melanie's blog

Learning the unforced rhythm of grace...

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me – watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythm of grace, I won’t lay anything heavy or ill fitting to you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
Matt 11: 28-30

I am indeed so overwhelmed by all that is happening. The abundance of Grace and Providence by the One who loves me, it is just too good to be true. Is this what it means to flow with the unforced rhythm of Grace? Wow… I now look forward to more and much more of it moving in this world.

I’ll be starting work on Friday. Will be driving up KL with all my stuff tomorrow morning. Will pick up the car from my Uncle’s house and then my driving adventure will start in KL. It will really be exploratory, as I know nuts about the roads and places in KL, not to forget the mad drivers there.. oh no!!!… will be quite ‘fun’ I guess. Wish me well people. I’ll be staying at Damansara and driving everyday at peak hour to Shah Alam where I work. I am prepared to leave home 1 hour before work start. Sigh… what to do. And I will be doing a trial run on Thursday just to make sure I know the roads and won’t be late for the first day of work!!! This is quite scary, I have now with me a ‘Melway’ like street directory. I am depending on that map to get me through the roads in KL. Don’t you worry, it is not Melway. I know where I am.. :-) but the traffic jam!!!!!!!!

Cool man. I am so looking forward to this new season of my life. It will be quite challenging and different but better than staying home and rot. I am pretty excited about it, new people, new environment, new workmates, new city, new everything! WooHoo… will write more after i start on Friday, I have to pack now. Meanwhile, learn the unforced rhythm of grace!!! :-)

It has been so long...

It has been so long since I felt this way… The great feeling when things just happen, when things just fall into place. It was an amazing 48 hours I just had. Over the past 48 hours, I traveled from Kluang to KL, to Seremban and back to Kluang again; I was head-hunted and secured myself a job offer; I got myself a few places to choose to stay, I got myself a car to drive, I had my medical review done, had a huge discount on my medical bill ;-) and arranged for a total hip replacement surgery. Wow… it had been a long while since things happen for me. This is just too good to be true!! Praise the Lord.

It is just faith building seeing how all these things unfold. Was scheduled to have my medical review in Seremban GH with a SLE specialist on 22 March. That in itself was already a blessing, with contact from a friend and great help from family doctor Dr. Ng who made the connection for me. So when the head-hunter called all of a sudden, told me about this particular job and wanted an interview on the same day in KL, I wasn’t sure whether to attend.

It is amazing how when things are about to happen, you find help everywhere and it just come to you. It builds your faith and pushes you closer towards the goal. I received unforeseen help, blessings and encouragements throughout the whole process. First it was the eager God-sent head hunter, then was mum who encouraged me to go by offering to drive me up even though she don’t known the way. Then was the help and faith from other family members who just help put your problems aside. I made it to the company 1 hour earlier than my appointment with no traffic jam. After the interview, we rushed off to Seremban for my medical appointment. It was a long wait but worth it. The doctors there seemed much more professional and experienced than the one I saw in Gleneagles KL. They were friendly, helpful and compassionate. They even offered to help me arrange for my hip replacement surgery with KL University Hospital. To top it off, I only have to pay $30 for the first time and $5 subsequently for my reviews (inclusive of medicine and tests). What a breeze compared to my bill of thousands each time I review in KL. That left me smiling wide from 1 ear to the other!!

It was in the middle of my appointment when I received the job offer. So cool!! And I start 1st April, which is in less than 10 days. I was ready to accept the offer and that means I need a place to stay and a car to drive. It doesn’t take long to work out where I can stay. Once the news of me getting the job is being spread, I received offers from family members to stay at their homes. Now the choice is up to me, depending on which home is closer to work. Was also planning to buy a car but to buy a car in 1 week is a little bit too rushed… And guess what? My uncle has a spare car in KL and he offered to let me drive it till I get my own car. HAHAHAHA… How cool is that? All in 48 hours. Praise the Lord!!

After the whole incident, it just seems to me that when something is about to happen, nothing can stop it. On the contrary, help just appear from unexpected places and people. And some how you know in your heart that this is the way to go – I think it is faith. I strongly believe that God is with me in all these. Since the beginning of the episode till now, His hand is upon me and providing me with all that I need and even more. He uses the people around me and brings people to me to bless me. It is so unexpected and caught me once again by pleasant surprise. Another experience with God, one step closer to God. I think it is through all these experiences that I learn to recognize the inner voice of God within my heart.

Nothing on earth or heaven can stop what the Lord is doing

Nostalgia

Red and Yellow and Pink and Green
Purple and Orange and Blue
I can sing a rainbow
Sing a rainbow
Sing a rainbow too

I can sing a rainbow
Sing a rainbow
Sing along with me

Heard this song playing as part of the Australian Tourism Ad on TV, and it brought back a very clear picture in my mind. It reminded me of a particular Sunday afternoon when Evelyn, Cheryl and myself were hanging out at Howlett St, together with our hosts Sarah, E-Gene, Shawn, Wency and Charles. We were busy seaching the web just to find this song. Evelyn was trying her very best with help from Charles and Shawn... but in the end, we still couldn't find the mp3.... and we were playing Game Cube as well as PS2. Those were the time. Hmmm...

This song also reminds me of Nicole, and how she used to sing it to Joel.

Now, i do not only have the mp3 of this song, i have the full ad on my PC!!! anyone interested?

Miracle of Life

I became Auntie Melanie again today!!! My baby nephew currently nicknamed 'gigabyte' was born this morning at 8:34am. What a joy to the family! This is him, about 3 hours after birth. He is SOOOOO CUTE!!!

I guess for the parents, it was a joy words cannot utter. My cousin Kian almost teared when he held his child for the very first time. When the baby was brought to the mother, she simply said: "This is a miracle".

My mum always tell me that there is a special connection, a real burden a mother carries for her child, and it will take a mother to fully understand that. I do not claim to understand it at all, but interacting with my cousin in-law after childbirth makes it a little visible to me. Her care and concern for the child, the deep burden she carries for the child, her worries about his health, his food, his future, even at the expense of her own health and well-being. That is touching... Don't think i will fully understand that any time soon... :-) ... Hmmm

I guess it is through the miracle of life that the great love of a mother can be expressed and felt, just like the way God loves His children.
Indeed, every life given is a miracle in itself!! Praise the Lord!

God is here but where is Mel?

Since coming back here, apart from the International Retreat we had in Malacca, I have yet to experience a worship service where I was swept away by the majesty, holiness and glory of our Lord. It has been a long time since I was filled with the strong sense of belonging and togetherness with the rest of God’s army, marching in unison. It has been so long since I last jumped, or dance FREE in the Lord. It has been quite a while since I was last filled with the incredible JOY of the Lord. I miss that… I really miss that… I know I was made for that… What happened?

The thought of God is with me is no stranger to me at all. My journey in life till where I am today has taught me enough to know that God is with me. His Love and His mercies are new everyday and I have been spending the last 2 – 3 months knowing deep in my heart that God is with me even in my ‘aloneness’ – and that is assuring to know. However, something is amiss.

‘God is with me, God is with me’ Through my loneliness and challenges, God is with me. While I was praying this morning, a refreshing though came to me. Yes, God is with me, I have no doubt about that... but; the question is AM I WITH GOD? Am I with Him and what He is about?

With that gentle whisper into my heart, I began to realize that I am not with Him; I am not where He is. I am not with His army of soldiers moving in power. I am NOT. And maybe it is why I failed to be inspired, failed to see His Majesty and Holiness moving in this world. I am disconnected in my own world.

Now that God is with me where I am, I want and long to go back to where God is, where I was meant to be!!! May I once again be captured by His Majesty and Holiness – even in this spiritually dark place. May I find a place where I can freely express myself and be FREE!!!

Nerd???

Ok Dave, this is for you

Celebrated my cousin nephew’s Full Month yesterday. This is him when he was 2 days old.

At the same time, we are expecting another baby boy to arrive anytime now. Wow… so many babies!! Just hope to see the other baby boy in person soon.

Life is picking up a lil now (at least for the past week). There were enough events to keep me motivated. Went to KL for an interview with the Head Hunters – that’s exactly what they do!! I was meant to be interviewed for the position: Product Specialists, but told her that I would prefer more of a desk job where all I do is deal with information and papers. She said no problem; she has another job in mind for me. Cool!!!

So there I went packing my bag and zoomed to KL. Spent the weekend with my sisters just hanging out, shopping and eating. There were some good deals around town if you open your eyes big. :-)

On my way to the interview on Monday morning, there was this sweet and wonderful feeling of God’s love and companionship. I knew HE IS with me. =) I went for my interview at Phileo II Business Centre right opposite Menara Star where Jon works. My interview was supposed to be at 10am but she made me wait till 10:30am because she double booked herself – guess she intended to make one of us wait. Oh well.

The interview was not what I had imagined it to be. Normally, you prepare for a job interview, making sure you have questions to ask and prepare yourself to answer their questions. However, when I met her, it was nothing of that sort. The moment she sat down, she began to just talk and talk about the jobs she had for me. It was more of an information bombardment session rather than an interview – which is easy for me. She told me about 3 other jobs and it wasn’t very informative. She was quite ‘all over the place’ and in some sense she was trying to sell the job to me, a Science Graduate, just so that I would consider them and that she could just get her job done. Nothing about the company, nothing about the expectations of the positions was discussed. She seemed distracted and in a rush to go (not to mention her mobile phone rang a few times while she was interviewing, AND she actually picked them up EACH TIME and chatted for a long time considering she is in a meeting!!!) I waited while she talked on the phone and didn’t know what else to do. She told me that she would email me the details of the position discussed and that’s it! Is this good or bad? U judge for me…

I walked out of the office feeling OK. It was too early to say anything. Spent the rest of the day catching up with frens. First was coffee with Esther, lunch with Jon and dinner with Connie. What a full and meaningful day for me. It was so good catching up and spending quality time with each of them, encouraging each other with recent events that happened. That was beautiful!!! I was encouraged seeing and knowing that we’ve all chosen to take the same journey of faith. May God continue to lead us through.

And of course, I was left with the deep longing in my heart to be with my community once again. I am still missing you guys terribly. But I guess for now, I can only pray my best prayers for all of you there whom I Love dearly.