When the word teenager comes to your mind, what do you associate it with?

rebellion? someone who prefer peers to parents? hormone imbalance? a child in an adult's body? out to have fun and irresponsible? and lots of negative stuff?

well, about 120 years ago in human history, there is no such things as teenage rebellion. back then, all the teenagers are taking up heavy responsibilities from their parents in running the house, running businesses and settling down to start a family!

what happened between then and now that led to such a worrying trend among the teenagers these days?

since the industrial revolution, parents are busily working their hearts out.

they gave up
* quantity and quality time with the family for more money to spend on,
* a lovely home for a large but cold house,
* meaningful conversations for senseless entertainment,
* allowance of failures to learn for unhealthy comparison of grades,
* tackling the issues of the heart for mere drilling of knowledge to the mind,
* potential for their kids to excel in their own special way for pointless and stressful jobs in money-spinning industries,
* the age of opportunity to teach their teens respect and a meaningful identity for the age of conflict and ineffective nagging.

It's time for us to go back to the beginning... and start things right again.

I am recently so convinced about homeschooling that I can't stop but encourage other parents to consider it as well! :D meanwhile, my mind is generating ideas on how i can be financially debt free and have more time with my wife and kids!

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There are 5 basic needs that men or women desire in order to fill up their love tanks and remain emotionally healthy:

1. Gifts - some people need to be given many gifts or a valuable gift to be loved.

2. Act of Service - some people require others to do them flavours like chores or errands to be loved.

3. Quiet Time - some people need one to one communication with their loved ones or spouse to be loved.

4. Affirmation - some people need encouragements and praises from their loved ones in order to be loved.

5. Touch - some people need physical hugs and kisses from their loved ones in order to be loved.

These are the 5 languages of love that everyone need. Everyone has different preferences among the 5. If you know what your loved one or spouse need today and you take the initiative to meet their needs in the order of preferences (and your spouse fulfilling them mutually as well), you will be falling in love everyday, won't you? :D

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I posed this question to some of the students in my class: Why should you study?

I thought about it and this is my own answer...

By studying, I am undergoing part of God's training/test for my development and growth in life. A stretched mind will never go back to its original state. What I learn is NOT the most important. What I become is. The heart of education should be for the education of the heart.

By studying, I begin to realise that I am capable of excelling and becoming very good at certain subjects. I began to realise the strengths that God has given to me and become thankful for them. I am also able to become a blessing to others by sharing my area of expertise. I begin to experience the joy of giving. (Acts 20:35)

By studying, I also realise that I am incapable of doing well in other subjects. I begin to realise that I am weak and incomplete and I need His grace to be made perfect in my weakness.(2 Corinthians 12:9) I begin to depend on Him more and give Him glory and credits for what I achieve. I am humbled by failures and matured by learning to handle failures and disappointments with Him and through Him. I learn to be thankful for all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:18) and I begin to realise that God causes all things (including difficult subjects/disappointing results) to work together for my good. (Romans 8:28) I have the opportunities to cry out to Him even more and thus am able to experience His comfort so that I can comfort others as well. (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)

By studying, I please God by fulfilling 2 commandments in the Bible in relation to my parents. Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right (Ephesians 6:1) and Honour your father and mother, which is a commandment with a promise: that I will live a long and full life on earth. (Deuteronomy 20:12) If I do well, I honour them with my grades. Even if I don't, I would have fulfilled what is required of me and I am accountable to them and to God. I will also minimize the chance of becoming a financial and emotional burden to others when I grow up as I will be able to find a job more easily and be able to support them and myself and to start my own family. (1 Timothy 5:8)

If I study correctly,

^ By having a daily dose of manageable learning, application and revision
^ By thinking through, questioning and understanding what is presented
^ By remaining curious to learn

I will eventually become an effective person having diligence, self discipline, determination and a desire to learn. My mind will develop fuller in terms of thinking and reasoning. This is crucial for better understanding of the objective evidences of my faith (aka Christian apologetics) and thus enables me to strengthen my faith further as I become ready to give an answer to anyone who asks of my Christian hope. (1 Peter 3:15)

Dear Lord Jesus, I commit myself to study for the above reasons. I ask of you to grant me the ability to concentrate and be focused during my studies. I ask of you to lead me in understanding my subjects and in finding help from others. I want to depend on You fully while I am studying and I want to experience your joy and peace throughout my studies. Thank you for this stage of life where I may grow. May all glory be upon You. Amen.

Acts 20:35 (NLT)
35 And I have been a constant example of how you can help those in need by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ¡¥It is more blessed to give than to receive.¡¦

2 Corinthians 12:9
9 Each time he said, ¡§My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.¡¨ So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.

1 Thessalonians 5:18
18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

Romans 8:28
28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4
3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. 4 He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.

1 Timothy 5:8
8 But those who won't care for their relatives, especially those in their own household, have denied the true faith. Such people are worse than unbelievers.

1 Peter 3:15-16
15 Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. 16 But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ.

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life is not measured by the number of breaths you take but the moments that take your breath away.

when do you find these moments? usually when you come into contact with something very magnificient (e.g. waterfalls) and the ones you love are right beside you to enjoy it together with you.

What a wonderful world that God has created and the wonderful sense of intimacy that he also created in our hearts for others. It only paints of my hope in the future: the new heaven and earth, the new Jerusalem, the city whose designer and builder is God, that those who trust in Him will dwell for eternity and be awed by His presence, His new creation and enjoy sweet intimacy with the ONE and the ones that they dearly love!

the earth is not going to last and it will become inhabitable as early as 2032 (if man continues to live the way they live: most likely), according to the recent scientific report by 100 over scientists. 2 billion people will be without water and 20-30% of animals will extinct when the temperature of the earth increases by a mere 2.8 degrees celsius!

what and how is your hope like today? mine is firm and secure. mine is bright and glorious. mine is going to be happily ever after, where each chapter is better than the one before. I hope yours is like mine too...

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maybe you are not satisfied at all about how things are going on in your life, maybe you feel this world is so messy and you long for something better, maybe you feel lonely and alone in the crowds, maybe you are numbing yourself with things to do and entertainment to fill the time so that you don't have to think about the lack of answers to your purpose in life, maybe you are filled with junks and your life seem to be in a mess and you have no strength to do anything about it, maybe you are tired and weary from running the rat race, maybe you are disillusioned with people and their hypocrisy and backstabbing, maybe you are drowning as you struggle to juggle with the demands of life, maybe you are crippled and struck down with an illness or disease, maybe you are hurt and your heart is bleeding profusely due to a relationship breakdown with someone whom you loved, maybe you are treated unfairly and with contempt and your diginity is gone, maybe you are feeling guilty about the past, maybe maybe maybe... whatever it is, you are not alone... and you are not without hope in this world

for there is a song that has started since the beginning, a song that many people have come to know over these thousands of years, a song that your heart is able to sing to, a song that echoes through, a song that will last for eternity... some says that there is no such song, others are so caught up with the technicality of the song that they missed the pure enjoyment of it... you see, the question is not about whether there is that song. the question is... are you in tune?

the book of Psalms in the Bible is a collection of 150 songs that gives us a clue of how we can tune in...

He provides food for the cattle and for the young ravens when they call. Psalm 147:9

Is anyone crying for help? God is listening, ready to rescue you. Psalm 34:17

For He will rescue the poor who cry out and the afflicted who have no helper. Psalm 72:12

O Lord, the God who saves me, day and night, I cry out before you. Psalm 88:1

Have you ever tried CRYing out to Him? Do you want to get in tune with Him and let His song reveberate in your heart? Do you want to experience the unspeakable joy and peace that this song can bring? The situation can remain but the heart is no longer the same as it draw strength and life from being in tune with the song.

Anything and everything can mess up your life but nothing can stop you from starting afresh... I started afresh this day by tuning in. have you?

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All men need the gods. Homer, 800 BC

A certain portion of mankind do not believe at all in the existence of the gods. Plato 400 BC

Later, when Blaise Pascal tried to get it all down on paper, he wrote in bursts, capturing flashes of what he thought he had seen in the vision - a vision that, by empirical standards, could only be called fantastical. There was no doubt in Pascal's mind, though, that it had happened, and happened in time and space, in a way his mathematically trained brain conceived of things as happening. Pascal remembered the exact time - between the hours of half past 10 and half past midnight on Monday, Nov. 23, 1654. Jesus appeared to him; God was real; the Christian story true: "Certainty, Certainty, heartfelt joy and peace. God of Jesus Christ. My God and your God." In a collection of writings found after his death, published as "Pensees", Pascal blended his two passions, mathematics and faith, to lay out what has come to be known as the Pascal's Wager.

It is rather simple: it is smarter to bet that God exists, and to believe in Him, because if it turns out that He is real, you win everything; if He is not real, you lose nothing. So why not take the leap of faith today?

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