My beloved had to endure a fortnight of detention due to a glitch in the system. Despite the loneliness experienced by both of us from the enforced separation, we learned many truly valuable lessons that, by God's wonderful grace, will only make us stronger as we continue living the life that He has in His blueprint for us.
Recently, she recounted so many wonderful things that she saw and experienced while in detention. Every segment of her fortnight of experiences only led us to one conclusion: that we are so blessed by God already, that we should not be choosy or murmur as many are worse off than us, that God let us go through and endure certain lessons of life so that we always look to Him first and foremost and not to man, should we need help. Of course He will use man or events to answer our prayers.
Where others had to use Mammon to secure the release of their loved ones, I prayed that He favors my beloved and I with His help, using anyone or anything. The result was that we saw how awesome God's powers.
I apologize for not going into details but just know that we have a truly great prayer-answering God who loves us so much that even during the times we are faithless, He remains faithful and love us. Amen
budi
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Isn't LOVE the greatest gift?
Whitney Houston sings about the greatest love of all being inside her and in all of us. The lyrics of the song also mentions "believing that the children are our future" and we - all of us, I believe - do subscribe to the same belief.
That is why when it comes to children, we grow weak in the knees and we give way a lot. You don't believe me? Okay, take the example of a madly-in-love couple, who are joined by a common interest in decorations. The get married and their love nest is a 'Taj Mahal' full of knick-knacks and decorative stuff made from all kinds of materials including crystal and very fragile elements.
After some time, they are blessed with their healthy and wonderful bundle of joy that's a testament to their love for each other. Soon, they pack up all the decorative items that used to be their prized possessions they labored with love to collect and acquired - yes those curios that used to be beautifully placed in the best nook and cranny in the house.
Yes for the love of their child, this one and others that may be future blessings, they selflessly forgo other loves. They also remove all stumbling blocks or things that could possibly be the cause of harm or danger. A child being loved this way grows up strong and will love back. [But if they keep telling the baby, "Don't touch this, careful of that, don't go there, don't this..., don't that... most certainly the child grows up uncertain of what to do, cannot reason out why but just obey orders like a robot, or merely out of fear. Worse, if ever despised for disobeying, the child grows up despising others and things they cannot understand.]
This is love, the love that never fails because it is patient, kind, without envy, and neither boastful nor proud. It forgives and do not despise faults or wrongs while at the same time it always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
If only this love for their loved one(s) is extended to others around them, i.e. their neighbors (in the widest sense of the word), how lovely would this world be. For then we would not compare, comment and compete to be one-up on others but instead we complement one another by embracing and celebrating each other's strengths and weaknesses. Just as the stronger father and mother are patient and give lots of leeway to the baby, who is definitely the weaker party in the parent-child relationship, we can grow and become stronger in love if we receive and welcome one another, particularly those who seem to be not as strong as us.
If we despise instead of loving, how can folks love us back or not judge us. The moment we think about the possibility of the party we show love to taking advantage of our love and kindness, we are being prejudicial and all we do is show that love isn't the greatest gift after all.
Budi
That is why when it comes to children, we grow weak in the knees and we give way a lot. You don't believe me? Okay, take the example of a madly-in-love couple, who are joined by a common interest in decorations. The get married and their love nest is a 'Taj Mahal' full of knick-knacks and decorative stuff made from all kinds of materials including crystal and very fragile elements.
After some time, they are blessed with their healthy and wonderful bundle of joy that's a testament to their love for each other. Soon, they pack up all the decorative items that used to be their prized possessions they labored with love to collect and acquired - yes those curios that used to be beautifully placed in the best nook and cranny in the house.
Yes for the love of their child, this one and others that may be future blessings, they selflessly forgo other loves. They also remove all stumbling blocks or things that could possibly be the cause of harm or danger. A child being loved this way grows up strong and will love back. [But if they keep telling the baby, "Don't touch this, careful of that, don't go there, don't this..., don't that... most certainly the child grows up uncertain of what to do, cannot reason out why but just obey orders like a robot, or merely out of fear. Worse, if ever despised for disobeying, the child grows up despising others and things they cannot understand.]
This is love, the love that never fails because it is patient, kind, without envy, and neither boastful nor proud. It forgives and do not despise faults or wrongs while at the same time it always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
If only this love for their loved one(s) is extended to others around them, i.e. their neighbors (in the widest sense of the word), how lovely would this world be. For then we would not compare, comment and compete to be one-up on others but instead we complement one another by embracing and celebrating each other's strengths and weaknesses. Just as the stronger father and mother are patient and give lots of leeway to the baby, who is definitely the weaker party in the parent-child relationship, we can grow and become stronger in love if we receive and welcome one another, particularly those who seem to be not as strong as us.
If we despise instead of loving, how can folks love us back or not judge us. The moment we think about the possibility of the party we show love to taking advantage of our love and kindness, we are being prejudicial and all we do is show that love isn't the greatest gift after all.
Budi
Sunday, February 10, 2008
About Lifespan, Life and Living
I remember that my maternal grandpa used to tell me until I was 11 years old, when he went home to Rahmatullah (literally, the blessings of Allah), that life must be divided into the two main parts, namely before and after one is 40 years old.
Guess, that's why there are phrases like "40 Carats" and "life begins at 40"!
This also means that normally we expect to live up to 70 or even 80 and any extra after that is a bonus - including being sent to a home (the virtue of which your 'senders' will extol), sometimes. No use boasting about long life as that is mere labour and source of sorrow, but in my case my great grandpa lived till 110, his son, my grandpa till 95, and my father until 84.
I'm now on the way to being a 60-year old in a couple of years. But there's still time to right myself and make peace with God and Man.
The two parts of life (before and after 40) can also be divided into 3 stages: SURVIVAL, SUCCESS, and SIGNIFICANCE.
Survival is merely staying alive and even if one achieved some measure of success before 'roaring' (or whimpering?) into one's forties, it is usually in the 2nd half of one's life that success is no pipe dream any more!
To make it easy, let's define success as just "Being and doing what God called you to be" instead of using measures based on material and financial perspectives. If God gave you talents to be a very good carpenter, and you are one AND are actually really happy when you are 'carpentering', while your customers like your work and you, then, you surely are a success!
Being significant and recognised as having some significance may be another measure of success. That is, if one does not unnecessarily burden oneself with a too burdensome definition of success.
Ok, ok.... yes, as I'm into the 2nd half of my life now. But all of us can take a 'half-time' break to do some simple self-assessment. From my daily 'half-time breaks', I realize that I've neither gone into the so called post-success syndrome i.e. reaching the place where I no longer dream new dreams, stretch my 'muscles' as far as I still can; nor feeling restless and start doing somethings I may be ashamed of. Yes, my 'gold' has not become dim or lost its lustre.
Occasionally, I still fall for Satan's bait and get offended. However I no longer keep a mini-zoo in my heart where I lock the monkeys, donkeys and whatever animal names that I called those whom I felt offended me before, whom, in my loneliness, I'd take out of their cages and torture yet won't ever forgive.
After learning that UNFORGIVENESS is like taking poison and hoping that those who offended me will die...., I decided that my half-times would be used for the following purposes:
i) to change my game plan and strategy (as and when needed);
ii) to take stock of my life; and
iii) to make peace with God and man - believe you me that with God it's easy and there's glory but with man.... yeah, another story, much worry...
Getting dark now so I'd better light that candle - cursing the darkness is surely futile..
That's it for now.
Cheers from
budi
Guess, that's why there are phrases like "40 Carats" and "life begins at 40"!
This also means that normally we expect to live up to 70 or even 80 and any extra after that is a bonus - including being sent to a home (the virtue of which your 'senders' will extol), sometimes. No use boasting about long life as that is mere labour and source of sorrow, but in my case my great grandpa lived till 110, his son, my grandpa till 95, and my father until 84.
I'm now on the way to being a 60-year old in a couple of years. But there's still time to right myself and make peace with God and Man.
The two parts of life (before and after 40) can also be divided into 3 stages: SURVIVAL, SUCCESS, and SIGNIFICANCE.
Survival is merely staying alive and even if one achieved some measure of success before 'roaring' (or whimpering?) into one's forties, it is usually in the 2nd half of one's life that success is no pipe dream any more!
To make it easy, let's define success as just "Being and doing what God called you to be" instead of using measures based on material and financial perspectives. If God gave you talents to be a very good carpenter, and you are one AND are actually really happy when you are 'carpentering', while your customers like your work and you, then, you surely are a success!
Being significant and recognised as having some significance may be another measure of success. That is, if one does not unnecessarily burden oneself with a too burdensome definition of success.
Ok, ok.... yes, as I'm into the 2nd half of my life now. But all of us can take a 'half-time' break to do some simple self-assessment. From my daily 'half-time breaks', I realize that I've neither gone into the so called post-success syndrome i.e. reaching the place where I no longer dream new dreams, stretch my 'muscles' as far as I still can; nor feeling restless and start doing somethings I may be ashamed of. Yes, my 'gold' has not become dim or lost its lustre.
Occasionally, I still fall for Satan's bait and get offended. However I no longer keep a mini-zoo in my heart where I lock the monkeys, donkeys and whatever animal names that I called those whom I felt offended me before, whom, in my loneliness, I'd take out of their cages and torture yet won't ever forgive.
After learning that UNFORGIVENESS is like taking poison and hoping that those who offended me will die...., I decided that my half-times would be used for the following purposes:
i) to change my game plan and strategy (as and when needed);
ii) to take stock of my life; and
iii) to make peace with God and man - believe you me that with God it's easy and there's glory but with man.... yeah, another story, much worry...
Getting dark now so I'd better light that candle - cursing the darkness is surely futile..
That's it for now.
Cheers from
budi
Introducing "Half-time"
Hello, my name is Budiman Al-Isnin, and you are at Half-time.
I'm a retired professional and have just started blogging. I name this "half-time" after being inspired by how some soccer teams managed to stop the rot and changed their end-result even though they were trailing, after their half-time break. Most surely, during the break, the players must have been given a real talking-to or pep-talk by their coach.
Half-time is also the time when the one in-charge is able to apply changes in strategy (if trailing or deviating badly from the pre-game game plan ,) or tactics (if the overall plan is still ok, but some tweaks are required).
This is more to help me steer a better course as I negotiate the waters in the second half of my life's journey than to advise folks. This is also to share some things with my children, who'd rather read my thoughts than be told about them.
Your comments are most welcome.
Thank you.
budi
I'm a retired professional and have just started blogging. I name this "half-time" after being inspired by how some soccer teams managed to stop the rot and changed their end-result even though they were trailing, after their half-time break. Most surely, during the break, the players must have been given a real talking-to or pep-talk by their coach.
Half-time is also the time when the one in-charge is able to apply changes in strategy (if trailing or deviating badly from the pre-game game plan ,) or tactics (if the overall plan is still ok, but some tweaks are required).
This is more to help me steer a better course as I negotiate the waters in the second half of my life's journey than to advise folks. This is also to share some things with my children, who'd rather read my thoughts than be told about them.
Your comments are most welcome.
Thank you.
budi
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