Yes, I cakap (speak) Malay, too! =D

Recently read a blog entry by a fellow bro-in-Christ who's been quite busy gobbling away in Singapore. (TEHHEHEE...~~~ watch the weight, bro!!)
Anyway, as I tend to visualize quite a fair bit, I guess when he got me imagining what it'll feel like sitting by the beach reflecting over the past experiences of our own lives, it didn't take me long to spot my most recent 'ah I know why' moment!

About experience with my current client so far, I'm currently assigned to a company whose staff are 80% Malays. I wasn't too comfortable with the idea at first, especially because I have communicate with them in Malay. During that one week of work at my client's office, I confess that I have been whinging a lot to myself about being 'disadvantaged' because I have to adapt to their preferred language. As I was sharing my dissatisfaction to my aunt recently, a revelation suddenly crossed my mind and it really blew me away!

My 'ah I know why' moment came to past when I recalled the time when I went to a hospital visitation at a paediatric ward with my church mates. Majority of the patients converse in Malay as most of them were either Malays or native East Malaysians. I had to share the gospel and pray in Malay for their sake. My partner, Jo couldn't speak Malay very well so I had to help her in translation. I wasn't too good at sharing in that language and honestly, I felt lost for words when I prayed. At that time, I really felt that I needed to surrender my mouth to the Lord to anoint my lips and the words that were spoken, although they were just simple words. However, I still wished that I could have done better.

It really got thinking about how self-centered I am about wanting to have things my way all the time. It's like as if I would prefer to do the things I am called to do only if it's easy. If only my clients would communicate with me in English, I think I would work more effectively. If only everyone in the face of the earth speaks English, sharing the gospel would have been more effective. Do these sound familiar to you? The question is, do I really get to choose my ways? Was the world created to fit my comfortable shell? Not that all. I was brought to remember in Matthew 24 about the signs of the end of age when Jesus said that the gospel of the kingdom must be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations before the Son of Man returns. The phrase 'all nations' caught my attention. It triggered to me that if I don't change this attitude of mine, I'll be a stumbling block in the work of God. The unreached are usually the ones who don't speak "our language". Just because it's harder to communicate, sometimes we choose to forget about them. If majority of us are thinking that way, aren't we just slowing down the process of getting the most important "task" done? Effective, we say? You see the irony?



So, the highlight of this whole post is....

"Ah.... I know why I'm posted to this client now. I am supposed to improve in my Malay so I can share the gospel in Malay!"

Hehe.. I'll be posted in this company till end of August. So, I have got 2 more months to practice. :P


"Makcik, pernah dengar pasal Jesus? Nak tahu kenapa Jesus cintamu?"
(Aunty, ever heard of Jesus? Wanna know why he loves you?)


*LoL*.... I'm still learning... trying to improve!!!


Here are some photos of the hospital visitation trip that I 'stole' off someone's Facebook. Heh.

This is Jo, with baby Ivy who was admitted due to chest infection.
I hope you're well now, cutesy!

My girls cellmates who came for the hospital visitation.


The girls again, with all the gifts for the kids.

Have I got a long way to run....

Are these times contagious
I've never been this bored before
Is this the prize Ive waited for
Now with the hours passing
Theres nothing left here to insure
I long to find a messenger

Have I got a long way to run
Have I got a long way to run
Yeah, I run

Is there a cure among us
From this processed sanity
I weaken with each voice that sings
Now, in this world of purchase
Im going to buy back memories
To awaken some old qualities

Have I got a long way to run
Have I got a long way to run
Yeah, I run
Yeah, I run

Have I got a long way
Have I got a long way
Have I got a long way to run
Have I got a long way to run

Yeah, I run (have I got a long way to run)
Yeah, I run (have I got a long way to run)
Yeah, I run (have I got a long way to run)
Yeah, I run (have I got a long way to run)

-Collective Soul-

This song echoed in my head today for a strange reason. My mind's sorta rediscovering my days back in the 90s, I suppose. Collective Soul is reminiscent of high school days. I recalled how lost I was in the midst of learning to know myself and what's the world gotta do with me. Though not Christian band, now that I thought back of what the writer wrote, much of Collective Soul’s imagery could come from the pages of the Bible. Not only did the lyrics make me think but I think they actually make me feel. Perhaps, just perhaps.. this band did somewhat lead me to my journey in finding the gateway to meeting with the Creator.

.....I'm not bored anymore.

.....I found the prize I've been waiting for.

.....there IS a cure among us.

.....Yes, I still got a long way to run.

24Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. - 1 Corinthians 9:24

14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 3:14

Dear Jesus,

Nothing beats the joy of finding what I've been looking for through You. Yes, I am lifting my feet to run heavenwards. Sometimes my feet gets heavy but I know you're lifting me. Please never let me lose sight of the direction you're pointing at for me. I'm on my way...

Love,
Mir.

Yeahh!! He did it again!

Officially started my first assignment at client's office. By the grace of the Man upstairs, my client's office is just down at Taipan.. which is within the same district where I live in. Yippie!! I can wake up an hour later!! Nyehh heh..

Work ended late on the first day, I got home at 10pm. It's peak period, so...mm hmm :)

Papa rang that night to arrange a dinner meeting with me the next night as he was gonna be around town. At that point, I felt that I couldn't promise him anything because I may work late, again. I really, really wanted me to meet with Papa since I missed his Birthday and Father's Day celebration altogether. I had something ready for him as a present. Being the good ol' Miss Practicality at her best, I got him a Dymo labelling machine. (those who know how much it costs, *SHhhHhhh!!!* He doesn't know the price and it's meant to be secret!! Well, unless he bothers to google it, then... whatever la!)

So... did I end u at dinner in the end??? Well.. the answer is....

......

......

....YES!

Actually, the highlight of this blog is to record down my praises to Him for hearing my heart again-- for allowing me to get off work extremely early today!! There was nothing much to be done towards the end so we were allowed to leave. We were even surprised that we get to see the sun when we got off.... haha!! :P

Anyway, it was a good time spent with Papa. Like I said before, I feel so blessed to have a father with such a great heart for his children. We had Korean for dinner. I'm utterly bad at blogging about the things I eat (that's Charis's forte :P), so... I'll let this photo do the talking.

TADDA!!!

There was only 2 of us but I think the amount we ordered was enough to feed a horse!!!

Speaking of food, met up with Bebe last weekend and we sure did have an exciting ride in the dark alleys of Kuala Lumpur with my very, very temperemental GPS. I paid 2 frigging tolls just to get to 1 Utama from Midvalley...=SSSS Anyways, we had Bak Kut Teh for dinner at SS4 area and the Singaporean gang bought a whole lot of bak kut teh spices back which I think can feed the whole population of Singapore. *LoLLL*

The time spent was invaluable, Bebe!! It'll be your turn to be the tour guide if I visit Singapore end of this year!! Sorry la, my tour guide skill is close to being as lost as a Singaporean.. paiseh! :P

All in all, I had a good weekend. =)

How much does happiness/satisfaction cost???

Last Friday, was at a meet-the-managers dinner with my fellow division team mates. I like meeting people, so I was looking forward to it. Didn't quite know what to expect out of a dinner night with bosses but since they've been hanging in this line for so long, I thought there's ought to be some good impartation that may feed my mind to convince me that it's still possible to have a balanced lifestyle and not perceiving this career path as one that is doomed to social suicide for the next few years. =SS

The dinner became somewhat like a mini-informal interview with the Managers. The usual questions were asked:

"Where are you from?"
"Why did you choose to be in the accounting line?"
"Do you play any sports?"

etc...

I sorta imagined myself being in a third party's shoe envisioning the scene at the dinner table. Funny how we just laugh at things that are not deemed to be very funny just to keep the atmosphere alive. Seems like it usually happens at meetings with superiors, eh? Weird, lah!!

I was just 2 seats away from the manager, so I decided to throw him some questions. I asked him what drives him to stay at where he is now. He said, money and the satisfaction. He mentioned that he loves watches and cars and he loves shopping a lot. He works for the money to achieve the satisfaction of owning the things that he desires for. I asked another manager the same question, his answer was the money, too.

When I heard those answers, I was deeply disappointed and I became frustrated in the spirit. Indeed, I am in no position to judge their decisions and lifestyle, but what got me thinking is that, whoa, look at the world today, people gain their satisfaction through material things. It seems like as though life is all about me, myself and I. There are so many people out there filled in their pockets, if only their money were put to good use in the kingdom of God. There are actually some trained Pastors in Sabah waiting to be sent out to mission-fields but they lack the finances -- all they need is at least RM6,000 a year. And how much have we blessed wealthy people squandered our finances in unnecessary things like a RM6,000 watch just so that we can keep ourselves happy for that one second when we look at the time?? I wished I could just scream at their faces telling them that there's more to life than just self-satisfaction. I observed around the restaurant, I even prayed in my heart, wishing that someone would share that agony of frustration over this matter. I seriously wonder, who's with me?

Indeed, God has brought some comfort to me through my dearest covenant friend when I read one of her recent blog entries. I thank God for reminding me that someone is standing in unison to my thoughts and beliefs and I am of course, not gonna be alone in this. I quote from her blog:

"....How normal the desire for that kind of life can appear to be. How quickly when we take our eyes off God and out of the Bible, we can buy into the lies that this life is about ME.
How scary is it that we can quickly become accustomed to such values and morals and see those things as acceptable.
How normal co-habitation seemed to be. How normal adultery seemed to be. How normal it is to place value on emotions over commitment and Biblical convictions. How normal it is to place value on the exterior beauty over internal beauty.
How foreign Biblical principles such as purity seemed to be. How non-existent it was the concept of God and purpose in life! How non-existent the concept of living for something other than yourself.
How normal it was to pursue the happiness, the needs and wants of ME.

....this life is NOT about me. It’s not about the perfect life that I deserve and should have. It’s not just about making money, staying thin and beautiful, marrying the perfect husband, and having the perfect 2.1 kids or whatever it is.
I was reminded that that’s NOT the legacy I want to leave. That’s NOT how I want to spend my life. Despite what the world says, we are all sinners, lost in sin. I didn't deserve anything, but Jesus created, pursued and saved me. This life is His. So I’m willing to give that all up to fulfill His purpose in my life. I don’t want to be caught up in this world- but to be focused on the one to come."

Her sharing truly reinforces my beliefs in being in the world but not of the world. I wanna live a God-satisfied life but not a self-satisfied life!!!

Cait, I so wanted to hug and kiss you when I read that entry. HAHA!!! Really needed to hear that from someone else. Thank you for being there, though in a subtle, unintentional manner!! Well, I guess it was intentional by our Daddy in Heaven, anyway. *giggles* Indeed we are not covenant friends for nothing. =D

So, is anyone else with us??? XD

Happy Birthday, 第第!!!

My sister, Mel, made this card. Nice, eh??

Have a great one this year, my dear brother.

Who Am I?

Can't comprehend why, but I somehow sense in my heart that someone's gotta hear this song. Although I may have heard this song many, many times. It always brings me back to that first love I experienced with the Loving One. Whoever you are, be blessed.


Who am I?
That the Lord of all the earth,
Would care to know my name,
Would care to feel my hurt.
Who am I?
That the bright and morning star,
Would choose to light the way,
For my ever wandering heart.

Bridge:
Not because of who I am,
But because of what you've done.
Not because of what I've done,
But because of who you are.

Chorus:
I am a flower quickly fading,
Here today and gone tomorrow,
A wave tossed in the ocean,
A vapor in the wind.
Still you hear me when I'm calling,
Lord, you catch me when I'm falling,
And you've told me who I am.
I am yours.
I am yours.

Who am I?
That the eyes that see my sin
Would look on me with love
And watch me rise again.
Who am I?
That the voice that calmed the sea,
Would call out through the rain,
And calm the storm in me.

Not because of who I am,
But because of what you've done.
Not because of what I've done,
But because of who you are.

-by Casting Crowns

I love to PRAISE the Almighty!!!

Due to bad time management and being inexperienced in gauging travel time needed for the past few Sunday Services, I have been coming in late and usually, I will miss out on the Praise session. I do sense the "missing puzzle" every time I leave service. The feeling of emptiness does stay throughout the week! I miss... I miss... I miss.....

Amazingly, God made me the happiest girl alive last Saturday. Remember I mentioned about gate-crashing a church camp??? Yup, I so did. I gave these bunch of people a pleasant surprise! :P

The best part is, the presence of God was so strong in the hall... it was like having the "time of my life" dancing before the Lord together with my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ!!! Talk about God hearing my whines over the nitty-gritties. That really did compensate for the 3-week of missed Praise sessions!!


Praise the LORD! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty expanse. Praise Him for His mighty deeds; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness. Praise Him with trumpet sound; Praise Him with harp and lyre. Praise Him with timbrel and dancing; Praise Him with stringed instruments andpipe. Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD!

Psalm 150

Thank you, Jesus!! =D

Silver spoon in my mouth...

Have you ever felt guilty of having the silver spoon fed into your mouth?? Well, I do. Very often, in fact! It kinda started off when a cheeky colleague of mine started a random chat with me during our social bowling outing on Friday night. He said something like this,

"Whoa.. you ahh, must be a rich kid's daughter, right? So fashionable, carry expensive phone....you're like from high society type. Everything must be just a platinum credit card swipe away, right???"

............ =__=


Seriously, it made me pondered what actually gave him that impression. Now that brought be through a guilt trip to look back upon my life in how things are given to me although I never quite desired for it. Truthfully, what he said is kinda..quite true. =S


...Papa got me a phone I never desired for. Don't really appreciate it as much as others do. And beats me why some people are dying to own it. *shrug*

...Papa serviced the car and changed all tyres for me before I drove down to KL.

...When I first arrived KL, I got rather worried about surviving on KL road directions on my own. I prayed *Walla!!*...Papa bought a GPS System from his Singapore trip because it was on promotional price when he was at Sim Lim Square. He loan it to me to make sure I don't end up in Timbuktu while driving. (HAHA..... surprise!! Now you know my secret to my *ahem* direction skills in KL. Think my sense of direction so good??? NAH~~~ !! =P)

...Tolls in KL are everywhere. Seriously, it's just super duper expensive to survive here--Especially on the road. I was grumbling in my heart thinking about the massive cost and before I know it, Papa actually stopped by the toll plaza office and got me a Smart Tag (it's a little censor machine that reads prepaid toll cards) and topped up lotsa $$$ into the card, too!

Honestly, I sometimes still struggle over my life of privilege. Aren't I spoiled to the brim or what? What did I do to deserve it and, worst of all, how much of it have I squandered without a care in the world? While I enjoyed this life of privilege, it was ultimately at the expense of Papa's hard work.

While driving back from work in the midst of the traffic jam yesterday, something kinda came across my mind. I thought, I am too loaded not to do something with what I have. In a very funny way, I started singing that Hillsong song, "so blessed, I can't contain it, so much a gotta give it away...your love has taught me to live now... you are more than enough for me!!" *LoL* Passing drivers must be thinking this girl must be super high on.. something. YAH!! I am high on God's blessings, man!!!

Yes, I am different. Yes, no doubt I am privileged. Yes, I have access to opportunities that others do not. Like Shakespeare said - "All the world's a stage. And all the men and women merely players." The ultimate tragedy is for me to deny my character and waste my purpose in God's stage play.

Coincidentally, I browsed through a random blog online today and found something reassuring and affirmative to my thoughts. It's an exerpt from Nelson Mandela's 1994 inaugural speech when he was elected President of South Africa:

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our greatest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be fabulous, brilliant, talented, gorgeous? Actually, who are you not to be, you are a child of God and playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, like children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in every one of us. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give people permission to do the same."

FOoH Laa.. So convicted to do something. My hands are itching...
God has given me an opportunity to join a hospital visitation this coming Saturday with a group of church mates. First time experience. This is gonna be exciting. I'd love to learn from the experienced ones. I so..so...soo...wanna be an impacter!!

So, what about you? Got anything on your list to polish that shine, lately?

Thirsty, anyone??

My division Senior Manager sent the new Associates an email requesting for a brief write-up about ourselves to be put up at the division portal for the rest of the team to get to know us. He wanted the write-up to be as creative as possible and also, include a candid photo of ourselves. Here's what I came up with:-

Wanna hear about the wonders of 'Connection'?

Have you ever drank Mirinda Orange? Meet MirAnda. She's only slightly different in spelling, but she somewhat resembles Mirinda Orange because its process of becoming such a yummylicious drink is similar to her journey of being part of PwC. She graduated from University of Queensland in 2006 and obtained work experience in Australia as an Accounts Payable Officer for about a year. She came back to Malaysia in search of a new connection and saw it in PwC. Their ConnectedThinking* not only clicked in loving the colour Orange but also being unconventional in perspective. She believes in not being a stereotyped dull Auditor and thinks that people dealing with accounts can be exciting and fun, too! She loves music, the beach, the gym, church, outdoor activities and traveling. Her journey of adventure here has just begun and is looking to get connected with the rest of the team out there. Wanna know how it feels like being drunk? You ask a bottle of Miranda. Get the twist? (Disclaimer: I'm allergic to alcohol. =P)

That's me in my company T-shirt and notebook in my hand.

....

....

.... I checked the portal today and turns out that I was the only one who squeezed out some "Orange juice" off my brain to come up with this. Most people just wrote a simple introduction of themselves. Accks..

So, do I get a prize for embarrassing myself on this one??? iiiisshhh....~~~

Gone are the days of idling...

That's right!! I'm starting work tomorrow! Firstly, will be heading off Port Dickson for a one-night induction retreat.

Not gonna blog much now. Gotta wake up early the next day to catch a train to my office by 7.30pm sharp.

Keep me in prayer. I need energy to keep my spirits up for the next 2 weeks' of orientation and training.

Good night, everyone! :)

Are you a promise keeper?

I was at Subang Parade (it's a mall) today. Being at Subang Parade reminded me of an incident which happened a month back when I was here in KL lodging with my relatives during my interview week.

Remember I mentioned before that I have been watching heaps of Taiwanese dramas over the weekdays with my Mum? Well, I kinda continued on following the series while I was down here in KL with my relatives. My 8-year-old cousin, Debra got a little curious and started to sit in with me so we watched the 6pm drama on AEC together. She's rather talkative by nature, so unsurprisingly, she bombarded me with heaaaaaps of questions about the drama.

"Jiejie... why did that man fight with the other man?"
"Jiejie... why these 2 men like the same girl?"
"Jiejie... what are gangsters??"

etc..etc..etc....

HAHA... yeshhh, I was patient enough to explain the details to her. Anyway, that's kinda besides the point :PP. When the show ended, she told me that she wanted to continue watching the series together with me. So, I said to her that I will accompany her watching the series the next day, same time at 6pm.

I went to Subang Parade the next day for a walk around just for the sake of getting out of the house. I like the fact that I was alone in the mall, taking my time browsing through every nook and cranny of the mall. Then, I heard my mobile ringing. It was Debra.

Debra: "Hello... jiejie!! It's almost 6 o'clock. Where are you??"

Me: "I'm at Subang Parade. Why?"

Debra: "Uhh....the 6 o'clock show is going to start soon. You promised me that we're gonna watch it together, remember?"

Me: "Oh no....yeah, but jiejie forgot. I don't think I can come back on time for the show. D'you mind watching it by yourself?"

Debra: "But I don't understand Hokkien and my Malay is not good enough to read the subtitles. You need to explain the show to me, remember???" Haihh... It's ok. I'll just skip the show."

Me: "You sure?? I'm so sorry..."

Debra: "It's ok... I'll see you later then"

Both of us: "Bye."

Gosh... I felt utterly guilty after hanging up the line. Honestly, when I told Debra that I'll watch the show with her the next day, I didn't quite take my word seriously. I have to admit that it was plainly because I was talking to an 8-year-old. I didn't expect her to take my word for it. I figured that most likely she'd forget what I said by the next day, assuming that kids' got short attention span anyway. Man, I was so wrong. There was this tugging by the Holy Spirit in me reminding me of a few verses about being a promise-keeper. One that clearly stood out in my mind was this:

21 If you make a vow to the LORD your God, do not be slow to pay it, for the LORD your God will certainly demand it of you and you will be guilty of sin. 22 But if you refrain from making a vow, you will not be guilty. 23 Whatever your lips utter you must be sure to do, because you made your vow freely to the LORD your God with your own mouth.

Deuteronomy 23:21-23

It was such a big ouch for me during that moment. It made me think of all the promises I've made before the Lord. Those moments during alter-calls when the worship songs sounded so right and I was singing it so loudly to Him...when goosebumps were showing all over my skin... the adrenaline rush was pumping my heart really hard...tears were soaking up my eyes...my arms were way up high in the air trying so hard to reach Him...that spur of a moment, it felt so perfect, right and easy to say that I promise to surrender my life to Him.

This really made me ponder, who is God in my life. Where does He stand in terms of status? When I made those vows, was His status parallel to an 8-year-old kid in my mindset? I couldn't help but repent immediately to God. He reminded me greatly that a promise is a promise, irregardless of who you made your promise to. Wow, what more for the promises made to God, the creator! He reminded me that He detests lying lips, but He delights in men who are truthful (Proverbs 12:22). I feel greatly challenged and yes, I admit that I may have sometimes swayed away and got distracted over worldly things. There are times when I feel that I can't keep up to what I offered. But I am still trying and trusting Him all the way in helping the weakling me to fulfill my word. If the external promise is so important, then how about the eternal promise made at the risk of your life? A promise with the Father is an eternal one, which is kept not only in this world but also in the spiritual world.

What about you? Have you been fulfilling your part as a promise-keeper?