When I Look Back

Postingan ini ditujukan untuk Louisa benernya :P Beberapa bulan lalu dia ada bbm gw dan cerita tentang pergumulan dia mao ke Swiss, belon dapet tempat tinggal, visa belon keluar etc. Emang masa-masa galau banget sih di tengah ketidakpastian. Maap banget sa baru sempet nulis tentang ini >.<

Nah gw pengen share sedikit disini tentang semua ini, menunggu dalam ketidakpastian yang rasanyaaa luamaaa banget. Belon lagi deg-deg'annya. Panic at the disco, harus cepet ambil keputusan ini dan itu. Dan beberapa hal lain terpaksa harus di on hold :(

Tapi when I look back, He is my Jehovah Jireh. The Lord is my provider, through the years He never let me down. And what bible say is true; Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for You are close beside me. Your rod and Your staff protect and comfort me. Psalm 23:4

Dulu gw pernah tuh ngerasain kaya Louisa, uda dapet kerja tapi ijin tinggal gw belom keluar. Terus pas saat itu gw ada church camp di Malaysia. Dan karena kemaren itu Singapore lagi ketat banget usir-usirin foreigner keluar jadi untuk keluar masuk Singapore lumayan ngeri, takut-takut ga boleh masuk lagi. Tapi gimana pun gw harus ikut church camp soalnya gw jadi panitia inti >.< Dan gw berdoa sama Tuhan, Tuhan ani mau Spass ani keluar sebelum retreat. Dan bener loh Spass, ijin tinggal gw keluar tanggal 15 dan church camp itu happens tanggal 16. And once again I'm amazed by His love!!

Lalu juga pernah, gw pindah rumah baru 3 minggu. Kebayang gak sih unpack dan packingnya kaya apa? Terus landlord gw telpon, dia bilang dia ada bad news which is gw harus move out soalnya pemerintah mau adain inspeksi apalah gitu. Jadi gw harus pindah dalam kurun waktu satu minggu >.< Stress banget, apalagi cari rumah tuh gak gampang euy, dan biasanya cari-cari rumah itu sebulanan. Tapiii once again, Tuhan kasih satu agent ke gw, dan pas view rumah pertama kali itu gw langsung oke, tempat oke, harga oke, dan tentunya semua karena Tuhan kita yang oke banget lah!

Oh ya, yang paling berkesan juga itu selama 3tahun gw kuliah. Gw gak pernah ngalamin yang namanya laptop crash tiba-tiba dan mati total di tengah-tengah final project. Dimana itu fatal banget untuk anak DKV, karena laptop itu harta kita yang paling berharga ahaha. Gw cuma pernah ganti laptop sekali doank, itu pun karena kesalahan gw sendiri kebanting! Sampe temen-temen gw pada heran, mereka pada nanya kok bisa dll, banyak dari temen-temen gw yang ganti sampai 2-3x udahan. Dan pernah ada yang kecolongan juga laptopnya deng dengggg -____- Gw sungguh bersyukurrrr bokk gw gak pernah ngalamin stressnya laptop mati, hilang data, kebut-kebutan ngejer backup file, or redo everything that was lost. And all because of God's protection.

Tiga hal ini yang gw gak akan bisa lupa selama masa-masa struggle gw sebatang kara di negri sebrang *lebay* Dan ketika gw mengalami hal-hal sulit lagi, Roh Kudus seperti mengingatkan masa iya lu ragu sama Tuhan, setelah apa yang Dia perbuat selama ini? Dan gw langsung ketemplak bokk, really without God I simply nothing. Dan masih bisa-bisanya gw meragukan Tuhan setelah betapa setiaNya Dia >.<

Jadiii ketika merasa cobaan beratt sekaliii dan seperti pungguk merindukan bulan, lets we review our life back then :) When life knocks down on your knees, well, isn't that the best position to pray? My fav verse all the time; Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 

Faith sees the invisible

Believes the unbelievable

and receives the impossible

Semua Cowo Sama

"Ah semua cowo sama ajah lah"
Hayoo, siapa yang sering denger kata-kata seperti ini keluar dari mulut seorang wanita? Or maybe mulutmu sendiri? :P
To be honest, gw sendiri pernah -- dan oops sering ngomong kaya gitu dulu. Catet yah, dulu! HAHA. Ketika saya masi ababil-ababilnya.

Kenapa gw bilang ababil? Sorry to say nih, in my opinion.. cewe yang bisa menyuarakan komentar seperti ini adalah cewe yang ababil, yang emosinya masih belon stabil sehingga dia melihat kalau semua cowo itu sama aja. Yes, mungkin kamu pernah jadi pihak yang dirugikan atau istilahnya menjadi korban para pria. Tapi bukan karena satu pria berbuat seperti itu, lantas semua cowo sama aja toh? Nyimpen rasa kepaitan itu adalah merugikan kamu sendiri, makanya harus diberantas secara tuntas!

Terus juga sering banget loh gw denger dan liat beberapa kasus -- jadian, putus, jadian lagi sama yang baru, lalu putus lagi dan ends up mengatakan "semua cowo sama ajah." Nah loh, kalo mank belon bener-bener pulih dari sakit hati ngapain toh buru-buru pacaran lagi? Maybe in hope, si dia bisa bantu lupain masa lalu yah. Tapi perlu diingat, jangan sampai kamu membawa luka lama ke hubungan yang baru. 

Ketika gw denger cewe-cewe menyuarakan "semua cowo sama ajah lah nie." Gw langsung teringat oleh ayat ini:

Dan mengapa kamu melihat selumbar yang ada di mata saudaramu, tetapi tidak menyadari balok yang ada di matamu sendiri? 

Matius 7:3 - MILT version

Kenapa langsung inget sama ayat ini? Soalnya gw penganut paham dan sangat percaya dengan quotes behind every great man, there's a great woman. Iyah, mungkin kamu bisa bilang -- dulu dia baik loh, awal-awal deket sangat rohani tapi lama-lama dia berubah. Nah, kalo kaya gitu bisa coba di cek tuh. Kitanya berubah gak? Atau jangan-jangan karena pas sama kita, dia malah berubah jadi gak baik? Dengan kata lain, kita yang membawa pengaruh negatif ke dia. Atauuu, kamu dan dia sudah tidak menempel pada pokok anggur yang tepat, yaitu Tuhan Yesus! Tuhan bukan lagi the center of your relationship.

Or mungkin dari awalnya relationship ini kamu tuh uda sadar, kamu gak seimbang sama dia. Seimbang dalam arti tidak saling membangun ke arah yang lebih baik atau hubungannya tarik menarik. Jadi ketika putus, sakit hati, nangis-nangis. Stop blaming other person, check your self first why at the first place you close one eye to consider him?

Jadi, in conclusion, menurut gw kita as ladies need to stop saying like that. Semua cowo itu gak sama kok. Masihhh banyakk cowo yang baik dan bener-bener takut akan Tuhan. Tapi tentunya cowo-cowo seperti itu juga mencari wanita yang content, yang gambar dirinya penuh. (Ini based on my conversations with godly man loh). Walau mungkin ada 10 cowo nakal yang deketin kamu, tapi kalau kamu seorang cewe yang berkarakter dan berpendirian kuat. Gak sembarang cowo yang bisa deketin kamu, dan kamu gak akan bakal ngomong lagi "semua cowo sama ajah lah" karena kamu yang megang kendali atas hatimu dan gak sembarangan memberikan hatimu ke sembarang cowo.

So girls, we need to come to the point that -- be the kind of person you want to see in your future spouse. Stop asking too much, stop demanding, stop complaining, stop blaming. Kalau kita selalu menyalahkan cowo-cowo, itu mendukakan hati Tuhan juga loh. Karena Tuhan menciptakan kita wanita sebagai penolong bukan perongrong. Let's we learn to become a woman after God's own heart :)

A Glowing Lady

“Men are attracted to women who Glow”

A glow is defined as “to shine brightly and steadily“. Thesaurus defined it also as “the state of free from bodily or mental disease“. Here’s the thing ladies, I’m going to share something from guys point of view about the kind of ladies that attract us. I feel many of you ladies don’t really know how to ‘glow‘ and it’s just a pity to see that many high quality ladies not ‘glowing‘ to their full potential. Some are too ignorant, too attention seeking, or the worst thing is too desperate. Let’s see if this post can open your mind to new things. My goal is to give you an idea of how most of us guys ‘tick‘. Basically that one simple quote summarized it all, “We are attracted to women who Glow!”. Let me explain as brief as possible what ‘glow’ means.

PRESENTABLY GLOWING. 

Have you ever heard people say that “Men are visual creatures and Women are emotional creatures“? If you haven’t, then where have you been? Hehe. You have to understand that fact and know that the first thing men notice from you women is how you ‘present‘ yourself. Notice I use the word ‘present‘, because I’m not talking about whether you are beautiful or not beautiful physically here. I truly believe all of us are beautifully and wonderfully made. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. All of us are definitely beautiful to someone. I’m talking about how you ladies should ‘present‘ yourself attractively.

Yes, I agree everyone have their own style and personality. Some just loves it plain without make up, some dressed themselves elegantly, while some prefer more tomboy style. Whatever your style is, what’s most important is the fact that you are comfortable with how you dress up and it makes you feel attractive and confident.

The key is in your mind. Believe it or not, we all know ourselves when we really dress up and be attractive or when we’re not putting any effort at all and dress lousily. Probably we dress lousily when we’re just going down from our apartment to the grocery store to buy little bit of groceries and hope we won’t bump into anyone we know. Whereas we dress our best when we’re going to a friend’s birthday dinner thinking that we might meet some lovely singles out there. Whatever it is, be it men or women, we do need to put attention on how we clean ourselves, dress up and present ourselves. Take decent care of your body, hair, health and how you dress yourself. 

You need to be presentably glowing, cause you just never know if the next person you’re going to meet tomorrow when you step out of your home could actually be your dream guy or girl. Don’t let a set of heels or hairdo hinder you to be one step away from catching the eye of your potential mate!

INDEPENDENT, CONFIDENT AND SECURE. 

Ladies, guys are attracted to women who are confident and secured. If you are lacking confidence and security, then you first need to do something to correct yourself. Someone who always seek or hungry for attention is a turn off. No matter how beautiful you are, if you are not confident it will eventually shows. In many case the cause of jealousy and possessiveness in a relationship is because of one’s insecurity and lack of confident. When you don’t feel good about yourself and see everyone as more beautiful or better than you, you start putting them as your rivals and threat, causing you to want to protect your partner by not allowing them to socialize freely. You start to have phobia or fear of losing your partner because you are not confident and secure.

Before you look for a partner, you have to fix yourself and be an independent, confident and secure lady! Women who already have a career, financially independent, and have goals and vision in life are really attractive. No matter how beautiful you are, if you only sleep the whole day at home and still depending on your parents wealth for your personal shopping, and you don’t know what you want in life, you’ll be just like a pretty walking ‘barbie doll‘. Believe me, guys would line up for you, but you may not last long. An independent, confident and secure lady is like a gem!

LIVING LIFE TO THE FULLEST. 

Men are attracted to ladies who are having the fun of their life! Those who are not gloomy and mellow and showing how desperate they are to have a boyfriend to make them happy. We are attracted to those who are contented with their singleness and enjoying their life to the max. Those who know that their happiness doesn’t rely on the hands of a partner, but themselves. Usually, the only people that can live life to the fullest are those who are already confident and secure. So the first step to live your life to the fullest is to fix what’s inside, be confident and secure!

Live your life to the fullest. Go out, socialize and have fun with your friends. No need to be sensitive or shy, but be courageous and full of smile. Be warm and friendly, be someone that’s easy to approach instead of someone with a straight face that people scared to approach. 

Trust me, if you know how to take care of your well being, appearance and present yourself attractively; you are independent, confident and secured, and you are living your life to the fullest; it will be just a matter of time till guys notices you and you might just be a step away from meeting your dream guy.

Good luck, All the best and God Bless You Ladies! 

-Harry A.Tang- Repost from here. 

And all the beautiful photos taken by Jose Villa. I'm a big fan of him :D

My Beloved

I found this wonderful letter when I did some browsing. And it amazes me :) Sometimes, in the middle of discussion and chit chat time with my girl friends. There pop out a question and statement like this: "Do real man after God's own heart still exists? Where are they? And are they real?"

No doubt at this very moment we seldom find a man who really patiently wait for his future princess. Besides that, we found lots of guy out there chasing girl without attention to get married, only wanna to have-fun time.

And this letter remind me, that a real man after God's own heart is still exist and he wait patiently for his future wife. This letter so beautiful, please take some time to read it, grab a cup of tea and enjoy :) All the gorgeous picture taken by Jose Villa.

My Beloved,
I want you to know that I’m waiting for you. I can’t wait to meet you.
To see your eyes, to see your smile & to know about your life.
Wherever you are right now, what ever you’re doing, I’m praying for you. 
The thought of you excites me.
I can’t wait to serve & pursue Christ along side with you.
I can’t wait to hold your hand, and just pray with you.
I promise you I will always play my guitar and I will sing you songs.
Whats even better, I can’t wait to worship along side with you with our voices.
I can’t wait to love you, adore you, cherish you and take care of you.
I’m excited to know everything about you. Everything that makes YOU.
Every single detail that makes you perfect for me. I know I will appreciate those things because it’s you. 
I want to know what makes you happy, what makes you sad. 
What makes your day. Your favorite food, drink, music, movie.
Anything, and everything about you.

So I can serve you, love you, and take care of you the best way I can.
I can’t wait to touch your face when you laugh, cry, make jokes, being silly.
I can’t wait to pray, fast, drink coffee, eat carelessly, watch movie, sleep in till we are both late for work, cooking together, make you breakfast in bed, you making me breakfast in bed, drive our first car, live in our first home, raise our own family, seeking God together as a family.

I can’t wait to experience trials & suffering with you, grow close together with God.
I can’t wait to hold you close to me at night. Till we fall asleep.
I can’t wait to give you my ALL, everything of me to you.
I can’t wait to lay myself down for you, just as Christ laid down His life for me.
I long and desire for you my beloved.
I can’t wait to meet you and spend the rest of my earthly days with you.
I can’t wait to love you. 
I can’t wait to show you this letter in the future when we finally meet.
But for now, I want you to know.
I'm patiently waiting for you.. 

-Mark Muldez-
Taken from here.

Wasn't that so inspiring? That is definitely what I want my Prince to be like :P Let us all be praying for our future husbands to grow in their walk with the Lord, and to help them to have hearts after God's own heart.

And while we are waiting, lets we embrace our single life to bring out the best of ourselves, to discover and develop the talents and attributes with which we are blessed by God to become a blessing for our future prince.

Last but not least wait patiently for Him to bring your prince in His perfect time! Happy waiting, believe me such a man worth the wait :)

What a Godly Man Looks Like

Photo by Jose Villa

I would use these words to describe this wonderful man of virtue...

Noble, chivalrous, courageous, fun, true, wise, loyal, passionate, protector, gentle, humble, strong, self-sacrificial, adventurous, patient, loving, kind, serving, intelligent, polite, family centered, lover of truth, steeped in the Word of God, prayerful and hospitable.

These are not the kind of guys that you always notice first in a crowd. But they are the ones that you admire most once you do notice them. They are the ones who go to the person sitting on the side of the church looking left out, and shake hands with a smile. They are the ones that you will find at home instead of in youth group. You will see them sitting with their folks rather than passing notes in the back of church with their friends. You will find them helping in the kitchen or taking out the trash, walking the ladies to their cars and carrying diaper bags even if they don't belong to them.

You'll find them with other guys, in deep discussions about theology, worldview philosophies, politics, and books rather than just talking about the latest football games, computer games and girls. Yet, they can converse on these topics too when needed :-). These are the guys who walk on the outside of the sidewalk to protect the lady whom they might be with, and are always watching for ways to take care of her as a sister. When looking for a mate, they want the one who is at home (or wants to be) and "hangs out" with her mom and siblings more than her buddies.

They love a good time, but it usually entails sword fighting, ultimate Frisbee, board games, hiking, touch football, night tag, water balloon fights and G rated movies rather than sports teams, dancing at the bar or movies with violence and sex-who cares if they are in their 20's! A big night on the town includes taking the siblings to the grocery store, the library or out for miniature golf. They are passionate about the things of God and they do not bend on their convictions, no matter what others may say or do. They don't care that some might see them as "goody-goody" or strange for not dating or for spending so much time with their family-they are proud of it!

You might see them on the road at 6:30am rushing to get to a 7:00am catechism class, even though no one is making him go. You will find them in family worship, singing or playing the piano, teaching God's word to his family or sitting at his fathers feet. They write marvelous heart felt letters of encouragement when needed and yet might not say too much by way of personal stuff to many. They keep confidences. You might easily see him with a crowd of little ones about him as he helps to teach them something or play with them. He will watch an old movie and play cards with his siblings or parents ,even when he would rather be playing "Stronghold Crusader" on his laptop.

He would give up his very life for his savior, his ideals and his family. He makes ice cream floats of all kinds-even strange concoctions- and gives his mom tea in bed. He bakes birthday cakes for his friends with his sister's recipes. He learns follow a recipe and make things in the crock-pot because he wants to be able to at least take care of his wife when the baby comes. You are likely to find him under a car, on top of a roof, mowing a lawn, mending the fence, writing a book, working the night shift to help the family-anywhere that will require hard work, initiative and drive-but not for his own sake.

They are so admired and dearly loved by their families because they are an indispensable source of joy and encouragement, strength of character and servitude. They are never truly independent, because they have come to that wonderful place in the Christian life where they realize, that they must be dependent on God alone in His sovereignty, and the people that He has placed in his life.

Therefore, he is a true man's man. A giant. One to look up to. A hero. A leader among his peers. Strong, steady, dependable and one that you could place your life and the lives of your children into his capable and loving hands-with no regrets or fears.

-Kathy Gruben-