Another Gem

Ok need to save this up as well. Another gem indeed . https://annvoskamp.com/2018/12/how-to-stop-all-procrastination-dear-you-trying-to-do-that-hard-thing-in-the-new-year-2/

This is The Year
to maybe purpose to —

* Embrace Imperfect.

This is The Year to be held by the arms of grace, not to any standard of perfection.

* Engage Silence — not screens.

This is The Year to engage silences regularly & retreat to the “back side of the wilderness.” Because when you do not need to be seen or heard — you can see and hear in desperately needed ways.
You find your true self when you look for your reflection in the eyes of souls — and not the glare of screens.

* Be still.

Be small. Be Loved. Beloved.
Let yourself be loved anyway He wants to love you. God is always, always good & you are always, always, always. loved.
Be still …. & know.

* Believe in Him for impossABLE things.

Believe in Him who makes the ridiculously impossible into the miraculously possible,
the unbelievable into the you-better-believe-it,
the never into the now.
Be the brave people who pray it bold in the space between the end of one year & the beginning of a New Year: BUT GOD.
“Ours is the God who whispers: “With Me nothing, Nothing, NOTHING is impossible.”
Believe in Him for impossABLE things — because as long Emmanuel, God is with us & we are with God: nothing is impossible.
Believe in Him for improbable, implausible, impractical, impossABLE things.

* Break idols — or they will break you.

Break free, break out of ruts, break idols — or they will break you.

* Daily 3 for 10:

These 3 for 10 everyday: Word In. Work Out. Work Plan.
It’s not what you do every now and then, but what you do everyday, that changes everything.
Word in: Get into God’s Word for 10 minutes and let it get into you.
Work out: Work out. Even 10 minutes of moving is better than nothing.
Work plan: Write out the Work Plan — even just 3 things. And then just start: 10 minutes working the plan.

* Do Less. Pray More.

More than your doing hands, God wants your bended knees.

* Let Go of the Outcome.

Come completely committed to the process — and completely let go of the outcome.
In the middle of things seemingly not working out for us —- God is working out something in us.

* Learn Endurance.

Do Hard & Holy Things. Break the idols of ease — or they will break you.

* Live Given.

Because #LoveGives.
Because God so loved He gave.
Because Living is Giving.

* Give

It
Forward
Today — 3 times a day.
Give It Forward Today & be the #GIFT — give an act of grace forward, 3 times a day. Be a #GIFTivst
It’s the Giftivists are the activists who believe that radical acts of generosity counter radical acts of inhumanity. #GIFTivst

* Grow Brave. Grow in Grace

Grow Brave. Grow in Grace. Which is basically the same thing.
I kinda scratched the whole thing down — then slipped the SOULutions into a frame. Figuring that unless you can daily see your Life SOULutions…. the year will end up to be more of a dissolution of your life.
Maybe that’s one of the keys I’d never turned: Framable SOULutions — to frame up a new year, a new you.

Good Stuff

I extracted wholly this from Ann Voskamp's website (https://annvoskamp.com/2019/01/crazy-stressed-days-need-this-life-plan-a-manifesto-to-stay-sane/)


I think this is really good to keep things in perspective and focus. So beautiful and sums up well so much truth.

1. First things first: Word in. Work out. Work plan.
Open your eyes every morning and just do three first:
Word in: Get into God’s Word and let it get into you.
Work out: Work out. Even  5 minutes of moving is better than nothing. (baby steps! together we can do this!)
Work plan: Write out the work plan. And then work the plan.
2. “What a heart knows by heart is what a heart knows”
Write your memory verses on a sticky note, on a chalkboard, for your pocket.
Because when you are memorizing Scripture, quiet time with the Lord — becomes all the time. (Who doesn’t want that?)
3. Flame first.
Light a candle first thing in the morning.
So you remember: You are the light that is put on a stand so that it gives light to everyone in the house.
4. Your work is art: it needs a soundtrack.
Find your music.
Play your music.
Sing your music. This is profound.
Vincent van Gogh said: “When sailors have to move a heavy load or raise an anchor, they all sing together to keep them up and give them vim. That’s just what artists lack.”
5. Step on the Snake Before Breakfast
Before breakfast, crush one hard thing that is tempting you to think there are impossible things.
Before breakfast, crush that one thing and prove that all things are possible with God.
6. Stay in the pool
Michael Phelps said it in an interview: “You’ve just got to stay in the pool longer than others.”
Set the timer. Get in the pool. Stay in the pool. Do your work. Don’t get distracted. Don’t flit from one thing to another and back.
Don’t get out of the pool, don’t leave your work, until the timer goes. The way to win is to stay in the pool.
7. Clean a space = clear headspace
Keeping the workspace clean, clears your headspace to think.
8. Go Slow. Life Zone. Life isn’t an Emergency: It’s a gift.
Life isn’t an emergency. It’s a gift.
Life’s so extraordinary it warrants going slow, held in reverential awe.
Only the slow see their lives. Which makes it seem longer and richer.
9. Make Laughter Your Chocolate
The more you laugh, the longer you live. You can’t afford not to laugh more. Make laughter your chocolate.
10. No songs without rhythm
Every song needs a rhythm; every week needs a routine. Tie certain tasks to a day or another activity.
Always memorize after breakfast or always make a double batch of soup on Saturday.
Your life makes music when you play a string of tasks always together.
11. On 25, Take 5
For every 25 minutes “in the pool” working – take 5 minutes off. Live by pomodoros. Really. Life-changing.
12. Unplug to plug into your purpose
Only if you want to plug into peace and purpose and your big picture – then unplug for certain hours everyday.
Constant connectivity effects productivity like a marijuana high.
13.Watch Your Nos & Your Yeses will take Care of Themselves
Everything you say yes to, you say no to something else.
Are your yeses forcing you to say no to what really want to say yes to?
Don’t have guilt over a no – because every no is saying a better yes.
14. Daily Stillness Appointment
When is your 5 minute stillness appointment everyday?
Write that midday time in stone. No cancellations allowed. For 5 minutes midday, be still and cease striving.
Know He is God and the day looks very different.
Slow down: You only pass by this way once.
15. If the Heaven’s Declare, get out there.
The whole of the sky and the world is speaking endlessly of His glory.
When you step outside and listen, your soul revives. You need that.
You really need one walk outside a day. Even it’s just out the door to get the mail or walk the dog around the block or a walk around the yard before you have to get in the car.
16. Work on your Wall before Noon
Like Nehemiah who worked on rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, build your wall, building whatever God has uniquely called you to — a particular work project, a creative project, homeschooling, homemaking, a ministry. Everyday before noon, work on your wall, laying down 3 stones before noon.
If you don’t intentionally work on your wall, the tyranny of the urgent can make your life a rubble heap.
17. Envision the End Goal
Like God gave Abraham a vision of the stars of the sky and told him he would have that many children, hang up a picture so you always have a vision of your goal.
18. Everyday, not Every Now and Then
Random acts of greatness pale in comparison to habitual acts of faithfulness.
It’s not what you do every now and then, but what you do everyday, that changes everything. 
Do something at the same time everyday and you find yourself a new person.
19. Hard Stops
The only way to get anywhere safely is to make complete stops.
Make hard, complete stops at set times throughout the day to pray. Otherwise you’re risking a crash.
9, 12, 3, on the hour, might be times to set an a gentle, chime alarm for – and just stop and pray.
Praying at set times throughout the day is how both Jesus and the early church lived their days: God marking time.
20. The Holy, Happiness Habit {Count Gifts}
Write down 3 things a day you are grateful for. Hunt for His glory. Look for the beauty. Count 1000 gifts.
All research says that giving thanks is guaranteed to make you 25% happier. Who. Doesn’t. Want. That.?
Thank Him for this is definitely God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Take the Joy Dare! Make right where you are your happy place.
21. Ebenezers for the Efforts
Mark little milestones! Celebrate! The little things!
A treat at the end of the day, end of the week, end of the project, end of the term.
Hang a bunting. Taste something sweet. Take a happy, thumbs up picture to mark your progress!
Make an album of a year, of the process, of the overcoming.
22. Father Affirmations
You need these everyday. Whisper them aloud, who you really are if you are IN Christ:
I am complete in Christ. Colossians 2:9-10
I have direct access to the throne of grace through Jesus Christ. Hebrews 4:14-16
I am free from condemnation. Romans 8:1-2
I am assured that God works for my good in all circumstances. Romans 8:28
I am free from any condemnation brought against me and I cannot be separated from the love of God. Romans 8:31-39
I am confident that God will complete the good work He started in me. Philippians 1:6
I have not been given a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7
23. Breathe
Breathing in and breathing out like this will radically change the quality of your life. Breathe.
24. Hard and Bad Day? Hot Bath
An evening routine of a hot bath at the end of the hard and bad days?
Yes.
25. Rest so you can have the rest of God.
Sleep is more than your friend — it’s your God-given fuel.
Tomorrow always begins with the night before, so turn in early so tomorrow can turn out well.

Celebrating our 11th Wedding Anniversary at HaiDiLao

On Wednesday, wifey and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary at HaiDiLao (Vivocity) . That was the very first time wifey tried HDL and I am glad to be the one she went with.

It was a good lunch date as we managed to spend some private moments together. After lunch we went to shop for dearie's backpack and also at Mothercare and got Kai his Christmas present which is a water toy. Hope he will like it.


We headed back home after a simple dinner at Mcdonald's.

A good time to remind ourselves on our wedding verse :

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  1 Corinthians 13:4-7

 

Simple Pleasure

Wifey bought me this when she went for her survey yesterday. It was delicious, great way to start off the day.


Thank you wifey..




I am quite easily satisfied...

Unseen

Just finished reading this book, the second book by Sara Hagerty.


I enjoyed her style of writing in her first book Every Bitter Thing is Sweet, so I ordered this once it hits the shelf.


The primary theme of this book revolves around the act of Mary Magdalene pouring expensive perfume at the feet of Jesus (in John 12:1-8). To many who witnessed what she did, it was an extravagant waste but to Mary, it was worship.


Sara wrote that as we spent our years in season of hiddenness, nothing is ever wasted. Those barren years, those tears that has been shared privately, the.painful experiences, mundane settings and repetitive tasks that we have been doing day after day which no one noticed, God sees them all.


We have been invited to those moments and as we fix our eyes on Jesus despite how others sees us, we grow deeper and more intimate with Him.


The message is simple but it is becoming more relevant as social media threatened to infiltrate our lives from all angles, with many addicted to the approval of man and their "likes" on facebook. This book remind us to take a step back and appreciate the private moments where there is nothing to post and nothing to boast.


 

My Contribution to Ministry of Football (MOF) - Grassroot Project

Football – the beginning

My love affair with football started in the year 1989. I was captivated by the Road to Wembley tune and the first game I remembered watching on television was the FA Cup final between Merseyside rivals Liverpool and Everton.

The pulsating match ended 3-2 after extra time. Ian Rush and his lookalike John Aldridge were the heroes on that day. That was also the year the Hillsborough Tragedy occurred and it changed the landscape of English football as well as Liverpool’s history forever.

I became a fan of the reds and when we lost the league title to Arsenal with a last gasp Michael Thomas’ goal the following year, I was heartbroken. Incidentally, Liverpool haven’t won the league title since then.

My dad fuelled my passion for football by buying me “SHOOT”,“MATCH” and sometimes 90 Minutes Magazines weekly from the Indian mama shop at Ghim Moh market then. It cost $2.70 and at that time, quite a princely amount. Before internet and ESPN, that was where I read about the match reports, players’ ratings and interviews of all my favourite footballers. The bonus was of course, the centrefold Team photo.

As we watched them play, me and my neighbours would imitate John Barnes, Paul Gascoigne, Stuart Pearce etc… and have our own games barefooted at the void deck. Starting off with plastic balls, we eventually upgraded to Addidas tango and smashed several lightings along the way, running away when we saw the police car approaching.

Manchester United was turning out to be a force then and a dynasty ensued under Sir Alex Ferguson. Watching them play it really reflected their belief that “we never get beaten, we just ran out of time” and they did knock Liverpool off their “**** perch”

Other than English football, I was also following Serie A because it was shown on TV, but found them a bit boring as it was a more defensive and tactical league. The likes of Napoli, AC Milan, Inter and Sampdoria were mostly churning out dull 1-0 and 0-0 results week after week.

Josko Spanjic & Boris Lukic and the semi pro league.

On to the local scene, in the late 80’s I clearly remembered we had 2 Foreigners in our semi pro team, they were rather average and so was our team. We would win a game and lose the next one. This pattern will continue year after year.

Our players then were people like David Lee, D Tokijan, Hashnim Haron, Deveraj Doraisamy etc… we were wearing the white Toyota jersey and I was thinking how easily they got dirty on the rainy pitch.  

It was a relatively dull and boring era for Singapore football.

Drinks Culli Pak Popiah

In the 90s, I started going to the National Stadium with my dad to catch Malaysia Cup games when I was in Secondary school. I am sure many Singaporeans have sweet nostalgic memories of our old Kallang Stadium. Our own Old Lady.

Every Saturday brought new excitement, especially so if giants like Selengor, Kedah, Pahang came to play. Joe Dorai and The New Paper would drum up support throughout the week by hyping up the weekend matches and tickets will be sold out within a day. No, a few hours.  

this is how the ticket look like - hot property!

The noise inside the stadium, the Kallang Roar (created by collectively stamping our feet) and the Kallang wave formed fond memories even as I look back now as a 40-year-old. Who can forget queueing behind so many uncles just to use the flooded urinal during half time and navigating through thick acrid cigarette smoke to go back to my bench?

On the pitch, we have probably the best Foreign Talent Singapore has ever welcomed in Abbas Saad and Alistair Edwards (I also remembered a certain Craig Forster and he was a decent player and very good looking, then there were “colourful” characters like Michael Vana and Sandro Radun who were involved in match fixing allegations) as they mesmerized the 55000 weekly with their charisma and skill.

One of the best game I witnessed was the 3-2 defeat by Myanmar in the 1993 SEA games. Steven Tan tried his best to rescue us but Lim Tong Hai’s own goals did real damage to our medal hope.

With the return of Fandi, Malek Awab from KL together with oppa Jang Jung, we suddenly had a very impressive team which reached their peak as they trashed Pahang in the Shah Alam 4-0!

I didn’t make the trip down there but cannot forget how the HDB blocks shook and reverberated with shouts of joy as we absolutely obliterated our rival, marshalled by Alan Davidson and Scott Ollerenshaw and plummeted them with goals after goals.

The result was unexpected but much welcomed as we brought the cup home one last time.

Though not in the team that won the Malaysia Cup, Sundramoorthy scored one of the best goal ever witnessed at the National Stadium with his overhead kick against Brunei in a 6-0 victory.

For all their exploits on the pitch, the Lions still found time to release an album and I remembered it goes something like, up and down left and right, Malek can criss cross, Sundram is gonna razzle dazzle you…” ah fun times indeed for Singapore soccer.

Even as I type, the memories of household names like captain Nazri Nasir, Lee Man Hon with his sweet left foot, the disciplined Kadir Yahya bombing down the wings and the late Russian Tank Borhan Abu Samah came flooding back.

There is also a certain Zulklifli Katayoho who has the natural inclination to send his shots to the top tier of the National Stadium.

Four Stars Lion

Under Raddy Abramovic, the lions won the AFC Suzuki Cup 4 times. Though very proud of their achievements, I do not have much recollection of most of those competition as they were mostly disciplined performances rather than flair that won us those ASEAN titles.

The new group of players who were involved were Hariss Harun, Nor Alam Shah, Baihakki Khaizan, Sharil Ishak and Izwan Mahmud and many are still actively playing right now.

I do remember Thailand threatening to walk out midway through one of the game against us.

Tiong Bahru United

After winning the 1994 Malaysia cup, Singapore pulled out of the competition, forming their own S League. As I am staying at Queenstown, I started supporting Tiong Bahru United who played their home matches at the Queenstown Stadium.

Tiong Bahru United’s roster included familiar names like Tong Hai, Steven Tan, S Subramani and was coached by Robert Alberts the Dutchman who led Kedah to League and cup titles. The S League then was drawing healthy crowds of about 3000+ to the neighbourhood stadium and teams had good foreigners like Tawan Sripan, Jures Eras, Marco Kraljevic to name but a few.

I followed Tiong Bahru Uniited FC to away games as well and bought their jersey to wear with much pride. The club later changed their name to Tanjong Pagar United FC and won the Singapore and League cup in 1998 under Tohari Paijan. We had Nicodeme Boucher, Dragan Talagic, Majid Motlagh. It was really a good team that just lost narrowly to SAFFC in the league race.

Right now, S League is in the doldrums and Tanjong Pagar United has already pulled out of the competition for quite a few years.  It is my hope that the competition will have a fresh injection of funds and ideas. A major revamp is long overdue.

Contributed by

Marc Ong

A Logo

Was playing around with MS Paint and thought of designing a logo for this blog...




Recently a few friends started having their own business, so I was thinking about that too.


However, I do not know what kind of business to go into which has a low barrier of entry, low cost and the area which I can value add.




But if I ever have my own business, I will call also call it the First garden and this logo shall be my company's logo.  :o)


Its a start isn't it...




A very amateurish one