Let's 'Teh Tarik'!! (Life)

....is mainly dedicated to young Christians like myself, which makes me inspired with all the short stories and thoughts. It really does help me to reflect on my own life. So I'm here to share some of the contents of this awesome book. Let's just say the reason why I read this book is because all of my close friends keep bugging me around, telling how much they liked the stories..*bla bla bla* till I just can't wait to find out what the excitement is about. 'Let's 'teh-tarik!' is divided into 4 sections, namely :

-Life

-Love

-Community

-Looking Upward

"Inspiring stories and thoughts to finish well in life.."

Based on the 4 'finishing-well' attitudes as outlined in this book. Each section contains touching and inspiring stories, thought, human triumphs, useful tips to enlighten, inspire, intrigue, move, provoke and stimulate readers about issues in life and to keep us going.

So now I'll select a few stories/thoughts on each section. For this blog post, I'll start with Life.

Do You Have Big Rocks In Your Life?

One day, an expert on time management was speaking to a group of business students. To drive home a point, this expert used an illustration I'm sure those students will never forget. As this man stood in front of the group of high-powered overachievers, he said, "Okay, time for a quiz." Then he pulled out a one-gallon, wide-mouthed mason jar and set it on a table in front of him. Then he produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top, and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, "Is this jar full?" Everyone in the class said said, "Yes." Then he said, "Really?" He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks. Then he smiled and asked the group once more, "Is the jar full?"

By this time the class was onto him. "Probably not," one of them answered. "Good!" he replied. And he reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand . He started dumping the sand in and it went into all the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more, he asked the question, "Is this jar full?"

"No!" the class shouted. Once again he said, "Good!" Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked up at the class and then asked, "What is the point of this illustration?" One eager beaver raised his hand and said, "The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you really try hard, you can always fit some more things into it!" "No," the speaker replied. "That's not the point. The truth this illustration teaches us is that if we don't put the big rocks in first, we'll never get them in at all!"

What are the big rocks in your life? A project that YOU want to accomplish? Time with your loved ones? Your faith, your education, your finances? A cause? Teaching or mentoring others? To give God the first place in your life? People, objects, goals, and other desires all compete for priority. Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in first, or you will never get them in at all!

Life May Not Always Be Pleasant

The story is told of a Sultan (king) who had a childhood friend with whom he grew up. This friend had a different way of looking at every situation that ever occurred in his life, be it positive or negative, and remarking, "This is good!". One day, the Sultan and his friend were on a hunting trip. The friend would load and prepare the guns for the Sultan. In preparing one of the guns, the friend had apparently done something wrong, for after taking the gun from his friend, the Sultan's thumb was blown off when the Sultan fired it! Examining the situation the friend as usual remarked, "This is good!"

To which the Sultan replied angrily, "No, this is NOT good!" and put his friend in jail. year later, the Sultan was hunting in a dangerous area. Cannibals captured him and took him to their village. They tied his hands, stacked some wood, set up a stake and bound him to it. As they approached to set fire to the wood, they noticed that the Sultan's thumb was missing. Being superstitious, they never ate anyone that was less than whole. So after untying the king, they sent him on his way. As he returned home, he was reminded of the event that has taken his thumb and felt remorse for his treatment of his friend. "You were right," the Sultan said,"it was good that my thumb was blown off."

And he proceeded to tell the friend all that had happened. "And so I am very sorry for sending you to jail for so long. It was bad for me to do this." "No," his friend replied, "This is good!" "What do you mean, 'this is good'? How could it be good that I sent my friend to jail for a year?" "If I had NOT been in jail, I would have been with you."

Situations may not always seem pleasant while we are in them, but the promise of God is clear. If we love Him and live our lives accordingly to His precepts, even which seems to be bleak and hopeless will be turned by God for His glory and our benefit. Hold on..God is faithful!!

(more soon on 'Love'..)

blessings, Sherlyn