Failure

These are some thoughts to help us keep going in tough time. I hope you will enjoy them.

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Failure doesn't mean - "You are a failure,"

It means - You have not succeeded.

 

Failure doesn't mean - "You accomplished nothing,"

It means - You have learned something.

 

Failure doesn't mean - "You have been a fool,"

It means - You had a lot of faith.

 

Failure doesn't mean - "You don't have it,"

It means - You were willing to try.

 

Failure doesn't mean - "You are inferior,"

It means - You are not perfect.

 

Failure doesn't mean - "You've wasted your life,"

It means - You have a reason to start afresh.

 

Failure doesn't mean - "You should give up,"

It means - "You must try harder.

 

Failure doesn't mean - "You'll never make it,"

It means - It will take a little longer.

 

Failure doesn't mean - "God has abandoned you,"

It means - God has a better way for you.

 

[forwarded by JR Whitby]

 

Evernote a computerised way of taking notes

Writing Therapy

There was a man who wanted to do some important things in his life. However all his plans went down the drain as he was attacked by a serious sickness. This man never gave up. He still wanted to do something worthwhile. The time spent in bed resulted in a great novel. If he was not sick there would not be a great novel for people to read. We should never give up in the midst of trials and all kinds of setbacks.
A Roman Catholic priest in PNG was ill for several months and that illness led to the PNG Tok Pisin Dictionary. We should not be discouraged in times of trial but spend that time doing something while like painting, singing, writing poems and even learning new hobbies.
My daughter was bullied by some of her class mates including a best friend of hers. That threat resulted in helping her father and mother more and more. She even memorized some Bible verses like Rom 8:31. She had to read this before she leaves for the school each day.
One simple way to start is write down things to do in your dairy or a piece of paper each night or in the morning. If you planning something then get it down on paper to clear your mind. If you want to write a book, a clan history or translate something, then do it while you have the time.
I once wrote a feature and it was not used in one of the weekly papers. I kept that same copy and send it to one of the daily papers and it was used as a feature article.
Someone sent me something that encouraged me therefore I want to share it with you.
One day a young lady was driving along with her father. They came upon a storm, and the young lady asked her father, what should I do?" He said "keep driving". Cars began to pull over to the side, the storm was getting worse.
"What should I do." The young lady asked? "Keep driving," her father replied.
On up a few feet, she noticed that eighteen wheelers were also pulling over. She told her dad, "I must pull over, I can barely see ahead. It is terrible, and everyone is pulling over!"
Her father told her, "Don't give up, just keep driving!"
Now the storm was terrible, but she never stopped driving, and soon she could see a little more clearly. After a couple of miles she was again on dry land, and the sun came out. Her father said, "Now you can pull over and get out."
She said "But why now?" He said "When you get out, look back at all the people that gave up and are still in the storm, because you never gave up your storm is now over. This is a testimony for anyone who is going through "hard times".
Just because everyone else, even the strongest, gives up. You don't have to...if you keep going, soon your storm will be over and the sun will shine upon your face again.
Happy Writing. Write one page at a time.

Cheers

Timothy Kwara
Banz
Jiwaka Province

Learning from the internet

I am back again. Last term I was teaching two ministry courses and one discipleship course. This meant that I had no time to write.I even neglected my journal writing and had no time for this blog. However I am so happy to see that I have eight followers. Never mind, I just want to share what I have been learning for the past few months.

One thing that I learn was searching the internet for information and even looking for answers on some health issues. Internet is fun and you will  get all your information at your finger tips. When I was connected some years ago I used to browse the internet all the time.

I even use the internet to read news and to read commentaries for my theological assignment. This is a great help for those who are students. Sometimes I am so busy. The only problem is that because I work in a country side and the internet is so slow at times.

Sometimes you will feel that you are hiding somewhere in the jungle and there is no time to read. Well try and contact your email buddies or go to these new social technologies like skoost and facebook. Sometimes I have seen so many people communicating with me through Skoost and I cannot confirm their request.

At times my email is full of all kinds of email. I only read those that I want to read. I delete the rest. Sometines there is hardly time to read everything. One day I decided to delete all the skoost email in my computer. When I returned after a few days my computer was full again. I kept deleting again.

I am still learning.  There are many good uses for the internet and there are bad influences as well. But always keep your eyes open and do not let this new technology control you. Keep reading and listening to news.
Therefore friends do not let this new technology control you. Learn to use them and find good things you can get out of them. Have a happy week.

Writing in quietness

It has been five weeks since I wrote in this blog. It was quite a busy time for so therefore you have not seen anything posted. However I am quite free now to write this.For the last term (8 weeks) I was busy teaching and therefore I had no time to write. In between I travelled to Kiunga and stayed for four days to get use to the heat. Well, let’s start now.

One of the subjects that I taught was ‘Spiritual formation’ and this has resulted in the title of this article. Many people want solitude and silence so that they can think and meditate. It is good to be quiet rather than living with noise all around. You can get away to a quiet place or shut out the noise.


I just came back from a recording studio and it was good to sit in silence and be interviewed. Sometimes we need quietness to sleep, relax as more sounds can cause headaches and restlessness. I once went to Lae and stayed at a settlement because the extension students all lived at the settlement. That night as I went to sleep the tape record was playing full blast and there was noise all around. Somehow I managed to sleep and had a good rest. In the morning there was no noise.

It is good to get away and find a quiet place to write so you will also find time to do something you want to do. For a long time I have wanted to write a devotional book but I have not find to do it. It will be good to block some time off to think, meditate and write outlines so that when there is space and time, you can write as much as you want.

Find time to read what others have written so that this will help you in your writing

How the internet is proving useful

 Well, I am back again. It has been quite a busy time for me as I prepared course notes and prepared my teaching schedules. My journalist training comes in handy as I have to follow deadlines. I have been out of active journalism for the last 10 years but my knowledge is updated through the internet.
Besides preparing theological course notes I was also correcting my 9,000 word thesis. The internet has been a time saver as I was doing research. Instead of going to the library you can just press a button on your computer and the internet will answer questions or show you where to go. Internet has also helped me with all the information that I needed. I am writing about discipleship in Melanesia and I sent some e-mail to some South Pacific countries and did not receive any response. The best way was to browse the internet and find the answers to my questions. Sometimes one can be addicted but you must also control yourself. It is through the internet that you can network with others and also collaborate as well. I am really learning a lot and also knowing about current events through the internet. You can learn so many new things on the internet. There are Bible commentaries, thesarus, dictionaries and even encyclopaedias on the internet. One University in PNG has internet in the Library so through the net students can have access to so much information. There is no need to order library books or build more shelves to put library books on. All you have to do is know how to use the internet. The computer certainly is bringing more changes and we have to embrace these changes. However each department, school or other institutions need to have an IT policy in place to protect themselves as internet has its own disadvantages as well. Cheers and happy reading.

Long Distance mentoring

It's great to be back to send you this new post. Well, I want to talk about long distance mentoring. I have looked through the internet and found that many people are making business in mentoring, selling their products and trying to help people.

In 2006-7 some of my students who were  in my cell group communicated with me through the e-mail. I was able to reply through e-mail. I also sent letters to students on internship. Each month faculty members write to students. I termed this as long distance mentoring. In the Bible the Apostle Paul sent letters to churches and this letters make up the many epistles in the New Testament.

Long distance mentoring can also be done through the the mobile. That is if you want to be brief to answer problems in your family. Here at DTE we also write letters and send newsletters to all our 1000 plus students.

I was also mentored long distance as I was writing my thesis. The friend whom I asked for advise however told me that face to face mentoring was better. However due to busyness and so many things that occopy our time long distance mentoring is very helpful.

This is one way of helping people to develop their potential and it is also a good way to use your writing skills. Three weeks ago I attended a seminar and  one of the exercises was to thank all who mentored us in the past. I have not done mine yet but I made a list of those who mentored me and I will write a thank you letter later. A female staff member came around to look for an email address for one of her mentors who encouraged her to go to Bible School.

Will you send an email to someone who mentored or give a phone all? It's all up to you.

Bye for now.