My Lunar New Year 2004

Wow! Blogging early today! It's the 7th day of the Lunar New Year(Blessed Lunar New Year, by the way ;) ), which is known as "Ren Ri" a.k.a. "Day of the Humans". :) And that also means more yee sang dinners! But too bad, I am already in KL, well.. PJ. *sigh* So I will not be having anymore yee sang dinners, at least for another 365 days later! haha.. ;)

Nevertheless, I had a wonderful time with my family in JB, visiting "annual relatives" and killing time by eating, eating, eating, and yes. More eating. Chinese New Year is the time where I consume the most amount of carbonated and sugar-saturated drinks, compared to anytime of the year..

The first day of the new year, I got up and took my bath; stole 3 oranges from the kitchen and greeted my Grandmother (all of these is part of the tradition of the Lunar New Year). Some of you might ask; "Why three oranges? Not two or four or eight.. but three?".. Well, I am trying to Christianize the Lunar New Year, so I decided that, three oranges represent; the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. And of course 2 oranges, is too little and four is too much. *grin* As for both of my parents, I greeted them with 3 oranges also but accompanied with a very Chinese New Year verse from the Bible.. Jeremiah 29:11; "For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare, not for woe! plans to give you a future full of hope.".. The reason why I decided to replace the usual greeting with a verse from the Bible is because, IMHO the usual greeting(e.g. may you have a prosperous year ahead, wishing you wealth and fortune, may your dreams come true, etc..) is nothing more than an empty promise. Yup, you heard me.. an empty promise. Because no one can guarantee the outcome of the coming year, and certainly no one can guarantee the outcome by holding on to the usual greetings he/she receives! But with the Word of God a.k.a. the Bible, it is different. The Word of God, contains promises and truths, and the beauty of it: all of them are guaranteed by God, Himself. So by greeting my parents with a verse from the Scriptures, I am actually reminding them the plans God has for them, and also reminding them to be steadfast in their faith because ONLY God can fulfill these promises, simply because: no one else can. :)

During the New Year, I have met "annual relatives", which of course like the term implies; 'relatives that we meet once a year', that have become devoted to the Lord as well as had gain more understanding of the Faith. It was very encouraging to see them grow like this. And this affirms me, that the Lord has indeed brought a revival to His Church.

A friend of mine; Alvin, had sent me an SMS about the New Year, and it is truly an insightful and Spirit-filled message! Here it goes..

"Chinese New Year is a time people talk of fengshui(with Lilian Too jamming the Astro channel and newspapers giving tips on which golden frog to buy). The time is right, brethren, to tell people of Him who is Lord over 'feng'(wind) 'shui'(water). Who is this, who orders even the winds and the waters and they obey Him? LUKE 8:25"


Once again, I would like to wish all of you a Blessed Lunar New Year!


Peace be with you,

Celestine

My Incense Holder

Hi guys!

In a few hours time it's aunt's wedding. Anyway, she had just received a wedding gift from me. A beautiful wood-craved incense holder, that has oriental ducks and lotuses as it's motif. What is special about this gift anyway? Well, the gift is not extraordinary but the person that prompted me to give it is. He is no other than my Lord God Almighty! :)

Two months ago, I went with a friend of mine to Central Market to do some window-shopping and I thought it would be good for me to get my own incense holder. So I went and I stumbled upon this beautiful incense holder.. I hesitated to buy the incense holder but after I went 'round looking, and did not manage to find another one like it... I decided to buy with a mere RM8 discount from the shopkeeper. I was satisfied with what I have bought, but on the other hand I felt that it was not necessary because I had no use for it. But since I have bought it, I decided I should not regret. ;)

Just a month ago, I came back to my hometown, for my aunt's wedding. And I displayed this prized treasure I bought to my soon-to-be-married aunt and also to the rest of the family. My aunt loved it and jokingly asked me to give it to her as a weddiing gift.. but I told her if she wanted it, I would willingly sell it to her at the cost price to get my money back. But then she didn't buy because she complained it was too expensive. But I ponder on whether or not to give it as a wedding gift for a while.. But soon, I forgot all about it untill: Today.

The Lord prompted me to give the incense burner to her as a wedding gift. I struggled for a moment, between my greed and my love for God. And praise the Lord; my love for God won. :)

I had a talk with my aunt just now, when I presented her the gift. I told her that, there are many things in this world I am not sure of, but one thing I am sure is that, the Lord has great plans for her and her husband(my uncle ;) ). I also told her that although she is not aware(note: my aunt's a Buddhist) of the Lord, but nevertheless the Lord is always aware of her every move and is always looking out for her.

How do I know? Well, because He told us that He carved our names on His palm even before we were born. And I also told her that incense is used in our Church to symbolize consecration to the Lord. And then at that moment the Holy Spirit gave me a revelation: the reason the incense holder was chosen as the wedding gift is because the Lord wanted my aunt to consecrate herself to Him! And of course, I told my aunt this revelation immediately. I assured her that I am not imposing my beliefs on her, rather I am letting her consider to rely on a Friend I know that never gives up and is always faithful.. The Friend that I am refering to, is God; the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

As for whether my aunt would be Christian, I do not know but I do know that once she embark on this journey, she will discover that God has plans for her prosperity and not to destroy(Jeremiah 29:11).. I will keep her in my prayers, always.

God bless,

Celestine