I was hurrying along the fire escape route to the class carrying a carton of EMS exam scripts when I felt a gush of wind in my track. I slowed my paces, half-closed my eyes as I let the wind carass my skin, my hair, my face, my neck, my exposed toes under my pants. Thank you God for the gift of nature. I felt instantly refreshed, uplifted and recharged. And infinitely loved.

Am at Jo’s place waiting for her BF to come pick us up for prayer meeting. They made the decision on my behalf that I should join them for solemn assembly. My will was won over by their enthusiasm. Can’t turn your best friend and buddy down.

Becks invited me on a research team of Masters students researching on water snakes at Sungei Buloh. Cool! Can’t wait!

Reon picked this story for me to read to the class during our hour-long library visit today. I was–am–pleasantly surprised by his choice. It was almost as if God had picked the book. Enjoy the story, my friends. Will leave you guys & gals to draw the parallel to life.

~~~~~~~~~~

Once there was a troll. He was not especially good-looking, nor was he especially ugly. He was just an ordinary troll. His name was Gus. And like every other troll, Gus had a special talent that no other troll had. He had a beautiful voice.

With this voice, Gus sang not only songs he had learned from old trolls, but also songs he composed himself. In the beginning, only the children in the neighbourhood came to listen. But soon trolls came from far and wide to hear Gus sing. His singing made them happy. To show their gratitude, they would bring him things he needed–fresh water, crunchy nuts, tender roots, and juicy berries. Once in a while they would bring him a shiny pebble from the bottom of the brook.

Gus was happy.

Then one day, a raven with a gold ring on his claw flew down. He, too, had heard about Gus’s beautiful voice and begged him to sing a song. But all Gus could do was stare at the raven’s gold ring and think, If only I had a gold ring, my happiness would be complete.

"I will sing for you," Gus told the raven, "if you give me your gold ring." The raven took off his ring and gave it to Gus.

Soon thereafter, a snake with a golden crown on her head slithered in. She, too, had heard about Gus’s beautiful voice and begged him to sing a song. But all Gus could do was stare at the golden crown and think, If only I had a golden crown, my happiness would be complete.

"I will sing for you," Gus told the snake, "if you give me your golden crown." The snake took off her crown and gave it to Gus.

Last to come was a frog. He drove up in a golden carriage. He, too, had heard about Gus’s beautiful voice and begged him to sing a song. But all Gus could do was stare at the golden carriage and think, If only I had a golden carriage, my happiness would be complete.

"I will sing for you," Gus told the frog, "if you give me your golden carriage." The frog hopped out of the carriage and gave it to Gus.

Every day now, Gus rode around in his golden carriage, showing off his golden crown and gold ring. He had no time to sing his songs. In vain the trolls begged him to sing. But Gus only laughed at them. After a while they left him alone. The neighbourhood children no longer gathered around him. Gus was all alone.

He lost the joy of riding around in his golden carriage, showing off his golden crown and gold ring. He stayed inside his house and tried to sing. But his voice had lost its beauty, and no new songs came to him.

Gus was sad.

So Gus set out to find his songs. He rode his golden carriage over hills and valleys until he finally found the raven perched high up on a tree.

"Take back your ring. I don’t need it anymore. I am looking for my songs," Gus told the raven. "You will find them," said the raven and flew off with his ring.

Gus drove on and on, over hills and valleys, until he finally found the snake sunning on a rock.

"Take back your golden crown. I don’t need it anymore. I am looking for my songs," Gus told the snake. "You will find them," said the snake and slithered away with her crown.

Gus kept on riding over hills and valleys until at last he saw the frog sitting on a lily pad.

"Take back your golden carriage. I don’t need it anymore. I am looking for my songs," Gus told the frog. "You will find them," said the frog and drove away in his carriage.

There stood Gus–without the ring, without the crown, without the carriage, and without his songs. He longed to be in his own house together with the other trolls.

Gus started his long journey home–walking over hills and valleys. He was hungry, he was thirsty, and his feet hurt. But with every step he took on his long journey home, Gus realized that his beautiful voice and the forgotten songs were coming back to him.

At last Gus reached his house. The trolls were there waiting for him with all the things he needed–fresh water, crunchy nuts, tender roots, and juicy berries. They even had a beautiful shiny pebble from the bottom of the brook.

To show his gratitude Gus sang his found-again songs in his beautiful voice.

Now everyone was happy.

Hwee Peck’s perspective on pain:

Pain is created by God for many purposes… Labour pain is natural for natural child birth… pain when we have a broken limb tells us we need to be still…

Pain isn’t perpetual ..thank God. Jer 15 :8 tells of Jer asking God why the pain is perpetual.. God answers is IF you will return to Him….Cling on to God …He inflicts and He will heal..

I am reminded of Hosea whose wife left him for other men… That experience gave him insights and understanding to God’s heartache towards us when we do not love him and forsake Him. God has a bigger purpose for your life than you think….

Pray for others who are in greater need.I once learnt that one of the ways to take my eyes away from myself is to love others in prayer.

Dr John Dobson,

…love is not simply a feeling of romantic excitement; it goes beyond intense sexual attraction; it exceeds the thrill at having "captured" a highly desirable social prize. These are emotions that are unleashed at first sight, but they do not constitute love… These temporary feelings differ from love in that they place the spotlight on the one experiencing them. "What is happening to Me? This is the most fantastic thing I’ve ever been through! I think I am in love!"… Real love, in contrast to popular notions, is an expression of the deepest appreciation for another human being… I have developed a lifelong love for my wife but it was not something I fell into. I grew into it, and that process took time. I had to know her before I could appreciate the depth and stability of her character… one cannot love an unknown object, regardless of how attractive or sexy or nubile it is!"

Teach me Lord to discern your gift of love to man rather than be deceived by Satan’s counterfeit of your gift.

Pain causes us to lose objectivity.

I have no doubt God uses pain to teach us something about Himself, that He uses it to set us free from misconceptions about Him and life and freedom. Perhaps we are locked in a cycle as a result of these misconceptions.

What Ivan said last night gave me food for thought, "I see a metal that God is trying to mould. You are going through the fire which is necessary to remove the impurities and strengthen. Come out too early, it will become brittle. If it is not hot enough, it will not be strong."

I find that when one’s mind is clear, so will the emotions be. How and what we think about will affect the character of our emotions.