Witnessing Marion in ministry

Had a whirlwind of day out shopping with Marion for the church's candlelight christmas service. We ended the day by going to the anglican church at Ealing to purchase charity christmas cards. Prior to entering the church, our eyes met with this middle-age man who was sitting at the church entrance, looking somewhat melancholic, his eyes full of sadness. We all acknowledged him with a nod of the head before entering into the church.

When we next came out of the church having purchased our cards, the man called out to Marion. I made out amidst his heavy glaswegion accent that his name was George, and he was asking us if we had any pennies to spare. Marion decided to pause and make time for him. She asked him what had led him to be sitting outside a church asking for pennies. She asked whether he knew that his real help was in God. George shared about how his wife had left him, how he soon became an alcoholic, how he then became homeless, the people whom he had met since and who had shared the love of God with him, and how he was now trying to attend church and get back to God. The story sounded familiar as ever, but I could see that Marion had compassion for this man. She encouraged George about putting his hope in God, forgiving his wife and to have faith that God would put his life back on track again. She also prayed for him before giving him some money to get himself a warm meal.

We walked out of the church and Marion was evidently uncomfortable. She asked me if i thought it was silly of her to give money to George, even though her mind has told her not to do so, knowing that there was a huge possibility that George would go off with it to get yet another beer. I thought about it and then i remembered the verses from the Bible telling us how it is alright to be "fools for Christ", just as Paul himself did (1 Cor 4:10).

"Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a "fool" so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's Sight." (1 Corinthians 3:18-19)

I know that Marion has always had this ministry for the homeless, but seeing her in action really touched my heart. Even if George indeed used the money for more beer, at least Marion had sown into his life with the little that she had. She had taken the time to listen to him and to pray for him. For that moment in time, she had met his needs of getting company and perhaps restored bits of his faith in God and in God's people. She had heeded Jesus's call to be compassionate.

The incident bore rather heavily in my heart. I asked myself if I would have done the same had I been in Marion's shoes that day. Sadly, my honest answer is "probably not". Coming from a somewhat "harsh" and "practical" society, my heart has hardened and my mind grown more skeptical. There are so many homeless people on the streets (and subways) of London that after the initial shock, they've become part of the urban landscape. Often, I would walk pass them without taking a second look at them. Or perhaps, I have consciously done so to protect my "conscience" - you know, "out of sight, out of mind"! I did not want to be guilt-trapped by them - they are always holding up signs that goes "Cold and hungry...please spare some of your shillings for a cup of coffee. God Bless You!!". I've always thought that these signs often ended with the phrase "God bless you" because they are out to play on the emotions of Christians. But seeing Marion in action today has rained down doubts and discomfort in me, challenging my general response to the homeless, in future.

I pray that God would help me overcome my hardened heart and skepticism. I pray that I would grow to be a little more compassionate over time.

Beef Rendang & Heaven

Ceri had invited some of us in church to her place for beef rendang today. When she unvealed the dish on her dinner table, it really smelled and looked like the beef rendang that we know of back home!! Thought it was quite amusing to be having beef rendang at a walsh's home! =)

The beef rendang tasted pretty good. However, she had added a little too much tamarind and too little coconut. So, it is honestly not quite as authentic and shiok as the one we would have back home.

On the way back in the tube, YL was suddenly "inspired". He was giving me the analogy of the beef rendang to heaven. Just as Ceri (and Jenny - a Brit friend at the lunch gathering) have not tasted the real beef rendang, whatever that they now experience and cook (even when it is in accordance to the recipe book!) would be deemed "very good" in their opinion. But imagine it if they were at singapore/malaysia/indonesia eating the real beef rendang? Bet their taste-buds would be even more blown away by it!

So it is the same with God and heaven. Whilst we are on this earth, the heaven that we imagine in our limited knowledge based on the bible would just be a semblance of the glories that it would actually contain/be! Wow....thats a lot for us to look forward to!!! =)

(So, unlike how the lyrics of an oldie song went, heaven is certainly not "just a place on earth"!!)

Car Rental

Looking through the web regarding car rental for our Portugal trip. Since we are going to fly by BA, we thought we will check out their partner car rental company Hertz, thinking that we can accumulate mileage and also get some good discounts. However, I found out that its still a lot more expensive than our good o' trusty car rental company Budget. We've tried out Budget in various countries (Norway, Iceland, UK, France), and the cars and service that we've received from them are always so satisfactory. Why did we even begin to doubt them? Extra mileage? Cheaper rates? Temptations...temptations..... =)

Booked air tix to Portugal!

Finally booked our plane tix to Portugal for mid-Dec. This time next week, Dad and mum would have arrived to be here with us for a two-week visit, as well as to attend my graduation ceremony. Since they are coming all the way here, thought we should bring them to cover another part of Europe as well. Since Europe is generally going to be rather cold at this time of the year, we decided we should try to confine ourselves to somewhere warmer, i.e. south of europe. Having ourselves already been to the south of France, south of Italy and south of Spain, we thought we would bring them to Portugal, an "untouched" country for us! =)

Anyway, the areas in red below are the parts of the world which YL and myself have covered thus far (we've not included Portugal in it yet).



click this to create your own visited country map

Yep, we love travelling around the world, meeting different people, experiencing different cultures and varying landscapes. Whilst we admire urban landscapes (such as the creation of geniuses like Gaudi), wherever we go, we would make an effort to visit the unspoilt natural landscape of the country. 'Cos to us, these are the intended beauty of God's creation, without the itchy hands of man intervening. To this end, I have set up a separate webpage/photoblog of landscape shots titled ewe'z views. Would slowly build up/upload the landscape photos that we have in our digital photo albums.

Music Review - Aled Jones' Aled

Can't quite sleep. Thats the problem when you've not done much in the day- you don't get tired that easily!! And the monotonity of YL's snoring doesn't quite help in knocking me to sleep either. So, I thought I would get to the laptop and try to get some progress on some reports that I had to do (that were outstanding from my research project that i did for my thesis).

But being the usual ill-disciplined me, I soon found something else to do. I had borrowed Aled Jones' CD "Aled" from my pastor. So, I set about listening to it. And my, what great voice Aled has!!

Some Background: I first noticed Aled Jones in "Strictly Come Dancing" (those of u in London would know what program I'm referring to). YL was pointing out to me that that was the guy who presents BBC's Songs of Praise, and occassionally sings the hymns on the show. Saw his CD on my pastors' rack when I went to his place, and so thought i will check out his music. Apparantly, he sang publicly since the age of 12 (i think he's now close to 40 yr old but still look very young...bless him!).

Back to the cd and the music. Its wonderful! He's got this really smooth and well-toned voice that seemed to soar up and down effortlessly through the high and low notes. The music selection for this disc is also excellent. There were a few hymns that i've never come across before but were really nice, and some other more familiar ones like "Pie Jesu", "How great thou are", "Ave Mara", and even Christmas hymns (I am so in the Advent mood!!) like "All through the Night" and "O Holy night".

I particularly like the lyrics and celtic tune of this hymn "My life flows on":

My life flows on in endless song
Above earth's lamentation,
I hear the real though far-off hymn
That hails a new creation.
No storm can shake my inmost calm
While to that rock I'm clinging
It sounds an echo in my soul,
How can I keep from singing?

What though the tempest round me roars,
I know the truth, it liveth,
What though the darkness round me close,
Songs in the night it giveth
No storm can shake my inmost calm
While to that rock I'm clinging
Since love is lord of heaven and earth
How can I keep from singing?

I lift my eyes, the cloud grows thin;
I see the blue above it;
And day by day this pathway smooths,
Since first I learnt to love it.
The peace of Christ makes fresh my heart,
A fountain ever springing;
All things are mine since I am his,
How can I keep from singing?

Gosh! I remembered my friend Brandon who used to tell me that classical music are best appreciated in the stillness of the night...he is quite right!

BTW, if you want to find out more about Aled Jones, here's his website : Aled Jones

Advent Thoughts

Just came back from cellgroup meeting. Was supposed to be leading it tonight (well, its actually yesterday night, by the time i get this posted) on the topic of Advent. We're currently using "A Journey through Advent" 31-Day Guide by Rob Frost, and did the book of Isaiah for the first week. Having scant through much of Isaiah, I plowed through the first 39 chapters, which were full of prophecies of God's judgement on Israel and some historical background...those were pretty bleak and gloomy bits! As such, was so happy when I had finally got to chapter 40 (no wonder Isaiah used the metaphor of "soaring on wings as eagles" in 40:31...how apt after all those gloom and doom) to chapter 66 where its filled with prophecies of His Comfort!!

Back to the topic of Advent. I was curious what Advent really meant and so did a bit of research. The word "advent" actually meant "coming" or "arrival". There are two focus:
a) Celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ (the 1st Advent...which has already happened); and
b) Anticipation of the return of Christ the King (the 2nd Advent...which would be happening).

So, essentially, we are living in between the 1st and the 2nd Advent....in between times!! Was just thinking that boy, am I glad that the 1st Advent has come and that we can now celebrate and enjoy the gift of Christ and what His death on the cross has done for us! HOWEVER, am I truly ready to anticipate and receive the 2nd Advent of His returning? Hmmm, am really unsure about that, if i look inside myself, as well as the number of my unsaved friends and family members...

I was sharing this in cg, and my 60-year old friend Marion exclaimed that she too was not quite ready to meet God...Ros and Ceri were however saying that we would never be quite ready to meet God, be it whether He takes us away now through death, or if Jesus really comes now. The point is that whilst we would always fall short of his perfect and high benchmark, we continue our best to be "ready" in our daily lives 'cos He said in His words that He would come suddenly (Matthew 24:34-51; Luke 12:35-48).

Its true. We are never sure of how many tomorrows there would be for each one of us. We can only be sure of the presence of Today... the Now. As such, we really should live our present to the fullest --- in love, in hope and in obedience to His Words. Carpe Diem!

Psalm 89:1-2

I will sing of the Lord's great love forever;
with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations.
I will declare that your love stands firm forever,
that you established your faithfulness in heaven itself.
Psalm 89:1-2

who'z this ewe?

Thats me!!

Am this sheep wandering in the pasture that is this world. The pasture is not necessarily always green, due to the ewe's, hopefully, infrequent waywardness and stubborness...sometimes missing out on the shepherd's voice. Thankfully the shepherd's rod and staff always finds it, even if its at the last minute, guiding it away from the cliffs and up from the valleys, back to the pasture that had been prepared for its homecoming. =)

For those of you who share a relationship with God and Jesus, you would be familiar with the above scenario. Yes, the ewe could have been you too! But in this blog, thats me. You see, I have never been able to empathise more with the ewe than before.

Since graduating from postgrad school just a month or so ago, I have decided, by choice, that i will not attempt to find a job here in London, given various considerations.

Some background: Calling Singapore my home, I've been based in London for the past two years with hubby YL, and we've got one more year to go, before he finishes his PhD studies. I've been a lady of leisure in the first six months here, worked in the next six months, and then did fulltime postgrad studies in the next one year, till last september'04. Now, its time for a "break", again! Given that we'll be going home to Singapore at least twice next year (for personal reasons) before returning there for good, there isn't much sense in getting a proper job in view of the various interruptions.

So, this ewe has never been more "relaxed" and having nothing "proper" to do than in the past. I really feel like the sheeps that i see as we drive past the English countryside, just grazing and resting!!

I have therefore decided to set up this blog to chart my year ahead. Not necessary of the activities that I/we do, but sometimes just putting down my thoughts...on anything! Hopefully, it gives me an outlet to think aloud. And, as I re-read my thoughts later, i pray that God would shine His light onto it and show me how I should inch on in my life...

Song currently playing [Jesus, Be the Centre, by Michael Frye, Copyright 1999 Vineyard Songs]:

"Jesus, be the centre,
Be my source,
be my light, Jesus.

Jesus, be the centre,
Be my hope, be my song,
Jesus.

Be the fire in my heart,
Be the wind in these sails;
Be the reason that I live,
Jesus, Jesus.

Jesus, be my vision,
Be my path,
be my guide, Jesus."

Dear Jesus, I dedicate this song as a prayer unto you, as I begin this morning and launch this blog...may my ewe'z thoughts and walk be guided by You each day. Help me to hear from You.
i love You.