Envious

I was reminding our god-daughter to attend the town-hall meeting this Tuesday night to discuss the church's proposed purchase of the 3rd floor when she informed me that she and her husband will not be able to make it.

They are taking her mother out for dinner that night and it is something they are committed to every fortnightly Tuesday ever since they got married.

When I heard that I just couldn't help the wave of envy that swept over me.

How I wish we could spend more family time together with our 'bee and son-in-law on a regular basis. Unfortunately KL is their home now.

Starting on r12

Yesterday we launched a new cell group series entitled r12. r12 really sounds like some health supplement but, in a sense, that is an apt description because it is a spiritual health supplement.

We are embarking on an exciting adventure in pursuit for true spirituality as laid out by the apostle Paul in Romans chapter 12.

In the introductory session I wanted to remind the cell members on 3 matters with regards to spirituality. As usual, things did not turn out the way I expected :-( so, for the record, here's what I actually planned to say.

1. Do not confuse religiosity with spirituality. At the same time we cannot deny that spiritual disciplines are often a means to a deeper relationship with God. And spiritual disciplines like prayer, fasting and good works are, more often than not, the outflow and fruit of a vibrant relationship with God.


2. Do not confuse theological knowledge with spirituality. We can know a lot about God without knowing God. On the other hand, we cannot know God without knowing about Him. A desire to learn more about God and His ways should be the result of a love relationship with Him.


3. Lastly, do not compare yourself with others. Who are we to judge one another on spirituality? Only God knows the heart of a person. Instead of judging another brother or sister we would do well to check our own personal walk with the Lord and why we do things we do. Are we doing them out of love for God or love for the approval of people?

Annual Cell Durian Feast 2012

Somehow we have made it a cell tradition to have a durian feast once a year.

This year the organisers wanted to order RM400 worth of durians! We persuaded them to scale it down to RM200.

When the durians arrived - together with the mangosteens and rambutans - I thought there would not be enough for us to eat our fill. I was even more concerned when the first few durians they opened had worms.

As usual I overestimated our eating capacity. We had just enough for everyone and we ate our fill without reaching the point of diminishing returns.

To top it off, this year we also had steamed pulut, courtesy of Frankie Teh, to go with our durians. This is the traditional nyonya combination with durian and it would have been perfect if we had fresh santan to drench over our pulut and durian.

A Special Day

Some days are more special than others. Today is one of those days 'cos today is my Babee's first wedding anniversary.

She is also half-way through her pregnancy and today I felt my grandson's kick! And he really packs quite a punch.

No Next Time

This set of ads came into my Ads of the World RSS.

The three ads feature in turn the onion, the garlic and the cigarette - some of the most environmentally unfriendly stuff on earth.

The tag line is, "Next time, try it with a fresh breath."

Simple and clever.

In Denial

It is very difficult to help someone in denial. Even Alcoholics Anonymous recognises that the road to healing and recovery begins when the person admits to having a problem.

And when you try to gently get them to face reality they get angry and lash out at you. The standard accusation is that you cannot understand because you are not in the same situation and that you would have responded in like manner if it had happened to you.

And so they remain stuck in a world of "what might have been" instead of embracing a new season in life.

How sad can it be?

Blogger+

Trying a new mobile blogging app. I want better control over my text and my photos.