To be Happy

                                                      Photograph of Me carrying Isaac

I named him Isaac because God gave a new life to me and the name "Isaac" means laughter, happy. Just like God had given Isaac to Abraham and his wife at old age, God had given me another new life at my older age too.  As I had not learned much about my faith, now that he is attending catechism class, sometimes I am learning from him also -- I had always been learning from my children.  

Received a message from the catechist and I thought it was so good to share over here:

A homily from our pope that's worth a read: 

 *You can have flaws, be anxious, and even be angry, but do not forget that your life is the greatest enterprise in the world. Only you can stop it from going bust. 

Many appreciate you, admire you and love you. 

Remember that to be happy is not to have a sky without a storm, a road without accidents, work without fatigue, relationships without disappointments. 

To be happy is to find strength in forgiveness, hope in battles, security in the stage of fear, love in discord. It is not only to enjoy the smile, but also to reflect on the sadness. It is not only to celebrate the successes, but to learn lessons from the failures. It is not only to feel happy with the applause, but to be happy in anonymity. Being happy is not a fatality of destiny, but an achievement for those who can travel within themselves. 

To be happy is to stop feeling like a victim and become your destiny's author. It is to cross deserts, yet to be able to find an oasis in the depths of our soul. It is to thank God for every morning, for the miracle of life. Being happy is not being afraid of your own feelings. It's to be able to talk about you. It is having the courage to hear a "no". It is confidence in the face of criticism, even when unjustified. It is to kiss your children, pamper your parents, to live poetic moments with friends, even when they hurt us. 

To be happy is to let live the creature that lives in each of us, free, joyful and simple. It is to have maturity to be able to say: "I made mistakes". It is to have the courage to say "I am sorry". It is to have the sensitivity to say, "I need you". It is to have the ability to say "I love you". 

May your life become a garden of opportunities for happiness... That in spring may it be a lover of joy. In winter a lover of wisdom. And when you make a mistake, start all over again. For only then will you be in love with life. 

You will find that to be happy is not to have a perfect life. But use the tears to irrigate tolerance. Use your losses to train patience. Use your mistakes to sculptor serenity. Use pain to plaster pleasure. Use obstacles to open windows of intelligence. 

Never give up.... Never give up on people who love you. Never give up on happiness, for life is an incredible show.* 

(Pope Francis).

I was just writing about me -- mentioning about "...the purpose of life is to be happy...", and I received this message... what a coincidence...

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Very Blessed

 

                                   Photograph showing the dining table laid with food for lunch

I feel so blessed.  Let me count my blessings:  

1.   I have a mother.  

2.  Everyday my mother prepared delicious food and the family gets to eat them. Look at the dining table laid with food.  Aren't they beautiful?  I get to eat my meal with my mother!  On the dining table there were 4 dishes prepared by mum and 2 plates of SongHe white rice.  

3.  I have 3 perfect children. 

4.  The family has a roof over the head.  

5.  Our family members are all healthy.  

Though I had lost our beloved pet and lost my husband and my father, I still feel blissful.  If I had not been converted, I would have no hope and I would be very sad now.  The old me always felt that everyday is the same, nothing new... 

Give thanks with a grateful heart

 

Psalm 106:1 - Praise the Lord. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. 

Philippians 4:6-7 -- Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

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White Rice

                                SongHe Thai Hom Mali Rice 5KG, $15.89 from PandaMart

This is my first time buying this brand of white rice -- SongHe, Noble Pine Crane as shown above.  I ordered it from PandaMart delivery.  Normally I buy white rice from Redmart or NTUC.  But that day I had to buy coconut cream and it was raining.  So I ordered grocery from PandaMart.  If ordered above $50 then is free delivery so I purchased a few items from PandaMart above $50.  

                                  New Moon Jasmine Fragrant Rice 5Kg, $8.95 from Redmart

White rice is said to be beneficial for our body.  It contains carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins that give our body energy.  Rice is an amazing source of a variety of B vitamins. Because rice is so rich in B vitamins, eating it helps to improve the health of your nervous system. Eating rice is a sure way to regulate your digestive system. Consuming high-fiber foods like rice also helps to reduce our chances of getting cancer! There are of course more benefits of eating rice and rice is our staple food.  My family almost eat rice everyday as my children loves rice.  They prefer eating rice to noodles.  You can see photograph of the Chinese New Year Reunion dinner which was rice being served too at this post, The Opportune Time.    

For my own preference, I prefer to eat Japonica Rice and it cost $9.90 at Redmart.  But Clara like to eat Jasmine Rice, so I mostly cook New Moon Jasmine Fragrant Rice as it is cheaper.  So that day I try out SongHe, the more expensive rice with many recognition like Trusted brand 2020 (voted by consumers), Influential Brands/Top Brand in Asia, Brand of Singapore and Department of Foreign Trade (originated in Thailand).  It is 100% whole kernel and after eating I think that the difference from this rice and the other cheap one is that this is much 'softer' when ate in the mouth, something like 'glutinous rice' but is not like glutinous rice as it is not sticky at all.  The cheaper rice tend to be 'siap siap' (in Teochew language, like very dry) and not at all 'fluffy' (SongHe rice is like 'fluffy' but not really that kind of real fluffy, and it smell so nice).  

A plate of SongHe white rice for our lunch on 21.2.2022

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Evangelize a not

 

             Photograph showing the white cross on the cardboard box that Dora had loved.  

To write or not to write.  To hide or not to hide.  Finally I had decided to publicize my blog again after so many months of stopping and 'hiding'.  

I cannot earn much from online.  So I found a job in the childcare industry.  I quit my full-time job after some years working with them.  Now I am back to write again.  Why?  I find that I must 'tell' and 'share' if I had discovered the truth.  I had witnessed IT and I had to share to tell the truth, the truth about Jesus, the presence and existence of God, the blessed trinity.  

I saw on Tik Tok, a man asking or wondering to abort their baby.  He talked until so easy, asking girlfriend to abort the child.  As I had experienced before, I would not advise women to abort their baby anymore!  It's a life lost.  

A life is so precious.  Take my cat for example.  Dora was just gone in an instant on that night of Chinese New Year Eve.  She was our precious cat, giving us joy and companionship all the time of her life.  But just for a moment she was around, but for the next moment she was gone...

Not everybody knows the values of a life.  So I feel that since I had experienced it, I should do something to reveal the truth.  If Jesus shown his love for me and had forgiven my sins, then I should bare all the embarrassment and pluck my courage to reveal the truth.   

The Parable of the Lost Sheep:  … What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices more over that one sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray.… ~Matthew:18:12-13

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