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starsforevA
read my profile sign my guestbook Name: debs Birthday: 7/10/1985 Gender: Female Message: message meEmail: email me Member Since: 8/9/2003

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Thursday, November 19, 2009

Life down under

Being here for 3 months now, I must say I have gotten pretty used to things around here already.
Initially when I was settling in, I found I had so much time on my hands [and loved it], but now it actually doesn't feel that way as much! Time seems to pass by really quickly now, with my life circling around housework, cooking and baking, mentoring, babysitting and most of all, hubby-sitting! I still love it though :)

I've experimented with some new dishes and recently, I've been trying my hand at baking and I've been pretty excited to baking something new each time. No pictures yet though, I still have lots of room for improvement! So nothing worth showing yet really :P

Lately, I've been babysitting more hours than usual. This is the little boy I babysit twice a week.

Like any other job, this job has its ups and downs too. People say it's easy and fun, but every session varies based on the child's mood. Babysitting baby W for 2+ mths now though, I think he's getting pretty warmed up to me and hence more fun! He's also very good with holding a conversation, so talking to him is very enjoyable! My latest discovery is that he LOVES posing for photos. He would strike a pose [as you can see from above] and ask me to take my phone out from my bag, so I can take a shot at him posing! He can be really cute and fun to play with! That's one obvious reason why I like the job. But another main reason that I do, is that I get to observe a lot about a child, and also about motherhood. I learn a lot from my conversations with his mom when I go to work, and she inspires me from her example, to really work towards being a wife and [future] mother like the woman from Proverbs 31. So there's a glimpse of my part-time job :)

Now there's something i also want to share about my 'full-time' job at home... One night when yy was on night shift, I was getting ready for bed when I suddenly noticed a spider web circling the perimeter of the ceiling in my room! I thought 'Eeeew! Gross! We've been sleeping under a spider web!' But I also starting wondering how come I never noticed it in the last 2 months whenever I vacuumed the room. Then the morning came and I realized why. When I switch the light on in the room at night, the light exposes the web in a way that the daylight does not. So whenever I vacuumed my room in the day, I could not see the web on the ceiling.

This interesting incident brought to mind a verse from Ephesians 5: "But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible." Surely God knows our every hidden deed and will expose it on the day of judgement. How could we ever thank God enough for the gift of His Son Jesus, and the cross that paid the price for all of our sin! God's kindness to us should lead us to repentance and gratitude. May we never lose sight of His kindness in our lives, and let it draw us closer to His side.

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Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Ashamed of the gospel?

Romans 1:16 "I [Paul] am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes, first for the Jew, then for the Gentile."

Many times, we are tempted by fear to be ashamed of the gospel, i.e. the fear of rejection; the fear of making a fool of ourselves; the fear of not knowing how to respond etc. In those instances, we tend to lose sight of Romans 1:16. In explaining this verse at Bible Study 2 nights ago, Ps Ron shared with us his encounter with a salesman several years ago. It went something like this:

[Doorbell Rings]

Man: Hi! I'm checking out vacuum cleaners. May I have a look at yours?

Ron, knowing that he was a salesman: Sure.

Man takes out a clean dust bag, and puts it into Ron's vc. He marks out a square on Ron's carpet, and then vacuums that area 4 times, with Ron's vc. He then takes out the dust bag and empties the bag onto a white piece of paper. Some dust comes out onto the paper.

Man: This is what your vacuum cleaner does. Let me show you what mine does.

Man takes out his vc, and also using a clean dust bag, he vacuums over the same area just once. He does the same thing - empties his dust bag onto another white piece of paper. A little hill of black dust is emptied onto his paper.

______________

Ron used this story to explain to us Romans 1:16 and I thought the analogy was very thought-provoking.
The salesman was not ashamed of his vacuum cleaner because it was powerful, and it worked.
Similarly in Romans, Paul was not ashamed of the gospel, because it was powerful! It was mighty to save! He knew that people get saved by hearing the good news, and God works mightily in their hearts and gives faith.

The gospel is powerful! Let us not forget this verse, so that when instances of fear come along, we may overcome it and be like Paul, saying 'I am not ashamed of the gospel!'.

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Monday, October 05, 2009

The "Jesus necklace"

My hubby was off today, so we took this day to visit a friend in the afternoon.
She has a 4-yr-old daughter who is really chatty and she got really excited when she knew that guests had come.
While juggling between entertaining her and talking to her mother, she suddenly caught my attention by her very cute and innocent question: "Why are you wearing this Jesus necklace?"

It was interesting, first of all, that she had observed my necklace (of a cross) and got curious about it. But it was intriguing to me, that she asked me why I was wearing a 'Jesus necklace' rather than simply asking why I wore 'a cross'. I must admit, it stumped me at that moment! I wish I had found the words to respond to that question. Maybe it was because it's the first time someone had ever asked it to me in that way, or maybe because there were too many reasons to explain to a 4 yr old or even perhaps it was because I'd forgotten its symbolic significance to me.

Anyway, so I came home thinking about my "Jesus necklace" and its significance to me.
I got this necklace from my mother since I was 15 yrs old, and I've been wearing it ever since.
From time to time, there have been quite a number of people who have asked me the same question (in the more "normal" way) and I recall responding 5 yrs ago that the necklace is a symbolic reminder to me that I am to walk with Christ daily in devotional times and prayer. So in the past, whenever I saw the necklace on my neck in the mirror, I asked myself from time to time "have I been spending time with God?".

But I think for me now, the necklace doesn't quite symbolize that anymore. Now, I wear it for these reasons: firstly it has become something of sentimental value to me, secondly it reminds me that I am a Christian, set apart to live for Christ and thirdly it is sort-of a public declaration to people I meet that I am a Christian. (I am of the view that although some people wear such necklaces for beauty, majority of those who do actually are Christians. Of course, whether they live their lives to the glory of Christ or not, is another issue.)

Yeah so there you go... the story of my "Jesus necklace" :o)

9:41 PM - 1 view - add eprops - add comments - email it

Saturday, September 26, 2009

A glimpse into His saving grace

Titus 2: 11-14 says

"For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. ¹²It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, ¹³while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, ¹⁴who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good."

God's grace is the very reason why we have salvation in Jesus Christ. We could never out-sin the grace of God, because if we could, then His grace wouldn't be a saving grace. But God's grace is so great that if we should get a little glimpse of His grace, something should prompt us regarding the way we should live and the purpose of our living. Unfortunately for many of us, we tend to fall in either of these extremes: we see how great God's grace is but don't change the way we live since His grace is free for all or we get complacent; or, we catch a glimpse of His grace and start feeling really unworthy because we get too overwhelmed by His greatness.

Being in either extreme is not good... because we tend to lose sight of why God chooses to show us a glimpse of His grace. We would either be taking for granted what He has done for us, or we would be downplaying how great His saving grace is.

Verse 12, in my opinion, is the reason why God has chosen to show us His grace upon our lives - it draws us to Him! My prayer is that God will show us more than just a glimpse of His grace, because with more knowledge of His grace comes teaching and greater insight on how to live a holy life, set apart from the ways of the world.

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Thursday, September 17, 2009

The new life

I once read a devotional about how life is like a train journey. We journey on through the different stations in life, and at each different station, people board and people alight. If my life was an actual train journey, I would say, I have just passed through an interchange. Many [people] have just gotten off my train and my train feels rather empty right now. With friends, sometimes you wish that time will stop and things will not change. But it never happens. Even if you don't change, your friends will. They move on. Some remember you, some don't - that's just the way it is and at some point in your life, you'll just have to learn to accept that. But despite all that, I find something deeply comforting - that throughout the train journey, something remains the same.. God and my family are with me from the start till the end. I think I'm pretty blessed that I've got quite a big company traveling with me on my train :) They may not be present physically, but I know they're with me.

I don't really like saying that I've got a new life, but looking at my life now - new home, new country, new "job(s)", new family, new identity, even new sleeping hours - I guess that's just what it is! It is really a 180deg change for me. Everything is different!

I'm getting used to being here now and to this new life I have.
Married life is wonderful, and I think I'm coping ok now with being alone most of the time, when my hubby's at work. Some people worry that I will get bored in no time, but to be honest, I don't feel that way at all, cuz there are lots of things I can do at home! Besides, it is perfect timing for me to seek direction, set new goals, set up a regular routine for the work at home, and to instill some good, necessary disciplines in my life.

Well, I love the new life!

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