I've Been Tagged! by Paula Joy and Dream Writer

Paula Joy, Dream Writer and Marissa tagged me recently. I've never been blog-tagged before and for the first time I am tagged by 3 sweet ladies ;)

Sorry, ladies, it has taken me so long to respond :)

Okay, I am going to work on Paula Joy and Dream Writer's tag first as they are the same one. Here it goes !

Rules of the game:

- Link to the person who tagged you.
- Post their rules on your blog.
- Write six random things about yourself.
- Tag six random people by linking to their blogs.
- Let each of the six know they’ve been tagged by leaving them a comment (on their blogs).
- Let your tagger know when your entry is up.


6 Completely random facts about me:

1) I was dressed up like a boy when I was a child. When I went to school at the age of 7, I started wearing skirts and dresses. Can't believe it, right? :)

2) I have always kept my hair long except for a few occasions where it was difficult to maintain long hair. I like my long hair and I have natural curls though they are not really that curly :)

3) I have a sweet tooth. I love chocolate, ice-creams, cakes and all the sweet stuff. Any wonder that I am so sweet? ;)

4) I was very shy when I was a child and in my teenage years. I used to hide in the room when visitors come for visit. And I was so tongue-tied whenever I meet strangers. Now I am rather different. Whenever I am well or hypomanic, I love to talk and to write, and I can be over friendly even with strangers. And I tend to talk too much or write too long and my friends can't stand me. I am glad my blogging friends don't mind my longwindedness. Thank you so much ;)

5) I love to read. I have 2 big shelves of books in my bedroom. I will sell a shirt to buy a book ;)

6) I am someone who value friendship very much. But some friends think I am just being too emotional. Anyway, thank you very much for being my friends :)

And I am tagging:

1) Jim
2) Michelle
3) Jennifer
4) Susan
5) Darlene
6) From an Acorn

Thank God for seeing me through a blessed week. Thank you all for stopping by. Hope you have a restful and wonderful weekends. And a most blessed Lord's day ;)

Take care.

Thankful Thursday

For more participants of Thankful Thursday, do visit Iris at Sting My Heart. It will be a very blessed and spiritually uplifting experience for you!

O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. Psalm 107:1

Thank God for seeing me through another week. I have many things to be thankful for :-)

1. Thank God for the encouragements He has given to me through the videos of Nick Vujicic. Nick is from Australia and he was born with no arms or legs yet he is trusting in the Lord daily and living a life that is not only as normal as he can, but he is also doing many wonderful things too by the mercies and power of God. He is a living testimony of the power of God to save a lost sinner from sins and give him the grace to live a victorious life in Christ despite severe infirmities. Seeing Nick going about his daily life, doing all the things which seems almost impossible without arms and legs, and yet he did it and did it with such cheerfulness, is a life changing experience for me! It helps me to look beyond my own infirmities and limitations to the power of God and the sufficiency of His grace. It helps me to count my blessings!

2. Thank God for a very blessed Lord's day of worship and fellowship. Thank God for a very powerful message from Ephesians 2:8-10 in which I am reminded afresh that we are saved by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. This message reminds me that God is the Potter and I am the clay. God is my Creator and He is doing a deeper work in me daily so that I can serve Him and be what He wants me to be. I thank God for every opportunity to serve Him in little ways.

3. I am thankful to God for hearing the prayers of my church for a very dear couple in our church who has been going through a very severe trial in their life over the last few months. Thank God for delivering them and sustaining them and answering our prayers in His very wonderful ways. They are still facing much difficulties and trials at the moment, but we are comforted that God is working all things for His glory and their good, and His grace is sufficient for them. Thank God that my church can grow in our walk with Him and our friendship with this couple through this trial.

4. I thank God for giving me much grace and strength to go through a very stressful situation last week. I had a panic attack when that incident happened and I prayed to the Lord to grant me wisdom to know how to handle that difficult situation. I prayed too for His peace to guard my heart as I experienced great anxieties. The panic attack lasted for 10 minutes. Thank God for granting me grace to cope and everything turned out okay. Thank God for restoring peace to me too when the panic attack subsided.

5. Thank God for His mercies in providing yet other freelance job opportunities to me. These are small and manageable freelance opportunities, and I am thankful for each one of them. Thank God for His wonderful provisions.

6. Thank God that I managed to use my passion in making bookmarks to help a church friend to make 40 bookmarks for his students who are taking their exams soon. I am glad to be able to help my friend and earn some income too through this hobby which I enjoyed very much.

7. Thank God that my medical review with my Doctor on Monday when on very well. My Doctor is monitoring my medicine level and she is pleased with my progress so far. She is also helping me to trace possible triggering factors of my condition and is teaching me how to identify them and manage them. Thank God for a caring and kind Doctor.

I gave a bouquet of artificial roses to my Doctor 4 months ago when I saw her. She liked it very much and many of her patients have commented that the roses are so beautiful and they looked so real. On Monday, my Doctor shared with me that she has given those lovely flowers to a very sickly lady who was hospitalised. Those roses brought so much cheer and comfort to the sick lady. My Doctor apologized that she has to give my gift to her away but she knows that I will not mind. I was very moved by my Doctor's kindness in giving away something that she likes very much and I am so glad that the gift is able to cheer someone in need. I told her that I am glad she pass it on. Little things can mean a lot to some people. And this dear sickly lady cherished those roses so much and she said whenever she feels down, she look at those flowers and think of how she is loved by others. Such a joy to know that. Joy is always doubled when we pass it on :-)

8. I am thankful for my other blogging friends and penpals who keep up visiting, commenting and writing with me. It is always encouraging to hear from all of you, to read your blog or email. May God continue to bless our friendships. Thanks to all of you for stopping by.

9. I am thankful for many new friends I am getting to know through Word-Filled Wednesday and Thankful Thursdays. Thank you all for stopping by and your kind comments! Reading all the precious promises of God with the lovely photos that you have posted on your blogs is very uplifting. And reading the many thankful items you have posted also helps me to be more thankful daily :-) Thanks for stopping by.

10. Thank God for His goodness and mercies daily, and for giving me much strength and joy in Him. I am thankful for my family, church friends and other friends who continue to love me and encourage me through all the changing scenes in life.

Sorry, my posts are always pretty long :-) I have so many things to be thankful for :-)

How about you? How has the Lord blessed and guide you through the week? What are the things you are thankful for over the week?

Thank you for stopping by. Do drop me a comment if you can and it will make my day!

Hope you have a blessed day!

Word-Filled Wednesday : My grace is sufficient for thee

For more Word-Filled Wednesday participants, do visit Amy at The 160 Acre Woods. It will be a very blessed and spiritually uplifting experience for you!



My brother took this lovely photo at Muriwai Beach, Western Auckland, New Zealand.

Thank God for His reminders through His Words and His providence daily that He cares for us. He has promised in His Words in 2 Corinthians 12:9 that His grace is sufficient for us. This is a tremendous encouragement to me in this pilgrim journey. Even as a Christian, I continue to face various and many challenges in life just like every one else. I go through time of wellness, sickness, success, failures, happiness, disappointments, life, death, etc etc etc too.

Being a Christian does not exempt me from the trials and difficulties in this life. Having bipolar disorder or manic-depressive illness, can make life very difficult for myself and others. The greatest comfort for me in this personal trial, is that God loves me and is sovereignly in control of every situation in my life and His grace is sufficient for me. Even in allowing me to have bipolar disorder, His love and faithfulness remains unchanging. In fact, it is through my struggles with the 11 or so severe depression episodes over the last 20 years, that I am drawn closer to God to know Him and His love better. I have found His promises to be true and His grace sufficient as He promised It is God that sustained me through many painful and prolonged suffering from clinical depression. At times when I am confused by what I was going through and others could not understand either, the Lord has kept me in the palm of His hands. In His love alone, I found that enduring and unconditional love. It gives me the strength to face each day.

Thank God that He is with us always. He will continue to give us the grace to walk with Him and serve Him, even if we have to go through the valley of the shadow of death at times. And when our tasks here are accomplished, we have the blessed hope of being with Him forever to enjoy His love and fellowship for all eternity. What a blessed hope!

Meanwhile, let us press on joyfully in His strength daily. When we are weak, He is strong and His strength is made perfect in our weaknesses. Praise Him!


Hope this verse will encourage you today and everyday. May you continue to know God's grace that is sufficient for you through all the changing scenes in life and His love that is unchanging and everlasting. Have a blessed day!


I use this photo to make the following Bookmarks. If you wish to make the bookmark yourself, you can download the respective Free Bookmark Template.

1) 2 Corinthians 12:9 "My grace is sufficient for thee".

Download Free Bookmark Template: free-bookmarks-2cor12v9.doc

Check out Free instructions on how to make Bookmarks.

2) Friendship quote:

If you love something, set if free.
If it comes back to you, it's yours.
If it doesn't, it was never meant to be.

Download Free Bookmark Template: free-bookmarks-muriwai-beach.doc

Check out Free instructions on how to make Bookmarks.

3) Chinese Bible verse for 2 Corinthians 12:9 “My grace is sufficient for thee”.

In Chinese this verse is read as 我的恩典够你用的 (Pinyin : wǒ de ēn diǎn gòu nǐ yòng de)

Download Free Chinese Bookmark Template :

free-chinese-bookmarks-2cor12v9.doc

or

free-chinese-bookmarks-2cor12v9.pdf

Check out Free instructions on how to make Bookmarks.

Check out more Free Bookmarks Templates at my Homemade Bookmarks Hobby Blog.

Have a blessed day!

More than conquerors

I have decided to change my blog name :-)

When I first started this blog in February 2008, I named it "My Life with Bipolar Disorder" because I wanted to share resources that have been helpful to me in coping with bipolar disorder (manic-depressive illness) with others who have bipolar disorder and their family/friends. Having bipolar disorder can be very confusing for the sufferer as well as their family and friends.

Bipolar disorder is a mood disorder with extreme mood swings. It is a medical condition that can be treated. These moods shaped our thoughts, feelings and actions. We can be 2 very different persons when we are manic or depressed. There are pocket of times when we are "normal" :-)

Being depressed is bad enough in itself, but being a depressed Christian is worse because we experience extra guilt in relation to our faith. So if you are suffering from depression and you are a Christian, I will highly recommend that you read these very encouraging and helpful messages on Depression and the Christian. Pastor David P Murray noted that

The depressed believer cannot concentrate to read or pray. He doesn’t want to meet people and so may avoid church and fellowships. He often feels God has abandoned him.

Moreover, it is often the case that faith, instead of being a help, can actually cause extra problems in dealing with depression. There is, for instance, the false guilt associated with the false conclusion, “Real Christians don’t get depressed.” There is also the usually mistaken tendency to locate the cause of mental illness in our spiritual life, our relationship with God, which also increases false guilt and feelings of worthlessness.

We need to have a right understanding of clinical depression or manic-depression. This is different from the common down or sad feelings that go away after a few day. Clinical depression and manic-depression are medical illness that need to be treated. And people who go through them need to be supported, prayed for and encouraged to seek treatment and wait upon God for restoration through medical and other helps.

As Christians, we surely want to be the person whom our loved ones turn to in time of need. And, when they do turn to us, we want to be able to help them and not hurt them further. It is, therefore, imperative that family and friends of people who suffers from clinical depression or bipolar depression learn about depression and other mental illnesses in order to avoid the very common mistakes that lay-people often make when dealing with the mentally ill, and in order to be of maximum benefit to those who are suffering. I hope the resources I am sharing on this blog will help Christian who suffers from depression to find hope and comfort in God, and to seek medical and other helps so that they too can lead a more stable and functional life. And I hope too that the sharing and resources on this blog will to some extend help family and friends of people with depression or bipolar to understand what their loved ones are going through and how best to pray for them, to encourage and support them, or help them in time of need.

Personally, I went through some 11 episodes of severe depression over the last 20 years, each episode lasting some 3 to 6 months or sometimes longer. Thank God for sustaining me through those very painful, dark and confusing experiences.

Thank God that my diagnosis last year of proneness to bipolar disorder is helping me to understand that my condition is a medical condition that can be treated and the necessity to seek helps. Through 9 very fruitful sessions with a Christian counsellor last year who counsels me using Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), I was helped to understand my confusing past due to the way bipolar shaped my thoughts, feelings and actions.

Thank God that now with medical helps, regular exercise, Omega 3 fish oil, managing stress level, having therapeutic hobbies, a strong support network and other coping means my condition is under control now and I am able to live a more stable and useful life. I also read the Bible and pray daily for strength and grace from God to live for Him joyfully and serve Him despite my condition and limitations. I thank God for joy in Him daily as I experience His love and mercies in many wonderful ways.

I thank God that I am able to share my thoughts and feelings on this blog too and it works like an online Journal or Diary for me to record my daily experiences in my walk with God and His goodness to me as I seek to understand and manage bipolar disorder. Like every one else who has bipolar, I too experience many different struggles daily with manic and depression. Stress and strain seemed to be my main triggering factors over the years. So this blog also will record my struggles to manage bipolar, stress and other challenges in my life.

In these recent months of sharing my thoughts and feelings in my journey with bipolar disorder, I have come to experience more and more that we are more than conquerors through Christ that loved us. In life we will have our portions of ups and downs whether through bipolar disorder or other struggles in our life. We are living in a fallen world. As sinners saved by grace, we daily wrestle too with sins, remaining corruptions and the temptations of the world. Having bipolar disorder can make life very difficult at times because bipolar shapes our thoughts, feelings and actions. The depression episodes are painful and awful beyonds words. I would not want to go through another extensive episode if possible. The manic episodes too have its pros and cons. But in all these, I am comforted that God is sovereign. He is graciously working all things for His glory and my good even through such painful and difficult struggles with bipolar.

I found that it is through the very difficult experiences I have gone through over the last 20 years with this disorder that I am able to know God very personally and able to know His love in many wonderful ways. And bipolar disorder do have its advantages and it's not all bad at all. By the mercies of God, I have been able to experience many blessings through bipolar and God also opened an unexpected door of usefulness for me through bipolar. My struggles with depression enable me to emphatise with others who are going through this painful and lonely struggle. It allows me to comfort others with same comfort which God has comforted me. It gives me the motivation to share with others the resources and the various ways and means God is helping me to manage my condition so that others can benefit from it too. It helps me to cherish the life God is giving me daily to know Him, love Him and serve Him and others.

Most people with bipolar tends to be able to express ourselves better in writing and other creative activities. In the recent months, I began to enjoy Photography, Making Bookmarks and other Homemade Crafts and Gifts. These hobbies are therapeutic to myself and they encourages others as I usually share these with others. I have a blog "Around Singapore" where I posted photos of some places in Singapore. Do click at the links if you wish to make use of my photographs and that which my friends allowed me to post on my blogs. Feel free to also download Free Bookmarks Templates from my Homemade Bookmarks blog and other crafts idea from my Homemade Crafts and Gifts blog.

When I saw the moving testimony of Nick Vujicic, I was reminded afresh that God is sovereign and His purposes are accomplished through weak vessels like us. Nick is from Australia and he was born with no arms or legs yet he is trusting in the Lord daily and living a life that is not only as normal as he can, but he is also doing many wonderful things too by the mercies and power of God. He is a living testimony of the power of God to save a lost sinner from sins and give him the grace to live a victorious life in Christ despite severe infirmities. Nick encouraged us to look beyond our loses through our disabilities to look at what we still have and make the most out of it. Seeing Nick going about his daily life, doing all the things which seems almost impossible without arms and legs, and yet he did it and did it with such cheerfulness, is a life changing experience. If you have not seen the videos of Nick, you may wish to watch these 2 videos I have posted on my blog and there are many more posted on YouTube. It will change your life or your perspective in life! I am thankful to my friend Michelle who posted Nick's video on her blog and shared such blessings with us. Thanks again, Michelle!

I am thankful to God that we are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us because God's Words say so. Though we are weak, God is strong. He promised that His grace is sufficient for us and His strength is made perfect in our weaknesses (2 Corinthians 12:9). God is more powerful than any storms in our life or any difficulties we may face. He is the Potter, we are the clay. This is not our home. We are sojourners here on a pilgrim journey towards the celestial city. God is daily sanctifying us and making us more and more like our Lord Jesus Christ.

I thank God that His grace is sufficient for me and nothing shall ever separate me from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Though I still have many struggles daily with bipolar, stress, etc etc, I am learning to look to God for grace daily and to wait upon Him for guidance and strength.

I hope I can continue to share of God's goodness and mercies to me daily in my endeavour to understand and manage bipolar and other challenges in my life and lead a more useful life for the Lord.

If you are going through depression now and you are reading this post, I pray that God will give you comfort and strength, knowing that He is with you and will deliver you. Do seek medical and other helps as these are means God has provided for us to get better so that we can seek and serve Him. Your thoughts and feelings may feel flat and down because of the chemical imbalances and you may have little energy to do anything or even to seek help. But continue to cry unto the Lord and reach out to someone to let them know you need help. There is hope and help. It takes time to find the medical and other helps that will suit you as there is a spectrum to bipolar and depression and different thing works for different people. But you are not alone! I and many others are battling this condition daily and you will find something that works for you. God will help you by and by to discover these helps as you cast your cares upon Him. With medical and other helps, sometimes it still takes time for these to work for us and to restore the chemical imbalance in our brain so that we are more functional and able to enjoy life again. Waiting is difficult. But you will get better by and by.

And thank you once again, all my dear friends, for all your prayers, encouragements and support. To get to know so many of you through this blog and your blogs, is one of the greatest blessings God has given me over the last few months! I have never expected this at all. My endeavour to help others through this blog turned out to be a greater blessing for me. All praise and glory be to God!

Hope we can continue to encourage one another and find our consolations in Christ and each other's friendship as we journey on :-)

Romans 8:36-39

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works

Thank God for another opportunity today to join in public worship and to fellowship with my church friends. This is a joy and privilege which I cherish very much.

This morning I heard a very encouraging message from Ephesians 2:

Ephesians 2:8-10
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

We were reminded that salvation is all of grace and not of our works. It is the Lord Jesus Christ Who saved us from our sins. It is His Works on the cross in laying down His life for us that saved us. We are not saved by our good works or even our faith. Our salvation is solely a gift of God. Faith is the medium that we received this grace of salvation. Although good works cannot save us, we are saved in order to do good works as an instrument of God. We are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Sometimes the care of this world and physical infirmities or mental struggles clouded me of my calling here. But this morning, I am reminded afresh through God's Words in Ephesians 2:8-10 that salvation is all of grace and not of works lest any man should boast. We cannot rely on good works to earn salvation as it is Christ alone that save us. But although good works cannot save us us, we are saved in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

We are saved to serve the Lord. May God enable me to present my body a living sacrifice unto God to live for Him and serve Him. Daily many things will demand my attention and energy, but may God help me to set my heart and affection on things above and to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness in all that I do.

Thank you once again for all your prayers and encouragements. Thank God for His mercies to me. I am learning daily to walk with our Lord, to find much joy and strength in Him despite whatever struggles I face or whatever physical or mental infirmities I have, and to serve God in little little ways. I look forward to the day when the Lord will call me home to my eternal rest where I can enjoy His love, worship and fellowship without the hindrance of sins, sicknesses, mental illness, etc etc. Until then I am comforted that His grace is sufficient for me and He will guide me along as I learn to look to Him. I pray for His grace to keep my eyes upon Him and not let the rough ways or storms to distract me.

Life will have many challenges and we will have our portion of ups and downs, joy and sorrows, success and failures, etc etc. May the Lord enable us to know more and more of His love, mercies and faithfulness through them. May He continue to sanctify us through the trials in our lives and make us more useful in the extension of His kingdom, to share His Gospel with others by word of our mouth as well as through our lives.

How blessed to belong to the Lord! He is our hope here and for all eternity. May His joy continue to be our strength daily for He has promise that He will never leave us nor forsake us. No matter what we go through in this life, His grace is sufficient for us. Praise Him!




Another card from my collection :-)

Chinese Video of Nick Vujicic's testimony

I found this very encouraging Chinese Video of Nick Vujicic's testimony. It has his testimony written in Chinese and many of his photos. It is also accompanied by a very beautiful Christian song in Cantonese.

This video is posted by leejiazhong on YouTube:

No Arms, No Legs, No Worries : Victory in God's grace, the story of Nick Vujicic

My blogging friend, Michelle, shared on her blog a very touching and encouraging video on a young man called Nick Vujicic. Nick was born with no arms or legs yet he is trusting in the Lord daily and living a life that is not only as normal as he can, but he is also doing many wonderful things too by the mercies and power of God.

It brought tears to my eyes when I saw Nick's condition and his faith in God. Praise God for sustaining him and enabling him to testify of His sufficient grace.

I found this video posted on YouTube. This video shows Nick in his daily life, overcoming difficulties and managing daily activities and it ends with a moving sharing from him on God's sufficient grace. It is such an encouragement to remember afresh that no matter what we have to go through in this life, God's grace is sufficient for us. Nothing happens in our life by accident or chance. God won't let anything happen to us in our life unless He has a good purpose for it all. And He is manifesting forth His glory and mercies in sustaining and strengthening us.

Do watch this encouraging video and then read comment below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0oRBKbRYnY

These are the comments from one viewer:

"Nick has no limbs and no arms. Yet he preaches the love of God every where. Why?"

I came to know Nick Vujicic from an email about a year ago. Recently I received another email about himself. I have never met him but we are one in the body of Christ. So I think it is good to share this blessing to the world through Youtube.

Quote

Think this guy might have a message to give?

"My name is Nick Vujicic and I give God the Glory for how He has used my testimony to touch thousands of hearts around the world! I was born without limbs and doctors have no medical explanation for this birth 'defect'. As you can imagine, I was faced with many challenges and obstacles.

'Consider it pure joy, my Brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds.'

.... To count our hurt, pain and struggle as nothing but pure joy? As my parents were Christians, and my Dad even a Pastor of our church, they knew that verse very well. However, on the morning of the 4th of December 1982 in Melbourne Australia, the last two words on the minds of my parents was 'Praise God!'. Their firstborn son had been born without limbs! There were no warnings or time to prepare themselves for it. The doctors were shocked and had no answers at all! There is still no medical reason why this had happened and Nick now has a Brother and Sister who were born just like any other baby.

The whole church mourned over my birth and my parents were absolutely devastated. Everyone asked, 'if God is a God of Love, then why would God let something this bad happen to not just anyone, but dedicated Christians?' My Dad thought I wouldn't survive for very long, but tests proved that I was a healthy baby boy just with a few limbs missing.

'And we know that in all things God works for the best for those who love Him.' That verse spoke to my heart and convicted me to the point where that I know that there is no such thing as luck, chance or coincidence that these 'bad' things happen in our life.

I had complete peace knowing that God won't let anything happen to us in our life unless He has a good purpose for it all. I completely gave my life to Christ at the age of fifteen after reading John 9. Jesus said that the reason the man was born blind was 'so that the works of God may be revealed through Him.' I truly believed that God would heal me so I could be a great testimony of His Awesome Power. Later on I was given the wisdom to understand that if we pray for something, if it's God's will, it'll happen in His time. If it's not God's will for it to happen, then I know that He has something better.

I now see that Glory revealed as He is using me just the way I am and in ways others can't be used.

I am now twenty-three years old and have completed a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Financial Planning and Accounting. I am also a motivational speaker and love to go out and share my story and testimony wherever opportunities become available. I have developed talks to relate to and encourage students through topics that challenge today's teenagers. I am also a speaker in the corporate sector.

I have a passion for reaching out to youth and keep myself available for whatever God wants me to do, and wherever He leads, I follow.

I have many dreams and goals that I have set to achieve in my life.

I want to become the best witness I can be of God's Love and Hope, to become an international inspirational speaker and be used as a vessel in both Christian and non-Christian venues. I want to become financially independent by the age of 25, through real estate investments, to modify a car for me to drive and to be interviewed and share my story on the ' Oprah Winfrey Show '! Writing several best-selling books has been one of my dreams and I hope to finish writing my first by the end of the year. It will be called 'No Arms, No Legs, No Worries!'?

I believe that if you have the desire and passion to do something, and if it's God's will, you will achieve it in good time. As humans, we continually put limits on ourselves for no reason at all! What's worse is putting limits on God who can do all things. We put God in a 'box'. The awesome thing about the Power of God, is that if we want to do something for God, instead of focusing on our capability, concentrate on our availability for we know that it is God through us and we can't do anything without Him. Once we make ourselves available for God's work, guess whose capabilities we rely on? God's!

May the Lord Bless you
In Christ,
Nick Vujicic

'Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be UNDERSTOOD'

Unquote

John 9:2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind.

John 9:3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.

Cross-stitch - Another of my Therapeutic Hobby

I am in the midst of doing a cross-stitch for a dear friend. This little bear with a heart cross-stitch is one of my favourite. It is very sweet and quite easy to do.

I will sew some Bible verses besides the bear and frame it up.

I have done this cross-stitch for several of my friends and they like it very much.

I find it therapeutic to do things for others. It makes me very happy to see others happy.

Having some form of hobbies can be very enjoyable and relaxing too. It helps to slow me down at times as my thoughts will be racing otherwise :-)

My dear friend, Michelle and her husband, also love to do cross-stitch. Their cross-stitch are very beautiful. Do visit Michelle's blog at Ozarks sew n' sews to see their lovely handiworks.

So far I have benefited from the following hobbies besides cross-stitch:

1) Photography. I enjoy photography very very much. I am thrilled to be able to capture some of the beauties in God's creations. It is helping me to enjoy God's creations in many wonderful ways. In the past, I have been too busy to enjoy walks, flowers, beach, etc etc. Now I am discovering these through the lenses of my camera :-)

2) Making Bookmarks. I enjoy making Bookmarks for my friends. I used my photos and photos taken by my brother and friends, to make these bookmarks. If you are interested in making bookmarks, you can check out my Homemade Bookmarks Blog to download Free Bookmarks Templates and instructions on how to make simple bookmarks.

3) Making Crafts and Gifts. Besides making bookmarks, I also enjoyed cross-stitch, making simple calendars and origami. Check out my Homemade Crafts and Gifts if you are also interested in making these crafts and gifts.

Making these crafts and gifts give me great joy and satisfaction. Thank God for the joy of sharing these gifts with my friends, and the joy of serving Him in this way.

What about you? Do you have any hobbies that you really enjoy?

Free Calendars 2010 and Free Planners 2010 Resources:

• Calendar 2010 Design1
• Calendar 2010 Design2
• Calendar 2010 Design3
• Calendar 2010 with Singapore Public Holidays 1
• Calendar 2010 with Singapore Public Holidays 2
• Planner 2010 Design B
• Christian Calendar 2010 with Bible verses 1
• Christian Calendar 2010 with Singapore Public Holidays 1
• Christian Planner 2010

Free Bookmarks Resources:

• A Special Birthday Prayer for You
• All the best to you
• Animals
• Children - This book belongs to
• Chinese Bible verses
• Christian bookmarks with Bible verses
• Flowers
• Friendship
• Happy Birthday
• Happy Children's Day
• Happy Mother's Day
• Inspirational or encouraging quotes
• Prayer of St. Francis
• Sceneries
• Swan
• The Cross in My Pocket
• When there seems no way out, let God in
• With God all things are possible
• You are never alone
• Your Friendship is a blessing

Free Cards Resources:

• A Special Birthday Prayer for You
• Animals
• Birthday Card pop up
• Christian cards with Bible verses
• Don't Quit
• Encouraging Friendship Quotes1
• Encouraging quote on Love
• Encouraging Quotes1
• Flowers
• Get Well Soon!
• God holds my tomorrow
• Happy Birthday
• How to Make a Kirigami Dancing Crane Pop-up Card
• How to Make a Pop-Up Heart Card
• Prayer of St. Francis
• With God all things are possible
• Your Friendship is a Blessing

Free Handicrafts Resources : Free Cross-stitch

• How to sew a pink heart cross stitch
• About cross stitch and cross stitching
• Creative Needlecraft Cross Stitching
• Cross stitch of Yarn Tree
• Different ways of doing cross stitch
• Free cross stitch pattern : Pink Heart
• French Knot
• How to Choose a Cross Stitch Pattern
• How to Design a Cross Stitch Pattern
• How to Do Back Stitches in Cross Stitching
• How to Do Basic Cross Stitches
• How to Do French Knots in Cross Stitching
• How to Frame a Cross Stitch Pattern
• How to Personalize Your Cross Stitching Pattern
• How to Prepare Cloth for Cross Stitching
• Learn simple Cross Stitch In 5 Minutes
• Little Bear cross-stitch
• Supplies for Cross Stitching
• Types of Cross Stitch Patterns

Free Sewing Resources : Knitting

• Basics on how to knit
• How to Knit a Scarf : How to Add Fringe to a Scarf
• How to Knit a Scarf : How to Cast Off
• How to knit a scarf : How to Change to a Different Color when Knitting
• How to Knit a Scarf : How to Do the Basket Weave
• How to Knit a Scarf : How to Do the Knit Stitch
• How to Knit a Scarf : How to Do the Purl Stitch
• How to Knit a Scarf : How to Do the Rib Stitch
• How to Knit a Scarf : How to Pick Up Dropped Stitches
• Variations in Stitches

Free Origami Resources:

• Airplane
• Boat
• Box
• Bunny
• Camel
• Cup
• Dragonfly
• Fish
• Flowers Daffodil
• Flowers Pink
• Hummingbird
• Jumping Frog
• Parrot
• Penguin
• Pigeon
• Roadrunner
• Rose
• Shark
• Squirrel
• Sungflower
• Swan
• Zebra

Free Arts and Crafts for Kids Resources:

• How to make a Catepillar
• How to make a clock
• How to make a duck
• How to make a Kirigami Hummingbird
• How to make a Peacock
• How to make an Octopus
• How to make turtle

Nice Piano Instrumental Music Resources:

• Relaxing music
• A como amor
• Aline
• Ballade Pour Adeline
• Chinese Garden
• Concerto pour un jeune fille nommee
• Couleur Tendresse
• Dolannes Melody
• Dream Wedding
• Fur Elise
• Give a little to your love
• La Tendresse
• lara's theme
• Les derniers jours d´Anastacia kemsky
• Lettre à ma mère
• Love song in winter
• Mariage D'amour
• Piano Concerto No. 1
• Romeo and Juliet
• Tema de Amor
• Triste Coeur
• Unchained melody

Thankful Thursday

For more participants of Thankful Thursday, visit Iris at Sting My Heart.










Yesterday, I participated in my first Word-Filled Wednesday. It's a very wonderful experience~ I am greatly encouraged to read of so many precious portions of God's Words and how these have encouraged various people in different stages of their life. Truly, we do not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God! And the photos are all so beautiful. Do visit Amy at The 160 Acre Woods for a list of people participating on Word-Filled Wednesday and read these encouraging verses and see the lovely photos.

Today, I am participating in my first Thankful Thursday :-)

I have so many things to be thankful for daily that I thought it's good for me to start putting them down every Thursday otherwise I will forget. It's good to count our blessings daily and to remember that God is working all things for His glory and our good, and the good of His church. God is gracious to me though I am a forgetful person. I realized that even in very difficult, painful and dark days, we can find something to thank God for because He is our Redeemer and our God. His love and mercies is from everlasting to everlasting, and underneath us is His everlasting arms.

The last few weeks have been very tiring, stressful and busy weeks for me. I have many things to thank God for.

1. I thank God for giving me grace to know Him, love Him, walk with Him and serve Him. Knowing God through our Lord Jesus Christ is the best thing that has happened to me in this life and it is still the best thing that is happening to me daily. Thank God for saving me from my sins and giving me a new life in Christ.

2. I thank God for the joy of worship and fellowship last Lord's day. It is always refreshing to be in the house of God to participate in public worship together with God's people and to enjoy their fellowship.

3. I thank God for giving me strength and wisdom to cope with the challenges daily. There have been many challenges over the last few weeks and I will not have the strength to cope if not for the Lord's strengthening me day by day. I often feel very tired and weak but thank God for sustaining me daily. I have found that God's grace is sufficient for me each day as He has promised! Thank and praise Him!

4. I thank God for giving me joy in Him despite physical tiredness and mental stress. My flesh and my heart fail me at times, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever. In Christ, I am able to rejoice daily and accept all things as from His loving hands.

5. I thank God for enabling me to complete 2 freelance assignments on time. Thank God for wisdom and strength to do my best for these freelance job assignments. One of my customer gave a very kind and encouraging comment to acknowledge her appreciation of my work. I am so encouraged by God's goodness in helping me to do a good job.

6. I thank God for providing more freelance job assignments for me. Thanks to those of you who have been praying for me. Thank God for His faithfulness in hearing and answering our prayers. I have just been given new freelance assignments! Truly, the Lord is our Shepherd and we shall not want (lack). He provides for our every need. Thank you so much for your prayers and encouragements!

7. I thank God for family and friends who love, accept and care for me in big ways and little little ways. These mean a lot to me. I thank God for all of them, and they are tokens of God's love for me.

8. I thank God for all of you, my dear blogging friends. It is such a joy and privilege to know all of you and to be able to share our experiences and encourage one another through our blogs. I have never expected this when I first started my blog in February 2008. This has been one of the best experience I ever have in making online friends. You are tokens of God's love for me too and I am greatly encouraged. Thank you once again for being my friends and for being such a blessing and encouragement to me. May God bless all of you abundantly!

I pray that God will give me a thankful heart daily no matter what I am going through. I am a pilgrim here, sojourning on a pilgrim journey towards the celestial city. I pray that God will enable me to set my heart and affection on things above and not on things below here. I pray that I may be able to serve God and glorify Him here, and be used of Him as an instrument to draw sinners to know His saving grace and be an encouragement to fellow Christians who are precious in God's sight and redeemed by the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In this life, I may face many different and difficult challenges, my bipolar may also give problem through manic or depression. But God's love remains unchanging and His grace is sufficient for me. He is lovingly working all things for His glory and my good, and the good of His church. I pray that He may give me a thankful heart always so that I can praise Him in all circumstances.

How about you? How has the Lord blessed and helped you through the past week? What are the things you are thankful for? We serve such a great God. Let us unite our hearts in thanksgiving to such a loving and faithful Saviour Who never leave us nor forsake us, and nothing shall ever separate us from His love.

All praise and glory be to God!

Word-Filled Wednesday

For more Word-Filled Wednesday participants, visit Amy at The 160 Acre Woods.




















It's Wednesday 8.00am now in Singapore. Thank God for a new day to live for Him :-)

I have decided to participate in Word-Filled Wednesday. I saw it on Michelle's blog and have been greatly encouraged by her postings. This is my first post.

Thank God that He is our refuge and strength and He has promised that He will never leave us nor forsake us.

Thank God that He is my refuge and strength through these recent weeks as I strive to cope with the various stress and strain from the many challenges I am facing daily. God's presence with me has been a great consolation and strength as I learn to live for Him, love Him and serve Him and others. I thank God for the joy of trusting in Him and the strength and grace He has given to me, as I walk with our Lord Jesus Christ. It is so wonderful to belong to our Lord Jesus Christ and to know His love and faithfulness in so many ways daily. All praise and glory be to Him.

I enjoy photography. I took this photo at East Coast Beach, Singapore. Do visit my Around Singapore blog, if you have time, to look at more photos and places in Singapore.

Hope these 2 verses will be of encouragements to you today and everyday. Have a blessed day!