Broadband is coming to the church.

Praise God! Broadband is coming to the church. Been waiting and hoping that it will come fast but only today the Telekom guy called and said that they will be coming. But they didn't turn up. My wife's office has already installed the streamyx and she has been telling me about how fast the connection is. Well, when it comes to the church, hehehehehe... I'll bless it first. Then I will use it. No more waiting for other people to finish using the line. Hurray.!!!!

I wish you enough

Grace Tan send me this email which I find interesting and worth sharing.

I WISH YOU ENOUGH

Recently, I overheard a mother and daughter in their last
Moments together at the airport as the daughter's departure
hugged andhad been announced. Standing near the security gate, they
the mother said,
"I love you and I wish you enough."
The daughter replied,
"Mom, our life together has been more than enough.
Your love is all I ever needed. I wish you enough, too, Mom."
They kissed and the daughter left.

The mother walked over to the window where I sat.
Standing there, I could see she wanted and needed to cry.
I tried not to intrude on her privacy but she welcomed me in by
asking,

"Did you ever say good-bye to someone knowing it would
be forever?"

"Yes, I have," I replied. "Forgive me for asking but why is
this a forever good-bye?"

"I am old and she lives so far away. I have challenges ahead
and the reality is the next trip back will be for my funeral,"
she said.

When you were saying good-bye, I heard you say, "I wish you
enough." May I ask what that means?"

She began to smile. "That's a wish that has been handed down
from other generations. My parents used to say it to everyone."
She paused a moment and looked up as if trying to remember it in
detail and she smiled even more.

"When we said 'I wish you enough' we were wanting the other
person to have a life filled with just enough good things to
sustain them".

Then turning toward me, she shared the following, reciting it from
memory.

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright.
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive.
I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear
much bigger.
I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.
I wish you enough helloes to get you through the final good-bye.

She then began to cry and walked away.

They say it takes a minute to find a special person,

An hour to appreciate them,

A day to love them,

And an entire life to forget them.

Classic IQ Test

For those who want to check their IQ... just to see whether they are
genius, or moorrooon, here is the site:

http://web.tickle.com

All the best in knowing what you already know.

Cyber missions

Hai yah… couldn't get on the net now. Pastor is using the line…
monopolization of internet line. That's why I'm typing this on the MS
Word and will send it by email later. So while waiting for Pastor to
get OFF line, here's my ranting. Oh ya, wanted to be online to do my
Cybermissions course. Hehehehe doing cybermissions with only one line
to use… mati lah. Somemore, most of the time Pastor is online. Sure
drag wan…. From 12 weeks course to 24 weeks course..hehehe. Hopefully
the streamyx will come fast lah.

According to the articles that I've read, there are over 945,000,000
people using the internet for this year and a whopping 709,100,100
eMarketer out there. Talking about selling, the internet is really a
mega market place. And the internet language population is changing
from the dominant English to other languages.
The statistic is for September 2002: English 36.5%; Chinese 10.9%,
Japanese 9.7%; Spanish 7.2%, German 6.7%; Korean 4.5%; Italian 3.8%;
French 3.5%, Portuguese 3.0%; Russian 2.9% and Dutch 2.0%
Wah… must learn Chinese alredi lah, or Japanese.

Oh yes, Pastor OFF line alredi. Time to cyber with a missions.

Classic IQ Test

The Classic IQ Test

I took the IQ Test and this is my result. I think they rated me too high. hehehehe.... was thinking of below 80.

 

 

What's Your IQ?

Congratulations, David!
Your IQ score is 122

This number is based on a scientific formula that compares how many questions you answered correctly on the Classic IQ Test relative to others.

Your Intellectual Type is Visual Mathematician. (Visual...hmm, I agree... always look at other people...mostly girls...).This means you are gifted at spotting patterns — both in pictures and in numbers. These talents combined with your overall high intelligence make you good at understanding the big picture, which is why people trust your instincts and turn to you for direction — especially in the workplace. And that's just some of what we know about you from your test results.

Men's rules

I found this to be true.... speaking on behalf of most men.

Women, this is from us.

Ask for what you want. Let us be clear on this one
Subtle hints do not work!
Strong hints do not work!
Obvious hints do not work!
JUST SAY IT!

hehehehe.

Food and people

I'm not a food lover. I don't really care whether the food really
taste nice or not. That doesn't mean that I don't like good food. I
loves good food. I know whether the food is delicious or not. I know
between awful and delicious food. And I don't like bad awful food.
But....I'm not crazy about food.

I know people who are so called food lover. And these people know who
you are. The extent that they do to get the food that they like is
sometimes beyond my understanding. I mean they would be willing to
spend lots of money just to be able to eat the delicious food. Some
would travel as far as 4 hours journey so that they can eat the food
that they crave. Some would travel to the remote areas just to try a
certain kind of food, just because they heard from others about it.

I wouldn't understand these kind of people. Maybe that is what drives
them. Delicious food drives them, seduce them, allure them, just like
magnet to iron. Guess I'm just not crazy about food. Eat to live, not
live to eat.

Eat to live, not live to eat

taking a bath after hair cut
Posted by Hello

not so easy for annabelle
Posted by Hello

Cutting hair... eating lollipop
Posted by Hello

Annabelle at the barber shop

Saturday... went back as usual at 5pm. On the way back, saw Michelle's car at the barber shop. Stopped at the barber shop (it's more of a house turned to a barber shop) and Michelle and Annabelle were there. Annabelle is going to have her hair cut. After carrying Annabelle for a while, I went back to get the digital camera.

It's now easy to get Annabelle to sit down properly. She kept on moving and wanting to be carried. She scared of the barber lady. Thank God for the lollipop which manage to keep her quiet. I had to carry her while the barber cut her hair. All her hair dropped on my shirt and jeans. First time experience.

Justin Foo the crazy guy

Here sitting beside me is Justin Foo. He just said, "Seowww, nothing to do wan lah?" We just had a conversation about games, about Playstation 1, about computer games etc. Guess what.. for a guy who is of his age, he still plays "Crash Bandicoot", sounds like crash banditot. Anyway, told him about the game Metal Gear, an RPG game which is definitely much better than Crash Terkentot.

My PS gone alredi, spoilt and that's the end of my PS playing game. Some more no more time to play with Annabelle around. So now I'll stick to blogging.... which I can do while I'm alone at night.

Crash Terkentot kentot kentot

Envy and greed!

Wah... the house is big and beautiful! Wahh.... so many big cars.
Wah.... got more than one maids in the house.
Ever experience that moment where you are in awe of other people's
wealth? I had.... many times... and I wonder whether I'll some day
experience all this wealth. And I'm still wondering. But then I know
that it is all material things that will not last. I thank God for
what He has already given me. Good health, good mind, salvation which
life for eternity, a good wife, sweet Annabelle and another one coming
soon, a good family, a good country, a job/ministry and many more. To
that I'm grateful and contented. Indeed the Lord is good and generous.

Today I read Psalm 45 - 50. Many wonderful wisdom from the psalms.
This is one of them.
"Do not be overawed when a man grows rich, when the splendor of his
house increase; he will take nothing with him when he dies, his
splendor will not descend with him." Psalm 49:16-17

When I die, my heavenly dwelling is much much better than the most
beautiful house in this world. Why then should I be in awe?

above all else, guard
your heart

Sad N shocking story.. please read

A Chinese police officer had a beautiful daughter, who fell in love with an Indian boy who was an ordinary poor person. When the gals father came to know about their love, he did not like it at all, and so began to protest about it. Now it happened that the two lovers left their homes for a happy future.

The gals father started searching for the two lovers but they could not find them. At last, he accepted their love and asked them in a newspaper to come back. Her father said that if u both come back i will marry u wit the guy u luv, I accept that u loved each other truly. So in this way their love won and the age old attitude of the tribe took a beating. The couple went to the city for shopping for the wedding.

He was wearing a white traditional dress, and was crossing the road when a car came and hit him and he died on the spot. The girl lost her senses. After a long time she recovered and accepted that her love has died.

One night she was sleeping in her home with her family. Her mother had dream in which she saw a fairy. That fairy asked her mother to wash the blood spots of the guy from her daughter's clothes as soon as possible. But her mother ignored the dream.

Next night the father saw the same dream, he also ignored it. Then when the girl had the same dream the next night, she woke up and told her mother about the dream. Her mother asked her to wash the clothes on which there were blood spots. She washed the spots but some remained.

Next night she again had the same dream she again washed the spots but some still remained. Next night she again had the same dream and this time that fairy gave her last warning to wash the blood spots, else something terrible will happen.

This time the girl tried her best to wash the spots, the clothes tore, but some spots still remained.

In the evening on same day when she was alone, someone knocked the door,when she opened the door she saw the fairy at the door. She got very scared and fainted. The fairy woke her up..., and gave her an object. That awe-struck girl asked "what is this..? to which the fairy replied


























"..... Try Liquid Dynamo... it removes even the toughest stains ....."

Teacher Should Not Receive High Salary!

Teachers are paid too much! I'm fed up with teachers and their hefty salaries for only 9 months work! What we need here is a little perspective. If I had my way, I'd pay teachers babysitting wages.

That's right. Instead of paying these outrageous taxes, I'd give them $3.00 an hour. And, I'm only going to pay them for 5 hours, not planning time. That would be $15.00 a day. Each parent should pay $15.00 a day for these teachers to baby sit their children. Even if they have more than one child, it's still cheaper than private daycare.

Now how many children do they teach a day - maybe 20? That's $15.00 x 20 = 300.00 a day. But remember, they only work 180 days a year! I'm not going to pay them for all the vacations: $300.00 x 180 =$54,000.
(Just a minute my calculator must need batteries.)

What will teachers say about those who have 10 years of experience and a master's degree? Well, maybe (just to be fair) they could get the minimum wage. We can round that off to about $6.00 an hour, times 5 hours, times 20 children. $6.00 x 5 x 20. That's $600 a day times 180
days. That's only $108,000.

Wait a minute! There is something wrong here...

the students at play 

sand castle village 

at the beach 

Gapam Orang Asli Picnic at Pantai Kundor

Sunday 12-9-04 was a day that I’ll remember. Woke up at 6am… ya, so early. After washing up, I drove to Hospital Pantai to take the church van from my brother Andrew. He was still sleeping when I went to the room. Then drove to Gapam to fetch the Orang Asli children. The road to the village is wet and muddy (due to the logging activities in that area). While trying to maneuver a turning the van skidded and went to the side of the road. Thank God it didn’t crash into the trees. Then 2 OA came and help to push the van.

Altogether, a total of nine OA came. Achau’s family and Asmahwati. Drove back to the house to pick up Michelle and Andrew’s boys. After loading all the things, I drove the van to buy nasi lemak. Then the van gave problems. It jerks and sounds of explotions came from the exhaust pipe. Slowly drove back to the house. Call up Terry to borrow his van. Michelle borrowed her sister’s Kancil. Then we drove to Pantai Kundor. Timothy Cheng and Evelyn reached there already.

Unpacked all the things and the children then went for a swim. They really enjoyed themselves. Annabelle also seems to enjoy the trip. She just sat by herself and played with the sand. The children also build sand castles and they are really creative. We brought fish and sausages to barbeque. At about 12 noon we all ate nasi lemak plus the barbequed fish and sausages. A good time for all of us. I drove the van and send the Orang Asli back to their village. A wonderful day for me.

Handphone manners>

Called a guy just now. He is in a middle of an important meeting.
He asked me to call back later.

What lah!. If attend meeting, make sure your phone is on off mode lah.
Waste my money calling him. Have to call him later. Sometimes these
people is either too clever or too stupid. If you don't want people to
disturb you, please switch off your handphone lah. Simple thing also
don't know. Very irritating.

Anyway, may God gives those with handphone the wisdom of switching off
their handphones during meetings.

Ten Inches
A boy was sitting on a park bench with one hand resting on an open Bible. He was loudly exclaiming his praise to God."Hallelujah! Hallelujah! God is great!" he yelled without worrying whether anyone heard him or not.

Shortly after, along came a man who had recently completed some studies at a local university. Feeling himself very enlightened in the ways of truth and very eager to show this enlightenment, he asked the boy about the source of his joy."Hey," asked the boy in return with a bright laugh, "don't you have any idea what God is able to do? I just read that God opened up the waves of the Red Sea and led the whole nation of Israel right through the middle."

The enlightened man laughed lightly, sat down next to the boy and began to try to open his eyes to the "realities" of the miracles of the Bible."That can all be very easily explained. Modern science has shown that the Red Sea in that area was only 10-inches deep at that time. It was no problem for the Israelites to wade across."

The boy looked surprised. His eyes wandered from the man back to the Bible laying open in his lap. The man, content that he had enlightened a poor, naive young person to the finer points of scientific insight, turned to go. Scarcely had he taken two steps when the boy began to rejoice and praise louder than before; "Hallelujah! Hallelujah! God is SO great!".

The man turned to ask the reason for this resumed jubilation."Wow!" exclaimed the boy happily, "God is greater than I thought! Not only did He lead the whole nation of Israel through the Red Sea, He topped it off by drowning the whole Egyptian army in only 10-inches of water!"

Metamorphorsi..nnggggg

Arghhh.... so painful changing skins. Hope I'll change into a more beautiful skin in the future. So for the time being, please enjoy the change of skin from time to time.

Journaling my thots

Journaling my thoughts!

I have to write my journal everyday. That’s the requirement for the Renovation Of The Heart class. Need to pen down (or maybe type in) my thoughts for the day. Good and also “bad” thoughts. It will definitely be private. But I can look back and evaluate how I’ve progress. Good idea but do I have the consistency and perseverance to type/write until it becomes a habit of mine

About today. I received my digital camera Ben Q DC3410. Bought from Ebay at US$110. Consider good bargain lah. Small size and very sleek. Can use as a web cam also. Can record video clips and audio clips too.
With this blogging stuff, I need the digital camera. But the main thing is to capture those precious moments of my daughter Annabelle and the coming one Junior in December. Got to be ready before all the memories faded off from my mind. Praise God for the advancement of technology. But I must use it for the good of mankind.

Okay, that’s all the journaling for now. Got to go back home. Adios. Good bye. Chai Jian. Sayonara. Apa –apa lah.

Loyalty and disloyalty

Preached on the character of Loyalty last Saturday Nite. I dare say that most of us have been disloyal at least once in our lifetime to either our spouse (or future spouse), our employer (or employee), our company, our family, our friends and definitely to God.

Even as I preached, I know the message is definitely for me. I canrelate many times and ways that I've been disloyal. If not in action, then in my thoughts and feelings. Dissatisfaction is the most common reason for people to be disloyal. Ungratefulness is another main reason for us to be disloyal. And our carnal nature adds up to the tendency to rebel or be disloyal to the person(s) who deserves our loyalty.

Would I be loyal now since I've preached about it? I dare not say that I'll be loyal because it is something that we develop through time, especially times of trouble. But one thing that I've learned is that many of us expects loyalty from others. We want others to be loyal but we ourselves will find many reasons not to be loyal to them. It is not how others treat us that determines whether we should be loyal or not. The determining factor is our goal to be Christlike. Loyalty is demanded from us by God and especially when things get rough, our loyalty will be tested.

There is however a limitation to our loyalty to others. No one have the right to ask us to sacrifice ethical principles in the name of loyalty. When an employer asks us to tell a lie, he immediately forfeits his right to claim/demand loyalty from us.

My wife asked me whether I'm loyal to her. So far so good. I'm married and still loyal. hehehe. I know that she is loyal to me. Praise God for that. Marriage is a covenant and not a contract. Look not for anyway to escape your marriage but look for ways to strengthen and build the best relationship that you'll have besides your relationship with Jesus Christ.

On the scale of 1 to 10, my loyalty to others is rated 7.5. Be patient with me, I'm still working on this character.

Share your thoughts with me.

Family Day

Merdeka Day. Wah... holi day. Supposedly can wake up late... maybe around 10am. But had to wake up early ... 7 am. Why? Because there is the Family Day picnic at Pantai Kundor.

While still lying down on the bed, I heard the sound of thunder and rain. Waaah. Raining... maybe the picnic will be cancelled. Anyway, wakes my wife and told her to get ready. She said that it's raining. She asked whether she has to go. I said yes. Then we forced ourselves to wake up, took our bath and get ready to go. By the time we are ready to go, it's already 8 am, which is the time we should have been at the Pantai.

We stopped by along the road to buy breakfast and thereafter went to the spot planned for the Family Day. A few families have already arrived. What is amazing for me is when I opened the car door to carry Annabelle out. She was still sleeping throughout the journey. When I opened the car door, she woke up and saw the beach and the waves. Wahhh... she shouted while pointing at the beach... asking to be carried out immediately. Never has I ever seen her so eager to go out. It's like she is afraid that her daddy will not let her go out to the beach... that she shouted loud and pointed to the beach. Not to disappoint her, I carry her out immediately. She then quietened down.

By the time most of them finished their breakfast, a few more families arrived. At about 9am, the organizer started the competition. First the sand castle competition. Three groups competed. They are all excited about their castle. The boys group are straightforward plain strong castle while the girls groups are more creative and definitely have the girls touch. All the three castles are different and unique according to their builders.

Then there the long jump competition. Some of them can really jump far. The tug of war competition is the best. Those above 40 against those below 40. Those above 40 are the strong adults... the fathers. Those below 40 are mostly the youth and children... mainly girls. I joined the below 40 group.... I'm still young lah. Organized the group and when the whistle blow, we pull and pull and pull. Then we won. Changed side and again we pulled and pulled and pulled. But this time the rope didn't move. After almost 15 seconds of pulling and hanging on to the rope, we managed to pull the other group. Wahhhhh.... our group won. Can't believe it that the children managed to win.

Suddenly, it started to rain. Everybody quickly packed their things and we went back home. That night, I can feel my body aching... ai yo... getting old already lah..

Carpe Diem! Jason K

Carpe Diem! Jason K
Who is this Jason K? Well, he's my friend, a very good friend. It's
been more than 5 years I've known him (sometimes, I wonder why most of
them left after 5 years). He's leaving to Klang Valley because of his
new job. A job which he has been aiming for all this while. Praise God
for blessing him with his dream job.

Well, I'm not writing to talk about his job. I want to talk about him.
He is a man of character. He is a mover, always wanting to see things
moving, growing and becoming better. He has in him the vast supply of
optimism, positive thinking and self improving energy which is why he
is interested in training others. Being with him for 5 years and
listening and seeing what he has gone through is a blessing to me and
(I believes) to others also. He has shown that what he believes in is
not just theories but can be backed up by his own life testimonies.

He likes to share what he has gone through. If you want to be his
friend, be a good listener. If you have good ideas, I'm sure he'll
appreciate you sharing it with him. And he is also a humble student,
always willing to learn from others.

What I appreciate about him the most is his loyalty. Once he believes
in a certain friendship, he'll go all out to show it. He is a friend
in deed, not just in need. His friendship is something that I'll
treasure.

Oh ya, I also know the bad side of Jason K. But why dwell on the bad
side of others when I'm still struggling to overcome my own bad side.

It will be sufficient for me to summarize that Jason K is a man of rarity.

May the Lord continue to bless and use you Jason K, wherever He may
call you to go. Carpe Diem!

Persecution.

"Let us not be shocked by the suggestion that there are disadvantages
to the life in Christ. There most certainly are. Abel was murdered,
Joseph was sold into slavery, Daniel was thrown into the den of lions,
Stephen was stoned to death, Paul was beheaded, and a noble army of
martyrs was put to death by various painful methods all down the long
centuries. And where the hostility did not lead to such violence (and
mostly it did not and does not) the sons of this world nevertheless
managed to make it tough for the children of God in a thousand cruel
ways."
- A. W. Tozer

Cultural Understanding. – Differences in culture.

James F. Downs writes:
I… cringe to think of all the rupees I have wasted because I always
forgot in the early part of a trip to India, that agreement is often
indicated by a short shake of the head to the right that very closely
approximates our own sign of disagreement. When it came to tipping
coolies for some personal service, I was uncomfortable like most
Americans unaccustomed to dealing with persons in menial positions.
Uncertain about exact rates, I would offer what seemed to be a
reasonable amount. The coolie would invariably shake his head in
agreement. I would invariably interpret it as disagreement and press
more money on him. Such and exchange usually left me feeling vaguely
exploited and angry because I suspected I had paid too much. It
probably left the coolie feeling totally baffled by a crazy man who
kept giving him money after he had said he had enough.

Language and people

Few interesting thoughts on language.

Tzeltal has 25 different words for “carry”.
Malay has “membawa”, “membimbit”, “menjunjung”, “memikul”, “menjinjing”, “mengandar”, “mendukung”, “menatang”, “menghayun”, “mengheret”, “mengusung” “mengpimpin”, ….
What else lah? Can anybody think of other terms used…?

What is hope in God?
The Valiente’s word for it is translated as “resting the mind in God”. This is a good description of what hope really is.

What is “worry”?
The Navajos use “My mind is killing me” for the word “worry”.

How do you worship God?
The Cuicatec (Mexican Indian) word for “worship” means “to wag the tail before God”. The Cuicatec Indians have recognized that the attitude of worship is similar to that of a dog before his master.

Wishing Well To a Colleague

A colleague of mine left the job last Saturday. There's no party, no farewell to send her off. There's no speech given. She has been working in the same office for 5 years. Lots of things and experiences that we went through the last 5 years. Some are good ones and some not so good but God has kept us there for 5 years.

Would things be the same? I guess yes! and no! Yes because I still have to go to office whether I like it or not. Yes because I still have to do my work. No, because her presence will no longer be there. No, because the office will be a quieter place than before. Yes, my colleague is the talker and me the listener. And etc etc.

I guess there is no need for a party because most people would want her to continue. I guess there is no need for a farewell because she will still be close to the people's heart. Why a farewell when she is always near your heart. Why party when you are sad that she's leaving? Why farewell speech when you've learned much from her advice and life testimony. I guess it would be nice to have party, farewell and speech but that was done weeks before personally.

To her, I give my deepest appreciation. A colleague is easy to find but to this colleague of mine, she is also a friend and a sister. Thank you Lee Tian, and may God bless you richly in your new work.


David Bong

May peace be yours when you are masters of your desires. 

The desires of your heart...

Each one of us has desires. That's a beautiful gift that God has given to us. Along with it, we are also given a freewill, the factor that governs our desires.
 
Yet, many people are afraid of the word desires. It has bad and negative connotation... desires means bad and immoral desires. No doubt that most of us are not holy or perfect morally, but a man who can control his desires is more powerful than the whole battalion of soldiers.
I battle for control over my desires every day. It is a constant battle. Either I control my desires or it controls me.
 
Buddhism teaches us to try to get rid of our desires. I think that is a losing man's principle. It is the same as saying that if you cannot control something, you must get rid of it. What if I can't control my wife, can I get rid of it? What about my children, my parents, my siblings etc. Would it be better if we learn how to control our desires.
 
Now, my desire says that I want to stop writing. Will post later.
 
Send me your comments.
 
 

David and 30 Mighty Men

Was reading 2 Samuel today.
 
It's interesting to read about the 30 Mighty Men of David. They all are loyal followers of King David. And a few of them killed giants when they are with David.
 
A leader attracts those of the same kind. David showed to the people that he is a mighty warrior and had killed many of his enemies inbattle. I'm sure the 30 Mighty Men was attracted to David because David was their role model. David brought out the warrior spirit from each one of them. The birds of the same flock gather together.
 
To whom are our personalities "attracted" to? That determines your kind of "flock".
 
 

looking for milk 

Family Togetherness.

When was the last time your whole family got together? Is it important
to you to always be together with your family members?

The following are the excerpts taken from The Star dated 15 July 2004
at Star Two on page 23.

"Today's parents spend 40% less time with their children than their
parents did in the past. As a result, our children are picking up
values from foreign domestic helpers, the television and the Internet.
Without proper guidance from parents or involved adults, many of these
children may suffer emotional problems when they grow up."

"A recent study conducted by the University of Southern California,
found that happiness is not about getting richer. It is about spending
quality time with loved ones, and enjoying good health"

"Some parents treat their friends with more respect and kindness than
they do their children."

"Babies develop a strong attachment with their parents in the first
three years."

Fun activities that help build a strong family: -
1) Plan special meals.
Children are the ones who are happiest when families get together for
festive celebrations, anniversaries and reunions. Parents can also
create special lunches or dinners once a week in which the whole
family can join in to make it a fun and meaningful occasion.

2) Organize a treasure hunt
Gather your family together and make a list of things that you will
try to find in your own treasure hunt. It can be as simple as
searching for simple items in the garden.

3) Keep a family journal.
The family journal can be in the form of photos, videos or even a book
for jottings. These can help keep those warm memories alive. Do a
project where the whole family can have fun making family videos or
writing stories about each other. I can see the smiles on everybody's
face years down the road when the videos are played back.

4) Volunteer your services.
Encourage your child to develop a penchant for helping others.
Volunteer works strengthens the family unit. Helpfulness learned as a
child will last a lifetime. Volunteer work is a good way to forge a
sense of closeness that comes with doing good deeds together.

5) Join in family games.
Outdoor games help children not just to develop strong bodies but
build stronger and deeper relationships. Traditional games such as
gasing, catuk ayam, congkak, batu lima, teng-teng, etch have been
replaced by digital and electronic games which hardly promote
cooperation and sharing. Teach the traditional games and let your
children pass them down to the next generation.

6) Trace your family tree.
Start a family tree research project to discover stories about
relatives and friends. Your children can learn about the family
history through this, and pick up important lessons about life from
the stories of family members who have overcome the odds. This is a
great way to teach family values to children of all ages.

7) Spend time chatting.
Spend at least 10 to 15 minutes a day just chatting with your child.
Children tend to open up when they are relaxing with their parents.
They would share their problems and their achievements of the day
during these special moments. Make sure you give your attention to
them and to what they say but be slow to comments or make any
condemnations.

8) Read to your child.
Make is a daily affair to read aloud to your child not matter how old
she is. Stories you enjoyed as a kid can also thrill your child. Start
a storybook collection.

9) Get connected.
Families need a place to connect with one another. Find places in your
home or in your neighbourhood where your family can feel safe and
connected. The parents' bed is normally the safe haven for the
children, where they would go there to cuddle up or share about what
happened to them during their day. Look around for these special
places where you can connect with your child.

10) Get energized.
Physical exercise help to overcome fatigue and stress after a hard day
at work. Exercise can also help to bond the family together. Parents
and children can take a few moments daily to stretch and jump around
together. Healthy bodies build healthy minds.

* Wow, these are very good tips. I think I'll start doing some of
these activities.

--
David Bong

Annabelle waving 

Celebrating my mother's birthday.

Mother is 69 years old today. Still active as before, much more active than myself.

Michelle cooked for Mother the sweet Mee Sua and hard boiled 2 chicken eggs. Olden days way of celebrating one's birthday. Mother was touched by the small gesture. A small way to show love.

Brought her to Jusco for dinner and shopping. Thereafter bought a birthday cake for her. Glad that I've done whatever that I can think of to bless her on her birthday. I realise there's nothing that I can do to ever repay what she has done for me. Because of that I praise God when I think of my mother.

Take care of your mother when they are still around. Don't wait until they die because then they won't know a thing.

Wisdom and Wealth.

Wisdom or Wealth?

Solomon was granted one request from God. He could have chosen
greatness but he chose wisdom. He knows that he needs wisdom to rule
the kingdom of Israel. He asked wisdom because he wants to be able to
serve his people.

Many people wish for things for their own pleasure. James reminds us
that we do not have because we do not ask God. But when we ask, we do
not receive because we ask for own pleasure. Solomon asked not for his
own benefits but for the benefit of his people.

Do you want wisdom or wealth? Chose you this day what you ask for.

Family bonding.

Today, went up to Shah Alam to meet one of my brother. Mother follow
along. Reached there Brother Ann and family just arrived. Had lunch
together and thereafter Bro Chai & family and Sister Mary & the two
daughters came. Had a good time of fellowship. I guess the children
enjoyed it most. By 4pm, we had to leave. Though the time spent there
is short but we enjoyed it just being together.

Praise God for the efforts taken by the family members to gather
together. Yes it costs money to travel there but its worth it. When
you die, you'll wish that you'll more time with your family.

How are you and your family members?

Discretion

Heard the message on the character Discretion.

Discretion is about making choices between right and wrong. We must
always chose the right choices.

How many of us can say that we always made the right choices in life?
Maybe we do need to exercise wise discretion in our everyday life

--
David Bong

Visit my blog at http://davidbong.blogspot.com

TNB and the trees

On the way to work I saw this scene.

A group of TNB men were cutting off the branches of the trees along the road. They have to use the crane to help them cut off the branches. It makes me wonder of a few things.

Why do the state municipal allows the planting of trees that can grow so tall as to reach the electric cable?
Why waste the people's tax money by buying unsuitable plants/trees to plant along the roadside?
Why waste TNB's money for having to ask their worker to chop off the tree branches?

Doing without planning not only cost lots of money, time and energy but it also show poor management on the part of the government.

Do we now pity the trees or the TNB men?

A servant attitude and job responsibility

"We need to have a servant heart in all the things that we do." These past few days I've been learning about Servant Leadership. Yes, we need more people with a servant heart. Most people do not want to serve but to be the master of everything.

However, it is sad that one tend to blur the distinction between servant attitude and job responsibility. To be called a servant is to have the attitude of a servant. Others should not take it that that person should and can be asked to do any types of work/responsibility. Servants are also given specific responsibility. Even in the ancient time, servants are assigned to specific duty. The master knows that one servant cannot be asked to do everything under the sun. That would not be profitable for the master. One would never expect a male servant to be asked to work at the farm and to cook for the master at the same time. Other female servants would be the appropriate person/servant to do the job.

Likewise, let us bear this distinction in mind. Let us not expect a servant to do everything but only the specific duties that is given him. All of us have specific gifts/calling/ministries that is our responsibility. What we need to do is to carry out those gifts/calling/ministries with a servant heart.

Share your thoughts.

Just a Thought!

Words have the power to give life or death. Words therefore must be used carefully and in all instance should be to give life.
All of use are growing older by the day and going nearer towards death. Use words then to give life and delay that process of death.

How many of us take the effort to think first before we say some words to others. Words once spoken can never be retracted. Be careful then of the words you want to say to others.

I always wanted to journal my life with words. Now, I pray that I'll will be consistent in doing so in this blog.