Readers’ Digest

I’ve been in love with this small magazine since forever. It all started out with my sister who loves to read… She always has a Readers’ Digest magazine in the bathroom (y’all know its function :p) and I started to notice them when I was about 12 years old. Yes. Not only in the bathroom, she brought it with her and read it whenever she’s waiting for something.

Anyways, I love the fact that they have a lot of short, touching stories. They also have joke sections and they’re actually really funny! :p One of my favorite parts is also their advises on health and practical stuffs in everyday life. Finally, they have their big cover story that will give us all motivation to live. It’s amazing how insightful that small magazine is! It’s smaller than your iPads, lighter than  your Galaxy Notes, and definitely cheaper than that food drink you just drank at that fancy, trending restaurant.

To be honest, reading Readers’ Digest cover stories usually makes me all teared up. I feel the writer, because he’s the one who experienced the story! Lol. But anyways, the point of this post is that I truly encourage you to buy this magazine if you’re at the mall and you’re waiting for your friend who won’t be coming until another hour… Sit somewhere “seatable” and quiet for you to read this. I promise you it will feel like Christmas, the cold-but-warm feeling that will bring you happiness and sweet satisfaction.

Secondly (though I know that there wasn’t any “firstly’s”), I encourage you to be like a Readers’ Digest magazine. Be someone who is funny yet warm and motivating. Be someone whom your friends look for when they’re sad. Be the one who is brave and ready to take life’s challenges. Be a difference in a random person’s life. Last but not least, be a short entertainment to those who are sitting on top of the toilet waiting to dump their… HAHA okay just kidding, for the last one, but y’all know what I mean!

:)

A smile a day keeps the devil awayyyyy~

Hello, faithful bloggers :)

It has been a while since the last time I made a note.

It’s 9:08 PM in Jakarta. I just finished watching Glee Season 4 episodes 1-13. A lot of things actually touched my heart in this latest season. They have brought up new, interesting characters with unique story lines.

Anyway, it has been a pretty rough day for me. The past two days had been really productive, but today was really tough for me. I spent a lot of time waiting for something that is not worth it. Don’t you hate it? But I don’t want it to take away my joy. It’s really a test of my patience and faith. I can’t tell you what it is, because it’s too personal to be said out here in the internet. Hehe.

Never let anything take away your joy, guys. I mean it. No matter how much it hurts, how much it annoys you, how much it makes you angry, remember that you’re not going to let your feelings get in the way. Don’t let anything ruin your day. 

I remembered last week, I forgot what day, I didn’t get enough sleep and had to wake up early to teach my students during the first period of the day. I took a shower, got dressed, and went downstairs to eat my breakfast. It was hot that morning so I decided to turn on the AC with the remote control. Turned out the remote control was out of battery. Okay. So I got on top of a chair to turn the AC on manually. Suddenly one of the wood that sustain the chair fell off. I am sure that that chair is quite strong because it’s made out of hardwood. I mean, am I really that fat?! Lol. Okay, I thought to myself, “It’s okay; it can be fixed.” Then my mom asked me to open the front door… I put the key inside the lock and tried to unlock it. The next thing that happened was the key was split in half, some of it inside the lock and some of it in my hand. @_@ SO WEIRD. We were locked inside! We went out through the garage… I thought again, “At least we got out!”

“Today’s going to be awesome, I’m not going to lose my joy!! Thank You, God, those little things don’t bother me! I’m sure I’m not gonna go through those silly stuffs again today. :D,” I said to myself. And it’s true, none of those silly stuffs happened, but something worse was waiting for me. When I arrived at Morning Star Academy, I went to the teacher’s lounge preparing my slides with a joyful attitude, ready to give my best to my students! Until… an announcement was made that the schedule for the whole day is changed. My class was rescheduled until after lunch time, the last two periods of the day.

I was amazingly vexed! I could have gotten more sleep at home this morning and be even more ready to teach! Instead, I was stuck in this school and I couldn’t sleep anywhere! I didn’t bring any novel to read either! Dang it!! SO annoyiiiiinggggg. I went and told my mom everything, and she told me, “Oh that’s too bad… Meanwhile, do you wanna help out the kindergarten?” It’s not a bad idea sih… 

Turned out, the kindergarten department needed a hand that day. It felt so nice to have helped the teachers—especially after cleaning up a kid’s vomit. :@ The teachers told me, “Wow, Nita! You’re really cool about this reschedule thing huh? We can’t believe you volunteered to help us while waiting. You’re so nice.”

All I can say was, “Thank you.” It’s really by His grace. I was totally exasperated about the announcement! I felt so ashamed to have felt proud after the silly incidents at my house, because I lost it at another silly announcement. It was no big deal. I got a fun experience in return. Well oh well, God is great. He is forgiving and full of grace. As long as I realize my fault and confess it, He is faithful enough to forgive me and give me a clean slate. “The Lord resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Don’t let anything take away your joy. Be jolly! It’s okay if people calls you weird for being too happy that it makes you hyper! My sister always makes a joke about me because I’m always excited about something. But it’s okay! An energy giver is better than an energy taker, right? I’d rather be excited for new opportunities than be defeated by little unfortunate incidents.

“The joy of the Lord is our strength.”

Let’s keep that in mind. Think about how lovely and merciful He is toward us. Let’s count our blessings and be grateful toward Him.

:) <3

Bless the Lord, O My Soul

PSALM 103

A psalm of David.

2012

We have finally come to the day before the final day of the year!

My friends and family have started talking to me about, “What are you doing on New Year’s Eve?” “Who are you going to spend it with?” “Where will you be on New Year’s Eve?”.

Some people think that the whole New Year’s Day euphoria makes no sense, that every January 1 is just the same like every tomorrow we encounter in our life. I have nothing against that, of course. In fact, everyday should be like New Year’s Day, the day when everyone makes a resolution to be a better person.

However, I am a person who is fond of sentimental moments. I just love reminiscing special days and making those days so festive. E.g. Decorating my house (all by myself this year, by the way, lol) for Christmas, creating DIY cards, videos, presents for loved ones’ birthdays, or simply telling my parents & siblings “Night, night. I love you,” every single day. Therefore, I’d like to take this time to reflect upon 2012 and let my stories be a blessing to you.

JANUARY.

1. For the first time in my life, I spent my New Year’s Eve (NYE) without my family. Instead, I was with my ex-boyfriend. Honestly, I felt guilty on the inside, for being dishonest to my parents about how I spent my NYE. I knew that NYE has always been spent with the family; it’s a tradition already. My parents always told us, their children, that as long as you’re still unmarried, you should spend Christmas & NYE with your family. Now I understand why, after seeing my sister got married. :’) 

2. I needed to pay for my IELTS, because I applied to take it on March 10 (enough time; because if I failed it, I can take it again). My mother gave me the money right away. Suddenly, she needed the money back. I was like, “Whoa, Mom! I need it! I have to pay for it immediately…” But I just obeyed my mom and gave her the money back. In my heart, I believe that God will provide the money. Guess what! I was taking a nap the next day, woke up, and read an email from my senior from batch 2005. She was the head committee of IFMSA March Meeting 2011. It was an official letter telling that I got Rp 5.000.000 for being a part of this event. I couldn’t believe my eyes! I thought I had blurry vision since I just woke up, so I thought I got Rp 500.000 lah.. But then I opened the email again later on that night… And there it was again, Rp 5.000.000. @_@ I jumped for joy (literally), and told my mom immediately! That was like more than 2x my IELTS money. God is awesome! Give thanks to Him for He pays attention to our every need.

3. This month was the month of restoration. Back on November-December 2011, I was a depressed young woman. If you know me since I was a little kid, I enjoy laughing. A lot of my friends (and family) would tell me that I’m weird and easily pleased because I can laugh easily. But during those two months, I fell down to the trench of hopelessness and deep sorrow. I would sneak out to the library in campus or go to an empty room and cry. Whenever I got home, I took a shower and went to my room immediately; the next morning, I got up, got dropped off, and  the cycle repeated itself. I was amazingly tired holistically. And I know you’ve known this fact, it’s better to be dead physically<mentally<spiritually.

A living, fully functional body without a healthy mind and a lively spirit is literally a zombie (except that you don’t become a cannibal :p). I felt like all the creativity that I have is gone; I had no motivation to even eat. If you know me, you’d know that I kinda live to eat. T_T Anyway, depression almost caused me my life. I was in immediate embarrassment when I realized that, because I told my ex-boyfriend once that anybody who has depression and has the tendency to commit suicide is a person who does not believe in God. Guess what? It is true. I did not believe in God during that time and during any other time I put my Jesus aside from my life. I went so far away from Him, and He was not the center of my life anymore. I made my life revolve around my ex and I became like him, a true unbeliever.

However, God can use anybody to convey His love and message to me, my ex encouraged me to believe. I remembered he told me, “You always believe that something good will happen. What happened to you now? You’re being really selfish if you think that things are not going to change, because you’ll never know what’s gonna happen tomorrow. Believe that your God will do something like you always do.” Those words convicted me, because what my ex said was not only his words, but God’s also. Do you remember a verse saying, “Many are the plans in the heart of men, but the Lord’s purpose shall stand forever,”? And another one saying “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future filled with hope,”? And yet another one “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring,”? And so many more. These words were spoken on late December, when I was still very stubborn and filled with self-pity.

January 21 was the day I got separated from the one I revolved my life around, because he went to France for the holiday. He promised me to be back after two weeks, then extended his stay for another week, then he finally told me that he will be back just before campus life starts again. After my whole depressive period, I got really sad when I heard the news. But in a way, I knew that I needed this. I needed to get my life back on track. I need to get my number one relationship back: my relationship with my Almighty Father. So I spent the holidays mostly with my research patients, though I felt really alone, but I felt secure because I knew the Holy Spirit was within me. I can talk to Him whenever I want to.

Day by day, as I spent every morning and every night reading His word and telling Him the cares of my heart, I got that security back. That feeling was so refreshing, soothing, and satisfying — even better, it was also addicting! I’ve never felt so hungry for His word. I couldn’t wait to finish the responsibilities of the day and just open my Bible, read & listen to what He’s saying to me, and finally pray (speaking to Him). The last time I felt something like this was when I was in the states on 2006-2007 and the two years after that, 2008-2009. Since then, I got distracted with everything that was going on in campus (education & ex-boyfriends). It has been a desire of my heart, since I first started writing journals back in third grade, to be a woman after God’s own heart — just like David. We all know that he made a lot of mistakes; he killed a man just because he wanted that man’s wife! But because he loved God with all his heart, repented from what he did, and lived to worship God, God called David, “A man after My own heart”.

Suddenly, I got stronger. Though the circumstances, according to the people around me, were not getting better, I was secure in my Father’s arms. I knew that He is in control. Since then, my life was changed. The months after that were filled with making difficult decisions to follow Christ wholeheartedly, meaning I had to let go of the things that were holding me back and focus on the things that God has in store for me in the future. I had a vision back then that I was asked by Jesus to follow Him, and I immediately said “YES! OF COURSE, GOD!”. Then He told me, “But you only can bring one suitcase, so take what’s important and come with Me, for we don’t have much time.” I was totally in a rush and got anxious because I was not sure on the things that I needed to bring in my suitcase. I put my family in there, my education, my dreams, and it’s full! I didn’t have much space to put my boyfriend inside! And there was Jesus, already walking, I told Him, “Father, may I bring another suitcase? God, wait for me! Please! Hold on, I need to fit .. this.. precious.. thing.. ughhh *trying to fit my ex inside my suitcase*.. JESUS! Don’t go!” Jesus stopped and looked at me, “I told you that you can only bring one suitcase and I advised you to take what’s important to you. The heavier it is, the more tired you will be when we walk. And we’re not going to walk a short distance; we’re going to walk for a lifetime.” After I got this vision, I told Him, “I trust You, Lord. I know that Your ways are higher than my ways, and Your thoughts are higher than my thoughts. You have the best plans for me; I am letting go of mine. I will seek You first with all my heart, because You’re the best, and I know the rest will follow.”

So that was January. I know I told you all that I was gonna go through 2012, but I don’t have time to do that right now. I’ll just write it in my journal and you all will read it if I die. :) Secrets are fun to be unfold slowly, right? ;) It will be revealed at the right time. But to give you an overview of 2012, basically every month was themed “restoration”. My faith, my mindset, my worldview, and my heart were restored the way God wanted it to be! I went through and am going through what people may perceive as “series of unfortunate events”, but I believe that I will come out as gold! Super high pressure and temperature are needed in order to test the purity of gold.

“For the Lord is good, and His love endures, yes the Lord is good forever. And I’ll shout it out from the mountain tops, yes the Lord is good forever!” - A psalm of David

Hope this post encourage you. And may the presence of God fills your heart right now. I pray for everyone who is reading this post. May God bless you, make His face shine upon you, and let His favor be with you everywhere you go. I pray for peace, love, and joy to come into your heart right now. Let Jesus take over your fears, your sorrows, your illness, your life! I pray for security in Him, believing that He will restore whatever it is that the devil has taken away from you. Jesus came to give life and life abundantly. In the presence of God, there is fullness of joy! And that’s my prayer for you, on this almost-very-last-day of the year. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2013, tumblrverse! <3

I wanna wish you

a Merry Christmas from the bottom of my heart!

Love you all. This year’s Christmas has been a very special one for me indeed! :)

Peace, love, & joy.

I don’t want a lot for Christmas;

I just want to be in campus doing academic activities already.

Rejection

is one usual thing for me now. It may sound very sad and pitiful, but I refuse the feel that way. On the contrary, rejection helps me to regain the strength within me, which helps me to stand strong even when nobody’s around.

“3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” -Romans 5:3-5

From this verse, I learned that even during hard times, whatever it is, must preserve our joy by looking at the bright side of life but also dealing with the not-so-bright side of life. If we are successful in this first step, we’ll have the strength and patience to endure obstacles. Without realizing it, our character will gradually develop until we can see great things beyond our problems and situations today. We become excited with life and ready to face the next challenges in life.

I know that words are easy to be said and real actions are hard to do, but hold on to this principle anyway. I know with my whole being that this is true, because I’ve gone through it many times in my life. This, itself, doesn’t make me an “expert”, because I still fail sometimes. Failures should be stepping stones not stumbling blocks. So if we fail but we don’t learn from it, it will only become stumbling blocks for us and defer the process in getting up and moving forward. However, if we learn from our mistakes and not repeat it (that’s why we live carefully), our hope will not be deferred. Instead, our hope may come faster than we think.

I hope this post refreshes your soul just as much it has refreshed mine. What I’m doing is not to lecture anyone, but to encourage others and remind myself of this truth too. We are all living life and we can live it happily when we know how to handle it.

With a big smile on my face,
Ranita

SQ 952 8:25

I had planned to surprise my boyfriend three weeks ago. The idea was to pick him up from the airport while welcoming him home. (everybody say ‘awwww’)

Anyway, this week I arranged the car and the driver and the meeting point in order for it to go well. This morning,it almost failed because the driver’s phone was broken and I didn’t get any message from him. Good thing my phone bill was already paid so I could get a hold of him by calling him. Lol.

Pak Rubi (the driver) picked me up at 7:30 AM in McDonald’s Pasar Festival, Kuningan. We then went straight ahead to the airport, because Yann’s plane arrived at 8:25 AM and I wanted to get everything ready.

I arrived at the airport at 8:15 AM and went to the restroom because I needed to pee. After the restroom, I prepared the sign I made for Yann which says “Welcome Home”, but I added another sign on the other side of the paper “Mr. Yann Penduff from Hampton’s Park”. Lol, I knew this would make him laugh!

It was 9:00 AM and there were still no signs of people going out from the gate though it said that the plane had landed. I really was getting vexed at the fact that the baggage is taking soooooo long. On the other hand, I was extremely nervous to meet Yann. My heart was pounding with horsepower. My whole body was agitated and I couldn’t stand still. I looked here and there and everything someone came out of the gate, I would immediately stand still and see if it is my boyfriend.

Somehow I knew that Yann is going to go out from the other side (turn right from the gate), but I stayed on the left side because it was more empty. Because of this feeling, I decided to prepare my voice to call out to Yann when I see him come out from that door.

Finally, after around two hours of waiting, I saw this guy with his orange backpack and his curly hair who immediately turned right after he went out from the gate. Without any hesitation, I yelled, “Yann!” and he still walked. Another one, this time louder, “YANN!” and he still didn’t hear me. So I was like, “What the heck, I’ll just go there.” So I turned and walked away but then I looked back and saw him stood there looking confused. Ha! He noticed the scream! I went back to my spot while waving at him. He slowly walked toward me and I could see his face turning from confused to a surprised smile. He stood there in front of me with a rail separating us and said, “Hello.”

My reaction: I showed him the stupid paper. Lol. I replied him, “Hi.” with a HUGE smile on my face. My heart was beating so fast and so hard I couldn’t even walk properly. I was like, “Oh my goodness, is he happy to see me? Is he annoyed to see me?” lol stupid stupid stupid lol. I just couldn’t take the smile off my face, you know! I was extremely nervous but amazingly happy at the same time!

We finally walked out of the terminal and saw each other without any rail separating us. He said hi again while stretching his arm to give me a what-we-call as the “double-side hug”. I said hi back, received the hug, and held his hand while we walked back to the car. Then, the most thrilling thing happened: he held my hand back tightly.

If you’re reading this, Yann, I want you to know that I’m so happy to have surprised you today. And the best thing is that you were happy to be surprised! Ah…. Gila. I’m speechless. I’m just so happy I could finally talk to you and see your face again. Je t’aime.