Something to Consider

"If you have one more day to live, who do you want to spend the time with? Then what will you do?"

If i am married, i would spend the time with my hubby & kids. I will reminscent past sweet memories with video recordings & photo albums with my loved ones.
If i am single, i would spend the time with my parents. I will thank & appreciate them for bringing me up, though not in the ways of the Lord, but at least i didn't become an indecent elaine.

We Have Fun!

25 saints went to Henderson Waves on 25 Nov.
We have a great time together chilling out, making fun, admiring nature & of course perspiring all our fatty juice out. Nice walk, not too panting especially for elderly people & those that have heart problem. Highly recommended!

I wanna go again..probably bring my godchildren too :)
Well, pictures speak a thousand words. Look at all the happy & smiley faces that it is not hard to tell you WE HAVE FUN!

Those Days

After one week of break in blogging, don't ask me why i didn pen down my thoughts. Guess probably just too lazy to write anything, though there are tons of things raced across my little brainy head.

Well, couple of things happened in the past week:

1. Have been watching this meaningful series on channel 8, clearly showing the struggles & ostacising experiences of AIDS patients. While some have to bear the consequences for a moment of pleasure, others have to face it through someone's mistakes. Yet i believe God loves these people because His love is showing forgiveness & grace. His love is selfless giving. There is still hope in the midst of despair.
2. Have been attending weddings & weddings. Haha..just attended one on sat, but this is a special one because i was the wedding coordinator. Running around like a mad woman with the high heels, making sure every event fell into place. My legs were feeling the strain, at that moment, i really wish my slippers were with me. Haha..probably the moral of the story is to wear flat shoes while coordinating for weddings, then change back to heels when not running around. Haiz..simply no logic if one has to do that. So either wear heels & bear the pain. Or wear flat shoes & look not so formal & nice. Haha..you decide!
3. Have been watching Singapore TV programmes all these years, so when i was watching the 45th Celebrations Gala by Mediacorp yesterday, it brought back lovely & memorable memories. The imitations of past characters made me feel that things in the past seem to be more warming & impressive. Even i prefer the past worship songs than the present ones..i think i am getting old liao :(

Yeah..tomorrow the church staff will be going to Henderson Waves for a day outing. In the past, we used to go to Batam (2005) & island-wide hunting (2006). Let's pray that we will have a good time & of course, rain rain go away! Lord, give us cooling & nice weather!

Lovely People

Lovely people make the world more beautiful & warm.
Thank God for lovely people that make a difference in my life.
Thank you for colouring my life.

Flowers from Josline & Jenny:)

Little Flowers

Little flowers never worry
When the rain begins to fall
Little flowers don't complain
When the rain begins to pour

When the cloud begins to gather
And the storms begin to blow
Little flowers never cry
Though they toss to-and-fro

So let it rain, let it rain, let it pour
Let those troubles keep knocking at my door
Cause if we learn the right from wrong
Then it helps to make us strong
Well i guess they've learnt the secret
They don't fret because they know
If it'll never never rain
It will never never grow

Escape

I was reading this article publicised in UW, pretty interesting for you to consider. Enjoy!

Everyone, no matter what age, at which place, will face pressure & stress. You will feel frustrated, at a loss of what to do next, feel everything is meaningless, wish to cut off from everything & everyone temporarily.

If i were to ask you,
"When you feel tired, just wish to disappear for awhile, what will you do?"

1. Hide in the secluded mountains?
2. Stay at a highly technologized place with full-grasped of information & news?
3. Fly to an island for holidays?
4. Hide at home not seeing anyone?

What is your choice? The analysis is:

1. If you choose 1, too complicated things make you headache. You hope things are done in an orderly manner, less troubles. And you hope not much surprises at work.
2. If you choose 2, you are serious in your work & take responsibility in what is in your hands. However, you find it hard to dedicate your work, so you struggle & tire yourself out due to the tremendous workload.
3. If you choose 3, you look for creative ways to find excitement in life. You open yourself in various scenarios to gain experiences, then bring them back to your work. You do not follow a fixed way of doing things, but rather follow your instrinct.
4. If you choose 4, your home is the best hiding place, where you are close to your loved ones. You follow company's rules & work based on your personal belief system.

My choice is 3!

Teamwork

No ministry is an island.
When 2 parties compete, one loses. When 2 parties work, one completes the other. How true it is, my friends that we complete one another as team mates.
We applaud one another.
We cheer one another.
We motivate one another.
We encourage one another.
We backup one another.

When we win, we win as a team.
When we lose, we learn as a team.
Someone said "Teamwork is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results."

5 elements of teamwork:

1. Understand the mission of the organization.


2. Have fun together.


3. Be real to one another.


4. Celebrate the wins.


5. Fight hard behind closed doors.

Final note for you: Don't be independent. Be interdependent.

Are You A Hedgehog?

Jim Collins referenced the ancient Greek parable of "The Fox & the Hedgehog". It goes like this: Day after day, the cunning fox plans his attack on the unsuspecting hedgehog. No matter how creative the fox is, the hedgehog always wins. The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing. Each time the fox attacks, the hedgehog simply rolls up into a ball of sharp spikes, creating an impenetrable defense. It's what he does best.

If you could do only one thing in ministry, what would you do?

A Wise Leader

I was reading "IT" by Craig Groeschel.
Wow! IT hit me real hard.
Powerful truth: A wise leader should

• PRAY & fast like crazy while asking God to reignite the vision.
• PULL together the key leaders to help them catch the vision.
• PREACH a series of messages to get the church "jazzed up" about the vision.
• HAVE FAITH in God & start taking steps to see the vision come to pass.
• STOP DOING things that aren't accomplishing the vision or moving the church towards seeing the vision fulfilled.
• REALLOCATE funds in the church budget to accomplish the vision.

Cool quotation: "A God-sized vision unifies a church, attracts resources, motivate volunteers & unites strong leaders."

Being a leader, i seriously, solemnly & sincerely need to reconsider IT.
I don't want to be a wander, but a wonder.
I don't want to be a sinker, but a seeker.
I don't want to be a pessimistic, but a positivity.

I want to do well one thing at a time.
I want to do what God has uniquely positioned me to do.
I want to pursue one calling with divine passion.

Divine Positioning

Ps Steven Teo preached at the second service this morning, using reference text Esther 4:14:

"For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?"

Few pointers to learn:

1. There is a God-given place, where we will face incredible challenges. We need to align & realign else we will miss God-given opportunities. Challenges allow God to use, enable & bring us to the next tier (Rom 4:17)
2. There is a divine timing, where we will discover His will in the process. The way we response will impact the making of God's will in our lives. The will of God is aligned with His perfect timing and divine opportunity (Jere 29:11).
3. There is sure success, where we will bring glory to His name. We should celebrate success because by doing so, we know that there is victory in God-given place in God's divine timing.

Divine positioning takes the step of faith to do great exploits for God's kingdom. Esther was not threatened by her gender, position & enemies. For such a time as this, she positioned herself & brought deliverance to her people.

How about you? For such a time as this, what has God called you to do & you delayed? You might be the Esther of today :)

Slack

Haven been sleeping for so loooonnnggg. Taking the benefit of an off-day, so woke up at 1130am. Haha..for me usually i wake up at 615am & leave house at 650am for work, as i wanna beat the traffic & also send my bro to office. Even on Saturdays, i will wake up latest at 930am & then cannot sleep liao. Guess it's accumulated bah. Good rest anyway!

Slacking my day at the airport & enjoyed the quietness of the place. Shiok man! Seriously, very proud of our airport - COOL! Then went to Popeyes..yummy..the fries & chicken are better than some of the fast food restaurants. Oops..no offence!

Really enjoyed the moments without interruption, without distraction by doing what i love to do - sit at the viewing gallery & read my book.

Today is the last CLT for this year! I truly appreciate all R3's CL & ACL, really proud with all of you - WELL DONE! TQ for your willingness & commitment to work with me, so as to make the region looks good.

One Litre of Tears

I was introduced to this Jap drama "One Litre of Tears" 2 years ago, but did not watch it till now.

It is based on a true story about a girl named Aya who suffered from an incurable disease, but lived life to the fullest until her death at 25. The original story is based on the diary Aya kept writing until she could no longer hold a pen. The book that later followed entitled “One Litre of Tears" has sold over 1.1 million copies. Aya's only wish was “to live."

By carefully depicting Aya's earnest desire to live as well as the love of her family, friends & lover, the drama delivers her simple but strong message: “Just being alive is such a lovely and wonderful thing."





Today, if you want to cry, MAKE SURE you cry with all your heart. Don't bottle your tears.
Today, if you want to live, MAKE SURE you live your life to the fullest. Don't live your life in waste.

History Maker

Congratulations to Democrat Barack Obama, who became the 44th US President, the first black president, to walk into the White House.

My heart leaped with excitement to see someone making history, just like the Prime Minister of Australia, Mr Kevin Rudd, praised the president-elect for turning Martin Luther King's dream into a reality & said the world looked to America for leadership. "Forty-five years ago Martin Luther King had a dream of an America where men and women would be judged not on the colour of their skin but on the content of their character. Today what America has done is turn that dream into a reality." (extracted from www.channelnewsasia.com)

We can also be the history makers like Martin Luther King & Obama, right where we are, in this hour, at this generation.

Think!

Shiok shiok shiok!
Today i went shopping & spent alot of money (200+ lor).
Haha..i did go shoooppping but didn't shop for clothes, shoes or accessories. I went to campus crusade & "raided" the place. Wow, i see until my eyes wanna pop out liao..so many books lor..nearly see stars. BUT I AM FOCUSED! I'm supposed to go there with a purpose, so i shall fulfill my honourable task. After getting what i needed to purchase, i better siam from that place or else i won't just spend 200+ but tons more. Whew!

Happy happy. Talking about books, i m now reading on this book "IT".
A church has IT because of a rare combination of qualities found in her people:

• Passion for His presence
• A deep craving to reach the lost
• Sincere integrity
• Spirit-filled faith
• Down-to-earth humility
• Brokenness

I started to think about our church. How about ours? Where are we? What is missing? Do we have most of the above qualities? Or none? Or some?

Think!

Turkey

I was watching the tourism show featuring on Turkey. I have heard that it is a very beautiful place. If you love scenary & nature, i bet you would fall in love with this country. Let's thank God for His gorgeous & awesome creations.

My Birthday

Today is the day that the Lord has made me. And i will rejoice & be glad in it because He has so wonderfully & fearfully made elaine chua in His image and likeness on this special day.

Why special?
1. Because the Lord has made me lah..aww!
2. Because it is the first day of the month..diao!
3. Because God is in it..yeah!
4. Because i have many wonderful friends who remember my special day..gez!

Haha..but i m sad to tell you that i can only celebrate my day with some friends after the leaders meeting. Well, nevermind lah..sacrifice! Guess what..during the meeting, one of my good friends gave me a bouquet of lilies. That's very nice of her & i want to tell her that i m touched by her lovely gesture, which made my day sweeter in the midst of "bitterness". Thank you josline :) Erm..i wonder if God "sympatheized" with me that the meeting ended slightly early.
How can i forget to thank my good friends like josline, cj, cheryl, paul, dan & dar, who spent the remaining 3 hours of the dae to celebrate my birthday. Also wanna thank friends who sms me their birthday wishes..i am overwhelmed :)

THANK YOU. ALL OF YOU WHO MADE MY DAY!

MOST OF ALL, I THANK GOD FOR CREATING ME SO THAT I CAN BE SHAPED FROM A ROUGH STONE TO A GLAMOURING DIAMOND!