My Lunar New Year 2004

Wow! Blogging early today! It's the 7th day of the Lunar New Year(Blessed Lunar New Year, by the way ;) ), which is known as "Ren Ri" a.k.a. "Day of the Humans". :) And that also means more yee sang dinners! But too bad, I am already in KL, well.. PJ. *sigh* So I will not be having anymore yee sang dinners, at least for another 365 days later! haha.. ;)

Nevertheless, I had a wonderful time with my family in JB, visiting "annual relatives" and killing time by eating, eating, eating, and yes. More eating. Chinese New Year is the time where I consume the most amount of carbonated and sugar-saturated drinks, compared to anytime of the year..

The first day of the new year, I got up and took my bath; stole 3 oranges from the kitchen and greeted my Grandmother (all of these is part of the tradition of the Lunar New Year). Some of you might ask; "Why three oranges? Not two or four or eight.. but three?".. Well, I am trying to Christianize the Lunar New Year, so I decided that, three oranges represent; the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. And of course 2 oranges, is too little and four is too much. *grin* As for both of my parents, I greeted them with 3 oranges also but accompanied with a very Chinese New Year verse from the Bible.. Jeremiah 29:11; "For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare, not for woe! plans to give you a future full of hope.".. The reason why I decided to replace the usual greeting with a verse from the Bible is because, IMHO the usual greeting(e.g. may you have a prosperous year ahead, wishing you wealth and fortune, may your dreams come true, etc..) is nothing more than an empty promise. Yup, you heard me.. an empty promise. Because no one can guarantee the outcome of the coming year, and certainly no one can guarantee the outcome by holding on to the usual greetings he/she receives! But with the Word of God a.k.a. the Bible, it is different. The Word of God, contains promises and truths, and the beauty of it: all of them are guaranteed by God, Himself. So by greeting my parents with a verse from the Scriptures, I am actually reminding them the plans God has for them, and also reminding them to be steadfast in their faith because ONLY God can fulfill these promises, simply because: no one else can. :)

During the New Year, I have met "annual relatives", which of course like the term implies; 'relatives that we meet once a year', that have become devoted to the Lord as well as had gain more understanding of the Faith. It was very encouraging to see them grow like this. And this affirms me, that the Lord has indeed brought a revival to His Church.

A friend of mine; Alvin, had sent me an SMS about the New Year, and it is truly an insightful and Spirit-filled message! Here it goes..

"Chinese New Year is a time people talk of fengshui(with Lilian Too jamming the Astro channel and newspapers giving tips on which golden frog to buy). The time is right, brethren, to tell people of Him who is Lord over 'feng'(wind) 'shui'(water). Who is this, who orders even the winds and the waters and they obey Him? LUKE 8:25"


Once again, I would like to wish all of you a Blessed Lunar New Year!


Peace be with you,

Celestine <><