He is Risen!

I love what Pope Francis shared during the Easter vigil service in St. Peter's: Do not to be afraid of God’s surprises, never lose confidence during the trials and tribulations of daily life, and, if you strayed, do let God back into your lives... be confident that God is close to you, that He is with you and He will give you the peace you are looking for and the strength to live as He would have you do.

This words of encouragement and hope resonates within me as does the works of this new Pope. To be honest, I a born Catholic never really connected with a Pope until now. Since he was elected as the new Pope, Pope Francis' words and deeds have struck a chord within me. I pray that he will be strong enough to overcome the forces of darkness and the many obstacles that is the world and that surrounds the Catholic church. For once I earnestly pray that he will have the wisdom, the discernment and the courage to do what is needed. I pray that the world will come to know our religion as a religion of peace and forgiveness and not one that is marred by scandal. I pray for his health and his way, that it be lit by God's goodness and grace.

Yes, He is indeed risen!

Let us rejoice and be glad.

Happy {belated} Easter friends.

You can read Pope Francis' full homily here
Image seen here

trips, time and taking heart

 100 Trips to Take In Your Lifetime

I saw this on Business Insider and

was marveled again the many things

I have yet to see and experience.

On one hand I feel so blessed to have

seen so many beautiful things and

experienced so much. I know that there

are others who are not as blessed

or who have not had the means to do

so and I am so grateful for all that I have

gotten... yet being human, and being me

sometimes it isn't enough.

The wanderlust stirs in my blood.

It keeps me wondering about the next

time I board the plane, the next place I 

will be. I feel the magic when I see photos

of places on my wishlist and I daydream

about the places and what it will feel like...

Then there are times when I wish I could turn

back the clock. To not only revisit the places

I have been and taken more photos and savored

the experiences a little bit more but to 

undo the things that I did or didn't do

which have such repercussions on my life now. 

They could be things done here where I live

or the things done abroad but they are things

that I wish I could undo nonetheless.

I know there is nothing much I can do at the

moment for things have already been done.

Things have already been spun into motion.

All I can do is pray and hope that things

work out for the best because at the end of

the day, it is His will and not ours.

Sure they are my mistakes, but I know

in my heart that whatever happens and 

how things change after this, it will be

for the best decision at the end of the day.

I must be strong. I must take heart.

There is no one who will be there on my side.

And yes, it does call to mind the different mistakes

made over time that have changed me... I hope

this one does not have such severe repercussions.

God you hear me and you know what I ask of you.

Let your will be done. Amen.

In God's hands

Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow;

 it empties today of its strength. 

Let us try to let go of our worries and 

entrust it in God's capable hands.

Seen here

Btw, this is my favourite picture of the Divine Mercy.

Every time I look at this picture, it fills my heart

with peace and I feel calmer.

Thank you God for your blessings and your peace.

I love you and trust in you.

counting my blessings

I read this through a forwarded email from my mum 

and thought that it was a very relevant and timely message for me.

Read on dear friends...

~*~*~*~

An old joke tells about two Israelites who were following Moses across the bed of the Red Sea just after God parted the waters. One comments to the other, “Can you imagine what this mud is doing to our sandals? They’re probably ruined.”

Many of us are like that person in the story; we’re so focused on the negatives and worries of our lives that we completely miss the miracles and blessings all around us. We fixate on the cold, rainy weather, the leaky bathroom faucet, the difficult person at work, the snarled traffic slowing our commute. At the same time, we take for granted or even ignore the many blessings we receive every day — love from family and friends, a warm and dry place to live, the security of a job, and the freedom to worship God as we wish.

God is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.” Faith focuses not on the problems of the moment but on the many blessings in each day.

- Bob G. Wood (Tennessee, USA) 

Dear God, forgive us for taking our blessings for granted. Open our eyes to see and our hearts to give thanks for the many ways your goodness comes to us day by day. Amen.

The short excerpt was taken from a forwarded email 

with content from the Upper Room.

~*~*~*~

At times I find that I am like the people complaining about the mud in the sandals. Concentrating only on the unpleasant bits of the moment and not fully grasping the infinite goodness happening around me. It is so simple to gripe and grumble at the little everyday disappointments like getting stuck in a jam, getting yelled at by your boss, missing the train and etc. instead of to give thanks.

How often do we pause and thank God for everything that we have been blessed with? I for one am not a very good at thanking God. I take things for granted and only thank Him when I remember to which is just truly terrible. For we should give thanks to God for every little thing that we have and are able to do like see, read, write, type, laugh, sing, dance, blog, pin…  everything comes from God and we should thank Him continuously for his blessings upon us.

The past month has been filled with such amazing blessings from God. His hand has been upon both B and I and our families. He has provided a wonderful wedding and birthday celebration for both B and I, filled with our friends and family So many friends stepped up to help with the wedding and there were so many lovely and generous gifts. It was truly a ceremony filled with love and joy and for that, both B and I will always be thankful. 

So, I will try my best each day to be thankful for everything that God has provided me and will continue to provide for me and I will strive to be reminded constantly of his kindness and goodness.

Happy leap year day everyone! 

Seen @ DW's pinterest collection

I rest in joy

Seen @ DW's pinterest collection

“There is nothing – no circumstance, no trouble, no testing – that can ever touch me until, first of all it has gone past God and past Christ, right through to me. If it has come that far, it has come with a great purpose which I may not understand at the moment. But as I refuse to become panicky – as I lift up my eyes to Him – and as I accept it as coming from the throne of God for some great purpose of blessing to my heart, no sorrow will ever disturb me, no trial will ever disarm me, no circumstance will cause me to fret – for I shall rest in the joy of what my Lord is. That is the rest of victory.”  

[Alan Redpath]

Hear Me I Pray

The long weekend/holiday for me has gone by in a flash. Did I enjoy my short trip to Singapore? Yes. And No. The Lion King was awesome. I can't begin to describe how magical it was for me. I also found several good deals for my patterned paper, arts and crafts, several hair bands and some home ID stuff. I had a good chat over fruit pie and tea with my cousin and I had interesting experiences and conversations with G and Daves.

Despite all this though, there were two thing that bothered me during the trip. The lesser one was the work that awaited me in the office. During my first day on vacay, the office called and bothered me with really trivial questions. The kind of questions not worth asking and not worth answering but I had to entertain them simply because my boss, although briefed already, would probably freak. 

The bigger thing that has been bothering me and still is for the matter of fact is Belle my little beagle. She is still ill. While I was in Singapore, B had to take emergency leave to bring her to the vet as she had an infection on her incision. To cut the story short, Belle seems to have a reaction to the sutures that the vet did for her when she went to get neutered. This resulted in her muscles forming a sort of sac and there was heaps of fluid in it. It is abnormal and the vet is perplexed as well. To make matters worse, her organs seem to be all joined together instead of floating about freely in her body. The vet says it could have been genetic or something that just happened to her.

Belle has to take pretty strong medication, steroids and antibiotics for the moment which for the long run will mostly cause problems to her kidney and liver and in the short term, make her thirsty and hungry leading up to obesity. She also pants a lot and her heart races so quickly all the time. Being a natural worrier, I worry about her. She is just so young and she seems to be in such pain. Seeing her shaking and panting while she sleeps breaks my heart. I can't wait for her to get better. I can't wait for this pain in her to stop. 

I don't want to go to work because I feel annoyed at times. Like how I have to still do work which is not mine anymore plus my current workload. Then there are the lazy people in the office who just do the things that they have been told to do and at times don't even take the time to read and understand the work given to them. They just keep saying that they don't know. Their personal work comes up tops for them all the time as well. *ARGHHHHHH* just writing that down makes me so mad cos it makes me think about them and how I have to see their faces tomorrow. Friends are friends but really, don't take me for a doormat or a fool for I am neither.

*Breathe*

*Breathe*

*Breathe*

I tell myself this all the time like a mantra of sorts and I call on Jesus to help be get through this difficult times. There are so many other annoyances and problems in my life but there are also so many good things and blessings in my life and I need to keep reminding myself about them.

So hear me I pray. Hear my prayers and my worries and lend me a hand to get through it all. For with You, everything is possible. For You carry me in times of trouble and walk with me each and every step of the way. Hear me I pray and  heal Belle, my relatives who are ill and aunty S. Help those who have lost everything and give them hope. Comfort those who are grieving and protect all those in danger. Soothe the troubled brow and hold the lonely I pray. Amen.

Have a good week ahead all. 

the last day aged 28

Today is the last day of my 28th year. There have been many times when I catch myself thinking about my younger days and I just realised  that those 'younger days' were actually really long ago. High school is was over 11 years ago. I have been working for about 5 years. 10 years since I lived in Temora, Australia and did my student exchange.

Time... time really is fleeting. I would like to reminiscence about my 28th year and I will  just not today. 

Because today, I will stuff my face with lemon and pistachio cake {thanks Cat and Jun}, have a massage and foot spa, enjoy the half a day without work and celebrate for this year has just been incredibly awesome and blessed. Thank you Father God!!!

Cheers to a new and awesome day!

Remember: "Hoarding & Collecting is not a crime. It is an art!" 

Trust Him

Trust Him when dark doubts assail thee

Trust Him when thy strength is small,

Trust Him when to simply trust Him

Seems the hardest thing of all.

Trust Him, He is ever faithful;

Trust Him, for His will is best;

Trust Him, for the Heart of Jesus,

Is the only place of rest.

-    Salesian Missions -