Our Christmas Tree

There is something beautiful and magical about a Christmas tree all lit up at night. I took some photos last night of our Christmas tree as we move closer to 'the' day:

The star atop Christmas trees represents the new star that appeared at Jesus Christ's birth

The three wise men travelled far to give gifts to Jesus Christ

Can you see the photographer?

MERRY CHRISTMAS

to all my blog readers!

My Journey to Kuantan - Part 1 - Raised in England

Over the course of this week I'll be taking you on my journey to Kuantan.

• How did I, an Englishman, end up in Malaysia?
• What made me choose to come to this part of the world?
• How did I discover this little town called Kuantan?
• Learn of the events that fixed my destination to Kuantan

Today I'll be sharing Part 1 - Raised in England.

I was born in Leicester, England almost 30 years ago. We are as normal an English family as you're likely to meet. Mum and dad both working, earning an average salary, and live in a quite satisfactory semi-detached house in a quiet village called Glenfield.

Here I am at 18 months old. (Credit Joanna Horne)

(Credit Joanna Horne)

The first major event that happened in my life was in 1985 when I was only 3 years old. I don't remember anything about it, but it has determined the life I have lived ever after.

Two sister missionaries representing The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church) knocked on my mum's front door, and not long afterwards my mum decided to join the church.

In later posts I'll explain just how vital this was in my journey to Kuantan.

Living in England, we always looked forward to the snow in the winter months. For two reasons - to go out, build a snowman, throw snowballs, and secondly, because if it was a particularly heavy snowfall, there would be no school!

However, as I grew older, I hated the snow, ice, slush, cold and wind - another factor in my journey to Kuantan.

This is my street in England. (Credit Joanna Horne for this image)

Glenfield village Square. (Credit Joanna Horne)

In the distance is my dad. (Credit Joanna Horne)

I lived a real good childhood in England. Got a formal education, had lots of great friends and got up to lots of mischief. Also played lots and lots of sports!

Here I am hitting a serve at the tennis court

And here I'm hanging out with my mates on New Years Eve. (My friends will probably never forgive me for posting up this picture!)

This is me standing outside our home in England

Look out for Part 2 tomorrow!

A Season of Giving

Christmas is most definitely a season of not only giving, but receiving also.

It takes both a giver and a receiver for a gift to be successfully exchanged. The example we refer to is the gift of salvation offered by Jesus Christ, which is not so often 'received' by people on earth. The commercialism of Christmas tends to get in the way of us 'receiving' this gift.

Though my gift today carries nowhere near the magnitude of the Saviour's gift, it is a little something which I hope will brighten up someone's day.

My gift today is a little bit of blog space to a collection of my top followers. When I refer to 'followers' I am looking at those who have taken their time to consistently comment on my blog, thereby being a support to my blog and helping to build it up.

Anyhow, commenting on other's blogs is also good business for you - if you type your name (or blog signature) in Google, you will find every single one of your comments you have made on other's blogs! So whilst helping to advertise someone's blog, you are also helping yourself.

I am not overly keen on statistics like number of followers, those whose faces appear in little square boxes on your blog, but I do take an interest in those who take an interest in me. So today I'm going to 'give' a bit of blog space to those who have faithfully commented on my blog throughout 2011 and hope that you will 'receive' them and check out their blogs if you haven't already done so!

In no particular order, here are the people and their blogs whom I'd like to say a big thank you to for supporting my blog with their meaningful and sincere contributions over the past year:

ordinary malaysian, thank you for your support and frequent contributions! If you want to know the latest news about events in Malaysia, particularly the political side of things, this is the blog for you.

http://lifeasanordinarymalaysian.blogspot.com/

Odie Langley, it's been a pleasure reading your lovely comments. Thank you for taking such an interest in my blog and my family! Odie can be reached here:

http://odielangley.blogspot.com/

Diane AKA Thisisme, you have been a regular supporter of my blog, with comments filled with love and sincerity. Thank you so much! Diane has a lovely blog about her life in England here:

http://southhamsdarling.blogspot.com

Fidelia, my good wife, thank you for your support of my blog and for being patient with me when I've spent hours uploading, resizing and watermarking pictures to share on my blog. Fidelia's blog about our lovely children is here:

http://www.duncfiehorne.blogspot.com

Linda, thank you for your support and friendship through the blogging world, and for contributing to my blog regularly! Linda is living a good life in Italy, see it here:

http://lindyloumac.blogspot.com/

Rosalind, I believe we crossed blogging paths during the A-Z challenge of 2011, am I right?! You have been a good supporter of my blog since then and I enjoy reading your comments. Thank you for your contributions! Rosalind is an excellent writer and campaigner. Check out her blog here:

http://rosalindadam.blogspot.com

Barbara, we too met during the A-Z challenge if my memory serves me right! Thank you for commenting on my blog and taking the time to do so. Barbara's blog about the English language is found here:

http://english-speaking-zone.blogspot.com

Leovi, thank you so much for faithfully following and commenting on my blog posts! It is great to have your support. Leovi is very talented in abstract photography, a blog of which I never miss the chance to see his latest work. Prepare yourself for some abstract photography here:

http://lafotografiaefectistaabstracta.blogspot.com/

Lotta, I have enjoyed using Google Translate to help me read your Swedish comments in English. I'm sure a few things may have got lost in translation but the meaning is understood! Thank you for your lovely contributions to my blog. Lotta is a skilled photographer and takes beautiful pictures of scenery in Sweden:

http://lotta-hippsomhapp.blogspot.com

Anna Mohamed Amin, you have been a consistent contributor to my blog on various posts of your interest. Thank you for your insightful comments and for supporting my blog throughout the year! Anna is studying in Russia:

http://apple-plum.blogspot.com/

Traveling Hawk, I appreciate your warm support of my blog. It's great to hear your comments of approval of the work I'm doing on my blog. Thank you for your contributions! Traveling Hawk is from Romania but travels the world. Read her journeys here:

http://travelinghawk.blogspot.com/

Anthony Stemke, I have enjoyed your thoughts on my blog from time to time. Thank you very much for contributing and taking an interest in the Asian way of life! Anthony is pretty good with food. Here is his blog:

http://gritsandgroceries.blogspot.com/

Michelle, thank you for supporting my blog through meaningful comments. It's good to have you on board! Michelle lives in Melbourne and writes about her life there on her blog:

http://www.michryn.blogspot.com/

Marie Harmony, thank you for your visits here to my blog and for leaving such nice comments, particularly on the Fidelia's Friday posts which I know you enjoy a lot! Marie is living as an expat in Ireland, here is her blog:

http://myexpatadventureintheshamerockland.blogspot.com/

Thank you also, to all those who visit my blog but don't leave comments. Each and every visit is appreciated. If your name wasn't on the list, I'd love to hear from you, and I'll be sure to come your way in return. Let's get contributing!

Okay, the giving is done, I feel great! Now it's up to you to receive . . . 

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree . . .

With Christmas Day just ten days away, I'm sharing some pictures of our house, the Christmas tree being the focal point:

We have a few presents waiting under the tree

What would Christmas mean without a reminder of Jesus Christ, whose birth into the world is the entire reason we celebrate CHRISTmas?

And here is the imposter. I feel a bit strange having a picture of Jesus and a Santa Claus advent calendar almost side-by-side. It is nonetheless a lovely advent calendar. Thanks to my mum for sending that over a few Christmases ago!

And here is Mr. Bean. Mr. Bean however, has nothing to do with Christmas - it's just that Lauren decided to hang him on the tree! Makes it interesting :)

Had to snap a picture of my new favourite ornament - the vase!

A flurry of warm lights on the tree. Oh no, the imposter again!

We started off with one Christmas tree . . . 

Then we went for two . . .

We got a little greedy and had three!

If you are not Christian, do you still celebrate the real reason behind CHRISTmas, or is it just another holiday to you?

If you are Christian, does the pull of Santa distract you from the birth and life of Jesus?

Blog Flashbacks

It's the first week of December and preparations for Christmas are well under way. The tree is up, (and has been for a couple of weeks) and plans are advanced for buying presents for the children and family members.

Reflecting back to a year ago, I posted an announcement regarding an upcoming documentary on the trees of Kuantan. The post contains pictorial links to the documentary.

Trees in Kuantan, December 2010 post

In December of 2009 we put up our brand new advent calendar, a gift from my mum. It's the best such calendar I've ever seen! Take a look at it here:

Advent Calendar Fantastic!

Wishing a happy festive season to all who will be celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ this December!

CPB members, vote for my photos here

Ramadan - One-week fasting trial

Ramadan time is here again. Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and is the month of fasting in the Islamic faith. Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset every day for a month, this year running from 1st-29th August.

Unfortunately, Ramadan for us means a lot of Malay youths wandering the neighbourhood streets at night setting off fireworks and firecrackers until midnight, disturbing us and our children's sleep, and being a general nuisance to all.

However, yesterday as I was shopping, I noticed all the restaurants pretty much empty, as Muslims refrained from food and drink during the daylight hours.

As a Christian I also participate in fasting, though at different times to Muslims. We fast on the first Sunday of every month, for 24 hours, or by skipping two meals. We have the opportunity to donate the money saved on our meals to help the poor and hungry wherever in the world they may be. However one fasts, the reasons remain the same.

There is a distinctly spiritual element to fasting. Jesus fasted for 40 days and nights. The Bible states: "Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loosen the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?"

And from the English translation of the Holy Qur'an: "Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that you may learn self-restraint - Ramadan is the month in which was sent down the Qur'an, as a guide to mankind, also clear Signs for guidance and judgement between right and wrong. So every one of you who is present at his home during that month should spend it in fasting...Allah...wants you to complete the prescribed period, and to glorify Him in that He has guided you; and perchance you shall be grateful."

For more information on Ramadan and fasting from a Muslim perspective, follow these two links:

Wikipedia explains

About.com - Ramadan

So as I was walking home yesterday evening with my shopping and each-a-cup drinks, I decided right then that I would give this  sunrise to sunset fasting a go. I wanted to experience what the Muslims are experiencing this month. I've decided that I will be fasting for one week, beginning Monday 8th August, until Sunday 14th August, 2011. Of course, I'll be blogging about it each day. 

I hope you'll follow me over the course of those 7 days. While fasting I will spend more time trying to establish my relationship with God through prayer and the study of God's words as found in the Holy Scriptures of Christianity and Islam.

So I'll strive to tolerate the noise of firecrackers and all that negative side of the month, and focus on the fast. Let's see how it goes!

Would you be willing to give the one-week fasting trial a try?

4 Days 'Till Christmas

Christmas is suddenly approaching as if from nowhere! Luckily I've done all the Christmas shopping so there will be no more last minute buying of presents! It seems strange to not write a post about the Zenith Hotel nowadays. Zenith Hotel is gearing up for its public opening on Thursday 23rd December, 2010, just another two days, and there is quite a lot of excitement going around as the countdown reaches a culmination.

There is, however, the other small matter of Christmas, a time where Christians the world over, including myself, take time to ponder the birth, life and ministry of Jesus Christ. It's a time of turning our minds to others, of giving of our time and gifts to warm others hearts, make friends and hopefully try to find a little peace!

Here are a few more pictures of our house as we prepare for Christmas:

Lauren's advent calendar from Grandma Horne!

These are attractive candles, but they are cheap and don't work very well at all! Still good for decorative purposes though!

Some home-made Christmas crackers, which can't be found in Kuantan

And here is our new bed-set, with a distinct red Christmas theme, as modelled by myself and my daughter, Lauren!

3 days to go

I am starting to really look forward to night time these days. The constant alternation between rain and Sun is one reason, but mostly it is because I love our house at night during Christmas! With the living room lights off and the Christmas tree lights and a couple of candles burning brightly, there is a beautiful warm, cosy, homey feel to our place. It's comfortable, relaxing and peaceful. The lights remind us of Christ, who is the light of the world; the star atop the tree represents the new star which arose at Christ's birth; the gifts surrounding the tree symbolise the giving and receiving of gifts, in particular the gift of Christ's atonement; the tree itself, being a conical/pyramidical shape, highlights our continual climb towards godhood, towards achieving the characteristics of Christ and developing the virtues which he so beautifully lived. Everything is symbolic and points to Jesus Christ.

Lauren is attracted to the lights and I've taken some lovely pictures of her with them. It's almost night time now...I'm off to relax amongst numerous reminders of Christ's birth, life and atoning sacrifice.