Salt of the Earth

Friday, July 27, 2007

Yeah so it's my turn. I dont have any spine-tingling, emotional or good story from any book to share. Just mine.

As yall know I had my attachment, still having, but will end next week. Big deal. Yeah it's a big deal to me. Thought I wouldnt be worse then studying to get good results but I was quite wrong. I mentioned before about how I was really bad at work and I miraculously became better. Well yeah, I'll prolly share that journey now.

Main thing was I kept making mistakes, endless mistakes and cant seem to understand a certain programme this company uses. I was quite dumb la, didnt write down the steps and thought I could remember them all. Smart move. Had this colleague sitting beside me that taught me most of the stuff, but I kept forgetting them and she sorta said like "why you keep forgetting". Once I had to do a schedule and I vowed never to ask so I can fully say I did it by myself. But alas I had to. There was one part I hadnt done before, so I had to ask. She showed me, I didnt catch a thing. She started ranting on something I did 2 days ago that was related to this schedule, I cant remember that either. My bad, but hey I'm new to this. Anyway I got really mad, and lost my temper saying she didnt teach me properly. Got another blast full. Got so embarrassed. Luckily that was the one and only time.

Anyway, the more things I re-corrected, the lousier I felt. I knew my grades for this attachment were at stake. I so desperately need to improve. At times when I made errors, I would get so upset and just sit on my chair quiet for many hours doing what I'm gave slowly. This scenario went on for weeks. Yeah I did pray everytime I did something, but it just turned out wrong.

In such desperate times, I had nothing to do but cry out to the Lord during worship. Not like literally shout or scream but my heart did. Cant remember what I said to Him but it was something like, I cant go on by myself and I want Him to help me through. Or maybe more emo than that I dont know. Somehow, somewhere I guess he must have heard.

A week went by fine, I avoided stepping on their toes. That programme which I was struggling to grasp became clearer. I could remember the bank codes and procedures. 1 month had passed okay. Still had a couple of blunders here and there, but somehow everything was much pleasant. I was also getting along fine with the colleague beside me. Suddenly life was looking much more lighter. I didnt dread going to work as I did for the past 2 months. Overall it was much much better.

The most coolest thing about God was that he somehow saved me from getting fried, 2 times. Once was that I voided a cheque in the software but forgot to void it manually. Another colleague needed to issue a cheque from that company's cheque book and wrote on the cheque that was already voided. Somehow she had made some errors on that cheque and had to use a new one. And thank God she made those errors. If that cheque was written right, signed and sent out, I would have been slaughtered as it was a void cheque ready to get bounced. Dont know if any of you can understand these stuff anyway. The other example is much more complicated and wont further explain. But, you know that's so cool about God. He somehow pulled me through the mistakes I did, and I didnt even pray before I did that task.

So if anyone has this situation (I hope not), or some other bigger problems in the future. I know that you will know God is in together with you even if you cant feel or hear Him. And even if you may not be always very "spiritual" daily (like me), you should know that God wouldnt abandon you. Though even after all, everything didnt turn out right in the end or you didnt get what you wanted.. I'm sure there is a bigger plan out there. There definitely is.

So now I'm left a week to end. It's like a blink of the eye. I still hope everything will go well though. Cant take things for granted. My next big thing coming up in life would be my piano exam. Even I know how not good I am in piano, I still wanna pass well anyway. I'm practicing very hard la. I wont request for special prayer, but if anyone happens to suddenly out of nowhere think of me... dont think of Milkshake but pray for my exam. But whatever is the outcome, I guess it's all in the plan.

There's a phrase that always gave me some hope when I remember it. "If God brings me to it, He will bring me through it" Hope this phrase might help someone out there. Hope yall had a good week! cheerio.

"Salt of the Earth" came from this song "Lighthouse" by Mary Rice Hopkins. Some ancient song I liked when I was primary 5. Cant find the full music though, the one I heard was a small part with children singing =S I still can remember the tune so maybe one day I'll tab it. For bored people, you can click here to see the lyrics on page 2.

♥ vanessa

9:56 PM

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

The Water Bearer
(fr sg_christians.livejournal.com)

A water bearer in India had two large pots, each hung on each end of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the master's house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water in his master's house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made.

But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.

After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream.
"I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you".
"Why?" asked the bearer, "What are you ashamed of?"
"I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master's house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don't get full value from your efforts," the pot said.

The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion he said,
"As we return to the master's house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path."

Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some.

But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again it apologized to the bearer for its failure.

The bearer said to the pot,

"Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of your path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you've watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my master's table. Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house. You fulfilled your purpose for which I chose you."

I do not know who this story wrote, yet it wasn't me;)

I like it though because it explains in a simply way a basic biblical principle:

I don't need to have special talents,
do not need to be perfect or something in the eyes of the world to be used by God.

The Bible says in
~ 1 Corinthians 1: 27 - 28:
"Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. "

He can use me only when I understand that I am nothing
but He is the one who accomplishes everything in me and through me.
It is never my own power, but His strength and Holy Spirit working in me.

And then it does not matter if I am like a cracked pot in the eyes of men - in God's eyes I am valuable.
He chose me and loves me and He will use my "crack" exactly for the right purpose in His perfect plan when I am willing to be used by Him.

The water bearer in the story loved his cracked pot and he saw what this cracked pot was accomplishing in its weakness. Jesus loves everyone person on this earth so much more and with unconditional love. He knows every weakness, failure, and sin, yet He loves us and wants to work something beautiful and for the glory of God in our cracked life.

Everyone has to choose - a life with the Lord is nothing anyone else can chose for a person.
And it is not a religion, but a relationship! Yet it is a journey totally worth the trip!
God is a loving, living, life giving, graceful, merciful, wonderful Father. All you have to do is accept His grace, ask for forgiveness and then He will come into your life.

And He said to me,
"My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness."

Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
~ 2 Corinthians 12: 9

♥ baloneyy

1:49 AM

Friday, July 20, 2007

hi, well haha.. i'm so lagging but anyway.. cell chalet was nice.. although i think it should have been longer so we could have more time to sleep.. haha.. here are the photos that are taken by me.. at the beach..

where did the shakers go?

van and johnson.. heehee..

campfire starters..

the dancing light..

jeremy's sphinx and pyrimid..

yiling taking a pic of me taking a picture of two people laughing at something funny on the ceiling.. haha..

enjoy..

♥ littlenigel

5:25 PM

Monday, July 16, 2007

Here's a special feature on the person behind the scenes, that very dear person who maintains our blog and keeps it pretty and cool at the same time... VANESSA!! (:

P.S to van: i do have photos of you!

Enjoy! :D

♥ ryl

11:22 PM

Sunday, July 08, 2007

hullo salt shakers!(: hope we are all refreshed and excited to ctd running for the Lord aft the sweet cell retreat! it was nice just taking time to fellowship and ive been truly blessed!(:
anw, i feel the Lord talking abt dealing with forgiveness and i'll be sharing fr an email my coach sent as well as daily bread! hope you all will be blessed by it!

DEALING WITH THE PROBLEM OF HATE

In our lifetime, we are bound to struggle with feelings of hate. When someone does something wrong or speak spitefully against us, we tend to harbor feelings of hate. We must understand that hate is sinful. John wrote of how a person who continues to hate a brother is in spiritual darkness.

“But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes” 1 John 2:11

Such a person walks in spiritual ignorance and does not know where he is going or what he is doing. It is vital that we deal with this problem of hate.

THE STRESS TO KEEP THE COMMANDMENT TO LOVE

“Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning. Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you…” 1 John 2:7-8

Instead of harboring hate, our challenge is to obey the commandment to love. The word “commandment” is repeated four times in these two verses. John was stressing the importance of keeping the commandment that the Lord Jesus had given His disciples. The Lord had commanded them to love one another as He had loved them. John was adding new nuances to what the Lord Jesus had taught. Loving one another was meant to be a practical contrast to false opinions. If we really are walking in the light, then we should keep the commandment to love. Our lives would show for it.

LOVE AS A DISTINCT WAY OF ABIDING IN THE LIGHT

“He who loves his brother abides in the light and there is no cause of stumbling in him” 1 John 2:10

If we have been given spiritual enlightenment by God’s truth, then we should live differently and distinctly. Instead of living in hate, we should demonstrate sincere love for the brethren. We would not cause anyone to stumble through our deeds. We would display actions of love and concern for people. The idea of “love” is in the present tense. It means that our lives would continually show love to our brethren. If we are abiding in the light of the Lord and no longer dwelling in darkness, then we would obey the command to love one another always.

FORGIVENESS

Some of life's hurts are so deep and painful that to forgive the people who caused them seems impossible. Yet Jesus says that we cant expect His forgiveness if we have an unforgiving spirit. Very often, we struggle with our feelings but we need to recall the Word of God in Matthew 6:15" But if you do not forgive men their sins, Your Father will not forgive your sins."
Forgiveness is not a case of 'holy amnesia' that wipes out the past. Instead, it is the experience of healing that drains the poison from the wound.
God asks us to do for others what He has done for us through Jesus Christ and He will give us the strength to forgive.

Matthew 18:21-35:

The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant

²¹Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?"

²²Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.^[a]

²³"Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. ²⁴As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents^[b] was brought to him. ²⁵Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

²⁶"The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' ²⁷The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

²⁸"But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii.^[c] He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded.

²⁹"His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'

³⁰"But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. ³¹When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.

³²"Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. ³³Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' ³⁴In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

³⁵"This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."

As we start on a new week, let us act on His word to release our hate by His love that we may be released from our sins and be free in our Lord. We need to ask for forgiveness not only from the Father but also the ones we have hurt. Let us also forgive as He has forgiven that we maybe a blessed and a blessing, especially when some unloved souls need our forgiving to be whole. For we do not love or forgive by our own strength but by His.

take care and God bless!(: have a Godly week ahead!

in His love, shu!

♥ baloneyy

11:51 PM

Thursday, July 05, 2007

Hello lovelies! sorry for the late posting:

Sandra felt as low as the heels of her shoes as she pushed against a November gust and the florist shop door.

Her life had been easy, like a spring breeze. Then in the fourth month of her second pregnancy, a minor automobile accident stole that from her.

During this Thanksgiving week she would have delivered a son. She grieved over her loss. As if that weren't enough, her husband's company threatened a transfer. Then her sister, whose holiday visit she coveted, called saying she could not come for the holiday.

Then Sandra's friend infuriated her by suggesting her grief was a God-given path to maturity that would allow her to empathize with others who suffer. “She has no idea what I'm feeling,” thought Sandra with a shudder.

“Thanksgiving? Thankful for what?” she wondered. For a careless driver whose truck was hardly scratched when he rear-ended her? For an airbag that saved her life but took that of her child?

"Good afternoon, can I help you?" The shop clerk's approach startled her.

"I... I need an arrangement," stammered Sandra.

"For Thanksgiving? Do you want beautiful but ordinary, or would you like to challenge the day with a customer favourite I call the Thanksgiving "Special?" asked the shop clerk. "I'm convinced that flowers tell stories," she continued. "Are you looking for something that conveys 'gratitude' this thanksgiving?"

"Not exactly!" Sandra blurted out. "In the last five months, everything that could go wrong has gone wrong."

Sandra regretted her outburst, and was surprised when the shop clerk said, "I have the perfect arrangement for you."

Just then the shop door's small bell rang, and the shop clerk said, "Hi, Barbara...let me get your order." She politely excused herself and walked toward a small workroom, then quickly reappeared, carrying an arrangement of greenery, bows, and long-stemmed thorny roses. Except the ends of the rose stems were neatly snipped: there were no flowers.

"Want this in a box?" asked the clerk.

Sandra watched for the customer's response. Was this a joke? Who would want rose stems with no flowers! She waited for laughter, but neither woman laughed.

"Yes, please," Barbara, replied with an appreciative smile. "You'd think after three years of getting the special, I wouldn't be so moved by its significance, but I can feel it right here, all over again," she said as she gently tapped her chest. And she left with her order.

"Uh," stammered Sandra, "that lady just left with, uh... she just left with no flowers!”

"Right, said the clerk, "I cut off the flowers. That's the Special. I call it the Thanksgiving Thorns Bouquet."

"Oh, come on, you can't tell me someone is willing to pay for that!" exclaimed Sandra.

"Barbara came into the shop three years ago feeling much like you feel today," explained the clerk. "She thought she had very little to be thankful for. She had lost her father to cancer, the family business was failing, her son was into drugs, and she was facing major surgery."

"That same year I had lost my husband," continued the clerk, "and for the first time in my life, had just spent the holidays alone. I had no children, no husband, no family nearby, and too great a debt to allow any travel."

"So what did you do?" asked Sandra.

"I learned to be thankful for thorns," answered the clerk quietly. "I've always thanked God for the good things in my life and never questioned the good things that happened to me, but when bad stuff hit, did I ever ask questions! It took time for me to learn that dark times are important. I have always enjoyed the 'flowers' of life, but it took thorns to show me the beauty of God's comfort. You know, the Bible says that God comforts us when we're afflicted, and from His consolation we learn to comfort others."

Sandra sucked in her breath as she thought about the very thing her friend had tried to tell her. "I guess the truth is I don't want comfort. I've lost a baby and I'm angry with God."

Just then someone else walked into the shop. "Hey, Phil!" shouted the clerk to the balding, rotund man.

"My wife sent me in to get our usual Thanksgiving Special... 12 thorny, long-stemmed stems!" laughed Phil as the clerk handed him a tissue-wrapped arrangement from the refrigerator.

"Those are for your wife?" asked Sandra incredulously. "Do you mind me asking why she wants something that looks like that?"
"No... I'm glad you asked," Phil replied. "Four years ago my wife and I nearly divorced. After forty years, we were in a real mess, but with the Lord's grace and guidance, we slogged through problem after problem. He rescued our marriage. Jenny here (the clerk) told me she kept a vase of rose stems to remind her of what she learned from "thorny" times, and that was good enough for me. I took home some of those stems. My wife and I decided to label each one for a specific "problem" and give thanks for what that problem taught us."

As Phil paid the clerk, he said to Sandra, "I highly recommend the Special!"

"I don't know if I can be thankful for the thorns in my life," Sandra said. "It's all too... fresh."

"Well," the clerk replied carefully, "my experience has shown me that thorns make roses more precious. We treasure God's providential care more during trouble than at any other time. Remember, it was a crown of thorns that Jesus wore so we might know His love. Don't resent the thorns."

Tears rolled down Sandra's cheeks. For the first time since the accident, she loosened her grip on resentment. "I'll take those twelve long-stemmed thorns, please," she managed to choke out.

"I hoped you would," said the clerk gently. "I'll have them ready in a minute."

"Thank you. What do I owe you?"

"Nothing. Nothing but a promise to allow God to heal your heart. The first year's arrangement is always on me." The clerk smiled and handed a card to Sandra. "I'll attach this card to your arrangement, but maybe you would like to read it first."

It read: "My God, I have never thanked You for my thorns. I have thanked You a thousand times for my roses, but never once for my thorns. Teach me the glory of the cross I bear; teach me the value of my thorns. Show me that I have climbed closer to You along the path of pain. Show me that, through my tears, the colors of Your rainbow look much more brilliant."

Praise Him for your roses; thank him for your thorns!

Reflect:
What are the tears and sorrows hidden in the secret closets of my heart that need to be opened for God to breathe healing into?

Pray: Pray for strength to walk through the healing process of any sorrow and/or hurt you have kept from people, including those you have forgotten. (Ask the Holy Spirit to help reveal those you have forgotten.) Spend quiet moments of stillness surrendering each one to God to heal. Praise and thank him after that.

I have never ever liked to face up to my problems, wishing they would just go away one by one. And sometimes i just want to bury deep down in my heart and hoping they will never surface again. I think its important to learn the art of surrendering, of thanking God in all circumstances, and learning to be joyful (uncircumstantial).

♥ charis :)

9:21 AM

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

hi.. since this blog is supposed to help us get to know each other better, i thought i would share something about myself.. so here's one of the silly and pretty enjoyable things that i did in college..

♥ littlenigel

5:08 PM