC, I got to leave all my friends …. I cried myself silly for a few days (trust me, I never cry much in my life. Not even when my heartless boyfriend two-timed me and dumped me at the later stage.) When no one seems to care, she called me and we went out for bubble tea … our friendship blossomed from there. =) (Those were the good old days.)

This friend of mine is always with me. I must have taken her for granted – all these years …. Well, my dear friend, if you are reading this, can you believe, we have known each other for TEN YEARS!!! Gosh! I feel so old.

Well, I am suppose to write about her. She is the most sensible one among us. While I am one who follows my heart/instinct, she always appear so sane, logical and deeply rooted to the ground. I guess I did not move beyond her front. Deep down, she may be a confused soul, trying to be strong for people around her coz we all need her to be around us – to offer comforting words, sound advice (though it is not things you want to hear.)

Thank you, God for sending her to me. She is Your faithful servant whom You sent to guide me, to help me up when I fall during the time I was walking along the sinful path. I pray that as she is going through her life now, at this stage where there are many uncertainties, unsure of the future, not knowing who to trust, I pray that she will find peace in Your shelter, that she will move on bravely coz You, our almighty God, is holding onto her right hand. Give her the courage to move forward, to experience Life and not to escape due to fear of being hurt. You love us so much and I believe that every event that happens in our lives is for Your pleasure. I pray that You will take away my self-centredness and let me know a person beyond the façade that they had put on. Let me be Your instrument to spread peace, joy and love to the people around me. I lift all these through Jesus Christ, Amen.

 
posted by Francesca Cecilia at 4:52 AM, | 0 comments

Just another (boring) day @ work

Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Today has been a not so busy day at work. I need to fine tune on some procedures but I still have not found the inspiration to complete it. I must complete it by the end of this week before my boss or colleagues from other departments come after me. (but seriously, i hate writing papers, procedures, to craft something out from nowhere.) *Bleach*

Instead, time was spent occasionally looking at the procedures, preparing some reports, reading friends' blogs, replying to emails from ex-colleague who is feeling stressed at work. Reason - she does not like her new boss and she is wondering how she can talk to my other ex-colleague about it. Sensing her stress level, I gave my ex-colleague a call to forewarn her about the situation. Well, i do not know who initiated but they did talk and I hope that my troubled ex-colleague would feel better.

At the rate things are moving, I wished that i can stay away from work and only come into office when they really have things for me to do. I feel so unproductive, wasting company's resources doing other things.
 
posted by Francesca Cecilia at 2:36 PM, | 1 comments

Life's demands ...

Strange how things are happening around me –first, I read about Mary and Martha and just today, a friend called me to complain about her new boss and from reading from my friends’ blog that (thanks to the advance of technology, we are able to know what are happening to friends from reading their blogs) they are feeling tired, and burdened – from office politics, family issues, no time for this, no time for that … the list just goes on.


For myself, I want to be able to spend more time with myself, my friends (who are not feeling very well due to work stress), my mum, my family members, my boyfriend and my grandma – especially my grandma as I realized that I have not visited her for a long time and age is catching up on her and of course God. By spending time to blog, I hope this will be a first step to spending more time with Him (of course, I still need to have my own quiet time with Him to hear His words.)

Today’s Gospel reading is this:-

Luke 8:19-21 (New International Version)

Jesus' Mother and Brothers

19Now Jesus' mother and brothers came to see him, but they were not able to get near him because of the crowd. 20Someone told him, "Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you."

21He replied, "My mother and brothers are those who hear God's word and put it into practice."

And the reflection is about being CROWDED:-

From www.veritas.org.sg
”His mother and brothers came to be with Him, but they could not reach Him because of the crowd. Luke 8:19

How many of us are crowded? Our lives, minds, and schedules are crowded. We have so many demands pressing in on us. We can hardly breathe. We feel crowded out from Jesus. We can’t seem to reach Him. We feel on the outside looking in (Lk 8:20).

What can we do before were crushed by the crowd? We can obey Jesus, hear Gods word, act upon it (Lk 8:21), and give our lives, minds, and schedules to the Lord. Jesus never gives us more than we have time for. He never overextends us, although sometimes we know this only by faith and not by sight (2 Cor 5:7). There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens (Eccl 3:1). Jesus gives us sufficient strength (Phil 4:13) for what He has called us to do.

Jesus promises: Come to Me, all you who are weary and find life burdensome, and I will refresh you. Take My yoke upon your shoulders and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble of heart. Your souls will find rest (Mt 11:28-29). Rather than the crowd keeping us from Jesus, He keeps us from the crowd of worldly confusion.”

This is God speaking to me, telling me what I need to do and telling me how I can share this with my friends. Indeed, I was sharing Matthew 11:28-29 with some of my friends. I hope that this will touch them/inspire them in one way or another.


Lord, thank you for reaching out to me and letting me read and understand Your Word. Though I have sinned in my toughts, in what I have done or what I have failed to do, Father, I pray for Your forgiveness. I lift up my schedules, demands from my daily life, and busy mind to You. Father, guide me to do Your will and may my personal relationship with You keep me from being crowded. Lord, let me hear you loud and clear. Father, I thank you for calling out to me, for loving me. Father, for all my friends who are struggling with the demands in their daily life, for my friends who are feeling tired and burdened, I pray that they will/are able to find strength and peace in Your shelter. I pray all these through Jesus Christ, AMEN.
 
posted by Francesca Cecilia at 1:39 PM, | 0 comments

What is Love?

Stumbled on this from my friend’s website “Love is simple,it's human that makes it complicated … all they want is just something from that special person.But why not think it this way,"What i can give him/her?"

Interesting tots coming from a 23 year old (hmm, kids nowadays are more mature.)

It is so true that in our daily lives, we are always searching for love – to be loved, and to love. In the course of loving, we want our special someone to do things for us instead of asking ourselves what we can do for them. Is this a selfish kind of loving? He further came up with this formula: “Communication = (Love + Time + Commitment) / k. Communcation takes love, time and commitment to make it happen. But still there is a variable 'K'. K equals to how responsive is that person. You still need 2 hands to clap. Lastly, the result should be equal to 1 or near to 1. So the amt of things put in, divided by the equal reponsiveness. 1 Complete communication.”

His thoughts set me thinking – about my relationship with my boyfriend, my family and the people around me. Misunderstandings arise because of poor or no communication. Being in a competitive society, we often want our love ones to do something special so that we can “show off” in front of our girlfriends, family members etc. I am no saint to say that such tots are wrong – we are ultimately human. However, what I need to do is to see how I can change my perspective – to love more than to be loved.

Human love cannot be compared to the love God has for Man… somewhere is the Bible, there is a verse that says that “For God so love Man that He sent His only Son to die for our sins on the cross” and Jesus, being a good son who loves His Father willingly does His will and it is only through Jesus that we can get close and intimate with God and be showered with God’s love.

This is the love (loving God) that we should all strive to become, I suppose. =)
 
posted by Francesca Cecilia at 4:35 AM, | 2 comments

Random tots

Random tots

Hmm, just when I thought my best friend had decided not to be my friend anymore, she started to msn me. I am thankful to God. He might have heard my heart and had created the opportunity for us to talk. It has been a while from the last time we spoke. Thank God, we still have things to talk about – our work, my love life, my journey with God and what she has been up to. =)
 
posted by Francesca Cecilia at 4:34 AM, | 0 comments

Purpose of my Life

Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Life – Purpose: Today's Gospel (Luke 8:16-18) emphasises that a "lamp" is to shed light in darkness. Likewise, when God gave us the gift of life, we are to live it meaningfully. Every talent and time is to be used for God's glory. Every task is to be done in God's ways. How are you living your daily life?

This reminds me of a mid-20s crisis that I had last year - that was before I came to know my Lord. Now, this question has been answered. =)


Just over the weekend, I went for a retreat. The theme was “Why I am” … why I am the way I am, how can I improve, how can I be a better person, how is God asking me to be the person He wants me to become … these were all the thoughts that I am asking myself from Friday night till now…

We were each given a scripture to read and we then broke into groups to discuss the role of each character. Our group reading was on “Martha and Mary” (from Luke). During the sharing, I realized that Mary and Martha are like a mirror image of me. Martha represents my busy, worried and irritated self while Mary is a side that I should strive to become – to spend time with God and not be too bothered with the worldly things. This is because, if I just focus my attention on Jesus, my life will be well taken care of.

On Saturday, we were then asked to search deeper – what I want and we got to petition it to God, the Holy Spirit … we have a mini support prayer group. This session was good as it encouraged one of the girls in the group to open up. At first, she was hesitant to share but after we prayed for her, she was overwhelmed with the Holy Spirit that she started to share. I must say that God touches us in His special way … =)

We were then guided to reflect on how God wants us to become… we were given plasticine to make our sculptures … I made for myself a torch ... I want to be His light, to live meaningfully to spread love, His words and sing praises of Him. The Lord is great and only He is steadfast in His love towards Man.

The retreat was indeed time well spent! We all enjoyed ourselves. Praise be to Lord!
 
posted by Francesca Cecilia at 1:30 PM, | 0 comments

My First Post

Wooo HA! My own online space!

I was trying to come up with the url for my blog but then, most of the names I have chosen were not available – as a last resort, I chose “Starystarynightz”.

No special reason for this name – I like stars and I am wishing for night time to come so that I can go home to sleep *Zzz*… The weekend had been tiring ..

Hmm, why do I want to start a blog? Well, I’ve been reading people’s blog and on and off, I do keep a diary but lately, I realised that I am too lazy to write – maybe typing would be faster *sheesh … lazy bum*

This would be a space for me to leave my thoughts – about my new found faith, the journey that I will be going through, my hobby or probably just some rants about the daily life (like a nagging old woman).

If you happen to drop in, I hope that you will enjoy what I have written and I may be able to touch you in one way or another … I always believe that things happen for a reason and we have a purpose on earth. =)

Have a good day and God Bless!
 
posted by Francesca Cecilia at 4:34 AM, | 0 comments