The Sun Rises in Bangladesh

 It was the biggest sun I've seen!
My camera couldn't capture the sight as we were moving very fast so I used my friend's more advanced camera and though it worked well, still it's nearer and clearer to behold with my naked eye.

 It looked like a red fire ball above the misty green field.
The country's banner then made more sense to me.

Verses came flooding to my mind as I behold such magnificent and powerful thing that could scorch the whole earth!

Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed,
 for His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22 (NIV)

 Because of tender o f God's tender mercy, 
the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us, 
to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, 

and to guide us to the path of peace.

Luke 1:78-79 (NLT)

As we drove fast at dawn from Dinajpur down to Khulna for 12 hours,

the sun traveled with us to the extreme side.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth, 
so great is his love for those who fear him;
 as far as the east is from the west, 
so far has he removed our transgressions from us. 

Psalm 103: 11-12 (NIV)

So, now when I wake up in the morning, I'm reminded that the sun also rises in Bangladesh, 

even more beautifully.

"They Know Me; I know Them; They Follow Me"

"You don't have to be rich to help the poor."

This is the belief I held onto when my husband and I decided to step out in faith and start a charity foundation in the city not our own. But in all good intentions, evil is always there to prevent us.

When we started processing our permit as a non-profit social foundation, a local lady commented to our face, "You are not a president of a big organization and you come from a poor country, who would believe you?" Discouragement has its way to get you  when you are not single-hearted in your intention. 

Yes, we are financially poor but we are rich in many areas. Our family has a collection of quality books and we have friends who have unused books in their homes and with those we can build a community library. We received good education and we can teach poor children for free. We cannot give out money but we can serve freely. These are the things burning in my heart as I reasoned to myself why we do what we do. The old lady thought that only rich philanthropist can do what we intend to do. We are glad to have found like-minded individuals who helped us reach where we are now in our service to the community. We are also thankful to our volunteers who find joy not in monetary reward but in helping others.

Love Never Fails

Dear husband and I by the lake in our favorite park

Sunrise, Sunset

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Searcher of Hearts

Supermoon 2011

 I was engrossed watching sad news from around the world when Naomi called me from outside. She told me that our alley was unusually dark and quiet. Houses were closed and dark.  Hmmm.. I wondered why. Naomi said that she saw neighbors all dressed up and all left at once. Maybe to a party? I really don't know. After moving for about 6 months now, there are still many things happening in our neighborhood that are yet unknown to us. Just the time when you think you know everything, things like this happen.

So, this is how it looked like outside our gate. No cars parked so they must have gone somewhere far. "Ngeng Teng" said the little girl we saw outside when asked by Naomi where all the people went. I still need to find out what that means....

The darkness outside made me noticed the MOON. Oh, yes! I almost forgot the Supermoon. See the yellow ball among the street lights?

 It was a bad timing that my official camera needed repairing and so I used my other old and less-broken camera.

This is how it exactly looked through my naked eye.

Hmmm....did my neighbors go somewhere for moongazing? I checked the paper today and it didn't say anything special about last night's phenomenon except the discussion on it's effect. Here's an interesting excerpt from the article I read from the local paper:

Pinyo Pongcharoen, president of the International Astrology Association, is predicting the supermoon will cause social conflict as lunar power tends to make people more unstable.He is also warning people to prepare for natural disasters, especially those involving water.Scientists around the world, however, say such fears are nonsense. Prapee Viraporn, secretary-general of the Thai Astronomical Society, said the phenomenon was normal.

 

I loved the halo around the moon. It is indeed bigger than usual. My camera, as I expected, didn't do justice to it's beauty. I better be prepared next time it appears on November 14, 2016 just as I was during the Blue Moon phenomenon.

The Blue Moon was obviously brighter than the Supermoon.

Blue moon on my hand! This was taken outside our yard on the New Year's eve of 2009. 

How I wish the world is on my hand so it won't go worse as it is now...but NO!  Someone whose hand is far better than mine or anyone in this world...and He says...

"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14

The Widow's Mite

The box with a lock in the picture is the little donation box in our community learning center and library. Our non-profit foundation offers free services to the surrounding communities but we do encourage the parents and children to drop their donations to help us pay the bills and the materials we use in our classes. The little amount we get from this box helps us cover the petty cash we need every month. But that's not what I want to talk about in this post....

I have a very skinny girl in my class who obviously come from a poor family. I'm always worried of her health because it looks like it's only her skin that holds all her bones together!  She's not as refine as other students and was one time despised as "that girl from the slum" by her classmate's mother. She used to speak words that you only hear in the slum, that's why. I say "used to speak" because I no longer hear her speak those kind of words in my class these days. But that's not what I want to talk about her, at least not now...

It's her giving that moves me. Every time she comes to our center she stops by the box and drop a coin or two. Other children don't. Those coming from a bit better-off family wont. Our box is always hollow so even if I do not see, the sound of the coin can tell me how much she gives that day. Not much but I know it means a lot to her and her family, and it's a huge encouragement to

If you are not familiar with the story of The Widow's Mite, please read on...

The Widow’s Two Mites (Luke 21)

 ¹ And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, ² and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. ³ So He said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; ⁴ for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.”

Rest

There is no music during a musical rest, but the rest is part of the making of the music. In the melody of our life, the music is separated here and there by rests. During those rests, we foolishly believe we have come to the end of the song. God sends us times of forced leisure by allowing sickness, disappointed plans, and frustrated efforts. He brings a sudden pause in the choral hymn of our lives, and we lament that our voice must be silent....Yet how does a musician read the rest? He counts the break with unwavering precision and plays his next note with confidence, as if no pause were ever there. John Ruskin, Streams in the Desert

Bread of Life

A Promise

Scripture & a Snapshot
Flowers on Saturday 

Today's Flower 

 

Weeping may last for the night.....

 Sing praise to the LORD, you His godly ones, 

And give thanks to His holy name.

For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime; 

Weeping may last for the night, 

But a shout of joy comes in the morning.

Isn't it a beautiful truth to know that our trouble and weeping is just for momentary? 

No matter how dark the night is, there's always a morning that follows.

Dh and I had a breakfast at the hotel by this river yesterday morning. That's when this photo was taken. We were to attend an important meeting. It's a gathering of established foundations serving in our host country. Yesterday, we officially became a member of the league of foundations. Dh was called in front of a big audience to receive the certificate. We were full of joy. Though we wept for many dark nights to see this charity foundation coming through, it finally came to pass. And we can only say, God is faithful. God is good!

Here are some of the thoughts I scribbled in my notebook while, at the same time, trying to decipher everything said in the local language:

• Philanthropy is a privilege not only for the rich and influential people nor servanthood only for the lower in rank. 

• Our Foundation is an avenue where people from all levels of society, rich, poor and those in the middle, meet to build a happy community.

My joy is to see more people find their JOY when morning comes.

This is my entry for Scripture & a Snapshot this week.

Thanks to  Katie for hosting this beautiful meme.

She MAKES, SELLS, SUPPLIES and SMILES...

Faith and Work: A woman of God has both.

Thoughts and Fears of Travels

I always get butterflies in my stomach whenever a thought of travel comes to mind. It's a mix feeling of excitement and also of the fear of flying and passing through immigrations. The excitement part is normal and I like it but I need to work on the second one.

I'm closest to heaven when I'm on board on a plane. Not just literally! I would be in deep prayer each time I do. And it helps to be on the right perspective, that my life is in God's hand and not in the pilot's.

With the immigration thing, maybe because my first few trips were quite stressful so the feeling keeps coming back whenever I'm in an airport. Plus the fact that I rush most of the time to catch the next flight adds to this unwanted inner state.

The first country I visited was unfriendly. "How much money do you have?" The immigration officer asked as he looked to me from head to foot. I have never been denied entry but I do get pressured whenever I talk about visa and passports. Was it because I lost my first passport on my first trip? I now have my 5th passport and that means I have been flying for years. I live in 4 different countries and that means I already have processed many visa applications. Never denied once but still this unwanted feeling keeps coming. Maybe it's best to stay at home.

I visited my home country recently. It is when the photo above was taken while on board on a plane. Thoughts came flooding as I faced my inner battle. I have already been granted with a residence visa for eternity. My passport is sealed, guaranteed, authenticated (Ephesians 4:30). No longer will I deal with unfriendly immigration officers. Jesus has promised, "In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you." (John 14:4). Heaven is my home.

No Excuse

Wherever we look, we see proof that there is a Creator, a Master Painter displaying His magnificent work around us.

A Command, Not An Option

How often do you easily panic? You are like those men on the boat with Him that stormy night.
You are not asked to be still, you are commanded to. It is hard, isn't it? So take this word again as a command from Him who calmed the sea with the same words, and you'll see that He is God who could do miracle by calming your heart.

I'm preaching to myself here.

Scripture and a Snapshot

This butterfly was quite energetic. It kept fluttering around. It took me a while to finally frame it! It was flying knee-high so I had to crawl on the ground to get a good shot of its beautifully designed wings. Its Creator is amazing, isn't He?