"Busy" does not mean productive.

"Busy" is distracting.

Upon reading the classic passage of Martha and Mary in Luke 10:38-42, it hit me hard to read this:

"But Martha was distracted with much serving .." 

Serving and doing things is great but it goes to show that even when the Saviour of the world, the Prince of peace, King of kings, Counsellor, Son of God, is in your house; you can miss Him. Although Martha was serving, be aware to not mistaken it for productiveness and fruitfulness. Although Mary was not helping her, be aware to not mistaken it for laziness and selfishness. 

There is a time and place to serve Jesus  and there is a time and place to sit at His feet. 

Sometimes we miss that. In the midst of our jam packed schedule and how fast paced our world is, it doesn't matter how much we are doing, what matters is HOW we are doing what we're doing. 

We hear it a lot that it's quality over quantity, why? Think about it this way, what lasts longer, what has a lasting effect .. quality or quantity? If you're at work, does the amount of work you do last longer than the quality you do it at? If you're purchasing a kitchen appliance, does the amount of appliances you have last longer than the quality of your cooking? What matters more? 

In your own life, I encourage you to take at least a good 15 minutes to reflect on your schedule. If you have to, write it out. Ask yourself: how many hours of my day am I dedicating to myself? How many of those hours am I using to serve others? Am I sitting at the feet of Jesus more than I am serving Him? 

Throughout the world, Christian and non-Christian, this day resonates and takes time to stop and recognise Jesus Christ. Who He is, or who He was. What He has done, or what He had done. Wherever you stand on this, there is an awe in Easter. There is this solemnity of Good Friday and the miracle of Resurrection Sunday. 

We come to remember not just what was done, but who did it. 

'He spoke into being the immeasurable universe, yet He notes the sparrow's fall, and hears the faintest cry. He made the galaxies, but He stooped to Bethlehem's manger. He dwells beyond the remotest galaxy, but He is no father from us than the reach of faith.'

This is God, this is Jesus. The Saviour, Redeemer, Comforter, Friend, Servant. He took down His crown, stood up from His throne in Heaven. Traded for a crown of thorns, and a rugged cross with His arms stretched out, body hung, hands and feet nailed- upon that hill at Calvary. The very place where Abraham was tested to sacrifice Isaac is the place he called 'The Lord will Provide.' This is the same place where the Father provided His Son as the sacrifice to pay for the cost of every sin, condemnation, transgression, hurt, pain, and sorrow. 

What love is this? What kind of love came down to rescue? What love reaches to those who have not yet loved back? What love? The Father's love, and more. 

Women of Purpose

There is something so empowering being surrounded by woman who are wiser and older than you. 

It has been too long that I have put in my heart into photography, something today just changed that and came with these photographs. Simply we had a pre-spring brunch with the Women of FCF also known as FCF Women of Purpose filled with so much laughter and joy, it's not question why I look up to them. It's a powerful declaration and one that must be said over and over, passed on to generation to generation: 

'I carry God's image, I carry His greatness, I carry His beauty..'

Philippines: Part One

If there’s one thing that could summarise my trip to the Philippines it would be: 

‘never doubt your faith.’ 

Out of all the things besides picking up a little bit of the language and dialects, noticing the change in morales by just strolling through the shops, even enduring through both the wet and dry seasons, that is the one thing that had stuck out to me the most. 

I am more than fortunate and incredibly privileged to have grown up and been raised by amazing, God-fearing individuals. These are not just my parents, but it is my grandparents as well. The most I’ve learnt have been from them. They have elevated the standard of what it means to be a follower of Christ, elevated what is looks like to replicate Jesus in their lives, through their testimonies it unveiled just how much they really mean to me and how much I love them. 

For the first two weeks of our trip, we stayed in Pangasinan. It is up north in the Luzon region of the Philippines, province. If you’ve ever visited the province you get a real taste of what the Philippines is like and the struggling lifestyle that many have to endure. It is not the cleanest of places, neither is it that safe. However in these places you find the most joyful people. The little they have does not waver them, they are grateful for simply being able to breathe. Amongst these people are my Lolo and Lola (grandpa and grandma- dad’s parents). They don’t live to the extreme level of poverty that we encountered during our stay but they are incredibly rich.

Rich in joy, love, faithfulness. Not in finances but I bet you if you looked at their bank account in the heavenlies, they have a whole lot packed away! After the several visits to their house, simply talking to them, hearing their stories, being in their presence, I felt more security in who I am and who I am becoming. I was challenged and convicted, that although they have experienced more years here on earth full of wisdom and knowledge, they have caused me push forward and not look back. They are an embodiment of lives in it for the long run with Jesus. And that is reflected through their marriage as well (Golden Anniversary!). 

Lola Carmelita has set a new standard for me personally of what it means to be a Godly woman. As I have coincidently followed in her foot steps, she is also a teacher. A master teacher in fact. Her faithfulness to her career even moved her to use her retirement money to build a school in their community, a Christian school. Through her lifetime so far, she has read through six different versions of the Bible, cover-to-cover, with markings on each verse and chapter to show her study of it. She raised up seven children, including my father, who are all in excellent fields of work and have astounding faith in God. For the new generation, myself included, she continues to meditate on the Word and to pray for us each day. She embodies what it means to really pray for your family. And boy, I can pinpoint the numerous times in my life that God has pulled through for me and see that it was covered in prayer by her. How do I know this? Check out the pages below.

 These are a few photos from her ‘Grandmother’s Bible.’ The more I flipped through, the fuller my eyes became with tears. I was astounded, blown-away, in absolute awe of the love and faithfulness my Lola has. She was and has always been thinking of us, loving us even though we are literally countries apart. She covered topics such as salvation, talents, courage, character, self-image, even future spouse! What an amazing individual of Christ. I can only hope to attain to a standard like that, even more so like Christ. Besides my mother, I now have a new found respect and love for my grandmother. 

From this experience, I have learnt to never doubt the impact of your faith in God. Never doubt and dare to think that nothing is working because God is. Who I am today, the experiences that I've learnt from, the hard times I've endured, have been covered because of not just my faith but because of my Lola's as well (and parents too, thank you!). The faith she has, has had a ripple effect in my life and I never knew that until our trip to the Philippines. I gained something eternally fulfilling, there's nothing more that I could ask for from trip like this. 

Vivid 2015

 

I am, will always be, a fan of the arts. It's amazing just what people can do with anything and turn it into something. Although there was disappointment that there weren't as many instalments as last year, it was still quite beautiful. Perhaps next year it will be better.

Living in a Wanderlusting Culture

I want to travel 

These four common words you are guaranteed to hear from any young person today if you were to ask them, 'what would you like to do right now if you had no limitations and boundaries?' Presumptuous, yes. But not too far from the truth right? 

It has become a norm that through the 'teenage' and 'young adult' years that almost, if not every individual, will experience a taste (or more) of things such as drugs, alcohol, sex, staying out past curfew, sneaking out, exploring hidden places only you and your closest friends would know of. On top of all of that, let's add .. wanderlust. 

Let's just take a moment to thank all those people who do actually travel for a living, taking photos and updating blogs, most likely those who are instagram famous. Thank you. Thank you for showing us your extraordinary lives where you can literally escape the 'norms' that majority of us would spend the rest of our lives living in. Thank. You. I'm not meaning to take cheap shots at these people, I am sincerely grateful for people like these because they gives us glimpses of what our world is really made of.

We may not travel as much as they do, we may not experience hiking mountains and wandering through forests. Just like not all of us will be trying to save lives everyday, battle through fires to pull people out from there. We won't all be able to preach in front of thousands of people, perform for mass crowds. We may not ever be able to meet or collaborate with our celebrity crushes, famous people who inspire us. And that is more than okay. Why? Because the places that we are in right now is where we are meant to be for now.

Since we have created this culture of wanderlust, being taught to think that when you do travel and escape the norms for a while, that you will find yourself, you will have epiphanies, is really just a whole load of rubbish. Yes some may stand true but you don't need to 'escape' reality, you need to live in it. Live in reality because there is purpose, there is reason. It's totally up to you of what you will make with what you've been given and where you are at.

It's said that the culture you want to see is the culture you've gotta be. I'd want to create a culture that embraces everyone's different purposes, that embraces the fact that everyone is a part of something great and where you are at doesn't make you any more or any less than anyone. Let's not be a culture that is wanderlusting but one that is living. 

This time last year ..

.. I never thought I would've met someone like this guy. Alright, just let me have this moment to be a little cheesy but express more of my gratitude. No, we're not official- but we have jumped into an adventure together. A journey that I never thought I'd anticipate on having any time soon. 

A lot can happen within a year and yeah, this is definitely a highlight. I thank God for him being that someone I can rely on and who I look up to as well. Even more so, I'm so thankful to have the big Man in the centre of this- we probably wouldn't have even met sooner if it wasn't for Him. Just goes to show that God is at work, especially when we don't see it. Maybe, just maybe I'll update more on this journey later. For now, this is all I'll say about it. 

Be Kinder to Yourself

Did you know that 75% of our daily self-talk works against us. We say things to ourselves that we would never dream of saying to someone else and this impacts our feelings, health, self-esteem, stress levels and interpersonal relationships. We need to be kinder to ourselves. 

Helpful self-talk includes statements that are correcting, coping, reinforcing, or guiding us toward a goal. We need to begin, I need to begin, to purposefully have self-talk utterances that are positive. Even if you are surrounded by people or have a consummation of thoughts that think otherwise, counteract to it. We are works in progress. It's okay to have trials and errors. 

Lookout Hunting

Thanks LOJ fam for taking me with you to Katoomba

2015: JANUARY

Yup, so much has happened already and only the first month of this year has passed. You can tell by my lack of updating this blog. These are just a couple of photos from my Instagram (kf_ith) to sum up most of this past month- debuts, food, birthdays, youth ministry, adventures.

For this month of February, well .. *walks away* jokes. 

There is much that will happen too! Besides birthdays, valentines, starting Uni again. There is this challenge to apply everything that I've learnt from Nazarite Training and preparations for youth. I've been challenged to become consistent with my health and wellbeing, to completing my to-do lists, planning ahead, become financially wise and cultivate my new group TLC. More than ever, I'm just needing to get myself together and to prioritise. Still a work in progress but a progress that I am determined to keep moving forward.