Jacob's wait...

i was reading again Jacob's story in Genesis 29, and discovered something i have never known before: Jacob waited for Rachel only seven years and one week and not fourteen years as i always have thought.

for the longest time i've wondered how is it possible for a man to be so patient, really; considering he waited seven years thinking he would get to marry the woman he loves, and when he finally gets married, he finds out the next day it wasnt her but another woman...how could he have waited another seven years?

but no! according to scriptures as i read it again this morning, Laban said to Jacob in Genesis 29:26-28,

"...It is not permitted in our country to give the younger [in marriage] before the elder. Finish the [wedding feast] week [for Leah]; then we will give you [Rachel] also, and you shall work for me
yet seven more years in return." So Jacob complied and fulfilled [Leah's] week; then [Laban] gave him Rachel his daughter as his wife.

hehe=) i think i'm VERY HAPPY for Jacob, hahah. i guess i was just so troubled for so long that he was cheated...but in the end he got what he wished and worked for...and more. i'm not advocating having two wives, God forbid! I'm just happy that he didnt have to wait that long to get the woman he loves. if i were Jacob, i honestly dont think i'd be able to wait another seven years. i'd be so mad that i would have left for good and not come back.

i think God knew what was going on, and made things work out the way they should be, as He always does.

Just wanna share my revelation and my joy today=)

if i dont write here in the next few days, i wish everyone blessings for the coming New Year! May God be the Lord of your life as you begin afresh a new year, with new mercies and new opportunities in Christ Jesus!

FOR HIS GLORY!!

Merry Christmas

hello everybody. what a wonderful Christmas! i'm sitting here in the Cole House in Crestline, OH...watching the movie "It's a beautiful life" by Frank Capra. i think it's one of the most meaningful movies ever made...

well, i actually just wanna wish everyone a very merry Christmas. i cant tell everyone enough how much this time of the year means to me; a time when we remember the birth of the greatest gift ever to all of mankind...Jesus Christ!

"no man is a failure who has friends" - clarence, in the movie.

how true it is when we consider how blessed we are to have a friend in Jesus!

Merry Christ to us all! God bless us, everyone!

back from Dallas...

Hie everybody. wow=) yup i just got back from Dallas last night; no more 20hour drives for the next 3 weeks at least!

for those of you in the dark, went to Dallas for about 6 days to see some friends graduate [CONGRATS, MIMI!] and also to attend a wedding. and i'm so blessed coz Lynn's with me for CHRISTMAS! woohooo! how exciting, i'm so pleased! so yup, i flew down, but since Joe Cole was coming home we drove up in his bright red chevy truck. we had four of us squeezed into one cab, definitely not the most comfortable 20hours, i must say; i'm just glad we've arrived!

i'm listening to this one really cool song on Jan's blog...i lorrrvveee songs like this. slow, sentimental, and melodiously compelling...(even though i dont really understand the Mandarin lyrics *sengih* )

so there's always this little struggle in me towards the things that are familiar. on the one hand, part of me wants the familiarity of things, yet i sometimes get tired of the way things are done. and then on the other hand, i desire new things, new places, new challenges, yet sometimes i do not even want to budge from the comfort of the familiar. this struggle between old things and new, comfort and challenges, familiarity and excitement....is there a balance? i dont believe we should sway to the extremes, but how and where do i find the balance?

i think the answer will never be found in a one single-lined formula. the balance comes as a result of the decisions i make based on every possible consideration. yet there is one factor that i want to always want to be mindful of: that my decisions will reflect the glory of my God.

only by this factor, can i ignore the stupendity of man-made rules and regulations. no matter how unreasonable and dumb these rules are, i would follow them, or should i say i would adhere to them only because ultimately, it is my attitude of placing the will and the glory of my Father and King higher than my will.

this indicates that i still have a lot of pride to get rid off.

.
.
.
.
.
.

Daddy-God, help me.

i used to think that having a positive outlook could change the world. but i never would have thought that it would be so painful to force a smile.

i used to think i handled rejection pretty well by laughing at how unrealistic my own expectations were, until i was still rejected because of realistic expectations.

i used to think that all there was to life was to live it well, until i realised that i had missed out on so many good things because of the wrong choices i made.

i used to think that all people, no matter how evil, have some good in them,

i always thought falling in love would be easy, until i fell in love, and fell very hard.

Cycle...

life is a cycle more obvious than we think
and death is not the only thing that comes around the rink
just when we think that it's time for "happily ever after"
suddenly comes again(!) for hearts to come asunder

they say true love never fails, true love always prevails
i'd say that true love indeed does have sails
it comes like a ship, beautiful and grand
and when the time comes, it must head for other lands
so when it embarks to another place
will you be found in it's embrace?
will you be anticipating foreign lands
or will you, on the harbour, stand?

my ship came and now must go
i am no captain to guide it through the troughs
here will i stand, here is my ground
i know this is where my happiness is found
i am made for lands, yea, lands are for me
i love the sea, yea, but a sailor i cant be.