The Reason

Wishing everyone a blessed celebration of The Reason,
and a colourful 2010 ahead!

"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favour rests."

Puzzled

That's exactly how I feel right now.

No Faith Required

ShoweRevelation:
If life were perfect and went exactly as how we would plan it,
there would be no uncertainties.
Without uncertainties, there would be no faith required.
When there is no need for faith, there will be no testimonies of faith.
If we had no testimonies of faith,
how else would we tell of His faithfulness in our lives?

So are you called to a life of faith?

Photo taken from Mike Chitty's Enterprise and Entrepreneurship in the Community

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."
Hebrews 11:1

"And without faith, it is impossible to please God because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."
Hebrews 11:6

What does it mean to be a man?

"A man is defined by what he produces and not what he consumes."

Watch and you'll understand the line above.

[You can watch this in HD, go to this YouTube link]

"You wanna marry a guy you want to have babies with, you don't want to marry a guy who's a baby."

"Guys don't take initiative cuz Christian guys don't want to fail, and if they don't try they can't fail, and by definition, that's a failure."

"John (the Baptist) shows us what a real man is. He's filled with the spirit, he humbly prepares the way for Jesus, he's an evangelist who makes it his life's work to introduce others to Jesus. He's a man who, ultimately, is a giver, not a taker. He's a producer, not a consumer."

"You want to be creators and cultivators. If you want to image God, God as a creator and a cultivator:
you create a marriage and you cultivate that woman;
you create a child with her and you cultivate that child;
you create a new family legacy for generations and you cultivate it;
you create a business and you cultivate it;
you create a ministry and you cultivate it.

Want to be a man? You're a creator and a cultivator.
You're a producer, not a consumer. You're a giver, not a taker. You bring life, not death. You're not looking for the path with least resistance, you're looking for the path of greatest glory to God."

A-men!

Job match-making

Lately, JobsDB has been sending me Job Alerts pretty frequently. Is this a sign? *ooooo..* haha..

But look what they have matched me with.



Swimwear designer? Making me wonder: what in the world was my job criteria at that time?

Bear in mind, this was when I was first looking for a job - more than 2 years ago.

Maybe I was ambitious then. Haha.

I love Thee

My Jesus, I love Thee
My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine;
For Thee all the follies of sin I resign.
My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

I love Thee because Thou has first loved me,
And purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree.
I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

I’ll love Thee in life, I will love Thee in death,
And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath;
And say when the death dew lies cold on my brow,
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

In mansions of glory and endless delight,
I’ll ever adore Thee in heaven so bright;
I’ll sing with the glittering crown on my brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

- William Ralph Featherston, 1864


I Love Thee, Lord.

- Melody Ng, 18 Nov 2009


1864 - switch the '8' and '6', flip the '6' upside down, and then you get? 1984!
That's right, I'm 25 years old. And that's okay. =)

Seeing beyond warna

Something got me thinking.

About us seeing beyond our colour.

If the real purpose of 1Malaysia, is for us to be united as a country, and see beyond the colour of our skin...

Then why should seeing a group of Chinese dudes together be a problem? Why would it be considered racial and not 1Malaysia-like?

Why should we say,

"Look, they are not muhibah,"

when we see only a particular ethnic group together?

Because whether the group consisted of

[Ali, Ahmad, Amin] OR [Abu, Muthu, and Ah Chong],

aren't both groups considered MALAYSIAN?

Because if you truly believed in seeing everyone as Malaysian, then your comment of

"Eh, why no 'dan lain-lain' in this blogpost? So not 1Malaysia.."

already proves that you're still seeing through 'coloured lenses'.


*I'd like to know if you think this makes sense. Let's talk this through.

The Park Bench Dance

So You Think You Can Dance, Season 2, Episode 16

I really like this dance. Sad, but beautiful.

Edited: Click on the pic to view the video.

Google that, Facebook me and Tweet about it.

You can tell how stuff has changed/influenced our lives by how it has changed our language.

The linguist in me (and I like to claim there is one, haha) has emerged.

I was just thinking about it this morning (when my brain is at the edge of waking up but my body wasn't ready to get out of bed just yet), how proper nouns have evolved to become verbs, particularly around social media tools found on our booming and ever-growing world wide web.

The strongest proof point we have is Google, the world's most popular search engine.

"Go google it lah!"

You'll never hear someone say "I'll go Bing it." (oooh, 1st blow of the day).

What you might hear is "I'll google it on Bing." (2nd blow *dingdingding*)

Yahoo! tried to create a similar effect years ago, with "Do you Yahoo?" but I don't think it ever did catch on.

What about Facebook?

"Do you facebook?" "Yeah, I'm facebook-ing right now!"

Never have I heard anyone say "Come, Friendster me! I'm Friendster-ing." (3rd one, I'm ruthless)

My final proof point for the day: Twitter.

Twitter is major. They have a whole new twictionary for Twitter.

From twerds to Star Twekkies on Twitterverse, tweeple have successfully created a whole new bunch of twords (am I going overboard with this? haha) from one social media tool alone.

What gets to me the most is when someone says "Do you twit?" instead of "Do you tweet?"

Because you should know that a twit can tweet, but a tweet is not necessarily a twit. (I'll leave you to explore the meanings yourself, google it!)

All you need to do to make it offensive is add a comma in it: "Do you, twit?"

And so next time you're online, google your own name (I'm sure you have already!), facebook me and don't tweet rubbish. I indulge in occasional emotional twoutbursts on twitter, bear with me. I'm usually fine by the next tweet. =)

Till I write again, twoodles!

Run Terry, Run!

There's this run which is held every year.

In commemoration of this man - Terrance Stanley Fox.


He's the dude who ran the Marathon of Hope halfway across Canada with 1 prosthetic leg.

Without too much grandmother story, here's the short and condensed FAQ on Terry Fox.

How did Terry Fox lose his leg?
Cancer. Something called osteosarcoma.

Which leg?
The right one.

How old was he when he lost his right leg?
Only 18.

What was he like? Tell me more about him.
Well, he was a jock (without the 'dumb' prefix). Seriously. Soccer, rugby, baseball, diving. An active dude, he was. Very driven. A go-getter.

So, why did he run the Marathon of Love?
He lost his leg to cancer, was motivated to make a difference, despite being an amputee. There was no cure for cancer then (and now too). So he ran to raise funds for cancer research. His goal was to raise $1 for each person in Canada at that time, which amounted to $24 million.

Marathon, huh? How far did he run?
He intended to run a total of 8000km across Canada, 42km a day. Unfortunately, he only ran 5,374km (143 days consecutively) before his cancer relapsed and had spread to his lungs.

How did this become an annual tradition?
Someone pledged to Terry Fox that his Marathon of Love would be continued every year in his honour until Terry's dream of overcoming cancer is realized.


And here we are, still championing the cause of cancer research.

Some of you may have been so unfortunate to lose a family member or close loved ones to cancer. But we can still do our part to help the Cancer Research Intiatives Foundation (CARIF) in their noble efforts.

Terry Fox Run KL 2009
Date: Sunday, 1 November 2009
Venue: Flag off @ 9.00 a.m. Taman Tasik Perdana
Registration: FREE FREE FREE!

"Hah, then how they raise money?" you ask.


Get this T-shirt for only RM25. And do your part to support cancer research. If you want to order the T-shirts, call/sms/email or leave me a comment, and I can get them for ya.

See you at the run!

Dancing. Waiting.

Again, I'm reminded of a lesson I am still learning - waiting.

It helps that I can fully visualize the pictures Aunty Selina paints.
Only because I know her and her characters pretty well.

Also because I'm a sucker for dance.

Which is why I'm encouraged by this devotional.
Dance? What Dance?!

I'm blessed. Thank you, Aunty Selina.
You have always been a blessing to me.

20 years

As much as we can try to re-create innocence, a lot has changed in 20 years.

Size-wise, quite obviously. =P

We'll do this again 20 years from now. ;-)

Permission to date

Guys, here's a heads up.

My dad recently handed me this form and said "If any guy asks you out on a date, ask him to come talk to me. He needs to fill up this form first."

I took a look at the form. The questions are pretty harsh, but straightforward, if you can get past them, you should do fine.

Shh.. don't tell him I'm showing you all this. He doesn't know.

Page 1

Page 2

Page 3

I suggest, if you really wanna impress, print out the form and fill it up before you meet him. Then hand the form to him with a nice bottle of red wine. May not guarantee immediate approval, but I think you'll earn a few more brownie points.

Good luck!

When you grow up

When you grow up
      Things change
      Innocence is lost
      Experience is gained.

When you grow up
      The wrongs can seem ‘okay’
      The rights become less important
      The line between right and wrong becomes less clear
      The end sometimes justifies the means you take.

When you grow up
      Decisions become tougher
      Your ideals may be shattered
      Your beliefs will be challenged.

When you grow up
      You’ll meet many different people,
      Big and small, short and tall,
      Some kind, some mean;
      Some wear masks, others don’t bother,
      Some you’ll respect, some you’ll aspire to be;
      Others can be rude, bitter or just plain crude.

When you grow up
      You’ll learn that asking for help is necessary,
      That your rights are not always as important
      As you thought they were
      Being humble can be seen as a loss
      You may get confused, jaded.

But when you grow up
      Remember your Maker
      Forget not His Word
      Consider His faithfulness as in the days of your youth
      Take not for granted His mercies, enough for each day.

When you grow up
      Seek His counsel,
      His wisdom is far better than precious jewels or gold,
      It surpasses knowledge,
      Far greater than the wisdom of this world.

When you grow up
      He won’t ever change
      He’ll remain the same,
      So will His love for you endure and remain
      Will yours for Him stay the same?

The reason why I'm still up

I got hooked, beautifying my blog.

Do you like this new design? I did a little bit of sprucing up, even managed to do some HTML programming to create 'static' pages on Blogger. *beaming* So proud of myself.

I tweeted a while back that my goal is to sleep by 12.00am every night.

I failed tonight, obviously.

But bring on the eyebags and yawns, cos seeing my all-new and beautiful blog now is so worth my beauty sleep.

Sometimes I wonder why I bother, cos I don't really publicize my blog that much. Nor do I really want to. For self-satisfaction, I guess.

Every couple has a love story to tell

Here’s one I heard just today.

She had always thought he was a snob. She was friends with everyone in church, his friends, and even his sister, but she neither acknowledged nor said a word to or him. “A stuck up, he is,” so she thought.

He, perhaps, thought the same of her. “Always late for church services. A wild child,” was what she thought HE thought of her. (Her working times then often overlapped with service times)

One morning, out of the many mails which appeared in her Inbox, one particular mail stood out.

From an unknown email address. The mail was addressed to her, and a few other people, some of whom she knew. The contents didn’t contain much that was relevant to her though, perhaps a general encouragement to all. What was odd was there wasn’t even a sign off at the end of the mail.

A mystery sender. “How did this person get my work email address?” she wondered.

Curious, she replied the email, asking the mystery sender who he was.

He replied. Without revealing his name, he wittily and mysteriously identified himself as the best friend of so-and-so, the brother of so-and-so, and a host of other connections, most, if not all, of them she knew personally.

She could figure who he was – the snob, but the cleverly crafted email made her smile, laugh and interested her even more.

She replied and that was the start of their email communication and budding friendship. Every day, she would look forward to his email. It was always the first thing that greeted her every morning at work, without fail.

Life went on, she would see him around in church sometimes, but they never spoke in person. A tension built up between them, naturally. (I’m sure most of you will have experienced this before – you’re always on the lookout for him/her, you keep him/her in your sight most of the time. You’re not look straight at him/her, not stalking, of course, but he/she is always at the corner of your eye.)

All those emails, yet no spoken words. Not one. Brief knowing glances, perhaps.

3 months passed, and at long last, he plucked up the courage to ask her out.

Her heart fluttered. But being the lady that she was, she turned him down. Whatever her reasons were, she chose to play hard to get.

That didn’t deter him though. There is always a second time.

The second time came (what if it didn’t?!), then she gave in and agreed. The rest is history.

A little similar the movie “You’ve got mail”, don’t you think?

The only difference between that movie and this love story is – even after being married for years (I’m not sure how many), and now with a 3- or 4-year-old toddler in the family – she still receives an email from her beloved, every single morning in her Inbox, without fail*. (*Saturdays and Sundays excluded)

*The story above is a true account, paraphrased according to how it was told to me. Details are as accurate as possible to the actual event.

Now, how's that for a fairytale?

A letter to mothers

Was chatting with a girlfriend today. We talked about our mutual friends and acquaintances getting married and/or having babies, about how crucial it is to receive blessings from parents when getting married and so on.

The conversation eventually led on to our current single and boyfriend-less state.

Like all other anxious mothers of 20-something-year-olds, hers is getting... well, anxious.

In semi-frustrated-semi-joking mode, she said:

“Last time when we were in highschool, when we used to go out or hang out with boys – she will marah, never allowed us to go out. Now we don’t go out with guys, no boyfriend – she also marah, keep on nagging and get upset because there are no prospects.”

Funny and ironic, but it’s true. It’s real.

I consider myself pretty blessed, considering that my mom is still hanging in there. She hasn’t, admirably, lost it yet. Not yet, anyway.

But listening to my friend’s complaints, I could empathise with her. So here is an open letter I write to all mothers, on behalf of all single ladies who are also in our situation.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Dear mothers,

We love you and understand your worry. As much as it is in our ability, we want to relieve you of your worries too. But, your worry, articulated in the form of nagging, only makes us more uneasy of our current state.

Beneath our seemingly nonchalant exterior, the ‘I don’t care's’ and the ‘I don’t need a guy’, we are concerned too. We’re just pretending not to care. Your anxiety only makes us more worried and insecure. You should know that deep down, we all want get married too.

Sometimes, this current state drives us to say things like “why do I need a guy?” and “what’s wrong with living my life alone?” It’s a self-comfort mechanism we employ to assure us of our independance and to play down our need to depend on a guy. This probably makes you more agitated and upset, but I guess it’s our way of preparing ourselves for the ‘worst’.

‘Getting a boyfriend’ is not as simple as it seems. It’s not like choosing a toy out of a toy store. It’s not a snap-and-get trick one can employ. Heck, it’s not even something we girls can initiate on our own (we could, but we’d rather be pursued than to throw ourselves at a guy). If there are no prospects, then there are no prospects.

Maybe some of us are not ready to get married. We’re just unsure of that role and the responsibilities involved. Then give us some time to think things through. Don’t rush us.

Maybe some of us have already given up on love. We’ve been through so much that we’re disillusioned by guys and relationships. Then maybe it’ll take time for our broken hearts to heal. Be patient with us. Help us nurture our hearts back to health. Speak hope.

How else can you help us? Be patient and uh, pray real hard. =)p Nagging only reminds us of what we already know. We’re sorry if we have snubbed you at times, you probably caught us at our most frustrated moments. Whenever you can, assure us. The best encouragement can only come from you. Try not to be overly kan-cheong. The pressures we feel from our aunties during CNY every year are more than we can bear. ;-)

Much love,
Your single daughter(s)

Summertime

The typical lifespan of a human being is, according to the Bible, 70 years.

3 scores and 10, to be exact. Or 80, "if your strength endures". (Psalm 90:10)

Most believe that anything more than that is a bonus.

In most poetry, our lives are generally divided into four seasons i.e. Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.

Divide 70 by 4, you get 17.5 years.

Makes sense, cos Spring is when plants grow and flowers bloom. We grow the most physically and mentally, having to go to school, learn and soak up knowledge most of that 17.5 years.



I've passed that season years ago, and you could say that I'm in the middle of my "Summertime" now. Wheee....

Mental image of Summer - think fun in the sun, think loads of activites, think summer camps, think summer dresses, think summer love, think summer jobs, think summer vacations.

• fun in the sun - it's always hot in Malaysia. fun? yeah, most times, I'm having fun.
• loads of activities - aplenty, enough to keep me busy.
• summer camps - we've got one coming up real soon! check it out on facebook.
• summer dresses - I'm not so much a dress person, but got dresses also lah.
• summer love - =), not yet. (methinks the folks are a little worried, =D at most. and I'd be lying if I said I didn't care.)
• summer jobs - well, not exactly a summer job, but yeah, I've got a job. enjoying it too.
• summer vacations - ada juga. I've been really blessed to be able to visit quite a few places in the past 2 years.
  

Yup, I'm living the summer season of my life. There've been a couple of hiccups along the way, but so far, I'm lovin' it!

The Who

Picture taken from happyworker.com

What if your leap of faith had no landing ground?

And then you end up falling, indefinitely?

Well, that's probably why they call it a leap of 'FAITH' in the first place.

If it's about trust, then you'd better know who is it you can trust.

Cos, once you know the Who, then it's easier to believe the what, how, when, where, and why.

Tweeting vs Blogging

Who's gonna win?

Right now, twitter's winning.

But we'll see.

I've still got a couple of things that i've been wanting to blog about.

Just never got down to doing it.

It's always: "next time", "tomorrow", or "not today".

Yeah, maybe next week.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, peeps.

Live from Cedar Point

Proof that my sister is still alive...

Say hi to mi and dy!

Think GLOBAL

We use the word 'global', but sometimes lose sight of what it actually means, or forget just how much the word actually encompasses.


So I got excited when I saw this in Hong Kong, among the many many ad posters along the walls of the MTR stations.

I'm encouraged. We're not alone. But I should have known that already.

Be encouraged. =)

Twit twit

Today's post will pose 1 question only.

Do you Tweet?

If you do, add me @swinnmelody

If you don't, sign up!

Wanna know more about Twitter? Here's something with a local flavour. Enjoy!

=D

Hong Kong, Macau, I am coming!

Taken from http://www.destination360.com/

Happy happy joy joy!

Sum Ting Wong

Something's wrong with Hotmail.

Or maybe something's wrong with Gmail.

I'm not receiving mails I'm supposed to get.

And you're thinking, "How can she know she's supposed to get emails when she didn't receive any?"

Aiya, the mail was sent from my Dad. From Gmail. And my sis, from Yahoo!.

So maybe something's wrong with Yahoo!.

This isn't the first time it has happened. The last time something like that happened was when Mom and Dad were in San Francisco.

Now we're communicating with sis over in US through email, and I'M NOT GETTING ANY MAILS FROM THEM! Boo. Feel so left out.

Maybe it's something wrong with the US-Malaysia-over-the-internet connection.

Yes, I'm pretty sure it's that.

---------------------------------------------------------------

So, all you out there on Gmail or Yahoo! or in US, if you sent a mail which may require a reply, and I don't reply, I probably didn't get it.

Resend the email to my alternate email, k? If you don't know what is my alternate email, go find out yourself. =P

If, after sending to both emails, I STILL don't reply, try a third time.

If after that, I STILL don't reply...

... get the hint. (ahahhahahahah! =P kidding kidding..)

Rock star, rock on!

This video cracks me up.



Look at the girls swoon. haha!

Wanna see more? Visit the Intel Sponsors of Tomorrow website. Pretty cool stuff there. =)

There she goes...

...leaving on a jetplane.

Reality didn't hit me until I saw all the bags packed to the brim.

5 months - it seems long now, but it'll be gone in no time. Enjoy it to the full, Mary!

And buy me many tops, shoes, bags and jeans. hehe

The Yearly Affair

No, not my birthday.

Not my home spring cleaning season either.

NO, I wash my car more frequently, thankyouverymuch.

Yes, taxes.

Well, a first for me, starting this year.

No, I've not filed my taxes yet.

No, contrary to popular belief, not all girls crave the drama.*

Yes, I procastinate. More often than I should.

Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia, here I come!

---------------------------------------------------------------

*The belief is that girls crave drama in their lives, that's why they over-analyse and draw over-the-top conclusions about guys falling totally in love with them (when it's not true). Which is also why girls always wait for the very last minute to pay bills, apparently just to see if they'll make the cut off time. Oh, the drama~! (popularised by the movie He's Just Not That Into You.)

*EXTRA*
To report anyone whom you know is trying to evade taxes, click here. They're watching you. Watch out.

---------------------------------------------------------------

*EDIT* 12.59 am
Done! I've filed my taxes! Easy and hassle-free. Melody Ng - In support of filing taxes online. Go, LHDNM!

Labour Day = Sugar Rush

I don't think I've ever been so excited about the 1st of May before.

I CAN'T WAIT!

Just the thought of having a day off (even though it's only ONE day!) thrills me.

And it's not like I've got anything exciting planned for it.

*sigh* See what working life does to me?

Sabbath in hiding

This week is one of those weeks. It doesn't happen every week, but it happens.


Mon-day - Work
Mon-night - Core Meet

Tues-day - Work
Tues-night - LOUDroom

Weds-day - Work
Weds-night - Family dinner

Thurs-day - Work
Thurs-night - Easter Practice

Fri-day - Work
Fri-night - Sheep Utd - Good Friday Makan

Saturday - Easter Service - Singing

Sunday - Easter Services - Singing - Family Lunch


And there you go, one week. In a blink of an eye. Sometimes weeks like these go past so fast. I struggle to find time to sit and rest. Relax. Ponder. Write.

I often catch myself thinking, "There are too few hours in a day. Too much to do. Too little time."

Where art thou, O Sabbath?

Sooner or later, something's gotta give.

Speak hope

I've decided to speak Hope to the situations I'm in.

Here's the age-old grievance we girls have (in or out of church).

"There are no eligible guys around!"

I've decided that I shall not echo that sentence (consciously) anymore.

Because I know that it is not entirely true.

Now, while I do believe that there ARE eligible guys out there, I also believe that that pool of eligible guys is incredibly small.

Minute.

I mean, miniscule.

Like, atomic.

So really, you can't fault us for having that argument at the tip of our tongues all the time.

But all that aside, I'm gonna be more hopeful when this topic comes about in my conversations.

Cos I think if we continue saying "No guys, no guys," even if 'got' also, it'll become 'don't have'.

I'd rather speak the truth and have faith that it will come to pass, than to see a lie become the truth.

Solitary Retreat

Melody needs a solitary retreat.

Just some time alone with Him.

Is that so hard to get?

White

What is worse than finding one strand of white hair on your head?

Finding THREE strands of white hair!

Grrrr..eat.

Anticipation vs NowNowNow

24 February 2009, The Star, Calvin and Hobbes

Bill Watterson is a genius.

I'm falling in love

Have a listen and you'll understand why. =)

Prayer

"Prayer is not about God giving you what you want. It's about God giving you what you should have wanted."

-Landa Cope, 1 March 2009

So am I praying for what I should want? I hope so. If not it'll be like me beating the air, asking for the foolish things of life.

What can be more tragic than demanding for wrong/foolish/harmful things, eh?

I can't wait, I can't wait!

Jason Mraz Live in Malaysia

4 March 2009, Stadium Negara

I've never been to a concert before. But I'm going to see Jason this Wednesday.

Yah, Jason is my friend, cannot? :-P

Yay yay!

To the face

If there's anything worth saying, it's worth saying to the face.

If one dares not say it to the face, then it's not worth saying at all.

Long week

Today feels like a Friday.

Padahal, it's only a Thursday.

Why does this week feel so long?

I can't wait for the weekend. Busy as it may be.

IDF

My colleague and I have recently contracted this disease.

It's called the IDF.

Short for 'Itchy Dancing Feet'.

How to cure ah?

Choose one

1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

2. Slumdog Millionaire

3. Changeling


3 must-watch movies, too few days, and only ONE TGV voucher.

How to choose lah?!



The voting lines are now open.
Type...

1800-MOVIE-001 to vote for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
1800-MOVIE-002 to vote for Slumdog Millionaire.
1800-MOVIE-003 to vote for Changeling.

Remember Malaysia, I only have one free movie voucher. Make your vote count!

Easier

Some people just have it easier, don't you think?

Or maybe, we just think they do, but they actually don't.

Guess that's just a self-comfort statement.

*sigh*

Life

Life will be a lot less stressful if we were...

... less bitter

... more patient

... less complaintful

... more contented

... less easily-angered

... more others-centered

... less stubborn

... more forgiving

... less harsh

... more compassionate.

"(Do not) do to others as you would (not) have them do to you."

- Luke 6:31 (words inserted are of my own)

My reasons, your excuses

In a conversation with someone, I blurted out (virtually) these words,

"Take all my reasons and make them your excuses."

Not bad eh? Sound like lyrics from a song, or a line from a movie. Or a poem maybe.

Alright. Syok-sendiri-moment for the day has ended. Time to get back to work!

Moping around online?

Do you find yourself online, after the usual checking of mails, reading of blogs and updating of facebook, switching between IE tabs or scrolling up and down the Messenger list, seemingly busy with something of some sort, but actually, you ain’t doing nothing but moping around online?

Then you actually end up wasting time staring at your computer screen, searching for something to do/click on, waiting for a mail to come in, listening for someone to ping you, or looking for any form of distraction to keep you occupied.

I think that’s when you know you’ve got to get off the net, shut down the computer, close the laptop lid and go read a book.

That’s precisely what I’m about to do.

Have a good week ahead, ppl.
MeL

Template troubles

I think i kinda screwed up my blog template.

Whatever happened the Font and Color of my Post Title text???

So UGLYY!! Yucks..


[Edit: 9.55pm Phew, managed to get it back to the ori template. I shall not attempt to modify it. Not anytime soon anyway.]

Crossed a little in love

I watched Pride and Prejudice. Again. (Since we're all in the lovey-dovey mood, hehe)

One of my all-time-favourite movies. Never fails to make me smile.

It's interesting that eventhough I've watched the movie more than 10 times, different quotes stuck to me at the different times that I've watched it.

Here's the one that stuck today.

"Next to being married, a girl likes to be crossed a little in love now and then. It is something to think of, and it gives her a sort of distinction among her companions."
-Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen-

Now I'm not sure about the "having a distinction among her companions" part, but the first sentence is probably true for most girls. Hehe..

Here's to Jane Austen. And that shall be my bit for Valentine's day. Enjoy!

Feel the love

This article made my heart melt.

In my opinion, it's what true wooing and courting is like. =)

"After a year of determined courtship..."

He must have did something right. After all, it ain't easy to get a girl (who's in love with another) to respond to you positively. But that's the essence of wooing!

woo (old fashioned) (of a man) to try to persuade a woman to love him and marry him

-Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary

Feel the love oozing out of the webpage as you read. Haha..

Enjoy!


Other Valentine's day posts:
- Court, date, woo
- Ready to dine on Valentine?

You have... 11 months left

*alarmclockring*

Whaaat?! You mean January has already come and gone? Already? Soo FAST?

I feel like I've not done a thing since the year started and tomorrow is already February, the 2nd month of the year.

Time to get my engine revving and start achieving some things for this year.


Time really does fly. By the months, I tell ya. Soon it'll be December again. *shudder*

Better is one day

Psalm 84:10-12

10 Better is one day in Your courts

than a thousand elsewhere;

I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God

than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;

the Lord bestows favour and honour;

no good thing does He withhold

from those whose walk is blameless.

12 Lord Almighty,

blessed are those who trust in You.

Amen.

Father, I trust You.

In the zone... not.

There are times when I'm all geared up to work on a Monday,

and there are times when I'm not in that zone at all.


Today is one of those days that I'm of the latter.

Great.

Ouuuch

Headache, be gone!


*pounding*



grrr...

Compliments

The subject came up between me and 2 other colleagues: Giving Compliments.


What is a compliment? A compliment is an expression of praise, admiration, or congratulation, according to Dictionary.com. (Of course, I knew you knew that.)


See, we have come to know a certain someone who seems so liberal with his compliments that when they are given, they seem insincere and they aren't taken seriously.


I had a light-bulb moment and said:

"Compliments are like currency. Give too much of it away and they lose their value."

So my advice when giving a compliment is:

1. Give it sincerely.
2. Make sure you mean it.
3. And, uh, ration it.

[akcherly ah, points 1 and 2 mean the same thing, but 3 points look better than 2 :-p]


I, however, contra to all that I've written, need to learn to give compliments because there is always something good in everyone that is always commendable.

Unpaid compliments have no value either. So there.

======================================

Since I'm in the mood to quote...

"I hate careless flattery, the kind that exhausts you

in your effort to believe it." ~Wilson Mizner

I resort to doing this to create space

"I can live for two months on a good compliment." ~Mark Twain

I resort to doing this to create space

======================================

The Story Retold

I highly recommend that you read this and this.

It's totally engaging and absorbing. Gives you a different perspective too.

Enjoy!
MeL

Thank you, Lord

Thank You Lord

I thank You Lord, for the trials that come my way
In that way I can grow each day, As I let You lead
And I thank You Lord for the patience those trials bring
In that process of growing, I can learn to care

Chorus:
But it goes against the way I am
To put my human nature down
And let the Spirit take control of all I do
For when those trials come
My human nature shouts the thing to do
And God's soft prompting can be easily ignored.

But I thank You Lord, with each trial I feel inside
That You're there to help lead and guide me away from wrong
For You promised, Lord, that with every testing
That Your way of escaping's easier to bear

But it goes against the way I am
To put my human nature down
And let the Spirit take control of all I do
For when those trials come
My human nature shouts the thing to do
And God's soft prompting can be easily ignored.

Yes, I thank You Lord, for the victory that growing brings
In surrender of everything, life is so worthwhile
And I thank You Lord, that when everything's put in place
Out in front I can see Your face
And it's there You belong

But it goes against the way I am
To put my human nature down
And let the Spirit take control of all I do
For when those trials come
My human nature shouts the thing to do
And God's soft prompting can be easily ignored.

Question: Why do we struggle to submit to God's will when we already know that His will is perfect?

Heard this song for the first time at the recent Watchnight Service at this church. I thought it was an interesting song, cos it's not often we hear worship songs that end with a not-so-good connotation.

How the songwriter chose to end the song is unique and real, for most of us. The struggle is real and our human nature definitely still exists.

But what is most interesting are the contradicting verses of the song. They thank God for the trials, for His guidance and His victory at the end of each trial.

The chorus leaves you tempted to think that our own human nature is so easy to 'fall' into and it can't be helped, but the verses give you hope, to continue to trust in God and have faith that He is and will be there in every trial to see you through and rise victorious.

I guess when you're struggling, you don't see/listen. You're too engrossed with wrestling for your own way. But when you take a step back at look, you realise that you have foolishly wasted time and energy struggling over something that was a non-issue in God's plan.

I think it was timely that I read this online devotional as well by a dear sister/aunty/mentor of mine.

God makes everything beautiful in His time. And I shall continue to hope in Christ Jesus my Lord and in His garenti-sure promises.