The Proposal

Dear Doc

I am not sure if it is the right thing to do to post such a long comment, so I will publish my response to you. I hope that is all right.

First of all, I think The Invitation was a beautiful piece of literary work. And I believe in all the virtues it exalted. But honestly, as I grow, I find it difficult to believe that it is possible to find someone as beautiful and as matured as it described, and if there is such a beautiful person, I am afraid she might be close to 100 at least … because all the traits therein are developed over time, and must be grown out of life’s experiences. If someone claims to have all those traits, I would be sceptical, and if you think you do, I’m sorry, I’m sceptical too.

More importantly, My personal belief is that, in looking for a “partner”, it is not about finding the “perfect” person as described. I believe the function of the partnership – or marriage – is the ability to live life together, and grow and mature together … to grow towards being all that you have described, together.

Therefore, for you, Doc, although I am a pessimist and am doubtful that you would find that perfect person, I believe you can find love. And my prayer is that you will find someone that you love enough for you to say the following words to, and, that she too, will be able to say the same to you.

God bless

Anonymous

The Proposal by a Life Believer

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting in your heart's longing … and if you need the courage to do so, I want to be there to encourage you.

It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love for your dreams, for the adventure of being alive … and if you fear risk, I want you to know that you need not fear, because I will be there for you.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain … and if you have, I want to be the one to help you come alive again, and see the beauty of love and life, even in the midst of sorrow.

I want to know if you can sit in pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it or fix it… and even if you think you can’t, I will be there to sit with you and hold your hand through it all.

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tip of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, be realistic, or to remember the limitations of being human… and if you have any reservations, I want to be the one who will be able to free you.

It doesn't interest me if the story you're telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul… and if you should fall, I want to believe that you deserve another chance, because I know we all do.

I want to know if you can be faithful and therefore be trustworthy… because I have faith in you, even when you lose faith in yourself.

I want to know if you can see beauty even when it is not pretty every day, and if you can source your life from God's presence… and if you have difficulty in doing so, I want to be your eyes, and stand in the gap for you to draw strength from God.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of a lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, "Yes!" … and if you think you can’t, I want you to know that you can because I believe we can do it together.

It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done for the children… and when you feel that you can’t, I want you to know that you can depend on me to do it.

It doesn't interest me who you are, how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back… because you know I will do the same for you.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away… and if you don’t, I want to help you discover it.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself, and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments… and if you don’t, I want to help you find the love that you should have for yourself.

THE INVITATION

Hello All,

Requested my friends to submit interesting posts for this blog. Well, doc, thanks for your response. Fellow bloggers, please share your thoughts and comments. Here goes : -


Anna,

You once asked me what I'm looking for in a woman. Besides the standard Christian answer, which we all know and believe in, as well as the Proverbial woman/wife (Proverbs 31:10-30) who, Ps Lee Choo says, do not exist anymore in its entirety, I can't put it any better than these words of a Native American (Red Indian) elder:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Invitation By Oriah Mountain Dreamer

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting in your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love,for your dreams, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit in pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tip of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, be realistic, or to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you're telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul.

I want to know if you can be faithful and therefore be trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see beauty even when it is not pretty every day, and if you can source your life from God's presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of a lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, "Yes!"

It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done for the children.

It doesn't interest me who you are, how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself, and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In case I am accused of double-standards, I would also want to be found to have these qualities for her to fall in love with me!

Doc

LEE CHOO'S BIRTHDAY PARTY

Hey girls, finally, the photo's from Lee Choo Birthday party we celebrated at Flam's. Er, better late than never. Less said better ya.

Mug shot of those who 'ponteng' newlife to be at this party. hehehe
Chief culprit looking very pleased!!

(Hope Ps Chew doesnt read blogs)

Our sexy Jessie :-)

Birthday girl

Where's the food?

Our newest member in Christ - Wai Ling seated right upfront.

Our Angels

Suzanne & Pammy

Our Deserters!!

Wish all the members could have been there. We missed you!!!!!

Muaxs!!

Anna

PROUD OF OUR COOL YOUNG

( l-r : Tze Teng, Laura Ann, Me, Su Yan and Rach)

In the past 10 months, my journey has been most interesting. I have made quite a few young friends and I enjoy them tremendously. They are refreshing and I have learnt much from them. To name but a few of the treasures i found in them :-

• they are polite, most times more so than us adults (tsk, tsk)


• they speak their minds and express their opinions/feelings well
  
• they are multi talented
  
• they have great sense of fashion (super vain lah)
  
• they are adventurous


• they keep strange hours


• their lingo is quite cool (I'm still trying to learn it)


• they are more open to new ideas then we ever were


• they have great networking


• they are under tremendous pressure (peers, studies, work, family)


• some are totally spoilt
  
• they have more money than I do (how's that again?)

I could go on and on. What surprised me most is, I really enjoy their company. I enjoy their willingness to open up, their exuberance for life and their ability to speak up for what they believe in. Most of all, I envy their networking. What a great time to be young.

I must say, I am most proud of our SIB's youth. (yeah, so I am biased) I see great hope in them. They stand up for their faith in Christ, and yes, althou I sometimes see them struggle, yet, they keep their faith. Wow! How I wish I had friends like them to impact me in my youth.

It's never too late. Even as our youth now impact my children - they impact me too.

It's a beautiful world and we have a wonderful God.

Yahoo!!!!!

Anna

Putting what I learnt into practice ... 1st Step!

This shall go down as the first ever "blog" in my almost 39 years of life. Wow. Note the absence of the exclamation mark - that's how enthusiastic (or not) I am about blogging. If you are anything like me and think you have better things to do than to spend your time reading my thoughts - that's fine with me - I understand perfectly!!!

I will be honest. When our dear cell leader asked for posting on to the cell blog, I wasn't the most excited, to say the least. I have always had this prejudiced impression that blogging was more for those who really wanted to express themselves and, ultimately, had nothing else better to do with their time. I'm sorry, but that was how I felt.

So what am I doing, posting this? Am I a "blog" convert? No. But I believe there are good reasons behind my blogging, and you are welcome to challenge the "why" behind this "what" - and here they are.

We're a Team!
First and foremost, let me tell you that I have never been a loner. I love working in teams. Teamwork is something I enjoy, and find most rewarding. It was the feeling of being in a team, with a common purpose and shared values, that was the driving force behind my years in the corporate sector. I thrived on being a team player. And that, is what I miss most about my "past life".

I attended the recent IDMC and EdgeNet Conference in Church and it reminded me of all the importance, and fun of team work. I was reminded of my "past life" a great deal, and reminded of a lot of team work principles I used to not only practice, but preached throughout the corporation around the world. But more importantly, I learnt to see things from a new perspective - a more Godly perspective, I hope, and here's why I am blogging.

"Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? Isaiah 43 : 18, 19

At the Conference, when my thoughts went back to my past, I was reminded of this scripture verse that God had planted in my heart a little while ago. I was reminded that I had to move on. And that was what I decided to do.

I am no longer part of that corporate team. I will not think, or compare my life now to my life then. God, in all His graciousness, heard my desperate cries and rescued me. That, is another story, perhaps for another time. And now, I have to learn to look for my new role in life.

I don't belong to any teams anymore, I thought. I am no leader in Church, and that was a Church leadership conference. But hey - I am a part of this Cell - and that, makes me part of a team, no matter how small. And I shall have to play my part as a team member, if I choose to stay in this team, for this season.

And as a team member, I need to honour my team members, and submit to authority. Not blind submission, but to support if I do not disagree with the "why" behind the "what" of this blog. And looking at the cell blog site - so far, postings have only been from the leader. Shame on me, I thought, what am I doing to support her efforts? Can I put personal opinion aside and submit to leadership - if I am not convicted of any wrongs in it?

The most important thing, to me, having attended days of conference, was to start acting on what I learn. So here it is. Active obedience, Pastor Edmund taught. Hence my contribution to the blog.

Humility
My return journey to God has been, to say the least, exciting - both in the up and in the down. But I have never appreciated God's words and God's teaching so much before. So much for being a long time Christian - it is only now, that I can really appreciate and savour the depth of His love and His teachings.

It is humbling. I used to think that God has been gracious in blessing me with certain gifts and talents, and I can use them to serve God. That may still be true, but it was humbling to learn that, in God's team, it's all about supernatural selection, and divine anointing and appointment. There is a great difference between leadership selection in God's Kingdom and in the world. I know that until and unless God chooses me for certain roles in His Kingdom - I am proud to be that team player, in any capacity. I may have been thought by some to be a great leader in my "past life", but in this new life, I have to live by supernatural standards, and look at things in a whole new perspective. Today, in God's Kingdom, I will start in whatever capacity I am put in. That, in itself, is a great honour.

I have many thoughts and lessons learnt from the last few days of conference, but I will start with these simple thoughts. Better few simple thoughts and acted on, than a whole load of stories without action.

Here's to you, my team. And while I struggle with the thought - "Who in the world would want to read my rantings? " The Holy Spirit said this to me (and I'm convinced He had said it with a smile!) - "Do you not think that even if only ONE soul has been ministered to or blessed with some of your thoughts, it is worth your time?"

I think it is. And I hope that there will be at least one of you will find something meaningful in this - and made it worth my while.

God bless.

Jacq Ong

PARENTS WISH

Received this website from a friend and althou i have viewed it before, this time it took new meaning for me. Suddenly something i could never understand abt "old folks" suddenly made complete sense, and ya ya, i know, it's cas i've become an old folk myself.

What did I understand? The last bit about "when we are old and decided we no longer wanna live, pls do not be angry. Someday you will understand" - I might change my mind tomorrow but today I can understand my mom better.

If i were to need more money than we had to spare to lenghten my life a short while and it's gonna put my family in debt or even just set them back for years, I know i will decide it was time i meet my God. After all, I have had a wonderful and fullfilling life. And what's best is, i will see my 'family' again. That's the beauty of knowing Jesus. :)

Pls go visit the website below and share your thoughts. (how to share thoughts ah, just click on the word comment on right corner and bingo.) Go try lah.

http://parentswish.com


Anna

MEOW EXPERIMENT

Was having a cosy chat with my Rach and she mentioned an interesting blog she read. So we decided to try it. I sent meow...meow.... (sms) and here are the response. (many serious/confused people simply went huh?)

-Celine - huh? meow what?
Gwen - yes pussy cat
Calvin - woof...woof...yes? still alive but your're not online
Catherine - yes my dear pussycat, how are you purring?
Megan - woof...woof?
Jenny Chua - yes, anything?
Kelly - hi(smiley)yes mea mea
Pammy - wow...wow (sounding like her huge dogs at home)
Joey - meow...meow...? since when u became a cat!!
Randolph - is it a cat looking 4 love n affection in this rainny wheather? (smiley)
Simon Yap - sorry, maybe i'm dense but meow meow? can speak england? He then calls and we have a great laugh.

Tony wong - Ha...(smiley) meow meow?
Jin May - ruff...ruff...hee...hee... later
JIn Iy - sorry dont understand your msg
Belinda - aiks! M i supposeto meow back or bark? haha. or..isit becoz u n rach miss me too much...haha
Sandy - :-p
Linda - r u sure u text to the right person? haha
Ps Andy Loh - err....meow? (smiley)
Amir - ???(smiley)
Jackie Teo - Helloooo...watcha doing?
Ps Lindy - Meow?
Tze Teng - r u meowing like rach? haha..is today happy cat's day?
Laura Ann - ruff..ruff.. haha is this rachael or miss anna playing the cat and dog game?hmmm
Bernard - (irate aft failing to get explaination from rach) wats with the meow lah?
Janice - i dont undersand the meow

aft explaining to some those who gave cool replys

Randolph - careful. Curiosity kills d cat. Meow...Me.....o,,,w,,,
Kelly - wah u r playing smtg is it?
Jin May - al rite...call me cool babe. So cutelah u. Dat made me smile
Linda - do u know meow meow is mau mau. mating time
Andy Loh - hahaha..i would like to know more abt this. sounds pretty interesting
Andy Loh - hahaha cool cool
Jackie Teo - actually my immediately response was woof woof but that wld mean that i shld hv bollocks, right?

Rec calls from Amy, David, Rod, Laura, Simon and many more (shared good laugh together) but the best came from Vince

Vince - (in sexy drawl) Hello Annaa
me - HI
Vince - Vince here
me - oh hellooo
Vince - you saw me isit?
me - no
Vince -eh, would hv been appropriate if you did
me - why
Vince - cas today i am wearing a very tight pair of pants, tight t-shirt and driving my new porshe
we both went - hahahaha

then again my dear friend Amy tried the same experiment on her friends and got this remarkable response

- Shoo!!

thanks everyone.

ANNA

THE BATHTUB TEST

It doesn't hurt to take a hard look at yourself from time to time, and this should help get you started.

During a visit to the mental asylum, a visitor asked theDirector what the criterion was which defined whether or nota patient should be institutionalized.
"Well," said the Director, "we fill up a bathtub, then weoffer a teaspoon, a teacup and a bucket to the patient andask him or her to empty the bathtub"
"Oh, I understand," said the visitor. "A normal person woulduse the bucket because it's bigger than the spoon or the teacup."
"No." said the Director, "A normal person would pull theplug. Do you want a bed near the window?"

*DID YOU PASS, OR DO YOU WANT THE BED NEXT TO MINE?*

HeHe cute joke.

Anna