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!

Finding meaning in loving others and helping them

Dear Friends,

Thanks for stopping by. Trust you have had a good weekend.

I am late this week to post my Mission4Monday but here I am anyway :-)

I am thankful to God for giving me strength to walk with Him and serve Him.

Having bipolar disorder (manic-depressive illness) means I am more prone to mood-swings than the average person. I am still learning to recognize early symptoms and how to manage my condition better so that I can be more functional.

But whenever symptoms or suspected symptoms surfaced, there can still be fears and discouragement. I have been feeling very very tired the last few days. I tried to rest but I also couldn't help doing certain things. Especially when it comes to serving God and His people :-)

But I know that I must really learn to slow down and pace myself more moderately. I know from painful experiences that if I do not pace myself carefully, I may over-strain and burn-out, and then clinical depression will follow. A burn-out servant is of little use!

I am thankful to God for encouraging me through His Words as I seek Him during devotion every morning and evening. I also pray and talked to our Lord throughout the day. Thank God that He is with us always!

I am thankful to God for enabling my friend, Marja Bergen, to write her experiences and God's goodness to her in her book "A Firm Place to Stand".

I found the following excerpts very encouraging and trust she will not mind me sharing these portions with you.

It is encouraging to remember that each new day brings an opportunity to pick ourselves up, by the grace of God and move ahead. Nothing that has happened yesterday is so bad that we can't leave it behind and press on in our journey.

I am thankful to God that I can continue to serve Him through this blog as I journal God's goodness and mercies to me daily in managing bipolar disorder and the other challenges in my life.

The knowledge that God loves us and is working all things for His glory and our good, brings great comfort to me personally and gives me courage to face each day no matter how good or how bad it may be. Learning to love others like the way God loves me brings me greatest satisfaction and enable me to find meaning in life, just like the way Marja did. May you too find great joy and satisfaction in God as you seek to do His will and rest in His faithfulness, love and mercies.


Excerpts taken from Marja Bergen's "A Firm Place To Stand":

"Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.Philippians 3:13-14

Each new day brings an opportunity to pick myself up and move ahead. It's a fresh start, a clean slate. The past is history.

Nothing that happened yesterday is so bad I can't leave it behind and, at least for today, look to what is ahead. I don't want to look way out into the distant future. The next few hours are all that matter now. What will I do today? How will I live today?... This is the day the Lord has made....

As I go about my daily activities, I thought endlessly about what was important in life and how I would like to use my time. I decided to give instead of take; I wanted to make instead of use. I reached the conclusion that I wanted the world to be a better place after I died because I had been there...

Once I had found God and my spiritual journey had begun, my outlook in life quickly changed. My new discovery of how God loved me and had a purpose for my life gave me a great joy. It filled me up.

I learned from my Bible readings how God wanted me to love others as He loved me. This was my desire. I wanted to give to others what God has given to me. I felt called to follow Jesus' model.

During my morning prayers, I asked God to fill me with his love and help me share it with others.

Jesus said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive' (Acts 20:35). This was true for me. Giving of myself was healing, and I became happier. Eventually, God's love led me to a life I could never have imagined possible in my early years as a Christian. Jesus gave me opportunities to serve that, at one time, would have been far beyond me.

And, I made another discovery: heirlooms made of cloth and yarn do not compare to caring for those around us. I didn't have to do anything grand. I didn't have to be famous or make a lot of money. Keeping Christ's love in my heart as I spent time with others and worked for their welfare was enough.

I learned to understand that whatever I do for others, I do for God. And when I give to others, I'm no longer in the victim's role.

I found meaning in having compassion and helping others. I often look back at what Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-30: 'Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.' I have found the rest Jesus spoke of, and today I carry the burden of Jesus of supporting and encouraging others. This has given my life deep meaning.

I walk with God and let God lead. The unfolding adventure is a beautiful thing, one long mystery tour. I don't know where God will take me next, but I don't need to be afraid. 'For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.' Jeremiah 29:11. My life is in God's hands."

For more Mission 4 Monday posts, visit Peggy.

Thanks again for stopping by and your encouragements. May God grant you a very blessed week!

Take care.

Related Posts:

About depression, bipolar disorder (manic-depressive illness) and mental illness or mood disorders:
1. About bipolar disorder (manic-depressive illness)
2. Myths and Facts on Mental Illness
3. Treatment of bipolar disorder
4. Various pamphlets and articles on bipolar disorder for sufferer and carer
5. Recovery steps for depression and bipolar disorder or manic-depressive illness

For friends and carers:
1. Helping someone with mood disorder
2. Family and Friends' Guide to Recovery from Depression and Bipolar Disorder
3. How Carers and Friends can help

Other recent related posts:

1. Trust during rough times
2. Finding meaning in a life with bipolar disorder
3. Mental illness (depression, bipolar disorder, etc) is an illness like any other
4. Video on "Depression - A Stubborn Darkness"

When we all get to Heaven, Softly and Tenderly

Dear Friends,

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

I am so thankful that tomorrow is the Lord's day.

The Lord's day is an emblem of that eternal rest that we shall enjoy one day in eternity when the Lord calls us home.

There we shall be able to worship Him everyday, enjoy His love and fellowship without the hindrance of sins and remaining corruptions. There will be no more tears, sicknesses, disappointments, death, etc.

How I long for that day! But I know our Lord wants me here still to serve Him and therefore I must wait patiently until He calls me home :-)

Meanwhile, I pray that He will enable me to serve Him cheerfully and faithfully in whatever He wants me to do.

Hope these 2 hymns "When we all get to Heaven" and "Softly and Tenderly" encourage our hearts as we press on in this pilgrim journey with the joyful anticipation that if we have truly trusted in our Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour and Lord, one day we shall get to Heaven and enjoy His love and fellowship forever because of what He has done on the cross for us. Meanwhile, He bids us daily to come unto Him and find rest in Him because He cares for us, He will never leave us nor forsake us and His grace is sufficient for us.

When We All Get To Heaven

Sing the wondrous love of Jesus,
Sing His mercy and His grace.
In the mansions bright and blessèd
He’ll prepare for us a place.

Refrain

When we all get to Heaven,
What a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
We’ll sing and shout the victory!

While we walk the pilgrim pathway,
Clouds will overspread the sky;
But when traveling days are over,
Not a shadow, not a sigh.

Refrain

Let us then be true and faithful,
Trusting, serving every day;
Just one glimpse of Him in glory
Will the toils of life repay.

Refrain

Onward to the prize before us!
Soon His beauty we’ll behold;
Soon the pearly gates will open;
We shall tread the streets of gold.

Refrain

May the Lord grant you a restful weekend and spiritually refreshing Lord's day.

Take care!

Thank God for His mercies through another year

Dear Friends,

Thank you for stopping by my Word-Filled Wednesday and Thankful Thursday post.

Thanks for all your prayers and encouragements. I thank God for everyone of you.

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

♥ I am thankful to God for His mercies and faithfulness in seeing me through another year of knowing Him, walking with Him and serving Him. Today is my 42nd birthday :-) Yes, I am this old :-)

♥ I am thankful to God for 2 kind friends who celebrated my birthday in advance for me yesterday. They gave me a treat to a meal as well as bought me a lovely cake. They sang "Blessed Birthday" to me and we enjoyed the fellowship and food. Thank God!

♥ I am thankful to God for creating me and giving me eternal life too so that I can enjoy Him here and for eternity because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us.

♥ I am thankful to God for blessing me with my family who love me, a church who loved Christ and me, and so many friends and blogging friends who love Christ and me. I thank God for each and everyone of you! May God bless you always in your kindness to me.

♥ I am thankful to God for seeing me through the past 1 year of freelance work and provided for my every need. He is Jehovah-Jireh!

♥ I am thankful to God that through working freelance He has enables me to have more time to serve Him through visiting the sick and elderly in my church, helping to update part of my church's website, prepare Mandarin Bulletin for the elderly and some publication work. It has always been my desire to give of myself more to the service of our Lord in my church and I am thankful to God that through His kind providence He has made it possible to me.

♥ I am thankful to God that through working freelance I am able to take better care of my mother and spend more time with her. I felt that I have come to know her better through the past 1 year than I have known her for the 41 years before this!

♥ I am thankful to God that through working freelance I can continue to serve Him through this blog. I know I need to pace myself moderately. So it is with much reluctance that I am taking a break from active blogging due to tiredness and over-whelming tasks on hand. I am thankful to many of you who continues to visit me and encourage me with your prayers and kind words.

My apology that I am not able to return to active blogging yet and therefore will not be able to return as many visits to you as I would like to. But know that I appreciate your visit and will remember you in prayers. I have difficulties spending too much time in front of the pc at this moment. So I will try to stop by your blog every now and then but I may not be able to read much or comment much like I used to do yet. I am praying and looking forward to come back to blogging more regularly as I do missed all of you :-) You are very dear to me.

♥ I am thankful to God for Willow and Lorie for sharing with me these 2 Awards ie. If You Ever Need a Hand, I'm Here Award and Nisha's Friendship Award.

I like to share these sweet awards with all of you who visit me, pray for me and encourage me in so many ways. Thanks for your Friendship and being here when I need you! May God bless you for your kindness to me.















Do take these Award and pass them on to your Friends who are there for you whenever you need them!

May God continue to bless you with His love and mercies today and every day :)

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

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!

You are my Hiding Place

Dear Friends,

Thank you for stopping by! Thanks again for all your prayers and encouragements.

Trust you have had a blessed weekend :-)

I am thankful to God for blessing my Lord's day through His Words and fellowship of His people.

I am thankful to God that He is my Hiding Place!

Whenever I feel continuous fatigue as what I have been feeling on and off during these few weeks, I do have the fear of burnout and falling into clinical depression again.

I am thankful to God that I can cast my cares upon Him knowing that He will continue to sustain me and work His ways for me.

I am thankful to God that by His mercies and providence, I am learning to be more aware and to slow down :-)

In my moments of anxieties and uncertainties, I am thankful to God that I can trust in Him. He is my Hiding Place. He will strengthen me and continue to give me grace to walk with Him and serve Him daily.

Thank you for all your prayers! I am wonderfully upheld by the Lord and I know this is no least owing to your prayers to God for me!

I am remembering you in prayers too.

May this lovely video with these encouraging songs "You are my Hiding Place" and "As the deer" uplift our hearts as we consider afresh God's love and care upon us daily.

No matter what we go through daily, He is our Hiding Place. He will preserve us and work deliverance for us. What time we are afraid, let us trust in Him.

May our hearts long after Him daily and enjoy sweet communion with Him until He calls us home.

You are my Hiding Place

You are my hiding place,
You always fill my heart with songs of deliverance.
Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.
I will trust in You.
Let the weak say I am strong in the strength of my Lord.

"Thou [art] my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah." Psalm 32:7

"What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee." Psalm 56:3

Thanks for stopping by.

Take care and may God bless you through this week!