Inspired & Motivated...

A few weeks back Melissa showed us this video about this guy called Nick Vujicic...
He is a man born without limbs... This is another video I found on the web about him...



Often we grumble about our lives... Why is it not going the way I want it... Why is life so unfair... But until we look around and take a rain check... We often miss the blessings we have already received...

Nick is an inspiration... Looking at him, I am ashamed of the times when I have been disgruntled with my life... When I questioned God with "What is the meaning of this?" "Why me?" "Why this?" There were moments in my life when I almost gave up... Almost told God, "God I don't want this life, I don't want my life with You... It's too tough..." Thank God He never ever let me throw in the towel... My God knows me too well, He knows how much I can or cannot take... And He knows too well... He is simply breaking me down so that I can do even greater things, bear heavier blows... So that I can become stronger, become more reliant on Him and Him alone... Nick's life is the epitome of all our struggles... Looking at him, I find no reason why I cannot bear my own stretch tests... God knows how much we can be stretch, how much we can be broken... Only when we are broken, will we truly understand the magnitude of His grace... Psalm 51:17 says - The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. (NIV)



Senior Pastor Khong's message on Sunday also reminded me of the need to just simply trust that God is in control... S.P. so aptly puts it "life is not just tough, it is also confusing..." Admittedly, life is tough and there are many many times when I have been confused... Job hunting the past few months haven't been easy on me... Many times I thought "This seems like what God wants me to do..." only to have the door closed on me with no apparent reason... Each time, I just pick up from my disappointment and just move on... Some takes a longer time to recover from, others are easily let go... But each time it is because, I know my God has a higher calling for me... For He has promised in Jeremiah 29:11 - ...For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future..."

After months of unsuccessful job hunting, I gave up... I committed myself to God and asked Him to light my path... Melissa, my spiritual mother, has been with me each step of the way... And I thank God for her... The G12's prayers brought God's peace into my heart, as well as the God of Peace into my plans... I know that my God has far higher plans for me... (Though frankly speaking, there are times when I doubted...)

I believe that each time, God just simply closed the door because it is not where He wants me to be, although I want it quite a bit... With each interview, the Lord restored my confidence... He showed me that the problem doesn't lie with me, and He rebuilt me... Every interview my potential employers seemed impressed with what I could bring to the job... Each interview, I left the place confident... However, due to the fact that I don't want to compromise my service to the Lord because of my job, I have always asked God to show me the right job... There was this one interview that I really want to ace... It was this interview with the National Arts Council... However, at bacteria attack landed me in hospital with severe food poisoning that resulted in me having to be warded for observation overnight... So I was unable to make the interview... Taking a step back and looking at it now, I am beginning to see why my life took such a course... All theses simply steered me into the direction of going into my family business...

Some people have comment that I am fortunate to have a family business to go into... I can't deny that I am blessed to not have to worry about not having a job at any given time... Should I fail in my job search, I always have a job waiting for me back "home"... However, I had my fears... My family have been in this line for as long as I can remember... (which means it has been at least 20 years...) We started off small, expanded and then failed due to bad investments... That resulted in my dad becoming a bankrupt... They picked themselves up and restarted the business... A few turns later we were running a cafeteria and subsequently closed that to open a restaurant... Then SARS striked and business slumped... And they had to rebuild everything up all over again... Now that they have managed to rebuild everything up, they want to expand... I fear that history would repeat itself... That was why I wanted to take things into my own hands without asking God what He wanted to do with my life... I wanted to find a stable job, just in case things crumble at the home front again... My lack of faith resulted in my overworked parents warring with each other again... Thus, I have decided that my dreams and ideals can be put on hold... I need to unite my family so that the business won't go bust again... They have built a good name for themselves over the years, tending that one stall... Now that they have three, the stress is tripled, thus they are starting to fight again... One thing I know though... Going into the family doesn't mean that my parents won't quarrel with each other... In fact, I believe there will be more disagreement with everyone in the picture... But I know that wherever I go, the blessing will follow... And I know that I am blessed, because I am His beloved... Since the God of Peace is with me, He will bring about peace in the household... But I need to obey His voice and do His biding...

I am going to sit my parents down and speak to them tomorrow... May the Lord grant me wisdom, discernment and favour... May He go before me... For unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labour in vain... I trust that my Lord will go before me... This is the year of victory, and I believe that I will end the year strong...

in need of wisdom...

after sunday's sermon, i've done some thinking... indeed a single locust is easily crush, but an army of locusts is a plague... pastor talked about unity and teamwork in the family (biological & spiritual)... and i guess, the only obedient thing for me to do now is to go into the family business... help out my parents, who've slogged much of their lives for my brothers and i... it's not just a duty to help out in the business, it's an act of obedience...

i thank God for the counsel that He has provided in this decision... some that i've spoken with regarding this decision supports my choice of obedience... there are others who are asking me to think twice... weighing my options, i guess the former group provides sound counsel... (also because i know the people in the former group longer and trust them better...)

weighing out the pros and cons, i think i see more pros than cons... i know that i would be a blessing to wherever i choose to go and work at... so seriously speaking, why not bring these blessings to the people i love and care for the most... (selfish, but true...) besides, after the couple of job interviews i've went for, none has brought about news of employment... and since i have a perpetual position opened for me, why am i forgoing it... how silly and blinded can i be?

besides, this might be the turning point for my family's salvation... and also a place where i can definitely have a say and an influence over the decision making... i would also enjoy flexibility in my schedule... it would just solve a whole lot of problems...

for now, i shall sit on it for a little while longer... will make my decision soon... may the Lord's wisdom and guidance be upon me...

(-_-'|)

was reading a friend's blog and saw the amount of stress he has placed on himself that resulted in the decision he had made... it made me ponder for a second... it took courage to take a step back and re-think your life choices at any point of our lives... i am finding myself at this juncture of my life too... taking a step back and re-looking at how i want to live my life...

the arts is suppose to be fun... it is suppose to be something i love... but at this point of time, i wonder, if there is a place for me in the arts scene in singapore.... i am not doing anything in relation to it... and it is making me feel as if i am wasting the time and effort my mentors had placed on me through the years... i am not getting casted, i am not getting paid... i need to feed myself and maintain a healthy bank account... but, right now, right here, i am unemployed... i would love to find some work related to the arts industry in singapore, but i can't seem to find any... so i am turning to another industry where i know i will excel in... public relations/ events management... will have to wait and see how the job seeking goes...

the good thing though is, during this break... i am finding rest and spending time with some old friends of mine... it's been a good break... a much needed rest... am just wishing it would last a little bit longer... but hopefully it will end soon... bank balance is beginning to look a little anorexic... well, guess that has got to do with my rather bulimic spending lately... haha... it'll come back... it will... it will...