this life under the sun

Life under this sun…  can be so fragile..

I still can’t shake it out of my mind. We were joyfully celebrating Lina’s birthday yesterday when we heard the terrible news of little Kevin been struck by a motorcycle when waiting for bus with his mum and sister back in our hometown in Ambon.  Kevin is a 2.5yrs old boy, son of my cousin Rudy who is a son of my mum’s elder sister.   I met Kevin for the first time when  I went back to Ambon Agt-Sept ‘08.  His parents brought him and Irene (his elder sister) to visit ko-chen who had came home from Australia.  He was a baby back then. A very cute good looking baby boy  and a shy one.  Never suspect that it would also be my last time of seeing him here on Earth.

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So what’s your birthday wish this year?

That is an unavoidable question every year.  I knew ppl will ask me  and I myself have been asking me that question too, ever since the calendar turns January :p

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It’s that time of the year again. Merrier than usual. Shopping centres are crowded with people. Carols everywhere. Gifts come and go. And people seems merrier (happier) than usual too. Perhaps they are really trully happier. Or perhaps they just pretend to be happy to join in the crowd for this festive season.

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My day started pretty good. I woke up late but managed to catch the X99 (express bus to city) just in time!  Was so happy, since I missed the X-bus for the last 2 days. Oh the feeling of catching a bus just in time is somehow priceless! hahaha :p

However my joy was short lived. A man with working shoes stepped on my bare toes! (I left my shoes at workplace and wear sandals to/from work since it’s summer here). I couldn’t blame him, the bus was very crowded. But still, my toes hurt!

The funny thing is my mind automatically think that: “bah! there goes my luck, today is going to be lousy for sure!“. Hmm.. why is it that when something “bad” happen to us in the morning we automatically think that the rest of the day is going to be bad?

Then I think more: “Hey, I am a Christian! I don’t believe in superstitious stuff like that! I believe that God my Father is the Ruler over my everyday. Bad thing, good thing, He allows them to happen for my good”.

If that is so, why should I afraid of a bad day? and why do I even believe in what is called “luck”? Aah MC.. what little faith you have in your good Father!

Anyhow, my day at work is as per normal. Someone annoyed me, and perhaps I had unknowingly annoying someone as well. It doesn’t really bother me unless they really cross the boundary.

Then came back home to find letters in mailbox, personally addressed to Chenny Thie in handwritting! *yay* finally something that is not bill and/or junk mail! hehehe :p

One is from Japan! thx Sarah :) that is soo sweet of you to send it. I shall remember them in prayer everytime I see the picture :) Really like the 2010 OMF Calendar too!

 The other one is something for my new business heheh Thx Ade :) By faith and God willing, 2010 will be a year of great success in this venture.

So, my little misfortune in the morning was proven nothing! I had a pretty good day despite bad start in the morning. There you go MC, something bad happen in the morning doesn’t always mean that the day will continue to be bad. Time to change that mindset! :p

If a day brings me lemon (ie. sour), I will make it into lemonade!  or better, get some ice and tea –> iced lemon tea :D

It seems like my star keeps on shining! goodness keeps on following me these days ^^

Today started late. It’s Saturday. Plus knowing that I’ll need my full energy today, I thought, aah stuffed the training-to-wake-up-early thingy! and so I enjoyed sleeping in.  Thanking God for very good and peaceful night sleep.

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Weather forecast said it’d be 41 C today. My flat is on the top of our building, so it’s usually much hotter.  I melt in hot temperature therefore I must plan an escapade: finding a comfortable and cool full air-con place to hibernate.  So fully equipped with my own books, iced tea, and my Sansa,  I went to Bowen library.  Hey, I don’t need their books, I just need their CC and AC :p :)

3 hrs later. 1 book finished. 1 heart renewed. Or at least, stirred-up for renewal.  Thanking God for gift of writing He gave to people. It’s amazing that dead letters combined together into words, then into sentences, can be so alive!  Francine Rivers can surely take you to journey into the book.

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I’m still thinking of my lost $110. Yeh this again? Heh! I heard what you’re saying! (or thinking!). But since this is MY blog, I can rant to my heart’s content bweee :p

The thing that really annoys me is, it happened because I wanted to save $10, the price difference between Qantas.com.au and travel.com.au. I will be accompanying Lina and kiddos on the way back to Sydney, so I must be on the same flight with them. Lina did give me the exact itinerary for their flight. I thought I booked the same flight, but accidentally made a mistake not noticing change of carrier in Adelaide. Lesson: never book (and fully paid) your flight late at night when your brain maybe already half a sleep!

Anyway, you know the story how I was fuming over it :p somehow it doesn’t want to leave me in peace. The lyrics “stoopid you! because you want to save $10, you lost $100!” is on auto-repeat mode playing in my head.

Then it makes me think… sure I was stoopid, that in order to save/gain $10, I lost 10 times more. But life isn’t just about saving vs loosing money. There are decisions we make in life, which we think will save/gain us something, but in reality, it may cost us more. Many of us may not realize that in trying to save our life here (in this world), -could be saving our “face”, lifestyle, status, reputation, relationship, etc,- we may unknowingly loosing something some important/valuable! that is, our life and relationship with God for eternal life.

And so I think more… Is there any other stoopid decision I make now which will cost me now and/or in the future in terms of my relationship with Christ my Lord? Would I be able to detect it beforehand, therefore I can avoid making the mistake? Would I make such a fuss when I’m loosing my godliness too? or Would my heart and mind be so hardened by the care of this world that I don’t even realize what a loss it is, to loose godly character(s) which God approved? Would I mourn when I try to gain something worldly and yet loosing my godly characters? Would I mourn when I cause God to kick a fuss/mourn over my sinfulness?

A warning from our dear Lord Himself: “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?. –> this is in context of following Jesus.

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:34-38).

Maybe I’m just thinking too far?… from the lost of 100 bucks to the lost of one’s soul. Maybe the parallel isn’t quite parallel at all. But I just couldn’t stop thinking…

Special Revelation  -continued-

Kitab Ibrani yg tadi dibacakan memberitakan kalau pada zaman dahulu Allah  berbicara dengan perantaraan nabi-nabi, dan pada zaman akhir ini Ia telah berbicara kepada kita dengan perantaraan AnakNya. ayo dilihat secara lebih mendetail.

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I’m trying to rewrite my notes from Ben’s talk this morning into Indonesian. It’s Ben’s talk plus my thoughts here and there. It is much easier to write in English, but I guess I have to consider who do I really want to share this good teaching with?  And the answer is: my Indonesian family and friends.  I’m not underestimating their ability to comprehend an English text, but I think they will appreciate Indo better than English?

Pardon me if my Indo juga ngaco :p  speaking in Indo is one thing, writing in Indo is totally another thing.  Many times I get confused whether I should write in proper Indo, or prokem Indo (bhs gaul maksudnya ;), or broken Indo (Ing-lish – mix Indo&English),  or in Ambonese? aaaaa that’s why I said English is much easier! :p  Anyway, here we go. 

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Today is the once-a-year Unichurches together, where all congregations of UNSW university churches meet together. I always love unichurches together because it reminds us that we’re part of bigger Christian group on campus working on the same mission for Christ eventhough we’re very different (culturally, social status, etc).

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