here is a something i thought about today.

faith translates into strength.

like that faith that gives you the confidence that God is IN whatever you’re going through at present?

and that conviction that keeps you trusting?

translates into strength doesn’t it?

supernaturally you’re assured again that things are under control, that God is still on the throne, you get that power boost and whatsoever troubling you before isn’t that overwhelming anymore.

pretty cool don’t you think?

i like having that sort of faith. makes me strong!

..| Can I trust you?
..| Do you care about me?
..| Do you know what you’re talking about?

The first question is about a speaker’s “ethos” or character. A listener has to believe a speaker is good and trustworthy (“ethical”) before he/she will really listen to the message.

The second question refers to a speaker’s “pathos” or empathy. A listener must not only believe the teacher is trustworthy, but also wants to make an emotional connection with the listener.

The third question is about a speaker’s “logos” or logic. The content must be credible to be accepted.

Aristotle believed that the best communicators make attempts to answer all three questions a listener is “asking.”

Take a moment and think about your favorite communicators. (1) Do you trust them? Does their life seem real? (2) Do you feel like they care about you when they speak? Do they communicate in such a way that you genuinely believe they care about your well-being? And, (3) Do they know what they are talking about? Does their content make sense and ring true?

Many youth workers unintentionally blow past the first two principles (ethos and pathos) and skip straight to the content. In some ways it’s as if the youth worker is saying, “I’ve got some truth that I believe will be important to you!” When this is the case, preparing the message begins and ends with, “am I saying all the correct things?” That’s fine, but the problem with this sole focus of communication is that your audience doesn’t care about much you know (at first)…they want to know if they can trust you and if you care about them. All three elements are important in good communication.

-Doug Fields & Matt McGill-

but i just had to come by to say, life’s been really awesome the past 9 months.

hasn’t been all roses for sure but big guy up there never wants to fail!

he’s wayy cool.

and just maybe.. i’ll try and be cooler. ha

cyas

as i write, i can’t say for sure what the future will be like for me. but i know wherever god places me, i will flourish. so i am not worried :)

ahh..good times.
god is amazing..i can’t stop saying that, can’t stop thinking that, can’t stop praising him.

i pray that 2010 will be an even more amazing year for every single one of us. it will be unreal. be ready to embark on this new journey. it will only be good because our father in heaven is GOOD!

happy happy new year.

that’s more than enough.

:)

like just waiting and not knowing..

it’s like even though there’s no impairment in your body, you’re helpless.

and like you really can’t do anything but wait.

but waiting means trusting.

waiting means the testing of your faith.

the test of how much you believe in his good nature.

the test of how much you believe in his good, pleasing and perfect will.

he already knows what lies ahead, but he will only reveal them to you when he wants to.

oh it drives you crazy. but why fret.. don’t you believe he loves you more than anything?

i do.. and i’ll wait.. even though it drives me crazy.

i’ll trust. i’ll work on that faith. and oh i can’t wait for the beautiful things coming my way!!!

but for now, i’ll wait :D

They bear hardships and they carry burdens, but they hold happiness, love and joy.
They smile when they want to scream.
They sing when they want to cry.
They cry when they are happy and laugh when they are nervous.
They fight for what they believe in.
They stand up to injustice.
They don’t take “no” for an answer when they believe there is a better solution.
They go without so their family can have.
They go to the doctor with a frightened friend.
They love unconditionally.
They cry when their children excel and cheer when their friends get awards.
They are happy when they hear about a birth or a wedding.
Their hearts break when a friend dies.
They grieve at the loss of a family member, yet they are strong when they think there is no strength left.
They know that a hug and a kiss can heal a broken heart.
Women come in all shapes, sizes and colors.
They’ll drive, fly, walk, run or e-mail you to show how much they care about you.
The heart of a woman is what makes the world keep turning.
They bring joy, hope and love.
They have compassion and ideas.
They give moral support to their family and friends.
Women have vital things to say and everything to give.

HOWEVER, IF THERE IS ONE FLAW IN WOMEN, IT IS THAT THEY FORGET THEIR WORTH.

-anonymous-

so often we forget how much power and influence we have as women. but it’s high time we leave our insecurities to God and step up to the call. we can do so so much!

3 years.

still kinda unreal.

god is so gracious. so merciful. so good.

love every single bit of this life he’s given me.

i wish i know what is ahead.. but i prefer to be surprised more :)

know that God cannot lie (Hebrews 6:18), and if He said so, so it shall be.

so be praying fervently, and be asking for the righteous to join with you – for prayer avails so so much!

1. a growing openness to experience – no need to defend

2. an increasingly existential living – living fully in the present

3. increasing trust in one’s own organism – trusts own judgment and ability to choose behaviour that is appropriate for each moment.

4. freedom of choice – determines own behaviour and the consequence thereafter

5. creativity – adapts to own circumstances without feeling a need to conform

6. reliability and constructiveness – can be trusted to act constructively

7. a rich full life – full and exciting life, experiences joy and pain, love and heartbreak, fear and courage more intensely.

Rogers’ description of the good life:
“ This process of the good life is not, I am convinced, a life for the faint-hearted. It involves the stretching and growing of becoming more and more of one’s potentialities. It involves the courage to be. It means launching oneself fully into the stream of life. (Rogers 1961)

———–

are you a fully functioning person?

———–

now back to psyc1002.

We’re deceived into believing that the standard for beauty is dictated by super models that have been so elevated in our culture or by the latest celebrity to catch the media’s eye. But God doesn’t want us to reflect them; He wants us to reflect Him.

God does not want us to live in bondage of any kind. As daughters of the King, we should not be slaves to the latest fashions and fads, but neither should we present ourselves like slobs. In his letter to the Galations, Paul writes, “Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, everything he has belongs to you” (4:7, NLT). Remember, you are a princess in God’s royal court. Just before we read in Proverbs 31:30 that “charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last,” (NLT) we see in verse 22 that God’s ideal woman is clothed “like royalty in gowns of finiest cloth” (NLT) (which she probably found while bargain hunting in verse 18!).

We need to make the most of what God has given us. As my mother always said, “Accentuate the positive, underplay the negative.: At the same time, we need to make sure theree is a constant deposit of character, wisdom, perspective, and temperance – inner beauty.

(from Pretty is as Pretty does, For Such a Time as This by Lisa Ryan)

He showed me the important thing was our attitude in running – running to win the prize, not fearfully or half-heartedly. I believe a crown is waiting for us at the end of our race. Each of us who runs with that attitude will definitely win. When I look at others who seemingly run faster and better, I take comfort in the word of God that says to whom much is given, much is expected. They are much more gifted, much more good looking, much more eloquent, and are supposed to be faster, or they may lose their crown.

I think there’s a reason the Bible encourages us to look to the author and finisher of our faith. It stops us from comparing. When I look at Jesus the only thing I want to do is to run better, so that one day I can hear him say, “Well done! Good and faithful servant.”

Let’s encourage each other in the race, ’cause we all can win. “

so good.

do this so that whenever thoughts come creeping in, you have the sword which is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword to fight the devil.

this is what you ought to do.
the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
do not let your guards down. it is too risky.

God has given us everything we need.
nothing except what is common to man will seize us. nothing that is beyond what we can bear.
He has provided a way out so that you can stand up under it.

so read the word.
meditate.
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.

fight the battle. USE YOUR SWORD.

Radical difference in the brain development of prenatal males and females include the left side of the brain of a little girl develops more quickly than that of her brother. This results in an ability to better express herself verbally than her male counterpart… This produces intuitive reasoning and sensitivity, something men don’t have in the same way. Unborn female babies recognize their mothers’ voices than do male babies, and after they are born they can identify faces sooner than their brothers can.

(For such a time as this, Lisa Ryan)
Women can transfer data between the right and left hemispheres faster than men can. That’s why women are multitaskers when it comes to communication. We listen and communicate by using both the logical (left) and creative (right) sides of the brain. Have you ever noticed that women can perform a task while carrying on one conversation and listening to another, taking in not only the facts but also every nuance of voice inflection, body language, mood and setting?

Part of that has to do with the fact that females have a larger limbic system (the part of the brain that processes our emotions), which is why women are more in touch with their feelings and have a greater need to communicate them. Because of this, women have an increased ability to bond and connect emotionally to others. By God’s design, women are relational, intuitive, observant, sensitive, emotional, tenderhearted, compassionate, nurturing creatures. It’s the way they are wired. Since both men and women are made in the image of God, the uniqueness as females is a direct reflection of the heart of God. And God uses the elements of tenderness, compassion, endurance, self-sacrifice, and the mothering instinct to touch the world in distinctly feminine ways.

(The Power of Femininity, Michele McKinney)
It is an inner quality that emanates from a woman who knows her calling and her value. Feminine women are strong women because their influence is deeply felt. This influence gets beneath the surface because it is invited in. It is invited in because it is attractive and non-threatening. It is non-threatening because it doesn’t seek to intimidate. You see, the feminine woman knows who she is and celebrates being all woman. She lets who she is naturally do all the work for her. The gift of influence is the invisible power that women overlook… Because influence is a heart thing… the ability to affect the heart… The heart is the originator of all decisions.

The motivation behind the dating game and going steady is often lust and personal gratification at the risk of the welfare of others. These introduces a ‘woundedness’ to those involved that flows on to wound others too. Wounds of not feeling honoured, special or loved cut deep into the soul. Unless healing occurs the wounds may continue to impact over a lifetime.

If a young man takes a young woman whom God never intended to be his wife, makes her his girlfriend, holds her hand, kisses her and deliberately acts to rouse her sexual passions, he is making a harlot of somebody else’s future wife. He is taking the place of his brother in a manner that God has reserved for her husband alone. Even if they never actually fornicate, the attitude of “harlotry” is so destructive. He is defrauding both his own future wife and the future husband of the woman he is practicing his romantic techniques on.

So how far can you go?

As far as it is appropriate with your sister or brother. You are not permitted to go beyond until God says he or she is yours. Stop treating each other as if you know because fact is, you don’t and you’re only messing up someone else’s husband or wife and God hates that behaviour because He is a holy God. You have no rights to cross that boundary until you know for sure.

Damaged intimacy can affect the way one experiences intimacy the way they were designed to. It grieves God if we keep sticking and tearing apart. There is a plan for your life. You are not on the market. Life begins when you realise God has a plan for your life, not when you have someone to be with.

If dating were simply a guy spending time with a girl getting to know each other there would not be a problem. However dating is about an experimental romance. It is about a trial run in someone else’s emotions and someone else’s life. The need for love and acceptance has become a manipulative tool in the hands of the devil by which people’s lives might be destroyed rather than fulfilled. Dating provides a partner to experiment with and reduces the search for intimacy to the level of an emotional toy. It really is ‘getting the hots and going for it’.

You have no rights to build a bond with someone just because it feels nice to have a hand to hold. If you don’t have what it takes to honour the emotional bond you are creating, someone is about to get hurt. If this is not the husband or wife of your future, then you are about to wound someone else’s husband or wife. This is a matter of profound importance and we must address it.

Some say: But how will I find my life’s love if I’m not allowed to date? Fact is, you may never find your life’s love because you date. Some people get married because they’ve spent so much time together they ought to make it worthwhile. Singleness is a season of life that has its own purpose and value. The things that could have been accomplished in the season of singleness can be wasted and foregone in a series of fruitless and destructive relationships. The season of singleness can be a great time for study, service, travel, personal development etc. If you are single, accept it from God as a season during which something special is to be accomplished.

(from search for intimacy – written and developed by Dr. Allan Meyer)

god is awesome :D

do no sleep or you will grow poor, stay awake and you will have food to spare. proverbs 20:13

a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man, proverbs 24:33-34

the sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied. proverbs 13:4

get moving. don’t waste away the gift in you!

then you are being proud. so proud that you devalued the price paid for you on the cross. so proud that you disregarded the love that redeemed you and called you beloved. so proud that you belittled the victorious power given you – the power that conquered the grave.

so proud that you think you ought to do it on your own.

He said “lean on, trust in, and be confident in Him with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. know, recognise, and acknowledge Him in all your ways, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

is it not clear to you that He is the vine, you are the branches? (John 15:5)
have you not understood that His divine power has given you everything you need for life and godliness? (2 Peter 1:3)

apart from him, you are but a broken-off branch, withered and ready to be thrown into fire (John 15:6).
but if you remain in him, you will bear much fruit (John 15:5).

being good enough didn’t earn you a place from the outset. you did not choose Him. He chose you and appointed you to bear fruit – fruit that will last (John 15:16). He initiated. He wanted to bless. He wanted to give. not a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline (2 Timothy 1:7). a full life – so abundant it overflows (John 10:10). His eyes are on you, His ears are attentive to your cry (Psalm 34:15).

why will you ever not be good enough then? do you not know you are demanded to access His riches? that if you demand, you will receive, and your joy will be complete (John 16:24)? are you aware of His wealth – that when the floodgates of heaven are thrown open, you will not have room enough to contain it (Malachi 3:10)?

then go for it. demand! whatever you wish, and it will be given to you (John 15:7). those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame (Psalm 34:5)!

remember, God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (1 Peter 5:5). Humility is not in beating yourself up. Humility is in running to the giver of all things and recognising you are indeed good enough because He has laid down everything possible for you to exploit – if only you break from your pride and stop doing it on your own.

mag’s coming to fri night church with me this fri!!!!

it’s gonna be amazing!!

pray with me will ya.. she’s a dear friend :D

just.. i can’t recall the last time i had a report-writingLess week..

working on one right now, but it feels like i’ve left this lil space for far too long..

just want to say, if you get a chance, read mary m. byers’ “how to say No..AND life to tell about it”

packed with wisdom, practical tips and proven strategies, the book makes it easier for you to protect your valuable time, talent, and money by saying no. you’ll discover how to identify the best use of your time each day, use your gifts and talents more often and turn down “opportunities” graciously. hopefully, you’ll discover the joy of excelling at everything you do, focusing on what you love and maximising your effectiveness.

the best thing is, it’s less than $10!

check it out!