Your Job: Survival or Satisfaction

I must thank the Lord for reviving within me the want to read. I've been an avid reader as a kid but lost the want to read after college. Recently, a friend said she couldn't sleep without reading a few pages - and that's very inspiring! Nerdy, but inspiring!

The second book (if I remember correctly) that I finished reading this year is one that I stumbled upon in a box at the youth hall's store room. You know, one of those random boxes seemingly owned by someone, left behind in a random store to collect dust until one day, someone (who's not looking for anything in particular in that store) sees it along with other books.

Okay, I found this book along with other books in the second hall's store room. Though the cover was really old-timey (dated to 1970s?), I picked it up and read through the synopsis at the back. It was interesting enough, so I took it along with me and started reading. AND GOT HOOKED. (I couldn't finish this book fast because it required some digesting)

Written by an ex-US Air Force member who left his job to do God's work in the mission field, Your Job: Survival or Satisfaction answered almost all my questions about entering the working life.


As you may or may not know I entered the work scene in the last year. 

It is a BIG change from a student to a working life. And along with the transition, I had many doubts and questions I carried in my mind which I brought up nearly every week - whether with myself, my family or God. Nobody seemed to have the answer to my queries.

The thing is, I struggled for quite some time with the idea of a desk job. (Which is why if you ask my co-workers they'll tell you I like to move around the office when I work) From going around town every day doing whatever that was needed, going for classes, fetching my siblings and parents here and fro, to sitting down 8 hours a day looking at a screen - it's a drastic change that nobody prepared me for.


Thank God He spoke to me through this book (No I did not hear his audible voice while reading it. I would pee in my pants if he did). God really placed this book in my path at the right time. If I had not gone into the youth store room that day, I would not have known about this book - because nobody recommended it to me! And it has just the things that I needed!

Some things I gleaned off Jerry & Mary White's writings:

1. Labor is good. Any labor that is lawful and ethical is HOLY, ordained by God, whether manual labor or non-skilled. There is no distinction (of labor classes and such) in the eyes of God.

2. It is said that man should WORK for his KEEP, i.e. work for a living. He/she should spend most of their waking hours laboring and setting forth to do profitable/fruitful things.

3. If you don't have peace at your job it's probably because you have doubts if you're in God's will for you.

4. Know clearly the reasons why you want to earn money. A materialistic outlook can quickly gain foothold if not kept in check!

5. In all decisions, you must weigh it well, against all other criteria also - family, economy, etc.


Note: The only thing I am boasting of here is the goodness of God in leading me through all this. He's put so much into my life, I feel it is only right that I talk about it. It's the least I can do :)

Double standards

Only a really lost Christian would think that they are flawless and therefore above all others. It's shocking and saddening how I always advocate second chances-God is a god of second chances; He allows U-turns; don't be sad when you sin, just come back to Him-but I can be so harsh on those who (at least, in my mind), when holding themselves to a standard, suddenly decide to fall and hurt not only themselves but those close to them as well. I know no man is immune to making mistakes, but God's slowly showing me stuff beyond that, too-I've got to give them the benefit of the doubt. Receive them back with open arms and no judgement for their past and what they've done. Because if God tells us to receive those who don't know him with open arms and warm hearts, why is it that we can't do the same to those in the body of Christ who've fallen away? (this post may not make sense to all of you, but if it does makes sense to you, know that no one knows what one other person is going through. Don't be too quick to judge)

Processional

For some reason, the idea of Malaysian timing really cannot stick to me. I found myself an hour early for an ex-schoolmate's wedding reception tonight!

Well, tonight's wedding was the first that I've attended for a peer.

This reception differed from a traditional one - with a PRE-RECORDING of the kompang procession! Times have changed, my man. (Kompang processions are so merry and very meriah for the suasana. Every wedding should have that. Provides a better beat than firecrackers, too. Hah!)


It was a very happy occasion for the bride, groom, family and friends. The bride and groom looked radiant and so joyous as they walked down the red carpet you can't help but smile, too!


It was also the first time (for me) to merenjis the newlyweds. You pinch some short leaves/petals (I think this is traditionally kunyit or something - but times have changed) and put it on their palms, then renjis (sprinkle) some rose water (?) on their palms. (Brings me back to standard one, when my new friends and I acted out a Malay wedding. Haha! Sigh, cute times with Anis)

Congrats to the newlyweds - Farah and Danial! Wishing you both a very beautiful future together :)

Tunes for you

Dreams

I don't want this secular living without a solid goal. Which is why sometimes I allow myself to daydream about dreams. Not those bubbly airbrushed ones, but real dreams that you can live on for months.

Do you have dreams like these?

"How have you been?"
"I'm growing,"

I just want to take a moment...

...to thank God for everything He has blessed me with, and I don't deserve the smallest bit of it. *sigh of relief*

If you think girls are talkative, wait till you see the boys. When hanging out with a bunch of girls I find that there will always be a bit of moment of silence in between where we'll use the time to take in and digest what was said, but with boys ah, like a bullet train.

Last Saturday night, A, B and I spread some towels on the sand to watch the night sky. Littered with countless of stars in the seemingly endless sky above us, with the unnaturally bright moon hovering above us (found out later it was a supermoon), the startlingly beautiful night was interrupted by the occasional jiwang Malay rock songs from the battle of the bands down the beach. It was one of our first times seeing so many stars in the sky. The first and only time I saw more stars than that night was at Peace Haven back in 2007 - what a beautiful piece of heaven we saw on the last night of camp! Lying on the tarred roads, facing the full view of the black, dark night sky, dotted with every bit of star imaginable, shivering like twigs in a storm because it was so cold - absolutely memorable and breathtaking. (Beaches and mountains are great places to view the night sky because of its distance from city lights and the absence of tall buildings in the vicinity.)