Happy New Year 2009

Dear Diary,

It is almost the end of the first day of the new year 2009! Incredible, isn’t it? That is how time flies. I have managed to adhere to the first day of my resolution to complete reading the bible in one year; read Genesis 1 & 2 today. I did that once before many, many years ago. Hopefully, I can be disciplined enough to complete the bible for this year, especially when last year’s devotions was probably among the worst in my life when I prayed and read the bible very irregularly in the closing months of 2008. Yet, thank God that He has been faithful in blessing my family and myself for the year 2008. I got the job change I wanted; fulfilling the resolution I set for last year. Everyone’s healthy and well. =) Yet as I read the first letter to the Corinthians by Saint Paul, I was reminded of how important it is to love God and not just “believe” in Him. It is all so common for many evangelicals to say, “Believe in Christ Jesus and you will be saved.” Yet in 1 Corinthians 8:3 while Saint Paul was teaching on whether Christians can consume meat that were slaughtered in temples and offered to pagan gods, he reminded us that if one loves God, one is known by Him. If you see it in conjunction with what Jesus said at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, it becomes clear. In Matthew 7:21 – 23, Jesus said, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity(King James Version). That is a warning which we should heed... that God needs to know us and not just we knowing Him. For God to know us, we must be faithful disciple of His; keeping His commandments and doing His will.

Okay, on a lighter note... New Year’s eve yesterday was fabulous. We invited my sisters’ boyfriends over for Mum’s home-cooked dinner and we even sang some songs on the karaoke system. That karaoke set (amplifier, laser-disc player and a ceiling-mounted Sony projector) bought in the early 1990’s hadn’t been used for a couple of years I think. It was fun, although the video images are not as sharp as what we have on DVDs these days. I am the only person at home without a partner... sad, right? Haha... was singing “Edelweiss” (Sound of Music) and wondering where is my “Julie Andrews”! I am resolved to find the one whom I will spend the rest of my life together by end of this year 2009! God help me. I need to be daring, ask the girl I am interested out, and not fearing rejection or loss of pride. Pride is nothing compared to a chance to get a good wife! Hee... Don’t care already. Must try to be very thick-skinned and persevere even when kanna rejected... Sigh, hard to be a guy lei, hahaha...

This new year morning, my family went to VivoCity to do some shopping together. The girls bought some clothes. What made it heart-warming is that this was the first time all five of us (parents, two sisters and myself) went shopping together for almost the whole day after a long time. We used to do that when we were younger but hardly these days. Anyway, I decided not to attend the remaining of my Salsa dance classes and so last Monday’s class was the last one. I guess I will miss that little exercise I get on Monday evenings, haha... Okay, may this year 2009 be a good year for all of us despite the financial turmoil. May people come to know God and find true direction & meaning in life.

I wish you a blessed year ahead. Good health and may your dreams come true! ;-)

God Bless,

Andrew