death is a part of life. the sooner you grasp it, the better you'll live.

Image by Elena Kalis

"Better to spend your time at funerals than at parties. After all, everyone dies--so the living should take this to heart."

The verse above, easier said than done.


This evening, I went to the first (and hopefully, last) wake service of a young person. I've not seen that many people in attendance before.

I've kind of forgotten the true meaning of death - an eternal life in Paradise with the Lover of your soul.

"A death is not written off as death in the Salvation Army," said Pastor Ron. "It's called PROMOTION. And how true is that? That's the biggest promotion we'll ever have, with crowns of glory and reward in heaven!"

Still, the loss experienced by the family members and their sorrow and how they cope with it can eclipse that fact.


"She is walking with the patriarchs of past, meeting Jesus and having the happiest time! If she comes back - which we do not want her to, as she would be in this corrupt world of pain - it would only be for two reasons: One, to console her family members in their sadness. And two, to tell all of us that Heaven is real! That there is life after death,"


We'll see you later, Alina.

FOS Malaysia

While scrolling through their FB page, I saw this hilarious reply FOS posted to an enquiry. Ah, people with a sense of humor.

super bowl

I read this online today and realized how silly it would sound to someone in the past.

Pizza Hut used Facebook to crowdsource a pregame commercial on Feb. 5

Map of the Invisible World.

It's been almost (I would say) over a year since I finished reading a book from cover to cover. Over the last three days, with the crappy internet connection and a vow to not check Twitter every half hour or so, I managed to finish reading this Tash Aw book. It's a good read, one of the few fiction books I've read in a while. His method of telling the story is simple and unobtrusive and I'm glad I got this for RM 15 at the MPH clearance sale. (Yay to sales! And good Malaysian writers currently residing in other continents) As for the plot, the "hanging" ending tells me that a good plot is always left to the reader's imagination.

(I imagine Margaret to look like a young Meryl Streep, and Adam, like one of Yasmin Ahmad's young actors)

When I was younger (and I'm sure when you were, too) I could read a 300-page book in a few days and devour a new read the following day. Now that I'm older I find reading an almost chore! Unbelievable. I love to read. How did I find the pleasure of reading diminished to such low levels, that I'd more often reach for the Instagram feed than for the many books? Has this phenomenon affected the younger generation?

Is screen-time taking away our page-time?

Bombe Alaska

The Bombe Alaska (a dessert) we had at PD.
Pieces of fruit, some delicious unidentifiable cake, lots of ice-cream and some fresh meringue-ish cover.
Sadly no flames. Hehe

i just discovered this song!

i think i was looking at stars.

test everything you read.
test your faith.

spring cleaning II

Centerpiece nook.




Accessories corner.
Piled all my rings and bracelets in a pretty white plate I got long ago! (Got the idea from Stephanie)

spring cleaning

Finally managed to arrange my books and CDs together :)

Tonight we celebrated a birthday - and what a celebration it was. For once in a long time (ok lah about four weeks) I can say I truly enjoyed myself at the party. It was nice to see so much love going around!

Laura Marling Alas I Cannot Swim

Theres a house across the river
but alas I cannot swim
And a garden of such beauty
that the flowers seem to grin
Theres a house across the river
but alas I cannot swim
I'll live my life regretting that I never jumped in

(i)n(t)ernet is not a human right

"Internet Access Not a Human Right" - Google VP

The issue at hand here is not whether or not internet access qualifies as a human right, it's the message behind it - freedom of speech. If you're talking about the uprising of the Middle East thanks to social media, it's really not about the internet, it's about the channels of communication as a whole we're talking about - media, print publication, broadcasting, etc. It's just that the internet has become such a big part of our daily lives that it's gaining traction as a "human right". Downright ridiculous, thank you.

pin

got a pinterest account, finally :D thanks viv!

the healer

So. This week was the first time I fell sick in...half a year? Almost a year?

It's amazing how I didn't fall sick when I most expected to - when the year end came round, during Jet camp time, etc - and only now, the first week of January.


This week was a pretty rough but beautiful week, as I got to see and feel the grace of God first hand (or second). On Monday, we heard that one of our youths was hospitalized for fever - he had been feverish since NYE. The next day, we heard of another youth, A, in the hospital for dengue, and his family domestic helper was in another hospital, too. Later that day, his brother (D) was also admitted for fever. It was very depressing for me to hear all this - especially in the first week of the new year.

So we called the youth (via Facebook) to pray for these people, and to ask God to heal them in Jesus' name. There is power in His name. You just won't know how much until you seek. So we prayed throughout Tuesday, and let me tell you, it was so encouraging to see all these youths commenting "AMEN!" on that post. (Amen means so be it, a common term of agreement)

Onward to Wednesday, I asked Daniel on the A's condition. He replied that the fever is gone (PTL) but they're waiting for the blood count to hike. This was around 4pm. Later on I checked with the A's other brother, and he says that both A and D were discharged that afternoon! Ready to go to school the next day, too!

Just a few minutes after that, I got an SMS that said that the first youth is now out of the hospital as well. You can imagine, the amount of GOOSEBUMPS I had when I heard that.

article

I like to read articles on *ahem*. Like this one.

note

Before you read on any further, be noted that in person I would vouch for personal journal keeping - i.e., writing in a journal/diary that only you yourself could read.