Anzac day

In Australia, month of April has the most public holidays, I love it! And so is a lot of people here.

I get to sleep in a little bit, until my daughter came into our bedroom and jumped on the bed.

Our son is already 5 months now, just last night we were going through some pictures and videos taken from cameras or phones, how time flies, our daughter is so big now, yet she is only 3 years old.

Anzac day means a lot to Aussies as they take time to remember the sacrifices made by their heroes, they call them diggers - i still don't know why, need to google shortly.

As for me and family, we are spending time with our extended family this afternoon, it's a relaxing time. Right this moment I am in another room watching my little boy taking his nap, hence tgis post.

I hope you are having a good Anzac day too, God bless.

Travel to city

There are some rail tracks improvement works happening this week on my train lines. Consequently alternative arrangement is in place, bus replacements.

I thought the journey would be bad, but it's not too bad at all, I left home 15 minutes earlier, but managed to reach office the normal time. Maybe it's because now is school holidays, the journey on the bus was faster than I expected.

The bottom line is, yes public transport in Melbourne is far from perfect, and I complained on Twitter whenever there is disruptions, but I need to be more thankful instead, after all, I would still get home, even though it's later sometimes.

The Bible says to give thanks in all circumstances, at times, when bad things happen, it won't be easy to give thanks, but i'm trying.

So for now, i am thankful that I have extra time to write this blog :)
And thank you for reading too :)

Back in business

Yes, I'm back in business. Blogging that is :)

It has been a while, and I think from now on I should update my blogs more regularly. Since I commute to work most of the time, I can utilize the time on the train more like write blogs etc, what do you think?

It's been a busy year so far, but it's all good busyness. Our second child, Alexander is almost 5 months old, how time flies. Thank God that all is well, he's a healthy little boy, very chubby as you can see in the picture below, together with his sister (with messy hair :))

So yes, will try to keep my blogs short, simple and sweet, and instead of writing bad news (most of the media contain bad news anyway...), I will try to write more positive, encouraging things about life etc. Until the next blog in few days, signing off.

5 love languages review

Recently I went through my bookshelf and found a dusty book called "5 love languages" by Dr. Gary Chapman. Started reading again, and I must say, I have been challenged again to speak with the right language.

If you want to learn more about loving people, I highly recommend this book, whether you are a Christian or not, we all need to love and need to be loved. And we need to communicate our love with the language that is understood by the other party.

If you use Kindle, the Kindle edition is also available at a cheaper price. This book should be on everyone's bookshelf, that is of course if you want to become more loving person, and be loved :)

Thoughts on marriage

Let me first say that I am neither a marriage counselor nor an expert, we are married not even 5 years yet, plus a little 22 months girl now, so your thoughts or comments are welcome.

Here are some of my observations (in non particular order) on our marriage and others:
1. It's not perfect - a journalist once interviewed Billy Graham or someone and asked him if he ever considered divorcing his wife. His reply was: "Divorce never, but murder many times".
2. It requires sacrifice(s) on both parts. Eg. for myself, especially since our little one came along, I hardly have time for myself, gone were the days when i could play tennis with my mates 3-4 times a week. For my wife, her sacrifice is countless, her focus right now is mainly little Naomi, only once in a while she would go somewhere just to chill out herself while I look after Naomi.
3. For some couples (which have been married for a long time), even though they are still technically married, living under same roof in the same room, the relationship is more like housemates, rather than a couple. I pray that we won't become like that.
4. Not to mention parenting......

So, what can be done to improve marriages? (Again, in non particular order)
1. Learn to overlook little things - it's hard for some couples, I must confess even at times I'd pick on little things, and then argument started. Looking back, those trivial things were not worth an argument at all.
2. Learn to compromise - some things are just not worth fighting.
3. Put your spouse first - whatever his/her needs are, try to meet those needs.
4. Put God at the centre of the relationship.
5. I'm sure there are more tips available from the experts.

I don't claim that I have done those things, but I do strive and try my best to love my wife and girl, at times it's not easy.... But with God's help, I always pray that I will be a good husband and daddy.

God bless you if you are reading this blog.

-Jr-

Blogging from N900

Just got a Nokia N900 recently, this is a cool phone, I mean MID (mobile internet device). Of course this device is not targetted to mass market such as iPhone or Android users, but I am very happy with this device, it can do pretty much everything I need to do.

On another note, time really flies, now our little one is running around and talking non-stop.

Right this very moment, I was on the way home, commuting on public transport, which is not so reliable, but hey, I guess Metro Trains is trying their best to improve. Anyway, reaching my station very shortly, hope to blog more soon :)

-jr-

9 months on....

Thanks be to God our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ for wisdom and strength. Thanks to my beautiful wife, for being such a good mum to our little one. Today she is exactly 9 months old. And she is growing well. Not that it was easy, there were (and will be) challenges along the way.

She can crawl now and soon enough will be able to run around. Everyday I look forward to play with her when I go home.

By God's grace and mercy, we look forward to many years to raising up this little one in a godly way. May all the glory be to Him alone.

Our little Naomi

Born on 14 November 2008, we named her Naomi Elizabeth. Naomi means: beautiful, pleasant, delightful; Elizabeth means: God's promise.

Of course there were some objections regarding the name Naomi, some says it's not a good name, because Naomi in the book of Ruth in the Bible went through very difficult life. People may have good intentions, and I do respect their difference in opinions regarding the name.

Of course they can always find something negative whatever name we choose. No offense to anyone at all, but how about David in the Bible? Didn't he sleep with someone else's wife? or even our Lord Jesus Christ? Didn't he die on the cross? Or Paul, Peter, John? All died miserable death, some were in jail, beheaded, crucified upside down. For females, how about Hannah? Wasn't she barren? Or Mary? not the mother of Jesus, the other Mary. It can go on and on and on.....

Wendy and myself went through hundreds if not thousands of name, and both of us agreed and like Naomi Elizabeth, and I know this agreement is God-given, ultimately He is the one who has given her the name. Psalm 139:16 (NLT) says: You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.

When Naomi was born, I mean the moment she came out from Wendy, my heart suddenly leaped with joy, and I almost cried, well... I actually cried (without tears, of course...). If you are a parent, you probably can go back to that moment and know what I mean.

All I can say is, by the grace of God, we will do our best in raising up this child in a godly way, to show her the right way to live, Proverbs 22:6 says: Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.

God has been good to us, and He will continue to be good, because He is faithful. Thank You Lord, for entrusting us to raise up your girl. May all glory goes back to You alone.

-jr-

3 months to go....

Yes, in about 3 months, our baby girl -hopefully by the grace of God- will arrive safely to this world.

Just noticed my previous blog was on 25th April, that was almost 4 months ago! I guess I've been a bit out of touch with blogging, but that's alright, been pretty busy lately. So this blog will be short, because I have no idea what to write now....

Ephesians 2:7-10 (the Message): Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It's God's gift from start to finish! We don't play the major role. If we did, we'd probably go around bragging that we'd done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.

God bless you all!

-jr-

Anzac Day

Ahh.... public holiday.... love it! For some people it is a significant day of remembrance of their ancestors who went to war, for others it's another significant day because their footy clubs are playing today at MCG, Essendon vs Collingwood.

Yet for others (like us), it's time to relax and catch up with friends and relatives. For me especially, time to update my blog too!

Let's see, what's been happening... oh yes! Wendy is 10 weeks and few days pregnant now, we went to see a gynecologist earlier this week to confirm our baby is healthy, and thank God he/she is healthy, we could see the heartbeat on the ultrasound. See the picture below.

Not sure what's that next to the head, we think it's the hand saying "hello" to us...

We're looking forward for the next ultrasound picture of this little one, and pray for us too, especially Wendy, going through all sorts of hormonal changes, morning sickness, cravings for unusual food etc. But I thank God she's doing well, at least she hasn't vomitted at all, and she hasn't woken me up in the middle of the night to get some food. ;)

Alright, signing off now, gotta get ready for yumcha! God bless you all.

-jr&wr-

Time out!

We all need a break regularly, that's why God created one day for us to rest, in this western culture, most people have the luxury of having Saturday and Sunday off. Not where I came from though. 

Originally from Indonesia, most people there work 6 days a week, and even when I was in primary and secondary school, our classes were 6 days a week. I guess it's a good thing to have couple of days to rest, but do we actually use these 2 days for rest? Even God uses one day to rest after he created the universe, in Genesis 2:2 it says: "On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work."

I really believe that we can only find our true rest in God alone, Psalms 91:1 says: Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. Jesus confirmed this in Matthew 11:28-29 when He said: "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls."

If you haven't taken a time out from your work, busyness, life, relationships etc, it's time to take a rest and be restored by the Almighty God. Hope you will be blessed today.

-jr-

Gift?! How about the Giver?

We all love to receive gifts, don't we? I certainly do. But too often, we focus too much on the gift instead of the person who gives. As the matter of fact, we often forget to thank that person. Even Jesus himself experienced this, in Luke chapter 17 verses 11-17 the story tells us that Jesus healed 10 men from leprosy, but only 1 man came back and thanked him.

I just wanna take this time to thank God, we've been planning to have baby, and now my wife is 6 weeks pregnant! It's my prayer when the baby comes out, in the midst of the busyness, I will still take time to thank God for all the things he has given me.

If you're reading this blog, may I ask that you'll take few seconds to pray for us, for the baby that it will be a healthy baby, pray for Wendy especially, she's not been feeling good at all, there's this thing called morning sickness...

This gift of life comes only from our Father in heaven, and now I'd like to declare Psalm 139 over our baby:
13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
16 You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.
17 How precious are your thoughts about me,^[b] O God.
They cannot be numbered!

-jr-

Easter Break!

Ah! Finally, a break in the middle of busyness! Of course we shouldn't forget about what Jesus has done for us about 2000 years ago, when He chose to die for us and pay the price for our sins. He did not just die, but He was resurrected from His death, and because of His resurrection, now we are alive and well. According to what Jesus said in John 10:10 (the Message): I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.

I can honestly say, that without Jesus, my own life will be meaningless and purposeless. Of course, life as a Christian does not mean that everything will be easy, the difference is, we can go through life with God helping and carrying us along this journey, and that's exciting!

Can you imagine the God who created this universe is actually wanting a close personal relationship with everyone of us? It's beyond my mind to even think about it! But He is God, and if we can understand Him at all, then He's not as big as He should be! Psalm 139:6 says it well: Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!

The truth is, God so loved the world, that He sent His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall have eternal life (John 3:16). And also in John 1:12 it says: But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.

There is only one way to heaven, that is by accepting this gift of salvation, there's no other way. No matter how good you think you are, you may be a generous person, doing all the charities and helping people, and you think you're a good person, but in God's eyes, the definition of "good" is something without flaw or mistake or sin. Can you honestly say that you've never made any mistake in your life? If so, then you are good, if not, then you're not good enough. But no matter how bad you think you are, God still loves you, and He wants you to accept this gift of salvation, Ephesians 2:8 says: For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.

It's really all by His grace alone, not by our works. If you're not sure and wants more information, ask your Christian friends, or visit a church nearby your place, or even send me a comment. May God bless you and reveal Himself to you as you seek Him. He has promised if you seek Him, He shall be found. (Jeremiah 33:3, Matthew 7:8)

-jr-

new year, new challenges, new hope

Can't believe it, already mid of february, and there's been many things happening in the past few weeks. These things are not necessarily good things, but as God's children, we can be assured that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good. (Romans 8:28)

We definitely need to pray more this year, especially for God's protection and provision in our lives, also pray for the loved ones who are still yet to know Christ as personal Lord and Saviour. Don't forget those who are not in good health too.

These prayer points are my personal prayer points, as we have family members who are facing the situations with their health, the prodigals who are coming home. I am believing for God's supernatural intervention, as the Bible says in Matthew 19:26: Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

Our church is also focusing on 3 things: prayer, giving and evangelism. These are basic Christianity, but really, how many of us are actually doing these in a greater capacity, especially the evangelism part? I certainly don't, at least not yet, but by His grace, He will enable us and enlarge our capacities as we put our hope and trust in Him. Here is my challenge to whoever reading this (that includes me!), if you're a Christian, you can pray more, give more and spread the good news more. One of my goals this year is to see someone get saved in our lifegroup, it can happen, and by God's grace, it will happen!

Daily Word from Dr. Jack Graham

January 1, 2008

For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

--1 Timothy 4:8

We all know that it's very important to eat right and exercise. According to the Scripture, our bodies are temples God have given us, and we need to take care of them. But being spiritually healthy is even more important.

And to be spiritually healthy, you need to exercise your faith. Just as you wouldn't expect to be able to run a marathon without any training, you can't expect to face the trials and tribulations of life without exercising your faith in God.

Exercising your faith requires discipline, dedication, and determination, which means being in God's Word, spending time in prayer, and obeying God's will for your life. Each of these disciplines will help you endure and enjoy the road ahead.

Life is often described in the Bible as a race. Some of us run the race well, some of us not so well, and others don't even finish the race at all! The goal as a believer in Jesus Christ is to run the race of life strong... and finish well. And you do this is by exercising your faith by spending time with God!

Now, there will be times in your life when you will be tempted not to spend that precious time with God. Things will come up, life will get in the way, and excuses will start to pile up. But if you make it a priority to exercise your faith and grow more intimately with God through reading His Word and spending time in prayer, you will be better equipped to face the problems of life. And when you have the appropriate eternal perspective that God wants you to have, your problems won't seem as big as they once were!

So do yourself a favor and begin working out your faith in the new year. If you do, you soon will become a spiritual athlete who runs the race of life strong... and you will finish well!

Exercising your faith requires discipline, dedication, and determination, which means being in God's Word, spending time in prayer, and obeying God's will for your life.

A day (or half) with Coconut

Today our friends Pete & family went to Great Ocean Road.

They bought a puppy couple of weeks ago. But they decided not to bring "Coconut" to the day trip, so we took care (or rather, my wife Wendy) of this little Coconut just for a day.

Look how cute she is! Her favorite toy is El Coyote (from Road Runner cartoon). She'd try to rip him off, but Coco (as we call her) is just a little puppy, her teeth are not strong yet, although I must say she tried biting me few times, and it's a bit painful.

Oh yes, she a cross breed of Labrador and Poodle, actually we're not sure, but we think so, they call it Labradoodle.

We're waiting for them to return, at this very moment they're having dinner at Geelong.

Coco is sleeping on Wendy's lap (sitting right next to me) watching me type this blog.

Alright, Coco kinda woke up and is trying to be naughty again.

End of blog

New Year, New Beginning

I just composed an email to my lifegroup:

Hi all,

Wish you a very Happy New Year this year. I don't know what's been happening in your life last year, no doubt some of us had a pretty good year, yet some would have had a pretty rough year. Whatever it was, it happened last year, nothing we can do about it anymore.

No doubt we would have made some mistakes and hopefully we would have learned some lessons along the way too.

2 Corinthians 5:17 says: This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

May I give 2 tips (of course there are other things we can do such as goal settings, spend less, save more, read Bible etc) to start this year expecting God to fulfill your dreams this year, no matter what it is, whether it's new job, opportunities, friends etc.

These are basic tips, but they work:
1. Pray
Not just pray once a day (or week), but pray continually, prayer is not only setting apart time in your bedroom (or whichever room) and spend the next 5 minutes praying. It's more than that. It's talking to God continually. Imagine if you have a close friend or a loved one who is living together with you, but you only talk to him/her for 5 minutes everyday. And most of the talking is to ask the other person that you want him/her to help solve your problems, what would the person feel? Yet so often we do that to God. Our prayers are filled with requests for Him to bless us, give us more money, give us new jobs, etc.

God wants us to have a constant communication with Him, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says: Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

2. Change your thinking
Our thoughts are very powerful. There is an old saying (I don't know who is the author): Sow a thought, reap a habit; sow a habit; reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny.
It all starts in our minds, if you keep having negative attitude, don't expect something good will happen. Many of us know this verse from Romans 12:2: Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Some of us may have been brought up in a negative environment all our lives, and you may think there's no hope for you. Let me say this, there is hope in God. If you will change the way you think, God will start changing your lives too.

You may ask: And how do I change my thinking? Some things you can do:
- Read Bible regularly
- Read good Christian books such as: Battlefield of the Mind (Joyce Meyer)
- Start saying good things about yourself:
If you are used to saying negative things, it has become a habit that needs to be changed. If you like to say things like: Nobody likes me, I'm ugly, I can't get a job, I always fail, I'm a loser etc., it's definitely a time to stop saying those things and start declaring God's promises for your own life such as: I am more than a conqueror in Christ, I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength, God has good plans for my life and many other promises.

Let me end by saying this: God loves you, and He longs to see you live a fulfilling life. Jesus came into this world not only to die for your sins, but to give you a full life (John 10:10)

We will continually pray for God's breakthrough in all your lives in this new year. May God bless you beyond all you can even ask or dream.

Jackson

“This is what the LORD says— he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.”- Isaiah 43:16, 18-19

Last blog of the year

Can't believe it, it's the last day of 2007. And it's hot! 42 degree Celcius. It's a good thing we have an evaporative cooling, outside is almost like an oven.

I must say that this year has been a great year for us, no doubt there were some challenges, but when I looked back and reflected on the things that has happened in our lives, I'm thankful to God, to what He has done for both me and Wendy.

We also have made some new friends this year. Not only acquaintances, but close friends. For that, I'm really thankful. Not to mention His abundant provision to us.

One of my favorite chapters in the Bible is Psalm 103, particularly verse 12: As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.

I am looking forward to 2008 with great anticipation that God will do greater things in our lives and through our lives. God wants to bless everyone of us that we may be a blessing to people around us, that we are to be the light that shines brightly in this dark and broken world.

Have a safe and blessed New Year! God bless you all.

Lifegroup

Below is supposed to be our Bible study last night. But we decided to watch John Bevere Undercover DVD teaching series instead. Lots of teaching there I must say.

Reflection of 2007

1. When we look back, don’t focus on the negative, what should have, could have, would have, if only.... etc.

Phillipians 3:13-14, Psalms 77:11-12, Gen 19:26, Isaiah 43:18-19

2. Count your blessings.

Psalms 103:2, 143:5,

3. Change the way we think (get rid of the negative, get in the positive) by meditation and reading Bible (and train to live a godly life- 1 Timothy 4:7)

Phillipians 4:8, Romans 12:2, Proverbs 23:7

4. Believe God has good plans for your life

Jeremiah 29:11, Romans 12:2 (again), Psalms 1:1-3

You are responsible for who you are today. Yes, other people and your environment have been influential factors but you are responsible for how you have chosen to respond to what life has brought your way – for better or for worse.

Responsibility (literally ‘response-ability’) is the ability we each have to choose our response. The opposite of this habit is the tendency to blame other people, events or the environment - anything or anyone “out there” so we are not responsible for our lives. Once we blame something else we can easily create evidence that supports that "something" as the real problem.

We can choose our response to any situation or any person. (Mark Conner)

In the next couple of months, spend more time with God by praying (Phillipians 4:6-7), reading Bible or good Christian books and have fellowship with believers (Hebrews 10:25), so we can grow mature in Christ. (Hebrews 6:1)

Some quotes:

God has a habit of picking up nobodies and making them somebodies. (Jentezen Franklin)

Suffering never leaves you where it finds you; you either become bitter or better. (JF)

Reputation is who people think you are; Character is who your family knows you are. (JF)

Forever Grateful lyrics

You did not wait for me
to draw near to You
But You clothed Yourself
with frail humanity
You did not wait for me
to cry out to You
But You let me hear Your Voice
calling me
And I'm Forever Grateful to You
I'm Forever Grateful for The Cross
I'm Forever Grateful to You
That You came to seek and save the lost

By:    Mark Altrogge