Blessed are You; Source of all Life.

when i mention about how the Jewish give thanks to God on all occasion, i wasn't exaggerating at all, not even a little.

On washing hands (during Shabbat);
Blessed are You, Source of all Life, making us holy through Your Commandments, and commanding us to cleanse our hands.
(if you know how much i love washing my hands, :) this amaze me much!)

Thanking God always;
For sweet smelling perfume, For smelling flowers, For a beautiful sight, For hearing a thunder, For seeing a rainbow :) and plenty more simple joys of living (which i constantly take for granted).

For good news;
Blessed are You, Source of all Life, being the good and doing good.

For bad news;
Blessed are You, Source of all Life, being the true judge.

(Oh, the many times we find ourselves paying a visit to the land of Why me, Lord?; before we finally come to terms with the bad news and thank Him, whatever the circumstances)

and as For hope;
Have hope in the Eternal One,
Be strong and your heart will be strengthened.
Have hope in God.
(Psalms 27:14)

I life up my eyes to the hills,
Where will my help come from?
My help comes from God,
Creator of heaven and earth.
(Psalms 121:1-2)
Ahh, if it isn't my favorite Psalm :)

This, i will cling on to. Hope in the Lord.
(i am hopeful)

..stay hopeful, you.

Once upon a time.

When i was quite abit younger; i remember being fully convinced the best and steadiest option headed towards happily ever after is non other than an arranged marriage. That was the plan. Hahaha! Laugh all you want, i was convicted alright :D. I had my reasons, you see. I thought (key word: i thought) wouldn't it be wonderful if i could skip through the whole enchilada; the dramatic release of phenylethylamine, dopamine, norepinephrine, and any other neurotransmitters triggered by the perception of falling in love, followed by the possibility of an arrhythmia whenever you see the other half, and then comes the probability of a broken heart. So, assisted by naivety and ignorance on this whole concept then, i thought the plan viable.
Great, now i sound like a cynical misanthrope who strongly rebukes the idea of love :p
(hey, a good argument always presents both sides of the story eh? :p).

Moment of realization: You find out, arranged marriage isn't the key. :( I've heard, the worst part about loving someone is seeing them love someone else. Unrequited love, eh? Powerful. Drives people insane at times; might even end up a nincompoop doing foolish gestures (and live to regret it, haha).
I sense i've been skeptical enough, time for some shiny and ever after thoughts :)

I love weddings. Really. Love it even more when my friends marry. :)
A very important man in my life told me this just the other day;
"Looking at where your life is headed for right now, you're probably not going to marry anytime soon"
(i don't have that many important man in my life, so i guess concealing his identity isn't crucial huh? go figure. Hahaha)

Fun fact:
Number 1
Did you know i wanted to get married at 21? LOL. :)
Number 2
I am in search for my Christian Jewish Italian chef with a cool last name! :)
A girl's gotta have her moment rite? In my case, a shallow idea of a dreamguy. Lol. Apparently my dreamguy is a 'lil too specific. What are the odds of me finding a Christian Jewish Italian chef lah? let alone with a cool last name. :)

Having said all these; clearly i had way more cynically skeptical thoughts than bright and shiny ones :P
I still am hopeful. I do look forward to the life after :) The wedding is nice (i hear the wedding preparations can freak you out a 'lil, haha), but the best is yet to come, isn't it?
Cheerio, to weddings! and here's another, to the life after :)
(can't wait for the two weddings of two important lovely ladies in my life! :D)

"Every woman has the exact love life she wants" (Mercer, 2005)
Mercer from the fame of "Wedding Date" (my background movie for the day)

Ahh, one last thought;
Happily Ever After; is so Once upon a time.

'nuff nonsense for the day; Pride and Prejudice with some tea and snickerdoodles anyone? :)

snickerdoodling (at first attempt) :)

all that's needed is hope, you say. keep breathing. soldier on. it'll come to you.

ברוך אתה יהוה אלוהינו מלך העולם

A couple months back i told papi this with much enthusiasm;
"Dee, i think i want to be a Jew lahh" *excited look*
He thought for a bit and then gave me permission to marry a Jew *one among other plausible ways for me to turn Jewish* :D Hmm, what are the odds of me marrying a Jew kan? Haha.
While i was grinning away at my new found ambition :) He went to his collection of books, pulled out two Jewish related books.
Came over to me and said;
"If you want to know more about Jews, read these."
*He handed me the first book - a book on Jewish prayers and blessings*
(me being all excited and ready to explore)
I opened the book.
*He hit me on the head with the other book*
You fail the first test, says he.
I opened it the wrong way. *shyness* Haha!
No wonder he stood there waiting; to catch me in action, he knew i'd get it wrong. :p
*he handed me the next book - a book on Rosh hashanan - its significance, laws, and prayers*
He said; "Get it right this time!" :)
I did. *grin*

I am truly intrigued by its culture :) In Judaism, they have what they call brechah, usually translated as blessings to mark occasions in life! Be it a special or an ordinary day :) It is truly amazing; the things they thank the Lord for, really :) Here, to substantiate my earlier statement; the first blessing in the book papi handed to me was a blessing for the onset of menstruation. Thanking the Lord for making me a woman. Now, isn't that just amazing?
It is shameful; if all we know to do is just complain and ruminate about stuff. Both trivial and major life stuff.
We most certainly need to learn from the Jews. Thank the Lord for the little things, the troublesome things (think menstruation for the females :p), the good things, the not-so-good things, and for every single everything :)

(and that's just on blessings, wait till i move on to their prayers :p)

They have the most beautiful prayers! *and might i add; most aren't very long prayers. or maybe those in this book aren't very long? i'll find out, soonish* Succinctly and sincerely (well) written, and clearly still giving all glory to Him; the Source of all life.

I love this phrase; a phrase that was used rather often in the book. It was said that this phase (or versions of it) is adapted to all possible occasion; as it opens up an opportunity to respond to God, life's Source of Blessing.

ברוך אתה יהוה אלוהינו מלך העולם
(translated as) Blessed are You, Source of all Life.
*i sincerely hope the Hebrew phrase is accurate, :p

Indeed, the Father is the Source of all Life.

Prayer does not make us holy; rather it opens us to holiness; Says Rabbi Dr Michael Shire.
How insightful :)

*fast forward to last month, while in Macao!*

I found a pastor who had a Hebrew/Greek bible :) Woohoo! *Imagine my over-excitement.
*flip.flip.flip(with much care, haha)*

(my vibrating t9 was given much rest, for moments like this! *big grin*)
There it is, the favorite Psalm in Hebrew!

Psalm 121 in Hewbrewish wonder :)
*wonder; as i can't even character recognize anything! Haha.

Pastor handed me another bible, purely in Hebrew.
without English translations.
i believe the word circled in yellow is Hebrew for LORD;
while the one in red is Hebrew for help.

*continue flipping and found the New Testament in Greek*
Here is, Acts 1:8 in Greekness wonder :)

PS. I still want to be a Jew!

Woahh, two entries in two days. I'm on the roll, people! Haha. :D

... you amaze me :)