accidents.

it takes an accident
to help us regret our recklessness.
it takes a near-accident
to help us appreciate God's mercy.

was in a traffic frenzy ytd,
trying to ferry pple here and there.
rushing and weaving didn't use to pose any problems,
but ytd, i had a few near-death experience within hours.

but i thank God that i'm still alive now,
and i thank God for helping me cope wif complacency.
i might be careful and good at gauging distances,
but that doesn't mean others around me will be..

for the first time,
i meant my prayer.
"may the Lord grant us journey mercies,
as we depart from dis place."

greener?

many a times, we tend to look across.
a quote uttered one too many times,
'the grass always look greener the other side'
somehow, i was reminded of dis in the shower.

thinking from a sheep's perspective,
do i really care if the other side's greener?
all i care is i've grass in front of me!
wherever i go, i know there'll be grass to graze..

on the other hand,
thinking from a shepherd's point of view.
i'm not caught up eating the grass,
neither am i made to eat grass!

but what i'm here to do,
is to make sure my flock has grass to eat.
so i should be the one looking on the other side!
in fact, i hope my sheep will not look there..

i'm not gonna be an anal opinionated persona here,
and apply direct personification on the characters.
in other words,
i'm not saying we're the sheep, Jesus is the shepherd..

all i'm saying is that,
we're made for different roles.
and that we'll no wonder be frustrated,
to try and fit into a bigger or non-fitting role!

imagine the sheep trying to stick out its neck,
looking out for greener pastures.
firstly, it'll be hungry most of the time,
secondly, it cannot look far coz it doesn't haf a neck!

and now, imagine the shepherd trying to eat grass.
trying to actually taste which kinda grass taste nicer,
in order for a better life for his flock..
other than the already-insane nebuchadnezzar, nobody does that!

but the strange thing is,
we tend to look at other pple for comparison.
i've a friend who compared himself wif his friend,
"at least you can talk to her openly, i can't!"

and another who said,
"why can't i just die now and go heaven?"
the problem here is dis,
we often compare and feel so bad abt it that we wanna escape.

but if that was even a solution,
i don't think we even need to spend life on earth.
God could've just made us angels,
void of human intricacies and conundrums!

but the fact that we're here,
shows that we've something to learn or take from here.
and i highly doubt that
God wants to teach how the escape route..

sometimes, life is just as simple as 'grazing' on
the pastures right in front of us.
be it bitter or sweet, sometimes bittersweet,
it's sometimes better to do what we're called to.

and leave the looking out and planning to the shepherd.
afterall, he doesn't hafta eat grass!
and we can only graze on the grass wherever we're led,
when we truly trust and obey the shepherd.

pple say sheep are stupid,
but i'd say, sheep are smart and humble.
at least it doesn't try to be what's its not made to be.
and that makes us, the intelligent kind, foolish..

trusting and obeying are mandatory, albeit difficult.
but if it was easy,
it no longer is a sacrifice or offering.
it'll just be a non-event..

Lord, i wanna truly trust and obey You.
for there's no other way to be happy in You,
but to trust and obey.
may You continue to strengthen me, and teach me..

zing!

since you don't fancy a tagboard on your blog,
or allow comments on your posts.
i've a heartburning reply to say!
so i shall do it here..

zing! i know we've at least 1 ardent fan
who reads our blog quite regularly.
and as statistics proved,
i've not been blogging too!

been really swarmed lately as well!
i'll try to stay alive,
and you too ya?
till then, amigo!

Lord, this is me to You.

Shepherd of my soul
i GIVE YOU FULL CONTROL
wHEREVER YOU MAY LEAD,
i WILL FOLLOW.

i have made the choice
to listen for Your voice
wherever You may lead,
i WILL GO.

grace.

Lord, indeed Your grace still amazes me.

Your love, is still a mystery..

i know there's nothing i can offer you,

but my praises and life i give You!

greatest blessing.

knowing You, Jesus
knowing You..
there is no greater thing!

hoo am i.

my sister and some of my friends
will be revealed where they stand
in the eyes of dis world,
through the man-declared yardstick of excellence.

needless to say,
in general, some crushed, others elevated.
but at dis point in time,
how many christians actually say 'my treasure's in heaven'?

true that the bible doesn't give us assurance
in hope to quash natural disappointments and distress.
the bible serves to guide us,
not make us into emotionless robots for communal living..

i, for one am not particularly talented in consoling.
but i do know, that i'm a very resourceful person..
it is almost inscribed and soldered on my motherboard,
that i look for solutions rather than emotional-quenchers.

a huge flaw of desmond hoo is that,
i find it an uphill task to console
or to be consoled, for that matter.
i guess i've pissed a few pple off coz of dis!

but looking at my strength,
i've learnt to stay clear of emotional zones
and source for alternatives or solutions at the background.
so that when he/she is ready, i can be of help!

my sister, for instance,
have been struggling wif JC life and studies.
she took an arduous 3yrs to get a slightly-below-par cert.
being her bro, i need not be too conscious abt what i say.

in my family, i've been dubbed
the guy wif the least temper and emotions.
come to think of it,
they haven't seen me cry since the last time they caned me.

i'm always known to be the guy wif solutions,
or advice, so to speak.
my dad's the Hoo's handyman,
and i'm the Hoo's candyman.

and so wif my sister's case,
i was left wif the task to convey the results
to my parents, who're not that qualified academically.
assured that i know right words to use, my sis was relieved.

i've no idea where dis post is heading,
maybe coz there're alot in my head now.
but pls pardon my rant,
maybe i'll be able to conclude somewhere..

i guess sometimes, its abt knowing who you are?
one of my greatest regrets,
is that i look to the other pasture
one too many times.

always thinking,
"if only i was there.."
"if only i can.."
"if only i was given.."

but nvr looked at who and what i was really made to be.
i almost fell into that same booby-trap dis yr..
will nvr forget how i felt when i was given a chance
to pursue a degree wif my poly gpa.

i was elated, and felt as though finally someone believed in me.
but as soon as the term began,
i started looking at other scheduled universities around.
"if only i'd haf studied harder in poly.."

realising that i was distracted by airy-fairy if onlys,
i decided to put my foot down
and do the best wherever God placed me.
and trust that He knows what He is doing!

and praise the Lord,
i manage to do pretty well in my first half of the sem!
finally getting a sense of studying all over again.
i'm poised to be focused ahead..

but at the same time reminding myself,
that regardless of what results i might get,
my self-worth is not based on the yardstick that men planted!
and i'm here to honour God in the place He brought me..

so for those of you who're struggling wif your self-worth,
or some of you who do not exactly know what you want in life,
start from your current position.
and figure out why are you there..

if its coz of your parents, peers,
or coz of socio-pressures or coercion,
den ask yourself who are you living for.
if its for God, den seek His counsel, not man's!

He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

- Philippians 1:16

expectations.

in the midst of mugging and prepping,
i was just thinking,
if i can ever meet up to them.
my own expectations, and other's expectations of me.

suddenly it dawned upon me,
the self-worth issue.
insofar as the bible puts it,
the our worth is in Christ alone.

but its interesting to note that, we're placed in dis world,
succumbed to powers and opinions OF dis world,
at the same time reminding ourselves
that our treasures are of somewhere else.

and even more interestingly,
even christians would sometimes base worth
on a set of transcripts and a spanking resume.
or a good life is not just in Christ alone, but job too.

apart from reminding ourselves when need be,
that out treasures and worth are not of dis world,
how else should we be reminded or encouraged.
what other heavenly benchmarks are there?

oh wait,
aren't we the ones who came up wif benchmarks or yardsticks?
let me try to put it together again, properly dis time.
what other milestones in our lives encourages us of our faith?

for paul, he was credible not because of his phD equivalent,
but because he was appointed to be the apostle of Christ.
dis is evident in all his letters in the new testament,
where his salutations flaunt apostleship, not scholarship.

for david, solomon and all other god-appointed kings of old testament,
their worth was easily identified wif their empire.
for david, he was accredited the title 'man after God's own heart'.
for solomon, he was allowed 1000 ladies married to him and his wisdom.

i'd like to talk abt david a lil more here.
he was given the abovementioned title,
simply because of his God-abiding lifestyle..
for a detailed analysis, refer to zing's blog.

but i guess it would be pretty safe to assume and conclude
that him being a king, a king of a nation in dis world,
is not so much of his own endeavor,
but because he obeyed God, and in turn was blessed richly.

the world may see him as a man of stature,
but we all know david has an intimate r/s wif God.
so what happens here is that,
its an inward out process, always has been.

david had a goal in mind,
to please God's heart and ultimately finishing the race.
but God honoured david by giving him authority on earth,
not coz he deserves it, but coz He knows david can handle it.

back to my fear of letting fatigue seep in,
i guess i shan't hold my expectations too tightly.
coz i know i commit them to God,
and i wanna honour Him for all that i do.

in terms of academics,
dis is what God gave me,
and where He placed me.
but i'm sure He'll use me in ways i cannot see.

and i shall not live to fulfill expectations,
but live to please His heart.
easier said than done,
but its easier knowing that i'm doing to honour Him!

Lord, i give You my life, my studies, my career.
these are temporal goals and aspirations,
Lord, i'm more interested in what You think of me.
Father, take me, use me.