Happy Birthday, Romans!

Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Coming to one year of my ‘formal’ journey.

One year.

We have grown closer to one another. In the first night, we were all like lost sheep. There was a calling and we just gathered there, not knowing how the journey will be liked. There were the facilitators – some or most of them are pretty nervous as well – just like the ‘inquriers’. There were those who have been through the journey and are sharing their experience with a few of us who dared to open our mouth to talk. There were those who were just hanging around and looking at us. All these happened one year ago.

I remembered the first few people I spoke to – Aurelia and Ping Fong … Aurelia – this name was so difficult to pronounce … haha. Ping Fong – a quiet girl – too quiet I thought. But during this one year, I realised that they are all quite fun people to be with – with their own sense of humour. =)

Yee Ling – was with her in the group of sharing after the night of blind walk. Quiet yet strong girl I thought. One year on, we became email exchange buddies.

Leon and Brenda – This is one funny couple. Kept to themselves for most of the time. But during the Holy Spirit Retreat – Leon opened up and they began to blossom … Nice couple to talk to …

Julie – Quiet and dun really dare to talk to me at first … but now, she is warming up and she has a lot of experience to share ….

There are so many of us in this class who has changed over this one year … Cynthia, Jessie, Siew Choo, Rick, Suba, Gillian …. Some have fallen off this journey – maybe it is still not their time … maybe …

This decision to take on this journey has been the best made so far …. The Lord opened many doors for me.

Like the hymn that was sung on the opening nite – Be not afraid … I will go with you, come follow me and I will bring you rest …Thanks be to God.

Happy One Year Old all ROMANS! =)
 
posted by Francesca Cecilia at 5:16 PM, | 0 comments

Sneak preview


 
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Parish Assembly

Was doing my work when my choir head or assistant head (?) emailed us that there will be a Parish Assembly held on 20 August 2006.

Wait a minute – I thought I had attended one not long ago – that day was still raining heavily and that was my first encounter with other Catholics (some nice, some crackpots etc) – other than those in my RCIA group.

We discussed on the focus for 2006 – the overall consensus was that we shall focus on Family this year – the previous year was on Youth.

It seems like only yesterday that I attended the PA with my Ah Boy and now, the next PA is coming up and it is indeed just round the corner … TIME FLIES!!!

OK, for you people reading, please note down the dates and attend – it will be at our Parish Auditorium … yea – no need to take bus and end up getting lost along the way .. hahaha
^^
 
posted by Francesca Cecilia at 2:55 AM, | 0 comments

Phototaking

Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Had our photoshot yesterday. The process was fun – a totally different experience from taking graduation photo with the family members a few years ago.

And thanks be to God for giving me a good weather – there was sun and wind. Plus my gum did not hurt much for the day coz I managed to get to the clinic before the photo taking starts. God also directed us to a good location for our outdoor with a beautiful sun set. =)
Hmmm, lots of things happened yesterday but I can just say that it is God who is helping us – from minor things like giving Pete a tie to match his shirt to the location and my gum ache … Thank you dear Heavenly Father … =)

Looking forward to our Engagement Encounter this weekend … I think Dearie made the right choice by saying that we go for EE instead of MPC (with the prompting of Holy Spirit of course) ….

 
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Extraction

Saturday, June 24, 2006
Went to see the doc on Thursday – he said, u got 8 teeth on the left but 7 on the right … this could be the cause of the pain in your lower gum.

Friday – rested at home but the pain seem to be more severe

Saturday – went to the dentist … being an expert, she quickly pointed out that the pain is caused by the wisdom tooth on the top. She asked me to extract the tooth … but but but I got photo taking on Monday – would it affect me? She said no ….

During the extraction, I was a bundle of nerves – heard too much of the horror stories with regards to wisdom tooth extraction … I kept on praying Our Father and Hail Mary … just to distract myself … in a while the ordeal was over.

I asked the dentist to give me back my tooth … it’s a big one…

Now, the mouth feels numb …. Hope I won’t feel any pain later and I be well for photo taking on Monday…

Pray for me please …. =)
 
posted by Francesca Cecilia at 6:25 PM, | 0 comments

bah ...

Thursday, June 22, 2006
No mood to work – kept looking at the clock to see if it is 530pm.

I want to get off work – to sleep, to rot, to do nothing. Just stare into space.

My gum (where the wisdom tooth sits) is sore and it is painful. I did not think of visiting the dentist coz I thought it was just me being heaty. The pain has gotten worse coz I am having trouble eating my food – maybe I will lose weight this way – hahaha

The right side of the face feels sore as well and I am feeling sleepy…. Argh – what’s wrong with me?

I wanna go on leave.

But no one is around to approve my leave – both my two bosses are not around. =(
 
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Motivation needed!

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Let’s see what I owe my boss and colleagues

1. Budget template – still doing – not very motivated to do …
2. Some stupid IAS 39 questionaire … data collection – yucks
3. One whole big stack (7 trays!) of monthly payments for review – double yucks
4. Reconciling a report and tying it before the auditors come in
5. Report format – looking through what my IT had generated and making sure it is what we need…
6. Some idea creation thingy that I, a coordinator, need to follow up with the rest of the dept …
7. follow up with the others on billings, cheque signatories …etc



so many things to do BUT I am not the least motivated.

 
posted by Francesca Cecilia at 12:14 AM, | 0 comments

God's plan

Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Oh …. This is totally in sync with what I had shared with the some of my bros n sis-in-christ over the weekend … in fact it started ever since “she” appeared.

The chit chat session had made me look at the entire situation in a better perspective and I believe they are praying for me … thank you and I am really working on it.

God is really moving in our lives if we open up our eyes, ears and heart to feel His loving presence.

* * *
http://www.wau.org/meditations/meditations.asp?month=6&day=20&year=2006&x=0&y=0

Can you picture finally getting to heaven, and the first person you meet is the one you liked least on earth? Imagine that! God loved that person and was calling him or her to perfection too. Or what about all the evil characters you’ve come across in the Bible—people like Pharaoh, Jezebel, or King Herod? They don’t fall outside the scope of God’s loving intentions either. What God wants for you is what he also wants for your aggravating neighbor, as well as history’s worst tyrants—that they be “perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).

Here’s another surprise: Your enemy can help you move toward that impossible-sounding goal of perfection. Here’s how. Jesus’ command to be perfect appears right after his explanation of how to treat those who hate us: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:44-45). In other words, if you want to be perfect, begin by loving your enemies.
Are you thinking, “This is too much”? Of course it is! Even when the call to perfection is reduced to this starting point, it is beyond human powers—or it would be, if Jesus hadn’t suffered and died for us. But with the grace he secured through his death and resurrection, we can follow his example of perfect love and forgiveness and start doing what he commands.

Try to cooperate with that grace today. Instead of harboring spiteful thoughts, say a short prayer for someone who provokes you. Think about whether there are other people you should be loving more than you do—not “enemies” exactly, but people you tend to take for granted, look down on, or dismiss as undeserving.

Start with those you live and work with. Pay attention to the thoughts that cross your mind as you read the newspaper or see a homeless person on the street. Ask God’s forgiveness when you discover your failures. Open your heart to receive the grace for a more generous attitude. Take advantage of every big and small invitation to love, and the perfection of the Father and the Son will begin to shine out of you.

“Thank you, Father, for creating me for your love. I want to accept your transforming grace and take another step toward the perfection to which you are calling me.”

1 Kings 21:17-29; ? Psalm 51:3-6,11,16
 
posted by Francesca Cecilia at 6:25 PM, | 0 comments

Happenings

Monday, June 19, 2006
FITTY
I think I can start a book writing on the adventures of Fitty. Fitty was hurt and is now in the clinic ...=( I think we need to consider Adrian’s suggestion seriously ….

Baptism name
Yeap! Already decided on the name – Francesca – hmm, there is no direct translation from Francis to the female Francis .. and hence, Francesca …. I wasn’t really sure if I wanted this name and being kia su and kia see, I took back the name book to flip through – nothing caught my attention. Hence, it is still back to Francesca – after my favourite saint (somehow he appealed to me and it all started with St. Francis prayer) ….

New Room in Church
And yes! There is a new room in my church and it is named after St. Cecilia – good choice!
 
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Knock, knock! have you been praying?

Friday, June 16, 2006
Praying the rosary …. Structured prayers …

What I thought was an old catholic practice but there were some who truly believed in praying the rosary ….


I had an interview with Father last night. I felt that I had failed in the interview…

Went home, reflected and yes, I need to move ahead, move upwards and not be lazy …

I decided to try what Father told me … start my prayers with I believe, Our Father and Hail Mary …. Even before I finished Our Father, I had a lot more inspirations to pray for other stuff, plus my sins ….

Praying out loud also helps, like what Father says, praying in the mind is between God and me … Praying out loud, the environment will be affected as well … I will be able to feel the difference. Yes, I felt the difference.

Hmmm, the next thing to do is to join a prayer group – divine mercy (had a wonderful sharing with a sis on how this came about) and also learn to understand the mysteries (also had a wonderful sharing with another sis on this) ….

There were three of us last nite – instead of going home after the interview, we waited for one another and shared on the interview. We agreed that this is God’s plan of putting the three of us together to share coz we seldom meet outside Thursday class and this meeting outside Thursday in a more relaxed environment allowed us to share more and to know each other better. Thank you Lord.

Need to buck up!
 
posted by Francesca Cecilia at 5:39 AM, | 0 comments

Drool ...............

Wednesday, June 14, 2006
There are so many gifted people in this world and many beautiful things that our hands can create other than being an accountant.

I have been surfing the web and finding lots of treasures … from knitting, to cross-stitching to dress-making …

Here are a few links that I like or have just discovered …

http://www/Coloursknits.blogspot.com – a good gateway to the world of beautiful things
http://www.dressaday.com

http://www.betterhomesandgardens.com.au/

http://www.etsy.com/categories.php
 
posted by Francesca Cecilia at 2:10 AM, | 0 comments

I need ....

Hmm, I think I need a sideline. Who knows where it might lead to. Maybe it will lead to me working from home when I have my own kids? Maybe it will allow me to use my time more flexibly. I do not know.

Doing what? I do not know. Maybe I can start with something small, something accounting related, book-keeping, tax computation, analysis of data?

Hmm, if you have any lobang, do let me know.

If you have friends who need a book-keeper, do let me know.
 
posted by Francesca Cecilia at 2:04 AM, | 0 comments

An experience with my Lord

Tuesday, June 06, 2006
We were tasked to do a banner/deco for our coconut stall for our parish feast day celebration and so, we met on Sunday to start working. Through this session, I can feel that God is with us. He has inspired us to do what He wants us to do and the Lord does provide!

Example, dearie forgotten to get the brown paper for the tree trunk but the Lord knows and at the corner of the car park, there were discarded cardboards. So I asked them to use those instead =)

Secondly, we forgot to bring thread and needle. One of us was contemplating whether to go back home to get those. She just asked out loud “should I go back to get the needles and thread”… another replied “no need coz I have them with me” … Praise the Lord!

Another example, someone said, “if only we have a camera to take down the pictures” … another replied “ya! I have the camera in my bag” …

Also, the day before, one of our team-mates is proactive enough to start making the accessories for the banner. I am grateful for her initiative – she did these despite her busy schedule and I must say she is really creative.

Hahaha. We find this so funny and we all exclaimed – ask and you shall receive. =)

By God’s grace, we finished the project within 2 and half hours.

Lord, thank you for inspiring us and help us when we were stuck – like how to cut the coconut leaves. Thank you for showing to me some unknown sides of the people that I have known but not really knew. Thank you Lord for that afternoon of fellowship. Lord, I pray for good weather on Saturday and Sunday and that the banner will stay pretty for the entire feast day. Thank you Lord. AMEN.
 
posted by Francesca Cecilia at 4:51 PM, | 0 comments

By God's Graces ...

Sunday, June 04, 2006
By God’s grace, my colleagues decided that they do not want to have the bbq on Saturday as each of them has their own things to take care of – which means I have more time to do my own stuff

By God’s grace, we found the tailor for Pete and this fellow definitely looks better than the one we checked out on Wednesday


By God’s grace, He gave me a smooth traffic from Ghim Moh to Jurong West and to Woodlands and He delivered me to church safe and sound within half an hour for the wedding Mass scheduled to start half an hour later

By God’s grace, He revealed to me what He means when He said there are three person in a marriage – Husband, Wife and God (which is LOVE)

By God’s grace, He showed me love and let me experienced melodious singing by letting me be part of the choir to sing for the wedding couple today

By God’s grace, He gave me fellowship with my fellow choir friends

By God’s grace, He gave me chances to be a patient person

By God’s grace, He led me to where I can find my pair of shoes for the photo shoot. He gave me not one but two pairs!

Thank you God for all your wonderful graces …. Amen.

My testimonial of “ask and you shall receive” and even for things which I did not explicitly asked for … but God knows and He is generous with His gifts and graces. Thank you Lord …
 
posted by Francesca Cecilia at 7:11 AM, | 0 comments

Alamak!

Saturday, June 03, 2006
Shit!

Kena two fines in a span of TWO WEEKS– 1 for parking along yellow line and the other, fine for not paying ERP (the cashcard was inside but there was insufficient funds).

Haiz.

With that kind of money, I can either

1. buy a new pair of shoes, or
2. do my hair or
3. do manicure and pedicure or
4. sponsor a person to my church feast day and buy two fun fair tickets

now, the money will go to the traffice police =(

would it help if I appeal that they waived off the fine?

The bad side of driving ….
 
posted by Francesca Cecilia at 1:44 AM, | 0 comments

God is generous

Friday, June 02, 2006

Last night’s topic was on Luke 11:9-15.

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

We were asked to share on what these verses meant to us.

Simple verses but the meaning is significant – God is generous with his gifts, especially the gift of the Holy Spirit. God loves us so much that he sent his son to tell us about this heavenly love and when the son’s job is completed, he sent forth the Holy Spirit to be with us and to be our guide on earth.

Though I was yawning throughout yesterday’s session, I did feel good at the end of it.

Lord, thank you for your blessings and Lord, help me to be patient. Lord, help me to discern better the plans you have for me. Lord, help me to walk in your way instead of my own. Thank you Lord, I asked this in the name of Jesus Christ. AMEN.

 
posted by Francesca Cecilia at 10:47 PM, | 0 comments