"To me this song is a testimony of my life and the way I live... it's a blessing, because it's like you're going before the Lord humbling yourself... letting Him have His way. Sometimes this song makes me cry because it's really a prayer from my heart: 'Lord, use me in any way that You can. Break me open like a flower in the rain, and pour Your living water into my soul, and use me. I want to be a vessel You work through.' Whether in a song or a book or a conversation, use me."

-- Jaci Velasquez on Flower in the Rain

I'm going to see real tulip on its real land!!!!! Waaaaaaa...

 

From today's PDL Daily Devotional by Rick Warren.

Sweet. Touching, Encouraging. Especially when it talks about trust and forgiveness - and when it mentions small group in the very end

*** *** *** ***

When people sin, you should forgive and comfort them, so they won't give up in despair. 2 Corinthians 2:7 (CEV)

In real fellowship people experience mercy. Fellowship is a place of grace, where mistakes aren't rubbed in but rubbed out. Fellowship happens when mercy wins over justice.

We all need mercy, because we all stumble and fall and require help getting back on track. We need to offer mercy to each other and be willing to receive it from each other.

You can't have fellowship without forgiveness because bitterness and resentment always destroy fellowship. Sometimes we hurt each other intentionally and sometimes unintentionally, but either way, it takes massive amounts of mercy and grace to create and maintain fellowship.

The Bible says, "You must make allowance for each other's faults and forgive the person who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others" (Colossians 3:13 NLT).

The mercy God shows to us is the motivation for us to show mercy to others. Whenever you're hurt by someone, you have a choice to make: Will I use my energy and emotions for retaliation or for resolution?

You can't do both.

Many people are reluctant to show mercy because they don't understand the difference between trust and forgiveness. Forgiveness is letting go of the past. Trust has to do with future behavior.

Forgiveness must be immediate, whether or not a person asks for it. Trust must be rebuilt over time.

Trust requires a track record. If someone hurts you repeatedly, you are commanded by God to forgive them instantly, but you are not expected to trust them immediately, and you are not expected to continue allowing them to hurt you. They must prove they have changed over time. The best place to restore trust is within the supportive context of a small group that offers both encouragement and accountability.

First of all, congrats to Archie! Those performances we saw last night, were your best so far. No doubt about it. You did really leave everything, all your self, pour all your heart, on the stage that night. Very very great job, Archie! You're a good boy with a superb voice! Congrats!

Anyway, after Bo lost to Carrie in 2005, followed by shocking elimination of Chris Daughtry in 2006 and so-so show last year, I don't think America (or producers) would dare to create anymore upsetting shocker this year. So they got it right. I think the right David wins. Aside from that, not that I dislike Carrie, but I seriously think Bo deserves more than what he has now. If it were not because of him, there wouldn't be any Daughtry and Cook in this competition.

OK. Finally after my jumping-screaming-crying-like-nobody's-business period is over, I've got time to scribble down some highlights on this year's American Idol Finale result show. For me personally, this result show is the most intensed show I've watched since Milan-Liverpool and Bo-Carrie back in 2005!

Almost 100 million votes came in. That was crazy!!! One David got 56%, the other got 44% - and this is surprising. I thought the margin wouldn't be THAT much.

Cook and Archie singing "Hero". Nice combination and blending. But the song is more Cook than Archie. Well, nevermind. Cook looks more relaxed today, which is good.

Jason took the spotlight with "Hallelujah". Now that was mesmerising.

Michael Johns sang "A Letter", duet with Carly. MJ looks great! Miss him.

Michael Johns (again) took the lead with none else but Bryan Adams medley!!! Omigosh! Right after he started singing the first line of "Summer of '69" I jumped off my chair! I was so excited! All built up and as MJ, Jason, Chikezie, and David H sang "... those were the best days of my life" I just felt soooooo good! The Davids sang "Heaven" and look at the smile on Archie's face. Yeah, that was your song, Archie. Very very good job indeed! Bryan Adams joined the top 6 boys. I'm out of myself!!! At this point, I declared this would be one of the climaxes of tonight's show! Those guys were awesome!



Cook and... who? ZZ Top they said? "Sharp Dressed Man" it was, and it's indeed entertaining. As I was dancing around, I could see Cook was really being himself with the song and the guitar and... the dance moves! Haha! Good one! I loved the arrangement and the light effects when they sang "... sharp dressed man!" Yeah, Cook is my sharp dressed man!

Jordin. Seriously, what's with the gold dress???

Carrie. Sorry but did she forget her pants? I was sad that she was exposing her body that much. That's not the Carrie we loved. Hiks. She's still amazing, though.

George Michael medley. Top 6 gals sang "Faith" and there's something going on. They really really sparkled! Top 6 guys came in, all wrapped in nicely cut tuxedos!!! Gosh! Beautiful, gorgeous guys! MJ (well, again) led the rest with "Father Figure" and this is gonna be it. Showdown. Jaw-dropping. Captivating. They're just so sexy. Optimum level of satisfaction detected, hohoho. It's true that this season, the guys do outsing the gals. MJ and Cook were stunning! "Freedom" - and Cook was so a leader! It was great great great! Well, I couldn't really relate with George Michael himself, instead.



And here it goes. Crowning moment of David Cook! That's the best, and gonna be my favorite idol coronation ever, I think. Why?
1. Of course because it's Cook! Duh!
2. Both Davids deserve to win.
3. It's 12 million votes! No kidding.
4. Producer brought Cook's mom and brother to come on stage.
5. Cook showed his humble soul by sharing this moment with the rest of the idols!



As you see, all the way Cook's clinging into Archie - and the rest of the idols, too - sharing the stage during the moment that's supposed to be his and his only. When the fireworks came out, Cook could have just enjoyed the moment at the center of the stage. But instead, he walked to the side and hugged Archie while he's singing. He, again, initiated and signaled all 11 idols to join him at the center podium. And that was the sweetest, proudest, the most touching, un-selfish idol coronation ever! It couldn't get any better than this.

Now I'm soooooooooooo excited!! I'm out of myself!!! Oh, have I mentioned that David Cook is sizzling hot in that tuxedo? He's incredibly stunning! He looks oooh sooo good! Gasp. I am now totally "cooked".

Alright. Archuleta most likely will take the prize, but be honest, if you were to pony up money for a concert ticket, would you look forward to a night of Archuleta or Cook?

*grin*

Quoted from here.

Probably the most intense finale we've had, along with Ruben-Clay and Carrie-Bo. Chris-Elliott should have been there too, but it just didn't happen. And today, we all know that it's not a bad news after all. Who cares that they didn't get into top two anymore?

Anyway, salute to David Cook who stayed true to himself. Singing his heart out on his last song, the song that he knows, wouldn't raise him up as a winner, but instead would show who he truly is. Remember Elliott's "I Believe to My Soul" that received similar comments?

I'm still smiling ear to ear. You're great. Be good, and whatever the result will be, I'd definitely go to your concert... David Cook.

Yeah, after many months and years, finally I've new layout now. Just a liiiitle bit modification of the Aphrodite template. The theme is just simply B&W. Elegant. Pleasing to the eye. Well, at least, my eyes. It also supports energy savings!!! Dunno why I'm very much into energy saving and environmental care lately. (Sidetrack: Have you been using blackle.com?)

It's still a "flowerintherain" blog, featuring the same Jaci's song. That's the song which inspired the creation of this blog back then, anyway. Back then, somewhere in 2003, some 1600 days ago. However, I think somehow the B&W theme goes along with D.Cook's song instead. Anyway, the photo was one of my fave shots taken on 2006 April's Fool day. Thanks, Adit! And what I love about this layout is, it works for both Firefox and IE.

Oh, the animated white creature on the sidebar is a cat, and not a polar bear. Okay? Asen and Vero, since when a polar bear grows long hairy tail? Haiz.

Sejak pagi seseorang mengajar di dalam rumah ibadat. Semua orang takjub mendengar pengajarannya. Semua, termasuk seorang yang kerasukan roh jahat dan beteriak-teriak menantang dia. "Apa urusanmu dengan kami? Engkau datang hendak membinasakan kami?" Dengan berkuasa, dia menghardik roh jahat itu keluar.

Sesi mengajar hari itu selesai. Dia beranjak pergi ke rumah sahabatnya. Mungkin dia letih dan ingin istirahat. Namun setibanya di sana, dia disambut dengan kalimat, "Ibu mertuaku sakit. Tolonglah." Dia menyembuhkan sang ibu dan tinggal menginap di sana malam itu. Mengumpulkan energi untuk perjalanan esok hari.

Hari sudah gelap dan senyap. Tetapi di luar rumah terdengar suara keramaian yang semakin mendekat. Sang ibu mengintip. "Nak, seluruh penduduk kota sedang berkumpul di depan pintu." Rupanya kabar diusirnya roh jahat di rumah ibadat pagi tadi sudah tersebar ke segala penjuru Galilea. Kini semua orang ingin berjumpa dengan sang nabi yang penuh kuasa. Orang lumpuh. Orang kusta. Orang buta. Orang kerasukan setan. Semuanya. Ramai sekali.

Sang nabi tergerak oleh belas kasihan. Di tengah keletihan, kasih itu tetap tak terpendam. Keluarlah ia dari dalam rumah dan melayani mereka. Mereka, seluruh penduduk kota.

Malam berganti pagi. Namun mentari masih bersembunyi. Masih gelap. Namun lihatlah di sana, sang nabi sudah keluar rumah untuk berdoa. Tidakkah ia cukup letih sehari sebelumnya? Bukankah ia sebenarnya masih bisa tidur sebentar lagi, dan bangun saat hari telah terang untuk berdoa? Dan... bukankah Ia adalah Yesus, Anak Allah? Masakkan Ia tidak dapat menjalani hari, hanya hari ini saja, tanpa berdoa?

Teman-teman, ternyata jawabannya adalah "TIDAK". Di tengah keletihan tubuh manusia-Nya, dan di tengah kuasa keilahian-Nya, Ia tetap bangun pagi-pagi benar untuk mengawali hari dengan berdoa pada Bapa-Nya.

Bagaimana dengan kita?

Ada seorang teman yang barusan minta saya update blog. Sebenernya yang draft buanyuak sih. Karena tujuan blog ini yang utamanya adalah untuk personal record, jadi kadang-kadang ya dibiarin aja private, kaga dielaborate. Begitu mau dielaborate, eh malahan kepikiran hal lain. Jadilah another draft. Hahaha. Nah ini bukan draft, melainkan sebuah percakapan sore tadi. Fresh from the oven.

(Here you go.)