Differences are not always easy to be perceived

Everyone is a unique creature. This is a very vivid reality.

These differences are in many aspects of human being such as in physically performance, trait, cognitive ability, emotional stability, skills, sensitivity, etc. 

The big problem in group dynamic is to perceived and received those differences each other.

How we can perceive those variety properly? 

First, realize that you and others are a very unique person. 

Second, realize that everyone has differences in strengths and weaknesses. So, it means that you might be good at numbers and another one at language. By perceiving this, you can see that everyone can help each other and those variety is good in a group. 

Hope this simple thoughts help us in our daily live in dealing with different people. 

 

 

Menuju pernikahan….

Wanita seusiaku pasti sangat mengharapkan untuk masuk dalam tahap kehidupan yang satu ini, yaitu pernikahan.
Walau banyak kasus, wanita yang usianya lebih muda dariku sudah ada yang menikah dan punya anak.

Pernikahan…
Bayangan dalam pikiran yang pertama kali muncul ketika mendengar atau melihat kata ini tentunya adalah kebahagiaan, keindahan, sukacita.
Sampai saat ini, bayangan seperti itu juga yang muncul dalam pikiranku mengenai pernikahan.

Namun, ternyata aku makin menyadari, perjalanan menuju pernikahan itu tidak seindah yang dipikirkan.
Beberapa sharing atau pengalaman hidup orang lain juga menunjukkan bahwa pernikahan itu tidak seindah yang dipikirkan pertama kali saat menikah.
Akhirnya, aku belajar untuk melihat realitas menuju pernikahan dan dalam pernikahan.

Pernikahan….
Tidak mudah menujunya..karena butuh persiapan mental, dana, pikiran, energi yang luar biasa.
Meskipun aku belum mencapainya, aku sedang menujunya.
Tantangan pasti akan dialami, namun kiranya kekuatan kasih dan komitmen memampukan pasangan yang menuju pernikahan untuk masuk dalam tahap kehidupan tersebut.

Satu lagi, libatkan selalu Tuhan dalam setiap langkah-langkah dalam relasi dengan pasangan.

Tuhan memberkati

Start to make a new dream…

Mengejar mimpi…bisa dikatakan sebagai tema hidup ini.

saat aku SMP, aku mempunyai mimpi dan harapan untuk memasuki SMU favorit, yaitu SMU unggulan di daerahku.

saat aku SMU, aku melihat orang-orang dewasa yang masuk kuliah di perguruan tinggi negeri.

Aku pun bermimpi, untuk melanjutkan studi di PTN favorit di Jawa.PTN di Sumatera Utara tidak pernah menjadi alternatif pilihan.

Aku pun menghadapi kenyataan, bahwa mencapai mimpi masuk PTN itu tidak gampang. Kegagalan pun menghadang. Namun, sesuatu di hatiku mendorongku untuk mencoba lagi tahun berikutnya. Ada keyakinan kuat di hatiku saat itu bahwa aku pasti bisa masuk PTN.

Lagi, dengan perjuangan air mata dan kesepian, doa yang tak putus-putusnya (saat itu jauh dari orang tua), aku pun berhasil masuk PTN. Again, mimpi tercapai,

Saat aku masuk kuliah di Unpad, ternyata tidak mudah untuk menyelesaikannya. mimpiku berikutnya, lulus dengan usaha maksimal. meskipun tidak mencapai cum laude, aku pun berhasil menyelesaikan S1 dengan memuaskan.

Mimpi berikutnya, mencari kerja dan hidup mandiri. Dengan perjuangan waktu, tenaga dan kesabaran, akhirnya dibukakan jalan, aku menjadi staf pengajar di salah satu universitas swasta terkenal di Medan.

Menekuni profesi sebagai dosen, menuntut langkah berikutnya, yaitu studi S2. Aku pun bermimpi, mempunyai cita-cita untuk lanjut studi di luar negeri.

Untuk hal ini, berkali-kali kegagalan ku alami. Lebih sulit tantangannya dibanding mau kuliah S1.

Dalam anugerahNya, lagi,,,,aku dapat mencapai mimpi itu.

Sekarang, setelah aku melewati ini semua, ada mimpi baru lagi yang sedang kunanti perwujudannya. Dan mimpi lain berikutnya juga sedang menanti.

Kiranya, Tuhan mampukan dan tunjukkan jalan bagiku..

So, let’s keep on dreaming….and doing your best to reach that dreams…

 

Mulai menulis lagi

huff….
sudah lama sekali sejak terakhir aku menulis di blog ini.
malang sekali nasib blog ini.
terlantar tanpa pernah dikunjungi sang empunya.
but, never mind….
ku yakin blog ini ga keberatan ditinggalkan sementara.
well,,,,sekarang, berharap dengan mulai menulis lagi di blog ini,
dorongan untuk menulis semakin ditingkatkan.

let’s explore your ideas, thoughts, and write them down.
may all of them will be an insight for the writer as well as the readers.

Best,

A C R P

The meaning of grade 7…

Finally, I got the grade for my thesis. It is 7,22.
Do you know what I perceive about that grade?
If we talk about my expectation, I would say that I expect to get higher, around 7,5 to 8,0.
But as I realize that the average of my grade is around 7, so that I did not feel bad about that.
I realized that most of the time I has been worried about grade so that when I gained the grade below my expectation , I would start to cry and blame my self, to feel pity of my self.
It is not a healthy situation.
I started to perceived more that I should concern of what I have done.
Have I done my best?
If you have already do your best, and be thankful, grateful…receive any feedback with a courageous heart. Perceive them in positive perspectives as constructive suggestions. Remember: Life is about learning. You can not learn something if you have never make mistakes.

So, what does the meaning of 7 for me? It means: perfect.
God bless us and guide us.

Life is not easy..but still, there is always hope in every difficult situation

Today, I got an unpredictable experience.
In my way back home form the church in the afternoon, I stopped by in one park in front of the Laurenskerk
in the center of Rotterdam. I sat down and enjoyed some chips. It was just a while, just in time when I want to take a pocket book to read from my bag, I saw this woman.
I know her..she is usually come to the church to have some lunch every Wednesday.
I talked to her several times, and the last time I was told that she was in process of getting a home for herself, because she was living in her friend house and do not have home.
She had also struggled with a particular illness (I forgot the name, it’s a rare term actually).
This morning, she was coming to the church, but while the time for lunch was coming, she left.
I noticed that she had a problem with one of volunteer in Mamre (please read my previous post about Mamre).

So, at that time, she was coming to the garden chair where I sat in, and she was coming form my back side.
I think she did not expect to see me there.
Finally, we talked a lot.
She told me that she has lived in the street since one week ago.
It is real…
She has no room or place to sleep.
She can sleep in the garden chair, and every one hour she needs to move to other park to flee from the sight of the policemen.
She knows well at what time the policemen are in patrolling in particular area.
She has many bad moments in her past live, in which people who were close to her but treated her very bad.
Even her adoptive parents had threw her out from her house.
She had a good university degree, worked in good job for twenty years, bought a good house, but since she got sick, all were gone and no friends took care of her.
I did not know what to say, but I tried to encourage her, saying that God will take care of her as He has done until today.
When I heard her story, I struggled in my mind ‘what should I do’, ‘what can I do?’.
Finally, I had a courage to ask her for stay in my place at least for tonight.
She refused, as she said that she does not want to live in another’s house.
She wants to survive by herself.

We share each other, as she asked about me and my life.
What I did not imagined before that, even though she is in difficult situation, she was trying to advice me, giving some perspective about life as she has learnt form her own experiences.
I appreciate her willingness and caring of me and my future.

Well…I learnt that:
1. we can learn something from any person, whatever his/her background and situation.
2. living in the well-established country is not a guarantee of easy life. There are always a ‘different’ side of the world in each developed countries.
3. there is no coincidence in this life. As I meet her, I knew that by this I can learn something. It’s about respect…
4. Every situation is an opportunity to encourage people to search Him and keep in faith in Him.
I thank God for the opportunity to encourage people by Your words.
May God guides her and protect her wherever she is tonight, shows her the way she has to go.
May God fulfills her needs.

Living a fruitful life

This question is going on in my mind since I started to read John Maxwell’s book, ” Be all you can be”.
This concept has never come to my mind since I was in college. I remember that this topic had become my personal struggle when I was in fourth or fifth year of study. At that moment, I just received few explanations from my seniors in one particular Christian students organization when I had involved within. Now, I have just read the first chapter of this book and I was challenged to make reflection of my life that I have lived especially in the last few years.
“Have I already lived a fruitful life? Have we already lived a fruitful life?”

In this book, it is said that fruitfulness is a Biblical concept (John 15: 1-16, Galatians 5: 22-23).
What does it mean to have a fruitful life?
Based on this book, it is defined as ” having and displaying active and positive attitudes on daily basis”.
What are these active and positive attitudes?
Galatians 5: 22-23 describes these as: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
What will happen when we take into action these positive attitudes?
The five “PRs” will appear in our life :
1. positive results will appear in around us when we show and inject these attitudes.
2. positive relationship will be developed with people around us.
3. positive reactions will be seen especially in difficult times of our life
4. positive reinforcement will be received from around us. When we encourage others, we will in turn receive encouragement from them.
5. positive rejoicing or fulfillment will be perceived as results of doing right things.

The concept that make me interested most is that finding fulfillment/joy/happiness is when we do the right things/right principles in our life, and what is right is basically can be found in God’s alone.
John Maxwell described several principles of fruitful living:
1. Our potential for fruitful living is unlimited because of Jesus as our source.
” I am the true vine; you are the branches..” (John 15:5)
2. This potential of living a fruitful life is also because we are belong to God. He is the owner of our life and is taking care of us.
” I am the true vine, and my father is the gardener”. (John 15:1).
3. As the gardener/vinedresser, God is purging us by removing things that hinder our usefulness so that we can improve our potential of living a fruitful life.
4. Our potential is also because of our partnership/relationship with God.
” Remain in me and I will remain in you…Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” (John 15: 4). Remain or abide in God is the source of our confidence in living life.
5. We have potential of living a fruitful life also because of the promise given to us.
“If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given you.” (John 15:7)
6. Having a fruitful life is our life’s purpose.
“This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” (John 15:8)
7. Having a fruitful life is the fruit of obedience.
“If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given you.” (John 15:7);
“If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love…My command is this: Love each other as I have love you.” (John 15: 10, 12)

As conclusion, there are three-word formula for fruitfulness as revealed in John 15.
1. REMAIN in God
2. RECEIVE the good, fruitful living
3. REPRODUCE in our life.

As application,
1. Would you like to commit your life to live a productive life style? Great achievement starts from a decision.
2. Would you like to give special time to remain and receive Him in praying and understanding His words by reading bible, in regularly time?
3. List the seeds that you are planting in your life. What things are you doing these days that will help you to be fruitful? what action that you can do to improve it?
4. List some positive results that are happening in your life. If you are connected to the vine, you should see the evidence of it.
“Remain, Receive, Reproduce”

May all the glory is for God alone.

Travel around the Netherlands- Maastricht

Maastricht….
Finally, I made my step to this city, the capital of Limburg Province in South of The Netherlands.
After several canceled times, I went alone on the end of June 2012 using the ‘Dagkart’=).

It was a good weather day. I had already made some notes about some highlights places I wanted to see.
I was walking form the central station to the centrum area, so I crossed a bridge.

As normally centrum area, there are many shops.
But, since my purpose was not to go shopping, I was just walking enjoying the city.
I walked to Vrijthof square, a wide public space with several monumental buildings such as Saint Servatius Basilica and Sint-Janskerk.

One place I really wanted to know in Maastricht was the Maastricht University. It is very well-known.
Based on the map I had, I walked along the streets going far from the centrum.
I imagined before that the university area will be easy to identify with such a big gate and big letters of the name of university. Since I did not found it, I had almost thought to not walk further. In that point of time, I saw an old building in my right side with not big sign of Maastricht University attached to the side of the main door. There are no gates…=) The building is student service center.
Below is the picture of this building.

Then I walk further, and found several separated others old buildings with the sign of UM (two blue triangles). My previous imagination was wrong, since each faculty has it own building that located separately (but still nearby) with different streets. Hmm…what a unique thing..=)
Below is on of building

Well…one more unique building: Onze Lieve Vrouwewal

Hmm….finally, I can just say that Maastricht is a beautiful city.
I am very grateful for the chance to go there..=)

Do not waste your life

I was inspired to write this as I remembered the recently shooting incident Colorado, USA.
There were 12 people died, and many are injured.
Most of them are young people, around 20-30 years old.

We never know how, when, where, the death will come.
This life is short..
How will you fill this short and unpredictable life?
By working very hard?
By enjoying and having fun all the time with drink, and unusefull things?
By making world a better place to stay?
By studying all the time?
By what???

Let’s fill our precious life by doing the rigth things.
Do not waste your life!!

Be Content with what you have…

The title above might bring questioning expressions and thoughts.
In this decade, with many improvement in technology, economical situations, and high demand of daily living needs, how could you be contempt with what you have???? Specially, when your friends, neighbors, colleagues have things that you do not have yet????

I think this question is quite understandable, since I was and I am still thinking about this until I write it. It seems contradiction right?? But let’s see together how it was meant for.
I quoted the title from one verse in Bible:
“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,” Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you”. (Hebrew 13: 5-NIV version).

In New King James version it is written: “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, ” I will never leave you nor forsake you”.

We need to admit, that it is frequently that we want things that we saw before, it might be our friends’ things, such as expensive branded clothes (especially for women), cars, house, etc.
You might think that, but..it is fine if you want having good clothes, house for family? Does it mean that we should not have this willing of fulfilling our need?

Well, before it goes far, I think we should define first the differences between ‘needs’ and ‘wishes’.
Needs are related to things that you really need. For example, you need to buy jacket to protect your body form rain or cold wind. You might need to buy a new shoes for sport, or for work, etc. But, the wishes might be related to the discrepancies between what you have to afford those things and what you expect for . So, if your money is enough for middle class of clothes, why do you push your self to buy the much expensive with three or four times more expensive clothes? Just because you really want it as others have it?? If you can not afford for a car since you salary are just enough for daily needs and for public transportation, why are you urge your self to have car with loans?
I think, this kind of acts can be considered as covetousness that can lead to ‘love of money’.
Where does the ‘love of money’ lead you???
You know the answer right??
It leads us far away from ‘gratitude’ and thankful attitude.
It guides us to be master of our life.
It brings us to do everything to get more and more money and become blind to the ultimate goal of our life.
It takes us apart form GOD.

We need things in this world so that we can work properly.
Be aware..whether you want things because of they are your needs or based on your covetousness.
If you need guidance to differentiate it, ask wisdom from God.
Be thankful for everything you have..
Be grateful for anything you reach…
Since, all of them are from God.
God bless us…