The love of my life

Published on 12/2/2012 in conjunction with Valentine’s Day. Follow the link :

http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2012/2/12/lifefocus/10715193&sec=lifefocus

By JULIE YEE

IT was not exactly a date, neither could I say I knew him. He was just one of my sister’s friends and he and his biker friends were going to ride to Seremban, spend a night there, meet up with some friends and then head down to Port Dickson (Negri Sembilan).My sister had asked me to go along to make up the foursome. Of course I had seen him around my neighbourhood with his friends, but we had hardly exchanged any words beyond the occasional nod. How I got paired with him, I can hardly remember.

But there he was outside my humble shack, sitting astride his Vespa and with his jacket on. He was not handsome like Brad Pitt or Leonardo DiCaprio, but with his five-foot-eight frame and rugged looks, and tossed hair reaching to his shoulders like Ringo Starr of the Beatles, he did cause my heart to miss a beat.

As I held on to his shoulder and climbed up the bike, I was as nervous as a young girl out on her first date. I can still remember the blushes.

Some incidents about that trip have stayed fresh in my head till today. While the others joked and talked senselessly, he was quiet. Aren’t guys on bikes supposed to be outrageous, bold, brave and wild? I realised he was not, but he just enjoyed hanging out with his friends.

We finished our dinner in Seremban after meeting their friends and were crossing the street. We were just friends, but what made him stand out from the rest was how he held my hand and helped me across the road.The next day as we cruised along the winding trunk road, I sat behind him shivering from head to toe, my stomach making noises. The cold wind was beating against my cheeks and I could hear the whistling of the leaves as we whizzed by. Thoughts of hugging him from behind just to keep warm did cross my mind, but I would have died of embarrassment had I done so. Then I felt him draw my cold hands from behind into his jacket. And he held them there. I had never felt so relieved.

Since then, he has not let me go.

Today, he might have lost his rugged Ringo locks, his youth and his well-built frame, but he is still the same man I met 37 years ago. He still holds my hands when we walk, cross the road, and even in the cinema.He is still the loving, thoughtful man I fell in love with. He has always been the opposite of impatient me, who sometimes loses my temper.For all of him, I am thankful to his late parents for bringing up a fine young man who became my husband. I know he is not one to show his romantic side but come Valentine’s Day, in his quiet manner, he will still take me somewhere to dine and shop, just so he can see me happy.

To the love of my life, K.S. Ong, Happy Valentine’s Day!

 

Walkabout in George Town, Penang(7-10/7/11)

My walkabout with friends at the George Town 3rd Anniversary World Heritage celebration:

The Sg.Nibong Fireflies – We stopped at a restaurant just a 5 minutes stop away from the  fireflies site. We tried the famous crunchy, fresh cuttlefish, fish cake and some vege. The night ride into the unknown was a great boating experience. As the  motorboat drew near the edge of the river and as our eyes adjusted to the darkness, there were hundreds and hundreds of glowing green lights  flickering on the cluttered trees. It was like Christmas time, with the trees all lighted up and glowing in darkness.

Straits Quay & the Light House

Cheong Fatt Tze

Watch Teo Chew Puppet Show held at the Yeng Keng Hotel while enjoying the many good food here.

Royal Selangor Pewter at Straits Quay, Jln.Seri Tanjung Pinang

Old charm, Jalan 100 & Multi-colored buildings

Putumayam, a traditional food made from rice flour and either with brown sugar & coconut or curry

Botanic garden

Sun Yat-Sen Centre

Road to Talugtug-Mission fields John 4:35

Talugtug is 3 1/2 miles drive away from Clark Airport, Philippines. It is in the province of  Nueva Ecija, which is politically subdivided into 28 barangays.

It has only a population of 20,671 people in 4,168 households. As we entered this small village , we passed by golden brown padi fields that stretches for miles and miles away.  Despite the distance, I believe this is one place with the most number of churches, both Catholics & Protestants.  Reaching out to them seemed easier than  the people from other well-developed nations.

John 4:35  Jesus said, “Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white unto harvest …”. The idea that we came as the laborers for the harvest seemed to fit in nicely ha!ha!  

Here, the local folks still pump water from the well, they lived in bamboo houses with attap-thatched or zinc roof-top. Most  households have  at least an acre of padi fields so you will notice that every meals come served with rice. The church in Talugtug is helmed by a young preacher, bro. Mel, a graduate from Four Seas college. Most of the members comprised of family members and are somewhat related to each other through marriage.

Activities carried out:

Revival meeting & Evangelism workshop in progress

 

  

Visitation on Wheels

 

After some personal studies, Arrisol & Jasmine, followed by Rosita & Jenifer the following day had their confessions taken & baptised into the Lord.

 

 

 

As it was the school holiday season, the members children and neighbors’ were curious & eager to see what we were doing there. It must be something new to them. Fortunately some of us came prepared  with children’s bible lessons and picture materials. Thats how the children class started initially with 15 kids and expanded to 25 the day before we left. It is our hope and prayer that the Sunday school program will continue to reach out to the neighbourhood.  Prov. 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old, he will not depart from it”. 

 

On the last day of the trip, we moved closer to the Clark airport. We got on a Jeepney(a public transport) to get to our hotel. It was one of the most frightening moment of our life. Instead of a 10 minutes ride, we went for a 1/2 hour terror ride, the ride that took use further and further away from our hotel, through dark, narrow back lanes.  And after we finally paid double the fare, we were so so relieved to see the jeepney approached the brightly lit streets. In the Philippines “BEWARE OF SCAM” was posted everywhere we went. Dont take this warning lightly!

Road to Mt.Gilboa-Lamentations of David(2 Sam 1:1-27)

These were the grieving and painful words penned down by David when he heard the death of Saul and his best friend, Jonathan.  Despite how Saul sought to take his life many times, he looked up to Saul. He was still his mentor, a man he admired as a great ruler and through him, his people enjoyed great success and wealth.

 “A gazelle(symbolizes a human dignitary) lies slain on your heights, Israel.
   How the mighty have fallen!

  “Tell it not in Gath,
   proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon,
lest the daughters of the Philistines be glad, 
lest the daughters of the uncircumcised rejoice.

  “Mountains of Gilboa,
   may you have neither dew nor rain,
   may no showers fall on your terraced fields(flds. that yield grains for offerings)
For there the shield of the mighty was despised,
   the shield of Saul—no longer rubbed with oil.

  “From the blood of the slain,
   from the flesh of the mighty,
the bow of Jonathan did not turn back, 
the sword of Saul did not return unsatisfied. 

 Saul and Jonathan— 
 in life they were loved and admired, 
 and in death they were not parted.
They were swifter than eagles, 
 they were stronger than lions.

 “Daughters of Israel, 
  weep for Saul,
who clothed you in scarlet and finery, 
who adorned your garments with ornaments of gold.

 “How the mighty have fallen in battle! 
 Jonathan lies slain on your heights.
I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother; 
you were very dear to me.
Your love for me was wonderful, 
more wonderful than that of women.

“How the mighty have fallen!
   The weapons of war have perished!”

Road Home – The HomeComing(Gen 30-33)

February 3-17, 2011  is the  Lunar New Year for the Chinese.

  Happy, Healthy & Prosperous Chinese New Year

It is a 15 days celebration: time of reunion, of rejoicing, of happiness, of fostering closer ties and basically time to make amends.  It is a time of peace making, a time to catch up on all the days, months and years away from home. Family members make it a point  to make that journey back home, no matter the distance, the traffic congestion  nor the costs. It is this time of the year when we put behind our jobs, our businesses, our busy schedules , our differences, our pride  and even our grievances with each other.  

There is no other time more meaningful than the Chinese New Year reunion meal. To the Malays, it is during Hari Raya and to the Indians, the Deepavali.

What stop you from going home? Dont let anger, hurt, pride, misunderstanding  be the excuse. We live to regret when we look back later in life, how much time was wasted because of this silence.

The days, the months and the years that passes by, Rebekah must have waited with a heavy heart  as she look out across the pasture for a sign of her beloved son. She must have regretted that she encouraged her son to cheat his elder brother of his blessings.  Every meal, every feast, every festival is never the same again for Rebekah.  Her beloved son, Jacob became a fugitive,  a vagabond fleeing his home  in his youth from the wrath of a brother he stole his birthright,  a father he misled and the love of his mother.  

Jacob longed to return home. Finally, after working for his uncle and marrying his two daughters, Rachel and Leah, Jacob decided it was time to go home and made amends with his brother and see his parents.  .  Despite making his home with his uncle Laban, it was never the same. He is like many of us. We left home to work, but we yearn to return.  He still feel like an outsider. So he finally said to Laban,  “Send me on my way so I can go back to my own homeland”.

Jacob’s Homecoming was not so easy. In Gen 32:7, we read that he was fearful and distress, about his going home. In  Gen 32:7-20 afraid of the wrath of his brother,  so he thought, “I will pacify him with these gifts I am sending on ahead; later, when I see him, perhaps he will receive me.” ²¹ So Jacob’s gifts went on ahead of him to appease his brother  but he himself spent the night in the camp.

In Gen 33: 1-3 Jacob bowed down to the ground seven times as he approached his brother.  But when Esau saw him, he ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept.  But when Esau refused the gifts that Jacob presented to him, Jacob insisted.  “No, please!” said Jacob. “If I have found favor in your eyes, accept this gift from me. For to see your face is like seeing the face of God, now that you have received me favorably.

^{What a homecoming!}

Road of Stones – Stone dead, headstone & gemstone

Lessons from stones

Since David the shepherd boy picked up his five stones and with one shot from his sling, brought down the great giant Goliath,  the story has been used widely as  bedtimes’ and moral stories by parents and teachers alike. The story of David vs. Goliath made such an impact that century down the road, it still fascinates any children who hear it and story teller who shares it. Many parents have even named their children after him.  The “five stones” I played when I was a child with my neighbors’ kids must have come from David’s story. 

 This story is recorded in 1Samuel 17:1-47 “…And he [David] took his stick in his hand and chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook and put them in the shepherd’s bag which he had, even in his pouch, and his sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine….And with one stone in his sling, he struck Goliath on his forehead and he fell on his face”.  

 Stones have been used in many ways: good and bad. One of them was for stoning. We read of the woman caught in adultery. The Jews were ready to pick up stones to stone her. Stephen was stoned to death for preaching about the kingdom of God. Paul himself had been stoned many times, so did Jesus Himself.  As for the Muslim, it was to stone the devil himself. Stoning of the Devil or stoning of the jamarat (Arabic: ramy al-jamarāt‎) is part of the annual Islamic Hajj pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Muslim pilgrims fling pebbles at three walls called jamarat in the city of Mina just east of Mecca. It is one of a series of ritual acts that must be performed in the Haj.

On the good side, stones were used to erect altars. In the case of Jacob, he set up an altar for the Lord as he was returning home to his father and to ask forgiveness from his brother for stealing his birthright. During the Stone Age era, they were used as hunting tools for survival. Stones were used to lay railway lines for transportation, as headstone for the dead to RIP and as healing reflexology for the tired feet. These days, some stones like the gemstones are used as ornamental items to be hung around the neck or worn around the wrists.

Stones are just tools that we use to accomplish our objectives.

Stones are by themselves useless but when a user uses it well, it brings benefits. But when use wrongly, it can bring hurt, pain and even death.  The sling and the five pebbles were by themselves harmless. But when used to save the Israelites from the scorned of the Philistines with the power of God’s might, VICTORY prevailed.  When the multitudes were ready to stone the woman caught in adultery, Jesus said, “the one without sin, casts the first stone?”, the crowds slowly dispersed. It is not as though Jesus accepted the sin of the woman, because in the following verses from the scripture, He told the woman, “Go and sin no more”.  Death brings no benefit but for the woman, a second chance to life.  

Road to Nahor-The Match-maker(Gen 24:)

When a couple utter those final words, “I do, I do”, it is a legally binding vow that they take each other for good or bad. It is to be “Till Death Do Us Part”.  So finding the perfect match is of utmost importance. During my mother’s era, finding a partner is mostly done through the match-maker. There are certain criteria and qualifications that my grandparents set for the match-maker. 1) he must be from a good  home 2) Physically fit  3) pleasant personality 4) respectful to elders

Today we take the road to Nahor to meet the Match-maker. 

As he set off on the road, the mammoth task he carried on his shoulder must have weighed heavily on him. He was Abraham’s most senior servant who was in-charge of all that Abraham had. He could easily tell you how many servants or number of sheep Abraham had, if you want to know. He could probably tell you the extent of Abraham’s wealth or what time Abraham had his meals or his likes and dislikes. But today,  he is the Match-maker for his master’s son, Isaac.  

What made Abraham entrust such a job to a servant of his household? Is there no one amongst his relatives who are more capable and qualified than this servant?

For Abraham to send him,

1. he trusted in the Lord to provide. Verse 7: it says, “ the god of heaven who took me from my father’s house swore to give him and his descendants this land. He will send his angel ahead of you to prepare the bride”.

 What does a man look for in his bride? To the servant, his master told him the type of wife he wants for his son.

Conditions : 1) never take a woman from the Canaanites   2) never send Isaac to go there because he remembered God’s promises that thro his seed, or offspring, Lord will give him this land 3)the woman must be humble, showing hospitality even to a strangerf  4) must be willing to follow her husband, an respectful & obedient wife.

Abraham trusted the servant with his choice.

Abraham trusted him to obey his request.

Abraham trusted him  with his faith.

What made the Servant’s chose the right wife? He prayed before he began his journey. He prayed his Lord to provide , to guide him to the right path (vs 27.  Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham who has not forsaken His lovingkindness and His Truth toward my master as for me the Lord has guided me in the way to the house of my master’s brothers)

And when he finally found the right wife for Isaac, in Vs 48: he ended his journey with a praise and thanksgiving and acknowledged that God is the One who guided him to the right path.

“And I bowed low and worshipped the Lord and bleesed the Lord, God of my master Abraham who had guided me in the right way to take the daughter of my master’s kinsman for his son”.

No matter if you are a lowly person, a servant, or the rich man or one who has given everything to God or the position you hold in society or if you feel time is running, take the Road that God leads. You will not fall into a pit!