Food for Thought....

"Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just
coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another
one."

[Excerpts from the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren ("Purpose Driven Life "author and pastor of Saddleback Church in California)]

People ask me, "What is the purpose of life?" And I respond: In a nutshell, life
is preparation for eternity. We were made to last forever, and God wants us to
be with Him in Heaven.

One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body-- but
not the end of me. I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend
trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal.

God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity.
We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life
isn't going to make sense.

The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character
than your comfort. God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy. We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.

I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark
time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that
anymore. Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of
like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and
something bad in your life.

No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something
bad that needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for.

You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems. If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness, "which is my problem, my issues, my pain." But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.

We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity?

Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)?

When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better. God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do.

That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.

Happy moments, PRAISE GOD. Difficult moments, SEEK GOD. Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD. Painful moments, TRUST GOD. Every moment, THANK GOD.

~ Rick Warren

No. No. No. NOOOOOOOO!!!

::Reese Witherspoon, Ryan Phillippe Split::

"We are saddened to announce that Reese and Ryan have decided to formally separate," publicist Nanci Ryder said in a statement issued Monday on behalf of the couple.

WTC?! Not my ultimate fav. Hollywood couple! Argh!! How did this happen? What a nightmare for their fans and for those who have looked up to them as the beacon of hope among Hollywood's super long laundry list of divorces!! Reese and Ryan, I will pray for you. Don't give up!

CHANGE......

I'm no longer the Mave I used to be.

So, I've been told by those who have known me for the longest time.

Why do statements like this leave me feeling bad about myself? Isn't change sometimes good? Is it always a negative thing? Or is it just typical for ppl to pinpoint changes that are presumed to be negative in one's eyes and to completely ignore other changes that has occurred?

I feel silly for feeling bad about a comment like this. Well, of course, I've changed! I've been to different locations, met different people, encountered different point of views, undergone different experiences.....how can I NOT change? Our whole lifetime is about change.

So, why the guilt? Why the doubt? I'm not sure why yet but I suspect that I'm sliding back into being too overly concerned of what ppl think of me and fearing displeasure from others.

Now, ~that~ is a change I really don't want to undergo!

Life is about to change...

1) I finally received the job offer I've been waiting for months for! Woohoo! Praise God!
2) The new website is up and running --> The Project Woohoo! Praise God!

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.