What Men Live By

Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"-Matthew 4:4

Friday, March 16, 2007

The Smell of Rain

I thank my God every time I remember you.
-Philippians 1:3

A cold March wind danced around the dead of night in Dallas as the doctor walked into the small hospital room of Diana Blessing. She was still groggy from surgery. Her husband, David, held her hand as they braced themselves for the latest news. That afternoon of March 10, 1991, complications had forced Diana, only 24-weeks pregnant, to undergo an emergency Cesarean to deliver couple's new daughter, Dana Lu Blessing. At 12 inches long and weighing only one pound nine ounces, they already knew she was perilously premature.

Still, the doctor's soft words dropped like bombs. "I don't think she's going to make it,"he said, as kindly as he could. "There's only a 10-percent chance she will live through the night, and even then, if by some slim chance she does make it, her future could be a very cruel one" Numb with disbelief, David and Diana listened as the doctor described the devastating problems Dana would likely face if she survived. She would never walk, she would never talk, she would probably be blind, and she would certainly be prone to other catastrophic conditions from cerebral palsy to complete mental retardation, and on and on.

"No! No!" was all Diana could say. She and David, with their 5-year-old son Dustin, had long dreamed of the day they would have a daughter to become a family of four. Now, within a matter of hours, that dream was slipping away. But as those first days passed, a new agony set in for David and Diana. Because Dana's underdeveloped nervous system was essentially 'raw', the lightest kiss or caress only intensified her discomfort, so they couldn't even cradle their tiny baby girl against their chests to offer the strength of their love. All they could do, as Dana struggled alone beneath the ultraviolet light in the tangle of tubes and wires, was to pray that God would stay close to their precious little girl.


There was never a moment when Dana suddenly grew stronger. But as the weeks went by, she did slowly gain an ounce of weight here and an ounce of strength there. At last, when Dana turned two months old. her parents were able to hold her in their arms for the very first time. And two months later, though doctors continued to gently but grimly warn that her chances of surviving, much less living any kind of normal life, were next to zero, Dana went home from the hospital, just as her mother had predicted.

Five years later, when Dana was a petite but feisty young girl with glittering gray eyes and an unquenchable zest for life. She showed no signs whatsoever of any mental or physical impairment. Simply, she was everything a little girl can be and more. But that happy ending is far from the end of her story. One blistering afternoon in the summer of 1996 near her home in Irving, Texas, Dana was sitting in her mother's lap in the bleachers of a local ball park where her brother Dustin's baseball team was practicing.

As always, Dana was chattering nonstop with her mother and several other adults sitting nearby when she suddenly fell silent . Hugging her arms across her chest, little Dana asked, "Do you smell that?"

Smelling the air and detecting the approach of a thunderstorm, Diana replied, "Yes, it smells like rain." Dana closed her eyes and again asked, "Do you smell that?" Once again, her mother replied, "Yes, I think we're about to get wet. It smells like rain."

Still caught in the moment, Dana shook her head, patted her thin shoulders with her small hands and loudly announced,"No, it smells like Him. It smells like God when you lay your head on His chest."

Tears blurred Diana's eyes as Dana happily hopped down to play with the other children. Before the rain came, her daughter's words confirmed what Diana and all the members of the extended Blessing family had known, at least in their hearts, all along. During those long days and nights of her first two months of her life, when her nerves were too sensitive for them to touch her, God was holding Dana on His chest and it is His loving scent that she remembers so well.

"I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."

This morning when the Lord opened a window to Heaven, He saw me, and He asked: "My child, what is your greatest wish for today?" I responded: "Lord please, take care of the person who is reading this message, their family and their special friends. They deserve it and I love them very much" The love of God is like the ocean, you can see its beginning, but not its end.

A Bird's Eye View

I thank my God every time I remember you.
-Philippians 1:3

Mom got up early Sunday morning and got the kids ready for church. Dad sat in the living room, reading his newspaper and looking out at the snow.

They'd had the conversation before, but nothing had changed. "Why don't you go with us this week?" she asked. He didn't look up from his paper.

"You know why," he said out loud and then in his own mind finished the answer with "A truly great God wouldn't care about puny humans anyway."

The man replayed the argument in his mind: "If God is so perfect and great, why would he care about helping us? If God is so powerful, why would he make his son become a human being? Why would he stoop so low to help us.... if God is really so great."

The house was silent except for the sound of the logs crackling in the fireplace. From the other end of the house came a strange thump.

The man put down his paper and walked down the hall. Outside the window huddled a group of birds. In confusion and fear, they had flown into the window pane and fallen to the ground. They huddled together in the snow trying to figure out what to do next. The man felt sorry for the birds. He thought to himself, "The birds could go in our barn and they'd be warm there." So he went outside and opened the door to the barn. Then he waited in the cold. The birds didn't move.

"I know, I'll shoe them over to the barn door," the man thought. But as he tried to herd the birds to the barn they simply scattered. Only after he left them alone did they come back to their spot in the snow.

The man had one last plan. He went back in the house and got a loaf of bread. Carefully, he tore off pieces of bread and made a path to the barn door. But the birds just huddled closer together, ignoring the gift of life which the man was offering.

Stumped, the man stood looking at the birds, wondering just what it would take to get them to safety. He thought to himself, "If only I could become a bird and lead them to safety, then they wouldn't have to die."

He stopped and thought about it again. And he finally understood.


-- Author Unknown

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Laughter Day

I thank my God every time I remember you.
-Philippians 1:3




My reason for posting this poster is not because I'm promoting the event. I'm just amused by the fact that 1 April is Laughter Day! I always thought 1 April is only April's Fool. That's interesting!

Sunday, March 04, 2007

Benefits of Laughter

I thank my God every time I remember you.
-Philippians 1:3

I was browsing through a magazine on my long bus ride back home. Then I came across an article on laughing. I found out that Joel and a few other friends did not joke about laughter clubs. There are actually 5,000 laughter clubs in 40 countries, which includes Singapore. However, I'm not the leader of this club. haha... Dr Madan Kataria, an Indian doctor began this worldwide laughter movement.

This gives me more reason to laugh often. hahaha... Let me, the "laughing queen", "principal" (literally translated from chinese words- laughing leader), "hyena" or "cartoon", see how true is this to me.


BOOST IMMUNITY. Studies have found that when you laugh, it cranks up your immunity. Laughter makes your natural killer cells more active, making your body more resistant to viruses as well as cancer. Levels of disease-fighting antibodies are raised. (Erm... My dad always nags at me for having weak body resistance =P boost immunity? )

REFRESHES YOUR BODY. When you laugh, your lungs take in more oxygen and this improves circulation to your main organs, such as your kidneys. (haha… my lungs sure take in more oxygen, I can hardly breath if I laugh too much and having flu at the same time)

LOWERS LEVEL OF STRESS HORMONES. Laughter suppresses stress hormones. Stress is linked to more than 70 per cent of illnesses such as heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure and gastric problems. (Haha… how can you be stressed when you are laughing?)

RELEASES FEEL-GOOD HORMONES. Endorphins are natural painkillers which create a sense of well-being. (Erm… I feel my body aching when I laugh too much, muscle ache, especially on the cheeks and stomach =P)

FIGHTS DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY. When you laugh, serotonin, a natural anti-depressant, is activated. (Guess this is true, how can you be worried about something and feeling depressed and at the same time LAUGHING?)

DEFUSES ANGER AND TENSION. Try being angry with someone who’s making you laugh. (hahaha… I tried, being angry, but I failed! I ended up rolling over the place laughing to tears. Thesis proven true. )

ATTRACTS THE OPPOSITE SEX. Women find men who make them laugh very appealing. (???!!! *stunned, disbelieving) Is it? Haha… *shakes head* =P)

BRINGS YOU JOY. Joy, which is different from happiness, is the sensation of enjoyment even in the presence of life’s problems. (Laughing doesn’t bring me joy… Jesus brings me joy! I laugh because I’m happy or amused. *singlish* Aiyo!)

-- Findings brought by SimplyHer January 07