I was quite nervous about this morning’s Sunday school lesson. After all, it’s not easy to do a sharing session about talents and giftings to a group of children between 10 –12 years old. What will they know about talents and giftings? Will they seriously search their hearts before sharing? Heck, they may not even want to share at all in class. Often, sharing times are met with replies of “I don’t know”, a shrugged of shoulder and a shake of head. Well, the next hour can be quite a challenge if they all choose to remain silent …..
I started gently with them on the paper craft lesson to show that they are all unique – made by God in a very special way and given special talents and giftings by God. And, as I challenged them to think about each of their gifts and talents, I was silently praying that God would reveal them to the children.
And, the children were amazing! When it was their turn, they shared unabashedly their talents and strengths. Some recognized their talents in singing, playing musical instruments, teaching, hospitality and strengths to discipline the younger children. Each of them chipped in on the giftings that they see in their friends, too. What a joy to see the happy looks and the big smiles around the room as the children began to realize and share about their talents and giftings! Their confidence grew. They talked excitedly about how to use their talents. Most importantly, they realized too, that they have a purpose in life, which is to expand and nurture their talents and to find ways to serve others.
Every child has talents and giftings given by God for a purpose.
I count it a privilege to help them discover each of their talents and giftings and putting them into good use.
What a wonderful hope we have in these children who are ready to be groomed to serve the Lord with their talents and giftings.
The world can take great comfort in this hope, too.
talking corners
Monday, May 26, 2008
Thursday's night out
Last Thursday was a mad rush to the cinema after work. We beat the heavy traffic and crowd to catch Indy in his latest adventure. Arriving with mere minutes to spend, we only managed a combo meal from Auntie Anne’s as dinner, promising ourselves a sinful indulgence into rich caramel popcorn later during the movie.
The movie stayed true to its original style. Indy’s on-screen appearance, his infamous hat and whip, his wit, silly grin and at times, goofy antics - everything breeds familiarity! It didn’t seem like there was an absence of 19 years from the last movie at all!
The story unraveled well with lots of action from the word go. They stuck to the old fashioned way of travelogue – showing the plane flying across the map. How classic can that be? I enjoyed the movie very much, except towards the end of the show. The spoiler? Well, dear Steven Spielberg had to bring in ET into the show! Oh, no!!! Why??
It was kinda hard to swallow that bit of alien part…..but to think of Cate Blanchett in that outrageously funny hair style….. Maybe the aliens were not so strange after all!
Pretty good movie overall. And, who knows? We may see an Indy 5 in the near future with the talented Shia Labeouf.
The movie stayed true to its original style. Indy’s on-screen appearance, his infamous hat and whip, his wit, silly grin and at times, goofy antics - everything breeds familiarity! It didn’t seem like there was an absence of 19 years from the last movie at all!
The story unraveled well with lots of action from the word go. They stuck to the old fashioned way of travelogue – showing the plane flying across the map. How classic can that be? I enjoyed the movie very much, except towards the end of the show. The spoiler? Well, dear Steven Spielberg had to bring in ET into the show! Oh, no!!! Why??
It was kinda hard to swallow that bit of alien part…..but to think of Cate Blanchett in that outrageously funny hair style….. Maybe the aliens were not so strange after all!
Pretty good movie overall. And, who knows? We may see an Indy 5 in the near future with the talented Shia Labeouf.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Heading Home : “That’s not all folks!”
Seated in a 4-seater row in the plane, I have 2 more empty seats beside me. I was thinking how nice it’ll be when the crew dim the lights, then I can stretch myself out on the 2 seats and sleep! But, before I could do that, another lady came by to the seat and to my horror, took off her shoes, lifted her feet and plopped her feet next to me! Eeeuuwww! That smell! I wanted to puke! I tried hinting to her subtlely to get her feet off the seat, but she wouldn’t budge. In the end, after an hour’s struggle with the smell, I had to wake her up and tell her frankly that I needed her feet off the seat! There, I felt much better after that. Despite some flight turbulences, we finally touched down again in Malaysian soil at 4.15 am.
The trip was fun and especially priceless since I made it together with my dear hubby. We learnt much about ourselves and about one another. It also opened our eyes to see the different cultures and lifestyles. We just love traveling together and can’t wait to plan for our next trip again.
The trip was fun and especially priceless since I made it together with my dear hubby. We learnt much about ourselves and about one another. It also opened our eyes to see the different cultures and lifestyles. We just love traveling together and can’t wait to plan for our next trip again.
Day 4 : “Shopping! Shopping!And, more shopping!”
The final day was all about shopping! We headed together with another 2 couple to the Carrara markets. The taxi ride costed us AUD 9 per couple. The Carrara markets had all local goods for sale. One interesting stall that I particularly like was selling all kinds of buttons and laces. I have never seen so many different kinds of buttons, laces, ribbons and even different types of iron on stickers, in one single place in my whole entire life. The stall, ran by an elderly couple, occupied a space as big as a badminton court. They had so many goods with them, all so pretty and nice. Other stalls were also selling goods at bargained prices. Very good place to shop for things.
Later, we took a bus ride to the Pacific Fair. The bus ride costed us AUD1 per person. Pacific Fair was like any other shopping mall, so we spent about an hour only before we decided to head back to Harbour Town to do more shopping!
From Pacific Fair , we took a bus no. 738 , which costed us another AUD6.40 for 2 persons. Well, unknowingly to us, Harbour Town is the last stop for this bus, so we spent 1 hour of traveling in the bus :( Maybe we could have hopped on a different bus next time ….
Once in Harbour Town, it was more shopping!!
When we finally exhaust ourselves physically and financially, we took a bus no. 709 back to our hotel in Surfers. It costed us another AUD 6.40 for 2 persons. We reached the hotel just half an hour earlier before the coach came to transfer us to the airport. Ah, what a day!
Later, we took a bus ride to the Pacific Fair. The bus ride costed us AUD1 per person. Pacific Fair was like any other shopping mall, so we spent about an hour only before we decided to head back to Harbour Town to do more shopping!
From Pacific Fair , we took a bus no. 738 , which costed us another AUD6.40 for 2 persons. Well, unknowingly to us, Harbour Town is the last stop for this bus, so we spent 1 hour of traveling in the bus :( Maybe we could have hopped on a different bus next time ….
Once in Harbour Town, it was more shopping!!
When we finally exhaust ourselves physically and financially, we took a bus no. 709 back to our hotel in Surfers. It costed us another AUD 6.40 for 2 persons. We reached the hotel just half an hour earlier before the coach came to transfer us to the airport. Ah, what a day!
Day 3 : “Scooby Dooby Doo oooo !!!!”
Warner Bro’s Movie World! I was soooooo looking forward to this! My heart was racing like a child’s when I stepped into this Wonderland! Everything here was enchanting! The shops (Harry Potter's shop, Shrek's shop, The Daily Planet, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, etc), the characters from my favourite cartoon shows (Looney Tunes, Scooby Doo, Shrek, Batman etc), the ice cream parlour, the Wild Wild West…I was the wide-eyed child again, roaming with careless abandonment.
Finally, after a whole day in Movie World, we returned to the Hotel. In the evenings, we strolled along Surfers and found a place called Hog’s Breath Café where they served 100% Aussie meat. Really nice ambience and hugely popular among locals. We had to wait for 15 minutes before getting a place. But the food was worth the wait.
We started off by watching a 4D Shrek adventure show. It was extremely entertaining… and if you are going to catch it soon, beware of the effects. They’re so real. Be warned of the creepy spiders cause it sure did feel like they were crawling up your feet!! Eeee!
At the giant Panasonic screen up in the main street, many live performances were scheduled every hour. We watched The Looney Tunes Fab Four (Bugs, Daffy, Slyvester & Taz) paying their tribute to the sounds of The Beatles. We also caught the Batman and Scooby Doo show. Here, also, the All Star Parade took place, where all the stars will walk down the main street and back and adjourned for photo sessions.
Of course, there were the famed roller coaster rides in this park, namely the Lethal Weapon, Superman and Batman rides. Believe me, they’re definitely not for the faint hearted. They were so scary, that even watching them from the ground made my knees go weak. The Lethal Weapon ride, for instance, is where you seat with your feet dangling in the air, while the coaster takes you on 2 - 3 rounds of 360 degrees turns. The Superman rides are equally terrifying with a high speed coaster making an almost 90 degrees turn while descending at a break neck speed from the top! The Batman ride gives you an exhilarating vertical ride. It speeds up vertically, falls down equally fast and goes up again. You’ll feel like a human yo-yo….. so, we quickly concluded that we’ll give all these 3 rides a miss. Not to be taunted as too cowardly to try any roller coaster rides in a theme park, we settled for something less intimidating - the Scooby Doo ride! “Oh, boy! Oh, boy!” What a mistake! The ride was not as harmless as it sounds. It moves at a breakneck speed, doing 90 degrees turns and a REVERSE as well !! I dare anyone who thinks this is just a child’s ride to take it!!
The Wild Wild West area provided some good old cowboy feel. There was a a short performance and some game stalls. I tried 2 games but did not manage to win anything. Hubby, played 2 games and won both games! The prize? A cute small lion soft toy and a much coveted 2 ½ feet tall Bugs! My hero!
Finally, after a whole day in Movie World, we returned to the Hotel. In the evenings, we strolled along Surfers and found a place called Hog’s Breath Café where they served 100% Aussie meat. Really nice ambience and hugely popular among locals. We had to wait for 15 minutes before getting a place. But the food was worth the wait.
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