Borneo Highland Trip

We were in Borneo Highland next to the border of Sarawak and Kalimantan for a retreat recently. The photo was taken at 3200+ feet above sea level which we scaled. 3 of us behind the notice were standing on Kalimantan side where as the guy sitting on the fence and the other 2 standing next to the sign board are still in M'sia side.





This is surely almost like once a lifetime experienced as most Sarawakian who I talked to, have not been to this resort before. This is really a nice place for a refreshing retreat. Cool, clean, fresh air, fantastic view of a whole sea of cloud in the morning. All Green Organic food, no meat. No soft drink sold, only coffee and tea and best of all, lemon grass tea! Praise the Lord for such an opportunity to be at this glorious location.

Angered, Impatience Dads

It’s useful to remember that our kids are not to be controlled. They are to be guided and led, but not controlled. This impatience and desire to control can lead many fathers to an emotional disconnect with their kids. And while many fathers have an acute awareness of this issue, they convince themselves that it can’t be helped.

Read the whole article at: http://www.christianfathers.com/controlling-parent.htm

How to COPE with STAY AT HOME burnOUT

Being an at home parent may be the best job you’ll ever get, but it’s HARD. You’re on call 24/7, and when you go on vacation, you still have the same responsibilities. And if you have a home business or work at home job, life can be even more challenging.

The first step to coping with burnout is preventing it in the first place. Don’t overfill your schedule with activities for the kids or yourself. Take a little time for yourself every day. You don’t need to be alone, but you do need to relax a little. Whether this may be during the kids’ naps or when they’re in school, even taking just a few minutes for you can really help. Then you can take advantage of the time to get things done with a clear head.

Make sure your expectations and those of your family are realistic. If you’re running a home business or have a work at home job, you can’t be expected to keep as perfect a house as a mother who does not. Pick a day to do the laundry, the vacuuming and other housework that doesn’t need to be done on a daily basis and leave it until then… unless the urgent need arises, of course.

When you get angry, don’t consider yourself an imperfect or bad parent. We all get angry sometimes. What is more important is how you react to the anger.
Make sure you get enough sleep. The more tired you are, the more stress you are going to feel, and the harder it will be to cope with it. If necessary, take a nap at the same time as the kids do, so they’re not getting into trouble for lack of supervision.

Plan fun activities once in a while to relieve stress. Depending on your needs and the needs of your family, this can be alone or with the entire family. Go to the beach, a park, zoo, mall, wherever it is you can relax and just have fun.

Consider planning or even cooking meals and snacks in advance. It’s easy to give your children healthy snacks if you have sliced vegetables and/or fruits ready to go in the fridge. A few minutes’ work early in the week can save you time. Meals may also be prepared in advance and frozen for those nights when you’re simply too tired to cook. Plan your meals for leftovers that will freeze well, and say goodbye to expensive frozen dinners from the grocery store.

If writing out your schedule helps you, then keep a written schedule. If it makes you feel overwhelmed, then don’t. Just because your best friend says it keeps her on schedule to have a calendar with everything she needs to do on it doesn’t mean the same will work for you.

Finally, don’t let other parents make you feel you owe them favors just because you’re at home and “have time.” You’re doing a full time job taking care of your family, not just loafing. Your schedule may be just as full as theirs, if not more so.

10 Ways to Connect with your kids

In today’s activity-packed society, it’s more important than ever to intentionally connect with your kids. Here are 10 ideas that can help you get to know your children better and pass on a legacy of faith and fun.

1. During dinner ask everyone to share one piece of both good news and bad news from the day.

2. Have regular “Kids’ Nights to Cook.” Set up a restaurant atmosphere in your home and create some lifetime memories. Little ones will enjoy decorating the table and making special menus for the evening.

3. Visit a local bookstore with your children and ask them to help you choose a family devotional. Then work through it together.

4. If you have a sports enthusiast in your home, ask him or her to give you and your spouse regular updates about what’s going on in the world of sports—both locally and nationally.

5. Do a one-on-one activity with each child at least once a week.

6. Take turns choosing Bible verses that the entire family can memorize together. Using a special journal or notebook, ask the children to record each verse after the family has memorized it together.

7. Once a week after mealtime, draw names to see who will be in the “hot seat.” (Discard each name after it is drawn so everybody will eventually be chosen.) Family members will ask the person in the “hot seat” a question that cannot be answered “Yes” or “No.”

8. When bringing the kids to school, take turns being prayer warriors—praying for each person’s day.

9. After dinner, rotate sharing a “joke of the day.”

10. Have regular family nights doing something fun that everyone enjoys

All grandchildren with grandma

(front seated, left to right, Evon Lim - Goddaughter's daughter, Grandma (my Mother) 70, Jessalynn Koh.
Back row from left - Benson Koh, my younger brother's son, Joey Koh. Jeremy Koh, Lim Ah Chun, Marcus Lim and his girlfriend Chao Yan. Not in Picture is my brother's youngest son Jonathan Koh.

All here to say hello to you. Pray that they will all walk with Jesus the rest of their lives.

Tour of HOPE

The Objective: Funds raised through this Charity Dinner will be channeled into Rebuilding Projects for the Cyclone Nargis victims of Myanmar.

The Team: The Brazilian Team, which includes players from the World Cup Winning Teams of 1994 and 1998 World Cup, are here in Malaysia! Dine with them for a night of purpose and hope.

Cyclone Nargis, Myanmar. In the May 2008 Cyclone that devastated parts of Myanmar, over 120,000 people lost their lives. Thousands of houses were destroyed and just in one province (Pyapon) over 450 schools were completely washed away.

For further information:Tel : 80243026 or 80259950 HP: 017 - 3857903Email: mailto:wawasangmr@mail.com or mailto:tourofhope@thegame.comWebsite: www.tour-of-hope.info Click Here to download map to the restaurant.

Principal Tour Organizer : Wawasan GMR

Keep a Date with us!

My Struggle in Shame with Masturbation - Your Teenager may be going through this!

Honestly, I didn't know where to begin. I just knew I needed to say something. The last several months had been really difficult for me. I hadn't been myself. I wasn't reading my Bible. I rarely prayed. And I'd lost my joy—often snapping angrily at loved ones, feeling lonely and fearing everyone was out to get me. I felt trapped in a dark pit and I didn't know how to climb out.

What I did know was how I got into that pit. It'd been a long, gradual slide downward. For years, I'd been masturbating. No, that act alone didn't cause all of my problems. Instead, it was a symptom of the selfishness, lust and pride built up in my heart. I tried to convince myself masturbation was harmless—a normal part of sexuality. But really, it allowed my weaknesses to take a hold of me. When I hated myself, masturbation was an easy way to feel wanted and loved. When I felt out of control, my fantasies were a place where I could control anything—or anyone. On top of all this, I felt intense guilt and shame for my actions.

Read All of My STRUGGLE IN SHAME WITH MASTURBATION By Scott Kelly at http://www.christianitytoday.com/cl/2008/003/9.38.html and/or scroll down my blog and look for My Name is Spell T.E.E.N. TEENs only Link.

The Importance of Feeling Important

Terry L. Sumerlin sharing - About twenty years ago, when our married daughters were in elementary school, they had a bicycle accident. Jo Ellen, our oldest, lost control of her bike and ran into her sister, Amanda, who was standing right in her path. Suddenly the front fender of the bike slid rather abruptly between Amanda’s fingers, and left a sizable gash that required several stitches.

The thing I remember most about the incident took place after we returned from the doctor. Amanda stood in our den, held up her bandaged fingers and, with absolute innocence and candor, declared, “Now I finally have something important to talk about!”

What a commentary on people – young and old. We all want to feel important and to have something important to tell others.

As children, we couldn’t wait to tell others how we got our bruise, our cut or our broken bone. As adults we’re sometimes the same with illnesses and surgeries. They make us feel special. They become badges of honor. We act somewhat like a friend I had who broke his neck and, though he healed, subsequently referenced everything to before or after his accident. We, too, are prone to “hang on to” such personally important events. We need to feel important.

Read all of Terry's sharing on Christian Father at; http://www.christianfathers.com/self-esteem.htm and/or scroll down my blog and lookout on the right side for Incredible DADs Link for more info

Moms need FRIENDS too!

With everything we moms have to do, making time for our friends seems impossible. We’re lucky if we have time to do more than shoot them an occasional email, and it’s likely that our friends feel like they’re in the same boat.

But have you noticed that your children are happier when they’ve had a chance to play with others? That somehow we find the time to schedule play dates for them?

We moms are the same way. We need our friends to make us laugh, share our troubles and just keep us connected to the world beyond children and work. The good news is that if we schedule time to be with our friends we’ll be more likely to keep the appointments – and come back feeling refreshed and better able to deal with our family and work responsibilities.

Read all about Moms Need Friends too at http://www.christian-parent.com/mom-play-dates.shtml And/or scroll down this blog on the right side you can find Incredible MOMs Link for more info and articles.

Guilt Free PARENTING...We all want it!

I don’t know about you, but I do guilt very well. At times, it seems like I can feel guilty for almost anything. Also, as a parent I mess up routinely. I can be short with my temper and my words are not always pleasant. Also, there seems to be a new parenting article out daily that tells you how to parent and of course it feels like to me anyway that I always come up short. My hunch is I am not the only one that feels that way. So, how do I have the audacity to come up with an article entitled, “Guilt Free Parenting”? Actually, it wasn’t totally my idea. God placed the idea and burden on my heart to share it with you.

Let’s look at Psalm 139:16, “Thine eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Thy book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.” Basically, before you were born God marked out your days and may I add also your children’s days. God has a plan for you and He has one for your children as well.

What does all of this have to do with guilt free parenting? I’m glad you asked. God is truly in control of your life and your children’s lives as well. We cannot always see His hand or plan, but He is there. That means on our worst parenting days God is still working His plan in our lives and in our children’s lives in spite of us. There have been so many times in the Bible where at first glance God’s plan did not make sense and then on later inspection it made perfect sense. So, when we are not doing a good job of being parents, God is still working in our lives and our children’s lives.
Read all at http://www.christian-parent.com/articles/042705e.shtml Scroll down and watch out for Incredible PARENTING Link on the right side of this blog for more information about PARENTING