Visitation

I was encouraged to see more than 20 of us from BLC visiting Rumah Hope today. The kids are great, just a little hiccup in the program schedule otherwise we might be able to spend a little more time interacting with them. Nevertheless, I feel it's a great start for BLC to reach out in this way for a change rather than always to our own peers.

It's interesting that one of the Rumah Hope staff said that getting donation in the form of money isn't tough these days, it's individual's time and effort. I guess our society (and church, maybe) has reach the level whereby giving financially isn't a problem, it's giving our time and effort.

Like I've prayed, it's not us who are going there to bless them but they have reminded me to "...look not only to your own interest, but also to the interests of others." Phil. 2:4

Thorny Ground

SL and I observed that some couples with kids are serving even more actively in BLC than some unmarried singles. We also noticed that there’s a common complain for that, too tired, too much work at office, etc. These are no doubt very valid reasons, however, I think that this is becoming the norm at our workplace. It’s unlikely that our workplace will change for us. So, it’s either we change or we’ll keep complaining and whining about our situations.
 Sometimes, I see this verse evident in BLC…”The thorny ground represents those who hear and accept the Good News, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares of this life and the lure of wealth, so no crop is produced”

Adults pampered too...

This past weekend we took the kids to Megakidz in Midvalley Megamall to have some fun. As I was accompanying NN playing, I noticed I'm the odd one out in that particular play area. Why? The other kids (most of them) had their maids playing with them instead of their parents. Hmm...either I'm not getting something or they aren't.
 
I know that places like these, provide the parents an avenue to "dump" the kids while they go shopping. I guess that explains why the maids are accompanying the kids. I'll also give the benefit of doubt to those parents with several kids and need help with some of them. But most of them had maids with them?? That raises a question mark in my head.
 
Generally, I think M'sian adults now are more pampered than ever. Instant gratification is more evident than I thought. I see parents who in the name of no time, too much work, etc, chooses to take the shortcut of leaving the kid with babysitters, in-laws, etc and only picking them up during weekends or maybe not at all until they're of certain age. Now with maids coming along so easy, parents have also left the parenting to the maid, sad to say.
 
That is one reason, I refused to even consider getting a maid (not that I need one). I feel it, generally, makes us lazier. With a maid, maybe we'll also take the easier way out too. God has called us to multiply but not multiply irresponsibly.

And...sometimes she wants to be the one telling us the stories like this one. 

Bedtime stories with NN. She almost always never fail to want bedtime stories before sleeping. 

Do You Know What You Want?

This question of “what I really want” has been in my mind these 2-3 weeks. Especially so, during this week as the theme for this Sunday is “What do you really want?”. Tough question. Often times, we think we know what we want, but sometimes it’s just that, we think. Doesn’t sound too convincing, does it?

When comes to money, I realised, a lot of people will buy things they do not want, and worse still to impress people whom they do not like. When comes to our work, we see all kinds of wants; job satisfaction, promotions, pay, etc. There’s always this constant wants in life (never ending) because none of these will satisfy our deepest need. Even my personal experience tells me so. I remember 2 years ago when I was working for HLB, I was constantly thinking of how nice it is if I can earn a manager’s pay. And now, I’m getting twice as much as I’m previously getting. No doubt that I thank God for it, for His provision. However, I once think of how nice it is to earn a manager’s pay don’t excite me anymore now. Why? I think it’s just our limitless nature of wants.

A property investment book author once puts it, “I have few wants in life, therefore I’m rich now.”. I believe this can be applied in our Christian context, i.e., we can be rich in God if we shift our attention away from the wants of this world and set our eye on His values. This is, of course, the big picture of what we really should want. However, I believe we’re always on the journey to find out what we want, as we being bombarded by the wants and values of the world.