~Lola
Kudos to Mushroom who has just been awarded "Best Summariser" Award by me! Concise, to the point, entertaining and yet from the heart! Reading your summary got me excited to start a little summary of my own...not so much in point form though.
Side track abit...previous entry's contributor was Juls i believe....:)
well, On the last day of the camp, while we had our 'medley' of 3 sermons by the 3 great preachers, it was pretty amazing how all of their sermons linked up so well. Truly, none other than the Spirit of God at work.....
Ps Ong went on to share about Faith..a topic that most of us could share hours on...(maybe!?hah!) 4 concise points -
1) Faith sometimes changes things
2) Faith sometimes doesn't change things...because Faith changes you (BANG! WOW! This hit me)
3) Faith always leads us to make XO decisions
4) Faith will ultimately TRIUMPH
The second point was the one I wanted to share more on...
Ps Ong made this analogy abot point 2...
About the story of Daniel in the lion's den....
What was the greatest miracle in that story?
It was not that the lion did not eat Daniel, but it was how Daniel could still sleep in the lion's den!
I never thought of it that way, but it is true isn't it?
And the greatest miracle about Noah was not the Ark, but the fact that he could STILL preach on even for 100 years even though the people kept rejecting him!
Faith did not change the landscape of belief, it developed Noah's and Daniel's perserverance, attitude.....etc.
i thought about myself....Prior to church camp, i had been suffering for about 3 weeks to a month of dry spell in sales. I was demoralised, as I had shared in cell....for a few weeks, my spirit was low, my self-esteem took a dip and self-doubt started to climb. It was one of those short moments of questioning my faith and trust in a God who is more than able to provide for my every need. How could i ever question His character? How could I ever doubt His providence? Yet, it seemed for those few weeks that God was quiet in granting favour, appointments, sales etc. Everyday seemed like a drag on my spirit, especially on my mind, the battlefield where the enemy never stops planting seeds of negative thoughts. My faith was challenged....Yet nothing changed during those few weeks.
Church camp was an excellent break. Somehow, getting out of country seems like the only most effective way I can stop thinking about work. Maybe it's the idea that I have a valid excuse not to be as responsive to client's requests/needs as I am on a vacation....
So, when I was back after camp...I continued to pray....and I just wanted to share that since you guys prayed for me in cell (last week i think? or the week before?), God has been pouring His favour on me daily. Clients have been calling up to request to meet up with me, out of the blue...and I have been closing sales (albeit small cases) almost every other day for the past week!
Looking back, those few weeks of faith NOT changing anything has made me realise that when God finally changed things around this week, my heart could truly leap with joy and thanksgiving.
When my faith didn't change the circumstances around me, it changed my heart to be more malleable towards the Lord....a heart that was more desperate to seek Him and cry out to Him.
A new perspective to faith...not that I never knew it before, but that's how God reveals Himself to us all the time isn't it? Same Word of God, but the Holy Spirit who teaches us new things everyday which cuts to the very fibre of our spirit during that rhema moment! :)
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Identification
ExtraO Camp entry and Art of Listening is by Anyk (new nick previously known as Mushroom). Agree with Lola is by?
Agree with Lola
harros,
just a short one, been searching for a job for a while cos while my project is winding up, there really would not be a role for me unless i transit to china. on the other hand back in office, morale has been very low as my colleagues are increasingly frustrated with our jobs. we function as mere "professional googlers" as my colleague put it, churning out research paper after another based on just desktop research. i realli realli hate that type of work.
however for the 4 years tat i have started work, this is the worst year to be looking. i was rather frustrated, as there had been opportunities this time last year to interview with some realli good firms in the finance industry, but i turned them down cos i felt i had to see through the project.
maybe it was a bad move, as seriously, no one is recruiting like now. i even had friends retrenched in the finance sector. but i thank God that although he is making me wait, much like the verse in 2 Cor 12, where the writer said he pleaded with God 3 times, but the Lord would only say my grace is sufficient to meet your needs, he has sent many friends who have been helpful in helping me look out for jobs. even if nothing comes up, it has been very comforting to know they are there and that God is showing me that he is still in control.
Cheers,
just a short one, been searching for a job for a while cos while my project is winding up, there really would not be a role for me unless i transit to china. on the other hand back in office, morale has been very low as my colleagues are increasingly frustrated with our jobs. we function as mere "professional googlers" as my colleague put it, churning out research paper after another based on just desktop research. i realli realli hate that type of work.
however for the 4 years tat i have started work, this is the worst year to be looking. i was rather frustrated, as there had been opportunities this time last year to interview with some realli good firms in the finance industry, but i turned them down cos i felt i had to see through the project.
maybe it was a bad move, as seriously, no one is recruiting like now. i even had friends retrenched in the finance sector. but i thank God that although he is making me wait, much like the verse in 2 Cor 12, where the writer said he pleaded with God 3 times, but the Lord would only say my grace is sufficient to meet your needs, he has sent many friends who have been helpful in helping me look out for jobs. even if nothing comes up, it has been very comforting to know they are there and that God is showing me that he is still in control.
Cheers,
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Extra extra extraordinary camp 08
Hi hi, I have repeated my version of Camp a few times so I shall give my Popcorn version of it.
Emotional version
1. Very sad to leave camp.
2. Enjoyed frens' company very much.
Memorable moments
1. The appearance of a snake in the room
2. Prayed for a miracle to change room
3. Prayer answered and disturbed roomate to chat with me until 5 am.
4. Very ministered during one service.
5. Mixed around with different frens
Fun times
1. Played game with cell in Clement's suite.
2. Room tour and gained moral lessons.
3. Bangkok 2 day tour of shopping eating massage running
4. Chatted with roomate until 5am
5. Swam in the pool and played with Bei sq
Not so glorious but funny moments
1. Lost soccer to a group of very young boys
2. Lost Connect 4 to a kid ( I really was not concentrating keke)
3. Slammed the door and scared snake back to its den
4. Team was thrashed during volleyball
5. Hide in swimming pool
6. Bangkok team ran like mad on the last day to board bus to Cha Am
7. Trying very hard with Aileen not to listen in the private onversation (private+ juicy) of two loud TCCians on the bus.
Appreciative thoughts
1. Accomodating frens who bore it all with one and another suspected idiosyncracies (anyhw spelt)
2. TCCians who volunteered to serve in the camp. I went up to the coach champion and thanked her for serving. She was so surprised and looked very happy at my gratitude.
Spiritual take aways
1. Faith sometimes changes nothing but you.
2. Life can be a book of snapshots of moments. Make sure you take nice pics! Take an active role to weed out the ugly pics.
3. Doing it the proper way does not mean that the unexpected is not effective.
Emotional version
1. Very sad to leave camp.
2. Enjoyed frens' company very much.
Memorable moments
1. The appearance of a snake in the room
2. Prayed for a miracle to change room
3. Prayer answered and disturbed roomate to chat with me until 5 am.
4. Very ministered during one service.
5. Mixed around with different frens
Fun times
1. Played game with cell in Clement's suite.
2. Room tour and gained moral lessons.
3. Bangkok 2 day tour of shopping eating massage running
4. Chatted with roomate until 5am
5. Swam in the pool and played with Bei sq
Not so glorious but funny moments
1. Lost soccer to a group of very young boys
2. Lost Connect 4 to a kid ( I really was not concentrating keke)
3. Slammed the door and scared snake back to its den
4. Team was thrashed during volleyball
5. Hide in swimming pool
6. Bangkok team ran like mad on the last day to board bus to Cha Am
7. Trying very hard with Aileen not to listen in the private onversation (private+ juicy) of two loud TCCians on the bus.
Appreciative thoughts
1. Accomodating frens who bore it all with one and another suspected idiosyncracies (anyhw spelt)
2. TCCians who volunteered to serve in the camp. I went up to the coach champion and thanked her for serving. She was so surprised and looked very happy at my gratitude.
Spiritual take aways
1. Faith sometimes changes nothing but you.
2. Life can be a book of snapshots of moments. Make sure you take nice pics! Take an active role to weed out the ugly pics.
3. Doing it the proper way does not mean that the unexpected is not effective.
The different perceptives of listening
After some time of being Auntie Agony to some fans over the years, it suddenly struck me that women and men seem to view "The art of Listening" from slightly different angles.
When a woman lament that "Hey you don't listen to me." It NORMALLY (of course there are the stray species) means that the guy is doing something else while listening or not showing in his actions that he is listening in an emphathetic manner. Maybe he is also too quick to brush his lady off with some nice thoughtful solutions. This female perception of Listening is so widespread in books on shelf and in girlyl magazines.
Now now, when a man complains "hey you don't listen to me", it usually simply means "hey you don't do what I say or you don't obey me." Surprisingly, the male side of the art of listening is left strangely silent in the world of books.
When a woman lament that "Hey you don't listen to me." It NORMALLY (of course there are the stray species) means that the guy is doing something else while listening or not showing in his actions that he is listening in an emphathetic manner. Maybe he is also too quick to brush his lady off with some nice thoughtful solutions. This female perception of Listening is so widespread in books on shelf and in girlyl magazines.
Now now, when a man complains "hey you don't listen to me", it usually simply means "hey you don't do what I say or you don't obey me." Surprisingly, the male side of the art of listening is left strangely silent in the world of books.
Nothing's too small for God to fix ! :)
~ Lola
Hi all!
i smsed several of you last night to inform you of my 'emergency' prayer request....
Here's the story....
Yesterday evening, i had an appointment with a client. After I ended, I hibernated by notebook by closing the cover. This has always worked as I had enabled this function.
I went home for dinner and 3 hours later, when I opened my notebook bag to take out my notebook, i realised it was really hot....and realised that all this while it was not shut down because there was some program in the background that needed me to click 'end task' before the computer could shut down!!
Actually, this was not the first time I have encountered this problem. My previous notebook had the same problem before, but usually after i just shut it down and rebooted, all was fine. So, initially, I thought it wasn't a big deal....so i just shut it down to reboot....
Then! I realised that it wasn't rebooting....no response.....to cut the long story short...i pressed the button several times, tried several different ways (pull out cable, plug in cable, take out battery, put in battery etc)....and then I prayed....
Not too long after, it suddenly came to life; I was momentarily thanking and praising God....only to see it shut down again by itself 30 secs later....then i tried and tried again...and then it came to life again! I was really happy cos i thought it was fixed....it shut down by itself again, this time after 15mins....
Thereafter, I decided that it needed time to cool down....
10 hours later this morning, I was confident that it would work..but I was disappointed that it still didn't respond even after 10 hours of cooling down! I was asking God why He didn't answer my simple prayer :(
Then, I smsed you all and then brought it in for service.
Thank you for all your prayers and my last weak prayer (i prayed in my heart this morning, with whatever little faith I had left for God to revive my notebook). When it came to my turn at the counter....lo and behold! It switched on!!!!!
I described the problem to the tech staff, and told her it really didn't work for the past 12-15 hours! i even suggested ways to her how to 'not make it work' so as to prove that something was really wrong with my set...but after 10 mins waiting and waiting....we couldn't find any problem..i was just told to go home and monitor it and if it happens again, to bring it in!!
i was bewildered, yet in my heart, thanking God for the little miracle He had performed for me!
For the past 10 hours, my notebook has been well, praise the Lord!
Well, I learned a few simple lessons through this mini-ordeal:
1) Don't neglect the importance of backing up data!!! : )
2) We are like computers.....when we overwork ourselves, we can get burnt out!!! We need proper shut downs, hibernations won't work! :)
3) Never doubt the power of God to perform even the seemingly less 'significant' miracles! Nothing's too small or insignificant for Him!
4) Don't give up praying...perservere until something happens! Sometimes, God just lets us wait....
5) Encourage one another by sharing testimonies of how the Lord has answered our prayers, whether big or small!
Okay folks! That's all from me! Hope to hear from all the rest of you busy people....
Let's take time to share and encourage one another ya!?
Hi all!
i smsed several of you last night to inform you of my 'emergency' prayer request....
Here's the story....
Yesterday evening, i had an appointment with a client. After I ended, I hibernated by notebook by closing the cover. This has always worked as I had enabled this function.
I went home for dinner and 3 hours later, when I opened my notebook bag to take out my notebook, i realised it was really hot....and realised that all this while it was not shut down because there was some program in the background that needed me to click 'end task' before the computer could shut down!!
Actually, this was not the first time I have encountered this problem. My previous notebook had the same problem before, but usually after i just shut it down and rebooted, all was fine. So, initially, I thought it wasn't a big deal....so i just shut it down to reboot....
Then! I realised that it wasn't rebooting....no response.....to cut the long story short...i pressed the button several times, tried several different ways (pull out cable, plug in cable, take out battery, put in battery etc)....and then I prayed....
Not too long after, it suddenly came to life; I was momentarily thanking and praising God....only to see it shut down again by itself 30 secs later....then i tried and tried again...and then it came to life again! I was really happy cos i thought it was fixed....it shut down by itself again, this time after 15mins....
Thereafter, I decided that it needed time to cool down....
10 hours later this morning, I was confident that it would work..but I was disappointed that it still didn't respond even after 10 hours of cooling down! I was asking God why He didn't answer my simple prayer :(
Then, I smsed you all and then brought it in for service.
Thank you for all your prayers and my last weak prayer (i prayed in my heart this morning, with whatever little faith I had left for God to revive my notebook). When it came to my turn at the counter....lo and behold! It switched on!!!!!
I described the problem to the tech staff, and told her it really didn't work for the past 12-15 hours! i even suggested ways to her how to 'not make it work' so as to prove that something was really wrong with my set...but after 10 mins waiting and waiting....we couldn't find any problem..i was just told to go home and monitor it and if it happens again, to bring it in!!
i was bewildered, yet in my heart, thanking God for the little miracle He had performed for me!
For the past 10 hours, my notebook has been well, praise the Lord!
Well, I learned a few simple lessons through this mini-ordeal:
1) Don't neglect the importance of backing up data!!! : )
2) We are like computers.....when we overwork ourselves, we can get burnt out!!! We need proper shut downs, hibernations won't work! :)
3) Never doubt the power of God to perform even the seemingly less 'significant' miracles! Nothing's too small or insignificant for Him!
4) Don't give up praying...perservere until something happens! Sometimes, God just lets us wait....
5) Encourage one another by sharing testimonies of how the Lord has answered our prayers, whether big or small!
Okay folks! That's all from me! Hope to hear from all the rest of you busy people....
Let's take time to share and encourage one another ya!?
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