Journal of a journey

move

2008-02-03T19:27:00.000-05:00

I will no longer use this blog. Hmm ... this blog has been really beneficial and there are lots of stuff being written there. So I'll truly miss this one but I'll still keep it though it's inactive. But now...
feel free to visit my newpage at http://reflexionissimo.wordpress.com (but it's building up slowly)
I've started that page since last month but still up until now I don't have time to get things settled in that page. So please bear with me. This moving hopefully signify renewed things, some new commitments too. I found out that wordpress somewhat interesting. So I'm looking forward for many good things happen this year. Okay.

tired

2008-01-04T15:42:00.000-05:00

Tired...
I wanna go "home" (there's two, either one of them). *I wish*
To0 many stuffs happen lately. Lot of decisions to be made. Gosh, I feel it's better to be back in INdo, spending time with my fam, with my fren(s), helping our desperate church to improve our music program, rather than staying here in this strange place and dealing with stuffs that I could have not step into. Oh God, I need Your strength in this new year. Let Your presence be real in my life.

it's (almost) Christmas!

2007-12-22T19:16:00.000-05:00

"This is my third Christmas time without being around my family." I shared this to a friend whom I go with to the service at Southeast Christian Church today. I was surprised that apparently this is his first Christmas time without his family. I can see tears dropping in his eyes a while after we sang "Silent Night" at the church. He's an international student too and he's been studying in US quite longer than I have but this year is the first time he couldn't go back home for Christmas. There's more to it, he won't go anywhere but to stay at the dorm because he has to participate in his church for Christmas day and also studying.
I sympathize to him. He's left with almost nobody and couldn't go anywhere but he seems to be very grateful, still. I still can picture myself vividly in 2005 when I just came here and had my first Christmas. I was so grateful that my friend, Pastor Yandi, from Philadelphia drove all the way to Lynchburg to pick me up to spend Christmas with his church and family. Earlier I thought I was gonna "die" (exaggerating mode). That time, I was somewhat grumbling... why Christmas time feels like this???? Hehe.. silly me. I should learn from this friend who anticipate Christmas with a different attitude although he might experience the same feeling.

Now, I'm grateful that tomorrow I will get a chance to meet my long-time no see friend from Bandung: Hery, who's now in Indianapolis. Then I'll also get a chance to visit my newly-graduated-doctor friend, Pink, at Morgantown, WV. There will be a lot of driving... of course, but it's not too bad. Lots of driving will be balanced with lots of "eating" .. I suppose (???)
I'll still have two Christmas services on Sunday (tomorrow morning and evening) to accompany before I can leave for my vacation. I'm now at home, by myself, did some cleaning work around the house, run errands, and reading a book. Yes, I know, I will miss my family, and in fact I had already. But this is the time where we actually learn to appreciate and cherish our moments with our family because the reality is, there will be a time when we could not be with them for Christmas. The message of Christmas is simple, it happened in a family and among friendships of people: the shepherds, and the wisemen. At some point, they too, can be called: a family. A family of believers, believers of the news. May the Christmas season this year strengthen our ties with our families and friends.

Merry Christmas everyone!

some update

2007-12-16T14:50:00.001-05:00

Achtung! Akhirnya project book translation gue yang pertama jadi jugaaaaa. Fiuhh lega.. rasanya kaya "punya utang" besar banget. Buku ini resmi direlease di Indo 2 bulan lalu, seminggu setelah libur lebaran. Penerbitnya, LLB, is only a "tiny" publisher among all giant publishers in Indo. Buku ini banyak menelan kerja keras dan lebih utama lagi: doa.
Kita udah deg-degan apa bisa direalisasi soale terbentuk faktor duit, beruntung agent royalty disini bersedia kasi kita perpanjangan waktu. Akhirya setelah tertunda kira2 1 thn lebih, jadi juga ni buku: BOY MEETS GIRL by Josh Harris.

Gw dapet info dari penerbit di Bandung, dari cetakan batch pertama sebanyak 1,000 exemplar, dalam waktu kurang dari 2 bulan, stock di gudang tinggal 300. Dari sudut persentase, ini rekor tertinggi sepanjang sejarah mereka. Wow! Praise God! Jadi buku ini cukup booming. Di toko buku yg gua tau, VISI, buku ini langsung laku keras sampe mereka pesen lagi.

Ok, itu cerita ttg buku. Update lainnya mengenai ministry gw di gereja lokal. Udah kira2 sebulan lebih ini gua resmi bergabung dgn New Heights Baptist Church as a pianist di praise team mereka. Gereja ini gak begitu besar tapi sangat welcome dan friendly. Pastornya ternyata lebih muda 1 taun dr gue, tapi keliatannye dia jauh lbh dewasa drpd gue.. hehehe... jauhhh...
Well... kita pasti udah berkali2 denger bhw dimanapun melayani pasti jalan tidak akan selalu lancar dan mudah... Tullll banget. Well, so far, gue blm dapet "tantangan" yg cukup berarti. Jemaat NHBC ini semuanya appreciate dgn pelayanan musik kami. Belakangan, gw dikasi tau pendetanya bhw sbtlnya ada yg "agak sinis" dengan kehadiran gw sebagai pianis. Orang ini ternyata bukan org lain tp "nyokap" dr si "worship leader" di praise team ini. Well, minggu ketiga gue disitu, ada satu ibu2 yg "menginterogasi" gw pagi2 sebelum kebaktian mulai. Gw pikir cuma ngobrol biasa, eh ternyata pertanyaan2nya itu ada "maksud" tertentu, katanya.
Well, tp gak apa2, wong gue melayani bukan untuk dia. Yg pasti dengan adanya hal ini, gw jd selalu diingetin utk apa sebetulnya gw melayani.

Stay tune for the Christmas news.

"hangin there, My child...."

2007-11-15T17:28:00.000-05:00

It's been a rough week. I have just finished my vocal lesson and I think this is the "worst" singing. I don't feel like having a sore throat, but still, the singing is a bit "not delicious" a.k.a. BAD. I'm not sure why.

Maybe because so many things due this week and I seem to be drowned and maybe couldn't even breathe. Well, I participated in the Oratorio Chorus and we just had our concert this past Tuesday. The rehearsal was just fine, we had to stay about half an hour longer during the last two rehearsals but that's okay. The problem was I think our "guest conductor" either put too much target or not enough effort to get things done. After Oratorio rehearsal I have to work in the coffeeshop until 10.30 or 11pm, so that might be one of the causes. Plus, this week I've done many stuffs that due: the LICE class "simulation" on worship service, song arrangement for Musicianship, hymnology quiz&project, the concert. I'm glad it's over. Yes!

However, I still have to finish up several other projects. Plus, preparing for my pre-grad recital in next 3 weeks. I might not be under the weather, but it's just improper rest time, especially if I began to feel sort of headache. Yesterday the weather was quite warm, and today it dropped to 30s I guess, n by the way, I got some snow flurries during the noon.

A bit tired, yes. Scary, yes (what if I can't sing well for the pre-grad). Nervous, yes. Excited, to get it done? Of course.

Oh, well...things will get a lot better in 3 weeks.

...........I’m incapable / You’re all-powerful .....

I lose my way / You are merciful........
I hear the music /And I try to sing along......
You are the author and the orchestra / Of every single song

(t.c.)

just released

2007-11-01T16:49:00.000-04:00

and

Time really flies. I've just realized that it is November already! It feels like yesterday is still January. Well, Christmas is coming really2 soon. Two things you don't wanna miss on Christmas besides "baby Jesus", is of course... "singing and eating". Forget about eating for a while coz it will surely come. But you might don't want to miss good singing and cool music.

Check this out, today I have to choose between these two and finally decided to get the first. After all, Josh's CD is on the 2nd highest music best seller on amazon.com, hard to beat as always. But I got it from Borders with 30% discount coupon.

Well, they are both different genres and styles, and they're good... but my choice is simply practical, bcoz the Buble album only has 7 songs and I personally don't really prefer those songs 'coz they're not really Christmas carols (although the CD price is cheaper too, half-priced of the other one), but I think I will get it later.....

Enjoy the music!

kena tilang

2007-10-25T18:21:00.000-04:00

Hari ini gue dapet parking ticket. Duh 2.5 tahun tinggal di Amrik blon pernah tuh ditilang ngebut or kena pelanggaran parkir, kalo dicium kijang sih sudah pernah, n trust me, ga ada romantis2nya.
Eh hari ini ternyata dapet parking ticket. Arrrghhh. Ceritanya pas ke kampus tadi emang di jalan samping gedung music school ada street cleaning. Kmrn di depan jalan rmh gw juga ada street cleaning jd ga boleh parkir. Well, tadi pas mo masuk kelas gue udah mikir mo parkir dimana lagi, soale emang music building kaga punya parkir buat student jadi ya sdh lah, paling gw geser nanti setelah selesai 1 kelas.
Eh ternyata. Gw kelupaan krn buru2 ngeprint tugas dan mesti masuk kelas berikutnya. Selesai kelas berikutnya pun gue lagi-lagi lupa geser krn gue mesti persiapan buat voice lesson.
Begitu selesai dan ke mobil, yaaa tersebutlah si amplop ijo kinclong bertuliskan "PARKING TICKET" nongol di kaca depan gue.
UNtungnya, setelah gua periksa, di kertas tilangnya cuma disebut "warning" dan denda sebesar $0.00 ......... syukurlah, mak nyooosss.... gue sedikit lega, tapi tetep aje kaga lucu. Siapa sih yg demen ditilang. Untungnya polisi Louisville masi bae2, ngga kaya polisi bdg or jkt.

we're praying for you

2007-10-23T15:16:00.000-04:00

Nous implorons la miséricorde de Dieu;

non afin qu'il nous laisse en paix dans nos vices mais afin qu'il nous en délivre.

We implore the mercy of God, not that He may leave us at peace in our vices, but that He may deliver us from them.

- Pascal -

....Let this blest assurance control,

That Christ has regarded my helpless estate ....

- Spafford -

Eternal Father, strong to save,

Whose arm hath bound the restless wave

- Whiting -

Abba Father, in Thee we trust.

for Esther and David

Something More

2007-10-12T23:35:00.000-04:00

Everything's changed, and I want to believe
There must be a reason, there just has to be
Cause my faith is strong, till it all hits home
And it's not enough for me to trust
When it hurts too much

On the days I feel like I've failed you
The days I feel I've been failed
I need to praise You
For I am Yours, I'm Yours

Where is the power, to give what I gave
Give back the strength
Give back the faith I had yesterday
Cause you are my God
You are my Great I Am
And I know I have fallen but..
I have landed in healing hands

On the days I feel like I've failed you
The days I feel I've been failed
I need to praise You
For I am Yours, I'm Yours

And in my frailty, you lead me to something more
So I close my eyes, cause inside my heart
I believe, that I'm not alone
You'll always be there for me

On the days I feel like I've failed you
The days I feel I've been failed
I know that I need to praise You
For I am yours, still yours
Cause I believe you lead me to something more
Something more, something more

by: Kristy Starling

lesson from lemon

2007-10-07T20:45:00.000-04:00

This week I learned a lesson through my sore throat and cold (dohh still nyambung ye, ga beres2...). Oh btw, thanks for your prayers, I have now regained my voice again and the cold/flu is GONE. Yeaaaach! I think I spent 3 big chunk of lemons and 1 medium bottle of honey for the past 4-5 days. AND IT WORKS, MY FRIENDS! Believe it or not, it works! Just have a good amount of rest, a plentiful amount of drink, and take some standard medicines if you need.
Ok. What kind of lesson I'm talking about? It's about a lesson of life. I tell you a secret.
I hate lemons and I hate honey.
Yaiks!
Are you kidding me?
Just to be frank. I never liked those stuffs. However, it was really interesting that when I realize that I got the cold and flu problem, I remember an old advice to take those stuffs. So before the problem got worse, I just drank 'em though I hate 'em
Well, now I'm gonna talk about another thing. I asked a fren about going to the gym to exercise. I've been doing that more intensely since I'm here in L-ville. I asked him how often he went exercise while he was still actively doing that. He said quite often.
Let me tell you another secret. I used to hate running and lifting weights or exercise. Now? I do it again and again.
Bottom line is, I'm trying to apply the principle taken from these realities in life. There are times in our lives where we should have done something necessary for the benefits of our lives, but we reluctant to do it. The problem could be anything. Take an easy example. Which one sounds better? Studying for test or watching movies while enjoying chips n dips? I guess most people would answer the latter is the easiest one. We are humans inclined to do the BAD rather than the GOOD. (No matter how good we are. Ever feel that way?) Our sinful and selfish nature preoccupies that we would rather choose evil than good. I have to admit that this is one of my weaknesses. I'm in the point of life where I'm trying to do something GOOD based to the fact that I need it, although I might having the "hate" feelings of doing it. And I believe everyone would agree that it's not easy at all. Anywhere at one point of our lives, we will have to drink the sour-ness of the lemon of life. And there's more sour in it than in the regular lemon. (Everybody still agree????) I learned this through the sickness. Still a whole lot thing to learn. Well, the bad news is that it's much easier to talk than to do it. The good news is, there's no way we can do it except by relying to God's grace. That's all.

Lord, help me... help us.

aretha franklin

2007-10-03T15:58:00.000-04:00

I almost lost my voice.
It was started from having a sort of cold a couple days ago. I didn't have a runny nose but I knew that something's wrong. Three days ago I was still practicing and I can reach high notes so I thought everything was fine. The following day, we went down to Nashville and it was still ok. Yesterday, I started to realize that something's wrong with my throat. Earlier this week, I already drank honey and lemon water. TODAY, I could not sing during the practice with the accompanist. It was more like Aretha Franklin's low-low voice. Ouch.
At least I don't lose all my voice and do grateful for that. Another effect is, somehow I can listen to my voice more clearly (I guess it's because the "mindeng"ness), so it sounded a bit different, hehehe...
Hope I'll get my voice again pretty soon.

*dadidudidoodoo....*

from weakness to meekness

2007-09-11T17:07:00.000-04:00

The past few days and even until today, I've got several messages. Not text messages (sms) or those other kinds, but the above message. It could be because I'm at one of the lowest/weakest point so I got all these multilayered thoughts to reflect (?) Sometimes when God speaks to us intensively, it means we really need that, doesn't it? One of them came from Pastor Ryan Fullerton's preaching this past Sunday morning at Immanuel. He was speaking about the "impossibles."

1. Christian life is impossible
It is not hard, difficult, demanding, challenging, nor it is doable, but it is impossible. There is a big difference between becoming a Christian and being a Christian.
2. Christian forgiveness is impossible.
70x7 in human terms could end in bitterness, divorce, civil war, or even genocide.
3. Christian suffering is impossible
Too many examples to describe. Paul often found himself on near-to-death experience in his life.
4. Christian ministry is impossible.
It is not only about using gifts and talents, but it's about crucifix, laying down our life for others.

In short, the Christian is always against the impossible. But praise the Lord. Just as Joshua led God's people to cross that mighty Jordan river (in Joshua 3-4), which was impossible to do, we can acknowledge our weaknesses and depend to God. Yes, we know that Christian life is impossible, and it's not our job to make it possible, either. Our challenge is to turn the focus, from our weakness, all the impossibles, difficulty, suffering, failures... etc., to God's presence. This is our part, and this is still possible. God is the One who works in the realm of the impossibles anyway, not us. Always remember that God can do the impossible.

As long as we're stick with Him, all impossibles can be possible.

hello

2007-09-08T23:55:00.000-04:00

I've only talked with him once but I got this in my inbox.

........

As Christians, it behooves us to live out our faith 24/7 and to understand that we may be under the microscope at any given moment. Genesis 17:1b says, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless.” In other words, Christians should spend every day attempting to live blamelessly before God. And, we should also live blamelessly before others.

But is it even possible to live a blameless or faultless life?
Of course not.
We are all victims of our fleshly nature. Certainly we cannot fully live out our faith on our own.
Attempting to do so is nothing beyond a prescription for failure.

Living lives of diligent faith can be accomplished only when we completely trust God to be preeminent in our lives.
This begins with daily prayer and Bible reading so that our hearts are prepared to be worthy representatives of Christ at home, in the workplace and in our backyards.
This also begins by being honest with ourselves, identifying our weaknesses and casting those cares upon Christ, knowing that we cannot address our own flaws and inadequacies apart from Him.

Robert Murray M’Cheyne (1813-1843) said, “What a man is alone on his knees before God, that he is, and no more.”

Apart from Scripture, there may be no more powerful statement ever made regarding the Christian life. It cuts to the core of our beings.
We cannot lie before God or bargain with Him because He knows our every thought and motive. At the same time, He is also our great advocate who wants to forgive our sins and to facilitate our quest for holiness.

Here is the greatest thing about the Christian life: we have the Spirit of God living within us. In John 14:17, Jesus stated, “… but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you and shall be with you.”

What comfort He gives in trying times.

What encouragement He gives in difficult times.

What wisdom He gives in uncertain times.

What friendship He gives in lonely times.

In return, should we not be living our lives so that others want to understand the joys of knowing Christ?
If indeed the Spirit of God lives within us, we have a source of strength that allows us to live above our capabilities; we can actually live beyond ourselves through Christ.
So then, when we serve God in sincerity and in truth (Joshua 24:14), not only can we live victoriously, we don’t have to wonder if people who are observing us are seeing a proper picture of the Christian life.

Not I, but Christ

Pastor Jonathan Falwell

psalm 42

2007-09-03T00:59:00.000-04:00

Why art thou cast down, O my soul?
and why art thou disquieted in me?
hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance
Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts:
all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.
Yet the LORD will command his lovingkindness in the day time,
and in the night his song shall be with me,
and my prayer unto the God of my life.

-king david-

question

2007-09-01T00:07:00.000-04:00

Has anybody ever experienced that you have to do something (your responsibility), but you just don't want to do it at the moment???
Kaya yang susaaaah bener gitu? Padahal sebetulnya simple...

Eegghhh...

2007-08-22T19:40:00.000-04:00

quote for today... hmm... this week ....?

God is absolutely not concerned about whether you're (I'm) having a great day today. What God is fired up about is producing the likeness of Christ in you (me), for your (my) own good and for His glory. That's real, selfless love. God has dreams for you (me); God sees things in you (me) that could be if you (I) would allow Him to demonstrate His fullest work in your (my) heart and life. That's God's love that He's working out for your (my) highest good.

James McDonald

credit

2007-08-15T22:02:00.000-04:00

stinkin (long) day!

day one

2007-08-13T17:35:00.000-04:00

Hari ini gue memulai 'chapter baru' (jayus ah) di SBTS. Waktu kemaren ini perwalian/advising, belon apa2 gue uda dikasi 'warning' sama academic advisor, kan gua ceritanya ambil 13, eh... dia bilang.. "Sam, that's too much." Tapi, dasar ini otak uda jalan duluan, sebelum dia ngomong gitu, gue udah punya senjata amunisi.... hehehe gue tunjukin dah itu jadwal lengkap yg gua bikin berikut kelas-kelas yg gua ambil.... Alhasil, si dosen ini "nurut" hehehe.. malah akhirnya dari 13 credit, jadi 14, krn ada salah perhitungan... Eh, begitu pulang, gue baru nyadar, ternyata masih ada salah perhitungan juga..... jadinya merangkak ke angka "15." Intinya ada 4 kelas teori yg gua ikutin: Musicianship I (teori dasar musik), Intro to Music Ministry, Intro to Hymnology, sama Contemporary Expressions of Worship. Itu semua jadi 10 credits. Sisanya yg 5 itu berupa pre-grad voice class, piano class, sama 2 choirs. Alamaaaaxx... Masi belon selesai. Gue kerja 16 jam di warnet, dan ronda 2 jam di warung kopi... tiap Senin malem... (oh ya, gue blm cerita, kopi disini ga enakkk banget.. hoekks....) Pokonya seru banget deh semester ini. Hehehe.. jadi inget pas dulu kuliah di Unpar semester pertama, jadi sarjana "intro" or "pengantar." Well, liat aja deh nti gimane sepak terjangnya... Apalagi sekarang ini tiap kelas most likely bakal ada PR utk setiap pertemuan... tuh.. seru khaaan?

the art of art

2007-08-01T21:06:00.000-04:00

Ok. Libur Summer 2007 udah menginjak minggu ke.... ke brp yah? Lupa eui.... pokonya yg jelas skrg kita ada di hari pertama bulan Agustus.... wakkhhhhh????????????? Bentar lagi masuk semester fall donk? IYa!!!!!!!!!!! Idih prasaan gue baru pindahan gitu dari Lynchburg (desa). Well, gue udah ampir 3 minggu kerja di SBTS. Sebelumnya gue cuma bisa bilang ini semua krn berkat Tuhan. I mean, dari awal. Gua dapet kesempatan utk kerja di 2 tempat sekaligus, ternyata.... Gak cuma Founder's Cafe tapi juga di Computer Lab. 2 minggu lalu tepatnya, gua ditelp supervisor lab ditawarin kerja, tadinya emang gua uda apply kerja disini cuma ntah gimana ada org lain yg applicationnya diforward duluan, jadi gue kesusul padahal gue yg lebih dulu diinterview. Well, lumayan cape juga sih kerja di 2 tempat, apalagi dua-duanya sama2 spesialis jaga "warung." Satu warung kopi, satu warung internet... hehehe.... Dua-duanya sama2 hrs menangani "pelanggan." Sekarang baru mulai kerasa nihhhhh capenya. Walaupun gua bersyukur krn ga ada masalah dlm adjustment kerja di 2 tempat ini. Kaya misalnya hari ini walaupun baru 2 minggu kerja di Founder's, gua udah dipercaya nge-training 1 anak yg baru masuk kerja juga, hari kedua. Dohhh padahal itu cafe jual barang kayanya cukup banyak jg. Gue tadi masuk jam 3 sore sampe jam 7 kurang, terus langsung lanjoooottttt ke Comp. Lab ngeronda dari jam 7 sampe 11 mlm. Haiaaa! Bablas!!!!
Ok. Itu soal kerja. Now, about my preparation for placement exam in the school of church music. Gue uda dapet jadwal dan apa2 aja yg mesti bakal diuji. Bisa lolos semua? In your dreams, deh. Gua ga ada rencana ngegol-in semua. Well, ada beberapa hal basic yg gua coba dan do-able (or feasible) buat ditembusin... such as: piano proficiency, sightsinging, sama conducting. Yg laen2nya seperti written harmony, ear training, orchestration, history-literature, dll... jangan ngimpii deh.... uda jelas gue ga pernah menyentuh makanan2 begituan, so gue uda siap2 bakal ambil kelas2 pre-grad ini semua. Tapi yg di atas 3 tadi, well, mo dicoba sebisanya supaya bisa lolos kelas2 itu jadi gak usah ambil lagi.
Well, skrg konsentrasi gue beralih ke nyiapin "conducting." Ada bbrp buku yg lagi dibaca2 dan ini sekarang juga lagi liatin contoh orang2 conducting di youtube. Terakhir conduct padsu (yg serius) gue inget pas PS SMUK1 mo ikutan FPS ITB taun 2000, dohh itu teh kenangan pahit gara2 kita kalah sama Aloy (HERAN!! mrk kok bisa2nya nyanyiin lagu pilihan bebas dan lagu "bebas" yang SAMA PERSIS sama kita..., pulang2 festival pada nangis pedihhh semua.. trophy bergilir batal jadi trophy tetap gara2 dicolong.... hahaha).
Soal piano, I guess kuncinya ada di practice and practice.... (practice makes perfect... yea yea..)
Well, semua juga perlu practice... namanya juga seni... Balik lagi soal kerja di cafe, gue sempet deg2an pas disuruh bikin "Calzone" ... hah? paan tuh Calzone? Gue cuma liat temen gue bikin sekali, eh pas kebagian gue yg bikin, yg pesen mintanya 4 biji.... Halahhhhh.... Bikinan yg pertama mengandalkan teori, yg kedua mengandalkan 1x kesalahan, yg ketiga mengandalkan 2x bikin sblmnya which is teori dan kesalahan. Yg keempat? Mengandalkan ke-malu-an... hehehe, maksudnya malu2in kalo uda 3x bikin berurutan masi tetep salah juga....

*calzone itu mirip pizza isinya tapi adonannya ditutup jadi kaya martabak asin*

spirit talk

2007-07-31T19:10:00.000-04:00

Many of us appear to be all right in general, but there are still some areas in which we are careless and lazy, it is not a matter of sin, but the remnants of our carnal life that tend to make us careless. Carelessness is an insult to the Holy Spirit....

Not only must our relationship to God be right, but the outward expression of that relationship must also be right. ....

God will bring us back in countless ways to the same point over and over again. And He never tires of bringing us back to that one point until we learn the lesson, because His purpose is to produce the finished product. It may be a problem arising from our impulsive nature, but again and again, with the most persistent patience, God has brought us back to that one particular point. ...

Beware of becoming careless over the small details of life and saying, "Oh that will have to do for now." Whatever it may be, God will point it out with persistence until we become entirely His..

cf. James 1:4

oc-mufhh

SPIDERMAN 4: Finale

2007-07-23T22:02:00.001-04:00

Jangan maen-maen sama yg namanya BAYGON.

summer story

2007-07-16T21:23:00.000-04:00

Today I've started to work again. I'm now working at Founder's Cafe at our school. It's really an interesting job, it really is. Not only interesting but you also have to be able to do different stuffs. I'm now able to make pizza in just 10-15 minutes, that's the easiest one by the way. There are some other menus in our cafe/coffeeshop like different sandwiches or wraps. I have to be able to make those.... fheww.. it was fun though....
Since now we're still on summer time, there aren't many people around the school, not as many as the regular semester. Usually, the line at Founder's Cafe could be really tough especially during lunch hours or even morning coffee/breakfast time. It would drive us crazy. Today, I was taught how to make pizza, sandwiches and subs, smoothies, coffee..etc.
Our manager, Ken, is actually out of town this week, so I was trained by a fellow worker. Btw, talking about Ken's leaving for vacation, I guess everybody's happy with that (??!??)... My friend told me, yeach, it's good for him, good for us, good for everybody... hahhahaha... Wait until you see our manager, probably you'd understand... He's a cool dude actually.... but unique too... Speaking about espri't de corps here, I guess our cafe is running a good business. Well, I began to learn new things in my job, I have no choice, but I like it so far. The good thing is... since I got the evening shift which means closing time, I can bring home some donuts and muffins (left overs)... yumm... They're good... and FREE (that's the best part)!

Speaking about school, I'm still finishing up two paperworks for THE WORSHIPPING CHURCH class, they're due this week. Then, I still have to prepare for my placement exam in the following August. Still have to practice several piano repertoires and hymns and one singing repertoire. I think that's the only area where I can do most. Maybe this is one of the advantages of transferring school during Summer where you can prepare your stuffs earlier, do some classes earlier, and work too...in order to get a spoon of rice and a bucket of diamonds (lol... Indo idioms)...

no idea

2007-07-14T15:49:00.000-04:00

Udah lama gue ga ngeblog. Belakangan ini cukup sibuk. Ambil 2 summer classes serta sempet ngacirrr liburan beberapa hari. Mudah-mudahan minggu depan udah bisa ngeblog lagi dengan ide segar dan sehat (kayak iklan susu aja)...

when God allows some days to happen

2007-06-15T20:38:00.000-04:00

I don't know how should I call "today." There are some days in life where you just hope that it would not happen. Maybe I should say today is one of them. Hmm...
Two days ago I had a car breakdown. When I was about to leave campus it suddenly stopped. So yesterday I had to leave my car in Mazda dealership, since I would rather have their mechanics look my car thoroughly. I know that I got that car, a relatively not an old one, but with a much cheaper price and I realize that probably it would need some work someday. But please Lord not right now.... (grin). Anyway, today, I just found out that the cost to fix that car is probably equivalent to 90 hours payrate of work. Ok, I'm broke! Errrghhhh.... That's a big chunk of money, oh well... I know that God provides what I need. Amen. It's just one of those feeling while me being a student living in a foreign land, there are times when I cast doubt.

Ok, then I got back home. I was about to do my laundry work. Since I've just moved in to Peterson Manor, it's been a while since I last time did a laundry work here when I was just visiting previous times. I forgot that I should have separated my clothes in two batches of work. HA!!!!! Then my white clothes have their color messed up! Ugghhh. Sebel deh! Well, as the old saying: "the rice has now become porridge." What are you gonna do, eat 'em up!
Yo wes... At least I'm still grateful that there are only 3 "wounded" t-shirts anyway.

Then, I went to the gym to have a bit of exercise and to the pool for swimming, trying to ease up the hectic-ness of the day and relax a little bit. After I finished and grab my wallet and cellphone, suddenly there's an incoming text message from Bandung. I got a sad news from our home church. One of the board leaders just passed away at the ICU in Immanuel Hospital today at 4 am (WIB). Man, I almost can't believe it. He's not even close to 50 yet. He's one of the most humble and generous leader in our church. Many-many times I exchange emails with him when he update me about things in our church. I still remember when we talk via e-mail, he's always asked me when I return home so that we can continue God's work. I must say that I'm very surprised with his passing. He's in a much better place right now. Life is short indeed, although there are some days when we feel that it's soooo looongggg.

Revelation 7:17
For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

Yes, Lord, be the center of our heart, lead us to the springs of living waters, and we believe that you will wipe away every tear from our eyes.

new outlook

2007-06-07T20:30:00.000-04:00

Ok, I've just changed my blog with a new look. It symbolizes another mundane transition in my life right now. As some of you probably have already known, I've been accepted at SBTS to continue my education. It has gone through a series of considerations, prayers, phone calls, emails, informations, dialogs/conversations. I've finally decided to sharpen my knowledge and experience in the area of music, in which I believe that I haven't really understand much at all. I'll drop by at some time with a more detail information. As for now, 'waiting' is the only word that suits here as I still have to face that 'placement test/exam' in August. Meanwhile, life in Louisville, Ky has been great. Yes, I do miss Lynchburg with all of its stories, and I'll come over to visit that place again, sometime....
I won't be able to come fly home this Summer and I can enjoy that, besides, there's plenty of things to do here... So, it's gonna be really interesting. Stay tune. By the way, maybe I can get some feedbacks, yeach I know .. I know... I'm still trying to figure out how to fix that dagger. Please bear with me as I'm still new.

gone

2007-05-25T18:36:00.000-04:00

Saya terakhir udah bbrp hari menghilang kaga blogging, kecuali pas tanggal 18 dan kemarin. Pengangguran teladan nih ceritanya? Hehe.. ya dan tidak. Nih saya kasi tau ngapain aja selama seminggu ini:

Senin 21/5 - Istirahat dirumah seharian, mulai beres-beres. Sorenya ditelp Pastor David dia baru beli TV Flat Screen 51" minta saya bantu angkatin dari trucknya ke dlm rumah. Terus istrinya masak bikin baked chicken, hmm chickennya enak. Abis itu ya cipika cipiki ... namanya juga perpisahan....

Selasa 22/5 - Lynchburg bisa dibilang "lumpuh" total krn ada funeral service Dr. Falwell. Semua sekolah diliburin, traffic katanya bakal macet taunya super sepi. Semua orang pada gosip bhw President Bush dan Daddy Bush Sr. bakal hadir, eh ternyata kabarnya beneran dari burung alias boong. White House cuma kirim asistennya Bush. Ada Franklin Graham dan Rick Warren yg dateng. Gue tadinya mau ke TRBC ikut funeral service, tapi berhubung baru bangun jam 10.30, maka saya hadir di udara saja dlm doa dan putar TV untuk nonton acaranya, hehe.

Rabu 23/5 - Koran-koran heboh expose soal anak LU yg bawa bom molotov di mobilnya pas ikutan acara funeral, katanya itu utk ngewarning protester Dr Falwell. Itu anak bener2 kurang kerjaan. Hari Rabu saya diundang lunch, KOREAN BBQ, sama tiga cewek Korea sakti, Hye-Lim, Hye-Ryun, dan Skye. Gile tu BBQ asik banget.

Kamis 24/5 - Lanjut beres-beres dan packing2. Ben dateng ke rumah. Dia sejak minggu lalu udah pindah ke apartment barunya. Kmrn dia dateng dan kita sama2 beres2 dan bebersih di rumah sini. Sorenya pergi makan di Schmokeys Grill di Wyndhurst dgn Justin dan Lindsey, ini sandwich/burger khas-nya orang South. Pic-nya yang dibawah postingan ini.

Jumat 25/5 - Pagi tadi saya nongol di kantor sekolah, ceritanya pamitan sesuai janji krn hari ini kan Jumat, hari terakhir kerja sebelum weekend. Senin saya udah cabut dan disini public holiday so ga ada waktu lagi. Yah, tadi pelok2an dan cipika cipiki lagi dah sama para ibu2 kantor itu. Siangnya mampir ke Olive Garden.

Busyettt, beberapa hari terakhir ini saya jadi pengangguran teladan, yang artinya makan 2terusss. Maklum, sebentar lagi akan meninggalkan Lynchburg kota kecil tercinta, jadi di rumah Sandusky Drive ini lagi bertemakan packing-packing dan makan-makan. Saya bakal pindah demikian pula roommate saya, si mas Benjamin or "Dr Forrest."
Hari ini hari terakhir dia di Lynchburg karena besok subuh bakal terbang balik ke Idaho, the potato land. So pada mencar deh satu persatu. Ok gotta run some errands. I will post the updates.

At the end of the day

2007-05-24T21:11:00.000-04:00

At the end of the day
When all papers go away
And lips just ain't enough to say
With friends going out each on their way

At the end of the day
When a dreamer passed away
A man of courage, wisdom, and passion that fully sway
A week full of memories in the month of May
A city where its skies turned to gray

At the end of the day
When all heads bowed down
When everyone looked to the Son
And thank Him for all that He has done

At the end of the day
When everybody’s gone
And I continue to move on
Reaching that vision, shining that beacon

At the end of the day
While looking at His shimmering ray
I hope my Master would say
“Well done, thou good and faithful servant,”

Lynchburg, May 2007

on my graduation day

2007-05-18T14:26:00.000-04:00

this faithful servant of God will be most remembered as
a beloved husband, father, grandfather, pastor, and chancellor

Dr. Jerry Falwell
(August 11, 1933 - May 15, 2007)

"winners never quit, quitters never win"

di belakang sekolahku

2007-05-05T10:41:00.000-04:00

Duh hebat si tante.. sekarang udah pada pake seragam... ckckckk..
Tante..... mauuu tuh kerupuknya yg di atas...

untitled hymn

2007-05-02T22:58:00.000-04:00

Weak and wounded sinner
Lost and left to die
O, raise your head, for love is passing by
Come to Jesus
Come to Jesus
Come to Jesus and live!

Now your burden's lifted
And carried far away
And precious blood has washed away the stain, so
Sing to Jesus
Sing to Jesus
Sing to Jesus and live!

And like a newborn baby
Don't be afraid to crawl
And remember when you walk
Sometimes we fall...so
Fall on Jesus
Fall on Jesus
Fall on Jesus and live!

Sometimes the way is lonely
And steep and filled with pain
So if your sky is dark and pours the rain, then
Cry to Jesus
Cry to Jesus
Cry to Jesus and live!

O, and when the love spills over
And music fills the night
And when you can't contain your joy inside, then
Dance for Jesus
Dance for Jesus
Dance for Jesus and live!

And with your final heartbeat
Kiss the world goodbye
Then go in peace, and laugh on Glory's side, and
Fly to Jesus
Fly to Jesus
Fly to Jesus and live!

Chris Rice

fun at the gator's land

2007-04-28T16:20:00.000-04:00

First Baptist Church Orlando, brantakan yee...

Daytona/NASCAR track

orlando yang bukan bloom atau magic

2007-04-24T01:06:00.000-04:00

Pegelllll. Cuma itu doank yg bisa gw bilang. Ini baru aja nyampe di Florida, tepatnya Orlando... Gw dan 5 seminary students lainnya berangkat tadi pagi (harusnya..), gara2 tmn yg bawa mobil telat, janji jam 8, baru cabut jam 11.30 .... (bule jg masi bisa telat tho..). So setelah perjalanan di darat selama kurang lebih 12-13 jam yg melelahkan... akhirnya sampe juga di Orlando. Hueeee...
Pegelnya ga ketulungan deh... Untungnya..... emang God knows what's best for us. Yg berangkat polll cuma 6 orang, pake jeep Chevy Tahoe yg sebetulnya lega tapi berhubung kita semua bawa barang n berenam, seatnya bisa dibilang pas-pasan. MSSSS mobil sangat sempit sampe selonjoran saja suseeehhh.
Kita tinggal di rumah temen-nya temen gw. A nice one.. I guess... quite decent. Neighborhoodnya mengingatkan gw dengan salah satu wilayah di Jakarta yg gw lupa namanya apa... di tengah kota... Tanjung Duren gitu? Maklum Orlando kan kota gede nan sempit utk ukuran Amrik krn populasi cukup padat. Kita kesini dlm rangka ada conference yg kita mesti dateng n make the report....
Which is kind fun.... one way to get away from school... (yeee padahal wisuda udah kurang dr sebulan.. masii aja seneng maen!!) Apalagi biaya pendaftarannya dari $150 direduce jadi $50 utk students.
Anyway, cape banget. We'll see what's this city has for us to revel in these 3-4 days. Yg pasti rombongan ini menarik. Bule ada 2, Asian ada 4 hahaha... 3 Korea and me Indonesian. Bule jadi minority. Pictures menyusul tentunya.

deceiving looks

2007-04-20T11:37:00.000-04:00

Hey guess what, I have this conversation at the office.

H - coworker
M - me

H : Hey... do you guys want to see my parent's picture?
(then I looked at the picture)
M : Oh.. your parent's seems so young.
H : They are. Guess how old they are.
M : Uhm.. I don't know... 45 maybe... 40?
H : Nope. Not even 40.
M : Not even forty????????????
H : Nope... not even forty. He's not even forty yet.
M : Hmm .... (I thought.. welcome to America.....)
H : Yup.. see.. that's why he's so handsome...
(yea rite... you tell me with that mustache and beard all around)
H : He will turn to be forty this year, though...
M : Ok.. so thirty-nine, huh?
(jeezz.. thirty nine....)
M : So how about your grand parents???
H : You can look at them. I've got their pictures with me.
(Then I looked at her grand parents' pic)
M : This is...your grandpa and grandma? They looked even younger than my parent's
(everybody was laughing.......)
M : How old are they?
H : Well, my grandma is 47.
M : Now wait..???? Your grandma is now really younger than my mom!
H : Yeach...
(now everyone turn their heads toward our conversation...)
M : Oh man.. This is incredible....
H : Well, our family has a unique history of having children earlier... lol
M : Ok.. how old are you then?
H : I'm 20.
(she looks like 24 or something)
M : So you got married when you're 19, rite?
(She married last Summer)
H : Rite.. Well... My mom got me before she got married with Dad
M : I see... f-y-i, my grandmother will turn to be 85 this year... haha
H : Is she still alive?
M : Sure she is.

*grin*

Today We Are All Hookies

2007-04-17T09:53:00.000-04:00

The Lord is my light and my salvation—
so why should I be afraid?
The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger,
so why should I tremble?
When evil people come to devour me,
when my enemies and foes attack me,
they will stumble and fall.
Though a mighty army surrounds me,
my heart will not be afraid.
Even if I am attacked, I will remain confident.
The one thing I ask of the Lord—
the thing I seek most—
is to live in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
delighting in the Lord’s perfections
and meditating in his Temple.
For he will conceal me there
when troubles come;
he will hide me in his sanctuary.
He will place me out of reach on a high rock.
Then I will hold my head
high above my enemies who surround me.
At his sanctuary I will offer sacrifices
with shouts of joy,
singing and praising the Lord with music.

(Psalm 27:1-6, NTL)

For the families and friends of the victims and shooter at the Virginia Tech massacre, 16 April 2007

another cultural... thing....

2007-04-13T23:49:00.000-04:00

One more paperwork down tomorrow and my life will be much better by next week... Hehehe..

Bbrp minggu terakhir ini gue kepikir sesuatu, not something new at all. Biasalah, soal si dia.. maksudnya sapa lagi kalo bukan tetangga ranjang sebelah alias roommate. Namanya juga berbagi ruang, alias berbagi space, plus berbagi makan kadang2, akhirnya mah tetep juga berbagi hidup. Hidup dia kayaknya spt diinvasi, hidup gue juga tentunya.
Nah, terakhir ini ada satu masalah yang udah pernah kami bahas, n sama2 mengerti, cuma nga tao deh pokonya hari ini tau2 mood gue jadi kembali terpengaruhi. RM gue itu org yg lumayan talkative dan demen ngobrol sama orang, siapa aja. Sangat2 positiflah pokonya. Friendly.
Cuma jadi ada efeknya jg, dia sering banget telepon alias kayanya ga pernah bisa lepas dari HPnya. Yang bikin lebih seru, nyokapnya itu sangat2 perhatiin anaknya. Well, cukup dimengerti, soalnya bo-nyoknya punya anak tiga cowo dan tiga2 udah 'dilepaskan' semua... hehehe... RM gw paling tua, yg kedua udah married punya anak so otomatis dah ga tinggal bareng ortu, dan yg ketiga baru aja masuk LU taun kmrn. Dan kayanya nyokapnya itu sangat2 merasa kesepian jadilah dia rajin 'absen' ketiga anaknya tiap hari. Sampe si menantu/adik ipar RM gw cukup iritated juga gara2 ni ibu mertua neleponin suaminya melulu. Hihihi... cemburu sama mertua sendiri....
Dan RM gw tentunya tiap hari at least dua kali nyokap RM gw telp dia pas dia lg di rumah. Gue di kamar mandi, suara dia cukup tajam jd kedengeran, palagi suara enyaknya, ... dohhh itu biarin bukan handsfree mode juga tetap sajaa... menggelegar sodara-sodara. Dan sekalinya bicara bisa bermenit2... bukan 1, 2, tapi ya setengah jam juga dilakonin.... Berhubung RM gw pemimpin project persekutuan di kampus, jadi punya anak buah banyak, ibarat manager, semua anak buahnya jg suka ditelp n dicek satu2... which artinya makin sering bicara di telp di rmh.
Ya gue kagum sih, hubungan ortu-anak bisa sampe sebegitu... Mungkin krn jauh-jauh dekat, tinggal telp nationwide masi bisa kejangkau so mereka lakonin juga. Tapi...hmm gue ga tau napa, tetep aja ada rasa ngga comfy somehow. Kita dulu pernah bahas n dia kayanya coba utk avoid stay di kamar kalo pas lagi telp, n naik ke atas. Tapi ya saking sering dan tiba2.. jadi mungkin dia jg ya cape bolak balik. Gue bakal ngomong lagi sih soal ini.
Cuma ya... gue wondering aja, knp gue bisa ga comfy pdhal ini sebetulnya soal sepele banget. Mungkin krn gue sendiri selama 2 thn ini bisa dibilang jarang 'ditelp' ortu. Biasanya gue yg telp, dan sekalinya telp, biasa bawaannya pengen cepet2 udahan pdhal gue masi mau ngobrol....

Mungkin gue iri juga sih dgn dia. Ah pooknya mood gue hari ini jelek. Jelekkkkkk banget.

Paskah!

2007-04-08T22:22:00.000-04:00

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

BESOK LIBUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

walaupun cuma sehari
masih tetap berarti
hehehe
met paskah ye semuanye...

pasporrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

2007-04-02T22:44:00.000-04:00

Layaknya perantau yang sedang belajar di negri orang, paspor tu penting n bisa dibilang surat 'hidup-mati' selain I-20 form (di Amrik). Nah, paspor gue diissue taun 2002, so taun ini bentar lagi udah mo abis masa berlaku. Bbrp minggu lalu gue ajuin permohonan bikin paspor baru ke Kedutaan di DC. Menariknya, setelah nanya sana sini, ternyata harga bikin paspor di Amrik lebih murah daripada di Indo. Di Indo denger2 sekarang bikin paspor harga 'gabah' alias resminya tu Rp 450rb-500rb. (Kalo ngipas jadi brp, mungkin bisa hampir sejutaan kali). Nah, di Embassy Indonesia harga paspor kira2 setengahnya!!! Alias $22 saja,... rekkk. So gue bersemangat apalagi prosesnya lebih gampang, tinggal kirim paspor lama, isi form, kirim money order, sama pas photo, udah deh beres, pake pos. Tujuh hari kerja bereslah sudah. CUMA, paspornya mesti langsung diambil in-person kaga boleh diwakilin, masuk akal juga, karena gue mesti tandatangan di bukunya. So, gue minggu lalu telp bagian konsuler dan tanya soal pengambilan, soale gue Senin-Jumat full ga bisa keluar kota krn 'pelajar' nih ceritanya, kecuali Senin gue bisa usahakan datang menghadap di Kedutaan tapi gak mungkin jam 1. (Btw, gue heran mereka cuma buka dari jam 9-13). Nah, kata si bapak petugas, ok boleh aja dateng antara jam 3-5, kantor technically masih buka, tapi mesti pake perjanjian. OK DEH, kata gue, gue mo dateng hari Senin ini jam 3an. Gimana, Pak? Okey kata si Bapak.
Nah, gue hari ini dateng, Lynchburg-DC tuh kira2 3.5 jam pake mobil. Rencananya bareng temen gue yg di DC karena dia hrs ambil paspor juga, n dia baru punya anak ke-2, alias ex-ibu hamil jadinya kaga bisa pergi sendiri, mesti ditemenin krn bawa pasukan. So dia jg telp kedutaan.
Ehhh, pas gue udah setengah perjalanan lebih, temen gue telp, barusan Kedutaan telp, kata mereka NGGA BISA ambil paspor hari ini, soalnya ada tamu, jadi petugasnya pergi semua.
"Ya elah... dalem hati gue, napa beraniin bikin appointment terus maen langsung batalin gini."
Dongkollah hatiku, laahh napa baru sekarang kasi tau. Temen gue juga udah keburu panas n mo marah2in tu orang konsuler. "Jadi GIMANA DONK MBA, ITU TEMEN SAYA UDAH JAUH DATENG2 DARI LUAR KOTA, KO BISA SEENAKNYA GITU?????"
Ewhh, kalo gue jadi si mba gue bakal tutup kuping karena temen gue ini kalo dah ngambek syerem soalnya. (Hehehe.. di Indo mana ada sejarahnya yg bikin paspor marah2in orang Imigrasi, yg terjadi biasanya sebaliknya...)
Terus dia telp gue lagi, n gue bilang, udah deh, gue yg pasti ngga akan balik lagi, gue penasaran, udah kagok gitu..., kita perjuangkan nasib!
Agak seru juga karena di jalan ada road work jadi lalu lintas sempet matot selama 15 menit, uhh berharga tuh buat yg diburu2. Akhirnya kita nyampe jam 3 di depan pintu KBRI Washington DC yang megah. Ada 6 mobil baru berplat diplomat, bertengger di parking lot-nya. Gue bingung liat pemandangannya, ini mana negara kaya, mana negara miskin? Di sebelah KBRI ada Portugal Embassy, negara yg lebih kaya, gedungnya lebih mungil kayak flat apartment, mobilnya cuma satu, tua renta pula. Hehehe...
Anyway, gue masuk ke dalem lobby disambut oleh garuda pancasila segede buta,
heran, nga di Indo nga di Amrik, namanya gedung pemerintah, pasti ada burung garuda yg gede, dipasang ditembok, persis dihadapan pintu masuk(nga ngerti gue, supaya si burung observe tiap tamu gitu ya?) Gue maksa tetep mau ambil paspor krn udah janjian, kasian si kakek yg jaga switchboard, berkali2 dia telepon bagian konsuler, ga dijawab. Akhirnya entah setelah telepon yg keberapa kali, ada ibu2 yg jawab. Barulah gue boleh masuk ke kantor konsuler.
Nah, paspor gue pun didapat. Akhirnyaaaaaaa....
Cuma gw masi bingung, awalnya gue semangat, wahhh paspor gue kali ini udah bukan 'made in bandung' lagi tapi 'issued in Washington, DC. Gaya gitu, ...harapannya...
Eh ternyata, keknya ini paspor kembali ke jaman purba, i mean itu bukan pake komputer tapi ditulis pake rapido or ballpoint. Hari gini masi pake paspor tulis tangan?
Yahhh, gue bilang, dibikin sih boleh di Amrik, tapi tetaap sajaaaa Sama seperti orang-orangnya, lokasi boleh di amrik, etos kerja tetap sajaaaaa ..... namanya juga Indonesia.
Duh Indo.... Indo..... kapan mo maju-maju??????????????????????

*lesu, termangu*

approaching the Good Friday

2007-03-30T23:53:00.000-04:00

"I am a sinner.
Unworthy and vile.
My heart grows cold as sin spreads beneath the flesh that has vowed to keep it from showing.
I swear of the change that finds itself held at arms length.
Held back as if the cure were flawed.
Freedom feels the brush of my breath as it stands there, waiting - Waiting for me to embrace it, yet I would rather embrace death.
Darkness is the cover that keeps my contrite heart cloaked in security. Veiled in the sin around me.
I am miserable.
Hell is in my heart as my heart is in hell.
The blood in my veins - the beats are my own. Selfish.
The center of my world within me, eating away at the core of the life that was never meant to be my own .
The pain.
The anguish.
The hurt.
It's an intolerable acceptance.
An accepted torture.
A torture that doesn't have to survive.
There is light.
Before my face, Freedom cries.
Freedom is in pain.
Freedom is in anguish.
Freedom is hurt.
Like me.
Freedom took my place.
Freedom is Christ.
Freedom is only Christ.
My heart slows in pace as death squirms on the floor before me.
Christ took my place."

written by my ol' roommate,
Gary Nathan "Nate" Smith, Jr.
*go .. Nate*

anggota DPR & laptop baru

2007-03-28T07:34:00.000-04:00

(I've just got this from a fren.)

Anggota DPR: "Mba, laptopnya salah."
Customer Service: "Salah gimana pak?"
Anggota DPR: "Laptopnya nggak mau hidup."
CS: "Sudah tekan tombol power pak?"
Anggota DPR: "Tombol powernya sebelah mana mba?"

****

Anggota DPR: "Mba, saya mau konek ke internet nggak
bisa, kenapa ya?"
Customer service: "Nggak bisanya kenapa?"
Anggota DPR: "Saya ketik www.playboy. com, gambarnya
nggak keluar."
Customer service: "Pesan errornya apa pak?"
Anggota DPR: "Nggak ada pesan error, pokoknya saya
ketik playboy.com di addressnya, nggak muncul gambar
sama sekali."

Customer service: "Bapak koneksi internetnya pakai
apa, dial up, hotspot?"
Anggota DPR: "Pakai gambar yang ada tulisan e
(maksudnya internet explorer)."
Customer service: "Maksudku, bapak langganan
internetnya pakai ISP apa, lalu cara koneksi
internetnya pakai dial-up atau hotspot, mungkin
settingnya ada yang salah."
Anggota DPR: "ISP itu apa sih mba?"
Customer service: "Wah ini sih 50 x 2 pak.."
Anggota DPR: "Apa tuh mba?"
Customer service: "CAPE' DEH!!"

******

Anggota DPR: "Mba' saya ingin daftar account di
yahoo.com kok nggak bisa ya?"
Customer service: "Nggak bisa kenapa pak?"
Anggota DPR: "Ada tulisan, paswort is nat long inof,
suld bi mor ten 8 karakter"

Customer service: "Itu maksudnya, password bapak
minimal 8 huruf."
Anggota DPR: "Oooo...oke deh.., saya coba dulu."

Anggota DPR: "Mba password minimal delapan huruf itu
delapannya pakai angka 8 atau ejaan delapan?"
Customer service: "Maksudnya?"
Anggota DPR: "Saya suda tulis di kolom password
minimal 8 huruf, tapi bingung mau tulis delapannya,
pakai angka delapan atau ejaan huruf 'delapan'."

Customer service: "Ketik ini aja pak..C Spasi D."
Anggota DPR: "Apa tuh?"
Customer service: "CAPE' DEH !!!"

****

Anggota DPR: "Mba' kalau muter film di laptop, gimana
caranya ya?
CS: "Ada dvd playernya kan pak?"
Anggota DPR: "Sebelah mana tuh mba?"
CS: "Disamping kanan, pak. kalau di tekan tombolnya
nanti, piringan discnya keluar."
Anggota DPR: "Ooooo.... yang keluar itu, piringan disc
ya? Udah patah tuh kemarin."
CS: "Kok bisa patah?"
Anggota DPR: "Saya kira tempat buat naruh gelas
minuman."

******

Anggota DPR: "Komputer saya rasanya kena virus"
CS: "Virus apa tuh pak?"
Anggota DPR: "Kurang tahu juga, setiap mau cetak ke
printer, selalu ada tulisan kennot fain printer."
CS: "Itu mungkin salah setting pak."
Anggota DPR: "Settingnya udah bener kok, kemarin aja
bisa nyetak, tapi sekarang nggak bisa. Saya sudah
tunjukkin printernya di depan laptop, tetap aja dia
terus-terusan "searchng printer not found." Kayanya
webcamnya rusak, nggak bisa lihat printer."

CS: "Mendadak laper nih Pak, ingin makan tape.."
Anggota DPR: "Lho..kok begitu?"
CS: "TAPE DEH !!!!"

********

Anggota DPR: "Mba, kalau mau baca blognya si artist
anu dimana ya?"
CS: "Bapak cari aja di google."
Anggota DPR: "Tapi si artist anu nggak kerja di google
kok mba, saya tahu persis."

Capeeek deeehhh..... ......... .... !!!!

LU student the next Idol????

2007-03-22T20:09:00.001-04:00

After a while, our campus' splashpage finally announce that Phil Stacey is one of our students (a DLP.. of course).
I've been wondering two questions.
1. Why it took so long for my bosses to find out that he's a Liberty student?
but hey......
2. Why in the world would they check everyone of them, whether they are one of our students or not? Come on, get a life, do they have any other thing to do besides that?

I only follow the performances once in a while, so I haven't heard his voice.... at least in full attention..... yet, probably after this I will.
By the way, on his interview I've read that he wants to get a PhD, so people can call him Doctor Phil. Now that's quite interesting, knowing that nowadays they call it, "PhD - Permanent head Damage." how about... Pizza hut Driver? Or perhaps, Pathetic home Dreamer, .... Patiently hoping for a Degree, .... wow ... tons of abbreviations. hahaha.... Anyway, don't even think about it now, Phil. The only thing you have to care about is your vocal performance. PhD will come... someday.. If you win, I can almost sure that they will try their best to bring you on campus. That's what I can tell.

Vote?
Hmm.... we'll see.

difference

2007-03-15T21:40:00.000-04:00

Gue baru balik dari luar kota. Eh pulang-pulang kamar gue berantakan. Errgh rada kesel. Roommate gue emang udah minta ijin sih, ada temennya dateng dari Nashville, Tennessee. Tapi dasar sesama bule gile, gue baru pulang masi cape eehh ni kamar brantakan banget kaya kapal pecah. Baju, celana, daleman, kaos kaki, topi, pada berserakan ngga jelas. Bantal cadangan gue disarungin kaus t-shirt (huh??).
Emang bule2 rata2 bisanya ngeberantakin rumah gitu ya? (generalisasi tingkat tinggi)

*grin*

listening

2007-03-10T14:15:00.000-05:00

I'm now listening to this CD Album. A bit shock... why? Because all these years I knew that his music is kinda more contemporary pop, especially that he's doing lots of contemporary P&W stuffs. A friend told me that he's just launched a different album. I was a little curious about it and when I dropped by at Lifeway today, I listened a sample of his CD. As I listened, hey u know what... he apparently sounds better in this album. However, I realize that his voice is almost similar with Groban, the only difference is that Groban's voice is thicker and more focused/bold. I have compared Travis' voice when he leads P&W concert, he sounded to be shouting/screaming on that one, but this one I think he sounds a lot better. (Taking a voice lesson, eh..?) Oh well.. this is a neo-classical album anyway. I do enjoy it, the only comment I have on this one: too many minor tune songs, maybe because these songs took the lyrics from Psalms. Is he a Grobaners or Grobanians or watever???? Man... once I almost wanna shout to this guy, "BE YOURSELF!!!" But soon I realized, you cannot resist if one has a similar voice tone with other people. If I have to give a score with 1-10 scale basis, I would give him probably 8- =)

lesu

2007-03-07T00:11:00.000-05:00

Satu lagi burung baja terjatuh....
hingga kapan Indonesia kan berpeluh...?

*Pa SBY, jangan patah semangat ye, kite-kite dari jauh sini berdoa buat bangsa dan negare.*

plea

2007-03-03T01:31:00.000-05:00

Terimakasih Tuhan.
Setahun berlalu
Engkau mengingatkanku
tuk menghitung berkatMu
dan menghitung hari-hariku
Mungkin masih panjang
atau akan segera hilang,
Aku menengadah
mohon tanganMu yang kuat
memegangku setiap saat
dengar bisikan anakMu

Amin.

Lynchburg
March, 2007

suprise!!!!!

2007-03-03T00:41:00.000-05:00

Hidup kalo ga ada kejutan emang kurang rame.... hehehe...
Well, hari ini Tuhan kasi hari yang cukup unik. Seminggu ini udah dingin terus, eh tau2.. hari ini rada anget dikit...60'F (brp 'C ya, itung ndiri deh), terus hari cerah banget, kalo jalan kaki ada angin semilir, matahari pokonya kinclonk deh kaya sunlight. Wadew.. gw sampe kagum.

Hari ini di tengah keramaian klise sebagaimana layaknya orang berulang tahun yang diberondong ucapan selamat, ada yang kirim message ke gw, begini bunyinya:
"happy birthday ka Jimmy, hoi happy birthday ya, kapan maen ke bandung sm christin hehehe"
Pas dibaca rada kaget juga. I'm like... uhm what???? Woiyy salah sambung. Sapaaa tuh Jimmy, sapaa tuh Christin?
Anyway, selain urusan 'pesen nyasar', hari ini kata orang2 sini gw sudah resmi masuk golongan "half to half of a century"... dan keliatannya buat org bule, usia 25 taun itu dinanti2... Gw sih biasa2 aja. Yang jelas cuma satu, gue selangkah lebih maju menuju liang lahat...

Diluar dugaan, hari ini roommate gw bikin ulah. As it's always been in America, disini yg ber-ultah itu justru ditraktir... Tadi gue pikir kita cuma pergi bertiga/berempat doank sama adiknya, eh ternyataa belakangan gw baru nyadar yang ngumpul banyakan. Oh my....
Kita pergi ke Neighbor's Place, tempat dessert favorit disini. Makan NY cheesecake yang gedenya setengah batu bata, gw makannya dari semangat 45 sampe eneg. Yang laen biar cowo2 sehat dan pelahap porsi kuli, itu dessert ngga ada yang tuntas tuh... hieh hieh hieh....

on your wedding day, cous....

2007-03-01T20:20:00.000-05:00

3-3-2007
Now that you are to begin the journey. Sorry I wont come for sure, but my prayer's with you both. However, I got your Wed Bulletin's before your D-day.... :p

*he... Bang, .... kau jaga baik-baik ya kakakku*

hari merdekaaa (was: suara misteri)

2007-02-26T18:14:00.000-05:00

Awwwww betapa senangnya hatiku. Beberapa hari belakangan ini tiap kali nyetir mobil di jalan gue ngerasa awkward plus agak2 iritated gitu. Soalnya mobil berkah gue,... iya... si putih itu loww... dia ada2 bermasalah lanjutan.... (what? again? car problem???)... Jadi begini, ketika gua dapet itu mobil warisan dr temen gua Philip, itu dalam keadaan okay2 aja, cuma timing belt-nya udah harus diganti (ps. di Amrik urusan maintenance mobil, palagi mobil bekas tuh paling2 sensitif, kalo gak tau sejarah tu mobil wkt kita beli, ntar bisa berabe). Soo... bbrp minggu lalu gue spt biasa menitipkan mobil kpd tmn gw Martin, the Taiwanese mechanic (definitely not movie star :p). Dia uda biasa menangani mobil2 anak int'l di kampus, dan sesama penghuni benua Asia nih..cieekkh.... ada solidarity kecil2an gitu lhoo, so kita kalo benerin mobil sama dia gak dicharge gede2an. Plus dia pernah jadi mechanic di Mercedez-Benz, so levelnya uda lumayan gitu.
Gue bersyukur banget, dia bilang, mobil gue tuh kondisinya jauh lebih prima daripada mobil gue si Subaru yg sdh 'sulama' alias almarhum itu. Wow. Amazing to see how God works and gave me something I feel I don't deserve. Oh well. So lalu mobil itu menginap di bengkelnya dia selama 3-4 hari, amazing pula, dulu mobil gue sempet dibenerin dia gak kira2 ada 2 minggu kalee, sampe moment2 terakhir pas gue mau cabut utk pergi sebelum balik ke Indo, last moment, euh pedihh deh nunggunya....
Nah, udah dibenerin, beres lah ternyata. Hati gue plong! Yes bebas, kaga perlu kuatir tau2 di jalan brenti n ada aneh2. Tapi, tunggu dulu, ternyata nih... masi ada kekonyolan yang terjadi. Kira2 minggu lalu, ini mobil tiap distart pasti bersuara aneh. Cekikikan terus, bukan ketawa liat Tukul Arwana, tapi si fan beltnya itu.
Fan belt tuh karet yang ada di roda depan yang muter2 kalo mesin mobil nyala. Somehow ada bunyi keras squeaky sound gitu. Sampe ngeri dengernya, ya ngeri, ya keganggu, ya watir, ya takut juga. Persis kayak gerobak Wal-mart yang rodanya mo copot sebelah bunyinya ngikngikngik. Brisik bangeeeet. Gue sempet panik, but I know sebetulnya gak apa2 sih, cuma ya... GOOD GRIEF! Gile aje saban kali nyetir di jalan orang2 tuh pada melongin gue, disangkanya gue alien dari mana bersuara aneh....
So hari ini akhirnya tibalah hari kemerdekaan yang ditunggu2. Gue telepon Martin dan baru hari ini dia bisa stel/adjust itu fan belt nya. Dia udah bilang nothing wrong, justru karena dia berbaik hati sekalian gantiin itu fan belt jadi brand new, krn karetnya baru dia blm stretched alias masi agak kaku, jadi hrs disetel lebih kencang dikit. Bunyi itu karena karet dan roda penopangnya gak beradu erat, jadi ada bunyi gesekan karet dan metal.
(Doohhh, mana aku tahu mas...)
Tapi tadi sore pokonya seneng deh, hore mari bung rebut kembali, itu mobil normal lagi akhirnya. Dengan tangan2 maut-nya yang sebelah belepotan oli sebelahnya lagi item semua, dia stel lagi tuh apanya gua kaga tau dah, cuma 5 menit. Langsung diem tu mobil begitu distarter dan sepanjang dibawa tadi balik ke rumah, tiada lagi tuh yg namanye suara2 misteri....

Hey mobil, akhirnya kamu balik nyadar lagi setelah mabuk sekian lama.... hehehe....

Eh, btw, si Martin bilang ada beberapa cewe sempet nanyain lohh ke dia, sriusss, "ini mobil siapa, kok mulus amat???"
"Yuhuuuu....."

paradoxical

2007-02-20T18:56:00.000-05:00

A day is like a thousand year ---------> artinya lagi nganggur (kali lagi nunggu pacar, nunggu wiken, nunggu2 gajian, nunggu angin lewat.....

A thousand year is like a day ---------> artinya sibuk banget (dikejar paper, dikejar project, dikejar orang, dikejar anjing, sweat and no chance to take a breath)

Savor each time, savor every moment, thank God always. That's why time is so precious as well as mysterious. Hehehe.....

watch your accent

2007-02-14T21:07:00.000-05:00

You may believe it or not, but up until yesterday I forgot that Valentine's day is February 14th. I thought it was February 12th, well a bit slipped but that's ok. I don't even know why in the world I can forget that. Back in 2002 if I'm not mistaken, my grandpa passed away on Chinese New Year's Day, which was February 12th, and he was cremated on February 14th. That was one memorable V-day's, which was obviously a very-very busy day.
Now I don't really put this day in mind probably because it has been three years in my life that I passed V-day without somebody, and of course that is not the thing.
Anyway, this morning we had a blast at the office.
Let me tell you now. One of our co-worker, Debbie, shared a small package contained with V-day card and a Hershey's chocolatte to everyone in the office. She said that was from her granddaughter. Then, another co-worker, Joan, gave a simple comment. She said, "Well, a woman's best friend is a husband and a chocolate."
The funny thing is, her strong southern accent made it as if it was, "WELL, A WOMAN'S BEST FRIEND IS A HUSBAND IN A CHOCOLATE"
And everybody goes ..... HUAHUAHUAHAUHUAHUAHUAHUAHUAHUAHUAHUAHUA...
I was like.... "huh...what???" oh.... huahuahuahuahauhaua.... (late receiving system.....called it "lemotttt")
While all of us laughing in hard beat, Joan defends herself saying, "Well, we're married... nothing wrong with that..." (a husband in a chocolate? yeah rite...) And everybody keeps laughing. It was hilarious but I have no idea what's on each one's mind, we just laughed.

I think they enjoyed that.
(if you come to our office, you would notice that even a laugh is so precious at this time.)

lousy

2007-02-12T17:48:00.000-05:00

Hey.... guess what????? I've just found out a new cool effect on my camera. I didn't realize about this until that short trip to DC last two weeks. Yeach..yeach..yeach.. I know what you're going to say, I'm being lousy with my camera. Apart from that, it's pretty cool though.. don't you think??

Jalapeno chips? Yaiks.........

New York Ave.

Tadaaaa.... guess where was I????

sepotong lirik

2007-02-06T20:29:00.000-05:00

.............

and even though I'm walking through the valley of the shadow
I will hold tight to the hand of Him whose love will comfort me
and when all hope is gone and I've been wounded in the battle
He is all the strength that I will ever need
He will carry me

and even though I feel so lonely
like I've never been before
You never said it would be easy
but You said You'd see me through
the storm

...............

-mark schultz-

short trip

2007-02-06T00:00:00.000-05:00

This past few days I've been away from home.
Last Saturday, I drove up to DC to pick up my friend from Bandung. He was our youth leader in my home church when I was in junior HS. Last Summer, I met him and his wife, together with their newborn baby, Aaron. That time, we had already set up a plan to go together to Chicago since he should have been able to go for a training there, sent by his company. But the plan was failed. So this time, they rescheduled the training and after he finished up in Chicago, he then flew to Washington (all paid by the company btw..... yaiks...)
We then drove to Lynchburg because he wanted to see my school. The fun part was, we had a GREAT lunch at ILMEE Korean Buffet at Annandale, near DC. A great place to eat, good for the value of money! They have everything there, including chinese buffet, beef/pork ready marinated bbq of course, and also the sushi buffet. They also have black (or should I call red) rice, and other strange stuffs! I think that was one of those 'fullest' meals I've ever had, much better than Bandung's Hanamasa or Miyazaki or watever....
In Thomas Road Church last Sunday nite, there was a piano concert by DINO Kartsonakis, the Greek 'geek' pianist. Fantastic concert, and he's sharing the Good News also while playing. So my friend came just right on time. After the concert, we headed up back to DC and spent two nights at our friend's place. He wanted to see DC's spotsy places, but too bad, the weather was more than freezing..... Anyway, we kept on going to downtown, especially 'Uncle Bush's house' hahaha... that one we surely can't miss. After taking some pictures, we just ride the train back to Gaithersburg, where we stayed. Now, he really has seen true "America"! (don't mention the weather also... brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr..)
It's been great to meet friends, old and new... We remember our funny experience in Solo (Tawangmangu) when we had a national youth camp (100% real camping) up in the hills of Gunung Lawu. There was a huge flood (oopss) struck the whole camping area and three of us didn't get even an inch of the evacuation hall, so we slept just with sleeping bags, in the (concrete) ground near the swimming pool, with 10' C temp. Early the next morning, we found out two snakes in the pool.......... haiyaaah... so they probably crawled on our sleeping bags while we were sleeping... (Oh, did I mention that we also took shower in the river because that 500 participant-camp had only ONE bathroom for men, and it was those bathroom used for construction worker.)
Overall, it was just a short visit. He flew back to Indo from DC airport today.
Hopefully when he got back to Jakarta Airport, things will get better.

culturaleidoscope & new boss

2007-02-01T19:56:00.000-05:00

Minggu ini mungkin gue udah masuk masa-masa 'pahibut' (baca: hectic)-nya semester baru, so udah gak baru lagi kali yah. Dimulai dari paperwork yg udah ada due date-nya. Kedua, di kampus ada international night untuk seminary students: "Culturaleidoscope." Semua int'l students (perkecualian KOREA, krn mereka disini jadi mayoritas, instead of minoritas) diminta bikin makanan khas negara masing2. Acaranya Kamis mlm ini jam 7. Kita dikasih budget $50 buat beli bahan2 n masak sendiri. Nah, gue udah rencana bikin mie goreng ala Pak Moes - soalnya jadi keinget jaman edan, itu loh Pak Moes yg di Bukit Jarian-UNPAR, tempat dulu ngerumpi abis kuliah pagi dengan menu tetap, indomie + es (batu) teh manis...
Eniweii... rencana gue udah dipersiapin cukup matang. Ducks in a row... Yah tiba2 kemaren mlm ada severe weather alert. Alamak... Pagi2 tadi salju dah turun... Di satu pihak, gue rada males, so bagus lah, dicancel acaranya..... (Dan gak jadi tuh freezing rain-nya hehehe... panitia kecele deh).
Hal lain yg bikin gue kaget adl.. di kantor ada "bos" baru. Gue kan di kampus kerja di Admissions Processing. Kantor Admissions Processing itu masih bagian dari Undergraduate Admissions, dan UA itu masi bagian dari Residential Recruitment... yg intinya bagian penerimaan mahasiswa2 undergrad.... hehe njelimet emang... yg pada kerja pasti ngarti begini2an.... Nah, khusus unit processing itu emang sih paling katro sendiri... kalo unit2 laen tempatnya di satu ruangan kantor yg guede, dibagi2 cubicles gitu deh biasa..... nah..khusus unit processing itu dikasi satu ruangan tersendiri, soale kita yg mengolah data2 tiap calon student, mulai dari transkrip high school-nya, SAT/ACT scorenya, dll. Di dlm ruangan kita masi ada 1 ruangan kecil yg namanya file room. Di ruangan itulah ada puluhan ribu file2 penting milik calon2 mhs baru. So itu semua tergolong informasi confidential (ciekkkhhhh), so gue punya access ke database info/data2 mhs, mulai dari no.telp/hp, alamat, sampe ke social security-nya ....hieh..hieh..hieh... *senyum bangga*
Tambahan info lain, dept gua ini udah terkenal yg paling sering party-party... makluuuum co-worker gue banyak ibu2.... (yang pade oversize pula .... *ooppsss*), so mereka doyan makan. Pasti adaaa adja yg ke kantor bawa coklat lah, chips lah, krispy kreme juga sering, sampe ke makanan2 berat, pas gue dateng siang2 tau2 suka ada pizza HUT 1 dus tergeletak persis di meja gua gitu... pokonya perut terjamin.... Dept gue punya Supervisor, kita panggil dia Mr. "P.
Btw, gua ga tau udah berapa kali dipecat sama dia... hehehe... Kebayang khannn orgnya kaya gimana... *RECOKKKK* hehehe... begitu pula ada 1 ibu2 laen yg suka kita jailin... ah pokoknya mah ni kantor selalu ada keriaan, riang gembira.... kayak kelas TK...hehehe.... tapi kita semua kompak! Well, mesti riang donk! Soale kalo gak, kepala kita bisa pecah, bgimane ga pecah kantor gue tiap hari dicecer sama dept A, B, C, ... ah pokonya semua nyari kita deh.
Nah, ceritanya Mr P ini sejak new year's kemaren dah absen soale dia dioperasi dan pemulihannya bakal makan waktu lama banget. Tapi biarpun dia gak ada, kerjaan jalan terus... Yg jadi masalah adl, orang2 penggede atas pada bikin target pencapaian yg gak kira2... DAN.. ada 2 staf di kantor kita yg keluar/pindah. Ya otomatis kita lumpuh kekurangan tangan.

Hari ini gue kaget dikasi tau co-worker katanya kita bakal dapet bos baru yg levelnya diatas supervisor gw. Dan gue tau persis orang ini tuh streng banget, gak asyik.... Huh? Waaaat? Apaa?
Gak salah tuhhh? Iye, gue dikasi tau ini keputusan dari atas....... gile aja itu bos2 atas nongol juga kagak pernah, so mrk putusin sendiri gitu tanpa tau kondisi lapangan. Padahal kita kerjaan tetep beres.... Anehhh...bener2 anehhh...
Dan bener aja, tadi si bos baru ini langsung pindah ke ruangan kita, terus ya langsung deh hari ini suasana kantor jadi kelaboooo...... Kasian gue ngeliatnya.... spt aneh.... bener2... gue kayak baru kerja disitu.. Semua kayanya pada tegang gitu.... Dan semangat kerja kayak berkurang, soale spt keusik gitu... Gak tau deh, gue ga bisa bilang apa2..... siapa sih gue.... cuman student worker doank..... cuma ya kasian gue ngeliat co-workers......... mrk seolah spt ga dianggep, Well, gue tadi pulang duluan. Kita cuma bisa berharap things will get better with this new decision.

after all these years....

2007-01-27T21:39:00.000-05:00

My Saturday.... what happen with my saturday this week?
Okey. Tadi pagi gue bangun jam 8.30, begitu bangun, nyateeee doonk. Abis nyate, beberapa tmn gue dari Jakarta yg bawel pada ngongol di yahoo, jadi dah ngerumpi... sambil diselingi breakfast donut dan kegiatan beres2 n laundry.
Abis itu, gue pamit duluan mau ke LaHaye Center untuk olahraga. Cihuyy.... Dua minggu terakhir ini gue olahraga (fitness dan berenang) cukup sering, seminggu bisa 3-4 kali.... tiap sore2 pulang kampus. Gue lagi coba pertahankan di tengah jadwal yg agak padat ini, coba sempetin utk tetep olahraga. hehehe... Salah satu resolution taun baroe lhooo... So far so gud. Yg penting badan gerak.
Then, gue pulang, mandi, makan siang dengan menu baked potato + brocolli + cheese! Yummm. Setelah itu, gue baru ke gereja. Ngapain? Well. tentunya selain janjian latian praise team utk kebaktian minggu besok, gue sebelum latian musik nyempetin dulu utk melakukan sesuatu.
Yes, today is my Spring 07 kick-off preparation for my next study after graduation from Liberty. Seperti yg gue sdh ceritakan, gue sdh decide utk ambil konsentrasi church music utk study selanjutnya. Dan utk itu, ada harga yg hrs gue bayar, salah satunya adalah.......
gue hrs belajar both theory and piano practice.... yesss after all these years.....
Gue masi inget tante Lie Mei guru piano gue waktu dulu les, ini telinga udah melar kayaknya dijewer die gara2 gue di rumah gak latian... Jadinya tiap kali pertemuan les selalu mengulang dan mengulang..... saaampe dia sediain hadiah mulai dari balon sampe permen karet sbg pendorong gue spy latian DAN tentunya gue yg malas ini tetep saja gak maju2....

Well, itu cerita dulu bikin malu.... hehe, dan tadi siang waktu latian scales major n minor, gue dong masi inget masa2 dulu ngeles pas masi SD n awal SMP... dohhh kenangan lama terulang kembali neh... Demi placement test... Jgn salah, kmrn gue pinjem buku dari library total ada 7. (thanks to Pink buat petunjuk buku2 bagus dan juga 'notes'nya yg boleh dibajakkk hehehe.. makasi ye bu dosen..).
Terus, tadi gue latian lagi sightreading dari hymnal. Gue coba pake cara udik, randomly buka 1 lagu dan ketemu lagu ini, lagu yg blm pernah gue denger or nyanyikan....
The words are so relevant and so truee.....

Make Room within My Heart, O God
(by Bryan Jeffery Leech, 1931- )

Make room within my heart, O God
That You may form in me
The image You have shown in Christ,
My very life to be
Inspire my thought, O lofty One
To reach the highest plane,
That I may know the mind of Christ,
And Him as greatest gain

Direct my will, O King of kings
Subject it to Your own
That every impulse, action , word
May make Your kingdom known
Effect my prayer, great Trinity
Eternal Three in One
Combine each part of me
to praise the Father, Spirit, Son.

Menurut gue, lagu ini gampang-gampang susah. Melody utamanya agak biasa, tapi harmoni bawah-bawahnya cukup membuat jari-jari gue yg udah lama gak sightreading itu rada kerepotan... palagi buat gue yg lebih lama play by ear drpd les-nya sendiri...... ini jari pasti bawa karep sendiri kalo maen..... that's the greatest challenge.....but.. lumayan... Lagu ini banyak not 1/8 so that's good, a good drill for my fingers indeed.
Well, honestly I'm not sure with myself...... But I have confidence in Him.

"cold-burn"

2007-01-25T20:46:00.000-05:00

Has anybody ever experience this?

When I got off from school and work today, I was on my way to the parking lot. The wind was really blowing hard today, I guess it was somewhere like 15-17 mph. Problem, it blew and carried out a really super duper cold breeze, yes they call it windchill. I was talking on my cellphone while walking down to the car. I thought my hands were strong enough to handle the cold, but no longer than 3 minutes, I felt a great sore in my hands and fingers... I think it was way to cold.... So I hung up my phone and put my both hands on the jacket pouch... It helped a lil bit. But, somehow my hand turned red, especially in the upper surface skin... I think I got some kind of 'cold burn' instead of 'sun burn' haha... It's still red hot chilli, just like sun burn... everytime I touch that part, it's a bit pain.... Hmm...

day two: talk about tough love!

2007-01-23T08:24:00.000-05:00

Pagi-pagi gue udah kena semprot. Masuk kelas Systematic Theology II jam 7.50, rada telat dikit euy, pas gue masuk mereka baru selesai berdoa. Nah, gue masuk dari pintu samping, as always. Kelasnya ada dua pintu. Pintu utama ada di depan kelas, so gue ga pernah mau masuk dari situ. Bukannya karena telat! Tapi yagh lebih prefer lewat samping, pintunya gak berisik pula. Deket pintu samping tuh ada kursi tempat gue biasa duduk, kelas yg dipake sama persis dgn ST I semester lalu. So, tadi kucuk..kucuk.. gue masuk, terus kursi berjejer dkt pintu samping itu agak penuh, ada satu yg kosong, di atas mejanya ada sebuah tas agak besar, kursi sebelahnya ada satu student yg blm pernah gue liat sblmnya. Gue nanya baek2... is there anybody sit here, may I sit here? Eh, dia jawab rada2 nyolot.... don't you see my book's there???
Ooh, ya udha gue bilang sorry... gue liat ada kursi jauhan dikit yg kosong, duduk disitu dech.

(Gile gue pikir ngimpi apa sich, pagi2 udah kena semprot mahasiswa seminari...)
Nah, ga lamaan.... tau2 temen setia gue dateng, si Corey, semester lalu kita adl 'penjaga' kursi sebelah pintu samping. hehehe... Dia masuk lewat pintu samping juga...kucuk...kucuk....
Ehhh dia ngedeketin tu kursi yg sama, kedengeran pisan dia nanya jg, "is there anybody sit here? Can I sit here?"
Eh, si orang ini (yg blakangan gue tau namanya Josh), bilang, "Find a place somewhere else! Good day! Why's everybody......?" dengan muka asem.

Gue ngakak aja ke si Corey, rasain loo.... kesemprot juga...hihihi.
Ternyata si Josh ini pinter ngomong lho. Pas diskusi kelas, beberapa kali dia ngacung tangan, terus ngomong soal 'love', Christ's love, Christian love. Kayaknya meyakinkan getoo.
Wow... talk about tough love... hehehe....

spring day one

2007-01-22T18:18:00.000-05:00

Ok. Senin pagi ini gue pilih kelas Leadership yg jam 9 pagi daripada yg jam 2 siang. Soalnya kalo pilih yg jam 2, pasti gue bakal jadi males krn bablas bangun kesiangan. Nah, hari ini ada kejadian menarik..., oh well, Sabtu kemaren pas ke library gue bawa laptop gue untuk ngerjain sesuatu, ehhh aneh banget ko gue gak bisa masuk network wireless campus. Dang! Ada apa neh...
Jadi ceritanya krn kampus kita hampir wifi in all areas, untuk masuk ke network mrk harus pake ID/password dan pas dulu gue pertama kali masuk sekolah ini, laptop gue diinstall antivirus McAfee berikut network software yg namanya Cisco Clean Access Agent. So ga sembarangan laptop bisa masuk network di kampus.
Well, kuliah disini uenaknya tuh gue gak usah cari2 antivirus lagi soale udah disediain free sama campus, in fact, gue beli MS Office Pro 2000 pun di kampus dgn harga mur-mer, $10 doank. (Plus beli Windows XP Prof dgn harga yg sama). Ini bukan kaya di Indo lhooo (king of pirates hehehe). Mau update antivirus ya tinggal klik doank.

Sabtu kemaren tuh keliatannya udah lama gue gak update and gue gak bisa online di kampus pake laptop. Gue diblock gak bisa masuk network. Gue udah rada2 takut bisi aja ada virus or apa gitu... wach wach...
So hari ini gue bawa laptopnya ke RESNET. Nah, ini salah satu keuntungan kuliah di LU, kalo student ada masalah di desktop/laptopnya, mrk boleh bawa ke Resnet (residential network office). Di Resnet ini ada banyak technician yang bisa ngebenerin komputer kita, for free of course..., Gue pikir cuma install update doank, gue udah coba sendiri tapi gak bisa. Nah, begitu gue masuk Resnet, alamaak, kaget jg, ternyata bukan gue sendiri yg bawa laptop. Gue itung2 tadi, satu..dua..tiga..empat..lima..enam...tujuh.... delapan .....empat puluh tiga!!!! Dan yang dateng masi banyak lagi... Ternyata kata si technician, emang ada network problem, yang dateng semua sama kasusnya. Mungkin 50% dari anak2 yg tinggal di dorm menghadapi kasus yg sama. Auch, itu tuh berarti 4,000 students...... kalo semua berbondong2 ke Resnet bisa meledak tuh ruangan seemprit gitu spacenya.
Well, gue bersyukur laptop gue gak apa2, mereka install patch updates yang paling baru... dengan sedikit menunggu........ yap, 6 jam ya sodara-sodara!!!! It's worth waiting anyway.
So hrsnya lebih prima nih performanya... Hehe..

long sunday nap

2007-01-21T18:12:00.000-05:00

Hoaahhh.... baru bangun dari day nap terpanjang di awal tahun baru ini..... 3 jam bayangin!!! Biasanya kalo take a nap hari minggu pasti ga lebih dari 1-1.5 jam soale aku harus siap2 ke gereja utk choir practice and evening service...
Hari ini cuaca winter menerpa daerah Eastern states....... Menariknya, Central Virginia kagak kebagian salju... tapi sleet/freezing rain. Nah, tipe hujan spt ini tuh yang paling berbahaya, soalnya raindrops ini begitu nyampe tanah/daratan langsung berubah jadi es.... hiiiiiii ngeri ya?
Tadi pagi di gereja kita udah ancang-ancang kayaknya evening service dibatalin, in fact, beberapa gereja malah ga kebaktian seharian.... hehehe. Nah berita bagusnya, ya gua bisa take a looong Sunday nap.. after all these years... Horeee! Kita pikir positif aja, men. Pas gue bangun tadi, puter TV lokal, itu semua gereja2 masuk TV, bahkan radio juga, semua pada cancel acara malam.....
Oh well, I have to be ready for tomorrow's class. Pertanyaan: kira2 besok ada kuliah gak yaaaa?????? Hehehe... bisa siap2 tidur panjang lagi neh.... (hehehe dasar pemalas, nanya lagi..)

Winter telah tiba....... winter telah tiba... hole...! hole.. ! hole... ! hoooleeee!!!

kembali?

2007-01-16T22:34:00.000-05:00

Liburan Natal hampir selesai. Senin depan, saya akan kembali bersekolah... kembali duduk di belakang meja kuliah, kembali bolak balik ke library, kembali pada paper dan textbook, kembali.... kembali..... terimakasih... kembali... kembali ..... hehehe...
Semester ini (Spring 2007) adalah semester terakhir saya di Liberty. Kalau ditanya, bosen nggak? Jawabannya, jujur aja, agak sih! Wajarlah. Selesai kuliah di Unpar Bdg thn 2005 langsung lanjut kuliah lagi, itu aja kalo dipikir2 agak parah, (get a life.. man!)
Nah, tapi mungkin yang baca ini bakal terbengong2, karena sewaktu saya lagi liburan kemarin di Northwest Coast (Seattle-Vancouver-Seattle-Portland-Seattle), saya merasa pimpinan Tuhan yg makin jelas untuk kembali BELAJAR setelah selesai dari Liberty bulan Mei ini. Hah? Apa gak salah?
Gak, dan please Lord, mudah2an saya gak salah menangkap sinyal ini.
Well, ada banyak pertimbangan, ada beberapa tempat tujuan. Sebetulnya ada satu tempat yang saya pengen. Wah, gila kali ya, kalo sekolah lagi, nanti gimana soal abcde.... Sudah2...stop jangan pikir terlalu jauh! Satu tempat ini tempatnya agak jauh, dan hampir gak mungkin buat saya untuk menyetir mobil kesana, terbang aja dari sini kira-kira 3 jam lebih, kalo bawa mobil bisa 22 jam itu pun non-stop. Faktor kedua, dari sejak sebelum Natal saya sudah berusaha menelepon wakil dekan-nya, krn saya sudah tanya2 orang 1 kantor fakultas mereka bilang hrs nanya langsung sama Dr X ini. Saya baru berhasil bicara 1 on 1 via telp dengan dia minggu lalu. Dan, jawabannya agak keluar dari harapan. Mereka cuma kasi saya jalur 1 program untuk belajar musik, yang panjangnya sekitar 3-4 tahun lagi. That's it. (Yaa.. saya kali ini berencana untuk menuntaskan 'sesuatu yang tertunda' yaitu church music.)
Sejujurnya, bukan itu jawaban yang saya harapkan dari Dr X. Seandainya dia jawab, "Ya... kami punya beberapa option buat kamu yang tdk punya background music bachelor." Tentu saya bisa lebih leluasa, langsung pilih program, daftar, at least ada kepastian. Jawaban ini agak meleset, tentu. Saya gak berharap tinggal di negara Paman Sam 3-4 tahun lagi. Terlalu lama.
Tapi saya belajar untuk stay cool. Setidaknya kali ini saya punya keyakinan yang jauh lebih kuat daripada beberapa tahun yang lalu waktu saya pertama kali memikirkan ini. Dulu saya minder, (minder=sombong). Sekarang mungkin masih ada sedikit. Itu salah satu area yang saya pelajari di Life 101.
Setidaknya sekarang Tuhan pakai orang-orang di sekitar saya, mulai dari keluarga, teman2 di Indonesia, teman2 di grj sini, dan orang-orang yang selama ini saya mintain nasihat dan masukan2nya, mereka dipakai Tuhan untuk meyakinkan saya yang tadinya masih agak ragu. Terutama pengalaman sewaktu Natal kemarin yang bagi saya kalu di trace balik, agak sedikit 'melelahkan' baik secara mental dan fisik. (silakan baca blog2 sebelumnya), tapi ternyata berbuah suatu keyakinan yang hampir tak tergoyahkan, dan mudah2an betul-betul tak tergoyahkan. Semua itu dipakaiNya......
Saya sadar kok Tuhan masih belum selesai dengan semua ini, dengan saya...
Mungkin Life 101 gak cukup, perlu ditambah Patience 101, Wisdom 101, dan Surrender 101.
Ah, ternyata banyak yang saya masih belum mengerti.....

........................ (you fill the blanks)

2007-01-03T22:26:00.000-05:00

PRAYER of SURRENDER
a past prayer in the new year....

God, be Thou exalted over my possessions.
Nothing of earth’s treasures shall seem dear unto me
if only Thou are glorified in my life.

Be Thou exalted over my friendships.
I am determined that Thou shalt be above all,
though I must stand deserted and alone in the midst of the earth.

Be Thou exalted above my comforts.
Though it mean the loss of bodily comforts and the carrying of heavy crosses,
I shall keep my vow made this day before Thee.

Be Thou exalted over my reputation.
Make me ambitious to please Thee
even if as a result I must sink into obscurity
and my name be forgotten as a dream.

Rise, O Lord, into Thy proper place of honor,
above my ambitions,
above my likes and dislikes,
above my family, my health and even my life itself.

Let me sink that Thou mayest rise above.

A.W. Tozer

p.s.
Lord, this is not the first time I prayed it, You knew that....
grant me the strength to live it day by day......
too easy to say ... too difficult to do...
but let me just "be" that way... according to Your will

white christmas.....

2006-12-28T12:10:00.000-05:00

I'm dreaming..of a white..Christmas.. just like the ones I used to know.....

This year, for the first time I experienced a literally "White Christmas" at Vancouver, BC. Hmm Before that, maybe I should describe my activities in Vancouver. I arrived here last Saturday noon (Dec 23rd). I'm hosted by Kak Stef who is the pastor of GII Vancouver. GII is the oldest Indonesian church in Canada, that day, the church was celebrating its 20th anniversary, in conjunction with their Christmas celebration. Wow! When I went to the church earlier to help them finalizing the preparations such as decorations etc. my memories suddenly clinged to our home church in Bandung.... hix..hix.. It reminded me of all the Christmas busy-ness in Indonesia, especially in the church. I missed them though. But.. that's ok. As I look to the youth here in GII Vancouver, I'm pleased to see how they are working to prepare this big event. They are very skillful and talented people and they're willing to give their best for God's glory.

So, that night, there was about 200 people attended the celebration. A large crowd for a typical Indonesian church in North America/Canada.

The youth choir

comedy

Now... the white Christmas??????? Yeach, on December 25th we went up to Cypress Mountain with several people from the church (the old and the young ones, about 20 of us). It's about 1 hr from Vancouver. From a distance, I can see the whitish mountaintops as the snow covered them. When we got in to Cypress, it was really White Christmas! So beautiful. The only thing was the windchill was blowing so intensed that it was really freezing!!! Brrrrrrrrrrr.

snowy trees

dragging the tube to the top

Well, I know everybody will ask: why not snowboarding????? We couldn't do it that day coz we have lots of children with us, and they are not allowed to play snowboarding, so in order to make them happy still, we play...."tubing!" Haha... it was fun, though. The tube was dragged to the top of the hill and released as we're sliding on the snow.... it was quite thrilling especially when they spin my tube! How bout that?

I enjoyed most of my time while visiting Vancouver. You know what? I almost thought that this is Hongkong, coz everywhere I go, like buses, skytrains, streets, malls, the people that I've seen the most are the Asian/Chinese people, and the suburbs are more like chinatowns. We were laughing when Kak Stef preached about one Scripture interpretation that some of the magis who came to worship baby Jesus could be ncek-ncek dari Tiongkok.... who knows...hahaha.

Another thing that I like most from Vancouver is the port/harbor. It's always great to see ocean/beach/waters, especially when it's calm.

the untouchable seagull

what a place.....

It's great to meet old friends. Heidi or Noni is one of my old friends. Last time we met was probably five years ago. I called it 'stupidity friends' becoz that's what it is. Grew up in the same church, same choir, same elementary, same junior/senior high, man.. that's pretty boring, isn't it? Well, sometimes it does boring.... haha. Ok. Today I left Vancouver after spending 5 days there. Now, back in Seattle again and tomorrow will be heading down to Portland, Oregon to meet my other friends. Tata....

my old friend heidi and sundoro

sleepless in seattle part 2

2006-12-23T00:39:00.000-05:00

Awhhh... kaki ini kerasa pegel banget deh. Makloemm kayanya gara2 hari ini lama berdiri dan jalan di downtown seattle. So, setelah empat hari penuh menghabiskan liburan di sini, besok pagi gue bakal melanjutkan petualangan Natal 2006 ke Vancouver BC di Canada, the most diversed city in the world (huh??? bukannya NYC??). Tau deh katanya seh geto. Vancouver dari Seattle kira2 ga nyampe 3 jam perjalanan pake mobil.
Sebetulnya gua udah sempet deg2an, soale temen gue yg tadinya udah siap nganter gue ke Vancouver tuh gak bisa pergi karena I-20 dia harus direnew dan skrg menjelang libur natal udah gak mungkin laa ya urus2 begituan. Yg jadi masalah adl, kita berdua sama2 harus lapor diri krn kita kena prosedur NSEERS (national security exit entry system), itu lho, buat orang2 yg asalnya dari negara2 yg diblacklist pemerintah sini, kita harus lapor diri tiap kali keluar-masuk Amrik. Kalo gak lapor bisa2 ga bole masuk lagi, or worse ga akan dikasi visa lagi.
Setelah gua telp sana sini termasuk imigrasi, mereka bilang gue gak boleh pergi naik train. Waduh, gmn ya? Mrk cuma kasi gue pergi pake pesawat (lapor di airport) atau naik mobil (lapor di border). Errrgghhh sempet kesel juga, gmn sih...
Ok lanjut, tadi pagi for the third attempt, gue nongol di konsulat Canada. Pagi ambil nomer antri, tunggu 1.5 jam baru dipanggil, terus tunggu lagi utk bayar, terus siang2 langsung jadi dah visanya. Cihuy. Ehh, di konsulat situ, gue akhirnya dapet tawaran utk menumpang ke Canada, cihuy lagiii! Hehehe... asyikk.
Nah, soal Seattle. Gini ya, Seattle itu bener2 deh. No pain, no rain..... Maksudnya, itu lho... tiap hari hujan melulu, bukan hujan deras, tapi hujan yang kagok2 gitu... Kagum deh gue sama temen2 disini yang pada tahan dihujanin sepanjang tahun.... Matahari nongolnya pelitt banget, cuma dari jam 10 pagi sampe 1 siang... But, one thing that I like from this city, adalah kebersihannya. Gile deh pokonya bersiiiii banget (padahal ni kota selalu kehujanan dan basah), tapi gak ada tuh kecium bau2 sampah or bau2 aneh di jalan2. Pokonya bersih bersinar cuma kaga ada sunlight... hihihi... kayak iklan.. well...tau sendirilah negara kita kayak apa kalo soal kebersihan, palagi Bandhoenk... doh jadi malu deh...
Satu lagi, gue baru nyadar kalo gue kagak bawa memory card reader so gue ga bisa upload poto2 langsung ke laptop...not until I get back to Lynchburg. Hehehe maaf maaf....
Ok, I will post another update as soon as I get to Vancouver.
Kalo gak sempet, please allow me to say Merry Christmas to all of you. May Christ be born in all our hearts this year, again........

sleepless in seattle

2006-12-19T03:04:00.000-05:00

Hari ini gue memulai rangkaian liburan Natal yang diberi judul, "Journee to the West." Horeeeee!

Berangkat dari Greensboro jam 3 siang, terlambat hampir setengah jam, sampe di Houston untuk transit, otomatis flight gue selanjutnya yg jam 5.30 gak keburu soale nyampenya aja udah telat....... Si agent kasi gua flight selanjutnya yang baru ada 4 jam kemudian, jam 9 mlm.. Hoaaa gue ogah deh nunggu segitu lama, eh ternyata ada flight lagi sebelum itu menuju Seattle. Duh, dlm ati gue sempet deg2an, hmm kalo flight yg ini dapet pun, ntar gmn dgn my bags.... kalo gue udah diplot utk yg jam 9, sebab pengalaman buruk gue terakhir di Chicago Airport itu bagasi tertunda...

Ya sdh lah, aku tetep keukeuh terbang yg jam 7 mlm. Eh ternyata dapet jg. Pas udah masuk pesawat, ternyata duduknya sama 2 orang item, yg 1 tua, yg 1 muda (no offense). Aku berusaha ramah gitu ngajak ngobrol chit chat dll... Ehhhh gw malah dicuekin, mrk berdua asyik ngobrol dgn accent yang gw gak bisa tangkep. Idihhh ko gitu yaa. Nah, setelah total 8 jam berada di atas awan, sampailah aku di Seattle jam 10 mlm waktu local (= jam 1 pagi waktu Lynchburg/Eastern).

Yang luar biasa adalah, setelah gue berjalan cepat ke tempat carousel utk ambil bagasi sambil berharap2 moga itu bagasi kali ini kagak pegat kayak dulu........ pas nyampe carousel, wah, belon jalan carouselnya..... Gue nengok kanan kiri, pas lagi tengok, ehhh gue liat tas gw di depan kantor airlinenya. Dohh manis bener..... orang laen sih pada nunggu, gue bisa ambil langsung tas gw.... Yeach .... thank u Lord!

Then my fren picked me up.

Begitu keluar airport.... brrrrrrrrrr dingin dan anginnya langsung kerasa. Bayangin aja pas berangkat temperatur udara agak anget, kira2 65'F (20an derajat C), ini kayanya sekitar 30an F deh (0' C).....nahhhh skrg ini baru winter. Begitu masuk apt tmn gw, aduh makkkkk gilee. Apt segini sempit ditinggalin ama 7 orang? Busettt. It's gonna be an interesting holiday....

Betulan deh.

*gelenk-gelenk*

hadiah natal?

2006-12-15T11:13:00.000-05:00

Seperti yang gua udah ceritain, Thanksgiving lalu mobilku memberikan ciuman maut buat kijang nyasar. Nah, ini gambar yang gua ambil sewaktu liat mobilnya yang diparkir di bengkel towing.

Dan, insurance company memutuskan bhw mereka lebih prefer ganti rugi gua daripada mbenerin mobil ini. So, setelah sempet tawar menawar, akhirnya mereka kasi cek. Well, nilai yang mereka kasi melebihi harga mobil itu wkt dulu gua beli. Nah terus, gue sempet rada bingung juga waktu berburu mobil pengganti. Tapi Tuhan baik banget, tau-tau ada orang yang mau lepas mobilnya krn dia mau ambil mobil baru, kebetulan dia sama2 melayani di grj gw juga. Alhasil mobilnya yg masih bagus itu dilempar ke gua murah banget. Setengah harga mobil yg dulu, tapi taunnya lebih baru dan mileage-nya masi dibawah 90ribu. (ps. di Amrik mileage or kalo di Indo km mobil itu sangat pengaruh sekali, org pasti cari mobil yg mileagenya masi rendah or at least dibawah 100ribu miles.) Perkenalkan mobil gua, si putih, tadaaa..... this is Mazda 626, tahun 1999... It's a manual car, although I was trying to get an automatic, but.. God gave me this one. So I'm thankful and content with it. Setelah dicoba, ternyata irit banget bensinnya. Yg biasa gue isi bensin tiap 10 hari, skrg mungkin bisa isi bensin 2 minggu sekali. (dengan pemakaian ke sekolah dan gereja). Dari rumah ke kampus itu kalo di Bdg kira2 kayak dari UK Maranatha ke Istana Plaza. Kalo dari rumah ke gereja, hmm.... kira2 dari Tol Pasteur ke Tol Buahbatu kali ya... rada jauh... Well, Tuhan tau gue anak kost, so gua dikasi mobil yg lebih irit drpd yg dulu. Dan, Dia pake cara gue nabrak tu kijang bodoh supaya gue langsung dikasi ganti rugi, ibarat gue dapet pembeli yg langsung beli mobil gue. So selama hampir setaun ini, gua kayak dikasi pinjem 1 mobil dan uangnya dibalikin lagi, malah ada lebihnya hehehe... Btw, mobil Subaru gue yg dah babak belur itu gitu2 banyak sejarahnya lho.... udah dibawa keliling2 sampe ke Chicago segala, muter dari Washington DC, turun ke bawah, terus muter ke Barat, lalu ke Midwest.... gile bandel jg. Now I have to say goodbye to my old car and welcome to the new car. The only thing is, ... it's a little bit dirty. Soalnya tmn gue ex-pemiliknya, kerja di construction project yang tiap hari pake sepatu boot bertanah dan tanahnya itu nempel di karpet sampe tebal banget. So hopefully kalo cuacanya tetep anget2 gini (meski winter) gue bisa bersihin mobil sampe tuntas, cuci-sikat-keringin, hehehe.. seru..seru...

Gimana? Tampangnya meyakinkan? Syukur kpd Tuhan.... Dia betul2 tahu yang terbaik. Apa ini bisa dibilang hadiah Natal? Maybe. Just say... another blessing in disguise. Bukan sengsara membawa nikmat, tapi 'Kijang' membawa Mazda... hihihi. Thank you, Jesus.

OST The Christmas Shoes

2006-12-11T10:11:00.000-05:00

Not bad for the OST, the movie is taken from an inspiring story, I used to dislike NewSong but this one sounds good. It's on CBS. Click here to watch the OST video clip.

Decembre...

2006-12-01T18:20:00.000-05:00

Gak kerasa udah tanggal 1 Desember lagi... Wadawww.. perasaan belon lama nih di US kayak kemaren baru Natalan skrg udah mau masuk lagi... Tak terasa... wah wah wah ... *geleng-geleng*. Beberapa hari terakhir ini hari kayak berlalu cepat. Pagi ke kampus, siang kerja, sore ke pepruss eh perpus sampe malam. Begitu terus.. Kaya siklus robot. Yeaa namanya juga belajar. Eniwei, ada bbrp hal yang gua syukuri:

Kedua ortu yang baru anniversarry kemaren. Hix...
Orang-orang yang pada perhatian n concern gara2 gua kecelakaan terutama orang2 gereja. Ada yg kirim email, ada yang telepon. Pastor gua pun baik hati meminjamkan mobilnya, ga nyangka padahal dah bingung ga ada mobil mo pake apa. PTL!
Hari ini baru selesai transaksi dengan insurance. Mereka ganti mobil gua yg rusak dengan harga dikurangi deductible fee, masi tetep dapet lebih tinggi dari harga gua beli mobil itu. Puji Tuhan!
Beberapa tugas udah gua beresin, tinggal 2 lagi nih kagokk...
Gua baru ketemu 1 orang utk bantu jadi pianist sesekali di gereja, anak freshman LU. Kita liat aja nanti apa dia mau serius atau kaga.
Natal tinggal 2 minggu-an lagi. Akhirnya... Gua akan terbang ke tmn gua di Seattle, the home of Starbucks Coffee,... hehehe... Lalu dari situ bakal drive up to Vancouver, Canada. Sekarang aja disana udah 20'F brrrrr kuat gak ya nanti? We'll see.

Sekarang lagi nyari mobil lagi neh. Seperti berpetualang terasa panjang dan melelahkan, tapi bagaimana lagi? Disini gak ada becak, busway, bemo, angkot, apalagi ojek. So mau ga mau harus ada mobil yg cukup reliable. Sekarang focus nyiapin exams utk tgl 11-14 Dec. Christmas Day, I'm ready! Wes ewes ewes.. bablass angine!

I remember

2006-11-29T17:57:00.000-05:00

mom & dad:

happy 26th anniversarry!

grateful to be one of your kids,

firsts in my second thanksgiving

2006-11-27T12:44:00.000-05:00

Beberapa hal menarik yang gua alami di Thanksgiving tahun ini.

Pertama kali kecelakaan mobil nubruk kijang, brekkkkkkkkkk! Setelah dikonfirmasi ternyata bukan rusa, tapi kijang. (Kijang kok dilawan???)
Pertama kali road trip sejauh 1600 miles, total (kira2 2300 km, kaya bolak balik Jakarta-Medan kali yaa?) dengan mobil.
Pertama kali pergi ke Atlanta.
Pertama kali hunting 'black friday' (belanja sehari setelah Thanksgiving utk ngejar bbrp barang murah dan... DAPETTTT! Cihuy!)
Pertama kali naek mobil polisi,
Pertama kali naek mobil derek
Pertama kali naek 'taksi gelap' (adeeuuhhh ternyataaa di Amrik yang negara hukum ini tetep aja ada yg namanya taksi gelap! *geleng-geleng*)
Pertama kali naek mobil rental (yg terakhir ini 'sakit ati dah').
Pertama kali nyetir mobil overnight dlm rangka pulang dari Atlanta ke Lynchburg.

So....laughter? Tears? Joy? Pain? Nervous? Regret? Happy? Guilt? Relieved? Tenang, disini kumplit semua ada kok. Dan atas semuanya gua cuma bisa say thanks to the Lord. He keeps me and watch over me. And He is good indeed.

ps.
btw soal mobil, keliatannya dlm bbrp waktu dekat ini gue bakal dapet mobil baru nech gara2 mobil gua rusak berat dan insurance company lebih milih untuk ganti daripada perbaiki. doain ya supaya gue dapet mobil bekas yang gak bermasalah.

flow

2006-11-17T19:55:00.000-05:00

Setelah berjuang menyelesaikan itu term paper systematic theology/ST dan test tiap hari yang seru2, akhirnya hari ini terlewati dgn baik jg. Thanks Lord! That's it????? Ga kaleee. Masi ada tugas2 lain menanti. Cross-cultural church planting dan PDM class masih harus dibikin papernya. Belom lagi gue mesti selesain "utang" lama yaitu project terjemahan Boy Meets Girl yang sudah dipatok terbit April 2007 di Indo edisi bhs Indonesia-nya. Hehehe... my first book translation, btw. Ing eeng!!! Abis itu masih hrs siapin bahan utk 'teaching simulation' dan final comprehensive exam ST. Duh ko kaya jadi banyak gitu ye...

Thanksgiving kali ini biasa aja kecuali tempat yg gue blm pernah kunjungi adl north Atlanta hari kamis dpn.. asyik! Lynchburg hari ini sudah mulai 'menyeramkan' krn 5000 students non-Lynchburgers pada mudik... kemana2 sepiii, namanya juga kota kecil mungil. Rumah gw pun bakal sepi krn semua rata2 anak rantau.

Ada yang lagi terpikir yaitu kemungkinan semester depan gua cabut dari kantor Admissions Dept. Well agak menyedihkan sih, tapi gua tertarik utk jadi graduate assistant di School of Religion. Selain dpt tuition gratis ganti 10 hr assistantship seminggu, lumayan dapet pengalaman utk ke depan. Pasti menarikkkk. Masih tahap pertimbangan sih. Mulai Spring 2007 semester nanti gua bakal ambil M.ML program di Rockbridge Seminary - Springfield, MO (online) for my third program dan tinggal tunggu keputusan mrk diterima or kagak. So ini bakal bikin gua gak akan "gak sibuk." Liat aja deh. Sebetulnya yg gua lagi kejar adalah Southwestern Seminary krn mrk ada program Christian Education dgn church music minor. Cuma anehnya email gw kok ga dibales2 gitu nape..... Mungkin dah kebanyakan students... So hidup dijalani saja dengan sebaik2nya. Gua tau pasti Tuhan punya maksud dlm setiap alur hidup, walaupun skrg segala sesuatunya spt masi blurr. Kalo masih gak ada respon dari mereka, gua bakal balik tahun depan. (dan jadi pengangguran???? hahaha, B.Th/'babu Tuhan' kok pengangguran...). Kalo diterima di Southwestern, gw gak tau bayar sekolah dari mana, berhubung satu dan lain hal... tapi kata TY liat burung2 di udara Bapa pelihara, nahh masa seh pembantuNya gak dipelihara...???? Jadi biarkan hidup ini mengalir, yang penting gua tau gua gak berada di sungai yang salah. Gitu dulu deh.

buruaaaaan....

2006-11-08T17:09:00.000-05:00

Can't wait until these 2 weeks are over. This week I have to finish up my Systematic Theology I term paper, which demands a lot of concentration. For me, the philosophical facet in this lesson is somehow more dominant than the theological one. Man, it's a headache. When I began my paper, I have 2-3 questions unanswered. And now after a while, I realize that there are at least 4-5 other questions and they're all remain unanswered (LoL). I'll keep the unanswered remain unanswered, shut down my curiousity, grab my laptop, write down my findings, and leave it all up to Him.

Next, I still owe a little work of my worship intensive last two months ago. Next week will be an interesting one: a mid-test for Ministry of Teaching class, Purpose Driven Ministry class, and Cross-cultural Missions class. Wew!

These past few weeks are quite sketchy, that's what my roommate said. (I assume that it means finally he's learning how to wash the dishes..) Oo and by the way, we're having a contest, it is called: "who's going to bed early" contest. A couple days ago I went to bed unusually earlier. Last night he went to bed way too much earlier, about 8PM.... (*whatt the ...*). So I let him win the contest. "OK, you got it," Next time, the contest will be "who's cleaning up the sink??" I'll make sure he won again. hehehe..

Ok, gotta get back to work now. Peace!

the tale of two brains

2006-11-05T21:09:00.000-05:00

Jumat - Sabtu kmrn ceritanya gua ikut IMPACT 2006: Men's Conference di Thomas Road Church. Awalnya ga gitu minat ikut sih tapi akhirnya gua semangat jg dengan melihat berbagai topik2nya yang seru. Well, selama seminggu ini kesibukan lumayan meningkat dan badan udah kerasa capenya bukan maen. Nah, acara ini mulai dari sore jam 5-10 mlm. Wewww, gua awalnya ga yakin gitu. Yg lebih gila, Sabtunya itoeee... mulainya ga tanggung jam 7 pagi! Gile biasa gue bangun jam 9 aja udah bagus... ini jam 7? Dengan kondisi badan cape semingguan? Nah, akhirnya gua ikut juga. Salah satu breakout session yang cukup menarik adalah ttg Healthy Sexuality. Ternyata ini bicara mengenai perbedaan men & women, dan tentunya bukan ttg seks doank. Kita nonton pembicaranya lewat DVD. Judulnya: A Tale of Two Brains - by Mark Gungor, Laugh Your Way America! Orangnya emang kocak banget jadi topik yang super serius ini dibikin nyantai. Sepanjang dia bicara gue denger sambil bikin catatan di notes, in English.

You'll find it interesting. Some of these are generally true, some of them would have exceptions.

Men's Brains - Women's Brains

Men's brains are comprised of 'little boxes'. These boxes don't touch each others. They will discuss only what is in that box.
Women's brains are like 'big balls of wire', anything is connected to everything. They are driven by energy called as emotion.

Men don't care.
Women can remember everything. They can talk about everything.

Speaking about boxes, men have a box with nothing in it. This is the 'nothing box.' In fact, this is their favorite box! They will go to this box whenever they are stress. This nothing box can be: fishing, watching TV, newspaper.... etc.
When women are stressed-out watching men hooked up in their 'nothing box', they will ask men, "What are you thinking about?" Do you know their answer?

Nothing.

A researcher from University of Pennsylvania found out that men can think about nothing and still breath. (lol)

Men tend to use less words.
Women repeat everything they say.

There is another research done through a nursery room in a church. A boy who's doing nothing and just sit down kept his mouth opened. (aaaa....). A girl who's doing the same kept her mouth opened but it looked as if she was talking (aoaoaouaoa...).

Different meanings

Men and women perceives different meanings of some words like for instance:

5 minutes. When a man says 5 minutes, it's usually like: Hey, you have 5 more minutes! (they're dead serious about it) When a woman says 5 minutes, it could be any time.
Nothin. When a man says nothin, it's nothin. When a woman says nothin, you can be sure that it means 'somethin.'
(Sigh) in motion. When a man sighs, he is thinking, "Aaaah what a wonderful day!" When a women sighs, it could be something like, "Why you never understand....?" or something like, "You're an idiot..."
Go ahead. If a man says that, they're usually plain. If a woman says that, they usually sighs afterward.

Women's brain usually has extra RAM's while men's brain usually comes with basic minimum requirements.

Men have what they said as selected listening.

Men are single-tasking, women are multi-tasking. That's why we can find that men has a certain profession, such as: the greatest chef.

Warning

Do not give vital information to men when they are seriously doing something. When you do this, usually men have their 'defense mechanism' and that is "uhuh.... uhuh.....uhuh.."

Ok. Menarik juga sih sebetulnya. Pas kemaren di classroom orang2 pada ketawa2 karena kebanyakan mereka baik itu young adults or older people ngerasa yang diomongin disitu walaupun konyol tapi itu betul terjadi. So terserah penilaian yang baca. Tuhan ciptakan kita dengan keunikan berbeda, tapi tujuan tetap sama untuk memuliakan Dia. Amin.

the healing heart

2006-11-03T13:19:00.000-05:00

Shattered heart forced to heal
as greatness unveils thine soul.
Hope whispered in the distance,
to recover thine lost love.

'Tis night brings tender passing,
healing thine soul with glorious blunder.
Caus' not one or two,
but dissipated nights of dreams.

Sadness comes to end,
happiness conquered hate.
Love sprouting -- sadness shrinking,
hope has come again.

(grhess)

backup

2006-10-31T22:58:00.000-05:00

Fhew... gilee minggu ini gue berkali-kali denger cerita ttg hard drive laptop yang crashed. Temen-temen kampus pada cerita. Sama ada temen luar kampus juga di NC, ortunya yang cerita. And gawatnya gua baru menyadari bhw laptop gue hard drivenya belon diback up. So gue buru2 dah ngeback up n bakarrrrr semua itu file2 di laptop kesayanganku.....
Gile aja apalagi ini minggu2 stressful, kalo sampe ada apa2 bisa gawat dah.
Bgm teman2 yang berlaptop? Udah pada back up data belonnn or update back up... Or cuma gue doank kali yach....hehehe.. jadi malu. Maloeee akoeeee!!!!!!!

catch this!

2006-10-20T23:37:00.000-04:00

The three 'lost' verses from AMAZING GRACE.

The Lord has promised good to me
His Word my hope secures;
He will my Shield and Portion be
As long as life endures

Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail
And mortal life shall cease
I shall possess, within the veil
A life of joy and peace

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, Who called me here below
Shall be forever mine.

from: Amazed by Grace

edited by Elizabeth Kea

retreat

2006-10-17T23:54:00.000-04:00

Gereja gua di Bdg ceritanya akan adain retreat..... huaaah at laaaasssstttt setelah 11 tahun, bayangin..... 11 tahun, man!!!!!!!!!!! Terakhir retreat kel. besar taun 95 dan baru taun ini adain lagi, tepatnya minggu depan pas libur Lebaran (well bukan tgl merahnya denk). Orang-orang pada semangat.... memang sih gak semua bisa berhubung bukan pas tgl merah. Tapi gua agak prihatin juga, di tengah-tengah kekurangan orang yang terjadi, masih ada orang2 yang bisa keukeuh gak mau bantu, okey deh utk hadir emang gak bisa. Tapi jgnkan hadir, ini persiapan pun masih ada yang gak berkutik. Acara mungkin gak sempurna, kurang ini kurang itu, gak sesuai keinginan kita..... (aha..mungkin itu sebabnya), tapi bukan berarti kita diem sementara orang2 semua pada bersibuk2. Tapi ada jg 1 tmn gw yg sehari-hari kerja di Jkt, bayangin sampe tiap minggu dia pp. bdg-jkt utk ke grj, ibadah dan pelayanan, sampe merelakan ijin cuti khusus utk bantu retreat. Dari sini gua bisa liat di grj ternyata ada berbagai macam tipe orang. Waktu gua bilang ke 1 orang, ini contoh aja, "eh si X yg org jakarta aja ijin cuti, masa situ ga ikut, malu donk?"
Berikut percakapannya:

y: karena orang bandung bekerja dengan sebaik2nya walaupun dengan tuan yang bengis.
y: jadi tak perlu merasa malu.
z: lebih taat sama tuan yang bengis drpd sama Tuan yg lemah lembut
y: karena tuan yang bengis pun ditempatkan oleh Tuan yg lemah lembut untuk menjadi atasanmu.
z: lebih
z: bukan gak taat
z: analoginya bukan ke situ menurut saya
y: mbb.
z: ?
y: manusia bebas bicara.. hehe.
z: memang
z: ok
z: anda gak ikut ya gpp
z: kerja ya mo gmn lagi
z: tapi minimal bantu bisa khan????
z: selain drpd doa tentunya
y: mungkin sore/malem nongol sih.
y: tapi ga akan merugikan.
y: kaga makan, kaga nginep.
z: ko jadi untung rugi
z: hehe
z: ya mo nginep jg gapapa kaleeee
y: ya masa kaga dapter tapi nginep dan makan. tak sopan itu namanya.
z: hehehe
z: dasar lu
z: yah daftar mah daftar sajalah, cuma 50ribu khan
z: itung2 nyumbang
y: udah nyumbang.
z: oh
z: terus, kalo sdh nyumbang tapi ga daftar, ga bole makan ya takut rugi, jahat kali panitianya
z: sapa bagian konsumsi/akomodasi
y: bukan jahat. tapi mengkacaukan persiapan.

(pembicaraan terhenti, gua stop krn ngantuk)

y: temen gereja
z: me

Alhasil, pembicaraan tidak nyambung sama sekali. Well, terserah deh, judge not... Bible says. Tapi selalu menarik melihat karakter orang yg beda2, something yang bbrp hari terakhir ini gua hrs hadapi. Btw gereja gak rame kalo gak gini ya?

kota-kota di dunia

2006-10-12T14:13:00.000-04:00

Berikut ini nama-nama negara/kota di dunia....coba simak:

I.T.A.L.Y.
I Trust And Love You

L.I.B.Y.A.
Love Is Beautiful ; You Also

F.R.A.N.C.E.
Friendships Remain And Never Can End

C.H.I.N.A.
Come Here..... I Need Affection

B.U.R.M.A.
Between Us, Remember Me Always

N.E.P.A.L.
Never Ever Part As Lovers

C.A.N.A.D.A .
Cute And Naughty Action that developed into attraction

E.G.Y.P.T.
Everything's Great, You Pretty Thing !

M.A.N.I.L.A.
May All Nights Inspire Love Always

P.E.R.U.
Phorget (Forget) Everyone... Remember Us

T.H.A.I.L.A. N.D.
Totally Happy, Always In Love And Never Dull

J.A.K.A.R.T. A
Jambret Ada, Koruptor Ada, Rampok Tentu Ada

transitioning

2006-10-11T00:13:00.000-04:00

TRANSISI. Rasanya kita sering sekali mendengar kata ini. Apa sih transisi itu? Kata aslinya dari Bhs Latin, transire - artinya, melewati/melalui/lewat. ...Hehehe kata yang terakhir itu menarik. Kalau chat saya paling sering ngomong "lewat." Mungkin lain kali saya akan bilang "TRANSISI!!!" Menurut Kamus Merriam-Webster, ada 3 pengertian transisi:

sebuah proses dari satu tahap/tempat/subyek ke tahap/tempat/subyek lainnya.
modulasi musikal, sebuah jembatan yang membawa perpindahan dari karya satu ke karya lainnya. -- ini pengertian dlm musik
sebuah perubahan tiba-tiba di dalam status energi tertentu yang biasanya disertai penambahan atau pengurangan kuantum energi.

Nah, kayanya pengertian no.1 deh ya yang paling umum. Yg lainnya anggap kasus khusus deh. Hidup ini adalah transisi. Boleh dibilang begitu. Siapa sih yang gak pernah mengalami transisi? Saya sekarang sedang mengalami transisi. (dari rasa kantuk menuju tempat tidur...hahaha) Mungkin semua orang juga demikian, sedang ber-transisi. Lalu kenapa tiba2 kamu ngomong transisi????? Mungkin orang-orang pada nanya begitu. Ya, karena tiba-tiba muncul di benak pikiran saya. Kita semua sedang mengalami transisi. Transisi bisa macam-macam. Transisi dari yang tinggal di Indonesia, negara korup-macet-bau-jorok NAN gembira ria banyak jajanan murah meriah spt baso tahu pinggir jalan, es campur, dan batagor, transisi pindah ke Amerika yang serba apik, rapi, dan tentunya gak murah meriah lagi... Hixhix... Transisi dari 1 musim, (misalnya musim duren yang slurpy yummy), ke 4 musim. Transisi dari jomblo terus mantan jomblo, terus jomblo lagi, terus mantan jomblo lagi. Kenapa kita terus menerus gak pernah berhenti ber-transisi selagi waktu berjalan? Hmm pertanyaan bagus. Sebetulnya ada transisi yang paling penting dan paling dinanti. Transisi kita yang paling terakhir. Transisi dari dunia fana menuju dunia kekal. Itu yang ditunggu-tunggu. Dunia bukan rumahku, aku hanya seorang pengembara - mungkin syair lagu itu harus ditambah dengan kata-kata, ...... yang selalu bertransisi. Entah bagaimana melodinya jadi seperti apa.

Di saat itulah, kita tidak akan ber-transisi lagi, untuk selama-lamanya. Cukup sudah. Apakah kehidupan berakhir? Tentu tidak. Justru itu awal dari segala-galanya. Huaaaaaahh. Saya sudah mengantuk. Sebentar lagi mau 'transisi' nih di Pulau Kapuk. Sambung lagi besok-besok. Kelihatannya akan jadi topik yang menarik unek-unek ini. Mungkin besok topiknya, "apa yang harus kita lakukan di dalam masa transisi."

Salam transisi - to be continued

gak ngerti

2006-10-08T23:57:00.000-04:00

Ngomong sama si A..., gak nyambung. Ngomong sama si B.... eh, salah nangkep lagi.... Topiknya sama. Apa sini yang tulalit or mereka yg beda jurusan yach?
Ahh biar....

Yuhuuu, taaarriiiiik maaaaannnngggg!

obituary

2006-10-08T14:00:00.000-04:00

The latest victims of E.Coli Outbreak all over USA

some captivating momento...

2006-10-04T19:52:00.000-04:00

Heiyyaaa, this week is quite a 'week'..... Fhew! I have an intensive class where it supposed to be a 'fall break' holiday. Nevermind, Liberty is not generous in giving holiday. So btw I have a full 'plate.' Plus we have 'SuperConference' at Thomas Road Church, it's a sort of 'KKR.' A number of good speakers spoke. One of them was Dr. David Jeremiah from San Diego. He talked about 'discouragement.' A great spiritual oasis in the midst of the dried 'dessert.' Powerful message and great music program, well, what else you'd expect from such big church???

First day SC - Monday, Oct 2

Ok. Enough with SuperConference, enough with the full-parking and the campus hectics. Today, me and my roommate, Ben, have some special quests in our 'hut.' Three ladies came over and cheer us up. Haha! We're two luckiest guy here..... Well, that's not the point, actually the greatest part is my roommie cook a great delicious Mexican food, Chicken Enchilada.... yummmy!

tadaaaa..... Ben Forrest's Chicken Enchilada
(looks yummy, eh)

he seemed so proud with his food....

Done! We're loaded.
(Ben, Julie, Samantha, Kelsey, me)

Btw, all the pictures except the bottom one were taken with my cell-phone, so I hope everybody would understand that... So, either in a big spacious church, or in a small studio apartment with just a simple dish meal, we can have good fellowship if we're right with God. Right?

hiding

2006-10-01T22:33:00.000-04:00

Pointless……..
How it seems so
But I sit and look inside,
Seeing the unseen, hearing the unheard
Waiting for the utterance to appear and whisper

Shiftless…..
Stop at the corner
Deem for the deep yearning
Take heed for the stretch has gone astray

Speechless……
No words come up from the lips
Not even a single breath
Tranquil, my soul…

Blameless…….
The voice that comes
The sight that grows
Compels me to seek,
and to hear, and to listen
and to see…for just a glimpse
Yes, there is more to come….

L-Burg

01oct06

morning humming

2006-09-28T09:00:00.000-04:00

This morning when I took shower, I remembered this old song and hummed it while the water splashed out. (can only hummed coz my roommie was still sleeping) But I think the words are so true for me.

Praise Looks Good on You

When you lift Your hands up high
And you sing a song of praise to Me
It brings Me great delight
Such a lovely sight
And yes it is true
Praise looks good on you
Morning night and noon
Your praise ascends to heaven
Like the smell sweet perfume
Filling every room
And yes it is true
Praise looks good on you

You bring your sacrifices
and you offer up your praise
You lift your voice with singing
but your heart seems far away
More than a sacrifice
I am looking for your life
holy and acceptable
and pleasing in my sight

So offer up your lives
holy and acceptable
a willing sacrifice
precious in my sight
But in all that you do
remember all I want is you

So lift your hands up high

and worship Him before the altar

Consecrate your life

a willing sacrifice

But in all that you do

remember all He wants is you

And yes it is true

praise looks good on you

Don Moen

h4riiNiBuKanUnTUkKu

2006-09-21T11:33:00.000-04:00

Judul postingan ini terlalu dramatis... tapi biarin ah.
Pernah denger orang bilang, "dunia ga adil"?????? Kalo belon pernah, sekarang gua bilang.....
Suka ga suka, sadar ga sadar, perasaan itu pasti suatu saat akan kita hadapi. Contohnya gini.
Hari ini ada Exam#1 di kelas Ministry of Teaching, bahannya gak sedikit, lumayan ujubile. Isinya semua beraneka ragam teori dan prinsip2 teaching. Dari awal minggu2 ini gua dah nyiapin krn ga akan bisa dikebut. Kmrn pas lagi finishing belajar, roommate gw di rumah sore2 nunjukin soal ujian 2 thn lalu yg dia dapet dari temennya. Gua liat2 sebentar terus back to my own study. Roommate gw kmrn seharian pergi maen, dia cuma hafalin mati dari text soal punya dia itu. N guess what??????
Tadi soalnya kayanya sama persiss. Roommate gua dlm 30 menit selesain exam truz langsung keluar. Gue ga dongkol sama dia. CUma yah kesel aja. Rasanya ko orang gampang bener ya... gua yg udah susah2 nyiapin kok ga seconfident itu. Apa kayanya gua yg bego.. n roommate gua superbjenius, well I don't know.
Maklum, namanya jg kls ttg 'teaching' - dosen gw bikin tipe ujiannya yg rada2 complexed gitu deh. Semua tmn2 laen jg terbengong2 dan lamaaaa banget selesain test ini. Gua kmrn ga terpikir utk hafal mati or belajar dari text roommate gw krn gua pikir well gua udah punya pattern belajar sendiri dan rasanya 'mungkin gengsiii gitu yee'' masa sih belajar dari bahan orang. Lagian dia pergi keluar seharian n baru balik setelah gua tidur.
Nyesel? Ga juga. Cuma kesel dikit.

Kedua. Awal semester ini gua baru beli software utk bikin academic writing. Di Amrik ini orang ga bisa sembarangan nulis paper kayak jaman kuliah di Indo.... No way! Semua ada aturan bahkan sampe layout, margin, spacing, indentation, semuaaa ada aturan baku. Seminary gua pake model Turabian/Chicago. So gua beli software yg namanya StyleEase-Turabian yg harganya $40 DEMI ikut aturan krn gua disaranin tmn gua yg bisa lolos 1 Prof yg jeli banget. Nah, di kls Systematic Theology (yg gak gampang jg), gua duduk bareng sama 1 tmn yg namanya si X.
Roommate gw kasitau ke dia kalo gua punya StyleEase dan dia ngejar2 itu software ke gua.
Emang sih, orang INDO sdh terkenal dgn 'bajaaakkkk'-nya itu. Segala2 dibajak dan dibakar. hehe. Tapi ga tau deh, napa ya rasanya gua ga rela. Ga adil gua udah beli mahal2 terus dibajak sama dia.... TERUS. blm selesai nih ada lanjutannya....
Di kelas ini kita udah mulai hrs ambil Online Quiz (OQ) yg openbook. Di OQ pertama, si X ini bilang dia udah ambil dan susaaah banget, nilai dia ga nyampe setengah dari nilai penuh. So you know laa kira2 brp. So gua mikir ini pasti susah. Well, I did it and I got almost 3/4 dari total score. GUESS WHAT? Si dosen bilang ok deh, karena banyak yg gagal, yg gagal boleh ambil quiz lagi (dgn isi yg sama). Dan hari ini si X bilang, HORE gua udah ambil OQ dan dapet 100%!!!!!!
JEDIGGGGGG DIGGG DIGGG!!!! Hmm bagusshh!

Marah? Gak
Sebel? Gak juga
Kesel? Belon
Sedih? Jangan sampe
Jengkel? ga tau

No comment. This is not my day... Not at all....

**Dan selimut pun ditutup** zzzz.........

they finally put him down

2006-09-18T23:23:00.000-04:00

A TRIBUTE TO A SILENT KID

Isaac (1996-2006)

(sleepyheads)

He didn't make it, I've just heard this morning. The problem was too complicated. Cancer and a bursting tumor. He could not even breathe. They buried Isaac after the vet shot him down. Poor Ryan, he was sad all day (and even cried.... fortunately I didn't see that, if I was there, I would have ruined the situation). So now when I got home, nobody would stand by the door and greet me. Hix...

Goodbye, Isaac.

noted things

2006-09-17T14:18:00.000-04:00

Okay, Minggu ini kok kerasanya panjang banget ya. Ceritanya baru balik dari sport center abis berenang terus relax di jacuzzi berendem air panas... weeee... Orang2 pada mulai nanya di email dll, so gimana nih kabarnya yang udah mulai kuliah.... hehe baru sempet jawab sekarang. Ada beberapa hal yang gua catet, hal2 yang terjadi di semester Fall 2006 ini.

Things to be thanked for:

Gua bisa melalui adjustment phase - tinggal di rumah asri nan nyaman dengan 4 roommates. Lebih enak, lebih gak sepi, lebih deket ke kampus, dan lebih murah!!! (itu yg paling penting, coiy!) Bener2 blessings, dah! Adapun roommates gua, Ryan P: the care owner, Ryan B: the funny gag-maker, Adam: the silent co-worker @ the office (lucu juga kita terbengong2 pas tau kita tinggal serumah, Adam & gua sama2 kerja di kantor Admissions Processing), and finally Ben: the undescribable roommate. I'll tell about it later.
Semua kelas bisa diikuti dengan lancar. Gua lagi keep-up dengan semua tugas2 yg makin serius dan perlu diplanning jauh2 kapan beresin-nya.
Bisa kerja full hours sesuai limit (18 jam seminggu). Memang sih kagak ada naik gaji seperti yang dikasi tau temen gue, tapi well, bisa kerja aja udah bagus banget. Temen2 gua yg international students pada ga dapet kerja.
Beberapa urusan 'big deal' di gereja gua sudah dilalui. Fhew!!! Yg ini bener2 puji Tuhan soalnya gua udah sempet kepikir hal2 yg laen. Gereja gua intinya lagi dlm masa transisi gitulah. So, it's glad to know that we can continue to move on.
Dpt kesempatan utk ikut kebaktian pagi di Thomas Road Church yg jam 8.30 (so gua sebelum melayani di gereja Faith Baptist jam 10). Krn lokasinya di kampus, jadi sekalian jalan. Lumayan direfresh dengan suasana kebaktian dan preachingnya. Kebetulan yg khotbah pagi Pastor Jonathan Falwell n khotbah dia buat gua lbh dalem pembahasannya, lebih mengena (alias menabok) daripada bokapnya...

Things to be prayed about

Walaupun masa penyesuaian gua tinggal disini berjalan lancar, gua masih harus belajar utk menyesuaikan diri tinggal bareng sekamar dengan roommate gua. Ada kalanya gua merasa keganggu kalo dia bawa temen2 seRT nonton bareng di tempat kita. Bukan berarti gua ga seneng ada tamu, gua seneng of course, it brightens the whole room, tapi kadang ngedadak-nya itu. Well, gua udah ngomong baik2 dan keliatannya belakangan ini ada kemajuan, dia gak tiba2 bawa temen2. Kadang dia nanya dulu. Tapi yah, mungkin gua masih hrs belajar banyak utk share the living with others.
Semester ini tugas2 gak numpuk, tapi tiap minggu selalu ada yg hrs dikerjain. So, lbh teratur ritme-nya, lebih enak tapi gua gak bole lengah.
Pelayanan di gereja bakal lebih serius karena kali ini gua diserahin all areas yg berhubungan sama yg namanya worship & music (praise band dan choir...woaaaa). Maklum grj kecil. Temen gua yg dulu jadi partner skrg gak balik lagi ke Lynchburg. Gua gak pinter bikin konsep, so gua masi kudu belajar pake trial n error tea... Komitmen gua adalah gua bakal lakuin sepanjang yg gua sanggup.
Gua enggak pernah suka yg namanya anjing, tapi maklum ada pesan sponsor barusan gua diminta doain anjing golden retriever di rumah kita yang namanya si Isaac. Dia lagi sakit....(bahhhhh... sejak kapan gua doain anjing?????) Overall untung aje anjing yg satu ini baeknya minta ampun. Penurut, pinter, dan gak pernah menggonggong. Halah, gua sempet bingung ni anjing apa domba ye?
Last but not least. Tentu kehidupan rohani gua. Anything can happen if I'm not in the right track. Gua lagi berusaha belajar menghadapi karakter tiap2 orang yg berbeda. Orang2 di rumah ini, friends, and even family. So please be patient with me lah, OK???

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."

(Hebrews 12:1-6)

2006-09-12T08:54:00.000-04:00

EUUUUUUUUUUUURRRGGGHHHHH....

Shoot! What a draining week...

"To You I call, O LORD my Rock...." - Psalm 28:1

Pancasila in local/tribal languages

2006-09-09T10:28:00.000-04:00

Pancasila (Jawa)
siji: Gusti Alllah ora ono kancane
loro: Dadi wong kudu sing adil lan ojo kejem-kejem
telu: Indonesia bersatu kabeh
papat: karo tonggo-tonggo nek ono masalah diomongnobareng-bareng opo
limo: mangan ra mangan sing penting kumpul

Pancasila (Sunda)
hiji: Gusti Allah eta sorangan sareng ageng pisan
dua: ka sorangan teh sikapna kudu sami, ulahngabeda-beda keun..
tilu: Indonesia kuduna mah jadi hiji
Opat: Ra'yat Indonesia sae na pang mutuskeun sagalateh disepakatkeunheula. Kedah bageur lan bijaksana
Lima: Ceunah teh sikap sosialna kudu adil hiji sarengbatur.

Pancasila (Batak Toba)
Sada: Dang adong na pajago-jagohon di jolo ni Debata
Dua : Maradat tu sude jolma
Tolu : Punguan ni halak Indonesia
Opat : Marbadai ... marbadai, dungi mardame
Lima : Godang pe habis saotik pe sukkup

Poncosilo (jawa kromo)
kaping setunggal: Gusti ingkang Maha satunggal
Kaping kalih: Tiangingkang Adil lan beradab
kaping tiga: persetunggalan Indonesia
kapingsekawan: Kerakyatan ingkang dipimpin kaliyan hikmat lan kewicaksonoan dateng permusyawaratan kang diwakilkan.
kaping gangsal:Adil kang sosial kangge sakabehe tiang Indonesia

Pancasila (Palembang)
sute: Tuhan ne sute tu'la
due: jelme harus khapat same rate
tige: jelme Indones iane bersatu padu
empat: jeleme Indonesiane diketuci ngai hikmah dimanengedapatkan jawaban dadi gegale masalah
Leme: kesameratean hidup ne jelmekangok Indonesia...

Pancasila (Ambon)
1. Torang samua tawu cuma ada Tuang Allah yaitu Tetemanu...
2. Orang ambon samu harus tau adat
3. acang deng obet harus bisa bakubae
4.Paitua deng maitua harus bae-bae di rumah rakyat
5.samu harus bisa jaga diri karna ambon lapar makan orang....... ...

Pancasila (Manado)
1. Cuma boleh ba satu Tuhan
2. Selalu adil kong ja pake ontak
3. Torang samua satu, Bangsa Indonesia
4. Tu rakyat musti slalu bakumpul kong bicara bae-2 spy slalu adakaputusan gagah yg semua trima deng nang hati.
5. voor seluruh ra kyat Indonesia, nyanda ada tu jabaku kase beda-2perlakuan.

Pancasilo (Padang)
ciek: Bintang Basagi Limo
duo: Rantai pangikek kudo
tigo: pohon baringin gadang ta'mpek kito bacinto
ampek: kapalo banteng bataduk duo
limo: padi jo kapeh pambaluik nan luka

(kayaknye banyak yg gak nyambung deh)

Ernesto

2006-09-02T18:35:00.000-04:00

Had an interesting conversation last night. I told my friend back home in Indonesia about the weather here. These past few days in Virginia we have rainfall. The ERNESTO hurricane from the South / Florida brought this up and we have non-stop rain for 2-3 days. My neighbor's house was flooded, thank the Lord that our house was just fine. My friend gave comment "Wow, America is always struck by all kinds of things; hurricanes, tornadoes, flood, etc." Maybe God is telling something.

I said, "Well, don't forget that Indonesia has been through all kinds of disasters also, tsunami, earthquakes, floods and other stuffs." He replied, "Yes, Indonesia has all kinds of disasters, but the government and the people never changes." We pray all kinds of prayers but they're just the same.
Suddenly something else poped-up in my mind. What is the purpose of prayer, anyway? Yes, prayer changes things, we heard those a lot. But is it to change the condition OR something else. Prayer supposed to change the person who prays, not the situation nor others. Remember Sadrach, Mesach, and Abednego. They were accused because they prayed not to the king but to their God. Then they said, "..the God we serve is able to save us from it and he will rescue us from you, but even he does not..." Even he does not, this is between life and death. Sure it took prayers for them to be able to say that. Yes, they prayed (as Jewish they prayed in the morning, day, and night). And yes it did change them instead of the whole situation that they were facing.

Oswald Chambers said,

"God has established things so that prayer, on the basis of redemption, changes the way a person looks at things. Prayer is not a matter of changing things externally, but one of working miracles in a person’s inner nature."

We Christians used to pray that God would changes this and that, anything but ourselves (especially when we're dealing in a conflict). Ha ha ha.... I used to pray that. Now I'm thankful that God gave me a simple reminder. My prayer is that God continues to change me to be more like Him. Long way to go, fellas.

intro to fall 06

2006-08-24T14:11:00.000-04:00

Aha.., setelah dua bulan lebih gua ninggalin kampus tercinta, Liberty, akhirnya hari Senin kmrn tgl 21 Agst bisa balik lagi dgn selamat di kota kecil alias dusun Lynchburg, Virginia, setelah mudik ke Bandung selama libur musim panas, (sempet juga ke Jkt, Pangandaran, Sby, Malang, Bali, tapi itu bukan liburan/piknik, sedih gak seeh...).

Sebelum lanjut, ada cerita pas gua baru mendarat di USA, hari itu tgl 10 Agustus di London ada kasus bomb trap yg dirakit pakai cairan/liquids. Hari itu di semua airport Amrik mendadak ada aturan baru yaitu NO LIQUIDS in the cabin bags. Saking mendadaknya sampe petugas bikin pengumuman-nya pake cara tradisional, di-print terus ditempel di tembok2 bak poster kampanye pemilu...... Wah, gue bawa Biore - Made in Indonesia itu semua LUDES dah disita petugas gara2 gue simpen di tas cabin. Lenyap sutralah, relakan, good bye.... Mineral water pun harus diabisin dulu sebelum naik pesawat connecting/domestic. Galak deh pokonya, rada2 serem.

Nah, tgl 21 Agustus kmrn gua nyampe di rumah Sandusky Drive, kira2 5 km saja dari kampus. Ada 5 orang yg tinggal disini. Ryan P (the owner of the house), Ryan B, sama si Adam Shure, mereka semua tinggal di atas, dgn kamar masing2. Sementara gue dapet tempat di studio apartment/basement yg cukup lega, dgn roommate baru, Ben Forrest, yang sama2 kuliah di seminary.

Hari Rabu kemaren kuliah pertama di semester Fall 2006 ini. ASTAGA!!!! itu yg namanya parkir semua penuh. Busyett... Fall 2006 ini ada 3,200 freshman (mhs baru) yg masuk. Gile bener, pantesan aja parkir semua penuh. Itu berarti hampir 9,000 orang yg tinggal di kompleks kampus sekarang ini, naik 2 ribu tadinya 7,000an. Itu baru mhs undergrad, belon lagi taun ini, Thomas Road Church (gereja induk Liberty) pindah ke kompleks kampus juga, mereka baru bangun sanctuary yg muat 6,000 tempat duduk. Mereka otomatis pindah dengan kantor2nya, so parkir betul2 penuh nuh nuh nuh nuh.. (ko manggil2 nabi Nuh ya hehe..). Gue sampe hrs jalan 2x lbh jauh dr biasanya. Higs.... kesel juga soalnya university/anak2 undergrads selalu bikin parkir penuh dan kami2 di seminary selalu harus ngalah.... emang seeh yg lbh tua ngalah, tapi kadang mereka gak mikir juga, targetin mhs baru segitu banyak tapi parkir-nya gak memadai. Tadi aja pas mo balik gue ngeliat itu opsir2 LUPD (Liberty University Police Dept.) rame2 bikin surat tilang buat 1 barisan mobil2 yg diparkir, yg sebetulnya ga bisa disalahin krn mereka mau masuk kuliah tapi parkir penuh semua sementara lahan segitu2nya.

Kedua, semua stock barang2 penting di Wal-Mart toserba kesayangan kita itu LUDES juga disikat sama ribuan mhs LU yg baru masuk asrama. Gue nyari extension cable buat listrik gak ada sama sekali. Sabun cuci wastafel pun tinggal 1 botol. Gile benerrrr... serem ihhh ini kaya mo perang aja, barang2 sembako pada abis...

Nah, yg satu ini bikin gue rada qeqi, yaitu BIAYA utk daftarin mobil, Januari kmrn gue bayar utk sticker spy bisa parkir di tempat GRADUATE students spt biasanya, itu dulu $75 aja dah mikir2 dulu, eh sekarang tarif parking sticker dipukul rata jadi $300, ALAMAAK.... bisa benjut dompetku. Errghhh....., gak mikir banget deh mereka (para juragan kampus), masa katanya supaya freshman2 itu gak bawa mobil, JUSTRU freshman yg paling kenceng duitnya, mrk sekolah dibayarin ortu yg kaya2, liat aja freshman mobilnya pasti bagus2, terang aja duit segitu buat mereka gak ngaruh, apalagi kalo mrk bayar sekolah dgn study loan, kita2 ini yg anak rantau yg harus itung dollar demi dollar...higss..... rasanya mau nangis deh.

Kalo udah gini, gua biasanya ingat masa2 semester 1 dulu pas blm nyetir mobil, waktu gue jalan kaki di tengah teriknya matahari, dari asrama di ujung selatan ke ke kampus di ujung utara, kira2 4-5 km sehari, krn kampus terlalu luas. Kira2 seperti jalan dari depan Ganesha ITB ke Simpang Dago. Nah, kali ini gue bersyukur krn masa2 itu sdh lewat.... Jadi hilang keselnya. Mudah bukan.... :)

Ok, cukup sekian dengan keluhan... Semester ini gue ambil 12 credit terbagi dalam 4 kelas; 1. Ministry of Teaching - ini yg lumayan susah; 2. Purpose Driven Ministry - agak ringan; 3. Cross-cultural Evangelism & Church Planting - blm keliatan susah or gampang; 4. Systematic Theology I, nahh ini yg susah n cukup berattt..... fhewwww..... Lord, have mercy... (orang2 bule di daerah sini biasa suka ngomong gitu dengan logat coboy/southern yg kental, itu kalo di Indo kira2 sama dengan "astaga naga bonar..." hehehe....

Well, I have to be ready with all of those things. Gotta do what I have to do. Ora et Labora itu betulan lho. The real life is about to begin.... I know His grace is sufficient, because His strength made perfect in my weakness. Tralalalala ......

just a thought

2006-08-22T10:47:00.000-04:00

I indeed...., but He

"I indeed baptize you with water . . . but He . . . will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire" Matthew 3:11

Have I ever come to the point in my life where I can say, "I indeed . . . but He . . ."? Until that moment comes, I will never know what the baptism of the Holy Spirit means. I indeed am at the end, and I cannot do anything more— butHe begins right there— He does the things that no one else can ever do. Am I prepared for His coming? Jesus cannot come and do His work in me as long as there is anything blocking the way, whether it is something good or bad. When He comes to me, am I prepared for Him to drag every wrong thing I have ever done into the light? That is exactly where He comes. Wherever I know I am unclean is where He will put His feet and stand, and wherever I think I am clean is where He will remove His feet and walk away.
Repentance does not cause a sense of sin— it causes a sense of inexpressible unworthiness. When I repent, I realize that I am absolutely helpless, and I know that through and through I am not worthy even to carry His sandals. Have I repented like that, or do I have a lingering thought of possibly trying to defend my actions? The reason God cannot come into my life is that I am not at the point of complete repentance.
"He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." John is not speaking here of the baptism of the Holy Spirit as an experience, but as a work performed by Jesus Christ. "He will baptize you . . . ." The only experience that those who are baptized with the Holy Spirit are ever conscious of is the experience of sensing their absolute unworthiness.
"I indeed" was this in the past, "but He" came and something miraculous happened. Get to the end of yourself where you can do nothing, but where He does everything.--

Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

Tuesday

August 22, 2006

new semester

2006-08-22T10:34:00.000-04:00

In the beginning of this new semester, God is fixing something in my life. It may be not comfortable... at all, but I'm willing to obey and listen to Him. We'll just see.
I've tried to change the blog outlook but I couldn't finish it somehow. Now I'll just stick to this one. We have just move in to our house. Things will be normal somewhere next week.

eng .. ing.. eng .. (the end of the holiday)

2006-08-09T17:19:00.000-04:00

Memang bukan moment yang terlalu exciting kalo liburan berakhir. Apalagi abis liburan di tengah kampung halaman. OK, need to gear up..... Back to the real world, and hit the road!

Creator of all things,true source of light and wisdom,
origin of all being,graciously let a ray of your light penetrate
the darkness of my understanding.
Take from me the double darknessin which I have been born,
an obscurity of sin and ignorance.
Give me a keen understanding,a retentive memory,
and the ability to grasp things correctly and fundamentally.
Grant me the talent of being exact in my explanations
and the ability to express myselfwith thoroughness and charm.
Point out the beginning,direct the progress,
and help in the completion.
I ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

St. Thomas of Aquinas

Don Moen

2006-08-03T12:11:00.000-04:00

Tgl 28 Juli lalu gue dapet kesempatan nonton Don Moen. (baca bukan don mun, tapi don mo-wen.) Ni orang satu kayaknya awet muda, prasaan dari dulu yah gitu terus padahal dia ampir seumuran bokap gue....
Harga tiketnya gak kira2.... paling murah di ujung-sumujung itu 90ribu, rada ke tengah itu 200ribu. Yah, demi solidaritas gue nonton yg 200ribu. Dodol nya itu pas hari H, si panitia bikin ulah pake upgrade kelas dgn diskon2, so rugi dah... Terakhir nonton kalo gak salah itu taun 2002 or 2003, nonton dengan group yang sama, hanya skrg si Om yg dulu nonton bareng, sudah ada di rumah Bapa di Surga.

Berikut posting kesan salah satu penonton konser...

"Sejak nonton DonMoen minggu yl. ...
ada 2 lagu yg sampe sekarang berkumandang di hatiku...

judulnya... He Never Sleeps..

Oom DonMoen bilang gini:
"One day I realised I had prayed the same thing to God every night," katanya sebelom nyanyiin lagunya...
"He Never Sleeps." ....
"But God is never too tired to hear our prayers, even it's the same everyday. He is one that never sleeps."

Bener banget... gw ngebayangin kalo ada orang curhat dg topik itu lagi itu lagi.. kita yg dengernya seringkali males...
Hmm..padahal seringkali doa doa kita topik nya itu-itu lagi.. walopun dg rangkaian kata-kata yg beda-beda tiap hari.. tapi Tuhan ngga pernah bosen dg pergumulan kita, beban doa kita, keluhan kita..... Hebat yaa....!!!

He never sleeps He never slumbers
He never tires of hearing our prayer
When we are week He becomes stronger
dst..dst...

Lagu laennya..yg berkumandang juga... Still/Be Still My Soul
Disaat banyak bencana dimana-mana... bahkan isyu..isyu gempa, tsunami, via sms, email, etc...
Juga penglihatan beberapa hamba Tuhan...
lagu ini bikin gw damai...
Tuhan lebih dahsyat drpd apapun juga....!!!

When the ocean rise and thunders roar
I will soar with You above the storm
Father You are King over the floodAnd I will be still and know You are God
dst..dst...

Thank's Jesus for cover me within your mighty hand...
-fps-

last moments

2006-07-31T20:26:00.000-04:00

This is my final week of holiday in our home country...Indonesia. I enjoyed it a lot. Everybody keep me workin'.....b-zee..b-zee..b-zee. Last night I had an opportunity to sit down together with my family, dad-mom-bro. We talked after we watch a stupid TV-show where we laughed.

This is not always happen, that's why I feel grateful for it.

Last few days, I went to dinner with some of my best friends. Eat..eat.. n..eat... From the very first time I stepped out from the plane, people just took me to eat. This is definitely not a time to burn my calls..... but hey..... it's not a big deal.

Another thing is 'bancruptcy' - I think I'm BROKE here!!!!! Well, I have quite an idea, i.e. to go to DAGO and 'ngamen' in the streets on Saturday nite with my cousin. A couple weeks ago he sold hundreds of rose during weekend nite and gained a couple hundred thousands of Rupiah. Pretty impressive, huh? And while he was there, guess what? He met with one of the pastors we knew. He was doing 'ngamen' in Dago with his fellow and got probably 500.000 pocket money that very night! Jeez!

What an inspiring thing to do....hehehe... I think I will have to bail out my bancruptcy when I return back to USA.... work..work..work.

Speaking about work, I'm a bit confused since there's a lot of new job offers in the college. Some of them are quite challenging and could bring new possibilities of ministry for my future. While now I've already got a nice place to work in the Admissions Dept. My bos really wants me to work for him again. I thank the Lord for that. But sometime in my mind, there crosses 'the adventurous guts' VERSUS 'the unfaithful swings.' I'll still have to pray about it and really depend on God's will.

Meanwhile, I'll just stay calm and relax during these last days. Still expecting many good things to pass. I thank the Lord once again..........................

after a long day

2006-07-23T12:05:00.000-04:00

Hmm... this is quite a long day, started from 6 a.m, all the way to 9 PM. Goodness!!!
Tired, pegel2, capek, and so on ......

Isaiah 40:1 - "comfort...comfort, My people"

my holiday (part II) : PANGANDARAN

2006-07-21T04:23:00.000-04:00

Summer holiday-ku yg pertama ini tanpa diduga harus diusik dengan adanya ‘Tsunami Vol. II di Pangandaran dan Cilacap.” Hari Rabu siang mendadak gua diajak Bung Tinus, sang pendeta preman utk ikut pergi ke Pangandaran bersama dengan team Rebana yg mau nyerahin bantuan utk para korban. 10 tahun udah gak pernah kesana, sekalinya diajak pergi ya pas ada musibah ini.
Begitu ditanya awalnya rada ragu juga mau ikut kaga, soalnya ini gak maen2, gempa tsunami itu biasanya gak cuma sekali n emang org yg ngajak ini sdh biasa NEKAD sedangkan gue rasanya kaga.
Setelah mengiyakan n atur2 jadwal, tepat tengah mlm hari Rabu kami berangkat ke Pangandaran dari Wastukencana 40. Kami bawa 2 karung besar selimut dan sarung (which is rada aneh krn biasa orang bawa indomie beras dll, tapi justru barang bawaan ini yg lebih diperlukan warga). Gue duduk di kursi tengah didempet oleh 2 pendeta berbadan subur. Lutut kaki dlm posisi duduk tegak cuma bisa kerasa super pegel2 selama 4 jam gak bisa gerak apa2. Sadis juga…hehehe. Kami tiba di Pangandaran jam 4 subuh, begitu nyampe langsung parkir di depan Mesjid Agung Pangandaran n acara lanjut dgn minum kopi di warung Pak Bejo. Demikianlah si Pak Bejo bercerita pake bhs Jawa dengan Bung Tinus dan Bung Raymond yg bermuka Ambon dgn lancar ngobrol sama si Pak Bejo, gue cuma bengong sambil ngedengerin cerita seputar tsunami, tanpa minum kopi krn kopinya cuma ada Kopi Kapal Api yg pahit tenan (cappuccino ora ono, rekk..). Orang2 di warkop pada bengong ini kok nyong Ambon berdua ini lancar kali ngomong bhs Jawa-nya, n lagi2 gue cuma bengong2 sendiri sambil senyum2 gigi kering tak terasa spt lagu “Plis Dong Ah.”

Si Pak Bejo cerita ternyata itu air laut dari tsunami itu mencapai POS MASUK dimana mobil2 yg mau masuk ke pantai hrs bayar dulu, itu kan cukup jauh. Jadi kekuatan ombaknya jg lumayan punya. Kami masuk menyusuri lokasi mulai dari pos itu emang dah keliatan itu gundukan pasir laut nyampe ke depan pos. Gile juge!
Pemandangan tak asyik mulai diliat pas di dekat garis pantai. Hotel, restaurant, café, toko, dll yg persis di pinggiran pantai, apalagi WC Umum, sdh gak ada bentuknya. Ada bangunan sisa: WC diatas lantai 2, dengan tangga, tapi Cuma itu doank, sebelahnya gak ada bangunan lagi alias hilang diterjang arus air laut, gila juga sampe bisa begitu.
Itu di pantai barat. Di Pantai Timur lain cerita lagi, benteng2 pembatas pantai yg terbuat dari beton itu batu2nya pada berhamburan dimana2 karena pas air datang, batu2 yg beratnya luar binasa itu bisa beterbangan bak burung camar dengan arus air yg kencang banget.
Di lokasi tsunami ini ada banyak pihak berdatangan. Mereka pada buka tenda. Ada PMI, tim SAR, Bank-bank, perusahaan2, n juga partai2 gak ketinggalan. Yang paling banyak sebetulnya partai2. Hmm di lokasi musibah ini ternyata orang2 yang datang masing2 punya misi dan tujuannya sendiri2. Ada yang datang bawa bantuan murni utk menolong sesama. Ada yang datang mau kampanye, ya itu lho partai2 politik, lebih keliatan benderanya daripada bantuan-nya. Kami juga bertemu dengan “mafia tanah” yang pas ditanya “ingin tau” seperti apa sich tsunami itu. So, people came with their own motivation. Masing2 punya tujuan-nya sendiri. Sedih juga sih liatnya, apalagi orang2 yang memanfaatkan penderitaan orang lain buat keuntungannya sendiri. Apa gak ngenes gitu ya liatnya?
Ok, friends. Photo menyusul. Gondok juga kemarin pas berangkat SD Card-nya tertinggal di card reader so cuma bisa ambil photo pake built-in memory. hehehe.....

humming this song...

2006-07-03T10:04:00.000-04:00

Tak Pernah Sendiri
© UX Band – Yordan Kurniawan

Saat kau jatuh
Dan terluka
Hidup hampa kau rasa

Jangan pernah takut dan menyerah
Karena aku pernah merasakannya

Saat kau sendiri menanti
Harapan yang tak pasti
Janganlah kau bimbang menjalani
Karena semua pernah aku lalui

Buluh yang patah terkulai
Takkan pernah dipatahkan
Sumbu yang pudar nyalanya
Takkan pernah dipadamkan

Sadarilah bahwa
Kau takkan pernah sendiri
Ada Yesus yang slalu peduli

Tuhan tak pernah tinggalkan
Dia slalu perhatikan

VIRUS

2006-06-28T00:03:00.000-04:00

Some days my computer helps me fly like an eagle. Other times, it bogs me down like a hippopotamus. On “eagle days” I’m grateful for my computer. But there are those “hippo days” when I rue the day I bought one.
Recently I’ve had to contend with a virus that invaded my computer. What bothers me most is that viruses are created maliciously. Bright people who live with a darkness in their lives want to make other people miserable. What’s worse, I permitted the virus to enter my machine by opening what I thought was an innocent e-mail.
Sin resembles a computer virus. Satan wants to destroy Christians by infecting their minds. But the apostle Paul urged the believers at Corinth to bring “every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).
Just as we let a virus into our computers, we also let darkness into our lives when we open ourselves unthinkingly to the godless messages that permeate our culture. We let down our guard and hardly notice the sin that infects our minds.
But by confessing our sin, reading God’s Word, and praying, we build a firewall, or barrier, to safeguard our minds. With the help of the Spirit, we’ll keep our minds from becoming unwitting hosts for unwanted guests - HWR

Guard your thoughts as you would your wallet.

(taken from Our Daily Bread)

my holiday (part 1)

2006-06-27T23:21:00.000-04:00

Lagi di IP (Istana Plaza) nih ceritanya. Maklum disini ada Wi-Fi gratis jadi seharian nongkrong sambil ngerjain tugas2 dan cek urusan2 sekolah utk semester depan.
Hmmm... Indonesia (Bandung) masi belum berubah. Traffic yang macet, roda-roda mobil menggelinding tak beraturan, tukang sayur, baso, bubur, dan abang becak saling rebutan tempat di pinggir jalan, ditambah angkot dgn supir2 sakti yang nyetirnya pakai 'esmosi'...., belon lagi motor2 yg serempet kiri kanan..... wewww rada pusing juga pas pertama liatnya. Tapi sekarang udah adaptasi, lumayan cepet, sdh mulai nyetir di tengah hiruk pikuknya jalanan Bandung.... hehehe. Btw, tadi OTW here sudah cobain lagi ngangkot setelah sekian lama gak pernah ngangkot, dengerin 'live' music di tiap perempatan jalan

Makanan? Jangan ditanya, orang Bandung doyan makan. Apalagi makanan Bandung!!!! Beberapa pelayanan menanti minggu ini dan minggu2 depan. So people keep me busy here. OK. Lanjut lagi nanti.

baru mendaratttt...

2006-06-15T23:29:00.000-04:00

setelah 24 jam perjalanan yg cukup melelahkan, akhirnya aku mendarat jg di bumi pertiwi, cieekkkhhh.... seneng banget ketemu keluarga. yang paling kerasa adl tentu saja internet connection, yg biasanya seharian dibiarin online, skrg dah gak bisa la yaww, bisa2 pulsa telepon benjut gw dimarahin orang seisi rumah. jadi ya sdh, sebentar2 deh online-nya.
hmmm kmrn malem sih tidurnya lumayan nyenyak, tapi kok tau2 sekarang jadi ngantuk lagi nehh, padahal masi siang, sebel deh kalo jetlag gini. daku tidur lagi ah, ga kuatttt.