I found it really interesting that I keep bumping into anything about Hannah this time. Nearly a month ago, I revisited the account of Hannah in the Bible and was very inspired by what I've learned about her life. Her devotion to the Lord and the way she responded to her circumstances were surely praiseworthy. Looking at her life, for the first time, I had to face the reality that I came short of my responsibility to be a strong support to two of my very good friends who faced barrenness. The story of Hannah has opened my eyes to see and feel what my friends went through.
Anyway, this morning I was listening to Janet Parshall from the internet. She delivered this message at the True Women Conference with Nancy Leigh Demoss in Chicago recently. I was really hoping I could attend the conference but I couldn't leave my 2-year old daughter at home because I am still nursing her. But anyway, I was so surprised when Janet Parshall talked about... Guess who? Hannah! God is bringing it up again to me! I am so excited to know why He wants me to learn about Hannah's life.
Here is the link to Janet Parshall's message...
http://www.truewoman.com/assets/files/mp3/session-05.mp3
Monday, October 27, 2008
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Imeldific
At Word Spy, imeldific means ostentatiously extravagant to the point of vulgarity. The word was coined after the name of Imelda Marcos, the wife of the late President Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines, who was known to be a shoe collector extraordinaire. Are you imeldific?
In my other blog, I've blogged about how as a little girl I dreamed of living in America. And that it was also a dream of every girl I knew. I never thought God has already orchestrated a plan for me to be here. As a little girl in a family who literally trusted God to provide for our every meal, I would imagine myself living in a big American house with a huge kitchen that has a huge fridge filled with food! Food was just everything for me growing up. It's not that I was a big eater, it's just that there was scarcity of food at our house. As I grew older, my imagination shifted from food to fashion. Undoubtedly, it was inspired by reading many western fashion mags. I so wanted to be in America! With a wrong reason- fashion! After I graduated in College and got to earn my own money, I was immersed into fashion. I bought too many clothes, purses and shoes. The measure of generosity that I used to give to church and bless the poor was the same amount I gave to the fashion industry. Something extraordinary happened between my fashion collection time and the time when God called me to serve Him in Mongolia.
I left my job and grabbed a scholarship at a short-term mission school. That decision had left me with nothing to spend on clothes and shoes. Worst of all, actually I should say best of all, I had to travel around the Philippines to raise my funds for two years before I was deployed to Mongolia. That two years had definitely made an impact in my life. My appetite for fashion had gradually disappeared. I was too excited to fulfill my dream. This time, my dream to live in the remotest place in the world- Mongolia! Living in Mongolia tempted me to resurrect my desire for fashion. Girls in this country were so fashion wired! Paris is part of their system. A friend of mine earned $60 a month but had a few $300 coats and a few $200 pairs of boots! I knew something was drastically changed in me when I would refuse to buy even a single leather coat. I was so happy and content with my chocolate brown winter coat that was donated to me by a friend in Canada. I was happy with a few clothes. I've changed! The Lord changed me!
Then I met the guy who I married later. When he proposed, he promised he would buy me every pair of shoes and every purse I want without even asking him that. Of course, I gave him my big YES. Hahaha! No, it wasn't for that reason, of course. When I came to America, I came to a big house with a big kitchen that has a big fridge filled with food! The house has spacious closets ready to embrace my big clothes, shoes and purse collection. And yes, I admit the closets are filled with my stuff now.
Now, am I imeldific? NO! Look, if you have stores that sell Steve Madden shoes, Coach purses and Express clothes for $7 each, wouldn't you go and fill your closets and look imeldific but spend barely a hundred dollars? I love treasure hunting at Consignment stores! When I say treasure hunting I mean looking for brand new stuff in a generally used items sold in them. They've got to have the tags attached in them. It's fun! But I still have to be careful because I could easily become materialistic even if I would only shop at these kind of stores. Keeping a budget and sticking to it really helps. I always try to buy my clothes and accessories in cash. But anyway, materialism is really a matter of the heart. And I know that by God's grace, it really doesn't matter to me anymore if I only have a pair of shoes. Oh, wait, no... it's impossible to have just a pair of shoes here. I've got to have 4 pairs, one for each season. So really what I was just trying to say is that I know that deep in my heart there is no imeldific struggle. And I so thank God for bringing that change in my life.
In my other blog, I've blogged about how as a little girl I dreamed of living in America. And that it was also a dream of every girl I knew. I never thought God has already orchestrated a plan for me to be here. As a little girl in a family who literally trusted God to provide for our every meal, I would imagine myself living in a big American house with a huge kitchen that has a huge fridge filled with food! Food was just everything for me growing up. It's not that I was a big eater, it's just that there was scarcity of food at our house. As I grew older, my imagination shifted from food to fashion. Undoubtedly, it was inspired by reading many western fashion mags. I so wanted to be in America! With a wrong reason- fashion! After I graduated in College and got to earn my own money, I was immersed into fashion. I bought too many clothes, purses and shoes. The measure of generosity that I used to give to church and bless the poor was the same amount I gave to the fashion industry. Something extraordinary happened between my fashion collection time and the time when God called me to serve Him in Mongolia.
I left my job and grabbed a scholarship at a short-term mission school. That decision had left me with nothing to spend on clothes and shoes. Worst of all, actually I should say best of all, I had to travel around the Philippines to raise my funds for two years before I was deployed to Mongolia. That two years had definitely made an impact in my life. My appetite for fashion had gradually disappeared. I was too excited to fulfill my dream. This time, my dream to live in the remotest place in the world- Mongolia! Living in Mongolia tempted me to resurrect my desire for fashion. Girls in this country were so fashion wired! Paris is part of their system. A friend of mine earned $60 a month but had a few $300 coats and a few $200 pairs of boots! I knew something was drastically changed in me when I would refuse to buy even a single leather coat. I was so happy and content with my chocolate brown winter coat that was donated to me by a friend in Canada. I was happy with a few clothes. I've changed! The Lord changed me!
Then I met the guy who I married later. When he proposed, he promised he would buy me every pair of shoes and every purse I want without even asking him that. Of course, I gave him my big YES. Hahaha! No, it wasn't for that reason, of course. When I came to America, I came to a big house with a big kitchen that has a big fridge filled with food! The house has spacious closets ready to embrace my big clothes, shoes and purse collection. And yes, I admit the closets are filled with my stuff now.
Now, am I imeldific? NO! Look, if you have stores that sell Steve Madden shoes, Coach purses and Express clothes for $7 each, wouldn't you go and fill your closets and look imeldific but spend barely a hundred dollars? I love treasure hunting at Consignment stores! When I say treasure hunting I mean looking for brand new stuff in a generally used items sold in them. They've got to have the tags attached in them. It's fun! But I still have to be careful because I could easily become materialistic even if I would only shop at these kind of stores. Keeping a budget and sticking to it really helps. I always try to buy my clothes and accessories in cash. But anyway, materialism is really a matter of the heart. And I know that by God's grace, it really doesn't matter to me anymore if I only have a pair of shoes. Oh, wait, no... it's impossible to have just a pair of shoes here. I've got to have 4 pairs, one for each season. So really what I was just trying to say is that I know that deep in my heart there is no imeldific struggle. And I so thank God for bringing that change in my life.
Here, showing you a few of my shoe collection.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
People Pleasing
The modern culture has paved the way for a maximized people pleasing. Sadly enough, not many women realize that people pleasing brings debilitating repercussions. Those who basically made it a career suffer uncontrollable lying, unhappiness, envy and increasing discontentment that eventually lead to the big D, called Depression. People pleasing is like a cancer that slowly contaminates and eats up a woman's healthy system. Some women display it more obvious than others. Let's talk about how "others" do people pleasing.
"Others" had a party to go with a friend. They went shopping for party dresses. Her friend says, "I think this dress would be beautiful on me! What do you think?" "Others" replies, "Oh, absolutely!" but thinks the dress was ugly! Lying in its simplest form! One lie leads to another lie and another and another... Before you know it, you have already became one big fat liar.
We naturally love to be loved. Most women love simply because they want to be loved back. They work so hard to be noticed and praised. Fail to notice and praise them and you would be dealing with a crabby woman. We all want to be loved but it is entirely a different thing if that becomes our motivation to love others because it is called the other half of selfishness.
We have covered "Others" issue. Now I'll talk, wait... I mean write about those women who show people pleasing obviously. You'll know it when you go to profiles in Facebook, Hi5, Friendster, Blogger and other social network websites you will see long descriptions of themselves. They would write even the most bizzare poem to try to describe their personality. They would write all of their known (and out-of-this-world) past and present credentials and affiliations. The only message I get when reading these kinds of profiles is... "You've got to like me!"
Another form of sophisticated people pleasing is "Don't judge!". Many women today believe the idea that we are not suppose to judge. "Judge" as in identifying wrong from right. "Judge" as in to evaluate others and draw conclusions about them. Oh, I think I know where they got the idea, it's from Matthew 7:1. But I wish they would read the following verse because that would make a difference. "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way as you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." (NIV) Matthew 7:1-2. Another verse says, "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment." (NIV) John 7:24 There is one common denominator here and that is that we judge only with righteous judgment. I think that this "don't judge" thing is a scape goat for women who do not want to offend others. These are women who are afraid to make a stand that homosexuality, gossipping, obsessive shopping, being attached to Oprah's shows, drunkenness, boastfullness, worldliness and etc. are wrong! They simply just don't want to make a stand because their reputation is at stake. Tolerance to sin has been increasingly permeated into the Christian community because of this don't-judge thing. It is sad!
When we seek to please others, we are focus on ourselves which is also called selfcenteredness. But when we seek to please God, we are focus on Him. Whose pleasure do we want to have, of God or of man? Pleasing God brings blessings. Pleasing man brings frustrations. Who are you seeking to please now?
"Others" had a party to go with a friend. They went shopping for party dresses. Her friend says, "I think this dress would be beautiful on me! What do you think?" "Others" replies, "Oh, absolutely!" but thinks the dress was ugly! Lying in its simplest form! One lie leads to another lie and another and another... Before you know it, you have already became one big fat liar.
We naturally love to be loved. Most women love simply because they want to be loved back. They work so hard to be noticed and praised. Fail to notice and praise them and you would be dealing with a crabby woman. We all want to be loved but it is entirely a different thing if that becomes our motivation to love others because it is called the other half of selfishness.
We have covered "Others" issue. Now I'll talk, wait... I mean write about those women who show people pleasing obviously. You'll know it when you go to profiles in Facebook, Hi5, Friendster, Blogger and other social network websites you will see long descriptions of themselves. They would write even the most bizzare poem to try to describe their personality. They would write all of their known (and out-of-this-world) past and present credentials and affiliations. The only message I get when reading these kinds of profiles is... "You've got to like me!"
Another form of sophisticated people pleasing is "Don't judge!". Many women today believe the idea that we are not suppose to judge. "Judge" as in identifying wrong from right. "Judge" as in to evaluate others and draw conclusions about them. Oh, I think I know where they got the idea, it's from Matthew 7:1. But I wish they would read the following verse because that would make a difference. "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way as you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." (NIV) Matthew 7:1-2. Another verse says, "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment." (NIV) John 7:24 There is one common denominator here and that is that we judge only with righteous judgment. I think that this "don't judge" thing is a scape goat for women who do not want to offend others. These are women who are afraid to make a stand that homosexuality, gossipping, obsessive shopping, being attached to Oprah's shows, drunkenness, boastfullness, worldliness and etc. are wrong! They simply just don't want to make a stand because their reputation is at stake. Tolerance to sin has been increasingly permeated into the Christian community because of this don't-judge thing. It is sad!
When we seek to please others, we are focus on ourselves which is also called selfcenteredness. But when we seek to please God, we are focus on Him. Whose pleasure do we want to have, of God or of man? Pleasing God brings blessings. Pleasing man brings frustrations. Who are you seeking to please now?
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