Quiet time

I am currently reading a book by Philip Yancey called "Prayer". In one of the chapters, Philip mentioned that he attended a camp and was challenged to spend 2 hours a day alone on prayer. The 2 hours alone made him realised how important quiet time in our lives is for us to get close to our Heavenly Father.

Later this week, in my church weekly program called "Accelerate", solitude was mentioned again. It makes me realise how busy I have been in my life with little things: things that I do for work, for my relationship, for my family, and at church; that I didn't realise that I have neglected to set quiet time apart for God.

I do read my Bible, but sometimes, it becomes a routine that I have to follow. Through the messages these few weeks, it finally came to me that God does not care about how many "things" that I have done. I knew about this, but only this week that I finally had the revelation. I don't have to impress Him. All that He wants is my time with Him. I am so thankful that He is such a loving God, who looks into our heart more than our deeds. It resets my attitude in spending time with Him; not because I need to, but because I would like to.

Lovely Surprise series

These shots are of the flowers that Keith gave to me. I have to say that I really like the colours and they turn out to be a really good subject for my shots. Love the colours here.

A lovely surprise

I have a lovely surprise this morning when my colleague told me that I have flowers at the reception at my work place. "Flowers?" I was thinking, because Keith is in Jakarta for work this week. Apparently, he organised for this to be sent before he left. It was a very pleasant surprise, because I was feeling blue last night, so it came just at the right time. I feel grateful to him and God because the timing couldn't be better for putting a smile on my face.

There are purple lisianthus, light green baby roses, yellow lillies, bright yellow tulips and Australian native plants in there, I think.
I put the flowers on a beige coach when I took this photo. It happened that it serves as a good contrast for the flowers.

It turned out that the light green roses are actually baby purple roses when it opens up. What a lovely surprise again! It's really nice to see the flowers blossoming day by day. :)

Autumn or winter?

This picture of railway track was taken at Emu Plains station in Sydney, Australia. We were heading to Blue Mountains and were waiting for the regional train. It was actually still winter when this photo was taken, but the colour from the surroundings looks as if it was taken in autumn. I probably would not get this kind of effect in autumn as it is very dry here until the rain comes in winter. Even so, the rain might not come every year. But this year, we have been blessed with heavy rain, to the extend that Hunter Valley was flooded for several days!

I have yet to set a title for this picture. Somehow, I like this picture. I guess it is the lines that hold my attention. I adjusted the colour in Photoshop to make it look a bit more nostalgic.

The Three Sisters

Quite a few of my friends told me that they like this photo. Personally, I think it is an okay photo. I guess maybe it is because I was there and saw the vast beauty of the Blue Mountains region and the photo has only captured a part of what I saw there. I have to say that we were blessed with a good weather that day, as you can see in the picture, the vision was very clear that day.

A Beautiful Song - Oceans Will Part

If my heart has grown cold,
There Your love will unfold;
As You open my eyes to the work of Your hand.
When I’m blind to my way,
There Your Spirit will pray;
As You open my eyes to the work of Your hand,
As You open my eyes to the work of Your hand.

Oceans will part; nations come
At the whisper of Your call.
Hope will rise; glory shown.
In my life, Your will be done.

Present suffering may pass,
Lord, Your mercy will last;
As You open my eyes to the work of Your hand.
And my heart will find praise,
I’ll delight in Your way,
As You open my eyes to the work of Your hand,
As You open my eyes to the work of Your hand.

Oceans will part; nations come
At the whisper of Your call.
Hope will rise; glory shown.
In my life, Your will be done.

Oceans will part; nations come
At the whisper of Your call.
Hope will rise; glory shown.
In my life, Your will be done.

This is a beautiful song from Hillsong church, a prayer and a worship from a heart that finally reliazes the gentle and never ending love of Jesus. I guess for me, the lyrics, together with the melody touch my heart every time I listen to it. It reminds me of how our heavenly Father loves me. This song speaks to my heart.

Causeway, Perth

I have not taken any landscape photos for a while now. I guess I haven't been motivated enough. But I'm glad that I brought my camera with me when I went out to do my grocery shopping on Wednesday night (the day after Boxing Day 2006). The sunset casted a warm reddish glow in the sky after I came out from the shopping centre. Initially, I was planning to go to Tomato Lake and I was praying that the sun will not set too fast. But by the time I reached there, it was too dark there already, hence, I went to Burswood Park instead. I took a few shots of Perth city skyline. When I decided to change my angle, I saw this part of the sky that still had the brilliant colour from sunset. This picture is a result of some colour adjustment in Photoshop and cropping. I am very happy with how it turned out. Hope you like it too.

A simple prayer

Father, there are people around me that I know and care who are in their rough times now. May You guide them and bring them out from their storms. You are a faithful God and you never desert us. May Your love, peace and joy be with them. May they enjoy the peace and goodness in You. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen.

Classic White

A classic white daisy that pops out in your garden during spring time. I find it beautiful.

Buddies, Sisters

These pictures were taken at an outing in Kings Park organised by Sunday School. They remind me of friendships that you had when you were a kid. You fought, you argued, but you still ended up talking and playing with them, and you would offer your help when you realised that they need it.

Joshua and Wesley

Michelle and her friend

Monique and Katherine

Age of Innocence

She is one of my church pastor's kids. I have to say that kids' smiles are always so innocent. Their innocence and cheerfulness are so contagious that you will be affected by them in no time. Please take good care of them.

Phenomenal cactus blossom

This amazing flower is actually a blossom from a kind of cacti. It probably only blossoms once a year. The cactus is planted by Keith's grandma and I'm grateful to be able to capture it in pictures. These shots were taken in macro mode with my Sigma lense.

Little Hana

A very adorable 2 year old little girl. She is one of the kids in my Sunday school class. She was very shy until the whole group of kids moved to a playground and she started to get excited and smiling.

In His grace everyday...

I decide to come back today to change the title for my blog site. I was thinking of what to change it to. After some thoughts, I want to dedicate this little corner where I will be putting my thoughts to my Heavenly Father who loves me so much. Throughout all these years walking with Him (actually, it's Him who's walking with me), I deeply feel that His grace is so abundant, ample for me and those around me whom I love, regardless of what we have done.

I am thankful for who He is, a just and holy God, yet so loving and faithful. My words cannot describe Him completely. I am just glad that I am living in His grace everyday. I pray that His love will be known to others, for He is always there for those who seek.

A serene jetty in Bunbury, Western Australia

I went down to Bunbury a few weeks ago. Drove past a jetty and saw this spot where the sunset casted a warm glow on the boats. I was a beautiful sight, but I didn't expect the picture to turn out this good. Mind you, I forgot to change my previous ISO setting from 800 after taking my brother's girlfriend graduation at night. Hence, I have to use a few software to get rid of the noise in this picture. This is the final result that I got.

Here we go!

I have heard about blog for a long time, and now, I have finally signed up and get one for myself. I found out that I can actually share my photos online through Picasa. Anyway, I guess I will have to let other people know about my blog so that it can to become more interesting. :)