Princess is BACK!!

I am now finally updating my blog which almost turn mouldy after the busy period I had for the past few weeks and months haha lol! Events after events come with more new experiences, thoughts and reflections. The recent RAIN camp, Christmas Actually dinner, Block parties everywhere, cell bonding, office parties etc... had set me to think, reflect and learn. I have to admit that I am a deep thinker haha, for those who know me well should know that la. I should'nt say that this is a bad thing but I feel that sometime it is good to put on your thinking cap and reflect on certain things. I likes to do that during my free time or when I'm day dreaming in the office or at home esp on a raining day haha! 2007 is coming to an end and as I reflected back on the things I have done this year, I am really very proud of myself because I can see that I have grown a lot in terms of spiritually, maturity and of course physically! lol! (as in prettier la.. haha just kidding :p no la i guess fitter?? haa BUT it is definitely NOT growing side way (",) man!) I have learnt to let go of certain things, get on with life and focus on more serious stuff. Therefore, I am not the 2006 Geraldine anymore hee hee! God had been good to me and I am really really THANKFUL for what he had done in my life and for the people he sent into my life whom they gave me lots of joyous and exciting moments... This christmas was a cold, fat and a busy one. The Dec weather was really a cold one man. I have not been switching on my air-con for at least 2 months?? See, I am trying to save the electricity lei haha! I have also eaten lots of log cakes, ham, chicken, pork knuckles etc... during this festive season and I tell you, its so fattening man!! BUT luckily I am still maintaining my weight well hahaha! I had also a busy week thinking of what christmas present to buy for people... So do you think is that what christmas is just all about? Nope, there is more to it.... This is a devotion that I came upon and I was reminded again....

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I heard that someone actually tried to calculate how much it would cost to give the gifts named in the classic Christmas song, "The Twelve Days of Christmas." The grand total came to about $15,000.

Some items were affordable, like a partridge in a pear tree for $34.99. Six turtledoves will run you somewhere around $50. Six geese-a-laying will cost around $150.

But the price soars when you add 11 pipers piping. That is $1,000 right there. Then there are the 12 drummers drumming. With current union scale for musicians, they will run you another $1,000.

The price really soars when you get 12 lords-a-leaping. We are talking $3,000 for them. Granted, I don't know where you would find them, but they are very expensive.

But the real message of Christmas is not the gifts we give each other. Rather, it is a reminder of the gift that God has given to each of us. It is the only gift that truly keeps on giving, so I want to point out four things about it.

First, it is surprising. When Christmas rolls around, you often try to figure out if certain people have bought that gift you really wanted. Maybe you already know what they bought, because they didn't hide it very well. Or maybe you uncovered it by accident—or maybe not. But when the day comes and you open the present, you have to pretend you're surprised. Yet all along, you knew what it was. God's gift to us, however, was a complete surprise. It was not expected and, as you examine it more carefully, you realize how great a gift it actually was.

Second, God's gift came to us in the humblest of wrappings. What would you think if you saw a gift under your Christmas tree that was wrapped in newspaper and tied up with string? At first, you would probably assume that a guy wrapped it.

But think about God's gift to us. Jesus was not born in a palace of gold; He was born in a stable. He was clothed in rags. He was laid in a feeding trough. Yet these things do not, in any way, diminish the story of Christ's birth. If anything, they help us realize the great sacrifice God made for us. God's gift to humanity, the ultimate gift of eternal life through His Son, Jesus Christ, came in the simplest and humblest of wrappings.

Third, we don't deserve this gift. At Christmas, we give gifts to the people we care about, the ones who have been kind to us over the past year, or the ones who have given us a gift first. We don't give gifts to the person who has been slandering our name, or to the angry neighbor who never has a kind word to say. Yet God gave us His gift when we were His enemies. He didn't give this gift to us because we deserved it. In fact, it was just the opposite. The Bible tells us, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8 NKJV).

Fourth, the gift tells us something about the giver. When you want to give someone a gift, you start thinking about it ahead of time. Hopefully, you try to find what that person wants or needs. When God decided to give us the gift of eternal life, it wasn't something that He just thought of on the fly. Long before there was a town called Bethlehem, a garden called Eden, or a planet called Earth, a decision was made in eternity that God would send forth His Son, born of a woman, to redeem those who are under the law.

The Bible says that He was slain from the foundation of the world (see Revelation 13:8). Make no mistake about it: this gift that God has given to us was the most sacrificial thing He possibly could have offered.

So Christmas isn't about those gifts that you have under your tree right now. All of those things will be gone one day. All that will be left after this life is the human soul, and that will live forever. We will put so much stock in what we have, but this is all going to pass away.

Life is about what happens beyond the grave. Life is about knowing the God who made you and who gave you the greatest gift you will ever receive.
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Personally I feel that giving gifts on during christmas is also a way of showing God's love to other people and it doesn't matter how much it cost and how big is that, agree?? To end of, just wanna to say a very BIG Merry Christmas to everyone!