A quiet start to 2011

It was a quiet start to the beginning of New Year. We retired early in the night after cell group and a short celebration at Winnie's place. Woke up to sunny weather and clear blue sky at 9am on 1/1/2011, had some delicious Aunt Nellie's muffins and began our 10km hike from Bukit Timah to MacRitchie. Oh, what a great way to kickstart my new year like that! The adrenaline rush was terrific as we walked through a new route which we never took before, discovering little lookouts that amazed us and we said to each other that we should do this more often. 10km seemed all so long towards the end as I began to lament when would the end point be. And Hubs said to me that I should focus my energy on the beautiful nature around me and continue enjoying the walk. The advice was wise. I then began to see the misty greens, the changing color chameleon, the busy ants on the muddy roads...and i thought to myself. I must have missed out so many beautiful things for the past year with my focus on work.

2011 resolution is to make a conscious effort to slow down myself ( especially from work), be more patient and appreciate every beautiful moment of life. 3 hours of slow walk instead of half hour ride on the car is all I need at times......

Marriage breakthrough weekend @Mercure

Marriage breakthrough weekend was great. Hubs and I first signed up without expecting much except to take a break and to recentre ourselves and the marriage upon Christ. Our father in heaven is forever gracious and works in his mysterious ways. He surprised us with glimspes of his love through the 3-day retreat in Mercure Palm Resort in Johor.

Different testimonies shared, sermons led by different leaders, time to process your walk with God and then dialogue time with spouse. It was such a great way to spend the Thanksgiving weekend and the anniversary.

These were my take-aways from the retreat. They are not new to me but at times, is so easy to forget them or to live by them.

First day, god spoke to me in the issue of submission and also providing the space for the other half to grow in his spritual leadership. Mistakes are inevitable and is important to provide the space for that to happen so that the man can grow.

Second day, god spoke to me about submitting to him in all areas of my life , whatever i do , whatever i think, whatever I say and be more steadfast in my walk with him. AS i obey him in all things, I will learn to grow in his love.

Third day, God spoke to me that he is in control and that I should draw my strength in him as I imitated him in-love.Hubs and I did our very first memory verse 1 Corinthian 13:1-13, While it was easy to memorize it , it was definitely not easy to practise them in our daily lives. Just over last week,there were several occasions that we had to remind each other that "love is patient. Love is not irritable".

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, [1] but have not love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; [2] 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Drone a day

Weekend morning, I walked to nearby neighbourhood centre and treat myself to a sumptuous Mac Breakie which I thought would brighten up my day when hubs had to leave to play soccer with his friends. I then walked to the mall and randomly bought a few items from the 2 dollars shop: antibacteria wipes, container, mama bag and a glass tub. Totally random and unnecessary

Then, I walked back home and had a snooze till he was back. What a lazy afternoon. I woke up with a small bouquet of flower presented to me. Something from the hubs to pacify me because I am whiny about how he spent his sat morning to play soccer with his friends. Afterwhich, I went over to his sister's place and had some fun with the little nephew and niece. Rachel, his niece was obsessed with the Little Nonya Series which her mum just got for her as a reward for her excellent results in the exams. I sat down with her and watched an episode and got confused with all the different roles played by the same actors and actresses.

After dinner and dropping off the in-laws, we dragged our lazy bodies to visit the NIGHT FESTIVAL at the National Museum since I was yearning to do something different for our day. I was appaulled at the crowd who still remained after a huge rain pour.The national museum looked so beautiful after renovation. there were outdoor films showing, street performance and wonderful fireworks. I love the musuem. But hubs was telling me," Please spare me from all these cultural stuff." :) In the end, he was the one who enjoyed the historical gallery so much that I literally had to tell him that we would come back another day to visit it. The time was 1.30 am on the clock. " Time to snooze," I said:)

Prayer for Marriage

Prayer for Marriage
Kay Arthur

(Excerpted from Prayers to Bless Your Marriage. Copyright © 2003 by Kay Arthur. Used by permission of Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, OR. All rights reserved.)

"If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal." 1 Corinthians 13:1

Earlier, we began a "Prayer for Marriage." Beloved, whether you're newlyweds just beginning to travel the road of life together or if you've been married for many years, learning to talk to your spouse can enrich your life and deepen the bonds of your marriage. God is the master communicator, and we can come to Him to be instructed and taught in the art of communicating effectively with the one He has given us. Let's continue this prayer:

Father, whenever we communicate, help us to uphold the priority of our marriage, permitting no other relationship to weaken ours. May the word "divorce" never be formed on our tongue, never pronounced with our lips. May it never be considered as a viable option-for it strikes terror in the heart, fear and anger in the mind, and anxiety to our souls. And it grieves Your holy heart.

May we always, in all our conversations, uphold the oneness of our marriage, understanding that what affects one always affects the other.

May we allow open and honest communication, encourage vulnerability and authenticity. May we never be guilty of breaking each other's spirit. Rather, may we affirm and strengthen one another so that together we can endure any weakness, any failure and not lose hope.

Father, help us to sharpen our communication skills. Teach us to communicate with our eyes-to convey our delight in the other's presence, to say, "I love you," to let our loved one know even in a crowded room, "You're special to me." Remind us to give each other the gift of our full attention when we talk.

Teach us to respond to what is said so that our mate knows he or she is being heard. Help us to keep a confidence, to build a wall of trust so that we are free to share all that is in our hearts. And as we listen, Lord, help us to avoid giving quick or pat answers. Help us to listen patiently. Remind us that our loved one does not always want advice. Sometimes we just want to be heard; to say it, and to get it off our chest.

Father, may we feel the freedom to open up and share our fears. Sometimes it is so difficult to admit weakness or fear, but we need to be able to talk to someone—and of all people, it should be our spouse. May we also know that we don't always have to dispel each other's fear-nor should we think we must have the cure. May we just learn to listen. . .listen and pray.

Father, we all need to have that sense of significance, of worth, of security, so teach us to continually look for ways, for words in private and in public, to build our loved one's self-esteem. When one of us shares with the other, may we learn not to attack each other verbally. May the goal of all our conversations be for the building up of one another, the healing of one another, and the encouragement of one another so our loved one will want to talk, to communicate. May our words never be demeaning or destructive.

And finally, Father, when our tempers flare, may we make it a practice not to lay our heads on our pillows and close our eyes until we have resolved our anger. You tell us very clearly, "Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity."

As we look at the one lying on the pillow beside us, may we remember that this is the one to whom we made our vows to love in sickness and in heath, for richer or poorer, for better or worse until death do us part.

Help us realize, Father, that a marriage like the one we prayed for is a marriage that speaks to all the world of the power and indestructible joy of living in obedience to the Word of God. A marriage that demonstrates to the world that with You it is possible to have a marriage without regrets; a marriage that gives others a snapshot of the marriage of the Lamb and the heavenly home You have prepared for us.

Retrived from crosswalk

Will you be my Valentine?

I like the artistic class I am taking.
Seriously made us reflect on our personal artistic autobiography.
Today, in class, we had to compose a song.I made a silly Valentine song with another of my classmate. My friend said the song seemed to be depicting what I am going through...I guess sooo...So here is a revise version of "My Bonnie" Lyrics inspiration: We were supposed to include the few candies which have words imprinted on them.

My lover boy, send me an email
My lover boy,said he missed me
My lover boy, asked if I love him
I said yes of course,I love you
Hug me and kiss me
When will I ever see you again?
Hug me and kiss me and
Only you be in my heart.

So i came back and sang eagerly my new composed song to my lover boy and on top of that I sent him two links: Praying through the deeper issues of lifeand How husband can inspire romance in the marriage which i thought were good.

These were my Valentine gifts for him.

Do you want to be organized too?

Lately, I discovered a change in me. Or should I say it seemed to be my Old self resuming. Getting pretty organized in all the little things in my life.( Urghh..wasn't like this for a pretty long time) Started getting happy in just putting ticks on my to-do lists. Drawing up little schedules of expenditure,grocery inventory stock lists.Lists of weekly,daily and monthly schedules to do cleaning of bathroom,kitchen and laundry. Planning my weekly menus so that I will be doing my marketing in one shot in the weekend.Started labeling all the little folders for the vast amount of mails we received.SO far so good, have been getting things done.:)
Gosh,I wonder how long can I sustained these? Anyway, thought that once school term starts for me, I need some systems to get going in the household in order for me to balance both family ,study and work.Having some systems in your life do so good when you try to multi task between various roles. Help to remove clutter in your thoughts, your space and lead to getting things done efficiently. I called it PRODUCTIVITY! I have prayed and priortized that lord will guide me in balancing my role as a wife and pursuing my passion. Never to compromise my BB's mealstime and cleanliness of the house when I got more responsibilities coming in!
And today when i was doing my quiet time, God affirmed me that in many areas of Jesus's Ministry, there is organization. The way the stories are being told, the way he instructed disciples to go in teams to evangelise, the way he gave out the bread to multitudes.Being organized will help us to make time off to do his ministry and work!!
So am I still a right brainer or left brainer?I hope I am still right!

Build Him Up

A virtuous woman builds her husband up. She offers praise and kind words that make him feel like the man he wants to be.

You have probably heard the saying, “Behind every good man is a good woman.” The woman of Proverbs 31 had a good husband. He sat at the gates with the elders of the city. He was respected in his field. He was a successful business man. He could not have been all that he was had she abused him with her words and sliced him to the core with her disrespect.

Whether your man works in an office, likes to putter around the toolshed, or use his hands to work hard, he wants to know that he is the man you desire. He wants to be your knight in shining armor, your hero, your big strong, hunk of a guy.

When he fixes the sink for you, tell him how clever he is. When he builds the kids a swing set, tell him how strong he is. When he saves money on a purchase, tell him how much you appreciate his concern for your family’s financial well being.

Don’t tell him what an idiot he is, or that you could have done a better job. Don’t make him feel like a failure. Tell him you need him around, that he provides well for you. He will work hard to live up to your praise!

Photo by: Josh Armstrong. You can visit his ministry site at: www.globalyouthnet.com.

Melissa Ringstaff is theP Founding Director of A Virtuous Woman. She lives with her husband and five children in the beautiful Appalachian mountains of Harlan, Kentucky.