Letting go

Why does letting go hurt so much?

Letting go

Letting go of my burdens & my cares to Him above.

"Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens." (Ps 68:19)

World's Greatest Shave

Hey everyone,

I will be participating in the 'World's Greatest Shave' this year. Proceeds will go to Leukaemia Foundation. To actually see me go bald (which will be my first, since 19 years ago) ask me for more details (I think it'll be on the night of March 12).

For more info, go to:

My team's page: http://my.imisfriendraising.com.au/TeamPage.aspx?teamID=44018&langPref=en-CA

My page: http://my.imisfriendraising.com.au/personalPage.aspx?registrationID=334808&LangPref=en-CA

Thanks!

The Story of the Rich Fool

The following story is one of the many that was taught during a week @ the Sunny Coast. The story is quite bold and anti-cultural in that it challenges our perspectives. It is also interesting as the story contains another story within it.

Someone from the crowd asked Jesus: 'hey, can you tell my bro to divide the inheritance with me?'. Jesus: 'huh :S, who appointed me as judge between you 2?' He then said, 'watch out for all kinds of greed! Life is not all about abundance in $$ slash gadgets.'

Jesus told them this story:

There was a rich man who had an abundance of crops. He thought to himself: 'Hang on, I actually don't have enough space to store it all up! Hmm... what should I do? Ah! This is what I'll do: I'll tear down my smaller barns and build huge ones, so I can store up all my crops. And then I'll be set for my life - I'll take life easy, eat, drink, and chill!'

But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night ur life will be demanded from you. Then who will get all this stuff u've prepared for urself?

Jesus, then concluded, saying, 'this is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.'

Ref: Lk 12

This story strikes me with a familiar chord. So often do I get caught up thinking that all there is to life is $$ - watch the numbers in ur back account grow, get good grades --> top job, climb the ladder, etc. Now, $$ and a good career is an awesome blessing from God, so don't get me wrong, but I guess the trick is to be rich towards God through it.

I know in my life, being rich towards God is hard! It's easy to say that you can be rich towards God, but doing it is another matter, entirely!

For me, this story gives me a good reminder, and helps me get my perspectives right.

Goodness and Coffee

Today was my first day of work experience.

It was great - nice and relaxing. There is such a friendly working environment there - a friendly boss and friendly solicitors, unlimited access to the boss' food (their golden rule), and - exceptional coffee.

I'm no coffee expert but, I must say, it's the best I've ever had. It was just amazing. Amazing machine, amazing frothy stuff, amazing coffee beans. There were a nice variety of quality coffee beans available - about 20ish - all subtly and stylishly different. I only tasted one coffee bean type today, looking forward to the next time I work.

But what hit me the most today was: God's goodness. A month or two ago, I applied to many firms. Some responded initially, but not long after the first phone-call/email/interview, there were no more. It made me wonder - opportunities were open and slammed with a bang.

When I came to this particular firm's interview, God reminded me that He is the One that opens doors and closes them. I don't need to fear and be anxious (though I was!), as He shall open and close doors by will.

I had a drama getting to that interview. I was actually late. I somehow got extremely lost - despite it only being a 10 min drive from my place (and I left 45 mins early!). I was speeding and also nearly crashed. But God in His mercy - got me there - and presented me with such an awesome job environment. He provides, hey. :)

But I don't understand God's goodness... Anyways, all I know is that God's good!

Promises

I don't know about you, but I make promises to God occassionally. From selfish asian-bargaining promises: "if you do this for me, I'll do that for you", to promises testing and expressing my 'love' for Jesus. Unfortunately, after the heat of the moment dies, memories of what God has done for me seems distant, His providencial acts forgotten, and the weight of my promises vapourised.

I want these promises to completely evaporate - cuz I've forgotten what God has done for me. I try to justify why I can't fulfil them or whatnot. But they make me unsettled, uncomfortable. It is the knowledge that I have made a promise to my God, and have not fulfilled it. Is it guilt? What's the main trigger of this unsettling feeling?

"When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfil ur vow. It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfil it. Do not let ur mouth lead u into sin. And do not protest to the temple messenger, "My vow was a mistake." Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of ur hands? Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore stand in awe of God."

Pretty explicit to me. So, maybe a vow to God = binding contract without termination?

Crossing the Finishing Line

I can't think properly, but I'm totally bored right now, so I shall make a short post. :P

Past few weeks have been pretty draining and stressful. But hey, God's shown me again and again that I don't need to stress like crazy cuz He carries me in His arms. Despite the stress, He's been looking after me - helping me keep things in perspective (that God is BIG, I'm not), bringing ppl to support me, and when received encouragement from our God, the God of peace, there's always opportunities to try and encourage others with that comfort. What's also cool is that although exams are pretty big, they're tiny in comparison to our Almighty God!

And so 2 years of uni has nearly come to end. Have my last one tmr! I've been slack with this subject - throughout semester - so don't deserve to do well at all. Oh well. :)