No Kasia, this blog is not dead! and here is living proof of it! (:
Alright in an attempt to revive this blog to its former glory and activity, I shall break out of my studying shell and post something.
First off, I'd like to say that I'm really really very
PROUD of all of you who came down and became a
TEACHER at the recently concluded VBC! It's like that chinese cheng yu i learnt in secondary school, something about seeing your little saplings bear fruit, or something like that! Really made mommy proud to see all of you taking care of the little ones as though they were your own kids! I'm sure those of you who came down didn't regret your decision and hopefully you finally understand the pain you put us through each sunday XD joking joking. Kudos to Daniel, Garik, Gared, Clara, Shi Ri, Kelly, Janelle, Shi Ting, Faith Tiew and Janice! Special thanks to my 2 co-teachers Kelly and Janelle for helping me pick up the slack when I totally lost myself trying to control the rampaging meeblings! On a more serious note, I hope all of you continue your passion and service towards the Lord. (Refer to Aunty Cindy if you would like to sign up with CM today!)
For those of you who didn't go for VBS, don't worry because in the coming
5th week of May, all of you will have an oppurtunity to serve our Lord in the
POWER PRAISE TEAM! please note it down in your schedules and start block clearing the rest of your weekends prior to that for rehearsals (:
Ok, now to touch on what made me decide to blog today.
It happened ytd when I was teaching lesson then suddenly this question popped up in class. One of my kids asked me with all the innocence in the world,
"Is it ok to smoke?" I was quite taken aback by this question. Having being schooled in the ways of Health Promotion Board of Singapore and
Health Education in primary school (You all did that right?) I thought it was quite well indoctrinated in us that smoking is well... simply
BAD for health.
From a schooling medical professional point of view, smoking predisposes you to a whole plethora of diseases such as
hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases and what not.
But more importantly, smoking in itself is an act of
defiling your body, as is self-mutilation and actions such as consuming illegal drugs.
The bible states that
1 Corinthians 6:19 (New International Version)
19Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;
Your body is like a temple of God. Now imagine coming to church one day and finding someone has chocked it full of black smoke, poisonous and foulsmelling, so bad that it makes you sick. That is the same extent you are defiling God's temple when you commit the act of smoking, or any other form of self-destruction for that matter.
I won't admit there are many factors that entice one to give smoking a try, such as the need to be accepted into a group or the false association with smoking being "cool". But all these are simply excuses laid on a foundation of propagandistic advertising campaign by tobacco companies back in the heydays of our parents' youth. Smoking (and studies have shown) in no way brings health benefits instead causing more problems for one's health. Furthermore, the addiction and consequential high costs of keeping up this expensive habit only leads to further disappointment and disatisfaction in the product.
If you are indeed going through such a stressful or difficult time that you are open to experiment with these sort of tools for relieving stress, may I share with you the one method that I myself have tried and perhaps you can try too, which is God. Come to him humbly, petition your requests and listen for his reply.
Ask, seek, knock and the door shall be open unto you. And if it doesn't, maybe you're just not knocking hard enough. (:
-love, lowell