praise be to God, managed to complete quite a bit of work here in vietnam. i'm excited. finally things are moving. i still remember my last blog entry last year titled "pray for me" and about being in a make or break situation. finally, i'm making it... after the project has been delayed for nearly 9 months, it's finally back on track. so i'm really very thankful for that and for those who've been praying for my work.

anyway, have been having rather interesting conversations with my boss and the vietnam co bosses. we were talking about some colleagues that we know who're absolutely irritating and arrogant, making them very difficult to work with. i have my own frustrating encounters with these colleagues as well... and then i recall also the many times that people were complaining about other people and i happen to be in the conversation, listening to them... i think the world is full of frustrating and irritating people. and they'll always be in our lives to a certain measure. but what are we to do with them? well, we could retaliate, back-stab them, scold them, despise them, look down on them, avoid them... blah blah. but i was reminded to love them. that's what God said in His Word... love your neighbours as yourself. it didn't say love your lovable neighbour, or it'll be good if you could love your neighbour. it says it point blank: love your neighbour as yourself.

it's sad when i see the lives of these "irritating" people (ok, i shall call them from now on, "extra grace needed" people)... i don't think they know what they're doing.. and i doubt they know that they're angering people around them. sigh... i believe that most of such reactions from them stems from insecurity... not knowing that they're loved.. that eternity could be set on their hearts. i think the only way to help them stop being irritating is to love them. such is the power of love. and i guess then, it would require sacrifice and grace on our part fo accept them and to look beyond who they are now....

it's tough. but i'm still learning. i hope one day they'll know how much God loves them.

then the topic changed to fortune telling.

you might or might not be surprised that vietnam has a very superstitious culture. and my bosses were all sharing that they do visit the fortune teller from time to time and that they believe in fate. well, i guess to me, fate just means God's plan for my life. and i believe that my fate is good. it will always be. because that's God's promise.

then my bosses shared about how they enjoy listening to good things... i guess, we always crave for good things to happen to our lives. but let's face it. it's life we're living and it's bound to throw some bad things at us. i feel it's how we perceive these bad things and how we overcome and rise up above them that matters. i feel sad for my bosses... i can see the desperation in them to want something to hold on to when all else fails. sadly, what the fortune teller says or what the horoscopes say, as true as they say they are, is all in vain.

i really feel so sad for them... God has good things for them. He really does and i really believe it. what He promises will never change and there is something even better to look forward to after death. i also hope that one day they'll be able to see God's love for them and that God has already designed a wonderful plan for them.. all they have to do, is walk into it.

i hope your life is more than situations or words... i hope your life too can be based on faith... faith in a good God.

{ Thursday, April 17 }