FAVOURITE RECIPES!

Thought I should put them all on a list somewhere, LEST I FORGET..

BAKED/SWEETS

banana cake/muffins:
http://www.bestrecipes.com.au/recipe/easy-banana-cake-L1581.html

blueberry muffins with crumbly top:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/to-die-for-blueberry-muffins/

chocolate ganache:
http://www.marthastewart.com/343907/chocolate-ganache

macarons:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdeGVLXYkCU

SAVOURY

no cream carbonara:
http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/4501/no+cream+carbonara

pork belly roast:
http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/pork-recipes/pork-belly-roast

lor bak:
http://allrecipes.asia/recipe/9745/lor-bak--braised-pork-.aspx

What if Trials of This Life are Your Mercies in Disguise

what a beautiful song!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQan9L3yXjc

Blessings, by Laura Story

We pray for blessings, we pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
And all the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

'Cause what if your blessings come through rain drops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt your goodness, we doubt your love
As if every promise from Your word is not enough
And all the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

'Cause what if your blessings come through rain drops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not,
This is not our home
It's not our home

'Cause what if your blessings come through rain drops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near

What if my greatest disappointments or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy
What if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are your mercies in disguise

dusting off the cobwebs

just did a little trip down memory lane and I think I don't like who I am today.
my days are filled with entertaining my mind, overload of funny videos, liking fb posts, whatsapp messages, refreshing my email inbox page. no moments of silence unless im asleep.. even though that itself may not b that silent if i start snoring.

i've become too content with what i'm doing. not to say I spend all my time on meaningless things, but I have allowed the activities to take priority in my life. It has been a while since I last did a proper reflection on my day and my attitudes, the posture of my heart before God. It has been a while since I faithfully committed friends/family/things in my life to God in prayer.

I look back and see the friends I used to speak to, the songs that used to be on my lips and can't help but long to return to those joyful days. I may be able to say that I do feel more carefree without having assignment due dates to stress me out, but I want the joy of the Lord to be my strength again. I don't want to be all talk no action, talk is becoming cheaper.

Jesus, be the centre of my life.

CHOCTOBER

https://choctober2013.everydayhero.com/au/team-chocosaurus

A Call To Anguish

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGMG_PVaJoI

a fool? a generous soul? same same, no difference?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIUegFgy15w

by faith

By faith we see the hand of God
In the light of creation's grand design
In the lives of those who prove His faithfulness
Who walk by faith and not by sight

By faith our fathers roamed the earth
With the power of His promise in their hearts
Of a holy city built by God's own hand
A place where peace and justice reign

We will stand as children of the promise
We will fix our eyes on Him our soul's reward
Till the race is finished and the work is done
We'll walk by faith and not by sight

By faith the prophets saw a day
When the longed-for Messiah would appear
With the power to break the chains of sin and death
And rise triumphant from the grave

By faith the church was called to go
In the power of the Spirit to the lost
To deliver captives and to preach good news
In every corner of the earth

We will stand...

By faith this mountain shall be moved
And the power of the gospel shall prevail
For we know in Christ all things are possible
For all who call upon His name

Clear the Stage, Jimmy Needham

I know I've mentioned this song a gazillion times but somehow I still need to be reminded of my priorities.

"Clear The Stage"

Clear the stage and set the sound and lights ablaze
If that's the measure you must take to crush the idols
Jerk the pews & all the decorations, too
Until the congregations few, then have revival
Tell your friends that this is where the party ends
Until you're broken for your sins, you can't be social
Then seek the lord & wait for what he has in store
And know that great is your reward so just be hopeful

'cause you can sing all you want to
Yes, you can sing all you want to
You can sing all you want to
And still get it wrong; worship is more than a song

Take a break from all the plans that you have made
And sit at home alone and wait for god to whisper
Beg him please to open up his mouth and speak
And pray for real upon your knees until they blister
Shine the light on every corner of your life
Until the pride and lust and lies are in the open
Then read the word and put to test the things you've heard
Until your heart and soul are stirred and rocked and broken

We must not worship something that's not even worth it
Clear the stage, make some space for the one who deserves it

'cause I can sing all I want to
Yes, I can sing all I want to
I can sing all I want to
And still get it wrong
And you can sing all you want to
Yes, you can, you can sing all you want to
You can sing all you want to
And still get it wrong; worship is more than a song
Worship is more than a song
Worship is more than a song

Clear the stage and set the sound and lights ablaze
If that's the measure you must take to crush the idols

confessions of a complain queen

all too often i get too caught up with painting a rosy picture of the past. the have beens, the good times, the memories, the crowd.. and i cringe as i compare that rosy picture with my present. we can't recreate memories and the feeling of being in those moments, but maybe, just maybe.. it would be helpful to open our eyes to the blessings right at this very moment. who/what are you taking for granted right now?

when being imperfect stabs your heart

turn your eyes upon Jesus look full in His wonderful face and the things on earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace

Acts 20

3 verses to ponder upon. v24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me - the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace. v28b Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. v35 In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'

what comes first

Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you —Matthew 6:33 Even household chores and time spent with friends can come in the way of my devotion to God. What are the idols in your life that are hindering you from living a life of surrender to God?

gee thanks

Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me. If only. Your words though at times out of jest, cut and scar me, they tear me down. One that I respect and hold in high honour, one whom I seek comfort from. One whom I've wanted to please for years. These make your words sting more. Either that, or I'm just being a sensitive emo can't take criticisms good for nothing lazy bum.

a broken and contrite heart, you God, will not despise

Psalm 51:16-18 New International Version (NIV) 16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. 17 My sacrifice, O God, is[a] a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise. 18 May it please you to prosper Zion, to build up the walls of Jerusalem. * con·trite [kuhn-trahyt, kon-trahyt] Show IPA adjective 1. caused by or showing sincere remorse. 2. filled with a sense of guilt and the desire for atonement; penitent: a contrite sinner. Year 2013 lesson #1: It's ok to be broken. Out of our devotion to Him in the midst of our brokenness, God uses us, He works in us and through us. In our weaknesses, He is made strong.

"clear the stage, and set the sound and lights ablaze, if that's the measure you must take to crush your idols"

I've always thought I'm not much of a thinker, but I think I am. I think so much that I don't even realise I'm thinking. But they are dispersed randomly around my brain, I can't think in an organised manner. A substantial amount of thought have been revolving around friendships (omg so high school) and how disappointing they can be. Somewhere down the track in the last few years have convinced me that many people are friends with me because I can offer them something, ie car rides/ accommodation/ meals/ etc. In the last few years, I have also lost some close friendships from God-knows-why.. my (probably disordered) personality and stuck-upness? Anyway, I hate changes and what it does to people. It has made me a cynical donkey. Sometimes I don't even know why I bother with people who don't bother (or maybe they do bother but i feel that they don't bother). Anyway, le sigh. I must be too free and have a wandering mind and haven't socialised for too long because my life has been all about cooking and driving and thinking about cleaning and stressing about cooking again. I suppose all these troubled thoughts boil down to a fear: being forgotten. Because life is all about me, the world is all about me, what my friends think of me, me me me. It's gonna take a great deal of conscious effort to deny myself and pick up my cross daily. I guess this is how I'm supposed to learn. challenge accepted. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6smGew7dGto "clear the stage, and set the sound and lights ablaze, if that's the measure you must take to crush your idols"

combustion

If I were a fruit, I would be a bitter gourd. A lemon or lime.

chicken

To many, the interview must be the most stressful part of the whole job application process.
I can't even bring myself to send out resumes D:

B - Born to Be Wild

Yesterday, I received news that B, one of the persons that I took care of at work, had passed away.

B was one of the first people I met at work, and has always been one of my favourite faces there.
I have never ever seen B angry. She had a lovely personality and a charming sense of humour. I loved how I could count on her to be so tickled and laugh out loud at my jokes.. How much she was entertained by "daisy, daisy, daisy, woops", how she would randomly break out into the song she heard on tv: "BORN TO BE WILD~!!". B LOVED sweet sweet SWEET tea that had to be warm. B never got sick of BBQ sauce. B loved banging the table. B loved nine nine nine nine nine nine nine nine.

She may not have been able to see, or walk, or have the strength and control to carry a spoon or cup, she may not have been able to adjust herself on the seat for hours till she told someone that her knees were sore. But B was able to melt your heart with her beautiful soul. B would always hold your hand and ask you how are you, give you a side hug, pat your belly, pat your back. B was one sporting person who entertained silliness from carers and other residents with her hearty laughter. She would agree to arm wrestles on days when we got bored.

That was one thing I loved at work. Watching B laugh, because it was contagious. Her departure was unexpected to me, and her presence will be sorely missed. I'm thankful to have met B and am privileged to have received much loving and laughter from dearest dearest B.

Pilgrim's Conflict with Sloth, John Piper

http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/poems/pilgrim-s-conflict-with-sloth
My name is Pilgrim. Yesterday
At dusk I met along my way
An enemy. His name was Sloth.
He tried to lure me, like a moth,
Exhausted, to his idle flames.
As always, he used other names:
Relief and Respite and Repose
And Rest, and Leisure. These he knows
Are worthy seasons in this age—
Worthy names to make a sage
Out of a scoundrel.
                             “Look,” he said
To me, affecting praise, “you've led
Your church for thirty years. And I
Am glad that you at last comply
With my advice. I'm willing still
To help you rest, though my goodwill,
I must admit, has withered from
All your unwillingness to come
When I've invited you before.”
But I replied, “I still deplore
Your ways and your deceitful snares.
What makes you think that all my cares
Would suddenly transform your mirth
And your amusements, as if worth
Were made of ease and emptiness?
My urgent prayers do not express
Compliance with your old advice.
No more today does it entice
Than it has ever done.”
                                      “Then why,”
Said Sloth, “do you retire? Should I
Not hear this as a knocking at
My door? Come now. My welcome mat
Is out. Are you not standing there?”
“No,” I replied, “I’m not. And where
I stand you cannot comprehend.
I do not aim with you to spend
A single hour, though I confess
You are a subtle cheat, and dress
Your house with promises your name
Can never keep—Sloth! To my shame,
I visited your rooms enough
To know—you are not Rest. You bluff
Your way into the lives of drained
And weary men, with pity feigned,
And promise life—as if the soul
Of man were made to sit and roll
The dice until some happy pair
Make him a champ or millionaire.
You cannot understand my aims.
I do not live for wealth or games.”
Sloth felt the sting and said, “I know
Your kind, a workaholic. O,
Sleep not, play not, throw to the wind
God’s gift of leisure days. Rescind
The work of Christ who bought your rest.
O, yes, I know your kind: invest,
Invest, invest. And never take
Your dividends on earth. You make
Your way to heaven by your work,
Your precious work. O, do not shirk
A moment from your service of
This holy god, your life, your love.”
“Perhaps,” I said, “had I not heard
This censuring before, conferred
From better lips than yours, I would
Just thank you for the warning. Good
And useful outcomes flow from such
Rebukes, when love is in the touch.
But you have never loved. Along
With wrath and greed and pride and strong
Desires for sex and food and eminence,
You seven deadly sins dispense
Destruction everywhere, and then
You cover treachery again,
And smile as you condemn the heart
That wars to quench your flaming dart.
You cannot grasp in part or whole
The glory of a Christian soul
At work and rest.”
                              The sun had set.
And sloth said, “Night comes, Pilgrim, let
Me now keep your book while you sleep.
Will not your tireless Jesus keep
Your going out and coming in?
Come, Pilgrim, rest, it is not sin
To sleep.”
                     “That’s true,” I said, “but it
Is sin to sleep for Sloth. I will not sit
Or lie while you are near, but stand
And take this book in my right hand,
And in my mouth, until you are
No longer in my way, nor bar
My path of industry in this
Next season of my life. You miss
The mark, Old Sloth. You do not know
What Jesus bought.”
                                  “O yes, I’ll show
You,” Sloth replied, “Come unto me
All you who labor now and see
The rest that I have bought for you—
That’s what he bought.”
                                 “Quotes that are true,”
I said, “do not make truth. Old sins,
Like heretics, build vice on spins
From true, half-cited texts. How gives
The Lord this rest? As my God lives,
I’ll tell you, Sloth: he gives his rest
Under a yoke—his sweet bequest,
Blood-bought, and suited to the back
Of every weary saint. The knack
Of all our plowing: Jesus makes
The weighty burden light, and takes
The yoke-beams in his hand, and lifts
And carries us. Our works are gifts.
And Jesus is the giver. Grace
Bought and powers every pace,
And every enterprise. Sloth, we
Were made, and made again, to be
Co-makers with the Maker of
The world—to see the world above
And then to make the world below
More beautiful, to learn, to know,
And then to make, to shape, adorn,
Compose, produce, and turn a thorn
Into an etching tool—to write, to say
What never has been said that way,
To sing, to draw, to paint, to build,
To stitch and weave until we’ve filled
The world with truth. For this God spoke,
And Jesus died. This is our yoke.
Our happy yoke. You will not take
My work. Sloth, we were made to make.”
“So, Pilgrim,” Sloth replied, “you’ll earn
Your heaven with your arts? Go learn
Your Bible better. Saved by grace,
Not works, the book is clear. Go chase
Your heaven, laboring. That’s not my taste.”
“My heaven, Sloth” I answered, “chased
Me long before I found my way
To it. Grace, to be sure! The day
Will show again the half-text you
Left out. Sloth, we are made to do:
We are his workmanship in Christ,
Made for good works. He sacrificed
His life that we might live in them.
He the vine, and we the stem,
And they, the fruit. Is not the fruit
Of love our life?”
                             “Pointless dispute!”
Sloth muttered to himself. He turned
To go, and said to me, “You’ve spurned
My offer of sweet rest. Go waste
Your life. You are a fool. You’ll taste
Your sorrow. Mark my words.” And he
Was gone. 
                  And so, one victory
Obtained, my weary soul was kept.
And I lay down my head and slept.
                                John Piper
                                12-11-12

thinking day

Have we been so focussed on our ambitions and aspirations that we chose to push God out of the picture?

Have we used His gifts to glorify ourselves instead of Him?

Are His plans really our priority?
Do we really know Him? Do we try?

Does the kingdom of God matter to me at all or am I just a liar and a hypocrite?

if Christ were to sit with us over a meal and tune in to our conversations, would He be pleased with what we talk about? Would He be pleased by what we think about?

what am i doing in response to the love of Christ, who chose to take the penalty of my sins, so that i could live?

IMPACT CONFERENCE 2013

ACTS 20:24
However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.