“Papi Di Surga”

Yipiii! Finally I can download WordPress application to my BB! This is the first trial Now I can update my blog more often anywhere anytime (as long as my BB is with me, I loveeee BB! Thanks Dad in Heaven for giving me this through my mom )

Well, I’ve been lifted up HIGH since last Sunday! Amazing thing has happened! On Sunday when KD preached his sermon about “The Encouragement, Assurance & Foundation of Prayer” taken from Matthew 7:7-11, I had been crying since the first 15 minutes of his preaching n’ that’s all way through the end (I managed to keep it as quiet as I could!) It was all because he mentioned some sentences that straightaway touched my heart… About a father & child relationship in a family…

The right understanding about God the Father really serves as our foundation in prayer. And the key is in verse 11, “How much more our Father in Heaven will give good gifts for those who asks”

Key 1. “Our Father in Heaven”
- God wants us to see Him as our Father! God wants to have a close relationship with us. The more we communicate with God (that’s what prayer is), the closer we are. KD said ‘communication reflects the closeness of a relationship’. This is where then I started to cry. My disappointment over my dad overwhelmed my heart… And I guess through what had happened these last two days, I realize my disappointment over my earhtly father has clouded the true & perfect image of God as my Father in heaven… I need God to correct my understanding for sure…

Key 2. “How Much More”
- In this verse Jesus referred a good father who knows how to give good gifts to his children as ‘evil’. This is not a message of condemnation, but it has a meaning that no matter how good our earthly father is, they are nothing compared to the goodness of our Heavenly Father! Our earthly father is still human, sinful in nature. If they know how to give good gifts to his children, HOW MUCH MORE the incorruptible Father God in heaven!

Key 3. “Good Gifts”
- When God doesn’t give us what we want, when He says NO, the problem is not in giving, but in asking (the truth that God has given His only Son to die for us has shown He has not a problem in giving freely what’s good for our eternal life!). A Father will never give bad gifts, but a child may ask bad requests! (Will you give a knife to your child when he/she desperately crying asking to play with it? Of course not!)

- We have to learn not only about God’s love but also God’s WISDOM. He has His divine reason when He says NO to us. God created this world including every human’s life with His words & wisdom, do you think He doesn’t know what’s best for you? (Yet we, including me, often feel hard to surrender because unconciously we have already thought we have better knowledge of how to take care of our own life!)
We try to put God in our uniform, in our worldy & limited definition of love, that is only when the other person gives us what we ask. When they don’t grant it, we claim they don’t love or care for us.
But with every God’s no, there’s a hidden amazing love of God only with eyes of faith we can see!

Key 4. “Those Who Asks”
- Simple, ask whatever you need or want! Yet when God says No or Wait, accept it with a trusting heart that He knows what’s best for us!

All these points I wrote overwhelmed my heart!

Especially with the part that God wants to lift up my sadness & disappointment over my dad and replace it with joy of fixing my eyes to an even greater FATHER – my GOD!!!
N’ thanks to Jesus because of Him and His cross I deserve to call the Almighty God as my DAD! (John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth, & the life. NO ONE comes to the Father EXCEPT through Me”)

The thing is, I’m having many problems, challenges, burdens, dilemmas nowadays, but I never expect God would start His restoration by getting my HEART right first with my earthly father!!!
Also yesterday in Monday’s Prayer Meeting, I was so blessed by God’s deliverance & comfort!!!
After I dismissed twice invitations for my need to be prayed by others (in workers prayer meeting last month & last week’s prayer meeting), yesterday I finally stood up and accepted the invitation.
I said to God this is my act of faith that I believe prayer will set me free!!!
Before then I thought I still could endure the burden by myself, I didn’t want other people to ‘get busy praying for me’. But after suffering for so long I couldn’t stand it, I stood up in front of God calling His name for deliverance & breakthrough over my life! I abandoned my pride and shouted out to God, I NEED YOU LORD, please deliver me!!!

I really thank God for Ci Lyd & Ellen who prayed for me last night. I couldn’t remember all they said but I was definitely sure all words they prayed was a silent cry of my heart after all these times! And when KD prayed for me he only said simple words, “Lord, I believe, help my unbelief! You are my Father!!!” yet that’s what’s been in my heart since the day before! The same prayer “Lord I believe, help my unbelief!”

Last night I received something new! I can call God as “Papi di Surga”!
I call my earthly father ‘Papi’ and I’ve never be able to call God the same! I felt I couldn’t be able to relate to God with that kind of ‘bond’ & intimacy! Yet last night suddenly I couldn’t stop calling God with that name! And when I prayed I really enjoy the intimacy calling Him ‘Pa’!
All of sudden when I pray I begin to understand I ask and tell things just like to my own Father! I can relate better with God from this renewed perspective!

My earthly father is rarely available to hear my thoughts, dreams, plans – but with this Dad, with this Papi, I can tell ALL things I want anywhere anytime! No need to wait for response (and be left in disappointment when I receive nothing), this Papi is very close to me, as near as a simple prayer!

I also realize, or ‘suspect’ if I may say, that over all problems He choose to get this right first (not necessarily the situation, but to get right firstly MY HEART), because He know how the freedom over this matter will really equip me in my future life (in my marriage as well as in my own family life later). It doesn’t feel comfortable now, but it will do so much good later, and when I reflect back I am 100% sure that I will still say God is so good to me!!!

God has answered my prayer on Sunday too! I prayed in tears, may my disappointment toward my earthly father will only draw me closer to my Heavenly Father, and through Him I gain His perfect love to love my earthly father perfectly…

Thank You so much Papi di surga… Aku mau tidur dulu skrg… I love You so much Pap!!!

“Friendship”

I really enjoyed my last weekend.. If I could give a theme it’d be “Friendship Week” hahaha… on Saturday I had FA outing, we went for lunch at Korean restaurant “Oriental Spoon” then went for karaoke at K-Box… then on Sunday night had a Christmas dinner at my house with my church friends… In the end all the sweat (if there was any cos Melb has a sudden cooler weather these days ) meant nothing, all I got is the JOY in fellowshipping…

Then I remembered one of my dreams (yg sampe skrg msh belon kesampean) to have my birthday celebrated by all my close and lovely friends (plus di-surprise-in juga… Honestly kalian semua yg udah pernah disabo pas bday harus b’syukur krn aku aja dr dl mau tp ga pnah kesampean krn tiap ultah tgl 27 Des itu musim liburan semua teman berpencar liburan masing2 hiks… ^^”).. Aku seneng aja rame2 gitu… (eh dr sini entry ini kok berubah jd in Indo yah hahaha)…

Trs pas habis xmas dinner malem itu, honestly aku tuh senenggg bangettt… tampangnya pokoknya msh sumringah gitu deh after all the friends left…apalagi liat tempatnya smua udah bersih dgn cepat (thanks to my lovely bf yg banyak bantu semuanya, we’re truly a great team yeyyy )…

That night I slept with a smile on my face, thanking God so much… Rasanya ‘kebales’ deh kl taon2 sblmnya blm bs ngerayaiin ultah bareng2 ma tmn2 kaya gitu yg penting skrg ini udah bisa (meski bukan ngerayaiin ultah tp yg penting udah ngerasaiin joy bareng2nya gitu… ).

Pengennn banget sih one day bisa kumpulin semua org yg aku sayang (family members including my nicest aunties and my grandpa, plus temen2 deket aku di Melb n Indo -plus yg di Singapore kl bs, my bestfriends of more than a decade! And of course, my lovely bf ) buat bareng2 have a dinner gitu… Susah ya buat bnr2 bs kumpulin semuanya, apalagi kl beda generasi digabung semua gitu ya hahaha…

Niweiii.. kaya gini pun aku udah feel so grateful banget krn aku tetep punya org2 yg berarti n aku sayang dlm hidup aku… Aku jd keinget satu ayat ini yg bs aku jadiin “prinsip dlm berteman”:

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.

Not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others” – Philippians 2:3-4

Lord, I know this is not easy, but I am willing to adopt this principle -Your words- in my friendship… in all of my relationships… Help me Lord because I know You can…

Love you all of my friends

Xmas Dinner ~Nov 29th 2009~

Forgive, and Forget

Once again I made mistake to my loved one… what I am so grateful is, he always says this to me after I apologize, “It’s ok honey, I never remember your mistakes anyway”… and he actually sticks to it, he never bring my past mistakes to our conversation; when he forgives, he forgets… something that women perhaps feel hard to do…?
That’s why I love and adore him for so many reasons… I know he is who he is now by God’s process, and I can see how wonderful the process he’s been through and how beautiful God’s grace in his life…

Thank You God for this lovely man… So many times I wonder why I couldn’t be just instantly patient, kind, content, generous, gentle, all in seconds… When questioning the answer means going in round without an end, I just convince myself this is what God intends to do… everything is a process… everything needs change… and I not only need to have the desire to change to the better, I also need to pursue it…!

I know nothing’s impossible for God. If He wanted to change me in an instant, He could. Yet I’d miss the wonderful process He’s destined to each of His children. Because He treats me like His own therefore He allows me to ‘participate’ in the sanctification process too…

Well, for now I really want to do His words for every relationships in my life, esp my rship with my wonderful man…

Romans 12:10

“Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves”

By Your grace I will be able to do this through Christ who strengthens me… Amen…

Fireproof Your Relationship!

<Ini diambil dr note yg barusan aku tullis di Facebook )

 

OKKK… this will be my first note that I write di Melb tahun ini hehehehe… Selama 2 minggu ada disini, kesan-kesan… DINGINNNNNN!!! hahahahaha… kembali hrs mau ga mau bersahabat dgn cuacanya Melb yg suka uring2an.. ga pernah bs ditebak… bentar ada matahari bersinar, bentar angin kenceng banget (pas hr sabtu weekend kmrn, di dlm mobil sampe brasa mobilnya tuh ke-shake gt saking anginnya kenceng banget!! Ngeri ga sih… kl g jalan sendirian bs ketiup.. terbang plg ke indo hahaha…*lebay ), bentar ujan gede, ujan kecil…. Kl punya co/cw yg temper-nya kaya gini ribet jg ga sih huehehehe…

Selama ini pula hrs kembali ke yg namanya “dapur” plus acara masak memasaknya huehehe… pas mgg lalu nangis gara2 potong bawang bombay, oh how I missed that! hahaha…di Indo kan boro-boro msk dapur.. hbs kepikir mau buka lemari dapurnya aja nanti ada kecoak, udah jd ilfil hihihi..
Trs sementara ini jd ibu RT dl deh buat dd… maklum dia br kali ini jauh dr ortu n br ngerti dikit banget, tp seru jg tuh berdua with my bf ngajarin dia masak nasi, parut wortel, ceplok telor (awalnya semua telor yg dia buka langsung ancur saking kuat tenaganya huahahaha), make microwave (iya, itu termasuk ) dll…

Belon lg ngurusin soal rumah, telpon, bayar bill ini itu.. sempet pusing jg tuh minggu pertama.. tp Tuhan tuh terbukti bae, He’s my wonderful Savior! Dlm setiap mslh atau tantangan, He always provide a way out yg so creative bo hehe…

 

Pagi menjurus siang ini, stlh update resume, chatting, nulis2 blog n nonton tv sambil makan (multitasking beneran kan gw huehehehehe).. aku jd keinget sama film Fireproof… Film yg udah aku tonton bulan lalu pas di Indo, yg beneran bagus banget! Bs liat disini kl yg mau tau lbh banyak: http://www.fireproofthemovie.com/

Film ini cerita soal rship and marriage sih… while I’m not gonna discuss the story plot, aku jd kepikir bahwa emang bener di dlm setiap relationship, even yg kita dan org luar pikir itu udah yg “perfect” sekalipun, kaga ada yg namanya kebal sama masalah, godaan, tantangan…!

Pas buka email, ternyata ada devotional emails dr The Vine dgn topik “Debunking Marriage Myths”… mitos2 dlm pernikahan yg aku rasa wajib kita utk tau, baik yg msh single, yg udah berpasangan tp blm menikah, inc yg udah menikah jg, of course… So I’m gonna share it here with you guys…

 

The verse foundation-nya sendiri diambl dr John 8:32 “Know the truth, and the truth will make you free”… Jd ada baiknya jg kita face this reality skrg drpd hidup di dlm angan2 dan pas hadapinnya ga siap krn ga dpt bekal yg cukup…
Termasuk dlm hadapin myth # 1:

The myth of ‘viral love,’ insists that love is caught, much like a virus.

Myth ini menganggap cinta itu ‘ditangkap’ at right time, right place, n skali dihinggapi bakal terus bahagia and bring u to enter a lifetime of unending bliss.
Ga ada salahnya kok berpikir positif begini, drpd org2 yg merasa pahit kpd cinta. Tp pas udah nikah n dihadapi sama bills, anak2, daily routines, etc etc, something has to give. ROMANCE mulai vacate the centre stage and welcome to the reality!

Tp byk org yg salah, menanggap kl romance itu hilang krn desakan reality, maka LOVE itu pun hilang and they should walk out of the rship! The world’s rule has confused us between LOVE and ROMANCE!

The truth is, love does not die because romance bows to reality. If two people who once ‘fell’ in love are willing to ‘stand’ together in love through the challenges and opportunities of family life, romance can grow again, stronger than ever.

Love based solely on romance doesn’t work when ‘for better’ meets ‘for worse.’ Romance based on a decision to love ’till death us do part’ is the only love that’s dependable, consistent and trustworthy. Romance brings us together, this kind of love keeps us together!

So don’t use romance as the barometer of our love. There are still many worthwhile indicators such as respect, honor, faithfulness, and serving heart.

 

Myth #2: The myth of the ‘right person’ – suggests happiness in marriage depends entirely on finding the right person.

Just find the right person and they’ll make your life supremely happy, romantic, excited, fulfilled, blissful. Tp apa emang bener as ‘easy’ as that?
Yg perlu kita ber-hati2, kalo kita cuma depend on this kind of belief, when it turns out he/she makes mistakes, kita bakal tempted to classify our partner as “wrong person”.
‘He’s not the man I married,’ we complain. He may not be the person you expected him to be (that person doesn’t exist outside your myth) but he is the one you married and the problem isn’t all his.
Kita bakal out from our commitment searching for the next “right one”…

Tp kebenaran yg hrs kita sadari adlh, there is no right person to make us happy always.
Kebahagiaan yg sesungguhnya hanya ada di dlm Yesus, dan sometimes the true happiness isn’t always about finding the right person, but to become one!
Let God change us into that right, better person, more n more into the image of His Son… having a generous heart, allowing our partners to be real, limited, changeable humans, and looking to God for our joy!

 

Yg terakhir, Myth # 3: The myth of the “full box” – kl kita nikah itu kita terima satu box yg isinya super lengkap (mirip2 kantong ajaibnya Doraemon huehehe). Mau romance, physical fulfilment, generosity, true love, and being served ‘in the style to which we’ve become accustomed’, semuanya ada di dlm box itu. Tiap kita butuh apa tinggal ambil, supply-nya ga bakal pernah habis, dan juga low maintenance.

Awal2 relationship it might be true so we fall into this myth. Tp on one rainy day, we try to dip into the box and suddenly find it’s empty!!

At that point we feel shock, disappointment, anger, despair and hopelessness and conclude that our partner failed, fooled or forsook us. Why else would the box be empty? At that point the myth suggests, ‘It’s time to find another box!’

Yet, is it true according to God???

 

The liberating truth is, marriage is a big box, an empty one. Your job is to make enough deposits to guarantee sufficient withdrawals for a rich relationship. Jesus said: ‘… The amount you give will determine the amount you get back’ (Luke 6:38 NLT)…

 

We must start by asking, ‘What would I like to have in the box?’. Then you deposit that into the box.
Then you ask, ‘How much of it do I want in the box?’. Then you deposit enough to generate that amount.

You see, the box is only a container; it didn’t fail and you didn’t get a bad box. You are the owner of the box, not its victim. Accepting this truth frees us to make our relationship and marriage rich and rewarding by becoming a giver, not just a taker!

So… demikianlah ke-3 mitos in marriage… while I myself haven’t got married yet, I perceive this as God’s message in equipping me… Di saat bisa kenapa kita ga menabur firman di dlm hati sendiri, pd saatnya kita akan menuai…

Sekian, trima kasih, and God blessssssss… ))

ps: enak banget nih nulisnya smbl duduk deket heater yg jaraknya cm 15 cm P

It Ends Up Very Well!

It’d be easier in anyone’s relationship, if we simply communicate honestly and openly what’s in our heart to our loved ones… Most especially if they are very understanding and care enough to listen to our thoughts, and even willing to make some changes if it could make the relationship grows even closer and makes the bond deeper….

Going through half of the day thinking that today was almost classified as “not a really good day”, it turns out to be a very beautiful day… One that I will never forget…

My mind was filled with the thought, why human (yes, that includes me) tend to focus on something that someone’s lacking, instead of their plus… And when should be the time to tell honestly what we think they are lacking, when do we just have to accept them as they are, or expecting somehow they’d get it what they lack of and willing to change…?

 

Then everything seems to go by with ease… as I hang out with my lovely girlfriends (Tia, Finna, and Nelly; love our “1st version-update for a year” time! ), share our story and laugh… while enjoying a mug of dark hot chocolate with crunchy balls at Max B South Melbourne…

And when it was time for us to leave, before I stepped outside Nelly’s car, she shared with me this encouraging testimony… with a conclusion “Don’t think too much! As much as we would like to know what our future will be, walk step by step in faith and let God leads the way“.

I’ve actually often experienced, that when I have surrendered all my thoughts and plans, it was only then God did His actions… He stepped in! After my mind couldn’t think anymore, couldn’t think of any life’s scenarios… (but still at some times I draw near to my own mind rather than God’s Words *doh)…

Then I am so thankful I am able to discuss with my bf what’s in my heart… something he was lacking, which actually is only a very few among his abundant kindness to me, really, but “stupidly” enough for me, got its place corrupting my mind throughout the day and what almost made me classified this day as “a not really good day”… (forgive me -_-).

I am so relieved! We have tried to practice an open communication, which is far way better than just shutting our mouth (and even our heart) and pretending don’t care for the issue yet it keeps nudging our heart and establish an unnecessary resentment towards each other, burying deep inside our heart yet waiting “perfect timing” to explode…

For this I thank him so much… I wasn’t get used to this style of open communication… even sometimes I’m still tempted (and failed)… Yet God continues to give him patience to “teach” me in this specific area… I am really thankful for this!

And see, after we talk heart to heart, everything’s sorted out! As easy as that! Although at first I didn’t know how to start, yet Holy Spirit gave me wisdom to begin discussing the issue in a not offending way…

Thank You so much Lord Keep blessing our relationship with Your presence…

 

So today, when it comes to an end of the night… I give thanks to the Lord… In Him there aren’t any good or bad days… Every day has its own blessing and lesson to be enjoyed and learned…

 

Teach me to love like You, Jesus… There are so many things I have to learn, my whole life, and I want to take joy in the process as much as You delight in shaping me to be more and more like Your Son…

"Happy 8!!!", flower never make any mistakes

The Unexpected Expectations…

What do you feel when you cannot give your best to someone very special to you?

You thought you have tried but in fact you most often fail.

At first you may complain the way he treats you. Not that he doesn’t care. He just doesn’t care to the extent you want it.

You demand a full, undivided attention to things you’re telling him especially about things you most value. Yet he missed by bit and you feel he may not really care especially when other ‘less special’ people actually give you more attention about the things you’re telling them. This special person supposes to give more special attention to you, right? At least that is what your ego thinks.

When you’re not in a really good condition, for example, when you’re sick. Other ‘less special’ people gives you more attention, advice, help; all that makes you feel you’re being taken care of. But this special person didn’t really give you any soothing comments let alone ‘get well’ messages. Once again you demand a more special attention from him. Your ego thinks you deserve it most importantly from him.

You don’t want the relationship to be filled only with demands and expectations yet you just can’t help it. You expect him to be the one who understands you the most, expect him to be the first in everything especially when you really need him. Because he is much more valuable than the others than you put more expectations unto him. But he can’t really fulfill it, not all of the times. He’s also a human and you can’t expect to always receive in a relationship, sometimes you just have to give more, you just have to be more understanding.

How to erase the expectations? How to make it disappears? How to ignore it? How to be more understanding? How to at least minimize it?

Pretending that he’s not really that special to you so it’ll decrease the expectations by themselves?

 

In the end, you just want to be the best for that special person. And right now you just hate yourselves for not being able to do that. You want him to be proud of having you.

What you should do?

“Tips to Have a Healthy Relationship”

Once upon the time when I was still single (ciee…) :”P, I liked to write topics about principles in relationships that I got from my own conviction, valuable sermons or Christian books, of course they were much more surrounded around “singleness” and “choosing the right one”. Now that I have finally found ‘the one’ (praise the Lord ), intentionally my focus has been shifted to reading topics that are much related to ‘relationship as a couple’ and ‘marriage’ just because I like to always equip myself with knowledge of God’s truth that is equivalent to the stage where I am at the moment 

There are many good articles around, but I’m gonna post this one first. I was interested to the title at first, “How to Prevent Divorce” hihi… to change it to sound more positive, I’d like to call it “Tips to Have a Healthy Relationship” I think these are good to be practiced even from the stage of courtship (don’t need to wait until you’re getting marry )

1. A couple must deal on all conflicting issues.

It could be better for a couple to talk about their problems and be open to one another’s opinion. In this way, the couple may find ways on how they will resolve the problem.

2. Make some value on mutual interests.

Find ways to have some moments where they can spend time and evaluate their emotions. They should make some effort to make it up for some lost time together.

3. A person always has the option to choose the person that could be right for him.

It could be better if the person has the same perspectives and beliefs. This could lessen any irreconcilable differences that would lead to divorce (find a man who loves the Lord, not by his saying, but by his life. Not just any man that has “Christian” as his religion status on his ID Card. In my opinion, a Christian man who still compromise his life living  in “grey area” and prioritizing the world over God,  is just the same as still living in darkness. And as Paul said in the Bible, light and darkness cannot be together).

4. Make the relationship work as the best of friends instead of just being partners.

If there is friendship established within the marriage, there is a strong indication that the marriage can get stronger and even last forever.

5. Learn how to accept any disappointments and failures in the relationship.

It can sometimes help when the couple knows all their limitations and imperfections in the marriage (and in any relationships). Expressing anger is only normal but they need to make sure that it would only take a little time to release that kind of emotion.

6. It is important to take care of ones physical appearance.

Staying beautiful and handsome (cuittt cuitttt ) can spice up the relationship most of the time. However, couples should stay healthy even when there is dieting involved in maintaining a perfect body.

7. Couples should be faithful and honest to one another.

To make a long lasting marriage there must be fidelity and honesty in the relationship. They should not tell lies and should be courageous enough in bringing up any problems that may arise.

Always remember that couples are bound together because of love. Divorce may be prevented if couples will always put in mind that their marriage will last long enough and live up to the expectations that they promised to one another when the they exchanged vows. Those who do not agree on divorce are couples who believe that staying together gives them enough reason that marriage is very important as a family.

This article was written by Robert Thatcher and taken from thevine with my comments as additional