Elizabeth did not tell anyone of her pregnancy until she was 5 months pregnant with John. Until her pregnancy was inarguably evident.

The implication is that John's exposure to the careless speech of others could have affected what God wanted to do.

The five months seclusion for Elizabeth was probably sufficient for her to become strong enough in her own faith to withstand the 'well-meaning curses' that people would probably make.

Being hidden away gave her time to settle into her call and learn how to be unaffected by the careless concern of others.
Only with faith & confidence regarding her own call could she become strong enough to steward the anointing on her correctly.

My Reflections
It's so true. Most people would have many things to say, whether encouragement or well-meaning curses.. Words do affect our decisions, cast doubts into what God says. Being hidden away, to seek God's face and call would enable us to be secured and not be wavered by the words of others.

Even in this time, as I prepare to leave the ministry, an income, and stepping into an unknown.. Being sure of what God calls is so important. Because there are people who give well-meaning questions such as "Where are you going to have the finances?", "You need to think long term to plan for a family".. These do cast doubts onto me and make me wonder if I've made the right decision or am I silly to give up income, have no money, etc..

Let faith and confidence arise.
I have no lack in His Kingdom.

God's Favor? ... Yes!

I was thinking and reflecting on the life of Abraham, Joseph and Moses. The three of them received their calling and promise from God. Abraham being Father of many nations, Joseph knows that he will be a ruler, Moses knows that he wants to deliver the Israelites.

Though they knew their calling or have a desire to do something, it wasn't fulfilled straightaway, the moment they wanted to.

Abraham - He was called the 'Father of many nations'. Everywhere he went, people will be called "Father of many nations"... But where are your children? Abraham & Sarah were barren till 90 years old. What a contradiction? What an irony? That he was called "Father of many nations", but no children... He must have felt "well, it's just a name, I would be childless till the end, but yet, he endured the name. And in due time, God showed him the land he will be going and the child that he would be having. He knew his calling, which was to be 'Father of many nations', it wasn't fulfilled until a later time, and it was Fulfilled.

Joseph - He dreamt that he was to be a ruler. But he was being sold away by his brothers, his family. Locked in prison because of a woman who cried 'rape' which he did not commit. Thought he would be able to get out, but he was forgotten. Finally, he was remembered and helped to interpret the Pharaoh' dream. It was not until a few years later, that he managed to see his dream, vision fulfilled. How he must have felt in those years locked away - if God had called me to be a ruler, why am I locked away here?

Moses - He wants the freedom and unity of the Israelites. But because he killed an Egyptian, the Pharaoh wants his life and he went into hiding for 40 years as a shepherd. In this 40 years, he must have felt that "I would be a shepherd all the days of my life, the Israelites can free themselves. But I do want to see their freedom." God finally appeared to him and led him to bring the people out of slavery.

These three heroes, they knew their purpose, but it was not accomplished till years later. There was a time of preparation, moulding, God-seeking moments, God-wrestling moments, "Are you there, God?", "Did I hear correctly?"...

People around them must have mocked at them, wondered if they are out of their mind, thinking why are they so committed to their calling when nothing seemed to be happening.

I think it must have been difficult times, trying times, to trust in the Lord, because "He said so, I will believe".

I guess I can understand a fragment of it?

We know His plans, His purpose, His promises. But why are we not seeing them fulfilled now? Why do we look like a loser at the losing end? Why aren't things turning out good for us? When are the promises to be fulfilled?

Though we long to tell of the victorious stories of how God came through for us, we have to endure through the painful times, and not give up until the end.

The only way, is to hold on to the purpose and call of the Lord and walk in His will, in obedience to Him. There is no other way.

All three of them did not give up their call, even when they "forgot" or had laid it aside, the moment the Lord calls, the moment He gave the opportunity, they took it and go. Of course, they had doubts like Moses, but he still went because "The Lord said so." And because they trusted in the Lord's word and walked in obedience to Him, they saw their destiny fulfilled in the Lord.

People may mock, they may question, they may think you are at the losing end. But hold on to what the Lord said. Trust in Him, walk in obedience. He is faithful and will fulfill what He promised.

"A Family who worship together with reckless abandon, using all their assets for the glory of God." taken from Face to Face with God, Bill Johnson


This is what the devil hates and wants to bring Christians away from.


This is what God intended us to be.


When a husband and wife are Christian and walk in the fullness and obedience of Him, they produce a generation of godly offspring.


Reckless abandon, using all their assets for the glory of God...


Reckless abandon.... using all their assets....
It really speaks of surrender, yieldedness, walk by faith, not by sight, trust, give it all, give it all and not even sure if you get anything back, emptiness, give all you have, brokenness, your will be done...


I feel like I am "one foot in, one foot out". 


That is really what I want. But often times, fear creeps in. Doubt creeps in. Fear of rejection, fear of being questioned, fear of failure creeps in.


And yet, I believe that is what God intended and I want to walk in it. But I also allowed the devil a foothold into my fears, my doubts..


Lord Jesus, help me to walk by faith and not by sight, help me to trust You and surrender my all to You. Not just the easy things, but the difficult things, Everything. I want to build a family that worships You and surrender our lives to you with all that we have, and all that we are. Let your will be done. Though at times, it may be uncertain, it may be painful, but we know as long as You are with us in the boat, we have nothing to fear. This is my prayer.

Square 1 Camp

Will be heading off for a camp in 6 hours' time.

At the beginning when I return back to PLMC, I knew I wanted to be going for the camp.

Not sure why, but I just committed myself to be going.

Until now, I'm still not sure why. Guess I'll play a supportive role in helping out wherever I can like AV.. =)

I'll be sharing on the girls' talk session. More on our identity as woman. I'm not someone who can pull off things to say very well. And I'm less than 30% prepared.

Hmm. But by some divine memory jolt, I took out 2 books from my mini library which helped me alot. "Captivating" by Stasi Eldredge & "Why not women?" by Loren Cunningham & David Joel Hamilton

Good books!

May I be able to finish my preparation.

The day the monkeys snatched my mushroom pie

I decided to take a stroll at MacRitchie and spend some quiet time there.

I was hungry when I reached so I decided to buy a Chicken & Mushroom Pie from the cafe.

As I walked and ate innocently, minding my own business, looking at the scenery, I felt there was somebody tailing me. As I turned to the left, I did not see anyone. The next thing I knew, something snatched my pie away! As I looked, it was a MONKEY!! Not just one there, but FIVE!

I let out a soft screech and stood stunned at what just happened.

There was no way I could snatch it back because the monkey had already thrown the pie on the floor and ravaged the paper bag.

As the rest of the monkeys joined and tried to eat, there was none. I was into the last bite before the monkey snatched it.

As I drew out my camera, my hands were shivering from the shock.

But because of this incident, I could snap some shots.

Never crossed my mind that there would be monkeys and you shouldn't eat while walking.

Lesson learnt: Eat at the designated place

off to Thailand

In less than 12 hours', I'll be on the plane to Thailand and meet dear Mr Tee.

Not just me, but my mum & bro too!

This journey was interrupted by a re-time to an earlier flight, which clashed with my first flight from SG-BKK. Called up SG Airasia to re-time the flight and gave a wrong booking number. Called the next day and finally I managed to change it. But I had to pay $200+!! No way, I'm going to pay. Even if it was Airasia's fault to re-time, customers have to pay the penalty for another flight change as they are not responsible for any change in schedules.

Well, the good thing was that the night before when I gave my booking number wrongly, the customer service officer said I do not have to pay. So, I insisted. And I managed to get away with not paying extra for the change!

Looks like a good trip ahead. All of us are almost packed and ready.

And finally, I get to spend more than a day in Bangkok to do some real shopping there.

Malacca 2-day trip

Went on a Malacca 2-day trip over 10 & 11 Nov with 8 guys and 1 lady (me).

The trip was good. We ate so much, I was never hungry for 3 days (because the day before we stayed at Laguna and we ate alot too)

This is some of the people in the group.

I stayed in a room by myself with a Queen size bed. =)

This was when my camera lens went foggy. Cool effects!

New blog layout

I have a vintage blog layout and added on some nice, vintage badges.

Special thanks to Just Something I made for the badges & *The Graphics Fairy* for the background.


Hope to put up more stuffs, like daily findings from the Word, DIY, food, photos, etc.

Let's see how long this will last... ;)

Our Hand at Chicken Mushroom Sausage Baked Rice

We decided to prepare Baked rice for dinner for our family today. 

Happened to google upon http://www.noobcook.com/chicken-and-mushroom-baked-rice/ and it looked quite easy so we tried it.

It went pretty good. Tee helped with the cutting, frying and most of it. I helped with watching the oven.

The finished product! Taste good!

Beach day

Didn't realised today is the first day in 2010 that I've been at the beach with Tee. We must have been too busy and caught in city life to wind off at the beach.

Great day there at ECP with friends.

This week, we went to recee some possible wedding locations.. Probably one of those "dream-fantasy" kind. 

Found this place called "Gardenasia", it's a really nice place based on the pictures. I love it. The person liaising with me was very friendly. 

It's in Kranji. Super FAR!! We had to take a shuttlebus to get into the place. It's near places like Sungei Buloh Nature Reserve. 

As I stepped into the showroom, I really love the decorations.

The place is a landscaping company, with BIG spaces for a nice garden wedding. Love everything about it. But the price was way too exorbitant.

So our best choice with respect to our huge guest list, was to have the wedding in PLMC. =)

Pictures of the place: Gardenasia. 

childhood

Let Haiti sing again

Thai Movie: บา้นฉัน (My Home)

Caught a Thai movie while I was in Thailand.

It's about the life of a Comedian Family. Father is a comedian and desires to have kids who can crack jokes and prolong the legacy. However, the son, Tok, wasn't much of a comedian while his sister is good at it.

As a result, he felt that his father may not love him because he didn't inherit the funny genes.

The show made me cry when he thought that his father didn't love him.

Touched on issues like Identity, Acceptance, Father Heart.

I'm impressed by the creativity of Thais. They dealt with issues at a friendly manner. So much to learn from about making movies.

Star Munchkins

I learnt how to play Munchkins today at the PLMC Youth Lounge.

I've seen the normal Munchkins before, but thought it was a difficult game.

It still is a difficult game. But I had some fun.

The characters are cute and lots of interesting descriptions to tell you how you can win/lose the game.

Basically, you have to level up your character and depending on the situation of the card, you either get a booby trap or fight monster or level up.

The 'outreach-minded-sort-of' me thought it would be a great game for people who wants to learn English, because of the many English description on each card. But there are certain words that are concocted up, so it might, then, not be too suitable for English beginners. However, someone can explain the words. But, the game will surely end by the end of the next day. =p

I Serve

From a Gofest video:

"I'm the director of ___, if you ask me what I do,  

I serve 

- Respect - 

What is News?

This week, the big 'news' is on a certain celebrity's life on public display. People are so quick to pinpoint each others' mistakes and condemn them to nothing. Have we ever thought about what we have also done that are just as bad? Even if it's a lie. Or a white lie.

Take some time to read about the other news that is in the newspaper.

What about the massacre in Nigeria?

Read something that will change your life for the better.

Sexually Indulgent Now, Marriage Ruined Later?

Sexually Indulgent Now, Marriage Ruined Later?


AUSTIN, Texas -- Oftentimes those who preach sexual abstinence have been told to stop trying to impose their beliefs on others. But what if science could prove sexual permissiveness does great damage to future sexual happiness?


That's what Dr. Joe McIlhaney of the Medical Institute for Sexual Health in Austin says. New research shows that sleeping around now could ruin your chances of having a happy, fulfilling marriage later.


"Neuroscientists have produced a lot of information in just the last few years. This is new," he told CBN News.


The sex reseacher recently co-authored the book "Hooked: New Science on How Casual Sex is Affecting Our Children" with Dr. Freda McKissic Bush. McIlhaney said the book contains, "The most modern neuro-science available to man today."


Chemicals Create a Powerful Bond
Research using brain scans now shows powerful chemicals are released during sex that should create a powerful, everlasting bond.


"When women are skin-to-skin with a man, their brain secretes oxytocin that causes them to bond emotionally to that man. Men secrete a hormone called vasopressin when they're having that kind of intimate behavior. And that hormone has even been called 'monogamy hormone' for men. And it bonds them to the woman," McIlhaney explained.


This oxytocin is so overwhelming in a woman's brain that just a 20-second hug can cause a female to become bonded to a male.
Both sexes get addictive doses of the pleasure-chemical dopamine as well during intimate behavior. That works out well for couples out to create lifelong marriages and stable families.


"They're addicted to sex, and babies result from that. They're bonded to each other," McIlhaney said.


Sleeping Around Weakens Bond
But that bonding, which acts like adhesive tape or Velcro, is weakened when people tear away at its power by breaking off with a sexual partner and moving on from one to another to another. So when it does finally come time to bond permanently with a spouse, the ability to bond is damaged.


"The brain actually gets molded to not accept that deep emotional level that's so important for marriage," McIlhaney told CBN News.


One huge result for the permissive is that, as McIlhaney explained, "When they do marry, they're more likely to have a divorce than people who were virgins when they got married."


Teens in a Sexual Wild West
Across much of the American culture, this big scientific news isn't known and certainly isn't much communicated to youth, who these days live in a sexual Wild West.


Teen evangelist Jeffrey Dean administers Web sites viewed by more than 350,000 young people every year. Thousands of them tell him they're pressured to be sexual and are often wounded by it.


"Anything goes is the new rule, and in the process, kids are experimenting," Dean told CBN News. "But they're finding out there is great hurt and baggage along with that."


Dean said he hears all the time from kids who've started having sex way too young about the effect these bonding chemicals in the brain have. They often write to him and tell him of the problems they are having.


"Well, this relationship didn't work, but I'm so emotionally attached to what happened there," Dean explains about the notes he receives. "I'm looking for that again, even if that means making choices I don't want to make or that I know are against God's will for my life."


Suicidal Tendencies
McIlhaney said the long-term harm from ripping away at that chemical bonding in the brain is bad enough. But he points to research which also shows how damaging this bonding can hurt young people now.


"If adolescents are sexually involved, they're more likely to be suicidal than their friends who are not sexually involved," he said. "Girls are three times as likely to be suicidal. Boys seven times as likely to be suicidal as their friends who are still virgins."


Such research is why McIlhaney pleads with parents to counsel kids to stay abstinent. He also warned that parents must realize it's a much more dangerous world sexually today then when they were young.


"Only about one in 50 kids for example had a sexually transmitted disease back in the 1960s. Today one in four of all adolescents has a sexually transmitted disease," McIlhaney noted.


STD's Rapid Rate Among Teens
Every four seconds, one more young person gets an STD. Dean can't shake from his mind a note he got from a young woman who'd only slept with one guy.


"She went on to college and three years after the sexual relationship from high school," he recalled. "She had not had another sexual partner, and she found out that she was HIV positive from this guy, three years later."


One more piece of information from brain scan research shows that the prefrontal cortex where wise decisions and judgments are made doesn't fully mature until the mid-20s.


"So it's impossible, because the brain tissue is not there in a mature way, for kids to make fully mature decisions. We're talking 24, 25, 26 before the brain is really mature," McIlhaney told CBN News.


Parents Must Keep Guiding
McIlhaney and Dean both insist parents have to guide and keep guiding their young people. Dean said they actually want it.


"Students tell us overwhelmingly at the top of the list, at the top of the list, the greatest influence in my life is my mom and dad," he said.


In his book "The Fight of Your Life," Dean said parents should explicitly state to their kids they expect them to remain abstinent, and back it up with scripture like I Corinthians 6:18 -- "Flee from sexual immorality."


"What God is saying here is don't even dance around it, don't even get around it," Dean explained.


Monogamy: Nature's Design
McIlhaney pointed out you now have science of the brain to back you up.


"The science proves that human beings are made to be monogamous for life with one other person in a faithful relationship. It is the way human beings are made," he said.


Dean warned you just need to make sure you back up your demands with solid support.


"My teens need to see from me that I am approachable and that I am unshockable," he said.


And no matter how badly a young person might fail, Dean said they should know, ".Mom and Dad are going to have my back."


http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/healthscience/2010/March/Sexually-Indulgent-Now-Marriage-Ruined-Later/ 
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