Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Word-Filled Wednesday























(This photo is taken by my friend, Sau, at Saipan)

Very often in my life, when I go through very difficult time, I have wondered how I will ever get through the days as I felt I have no strength to go through that particular trials. But God in His mercies and faithfulness have always given me strength to go through these difficulties. And many times these difficult experiences have drawn me nearer to God as I experience His sustaining grace and strength equal to my tasks. I realized that when I am weak then His strength is made perfect in my weaknesses. It always encourages my heart when I see how the Lord is helping me and strengthening me.

I am thankful to God that though I have been unwell recently, God has been the strength of my heart and my joy daily. I am learning to slow down and to rest in God's love and sufficiency. I am comforted by the knowledge that though my flesh and heart may fail at time, God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever.

Thanks for stopping by and for your prayers and encouragements.

May this verse encourage you too and God will be the strength of your heart and your portion for ever.

Hope you have a blessed day!

For more Word-Filled Wednesday participants, do visit Amy at The 160 Acre Woods. It will be a very blessed and spiritually uplifting experience for you!


Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Thou art my hope in the day of evil - Jeremiah 17:17

Thank you, dear Reader, for stopping by.

Thanks, Bpd, Michelle, Mari, Preciousrock, Jena, Marissa, Paula, for your prayers and encouragements. It's so good to have you back, Mari. I hope you have had a good rest. Thank you, Preciousrock, for stopping by. And welcome to my blog :-) I had a quick look at your blog and will return to read more.

Thanks all for your concerns, prayers and kind words which touched my heart. Thank God for all of you. It is encouraging to know that others care and are praying for me :-)

Jena has kindly suggested that it may be good for me to write a short post to update all of you and I think that's a great idea. Thanks for suggesting that, Jena :-)

Thank you for your prayers. Thank God for strengthening me. I am feeling better and learning to rest in God and depend more on His strength. I am learning to slow down and not try to do too many things. I am still feeling tired and experiencing mood swings but learning to cut down on my activities and rest whenever I can.

So dear friends, please take care. Try not to overstrain yourself too. Thank God that writing is therapeutic to us all. I am keeping you in my prayers too. And thanks again for coming by and leaving me such sweet encouraging notes :-)

May God bless and keep you near to Him. Have a blessed day!

This morning I read this encouraging devotional note from CH Spurgeon and I cut and paste it from a free Bible software "e-sword". e-sword is free and have many version of Bible, Commentaries, Devotional notes, etc etc. You can download and install on you computer. It's very useful.

Thank God that He is our hope in time of difficulties. Though we are weak, He is strong. Praise Him!

Thou art my hope in the day of evil - Jeremiah 17:17

The path of the Christian is not always bright with sunshine; he has his seasons of darkness and of storm.

True, it is written in God’s Word, “Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace;” and it is a great truth, that religion is calculated to give a man happiness below as well as bliss above; but experience tells us that if the course of the just be “As the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day,” yet sometimes that light is eclipsed. At certain periods clouds cover the believer’s sun, and he walks in darkness and sees no light.

There are many who have rejoiced in the presence of God for a season; they have basked in the sunshine in the earlier stages of their Christian career; they have walked along the “green pastures” by the side of the “still waters,” but suddenly they find the glorious sky is clouded; instead of the Land of Goshen they have to tread the sandy desert; in the place of sweet waters, they find troubled streams, bitter to their taste, and they say, “Surely, if I were a child of God, this would not happen.” Oh! say not so, thou who art walking in darkness. The best of God’s saints must drink the wormwood; the dearest of his children must bear the cross.

No Christian has enjoyed perpetual prosperity; no believer can always keep his harp from the willows. Perhaps the Lord allotted you at first a smooth and unclouded path, because you were weak and timid. He tempered the wind to the shorn lamb, but now that you are stronger in the spiritual life, you must enter upon the riper and rougher experience of God’s full-grown children.

We need winds and tempests to exercise our faith, to tear off the rotten bough of self-dependence, and to root us more firmly in Christ.

The day of evil reveals to us the value of our glorious hope.

(taken from CH Spurgeon's Morning and Evening, 29 Morning.)

Monday, April 28, 2008

Planning for more Down Time

Okay, I need a BREAK!

I have over-strained myself physically and mentally again :-(

I was unwell yesterday and I rested. I do feel better today but realized that I REALLY REALLY need to SLOW DOWN :0

Thanks all for stopping by, for praying and all your encouragements :-)

Sorry that I need to take a break now. I will not be posting as often as I did previously. But I will still try and visit your blogs whenever I can. I am going to plan for more DOWN TIME :-) Not sure how to do that, but I will try ;-)

For several weeks I have been working from home on some freelance work. I am thankful to God for providing these works for me so that I can provide for my mum and myself. Freelance really works well for me because it allows me to work from home. But the problem with me is I am some kind of a perfectionist and workaholic. I tend to take on more projects than I can manage and I tend to overstrain myself physically and mentally. And even when I don't have too many freelance projects, I am still occupied daily with so many things. I spent quite a lot of time blogging. I love to write as you probably notice :P. I will visit my blogging friends almost every day. I am making bookmarks, writing to friends, corresponding with penpals who has found me through my blog, etc etc.

These recent weeks I am beginning to feel the physical and mental strain. Thank God for sustaining me day by day. But I realized that I am getting more stressed up easily, more tired easily and sometimes I get panic attacks or anxieties attack. My mind seems to be working overtime. I can't stop thinking. So many things go through my mind daily. Do you have such experiences?

Being so unwell yesterday is a warning sign from God! God made our bodies in such a way that when we are over-straining physically or mentally, our bodies sent forth signs. We are forced to slow down and rest.

I am becoming more aware nowadays of my mood swings and I do notice that I have been experiencing a mixture of manic and a little depression. In the past, I went through these without awareness and after some weeks or months, I will plunged into severe depression that will last for months and I will not be able to function much. Now I am learning to be more aware.

Recently, a brother-in-Christ asked me how I am coping. I told him I am trying to slow down. He said, Good, try harder! Okay, so I am going to try harder ;-)

Maybe I will take breaks in between my freelance work and go out for briskwalkings. I need more of the sun and fresh air. Maybe I will bring my mum out sometimes or visit church friends or have tea with some friends. Maybe even go to the library. And I hope to have opportunities to take some photos of nature, of trees, plants, beach, etc. I missed the beach :-)

I am going to spend more time to read the Bible, to pray and read some books. Maybe I will also try to memorise some Bible verses. And possibly catch up with my cross-stitch.

Opps! I thought I am planning more Down Time! Am I overloading myself again ;-)

Okay. That's all for now.

I wish you a wonderful and blessed week. And I am going to leave you with this sweet portion which my brother-in-Christ, George, just emailed me:

THE FOUR BLESSED LOOKS

Look back and "Thank" God.
Look forward and "Trust" God.
Look around and "Serve" God.
Look within and "Find" God!"

I asked God, 'How do I get the best out of life?' God said, 'Face your past without regrets. Handle your present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear!'"

"Without God, our week is:
Mournday, Tearsday, Wasteday, Thirstday, Fightday, Shatterday and Sinday. So, allow Him to be with you every day!"

"Life is short, so forgive quickly. Believe slowly. Love truly. Laugh uncontrollably. Never regret anything that makes you happy. And have a wonderful journey!!

God Bless.

Have a blessed week! And take care. See you soon, God willing :-)


Sunday, April 27, 2008

Be Still and know that I am God (Psalm 46:10)

This morning I was unwell and not able to go to church for worship. I am praying that God will strengthen me and enable me to go for evening worship this evening. I missed worship and fellowship. Though I read the Bible and pray everyday, going to church is a totally different experience which I cherish very much. It is always very refreshing to my soul when I can go for public worship. God's Words uplift my soul and give me strength for the week ahead. And I missed my church friends :)

The last few weeks have been busy weeks for me. As I am still learning to manage my condition, work, family, stress, perfectionism, etc etc, I do feel a little overwhelmed at times. Thank God for the rest today. God created the world in 6 days and He rested on the seventh. And so today is a day of rest for both body and soul.

I am thankful that I can rest in God daily too admist all the hustle and bustle of life. I still feel very very tired every evening and sometimes in the morning too the moment I wake up. There seemed to be so many things I want to do and I think I need to do daily and yet I never seemed to get most things done. Hmm, I suspect this is either my manic or my perfectionist trait playing me out again :)

Thank God for the reminders to me through His precious Words:

Be still
Be still, and know that I am God: Psalm 46:10

Come unto Jesus
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28

Don't be anxious, pray to God, give thanks and God will give me peace
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

Don't worry, do God's works and He will take care of me
Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. Matthew 6:25, 33 - 34

God's Words always encourage me. My physical tiredness or mental strain seems so much lighter when I put them all aside and just lost myself in God's love and precious promises. It is my encouragement that God will give me strength in Him daily as I learn to look to Him. Sometimes I tend to forget to cast my anxieties or burdens upon the Lord, and try to do too many things in my own strength. Any wonder that I am so tired out :)

I pray God will enable me to rest in His presence with me and enable me to cling on to His precious promises to carry me through this coming week.

May God also give you strength and joy today and everyday!


Saturday, April 26, 2008

Coping with Perfectionism

Many people in various stages in my life has told me every now and then that they think I am a perfectionist. I am not too sure the actual definition of a person who has perfectionism as character traits. But I think to some extend I have some of the characteristics in some areas of my life, not every area.


I hope to understand what is Perfectionism, how it is affecting me and what can I do to manage or change areas that need to be changed. I suspect that sometimes this character trait is the culprit to some of my relapses of severe depression. And it is probably the reason why when I am well or manic, I will try and do 101 things and pushed myself so hard that I go through a lot of stress and strain. I think is crucial for me to understand how this character trait is affecting me adversely as it will help greatly in my management of depression and bipolar.

I found this very helpful article on What is Perfectionism on Coping.org:Tools for Coping with Life's Stressors

What is perfectionism?

Perfectionism is:

  • the irrational belief that you and/or your environment must be perfect
  • the striving to be the best, to reach the ideal, and to never make a mistake
  • an all pervasive attitude that whatever you attempt in life must be done letter perfect with no deviation, mistakes, slip ups, or inconsistencies
  • a habit developed from youth that keeps you constantly alert to the imperfections, failings, and weakness in yourself and others
  • a level of consciousness that keeps you ever vigilant to any deviations from the norm, the guidelines, or the way things are "supposed to be''
  • the underlying motive present in the fear of failure and fear of rejection, i.e., if I am not perfect I will fail and/or I will be rejected by others
  • a reason why you may be fearful of success, i.e., if I achieve my goal, will I be able to continue, maintain that level of achievement
  • a rigid, moralistic outlook that does not allow for humanism or imperfection
  • an inhibiting factor that keeps you from making a commitment to change habitual, unproductive behavior out of fear of not making the change "good enough''
  • the belief that no matter what you attempt it is never "good enough'' to meet your own or others' expectations

What irrational beliefs contribute to perfectionism?

  • Everything in life must be done to your level of perfection, which is often higher than anyone else's.
  • It is unacceptable to make a mistake.
  • You must always reach the ideal no matter what.
  • If those in authority say this is the way it is supposed to be, then that is the way it is supposed to be.
  • You are a loser if you cannot be perfect.
  • It is what you achieve rather than who you are that is important.
  • I have no value in life unless I am successful.
  • There is no sense in trying to do something unless I can do it perfectly, e.g., "I don't attempt things I can't do well.''
  • If I have a failure or experience a set back in my efforts to change then I should give up.
  • The ideal is what is real; unless I reach the ideal I am a failure.
  • There are so many roadblocks and pitfalls to keep me from succeeding. It is better just to give up and forget my goal.
  • Unless I am "Number One'' there is no sense in trying. Everyone knows what "Number Two'' is. To win is the only acceptable goal.
  • If you screw up in your efforts to achieve a goal, just give up. It must be too hard to achieve.
  • You must always strive to reach the ideal in everything you do because it is in the achievement of the ideal that you give meaning to your life.
  • Don't ever let anyone know what goal you're working on. That way they won't consider you a failure if you don't reach it.
  • If you can't do it right the first time, why try to do it at all?
  • There is only one way to reach a goal: the right way.
  • It takes too much effort and energy to reach a goal. I save myself the aggravation and discouragement by not setting goals for myself.
  • I'll never be able to change and grow the way I want to, so why try.
  • I am a human being prone to error, frailty and imperfections; therefore, I won't be able to accomplish things in a perfect or ideal way. I'll just give up on achieving any of my goals or desires.
What are some negative consequences of perfectionism?

Examples of the negative consequences of perfectionism include:

Low self-esteem. Because a perfectionist never feels "good enough'' about personal performance, feelings of being a "failure'' or a "loser'' with a lessening of self-confidence and self-esteem may result.

Guilt. Because a perfectionist never feels good about the way responsibility has been handled in life (by himself or others) a sense of shame, self recrimination, and guilt may result.

Pessimism. Since a perfectionist is convinced that it will be extremely difficult to achieve an "ideal goal,'' he can easily become discouraged, fatalistic, disheartened, and pessimistic about future efforts to reach a goal.

Depression. Needing always to be "perfect,'' yet recognizing that it is impossible to achieve such a goal, a perfectionist runs the risk of feeling down, blue, and depressed.

Rigidity. Needing to have everything in one's life perfect or "just so'' can lead a perfectionistic to an extreme case of being inflexible, non-spontaneous, and rigid.

Obsessiveness. Being in need of an excessive amount of order, pattern, or structure in life can lead a perfectionistic person to become nit-picky, finicky, or obsessive in an effort to maintain a certain order.

Compulsive behavior. Over-indulgence or the compulsive use of alcohol, drugs, gambling, food, shopping, sex, smoking, risk-taking, or novelty, is often used to medicate a perfectionist who feels like a failure or loser for never being able to be "good enough'' in life.

Lack of motivation. Believing that the goal of "change'' will never be able to be ideally or perfectly achieved can often give a perfectionist a lack of motivation to attempt change in the first place, or to persevere if change has already begun.

Immobilization. Because a perfectionist is often burdened with an extreme fear of failure, the person can become immobilized. With no energy, effort or creative juices applied to rectify, improve, or change the problem behavior in the person's life, he becomes stagnant.

Lack of belief in self. Knowing that one will never be able to achieve an idyllic goal can lead a perfectionist to lose the belief that he will ever be able to improve his life significantly.

What rational behaviors are needed to overcome perfectionistic tendencies?

To overcome perfectionism one needs to:

  • accept self as a human being
  • forgive self for mistakes or failings
  • put self back on the wagon immediately after falling off
  • accept that the ``ideal'' is only a guideline or goal to be worked toward, not to be achieved 100%
  • set realistic and flexible time frames for the achievement of a goal
  • develop a sense of patience and to reduce the need to "get it done yesterday''
  • be easier on oneself; setting unrealistic or unreasonable goals or deadlines sets you up for failure
  • recognize that the human condition is one of failings, weakness, deviations, imperfections, and mistakes; it is acceptable to be human
  • recognize that one's backsliding does not mean the end of the world; it is OK to pick oneself up and start all over again
  • develop an ability to use "thought stopping'' techniques whenever you find yourself mentally scolding yourself for not being "good enough''
  • visualize reality as it will be for a "human'' rather than for a "super human''
  • learn to accept yourself the way you are; let go of the ideas of how you "should be''
  • enjoy success and achievement with a healthy self-pride, and eliminate the need for self deprecation or false humility
  • learn to enjoy success without the need to second guess your ability to sustain the achievement
  • reward yourself for your progress, to reinforce your efforts to change even when progress is slight or doesn't meet up to your idealistic expectations
  • love yourself; to believe that you deserve good things
  • to eliminate unrealistic expectations and the idea that you are infallible
  • visualize yourself as "winning'' even when it takes more energy, and more perseverance, than what you had planned
  • let go of rigid, moralistic judgments of your performance and to develop an open, compassionate understanding for the hard times, obstacles, and temptations
  • be flexible in setting goals and be willing to reassess your plan from time to time to keep things realistic
  • be open to the idea that you will be successful in your efforts to change, even if you are not "first,'' "the best,'' "the model,'' "the star pupil,'' "the exemplar,'' "the finest''
  • realize that the important thing is to be going in a positive direction

How can a social support system help in overcoming perfectionism?

Social support systems can help you overcome perfectionism if you:

  • select realistic people who are not perfectionistic in their own life
  • encourage your support system members to not be rigid or moralistic in their attempts to keep you on an honest course
  • have support people who role model forgiving and forgetting when mistakes, failures, offenses, or backsliding occur
  • have given them permission to call you on being "too hard,'' "too brutal,'' "too rigid,'' "too unrealistic,'' or "too idealistic'' in your expectations
  • have people who will give positive reinforcement for any positive change, no matter how small or slight it is
  • select trustworthy people who are open, honest, and have a sincere interest in your personal growth

Steps to overcome perfectionism

Step 1: In your journal, answer the following questions:

a. What characteristics of perfectionism are true for me? How do these perfectionistic traits impede my efforts to change my problematic behavior?

b. What irrational beliefs of perfectionists do I ascribe to? How do these beliefs influence my desire to change? How do these beliefs contribute to a failure script in my efforts to change? What rational alternatives can I adopt to reduce the negative impact of perfectionism in my life?

c. What are the negative consequences of perfectionism in my life? What am I doing to address these negative issues in my life? How do these negative issues affect my past and current efforts to change my problematical behavior?

d. What new rational behavior do I need to develop in order to overcome the negative impact of perfectionism? How will these new behavior traits help me to fully achieve change in my life?

e. How can my social support system help me in overcoming my perfectionistic attitude? What contributes to perfectionism in my support system? What changes in my support system would reduce its perfectionistic character?

f. How does dealing with my perfectionism help me in my efforts to change? How well does perfectionism explain why past attempts to change have failed?

Step 2: In your journal, identify a problematic behavioral pattern you want to change; then list the characteristic negative behavior traits of the pattern. For each of the negative characteristics list positive alternative behavior traits. For each of the new alternative behavior list your likelihood of achieving them 100% of the time. How many new behavior traits could you achieve 100% of the time?

Step 3: Once you have recognized that no change can be achieved 100% of the time, continue changing your problematic behavior patterns. If you continue to be hindered by perfectionism, return to Step 1 and begin again.

(Coping.org is a Public Service of James J. Messina, Ph.D. & Constance M. Messina, Ph.D., Email: jjmess@tampabay.rr.com ©1999-2007 James J. Messina, Ph.D. & Constance Messina, Ph.D. Note: Original materials on this site may be reproduced for your personal, educational, or noncommercial use as long as you credit the authors and website.)


Hmm... It's going to take me quite some time to digest the above information. But one quick look through, I can identify some of the things mentioned above :)

I recognize that there are pros and cons in every situation and character traits. It has its strength and weaknesses. I hope I can try to make better use of its strength and minimize the adverse effect of it's weaknesses.

I will try to work through the list slowly to identify the traits that I have and also try Steps to overcome perfectionism given above. I pray God will help me to manage my perfectionism so that it will not bring me down into depression again but that it can work for my good and others good. I hope to share with you my findings next week if I managed to work through this article. I think it is very helpful to me.

How about you? Do you also have some perfectionism in your character traits? Or are you the more easy going type? How do you cope? What are the advantages or disadvantages you have experienced due to it?

I hope you will find this article useful to you too if you also struggle to cope with perfectionism :-)

Thanks for stopping by. Do leave a comment and share your thoughts with me, if any, as I really love to hear from you :)

Thank you. Take care. Have a great weekends!

I've been tagged! by Marissa

I have been tagged by Marissa. Sorry, for taking so long, Marissa. I am answering your Survey now :)

The rules are:
1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you've posted your answer.

1) What was I doing 10 yrs ago?

I was about to graduate from the Bible College. Thank God I survived 4 stressful but blessed years in the Bible College. Busy writing my thesis in preparation for my graduation in May 1998.

2) What are 5 things on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order):

1. Reply to some emails
2. Visit my blogging friends
3. Go with my mum to buy grocery
4. Work on one freelance project
5. Slow down towards the evening, pray, read the Bible and prepare my heart for the Lord's day tomorrow

3) Snacks I enjoy:

Fruits, biscuits, brownie, chocolates, salad, peanuts and any other nuts ( I love nuts ;) ).

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

Give a portion to every family member. Give a portion to my church. Give another portion to charity.

Publish a book on my experiences with Bipolar Disorder. Compile materials I have found useful from the internet and other sources into a book on the Resources for Coping with Depression and Bipolar Disorder.

Help to raise awareness in Singapore on the needs of those with mental health issues and set up centres to provide all kinds of help that they need.

Set up an Elderly Care Centre or a Nursing Home. I have a passion to minister to elderly people and a soft spot for them :)

Set up an Orphanage. It always break my heart to see children forsaken or becoming orphans.

Set up more schools and centres to help children and adults with special needs ie those who struggles with autism, dyslexia, down syndrome, delayed speech, etc etc. I have worked with children with special needs and my heart goes out to them. They have great challenges in their life and more is needed to help them and equip them to live as independently as possible.

Wow! There seemed to be so many things I want to do if I were a billionaire ;)

5) Three of my bad habits:

1. Eating too much chocolate and ice-cream.
2. Procastinating.
3. Talking too much or writing too long :)

6) 5 places I have lived (all the places I have lived):

1. Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia (I was born there)
2. Singapore (where I am living now)
3. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
4. Brunei
5. Sydney, Australia

7) 5 jobs I have had:

1. Computer Club Teacher in a School
2. English Teacher in a Learning Centre
3. Clinic Assistant
4. Aircraft Seat Planner at Changi Airport, Singapore
5. Administrator of several organizations

8) 5 peeps I wanna know more about:

1. Jenalexa
2. Merelyme
3. Anne
4. Diane
5. Bipolar Blacklight (Pocket)


Okay. Now you know me a little better ;)

I can be quite playful at times too ;) I think there is always a little child in us ;)

Have a great weekend! And blessed Lord's day.

Friday, April 25, 2008

I've Been Tagged! by Paula Joy and Dream Writer

Paula Joy, Dream Writer and Marissa tagged me recently. I've never been blog-tagged before and for the first time I am tagged by 3 sweet ladies ;)

Sorry, ladies, it has taken me so long to respond :)

Okay, I am going to work on Paula Joy and Dream Writer's tag first as they are the same one. Here it goes !

Rules of the game:

- Link to the person who tagged you.
- Post their rules on your blog.
- Write six random things about yourself.
- Tag six random people by linking to their blogs.
- Let each of the six know they’ve been tagged by leaving them a comment (on their blogs).
- Let your tagger know when your entry is up.


6 Completely random facts about me:

1) I was dressed up like a boy when I was a child. When I went to school at the age of 7, I started wearing skirts and dresses. Can't believe it, right? :)

2) I have always kept my hair long except for a few occasions where it was difficult to maintain long hair. I like my long hair and I have natural curls though they are not really that curly :)

3) I have a sweet tooth. I love chocolate, ice-creams, cakes and all the sweet stuff. Any wonder that I am so sweet? ;)

4) I was very shy when I was a child and in my teenage years. I used to hide in the room when visitors come for visit. And I was so tongue-tied whenever I meet strangers. Now I am rather different. Whenever I am well or hypomanic, I love to talk and to write, and I can be over friendly even with strangers. And I tend to talk too much or write too long and my friends can't stand me. I am glad my blogging friends don't mind my longwindedness. Thank you so much ;)

5) I love to read. I have 2 big shelves of books in my bedroom. I will sell a shirt to buy a book ;)

6) I am someone who value friendship very much. But some friends think I am just being too emotional. Anyway, thank you very much for being my friends :)

And I am tagging:

1) Jim
2) Michelle
3) Jennifer
4) Susan
5) Darlene
6) From an Acorn

Thank God for seeing me through a blessed week. Thank you all for stopping by. Hope you have a restful and wonderful weekends. And a most blessed Lord's day ;)

Take care.



Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Thankful Thursday


For more participants of Thankful Thursday, do visit Iris at Sting My Heart. It will be a very blessed and spiritually uplifting experience for you!




O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. Psalm 107:1

Thank God for seeing me through another week. I have many things to be thankful for :-)

1. Thank God for the encouragements He has given to me through the videos of Nick Vujicic. Nick is from Australia and he was born with no arms or legs yet he is trusting in the Lord daily and living a life that is not only as normal as he can, but he is also doing many wonderful things too by the mercies and power of God. He is a living testimony of the power of God to save a lost sinner from sins and give him the grace to live a victorious life in Christ despite severe infirmities. Seeing Nick going about his daily life, doing all the things which seems almost impossible without arms and legs, and yet he did it and did it with such cheerfulness, is a life changing experience for me! It helps me to look beyond my own infirmities and limitations to the power of God and the sufficiency of His grace. It helps me to count my blessings!

2. Thank God for a very blessed Lord's day of worship and fellowship. Thank God for a very powerful message from Ephesians 2:8-10 in which I am reminded afresh that we are saved by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. This message reminds me that God is the Potter and I am the clay. God is my Creator and He is doing a deeper work in me daily so that I can serve Him and be what He wants me to be. I thank God for every opportunity to serve Him in little ways.

3. I am thankful to God for hearing the prayers of my church for a very dear couple in our church who has been going through a very severe trial in their life over the last few months. Thank God for delivering them and sustaining them and answering our prayers in His very wonderful ways. They are still facing much difficulties and trials at the moment, but we are comforted that God is working all things for His glory and their good, and His grace is sufficient for them. Thank God that my church can grow in our walk with Him and our friendship with this couple through this trial.

4. I thank God for giving me much grace and strength to go through a very stressful situation last week. I had a panic attack when that incident happened and I prayed to the Lord to grant me wisdom to know how to handle that difficult situation. I prayed too for His peace to guard my heart as I experienced great anxieties. The panic attack lasted for 10 minutes. Thank God for granting me grace to cope and everything turned out okay. Thank God for restoring peace to me too when the panic attack subsided.

5. Thank God for His mercies in providing yet other freelance job opportunities to me. These are small and manageable freelance opportunities, and I am thankful for each one of them. Thank God for His wonderful provisions.

6. Thank God that I managed to use my passion in making bookmarks to help a church friend to make 40 bookmarks for his students who are taking their exams soon. I am glad to be able to help my friend and earn some income too through this hobby which I enjoyed very much.

7. Thank God that my medical review with my Doctor on Monday when on very well. My Doctor is monitoring my medicine level and she is pleased with my progress so far. She is also helping me to trace possible triggering factors of my condition and is teaching me how to identify them and manage them. Thank God for a caring and kind Doctor.

I gave a bouquet of artificial roses to my Doctor 4 months ago when I saw her. She liked it very much and many of her patients have commented that the roses are so beautiful and they looked so real. On Monday, my Doctor shared with me that she has given those lovely flowers to a very sickly lady who was hospitalised. Those roses brought so much cheer and comfort to the sick lady. My Doctor apologized that she has to give my gift to her away but she knows that I will not mind. I was very moved by my Doctor's kindness in giving away something that she likes very much and I am so glad that the gift is able to cheer someone in need. I told her that I am glad she pass it on. Little things can mean a lot to some people. And this dear sickly lady cherished those roses so much and she said whenever she feels down, she look at those flowers and think of how she is loved by others. Such a joy to know that. Joy is always doubled when we pass it on :-)

8. I am thankful for my other blogging friends and penpals who keep up visiting, commenting and writing with me. It is always encouraging to hear from all of you, to read your blog or email. May God continue to bless our friendships. Thanks to all of you for stopping by.

9. I am thankful for many new friends I am getting to know through Word-Filled Wednesday and Thankful Thursdays. Thank you all for stopping by and your kind comments! Reading all the precious promises of God with the lovely photos that you have posted on your blogs is very uplifting. And reading the many thankful items you have posted also helps me to be more thankful daily :-) Thanks for stopping by.

10. Thank God for His goodness and mercies daily, and for giving me much strength and joy in Him. I am thankful for my family, church friends and other friends who continue to love me and encourage me through all the changing scenes in life.

Sorry, my posts are always pretty long :-) I have so many things to be thankful for :-)

How about you? How has the Lord blessed and guide you through the week? What are the things you are thankful for over the week?

Thank you for stopping by. Do drop me a comment if you can and it will make my day!

Hope you have a blessed day!

Word-Filled Wednesday : My grace is sufficient for thee

For more Word-Filled Wednesday participants, do visit Amy at The 160 Acre Woods. It will be a very blessed and spiritually uplifting experience for you!



My brother took this lovely photo at Muriwai Beach, Western Auckland, New Zealand.

Thank God for His reminders through His Words and His providence daily that He cares for us. He has promised in His Words in 2 Corinthians 12:9 that His grace is sufficient for us. This is a tremendous encouragement to me in this pilgrim journey. Even as a Christian, I continue to face various and many challenges in life just like every one else. I go through time of wellness, sickness, success, failures, happiness, disappointments, life, death, etc etc etc too.

Being a Christian does not exempt me from the trials and difficulties in this life. Having bipolar disorder or manic-depressive illness, can make life very difficult for myself and others. The greatest comfort for me in this personal trial, is that God loves me and is sovereignly in control of every situation in my life and His grace is sufficient for me. Even in allowing me to have bipolar disorder, His love and faithfulness remains unchanging. In fact, it is through my struggles with the 11 or so severe depression episodes over the last 20 years, that I am drawn closer to God to know Him and His love better. I have found His promises to be true and His grace sufficient as He promised It is God that sustained me through many painful and prolonged suffering from clinical depression. At times when I am confused by what I was going through and others could not understand either, the Lord has kept me in the palm of His hands. In His love alone, I found that enduring and unconditional love. It gives me the strength to face each day.

Thank God that He is with us always. He will continue to give us the grace to walk with Him and serve Him, even if we have to go through the valley of the shadow of death at times. And when our tasks here are accomplished, we have the blessed hope of being with Him forever to enjoy His love and fellowship for all eternity. What a blessed hope!

Meanwhile, let us press on joyfully in His strength daily. When we are weak, He is strong and His strength is made perfect in our weaknesses. Praise Him!


Hope this verse will encourage you today and everyday. May you continue to know God's grace that is sufficient for you through all the changing scenes in life and His love that is unchanging and everlasting. Have a blessed day!


I use this photo to make the following Bookmarks. If you wish to make the bookmark yourself, you can download the respective Free Bookmark Template.

1) 2 Corinthians 12:9 "My grace is sufficient for thee".

Download Free Bookmark Template: free-bookmarks-2cor12v9.doc

Check out Free instructions on how to make Bookmarks.



















2) Friendship quote:

If you love something, set if free.
If it comes back to you, it's yours.
If it doesn't, it was never meant to be.

Download Free Bookmark Template: free-bookmarks-muriwai-beach.doc

Check out Free instructions on how to make Bookmarks.
















3) Chinese Bible verse for 2 Corinthians 12:9 “My grace is sufficient for thee”.

In Chinese this verse is read as 我的恩典够你用的 (Pinyin : de ēn diǎn gòu yòng de)

Download Free Chinese Bookmark Template :

free-chinese-bookmarks-2cor12v9.doc

or

free-chinese-bookmarks-2cor12v9.pdf

Check out Free instructions on how to make Bookmarks.


chinese-bookmark-2cor12v9.jpg

Check out more Free Bookmarks Templates at my Homemade Bookmarks Hobby Blog.

Have a blessed day!

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

More than conquerors

I have decided to change my blog name :-)

When I first started this blog in February 2008, I named it "My Life with Bipolar Disorder" because I wanted to share resources that have been helpful to me in coping with bipolar disorder (manic-depressive illness) with others who have bipolar disorder and their family/friends. Having bipolar disorder can be very confusing for the sufferer as well as their family and friends.

Bipolar disorder is a mood disorder with extreme mood swings. It is a medical condition that can be treated. These moods shaped our thoughts, feelings and actions. We can be 2 very different persons when we are manic or depressed. There are pocket of times when we are "normal" :-)

Being depressed is bad enough in itself, but being a depressed Christian is worse because we experience extra guilt in relation to our faith. So if you are suffering from depression and you are a Christian, I will highly recommend that you read these very encouraging and helpful messages on Depression and the Christian. Pastor David P Murray noted that

The depressed believer cannot concentrate to read or pray. He doesn’t want to meet people and so may avoid church and fellowships. He often feels God has abandoned him.

Moreover, it is often the case that faith, instead of being a help, can actually cause extra problems in dealing with depression. There is, for instance, the false guilt associated with the false conclusion, “Real Christians don’t get depressed.” There is also the usually mistaken tendency to locate the cause of mental illness in our spiritual life, our relationship with God, which also increases false guilt and feelings of worthlessness.
We need to have a right understanding of clinical depression or manic-depression. This is different from the common down or sad feelings that go away after a few day. Clinical depression and manic-depression are medical illness that need to be treated. And people who go through them need to be supported, prayed for and encouraged to seek treatment and wait upon God for restoration through medical and other helps.

As Christians, we surely want to be the person whom our loved ones turn to in time of need. And, when they do turn to us, we want to be able to help them and not hurt them further.
It is, therefore, imperative that family and friends of people who suffers from clinical depression or bipolar depression learn about depression and other mental illnesses in order to avoid the very common mistakes that lay-people often make when dealing with the mentally ill, and in order to be of maximum benefit to those who are suffering. I hope the resources I am sharing on this blog will help Christian who suffers from depression to find hope and comfort in God, and to seek medical and other helps so that they too can lead a more stable and functional life. And I hope too that the sharing and resources on this blog will to some extend help family and friends of people with depression or bipolar to understand what their loved ones are going through and how best to pray for them, to encourage and support them, or help them in time of need.

Personally, I went through some 11 episodes of severe depression over the last 20 years, each episode lasting some 3 to 6 months or sometimes longer. Thank God for sustaining me through those very painful, dark and confusing experiences.

Thank God that my diagnosis last year of proneness to bipolar disorder is helping me to understand that my condition is a medical condition that can be treated and the necessity to seek helps. Through 9 very fruitful sessions with a Christian counsellor last year who counsels me using Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), I was helped to understand my confusing past due to the way bipolar shaped my thoughts, feelings and actions.

Thank God that now with medical helps, regular exercise, Omega 3 fish oil, managing stress level, having therapeutic hobbies, a strong support network and other coping means my condition is under control now and I am able to live a more stable and useful life. I also read the Bible and pray daily for strength and grace from God to live for Him joyfully and serve Him despite my condition and limitations. I thank God for joy in Him daily as I experience His love and mercies in many wonderful ways.

I thank God that I am able to share my thoughts and feelings on this blog too and it works like an online Journal or Diary for me to record my daily experiences in my walk with God and His goodness to me as I seek to understand and manage bipolar disorder. Like every one else who has bipolar, I too experience many different struggles daily with manic and depression. Stress and strain seemed to be my main triggering factors over the years. So this blog also will record my struggles to manage bipolar, stress and other challenges in my life.

In these recent months of sharing my thoughts and feelings in my journey with bipolar disorder, I have come to experience more and more that we are more than conquerors through Christ that loved us. In life we will have our portions of ups and downs whether through bipolar disorder or other struggles in our life. We are living in a fallen world. As sinners saved by grace, we daily wrestle too with sins, remaining corruptions and the temptations of the world. Having bipolar disorder can make life very difficult at times because bipolar shapes our thoughts, feelings and actions. The depression episodes are painful and awful beyonds words. I would not want to go through another extensive episode if possible. The manic episodes too have its pros and cons. But in all these, I am comforted that God is sovereign. He is graciously working all things for His glory and my good even through such painful and difficult struggles with bipolar.

I found that it is through the very difficult experiences I have gone through over the last 20 years with this disorder that I am able to know God very personally and able to know His love in many wonderful ways. And bipolar disorder do have its advantages and it's not all bad at all. By the mercies of God, I have been able to experience many blessings through bipolar and God also opened an unexpected door of usefulness for me through bipolar. My struggles with depression enable me to emphatise with others who are going through this painful and lonely struggle. It allows me to comfort others with same comfort which God has comforted me. It gives me the motivation to share with others the resources and the various ways and means God is helping me to manage my condition so that others can benefit from it too. It helps me to cherish the life God is giving me daily to know Him, love Him and serve Him and others.

Most people with bipolar tends to be able to express ourselves better in writing and other creative activities. In the recent months, I began to enjoy Photography, Making Bookmarks and other Homemade Crafts and Gifts. These hobbies are therapeutic to myself and they encourages others as I usually share these with others. I have a blog "Around Singapore" where I posted photos of some places in Singapore. Do click at the links if you wish to make use of my photographs and that which my friends allowed me to post on my blogs. Feel free to also download Free Bookmarks Templates from my Homemade Bookmarks blog and other crafts idea from my Homemade Crafts and Gifts blog.

When I saw the moving testimony of Nick Vujicic, I was reminded afresh that God is sovereign and His purposes are accomplished through weak vessels like us. Nick is from Australia and he was born with no arms or legs yet he is trusting in the Lord daily and living a life that is not only as normal as he can, but he is also doing many wonderful things too by the mercies and power of God. He is a living testimony of the power of God to save a lost sinner from sins and give him the grace to live a victorious life in Christ despite severe infirmities. Nick encouraged us to look beyond our loses through our disabilities to look at what we still have and make the most out of it. Seeing Nick going about his daily life, doing all the things which seems almost impossible without arms and legs, and yet he did it and did it with such cheerfulness, is a life changing experience. If you have not seen the videos of Nick, you may wish to watch these 2 videos I have posted on my blog and there are many more posted on YouTube. It will change your life or your perspective in life! I am thankful to my friend Michelle who posted Nick's video on her blog and shared such blessings with us. Thanks again, Michelle!

I am thankful to God that we are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us because God's Words say so. Though we are weak, God is strong. He promised that His grace is sufficient for us and His strength is made perfect in our weaknesses (2 Corinthians 12:9). God is more powerful than any storms in our life or any difficulties we may face. He is the Potter, we are the clay. This is not our home. We are sojourners here on a pilgrim journey towards the celestial city. God is daily sanctifying us and making us more and more like our Lord Jesus Christ.

I thank God that His grace is sufficient for me and nothing shall ever separate me from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Though I still have many struggles daily with bipolar, stress, etc etc, I am learning to look to God for grace daily and to wait upon Him for guidance and strength.

I hope I can continue to share of God's goodness and mercies to me daily in my endeavour to understand and manage bipolar and other challenges in my life and lead a more useful life for the Lord.

If you are going through depression now and you are reading this post, I pray that God will give you comfort and strength, knowing that He is with you and will deliver you. Do seek medical and other helps as these are means God has provided for us to get better so that we can seek and serve Him. Your thoughts and feelings may feel flat and down because of the chemical imbalances and you may have little energy to do anything or even to seek help. But continue to cry unto the Lord and reach out to someone to let them know you need help. There is hope and help. It takes time to find the medical and other helps that will suit you as there is a spectrum to bipolar and depression and different thing works for different people. But you are not alone! I and many others are battling this condition daily and you will find something that works for you. God will help you by and by to discover these helps as you cast your cares upon Him. With medical and other helps, sometimes it still takes time for these to work for us and to restore the chemical imbalance in our brain so that we are more functional and able to enjoy life again. Waiting is difficult. But you will get better by and by.

And thank you once again, all my dear friends, for all your prayers, encouragements and support. To get to know so many of you through this blog and your blogs, is one of the greatest blessings God has given me over the last few months! I have never expected this at all. My endeavour to help others through this blog turned out to be a greater blessing for me. All praise and glory be to God!

Hope we can continue to encourage one another and find our consolations in Christ and each other's friendship as we journey on :-)

Romans 8:36-39

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works

Thank God for another opportunity today to join in public worship and to fellowship with my church friends. This is a joy and privilege which I cherish very much.

This morning I heard a very encouraging message from Ephesians 2:
Ephesians 2:8-10
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
We were reminded that salvation is all of grace and not of our works. It is the Lord Jesus Christ Who saved us from our sins. It is His Works on the cross in laying down His life for us that saved us. We are not saved by our good works or even our faith. Our salvation is solely a gift of God. Faith is the medium that we received this grace of salvation. Although good works cannot save us, we are saved in order to do good works as an instrument of God. We are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Sometimes the care of this world and physical infirmities or mental struggles clouded me of my calling here. But this morning, I am reminded afresh through God's Words in Ephesians 2:8-10 that salvation is all of grace and not of works lest any man should boast. We cannot rely on good works to earn salvation as it is Christ alone that save us. But although good works cannot save us us, we are saved in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

We are saved to serve the Lord. May God enable me to present my body a living sacrifice unto God to live for Him and serve Him. Daily many things will demand my attention and energy, but may God help me to set my heart and affection on things above and to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness in all that I do.

Thank you once again for all your prayers and encouragements. Thank God for His mercies to me. I am learning daily to walk with our Lord, to find much joy and strength in Him despite whatever struggles I face or whatever physical or mental infirmities I have, and to serve God in little little ways. I look forward to the day when the Lord will call me home to my eternal rest where I can enjoy His love, worship and fellowship without the hindrance of sins, sicknesses, mental illness, etc etc. Until then I am comforted that His grace is sufficient for me and He will guide me along as I learn to look to Him. I pray for His grace to keep my eyes upon Him and not let the rough ways or storms to distract me.

Life will have many challenges and we will have our portion of ups and downs, joy and sorrows, success and failures, etc etc. May the Lord enable us to know more and more of His love, mercies and faithfulness through them. May He continue to sanctify us through the trials in our lives and make us more useful in the extension of His kingdom, to share His Gospel with others by word of our mouth as well as through our lives.

How blessed to belong to the Lord! He is our hope here and for all eternity. May His joy continue to be our strength daily for He has promise that He will never leave us nor forsake us. No matter what we go through in this life, His grace is sufficient for us. Praise Him!




Another card from my collection :-)

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Chinese Video of Nick Vujicic's testimony

I found this very encouraging Chinese Video of Nick Vujicic's testimony. It has his testimony written in Chinese and many of his photos. It is also accompanied by a very beautiful Christian song in Cantonese.

This video is posted by leejiazhong on YouTube:


Friday, April 18, 2008

No Arms, No Legs, No Worries : Victory in God's grace, the story of Nick Vujicic

My blogging friend, Michelle, shared on her blog a very touching and encouraging video on a young man called Nick Vujicic. Nick was born with no arms or legs yet he is trusting in the Lord daily and living a life that is not only as normal as he can, but he is also doing many wonderful things too by the mercies and power of God.

It brought tears to my eyes when I saw Nick's condition and his faith in God. Praise God for sustaining him and enabling him to testify of His sufficient grace.

I found this video posted on YouTube. This video shows Nick in his daily life, overcoming difficulties and managing daily activities and it ends with a moving sharing from him on God's sufficient grace. It is such an encouragement to remember afresh that no matter what we have to go through in this life, God's grace is sufficient for us. Nothing happens in our life by accident or chance. God won't let anything happen to us in our life unless He has a good purpose for it all. And He is manifesting forth His glory and mercies in sustaining and strengthening us.

Do watch this encouraging video and then read comment below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0oRBKbRYnY

These are the comments from one viewer:

"Nick has no limbs and no arms. Yet he preaches the love of God every where. Why?"

I came to know Nick Vujicic from an email about a year ago. Recently I received another email about himself. I have never met him but we are one in the body of Christ. So I think it is good to share this blessing to the world through Youtube.

Quote

Think this guy might have a message to give?

"My name is Nick Vujicic and I give God the Glory for how He has used my testimony to touch thousands of hearts around the world! I was born without limbs and doctors have no medical explanation for this birth 'defect'. As you can imagine, I was faced with many challenges and obstacles.

'Consider it pure joy, my Brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds.'

.... To count our hurt, pain and struggle as nothing but pure joy? As my parents were Christians, and my Dad even a Pastor of our church, they knew that verse very well. However, on the morning of the 4th of December 1982 in Melbourne Australia, the last two words on the minds of my parents was 'Praise God!'. Their firstborn son had been born without limbs! There were no warnings or time to prepare themselves for it. The doctors were shocked and had no answers at all! There is still no medical reason why this had happened and Nick now has a Brother and Sister who were born just like any other baby.

The whole church mourned over my birth and my parents were absolutely devastated. Everyone asked, 'if God is a God of Love, then why would God let something this bad happen to not just anyone, but dedicated Christians?' My Dad thought I wouldn't survive for very long, but tests proved that I was a healthy baby boy just with a few limbs missing.

'And we know that in all things God works for the best for those who love Him.' That verse spoke to my heart and convicted me to the point where that I know that there is no such thing as luck, chance or coincidence that these 'bad' things happen in our life.

I had complete peace knowing that God won't let anything happen to us in our life unless He has a good purpose for it all. I completely gave my life to Christ at the age of fifteen after reading John 9. Jesus said that the reason the man was born blind was 'so that the works of God may be revealed through Him.' I truly believed that God would heal me so I could be a great testimony of His Awesome Power. Later on I was given the wisdom to understand that if we pray for something, if it's God's will, it'll happen in His time. If it's not God's will for it to happen, then I know that He has something better.

I now see that Glory revealed as He is using me just the way I am and in ways others can't be used.

I am now twenty-three years old and have completed a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Financial Planning and Accounting. I am also a motivational speaker and love to go out and share my story and testimony wherever opportunities become available. I have developed talks to relate to and encourage students through topics that challenge today's teenagers. I am also a speaker in the corporate sector.

I have a passion for reaching out to youth and keep myself available for whatever God wants me to do, and wherever He leads, I follow.

I have many dreams and goals that I have set to achieve in my life.

I want to become the best witness I can be of God's Love and Hope, to become an international inspirational speaker and be used as a vessel in both Christian and non-Christian venues. I want to become financially independent by the age of 25, through real estate investments, to modify a car for me to drive and to be interviewed and share my story on the ' Oprah Winfrey Show '! Writing several best-selling books has been one of my dreams and I hope to finish writing my first by the end of the year. It will be called 'No Arms, No Legs, No Worries!'?

I believe that if you have the desire and passion to do something, and if it's God's will, you will achieve it in good time. As humans, we continually put limits on ourselves for no reason at all! What's worse is putting limits on God who can do all things. We put God in a 'box'. The awesome thing about the Power of God, is that if we want to do something for God, instead of focusing on our capability, concentrate on our availability for we know that it is God through us and we can't do anything without Him. Once we make ourselves available for God's work, guess whose capabilities we rely on? God's!

May the Lord Bless you
In Christ,
Nick Vujicic

'Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be UNDERSTOOD'

Unquote

John 9:2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind.

John 9:3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.

Cross-stitch - Another of my Therapeutic Hobby

I am in the midst of doing a cross-stitch for a dear friend. This little bear with a heart cross-stitch is one of my favourite. It is very sweet and quite easy to do.

I will sew some Bible verses besides the bear and frame it up.

I have done this cross-stitch for several of my friends and they like it very much.

I find it therapeutic to do things for others. It makes me very happy to see others happy.

Having some form of hobbies can be very enjoyable and relaxing too. It helps to slow me down at times as my thoughts will be racing otherwise :-)

My dear friend, Michelle and her husband, also love to do cross-stitch. Their cross-stitch are very beautiful. Do visit Michelle's blog at Ozarks sew n' sews to see their lovely handiworks.

So far I have benefited from the following hobbies besides cross-stitch:

1) Photography. I enjoy photography very very much. I am thrilled to be able to capture some of the beauties in God's creations. It is helping me to enjoy God's creations in many wonderful ways. In the past, I have been too busy to enjoy walks, flowers, beach, etc etc. Now I am discovering these through the lenses of my camera :-)

2) Making Bookmarks. I enjoy making Bookmarks for my friends. I used my photos and photos taken by my brother and friends, to make these bookmarks. If you are interested in making bookmarks, you can check out my Homemade Bookmarks Blog to download Free Bookmarks Templates and instructions on how to make simple bookmarks.

3) Making Crafts and Gifts. Besides making bookmarks, I also enjoyed cross-stitch, making simple calendars and origami. Check out my Homemade Crafts and Gifts if you are also interested in making these crafts and gifts.

Making these crafts and gifts give me great joy and satisfaction. Thank God for the joy of sharing these gifts with my friends, and the joy of serving Him in this way.

What about you? Do you have any hobbies that you really enjoy?

Free Calendars 2010 and Free Planners 2010 Resources:


Free Bookmarks Resources:



Free Cards Resources:



Free Handicrafts Resources : Free Cross-stitch


Free Sewing Resources : Knitting

Free Origami Resources:

Free Arts and Crafts for Kids Resources:

Nice Piano Instrumental Music Resources: