Little Cozy Corner

Remember Vince? Remember Jacklyn and Daniel? Remember Malaysian Idol? Remember how much money you spent SMS-ing your votes? Reading about this SMS phenomenon in the papers shocked me out of my seat ~ RM21.03 billion!! See….I only voted once for Jac, which I regretted in the end anyway. I’m not even going to bother explaining why I feel this way. Bottom line is people are SMS-ing more and more each day as it’s close to dirt cheap. No denying it at all.

Almost every single service available today is via SMS. You want daily Feng Shui tips – SMS Lilian Too, you want daily financial, love and inspirational tips – simply pick up your phone, look for the code and SMS them. But you gotta register first of course. You can download ring tones, wall papers, screen savers, caller ring tones, and pretty much anything via SMS. Very soon there’ll be SMS Order Brides too! It’s just a matter of time. Nothing is for free of course…besides Celcom’s free ‘Ghostly Winds’ and ‘Hysterical Laughter’ caller ring tones which I can’t get rid of it (HELP!!). We are willing to easily dig our pockets for these minor unnecessary whims but when a little school kid approaches you for donation, a frown builds up and the poor kiddy is quickly shooed away with a wave of your hand, or you give whilst grumbling about it or give a stern don’t-you-even-think-of-asking-me look on your face that could even have Satan shaking in his boots.

I can’t remember how many times this week I was all teary eyed reading about poverty and suffering that is happening all around me. It started off with Bunny’s post here and here. I already knew about Cambodia’s state of poverty but with Bunny’s excellent writing, I was involuntarily sucked into her article that I could actually feel what she went through as if I was there myself. Even Frank’s pictures of Cambodia didn’t affect me this much. I was VERY disturbed and my heart was torn into bits. It reminded me of an age old Malay saying, “Berat mata memandang, berat lagi bahu memikul”, this literally meaning that it’s hard to see one in difficulty but it is worst for the one who is facing the reality. I found it hard to digest how these people were leading their life in such conditions and yet, there was always a smile on their faces. I did a rough calculation on the amount of SMSes that poured in the night Daniel won Malaysian Idol. The amount, if my memory serves me right is RM1.2 million (assuming that you all paid RM1 per vote) if not, then RM600k (at 50 sen per vote). That amount would have summed up to about USD157k. If you were too lazy to read Bunny’s posts then let me tell you that some Cambodians only earn USD15 a month rowing boats for tourists. Something for you to digest now, isn’t it? :crying:

The next blow was a video clip that was played at sunset mass this evening in my church. This is the 3rd week of our Lent Season for us Catholics. We have a Lenten Campaign team who had put in great efforts in promoting awareness of the marginalized and under privileged. The video which was put up, pictured many homeless people, under privileged kids, battered women as well as clips of protesting of human rights, with MJ’s Man in the Mirror playing in the background. At the end of the clip, they had the kiddies come up and state their pleas. It was heart wrenching and I really had tears in my eyes which I held back. It was so tough looking at those poor kiddies. I was afraid that it was going to jeopardize my concentration during mass as it was my turn to play the organ but thankfully (and miraculously) I found myself more focused instead.

I intend to put that exact clip up in here, if it’s not too big. We’ll see how it goes. Until then, it’s about time I did my part in alms giving, as it is the least I can do ~ for now.

The message for today is, go….touch a life.

Well, this part 3 of my last ‘holiday’. But seriously, the past one week was no holiday at all. I think I went through more stress during this time than while I am at work. It was very stressful and everything was a rush as both Ted and I were pressed for time. From the time he arrived, till the day he left, the poor thing hardly had enough time to sleep (A grumpy Teddy is whiney Teddy – lol). It was always late nights and early mornings. Even I began to feel weary by the end of the week. If you’re wondering why my holiday was stressful, let me unfold what we went through since the beginning of March.

As you all know, Ted arrived on 1st March. By the time we got home, it was almost 12.30 am. The next morning was a mad rush and being jerked around by government offices. We went to JPN first thing in the morning to submit our Registration forms. Although the officer was a nice lady (which is such a blessing seeing that the majority of government personnel really sourpusses – got ka such a thing?), I wasn’t happy that she kept asking us to do things one by one. I mean, couldn’t she just have made things easy by saying that : this is what you need and this is what you have to do. Instead, she wasn’t sure if Ted’s cert of bachelorhood was valid or could be accepted by the office and thus, she needed to check with higher officers. Then she gave us a form to fill up (which I think should have been given to me when I first when to find out about registering our marriage at JPN) and we had to go to the Magistrate coz a translator was required to tell Ted what he was going to be signing on, like as if I couldn’t do it. However, I have no complaints there as I wasn’t charged anything. Then we rushed back to the JPN as it was almost lunch time. Good thing that the office closes for lunch at 1pm (Since when?? I thought they normally close from 12 to 2.30pm!) so we were in time and manage to submit our forms without much hassle. We had also set the date for our civil marriage. That was the first breath of relief I took.

After that, we both rushed home to pack our bags for a weekend at College General (which also doubles up as a seminary for priests). We attended a course that is required for couples intending to get married in church. It is called Catholic Engaged Encounter (CEE). We were in the 59th batch. There were all in all, 15 couples attending this course. Not all were Catholics but one of the partners has to be, however I think that this marriage program is opened to all. The only thing is that the concepts shared are that from a Catholic view-point. I would strongly recommend this program to ANYONE who is intending to get married. It is really an eye-opener for me. I am not allowed to share with you what went on but rest assured that I did not come out of it empty handed. Instead, I’m very happy to have had the chance of attending such a program. I actually met 2 couples who were also bloggers at the meet namely, Angie & Bart and Peter & Gladys. Both these couples were not participants, instead they were the presenters. Peter and Gladys were our prayer couple. This meaning that they were the ones praying that this program would touch us and indeed it did. My sincere thanks to all the people who made this happen. :thumbsup:

Now, you must be wondering what divine intervention I’m talking about right? Well, I was very stressed out during that weekend as right after it, on Monday Ted and I would be flying out to KL and prepare ourselves to go to the Australian High Commission as we would be submitting my Visa application. I was a nervous wreck and a bundle of jagged nerves! I was also worried about how we would get to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) in Putrajaya as well coz I needed to submit another form there. It wasn’t going very well with me and I was just freaking out towards the end of the encounter as no one there seems to know how to get to the MFA. It was truly a miracle and certainly a touch of reassurance from God that Pathi (one of the participants there) was from KL and he was trying to explain to us how to get to the Oz Hi-Com and the MFA when he casually mentioned that he was working in the US embassy. My sharp ears caught that and I asked him to re-confirm my hearing. And true enough, he was indeed working with the US embassy which was down the road (kind of) from the Oz Hi-Com so he told us how to get there and being the decent chap that he is, he even managed to arrange some transport to ferry us to and fro from MFA!! If that isn’t what you call divine intervention, I don’t know what is. It’s really amazing how God never fails to show me how real He really is in my life. And it’s truly amazing how He works in ways you can hardly imagine and in the most unlikely situations. I’m truly a living testimony that God is great! :D: No wonder Ted always tells me not to worry coz the Lord will provide.

And so, as planned we arrived safely in KL and were up bright and early to make our trip to the Oz Hi-Com. I am glad to announce that my application was well received so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that all will go through fine. (It better go through as we are at the moment almost RM4000+ poorer!!!) I also ask for your prayers of course, just to give it an extra boost. Heh. Next on my list to submit is my medical check up which I think should not be a problem at all, I’ll be doing that next month. Once everything was done there, we caught our ride to MFA as arranged. It’s totally beyond me why our MAIN government offices are located in the middle of no where! And to make matters worst, I doubt there is any public transport going in there and even if there were, what/where was the official bus stop?? And to think that Ted & I were suppose to find our way to this God-forsaken place??? Aiyooo…..thank goodness for Pathi. I can’t imagine trying to get to this place even if I had a car with me. Siao wei! :diss:

The minute ALL my forms were submitted, my stress instantly disappeared. A great burden was lifted off my shoulders and I found that I could finally breathe properly. Even that night’s sleep was exceptionally good too. The next day, we flew back and got some rest coz we also had a rather hectic schedule the following day (Thursday). On Thursday, we had gone to see Father (my parish priest) about our wedding dates and to submit our ‘graduation’ cert from CEE. After some advice and how to get about certain issues, we made our way to the bridal shop for our posing session.

Today, well more like in ½ hour, I’ll be heading over to the bridal shop to pick up my shots. We took like 30 poses and are suppose to pick 15 for our album. I hope they turn out well but I’m not getting my hopes up high.

“A wedding is a day…..a marriage is a lifetime”
~ CEE’s words of wisdom

It is written in the Bible:
“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man swath, that shall he also reap.”

Here are some men and women who mocked God:

JOHN LENNON:
Some years before during his interview with an American Magazine, he said:
“Christianity will end, it will disappear. I do not have to argue about that. I am certain. Jesus was ok, but his subjects were too simple, today we are more famous than Him” (1966)”.

Lennon, after saying that the Beatles were more famous than Jesus Christ, was shot six times.

TAN CREDO NAVES:
During the Presidential campaign, he said if he got 500 votes from his party, not even God could remove him from Presidency. Sure he got the votes, but he got sick a day before being made President, then he died.

AZUSA:
During a show in Cancun (Rio de Janeiro), whilst smoking his cigarette, he puffed out some smoke into the air and said: God, that’s for you.

I can’t even explain how he died.
*No idea who this is….but am dying to find out how he was snuffed out.* Heh.

THE MAN WHO BUILT TITANIC:
After the construction of Titanic, a reporter asked him how safe the Titanic would be. With an ironic tone he said: “Not even God can sink it”

The result: I think you all know what happened to the Titanic.

MARILYN MONROE:
She was visited by Billy Graham during a presentation of a show. He is a preacher and Evangelist and the Spirit of God had sent him to preach to her.

After hearing what the Preacher had to say, she said: “I don’t need your Jesus”

A week later, she was found dead in her apartment.

BON SCOTT:
The ex-vocalist of the AC/DC. On one of his 1979 songs he sang:
“Don´t stop me, I´m going down all the way, wow the highway to hell”.

On the 19th of February 1980, Bon Scott was found dead, he had been choked by his vomit.

CAMINOS, SPAIN @ 2005
In Caminos, a group of friends, drunk, went to pick up a friend. The mother accompanied her to the car and was so worried about the drunkenness of her friends and she said to the daughter - holding her hand, who was already seated in the car: “MY DAUGHTER, GO WITH
GOD AND MAY HE PROTECT YOU”. She responded: ONLY IF HE (GOD) TRAVELS IN THE BOOT, COZ INSIDE HERE, IT’S ALREADY FULL”

Hours later, news came by that they had been involved in a fatal accident, everyone had died, the car could not be recognized what type of car it had been, but surprisingly, the boot was intact. The police said there was no way the boot could have remained intact. To their surprise, inside the boot was a crate of eggs, none was broken.

Many more important people have forgotten that there is no other name that was given so much authority as the name of Jesus. Many have died, but only Jesus die d and rose again, and he is still alive. JESUS!!!

“What benefit does it have, if a man gains the whole world but loses his soul? What can man give in exchange of his soul? ” Mathew 16:26

Note : I don’t claim to be a perfect Catholic for I am with many flaws however, I am God-fearing and although some of you (especially if you are Atheists) may not think too highly of this (you’d most likely say that it was merely coincidence or plain crap), but like it or not it IS a warning. And a powerful at that too.

After a rather depressing/disturbing entry and a bout of paranoia, I think this is rather appropriate & is a positive strike to settle some of my frazzled nerves. And like what Hedo said, as long as I don’t step on anyone tail ~ I think I’ll be safe. *Damn…have to cut back on all those XXX stuff too.* Blek!

When someone tells you that you can’t do something…

Look around…

Consider all options…

Then GO for it!

Use all the things God gave you!

Be creative!

In the end, you will succeed and prove them wrong!

Always remember : “When there is a will, there is a way”

Who would have thought that this lesson was best taught by a snail? God is great indeed!

*Yes…I think I’m doing too much CnP. But this IS good right???*

Note : An eye-opening LONG post ahead.

What is your definition of a Man? If you ask that question to a group of men you’ll hear many different answers depending upon environment and upbringing.

Some may say he is a man when he has reached a certain age, some may say when he has moved out from under mom’s roof and has his own car and apartment, and some believe that making a certain amount of money is attaining manhood. None of these things, however, are characteristics of a man.

Manhood is a process, a transition from maleness.

Below states some of the differences between a male and a man.

Are You A Male Or A Man?

Man - does not carry a grudge
Male - looks for ways to get even

Man - looks to better himself; he invests in his success
Male - complains that he has to stay where he is

Man - gives to his community
Male - takes from his community

Man - is measured by his character
Male - is measured by his sex drive

Man - is a protector of women in general and committed to one woman in particular
Male - views a woman as an object of pleasure, and isn’t committed to anything!

Man - word is his bond
Male - has no word, he will tell you what you want to hear

A Real man is a leader
Male - is a follower

Man - thinks with is big head
Male - thinks with his little head (This had me CRACKING up!!!! Bwaaahahahaha!!!! How so true..)

Man - uses his intellect and emotions to make decisions
Male - makes emotional decisions

Males Are Born But Men Are Made *Love this bit!*

As you can see there are some distinctions between males and men. Being a man is not easy, especially when you understand a man’s roles and responsibilities. I was speaking with a brother one day, and he said to me, “Bro, this being a man thing is hard!” I knew exactly where he was coming from. Walking in manhood can be overwhelming because we’re going through the process of being reshaped, renewed, restored and completely retrained.

Most of us have been operating as males with sprinklings of manhood. For example, some of us may find a good woman, marry her, provide for her financially, sometimes emotionally, and do most things right. After about nine months to a year when she starts “trippin” because we’re hanging out with the fellas, that’s when we meet the other woman and revert to being a male. You see, a man has emotions but is not ruled by them. So when his wife starts “trippin”, he doesn’t allow her actions to dictate his reaction. A man understands that he is held accountable by God for the way he treats his wife regardless of the way she may be treating him.

The Making Of A Man
God created man to have dominion, to be a ruler, and to master his environment. He created us in the beginning to be totally dependent on Him, He taught us directly. He instructed us and gave us our assignments. So, the making of a man was founded in and through Him. The only way this transition into manhood can take place is that we go back to Him.

1 Corinthians 13:11 states “When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things”.

Keys To Becoming A Real Man
God created man to be a Provider, Protector, Cultivator, Visionary, and Leader

Provider : In Genesis 2:15 God put His man, Adam in a garden and gave him his first assignment, to work. Work was given to him to advance the purpose of God. God wanted Adam to have fulfillment, and to enable him to provide for his own needs as well as those for whom he would eventually be responsible for. Notice that before he gave the man a woman, He gave him work. Therefore a man needs work before he takes on a wife. A provider finds a way to supply for his family’s need. He plans ahead and anticipates needs before they arise.

Protector : When God put us in the garden to take care of it, not only did He want us to work in it and cultivate it, but He wanted us to also protect it, and all the animals, the plants, and the woman that He put there for us. We are natural protectors, designed by God to protect everything we are responsible for.

Cultivator: To cultivate means to make something better than it was when you first received it. Look at your woman, how many of us are really cultivating our women?

Single Brothers: You should be cultivating every woman that comes into your circle. They should leave you a better person, NOT Pregnant, or emotionally abused after we’ve run so much game on them.

Married Men: We have this picture in our minds of what we want our wives to be and when she doesn’t measure up to that we blame her. Ask yourself, what have you put into her? What kind of deposits have you made into her spirit? Have you cultivated her to be what you envision? Or what she envisions for herself? Do you know what her goals and dreams are? How are you helping her achieve them? A woman is like a seed, and we are water and light for her. If we pour into her and shine our light on her, she will blossom into a beautiful, compassionate, nurturing, submissive, help mate. Then you can look at her proudly and say “Look at what I have cultivated”.

Visionary: Proverbs 29:18 says “Where there is no vision the people perish”. To have vision means to conceive something in your mind and then move toward bringing that vision into reality. Every man should have a vision for his life. If he is married, he should have a vision for his family. The vision should include but not limited to Faith, Family, and Finances. We should have short term and long term goals, and they should be attainable. Most of us don’t have a vision for our family and we wonder why our wives and children won’t submit to us. Brothers, look at the word ’submission’, the prefix “sub” means under, and mission simply means goal or vision. So submitting is coming under one’s goals and vision. Well brother, she won’t submit if you don’t have a vision for her to submit under.

Leader: Every man is created by God to lead and a man should display leadership characteristics. Some men run away from the responsibility of leadership. They are selfish, only concerned about their own needs and not the needs of others.

Take a look at some leadership characteristics listed below:
A leader is a servant
A leader is disciplined
A leader is the first one up in the morning and the last one to go to bed
A leader sets the tone
A leader has integrity
A leader has character
A leader’s word is his bond
A leader is a role model
A leader provides, protects, cultivates, and has vision
A leader leads by example

Men, we are on our way. The first step was reading this article. Now you know what a man is, God winks at ignorance but holds us all responsible for what we know.

Let’s start the transition into manhood now!

*An email I received (hopefully) from a MAN. Thanks Poongan. Btw, I do hope no MAN or MALE has gotten their undies in a twist, I seriously do see some truth in this and would love to read if anyone has the oppposite version of this, that is about women and girlies. :wink:*

Funny quote for the day :
George Burns - “When I was a boy the Dead Sea was only sick.”

And funny VIDEO for the day - a MUST see!!! Handling gym euipment.