Archives for November 2011

Calm in the storm

November 15, 2011 · By ·

I am experiencing the toughest season of my life. And I am still in the midst of the storm.

Too much to put it down in words, but it is easy to blame the hb for some, but I know that our lives are a result of choices that we made. And I had a part to play as well.

What we have learnt from this is that we can never depend on our own assumptions, strength, abilities or intelligence…and never take our eyes off God. The positives that have resulted from this is that hb and I have started doing couple devotional time together. I have always been focused on my own spiritual growth and never been a very good team player when it comes to growing together as a couple in Christ.

I am amazed really. Amazed by how much strength and peace that the Lord has given me to sustain me, the joy that I still have in Him despite the difficulties. I am certain that if I do not have God in my life, I would have been crying like mad and panicking like a headless chicken. I did not shed a tear once. And the only response to my panic was to go into prayer. Prayer for the God's hand on the situation, thanksgiving for the daily sustenance and providence. And again God has proven to be so real and faithful in my life, I really felt the words of this verse coming to pass;

Philippians 4:6-7

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

I will continue running with endurance in this last leg of the race for I know 'Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.' – James 1:12

Despite whatever I am experiencing, it is nothing compared to the millions of people out there that are way less fortunate than I am. I am still working on the handmades (for fund raising for Children's Hunger Fund) to help me to remind myself of how blessed I really am.

And I know with utmost certainty that I will be able triump over the storm and soon will be able to exclaim that all glory goes to God!

Hebrews 12:1-3

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

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It’s my money!

November 3, 2011 · By ·

I stopped buying flowers for the home for the last two months.

Started feeling that $10-$14 a week can be better spent elsewhere.

It was really timely to have chanced upon this article, that world population have reached 7 billion on 31st Oct 2011 and what really stood out from this article was the statement; 'Seven billion is already facing us with horrendous problems, including almost 1 billion people hungry.' It was a shocking number really, 14% of our world population is going hungry every single day. The article listed some solutions to the problem, but I felt that none really could address the current problem that we have. We can control population with birth control, with abortion (a big NO NO!) or women given equal opportunities with the rights with men etc, but it doesn't even alleviate the current problem that we have with the world today; 1 billion people are still going hungry every single day!

I spoke to Kyle about this yesterday.

I asked him, "Are you able to give some of your piggy bank money to help the poor children who have no food and are going hungry?"

He thought for a while and replied. "No! It is my money and I cannot give it to anyone!"

My response to him was, "I think we need to pray to ask Jesus to change your selfish heart. God has bless us so much and we have so much here to eat, and so much leftover, all we need to part with that little money so that we can help the poor children with some food to eat."

I read to him the parable of the poor widow from Mark 12:41-44 that evening, and we prayed for Jesus to change his selfish heart to a heart that is giving. And I told him to think about it and tell me his decision.

This morning, he came to me and told me, "Mommy, I will give $3 to the hungry children."

I asked him, "Are you sure you thought about it and want to give the money? What made you change your mind?"

He replied, "Jesus changed my heart."

I was really surprised and heartened to have heard this from him this morning. I thought that he would have forgotten all about it until this is mentioned to him again.

I was looking through this the past couple of days, which lists the top 25 organisations and charities for kids. And I shortlisted this organisation Children's Hunger Fund which we can help to raise some funds for.

This year, 6 million children will die from hunger related causes if we don't do anything about it…

We can work with this organisation to do something…

Just think about it, 6 million children, that's more than the whole population of Singapore! According to Children's Hunger Fund, US 5 cents is enough to provide a hungry child a meal, with Kyle's SGD $3 it works out to almost 50 meals!

So I am appealing to all friends for your participation in this little fund raising activity. All you need to do, is this:

1. Crop and paste any of this above information or pictures on your blog site, together with this logo (just right click and save image in your hard drive or copy the html for this to add as a widget to your site)

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/catchfortywinks/6308510246/" title="CHF by catch40winks, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6045/6308510246_604f399a76.jpg" width="250" height="87" alt="CHF"></a>

 

2. Appeal for friends and readers on your site to go directly to this page to make direct contributions. All it takes is US $5.00 for 100 meals for the children. Of course, it will be great if you can contribute more. You can also go to this page to make a direct contribution to areas that are most needed; like disaster relief.

3. Organise your own fund raising activity. Pauline and I will be making handmades the next couple of weeks and all sale proceeds will go into Children's Hunger Fund.

There are plenty of  ideas that you can adopt to raise the funds;

  • Bake sale
  • Make and Sell a product
  • Give up a birthday gift
  • Lose weight by missing a meal and contributing what you might have spent on the meal to the Children's Hunger Fund

4. If you have a preschooler or a child who has learnt to save some money, talk to him/her to see if he can give a little of his money to help to feed hungry children.

So many of us take it for granted that we always have a hot meal ready on our dining table for ourselves and our children and always have something to snack on whenever we are hungry. But the reality is not the same for many children around the world.

It's our money, and all it takes to help is that little bit of it and some time and effort to be able to make a difference to the poor and needy children in our world. Help us and Children's Hunger Fund to show a child in some remote corner of our world that he / she is loved.

Do drop me a note if you are interested to participate and will be putting this fund raiser activity up on your blog or FB page. My deepest appreciation and thanks in advance for your kind and giving contribution to Children's Hunger Fund!

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