Revisiting Contentment

Someone once said, "There are two ways to be rich. One is to have all you want. The other is to be contented with what you have."

I was reading this book with the quote above and it kind of zoomed in on my recent "wants" list now that I've started working. I've been dreaming of getting a much better DSLR cos my Nikon D70 is like a dinosaur when it comes to more accurate metering and good white balance. The other on my list is a new macbook cos my powerbook is dying with a spoilt DVD-ROM and an almost dead graphic card giving my monitor bizzare colours, streaked lines and bad resolution.

So does that warrant a change, and the spending of a few thousands? Looks like it but I know I was reminded that it is a "NO". Couple of reasons: The D70 still works fine although I am more dissatisfied with it than a few years ago, and I am not a professional. As for the mac, well, the office has just gotten new laptops for us to use and it works fine. (Although I must say Windows is as yucky as ever and programs crash whenever they like.)

So at the end of the day, I can still live without a new DSLR and a new mac, and that makes them more of a "want" than a "need" now. As for the couple of thousands that I planned to save and buy them, I supposed they can be better used somewhere (or kept).

"Contentment makes a poor man rich; discontentment makes a rich man poor."

"But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it." - 1 Tim 6:6-7

Quotes in italics are taken from the book "Help! I'm growing old" by Chuan Tong-Ik.

Do you know your value?

"In any museum we will find quite ordinary things - clothes, a walking stick, a pen, pieces of furniture - which are only of value because they were possessed and used by some great person. It is the ownership which gives them worth. It is so with the Christian. The Christian may be a very ordinary person, but he acquires a new value and dignity and greatness because he belongs to God. The greatness of the Christian lies in the fact that he is God's." -- William Barclay

The joy of hindsight - 2010

Woah, it has really been a "long time" since I last blogged. Plenty of ideas but didn't get them logged down.

2010 has been a very eventful year: I finished my studies in bible school, made many good friends with kindred spirit and learned a lot.God has been so so good. He is indeed faithful.

Looking back at the years, not just 2010, I began to understand more and more of God's plans and timing. There are more "aha"s as I looked back and some of my earlier "why"s have been answered. That is why He is God, isn't it? He knows best, does the best, fulfils His plans and everything is in His hands.

"Praise the Lord O my soul, all my inmost being praise His holy name" Ps 103:1

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." Isa 55:8-9

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight" Pro 3:5-6

I think this is really a good way to live life, isn't it? May we always praise the Lord, trust in Him and do all things according to His will.

Welcome 2011.