Happy Holidays

Dear family and friends

Wishing you Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Let there be God's peace on earth.

Love

Nadia, Dita & Novel

Paris, 25-Dec-2006

Dear Jesus... This is My Christmas List

Dear Jesus

Time flies. It feels like yesterday we celebrated Your last 'birthday'. Now, Christmas day is just around the corner. To me, it is still and will always be the most joyful time of the year: the glistening trees, sleigh bells, the Santa, cards, gifts, songs, ....

Here I am down on my knees talking to You in whisper and giving You my Christmas list. No, no... I am not asking for a present. I am grown-up now, although a new car would do. Ahahaha.... (*kidding*)

I am sure You are busy sorting out people's wishes these days. Frankly, I don't expect you to prioritize mine either, because I am not worthy. I humbly understand very well I had made You disappointed in me in many occassions this year. I had not been Your good disciple like You always wanted me to be. I had often been a lost sheep who often made his shepherd cry. I had had far too many hollows and emptiness in my soul.

Oh Jesus, would You forgive me for all the wrongdoings I have done? I am certain You remember everyone of them. If not, I am willing to spend hours and hours listing them down.

Allow me to pray for my loved ones: my family. I beg for our 'true happiness', because a true happiness can only come from You. Touch us on every little step we make. Let us grant Your peace to every person we meet today. Fulfil us with Your soul food. More importantly, I thank You for having chosen me to be part of their lives. I am privileged!

I pray for those whom I consider as friends or for those who consider me as their friend. New, old, good or best friends. Everyone. I thank You for allowing me to share parts of my life with them. Please continue working on me through them.

I pray for the people I never met, yet they are not as lucky as we are (who know who they are). People in wars. People in hungers. People in rages. People in illness. People in refuges.... Only You who would understand their despairs, oh Jesus. Leave them not alone. Let them know that I will keep them in my prayer every single day, especially on this special day.

Another year, another adventure. If it was not for You, Jesus, I would not have gone this far. Thank You again for allowing me to celebrate Your birthday again with my loved ones.

I love You, Jesus.

Novel
Your disciple

Morning Therapy

I was checking the Schlumberger Hub today and extremely happy to find out that one of my photos had been selected as one of the 3 best shots of the week beating 124 other submitted photos! Cihuy.... Finally!

Although, this is an internal 'competition' without any prize given away, but still the feeling is quite overwhelming. This is the first time my amateur photoshot is recognized publicly.

I named the photo "Morning Therapy" simply because the atmosphere was so calm that I felt it could 'heal' people who suffered from the restless world around them. Some kind of natural therapy.

The photo was taken during our weekend stay in Chedi, Muscat (Oman) back in Oct 2004. Dita and I intentionally woke up quite early and easily became the first two guests who arrived at the swimming pool and the calm beach. Whilst we were enjoying the tranquility, I took the opportunity to take the shot with our 5MP Sony DSC-T1 digital camera. Nothing is really fancy about our little camera. The photo was a beauty by its nature. No touch-ups or alikes. Simply a reflection of the original colors. But I have to admit that the morning lights are always the best friend for amateur photographers like me.

In fact, when I submitted that photo, I did not put my expectation too high. I personally thought that this week's competition is tougher than the last week's, i.e. there are a lot more amazing photos submitted by SLB employees this week. I had submitted several photos in the previous weeks with no success. Hence, this time I chose the title and described the photo with very little thinking.

I guess this time the unexpected has become a reality. I am just hoping this is not the last one to have been selected.