I took the subway home one day and seated beside me were a couple whose conversation I can't avoid. They were talking about buying 2nd hand books. The guy asked why people buy 2nd hand books. The girl replied saying that it's for collection purposes where you can get one for five bucks.
This led me to recall a supposedly-prequel scene from the movie "Serendipity". This scene wasn't in the film but what would have happened was this: John Cusack's fiance bought this book from a 2nd hand bookstore without knowing that the book contains the number that Kate Beckinsale scribbled for John.
So the fiance bought the book and proudly gave John as a wedding gift. She thought of the book since she noticed him flipping through the pages of the same title everytime they are in a bookstore or a let alone, a 2nd hand bookstore. She thought that book must meant a lot to him. Little did she know that he was looking for the same book Kate wrote her number on.
It's funny how the film depicted ways so obvious for them to know that they were not meant to be at that time and meant to be in another time. The more I think about the movie, the more it made me want to go back to New York. A nice movie indeed…
26 June 2005
17 June 2005
Learning To Stand
This post was rendered by our Brother in Christ, Barry. He sends emails like this to the CECC mailing list. I find it very uplifting to have received these emails. And I'd like to share this with you all.
Friday, June 17, 2005
by Os Hillman
..."Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today...." ~ Exodus 14:13
The Israelites had just left 400 years of slavery in Egypt. They had fled to the desert, but they had come to a dead end at the Red Sea. Word reached them that Pharaoh had changed his mind. He was sending his troops to recapture the Israelites. They cried out to their leader Moses, complaining that he had brought them that far only to die in the desert.
Learning when to move and when to stand is the greatest challenge for a workplace believer. We are trained for action. We are not trained to sit idly and wait. We are trained to solve problems, not wait for them to resolve themselves.
However, God says there are times to wait. We are to wait until He says go. If we go before He says go, we likely will make our situation worse. If the Israelites had attempted to cross the Red Sea before it parted, they would have drowned. If they had fled north to try to avoid the Egyptians, God would not have moved in a miraculous way. God cannot work on our behalf if we continually try to solve our problem when He has instructed us to stand still. Standing still is sometimes the greatest action we can do, although it is the most difficult thing to do in the Christian walk.
Stand still when He says stand and see the deliverance of the Lord.
"Today's Prayer"
(c) Copyright 2000 Os Hillman. www.marketplaceleaders.org
To contact author: os@marketplaceleaders.org
Friday, June 17, 2005
by Os Hillman
..."Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today...." ~ Exodus 14:13
The Israelites had just left 400 years of slavery in Egypt. They had fled to the desert, but they had come to a dead end at the Red Sea. Word reached them that Pharaoh had changed his mind. He was sending his troops to recapture the Israelites. They cried out to their leader Moses, complaining that he had brought them that far only to die in the desert.
Learning when to move and when to stand is the greatest challenge for a workplace believer. We are trained for action. We are not trained to sit idly and wait. We are trained to solve problems, not wait for them to resolve themselves.
However, God says there are times to wait. We are to wait until He says go. If we go before He says go, we likely will make our situation worse. If the Israelites had attempted to cross the Red Sea before it parted, they would have drowned. If they had fled north to try to avoid the Egyptians, God would not have moved in a miraculous way. God cannot work on our behalf if we continually try to solve our problem when He has instructed us to stand still. Standing still is sometimes the greatest action we can do, although it is the most difficult thing to do in the Christian walk.
Stand still when He says stand and see the deliverance of the Lord.
"Today's Prayer"
Dear God, I know You are able...able to move mountains, to speak creation into existence, to heal the sick, save the lost, to meet every need I have. I commit myself to You. I pray for all the people around the world, plagued by turmoil, wars, illness, lack of basic needs, insecurity and fear, and addictions that enslave. Lord, You alone know best how to meet these needs and solve these dilemmas. I pray that You would intervene, that people would be drawn to You, and that You would give them rest and healing, safety and security, a sound mind and a hopeful future. I pray that You would help me to see who You want me to minister to today and offer a hand of fellowship, a ray of light, or whatever You want to offer through me. Thank You, Lord, for meeting my needs. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.
(c) Copyright 2000 Os Hillman. www.marketplaceleaders.org
To contact author: os@marketplaceleaders.org
15 June 2005
Break Away
No, I'm not crazy yet. But I am listening to Christmas songs already here at work.. at the comfort of my own listening station. Whenever I feel sleepy, whenever I feel bored, Christmas songs livens me. It makes me think of home whenever I listen to the carols. 2 years ago, JackFM 92.5 had Christmas songs played all day long for the month of December. I wonder what happened to this stint last year.
Anyways, I'm taking my break right now. We are just writing test cases and I have finished my part ahead of time. So I am just resting and reviewing my work. It's just something that I need for a long time now... relax! I've been working without breaks starting February when I came back from vacation. Well, it's not exactly a vacation because I have been 'working' around the new house. :)
Last night, it rained in Toronto. Rained hard that we could hear the rain drops falling literally on our roof. It's a pleasing and soothing sound but combined with the thunder and lightning.. it wasn't pleasant at all. We woke up with the sunny sky greeting us but the wind was cool. I am fine with it rather than having a hot and sticky weather.
The coming days will be cooler as what the forecast say. Weekend would be nice especially for those who are anticipating some activities for the summer. Mind you summer officially starts on June 21. Toronto is filled with summer activities. That's what makes summer so great here. I guess we are slowly recovering from the SARS outbreak that badly hit Toronto 2 years ago. Hopefullly this year's summer would be a fun one. Enjoy!
Anyways, I'm taking my break right now. We are just writing test cases and I have finished my part ahead of time. So I am just resting and reviewing my work. It's just something that I need for a long time now... relax! I've been working without breaks starting February when I came back from vacation. Well, it's not exactly a vacation because I have been 'working' around the new house. :)
Last night, it rained in Toronto. Rained hard that we could hear the rain drops falling literally on our roof. It's a pleasing and soothing sound but combined with the thunder and lightning.. it wasn't pleasant at all. We woke up with the sunny sky greeting us but the wind was cool. I am fine with it rather than having a hot and sticky weather.
The coming days will be cooler as what the forecast say. Weekend would be nice especially for those who are anticipating some activities for the summer. Mind you summer officially starts on June 21. Toronto is filled with summer activities. That's what makes summer so great here. I guess we are slowly recovering from the SARS outbreak that badly hit Toronto 2 years ago. Hopefullly this year's summer would be a fun one. Enjoy!
14 June 2005
The 'DAY'
Now I am officially a Canadian Citizen. On June 6, 2005, I and 109 others were sworn in by Judge Peter Vecchiarelli at the Federal court of Scarborough Town.
The ceremony wasn’t that lengthy. We were asked to line up and the welcoming committee received us by checking our landing papers and required us to relinquished our PR cards. Then we were seated according to our seat numbers. My number was 59. A song card identified our seat numbers. I was seated at the aisle. One by one the seats were filled. After all the 110 candidates were inside the courtroom, the presider let all the guests go in. There weren't many. About 2 rows of 15. So Os was seated near the front row.
The ceremony started when the judge stepped in the court. He looked like jolly old St. Nick rather than a judge. Being an immigrant himself, he gave us a nice analogy of what it is to become a citizen of Canada. He said that all of us in the room are like a cloth that is about to be sewn into a quilt. The thread on our cloths are the steps that we took to become someone who can contribute greatly to the country. Together when sewn, the cloth becomes a quilt. And the quilt represent the unity of the new Canadians.
After his short and sweet speech, we were sworn into oath. First in French then in English. I wanted to laugh when we started to read the oath in French. But I kept to myself. When the English oath started, everyone read aloud. It’s like a sigh of relief for everyone. Being able to read the oath is one thing. But reading it is French?!?!? Anyways, we were then called one by one to line up on the side and get our certificates after our names were called. We then shook hands with the judge as he congratulated us and handed us our citizenship certificate and our card. Then we went back to our seats. He again congratulated all of us and then we sang the national anthem O canada. Then we waited for a while before the judge came back and we took pictures with him. My camera went off course so I was able to have only one shot! But it's OK. :) The judge advised all of us to go home and celebrate and eat a piece of cake! He he
All I can say... it took a lot of moxie to be able to attain this stage. Reflecting the events before I set foot in Toronto 4 years ago, I don’t know how I did it. From leaving my home country and leaving my family behind, I accepted the challenge to embark into another horizon. I know I made the right choice. It’s a dream that is realized and materialized. Dreams do come true after all.
The ceremony wasn’t that lengthy. We were asked to line up and the welcoming committee received us by checking our landing papers and required us to relinquished our PR cards. Then we were seated according to our seat numbers. My number was 59. A song card identified our seat numbers. I was seated at the aisle. One by one the seats were filled. After all the 110 candidates were inside the courtroom, the presider let all the guests go in. There weren't many. About 2 rows of 15. So Os was seated near the front row. The ceremony started when the judge stepped in the court. He looked like jolly old St. Nick rather than a judge. Being an immigrant himself, he gave us a nice analogy of what it is to become a citizen of Canada. He said that all of us in the room are like a cloth that is about to be sewn into a quilt. The thread on our cloths are the steps that we took to become someone who can contribute greatly to the country. Together when sewn, the cloth becomes a quilt. And the quilt represent the unity of the new Canadians.After his short and sweet speech, we were sworn into oath. First in French then in English. I wanted to laugh when we started to read the oath in French. But I kept to myself. When the English oath started, everyone read aloud. It’s like a sigh of relief for everyone. Being able to read the oath is one thing. But reading it is French?!?!? Anyways, we were then called one by one to line up on the side and get our certificates after our names were called. We then shook hands with the judge as he congratulated us and handed us our citizenship certificate and our card. Then we went back to our seats. He again congratulated all of us and then we sang the national anthem O canada. Then we waited for a while before the judge came back and we took pictures with him. My camera went off course so I was able to have only one shot! But it's OK. :) The judge advised all of us to go home and celebrate and eat a piece of cake! He he
All I can say... it took a lot of moxie to be able to attain this stage. Reflecting the events before I set foot in Toronto 4 years ago, I don’t know how I did it. From leaving my home country and leaving my family behind, I accepted the challenge to embark into another horizon. I know I made the right choice. It’s a dream that is realized and materialized. Dreams do come true after all.
02 June 2005
Clear and Clearer
I am taking my break right now after 8hrs straight of grueling work with only half hour of lunch break. We are waiting for a process to finish then we can go back and carry on what we left behind. This project is keeping us busy since February. And it's a good sign. So, as I waited, I carried my mug of mocha java and placed my mug in the pantry sink. The mug was half filled but because it has been left for quite a while (I was too busy even to sip my once-hot coffee!), I decided to rinse it off. The water made its way into the mug and the brown liquid emerged from the mug and turned clear after a few seconds.
This is what happens if we have Christ in our lives. I learned this analogy from a retreat way back university days in La Salle. The facilitator demonstrated how 'clean' is it have Jesus in our lives. He had a bottle of painted water. He had a pitcher of clear water. He let the clear water flow into the bottle of painted water. Slowly it became clearer and clearer. Imagine without having Christ in our lives, we will forever be like the painted water, never clear, never clean.
I always remember this analogy til now and I am still sharing it to my family and friends. You can share this analogy, too!
This is what happens if we have Christ in our lives. I learned this analogy from a retreat way back university days in La Salle. The facilitator demonstrated how 'clean' is it have Jesus in our lives. He had a bottle of painted water. He had a pitcher of clear water. He let the clear water flow into the bottle of painted water. Slowly it became clearer and clearer. Imagine without having Christ in our lives, we will forever be like the painted water, never clear, never clean.I always remember this analogy til now and I am still sharing it to my family and friends. You can share this analogy, too!
01 June 2005
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