Take Time to Smell The Rain & Roses & Your Loved Ones!!

She had been shopping with her Mom in Walmart. She must have been 6 years old, this beautiful red haired, freckle faced image of innocence.

It was pouring outside. The kind of rain that gushes over the top of rain gutters, so much in a hurry to hit the earth it has no time to flow down the spout.

We all stood there under the awning and just inside the door of the Walmart. We waited, some patiently, others irritated because nature messed up their hurried day.

I am always mesmerized by rainfall. I got lost in the sound and sight of the heavens washing away the dirt and dust of the world.

Memories of running, splashing so carefree as a child come pouring in as a welcome reprieve from the worries of my day.

Her voice was so sweet as it broke the hypnotic trance we were all caught in. "Mom, let's run through the rain," she said.

"Pardon?" Mom asked.

"Let's run through the rain!" She repeated.
"No, honey. We'll wait until it slows down a bit," Mom replied.
This young child waited about another minute and repeated: "Mom,let's run through the rain."

"We'll get soaked if we do," Mom said.

"No, we won't, Mom. That's not what you said this morning," the young girl said as she tugged at her Mom's arm. "This morning? When did I say we could run through the rain and not get wet?" "Don't you remember? When you were talking to Daddy about his cancer, you said, 'If God can get us through this, he can get us through anything!"

The entire crowd stopped dead silent. I swear you couldn't hear anything but the rain. We all stood silently. No one came or left in the next few minutes. Mom paused and thought for a moment about what she would say.

Now some would laugh it off and scold her for being silly. Some might even ignore what was said. But this was a moment of affirmation in a young child's life. A time when innocent trust can be nurtured so that it will bloom into faith.

"Honey, you are absolutely right. Let's run through the rain. If GOD let's us get wet, well maybe we just needed washing," Mom said.

Then off they ran. We all stood watching, smiling and laughing as they darted past the cars and yes, through the puddles. They held their shopping bags over their heads just in case. They got soaked. But they were followed by a few who screamed and laughed like children all the way to their cars.

And yes, I did. I ran. I got wet. I needed washing.

Circumstances or people can take away your material possessions, they can take away your money, and they can take away your health. But no one can ever take away your precious memories...So, don't forget to make time and take the opportunities to make memories everyday.

To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven.

A friend sent this to me to remind me of life. Hope you enjoy it & TAKE THE TIME TO RUN THROUGH THE RAIN.. Keep in touch with your friends, you never know when you'll need each other.

Choice - God's Gift To Mankind

Now I fully understand God's love. The Love He has cannot even be measured with eternity. I hope you all understand what this story/play is about. I pray that understanding dawns within you as well. Be really thankful for what is done for you. May God find your heart. God bless.

Narrator:
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. One by one, starting from day and night to water and earth, to plants and animals, God made them all and said they were good. On the day God created man........

(God was busy making Adam from the dust of the ground. Seeing one of His angels aproaching, He looks up and seemed pleased)

GOD: Look at all the creatures I have created. Are they not good? And the universe,the stars and the skies. Are they not beautiful?
ANGEL: Yes, they are. Truly Magnificent.

GOD: Look at this creature. (pointing at Adam/man He is creating) He will be different. All the universe will obey me and love me. They will reflect My glory because that is how they are created to do. But this one will be like me. He will have this. (God reached within Himself and remove something unseen)
GOD: This is called CHOICE.

ANGEL: Choice?? (sounding afraid)But.... but what if he choose not to love?
GOD: Come, I will show you. The fruit of choice is bitter and sweet.
(God makes a sweeping motion and what the angel saw amazed and impressed him)

GOD: What do you see?
ANGEL: I see spontaneous love, voluntary devotion, chosen tenderness. There is laughter everywhere and people are so joyful!! Heaven has never seen such beauty. Truly this is Your greatest creation.

GOD: Yes, but this is only the sweet part of choice. This is the other side.
(God makes another sweeping motion. What the angel saw shocked and disgust him)
ANGEL: Lord, I see wars and, suffering, and rotten hearts!!!! Is this the result of choice also?
GOD: Yes.

ANGEL: They will forget you?
GOD: Yes.

ANGEL: They will reject you??
GOD: Yes.

ANGEL: They will never come back?
GOD: Some will. Most won’t.

ANGEL: What will make them listen???
(God looks at the angel and was silent. Understanding dawns and the angel was horrified)
ANGEL: NO!! It cannot be!! How can you send Jesus down there, to die a horrible,painful and humiliating death??!! To be beaten up and then crucified, and hung on the cross. So much pain and suffering!! Is there no other way,Lord??

GOD: No.

ANGEL: There has to be another way!!! What if You don’t plant the seed of choice?? Wouldn’t that be easier?? Please tell me there is another way!!
GOD: There is no other way. I cannot take away choice. Take away choice, and you take away Love. Robots cannot love. Even if they do, it will because they have to. Not because they want to. That is not real love. It will be less painful…. But it wouldn’t love.

Narrator:
The angel leaves, feeling sadness. God looks at His clay creation. Love swells up within Him and He bends over the clay form, and breathes into it.

God had a choice to put the seed of choice in man. And He chose to. He knew that He will lose us and yet created us. The most beautiful of all is that He gave us a choice to love Him back, because He first loved us.

That choice cost Him a lot. It cost Him His Son.

Man had chosen to sin and was separated from God. And God knew from the beginning, that the only way to bring us back to Him was to send His ONLY Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for us.

The choice is ours. Have there been times where you doubt God’s power? Surely, if He was the God who made the heavens and the earth, how could He allow my friend to die? How could He allow millions to starve every night? Isn’t God supposed to be the Almighty?

Let’s stop blaming God and blame ourselves. He spared not even himself to save us.

Guilt

"True guilt is guilt at the obligation one owes to oneself to be oneself. False guilt is guilt felt at not being what other people feel one ought to be or assume that one is."

— R.D. Laing (1961)

SPM Subject: Bible Knowledge

SPM BK classes have started all over the country. TCF (Teachers' Christian Fellowship - Tel No: 03-56375623) has not been able to get the particulars for private teachers yet. Nevertheless, the effort to network is on-going. Ms Moey from MCKL & MBS used to give classes. For brochure, Right Click here and Save As.

Publish Post

Romans 12: Be A Living Sacrifice to God

1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice--the kind he will accept. When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask? 2 Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is. 3 As God's messenger, I give each of you this warning: Be honest in your estimate of yourselves, measuring your value by how much faith God has given you. 4 Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, 5 so it is with Christ's body. We are all parts of his one body, and each of us has different work to do. And since we are all one body in Christ, we belong to each other, and each of us needs all the others. 6 God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out when you have faith that God is speaking through you. 7 If your gift is that of serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, do a good job of teaching. 8 If your gift is to encourage others, do it! If you have money, share it generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly. 9 Don't just pretend that you love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Stand on the side of the good. 10 Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. 11 Never be lazy in your work, but serve the Lord enthusiastically. 12 Be glad for all God is planning for you. Be patient in trouble, and always be prayerful. 13 When God's children are in need, be the one to help them out. And get into the habit of inviting guests home for dinner or, if they need lodging, for the night. 14 If people persecute you because you are a Christian, don't curse them; pray that God will bless them. 15 When others are happy, be happy with them. If they are sad, share their sorrow. 16 Live in harmony with each other. Don't try to act important, but enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don't think you know it all! 17 Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. 18 Do your part to live in peace with everyone, as much as possible. 19 Dear friends, never avenge yourselves. Leave that to God. For it is written,"I will take vengeance;I will repay those who deserve it,"says the Lord. 20 Instead, do what the Scriptures say:"If your enemies are hungry, feed them.If they are thirsty, give them something to drink,and they will be ashamed of what they have done to you." 21 Don't let evil get the best of you, but conquer evil by doing good.

I do not claim to know everything, but I do know this. God will take care of me in whatever church I go to, be it Methodist, Baptist, or currently, the Catholic Church. For it is through Him we are saved, and there are only Believers or non-Believers. And if He who is so merciful will have mercy on the non-Believers, who are we to judge anybody?

In all things, love prevails.


Note: Christian ecumenism is the promotion of unity or cooperation between distinct religious groups or denominations of Christianity. The word ecumenism is derived from Greek οἰκουμένη (oikoumene), which means "the inhabited world," and was historically used with specific reference to the Roman Empire. Today, the word is used predominantly by and with reference to Christian denominations and Christian Churches separated by doctrine, history, and practice. In Malaysia, ecumenism is in early stages.

Links:
Catholic Herald on Ecumenism - 22 Oct'09
Council Of Churches Malaysia on Christian Conference of Asia’s (CCA) Meeting* - 31 Aug'09

*CCA is the oldest Asian ecumenical movement comprising nearly 100 protestant and orthodox churches, and 19 national councils of churches in Aotearoa-New Zealand, Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Laos, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Timor Leste.

Psalm 30:11

(Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bakasushi/3323475527)

"You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy."

Everyday now i live in joy and in hope because i have faith that a higher power is at work in the world. He takes care of me, He strengthens me. I can do all things thru Him who gives me strength. His name is God Almighty, Creator of the heavens and earth, Giver of Salvation, Giver of all Life, Merciful Father of mine. :) *dances joyously for all the blessings in my life*

What people say about Love

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Love is not an absolute, a truth, or a limited substance - that you're in it or out of it. It's a feeling that ebbs and flows depending on how you treat each other. If you learn new ways to interact, the feelings can come flowing back, often stronger than before.

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"Real Love involves sacrifice... There is no greater love than this: for a man/woman to lay down his/her life for his/her friends." (Read John 15:13 or watch Shrek 2)

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"Some say love is life, but love without hope and faith is an agonizing death."

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There are times when choosing to love someone comes at a great cost. You have to sacrifice something; time, money, energy, and sometimes the greatest cost will be giving up your own life so that someone else can live. When it really costs you something to persevere in a relationship or to help someone, that is the real test to find out if you truely love that person. If you bail out... guess what, you have just proved that you love yourself more than the person who needs your help. If you do whats best for the other person even though it is hard or costly for you... you have discovered real love. A love that you choose to execise regardless of how you feel.

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1 Corinthians 13:1-13

¹If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

²If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
³If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
⁴Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
⁵It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
⁶Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
⁷It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
⁸Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
⁹For we know in part and we prophesy in part,
¹⁰but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.
¹¹When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.
¹²Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
¹³And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

***

But the greatest of these is love. This is probably one of my favourite chapters in the Bible b'cos I want to give this kind of love.. to my family, my frens.. my enemies.. everyone. Loving everyone as I would myself wish to be loved, as Christ loved us.. As per my shopping goddess, Donna Karen, Love is still the Answer.

Now, let's talk about romantic love....

Romance has its ups and downs, but it is a rare young girl who lolls about her bedroom, listening to music and dreaming of the day that someone will come along who will grudgingly tolerate her, or not bother the least bit to be romantic or even tell her every day how much he loves her.

Love = a feeling + a decision

Love is so much more than a feeling. We usually think of it as one, but it's actually a decision too.

Let me explain: We can deeply love someone but not always feel loving toward them. That's when the "love is a decision" concept comes into play. We irritate and even tick each other off. Often. But even when we don't feel loving, we can make a conscious decision to love. If we never did this -- if we bolted whenever we felt irritated, or distant, or whatever -- there probably would be no such thing as relationships.

Relationships are hard work. It's a shame most of us devote more time to polishing our golf swing or improving our job skills than we do to making sure the primary relationship in our life is in good shape.