Friday

"Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He retaineth not His anger for ever, because He delighteth in mercy.
He will turn again, He will have compassion upon us; He will subdue our iniquities; and Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which Thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old."

Micah 7:18-20

Grace & Peace

...from last Wednesday.

Understanding

Mount St. Helens in Washington :)

God is so good, isn't He? So many blessings, so much mercy. But there are times when we can't help but question His ways. Some may say that people tend to call on God more when they're in distress and troubled; when things aren't going right. That calamities often make people depend more on God. That might have some truth to it... But the Bible says in Romans 2:4

"Or do you presume on the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?"

To 'make' us repent He would show even more kindness?

In life, there are many questions that are hard to answer. Many things we can't put our minds around. In the oldest book of the Bible, God answers Job when he could not see the reason behind all his suffering...

"Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? Or who hath streched the line upon it?

"Hath the rain a father? Or who hath begotten the drops of dew?"

Job 38:4,5,28

.......

So let's keep our faith strong, eh? We can definitely ask our Savior and Friend later when He returns. :)

"He hath shown thee, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God."
Micah 6:8

Tuesday

So tired... and it's only Tuesday. Oh how much i need power from above. To live on this earth but to breath in the heavenly atmosphere. Hmm i'm feeling refreshed already. :)

Mark 1:21-34 tells one busy day in Jesus' life (please read!) ^^
then verse 35...

"And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.
And Simon and they that were with Him followed after Him.
And when they had found Him, they said unto Him, All men seek for Thee.
And He said unto them, Let's go into the next towns, that I may preach there also: for therefore came I forth."
Mark 1: 35-38

........

How much more this sinful self needs an alone time with God. A quite prayer time, early in the morning, my Creator and I.

Cooking 101

Trying to be vegetarian again this school year... but it's so hard! The only 'proteins' I know how to cook are eggs and hot dogs. haha. well, no I guess I'm not that bad. I also know how to do tofu. =P

Rice. I never realized how much I enjoyed rice until this year where I have to make them myself. =P I really can't recall, in this still-very-short life of mine, a situation where I had to cook my own rice. Not at home because my grandma would always make them. Not during camping because they never trusted me with cooking. Yes, shame... shame... Andrey. But now my rice-to-water ratio is improving by the day. ^^

Tofu. I called my grandma the other day to ask her how she does her tofu. I knew that she always marinates them. She told me it's one teaspoon of coriander powder with a little salt mixed in water, then leave it for a couple of hours. The tofu on the picture was a little bit different. That one was cooked in medium heat then left to marinate in the fridge overnight with peanut sauce. :)

Veggie. For now, I'm very thankful for all the varieties of frozen veggies out there. They're great! Save me so much time from chopping and cutting. The CLS program only spares us one hour (from 12.30 to 1.30) for lunch break before we start afternoon labs, all the way to 6 o'clock, Monday to Wed (no labs Thursday & Friday). Funny that now during class, usually around 11'ish, I'd start thinking on what frozen veggie I would 'cook' that day. Today during Hematology it was between the 'Oriental Blend' and the 'Sweet Corn'. Decisions, decisions... :)

Tofu's are great

Just one teaspoon :)

The Oriental Blend. =P

The Fridge

(cooked corn that day)

My first 'official' self-cooked Dish:

Rice, scrambled egg,

broccoli with mushroom...

(ok well not really... the dried potato & soy

stuff i brought from home) =P

The First Man & the Son of Man

Have you ever wondered how it'd be like, later in Heaven, when for the first time, Adam the first created man is welcomed back to Eden? Could you possibly describe the joy that's translated on his face and expression, beeing able to see the Creator, his Savior's face once more?

(sharing with you from Ellen White's The Great Controversy)

"As the ransomed ones are welcomed to the City of God, there rings out upon the air an exultant cry of adoration. The two Adams are about to meet. The Son of God is standing with outstretched arms to receive the father of our race -the being whom He created, who sinned against his Maker, and for whose sin the marks of the crucifixion are borne upon the Savior's form. As Adam discerns the prints of the cruel nails, he does not fall upon the bosom of his Lord, but in humiliation casts himself at His feet, crying: "Worthy, worthy is the Lamb that was slain!" Tenderly the Savior lifts him up and bids him look once more upon the Eden home from which he has so long been exiled.

After his expulsion from Eden, Adam's life on earth was filled with sorrow. Every dying leaf, every victim of sacrifice, every blight upon the fair face of nature, every stain upon man's purity, was a fresh reminder of his sin. Terrible was the agony of remorse as he beheld iniquity abounding, and, in answer to his warnings, met the reproaches cast upon himself as the cause of sin. With patient humility he bore, for nearly a thousand years, the penalty of transgression. Faithfully did he repent of his sin and trust in the merits of the promised Savior, and he died in the hope of a resurrection. The Son of God redeemed man's failure and fall; and now, through the work of the atonement, Adam is reinstated in his first dominion.

Transported with joy, he beholds the trees that were once his delight -the very trees whose fruit he himself had gathered in the days of his innocence and joy. He sees the vines that his own hands have trained, the very flowers that he once loved to care for. His mind grasps the reality of the scene; he comprehends that this is indeed Eden restored, more lovely now than when he was banished from it." (The Great Controversy 647, 648)

My Birthday :)

If my hand meant anything, I turned 5 that day. ^^
(Indonesia, 1991)
note: i remember it was a train set in that blue wrapping paper. the best present ever! haha

My little sister Liza & I (i don't know why she's there. lol)

Singapore airport... circa 1995 :)

San Francisco '98


"Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer.
From the end of the earth will I cry unto Thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.
I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah.
For Thou, O God, hast heard my vows: Thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear Thy name.
Thou wilt prolong the king's life: and his years as many generations.
He shall abide before God for ever: O prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him.
So will I sing praise unto Thy name for ever, that I may daily perform my vows."

Psalm 61


"Do not err, my beloved brethren.
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
Of His own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God."

James 1:16-20


Thank you Lord for a loving family, for parents that fear Your Name, for another year...

This is a Good Song :)

Isaiah 61

"Beauty for Ashes, garment of praise for my heaviness..."

Fall Comes and Goes [2009]

"Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;

While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain:

Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets.

And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh. =T
(Immunology test tomorrow, then Hematology Friday... this weeks test results have not been so hawt)
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil."
Ecclesiastes 12:1,2 verse 5, verse 12-14
......
Took the picture this morning... i figured the good-looking slash pretty [hehe] leaves will leave us soon... especially my fav red ones. so grabbed my camera and jacket and snap snap :)Fall Break is this weekend!!! Monday-Tuesday off. :) can't wait to graduate this year and start working... i wonder what i'll say later when i'm already working... hmmm...

Perfect Humility

"These six things does the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto Him:
A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren."
Proverbs 6:16-19

A friend once told me, that when he first saw me, he thought I was a 'proud-looking' guy. =? I've prayed to God to help me with that ever since. I hope I am no longer that same guy.

Thank you Lord for being with me through another week...