Thursday, June 18, 2009
Joseph just linked me to this wonderful blog: http://burnoutbrightly.wordpress.com/ (Check it out if you have the time!)
Reading it has made me realise so many things about myself. Firstly, I was awed by the thought-provoking, heart warming content I found inside. I thought to myself, this surely must be a product of someone in their thirties, or least a very mature person with direct views on life.
Imagine my surprise when I discovered it was a 19 year old girl who lives in Malaysia. It made me think...if she can challenge the mind and spirit like this, why can't I?
Surely I'm better than what I am now, a selfish child who's only concerned about her life and petty problems that lie in it.
Why can't I extend my mind to more pressing problems that are current in the world right now? The everlasting crisis in Africa, Darfu, Iraq, Israel... all these places. I've never given a second thought to the plight of these people, yet I am obssessed with what people think of me, how I act, who exactly my friends are.
But this is human nature. Do you think the person rushing by you with a briefcase in one and a tie flapping on his neck cares whether or not a child in a distant place he's never been to dies in the night?
It's not that he cruelly advocates the death of a child; it is simply distance that stands in the way. If that particular child were to be in the neighbourhood, or even related to him, there surely would be a reaction.
How can we go on worrying about the rest of the world without worrying about ourselves in the first place? There is no need to feel extremely guilty about this, but we do need to learn to care more.
Not just a fleeting moment when somebody mentions, "What do you think about the starving children in Africa?" but a fixed determination to at least do something. It can be as simple as a small donation, but whatever it may be, just try to remember that the world is much bigger than you or I.
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I've decided to place myself higher than I am right now. I know what problems I'm facing and while I may not have the solutions, I can just let it go. It is not life threatening -- hormones are merely part of life.
What I can do is go on with living life to the fullest. I may miss my friends back home and be terribly heartbroken by new ones but-- I know I can move on. I can't live my life for others; I have to live it for myself.
Don't chase ghost butterflies, aim for the reacheable flower in your midst. Don't let your feelings get the better of you, be confident and happy with yourself, believe in yourself!
God works in the strangest ways but He works for you. :)
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I have to share with the Winter Cell Group tomorrow!
"God is able and I know this because..."
What should I share about? I don't know yet... It has to be about a minute or two long. Perhaps I'll share about my mum. But how?
"God is able and I know this because...I believe He works in mysterious ways. We cannot say we fully understand everything He does, but we can put our faith in Him; knowing that whatever happens, He has decreed it as so, and in some small way help us.
Just this week, my mom told me that another tumor was discovered in the same breast (remember how she had an operation to remove a tumor earlier this year?). When I first heard about this, I was in shock. Kind of like how I reacted earlier when I heard the first news. I think I still am.
At first I'm all numb, because I was thinking, how could another tumor pop up so fast? And so, for a while I actually lost my faith in God. I was thinking, 'How could He let this happen? My mom just went through an exhausting period only to find out it's not over?'
I was very disappointed. But I didn't stop praying. I didn't stop hoping that if God was out there, He'd listen to my prayers. Then as I prayed, I kept thinking. I kept wondering over and over, 'It's impossible that the doctors can miss another tumor or that another tumor can grow so quickly, right?'
So then, I thought some more about it...and I realised something. Maybe it's not that God let it happened. Maybe it was already there and that the doctors somehow missed it.
What did that mean though? I think it meant that God already knew there was another tumor in my mom. I think He wanted her to recuperate from the previous surgery, to get enough strength to face the next.
I also now believe that He gave her time to spend with her family, precious time together with us and to enjoy that time. To be able to come here to Perth with a peace of mind and not worry about a second operation.
And so I believe God is able and I know this because He loves us even if sometimes we don't understand how He is loving us.
--------------------------------------------
Haha, I love Natasha Bedingfield. (:
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
- "Unwritten"
I think tomorrow I will let the rain patter on my skin. (:
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I feel refreshed
Reading it has made me realise so many things about myself. Firstly, I was awed by the thought-provoking, heart warming content I found inside. I thought to myself, this surely must be a product of someone in their thirties, or least a very mature person with direct views on life.
Imagine my surprise when I discovered it was a 19 year old girl who lives in Malaysia. It made me think...if she can challenge the mind and spirit like this, why can't I?
Surely I'm better than what I am now, a selfish child who's only concerned about her life and petty problems that lie in it.
Why can't I extend my mind to more pressing problems that are current in the world right now? The everlasting crisis in Africa, Darfu, Iraq, Israel... all these places. I've never given a second thought to the plight of these people, yet I am obssessed with what people think of me, how I act, who exactly my friends are.
But this is human nature. Do you think the person rushing by you with a briefcase in one and a tie flapping on his neck cares whether or not a child in a distant place he's never been to dies in the night?
It's not that he cruelly advocates the death of a child; it is simply distance that stands in the way. If that particular child were to be in the neighbourhood, or even related to him, there surely would be a reaction.
How can we go on worrying about the rest of the world without worrying about ourselves in the first place? There is no need to feel extremely guilty about this, but we do need to learn to care more.
Not just a fleeting moment when somebody mentions, "What do you think about the starving children in Africa?" but a fixed determination to at least do something. It can be as simple as a small donation, but whatever it may be, just try to remember that the world is much bigger than you or I.
---------------------------------------------
I've decided to place myself higher than I am right now. I know what problems I'm facing and while I may not have the solutions, I can just let it go. It is not life threatening -- hormones are merely part of life.
What I can do is go on with living life to the fullest. I may miss my friends back home and be terribly heartbroken by new ones but-- I know I can move on. I can't live my life for others; I have to live it for myself.
Don't chase ghost butterflies, aim for the reacheable flower in your midst. Don't let your feelings get the better of you, be confident and happy with yourself, believe in yourself!
God works in the strangest ways but He works for you. :)
--------------------------------------------
I have to share with the Winter Cell Group tomorrow!
"God is able and I know this because..."
What should I share about? I don't know yet... It has to be about a minute or two long. Perhaps I'll share about my mum. But how?
"God is able and I know this because...I believe He works in mysterious ways. We cannot say we fully understand everything He does, but we can put our faith in Him; knowing that whatever happens, He has decreed it as so, and in some small way help us.
Just this week, my mom told me that another tumor was discovered in the same breast (remember how she had an operation to remove a tumor earlier this year?). When I first heard about this, I was in shock. Kind of like how I reacted earlier when I heard the first news. I think I still am.
At first I'm all numb, because I was thinking, how could another tumor pop up so fast? And so, for a while I actually lost my faith in God. I was thinking, 'How could He let this happen? My mom just went through an exhausting period only to find out it's not over?'
I was very disappointed. But I didn't stop praying. I didn't stop hoping that if God was out there, He'd listen to my prayers. Then as I prayed, I kept thinking. I kept wondering over and over, 'It's impossible that the doctors can miss another tumor or that another tumor can grow so quickly, right?'
So then, I thought some more about it...and I realised something. Maybe it's not that God let it happened. Maybe it was already there and that the doctors somehow missed it.
What did that mean though? I think it meant that God already knew there was another tumor in my mom. I think He wanted her to recuperate from the previous surgery, to get enough strength to face the next.
I also now believe that He gave her time to spend with her family, precious time together with us and to enjoy that time. To be able to come here to Perth with a peace of mind and not worry about a second operation.
And so I believe God is able and I know this because He loves us even if sometimes we don't understand how He is loving us.
--------------------------------------------
Haha, I love Natasha Bedingfield. (:
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
- "Unwritten"
I think tomorrow I will let the rain patter on my skin. (:
------------------------------------------
Vital regions invaded at 9:02 PM.
