HAVE YOU A GREAT & MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I love all of you for WHO YOU ARE,
I love Christmas for my own personal reason,

It was ONLY WAY I know HOW to bring some JOY & CHEER
to my grieving family since the passing of my late dad,
I know we are are struggling and the family was drifting apart,

I was not a Muslim then but like I said,
I still carry on this wonderful time of sharing
as one of many of my own FAMILY TRADITION
even until today with my children,

I remember, how hard it was for me
to open and decorate the artificial X'mas tree I bought,
but hey, I love NATURE and decorating the tree
is a great form of THERAPY, and the ACT OF GIVING,
EXCHANGING GIFTS...... the season of GIVING
with NO REASONS but just cause you CARE!

I love to GIVE gifts and that was the only way
I know HOW to cheer up my family.

Everyone celebrate X'mas for their own reasons,
for me it was not about the religion or any religion,

I CHOOSE not to drink as my closest friends
were killed by drunken drivers and recently, I was also a victim
with a child in the hospital,warded for kidney problem and
my youngest daughter in the car with me after visiting Jasmine,
that was before my another scheduled operation and
I have only the GUY,the NATIONAL SALES MANAGER
from L'OREAL,he was going to "FIXED" me up!
He almost did, but GOD loves and protects me and my little girl
Hey,you know WHO U ARE,heck,I have honestly forgotten
your precious name if not, I will not HESITATE one moment
to put it on MY BLOG....
WHAT COMES AROUND ,GOES AROUND,
and BOY, WHEN IT COMES TO YOUR TURN,
I hope someone will ask you the same question you asked
me and my daughter,"DID ANYONE DIE???" Ameen.

Coming back to what I was saying,lol,
anyways, I used to make or order all the goodies ,
from stuffed turkey to anything I can get from various places....

Choosing GIFTS are always a CHALLENGE
It can be draining, emotionally and financially
but that was the only way I can find the excuse
to GIVE gifts to my family, who as most conservative asian family
they will just DIE if I give them a hug!

What a shame, after all,
my AFSers from Malaysia were all thought to give REAL GREAT HUGS!

Nowadays, it is hard to put on a Xmas tree,
lost the last one to my ex marriage
with all the years of collections of ornaments.....
most of them were handmade by myself....

I love to do most of the decorations....
as it allows me no time to THINK
but just the thought of being able to bring JOY to my family
then my girls keep me going
and the BLISS you see when they unwrapped their gifts..... PRICELESS!

My kids and I know, we are Muslims,
We do not celebrate X'mas for the commercial or religious reasons
but again, I have so many friends who celebrate X'mas with all the kids........hence, it become a time of OPENNESS,
GIVING,RECEIVING and as always a time for us
to be HUMBLE & COUNT OUR BLESSINGS as it is near NEW YEAR.....
a new beginning.

I am so blessed as I can wear most traditional/national clothes,
I love to share the joy of others I have been helped by people from all religions and when I am able, I will love to bring joy to all
especially the ABANDONED GOLDEN FOLKS, CHILDREN,ORPHANS and those who are sick, doesnt matter what religion you are,
the LITTLE JOY & SPARKLE in the eye you see
makes all the effort all more than WORTHY!

Unfortunately, with so much natural and
man made disasters around the world, they will be
probably be dying, mourning a dying love ones hungry for food.....

HOW I WISH I CAN BRING SOME JOY TO THEM
but all I can do is PRAY FOR PEACE and MIRACLES.

I am an AFSer,
AFS stands for NON-RACIALS, NON-RELIGIOUS,
a non profit WORLDWIDE ORGANIZATION,
started by those who served during the FIRST WORLD WAR,
with the realization that most wars
are caused by our core beliefs,
they grouped together to form the AMERICAN FIELD SERVICE
which existed until today and
I am very PROUD&HUMBLED
to be one of the few chosen one
to experience the ups and downs of being an AFSERS.....
the joy, tears, loneliness, depression,striving to achieve,
just to speak the kind of English that the
Americans can understand me! It took me SIX MONTHS!Lmao

Christmas in USA was the worst experience I ever have to endure,
as I missed my family so much,
I felt so lost and alone, with everyone celebrating
but I don't belong somehow........
I was so MISERABLE!

I will take SHOWERS as a therapy
to wash away my misery and those are the days that
I could be taking up to 10 long SHOWERS!
Those days were TOUGH,and it taught me lifetime lessons....

Never ever miss the chance to bring joy,love,
peace and show your affections and
appreciation to those you love and been there for you
through all TIMES, especially the BAD ONES!

Here, I would like to wish all my friends and their families
from all over the WORLD...

HAVE YOU A GREAT CHRISTMAS!

BE JOYFUL,BLESSED and
PLEASE SHOW YOUR LOVE to all your love ones
as YOU JUST MAY NOT SEE THOSE FACES AGAIN come NEXT CHRISTMAS.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR with many more to come!

With lots of affections always

ShAkirA



WHEN CHRIST COMES - - -
by Max Lucado

You are in your car driving home. Thoughts wander to
the game you want to see or meal you want to eat, when
suddenly a sound unlike any you've ever heard fills the air.

The sound is high above you.
A trumpet?
A choir?
A choir of trumpets?
You don't know, but you want to know.

So you pull over, get out of your car, and look up.
As you do, you see you aren't the only curious one.

The roadside has become a parking lot. Car doors are open,
and people are staring at the sky.
Shoppers are racing out of the grocery store.

The Little League baseball game across the street has
come to a halt. Players and parents are searching the
clouds.

And what they see, and what you see, has never before been seen.

As if the sky were a curtain, the drapes of the atmosphere part.

A brilliant light spills onto the earth. There are no shadows. None.
From whence came the light begins to tumble a river of color spiking
crystals of every hue ever seen and a million more never seen.
Riding on the flow is an endless fleet of angels.

They pass through the curtains one myriad at a time,
until they occupy every square inch of the sky.

North.
South.
East.
West.

Thousands of silvery wings rise and fall in unison,
and over the sound of the trumpets, you can hear the
cherubim and seraphim chanting, Holy, Holy, Holy.

The final flank of angels is followed by twenty-four
silver-bearded elders and a multitude of souls who
join the angels in worship.

Presently the movement stops and the trumpets are
silent, leaving only the triumphant triplet: Holy,
Holy, Holy.

Between each word is a pause. With each word, a profound reverence.
You hear your voice join in the chorus.
You don't know why you say the words, but you know you must.

Suddenly, the heavens are quiet. All is quiet.

The angels turn, you turn, the entire world turns and there He is.

Jesus.

Through waves of light you see the silhouetted figure of Christ the King.
He is atop a great stallion, and the stallion is atop a billowing cloud.

He opens his mouth, and you are surrounded by his
declaration:

I am the Alpha and the Omega.

The angels bow their heads.
The elders remove their crowns.
And before you is a Figure so consuming that you know,
instantly you know:

Nothing else matters.
Forget stock markets and school reports.
Sales meetings and football games.
Nothing is newsworthy..

All that mattered, matters no more....
for Christ has come. . .

And, please let me know the exact time you read this.
It is mystical--honest

This morning when the Lord opened a window to Heaven,
He saw me, and He asked:

My child, what is your greatest wish for today?

I responded:

"Lord please; take care of the person who is reading
this message, their family and their special friends.
They deserve it and I love them very much"

The love of God is like the ocean, you can see its
beginnings but not its end.

iNTERESTiNG SiGNBOARDS!

^ now ladies, there is a PROPER PLACE for all your activities!^

EID UL-ADHA

Image Description: Facade of Shah Isfahan Mosque

عيد الأضحى

EID UL-ADHA

to

ALL MUSLIMS

(especially those whom I personally known as my Brothers and Sisters)

عيد الأضحى

As I am trying so hard to post this, I lost everything I was tying as somehow,GOOGLE experienced problems! So, if you see this up.....again, it is a MIRACLE from ALLAH S.W.T! AMEEN.

Always,

Shakira

(ALLAH's humble servant)

عيد الأضحى

Eid ul-Adha (Arabic: عيد الأضحى), or Eid-e Qurban (Persian: عید قربان) or Kurban Bayramı (Turkish) occurs on the tenth day of the Islamic month of Dhul Hijja. It is one of two Eid festivals that Muslims celebrate. Eid ul-Adha is celebrated by Muslims worldwide as a commemoration of Prophet Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his son (Ishmael) for Allah. Depending on the individual and area of the Muslim world the son of Abraham will be named or go unnamed. Others celebrate Eid-ul Adha as it marks the end of the Pilgrimage or Hajj for the millions of Muslims who make the trip to Mecca each year. Like Eid ul-Fitr, Eid ul-Adha also begins with a short prayer followed by a khutba. In Mecca, the Khutba is delivered from Mount Arafat.

It is celebrated on the 10th day of the month of Dhul Hijja (ذو الحجة) of the lunar Islamic calendar, after Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. This happens to be approximately 70 days after the end of the month of Ramadan.

Eid ul-Fitr is one day while Eid ul-Adha is four days long. Men, women, and children are expected to dress in their finest clothing and perform prayer (Salaa) in a large congregation. Muslims who can afford to do so sacrifice domestic animals, usually sheep, as a symbol of Ibrahim's sacrifice; this sacrifice is called "Qurban." The meat is equally distributed amongst themselves, their neighbours and relatives, and the poor and hungry. The regular charitable practices of the Muslim community are demonstrated during Eid ul-Adha by the concerted effort to see that no impoverished Muslim is left without sacrificial food during this day. Coming immediately after the Day of Mount Arafat when Muhammad (PBUH) pronounced the final seal on the religion of Islam, Eid ul-Adha gives concrete realization to what the Muslim community ethic means in practice. People in these days are expected to visit their relations, starting from their parents, then their families and friends.

Other names for Eid ul-Adha

Eid ul-Adha is also known as Hari Raya Haji/Iduladha/Qurbani in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines; Eid el-Kbir in Morocco, Egypt and Libya; Tfaska Tamoqqart in the Berber language of Jerba; and Tabaski or Tobaski in West Africa, "Ciidwayneey" in Somalia and somali speaking regions of Kenya and Ethiopia.

In Bangladesh, Pakistan and India it is alsloalled Id ul-Zuha, and commonly referred to as Bakr-Id بکرا عید "Goat Eid" as goat is the major sacrificial animal in those countries.

In Turkey it is often referred to as the Kurban Bayramı or "Sacrifice Feast". Similarly, in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania it is referred as Kurban Bajram.

Traditions and practices

After the Eid ul-Adha prayer and upuntil the sunset of the third following day, Muslims are encouraged to offer sacrifice. The sacrificed animals (camels, cows, goats and sheeps) have to meet certain age and quality standards. At the time of sacrifice, Allah's name is recited along with the offering statement and a supplication as the Prophet Muhammad said (Arabic audio with English meaning).

In the name of Allah	بسم الله
Allah is the greatest	والله أكبر
O Allah, indeed this is from you and for you	اللهم إن هذا منك ولك
O Allah accept from me	اللهم تقبل مني

Eating and sharing the meat is considered an element of worship during this period, as well as saying Takbir out loud in public, see about Takbir in "Traditions and practices" of Eid ul-Fitr

Eid ul-Adha in the Gregorian calendar

While Eid ul-Adha is always on the same day of the Islamic calendar, the date on the Gregorian calendar varies from year to year since the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar and the Gregorian calendar is a solar calendar. Each year, Eid ul-Adha (like other Islamic holidays) falls on one of two different Gregorian dates in different parts of the world, due to the fact that the boundary of crescent visibility is different from the International date line. Furthermore, some countries follow the date in Saudi Arabia rather than the astronomically determined local calendar.

• 2005: January 21; January 20 in Saudi Arabia (See note 1 below.)
• 2006: December 30 or 31, depends on the country, January 01, 2007 in Pakistan
• 2007: December 20
• 2008: December 8
• 2009: November 28
• 2010: November 17
• 2011: November 7

NOTE 1: The Saudi authorities had originally confirmed that Eid ul-Adha in 2005 would begin on Friday, January 21 ([1]), but subsequently moved up the date by one day to January 20, possibly for better crowd control by avoiding Hajj during the weekend ([2], [3], [4]). The official reason was that the new moon was sighted earlier than expected, starting the month of Dhul Hijja one day early.

AMaZiNG TWiNs!