It has been a while since I last blogged about Elmo. He's growing into a real sweetie pie. A big heavy sweetie. Elmo is 9months 5 days old today and weighs in at 27.5kgs. I took him to see the vet 2 weeks back and was told that he's at a good weight but we should be careful not to over feed him.
Although his face isn't as cute as when he was a puppy, he still behaves like one. Of late we discovered that he loves being cradled and stroked on the head. The picture above shows him dozing off on my lap :)
He has however developed a very bad 'busy body' attitude. When he was younger, whenever there's food in his bowl he'll be so focused gobbling it down and be totally oblivious to his surroundings. Nowadays, not only is he distracted while eating by noises and people walking past the gate but he refuses to eat if we're not sitting by him! Such a spoilt dog. So unfortunately we can no longer put food in his bowl and walk away to do other chores. Nevertheless, Elmo is one big adorable sweete pie. :)
The boxes are growing by the day. Unfortunately, we are still not done with the tv/study room, (the first room we started packing) and we've already managed to accumulate 20 boxes.
Although I'm not much of a Milo fan, I must say that I'm very grateful for their solid boxes. Great to pack with and just the right size. Hmmm..maybe they'll give me a marketing fund for product mention in this 'popular' blog of 130 visits since march08. :( like real!! Dream on Elmo!!
Another 3 weeks, well to be exact another 22 days before we move out of our place. We've started packing up some non essentials such as my dvd collection, cds and books in the tv room. I thought it was going to be quite an easy process but it is proving to be quite stressful and tiring. We've only lived here for 3 years and the amount of stuff (especially mine) is shockingly much!! We are not even halfway through the room and we've already managed to fill 13 boxes and I thought moving was going to be easy :(
One good thing though about packing, I've finally done what I've always wanted to do and that is to catalogue my dvd collection. Not an easy process by it was nice being able to sort out my dvd collection by title, genre and actors. So as of today, I've got 593 titles and growing :) . Big hug and sloppy kiss :k to hubbs for patiently packing and reading out the titles to me one by one as I key them in.
Will post pictures of the packed boxes soon. Packing is stressful!! Don't be like me and underestimate the junk one can accumulate over the span of 3 years. Start early or engage professional movers!! ;)
It is Friday night and I'm impressed with myself that I'm still up blogging at midnight. Today I feel very very proud of myself. Not only am I up blogging but I've discovered how to place smileys :) on my post. (pats self on head) Now all I need to do is to learn what keys to press to convey a particular emotion. :p Guess we learn something new each day. :z
It has been quite a good week though I started off the week feeling sick. But must say that it ended quite well. We had dinner in Senses tonight. Had my favourite seared foie grae, port jelly foie grae and super huge luscious oysters flown in from Coffin Bay in Australia. Best oysters I've ever had in a while. Not only does it not have that muddy taste but it truly melts in the mouth. Oh and I guess I've put back the 2kgs I lost from being sick last weekend.
Just a few days back, a good friend of mine called to tell me that she may be moving to China for a couple of years because her husband is going to get posted there. As she hasn't exactly made up her mind as to whether to follow her husband, she asked me what my thoughts were on the matter. Should she follow him and give up her hot shot career here or move with him and having to start all over again in a new country just because of two years. My immediate reaction was "China?!!! Go Go Go..how can you leave your husband alone in China for two years?". On one hand I reacted that way because we all know China ladies do have quite a reputation with expatriate men but on the other hand it seemed preposterous that a newly married couple should be separated for such a long time. It was only last year when Hubbs and I were separated because of his work for 3 months. Half way through his stint I visited him where he was working and when I saw him, it took me a day before I could adjust to the fact that he's my husband. For me it just felt weird having this person in my life again. And this was just 1 month apart. I fear to think what would happen to us should he be posted away for longer periods of time.
Anyway, back to topic at hand. You see most of my friends are in their mid to late 30s, married, without kids, and are all very successful up the career ladder. But unfortunately this doesn't come without a price. I do know most of them work extremely long hours to the extend that both husband and wife, though living together and sharing the same bed, hardly spend much time together. It's either one is working late till wee hours of the night or the other is traveling for work. What does it all mean at the end? Yes, they probably be able to retire in their 40s, go on the best and most expensive holidays, live in super plush houses and be treated at the best hospitals in their old age. But we all die at the end right?
So isn't it better to be mediocre? If my friends are reading this, they would probably say "look who's talking". But I think over the years whether for better or worse my approach to life and money has changed. I don't deny wanting loads of money, I don't deny wanting to have the best of everything life has to offer. But somehow it doesn't seem to be the "be all and end all" of my life anymore. Someone else will always have more than me.
So how should I live my life for it to be meaningful? What do I want out of life? For me I would like to think it would be as follows (in no particular order except for number 1) :
1) To be someone who glorifies God in all I do (very challenging for me) 2) To talk to God daily. 3) Work hard and earn all the money I can. (very challenging as well..I'm quite lazy) 4) Be willing to give it all away to God anytime.(Love to be able to do this) 5) To find people to care for. (I love doing this) 6) Not to hold grudges. (hmm...let's ask hubbs) 7) To try to forgive always ( trying...is trying) 8) To die surrounded with people who love me (no kids...how?) 9) To remembered for more ways I've touched others than ways I've hurt others. (not succeeding so far) 10) To be hugged and give hugs daily. 11) To be able to say "sorry" even when I know I'm right.(I am.. most of the time:)..hee hee)
Now that I've got it all listed out, hopefully I'll be able to put it into practice someday.
Ok ok...the "kiasu-ness" in me has infected this blog. I was just reading other blogs and realised that a decent blog has at least a few hundred hits a day. Mine is averaging 4 hits a day and that includes me visiting the blog once, maybe twice a day. This is so sad. I've also recently installed this tracker by the side to see where my 4 hits a day originate from. One from Perth- my online doc :), one from Oklahoma - cow cow, and 2 from KL- me and me.
So my two loyal readers, please visit twice a day so that I can start averaging 6 hits a day :)
Someone sent me this today describing the female's great ability to do more with what she is given. I believe most married men will agreed. My hubbs certainly does! Well, maybe not the first part, but he sure agrees with the final sentence. He reckons my gift for that is unmatchable :)
"Whatever you give a woman, she's going to multiply. If you give her sperm, she'll give you a baby. If you give her a house, she'll give you a home. If you give her groceries, she'll give you a meal. If you give her a smile, she'll give you her heart. She multiplies and enlarges what is given to her. So - if you give her crap , you will get a bucket full of s**t "
Ok I'm officially sick. Diarrhea has gotten worse. Feeling nauseated and very lethargic. I think the lymph node below my neck is swollen so there's this bruised feeling when I tilt my head right. Missed church and Sunday School today. Missed dinner with Rev Ong and family :(
Thank God for online Dr June. She's the best. If only she was in KL then I would never have to go see crap GPs. Went to see the neighborhood doctor yesterday and apparently my lymph node is swollen because my tonsils are super inflamed. But how can they be inflamed if I don't feel any pain. Oh well go figure. So much for neighborhood doc.
I'm so upset with what is happening to our country. People that should be arrested are not whereas those who probably do not deserve to be arrested are being detained. There's so much I want to let out but I know it is not possible here. I so wish I had someone to talk to and hopefully see a way out of all this!! What can I do? To blog about it could lead to severe repercussions and to keep it in makes me more sick than I already am. A friend of mine is already setting up businesses in China and has a back up plan all in place. What about me? Is anyone else feeling as frustrated as me????
To be very honest, I don't really care which political party comes to power. All I want is to be able to live in this country free of trouble and discrimination. I know this may not sit well with some die hard reformist but call me short sighted for all I care. I just want all this s**t to go away so that the country can continue to prosper and that all can live without being suspicious of each other. Come to think of it, in my little gold fish bowl world, it seems like I wish that the country would go back to the good old days where cronyism and corruption was out in the open. At least then, all the big whales were well fed and minions like us benefit from their cast offs. With all the whales satisfied, as least there was some semblance of peace and harmony!!!
Current mood: Sick, frustrated and wanting to throw something against the wall!!!!
Just last week this guy I know was complaining about having a bad back. So, me being my usual busy body self suggested that he either visit a doctor or a physiotherapist. Then he shared that he's been visiting a few physios secretly as his wife is totally against seeking any kind of medical treatment other than healing through faith and prayer. Apparently she believes that visiting doctors means doubting God's ability to heal. I've never met his wife but from what I know she's rather well educated and I was rather surprised that there are actually smart people out there that can be so misguided.
I've mentioned somewhere in one of my postings before that I know that God can do things that humanly we cannot even begin fathom but I also believe that God uses people such as doctors to carry out His healing work in the world. Sometime back I received an article written by our bishop on how some people out there, including some within the Methodist church that have been severely misguided by false prophets in our midst. I'm not sure whether there's any kind of copyright infringement here by posting his article but I'm going to risk it as I believe that the article really sets the record straight about what the bible feels about modern medicine.
Is Medicine Sorcery? By Bishop Hwa Yung (Source: Pelita June 2008)
What a silly question to ask? Really?
A couple of months ago I received a desperate call from a pastor of one of our churches. At least two couples in his church had come under the influence of the teaching, propagated by certain websites in America, that medicine is a form of sorcery. It is also taught by certain leaders of some independent and charismatic churches in our country, although they appear to be only a tiny minority. Unfortunately the effect has been devastating for some who have come under their influence.
The pastor who called told me that the husband of one of the couples had been diagnosed of suspected cancer. But he was told that medicine was a form of sorcery and to seek medical treatment was equivalent to idolatry. He should instead trust God as the true healer. The result was that the person concerned believed that he had been healed by God through prayer, but nevertheless died a few months later!
In the case of another couple in the same church, the wife had been suffering from terrible bodily pains. Following the same teaching, they refused medical care even though the wife’s condition deteriorated to the point that she was bedridden much of the time. When they finally sought medical help, it was diagnosed as a severe case of rheumatoid arthritis. Left untreated, it had given rise to intense suffering and could have even led to an early death. Meanwhile, the woman’s brother was suffering from an incurable illness, although the effect of which could have been partially arrested through a cocktail of drugs, thereby prolonging his life substantially. Yet again, under the same influence, he stopped medication and died within a short time.
I had heard such stories before and now I find myself face to face with a similar situation in one of our own churches.
This article is based on the sermon I preached at the church on that Sunday morning when I was there, seeking to deal with a situation of utter confusion and desperation! Let me therefore say right away that my concern here is primarily pastoral. Moreover, it is addressed to Christians deeply troubled and devastated by false teachings in our churches!
A case of bad logic
The immediate source of this teaching comes from an article posted on an American website titled, ‘Roots of Modern Medicine.’ The argument put forward is that modern medicine comes from the Greeks. One of the most important aspects of traditional Greek medicine is the Hippocratic Oath, which is basically pagan or idolatrous. It begins with the words: ‘I swear by Apollo the Physician, and Asklepios and Hygieia, and all the gods and goddesses that, according to my ability and judgment, I will keep this oath …’ The article argues that modern
medicine is rooted in pagan practices and therefore a form of idolatry and/or sorcery. The Bible teaches that healing comes from God. Therefore we should not go to doctors and instead should seek healing from God alone.
The first thing that must be said about this line of teaching is that the reasoning is badly flawed.
To begin with, whilst it is true that the Hippocratic Oath was taken before pagan gods and goddesses, no doctor today takes that oath and certainly not with the same idolatrous associations! We cannot therefore simply jump to the conclusion that modern medicine is associated with idolatry. Nevertheless, as an aside, it should be noted that there are many good ethical principles enshrined in the Hippocratic Oath, such as never giving anything harmful to the sick, refusing to carry out abortions and never taking advantage of patients. These remain the ideals of many in the medical profession today, even though, sadly, they have often been violated by some.
The above article actually only deals with western medicine. Doctors of old, outside the Greco-Roman world, had nothing to do with the Hippocratic Oath. At the same time it is true that in most cultures, medicine and religious/occultic practices were usually inseparably mixed together. Does this mean that, because all forms of medicine in most cultures have pagan religious associations, therefore medicine is idolatrous? Such an argument demonstrates bad logic once again. The fact is that there is hardly anything that we have today, which has been passed down to us from the past, that was not associated with religious/occultic practices of sorts. For example, astronomy began with roots in astrology. Yet we do not refer to astronomers today as pagan priests! Although they shared similar roots, over time astronomy and astrology became clearly demarcated from one another. In exactly the same way, with the advancement of our understanding of God’s creation, modern medicine became by and large separated from its religious/occultic roots. We therefore have to conclude that in general modern medicine has little or nothing to do with ancient paganism.
One more thing needs to be said. If the argument is that anything with idolatrous roots will always remain idolatrous, then I am afraid that would apply to Christianity too! What many Christians forget is that, when God called Abraham and his descendents, they were at that point of time not worshippers of Jehovah/Yahweh, the God of the Old Testament. A careful reading of Genesis will show that they were in fact pagans worshipping many gods. Any doubt about this is completely removed by Joshua’s assertion when he reminded the Israelites that ‘Long ago your forefathers …worshipped other gods’ (Jos 24:2), and his challenge to them to ‘throw away the gods your forefathers worshipped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord’ (24:14). But over time and through proper teaching, the worship of Israel was purified and rid of all idolatrous associations. The same can apply to medicine and all other forms of human knowledge and experience!
What the Bible teaches?
One of the great things that have happened to the church in the last few decades has been the rediscovery of the power of the Holy Spirit. But what is often forgotten in the midst of all the excitement of the practice of spiritual gifts is a simple reminder by Paul when he said, ‘Do not quench the Spirit …but test everything’ (1 Th 5:19&21), especially the need to test all claims to the work of the Spirit by the plain teaching of the Bible. Those who have been responsible for propagating the idea that Christians should not see doctors are often those with the gift of healing and have seen God healing marvelously through simple prayer! This much need not be denied. But
I suspect that often such persons forget that they may nevertheless lack the gift of teaching! Indeed, if they have a teaching gift as well, they would certainly know how to test their ideas by the plain teaching of Scriptures.
This brings us to the question of what the Bible has to say concerning medicine. First, the Bible does not teach a sharp distinction between divine healing and the use of natural means. For example, although Paul had a powerful gift of healing, he could nonetheless advise Timothy to drink a little wine ‘because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses’ (1 Tim 5:23). From time immemorial, the medicinal value of wine is well-known. Again, God had promised Hezekiah through the prophet Isaiah that he would be healed of a terminal disease. Yet, this was immediately followed by Isaiah giving instructions to use figs as a poultice for healing (Isa 38:21). This example clearly shows that divine healing and the use of medicine are fully compatible.
Careful examination of the Bible shows that it not only speaks of the use of medicine positively, it even uses medicine as a metaphor for healing spiritually. For example, the Prophet Jeremiah clearly refers to medicinal remedies (qeha in Hebrew; 30:13; 46:11) as a metaphor for the deeper spiritual healing that Israel needed. In fact, when Jeremiah told the Israelites to ‘Go up to Gilead and get balm’ (46:11), it is a specific reference to the ‘balm of Gilead’ (Jer 8:22) for which the place was well-known. Similarly, the ‘salve’ for the healing of the spiritual eyes of the Laodicean Christians (Rev 3:18) was a metaphorical reference to the eye ointment for which Laodicea was known in the Greco-Roman world. Most importantly, in the eschatological vision of the ‘HolyCity’ the Bible asserts that the leaves of the tree of life ‘are for the healing of the nations’ (Rev 22:2; cf. Ezek 47:12). Herbal medicine becomes a metaphor for the means of spiritual healing! If indeed medicine is sorcery, would the Holy Spirit have used various forms of it so freely as metaphors of salvation in the Bible?
Some pastoral considerations
The above shows that the case that medicine is sorcery becomes totally unsustainable in light of clear reasoning and, especially, the plain teaching of the Bible. What important pastoral considerations follow?
First, illnesses and diseases arise from different causes: genetic disorders, bacterial and viral infections, sin in personal lives, emotional disorders, and even demonic attacks. Ultimately all healing comes from God. But this does not mean that He cannot use different means—prayer, repentance, a loving community, medicine, surgery, etc. Certainly, we should seek God for healing in all cases. But we should also use all other proper means that He has ordained freely and joyfully!
Second, nowhere does the Bible promise that all would be healed. Again some clear thinking helps here. If God intends all to be healed, then there is no need for anyone to die physically. But that would be absurd! Even Cho Yong-Gi, the pastor of the largest Pentecostal church in the world and who has had a powerful healing ministry, clearly states in his book, How can I be Healed? (Seoul Logos, 1999, pp.135-143) that not all would be healed. The reasons he gives are, first, unrepentance, second, it is God’s time for these persons to return to Him, and, third, that God has some special plans for them. Wise words indeed!
Thirdly, those of us who are in the healing ministry must be careful of what we teach and say. As noted earlier, God may have given us a powerful gift of healing. But do we also have the gift of teaching to go with it? If we lack that, we must ask God for it so that our healing ministry is not compromised, or even negated, by bad or false teachings on our part. God has given us the Bible as our guide and if we do not use it properly then we will be severely judged for our failure (James 3:1).
Fourthly, in whatever ministry we are involved, there must be integrity. Without truthfulness and integrity, our ministries and churches will eventually implode! Many who have believed the teaching that Christians should not seek medical treatment have died or seen their loved ones die. The simple question is: How many more must die before we honestlyface up to the fact that this teaching has no real biblical support?
Sadly, those who have gone round advocating this have not been forthright about the numbers that have died under them or because of their influence. And unfortunately their colleagues and supporters appear to have maintained a conspiracy of silence as well! We only hear their success stories, whilst others are left to pick up the
broken pieces of their devastated lives and shattered faith, more often than not on their own without any help from those who had promised so much!
Space prohibits me from elaborating further. The reader may sense that this has been written with a certain degree of anger. But members of our church and others have died needlessly. How can we remain indifferent and not be angry! This matter confronts us with two urgent final concerns. First, the church must make serious efforts to rediscover its ministry of healing through prayer and fasting. We should pray earnestly that God will raise up many with the gift of healing in our midst. That is one sure way by which many will be brought to Christ and God’s
saving power manifested to the world.
But, secondly, at every level of the church, we must reemphasize the centrality of the Bible’s teaching. It is when we know our Bible, then and only then will we be set free from the bondage of erroneous teaching and satanic deceptions which are often, as this particular case shows, literally quite deadly!.
Recently there has been so much talk about race and religion in the country that it started me thinking about my future in this country. When I read about how the Chinese are "lucky" to be allowed to stay on in this country, it really got my blood boiling. The thing is that I've never felt that I don't belong in this country that I was born and raised in and certainly I've never felt like an immigrant. I guess I've been naive all along and this recent incident really made me realise the attraction of moving to greener pastures. I mean if you're going to be told in your face that you're living off another person's good graces, and that the time will come when such good graces will expire, why not move on? Whenever I hear of a friend moving to live in Singapore, US or Australia, I've always been the first to expound my feelings of how great our country is and how silly of them to move to another place and be treated like a 2nd class citizen. Have I been foolish?
Did my grandparents not contribute to building this country? Did my parents not work hard and pay their taxes? Am am I living off the good graces of others and not contributing in any way to this country? In addition to working hard, paying taxes, contributing to the needy of society, what more can I do to prove that I more than deserve to be a worthy enough to call this country, my country, my nation and my home.
Current state of mind: Depressed, confused and disillusioned
