Captivating

Book reviewed written in Sept 22, 2007

謝謝Jennifer的介紹這是一本很棒的書﹐棒到我希望可以買給所有我認識的姐妹們說到了神如何在造女人的時候把祂的形像放在我們裡面而撒旦又為什麼一直的要攻擊女人也說到了我們可以怎樣的回到神的裡面從新的找到祂當初創造我們的時候所給我們的一個公主的身份。And because beauty is the essence of God, that's why we long for beauty too.

Some excerpts from the book:

I don't think I'm alone in this. Have you ever wondered why the Cinderella story keeps haunting us? Not only is it a perennial favourite of little girls; women love it too. Think of all the movies made along its themes, moves like Pretty Women and Ever After and A Cinderella Story and Maid in Manhattan. Why is this notion of a hidden princess (and a prince who comes ot find her) so enduring? Is there something in our hearts that is trying to speak to us? Is it just fantasy, excapism? Or is there something more?

The desire of a woman's heart and the realities of a woman's life seem an ocean aprt. Oh, we long for romance and an irreplaceable role in a great story; we long for beauty. But that's not the life we have. The result is a sense of shame. Having listened to the hearts of women for many, many years, both in the context of friendship and in the counseling office, we are struck by how deeply and universally wmen struggle with their self-worth. "I feel like a house hold appliance," one woman confessed to us. Now, this is not to say that men don't also wrestle with their sense of worth. But there is something deeper to this struggle for women, and far more universal. And there are reasons for it, reasons unique to Eve and her daughters.

............

............

The story of Eve holds such rich treasures for us to discover. The essence and purpose of a woman is unveiled here in the story of her creation. These profound, eternal, mythic themes are written not just here in the coming of Eve, but in the soul of every woman after. Woman is the crown of creation - the most intricate, dazzling creature on earth. She has a crucial role to play, a destiny of her own.And she, too, bears the image of God, but in a way that only the feminine can speak. What can we learn from her? God wanted to reveal something about himself, so he gave us Eve. When you are with a woman, ask yourself, what is she telling me about God? It will open up wonders for you.

First, you'll discover that God is relational to his core, that he has a heart for romance. Second, that he longs to share adventures with us - adventures you cannot accomplish without him. And finally, that God has a beauty to unveil. A beauty that is captivating and powerfully redemptive.

有興趣的就去買來看吧我自己反正是受益良多在看這本書的時候﹐聖靈在我身上的工作還滿多的希望你們看了之後也都有很大的得著﹗

Who is your God?

Who is your God?

Who is your God?

Seriously I'm asking this question...

You've been a Christian for such a long time

but the throne of life doesn't belong to Him

but to yourself

You handle things your ways

instead of His ways

You don't think He's big enough to cover all your worries

You think if you can't handle it, He can't handle it too

That's why God has never done anything big in your life

coz you limited Him!!

"August Rush"

My lil sis, Ruth rented this dvd the other day! And I just love it to the core! Haha, men that play guitar just attracts me =P

I love some of the quotes from this movie:

Sometimes the world tries ot knock it out of you. But I believe in music the way that some people believe in fairy tales. I like to imagine that what I hear came from my mother and father. Maybe the notes I hear, are the same ones they heard, the night they met. Maybe that's how they found each other. Maybe that's how they'll find me. I believe that once upon a time, long ago, they heard the music and followed it.

Listen. Can you hear it? The music. I can hear it everywhere. In the wind... in the air... in the light. It's all around us. All you have to do is open yourself up. All you have to do... is listen.

You never quit on your music. No matter what happens. Cuz anytime something bad happens to you, that's the one place you can escape to and just let it go. I learned it the hard way. And anyway, look at me. Nothing bad's gonna happen. You gotta have a little faith.

What do you want to be in the world? I mean the whole world. What do you want to be? Close your eyes and think about that.

Somewhere along the way

Somewhere along the way...
I dropped my faith
And then I went back
and picked it up again

I will keep it safe
where there is no person
no matters, or objects
that can take my faith away again

Appointment in Jerusalem

I finished this book during my two days of lying in bed. When I started reading it, I just couldn't resist it. This is a good book for new Christians as Lydia explained how she met God when she earnestly seek Him. God also showed her the purpose of her life and lead her to Jerusalem with where she started children's home. She left her prominent Job in Denmark, and arrived Jerusalem penniless, but God is faithful and provide her all the while she's there.

During my read, I felt the excitement, the fear, the nervousness that she have experienced, and yes, get this book if you want to know more about God. I'm sure I would read it again and again!

Also, from this book, I only realised that actually we Christians owed big time to Jerusalem. I'll quote the page from this book on what she has said when she experienced the siege between the Muslims and the Jews, and when she meditated on the Bible, the verses of Isaiah 62:6-7.

...Searching out God's purpose for Jerusalem led me on naturally to His purpose for Israel.The two, I discovered, were intertwined and could not be separated. The very prophecies that promised mercy and restoration to Jerusalem promised the same also to Israel. The first could not be fulfilled apart from the second.

And how many promises of restoration for Israel I found! From first to last, the prophetic writings were full of them. How far, I wondered, had these promises already been fulfilled? In the decade since the war of 1914-1918, a steady trickle of Jews had been coming back to their land. But - if I rightly understood what I was reading - this was but a prelude to something far greater. God had actually committed Himself, through His prophets, to regather them as an independent nation in their own land. To this end, He had declared, He would bend all the forces of history....."What a strangely warped view we Christians have had all these years," I finally said to myself. "We have acted as though we were sufficient in ourselves, owing nothing to Israel or Jerusalem and needing nothing from them. And yet the truth is that God's plan of peace and blessing for all nations can never come to completion until both Israel and Jerusalem are restored - and He expects us to be His cowokers in bringing this to pass."

This part of the book has opened my eyes up, that we as Christians should pray hard for the peace and the people in the Palestine area, if it's not for this nation (the Jews), we wouldn't have got save and become Christians. If this part of the world has no peace, then there would be no peace at the other part of the world. This place seems small, and not an eye-catching place, yet it has its unseen forces that can destroy the whole world.

This is only my own understanding for this part that she wrote, and I hope all who has read this article, you would go borrow or buy this book. It really worths a read!

Recently...

Finished my practicum last Tuesday, and I love the place and the children. The teachers were great too! They've accepted me as part of their own, except the regulations where they can't do much about it.

Adding bonus to it, there are a few teachers that I came to know are Christians! One even went to Peru to do mission work with the children. I think God must have used her to talk to me while in that practicum that one day I will go to the mission field and do the work of children. She experienced a lot of God's provision during that period, and listening to her story was just amazing!

And and, at the last day of my prac, they provided nice morning tea for me ^^, a certificate, and a storybook (for future teaching use).

A dream

2 nites ago, I dreamt that I was back in high school years, and I didn't do my homework! I felt so strange, why on earth would I have forgotten all about my homework, and I could only apologise to my teacher that it must have slipped my mind.

Then, the scenery changed again. I dreamt that I had a black teacher teaching me, and she asked the whole class to open up the bible to 2 Timothy 2:22, and then I woke up! The next day, I got the bible and turn to the page thinking God must have wanted to tell me something that is important. And truly it is....It says:

Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

I actually didn't know why is it this verse that God gave me, because I was asking Him about other stuff. Probably He knows all my inner thoughts that have been there for a long time, and wants me to deal with them...