pearliegates

Time has not permit me to think much today, let alone write. Work is piling on and I wish I could have Calvin's duplicator. Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson © Universal Press Syndicate pearlie

Grace Notes intently singing and ministering the good news of the Lord in music and song during the morning service. This is not all of us, the camera lens was not wide enough to capture the whole team. Joanna gave some vocal lessons to some of the church members yesterday. We sang a song together in the service. Chloe and Kristen. After service, we were brought to savour the best cendol in Melaka. Lee Mei with the auntie preparing the cendol. A contented lot. pearlie Photos (c) 2009 Pearlie Ng (the first 4 shots were taken by Wong Jen May)

Grace Notes were invited to sing in the Taman Asean Methodist Church, Melaka tomorrow and off we went to Melaka today. We all put up in different places. My parents and I with the kids were housed in Wisma Wesley. A bit too quiet and simple, but comfortable nonetheless. View from our room. I think this is the Wesley Church's office. pearlie Photo (c) 2009 Pearlie Ng

We have a day off today being Hari Raya Haji and I thank the LORD for a good day of rest. I took the opportunity to go to the nearest nursery to see if I can get some good shots. I enjoyed myself and manage to catch some photos of butterflies - my, they are not easy to shoot. They won't pose for you. Just when you think you got the right angle, poof! off they fly to another bloom. I think this is my best shot, which is just so so. pearlie Photo (c) 2009 Pearlie Ng

pearlie Photo (c) 2008 Okinawa Soba

I found this verse in 1 Corinthians today: 1 Cor 16:13-14 Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love. I find it such an amazing verse - in that we need to be on guard all the time to ensure we walk in the Spirit, to stand firm in the faith no matter what happens and to be courageous and strong, having His Spirit in us. But the beauty is that we are to do everything in love. And I see this love to include His love for us, our love for Him and with this love to everyone else. It would not be enough to just stand firm in him, but also to live in this amazing love of God that was given to all through the cross. pearlie

God is good all the time He put a song of praise in this heart of mine God is good all the time Through the darkest night, His light will shine God is good, God is good all the time If you're walking through the valley And there are shadows all around Do not fear, He will guide you He will keep you safe and sound 'Cause He has promised to never leave you Nor forsake you and His Word is true We were sinners - so unworthy Still for us He chose to die Filled us with His Holy Spirit Now we can stand and testify That His love is everlasting And His mercies - they will never end Though I may not understand All the plans He has for me My life is in His hands And through the eyes of faith I can clearly see pearlie

Fears can be very real in our lives. On the outset, they seem irrational though. One of the ten most common fears is the fear of clowns, which happens to be my son's fear. He would steer clear of them. It does look irrational to others, but for those who has the fears, nothing can be more real. What causes fear? The way I see it, they usually arise out of past experiences. My son remembers when he was still small sitting in stroller being brought near against his will to the most hideous moving thing around, a clown. He must be only 2 or 3 then, but he remembered it. The odd thing is, even after you identified the cause of the fear, it does not get alleviated. It can even become worse. How then can we overcome our fears? I have nothing to give other than what is already given in Ephesians 1:13-14: And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who

I was eager for a word from God today at church but he gave me more, amongst others he gave me a hymn and the witness behind it. ’Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus Hymn Author: Louisa M.R. Stead, c 1850-1917 Composer: William J. Kirkpatrick, 1838-1921 Scripture Reference: Ephesians 1:12,13 ’Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, And to take Him at His Word; Just to rest upon His promise, And to know, “Thus saith the Lord!”     Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!     How I’ve proved* Him o’er and o’er     Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!     O for grace to trust Him more! O how sweet to trust in Jesus, Just to trust His cleansing blood; And in simple faith to plunge me ’Neath the healing, cleansing flood! Yes, ’tis sweet to trust in Jesus, Just from sin and self to cease; Just from Jesus simply taking Life and rest, and joy and peace. I’m so glad I learned to trust Thee, Precious Jesus, Savior, Friend; And I know that Thou art with me, Wilt be with me to the end. I obtained the following fro

Zechariah 4:6 Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts. 2 Corinthians 12:9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Luke 9:23-25 And he said to all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? pearlie

Father I thank You For all that You've done You gave Your Son freely for me And I praise You for calling me Drawing me near Out of blindness You caused me to see Spirit of life You are God's holy fire You've kindled my heart with Your blaze And I know You're refining me Changing my life And by faith You're revealing Your ways Jesus I need You As Lord of my life I give all I have unto You Lord I want to come Under Your heavenly hand And to praise You in all that I do ~ Steve Stewart pearlie Update 7 Nov 2015: I finally found a YouTube video of this song and have just included it above. Chords are found here .

pearlie Photo (c) Bo de Visser

I read this from Charles Spurgeon's devotional this morning: "A spring shut up, a fountain sealed."—Song of Solomon 4:12. In this metaphor, which has reference to the inner life of a believer, we have very plainly the idea of secrecy . It is a spring shut up : just as there were springs in the East, over which an edifice was built, so that none could reach them save those who knew the secret entrance; so is the heart of a believer when it is renewed by grace: there is a mysterious life within which no human skill can touch. It is a secret which no other man knoweth; nay, which the very man who is the possessor of it cannot tell to his neighbour. The text includes not only secrecy, but separation . It is not the common spring, of which every passer-by may drink, it is one kept and preserved from all others; it is a fountain bearing a particular mark—a king's royal seal, so that all can perceive that it is not a common fountain, but a fountain owned by a proprietor, a

A conversation that I had with a friend on Sunday in church is still fresh in my mind, but I just realised what words I used when I asked her about her work: "so do you find it fulfilling?" It did not occur to me until this morning that I had actually used the word, fulfil . This explains a lot because I find that I am looking for fulfilment in all the wrong areas in my life, and finding none. I cannot avoid the fact now that I can only find fulfilment in Christ. But what is fulfilment in Christ? I know of many so-called standard answers, but what is it exactly in reality? pearlie

God certainly has a way with us. He knows us fully and comes to us in His own good timing. I had directed many questions to him, particularly over the weekend. His word came to me very clearly yesterday via Calvin's Sunday School artwork, which carried the verse I posted here yesterday - Matthew 28:20b. God tells me surely he is with me always. This morning, his word came to me again, and this time it is pretty loud and long. I need to spend much time reading through this passage and working it out. Basically, I had asked him why is that while I know I trust in him, I cannot feel or experience the peace that is from him. I began to wonder if peace is only a feeling. But I am quite sure peace is either there or is not there. I can't orchestrate it. So something is not right since I did not have the peace that God is so willing to give. He gave me the answer here in this passage from Romans. From 7:25b, it is clearly stated that in my mind I am a slave to God's law, b

And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. Matthew 28:20b pearlie Picture (c) 2009 Jeremy Stockwell

I have not touched my camera in months. So I packed my stuff this morning and headed off to the nearest park. The sad thing is there is nothing much in parks here - I did not manage to get any good shots. This is my favourite but I did not take it in the park, I took it at my neighbour's. pearlie Photo (c) 2009 Pearlie Ng

I have not really gotten into reading e-books yet. The few free e-books that I have downloaded are either left unread or unfinished just after a couple of pages. But I am not sure if the problem are the books (since they are free and just nice-to-have ones rather than what I really want) or the medium. And I still could not part with my money to buy a book I really want in the e-book format, but I'd readily fish out my purse in the bookstore. I found this quote by Rupert Giles, the librarian extraordinaire character in Buffy the Vampire Slayer , played by Anthony Head: Smell is the most powerful trigger to the memory there is. A certain flower, or a whiff of smoke can bring up experiences long forgotten. Books smell musty and rich. The knowledge gained from a computer is a - it, uh, it has no texture, no context. It's-it's there and then it's gone. If it's to last, then the getting of knowledge should be, uh, tangible, it should be, um, smelly. So well said. pea

I was clearing up some clutter in the house - well, maybe "some" is an understatement. I have this load of old stuff that I know I must throw away ages ago. And now that I did, I will feel better and much relieved that they are gone. Isn't life like that sometimes, where there are certain things you just do not want to throw away but yet you know you should, like past memories you shouldn't want to bring back, old grudges, overdue expectations, archaic way of thinking, out-of-date love songs ... What do you need to throw away? pearlie

The Foundations of Buddhism Rupert Gethin I finally managed to get a copy of this book. Apparently, it is the textbook for Buddhism, but a pretty small one at that. Now I can get back to reading and figuring out how to tackle my paper on this topic. I cannot even remember what the assignment question is! But I do know I wanted to so something on meditation. I find the Buddhist meditation very interesting and quite unlike what I do in meditation as a Christian. I have only read the first thirty over pages of this book, but I remember Gethin saying that meditation is like attaining a state of altered existence - I may have gotten the words wrong ... but I think not. When I compare my meditation in practice with the Buddhist meditation, at least from what I read, I find that whilst I meditate on Scripture or on God, my aim is so that I can understand my God better. I desire to know Him more and enjoy His presence, and in turn know what I must and should do as His child. For a Bu

I was not feeling all that great this morning and believe me or not, I actually wanted to hear someone familiar - and I turned to Dick Lucas! The sermon that happened to be on cue in my thumbdrive was Psalm 63. I wasn't quite listening to him, just bits here and there, but I was quite enthralled by the psalm. I spent a bit of time in the day ruminating about it, but I still could not get enough of it, and as such I could not pin down much things other than the fact that the psalm is just amazing. I let it speak for itself here. Psalm 63 (NIV) A psalm of David. When he was in the Desert of Judah. 1 O God, you are my God,       earnestly I seek you;       my soul thirsts for you,       my body longs for you,       in a dry and weary land       where there is no water. 2 I have seen you in the sanctuary       and beheld your power and your glory. 3 Because your love is better than life,       my lips will glorify you. 4 I will praise you as

I was listening to Dick Lucas' sermon on John 14 this morning and the one thing he said that struck me was that when Jesus began talking to his disciples about his impending death and the suffering they will be undergoing when he is gone, he not only began with exceptional comforting words but he began with the end. Let not your heart be troubled. You trust in God, trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going. (v.1-4) This is comforting because in whatever situations we find ourselves in, we only need to be sure of two things: 1. Our relationship with God the Father, in Jesus Christ, through His Spirit 2. There is a place for us in the heavenly abode, where God himself is Soli deo gloria pearlie

Ashley, my dinner companion ... ... the challenge was I have to communicate with her in Mandarin! I think I passed ... with a 5-year old. We were at a wedding dinner. Andrea and Ashley... pearlie

Isn't life so much like a game?After you think you managed to pull through one troubled phase, you realise the game is not over yet. You are onto the next level. The more you advance the more challenging it gets. And there are two outcomes, you either complete all levels and crowned a victor or you're given the dreaded Game Over. Unless of course you are playing Snake and Ladder. pearlie

It is not going to be easy but I think that to come back to a more sane journey in life for me, I need to be blogging daily again. Why? Because I find it therapeutic to blog. When I blog I tend to think more objectively, not ending up with whining and moaning in my own secret journal about how life practically sucks (pardon my language, I find no better word to describe it). Interestingly, I read this article in Newsweek a couple of days ago: The Upside of Feeling Down . I am not disagreeing with it but I am not agreeing entirely with it either. As much as there is an unprecedented drive towards happiness in the happiness industry these days, and a call to value depression as a need in life as driven by this article, there must be a balance. One must get a hold on self and not go all out to gain that illusive happiness at all cost, and on the other side, one must not wallow in depression thinking that there is no meaning in life. There must be a balance and striking that balance is

I have not blogged in ages but this item demanded a few minutes of my time to have it posted. It is the most expensive book I have ever encountered! It is here in Abebooks.com . Or click the picture to enlarge. pearlie