Lawrence and Christine Family Blog: May 2007

John's Challenge

Like any good challenges in our SF, it sometimes revolve around food. This time round, its a solid one kilogram of meat with tons of fries and salad at Hog's Breadth.

Believe it or not, John has declared a surprising recovery from his fight against too much "goodness" in his health and decided to take up the challenge to possibly eat down those monster dishes in the local restaurant challenge that may end up giving him a free meal....if he finish that is.

Let the show begin...

Posted in: Friends Update on Friday, May 25, 2007 at 0 comments

Knowing the Will of God - Editor's Cut

Steps (Applicable for Bible-Believing Christians Only):

1. Be willing to ask for His will for your life (many not willing because of unbelief)

2. Confess ALL your sins for forgiveness and stand righteous before him

3. Use your God-given wisdom, intelligence, common sense and weigh the options before you and choose the "best" option

4. Pray constantly to God to reveal each "baby" step forward

5. Look unto God for sovereign interventions with "closed" doors and act accordingly

6. Have a heart to want to glorify God in your decision

7. At the end of each occasion, you will realize you have just done what God wants you to do; God NEVER shows the entire plan in a day to you, its progressive.

Posted in: Quiet Time on Sunday, May 20, 2007 at 0 comments

The Two Pounder Challenge

It's finally the last day of the week and things sure looks to finally slow down for most of us...Nigel's project go-live has, to some effect, lower his support load from the users; Jenny is readying to head back to work after her maternity leave, the Americans are readying to head back to their country in June etc.

Our SF meeting last week was an excellent one at the Carribbean. We had a fusion on the table, with western cusine and eastern menu forming part of our discussion. But, more importantly, the main topic of that night seemed to linger over the fading attendance of SF everywhere and the balance point in life with church, family and work on the scale. It's imperative that our church nurtue that "co-operative and supportive" environment for SFs to thrive. In that I mean, each planned activity does not "clash" with the slower, less "polished" Bible studies they have each week while fostering a focus to encourage members to balance committments as a church body. That boils down to again asking ourselves what is the role of each family. Its a personal relationship building session where lives are gradually strengthened to live gloriously for the Lord. Some families build relationship around Bible studies or prayer but a good dose of special interests should be present to "glue" people up.

Its also to some of us, a springboard, whereby members propel themselves to integrate their service for the Lord in the local church community in a known ministries. Our group has a slight bias (or interest) in travelling and that brings hearts together constantly. Another emerging interests lies in parenthood, where mothers discuss about nurturing their kids in the fear of the Lord. What other interests bind the family?

Posted in: Fun on Friday, May 18, 2007 at 0 comments

VMWARE Server and Thin Client - Killer Combo

Posted in: Technology on Tuesday, May 15, 2007 at 0 comments

Happy Mother's Day - A Profile of a Good Mother

1. A good husband-wife relationship (devotion)

a. she was a good wife

b. she had a good husband

2. A good heavenly relationship (dependence)

a. she prayed

3. A good home relationship (dedication)

a. she cares (Hannah of the Bible)

b. she consecrates (Rosalind Goforth)

Posted in: on Sunday, May 13, 2007 at 0 comments

Osim iSqueez For Sale

Recently, our dear brother Robert won in a draw a brand new iSqueez - A very effective leg massager which he wants to sell away to anyone. In the interest of being a family, he's even willing to give a 20% discount off the retail price as an offer price to interested buyer.

If you are interested, give him a call! Its a bargain I say!

Posted in: Friends Update on Saturday, May 12, 2007 at 0 comments

Gen 12 - Thinking Pointers

1. Ever wonder how God revealed Himself in the Old Testament to man? Some were through animals, burning bushes, while most were personal encounters like the one in this chapter. Question to consider is - is this still the preferred mean of communication by God? Or is there a revealed, established way God speaks to man like the Bible?

2. Confusion abounds today as personal visions, dreams, signs etc. dominate false revelations by man, claiming leadership, hope and religion through each claim.

3. The mere "appeared unto" phrases recur 33 times in the protestant Bible, 8 times "in a vision", 21 occurrences of "dreams", giving support to supportable claims in the Scriptures

4. The beauty of Sarai is an interesting area to highlight - How beautiful can Sarai be? First take - beautiful enough to put lives of those around her in danger - wherever she goes! Sarai also means "My women of high rank". Some said that she is so beautiful all other persons seemed like apes in comparison! The beauty of Middle Eastern women is today published widely on the Internet

5. Abraham was richly blessed instead of angering Pharoah in this brave act, in fact some believe that Pharoah was so impressed with Abraham that he sent his daughter Haggar to be his handmaid

Posted in: Quiet Time on Friday, May 11, 2007 at 0 comments

Looking Outward of Family to Share God's Gift

Well, we have been focusing on this issue from the beginning of this year and see many efforts by all of us to bring friends and loved ones to Easter service, bible studies etc. That's very encouraging but like what Sus mentioned, we need to form a inner circle of support for the growing needs of family members.

One area would be to settle the growing number of toddlers in our group - a need that will require some consideration. Otherwise, it will tough for parents to come each week, knowing their kids are still to taken care of while in the meeting.

Another area brought up would be to be flexible or even opened to when we meet each week. Friday is usually a more traditional day to have SF but should not be carved in stone. But again, some planning is required to give us structured flexibility.

Lastly, I go back to the pillar of our family life - prayer. Do you actually know what to pray for each member today? If not, I fear we are kidding ourselves playing SF. Its as critical as our daily devotion and in no wise an option. I want to encourage each of us to find a member you can support in prayer and in so doing build stronger relationships in the family.

God bless.

Posted in: Quiet Time on Sunday, May 06, 2007 at 0 comments

Gen 11 - Thinking Points

1. Babel(confusion) is the resultant of a defiant act of human kind to unite and resist the command of God to "fill the earth"

2. The initial assessment of the building of a mere tower of babel may seems unrelated to the idea of defiance but closer studies shows otherwise

3. The intention of attaining height in the structure is to reach God (an attempt to be equal if not level the hierarchy of creature and creator). Closer inspection reveals belief that an idol holding a sword was erected on top of the tower to "war" with God, holding an intense anger for the unfairness of God dominating the heavens while humans, the earth

4. Speculation to the actual heights of the tower ranges from 100m to over 2500m, a sight to behold indeed! The tower withstood time and has been reported to be close to the hanging gardens of babylon

5. Shem -> Arphaxad -> Salah -> Eber -> Peleg -> Reu -> Serug -> Nahor -> Terah(205) -> Abram/Nahor/Haran(Lot)

6. Why did the Bible mention "Bur Sarai was barren;she had no child"?

Posted in: Quiet Time on at 0 comments

How to set up multiple e-mail auto-responders in Outlook

The tech/life blog On/Off Tips shows you how to set up multiple out-of-office auto-responders in Outlook.

The idea here is that when you're out of town, whether on vacation or a business trip, you might want a different message to go to friends and co-workers than to clients and bosses. You can configure Outlook to do this by configuring specific rules: Mail that arrives from, say, a client's office gets a reply containing e-mail template A; mail from co-workers gets a reply containing e-mail template B; and so on. The author doesn't explain how to create these templates, but he does illustrate various rules setups.

Fix Internet Explorer 7's download limit

Internet Explorer 7 limits you to two simultaneous downloads. The Vista-tweaks site VistaRewired shows you how to lift that limitation. You'll need to venture into the registry and create a couple new entries (specifically, DWORD values). The author isn't as clear as he could be on this process; after right-clicking in an empty area as indicated, select New > DWORD Value from the pop-menu that appears. Then follow the author's instructions. It's a very easy procedure overall, and when you're done, Internet Explorer 7 should allow you unlimited simultaneous downloads.

Now, before you storm the comments with cries of, "Just get Firefox!" (which the author himself recommends), keep in mind that some users are required by management to use IE. Heck, there may even be some users out there who prefer it. This handy hack is for those folks.

Fix Internet Explorer 7's download limit

Internet Explorer 7 limits you to two simultaneous downloads. The Vista-tweaks site VistaRewired shows you how to lift that limitation.
You'll need to venture into the registry and create a couple new entries (specifically, DWORD values). The author isn't as clear as he could be on this process; after right-clicking in an empty area as indicated, select New > DWORD Value from the pop-menu that appears. Then follow the author's instructions. It's a very easy procedure overall, and when you're done, Internet Explorer 7 should allow you unlimited simultaneous downloads.

Overseas Luncheon during Labor Day

OK. By popular demand, we are taking that drive up today across the link for a shop and dine off day and two cars will be going. If you ask me, it's a break from all the concrete buildings and burning refineries.

Meet in church at 10am or 12 noon depending whether you'll be attending the special meeting in church.

Passport please...

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Jerry and Judy's Celebrates Anna's First Birthday

Joy, joy, joy, mixed with a good dose of satisfaction as Jerry and Judy celebrate their daughter's first birthday. As you know, as part of their extended family, hey...we are also invited to share this joyous occasion.

This time round, its at Rasa and I am sure by now, you all have received the special invite card to attend.

See you there!

Posted in: on at 0 comments

Elios RescueBot Uses its Spider Arms to Save Lives

It's one thing to be rescued by a robot like this, but it's a completely different ballgame to see one of these creepy bots crawling your way when you're in need of help. Designed by Marcos Nolan, the Elios is a spider-like robot with 10 arms (carried in its belly) designed to lift people from harm's way and into safety. Optical and biometric sensors ensure Elios keeps on target whereas its rugged shell keeps it from being damaged. I admit, it looks cool as ice, but I'd probably faint if I saw one of these crawling my way...

Posted in: on at 0 comments

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