........After dinner's scenario..........

Parents : " Remember, go and help out at this xxxxx place"

Kids : " Uhmm..." (all looked down ..a sense of disliking)

Parents : "OK, the third sister, pls take care of your brother ask him to study!!!"

Third sister : "Uhmmm... buai albeiz me?? " (murmuring)

Parents : " Bye"

Then, kids remembered 2 Corinthians 10:5 (NKJV) :

“Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ…”



** after parents left home for work, kids started to change dress and get ready for work **

....At the resto's scenario.....

** Sound of heels and guests strolling in...**

Kids : "Hi, evening!!" (smiley face is paused until all guests passed by)

**paying time is when the battle really begins**

Guests : " Yeah How much?? My table is xx."
(After staring at the receipt)
"Eit.. I am your usual customer, can you just cancel the govt. tax? I am very well acquainted with your boss...!!

Kids : " Sorry mam, we can't do it." (still smiling)

Guests : " what?? why do you charge me so expensive then? Just call the boss.. I want to talk to him.."

Kids : " I'm very sorry but he is not available at the moment. He had gone out."


Guests : " Yeah.. try calling his phone and ask.."

Kids : "Hmm.. let me see" (went and discuss with the manager...)
" ok..mam, are you paying cash or credit card?"

Guests: "Credit card!!"

Kids : "Alright.. mam, here is the price you need to pay." (another smile flashed)

Guests : "wat? The discount is so little?? why can't you give me more?"
(kids starting to sense a higher temperature in the blood...but remain cool because of *unwritten law of the resto : guests are kings*)

Kids : " If you're paying with credit card, we'll have to give you less discount but with cash, we'll give u more."

Guests : "Ok, how much will it cost with cash?? what? still that expensive? Then, I'll just pay by credit card... urghhh."
Kids : "ok, thanks.."

**time for guests to leave **

Kids : " Thank you mam." (still smiling professionally)

Guests : " Yes, thank you." (satisfied of the discounted price they get..knowing they're acting will get them only that far)

**Story ends**

God Wants Your Heart

This devotional was written by Mike DeVries The LORD says, “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on mere human rules they have been taught.”—Isaiah 29:13

Steve Chalke, in his book The Lost Message of Jesus, shares this story:

An old Jewish joke tells the story of Judgment Day at the end of history. God summons all the people who have ever lived. "Here's what we're going to do," He explains. "Gabriel will read out the Ten Commandments, one by one. As he does, those who have broken them will have to depart into everlasting darkness." Commandment number one is read out and a number of people are led off. The same thing happens with each of the commandments until, having read eight of the ten, only a small crowd remains. God looks up to see this handful of stern, smug, grim-faced, self-righteous, joyless miseries staring back at Him. He pauses and contemplates the prospect of spending eternity with this lot. "All right!" He shouts, "Everyone come back; I've changed my mind."¹

I remember growing up in a church not too far from my house. Even though we went to church “religiously” (funny how we use that word, is it not?), I can still remember hating church. It was boring, and long – filled with people whom I didn’t know and who looked, well... so serious.

One day, a well-meaning lady in our church came to me and said, “Son, do you like church?” Exactly how I was going to answer that I did not quite know yet. She continued, unaffected by my silence, “I sure hope so, because this is what heaven is going to be like – church, eternally.”

I’m guessing I had a pretty typical reaction to this for a nine-year-old boy, thinking, “If heaven is like an eternal church service, do I really want to go there?”

Now that I’m older, I’ve been doing some thinking lately. Is it possible to do the very things that please God, yet be so far from the spirit of it, that we miss the point completely?

The more and more I read the Scriptures lately, I keep finding these places where God appears to be saying, “I know you think you’re doing the right things, even things I’ve told you to do, but... you’re missing the point altogether.” It’s as if we are doing the right “things,” but our hearts, the very things God actually wants, are essentially somewhere else.

Time and again, God says, “I don’t want your sacrifices. I don’t want your religious festivals. In fact, I’m beginning to hate them. What I want is your heart.” In other words, I don’t want your “religion” -- your going through the motions to please me – I want your heart passionately longing for me, says God.

It’s as if He is saying, “If your heart is not in it, I don’t want it.”

Your heart is what God is looking for, not your religion. Today, as you go about your day, consider this question: Does God have my heart, or just my “religiously-driven” obedience? Perhaps you need to stop doing some things in order to make sure you are doing the right things.

my moods are determined by what captures my focus

The Life of Restaurateur's kids!!!

WAKE UP (got school) -------- 6 a.m
(no school) -------- 9-10 a.m


*** any addition of time will invite nagging and wailing that sounds like nightmare followed by a sudden change in room temperature to snatch away your cool wonderland and fall into a cubicle of sauna's heat.


BREAKFAST (Happy day) ------ fascinating and plenty of varieties
(no happy day) ----- serve youself bread or egg


LUNCH (Hungry too fast) ----- eat by yourself
(Hungry at the right time) ----- compete for the servings
*unwritten rule : must remember others*
(Hungry too late) ----- eat the left-over portion


Dinner (no matter what day) ----- always special
----- always delicious

For Mothers all around the world, big hug from me to you!!!

I found this really touching...

Before I was a Mom
This devotional was written by Leslie Snyder

I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.—1 Samuel 1: 27-28

I came across this poem recently and thought it appropriate to share as we celebrate the remarkable women in our lives this Mother’s Day.

Before I was a Mom?
I slept as late as I wanted and never worried about how late I got into bed.
I brushed my hair and my teeth everyday.

Before I was a Mom
I cleaned my house each day.
I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom
I had never been puked on.
Pooped on. Spit on.
Chewed on.
Pottied on.
I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts.
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom
I never held down a screaming child so that doctors could do tests. Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom
I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put it down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.

Before I was a Mom
I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body. I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby. I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache, the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much love or so much pain before I was a Mom.

I never knew I would love being a Mom. — Author unknown.

STARTING...!!

Finally, after all the laziness kicked, procrastination overcame and motivation mustered... I am now officially announcing the start of my blog-life journey.

*peasant-dancing*

Actually I started it a year ago due to the invitation which led to invitation(s) from a friend who was so anxious for me to belong to the blogger community in our class. Since it is our Asian culture to practise 'bei-min' (beri muka) tradition, I obediently joined and later flunked it unintentionally..I mean due to my laziness. That's the outcome of doing something which does not come from your heart, I believe.
Anyway, this desire of blogging *all of a sudden* does not come down from the sky or was birthed within me as illustrated from numerous Disney movies..with a sound of gling..gling..gling..
In fact, it comes from within the walls of my house..(I mean my dad's house..) and if you fast forward from the main gate and quickly climb up the stairs and yeah.. climb up the stairs again.. and push the door open after reaching the third floor..you found it.

*shocked facial look*

Her long- sooo straight hair caught ur attention as she remained immobile..with a few seconds passed, she'd turn her head over without speaking a word. You'd be trapped in a scenario of catching her stare when you wished you had not looked at her and now, that dreadful feeling became even more unbearable as she raised her left eye-brow...in an instant, u were prompted to state your defenses of why you are where you are.. as if that matters to her..

aha.. she's my elder sister right..right.. she is just one step above me..Lizzie McJie..

Here's why; having a passion for blogging, she is responsible enuf to alweiz keep it continuous as a movie director is responsible to make unending supply of movies to be broadcasted on t.v and see, what's the use of those movies if indeed nobody watch 'em?? So, the mysterious Ms. McJie (or watever name she has acquired..perhaps Domino'sJie) is now aiming to broadcast her blog towards the viewers and if t.v provides an expensive advertisement, she managed to pull it off using very simple technique eh.. approaching her target and giving out that one-million dollar question, "Have u read my latest blog?" accompanied with a grin from a tomato-blushed face with a flash of teeth like the enemy of batman in'batman forever' dressed with plenty of green question marks..

That triggers me to start reading hers and hence, a change of heart towards blogging (oops.. a change of heart sounds too similar to the gling..gling..gling of Disney movies) happened.
hmm..anyway perhaps blogging is one of the ways for me to practise English even after staying for wat-feels-like-centuries in Indo.. To keep up, I simply subscribe some English magazines and basing my thoughts upon the principle of human metabolism in taking in food and having to excrete as well, I believe reading alone is a one-way procedure and hence, writing out in English should equal the excrete process lest one will explode...

Should stop now..