Be Honest and Be Blessed

Friday, 14 March 2014

I was ready to pay $1.00 for the Kids Sun Hat.   The receipt showed $0.01.   So I walked back to the cashier and enquired.   She said it must be a mistake and suggested that I paid the remaining $0.99.   I asked her to check with the store manager because it might be marked down to $0.50 since it was the only one left on the shelf.   Cashier returned and remarked that it was my lucky day.   Forget about the $0.99.

Monday, 17 September 2012

$12.44, that was spent at a fast food, on the 27 June 2012, had not appeared in our bank statements.   I remembered taking one wrongly delivered drink to the cashier, and asking for a replacement.   And I remembered the cashier cancelling the payment and remarking that she will recharged.   And I guess the recharge did not went through.

So I rang and spoke to the manager of that particular store, who told me to call the district manager about my debt of $12.44.    I was ready to pay that debt, but instead I was told to regard the $12.44 as a early Christmas present.  What a blessing to be honest.   My debt was waived and my conscience cleared.

Chinese New Year Dinner 2014

Thursday, 6 March 2014

Finally I was able to have the special Chinese New Year dinner.   I was not able to celebrate the reunion dinner on the 30 January.   The celebration of the year of the Horse started the 31st January and finished the 14 February.    2 guests at our table thought the Chinese New Year was over.   I said it is 365 days!   I just celebrate it late.   Don't know if anyone else did that?   Grateful that the 4 guests joined in the dinner.

I was a little worried when we had a power outrage at 12:05pm because of thunder storms.   After an experience of an outrage that lasts 80 hours because of winter storm, I am somehow scare of the timing of restoration.

I am grateful I had all the stuffed beancurd (with minced pork) deep fried a couple of minutes before the outrage, which was restored at about 12:45pm.  Cooked the other 4 dishes an hour before the dinner.

Stuffed bean curd with minced pork

Spicy prawns with tomatoes

Chicken with black mushrooms

Bean sprouts with carrots, chives and minced pork

Blanced bak choy with garlic oyster sauce

Bought these food from an oriental store:
(1) Roasted pork ($6.99 for 1 lb)
(2) Barbequed pork ($5.99 for 1 lb)
(3) Roasted duck ($15.99 for a whole duck)

Roasted pork and barbequed pork

Roasted duck

The Lord Calls (2)

2000 - December 2013

Met Christina Tilisit Jendili mid-2000, when we were both attending the church meetings at a rented house in Likas, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.    And we had been friends since.   When I moved back to Miri, Sarawak, in February 2005, we had kept in touch, through sms and email since it was cheaper than talking on the phones.    We had supported each other morally and emotionally, during our respective troubled times.    When I moved again further away in 2007, email and then the Facebook was our means of communication.    Even though sometimes we went for months without communication,  there was a special friendship bond between us.   If we did write to each other, the email were usually free sharing of our feelings.

Christina & I, 28 June 2009

Christina was diagnosed with cervical cancer and was cured in 2012 after radiotherapy, chemotherapy and brachytherapy.

2013 she started to have excruciation back pain.  ST-scan showed she had cancer near her lungs.    We were still writing long messages to each other on the Facebook from the month of August, when she started chemotherapy.   The last messages, on the Facebook, that we exchanged with each other, was on the 30 October.

On the last week of November, I felt strongly about snail-mailing Christina a Christmas card.   We had never written each other a snail mail because it cost nothing by electronic mail.   I was thinking that Christina would love to receive a paper card for a change.   I also intended to send a well-wish card from time to time, from then on to keep her spirits up while she was fighting the lung cancer.   To ensure what I had in my record is correct, I wrote to one of Christina's daughter for confirmation of Christina's postal address.   No response to my 5 messages sent from the 28-30 November.

30 November 2013, I wrote to another daughter.   I was so thankful she wrote back on the 1 December 2013, with Christina's correct address.   The Christmas card was posted on the 2 December 2013.

23 December 2013, from the Facebook timeline and message to Christina's daughter confirmed that her mother had passed away on the 22 December, at the age of 52.   I was grateful to learnt that Christina received my Christmas card and had my special message for her.   I am thankful that it did not take a month to arrive, as in other snail mail that I have sent from US!

Sister Christina, I am thankful for the opportunity to know you while I was in Kota Kinabalu.  Even though I had moved further and further away from you, we have kept in touch whenever we could.  Even when we didn't get to communicate as much as we would love to, and even when we didn't hear from each other for a time, we will always be special in each other's heart.   I love you, my friend.   I am going to miss you if I come and visit Kota Kinabalu.  You will always be in my heart forever.   You have been a devoted Christian and I know that you are helping Heavenly Father in the spirit world.  Until we meet again, God be with you.

The Lord Calls (1)

June 2007 - June 2013

This is written in rememberance of a dear friend, Frances E. Graaf, who passed away on the 28 June 2013.    I miss her.   This is the story of our relationship, that I want to share.

Frances and I, 18 August 2008

June 2007: I was assisting with the pest control appointments in Yuma, AZ.  A loyal customer, Frances, and I got a liking to each other and we became friends.   We talked to each other on the phone, got to visit each other at our respective homes.  Even though she is in her 80's, she would drive (I didn't have a US driving licence yet) to my house and take me with her to do things together.   Alternatively Mike would take me to her house and then we would go out in her car.     She was living alone in a big house with a cat, and my heart goes to her.

Wednesday, 13 August 2008.  I went with Mike to collect the business truck back from the home of an employee who had resigned this day.  There was only me to drive Mike's car back home while Mike drove the business truck.    I had no choice but drove (using my Malaysian driving licence) the car by myself, followed behind Mike's truck.  On the way home, I couldn't keep up with Mike's speed, lost sight of him and landed in a strange  lane - Araby Lane.   There was a GPS in the car but I did not know how to use it.    I dialed Mike's cellphone but there was no answer.   Like a frightened child lost, I managed to get Frances on the phone.   I cried and told her I was lost.   She asked me where I was.   I didn't know what that lane was then.   Mike found me an hour later. 

Sunday, 8 February 2009, Frances & I saw the American Boys Chorus at the Yuma Performing Arts Center.  She got 2 admission tickets free from a neighbor who had left town.  I am so blessed that she invited me to go with her.   I enjoyed the performance very much.

Tuesday, 17 March 2009, I went with Frances for luncheon, in conjunction with St. Patrick's Day celebration, at the Foothills Assembly of God.  It was my 1st experience of St. Patrick's Day!
 
Last I saw Frances, at her home, was 3 April 2009.   I had brought a friend, Patricia, with the hope that they would get together when Mike & I moved away in  21 days to Sunray, TX.   Even since then I had moved to other places.  I am thankful that the landlines and the snail mail had kept us connected, as Frances did not do the email.

I remembered talking to her early 2013 and she told me her annual blood work was good.   For a number of weeks in June 2013, I had tried to call Frances but nobody answered.   I wanted to tell Frances that we were moving again on the 7 August 2013.    11 July 2013, the same tel. no. that I had been calling for the past 6 years was no longer in service!  I felt something was wrong.  I know Frances would have told me if she was selling the house or moving away. The next day, 12 July 2013, I wrote a snail mail, addressed to Frances, at her address hoping that the letter would be forwarded to her, if she had moved, or someone would call me and tell me how she was doing.

3 August 2013 postmarked on postcard from Frances' son, Scott, reported that his mother had passed away.   Scott did not reply to my query as to the cause of his mother's death.

Frances would be in her mid 80's if she is still alive.   Frances and I chatted on the phone for an hour or more.   We shared  our lives like mother and daughter.  Our conversations had been a blessing in my life.  She listened to me patiently as I confided in her.  Frances would be in her mid 80's if she is alive now.   My mother would be 88 years old if she is alive too.   My mother had passed away in November 2007.    I am thankful to my Heavenly Father for sending Frances into my life.