THANK YOUs

Thank you to all who remembered my birthday and sent me wishes via text messages and also Facebook. My birthday was a great one, though not a blast in the sense of the world. I was away for a spiritual retreat deep in the mountains with some teachers from our sister school of the complex and it was a wonderful experience to know them and to love them all (Fenny, Clare, Bian and Boo). The ladies are considered my new friends, while the men have been my friends since 2006. The bonding was awesome. Though there was no mobile reception there in the retreat center, it was totally alright for me.

The best experience was the individual blessing by the priest with the Blessed Sacrament. The moment Jesus was nearing to where I was sitting in the chapel, I was in awe of Him, totally. I wonder with amazement how could Jesus, the Son of God, came down on earth, and now, right in front of me, wanting to know me, love me, be with me, forever. The highlight was when the priest blessed me with the Blessed Sacrament, I was filled with bliss of being at the feet of my beloved Christ. That is "the moment".

I got home about 4 something in the afternoon, played with my neighbour's Snowy and Browny (the pups) and then dropped down to sleep until choir practice. After practice, I had a simple dinner at Upperstar while waiting for John, my friend, to meet me up. Yesh... the nearest to birthday cake was Coffee Bean's cheese cakes. LOL.

After All Saints' Day mass yesterday evening, we went to Sailors' Cafe in Grand Millenium. It was awesome, the food was great and the company was even better...

Jason and Jeremy had a number of dishes, ranging from soup of the day to meatballs of the size of a golf ball, salad, chicken wings. Fabian had NZ lamb shoulder while Tity had creamy pasta. I had fish and chips. The deco was lovely too; I like the black wall with chalk writings and photos from the places the owner visited in the past. Here are some photos taken there...

Jason's soup of the day

Bian's NZ lamb shoulder

My fish and chips

Tity's creamy spaghetti

Meatballs

Freedom in Boundaries

On this day of your life, Cindy, we believe God wants you to know ... that you are only as free as you imagine yourself to be.
	There is nothing ''out there'' that's holding you down, - you are limiting yourself only with your own imagination. And your greatest limits are not even the ''cannot'' and the ''should not'', but the places where your imagination hasn't yet gone at all. There has never been a better time for you to open your eyes, let the imagination soar and see what more is possible.

Recently I'm attracted to this application on Facebook that generates message everyday supposedly what God wants people to know... I do pray that the people behind this application are praying very hard to discern the messages "God wants us to know" and not fall into the trap of the evil one.

Oh well... It seems that whatever written for today is applicable to my life... (It is beginning to have a lookalike thing - similar to horoscope reading!) It is pretty nice, but in the Scriptures we're reminded to be careful of false prophets too. So, people, sometimes, people who are nice all the time may not be too nice after all. Hmm...

Alright, getting back to my topic of the day... Freedom in Boundaries. What is freedom? What are boundaries? I'm beginning to see myself as a boundaryless person running around all my life and that isn't too nice to be revealed. But this truth is helping me to solve bits and pieces of the "mysteries" enshrouding my whole life. It may be amusing to some of you, but have you ever wondered why is everyone living in boxes that you can see but cannot open? If you do, perhaps you're like me somehow. I'm not trying to scare you here, but do give it a serious thought. Maybe you may see more light out of it.

Two years ago, the theme of Lifeline's Freedom Camp was "Beyond the Lies" and the verse behind this was John 8:32. I never really fully understood the deep meaning beneath this verse until recently. Let's take a look at the verse (taken from Good News Bible):

"You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
~ John 8:32 ~

How true that is! I finally found the many truths withheld from me in my "multiple sclerosis" which has deteriorated to a stage where I began to realize there are so much pain in my body that it is not functioning normally. Hence, the search of truth begins...

By reading the book "Boundaries" by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend, I start to realize the "boundaryless" attitude in my life of 27 years and how it had crippled me in the sense of responsibilities and commitments. I'm still in the process of seeking truths and lies about my life... So there will be more to come about this. But one this is for sure, that boundaries will bring freedom.

I would like to take this opportunity to first give a big hug to thank a friend who triggered me to seek my boundaries after our boundaries conversation last Monday. (You know who you are if you read this entry, so I need not mention your name. I know you enjoy high level of privacy and mysteries!) Besides that, I also want to thank Melissa Nicholas, Melissa Audrey and Josephine Hiu for our journey in our on-going Retreat with St. Therese. Also to Derek Chong, SHC Youth Worker, who is currently my life coach. And lastly, to thank the God who loves me to eternity.

God bless & Pax et Bonum.

P/S: I'm trying to get my own copy of the book "Boundaries". So if anyone sees it in the bookstore, please call me immediately. So far I've checked in Salvation Bookstore in KK, Capstone Bookstore in Iramanis, but no avail. Thanks!

Alpha? Yes, Alpha.

Personally, I think I had posted a pathetic point of view during my last entry. And after a long period of silence, here's what had been happening in my life. Yups... As per image of the entry, Alpha course is what I've been attending rather faithfully for the past few Mondays. This course is organised by the church's Light of Jesus Christ Covenant Community (LJCCC) and I was encouraged by Aunty Agnes Kong to attend the course (on the funny basis that I need not cook on Monday evenings). What really encourages me to continue going week after week is the desire to know more about my own faith and also to go back to the basic. Many-a-times, we tend to forget our basics, the foundation of the church based on the the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, etc. This course is acting as a refreshment for me in order to deepen my relationship with God. And indeed, I hope, it is working out well.

I was in Pace Bene, Papar, for the Alpha weekend away, where we listened to the DVD talk by Nicky Gumbel about the Holy Spirit. I guess the highlight of the whole weekend was the ministry time where we were being prayed over. It was really good and I saw changes, really obvious ones, on some of my fellow group members. The obvious joy that is bubbling inside them was so contagious that spending a few minutes talking to them made me joyful inside too. The mass was celebrated by a hilarious priest, Fr. Eric Jerome. He spoke with such fervent and so much of zeal in him. He used very hilarious and down-to-earth type of examples when it comes to explaining about human relationships and our relationship with God, etc. Not forgetting the hilarious Uncle Patrick from the community who kept telling me that I have four angels with me ever since we first met him during Inner Healing and Transformation Seminar last November (2008). My friend, Irene, told me that Uncle Patrick told her he saw four angels laughing with me after I was being prayed over by Uncle Daniel Kong during the seminar in Bundu Tuhan. And he mentioned he has 10 angels with him. Amen to this uncle!

Of course, I was revealed a specific call to serve during this session. In fact, it was a continuation from the previous seminars and talks and worship sessions I had. The need of intercessors in the ministry seems to have caught up with me. I've spoken to Aunty Lucia, one of the intercessors of the community regarding the recent calls, which I personally would say, made by God through the Holy Spirit during my prayer time, worship sessions, when I was being ministered to. The short sharing with her this morning regarding my dad's condition and then about my question on "the call to be an intercessor" gave me a warm fuzzy feeling. The fuzzy and warm feeling gave me 100% assurance and comfort at the moment she smiled and started telling me how she intercedes for people. Never had I shared so openly about this call, and tonight, I actually felt the need to get it published on my blog.

So far, ever since I stepped down from Lifeline leadership, this is the first time I actually journaled openly about this call to serve. Though still in the midst of discerning and also I still need to speak to certain "authorities" in ministry about this call, I would love those who read my blog to pray for me and with me about this. The more the merrier when it comes to prayers. I'm unsure if I'm ready to share my dear sister's burden on interceding for our ministry, but what Aunty Lucia shared really encourages me to try it out. She told me that the intercessor will pray for the ministry and "transfers" the burdens transferred from the individual/ministry's shoulder to our shoulders to Jesus' shoulders. And then we will feel light and all. In fact, I would conclude from Aunty Lucia's sharing that God is more than happy to take the burdens of ministry from the shoulders of intercessors and intercessors should not take the burdens and keep them on their shoulders. I'm bad at transfering word-by-word message, but I guess this is the gist of it.

Time for me to go back to my pending work. Before leaving, I would really encourage everyone to attend Alpha course in your church (I know that many churches around the world are offering Alpha courses, including in Catholic churches!) because no matter how much we know about our church teachings, Scriptures and we have personal relationship with God and all, it is never too much to listen and understand the very basic facts on Christianity. Furthermore, we won't know when we'll meet a person who might require us to explain the basics to them. Do not fear that Alpha course may take you off from your own ministry. I, for one, still think that I'm called to be committed to the ministry that I'm already in.

Thank You, Lord God, for sending Aunty Agnes and all others to invite me to Alpha. Thank You for opening my eyes to things I've never really seen previously. Thank You, Holy Spirit, for guiding me and slowly revealing to me more and more each day. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for Your willingness to die for us because You love us. AMEN!

Freedom Camp 2009

Hi all, I'm back. I'll share what had been happening since I took the break from blogging et al. How is everybody? Just before I lay down to rest, just want to share an image I found on internet...

Pretty interesting huh? Ever wonder why there is an empty space in your heart unable to be filled with anything in the world? There's a way you can discover what you have been lacking... I found mine at Freedom Camp in 2006. So now... in 2009...

FREEDOM CAMP IS HERE AGAIN~~~~

Details are as below:

Date: 17-19 April 2009 (Weekend after Easter)
Venue: Pace Bene Retreat Centre, Papar
Reg. fees: RM60 (no transport) / RM70 (student+transport) / RM80 (with transport)
** Open to ALL young adults and students above 19 years old **

Anybody who is interested, please drop me a comment. I will direct you to the person in charge. Good night and God bless!