Gung-Hay-Fat-Choy! Happy Chinese New Year

Saturday morning on January 28, it is a nice weather in Enschede. I suppose the chinese community will be happy with this weather. Yes, they're celebrating Chinese New Year. Though it's still cold but the sky is clear and sun light warmly falls. Not only chinese I think but also Dutch today will be happy because they really like sun light, don't they? I suppose there are many people in the centrum, enjoying the fried-fish, patat, vietnamese spring-roll and many others.

In my childhood, I had in few occasions to visit my chinese friends and was given the áng paw inside a red envelope. A five thousands rupiah (half a euro) in an envelope was good money for a child in 1990 in Indonesia. Do they still have the same way in celebrating Chinese New Year in this year? Fifteen years after 1990, how much money do they prepare ;)? Hahaha, I don't mean to use economic point of view nor make a currency convertion. Of course the most important message in this day is sharing the joy.

Yesterday I was given a chinese gift. I forgot to ask him the name of the gift but it is a bind of rope in read colour. They call it as a symbol of prosperous and unity. Alright, happy chinese new year once again my chinese fellows. Wish you all the best and success!

be strong and couregous!

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." (Joshua 1:9) NIV

Is it a nature of man to think that difficulties seem bigger than they do? I don't mean to challenge with this statement, but I do see that many people are afraid before they face the reality. Why do people fear of meeting supervisor, are frightened to have a defence or are afraid to make a mistake? But I don't want to blame this thought because I myself face the same problem. Once I was about to drop by to a room of a proffessor, whom I had never talked before. Well I had taken deep breath first before I felt comfortable and decided to go to his room. And the situation changed totally I was meeting him because he was kind and very open for the conversation. Even he was so helpful and be of assistance for my questions.

Yesterday I was fit with the story I am telling now. I was not in a good mood to work out my preparation for presentation and thesis. The deadline is approching and I still have to make so many works. Suddenly I was reminded to some verses in Bible about dealing with fear. And thanks to "SABDA"Digital Bible that helped me to find out sentences that I was looking for. It's remarkable for me that so many prophets were given these statements by GOD. "Be strong and courageous"....., be strong and courageous". Why such words appear so many times in the Book? I think it must be related to what human has naturally, that is afraid and fear of something. This is how I see it but I think it might be true that why those words given quite often because we as humans feel something bigger than what we can do. Don't be afraid, there is God's promise to be with us and to make us feel encouraged of His presence.

the right time?

Time is a quite common used word. "What time shall we meet?", "No, I can't at 10, what if make it earlier? "Ups, sorry I must leave, I have an appoinment with some one else". Time is really important in our society. So important that society makes a saying that time is money. I myself think time relates with a 'space' which puts a gap for us before we arrive to a next step. Does it seem a philosophy? Forgive me, but I believe that's a definion of time that applies for me at the moment. Hahaha, yes I am waiting to finish my work, study, applications and many things. Time makes me impatient to wait for more time. I always ask this. Time, can you come quickly? I need you to pass me through, I can wait no more. But only a silent time that comes through and steps with it's own pace. O, Gosh...I just now realise that I need more time to do my work. Time can you please slow down. Go slower than as you normally do, please! And still you silently come and pass me as quick as you can. O time how misterious you are? Time remains it's misterious and beauty as it has it's own decision to come in a right time.

Count your blessing

One thing that I normally forget during a difficult situation is to realize how have I been lucky and blessed throughout the storybook that notes all my steps in this fragile Earth. If I come to that thought of thinking my blessing I normally become smiling and admit that yes that's true. To have friends that we can ask for help, to have a coffee break, to gain opportunity to study far from home, to have been able to live until now, to have a very kind supervisors, to have invitation for interview, to have a good score of test, to have responses from prospective professors, to receive an allowance, to get a nice flat-screen monitor, to have a wonderful girlfriend ;), to be in a bad situation, to get an abstract rejected, to get a not fortunate email, to face difficulties in thesis, to feel the cold in winter,..., etc are uncountable blessing.

Count your blessing is a sunday school song that is used to make children eager to share testimonies to others. But this too applies to everyone, doesn't it? We need to count the blessing and come to share it. Does uncountable blessing lead to uncountable testimonies? Then the time is not enough in a fellowship to give space for testimony if that happens. Hahaha, we can use blog otherwise. This is also a kind of testimony. Isn't it?

Job, Me and ITC

This morning I woke up quite early. It was still dark outside and there were few cars passing the street. After boiling the water, I took time to read my ODB and the Bible passage. The story was about Job who was in a 'game' between God and Satan. This is one of my favourite stories from Bible where some time I try to compare myself with him when I was facing difficulties. O...No, Job was much more suffering than me. Reading the Job story from Bible, I am sure that he suffered severely.

I try to look myself through what Job has suffered and how he maintained his perceptions. It's so unbelievable for me that he is still faithful to God in facing all his difficulties. I just remember how I some time hate my present condition because so much work to do for my thesis. Haha, I should be thankful while in this situation I still have many things around me and those should convince me to maintain a positive thinking, shouldn't I?

Today ITC was visited by a committee from Dutch accreditation for Higher Education in the Netherlands. And six MSc students were selected to be interviewed by the committee to answer questions about our experiences in ITC. You know what makes this situation a bit difficult? The discussion went like a defense of thesis. Gee, I was asked by the committee to explain about why I selected particular methods for my data collection and why not other methods which is more common for use. And I was a bit surprised because I had not thought that such question would appear in the meeting. Later on I found out that the man who asked was a professor in the methods that I did not use for data collection. Hahaha, that makes sense that he asked me for detail though it's not exactly inline with the purpose of the meeting. This meeting for the accreditation has seemed very crucial and fearful because it has consequences to ITC future. At least that's why I saw from many faces of people there.

So, everyone faces a problem, right?

Wow it's soooooo cold!!!

I am wondering why. This morning I am feeling really cold, though when I looked at the temperature just now, it's about 2 degrees. It's supposed to be fine for me.

Being a researcher?

I have said to myself that I wanna be a true researcher. Shall I reconsider this thought? I am really bored of my thesis. Wooooww...How to cope with this? Any idea?

Thought of Repent and Salvation

Just came across to Bible verses in Revelation 2:16-17"
Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it"

There is a time when God can become angry to His people. My remembrance returns again to where I just read a story when God punished Sodom and Gomora. When God asked Elijah to kill all the Baal-Propherts. Well these all are true based on Christian belief in the Bible.

Even though sometime I think it's more difficult to believe in God in these days. Human being has achieved to a level where many things are satisfactory. Without prayer to God it seems we can find way out of our problem. However I myself certain that I can not live without believe in God, but I must say that many people around me find it's 'okay' to live without God. At least that's how it appears to me in my current condition.

This morning, as I said earlier, a verse from Revelation 2:16-17 reminded me that He has his anger. A punishment which leads to eternity if we don't believe in Him. Why that case may happen? According to the Bible, where it have been revealed to many prophets who wrote the Bible, God has a plan to establish a place, a nation where no more sin, evil thing will exist. A place where God as the Creator and us as the creation can be united and no more be separated as we do in this Earth. There actually the basic idea why human needs to repent. Believe Him or not, He does exist.

I started to believe in God wholeheartedly, in October 1996. It was the time where I firstly thought about my eternal future. What a nasty question from someone to me at that time: "Where will you go if you die now?". That question, I must admit, scared me and caused me to feel unsequre in my live during that time. I found out that I could not help myself to be satisfied by my condition. And I came across to some verses in the Bible that strenghtened me that God has his promise to save human being who believe Jesus His son.

From that time up to now, I have realized that God has secured my place in His Kingdom. A place where I would meet other believers, talk about God's mercy and grace, cheer others and share what we have experienced in the previous life. Thank You Lord for Your mercy.