GOODBYE

PLEASE NOTE.

Tropicana Ladies Cell has been transfered to a night family cell with immediate effect.

Our cell, CORNERSTONE, will officially start on 5th September 2007.

Our blog:

www.cornerstonesjourney.blogspot.com

Do visit and drop us a comment.

ANNA KOH

OUR LAST CELL PARTY

Ladies, thank you for the memories. Our last cell meeting was on the 15th August 2007. We ended it the way we started - with celebration!!

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We celebrated Kelly and my birthday. It was bittersweet for me, well, you know why. Thanks everyone, for the cake, the present, the lunch - for everything.

Ladies, as Jacq said - in our hearts, TLC will always be OUR CELL!

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Anna Koh

Thank you, God, for TLC

I decided I had to make an entry on this blog before the last official meeting of the Tropicana Ladies Cell on Wednesday. This cell holds a very special place in my heart indeed – so here’s my personal tribute to TLC.

After running away from God for a good 12 years, I made a decision to make my way back to Him again sometime in 2005 – after God, in His grace, mercy and love, patiently dealt with me to “take me from the ends of the earth and called me from its farthest corners” Isaiah 41:9. One of the first things that I knew I had to do was to find a church. Not knowing where to start, I asked God to help, but at the same time made some enquiries, thought about it, rationalised with myself …not knowing all the while that God had already found one for me.

I didn’t find SIB. SIB found me. The first time I heard about SIB was at a reunion lunch I had with 3 of my university study group friends, all of whom are Christians. I had not met up with them for years before that, and I still remember, at that luncheon at Souled Out, I started to make enquiries, and one of them mentioned SIB to me. This friend of mine, Chris, had been attending JIC for years. He told me how he met Pastor Chew when he was handling the sale and purchase of some property that involved SIB, and he was totally taken in by Pastor Chew’s dynamic personality. Pastor Chew invited Chris to visit SIB, and he did – and well, he has been there since.

After this incident, the name SIB seemed to invade my life. I cannot even remember how many times I was invited to visit this church – to the point where each time the name came up, I’d flinch – the words “not again!” would be the immediate reaction in my mind. Amongst the significant moments was when my little boy’s class teacher asked if I would consider sending him for Sunday school. Immediately I told her I really have been intending to, but was very worried about finding one where he would fit in – as his teacher, she and I knew that James had problems settling into new places then. And she told me that she could help because she served in her church, and would love to have James join her class, and thought that with her as his teacher, he would settle in much better. I was so relieved to hear that and was busy thanking God in my heart, and half lost her in the conversation … till she mentioned SIB. I nearly flipped. The “NOT AGAIN!” thought really resounded in my mind.

You’d think I’d be the first one to be in church next Sunday. No. That’s how slow to obey I was, drowning in worry and fear. Then weeks later, after being tormented by all my inner conflicts, I told myself – maybe I should find out if this SIB church has mid week activities like prayer meetings or something, so that I can “check it out” before I ask my husband and son to join me. And so I made up my mind to do just that – find out – but making up one’s mind is one thing, picking oneself up to actually do it is another. Trust me, I stopped at making up my mind.

But thankfully, God didn’t stop. A week later I made a sudden decision to take my mom and my son to lunch at Centre Point. I had never even been there for lunch before. For some reason, that afternoon, I suggested to my mom that we should try Centre Point. Little did I know that it was never my curiosity that led me there. It was nothing short of a divine appointment.

After lunch, my little boy wanted to play at the playground and I told him he could play for 5 minutes, while I went to pay parking fees at the autopay machine. When I got back to pick him up, he was talking to a lady sitting at the bench, and this lady looked up at me and smiled, and her first words to me were, “your son speaks really well!”. I smiled at her, and somehow we got talking while my son and hers played for a while. In that short 10 minutes, (I had to leave within 15 minutes of paying, so it really was 10 minutes!), we introduced ourselves and exchanged some pleasantries. Just as I was about to walk off with my son, she suddenly asked me if I wanted to join a ladies cell that met on Wednesday mornings – and when she mentioned that she was from SIB – I nearly fainted. Honest. And this time I said “Yes” without hesitation.

That was more than a year ago. The moment is fresh on my mind, like it was just yesterday. You see, God couldn’t wait for me to get off my lazy butt to do the finding out, He sent the cell leader out for me. Wow! Is that some invitation or not?

My previous experiences with cells were not the most pleasant. And I had never attended a ladies cell before. But yet, there was a great peace in my heart, and I was really looking forward to it. The following Wednesday I attended Tropicana Ladies Cell – and have been attending ever since. While they were wondering who this strange woman Anna had picked up from the streets (literally) – I knew deep in my heart that TLC was God sent for me.

I want to spend some time here to tell all the ladies I have met at the cell, how special each of them are to me. Anna, I will be ever grateful to you for allowing yourself to be used by God to find me. Thank you. Amy and Michelle – the core members at that time – thank you for welcoming me. Amy, your generous hospitality and warmth broke any ice I had in me. Mich – I will never forget all your words of encouragement during my early days and all your prayers for me.

And a little later, I joined the cell on a weekend excursion to Putrajaya, which turned out to be a trip I would never forget nor regret. I had never spent so much time with a group of ladies before this – and I had so much to learn from them. I was never much of a lady – have always wished I was more – and here, with me were a bunch of ladies whom I had so much to learn from!

To all of you ladies at TLC, then and now – you all represent the different characteristics that I had always wished I had and aspired to be. I hope you know that you have made a great impact in my life – I have learnt so much from you, each one of you – from your sharing and your openness. I could never thank you enough. And indeed, I hope, someday, I will be like you. And truly, you are God sent for me.

While we may be no longer an official ladies cell, I know that you will always be MY cell. In my heart. My time with you have been great – and nothing short of that. You, my friends, were God’s special way of welcoming me home. And, really, what a welcome!

I thank God for you. I really do. When I read Anna’s blog I couldn’t quite understand why she cried when blogging about closing TLC. Well, Anna, I do now, because as I am typing, my tears are flowing.

In closing, the only words that ring in my mind are :

Thank you, TLC. Thank you, God, for TLC. Thank you, God.

Jacq Chitty

LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST

Pic of Warren Buffet (not of Steven Chong)

Dear Friends,

Pls spare some time and read this , I do not agree with his views, as I personally believe that having money is not how much you have in your bank account, but how much you can spent to enrich your life's experience and ability to help those around you. Still, it's interesting to read the philosophy of this very very rich man.... There was a one hour interview on CNBC with Warren Buffet, the second richest man who has donated $31 billion to charity.

Here are some very interesting aspects of his life:

1. He bought his first share at age 11 and he now regrets that he started too late!
2. He bought a small farm at age 14 with savings from delivering newspapers.
3. He still lives in the same small 3-bedroom house in mid-town Omaha that he bought after he got married 50 years ago. He says that he has everything he needs in that house. His house does not have a wall or a fence.
4. He drives his own car everywhere and does not have a driver or security people around him. 5. He never travels by private jet , although he owns the world's largest private jet company.
6. His company, Berkshire Hathaway, owns 63 companies. He writes only one letter each year to the CEOs of these companies, giving them goals for the year. He never holds meetings or calls them on a regular basis. He has given his CEO's only two rules. Rule number 1: do not lose any of your share holder's money. Rule number 2: Do not forget rule number 1.
7. He does not socialize with the high society crowd. His past time after he gets home is to
make himself some pop corn and watch Television.
8. Bill Gates, the world's richest man met him for the first time only 5 years ago. Bill Gates did not think he had anything in common with Warren Buffet. So he had scheduled his meeting only for half hour. But when Gates met him, the meeting lasted for ten hours and Bill Gates became a devotee of Warren Buffet.
9. Warren Buffet does not carry a cell phone, nor has a computer on his desk.

His advice to young people: "Stay away from credit cards and invest in yourself and Remember:

A. Money doesn't create man but it is the man who created money.
B. Live your life as simple as you are.
C. Don't do what others say, just listen them, but do what you feel good.
D. Don't go on brand name; just wear those things in which u feel comfortable.
E. Don't waste your money on unnecessary things; just spend on them who really in need rather.
F. After all it's your life then why give chance to others to rule our life."

Steven Chong

THE SECRET

One day, one friend asked another,
"How is it that you are always so happy?
You have so much energy,
and you never seem to get down."

With her eyes smiling, she said,
"I know the Secret!"
"What secret is that?"
To which she replied,
"I'll tell you all about it,
but you have to promise to
share the Secret with others."
"The Secret is this:
I have learned there is little I can do
in my life that will make me truly happy.
I must depend on God to make
me happy and to meet my needs.
When a need arises in my life,
I have to trust God to supply
according to HIS riches.
I have learned most of the time
I don't need half of what I think I do.
He has never let me down.
Since I learned that 'Secret', I am happy."

The questioner's first thought was,
"That's too simple!"
But upon reflecting over her own life
she recalled how she thought a bigger house
would make her happy, but it didn't!
She thought a better paying job
would make her happy, but it hadn't.
When did she realize her greatest happiness?
Sitting on the floor with her grandchildren,
playing games, eating pizza or reading a story,
a simple gift from God.

Now you know it too!
We can't depend on people to make us happy.
Only GOD in His infinite wisdom can do that.
Trust HIM!
And now I pass the Secret on to you!
So once you get it, what will you do?

Sally Choong

When God rebukes

Just like a loving parent, God rebukes me every now and then, to wake me from my complacency. But through it all, His love and His mercy is evident – and yet, that is precisely what makes me more remorseful. However, He lovingly reminds me that His mercy is new every morning, and His grace is sufficient for me to pick myself up from the ground when I fall, to shake the dust off my clothes, and journey on. I write to share one of such encounter.

Rewind … Sunday, 8 July 2007. Pastor Lee Choo shared on the Season for Intensive Prayer. Amongst other things, she challenged parents to pray for their children – and for all to pray for the next generation. For if we do not, then we have no one to blame but ourselves, when trials and tribulations strike. Then, at our Wednesday cell meeting that followed, more study was done on prayer. The call was for ladies to pray for our children, for the younger generation, that they should be protected from the evil designs of the Devil. We were reminded that if we do not pray, there will come a time when it might be too late, for by then, “the hour has come.”

I heard, and I did nothing.

Forward … Friday, 13 July 2007. I received a call at 9.50 pm, informing me that my nephew had been detained by the police, with no clear indication of the charges, and no one knew exactly where he was. Family was frantic, in anguish. My sister in law merely asked that we pray along with them.

That night, with a heavy and troubled heart, I tried to pray. And as I was trying to pray, the Holy Spirit rebuked me, ever so gently, but struck me so deep that I felt immediate pain, remorse and guilt.

The truth was that some time back, when I first heard that my nephew was doing some work that had some linkage to some political party, I was very concerned and had several times voiced my fear that he was taking a huge risk and that there could be all kinds of consequences - arrest being one of them. The thought had always been on my mind, but apart from participating in small talk and voicing my concern, I did little else.

That night, I could hear God so clearly asking me – why did I not even bother to say a single prayer for my young nephew when the burden was in my heart? Why did I not ask God for covering, for protection, for wisdom, for discernment when I had the chance to? WHY WAIT TILL TRIALS STRIKE BEFORE WE ASK GOD FOR HELP? WHY WAIT TILL THE HOUR HAS COME? Everything that I had heard over the last week came flooding back to my mind.

I had no answer, no defence. Guilty as charged, God. Indeed, if I had been really concerned, I had a duty as an aunt, as a sister in Christ, to pray for him. Concern must come with responsibility. God doesn’t put burden in our hearts for us to make judgment, to make small talk. Burdens are placed in our hearts so that we can stand in the gap, intercede and be what Abraham was to Lot, his nephew, when he interceded and prayed for Lot’s safety in the midst of the evils of Sodom and Gomorrah. And I had failed.

But praise be to God. He is not a God of condemnation, far from it. He is a God of grace and mercy. Even when we fail, we are made righteous by His blood. And He is faithful. Hence, this day, when we are still in the midst of anxiety, I know I can still pray, and God will not hold my failure against me. I know He hears our prayers, and while I may not have the answers to everything, I know that He will be the source of our comfort, our strength and our deliverer.

To my dearest sister-in-law, brother-in-law, nephew and nieces – I can only say I am sorry I did not pray when the time was right. But I know I can still intercede for you – for though the hour has come, it is still not too late. God can still turn everything around for something good, if we persevere and have faith. For did God not agree not to destroy the whole city for the sake of ten, when Abraham persevered in prayer?

As a parent, I can only empathise with all parents who are in pain and anguish when their children go through suffering. No one can truly explain the pain and the sorrow of one who has to see one’s child suffer, for whatever the reason. And I will pray that in such times of difficulty, God will comfort all parents with His assurance – “So do not fear, for I am with you, do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10)

My little boy of 5 said this to my husband and I on Saturday evening : “I know I have to be good, but when I grow up, I don’t know if I will be good or bad”. Oh, so much truth we see in that statement. It convicted us of our huge responsibility to pray for the younger generation so that they will always make the right choices in life.

And so, for all you young people out there – I pray that you will all grow with Godly wisdom and discernment to always know the good from the bad. And perhaps, more importantly, the courage and strength to always choose good, no matter what the consequence.

Jacq Chitty

DID I FIGHT FOR MY SON?

Yesterday my two sons and I went swimming.

The elder son, Justin, is four and a half years old. The younger one, Joshua, will turn three in three months time. Both of them don’t know how to swim but they can float around with their arm bands. Justin is quite confident and he can go around by himself without me stay close to him but he doesn’t know how to breath under water. Yesterday while I was taking Joshua swimming, Justin was playing at the stair of the swimming pool. We were about three meters away from Justin. Suddenly, there was one boy, about 5 years old walking passed by and he just pushed Justin fall into swimming pool. Thanks God that Justin was familiar with water. The water didn’t go into his nose and mouth but he was really shocked, scared and upset. He cried for sometime and kept saying ‘I don’t want that naughty boy push me’.

At that moment I was very angry with that boy. I don’t know who he is. I wanted to scold him and asked him to apologize to my son but I didn’t. At that moment, I think Justin need me to be with him and talk to him more than scolding that boy. I explained to him that in this world some people are good, some are not so. He has to learn to be cautious and careful. I told him that I was very proud of him that his skill in water improved. Water didn’t go into his mouth and nose at all. I was very sorry that I was not with him. And I asked him to forgive that boy even though he didn’t apologize to him. Surprised me that he said ‘YES’.

Some how I still think that I should have at least told that boy what he did is not right. Feel like I didn’t fight for my son.

What would you do if you were me?

Aey Hatchhanong