The Rain - by Thomas Kinkaid.

One rainy afternoon I was driving along one of the main streets of town, taking those extra precautions necessary when the roads are wet and slick. Suddenly, my daughter, Aspen, spoke up from her relaxed position in her seat. "Dad, I'm thinking of something."

This announcement usually meant she had been pondering some fact for a while, and was now ready to expound all that her six-year-old mind had discovered. I was eager to hear.

"What are you thinking?" I asked.
"The rain!" she began, "is like sin, and the windshield wipers are like God wiping our sins away."

After the chill bumps raced up my arms I was able to respond. "That's really good, Aspen."

Then my curiosity broke in. How far would this little girl take this revelation? So I asked... "Do you notice how the rainkeeps on coming? What does that tell you?" Aspen didn't hesitate one moment with her answer:
"We keep on sinning, and God just keeps on forgiving us." I will always remember this whenever I turn my wipers on. Isn't it distressing to know that when you forward this message you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it to them.

Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.

In order to see the Rainbow, you must first endure some Rain.

READ THE FIRST LINE CAREFULLY.
If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.

Happy moments, praise God.

Difficult moments, seek God.
Quiet moments, worship God.
Painful moments, trust God.
Every moment, thank God.

1 Peter 3:18 "For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit".

May the spirit of first christmas is always kept in our heart.

Ebenezer.

That day was Friday. I was so stressed with everything on my shoulders. Fortunately I woke up in that morning, I read a passage from our daily bread booklet with a title "Ebenezer". The term is derived from 1 Samuel 7:12 which means "The stone of help - thus far has the Lord helped us". Yeah sometimes we may easy to get weary, and forget that so far God always look after us.. Nothing are missed from God's eyes. Hence, believe and put your burden and hope on Him. Happy Christmas !

Take a break is required.

These few weeks I am very exhausted, having so many things that need to manage inside and outside the office in the same time. Sometimes I felt being as Marta in the bible story.. Put so many concern at the daily routine, work and other business and forget the most important part.. hmm you know the answer.

I need to put my focus back in to the right track. Habit 3 - Put first things first.

Perspective.

A few days ago I read a reflection begin with a question: When is a bird bigger than a mountain? The first word that come into my mind was impossible, whatever kind of birds will never bigger than a mountain. Then I read through the article and found out the answer: When the bird is closer than the mountain. Hmm, the answer is truely correct. I never thought about it this before. That's also the way we see our problem. Sometimes we perceive our problem is bigger than anything even bigger than God. It is because we are closer to the problem than God. As such times, God seems as far away as a distant mountain, an we perceive Him as being small and unreachable.

Surely God is always there and give us strength to face our struggle, as He promises to "gives strength to the weary, and young men stumble and fall" (Isaiah 40:29). Just as a bird is never bigger than a mountain, no problem is ever bigger than God. It's all a matter of changing our perspective.

New Managers Conference, Bali.

All in One

Team Work n Fun

Gala Dinner

Mejeng ria..

Mulailah percaya. (Believe).

Rasa khawatir adalah pedang bermata dua. Rasa khawatir bukan saja tidak dapat memberi nilai tambah bagi hidup Anda, tetapi juga melenyapkan banyak hal dalam hidup Anda :

· Kesehatan – rasa khawatir menuntun pada ketegangan, yang merusak fisik Anda.

· Waktu – waktu yang Anda habiskan untuk menghawatirkan sesuatu itu memakan waktu yang seharusnya Anda gunakan untuk melakukan hal-hal lain.

· Produktivitas – pada saat Anda mengurangi waktu yang digunakan untuk melakukan hal-hal yang perlu, mak produktivitas Anda menurun

· Iman – Anda tidak dapat memiliki rasa khawatir dan memiliki iman pada saat yang bersamaan.

Satu-satunya jalan untuk memberi nilai tambah dalam hidup Anda adalah dengan berhenti khawatir dan Percaya.

Not my will, but Your will.

It was approximately three months ago, I felt so confident that's would come true. One step by step seemed went so smooth as I expected. However, suddenly it stopped and no continuance of progress. Part of it was my mistakes, I was so get into it, and put almost my whole energy and focus to the "project". It made me so disappointed, which then continued affect my mind performance. As a result, I become reckless in some perspectives, which end up with losing my wallet.

I was so desperate, why everything turning upside down. I was not only losing my wallet, but everything such as my ID card, driving license, ATM card and Credit card. What made me so mad was the next three day I had to go out of town in order to attend a conference in Bali. Felt really hopeless. I tried to calm down and figured out what to do. I called bank call centre to block out all of credit cards and ATM card. Then re-issued my ID card and ATM on the next day. After a bit relief, three days later when I was ready to go to airport get caught in the traffic jam, which made me late for my flight. I was really nuts. Everything seemed so wrong. Nevertheles, I could take the next flight. After the conference over, I get my driving license re-issued. Then one by one was recovered.

This occasion made me remembered one of the sermon during our fellowship service. The Evangelist said, "Whenever we want to go out from our home in this city, we never forget to bring our wallet. However, do we remember to pray and ask God protection ?". It seems that we put our faith more in our wallet and everything in it when we want to go around the city rather than God. And It is also made me realised, that everything I did, God who has the authorisation to make it success or failure. Whatever He allows to happen are for our own good. Maybe the project was not meant to be for me, it failed so I can realise my limited capabilities and have more a reliance on God rather than my own strength. After all God is greater than everything.

"Lord, give me the courage to change the things which can and ought to be changed, the serenity to accept the things which cannot be changed, and the wisdom to know the difference". - Alcoholics Anonymous Prayer.

Carry your own weather.

Having been trained on 7 habits for highly effective people about one month ago. These 7 habits can only be applied if we succeed to apply the first habit and go on to the next habit. If we cannot apply the first habit then we cannot go on to the second habit and so on. The most basic habit is be proactive. Proactive is more than having initiative. Be proactive means take responsibility on our attitude (in the past, present and future), and can make a choice based on principles rather than our mood or feeling or condition.

Based on the definition above, being angry, stress, happy or sad is a choice. We determine our circumstance. I think this principle is really true indeed. However, somehow it is really difficult to be applied. What do you think ?

SPA families and friends BBQ - 2 Aug 2008.

The settings

Tukang makannya Tukang masaknya

The latest participants

Share The Secret. (by Anon)

One day, one friend asked another, "how is that you are always so happy? You have so much energy, and you never seem to get down." With her eyes smiling, she said, "I know the secret!" "What secret is that?" To which she replied "I'll tell you about it, but you have to promise to share the secret with others." "The secret is this: I have learned there is little I can do in my life that will make me truly happy. I must depend on God to make me happy and to meet my needs. When a need arises in my life, I have to trust God to supply according to His riches. I have learned most of the time I don't need half of what I think I do. He has never let me down. Since I learned that 'Secret', I am happy."

The questioner's first thought was, "That's too simple!" But upon reflecting over her own life she recalled how she thought a bigger house would make her happy, but it didn't! She thought a better paying job would make her happy, but it hadn't. When did she realise her greatest happiness? Sitting on the floor with her grandchildren, or other children, playing games, eating pizza or reading a story, a simple gift from God.

Now you know it too! We can't depend on people to make us happy. Only God in His infinite wisdom can do that. Trust Him! and now I pass the secret on to you! So once you get it, what will you do?

You have to tell someone the secret too! That God in His wisdom will take care of YOU! But it's not really a secret.. We just have to believe it and do it... Really trust God!

During trial circumstances.

2 Cor 12: 9 - But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

James 1:3-4 - "because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything".

1 Cor 10:13 - "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."

1 Peter 1:6-7 - "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed".

We Need Each Other: To Walk With. (by Rick warren)

Received the following reflection from an email.. just felt it is good to be shared.. and realised that the advantage of having community.

Just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, so walk in Him. Colossians 2:6 (NIV/NKJV)
*** *** *** ***
The Bible often compares life to a walk, because life is a journey; we’re not sitting still. Throughout the New Testament, we are told to walk in wisdom, love, light, and obedience. We’re told to walk as Jesus walked. We’re also told to walk alongside other people. Here are three reasons to walk with other people:

1. It’s safer. Have you ever walked alone at night through a dark alley or down a lonely country road? It’s a little scary. But if you have another person with you, you immediately feel safer.
2. It’s supportive. Life is not a fifty-yard dash; it’s a marathon. Walking with other people gives you the energy to keep on going until the end.
3. It’s smarter. You learn more by walking with others than by walking alone. If you’re walking alone in the wrong direction, you may never realize it. But if you have a friend alongside you, one of you is likely to recognize you’ve veered off the path and need to find the right direction.

We also learn some important lessons when we walk alongside other people. We learn how to get along with others, how to cooperate. We also learn how to love. Genesis 2:18 tells us, “It is not good for the man to be alone” (NIV). God hates loneliness, and community is God’s answer to loneliness. When we walk alongside other people, we find a community where we learn how to love.

Walking alongside other people also teaches us hospitality. 1 Peter 4:9 says, “Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling” (NIV). What’s your grumble? What’s your excuse for not opening your home to friends? Maybe you’ve said, “My home is dirty!” Well, clean it up! Or perhaps your excuse is: “My home isn’t big enough.” Can you put three people in it? Jesus says, “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them” (Matthew 18:20 NIV).

Everybody has a longing for belonging because God made us for relationships. When we walk alongside other Christians in community, we find that longing satisfied.

SPA Outing 2008 - Bangka Belitung.

Old and New of the firm's financial year.

This July our office began new financial year 2008/2009. The subsequent event before the new financial year, there always a promotion and bonus performance announcement. This year was also a blessing for me. I was promoted to a manager. Even so I felt very frustated these days.

Like I have shared before that the past few months I was so stress out with my last project, even until now it hasn't fully closed yet. It took so much of my energy, physically and mentally. The coming year I can foresee that the next coming year would be much more demanding, I don't know whether I am ready with the situation.

At one moment, I had a thought to submit resignation letter. Even a few weeks after the promotion. While thinking what decision that need to make:

• Daniel shared with me for his financial struggles after his marriage. In every move God has guided him and sufficiently look after his needs so He never lack of anything.
• I read through my blog archive, I could see that God has so faithful and never let me down. He looked after me during my post grad study until I could finish it smoothly, looking for job, CISA exam, helped me to let go "thing" and many many more.
• Just realised that in every situations that was me who made everything were so stressful, me who always want to solve everything by my own. No wonder I felt so much pressure.
• I had a sharing with some church friends. Listened to their stories and struggles, after all my situation is much better than them.

Eventually I realised the problem is on myself, always feel so over confident and rely on my own strength. Resignation maybe a shortterm solution, but who can guarantee that I would not face the same situation in other workplace.. Hence, at the moment I would stay at where I am, do my best and keep in faith that He will never fail us.

Psalm 23

1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you arewith me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Ku di tanganMu.

By Joseph Jafar.

Ku ditanganMu Ku dihatiMu
Di pikiranMu di rencanaMu
Tak pernah kusendiri
Ku ditanganMu ku dihatiMu
Di pikiranMu di rencanaMu
Tak pernah ditinggalkan

Lord I’m in Your hands
Lord I’m in Your hearts
In Your thought
In Your plan
Never be alone
Lord I’m in Your hands
Lord I’m in Your hearts
In Your thought
In Your plan
Never left alone

The Statue of Life.

The following story was forwarded by a friend, which I thought interesting and good to share with others. Hope this story can give you or other readers inspiration.

Here they go:
Once there was a sculptor lived in a country. He worked fro a well-known king who ruled over a huge land. It made everyone knew the king and respected him.

The sculptor had worked for a long time. He made many statues that placed in the palace. They were so beautiful and the king trusted him. A lot of other kings admired the statue when they visited the palace garden.

One day the king had a big plan. He wanted the sculptor made some statue of his family and his best guards and servants. They were 100 statues. The statue of king and his family will be placed inside the palace. His best guards and servants were inside the garden. He wanted the statues in the garden were looked to protect him.

The sculptor started to work hard, days and nights. Some months later, he almost finished his works. The king came to his workshop and checked the progress. "Good, very good", the King said "I want you make your own statue to complete that monument, before I forget".

He began to work again after taking the king's comand. After a while, he finished his self own statue. Unfortunately it looked roughed. Its side wasn't polished well. He tought what the benefit for him to make a good statue if it only placed inside the garden. "The statue will be damaged soon because of sun and rain", he said to himself.

The time was over. The king came again to check his work. The King was was so satisfied. But there was a small thing that made him interested. "Why your own statue isn't polished as mine? Whereas I want to place yours beside mine. If your statue is like this, I change my mine and make yours within my other guards outside".

The sculptor was so regret. His own statue was in outside the palace. The sun and rain came toward it, as his hope about it.

The morality:
How far we appreciate ourselves? God has made us perfect with unique talent and character. And do we care to create our own statue as perfect as God's creation? Our carving that we made now will determine our place later. Create your own "Statue" well and lovely.

Inspirational Movies.

These two films are worthed to be watched. The stories are pretty simple and might happen in our real life. Although the films are not as sophisticated as Hollywood's, they are really inspirational. And maybe can change your way of thinking about this life and GOD.

Romans 10:17 "Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ."

A7+ SPA Academy 2008 - Group Photo.

Dinner Cruise with Philiphino mates.

My Bag and My Mind.

got this article from a friend, and it is really true that we sometimes put so much attention at our problem..

My Bag :
Setiap hari, sebagian besar dari kita membawa tas kerja dalam perjalanan pergi dan pulang kantor. Untuk kaum wanita, tas merupakan salah satu atribut penampilan yang penting. waktu libur 4 hari ini,cobalah kita bongkar semua isi tas kita. Ternyata sepertiga atau separuh dari isi tas itu adalah barang yang sudah tidak kita perlukan: struk ATM yang sudah buram, bungkus tissue, agenda atau buku yang jarang dibaca, sekumpulan uang logam, ballpoint yang sudah macet, kumpulan tagihan kartu kredit bulan-bulan lalu dsb dsb Meskipun mungkin ringan, tetapi barang-barang yang tidak diperlukan itu terus menambah berat tas kita ...sehingga kita harus membuang barang-barang tidak berguna yang membebani tas kita....

My Mind :

Mirip dengan my bag di atas, pikiran kita ( tanpa kita sadari ) selama ini sering kita bebani dengan hal-hal yang tidak perlu juga : penyesalan masa lalu, rasa kecewa, kejengkelan dan iri kepada rekan kerja lain, sikap egois dan kurang kooperatif, perasaan tidak puas atas kondisi yang terjadi, snobisme, obsesi-obsesi yang kurang realistis, konflik keluarga dsb dsb Pikiran-pikiran yang tidak perlu itu akan terus membebani perjalanan hidup kita, sehingga dampaknya, wajah akan kelihatan kurang bersinar, suntuk / jutek, punggung terasa berat karena pikiran berkorelasi dengan punggung ), stress, hidup kurang nyaman dan yang paling parah adalah kita akan selalu membenci hal-hal yang tidak sesuai dengan kemauan kita,dsb. Yang harus kita lakukan adalah sama dengan apa yang kita lakukan dengan my bag di atas, buanglah segala beban pikiran yang tidak ada manfaatnya itu. Percayalah, hidup Anda di hari berikutnya terasa jauuuuuhhhh lebih nyaman....Makanan akan terasa lebih enak.... Kita akan lebih jarang sakit..Bekerja menjadi lebih nyaman meskipun kita menghadapi rutinitas yang itu itu saja dan juga kita menghadapi orang-orang yang kadang membuat kita menjadi tidak betah untuk terus bekerja.. Ciptakan "POSITIF THINKING" disetiap pagi ketika kita bangun tidur,karena pikiran itu erat sekali kaitannya dengan fisik kita....Biarkan positif thingking itu bekerja di dalam diri kita hingga akhirnya,keindahan hari itu akan ditentukan oleh kita dan cara pandang kita dalam menghadapi dan menyelesaikan setiap masalah.....