A child's perception of Psalm 23

This is not a joke but an enlightenment.

God treats you the way one mother treated her young son, Timmy. She didn't like the thought of Timmy walking to his first-grade class unaccompanied. But he was too grown-up to be seen with his mother. "Besides," he explained, "I can walk with a friend." So she did her best to stay calm, quoting the Twenty-third Psalm to him every morning:
"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.."

One day she came up with an idea. She asked a neighbour to follow Timmy to school in the mornings, staying at a distance, lest he notice her. The neighbour was happy to oblige. She took her toddler on morning walks anyway.

After several days Timmy's little friend noticed the lady and the child.

"Do you know who that woman is who follows us to school?"

"Sure," Timmy answered. "That's Shirley Goodnest and her daughter Marcy."

"Who?"

"My mom reads about them every day in the Twenty-third Psalm. She says, 'Shirley Goodnest and Marcy shall follow me all the days of my life.' Guess I'll have to get used to them."

-an excerpt from Fearless by Max Lucado.

21 Easy Ways to Pray More

Hi, here's something to help all of us who have been slacking in prayers.

21 Easy Ways to Pray More - Beliefnet.com

God bless you!

The Many Faces of Mooncakes

Hello! An article regarding the traditional mooncake has captured my attention as I browsed Reader's Digest Asia's website this morning. Here's something to share this festive season. A piece written by Tan Su-Lyn for Reader's Digest Asia.

The Many Faces of Mooncakes

Celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival

By TAN SU-LYN

When tradition matters, nothing beats the White Lotus Seed Mooncake with Double Yolk. Photo: Marriott Hotel

As a child, one of my favourite Chinese celebrations was the Mid-Autumn or Mooncake Festival. Traditionally observed by the Chinese on the fifteenth day of the eighth Lunar month, it is a harvest celebration that also marks the night when the moon is at its fullest and roundest.
Families gather, usually outdoors, to admire the moon, savour mooncakes and each child would carry his or her own candlelit (although these days battery-operated flashing lights seem more common) lantern in a fun-filled lantern procession. At school, we fashioned our own lanterns out of wire, colourful cellophane, glitter and tassels. Occasionally, school-wide moon-viewing parties were even organised. Each student would contribute a selection of mooncakes, the school grounds would be dotted with lanterns and we would learn about the traditions of this age-old celebration.
The historic origins of this festival are unclear. The myth most strongly associated with it revolves around an archer named Hou Yi and his wife Chang Er who after taking (or, in some versions of the story, stealing) the pill of immortality is transported to the moon, permanently parted from her husband, and eventually becomes known as the moon goddess or lady in the moon.
Another character closely linked to the tale is the rabbit in the moon that is usually preoccupied with using its mortar and pestle to prepare herbs or medicine. Sometimes, it is described as working to re-create the pill of immortality in the hopes of helping Chang Er reunite with her husband Hou Yi. Traditional lanterns and mooncake packaging often depict this myth. Another explanation for the significance of this festival – especially the tradition of gifting friends and family with mooncakes – is the oft-repeated (albeit unsubstantiated) tale of how the Chinese were instructed to rebel against the Mongols during the Yuan dynasty through messages hidden in mooncakes.

Whatever its origins, the Mid-Autumn Festival has become a highly commercial celebration that revolves around the business of retailing, gifting and eating of mooncakes. Enjoying these seasonal delights is my favourite part of this festival.
There is a broad range of traditional mooncakes across China and Taiwan, but the ones most commonly enjoyed in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and the Philippines (where it is commonly referred to as hopia ) have origins in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong. The baked, intricately moulded crust is sweet and slightly chewy rather than crumbly and the mooncake is usually stuffed with lotus, red bean or red date paste dotted with melon seeds. The most luxurious ones contain whole salted duck egg yolks perfectly positioned so that every wedge of mooncake will contain a sliver of this delightful delicacy.
More contemporary versions feature unusual fillings as well as novel crusts such as the unbaked sweet snowskin which is made of a combination of glutinous rice flour and Hong Kong flour (a highly bleached flour commonly used to make bao, Chinese steamed buns).
But what I’ve found most interesting is that the tradition of moon-gazing is not limited to the Chinese. And each culture not only similarly marks the occasion with special food, but does so with its own version of mooncakes.

The Japanese also practise the tradition of tsukimi (moon viewing) on Jugoya (the fifteenth night of the eighth month on the lunar calendar) and enjoy moon viewing rice dumplings. The dumplings are sometimes shaped like rabbits to depict the legend of Tsukiyo no Usagi, The Rabbit on the Moon. On the same day, Koreans celebrate Chuseok or Hangawi, a harvest celebration where they make offerings to their ancestors and enjoy a crescent-shaped sweet glutinous rice cake called songpyeon. In Vietnam, the same day is celebrated as Tet Trung Thu or Children’s Festival, a time when parents busy with harvesting set time aside to focus on their children and mark the festivities by eating banh trung thu (mid-Autumn cakes).
This September, as the moon rises and lanterns are lit, take time out to learn a little more about the many overlapping histories, traditions and myths we share in Asia but rarely celebrate collectively across borders.

Who would have thought that the mooncake, something that’s considered uniquely Chinese, is actually present in so many other countries and cultures?

Yes, I do wonder how unique my heritage is and how this tradition of watching the moon is spanned across many countries in Asia. I am proud to be a Chinese (that is for the first time, too!). Enjoy your mooncake in a different conception this coming Mid-Autumn's Festival! =)

Imma Shoe-natic!

Today after lunch, I passed by a shop that reminds me of Perth, Payless Shoes. Without much thoughts, I walked in with my colleague and two pairs of shoes caught my eyes - suede wedges and platform closed toe strapped heels.

I love them both equally at first sight. After trying on and compared both, I felt the love for the pair of wedges.

So I took pictures of both pairs and did an opinion seeking session with ladies around me and on Facebook.

What are my findings? Most of the people I sought opinion with preferred the wedges compared to two not liking them. This actually assured and firmed up my decision making and needless to say, I bought the brown suede wedges! I'm loving it so much I think my old habits of buying shoes are kicking in!

Here are some pictures to share =)

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Ishmael Beah

This would be the third post for today. I was thinking of writing down all the things I wanted to share before they vanish from the top of my head.

Recently, I've been reading a book recommended by my colleague. It's called a long way gone: memoirs of a boy soldier. It's a book written by Ishmael Beah, depicting his early life as a boy soldier during the wartime in Sierra Leone. I am 2/3 through the book and no doubt, it's getting interesting. I am never a fan of non-fiction books as I have the passion and love to divulge in romance, crime and everything fiction.

This book has been an eye-opener to me. It showed how environment can force change in someone, regardless of your age. I have thought a lot about it and I am still counting my blessings each passing day. I promise I'd dedicate a post specially for this book after I'm done with it. Maybe some thoughts and reflections I have been pondering all these while.

I did a Google search on Ishmael and I found this piece, The Lord is My Shepard, written by him on the website of Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. Ishmael also wrote a piece, When Good Comes from Bad, which reflected his early life as a child soldier. I am very happy for who he is today and his work to help his people in Africa, especially war-torn Sierra Leone. Here's the excerpt to share:

The Lord Is My Shepard
by Ishmael Beah

I give thanks to God for always helping me to see the brighter side of everything. Even in the darkest time of my life when I almost gave up and thought life was over. God made me realize and see that I have a reason to live a life guided by him. The following are a number of verses which I have written from a longer song:

The lord is my Shepard
I can never be lost
Even when this daily life
comes to the worst
I keep his trust in my heart
Through all the darkest hours
I am protected by his powers
God bless me everyday
even when I fail
in this day to day struggle
he helps me pave my way
out of the troubles I face
making my fears less
so when I am stressed
I take it as another temptation
to test my motivation
But I fight this competition
between evil and good
every day and every night
I sometimes am deceived
intense struggles I perceived
raising my praises
cause my beliefs get stronger
so I no longer
live like the Pharisees, you heard
The God’s marvelous display
keeps me safe
even when I am lost in this place
do not feel disgrace
Because his grace is always with me
once blind, now I see.

Ishmael Beah was born in Sierra Leone, West Africa. At the age of thirteen, his life was interrupted by a civil war that claimed his family. He was forced to become a child solider for three years. In 1996, he was disarmed and taken out of the army by a United Nations sponsored program. He now resides in the United States where he is a senior at the United Nations high school in New York.

Recipes to entice...

As always, I'm into all kinds of recipes. Here are a few to share and no doubt the idea of making them is running on my head. =)

Homemade Cadbury Creme Eggs

Apple Cake

And yes, I have been an avid browser cum reader of Reader's Digest Asia for some time. The recipes are great and their health tips are unbelievably helpful!

Missing in action?!

Hello! It's been a while since I last wrote. Pardon me for being missing in action, I've been through some transitions in life and it's true that 24 hours a days ain't enough for me. So many things had happened in between my diet regime.

I fell sick a few days after I started my health kick. Oh yeah, the good ol' viral flu that's going around. I was sick for a week or so and upon recovering, it was time to shift house. Needless to say, I was excited yet unhappy. Some kind of dilemma I have there, isn't it? We have to move a whole lot of things from the previous place and things from JB prepared by my parents and grandma. We took an arvo to get things shifted and two days to clean up and arrange furniture in the house! I have to admit it's a lot of work but the comfort level I have now is all worth the work.

As a result from all the cleaning and moving, I have been sleep deprived for a whole week! My left ear decide to prompt me of the "heat" I have in my body that is quite over-exhausted, and that's when I felt piercing pain coming from it. The backflow from my nasal passageway and the pain from my left middle ear had left me uncomfortable and unwell for three days. Luckily I was quick to react and became my own doctor, taken all the medicines for anti-inflammation, nasal and ear infections. At least my knowledge of  medicine did help a little and I'm feeling so much better today!

Thank God for the speedy recovery. I can now focus on getting on the right track of being healthy and looking better, and also discovering the best food on earth - the healthy way! =)

More pictures of our new pad would be posted soon!