God's tick of approval

I finished Exodus a few days ago but haven't had the chance to blog my thoughts until now. I guess the main thing that stood out for me was that after many chapters of tabernacle requirements, description of materials, measurements, and instructions, and then after that, even more chapters about how the Israelites did as they were told - to the letter (there was so much repetition that I kept thinking I was reading the same chapter as the previous night) - it got to the point where right at the end of the book of Exodus, God gave the Israelites His tick of approval and subsequently came down behind a cloud to dwell in the tabernacle.

I felt really happy reading that, not just because it was a welcome break from the building instructions, but because it showed that God truly blessed the obedience of His people. That would have been a sight to see - after years and years of hard work and following detailed and precise instructions, the Israelites got to see something truly amazing! God Himself, coming down to enter His tabernacle... That's pretty cool.

Exodus 40:34-38. Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. And when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward in all their journeys: But if the cloud were not taken up, then they journeyed not till the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the LORD was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.

It's a reminder to us all that no matter how tedious our obedience may appear to be, God knows exactly what He is doing and will bless us and show us amazing things if we just obey Him and do as He wills. It may seem like a trivial or insignificant thing - but it is important in His eyes and therefore we should do it cheerfully - even if you reckon your way is better.

the silence of the larynx

Aaah... Laryngitis... When life becomes a constant action song...only without the song.

So it was three days yesterday that I was voiceless and unable to go to work (where I pretty much talk all day) and I had enough - plus I needed to get a med cert from the Doc. So I made an appointment and headed over to my local GP. After giving me a quick examination, she declared that I had laryngitis. [I had previously come to this conclusion using the good old online self-diagnosis / symptoms-checker sites (makes you wonder if we really need GPs at all right? Well we still do for prescriptions and med certs hehe)]. The Doc also told me not to go into work for the rest of this week - which I wasn't too happy to hear (it means that when I go back into work on Monday I will have HEAPS to do!) and that the boredom I had been experiencing for the last 3 days was set to continue (there is only so much daytime tv that one can handle).

So here I am at home - trying not to talk. It's pretty hard if you like talking. But at the same time, it has made me realise that a lot of the stuff I say is unnecessary [Truly. I know the stuff I say is pretty awesome but yeah, a lot of it is not actually beneficial. Yes it is quite shocking but it's true! OK now you can pick up your jaw from the floor and keep reading :D]. Like for example the other day, I was about to say something to one of my family members but because I couldn't I ended up thinking about what I was going to say and then coming to the conclusion that it wasn't necessary. This could be a good thing hey? Too bad it's only temporary! hahaha!

The other thing I realised was that when you don't talk, you actually learn a lot more stuff. People will tend to just keep talking to fill in silences and in the process you find out heaps more about whats going on! It's great!

I am reminded of some quotes by the sagely Elisabeth Elliot...

Never pass up an opportunity to keep your mouth shut

Keep your mouth shut and show your good sense

When men talk too much, sin is never far away; common sense holds its tongue

If anyone fancies that he knows, he knows nothing yet, in the true sense of knowing

Oh there is so much to learn and so much to change, Rowena. You'll get there someday.

bye bye mama

My grandma went home to be with the Lord yesterday. It's still sinking in for me and it's weird because I don't feel sad. I will definitely miss her heaps, but I know she was saved and that she is with the Lord right now. I prayed last night and at first I wasn't sure what to pray, but after a while I just asked God that He would take good care of my MaMa. By now I think she would have already gone through the induction tour of Heaven and has maybe even checked out her mansion. I'm sure it's fitted with it's very own never-ending-24-carat-gold-lazy-susan of yumcha, softservce icecreams, cakes, and meatpies. And she can eat all that she wants because she won't have to worry about her heart or diabetes! YEAH!

She is the grandparent that I knew and saw the most - my mum's dad passed away before I was born, my dad's dad went home when I was still quite young, and my mum's mum I only really get to see when I am in Thailand, and even then I can only communicate with her through my mum or through non-verbals. MaMa was a feisty one (she's a Cheng, it's in our DNA!) but she also had a great sense of humour and was always happy to see us - I will miss the way her eyes lit up when we called out to greet her. But I am sure one day, I will be able to greet her in Heaven and see her little eyes light up once again when we meet again.

God be with you till we meet again;
Ended when for you earth’s story,
Israel’s chariot sweep to glory;
God be with you till we meet again.

Till we meet, till we meet,
Till we meet at Jesus’ feet;
Till we meet, till we meet,
God be with you till we meet again.

fully sick

After a pretty eventful weekend - seeing my grandma on life support, visiting Freddy after the Northbridge incident, seeing Claudia off at the airport, anniversary dinner, and pretty much eating out all the time - my body finally gave up the fight against the lingering cold that has been breathing over my shoulder since a week ago, and I got sick.

Today I stayed home from work and slept all day. It's weird because yesterday I was feeling pretty good (despite not being able to talk properly), but today the husky voice I had yesterday morphed into the whisper with unpredictable squeaking voice, the throat became sore and ouchy, mucous started flowing like a waterfall and coughing became wet and slightly painful. Sorry if you are reading this while eating :P

Like I said before, I slept all day today and only really emerged from my bed for meals and to go to the loo. I still feel pretty average now, but I feel alright enough to check emails and blog. It could be worse. Thank God that symptoms seem to be settling down. Hopefully I can wake up tomorrow and be OK to go to work. I would appreciate a mention in your prayers if you read this :D

compassion day

Just wanted to remind everyone out there that Compassion Day is on 15 May 2008 (this Thursday). I have blogged previously about my sponsor child, Ardchai. Since then, the letters and pictures have been coming in (letters come via the pen of his teacher, as he is too young to write) regularly from the little cutie - and it seems as though he has been going to church and sunday school regularly. He's an inquisitive soccer enthusiast who is about to start grade one! Oh, they grow up so fast these days! haha

Ardchai is cool. And knowing that I am making a difference in his life just through a few bucks every month is amazing. $44 a month isn't much, and to be honest, if I wasn't donating it to Compassion, I would probably just be spending it on selfish means anyway. So I really thank God that an organisation exists that helps people in geneuine need - and the best thing of all - that does so in Jesus' name.

If you want to sponsor a child, I would encourage you to go through Compassion Australia. I think they do a great job.

mum's the word

Happy Mother's Day!

Here's a tribute to all the Mum's out there, just a bit of Momsense...



And then the sequel, Dadsense...

5 june!

Heard on the radio this morning that The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is opening in Australia on 5 June! I'm so excited! Now, I am not a hardcore Narnia fan by any stretch of the imagination, I have never read any of the books, but I did see the last one twice at the cinemas and loved it! So I am really looking forward to this one.

The great thing about Narnia is that it is written by one of my favourite Christian authors - CS Lewis, and because of this, it illustrates beautifully some really great parallels to the Gospel. For a 'Christian' movie, it is also really really well made. So thank God for that!

Here is a trailer I found online... Can't wait to see it! It looks awesome!!

it's time to hit a home-run...

Since I have started to go to work by car together with Caleb, we have started to listen to the radio a lot more on the way to work and on the way home. The other day, I remembered how I used to make requests for songs on Sonshine FM - but since I started getting the train to and from work, I stopped listening to the radio (it got too annoying with the reception cutting off every time the train pulled into the train station) and therefore stopped requesting songs.

So I think it was on Saturday night or Sunday night that I thought, might as well pop a request in and see what happens. So I did. And today on the way home from work, I heard them announce they were going to play a song for Rowena from Bateman!

If you need to know, it was this song... It's one of my favourites at the moment :D


Soon after the song played, I got a call from Lilian who asked 'Is that you?' and then when I confirmed with her, she pretty much laughed at me for a good minute or so on the other side of the phone! hehe

You gotta love good ol' cheap thrills eh?

exodus 18

Just a short one about Exodus 18. At a time where Moses was starting to feel a little bit discouraged, God sent Jethro (his father-in-law) to come visit Moses, reunite him with his wife, Zipporah, and two sons, and give a bit of fatherly advice. The family reunion would have been a big boost for Moses, but Jethro's words to Moses, I think, would have been just as encouraging.

After debriefing with Moses, Jethro warned him that he was going to burn himself out if he kept trying to lead the group of rebellious Israelites by himself, and suggested to Moses that he needed to delegate some of the responsibility to some God-fearing leaders. He genuinely wanted to help Moses and his care and concern really shone through.

I also like how Jethro was used to encourage Moses (Exodus 18:8-12) and rejoice with him about how God had been moving in the situation thus far as well.

I thought this was a nice chapter in Exodus, because it shows how God used someone in Moses' life who cared about him to lovingly counsel and advise Moses of how to manage the difficulties he was faced with. I guess it shows that our God truly understands our feelings and knows exactly what we need. He could have just told Moses directly, but chose to use Jethro - and in the process, He really helped to grow and develop that relationship. I thought that was pretty cool!

for the blokes

I love that picture! :D

This week's EBI was directed more toward the fellas, but I found it to be quite an encouragement for me personally. Jim Berg talked about the role of a husband in marriage and raised some very good points along the way. But I have to say, my favourite illustration was when he related the role of a husband to the Good Shepherd, Christ, in Psalm 23.

Psalm 23 has always been one of my favourite passages in the Bible. In fact, it was one of the first 'long' passages that I memorised. The imagery of Jesus loving His sheep so dearly and keeping them safe has always given me so much comfort. And when Coolio quoted Psalm 23:4a in Gangsta's Paradise, man, I thought that the coolest thing! (my walk with God was not all that fantastic at the time :P).

So when JB explained how Psalm 23 was like an illustration of a godly husband, it was like a penny had dropped. It just makes so much sense. Some people will have you think that the wife is the husband's slave - but I think it is their loss to think of the marriage relationship as that. JB explains that the husband should always try to learn how to be a loving leader - and should therefore love and care for his flock of one (I love that phrase!) which may become Lord willing, a flock of more, to the point where the sheep have the same response in Psalm 23 - they shall not want, their soul will be restored, they won't fear evil, they should feel comforted, they are looked after physically (head is anointed with oil), their needs are more than fulfilled (their cup runneth over), goodness and mercy will follow them, and they should want to dwell with that shepherd all the days of their life!

So to do that, the shepherd must be able to do the following:

- know where the green pastures are
- know where the still waters are
- lead the sheep to paths of righteousness (if he doesn't know where these are - he should find out)
- protect his sheep
- comfort his sheep (he shouldn't expect comfort from his sheep, though sheep should encourage their shepherd)
- give the sheep a sense of security by providing for their spiritual, physical and emotional needs - sheep should feel safe
- be there for her

The above may not be an exhaustive list, but it's what I could remember. I would really encourage those of you, brothers especially, who have not seen this talk to go along to the re-run of it next Sunday (11 May) at 7pm. Failing that, here are my notes from Wednesday night...

THE ROLE OF THE MAN IN THE HOME

A. HE IS A LEADER (Eph 5:23)
- follow the example of the Good Shepherd (Psalm 23)

- The Good Shepherd is a Provider
--- He provides for the sheep's physical (affection and protection) and spiritual (bringing God into the relationship and setting an example for the wife) well-being which will result in providing for her emotional (comfort and complement) well-being.
--- Her security should be the measure of his leadership


B. HE IS A LOVER (Eph 5:25, Col 3:19)
Remember how Christ loves us...
1. Christ loves first (1 John 4:19) - take the initiative to be responsible, to love, to lead..

2. Christ loves most (Eph 5:25) - constant sacrificial giving. Note that Christ loves the church more than the church loves Christ.

3. Christ loves in spite of faults (Rom 5:8) - though her faults may come as a surprise to you, God knew about them and has given you sufficient grace to overcome them

4. Christ loves sacrificially (Eph 5:25)

5. Christ loves purposefully (Eph 5:26-27) - sanctify and cleanse your flock, improve their situation.


C. HE HAS TO BE A LEARNER (1 Peter 3:7)
- the world says you can't understand a woman, God says 'you MUST!'

1. It requires humility
a. Know her limitations, be gentle (it takes strength to be gentle. She is the weaker vessel - handle with care emotionally and physically)
b. Know her position, be respectful of it (you married the King's daughter)

2. It requires input
a. Reading - the Bible and other books
b. Couple retreats, conferences etc.
c. Conversation with her - she should feel safe enough to give her opinion.

CONCLUSION - Learn to be a loving leader.

Eph 5:21 - submit ye one to another.

Wives should submit to his leadership, husbands should submit to her limitations.

two years, one job - got contentment?

Today marked the day that I have been in my job for TWO years! On 2 May 2006, I started work and have been there ever since. I guess in a way, it's kind of a big thing - for me anyways, seeing as Generation Y-ers are known to be job-hoppers. I dunno, I guess I am fairly happy at work - though there are a few issues that could be improved, the rest of it is pretty alright.

Recently however, I started to give a lot more thought to the things that I wasn't happy with and this in turn had caused me to really wonder whether I should start looking for another job, higher pay, better conditions, better career opportunities - that kind of thing. I started to think - Man, I could be earning so much more money working somewhere else... I would probably be able to do more OT-relevant work... Other places will see that I have a bit of experience and will be more likely to hire me... and a few other things. It took me about a week to realise that I was being really discontent (once again!) and not to mention - quite proud as well. It's scary just how easy it is to fall into this trap.

At about the same time, I started to count my blessings and fix my eyes back on the cross. The words of this song give me comfort now as I think about them

This world is not my home I'm just passing through
my treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue
the angels beckon me from Heaven's open door
and I can't feel at home in this world anymore

So I just want to thank God for employment, for His blessings, for teaching me many life lessons through my experiences, for income, for friends at work, for the cool things that I have been able to see and do - but most of all to help me realise again the importance of contentment!