assalamu alaikum to all...

well well another day another thing to ponder - At the moment (well not this very moment) I am studying and all's going well alhumdulilah.. I had to give a presentation today on a pretty boring (but important) topic..Occupational Health and Safety Legislation. Now I am a talker..I talk a lot..a lot..so giving a presentation isn't something I stress too much about, I just make sure I know what I'm talking about - mind you my face does get extremely hot..sort of like being in a sauna..not sure why, so anyway it went alright teacher's happy. In my class we have a mixture of local and overseas students - Chinese, Bosnian, Macedonian to name a few. There is one girl in my class from China and she is the sweetest chick - very shy but cheeky at the same time - for the sake of this blog I shall call her Lai Mew, ok well get on with the story..

Lai Mew is great, friendly, doesn't say a bad word about anyone, you know the type..she also gave her presentation today and had an equally boring topic as mine. Now Lai Mew has only been in Australia for a bit under a year...never spoke English till she came here and has done a fantastic job learning it but feels very self confident when speaking especially for a presentation..Well Lai Mew got up this afternoon and started her talk..doing a great job till four other members of my class started laughing at her, she stopped, the teacher told them to be quiet, apologize or leave, they mumbled sorry and she continued, they started again...poor Lai Mew left the front of the class in tears....now why do that to someone who's obviously doing the best they can? man it takes a lot of guts to give a speech in a language you aren't confident in! It makes me so mad! Why would anyone want to make someone feel so bad they cry?? I imagine the four wouldn't do too well giving a presentation in Chinese.

I can't understand people who make fun of peoples English...why?? usually those who do can't speak any language except English..personally I admire people who can speak more than one language - most people I know from other country's can speak at least 2 other than English..even if only one its still better than only English...its rather unfortunate people feel its ok to make fun of someone for something like that! Argh some people need to learn English is not the only language in the world..

ok rambling on here...hope my point was made..

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could, and it could go no further. So the man decided to help the butterly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.

What the man, in his kindness and haste, did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our lives. If God allowed us to go through our lives without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. We could never fly!

I asked for Strength...And God gave me Difficulties to make me strong.
I asked for Wisdom...And God gave me Problems to solve.
I asked for Prosperity...And God gave me Brain and Brawn to work.
I asked for Courage...And God gave me Danger to overcome.
I asked for Love...And God gave me Troubled people to help.
I asked for Favors...And God gave me Opportunities.
I received nothing I wanted...
I received everything I needed.

btw not writen by me...

Assalamu Alaikum to all..

Great day today Alhumdulilah! Saturdays usually a good day because I have class at the local islamic centre. The learning is fantastic, the sisters are great..I always leave feeling fantastic and can't wait to discuss what I learnt with hubby... wow

Assalamu aliakum to all..

This story is not written by me,  I don't know who actually wrote it - but since I really like it and think it says something i decided to post it! cheers...

THE STRANGER

A few months before I was born, my dad met a stranger who was new to our small town. Fom the beginning, dad was fascinated with this enchanting new comer and soon invited him to live with our family.Though his outside apperance was not attractive, the 'stranger' was quickly accepted, and was around to welcome me into the world a few months later. As I grew up, I never questioned his place in the family. In my young mind, each member had a specific niche. My parents were complementary instructors. Mum taught me to love Allah and dad taught me to obey him.


But the 'stranger' was our storyteller. He would weave the most fascinating tales. Adventures, mysteries and comedies were daily conversations. He could hold our whole family spell bond for hours each evening and would consume most of our time over the weekend. If I wanted to know about politics, history, science; he knew it all. He knew about the past and understand the present. The pictures he could draw where so life-like that I would often laugh or cry as I watched. He was like a friend to the whole family.


He was always encouraging us to see the movies and made arrangements to introduce us to several famous people. The 'stranger' was an incessant talker. Dad did not seem to mind but sometimes mum would quietly get up, while the rest of us were engrossed with one of his stories of far away places, she would go to her room and read the Quraan. She would quietly tell us that the Holy Prophet Muhammed(sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) said(something similiar to...) "THE BEAUTY OF ONE'S FAITH IS SHUNNING ALL NON-PRODUCTIVE ACTIVITIES".

I wonder now if she had ever prayed that the 'stranger' would leave. You see,my dad ruled the household with certain moral convictions, but this 'stranger' never obligated to honour them. Profanity,for example, was not allowed in the house, from us, from our friends nor from anybody else.


Our long time visitor however used four letter words that burned my ears and made dad squirm. To my knowledge the 'stranger' was never confronted by anyone. My dad was a teetotaller(a person who advocates total abstinence from intoxicants) who did not even permit alcohol in his home, but the 'stranger' felt that we needed exposure and enlightened us to other ways of life. He offered us beer and other alcoholic beverages often. He made cigarettes look appealing. He encouraged us to flirt with women. I know now that my early concepts of the man and women relationships were influenced by the 'stranger'.


As I look back I believe that it was Allah's mercy that the 'stranger' did not influence us more. More than thirty years have passed since the stranger moved in with our family. But if I had to walk in my parents's bedroom, I would still see him sitting in a corner waiting for someone to listen to him talk and watch him draw his pictures and enchant his audience with his magic.
His name you may ask.........,we call him the T.V.