Happy New Year!

This time last year I was in Yogyakarta, too busy to even think of a resolution for the year and time just flew without me noticing. I'm glad that somehow I have plenty of time to sit back and think of what I have come to be, not just merely ambition, but as a whole, character, humanity, personal passions and many more.

Looking through my bookshelf back home, suddenly I was drawn to a book that I had bought few years back but never manage to finish it. Therefore I'd decided, I'll go through it thoroughly and make the money worthwhile. I'll be reading through 40days of The Purpose Driven Life - by Rick Warren.

Started on 1st Jan 2010 for day 1, I'd been reminded that every human has a purpose designed by God. Many times we try to put God into our own picture with such a small frame and tell everyone, 'hey, this is my God', but God is so great that our human mind cannot imagine. How unfair that people sometimes just blames God for every bad thing that they went through, or even the natural disaster that had happened to mankind, but who are we to judge what God has in store for us? Therefore never underestimate God, or ourselves, or even the work that God can do through us because we are created by Him for a great purpose. That is for Him to know and for us to find out!

Second day talks about our existence. You and I are not an accident. God never does anything accidentally, and he never makes mistakes. He has a reason for everything He creates. We were designed with a purpose in mind. Even though many times we might be born unplanned by our parents, but God had us in mind long before we were conceived. I remember when I was young, my parents use to tell me that I wasn't in their plan, subconsciously, as a second child, it's never easy for me during my childhood. But God always has His way, His love. Learning about this is an assurance that we exist for a purpose that the creator has for us.

Today I'm in day 3. Was talking to a friend about my commitment to finish the book and he just said, "didn't you read about Rick Warren on yahoo news today?" Rick Warren - $2.4M. Praise God for what He had done in Saddleback Church. Ok, back to the topic of my day 3, titled "What drives your life?". To me, it's an essential question that we should ask ourselves everyday. Many times we think that God is the answer to everything. But we never pause to think, what was our intentions, what was driving us to make that decision in our life? It can be hatred, a painful memory, a haunting fear, guilt or even shame to the extend that we are often being manipulated by those memories or even unconsciously punish ourselves. Some people are driven by the need of approval, trying so hard to please your parents, peer pressure. Rick Warren mentioned that he do not know all the keys to success, but one key to failure is to try to please everyone. Being controlled by every comment that others made about you, lead us to the same dead end: unused potential, unneccessary stress, and an unfulfilled life. Trust me, I know what is he talking about. It wasn't easy to be the perfect student, perfect daughter, perfect friend. People do judge and comment about anything and everything that we do or even not do. But there is always a need to bring ourselves back on track and self-check if it's according to what God has for you.

A purpose driven life gives meaning to our life. God says " For I know the plans for you, plans to prosper and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" (Jer 29:11). Isn't that encouraging that no matter what situation we are in, times of hopelessness we know we are in good hands.

Do encourage your to get hold a copy of the book, go through it together with me. Even if you're not a christian, I'm sure this will help you reflect and find your life's purpose.

Love you lots!