Dunia sudah terbalik - A Relationship Paradigm

Dunia emang sudah kebalik gak karuan, ato mungkin orang-orang nganggepnya itu normal tapi cara pandang gue yg  terbalik dari mereka punya. No wonder, I don’t want to compromise to the ways of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of my mind. Nah, sekarang coba liat sendiri, bener gak dunia ini sudah upside-down downside-up gak karuan regarding relationship: 
 

Unmarried couples keep having sex, while married couples stop having one.

Unmarried couple (yg baru pacaran doank) banyak mengumbar romantisme (baik physical maupun emotional lewat kata, such as “i love u, miss u, need u, want u, etc.”), sementara married couple malah diem-dieman, dingin-dinginan, no more flame.

Angka perceraian kian meningkat, even a christian couple is not fireproof. 

And the world said, that's common, that's normal. 

Poverty Quick Facts

• Children under age 18 make up nearly 48 percent of the population of the world's least developed countries, compared with 21 percent of the population of the world's industrialized nations.
• More than 1.6 billion people lack access to electricity and modern forms of energy.
• Over 1.4 billion people in the developing world live below the poverty line (U.S.$1.25 per day).
• Every day 1,500 women die from complications in pregnancy or childbirth that could have been prevented. Each day 10,000 newborns die within a month of birth, and daily the same number of babies are also born dead.
• Annual world economy breaks down like this:    

         1. Low Income, $935 or less: 37%
         2. Lower Middle Income, $936 to $3,705: 38%
         3. Upper Middle Income, $3,706 to $11,455: 9%
         4. High Income, $11,456 or more: 16%

• In developing countries, approximately 130 million children and teens — age 17 or under — have lost one or both parents.
• More than 9 million children under age 5 die each year. Two-thirds of these deaths — more than 6 million every year — are preventable.
• Approximately one-third of the world's poor people live in India.

Sources: www.compassion.com, www.unicef.org, www.undp.org, www.worldbank.org, www.who.int,
www.freeworldacademy.com, www.un.org, www.timesofindia.com

Blessed are those who dwell in Your house

What a beautiful home, GOD of the Angel Armies! I've always longed to live in a place like this, 

Always dreamed of a room in Your house, where I could sing for joy to God-alive! 

Birds find nooks and crannies in Your house, sparrows and swallows make nests there. 
They lay their eggs and raise their young, singing their songs in the place where we worship. 
GOD of the Angel Armies! King! God! How blessed they are to live and sing there! 

And how blessed all those in whom You live, whose lives become roads You travel; 

They wind through lonesome valleys, come upon brooks, discover cool springs and pools brimming with rain!

God-traveled, these roads curve up the mountain, and at the last turn--Zion! God in full view!
(Psalm 84: 1-7, The Message)

Check this out!

But God...I don't have to do this.....

I came back to my sister’s house for an 'emergency' call after spending 3 weeks at my parents’ house. She has to go out of town for 9 days for her career-related program. She asked me to look after his 4 years old son, cook for her family,  and take care of her household.  Her husband is actually still in town, and they have a part-time nanny, but my sister insisted that  I have to come to her house. After all, I haven’t had any job yet. Yes, I’m still unemployed, and that is another story. Anyway, so, I took a long journey back here, 11 hours by bus, plus trapped in the seasonal Indonesian Idul Fitri traffic, when in fact I should've just continued my long holiday with my parents instead. 

I know it won’t be easy here. My nephew is an attention-seeker, violent-screamer, and rebellious kind of kid at this stage. Not all the time, but most of the time. Sometimes he is cute and nice. Well, I know it wasn’t 100% his fault. I don’t know how his parents had raised him.

His dad, my brother in law,  is a workaholic kind of dad. As long as I’m in his house, he will just leave his son with me whenever possible, so he is free to work at home. He is a lecturer. He likes to bring his works home. So, in other words, I'm a substitute player for a mum/nanny/housekeeper.

Daddy's girl

I always enjoy spending my time with my Dad. Yes, I’m my daddy’s girl. He loves to involve me in his activities; from gardening, feeding our fish in the pond, delivering fish to customers (my dad run a small business in fishery), doing a sudoku puzzle (random), to catching up with his old friends (though i don’t know them). He enjoyed my companion, and I enjoyed his. He also taught me how to drive and encourage me to be brave. When I did something wrong, he warned me. But if I did something right, he gladly praise me and said he was proud of me. Although I don’t have any job yet, my Dad was still proud of me and didn’t feel ashamed when he met his friends and introduced his ‘jobless’ daughter to them. It makes me pondering, my Dad just proud of me for who I am, not only for my achievements.

I’m so blessed I have this beautiful relationship with my earthly Dad. It helps me to have a great relationship with my heavenly Father as well. My earthly Dad is a great Dad, but God, my heavenly Father is even more... He is the best.

2 YEARS

2 years might be too short, but it was also quite a long period of time

too short because I had lots of fun

too short because I was surrounded by lovely, godly people

too short because I had lots of things to do

too short because I enjoyed every moments at church

and was expectant

too short because so many exciting things happened all the way

too short because  I had amazing adventures

too short because I got so many things to learn

but then I realize, it was quite a long period of time

when I see certain  things have changed

I know, so many things could happen in 2 years

I encounter some new buildings which weren’t there when I left

new roads have been built

new celebrities on TV

new songs in church services

and so on

And of course,,,people could change a lot in 2 years

Yes, they do

My baby nephew now goes to school, while the other is able to walk

Some friends got married, and some have kids already

Those I met weren’t the same people I used to know

A geographical distance is transformed into an emotional distance

People have different priorities

And I feel we’re just  not in the same page anymore

I realize, certain things do change, certain things have to change
But one thing I know would never change
Jesus remains the same; yesterday, today, and forever......faithful. Amen!

Lesson from babysitting my nephew - Obedience-

I spent my past 2 months babysitting my 4 and a half yrs old nephew. He is a smart, sweet, funny, and cute kid. But sometimes we (his parents and I) were made upset because of his rebellious attitude. Well, you know...he's just a kid. Whenever we told him not to, he always does the opposite. When he wants something, he just couldn't understand the meaning of "wait!". He wouldn't take "no" for an answer, and everything has to be fulfilled "now!" as he wishes. And of course, if we don't fulfill what he asks, he will cry, whine, scream, and probably throw his toys on us. When we explain the reason why we forbid him to do this and that, why we can't give him what he wants at the moment, and that it's all for his own sake, etc...., he just don't want to know.Well...., he's just a kid. However, we still love him no matter how he is. But of course it saddened us when he become a disobedient kid.