Faith=?

Its been a while since my last post. A while in the sentence before means 3 or 4 months. However, there were a lot of trials ive been through during those months. Have i overcome them successfully? Well i cant say a strict yes or no, but i can say that im in the middle, well, almost reaching yes. It all started in The end of March, when i was driving home after a long day of teaching (at that time, i was working as a teacher in an intensive learning centre.), i was tired, and yes, the pain on my left shoulder caused by overused muscle hasnt been resolved yet. When suddenly, a ticklish sort of small electricity crawled from the bottom of my back all the way up to my ahoulder. I thought it was only caused by the overused muscle, so i decided to go sleep right away. When i woke up in the morning, it hasnt left my body, but the worse thing is, the area was widened to my hands and my feet. I was exteremely worried and afraid at that time, and those feelings were getting worse when i tried to google what i felt and found out that it might be the symptom of minor stroke. Thus, in the morning, i decided to go to the doctor. The doctor didnt have a clear solution and just gave me some medication. I tried to take them during the day but nothing good happened. The area has now widened to all ofmy body, even to my fingers. Moreover, what i got from the blood test that i did that morning is that i had high ldl cholesterol rate (later, i found out that high stress can cause high ldl too, so be happy, live life with no worries, and do the best you can do today). It was scary, i think it was the worst moment of my life sincethe day that i was born. I was really afraid, really really afraid. I didnt know what to do at that time except to pray. My mom and dad were also worried that my dad took the earliest flight to jakarta the next day, to take me to another doctor recommended by my mom's doctor friend. Anyways, my moms friend also recommended me to do a back spine mri because hes afraid that theres something wrong with my spine. Mri was a painful experience, laying there inside the machine, and i couldnt move so that the result will be good. It was not the laying part that tortures. But it was the fear that something bad may happen to my body while going through the mri process that   Was really torturing. I cried a lot at that times. But during those painful moments, i was reeally aware that when no one can accoany me in experiencing the illness, the worry, and the fear, God was there, He understand me and keep on accompanying me, even through the darkest time when i felt really really afraid and worried. Psalm 23 which is my favorite verse in the Bible came to my life at that time. He said: "even i walk through the valley of the death, i shall not fear for You are with me, Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me."  Well, nothing bad happened to my body since then to now. Thats only by the grace of the Lord. But i learned a lot during those times: I learned to think about what Jesus think about bcs i realized that those painful moments also brought a lot of scary thoughts and judgements to myself, which robbed away my inner peace, and i know that God will never condemned me that much that i lost my inner peace a lot of times. I learned that thinking in the frame of the Word of God is the only way which will keep my inner peace, not only at that time, but also at times of daily distress. I was strong because of His encouragement through His Words. And  I learned that God works through all that happened in my life, including those painful times. I cant say that i like that experience, but im really thankful that God allowed those things happened in my life. Those times atrengthen my faith , brought me closer to God, and helped me understand His thoughts better than before. I learned that He's my eternal Hope. He's the only one i can depend to.  I learned that His plan for my life is better than my own plan for my life even i have to go through hard times. He taught me about very important life lessons during those times.  I learned that, worry and fear wont bring any good to my life. Today has its own challenges, so no need to worry Bout tomorrow, because tomorrow will bring its own hardships. Life cant be separated from pain. But i know that, He is The One who hold my life, my complete life, in His hands. All things happened in my life are under His control. Thus, faith, i found to be the full trust that someone can give to something/someone else. These hard times really tested my faith. But these hard times have also strengthened my faith in Jesus Christ. Faith is the foundation of process  in being Jesus' disciple.  So, have faith in Him, whatever happens in your life. :) He's The One that worthy of our faith. 

PATIENCE?

Proverbs 14: 17 A quick-tempered man does foolish things, and a crafty man is hated.

Proverbs 14:29 A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man displays folly.

Proverbs 15:18 A hot-tempered man stirs up dissension, but a patient man calms a quarrel.

Proverbs 16:32 Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city.

1 Cor 13:4. "Love is patience.................."

Wow, even in the important part of bible, part that defines love, which is the most important rule of our life in Jesus Christ, patience comes first.

I also looked for the verses about patience in the bible and came across so many verses in Proverbs.

Well, the reason why i wrote this post is that because i faced so many things that tested my patience today. Woaahh... its like ive been tested to be patient and patient from the morning till night. I realize that it was so easy to be angry and whining all the time. In fact, I did that and I realize that it was not the right response to all of those events. My favorite verse regarding patience is Proverbs 16:32 Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city....

I think it is indeed very true, especially when I relate this verse with an old saying "Your biggest enemy is yourself." It may be easier to "defeat" others, whether it is our competitors at work, school, or anything, but defeating ourselves, is the hardest thing to do, especially when we are faced with so many circumstances that arouse our anger.

However, i think when someone can control his/her anger in most situations, he/she'll surely be viewed as a very mature person. and just like in 1 Cor 13:4, it is a part of love. Not ony loving others, but also loving God, and loving our ownself.

Thus, whatever circumstances we face later, we must remember. Patience comes first. :)

What's my goal in life?

What's your goal in life?

Its a very common question that has been asked by millions or people anywhere in the world.

Why was I born in this world? What should i do in this life? What will make my life complete?

How can I say that I have live my life to the fullest?

All that questions, lead to a MAIN POINT. A point that is searched by all people in ths world.

VISION OF LIFE.

I just has been graduated from my uni, so i now move from the fun, exciting, etc etc world of so-called school, and move to the "REAL WORLD". Thats what most of my friends who are working say about life after school.

In time like this, I often think about the answer of those questions...

WHAT AM I CREATED FOR?

Surely, God who created us, put us in this world for a goal. Every creator has a goal for his/her creations right?

But as i read some books, watch some movies (i cannot remember them one by one), and discuss with a lot of friends, i come to a conclusion.

SOOO... HAVE I FOUND MY VISION IN LIFE?

Hmm.. not really. I don't know the spesific answer. However, i come to a conclusion that WE ARE CREATED FOR OTHERS. Yes, as simple as that. We are created to bless, help, and assist others around us. They can be our family, friends, or strangers whom we meet everyday. We are meant to be something for others, in a LOOOTTT of ways.

The conclusion, eventhough you think it is a really common thought. Maybe some of you will say "I have known that." "WTH? You jest knew it?" etc etc

but I think it helped me a lot in choosing my occupation, my job.

When i choose my job, i should do something that is not only beneficial for myself, but also for others around me. What i do as my job in the future should bless people.

In my point of view, dont choose a job that will only give gain to you and you only (i know, maybe some of you will think like: "I still give my salary/my profit to others," "I do charity every month." etc etc).

Choose a job that will give benefit to you and others. That way, we may live our life to the fullest. :)

Happy Sunday! :)

Things to remember when i am afraid..

^{1 John 4:4}

4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

When i wrote this, i has just experienced a very strange feeling, which is mixture of several negative feelings. The first is, fear, of course, the second, loneliness, and the list goes on and on.

But one thing i always remember about fear is what my mom always say to me, "Fear of things in this world does not come from God."

When that feeling striked me, firstly i dont know what to do and as i let it be like that, it was getting bigger and bigger, and consuming myself. But, as it grew, i remembered that statement and the verse, 1 John 4:4 came across my mind.

Sometimes, when we are attacked by fear, we lost our sense, and maybe, our faith that He who has given His life for us is in our hearts. Inside us. We forgot that simple truth and let that fear rule ourselves. I dont know why, this time, I realized that fact and i decided not to let the fear ruled my mind, but instead, let His truth ruled my mind and won over that fear. I decided to confess the truth. The truth from HIM, and as i did that, there was grace from above that strengthened me and enabled me to stand strong on HIM.

^{1 Pet 5:10}

¹⁰ And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

Thus, when you feel afraid, remember 1 John 4:4, the spirit of GOD that is within ourselves is GREATER than the spirit in this world.

Have a nice weekend all. :) God bless u

A Perfect Weekend

My definition of perfect weekend:

Church - being able to worship and praise GOD, refreshed with something from HIM

after that

Bonding time with close friends (lunch, shopping, chit-chat)

after that

Go home, take a bath, and sleep.

What a perfect weekend :p

LOVE.

Happy valentine's day, people! well, i know im late but i just want to say it anyway. hehe...

2 days ago, i read a passage in the bible. It is my most favorite bible passage, 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7.

^"4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."

After i read it, i think about a statement that i spoke out maybe abt a month ago. That time, i was really pissed off about something and i said, "Love is totally foolish." That time, i thought that what is the point of doing something that is impossible? See the definition of love? That's a flawless and impossible thing to do. but as i read it again 2 days ago, i realize that we will never feel that we have live our life to the fullest when we do not do our best to love. Yes, it is foolish, yes, it is impossible, but i realize that we are human being, we are not GOD, we are full of imperfections and we will have to learn everyday until we die in order to reduce the imperfections. It also applies to LOVE. As i read it again, i feel warmth in my heart, i feel that i have to learn to love, eventhough it is hard.

At last, i still think that love is foolish, but that just the way it is. It is what most people think about it. However, it is worthed to be done. :)

Right Brain. Left Brain. Which of yours do you think is stronger?

The text for the left brain reads:

“I am the left brain. I am a scientist. A mathematician. I love the familiar. I categorize. I am accurate. Linear. Analytical. Strategic. I am practical. Always in control. A master of words and language. Realistic. I calculate equations and play with numbers. I am order. I am logic. I know exactly who I am.”

And for the right brain:

“I am the right brain. I am creativity. A free spirit. I am passion. Yearning. Sensuality. I am the sound of roaring laughter. I am taste. The feeling of sand beneath bare feat. I am movement. Vivid colors. I am the urge to paint on an empty canvas. I am boundless imagination. Art. Poetry. I sense. I feel. I am everything I wanted to be.”

taken from http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=342318025803135&set=a.223764074325198.63513.223382727696666&type=1&ref=nf

"High compensation or salary may be your enemy in achieving your life's calling, or your dream, or your life's goal," said my friend.

"High compensation or salary may be your enemy in achieving your life's calling, or your dream, or your life's goal," said my friend.

That's what i got from a conversation me and my friends had in the car when we were going home from a discipleship meeting.

I think, that statement is indeed true.

Just want to share this thought to my friends who are maybe in the same position as i am right now (in the intersection of life after being graduated from university), may it open your mind and give you some bright ideas about what you should do in life.

Once again, good night. :)

Time is a Very Valuable Resource

Today, my thesis advisor invited all students who were under his guidance in thesis for lunch. He's a Korean, so it is not surprising that he brought us to a korean resto. There, he ordered dolsot bibimbab (it's like a Korean rice menu consists of rice, vegetables, egg, a little meat, and spicy sauce mixed together) However, that's not what is important in the lunch meeting.

There, after he ordered, he told us that he would like to hear from each of us the answers of his 2 questions:

1. What suggestion can we give to the department?

2. What are our specific plans in 10 to 20 years time?

Then, my friends and I started to speak up about what we want, both in our department and in our future. The most common answer about the 10-20 years plan is getting married and having children, or having own businesses.

After all of us finished answering the questions, he told us something. Something that gave me some other insight about our lives.

Here is what he told us, "I may seem old to all of you, but trust me, i felt like it was yesterday that i finished my bachelor degree. Trust me that time, it flies so fast, especially when we do our routines everyday. Routines may trapped us in a condition where we pass 10 years and we feel like we have just passed only 1 year. Routines keep us busy in this life and sometimes make us forget that time, is a very limited source that we have to utilize the best. That is why i asked all of you what you want to achieve in 10 to 20 years specifically, because i do not want you to go through life like me. I regret what I did years ago, i feel like i can actually use time more wisely in order to achieve what i really want to achieve in this life. Thus, if you are going to do some things now, think about what it will bring you in the future. If it is going to give you positive value in the future, then do it."

His message really hit me hard. I must admit that these days i am really confused about what i should do right now, which choice i must take, and where should i go.

However, this insight helped me to understand what i should do next.

Thank you, Dr. Kim Sung Suk, my thesis advisor who has shared this point with me.

Thank you for giving me the best guidance that you can for me in finishing my thesis despite of your busy schedule and tight workload.

Thank you for being not only a good lecturer, but also a very good role model and inspiration.

I cannot return back what you have invested in my life directly to you, but i hope what i am going to achieve in the future will also make you proud of me, and your investment too :p, i am sure that God will bless you and your family for what you have given us, our students.

All in all, the important message i get today is "time is a very valuable resource."

Good nite, universe. :)

The New Face of Marketing

Today, there's a talkshow held by MSS-FEUI (mss-feui.com) as a part of their MIST 2012 roadshow in my campus. MIST is actually a conference which talk about marketing and will be held on March 5th and 6th this year (2012).

The title of the talkshow was "Undressing the Social Media: "What is Happening with Our Consumers?".

To be honest, i am not interested to the title, but anyway, i attended the talkshow.

The talkshow presented Andy Sjarif, the CEO of SITTI, an Indonesian start-up online advertising company. As I listen to him, I found that the talkshow was very useful, it gave me new insight about the NEW marketing concept that we should apply as we try to sell or to market everything.

A very powerful message behind all his talk i think is that, "4P is dead. The old marketing is dead. The one-direction concept of marketing is dead. What matters now is about two-direction marketing, it's all about listening to people, it's all about using the social media to its fullest power to do marketing."

He also said that "In the marketing world right now, it is not about the millions-budgeted tv commercial, but its about knowing the group of people that will be the perfect target of what we try to market or sell, and penetrate into those group of people via social media."

What an interesting concept. I think it is indeed, very true.

In the end, I want to say "Thank you very much to MSS-FEUI. Thank you for coming to our campus and thank you for sharing your valuable knowledge with us. It's an honor to participate in your program guys." :)

Clara C

Wonder who is Clara C?

She is one of YouTube artist that i just found in YouTube few days ago for her collaboration video with Joseph Vincent, entitled "Shy That Way (Cover of Jason Mraz and Tristan Freeman)" and "Rhythm of Love (Cover of Plain White Ts) Here's the link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJvczSokKfc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Iem96ITbfY

And here is another video of her collaboration with Sam Ock, entitled "Little Light"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oujkpugIc6o

I think her voice is very unique and somehow "soothing".

All in all, i just wanna share. Hope her music will soothe you too. :)

A Point in Life

Two days ago, was the day when i feel really bored about my life.

Recently graduated (but the commencement ceremony has not taken place yet), still being the leader of my department's student council, trying to complete all the application necessities for master scholarship in several institutions asap, and trying to look for something to do in order to stay "passionately alive".

The definition above is surely not the definition that i expect of my current point in life.

I feel, lost. I do not know what the future will bring. That is the thought that appears most frequently in my head lately.

However, when i lie on my bed and let my brain wander to where it want to, suddenly a force inside me told me to give thanks. To count my blessings. To see things around me, things in me, and things that i have, and for one moment, give gratitude for them.

And at that point in my life, i started to say "I am thankful for......"

I fill in the blank with a lot of things,

here they are as what i can still remember from the previous 2 days:

a complete family (mom, dad, lil bro), finishing my thesis on time despite of the problems i faced during the time of writing, being able to eat and dress properly as well as sleep in a really comfy bed, my friends who support me in good and bad times, all my talents, all that ive been through in this life, and the list go on... (i cant remember more)

And at that point in my life, the boredom went away completely, and it was replaced with a joy, a joy that give me faith to keep on going in this life and of course, to be more thankful for things around me.

Good night. :)

Cheers!

A Start

I decide to call this blog "Life Lessons of Mine" because i just want to share life lessons that i got in any form. Hope they can help u by giving better explanation of ur doubt, by answering ur questions, or maybe just by making u smile after reading the posts.

Cheers! :)