original intent

Dancing Ledge, Swanage, Dorset. Almost the end of summer, 3 weeks into UK life, and I joined 3 new found friends to a weekender to the outdoors to get some vitamin D recharge before the cold winter sets in.

Nanhu 2017 from Freddie Ablazed on Vimeo.

Just when I thought I had enough. A nice pockety and crimpy balance route that keeps making you stepover and over for icing over the cake for Day 1. Stepover 5.10b Full resolution can be found at http://goo.gl/DdFxmV #Taiwan #climb #adventure @arcteryx @frictionlabs @lasportivana @grivel

Oh! Just a simple 5.8 to end the day at Long Dong, Taiwan. Full resolution image at http://goo.gl/BTV6gD #Taiwan #climb #adventure #crack @frictionlabs @arcteryx @lasportivana @grivel

就把我的心凍死吧 我不想再感受 不想再顧慮 不想再痛苦

Now, which side are you on? Coz for me, life is where the road leads, and I’m not going to stay there and let you suck my life out of me, telling e what I should or should not be. But if you are willing to take the walk with me, I will share my life of adventure with you.

'even on the hardest ground the toughest seed will grow' a lot of times we let our minds tell our bodies that we can go no further but the fact is there is still fight left in our tanks our body is an incredible machine but most only get out of that machine what their minds allows them to I miss those days where I am surrounded with the most motivated people not just our bodies performing at the highest level but also our minds at the highest level come rain or shin through scorching heat and freezing cold I just ran to the east end and back not in my best condition not with my best motivation there were so many moments on my way back I wanted to just sit down and give up the nose starts running the wind starts blowing I was drenched and cold I was tired and in pain but this line came to mind I can slow down but I'm not giving up not backing down the only one who lose is the one who gave up #training #pain #mental #strength #growth

every morning the gazelle wakes up it knows that it has to run faster than the fastest lion or it will be good every morning the lion wakes up it knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle or it will starve and someone asked am I the lion or the gazelle I didn't have an answer we are all running some running from something some running towards something we love the hard miles we love the easy miles one thousand miles will lead to this single stride the next step will lead to a thousand more sun comes up sun goes down we run through the years I've come to learn it's not about the race it's about the run I know my spirit is harder than rock I'll bend but not break in these mountains I am an animal am I the lion or am I the gazelle and I wandered until I realized the answer doesn't matter and when that sun comes up again we are all running #run #runfree #throwback #taiwan #coastal #trail

Run. Come rain or shine. One foot in front of the other. Just run. (Pardon the bad lighting) (at Butterfly to Upper Pierce Trail)

Help me find myself back will you someday, somehow?

It was the Easter weekend of 2014, a group of brave young souls took up the challenge to have at adventure in Southeast Asia's very own Lord of the Rings trek, Gunung Irau. Whitewater rafting on Sungei Berok, healthy homestay and farm tour at Moon River Lodge and then a peaty adventure from Gunung Brinchang to a double peak of Gunung Irau. What more can anyone ask for on such a wonderful holiday weekend?

Ablazed.

I have been doing Bible studies by Pastor Warren Wendel Wiersbe and he is a prolific writer of the BE series studies. I thought, why not? Let’s start a BE series for my quiet time sharing instead for an active perspective change. So here goes Part Two of many of my BE series. …giving thanks always for all things to God theFather in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:20 NKJV I have never met a person who feels sorry for themselves who is upbeat and happy about life. No matter how much they do have in most cases they don’t see it and therefore actually miss the blessing. That mindset comes from COMPARISON; comparing oneself to another. Comparison is part of the fallout from the garden of Eden which unlocked the knowledge of ‘good and evil’ into humanity. Now when we assess situations we don’t look at it and say ‘God made that, it’s awesome!’ which was what God intended. Instead, we say ‘That person is better (or worse) than me.’ We come to a point where we put a scale of good to bad on everything and then measure our own lives against it. Galatians 6:3 says ‘don’t compare yourself with others.’ Comparison is damaging and undermines the uniqueness in which God has created each of us. There’s a Jewish proverbs that says ‘I felt sorry for myself because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet.’ One of the most transformational concepts in the Bible is thankfulness. The art of recognizing what you DO HAVE and that it is a blessing. And this will literally turn our lives around. Things won’t necessarily change externally but internally something amazing happens. It is the peace and joy and presence of God, and it is far more valuable than what you have on the outside, because what we have on the outside is always subjected to the decay of this world. In the Bible, thankfulness is often linked to unlocking God’s presence in our life. It is not that He is not there, it is just that feeling sorry for ourselves steals that awareness that He is. Why not steel yourselves today against the trap of comparison? Just choose to BE THANKFUL. Count your blessings instead of your problems today. Ablazed.

Be still, and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10 NLT There is something to be sad for solitude, still-time and quietness. It is in the nothingness, just like in Genesis, that we can hear God say everything. Marketers bombard us with up to four thousand messages a day. Then we have SMSes, iMessage, Whatsapp, WeChat, Twitter, Instagram, voice messages, emails, status updates and inboxes. Then there are so many other apps to fiddle with, books to read, podcast to watch or listen to, work to be done, school to attend, children to be dressed and fed, and then washes and redressed. In that very same day, we face deadlines, appointments and meetings, assignments, bill to pay, traffic to negotiate and then there is the surprise interruptions that needs your sudden urgent attention. The printer is down, out of milk, tyre going flat, cancelled or postponed flights. All these consumes our time and often we are left with very little or no room for God to speak and rain down His peace. In 1 Kings 19, Elijah stands on a mountain. There was gale force winds, an earthquake and a fire and God's voice is in none of them. However, Elijah hears God as a still small voice. Situations come at us like gale force winds, earthquakes and fires. The tempation will be to deal with them like all the stuff you have hd across the day; Getting up and taking action! But look what Elijah did. He just simply stood there. Despite the chaos, he quietened himself and allowed the 'still small voice' to give him guidance. When life is a busy storm or a rocking earthquake, just... BE STILL. Take a moment, find a quiet spot and allow God's peace to flood over you. It's in the quiet that you hear God the loudest. In fact, make a daily habit of finding a quiet moment where you say nothing and you give God room to speak to you. Get this happening and it will revoluntionize your walk with Him. Be pregnant with expectancy for something brilliant. Ablazed.

God is within her, she will not fall. God will help her at break of day. Psalm 46:5 Fear is only as deep as the mind allows. There are 2 things to note about Psalm 46. Included in the title is the word 'alamoth' which indicates that this is the female part of a song. The whole Psalm is a declaration of God's deliverance and enduring power through any attack, circumstance or trial. I believe that God has designed us, to declare and sing over our own lives, our situations and families – declare and sing of His goodness, deliverance and strength. To whoever is reading this, be encouraged that no matter what you are might be going through, God is with you, especially women out there. Rise up and declare His enduring power over you and your challenges. The second thing to note about this particular verse is that 'she' is the city of God, or rather His people, His kingdom. We are collectively the bride of Christ, His beloved, of whom Jesus lived, died and rose again for. Romans 8:11 says 'the same power that rose Christ from death lives within you.' So for the individuals, man or woman, Christ is within you and He is with you. Even though you may be faced with health problems, financial crisis, betrayal, hardship, challenges, brokenness, rejection or disappointment, YOU WILL NOT FALL. And collectively as a people of God, followers of Christ; He is in our midst. And through the great commission He has charged us with, He goes before us, guards from behind and will empower us to fulfil our destinies. WE WILL NOT FALL. Just as the sun will break through the night, His help and hope will rise above any situation or circumstance designed to bring us down. Keep challenging your fears, And keep on keeping on. Ablazed.

"My flesh and my heart may fail, but my God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Psalm 73:26 NKJV One of the things we need to make peace with, is, that we are human – we will fail, we will make mistakes, we will make poor choices, we are not perfect, we are flawed, and we have limitations. I'm not being a defeatist or negative by saying this, it's just the truth. If there's a way we could be perfect, live with no limitations or have no gap between our dreams and our reality, then we would not need Jesus. For 25 years of my life, I've tried so hard to be perfect in everything I do, and failed miserably. It has taken me my whole lifetime of discipline and worship to slowly grasp this original intent that God is not looking for perfect people. Perfection is not the goal or the dream, but rather progression; always moving, one step in front of another, not being held back by fear, but progressing through each and every circumstances and season, by the very grace of God. It is by His Strength that we move forward, and by His Generosity that we move forward with Him in our hearts, by our sides, never walking alone. Our flesh and our heart will fail, and that's alright, 'coz Jesus never will. He's got our backs, and while He does ask for our best, perfectionism is not the goal. Just keep progressing He says. In the fine words of Dory from Finding Nemo (pardon my children references, I am a Sunday School teacher), "Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming..." in the direction that God leads you towards. Stop chasing for perfection,it will only tire us out. But don't let this renewed mentality make you slack and uncaring about what you do and where and who you end up to be. But learn to ride in the rhythm of His Grace and allow Him to be strong when you are weak. And as for consistency, more than anything allow it to be most active in the constant rendering of our hearts to Him. He is our Strength and our Portion, so keep on moving forward even when faced with failure – progression, not perfection is the goal. We are in this altogether, Godspeed you, Ablazed.

"Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from Him." Psalm 127:3 NLT It's been awhile since I last wrote and shared my quiet time. Today's post is inspired by a dear friend, Pastor Jeremy Seaward. Every other day I read about his adventures with his 3 children and it makes me wonder, what it takes to be a parent, even more so, a spiritual parent who juggles with lives brought to earth by others. If you’re a parent you’ll agree that it’s no easy feat! Not much sleep, constant noise, lots of sacrifice and your house is probably messy most of the time. Apart from the ‘not much sleep’ part, it gives you a great insight to what it’s like to be God! And despite all our noise and mess God still willingly sacrificed for us. The same gets intrinsically wired into a parent. We can’t help but lay down our lives for our children. It’s because deep down we know that they are a gift. They’re a privilege and a blessing. There are no guarantees for this life and although we plan for the future, we try to live in the moment. Sometimes, in the busyness of life, you can take for granted the “moments” and that’s when your children (and other gifts from God) become a chore and frustration. My mum used to say “any person can have children, but not all of them ends up a parent”. My challenge today for myself and you who are reading is to look at your children as a gift from God. A privilege and a blessing. Drink in the joy and the great responsibility you have and steward it with grace. You don’t have to be perfect, you just have to be there. You just have to ensure they know they’re loved. Be thankful and prayerful for the great privilege! Today is going to be a great day in your life. Make the most of it! Godspeed you, Ablazed.