6th Birthday

post #129

Last monday my prayer gathering celebrated it’s 6th birthday. Our prayer gathering patron is St. Catherine Laboure and her memorial is the same with our prayer gathering bday. We have this celebration planned from September and it went very well. It went excellently.

I regretted that I had underestimated a bit about how well it would be. I went back from office at 6 PM, arrived at Church at 6.50PM. Ladies, Eddy, Devi, Veni…the team had arrived. The decoration, the sound system, the projector n the food was well prepared. I was impressed. There were some people already came like Cello, and some other people whom I didn’t know.

Even Pastor Haryo came as special guest star. He came all way from Surabaya to give speech about St. Catherine Laboure profile. He even had presentation slide with photos to give us a better description about St. Catherine Laboure. A few minutes after the celebration began, Rhea came w Sisi Indonesian Idol. Ladies asked me earlier to pick up Sisi, but since I didn’t bring a car to work that day, I said I can’t. Since I was the documentation guy, I sat at the back row. Then Rhea and Sisi sat next to me. Took some pictures of them and I also got my picture with Sisi taken.

There were quite lot of people who came. Other prayer gatherings from Sunter n Cilincing came. Ci Sia, Ko Riko n Ci Lia also came….n they sang The New Spring Time (n promoted the CD n cassette..;p). Sisi sang The Prayer duet w James. It was lovely.

In overall, it was great. The celebration ended at 9.30 PM. We cleaned the function hall afterward and I went home. And my busy weekend (plus monday) was officially ended.

Today’s Elisha Cuthbert’s bday..Happy Birthday to her…I’ll never forget….the girl next door :D

Christ The King

post #128

It’s over. I still feel the euphoria of these last two days. It feels like I just got back from a retreat. It’s very refreshing and rejuvenating (emotionally n spiritually). My body is very exhausted and sore, but I feel spirited. Okay let me start the full story.

Yesterday was Christ the King day, the end of liturgy calendar. Continuing the closing of Novena prayer on Saturday, there was a celebration mass yesterday at Indoor Tennis Stadium. The mass was presented by the Archbishop of Jakarta Archdiocese Vicar. As a member of the committee I must prepared the things needed for the mass. After a very interesting chat on late Saturday, I slept at around 2.30 AM and woke up at 7 AM. Took a bath, didn’t have time to eat breakfast so I grabbed some Beng-Beng and went to Senayan coz I promised to get there at 8 AM the latest.

Arrived there about 5 minutes late coz there’s this Suzuki Thunder convoy and AIDS Walk event at Senayan. No body had arrived, except Ivan. I helped him a lil bit with the things for the New Springtime drama. Then the guys who brought flowers for the altar came. I was still drowsy when Ci Sia n the others arrived from the hotel at around 9 AM.

Then me n Glen started to work. Ran some errands, prepared the hostie for the mass, n some other things since we’re the support team. At around 1 PM it was getting crowded. The dancers and singers from Joy came and the rehearsed for the Eucharist Seminar at 3PM. Finished the preparation at around 2 PM. And our base camp, the utilities room, was invaded by lots of people who came to change clothes, took a bath, did their make up, even ironed their shirts..lolz. I took a bath at 2.30 PM…waited there in the crowded room until the seminar finished. Took some pictures of the room, the dancers, the musicians, I even got the chance to take a pic with Pastor Deshi….yeahhhh.

Then the mass began at 5.30 PM. Total there were 15 pastors on the altar. I sat at the left back corner. When I look at the altar, it felt that all work for the past two days were totally worthy. I just sat there, enjoyed the mass. The sermon was great too. We celebrated Christ the King Day. It meant we should let Him be our king in our life. And how do we know that He’s really the king in our life? How do other people know that He governs our life? The answer is from our behaviors, our actions. How do we live our life daily reflects whether He really governs our life or not. The vicar also said that he was very happy to see Jakarta Renovation 2006, that it’s a sign that His kingdom really was realized. He closed the sermon by quoting Matthew 28:20, reminded us that God is with us always until the end of age.

The mass ended at around 7.30 PM. After the mass, team support job was not finished yet. We must pack the mass equipment again. Ate dinner which was provided for the committee. Me, Ladies, Joseph, Mike, Devi, Ancie, Veni, Rica, Henny ate together and we chatted a bit. I also met Edward there….we often bumped to each other for the past 9 months. Short story, finished my job at almost 10 PM. The stage was already stripped off. I looked at the indoor tennis stadium for the last time that nite, thinking what Pastor Deshi said in his sermon the day before, everything has a start, and has an end. It was the end of Jakarta Renovation 2006, but it also a new start for the next theme…Eucharistic Generation. I sighed and went back home with an amazing feeling from those 2 days experience. Exhausted physically, Rejuvenated emotionally.


Hillsong - One Way

I lay my life down at Your feet
'Cause You're the only one I need
I turn to You and You are always there

In troubled times it's You I seek
I put You first that's all I need
I humble all I am all to You

One way, Jesus
You're the only one that I could live for

You are always, always there
Every how and everywhere
Your grace abounds so deeply within me

You will never ever change
Yesterday, today the same
Forever 'til forever meets no end

You are the way, the truth, and the life
We live by faith and not by sight for You
We're living all for You



originally written on Nov 27, 2006

New Spring Time

post #127


Just got home from a splendid Saturday. It was the 9th novena, the last one, n the merriest. Imago Dei was excellent in organizing this event. It’

Arrived there in the morning and ran some errands. Had a mass in the afternoon for the team. Pastor Deshi gave an interesting sermon about the last days. Some of the things that he said were that everything has an end. We shouldn’t be too consumed with how or when is the end, instead he said it’s important for us to be faithful till the end. Reminded me of a verse in St. Peter’s letter (if I’m not mistaken) that we shall receive a reward for our faithfulness which is the crown of life. And he said something that was really good. He quoted from Mother Theresa, who said: “A saint is someone who does an ordinary thing with extraordinary love”. It’s a very beautiful saying. No matter how small our contributions look, what matters the most is our intention (our sincerity, our love) in making those contribution.

After the mass didn’t have much to do, just waiting for the vandals to arrive. And at around 4-5 PM it was getting crowded. The dancers, singers, and the other member committees arrived and prepared for the last Novena.

At 6 PM the novena started. It was excellent…amazing. The opening song was The New Spring Time… and we sang One Way Jesus. I was overwhelmed by emotions I couldn’t describe. Then Pastor Deshi gave another great speech. In short…the Novena was marvelous.

After the novena, unexpectedly I met Angel. Well actually she called me. It’s been a few months since the last time I saw her. We talked a bit and at the parking lot I met Rhea. It’s also been a while since the last time I saw her. Chatted a bit then I went back inside the stadium.

Then I talked to the coordinator that I wanted to go home coz I don’t bring suitable clothed for tomorrow mass. Plus I prefer to sleep on my lovely bed. Well..the new spring time has arrived….I need to get some sleep…lots of things need to be done but at the moment I’m engaged in two very interesting chats… well… that’s all for now I guess… hopefully after the last novena, the catholic youth revival really happens.


The New Spring Time

Let us come people of God
Celebrate His love and His faithfulness
With joyful heart sing unto Him for the new hope has come

Let us arise people of God
His light has come and shine upon you
The water is turned into wine, new revival has come

Lift up your heart giving thanks to Him
Praising and dancing shout to the King
His people is free, His people rejoice
A brand new day has come

For this is the year we celebrate His grace
Let us rejoice and be glad
The new spring time of the Lord has come
For in this land, His church arises
To proclaim Jesus the king

Balance

post #126

Finally done my job as committee member of my office Q1 Community Meeting at Kemang News Café. It went quite well and finished earlier than we had planned. One interesting thing was the topic, work life balance. The guest speaker main idea was about balance. We all had our own definition of balance. It’s very subjective and depends on each individual. Made me think…if we really wanna be balanced, we can’t excel on one thing. And it’s impossible to excel in a lot of things, coz no matter how hard we try; we just can’t have it all. We might be good, great….but not excellent on many things.

Like I had written in my previous post, it’s about choices and consequences. If we wanna excel on one thing, we must face the consequences of sacrificing other things.
Example, if we want to have an excellent career, we might have to sacrifice our social life, maybe even romance life, coz we must give extra effort to excel on our career, we must be dedicated to it, thus it takes lots of our time. One fine example is in the Click movie. Adam Sandler thought that by pursuing his career, he could make his life and his family’s life happier. But in order to achieve the position he dreamt of, he ended up sacrificing his family.

That’s why the guest speaker said it’s crucial for us to find our own inner balance. We must know our purpose in life. What we value most, what matters the most in our life. Once we know that, we can make priorities and live based on them. But if we achieve balance, then aren’t we living a mediocre life? If we’re balanced, what makes us different than any other people? What makes us stand out?

I was very intrigued by a friend of mine’s siggy in a forum. It said:
“All greatness of character is dependent on individuality.
The man who has no other existence than that which he partakes in common with all around him, will never have any other than an existence of mediocrity.“

After thinking about it, I think the answer is on the first line. What differentiates us from any other people is our individual character. It’s inline with Stephen R. Covey book, the 8th habit. It about achieving greatness, which all starts from our own character.

Beside, does standing out makes us happy? Balance, happiness and success are some things that cannot be standardized since we all have our own measure. I believe we must live our life to the fullest according to our own balance and have a solid character that defines us as a (good/great) person and differs us from the rest.

Each Time I Think of You

post #125

Each time I think of You
My heart is filled with Love
The beauty of Your love

Each time I think of You
My heart longs to bow down and worship You

Each time I think of You
My heart is filled with passion to proclaim Your name

I wanna cry out to the nation
That Jesus is Lord of all
I wanna sing Your name
With every beat in my heart
To tell the world of Your amazing love

So let this generation arise and stand hand in hand
To proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord


song by Riko Ariefano

Another Friday

post #124

It’s already Friday, again. It seems like yesterday I said to myself it’s Monday again, but like in a blink of an eye….here comes Friday. Nothing much happened in the last four days. Got into an accident on Monday. I was riding Elisha (as much as I wish it’s Elisha Cuthbert, it’s not…lol. It’s my motorcycle) n all of the sudden, the guy in front of me (a little bit on right side) decided (I dunno if he did it intentionally or not) to demonstrate some of his motorcycle riding skills. As a result he fell and his motorcycle flipped right in front of me. I tried my best to avoid it, but the very short distance made me impossible to evade. So I crashed. Had a minor injury on my left knee but Elisha wasn’t as lucky as I was. It’s left front body was damaged. Darn!! That’s a thing about accident, even when u’re already careful, it can still happen to you.

Working on a program on Tuesday n Wednesday. Completed n tested it using test data given from the client in Aussie. But the test data wasn’t complex enough, so I asked for more. The welcome kit from Microsoft that I had waited from June finally came of Wednesday. I got two welcome kits. First was MCP, and the second was MCDST. It felt so good to receive them, esp when I looked at the certificates. It brought a sense of proud.

Beside working on a program, my routine was still the same. WG, browsing, chatting, reading bible, watching Gilmore Girls seas 3. I got Smallville seas 6 ep 1-6 from a friend and I watched it till ep 3. I was disappointed coz the ending scene was Kristin Kreuk making love to Lex in front of fireplace in Luthor Mansion. Arghhhhhhhhh…I know they used a body double for that scene. But still…it destroy all the images of Lana…She’d been w Whitney, Clark, Jason, Clark again…n now Lex????? The interesting part was there’s Oliver Queen aka Green Arrow….hurrayyy…The actor who played Oliver looked alike Bertrand….hahaha.

Next week is gonna be a busy one. So many things to do. I’m gonna be an MC for office community gathering. And then on Saturday and Sunday I’m gonna be involved in Jakarta Archdiocese event at Indoor Tennis Stadium. But after that, after another friday….December comes.

Giving My Best

post #123

Today’s sermon was very interesting. The bible reading was taken from Mark 12: 28-34. It was about the greatest commandment. The first is that you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

And the pastor started the sermon. He talked about love. How much we love God and other people. Is our love conditional or unconditional one? Do we search God only when we need Him in trouble times or when we want something? And talking about our love to God, if we really love Him, will we give our best for Him? It’s not that hard to find examples of this. Simple things, do we attend the mass on time without being late? Give our best time for God. How about the way we dress when we attend the mass?

I think the whole point of giving my best for God is intention. With a good and pure intention, simple things we do, we’ll do it our best.

It made me think about myself. When I was sick and had my bed rest, I always spent some amount of time to read bible. What was my intention reading bible at that time? Did I do that just because I had nothing else to do? I don’t think so. Well…now I try to make this a habit. I want to spend some time to listen to God’s words. I’m not sure if I’ve given my best for God, but I’m trying to do so, each passing day. It’s easier said than done, that’s why we always need some reminder and that’s what I hope this blog will be. A reminder for us to give our best for God.

So if I may ask you, have you given your best for God?

God bless.

Fly…So Sad…

post # 122

I’m feeling a bit sentimental lately. I’ve been listening to GIGI’s song, Terbang n it reminded me of the time when I had this crush on my ex-gf. These days I also have quite similar feelings.. I dunno what I’m longing for… it’s kinda a mix up of emotions actually.

Back to work brings stress but yesterday after I read James 1 n 2 and also got this beautiful verse I felt that serenity like a wave of peacefulness wiped me out. It’s Philippians 4 :13 (I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me). This verse reminded me once again to have faith in God and not dwelling too much on my own worries.

And it’s also yesterday I felt different when listening to GIGI. It really….brought up old memories. Not that I have crush again on my ex, but I felt the similar emotions of longing..wistful…and kinda sad. So… I dedicate this song for a girl, who makes my emotions fly high above lately…

GIGI - Terbang

Terpikir... dan terpana
Dan terdiam... ku melihat
Sadarku... bertahun
dan bersama... terwujudlah ah...

Terbayang... yang terindah
Yang terhampa... berlalulah
Sadarku... semuanya
Perasaan... rasa cinta ah...

Kaulah yang dinginkan aku
Dari mimpiku dari mimpiku uoohh..
Coba terbangkan khayalku
Dari sadarku ...

Terbayang... yang terindah
Yang terhampa... berlalulah
Sadarku... semuanya
Perasaan... rasa cinta ah...

#:
Kaulah yang dinginkan aku
Dari mimpiku dari mimpiku uohh..
Coba terbangkan khayalku
Dari sadarku…dari sadarku..

#

Kaulah yang dinginkan aku
Dari mimpiku dari mimpiku uoohh..
Coba terbangkan khayalku
Dari sadarku ...

# till fade


And about the kinda sad part.. this Gregorian song really fits my mood…


Gregorian – So Sad

Gloria in Excelsis Deo
Gloria in Excelsis Deo
Gloria in Excelsis Deo

Qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis
Qui tollis peccata mundi,
suscipe deprecationem nostram

Tell me why I feel so sad, so sad
Tell me why I feel so sad
Tell me why I feel so sad, so sad
Tell me why I feel so sad...

Qui sedes ad dexteram patris, miserere nobis
Gratias agimus tibi,
propter magnum gloriam tuum

Tell me why I feel so sad, so sad
Tell me why I feel so sad
Tell me why I feel so sad, so sad
Tell me why I feel so sad...

Jesu Christu... Amen
Jesu Christu (so sad, so sad, so sad) Amen
Jesu Christu... Amen
Jesu Christu... Amen


Why do I feel kinda sad…..maybe because I feel like Peterpan’s song…Jauh Mimpiku…It feels like my dream seems so far away…wonder how I ever make it…can I make it. Well…I just try best and leave the rest to God…enough with this sappiness. If it’s meant for me then I’ll make it.