Menurut Allah, Kamu Indah!

I got this prose from a friend and it is interesting.
I like to read it over and over again.
Not only christians have this God-human or Father-child relationship I guess.
This idea is inspiring those who have low self-esteem.
Sometimes I am one of them.

Allah suka padamu...
Kalau Dia punya dompet, pasti fotomu disimpan didalam-nya,
Kalau Dia punya kulkas, fotomu pasti disimpan di pintunya,
Dia mengirim bunga untukmu setiap musim semi dan matahari terbit setiap pagi,
Kalau kamu ingin bicara, Dia pasti mau mendengarkan.
Sebenarnya Dia bisa tinggal dimana saja di alam semesta ini,
dan Dia memilih hatimu. Terima saja sobat, Dia tergila-gila padamu!
Kayaknya mungkin kamu susah sekali percaya bahwa Allah mengenal namamu.
Dia benar benar mengenal namamu (Yes45:3-4) .
Tertulis ditelapak tangan-Nya,diucapkan dengan mulut-Nya,
Dibisikkan dengan bibir-Nya, Namamu.
Hati kita tidak cukup besar untuk memuat semua berkat yang ingin Allah berikan.

Jadi, coba ini :
Kalau matahari terbit membuatmu begitu takjub sampai menahan nafas,
atau bunga bunga dipadang membuatmu begitu terpesona,
sampai tidak bisa berkata kata tetaplah seperti itu.
Tidak perlu mengatakan apa-apa dan dengarkan sorga berbisik,
"Kau suka itu? Aku melakukannya hanya untukmu"
Kalau kita saja suka memberi hadiah hadiah untuk menunjukkan kasih
sayang kita, apalagi Dia?

Bisa saja Dia biarkan bumi ini datar dan berwarna abu-abu, tapi Dia tidak begitu.
Dipercikan-Nya warna jingga pada matahari terbit,
Dan diberi-Nya warna biru pada langit.
Dan kalau kamu suka melihat sekawanan angsa yang sedang berkumpul,
kamu juga pasti bisa melihatNya.

Apa Dia harus menjadikan bulu ekor musang empuk dan lembutnya?
Apa Dia harus membuat burung- burung berkicau?
Dan lucunya ayam berjalan tergopoh gopoh.
Atau dasyatnya gelegar guntur ? Mengapa Dia memberi aroma bagi bunga?
Mengapa Dia memberi rasa pada makanan?
Mungkinkah itu semua karena Dia suka sekali melihat raut wajahmu?
Jadi berjanjilah, kamu tidak akan lupa,
bahwa kamu bukan suatu kebetulan atau kejadian.. kamu adalah karunia bagi dunia.
Karya seni sorgawi, tanda tangan Allah.

(Engkau menenunku didalam kandungan ibuku, Mazmur 139:13)
kamu ditenun/rajutNya, Kamu bukan produksi massal, kamu bukan hasil buatan mesin.
Kamu dirancang secara khusus, diberi karunia khusus,dan ditempatkan didunia ini dengan penuh kasih.. oleh sang Pencipta Agung.

MenurutNya kamu adalah hal terindah yang melesat turun dari puncak dalam sekejap.
Menolehlah kepinggir jalan, lihat,
Allah sedang bersorak sorak memberimu dukungan dalam lomba lari.
Coba lihat ke depan ke garis akhir,
lihat Allah sedang bertepuk tangan memuji langkahmu.

Allah ada bagimu
Kalau Allah punya kalender,pasti tanggal ulang tahunmu sudah di lingkari.
Kalau Dia menyetir mobil, pasti namamu sudah tertulis di bemperNya,
Kalau ada pohon di sorga, pasti Dia sudah mengukir namamu dibatangnya.
Mungkin kamu tidak mau menggangu Allah dengan lukamu.
Tetapi "Dia yang memelihara kamu" ( 1 Petrus 5:7 )

Dia menunggumu, untuk memelukmu. dalam keberhasilan dan kegagalanmu.
Bapa Sorgawi sangat menyayangimu dan hanya ingin memberikan kasih-Nya kepadamu.
Tanpa dibatasi oleh waktu, Allah melihat kita semua.
Gelandangan & anak terlantar, semuanya.
Dia melihat kita sebelum kita dilahirkan. Dan Dia suka dengan semua yang dilihatNya.
Dengan luapan emosi, penuh kebanggaan,sang Pencipta bintang itu menoleh ke arah kita,
satu persatu dan mengatakan "Engkau anakKu, Aku sangat mengasihimu"

Aku tahu, suatu hari nanti, engkau akan berpaling dariKu dan menjauh.
Tetapi Aku ingin engkau tahu,Aku telah menyediakan jalan pulang bagimu.
Kamu telah memikat hati Allah. Dia tidak sanggup hidup tanpamu.
Impian Allah, membawamu dengan denganNya.
Dan jalan menuju salib, memberitahu kita, sejauh apa jalan yang Allah tempuh untuk memanggil kita kembali kepadaNya.
"Apa yang bisa membuatKu berhenti mengasihimu? "tanya Allah.
"Ingin tahu berapa lama kasihKu akan bertahan?
Lihat saja, Aku bicara dalam bahasamu,tidur diduniamu, dan merasakan sakitmu.
temukan jawabannya diatas kayu salib itu,di atas bukit berbatu itu.
Itulah bukti besarnya kasihKu kepadamu"

Masih banyak yang Allah lakukan selain mengampuni kesalahan kita, Dia menghapusnya! Kita hanya harus membawa kesalahan kita kepadaNya.
Kamu bisa bicara dengan Allah karena Allah pasti mendengarkan.
Biar saja air mata menetes dipipimu Ia akan menyekanya.

Dia telah mengutus malaikat malaikat Nya untuk menjagaimu(Maz. 91:11),
Roh KudusNya untuk tinggal didalammu. GerejaNya untuk mendukungmu dan pedangNya untuk mempimpinmu.

Sebesar kerinduan mu untuk bertemu dengannya,
lebih besar lagi kerinduanNya untuk bertemu denganmu.
Kalau kamu menyetuh hati Allah, pakailah nama sebutan yang paling Ia sukai:
panggil dia "Bapa"

Menurut Allah, kamu indah!
(by Max Lucado)

Touching Story: Identical Twin Sacrifice

Note: Jeepneys are the most common form of public transport throughout the many islands of the Philippines. The jeepney is the Filipino version of the "jitney," the taxi/minibus that travels along a fixed route. Jeepneys are a popular means of public transportation in the Philippines. They were originally made from US military jeeps left over from World War II and are well known for their flamboyant decoration and crowded seating. They have also become a symbol of Philippine culture.

There's a story about two Filipino brothers, identical twins, who lived in Manila and made their living by driving jeepneys, Filipino taxis.
Though they were twins and had similar jobs, they lived very different lives.
One was married and had children; the other was single.
Then one day, the married brother accidentally struck and killed a tourist with his taxi. Accused of reckless driving, the twin was sentenced to twenty years in the notorious Manila prison - a devastating fate that would leave his wife and children without an income.

One day, his twin came to visit him in prison. He said, "Brother, your family desperately needs you. Put on my clothes and take my visitor's pass, and I will put on your prison uniform and serve the rest of your sentence. Go to your family." So, while the guards were not looking, the twins exchanged clothes, and the married brother walked out of the prison unchallenged. Do you think the twin who was freed could ever stop thinking about the sacrifice that his brother made in trading places with him?

By Doug Batchelor in Broken Chains (Pacific Press 2004)

What's In A Name?

Rosalie means a rose.
Abdillah means servant of God.
Dewi Rejeki means goddes of fortune.

Reader's Digest calls Pleasantville, New York, home.
We like the name.
It's heartening, comforting and looks a lot better on the stationery than, say, Boring, Maryland.
Here are a few other uninspiring town names:
Bland, Missouri
Dull, Ohio
Flat, Alaska
Plain, Wisconsin
Ordinary, Virginia
Mousie, Kentucky
Dowdy, Arizona
Low Point, Arizona
Pitts, Georgia
Hell, Michigan
Mount Misery, New Jersey
Swastika, New York

Write your plans in pencil and give God the eraser, again

I’ve been working for more than 10 years at the same company since I was a fresh graduate. I always believe that it is not by chance that I work in this company; there is a specific reason for it.

Recently, I’ve been thinking about quitting. Doing my own business or working for other companies seem to me now are more promising and challenging than being at this same place though I enjoy it so far.

I used to pray, 'God, bless what I'm doing.' Now I should pray, “God, let me do what you're blessing. Let me write my plans in pencil and I’ll give you the eraser”.

Please remind me that what to a caterpillar is the end of life
is a new life for a butterfly.

When things are not the same as what we have expected

When things are not the same as what we have expected, we become disappointed.

There are times when the disappointment obsessed us so badly that smiling is very difficult to shine on our face.

We understood that grace and trouble came in one packet, but we focus to the trouble more than to the grace.

”To cheer other will cheer up us”.
I practiced it and it is well proven.

I can see the grace more clearly after the smile shines. Let me be the one to infect you with my smile.

When Home is Broken, Heart is Broken...

When faced with the breakup of her parents' marriage, a hurting teenager named Kimberly used the following word picture in this letter to her father, Steve:

Dear Daddy,
It's late at night, and I'm sitting in the middle of my bed writing to you.
I've wanted to talk with you so many times during the past few weeks.
But there never seems to be any time when we're alone.

Dad, I realize you're dating someone else. And I know you and Mom may never get back together.
That's terribly hard to accept - especially knowing that you may never come back home or be an "everyday" dad to me and Brian again. But I want you at least to understand what's going on in our lives.

Don't think that Mom asked me to write this. She didn't. She doesn't know I'm writing, and neither does Brian.
I just want to share with you what I've been thinking. Dad, I feel like our family has been riding in a nice car for a long time.
You know, the kind you always like to have as a company car.
It's the kind that has every extra inside and not a scratch on the outside.

But over the years, the car has developed some problems. It's smoking a lot, the wheels wobble, and the seat covers are ripped.
The car's been really hard to drive or ride in because of all the shaking and squeaking.
But its still a great automobile - or at least it could be. With a little work, I know it could run for years.

Since we got the car, Brian and I have been in the backseat while you and Mom have been up front.
We feel really secure with you driving and Mom beside you. But last month. Mom was at the wheel.

It was night time, and we had just turned the comer near our house. Suddenly, we all looked up and saw another car, out of control, heading straight for us. Mom tried to swerve out of the way, but the other car smashed into us.
The impact sent us flying off the road and crashing into a lamppost.

The thing is, Dad, just before we were hit, we could see that you were driving the other car.
And we saw something else: Sitting next to you was another woman.

It was such a terrible accident that we were all rushed to the emergency ward.
But when we asked where you were, no one knew.
We're still not really sure where you are or if you were hurt or if you need help.

Mom was really hurt. She was thrown into the steering wheel and broke several ribs.
One of them punctured her lungs and almost pierced her heart.

When the car wrecked, the back door smashed into Brian.
He was covered with cuts from the broken glass, and he shattered his arm, which is now in a cast.
But that's not the worst.
He's sail in so much pain and shock that he doesn't want to talk or play with anyone.

As for me, I was thrown from the car.
I was stuck out in the cold for a long time with my right leg broken.
As I lay there, I couldn't move and didn't know what was wrong with Mom and Brian.
I was hurting so much myself that I couldn't help them.

There have been times since that night when I wondered if any of us would make it.
Even though we're getting a little better, were all still in the hospital.
The doctors say I'll need a lot of therapy on my leg, and I know they can help me get better.
But I wish it were you who was helping me, instead of them.

The pain is so bad, but what's even worse is that we all miss you so much.
Every day we wait to see if you're going, to visit us in the hospital, and every day you don't come.
I know its over. But my heart would explode with joy if somehow I could look up and see you walk into my room.

At night when the hospital is really quiet, they push Brian and me into Mom's room, and we all talk about you.
We talk about how much we loved driving with you and how we wish you were with us now.

Are you all right? Are you hurting from the wreck? Do you need us like we need you? If you need me, I'm here and I love you.

Your daughter,
Kimberly

(A few days after receiving Kimberly's letter, Steve appeared on his family's doorstep and asked to come back. :o)

Source: Night Light: A Devotional for Couples, By Dobson, James C.; Dobson, Shirley Published by Multnomah Pub (September 1, 2000), ISBN: 1576736741, http://isbn.nu/1576736741

I shall allow no man to belittle my soul by making me hate him.
-By Booker T. Washington

A Parable of A Child

There is a difference between education and experience. Education is what you get from reading the small print. Experience is what you get from not reading it!

But isn't it true that great learning comes from both education and experience?
Let me tell you a parable:

A young school teacher had a dream that an angel appeared to him and said, "You will be given a child who will grow up to become a world leader. How will you prepare her so that she will realize her intelligence, grow in confidence, develop both her assertiveness and sensitivity, be open-minded, yet strong in character? In short, what kind of education will you provide that she can become one of the world's truly GREAT leaders?"

The young teacher awoke in a cold sweat. It had never occurred to him before
-- any ONE of his present or future students could be the person described in his dream. Was he preparing them to rise to ANY POSITION to which they may aspire? He thought, 'How might my teaching change if I KNEW that one of my students were this person?' He gradually began to formulate a plan in his mind.

This student would need experience as well as instruction. She would need to know how to solve problems of various kinds. She would need to grow in character as well as knowledge. She would need self-assurance as well as the ability to listen well and work with others. She would need to understand and appreciate the past, yet feel optimistic about the future. She would need to know the value of lifelong learning in order to keep a curious and active mind. She would need to grow in understanding of others and become a student of the spirit. She would need to set high standards for herself and learn self discipline, yet she would also need love and encouragement, that she might be filled with love and goodness.

His teaching changed. Every young person who walked through his classroom became, for him, a future world leader. He saw each one, not as they were, but as they could be. He expected the best from his students, yet tempered it with compassion. He taught each one as if the future of the world depended on his instruction.

After many years, a woman he knew rose to a position of world prominence. He realized that she must surely have been the girl described in his dream. Only she was not one of his students, but rather his daughter. For of all the various teachers in her life, her father was the best.

I've heard it said that "Children are living messages we send to a time and place we will never see." But this isn't simply a parable about an unnamed school teacher. It is a parable about you and me -- whether or not we are parents or even teachers.

Steve Goodier is the editor of The Life Support System, a motivational e-newsletter delivered daily to 85,000 subscribers in over 100 nations. His inspirational newsletter and books are available through his website at http://www.lifesupportsystem.com

Laughing at Our Mistakes

Laughing at our mistakes can lengthen our own life.
Laughing at someone else's can shorten it. - Cullen Hightower

To laugh is a simple thing to do.
However, it might be difficult to laugh at myself because of my wrong self-defending mind system. When I face a failure, I try to find the guilty ones instead of my self.
This is the reason of the difficulties of laughing at my own mistake.
I concentrate more to tertiary matters outside than primary or secondary wrongs inside myself.

Tukul Arwana Katro is one of the good models I can learn from.
This comedian has the ability to laugh his own stupidity.
Well, I don't really like his jokes at "Empat Mata", but I can still learn from him.
:-)

Multitasker Person

I'm a master multi-tasker.
I eat breakfast while I drive.
Even make calls while I'm steering.
In one hour, I work five.
I check scores while sending e-mail.
It's called working while you play.
I can exercise while reading.
And I worry while I pray.
I can shave while I am showering.
I watch news while getting dressed.
I drink coffee walking Fido.
Maybe that's why I am stressed.
Doing just one thing seems lazy.
There's so much that must get done.
So I'm dreaming while I'm working
how to sleep while on the run.

Copyright 2005 by Greg Asimakoupoulos, Mercer Island, WA
Rhymes 'n Reasons/The Partial Observer

Failure Leads to Success

In 1962, four nervous young musicians played their first record audition for the executives of the Decca Recording company. The executives were not impressed. While turning down this group of musicians, one executive said, "We don't like their sound. Groups of guitars are on the way out." The group was called The Beatles.

In 1944, Emmeline Snively, director of the Blue Book Modeling Agency, told modeling hopeful Norma Jean Baker, "You'd better learn secretarial work or else get married." She went on and became Marilyn Monroe.

In 1954, Jimmy Denny, manager of the Grand Ole Opry fired a singer after one performance. He told him, "You ain't goin' nowhere son. You ought to go back to drivin' a truck." He went on to become the most popular singer in America, named Elvis Presley.

When Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876, it did not ring off the hook with calls from potential backers. After making a demonstration call, President Rutherford Hayes said, "That's an amazing invention, but who would ever want to use one of them?"

When Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, he tried over 2000 experiments before he got it to work. A young reporter asked him how it felt to fail so many times. He said, "I never failed once. I invented the light bulb. It just happened to be a 2000-step process."

In the 1940's, another young inventor named Chester Carlson took his idea to 20 corporations, including some of the biggest in the country. They all turned him down. In 1947 - after seven long years of rejections! He finally got a tiny company in Rochester, New York, the Haloid Company, to purchase the rights to his invention, an electrostatic paper-copying process. Haloid became Xerox Corporation we know today.

Wilma Rudolph was the 20th of 22 children. She was born prematurely and her survival was doubtful. When she was 4 years old, she contacted double pneumonia and scarlet fever, which left her with a paralyzed left leg. At age 9, she removed the metal leg brace she had been dependent on and began to walk without it. By 13 she had developed rhythmic walk, which doctors said was a miracle. That same year she decided to become a runner. She entered a race and came in last. For the next few years every race she entered, she came in last. Everyone told her to quit, but she kept on running. One day she actually won a race. And then another. From then on she won every race she entered. Eventually this little girl, who was told she would never walk again, went on to win three Olympic gold medals.

The moral of the above Stories: Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved. You gain strength, experience and confidence by every experience where you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing you cannot do. And remember, the finest steel gets sent through the hottest furnace. A winner is not one who never fails, but one who NEVER QUITS! In LIFE, remember that you pass this way only once! Let's live life to the fullest and give it our best.

Write your plans in pencil and give God the eraser

It isn't what you have in your pocket that makes you thankful,
but what you have in your heart...
Apa hubungan kalimat ini dengan judul di atas?

I can be thankful when my plan to fill my pocket fails because
I write my plan by using pencil.
Bukan juga sih....
Apalagi kalau pensilnya tumpul. Wah, jangan nyalahin God
kalau ada kekecewaan. Be thankul kadang2 tidak semudah
kata2 atau lagu2.

Life is still beautiful.

Love (Khalil Gibran)

Then said Almitra, "Speak to us of Love."
And he raised his head and looked upon the people, and there fell a stillness upon them.

And with a great voice he said:

When love beckons to you follow him,

Though his ways are hard and steep.

And when his wings enfold you yield to him,

Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.

And when he speaks to you believe in him,

Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden.

For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.

Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,

So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.

Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.

He threshes you to make you naked.

He sifts you to free you from your husks.

He grinds you to whiteness.

He kneads you until you are pliant;

And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God's sacred feast.

All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life's heart.

But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure,

Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor,

Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.

Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.

Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;

For love is sufficient unto love.

When you love you should not say, "God is in my heart," but rather, I am in the heart of God."

And think not you can direct the course of love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.

Love has no other desire but to fulfil itself.

But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:

To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.

To know the pain of too much tenderness.

To be wounded by your own understanding of love;

And to bleed willingly and joyfully.

To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;

To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;

To return home at eventide with gratitude;

And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.

The 20 Qualities of an Educated Person

John Taylor Gatto, former New York City and New York State Teacher of the Year has compiled the following list that he calls "The 20 Qualities of an Educated Person." In compiling this list, Gatto reviewed the answers to questionnaires given to a number of Corporate Personnel Managers and College Admission Officers.
According to these two groups, an educated person will demonstrate:
1. A broadly knowledgeable mind
2. Self confidence
3. A life purpose
4. A touch of class
5. Good leadership skills
6. The ability to work with a team
7. Patience
8. Good public speaking skills
9. Good writing skills
10. Resourcefulness
11. A desire for responsibility
12. Honesty
13. A public spirit
14. The ability to work well alone
15. An eye for details
16. The ability to focus at will
17. Perseverance
18. The ability to handle pressure
19. Curiosity
20. An attractive personal style
(Do you notice how these have little to do with academic knowledge and skills, but a LOT to do with CHARACTER?)

Youth

What makes you old? Just keep the answer for yourself and now read this poetry.

This poetry was a favorite of Gen. Douglas MacArthur.

YOUTH
by Samuel Ullman

Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter
of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a
quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness
of the deep springs of life.

Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity of the
appetite, for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a
man of sixty more than a boy of twenty. Nobody grows old merely by a
number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals.

Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.
Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to
dust.

Whether sixty or sixteen, there is in every human being's heart the lure
of wonder, the unfailing child-like appetite of what's next, and the joy
of the game of living. In the center of your heart and my heart there is
a wireless station; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope,
cheer, courage and power from men and from the infinite, so long are you
young.

When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of
cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you are grown old, even at
twenty, but as long as your aerials are up, to catch the waves of
optimism, there is hope you may die young at eighty.

Lyrics: Hold On

(sung by Diana Ross)

Don't lose your way
With each passing day
You've come so far
Don't throw it away
Live believing
Dreams are for weaving
Wonders are waiting to start
Live your story
Faith, hope & glory
Hold to the truth in your heart

If we hold on together
I know our dreams will never die
Dreams see us through to forever
Where clouds roll by
For you and I

Souls in the wind
Must learn how to bend
Seek out a star
Hold on to the end
Valley, mountain
There is a fountain
Washes our tears all away
Words are swaying
Someone is praying
Please let us come home to stay

If we hold on together
I know our dreams will never die
Dreams see us through to forever
Where clouds roll by
For you and I

When we are out there in the dark
We'll dream about the sun
In the dark we'll feel the light
Warm our hearts, everyone

If we hold on together
I know our dreams will never die
Dreams see us through to forever
As high as souls can fly
The clouds roll by
For you and I