Words by the ever-so-inspirational, Michelle Obama.
Monday, November 25, 2019
Thursday, July 9, 2015
It Hit Me
"Jika aku melihat langit-Mu, buatan jari-Mu,
bulan dan bintang-bintang yang Kautempatkan:
apakah manusia, sehingga Engkau mengindahkannya?
Namun Engkau telah membuatnya hampir sama seperti Allah,
dan telah memahkotainya dengan kemuliaan dan hormat.
Engkau membuat dia berkuasa atas buatan tangan-Mu;
segala-galanya telah Kauletakan di bawah kakinya:
kambing domba dan lembu sapi sekalian,
juga binatang-binatang di padang;
burung-burung di udara dan ikan-ikan di laut,
dan apa yang melintasi arus lautan.
Ya Tuhan, Tuhan kami, betapa mulianya nama-Mu di seluruh bumi!"
-Mazmur 8:4-10
To think of all the wonderful things God has created for us,
for all the beautiful experiences that we were allowed to cherish,
for the friends and families we're allowed to have,
for the air we're allowed the breathe,
for the life we're allowed to live,
I don't there's a single reason for us to NOT be grateful.
Let this be a reminder for us, no matter how bad our days are going, no matter how tiring things can get at times, no matter how crappy we're feeling, we're all here by grace.
Grace got us here, and Grace will keep us going onwards.
bulan dan bintang-bintang yang Kautempatkan:
apakah manusia, sehingga Engkau mengindahkannya?
Namun Engkau telah membuatnya hampir sama seperti Allah,
dan telah memahkotainya dengan kemuliaan dan hormat.
Engkau membuat dia berkuasa atas buatan tangan-Mu;
segala-galanya telah Kauletakan di bawah kakinya:
kambing domba dan lembu sapi sekalian,
juga binatang-binatang di padang;
burung-burung di udara dan ikan-ikan di laut,
dan apa yang melintasi arus lautan.
Ya Tuhan, Tuhan kami, betapa mulianya nama-Mu di seluruh bumi!"
-Mazmur 8:4-10
To think of all the wonderful things God has created for us,
for all the beautiful experiences that we were allowed to cherish,
for the friends and families we're allowed to have,
for the air we're allowed the breathe,
for the life we're allowed to live,
I don't there's a single reason for us to NOT be grateful.
Let this be a reminder for us, no matter how bad our days are going, no matter how tiring things can get at times, no matter how crappy we're feeling, we're all here by grace.
Grace got us here, and Grace will keep us going onwards.
Thursday, February 19, 2015
rant.
C: "Selain terpisah dari Tuhan, hal yang paling kamu takutin di dunia apa?"
E: "Sendirian. Kamu?"
C: "Jadi gak pintar. Haduh, kayaknya mendingan aku sendirian tapi pintar deh daripada nggak."
E: "Kalau aku mendingan gak pintar tapi gak sendirian."
A glimpse of me and my sister's typical 12 a.m. conversation. Yerp. Nothing weird about it.
But the truth it, after our talk that night, I couldn't help but wonder why I choose intelligence over companion. Or why I felt like that's the proper choice. Even up until today, I am still trying to get a perfect reasoning for my answer that night. What's funny about is that, in the process of mulling over it, I discovered that I don't have a lucid definition of what intelligence really is.
OH! a note for those who probably don't know me that well (which I assume that's the majority of people who are reading this blog, or maybe not), I am NOT easily satisfied, kalau orang banyak bilang itu namanya perfectionist, walaupun saya benar-benar gak merasa itu kata yang sesuai untuk mendeskripsikan sifat saya sih. Ya memang, saya gak tau etimologi dari kata tersebut, dan saya bukan ahli bahasa, but I don't think it's necessary. Because just from the word, we know that it's defined as someone who is "seeking perfection." Sementara saya personally tidak pernah mencari kesempurnaan, dalam hal apapun yang dikerjakan manusia. It's common knowledge, nobody's perfect, so if nobody is then how can you expect them to create something that is? Rather than perfection, I strive and search for excellence within our own capacities.
So what does that have anything to do with my inability to comprehend the true meaning of intelligence? Well, dikarenakan sifat saya yang susah puas, saya gak puas dengan pengertian/definisi dari kepintaran yang saya dapatkan dari baca Kamus. I am not satisfied with "oh smart, knowledgeable, and intelligence are pretty much alike." I don't do PRETTY MUCH, or KIRA-KIRA, or LUMAYAN LAH. I can't just go YAUDAH LAH and shake it off (unlike Taylor Swift), there's only one way to fix this, I NEED ANSWERS! Jadi, saya mulai menggali.
First of all, for me, smart, knowledgeable, and intelligent-- masing-masing mempunyai perbedaan arti. A difference in intensity/level. If I may define the words in my own language, my own simple Bahasa Indonesia sehari-hari, the definitions would be:
1. Smart : mudah belajar, dapat menyerap ilmu dengan baik
2. Knowledgeable : punya banyak pengetahuan, banyak tau
3. Intelligent : kemampuan untuk menerapkan ilmu, berdasarkan pengetahuan, pada waktu dan tempat yang tepat.
By the way, I don't think that my personal definition itu yang paling benar, so feel free open a discussion or whatnot :)
Okay so we might have that area deciphered and covered, but here comes another tricky one. As humans, who are bound to make mistakes, how do we and how are we supposed to know when and where to say something? Or to make correct decisions, to do the right thing, to basically do everything? As humans, we lack in intuition. As humans, we are not able to foresee the future. As humans, we are limited in power and control. Are we then inevitable to mistakes? This I believe, is where wisdom plays its role. And by wisdom, I don't mean as the one that is based on human's reasoning and personal understanding. But wisdom as the ability to judge or discern correctly the best course of action according to God's principals, the ability to see things from His perspective.
The best thing about wisdom, it keeps us away from making mistakes. If knowledge is like driving a car on a highway road, wisdom is the railing that keeps us away from falling off. It keeps us from making a fool out of ourselves. Now THAT is something I desperately need.
Apalagi di abad ke-21 ini, semakin mudah bagi orang-orang untuk mengakses internet, untuk memperoleh informasi (baik yang penting maupun yang gak penting). Namun knowledge, without the balance of wisdom, will result in foolishness. Karena semakin kesini saya makin banyak melihat orang yang sangat berpengetahuan, punya informasi banyak, tau banyak, bisa segalanya, tapi tidak memiliki hikmat. Akibatnya, pengetahuan yang seharusnya membuat seseorang lebih pandai, lebih berpengalaman, yang seharusnya membawa kebaikan bagi seseorang, malah menimbulkan perpecahan, karena pengetahuan yang tidak diimbangi dengan hikmat berubah menjadi kesombongan dan kebodohan. Sad ain't it? Bahkan kalau kita lihat kondisi Negara kita sekarang, banyak orang-orang yang pintar di pemerintahan, tapi tidak banyak yang berhikmat. Sehingga kepintaran mereka tidak dipakai untuk memajukan taraf hidup masyarakat, namun untuk kepentingannya masing-masing yang merugikan orang banyak. After learning this, I totally changed my perspective regarding intelligence. To me, it's not just about knowing a lot of things, it's not just about being able to study well, it's not just about knowing the timing for everything. No. Personally, for me it's far much deeper than that.
Intelligence for me, can't stand alone, it needs wisdom. Intelligence adalah kemampuan kita untuk mengetahui dan menerapkan suatu ilmu/pengetahuan, dan wisdom adalah penjaga, pengarah/penunjuk tentang apa yang kita patut/tidak patut untuk katakan dan lakukan. So intelligence is more than just a measure of knowledge, but add wisdom in the picture, it becomes a measure of your life. It has more meaning and substance than ever before. Now I feel like I need to go change my answer. HAHA.
"If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you." -James 1:5 NIV
E: "Sendirian. Kamu?"
C: "Jadi gak pintar. Haduh, kayaknya mendingan aku sendirian tapi pintar deh daripada nggak."
E: "Kalau aku mendingan gak pintar tapi gak sendirian."
A glimpse of me and my sister's typical 12 a.m. conversation. Yerp. Nothing weird about it.
But the truth it, after our talk that night, I couldn't help but wonder why I choose intelligence over companion. Or why I felt like that's the proper choice. Even up until today, I am still trying to get a perfect reasoning for my answer that night. What's funny about is that, in the process of mulling over it, I discovered that I don't have a lucid definition of what intelligence really is.
OH! a note for those who probably don't know me that well (which I assume that's the majority of people who are reading this blog, or maybe not), I am NOT easily satisfied, kalau orang banyak bilang itu namanya perfectionist, walaupun saya benar-benar gak merasa itu kata yang sesuai untuk mendeskripsikan sifat saya sih. Ya memang, saya gak tau etimologi dari kata tersebut, dan saya bukan ahli bahasa, but I don't think it's necessary. Because just from the word, we know that it's defined as someone who is "seeking perfection." Sementara saya personally tidak pernah mencari kesempurnaan, dalam hal apapun yang dikerjakan manusia. It's common knowledge, nobody's perfect, so if nobody is then how can you expect them to create something that is? Rather than perfection, I strive and search for excellence within our own capacities.
So what does that have anything to do with my inability to comprehend the true meaning of intelligence? Well, dikarenakan sifat saya yang susah puas, saya gak puas dengan pengertian/definisi dari kepintaran yang saya dapatkan dari baca Kamus. I am not satisfied with "oh smart, knowledgeable, and intelligence are pretty much alike." I don't do PRETTY MUCH, or KIRA-KIRA, or LUMAYAN LAH. I can't just go YAUDAH LAH and shake it off (unlike Taylor Swift), there's only one way to fix this, I NEED ANSWERS! Jadi, saya mulai menggali.
First of all, for me, smart, knowledgeable, and intelligent-- masing-masing mempunyai perbedaan arti. A difference in intensity/level. If I may define the words in my own language, my own simple Bahasa Indonesia sehari-hari, the definitions would be:
1. Smart : mudah belajar, dapat menyerap ilmu dengan baik
2. Knowledgeable : punya banyak pengetahuan, banyak tau
3. Intelligent : kemampuan untuk menerapkan ilmu, berdasarkan pengetahuan, pada waktu dan tempat yang tepat.
By the way, I don't think that my personal definition itu yang paling benar, so feel free open a discussion or whatnot :)
Okay so we might have that area deciphered and covered, but here comes another tricky one. As humans, who are bound to make mistakes, how do we and how are we supposed to know when and where to say something? Or to make correct decisions, to do the right thing, to basically do everything? As humans, we lack in intuition. As humans, we are not able to foresee the future. As humans, we are limited in power and control. Are we then inevitable to mistakes? This I believe, is where wisdom plays its role. And by wisdom, I don't mean as the one that is based on human's reasoning and personal understanding. But wisdom as the ability to judge or discern correctly the best course of action according to God's principals, the ability to see things from His perspective.
The best thing about wisdom, it keeps us away from making mistakes. If knowledge is like driving a car on a highway road, wisdom is the railing that keeps us away from falling off. It keeps us from making a fool out of ourselves. Now THAT is something I desperately need.
Apalagi di abad ke-21 ini, semakin mudah bagi orang-orang untuk mengakses internet, untuk memperoleh informasi (baik yang penting maupun yang gak penting). Namun knowledge, without the balance of wisdom, will result in foolishness. Karena semakin kesini saya makin banyak melihat orang yang sangat berpengetahuan, punya informasi banyak, tau banyak, bisa segalanya, tapi tidak memiliki hikmat. Akibatnya, pengetahuan yang seharusnya membuat seseorang lebih pandai, lebih berpengalaman, yang seharusnya membawa kebaikan bagi seseorang, malah menimbulkan perpecahan, karena pengetahuan yang tidak diimbangi dengan hikmat berubah menjadi kesombongan dan kebodohan. Sad ain't it? Bahkan kalau kita lihat kondisi Negara kita sekarang, banyak orang-orang yang pintar di pemerintahan, tapi tidak banyak yang berhikmat. Sehingga kepintaran mereka tidak dipakai untuk memajukan taraf hidup masyarakat, namun untuk kepentingannya masing-masing yang merugikan orang banyak. After learning this, I totally changed my perspective regarding intelligence. To me, it's not just about knowing a lot of things, it's not just about being able to study well, it's not just about knowing the timing for everything. No. Personally, for me it's far much deeper than that.
Intelligence for me, can't stand alone, it needs wisdom. Intelligence adalah kemampuan kita untuk mengetahui dan menerapkan suatu ilmu/pengetahuan, dan wisdom adalah penjaga, pengarah/penunjuk tentang apa yang kita patut/tidak patut untuk katakan dan lakukan. So intelligence is more than just a measure of knowledge, but add wisdom in the picture, it becomes a measure of your life. It has more meaning and substance than ever before. Now I feel like I need to go change my answer. HAHA.
"If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you." -James 1:5 NIV
Monday, September 1, 2014
My Late Night Thoughts
Time seems to be passing by so quickly. Seems like it's just yesterday when we are all excited about entering the year of 2014 and now, here we are, in the month of September, just a few months away from getting to 2015. I couldn't agree more with what Gretchen Rubin said: "The days are long, but the years are short." It seems like school hours couldn't get any longer, but years or even days are passing by in the speed of lightning.
As maybe some of you know, I'm currently entering my senior year of high school, and so far it's been exhilarating and exhausting. Especially the part where I have to juggle between studying for my exit exams and applying for universities. Not to mention the fact that I have to decide what major would I want to take, nor what university would I like to get into. At first everything seems so simple or even easy, but as time goes by, everything seems to be so blurry and uncertain for me.
The fact that I've been homeschooled for 11 years of my academic years could be very intimidating for me. Homeschool has its own advantages and disadvantages, and the biggest if not significant one in my opinion, is the fact that we have no one to compare ourselves with. Sure comparison isn't really a good thing if done in an excessive amount, but if you keep it in a minimum/normal dose, it could be a great motivation for us to work harder. Now the problem for me is, I don't really know whether I'm failing in my studies or not? Have I reached society's standards of education? Am I good enough?
To be honest and straightforward, I don't even know if I would be able to get accepted into any university. I'm far from being a brilliant student with remarkable grades, I'm not good at socialising, I'm a downright introvert and pretty much timid, I lack in so many areas of my life and it's simply a burden. These past few weeks, those thoughts have been haunting me constantly to the point something inside my heart began to hurt. Oh how dramatic, I know. But bear with me for a moment.
So many times I began to find myself wishing for things I don't have, subconsciously wishing for things the way I wanted them rather than the way they're meant to be. That way, I thought I could make my future at least a tad bit more promising. But tonight as I was tossing and turning around, unable to sleep nor put my mind to rest, I felt the Holy Spirit giving me a question that hit me like a ton of bricks: WHO AM I COUNTING ON?
You see, in Church, it seems very easy for us to be saying things like "I trust Jesus" "My future is in God's hands" "He is my rock" "Christ is enough" and I do believe in it. I believe that He is indeed my biggest and only security in life, and that the entire purpose and reason of my existence centres on Him and Him alone. But sometimes even wondering about the most elementary matters of life can get you into serious trouble because it's often the case that you find yourself, by some mysterious form of inherent rationale, to exclude God from our plans. That my friend, as James 4 said, is downright arrogance. It my seem as a trivial matter, but small things can go a long way.
I felt a pang of guilt when I became aware of the fact that I didn't include God into making the decisions for my future. You cannot say you believe in something if you don't even bother to live by it. After all, you can't spell BELIEVING without the word LIVING. You live by what you believe. And so often, I find myself failing at this point. If I believe that God reigns over anything and everything, if I believe that God is in control of my future, if I believe that God truly cares for me, if I believe that His plans are higher and far better than my plans, then why do I often forget to live by it? Instead being insecure and scared of my future, why not surrender it all to Jesus? Instead of struggling to make life decisions with my small and frivolous brain, why not let Jesus lead the way?
In that moment, I decided to pray and surrender it all to Him. I believe the act of surrendering oneself to Jesus is not a form of weakness, but rather, a for of meekness. I was reminded that the moment I decided to accept Him as my Saviour, I gave my entire life to Him. Including my past, my present, and my future being. I gave it all away to Him. And that is one of my biggest security and confidence to live by, knowing that it's all safe in His hands, that everything's been and will be taken care of. I used to think that if I haven't secured a seat in a remarkable university, if I haven't achieved astounding grades, if I haven't got a job and a high position, then I have no life security. But I was wrong. My biggest security lies in HIM, and HIM ALONE. Because at the end, everything in this world is all temporary.
So have I been accepted into university? No. Have I graduated from high school with exceptional grades? Not yet. Have I decided a university major? No. So what difference does it make whether if I surrender to Jesus or not? Well the difference is, I have peace, I have confidence, I am rest assured knowing that He is sufficient, He is enough. I may or may not get into the university that I want, I may or may not be taking the major that I'm after, but I will not stress or make a fuss out of it, because I believe He reigns, and that His ways are much much higher than my ways.
