In loving memory of my beloved friend

My beloved friend and sister-in-Christ, Madam Chan, born AD 1916, returned to be with Christ Jesus her Lord on 6 February 2009, AD at the age of 93.

"For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:" Job 19:25-26

Dear Friends,

Thanks for stopping by my combined Word-Filled Wednesday and Thankful Thursday.

Thanks for your comments, prayers and encouragements.

Sorry for my long silence. Sorry that I have not been able to visit most of you.

My health has not been good in the recent weeks and I was rather overwhelmed by various commitments at home and in church. I am compelled to slow down and rest whenever I can.

I do miss blogging and many of you. Thanks for stopping by. I will try my best to catch up with you as soon as I can!

I am thankful to God for giving me grace and strength daily.

I am thankful to God that my beloved friend and sister-in-Christ, Madam Chan, is now safe in the arm of Jesus. Our dear Lord called home this precious servant of His on Friday, 6 February 2009. Now she is in the presence of the One Who loved her and gave His life for her, to worship Him and enjoy His love and fellowship for all eternity without the hindrance of sin, sickness or sufferings.

I shared about a wonderful reunion with her recently after 10 years interval. Madam Chan is 93 years old and came to know the Lord more than 10 years ago and I was then given the privilege to minister to her. Thank God that she was baptised recently on 7 December 2008.

On the day of her baptism, she said that was the happiest day of her life. She was thrilled and overjoyed to become a part of the Church of Christ. She daily began to pray for her brothers and sisters-in-Christ in the church many of whom she has never met. Being bed-ridden due to her health, she was never able to go to church. But her love for the Lord and His people remain the same.

It is a comfort to be reminded that this is not our home. We too are pilgrims here sojourning for a season and travelling towards the celestial city. One day, we shall be with our Lord Who loved us and gave His life for us, to worship and enjoy His love and fellowship without hindrance.

Meanwhile, we must press on and run the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, seeking, loving and serving our Lord until He calls us home in His time.

Thanks again for stopping by. May God grant you a very blessed week. Take care.

or more Word-Filled Wednesday participants, do visit Amy.

For more participants of Thankful Thursday, do visit Iris.

Before they call, I will answer (Isaiah 65:24)

(I took this picture near my house during a brisk-walk session)

Dear Friends,

A very blessed and joyous new year to you!

Thanks for stopping by my combined Word-Filled Wednesday and Thankful Thursday post. This post was originally posted on Monday.

♥ Thank God for seeing us through another year of walking with Him and serving Him. May God grant us a closer walk with Him and a deeper love and devotion to Him.

♥ Thank God for granting me a very refreshing and fruitful weekend and Lord's day of worship, fellowship and service. Trust you too have had a very blessed and restful weekend!

♥ Thank God for preserving and restoring the health of Madam Chan. I shared about a wonderful reunion with her recently after 10 years interval. Madam Chan is 92 years old and came to know the Lord more than 10 years ago and I was then given the privilege to minister to her. Thank God that she was baptised recently on 7 December 2008.

Madam Chan was very sick last week and I thought the Lord might take her home. Thank God for restoring her health and she is better now. She is continuing to trust in the Lord and waiting upon Him to call her home to Himself. She is full of thanfkulness to our Lord despite her bodily afflictions. She is a wonderful encouragement to me and my brethren.

♥ Thank God for providing my family, church brethren and blogging friends who continue to care and encourage me in many ways.

♥ Thank God He knows our every need and will provide for us. A friend and brother-in-Christ send me this very very encouraging story of God knowing our needs and providing for us even before we ask Him. May this encouraging story encourages our heart in this new year as we walk with our Lord Jesus Christ and serve Him, trusting in His love and mercies that He will provide for all our needs spiritually and physically.

Isaiah 65:24 "Before they call, I will answer"

This story was written by a doctor who worked in South Africa

One night I had worked hard to help a mother in the labor ward; but in spite of all we could do, she died leaving us with a tiny premature baby and a crying two-year-old daughter. We would have difficulty keeping the baby alive, as we had no incubator (we had no electricity to run an incubator).

We also had no special feeding facilities. Although we lived on the equator, nights were often chilly with treacherous drafts. One student midwife went for the box we had for such babies and the cotton wool that the baby would be wrapped in.

Another went to stoke up the fire and fill a hot water bottle. She came back shortly in distress to tell me that in filling the bottle, it had burst (rubber perishes easily in tropical climates). "And it is our last hot water bottle!" she exclaimed. As in the West, it is no good crying over spilled milk so in Central Africa it might be considered no good crying over burst water bottles They do not grow on trees, and there are no drugstores down forest pathways.

"All right," I said, "put the baby as near the fire as you safely can, and sleep between the baby and the door to keep it free from drafts. Your job is to keep the baby warm."

The following noon, as I did most days, I went to have prayers with any of the orphanage children who chose to gather with me. I gave the youngsters various suggestions of things to pray about and told them about the tiny baby. I explained our problem about keeping the baby warm enough, mentioning the hot water bottle, and that the baby could so easily die if it got chills. I also told them of the two-year-old sister, crying because her mother had died

During prayer time, one ten-year old girl, Ruth, prayed with the usual blunt conciseness of our African children. "Please, God" she prayed, "send us a water bottle. It'll be no good tomorrow, God, as the baby will be dead, so please send it this afternoon."

While I gasped inwardly at the audacity of the prayer, she added, "And while You are about it, would You please send a dolly for the little girl so she'll know You really love her?"

As often with children's prayers, I was put on the spot. Could I honestly say,"Amen". I just did not believe that God could do this. Oh, yes, I know that He can do everything, the Bible says so. But there are limits, aren't there? The only way God could answer this particular prayer would be by sending me a parcel from homeland. I had been in Africa for almost four years at that time, and I had never, ever received a parcel from home. Anyway, if anyone did send me a parcel, who would put in a hot water bottle? I lived on the equator!

Halfway through the afternoon, while I was teaching in the nurses' training school, a message was sent that there was a car at my front door.

By the time I reached home, the car had gone, but there, on the veranda, was a large twenty-two pound parcel. I felt tears pricking my eyes. I could not open the parcel alone, so I sent for the orphanage children.

Together we pulled off the string, carefully undoing each knot. We folded the paper, taking care not to tear it unduly. Excitement was mounting. Some thirty or forty pairs of eyes were focused on the large cardboard box. From the top, I lifted out brightly colored, knitted jerseys. Eyes sparkled as I gave them out. Then there were the knitted bandages for the leprosy patients, and the children looked a little bored. Then came a box of mixed raisins and sultanas - that would make a batch of buns for the weekend Then, as I put my hand in again, I felt the.....could it really be? I grasped it and pulled it out - yes, a brand-new, rubber hot water bottle. I cried. I had not asked God to send it; I had not truly believed that He could. Ruth was in the front row of the children. She rushed forward, crying out, "If God has sent the bottle, He must have sent the dolly too!"

Rummaging down to the bottom of the box, she pulled out the small, beautifully dressed dolly. Her eyes shone! She had never doubted!

Looking up at me, she asked: "Can I go over with you and give this dolly to that little girl, so she'll know that Jesus really loves her?"

That parcel had been on the way for five whole months. Packed up by my former Sunday school class, whose leader had heard and obeyed God's prompting to send a hot water bottle, even to the equator. And one of the girls had put in a dolly for an African child - five months before, in answer to the believing prayer of a ten-year-old to bring it "that afternoon."

"Before they call, I will answer" (Isaiah 65:24)

(My friend, AR, took this picture at Changi Airport, Singapore)

Thanks for stopping by. Take care and have a great week ahead!

For more Word-Filled Wednesday participants, do visit Amy.

For more participants of Thankful Thursday, do visit Iris.

Where the will of God leads us, the grace of God will keep us

“We will be glad and rejoice in Thee. Song of Solomon 1:4”

Dear Friends,

Thanks for stopping by.

A very blessed and joyous New Year to you!

Thank God for seeing us through another week and another year.

♥ I thank God for His mercies and faithfulness through another year of walking with Him and serving Him.

♥ I thank God for providing for my every need through the year. It's been more than a year since I do freelance work due to my health limitations. I am thankful to testify that God has provided for my every need in His many wonderful ways. Truly, the Lord is my Shepherd and I shall not want (lack) - Psalm 23:1.

♥ I am thankful to God for providing precious people in my life ie. my family, church, friends and blogging friends who love and care for me in their very wonderful ways. These are tokens of God's love for me and I treasure very much.

♥ It's been almost a year since I started blogging. I am very thankful to God for the many blessings I have received through blogging.
- I am thankful that I can share and testify of God's goodness and mercies to me through this blog
- I am thankful to God that I can share the resources I have found useful in coping with bipolar disorder (manic-depressive illness) with my readers on this blog
- I am thankful to God once again for all of you, my dear blogging friends and visitors. I have been so greatly blessed by all of you and I thank God upon every remembrance of you. It is wonderful to read of how God is guiding and blessing you in your walk with our Lord and it encourages me in my walk with God too. Thanks again for your prayers and encouragements.


♥ Thank God for the joy of knowing Him, trusting Him and serving Him. May these words of CH Spurgeon be our hearts prayer too:

"Since, O sweet Lord Jesus, Thou art the present portion of Thy people, favor us this year with such a sense of Thy preciousness, that from its first to its last day, we may be glad and rejoice in Thee.

Let January open with joy in the Lord, and December close with gladness in Jesus."

May God continue to bless you with His love, mercies and blessings in many wonderful ways in this New Year.

May you continue to know His love and all-sufficient grace through this year.

May the assurance of God's love and mercies strengthen our heart to continue to walk with Him and serve Him despite whatever uncertainties or turmoil we see in the world today or in future. For we are assured that we are More Than Conquerors through Him Who loved us!

Where the will of God lead you, the grace of God will keep you.

"I have been young, and now am old;
yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken,
nor his seed begging bread."
Psalm 37:25

For more participants of Thankful Thursday, do visit Iris.

Thankful Thursday : Thank God for His mercies and faithfulness

Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens;
and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds.
Psalm 36:5

Dear Friends,

Thanks for stopping by. Thank God for seeing us through another week.

♥ I thank God for His mercies and faithfulness daily. Thank God for continuing to strengthen me as I wait upon Him. Thanks for all your prayers and encouragements.

♥ I thank God for bringing me back into contact with an elderly lady, Madam Chan, whom I ministered to some 10 years ago. Madam Chan is already 92 years old this year. She loves the Lord and have been rather ill all of her life. She is wheel chair bound and house bound.

♥ I thank God that when Madam Chan first came to know our Lord 10 years back at the age of 82 years old, I had the privilege of being used by God to share His Words with her. Due to a change in providence, I lost contact with her. Thank God that recently, in His mercies, He brought me back into contact with her.

♥ I am thankful to God that Mdm Chan still recognizes me and remember my name after such a long interval! See my joyful face in the photo below and you can imagine what a great joy it was for me to be reunited with her :-)

She looked very haggard in this photo as she had a fall some 3 weeks back and was in great pain. She became bed-ridden and could hardly eat. So she has lost a lot of weight.


♥ I am thankful to God for preserving Mdm Chan's faith in Him. For the last 10 years she has practically no contact with any Christian except her son-in-law. But when I met up with her recently, she said every day she prays and thanks our Heavenly Father and our Lord Jesus Christ for shedding His blood to wash away her sins. She said she is a sinner and very thankful to God for taking care of her! I was greatly encouraged to see how the Lord has preserved her and kept her close to Him despite the difficult and lonely life she has led.

♥ I am thankful to God that Madam Chan desires baptism and she was baptised recently on 7 December 2008. She was able to testify of her faith in our Lord Jesus Christ in her own simple way. She expressed gratefulness to God that she can be baptised and belong to the Church of Jesus Christ. Her childlike faith is a great testimony to me and to my church brethren of what God is able to do in His beloved people's heart.

Madam Chan's baptism

♥ I am thankful to God for strengthening Madam Chan. Her health has improved shortly before her baptism and thereafter. Prior to that, for about 1 month she has been bed-ridden and not able to eat much. But now she is able to eat some solid food again! Thank God! So you can see in the picture above that at the time of her baptism her face is more fleshy. She is generally stronger and more cheerful. Now I visit her about once a week to minister to her whenever my health permist. She is able to sit up for a few hours now whenever I visit her.

♥ I am thankful to God for giving me the joy and privilege of seeing His wonderful work of grace in Madam Chan's heart. It is my regret that for the last 10 years I have lost contact with her. I am thankful that now God is enabling me to see once again His great work of grace in her soul, and give me the privilege to contribute a little in sharing His love and grace to her.

♥ I am thankful to God for providing precious people in my life ie. my family, church, friends and blogging friends who love and care for me in their very wonderful ways. These are tokens of God's love for me and I treasure very much.

♥ I am thankful to God once again for all of you, my dear blogging friends and visitors. I have been so greatly blessed by all of you and I thank God upon every remembrance of you. It is wonderful to read of how God is guiding and blessing you in your walk with our Lord and it encourages me in my walk with God too. Thanks again for your prayers and encouragements.

May God continue to bless you with His love and mercies in many wonderful ways every day :)

For more participants of Thankful Thursday, do visit Iris.

Thank you for stopping by. Take care and may God continue to bless you through this week!

Recent Posts:

Thankful Thursday : Free Calendars 2009 and Bookmarks

Out of the Depths - Psalm 130

God is our refuge and strength - Psalm 46


How to recover from Clinical Depression

Causes of Clinical Depression

Free Calendars 2009 and Bookmarks

Dear Friends,

Thanks for stopping by. Thanks for all your prayers and encouragements.

Thank God for seeing us through another week.

♥ I have missed posting on Thankful Thursday for many weeks as I have been unwell and have to cut down the amount of time I spend on blogging and visiting. Thanks to all of you who have visited and encouraged me. Thank God I am better. I am looking to our faithful God daily. I do remember you in my prayers.

♥ I am thankful to God that I can serve Him through making some simple gifts with Bible verses. I have a small Homemade Gifts business. I am selling some Calendars 2009, Bookmarks and Cards with Bible verses. Do let me know if you are interested to purchase these gifts for yourself, your family or friends. And please do not hesitate to pass the words around and let your friends know about it too.

Homemade Calendars 2009 with Bible verses









Homemade Bookmarks with Bible verses and General Wordings











Homemade Cards with Bible verses












♥ FREE templates for Calendars with Bible verses and Bookmarks with Bible verses to share with you!

As the postage is rather high to post to some of you, I like to share some Free templates for Calendars with Bible verses and Bookmarks with Bible verses with you. You can make these small gifts for yourself, your loved ones, family and friends. You can also make them and sell them, if you wish to :-) My Free Homemade Crafts and Gifts website is at http://homemadecraftsandgifts.blogspot.com/.

I have the following 3 Free items to share with you.

1) Free Instructions of how to make a simple Homemade Hanging Calendar for 2009 with Bible verses




















2) Free Instructions of how to make a simple Calendar Planner for 2009 with Bible verses


















3) Free Instructions of how to make a simple Bookmarks with Bible verses




















For more Free Bookmarks and Calendars, visit my Homemade Crafts and Gifts website.

Thank God that I can have the joy of serving Him in little ways like these. Hope you enjoy making them too.

♥ I am thankful to God for providing precious people in my life ie. my family, church, friends and blogging friends who love and care for me in their very wonderful ways. These are tokens of God's love for me and I treasure very much.

♥ I am thankful to God once again for all of you, my dear blogging friends and visitors. I have been so greatly blessed by all of you and I thank God upon every remembrance of you. It is wonderful to read of how God is guiding and blessing you in your walk with our Lord and it encourages me in my walk with God too. Thanks again for your prayers and encouragements.

May God continue to bless you with His love and mercies in many wonderful ways every day :)

For more participants of Thankful Thursday, do visit Iris.

Thank you for stopping by. Take care and may God continue to bless you through this week!

Free Calendars 2010 and Free Planners 2010 Resources:

• Calendar 2010 Design1
• Calendar 2010 Design2
• Calendar 2010 Design3
• Calendar 2010 with Singapore Public Holidays 1
• Calendar 2010 with Singapore Public Holidays 2
• Planner 2010 Design B
• Christian Calendar 2010 with Bible verses 1
• Christian Calendar 2010 with Singapore Public Holidays 1
• Christian Planner 2010

Free Bookmarks Resources:

• A Special Birthday Prayer for You
• All the best to you
• Animals
• Children - This book belongs to
• Chinese Bible verses
• Christian bookmarks with Bible verses
• Flowers
• Friendship
• Happy Birthday
• Happy Children's Day
• Happy Mother's Day
• Inspirational or encouraging quotes
• Prayer of St. Francis
• Sceneries
• Swan
• The Cross in My Pocket
• When there seems no way out, let God in
• With God all things are possible
• You are never alone
• Your Friendship is a blessing

Free Cards Resources:

• A Special Birthday Prayer for You
• Animals
• Birthday Card pop up
• Christian cards with Bible verses
• Don't Quit
• Encouraging Friendship Quotes1
• Encouraging quote on Love
• Encouraging Quotes1
• Flowers
• Get Well Soon!
• God holds my tomorrow
• Happy Birthday
• How to Make a Kirigami Dancing Crane Pop-up Card
• How to Make a Pop-Up Heart Card
• Prayer of St. Francis
• With God all things are possible
• Your Friendship is a Blessing

Free Handicrafts Resources : Free Cross-stitch

• How to sew a pink heart cross stitch
• About cross stitch and cross stitching
• Creative Needlecraft Cross Stitching
• Cross stitch of Yarn Tree
• Different ways of doing cross stitch
• Free cross stitch pattern : Pink Heart
• French Knot
• How to Choose a Cross Stitch Pattern
• How to Design a Cross Stitch Pattern
• How to Do Back Stitches in Cross Stitching
• How to Do Basic Cross Stitches
• How to Do French Knots in Cross Stitching
• How to Frame a Cross Stitch Pattern
• How to Personalize Your Cross Stitching Pattern
• How to Prepare Cloth for Cross Stitching
• Learn simple Cross Stitch In 5 Minutes
• Little Bear cross-stitch
• Supplies for Cross Stitching
• Types of Cross Stitch Patterns

Free Sewing Resources : Knitting

• Basics on how to knit
• How to Knit a Scarf : How to Add Fringe to a Scarf
• How to Knit a Scarf : How to Cast Off
• How to knit a scarf : How to Change to a Different Color when Knitting
• How to Knit a Scarf : How to Do the Basket Weave
• How to Knit a Scarf : How to Do the Knit Stitch
• How to Knit a Scarf : How to Do the Purl Stitch
• How to Knit a Scarf : How to Do the Rib Stitch
• How to Knit a Scarf : How to Pick Up Dropped Stitches
• Variations in Stitches

Free Origami Resources:

• Airplane
• Boat
• Box
• Bunny
• Camel
• Cup
• Dragonfly
• Fish
• Flowers Daffodil
• Flowers Pink
• Hummingbird
• Jumping Frog
• Parrot
• Penguin
• Pigeon
• Roadrunner
• Rose
• Shark
• Squirrel
• Sungflower
• Swan
• Zebra

Free Arts and Crafts for Kids Resources:

• How to make a Catepillar
• How to make a clock
• How to make a duck
• How to make a Kirigami Hummingbird
• How to make a Peacock
• How to make an Octopus
• How to make turtle

Nice Piano Instrumental Music Resources:

• Relaxing music
• A como amor
• Aline
• Ballade Pour Adeline
• Chinese Garden
• Concerto pour un jeune fille nommee
• Couleur Tendresse
• Dolannes Melody
• Dream Wedding
• Fur Elise
• Give a little to your love
• La Tendresse
• lara's theme
• Les derniers jours d´Anastacia kemsky
• Lettre à ma mère
• Love song in winter
• Mariage D'amour
• Piano Concerto No. 1
• Romeo and Juliet
• Tema de Amor
• Triste Coeur
• Unchained melody

Thank God for the joy of serving Him

Dear Friends,

Thanks for stopping by. Thanks for your prayers and encouragements.

Thank God for seeing us through another week.

♥ I am so thankful to God for giving me the joy of enjoying nature and photography. About 1 year ago I began brisk-walking for health purposes. By God's grace, I began to enjoy flowers, plants, birds, nature, etc in many wonderful ways. I started to use a digital camera to capture some of these beauties of God's creations. They remind me of what a mighty God we serve!

♥ I am thankful to God that I can serve Him by making some Homemade Gifts for my friends as well as to sell on my Homemade Bookmarks, Cards and Gifts website:

http://homemadegifts2008.blogspot.com/

If you are interested to purchase some of these gifts for yourself, your family or friends, please do not hesitate to visit my Homemade Gifts website and email me at homemade.nk@gmail.com.

If you know of some friends who may be interested to purchase these gifts, please forward my website to them. Thanks!

Here are some samples of the Homemade Gifts that I am selling. Just click at the picture to go to the link on my website:

Cards























Bookmarks












































Calendars 2009























Homemade Bookmarks with English Bible verses:

1) Bookmarks with English Bible Verses (Flowers)

2) Bookmarks with English Bible Verses (Animals)

3) Bookmarks with English Bible Verses (Sceneries)

4) Long Bookmarks with English Bible Verses (Animals)

5) Long Bookmarks with English Bible Verses (Sceneries)


Homemade Bookmarks with Chinese Bible verses:

1) Bookmarks with Chinese Bible Verses


Homemade Bookmarks with General wordings:

2) Bookmarks with General Wordings


Buy Homemade Bookmarks:

Pricing and Ordering Details


Buy Homemade Cards with

1) English Bible Verses
2) English Bible Verses - Sets of 5 Cards each (special offer)
3) Chinese Bible Verses


Buy Homemade Calendars for 2009

1) Hanging Calendar 2009







2) Table Calendar 2009 (coming soon!)


3) Planners for 2009 (coming soon!)


Thank God that I can have the joy of serving Him in little ways like these.

♥ I am thankful to God for providing precious people in my life ie. my family, church, friends and blogging friends who love and care for me in their very wonderful ways. These are tokens of God's love for me and I treasure very much.

♥ I am thankful to God once again for all of you, my dear blogging friends and visitors. I have been so greatly blessed by all of you and I thank God upon every remembrance of you. It is wonderful to read of how God is guiding and blessing you in your walk with our Lord and it encourages me in my walk with God too. Thanks again for your prayers and encouragements.

May God continue to bless you with His love and mercies in many wonderful ways every day :)

For more participants of Thankful Thursday, do visit Iris.

Thank you for stopping by. Take care and may God continue to bless you through this week!

Recent Posts:

A Tribute to my Counsellor in remembrance of her

Lesson from a Storm - the voice of Jesus in the Storm

Enjoying Nature and Photography (Thankful Thursday)

Finding meaning in helping others and loving them with God's love

Enjoying nature and photography : My therapeutic hobbies

Dear Friends,

Thanks for stopping by. Thanks for your prayers and encouragements.

♥ I am so thankful to God that I am able to go for an outing today with 2 church friends. We went to Changi Airport to see some flowers exhibition. We had a good time of fellowship.

♥ Thank God for the joy of enjoying His creations. God's creations always remind me of His majesty and power. He Who creates us will also take care of us.

♥ Thank God for giving me the joy of photography and to be able to capture some of the beauties of God's creations. These are the flowers I took at the exhibition today.

♥ Thank God for His love for us and His instructions to us on how we are to reflect His love in 1 Corinthians 13.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (KJV)

4 Charity suffereth long,
and is kind;
charity envieth not;
charity vaunteth not itself,
is not puffed up,
5 Doth not behave itself unseemly,
seeketh not her own,
is not easily provoked,
thinketh no evil;
6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity,
but rejoiceth in the truth;
7 Beareth all things,
believeth all things,
hopeth all things,
endureth all things.
8 Charity never faileth:

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (NIV)

4 Love is patient,
love is kind.
It does not envy,
it does not boast,
it is not proud.
5 It is not rude,
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.
8 Love never fails.

May God continue to bless you with His love in many wonderful ways every day :)

For more participants of Thankful Thursday, do visit Iris.

Thank you for stopping by. Take care and may God continue to bless you through this week!