Christmas Day!!!

What do you do on Christmas day?

Well... if you haven't got anything planned, or even if you have got something planned, I hope you'll take just a bit of time to think of what today means and celebrate that.

Merry Christmas to all of you!!!

Christmas and Baby Cot

I managed to set up the baby cot we bought yesterday. Took about 1/2 hour or so. Was IKEA-like in construction so not that difficult.
Yes, getting ready for the arrival of the little one. Maybe a bit early, but then again, since I'm on leave, might as well get some stuff done.

It got me thinking, being Christmas time and all, when Jesus came, no one prepared a nice cot for him. Not even a nice place. He was in a stable surrounded by farm animals.

I guess it's also time we prepare a place for Him in our hearts, as we celebrate Christmas together!

I need a break!

Past few weeks have been kinda hectic. My body and mind has got that tired feeling. Some parts of my body are sore.
I need a break!!!

I came across this picture of me relaxing quite a few years ago. This was taken at a resort island. Just looking at it makes me feel like taking a break now! Well, good news is tomorrow (Friday) is the last day I need to go to the office for 2008! I'm on leave! Yahoo!

Though there will be chores to do, but I think I'll get some time to also catch up on some much needed rest. We all need to make sure we have enough rest :)

Antenatal Class III

This week, no drama as well, though the class seems to be getting bigger. Think about 14 couples.

Anyway, nothing exciting about the diet part. Then they took us on a tour of the maternity ward and the delivery room. It was quite educational. They also introduced us to the gas machine that delivers nitrous oxide for pain relief. I wanted to give it a try to see if it was really good... but I didn't.

One of the graphic videos showed how a baby literally comes out of the mother. It was an amazing video. I was telling my wife how amazing it was. I wonder if my wife was agreeing with me or thinking of the pain :)

Shirt On... Fear Off

Shirt on Fear Off is a campaign by Nike in Malaysia. You can see the advert at the link...
http://www.nikefootball.com.my/NTK/index.html
It's a campaign that say (for the Malaysian Football Team) that when you put the national team jersey on, your fear disappears and you become like a tiger (the tiger being the mascot for the national football team). You become fearless and instead strike fear into others!

Sunday, Shawn was talking about having faith. To achieve breakthroughs you get rid of fear, but instead you have faith. As I was in the mall almost at closing time (rushing in to get something we needed), I saw this advert, I thought maybe for us it could be this...

Faith on... Fear Off!!!

Yeah, putting faith on, fear will disappear. Putting faith on, you move despite the fear. Putting faith on, you will be feared, rather than fear.!

Faith on... Fear Off!!!

Irreducible Complexity

This link talks about how complex a cell is and why it shows it couldn't possibly be created by chance or other non-designed theories.
It's just amazingly complex. Even the simplest cell is sooooo complex! It needs intelligence to be put together. The more we delve into deeper and deeper knowledge and science, the more we realise how much complexity there is.
The complexity points to creation or design by someone with superior intelligence. Have a read!

Virtual Private Networks (VPN)

A Virtual Private Network is sort of like a smaller computer network carried within a wider larger network (like the internet). In practical terms, I would be able to use the internet to reach my company data & email via the internet but still be secure network that is accessible only to people who have the right authentication. So, I can access all the electronic networks in the office from outside the office. It's as if you're there without being there, in some ways. It gives you access to communication and resources in the office.

In the same way, we have resources in God and communication to God that we may not have direct access because we're not in heaven yet. But using our Virtual Private Network (VPN) to God, we can access all that! We can pray, read His word, etc and get onto that network and reach those resources. We can open up the lines of communication. It's as if we're there and able to access everything there.

Maybe you need to check your VPN and make sure it's working!

Antenatal Class - II

Jia Huey and I went for our second class. This time, not that much drama. (Our first class, one of the ladies had her waterbag burst and was rushed up to the maternity ward).

They talked about simple exercises. I learnt that I shouldn't do them from Shawn and his post. So I just supported and pretended to be interested..oopps.. not pretended, I mean I was paying attention and interested.

Also went through some breathing exercises. A mom said to me before the class in typical Malaysian fashion "Aiyah, when it really comes, you won't remember breathing and all that one lah... u just do whatever one..."
I donno... I never been there! :)

Rainy rainy day!

Yesterday was a rainy rainy day! I remember it raining from 2am (since I was still up then) till the night. It just kept raining.

We met our friends from Spore yesterday and drove them around trying some of the local (great) food. Too bad the weather was rather wet, if not it would have been a bit more enjoyable. Never mind, at least there was good food and good company. With umbrellas in hand we were able to brave the rain and make it to our eating spots of fancy.

It's amazing how a simple invention like an umbrella makes a difference to our day. Without it, it would have been miserable. With it, we got along fairly well. What's your umbrella?

Stuck in a lift

On Sunday, some of my friends got stuck in a lift! Oh man, I don't envy their experience. The picture of the lift, stuck half-way between two floors after they had been extricated with the help of the lift technician. It can be an uncomfortable experience for some people, especially those who don't like confined spaces.
We sometimes take for granted that the lift or any other equipment will work fine. We don't even think about it. However, when things go wrong, we start to appreciate the things that help make life easier for us. I've had that happen so much in my life.
The same also goes for people. Sometimes we tend to forget to appreciate people who are actually a big part of our lives. Yeah, look around and see the people who mean something to you. Don't forget to appreciate them :) Or else, you might get stuck in a lift :)

Christmas and Campus

Well, a little early for Christmas? Maybe! But for 40+ campus students we had a great time at a Christmas party!
Best of all was seeing everyone just share in making it happen.

From the decorating, food, logistics, transport, program, everything!!!
Including the sharing, everyone did their part! I'm so proud of all of them who took one step forward! That's great!!!

I think looking back, this group has really come far! Soooo excellent!!! At VIBE, things happen!!! You can read more about VIBE here!

Decorating and life lessons

I dropped by to see some students who were in charge of decorating our venue for a party tomorrow. I was impressed with their effort and commitment in getting the place ready.

I was impressed by a few things
i) the scale they wanted to decorate - more than I had expected! They have exceeded my expectations!
ii) their commitment and dedication to get the place done up well
iii) the time they've put into the task
iv) the people who had volunteered to help
v) no complaining, they just do willingly despite the hard work

That's what I call good character! So encouraged and glad to see all this happening! Soooo proud of them!
Decorating can show a lot about a person, can't it?

THE HAND!!!

My friend Marcus once commented to me when his baby was very young that all you need was a giant HAND to put on top of the baby, so that it could sleep. Yes, babies just want to know and feel as if you're there. (Marcus, if you want, I can tell you where to buy it!)

So today, we saw this "HAND" at a baby store. Yes, it's a hand you can place on the baby to simualte your hand, so they can sleep better :)

Actually even as adults, we need that "HAND". We are looking for security. What gives us security? For some of us, we work for identity, wealth or position to give ourselves identity. Some of us get it by acceptance from others. There are many other things we put our security in. Give yourself some time to think about what your security is. Maybe you should think about whether that's a good source of security. Maybe there's something unshakeable, all-powerful that might be a better security source...

Antenatal Class

First one today! Hmm.. some observations.

1. Was a bit upset at the dietician who was supposed to present. She was late. Not only that, she didn't prepare her presentation properly. So she wasn't able to present because she couldn't access her powerpoint slides. So her presentation was pushed to another week.

2. The midwife and nurse presented pretty good sessions. Though much of the things presented may seem like common sense, it was informative. I was pleasantly surprised that it was not as boring as I had expected. Both of them presented well. They were able to engage the audience with their warmth and sincerity as well as with their sharing of real life stories. (Good lessons for presenters!)

3. Many people at the session were not as young as we expected. Maybe coz the hospital mainly cater to the professionals. So they tend to marry later and hence have babies later too. Seems to be the trend among professionals

Guess having a baby is great, but with it comes quite a bit of responsibilities. Also, you can never predict how well or not a pregnancy will be. You always hope for the best. The advantage for me is that I can always go to someone greater than me for wisdom...