Busy weekend

One of my co-workers always said to me "Fonda, I see you have too many activities." She's probably right. I feel the need of good time management more and more these days. Sometimes I was tempted to say to God, "God, there's not enough time to do all things I want to do". I imagine God would reply, "But there is always enough time to do all the things I want you to do, so why don't you try to start aligning what you want with what I want for your life?" Hmmm.....it would be interesting to see how it turn out when I start to align my will with His, wouldn' it?

Anyways......

Last weekend was pretty busy, but super fun! On Thursday night, we (Fonda, Nana, Lucio, ko Otis) got a chance to see meteor shower from Mt. Hamilton. It wasn't shower like what you'll see in the movies. You kinda have to wait and watch out for the split second moving object (light) in the sky. But really, they are so pretty and worth waiting for! God has been very good to us. On that night the sky was crystal clear, no clouds whatsoever. Padahal the night before and the night after the sky was full with clouds, you can't even see the stars.

Then on Saturday, we (Fonda, Lucio, Indri, Annette) got a chance to go hiking at Stevens Creek County Park. It was a good hike and the scenery was so pretty. I guess it will be even prettier later in fall, when more leaves changes color and the creek is not dry. Maybe we'll go there again later =) Details and pics in next post.

After hiking, we went on lunch. Then Annette and I headed to the Jazz festival at downtown. It was actually better than I thought it would (well....I didn't have a high expectation to begin with). But to have a chance to listen to plenty good musicians are really motivating for me. Jazz is interesting in a sense that you can distinctly distinguish every single instrument, each one of them really stand out, but you can expect to enjoy good harmony at the same time.

That night, we end the day with Juju's last dinner in San Jose. I'm excited for her as she moves on to the next chapter of her life but also sad at the same time that she won't be around us anymore. But we all believe that God knows the best, Amen?

Today, I was so tired that I took the wrong highway to go to church band almost hit a car next to me because I did not see the blindspot when I tried to change lanes. But as Nana said in smallgroup last week, sometimes we can be very clumsy yet God still delivers us from disasters. God is good!

Hope you have a blessed weekend! Don't forget to start your week with the LORD =)

John 15:5

Lately God has been putting this lesson in my heart. Last Friday at Pemuda we learned about how we can share the blessings. I happened to be the worship leader that day and upon preparing to lead God reminded me that I need to receive from Him before I can give to others.

God also reminded me of my conversation with a sister in Christ years ago about being blessing for others. She told me I should not be afraid, for it is from the overflow of God's abundant love for me that I can share with others. Last month I wrote about how my view about God influence my attitude. I guess the same rules applies here. Do I believe that He has enough for me to share? God is always ready to shower us with all spiritual blessings if only we are ready to receive them. I know that! But do I truly believe that it's true?

Today at ES, I was reminded of John 15:5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."

I want to share this song with you. A song that God's been singing in my heart. And I believe he's singing it to you too.

John 15:5

I'm the vine and you're the branches
Remain in me and I remain in you
Then you will bear much fruit
For apart from Me there's nothing that you can do

So come to Me, child
and I'll give you rest
For my yoke is easy
and my burden is light

Copyright (c) 2010 by Fonda Jong

Post July 17th Biking

So what happened after the ride? For me it's 2 things: sunburn on my face and sore all over the body.

Let's talk about the first one, sunburn. I foolishly only applied SPF 15 because I thought it's going to be cloudy. It was cloudy most of the part, but the sun managed to find way to burn my skin. If you saw me this morning and commented on how burned my skin was, you should have seen me last night. It was 3 times as worse! 3 times! How did it get better so soon? It's the healing "magic" of aloe.

My aunt quickly gave me a piece of aloe last night and told me to get the juice and applied it over my face, let it sit overnight. I was skeptical at first because I used to apply aloe all over my hair when I was a kid, and it's really hard to get rid of the juice even after shampooing a couple times. I tried it anyways (because my cousin Berton said I can have ice cream after I use the aloe). It's really soothing and it really works!

Now about the soreness. My lower body are hurting from the trip. Last night, I barely can climb the stairs (and my room is on the 2nd floor!). While sleeping, I kept waking up every time I want to change position because it's hurting. I can see my clock that I wake up almost every hour.

Now in the past, when that happens, I would cry out to God demanding "God, PLEASE! You know I need sleep....How can I get to work tomorrow? Can't you help me out here?" Well, that doesn't sound like a good prayer, does it?

Last night I had a much better attitude. I couldn't sleep through the night, but I manage to give thanks that I had a wonderful day. Aching body is a little price to pay, and I woke up refreshed. The muscle-pain is going away (not completely, but at least it's not as hurt) and it is the LORD's day!

July 17th Biking

Last Saturday, the Prasetyas organized a biking trip at Monterey. The email calls for a casual biking, which Yanny defines as "no one left behind". They invited kids as well for the ride, so I thought it would be pretty safe for me to join.

I haven't been a sporty person my whole life. In my family, my sister and my brother are the sporty ones, not me. I'm always be the one who read books and stays indoor because I couldn't stand the heat in Indo. This year, I started doing aerobics up until Chinese New Year (Feb) and stopped exercising afterward. So, I should say I was not in a very good shape to do a long ride, but there's when grace enters the story.

With bike borrowed from Yanny and helmet borrowed from ko Chris, I bravely joined 6 experienced bikers: Marcel & Yanny, Ci Sukma, Ci Fenny, Ci Marlene, Ko Otis. God has been sooo good to us throughout the day.

Firstly we can't figure out how to load the bike I'm going to use to the bike rack, because there's no attachment from the bike to the rack. We ended up mounting ko Otis' bike to the rack instead so we can start going to Monterey. Yay for creative minds & flexibility!

Next, upon arrival, ko Otis' rear end tire was broken. The air kept on leaking out after pumping. We left the parking area and started to ride the on the trails while he went to bike shop to try to fix the tire. About an hour later, he texted Yanny telling that the tire is getting fixed and he's going to catch up with us. And catch up he did! Man, he's fast!

Third, upon arriving to the gate of 17-mile-drive, ci Sukma started to feel weak. We stopped and rest and had lunch at the site. Laughing at each other and having a good fellowship time. Ci Sukma seems to be fit for the rest of the trip. Thank God for taking care of each one of us during the trip!

As for myself, through this trip, I learned:

1. that God is way bigger than what I encounter daily. Being out in the nature simply reminds me of the great God who created universe. Monterey Bay never fails to leave me in awe of God's wonderful creation. Our God is an awesome God!
   
2. that God always takes care each one of us. Look at ko Otis' situation. Look at ci Sukma's. And there's me who rides super slow (thanks for being so patient, everyone! Especially Yanny who always watch over me from the back!) But we all manage to finish together and enjoy the trip by God's grace. He is a good God.
3. to be more caring for others. I'm in awe of how much patience these people are showing and the amount of grace they are showering me with. I bet that's one of the reason I did not get cranky during the trip ;) God, help me to learn from them.

Camping

These last few weeks, I've been battling with "depression", or so I thought. I constantly felt blue, lonely, homesick, all the negative emotions came and overwhelm my day and night. I was discontent, but couldn't name out the problem. I tried to escape by going shopping, watching dramas, playing piano, do manicure.....nothing really worked. I would forget for a while but then at night when I go to sleep, I kept having bad dreams and woke up tired.

When ci Kiki invited me to go camping with the Rustams, Wijayas and Gunawans, I was hesitating to go. I wanted to try camping since last year, but never had the opportunity. I was hesitating because the participants are all families and because I was not in a very good mood at that time and was trying to avoid people. At the end I asked for days off and my boss excitedly agreed to give me some time off.

Big Sur is very very pretty. Being out in nature, listening to the sound of the streams and waves calmed my soul. Our campsite was right by the creek, and every time I hear the streams of water I was reminded of Psalm 23, the LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want. I actually slept better in the camp compare to my own room (despite the cries of the babies, I woke up refreshed).

Sand Dollar Beach

The Creek by our campsiteThe Creek a little bit upstream from our campsite



Taking some day off from work, being out in nature, hanging out with good friends and wonderful kids really lifted up my spirit. Watching the kids' interactions are actually really therapeutic for me =)

I learned to pause and to let God reminds me of how much He loves and cares for me.


SMILE! Jesus loves you!

Confess and Renounce

Proverbs 28:13 (New International Version)

¹³ He who conceals his sins does not prosper,
but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

I was going to share this verse at English Service yesterday. But it was sooo hectic that I couldn't find the verse when I was leading. If you were there yesterday, I just want to clarify that the Bible says confesses and renounces them.

Renounce (according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary) means:

1 : to give up, refuse, or resign usually by formal declaration
2 : to refuse to follow, obey, or recognize any further

At worship training yesterday, I was also reminded to build a habit of confessing sin to prevent it from accumulating and from desensitizing our hearts.

Leading ES this week was a bit interesting, started from last week when we started to do preparation.

As we prepare for English service last week one of the musician asked if he can join for practice on Sunday right before the service because it was kinda hard to find time to practice in weekdays. At the end we managed to squeeze in some practice time in the weekday, right before they have practice for pemuda.

On practice day, one of the musician who has the keyboard was running late because he had to commute to SF that day. Had he gone home first to get the keyboard, we would have started practice really late and would potentially disrupts the other practice too. Thank God for our sister Kathy who kindly let us borrow her keyboard (and who happen to live in the same complex with ko Roy, where we had our practice) so we can start practice on time!

On Sunday, we noticed that we missed bringing the projector. We thought we can borrow from Indonesian Service, but it turned out that no one brought that one either. Thank God for Ping2 and Leticia who kindly picked it up from storage so we can have projector for English Service. There are still other obstacles on that day....I am so amazed how God use them all to humble me.

Last week at our smallgroup I learned about owning our responsibility. Honestly, as these things happens I was very very tempted to point fingers to others and to put blame on circumstances. Yet God gently teaching me to be more prepared next time =)

Hope you had a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend!

Shrek the final chapter

Caution: may contain spoilers.

Went to watch shrek yesterday......It was ri-donkey-lously good! Well, at least I enjoyed it a lot!

I loveeeee animated movies, simply because they usually have a simpler story line (although they don't always make sense) and have simpler take home messages.

One of my favorite lines was when Donkey asked Shrek why would he traded his real life if he had everything he cherished. Shrek answered, "Cause I did not know it (my life) was perfect until it's gone."

I know it's just a movie (an animated one!) but when I heard that line, I couldn't help but to reflect on my own life. Yes, sometimes life can seem to be a boring routine, but God never waste our time. In every season of life, I believe God provides us with enough stuffs to carry on. Hope we all don't have to learn it the hard way like Shrek :p

Let me share a prayer I found in Proverbs 30 with you.

Proverbs 30 (New International Version)

⁷ "Two things I ask of you, O LORD;
do not refuse me before I die:

⁸ Keep falsehood and lies far from me;
give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.

⁹ Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you
and say, 'Who is the LORD ?'
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God.