Children and 'lurve' ...

I was wondering what to post and I received this email. For your reading (and considering) pleasure.

Touching words from the mouth of babes.

What does Love mean? A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, "What does love mean?". The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined. See what you think:

"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love." Rebecca- aged 8

"When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth." Billy - aged 4

"Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other." Karl - aged 5

"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs." Chrissy - aged 6

"Love is what makes you smile when you're tired." Terri - aged 4

"Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK." Danny - aged 7

"Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss" Emily - aged 8

"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen." Bobby - aged 7 (Wow!)

"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate." Nikka - aged 6 (Wow, wow)

"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday." Noelle - aged 7

"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well." Tommy - aged 6

"During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore." Cindy - aged 8

"My mommy loves me more than anybody. You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night." Clare - aged 6

"Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken." Elaine-aged 5

"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford." Chris - aged 7

"Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you'd left him alone all day." Mary Ann - aged 4

"I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones." Lauren - aged 4

"When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you." Karen - aged 7

"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it is gross." Mark - aged 6

"You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget." Jessica - aged 8

And the final one -- Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, "Nothing, I just helped him cry".

God bless you guys.

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbour as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." Mark 12:30 - 31

'Weird' and Wonderful

A thought

I had a thought last night when I was looking at some of the things in my room and bathroom. Yes, I would blog a post about some of the 'odder' things in my room (that is besides myself lah ... hahahah ... I guess I can be pretty eccentric too, as some of you would already be aware of, but I hope these idiosyncrasies are endearing rather than irritating ... haha).

Anyway, allow to me present to you the 5 most unique things in my room and bathroom (whattalist) and yes, I do consider them objets d'art.

Here they are


Ooo ... what is it? Any guesses? It is actually my wall mounted lamp.

Looking very futuristic and space aged, it caught my eye when I was in Ipoh, awaiting the shifting into my current apartment. I wanted something interesting, out of the ordinary and at the same time, charming. If I am correct, I found this lamp in a light shop near the 'warring' nga choy kai shops in Ipoh. Hahahaha ... initially attracted to it, I was hesistant to buy it, as it did not really illuminate the room bright enough to read, but its uniqueness got the better of me, and well, if ever you come and visit me, please drop by for a look.

This is a charmer. Haha ... It is my 'pet' chameleon. I actually find chameleons most fascinating. Slow moving and enigmatic, they shift and blend into the surroundings, with a wicked tongue.

This chameleon stays in my bathroom, over the sink. It is a mirror. A friend of mine, my godson Aidan's mother, Alice gave it to me for Christmas. I immediately took a liking to it and it also solved my problem of not having a mirror in the bathroom as I was hesistant to drill through tiles.

Bathroom exhibit 2: a tongue scrubber.

I know, it does not sound too pleasant but what to do when dental and oral hygiene is important? Apparently, it also helps reduce ulcers by cleaning your tongue.

This is one of my favourites: a Scripture Keeper. These beauties are readily available in Glad Sounds and Evangel and they come in a variety of themes. This is a Sports Themed one and even the Bible verses are sports themed. Good for encouragement and also as a decorative piece to get conversations going, and also sharing :) .

I have another one in the office and that is a Refuge theme, with an Ivy Tower to hold the cards. Praise The Lord Jesus for creative people.

Lastly, but not least, my very own Van Gogh artpiece. Well at least in full technicolour jigsaw.

I used to have a thing for jigsaws when Valerie, my sister in law had a few that she fixed and framed put up in our home. I saw this in Jigsaw World, KLCC and bought it on sale. I tried to fix it, but my patience grew thin (haha) and finally had to resort to the kindness and patience of my three brother and sisters in Christ, Soon Seng, Jean and Yoke Kheng, who fixed it up and then framed it up for my birthday. God bless them. :) Now it hangs as a centre piece on my bedroom wall and it really brightens up the place (with my two other pictures).

There you have it

Five of the more unique things I have. I have more, but that is another story.

Thank You Lord Jesus for your gift of art and creativity. All praise to You, my/our Author of Life.

God bless you.

The Tired Educator

From inspired to tired. Haha. Oh well ...

It has been a busy two to three weeks since the new semester began. A semester of using 'technology' to teach (KDU being a smart school), a semester of climbing stairs or waiting for elevators, a semester of getting through to new classes of students, the smallest being 7 pupils, the largest 50 plus (whew) a semester of reading to get updated with the latest in the technical world of Company Law and the enigmatic world of Equity and Trusts Law. Woo Hoo, whattajob. Also a semester of my continuing education at University Malaya (and spending oodles of time at the library (7 plus pm to closing time, no less)). What's an educator to do?

New challenges demand new solutions to overcome them, and I am more than up to the task, with the Lord Jesus being my strength and my wisdom. Amen.

Let me tell you about my classes.

University of Tasmania (twinning programme): Equity and Trusts Law

Small-ish groups, two groups (sems 5 and 6), with 7 returning students and 11 new ones. Classes are cosy, discussions are more intimate (interactive wiselah), students are generally more responsive and attentive. I enjoy lecturing Equity and Trusts anyway. This is in stark contrast to when I was a student and I was 'just getting by' in Equity. Haha. What a difference, um, a few years can make. :)

Oxford Brookes University (twinning programme)/ University of London (external programme): Equity and Trusts Law, Company Law

And then there were ... 50 plus. Wow.

This is the biggest among my group of students since I started with KDU. The general atmosphere is or can be pretty chaotic. Haha. Students come in at times ranging from early, to on time to 15 minutes late and beyond (to infinity and ... nevermind haha). When I lecture, I can see one or two students chatting and laughing behind ... and I stop and I sit. Haha. Suddenly the atmosphere changes from para silence to a lot of hushing and then silence. Then I continue. Oh the life of a lecturer who does not scold. I prefer not to scold as I treat them as adults and really do not see the point in scolding people in my age group (yes yes, I am still in my 20s). I reach out to youth better by relating to them. Although I must say I have been tempted to scold. Haha.

The students range from really attentive and inquisitive to those who listen and are silent to the few that are in a world by themselves.

The best part are my (almost) daily quizzes: trivia time. Yayy. Pin drop silence. Woosh, you could hear people breathing ... ok, that is too much, but very quiet. What happened to those back benchers? Fun fun.

All in all, that is how my term starts: slightly awkward at first in relating to new students but by the end, when we are familiar with each other, fellowship and meals and etc.

Lectures

I lecture a maximum of 5 hours a day, and most during the middle of the day (from 10 to 5 even). This semester I have 18 hours per week. I used to have 27. Whoa.

Thankfully no weekend classes. Still have to come in though, 2-3 times a month.

The Thankful Educator

Regardless of the time (or lack of it), new faces and new challenges, I enjoy teaching very much and I feel personally it is one of the best ways to reach out to oikos. :)

Lord Jesus be glorified.

God bless you all.

We've (I've) been forgiven much ...

I came across this very interesting article on Christianity Today.com. Please feel free to have a read.

What Forgiveness Isn't

6 myths that may be keeping you from letting go by Denise George.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/tcw/2006/004/14.38.html

What I liked best is the last line of the article:

'When we genuinely forgive, we set a prisoner free and then discover the prisoner we set free was us.'

God bless you.