my heart belongs to Jesus!

2012-01-21T13:39:00.002+08:00

Before I lay me down to rest
I ask the Lord one small request
I know I have all I could need
But this prayer is not for me
Too many people on this day
Don't have a peaceful place to stay
Let all fighting cease that your children may see peace
Wipe their tears of sorrow away

(chorus)
To believe in a day
When hunger and war will pass away
To have the hope amidst despair
That every sparrow's counted
That you hear each cry and listen to each prayer

Let me try always to believe
That we can hear the hearts that grieve
Please help us not ignore
The anguished cries of the poor
Or their pain will never leave

(chorus )
To believe in a day
When hunger and war will pass away
To have the hope amidst despair
That every sparrow's counted
That you hear their cries and listen to each prayer

(spoken prayer)
Father, as you see, I'm just a child
And there's so much to understand
But if Your Grace should surround me
Then I'll do the best I can
I promise, I'll do the very best I can

(chorus plus)
To believe in a day
When hunger and war will pass away
To have the hope amidst despair
That every sparrow's counted
That you hear each cry and listen to each
Prayer {Hear each cry and listen to each prayer}
Help us do Your will oh Father
In the name of all that's true
And we'll see in one another
The loving image of You

2012-01-18T21:42:00.000+08:00

2012-01-18T17:36:00.000+08:00

where's our confidence?
where do we pin our hopes?
how will you respond if one moment you are successful, independent, able-bodied
... and the next moment, a brain injury causes you to have so much difficulty in reading and writing, or even just taking pills out of a container?
will you still have hope?
where will you find your hope?
what will be your source of pride?

2012-01-16T21:54:00.000+08:00

10 things to be thankful for:
1. Ale being patient with my silence yesterday evening as I freaked out about placement commencing in <24hours
2. Being able to wake up early for placement day 1! (my alarm was set at 5.30am, i got up at 5am. pretty amazing considering that i slept at 12/12.30am)
3. Arriving at Curtin at 6.30am to print all my paperwork!
4. Thank God for providing me with ONE PRECIOUS PRINTER in the com lab that was working! (out of 4, 2 ran out of paper and 1 ran out of ink.. this was the last printer available that i tried.. after trying the other 3)
5. Thank God for early arrival at placement site with no traffic hoohaas!
6. Thank God for nice placement buddy, Louise! (nice is too mild. VERY VERY NICE!)
7. Thank God for friendly and supportive supervisor, staff and clients at placement!
8. Thank God for dinner prepared by Eileen and Aaron!
9. Thank God for some time just now to cook lunch for tomorrow!
10. Thank God for A COOLING DAY!!!!

2012-01-16T08:11:00.001+08:00

Placement day 1:
Feeling very AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH.
Oh Lord, please give me peace!

2012-01-11T23:46:00.002+08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6B1Lv8k5pEc&ob=av2e

2012-01-10T08:55:00.001+08:00

Morning shenanigans outside my window..
Introducing... the floating tree cutting man!

I don't know how to rotate photos when I blog on my phone :/

Since Cambodia and that 'underage' video about young male prostitutes in thailand I saw from fb, I've been made aware of the comfort, bliss and security that I have been born and brought up in. None of these I have earned for myself .. our stable lives are a result of sacrifices made by our parents and their parents and their parents etc. Partly by chance too that we were born in a developed country, in a time of peace, no war..
I don't know what to feel when I witness people homeless, struggling to keep their family alive, worrying about living expenses and school fees, working hard.. while here I am, just soaking in all the comforts life can offer.. I feel guilty that I'm materially well off - I don't need to worry about eating or finding shelter. I travel in the holidays.
But I hope now that I'm made aware, I don't live like I don't know or I don't care. Because I don't deserve any of these comforts more than them. Maybe that is what it means to be a body of Christ.. we have been blessed materially so that we can bless others with physical needs. What have I been doing with my material blessings other than stuffing myself with food.. taking long hot showers.. sitting in front of the computer the whole day and getting sleepy??

2012-01-09T03:39:00.001+08:00

Man... sleeping early makes u wake up early... I think I went to bed at 10.30/11ish... and now I'm awake at 3.30am.. what do I do at this hour man... o.O anyway, beaaaaach! Love it love it love it!! My nose has sand..

2012-01-05T09:59:00.003+08:00

I miss Cambodia!

2012-01-05T09:59:00.001+08:00

Mission trip day 1.

A whole day's worth of car ride - endless honking, weaving through motorbikes and oncoming traffic, more honking, squeezing many cars onto a road with no lane markings... I have evolved from a screaming, claustrophobic passenger who cringes when the proximity of cars are comparable to the length of my wrist to elbow, to a calm n cool cucumber who likens the car honking to ringing the bicycle bell and has great respect for our driver, who was focused and responsibly honking the entire journey while the rest of us slept soundly.

A visit to the mass genocide museum introduced us to a dark and recent history of the nation. It was heartbreaking to witness the cruelty and evil that can be birthed by man to be used against man - young/old/male/female- innocent souls tortured till death all because of greed and hunger for power. It was ugly. The absence of knowledge of the Father's love and judgement has the potential for such monstrous acts. It scares me to know how one man's decision may cause suffering to millions. How heartbreaking it must have been for God to see His creation belittling the lives which His hands have sculpted. My only comfort was the knowledge that God loves the world, sending Jesus Christ to die for the hideous acts we've done, bearing the burden and consequences of our sins. He has promised us forgiveness and hope of salvation if we believe in Jesus Christ.

My favourite part of the day was debriefing n devotion at night. For the first time we were able to share with one another beyond hellos and goodbyes and meaningless small talk as a team. We shared our reasons for coming on this trip, went through some dos and donts of mission trips and were reminded that we have been saved by grace from God and not by anything we have done. Praise the Lord for bringing us from different stages of life to one location, with one vision and one God. Looking forward to more great experiences (:

2011-12-25T22:28:00.001+08:00

Cambodia Mission Trip Reflections #1- pre-trip preparations

3 days till the mission trip.

I have been challenged to step out of my comfort zone through baking for fundraising in church. The Lord has been gracious - unburnt rainbow cupcakes and good tasting shortbread! Thank God for kristi too who helped make the rainbow cupcakes. This time, there was flour :D and thank God also for yanti n Jodie n mum n dad who helped me with baking and packaging and delivery and providing materials. I'm reminded of the verse which speaks of His power made perfect through my weaknesses, so that I will boast in no one else but the Lord! Also, how we function together as different body parts together for God's work (:

Had a booth after Christmas service with those baked goodies on top of Abby's Choc chip cookies (like famous Amos!) and butter cookies. Everyone was asked to give any amount they wished to donate and we were aiming for $200 from that. Generous souls helped by selling, publicizing and giving.. praise God, we raised $972.70!!! How amazing was that! The money will be given to the Cambodian flood victims in the form of ration packages or other things that they need.

Rev Lau reminded the team that besides going to Cambodia with the mindset that we are going to help n serve n give, we should also keep our eyes n ears open to what God wants to teach us through the journey.

Besides that, I'm quite excited to get to know my team better (: they seem like a crazy bunch hehe. There's 9 of us: mingfenglaoshi, lingzilaoshi, Dorcas, Abigail, sean, Augustine, Luther, jiajun and myself. Searching for puppet show scripts was also a refreshing time of learning about God's love but I might share that later on. (: OK packing time!

2011-11-13T23:31:00.001+08:00

Le sigh.
And the frog never left the well. Because it was told that jumping may increase risks of broken bones. Being out of the well, one may have high chances of dying of thirst. Humans may trample you and eat you.
Why bother looking at what the world has to offer, when the well is comfortable, safe and familiar?Why should birds learn to fly? Why should babies learn to walk? Why risk falling when you can just enjoy your whole life lying on a nice comfortable mattress ..

2011-10-31T17:36:00.000+08:00

“we are safe!”

Oct 31

by k.t. sim

read>

Jeremiah 7:1-11
Do you really think you can steal, murder, commit adultery, lie . . . and then come here and stand before me in my temple and chant, “We are safe!”—only to go right back to all those evils again? (Jeremiah 7:9-10).

more>

What do John 14:6, 1 Timothy 2:5-6, and Hebrews 7:23-28 teach us about the Jesus who saves?

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What has given you a false sense of security? What will you do to turn to God and experience true safety?

According to a 2010 Pew Forum on Religion report, 53 percent of Christians in the US did not know that Martin Luther was the person who inspired the Protestant Reformation. So they wouldn’t know that on October 31, 1517, in the little German town of Wittenberg, Luther nailed his 95 Theses on the church door—inviting scholars to debate the use of indulgences; a practice Luther believed gave believers a false assurance of their salvation. Luther spelled out what true salvation is in his first four Theses: “1. When Jesus said ‘repent’ He meant that believers should live a whole life repenting. 2. Only God can give salvation—not a priest. 3. Inwards penitence must be accompanied with a suitable change in lifestyle. 4. Sin will always remain until we enter heaven.”
The people of Judah had a false sense of security. They believed their temple guaranteed their safety (Jeremiah 7:4). Rejecting God’s laws, they lived deceitfully (Jeremiah 7:8-11). The prophet Jeremiah warned them of their foolishness and falsehood, stating “It’s a lie!” (Jeremiah 7:8). He also made it clear that the temple of the Lord cannot save (Jeremiah 7:4,8)—only the Lord of the temple saves (Jeremiah 7:5).
The people needed to “quit [their] evil ways” (Jeremiah 7:3), reform, and repent (Jeremiah 7:5-10). They couldn’t “steal, murder, commit adultery, lie . . . and then come . . . and stand before [God] in [His] temple and chant, ‘We are safe!’—only to go right back to all those evils again”! (Jeremiah 7:9-10). Their “inwards penitence [needed to] be accompanied with a suitable change in lifestyle” (Luther’s Thesis #3). Only then would God be merciful (Jeremiah 7:5). Only then would they be safe and secure (Jeremiah 7:7).
As believers, we must be able to “prove by the way [we] live that [we] have repented of [our] sins and turned to God” (Matthew 3:8).

Play wib peelings!

2011-10-31T00:02:00.001+08:00

Random thought of the night:
Remember how when we were younger, our piano teachers would teach us to play a song and then we play and they ask us to play with feeling? And then we were just like ???!?!??? What does that mean??!?!?! But after that we learn that playing with feelings means to sway your body and sometimes just your head side to side, back and forth, while you play your piece... and the music sounded exactly the same as when u didn't move.. or maybe worse because its overwhelmingly multitasking. Hehehehe. Funny times..

Peeling good. Eben without bicks.

Picciesss!!!

2011-10-21T15:54:00.001+08:00

2011-10-15T23:41:00.002+08:00

oh man.. looking at old photos makes me so emo
i don't like goodbyes and changes.
:(

2011-10-04T22:40:00.000+08:00

You give and take away..
my heart will choose to say, Lord blessed be Your name.

have you ever felt like a failure? have you ever made a mistake and told yourself not to do it again, but find that now it seems impossible to not make the same mistake ever again? have you ever felt no one understands and they just think you just can't be bothered? have you ever felt disappointed for letting your loved ones down time and again and again.. but find yourself repeating that .. again.. and again?

my future looks bleak.. full of uncertainties..

basically........ i handed in my assignment late AGAIN. im starting to wonder when was the last time i handed my assignments in early for a whole semester. and currently, i feel like im in a dangerous position.. like i might fail this unit. HAVE I NOT BEEN WORKING HARD? this is so confusing.

after holding back tears for like 30minutes and trying to come to terms with the fact that im not as awesome as i thought i was, life went back to normal... studying, chicken burgering, ice creaming, studying, laughing, "backward rollercoastering", travelling home, cooking, eating, making operas out of any songs with jojo
plus a drive to study and do my assignments.. after MEGAMIND :D

2011-09-15T23:53:00.000+08:00

what an amazing night to wrap up LC 2010/2011. Listening to God's work in transforming OCF Curtin and OCF WA as a state. And listening to Aunty Carol's life finely crafted by God.

once again, I AM IN AWE :D

2011-08-16T16:44:00.002+08:00

GAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

2011-08-12T01:52:00.000+08:00

this time last year, so many things were different.
change. it's an idea i'm constantly learning to embrace.
enjoying times where i reminisce about my exciting life in the past, it's so easy to be blinded to God's blessing placed right before me all my life.

thank You Lord.

2011-08-02T17:35:00.000+08:00

hallelujah moments of the past week:

- deadline extension for goglobal scholarship application
- update from hi5 buddy meow from china
- watching narnia part 1 with ocfers and many new friends
- bernie's surprise jap dinner with the girls and HTHT post dinner
- long overdue catchup with lady thotho in PCC
- going to school with sherxiaomei and ngzhongdi
- ikea meatballs and daim cake with siums
- FINDING MY HEALTH BOOKLET!!!!!
- skyping limqinyi minus something on her face.
- being a pig n overeating with dad (once a day) and sis (once a week)...
- rainbow sightings
- double rainbow sightings
- missing the rain
- catching the rain
- awesome weather.. dry or wet.
- meeting friendly blood test + vaccination ladies after a fierce and scary GP and nurse
- the trees with red flowers
- gigantic clouds
- goodlooking skies
+++

2011-07-11T00:55:00.000+08:00

Ephesians 2:10
For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

2011-06-28T23:19:00.000+08:00

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/north-korea-soldiers-malnourished-report-034845040.html

2011-06-26T22:49:00.000+08:00

it's time for some...

SILENCE
&
STILLNESS

:D

2011-06-23T14:39:00.000+08:00

http://www.ourdailyjourney.org/2011/06/22/behind-the-scenes/

Today's devotion came from the book of Esther, talking about God's work behind the scenes. Interestingly, the word God was never once mentioned in that book, however, His hand at work is ever so evident in the events that took place.

After reading about His "behind-the-scenes" work in the book of Esther, I am compelled to share about His "behind-the-scenes" work in my life in 2 particular occasions: neuro supp, gerontology late assignment.

NEURO SUPPLEMENTARY EXAM
One thing that definitely contributed to my hectic crazy second year in uni, was the hectic crazy unit called Neuroscience Neurodevelopment. Even by reading the name, one can easily see that it's meant to be 2 separate units instead of one. Clearly it felt that way to me. Weekly Neuroscience lectures, Neuroscience tutorials, Neurodevelopment online lectures, Neurodevelopment workshops, + readings + tutorial/workshop preparation worksheets... this was the most interesting yet challenging unit I've ever come across. Juggling this with 3 other units and other commitments throughout the semester, I came to realise that my knowledge of the brain was negligible when the exam study break arrived.
I had made prior arrangements with a friend shuling, to go for a roadtrip around Perth in the winter break after exams. However, after learning from ongtingtong that it was the supp exam period at that time, I decided to call it off, just in case.
Also during that winter break period, will's (a friend from Overseas Christian Fellowship) auntie's friend's friend's friend's friend's friend had a daughter, muimui coming to perth to begin uni and was looking for accommodation. Knowing that I was living alone (Geri my cousin was in Milan for exchange for a semester), he asked if my house was available to accommodate mui2 for the first few days in perth before she finds a house to settle in. [God's hand: thankfully i was not away somewhere on roadtrip, otherwise I wouldn't have had the opportunity to accommodate mui2 and wendy, her sister :)]. At that same time, I learnt that I had failed my neuroscience exam, but was eligible for a supplementary exam (THANK GOD! imagine having to repeat that unit! *shock horror shock horror horror*) so YAY: that I was not somewhere in monkey mia being a tourist and being too far away to come back to revise for my exam, and BOO: having to study instead of spending my holiday like a TRUE BLUE HOLIDAY.
The day before my supplementary exam.. I was still clueless about the brain. I could memorise certain information, but my understanding was non-existent. Drove muimui to UWA for her orientation in the morning and walked with her to wherever the orientation was, and as I was on my way to my car, there was Judy, fresh out of the exam hall.. after her NEUROSCIENCE EXAM! Exchanged greetings, told her about my doomsday yada yada and left UWA and headed home. Later in the day, Judy texted me to tell me that we could meet up if I needed any help and i was like.. YES OF COURSE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE I'M DESPERATE. And so we met. And finally after one whole semester, I understood THE BRAIN. Judy taught me all these cool diagrams of the circle of willis and the cerebral arteries and etc etc which i drew on my supp exam paper which the teacher said was cool (woohooo). and VIOLA! I passed my supp exam because of God's behind-the-scenes work and perfect timing. :D
And with mui2, I'm so thankful that I could accommodate her for that short period and introducing her to OCF, because being surrounded by Christian brothers and sisters, she eventually knew about the gospel and decided to ask Christ into her heart to be her Lord and Saviour in OCF Easter Camp 2010 :)
All glory to God, whose plans are perfect and AWEEEEsomeee!

GERONTOLOGY LATE SUBMISSION
I have a problem with handing in my assignments on time. This also stresses my parents. A LOT. So one of my resolutions this year was to hand in my assignments on time but oops, i did it again (hahahha lame chop). The penalties for late submission: 10% of total assignment mark. I had a Neuroscience poster and Gerontology essay due on the Monday after Easter Tute Free week. That is crazy. But as a part time student doing 2 units, I've got it really good. But I don't know.. being the slowpoke that I am before submission date, I managed to hand in my Neuroscience poster on time, but could only hand in Gerontology the day after the due date, which meant a penalty of 4% from 40%. (which is dangerous when you are required to type 1600 words in one day). We received our essay results a few weeks later and to my amazement, I got 30.5 out of 40.. THANK GOD! but then i realised that I wasn't penalised yet for my late submission. I struggled with the decisions i had to choose from. a) keep quiet, keep the marks, keep feeling guilty? OR b) tell the teacher, get penalised, live guilt free?
it was a great struggle but thankfully after deducting 4 marks will still give me a pass mark so that made the decision making process so much easier. I chose b), because God has reminded me time and again through experiences that everything that happens in my life may not be within my control, but they are in His control. Scoring well may mean the world to me, but if that was to be done in a way that displeases God, does scoring well matter to God then? If I were to be teaching kids in Sunday school not to lie or cheat, what gives me the right to lie and cheat before God? So yes. Made the tough decision and told my tutor who told me to email the unit coordinator which I did.. Just a few days ago, here's what I got in my email inbox:
"

Dear Jeannie

Thank you for your honesty. Because of your email I decided to keep your mark for the assignment on 30.5.

Well done for doing the right thing and write to me. It takes courage.

"

and for this, which was really beyond my control, I THANK GOD, who taught me to let go of things that may seem important in this lifetime, but does not last for eternity.

when I compare what I experienced to that of Esther's, I must say, hers was clearly a tougher decision to make. It was a matter of life and death. Yet, her faith in God led her to come to this decision:

(Esther 4:16)
“Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”

2 Corinthians 4:18
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

2011-06-14T11:53:00.001+08:00

Getting There (3)

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Jun

2011

. . . come, follow Me —Luke 18:22

Where our individual desire dies and sanctified surrender lives. One of the greatest hindrances in coming to Jesus is the excuse of our own individual temperament. We make our temperament and our natural desires barriers to coming to Jesus. Yet the first thing we realize when we do come to Jesus is that He pays no attention whatsoever to our natural desires. We have the idea that we can dedicate our gifts to God. However, you cannot dedicate what is not yours. There is actually only one thing you can dedicate to God, and that is your right to yourself (see Romans 12:1). If you will give God your right to yourself, He will make a holy experiment out of you— and His experiments always succeed. The one true mark of a saint of God is the inner creativity that flows from being totally surrendered to Jesus Christ. In the life of a saint there is this amazing Well, which is a continual Source of original life. The Spirit of God is a Well of water springing up perpetually fresh. A saint realizes that it is God who engineers his circumstances; consequently there are no complaints, only unrestrained surrender to Jesus. Never try to make your experience a principle for others, but allow God to be as creative and original with others as He is with you.
If you abandon everything to Jesus, and come when He says, “Come,” then He will continue to say, “Come,” through you. You will go out into the world reproducing the echo of Christ’s “Come.” That is the result in every soul who has abandoned all and come to Jesus.
Have I come to Him? Will I come now?

2011-06-14T11:49:00.001+08:00

Your Spiritual Pipeline

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June 13, 2011 — by Dennis Fisher

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Our Daily Bread Radio is hosted by Les Lamborn

Read: Psalm 57

My soul trusts in You; and in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge. —Psalm 57:1

Bible in a year:
Ezra 6-8; John 21

The Trans-Alaska Pipeline stretches 800 miles through Alaska. Because it was built through an earthquake zone, engineers had to be sure the pipe could withstand earth trauma. They decided on a network of Teflon sliders designed to ease the shock when the ground moved below the pipes. Engineers were delighted when the first big test came. In 2002, an earthquake occurred causing the ground to move 18 feet to one side. The Teflon sliders moved gently to accommodate the movement without any damage to the pipe. The key was flexibility.
The believer’s spiritual pipeline to heaven is built upon firm trust in God. But if we are inflexible in our expectations of how God should work, we can run into trouble. In a crisis, we can make the mistake of shifting our focus from God to our painful circumstances. Our prayer should be, “God, I don’t understand why You have allowed this painful situation. But I am trusting in Your ultimate deliverance despite all that’s going on around me.” The psalmist expressed this so well when he wrote: “My soul trusts in You . . . until these calamities have passed by” (Ps. 57:1).
When the earth seems to move under us, let’s be flexible in our expectations but firmly confident in God’s steadfast love and care.

Press forward and fear not! Though trials be near;
The Lord is our refuge; whom then shall we fear?
His staff is our comfort, our safeguard His rod;
Then let us be steadfast and joy in our God. —Anon.

2011-06-11T13:05:00.000+08:00

it's interesting looking back at old text messages to see how i used to talk to some people so much but now, it's quite awkward to start .. or carry on a conversation..
it's also quite cool to see how God has blessed me along the way with different people in my life..

memories.. are so interesting.
LESS THAN A WEEK TO PREEDOM!

2011-06-06T11:01:00.000+08:00

Thank You Jesus for the cross - the symbol of forgiveness to those who believe. You were ready to give up Your life for sinners; broken, imperfect, ungrateful people who make empty promises and make ourselves our own god. You loved the people who broke Your heart time after time. You sought forgiveness from the Father on behalf of those who nailed You to the cross. In the midst of mocking voices and excruciating pain - love was on Your mind. Salvation of the nations of people who were initially headed for eternal separation from God was done by Your act of selflessness - the very reason You entered the world for. You showed us how to love and You covered and filled us with Your radical love.

In knowledge of this fact that You have died for our sins once and for all, we ought to be living in gratefulness and repentance from sinful ways that break Your heart. But how thick this wall of sin has become - blocking Your still small voice out of our lives even though we have been reminded of Your amazing grace. Forgive us Lord, for making light the message of Your love - for taking things into our own hands even though we know that all authority in heaven and earth has been given to You. Forgive us for choosing what we want over what You know we need. Forgive us for the hate, bitterness, pride, jealousy in our lives. Forgive us for all the times we ignore the poor and the needy. Forgive us for thinking that we are of higher social standing than others.

Come Lord Jesus, heal our land - renew our hearts - purify and polish them. Dwell in our hearts and reign in our lives. Come take Your place as king - our Lord and Saviour. May each day of our lives bring You glory and praise. May Your name be magnified.

Luke 6:35
...because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful...

2011-05-30T12:52:00.001+08:00

Keeping The Wonder

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May 29, 2011 — by David C. McCasland

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Our Daily Bread Radio is hosted by Les Lamborn

Read: 2 Peter 1:2-11

If these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. —2 Peter 1:8

Bible in a year:
2 Chronicles 7-9; John 11:1-29

On a recent trip, my wife was seated near a mother with a young boy on his first flight. As the plane took off, he exclaimed, “Mom, look how high we are! And everything’s getting smaller!” A few minutes later he shouted, “Are those clouds down there? What are they doing under us?” As time passed, other passengers read, dozed, and lowered their window shades to watch the in-flight video. This boy, however, remained glued to the window, absorbed in the wonder of all he was seeing.
For “experienced travelers” in the Christian life, there can be great danger in losing the wonder. The Scriptures that once thrilled us may become more familiar and academic. We may fall into the lethargy of praying with our minds but not our hearts.
Peter urged the early followers of Christ to continue growing in their faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love (2 Peter 1:5-7). He said, “If these things are yours and abound [or are increasing], you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (v.8). Without them we become blind and forget the marvel of being cleansed from our sins (v.9).
May God grant us all grace to keep growing in the wonder of knowing Him.

On such love, my soul, still ponder
Love so great, so rich, so free;
Say, while lost in holy wonder,
“Why, O Lord, such love to me?” —Kent

Continual growing in Christ
comes from a deepening knowledge of Him.

2011-05-29T22:12:00.000+08:00

I don't know where to start, but let's just say that I am feeling overwhelmed by God's blessings in my life.

after a 2 hour talk on our fieldwork placements for 2012 from 12-2pm, i walked out of hollis theatre and bumped into Janice, who felt the same way as i was feeling at the moment: VERY HUNGER (puan, 2011).. So, we walked to the main cafe together and had a straight to the point catch up session while savouring our $4.50 guild special - curry and rice.YUMYUMYUMYUM..

Oceanic Conference
Rick Warren - Hearing God's Voice
1. Scripture
2. Thoughts/Ideas
3. People
4. Pain

I've been so blessed. I can recall my first semester in uni, when I received grades so good that it didn't match the amount of effort i had put into it compared to my coursemates, I even felt bad that I scored such good grades. I thank God.

My second year was a time of trials and challenges where my life seemed to be going in a downward spiral, mentally, I felt I was going to breakdown. Having overcommitted myself to various opportunities to serve in ministry and struggling to balance and prioritise, my grades were the first to plummet, and to cut a long story short, I ended up having 2 units to repeat and that pushed me back by one year. It was a challenging learning experience but by God's grace, I've been able to accept these successes and failures as moments that have shaped who I am. I have been also struggling with an issue of not being able to hand in my assignments on time.. ever since the first late submission, it just seemed impossible to hand them in on time. I thank God for weaknesses and failures to remind me that I am only human and I am flawed. But also reminding me to place my confidence not on my earthly successes or myself, but in Him - the unfailing, almighty - the one who has all authority, and His amazing plans for the world.

ok i needa do other stuff hehe

2011-05-23T22:23:00.000+08:00

so because it feels like winter is here...a tip to those fighting the chilly wind/ chilly even without the wind.. WALK TO THE TRAIN STATION WITH A THICK BLACK JACKET.

that's what i did this morning in supposedly 5 degrees celsius according to my dad but it would probably have risen with the sun.. pretty sure that if i took my jacket off at the train station, water vapour will rise from my body and i'll be walking with a cloud right above my head.

anyway, came across this verse which i have not read in a while and thought that it was pretty timely as ocf curtin committee starts hunting for the next term's comm members.

1 Cor 3:7 "so neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow."

Paul was addressing the church in Corinth, as they were divided over which leader was greater and who they should follow. They have failed to recognise that all the leaders were working towards the same goal - for the church to grow in Christ. And also, that it is God who makes things grow.

Indeed, we can do all things through Christ, and Christ alone :) And I'm thankful that it is God making things grow :D how much are man capable of compared to His BIG HANDS?

2011-05-01T13:37:00.000+08:00

how wonderful it feels when the person that you've set aside as much time as u can afford to spend time with, blames you for her uneventful school break. love it. thanks for your kind understanding and unselfishness. i feel so appreciated. like totally.

2011-04-30T21:46:00.000+08:00

they feel so once upon a time

2011-04-19T00:30:00.002+08:00

“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” - Romans 10:9-10

2011-04-11T20:23:00.001+08:00

It matters not how large or small
Your faith may seem to be;
What really counts is whom you trust
In life’s uncertainty. —Fitzhugh

Came across this short poem online and was reminded of a conversation with Shu Han on one of our interview visit car trips:

Exercising faith is like sitting on a chair. We have faith that the chair is able to hold us and not wobble and break, hence we sit on it. However, it's not because of our faith that we do not fall when we sit, but because of the stability and strength of the chair. If we have strong faith, the chair doesn't fall. If we have faith as small as a mustard seed, the chair doesn't fall. Even when we have no faith at all, the chair is still strong and stable.

Likewise, our faith in God does not determine how mighty our God is.
The fact is this -
Psalm 18:2 "The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold"

In the midst of uncertainty in this time and age, in a world that seems to be fading and dying physically and morally, in times of disappointment and times of joy, in a confused, directionless and faithless nation, we have all the confidence that the Creator of the world is still in control - our unshakeable stronghold - unchanging, everlasting.

2011-03-25T00:35:00.000+08:00

as human, we like to say unneccessary stuff to spite others and bring them down
as human, we can be insensitive to how someone else is feeling
as human, we like to find something to blame.. anything but ourselves.
as human, we are selective about who we want to be nice to/ be patient to
as human, we can bear grudges for the longest time.
as human, we take people for granted.

as human, we need help. we need forgiveness.

2011-03-23T00:10:00.002+08:00

note to self:
please keep mouth shut or stay away from people when tired or cranky.

2011-03-22T01:35:00.000+08:00

   ²³ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. ²⁴ You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
   ²⁵ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. ²⁶ Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
   ²⁷ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. ²⁸ In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

the sinfulness of man... causes pain..whether its doing something we ought not to do, or not doing something we ought to do. our selfishness and ignorance, our pride and insensitivity... how disgusting we can become sometimes.. many times.. without forgiveness, where will we be?

2011-03-20T16:59:00.000+08:00

i dont particularly have anything to talk about at the moment.
just feel like typing something HAHA.

God moves mysteriously and HE is ALWAYS working. we catch on to His actions and partner with Him to extend His love.
there's so much to be done.
i don't understand how i could have spent the past many hours on fb ):

2011-03-11T01:03:00.000+08:00

if loving someone means wanting the best for someone, don't you think it's stupid if you expect that person to selfishly keep whatever's given to her all to herself?
so driving to jandakot way after my bedtime even though im going to school early the next day, just cause i feel like exploring some shopping place is totally reasonable while picking a friend up from the city when im on the way to somewhere is not. because im accountable to you, the way i spend my resources that came from you should be spent only on myself? geez man. i wonder who's being unreasonable. pig. pig pig pig pig pig. pfft.

2011-03-02T11:38:00.001+08:00

our Father is working. He is ALWAYS working.
:)

2011-02-16T00:19:00.000+08:00

even in your most dreaded moments, God has His purposes and is in total control.
today, i think i've learnt that i need to be humble and inclusive.
unconditional love is one amazing gift that i may have under appreciated.
this post is so mysterious and random.
i feel like kueh lapis
i think i have a tendency to become detached too

hmmmm

2011-02-10T00:51:00.000+08:00

isnt it funny how i am actually lost for words to say anything.. when we could go on and on and on in the past?
OH SO FUNNY.
HA.
HA.
HA..

2011-01-29T00:52:00.000+08:00

HELLO PERTHLAND! YOU ARE HAWTTTT!

1) thank you qinyi, daryl, minhui, aunty mercy, uncle rui quan, pastor yang, uncle yi quan, auntie mu zhen, da jiu and ah gim for sending us off :D it's so heartwarming to know that God has placed loving people around in our lives.

2) i got a temp job for the next 3 weeks within a couple of hours of arriving in perth! apparently val remembered that i'll be back early and asked if i wanted to come in to fill in for her colleague who's goin home to msia for hols. so we put our luggage down at home, showered, then i left to go for job training! bad idea... i was so short of sleep... even though i was present physically, my mind wasnt working... i felt so bad for the girl training me.. i had to get her to repeat herself so many times cus i kept dozing off when she was explaining. it was SO BAD. i could hardly hold a proper conversation with anyone.. my eyes were threatening to close so often. but how cool is this :D:D:D i dont know any accounting!!! D:

3) my house is dusty and disgusting i dont know where to sleeep. SPRINGCLEANING TOMORROW!

2011-01-27T20:41:00.000+08:00

GGGGGGGGAAAAAAAAAAAAAHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

RRRRRRRRRAHHHHHHHHHHHHH

PRINT PRINTER PRINT!!!!!!!!

uggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

2011-01-25T03:21:00.000+08:00

happy holidaying in singapore is coming to a close soon.

I'm glad I had the opportunity to meet up with quite a number of ppl even though I did not do any proper planning.. Thank God that for some of my friends, it was the right time to meet up! Not trying to imply that some other meet ups were bad.. i enjoyed every one of it.. but at least for some i get to be useful as a friend and be there when they need company/a shoulder/a hand/an ear/some tissue paper/a stomach.. since im so free.
i thank God as I look back, for family relationships+friendships that have grown over time. awkward-sit-around-and-stare-and-smile-cny-gatherings to laughing-your-head-off-and-becoming-fb-friends-with-dad's-cousins'-children-at-great-granduncle's-birthday-dinner, sampling free food around orchard road, eating ice cream and yoghurt and xiaolongbao etc etc, jogging, swimming, chilling, churching, jamming...

at the same time, i also feel a bit a annoyed at how i can be so stuck up sometimes. i dont know.. this year will be interesting. so many things will be different. no more geri & fcil around, no more close friend, upcoming weekend battles with the kissmon in the house, awkward moments.. woohoo
o.0

i finally got a new bible :D i <3 bi-ling-long bibles!

i have become so shallow.. i have so many thoughts in my mind but its not coming out.
oh wells
goodnight world

2011-01-07T16:45:00.002+08:00

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20110106/twl-haiti-quake-1year-women-rape-4bdc673.html

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20110106/tap-health-china-environment-pollution-8d4ea94.html

le sigh..

2011-01-05T05:48:00.000+08:00

2011 has already begun and im not mentally prepared. Not like something major is supposed to happen, but the days have just flown past so quickly! To see how my year 2010 has gone, I glanced through blogposts of the year... I could tell that it was an emotional roller coaster ride.. but some of the posts were too mysterious and vague that I myself can't recall what happened :S good one. HAHA i dont know if i've forgiven, but i sure have forgotten!

THE GOODs:
a) i've learnt about God's patience and faithfulness personally - that it's not dependent on how faithful i've been to Him or how holy i've been or how much I have done for Him, because I'd definitely miss the mark if He chose to set any. Instead, the amount of patience and faithfulness He's shown is according to His INFINITE love for me.. and you (:

b) i've been truly blessed and loved and i am grateful beyond words for family and friends who've been patient with me in my moments of brattiness, who brighten my day at the right place and right time, who offer time and kind words of advice, people who point me to Jesus, people who have cooked for me or treated me to meals or even lent me money (whether i've remembered to return or not.. hehehe SORRY IF I HAVENT!), people who drive me, people who sit in my car and entertain me and boss, bus buddy, silly faces, kite flying, muay thai, late night chats, funny headband day, churros day, jogging, swimming, dancing, screaming, laughing....aiyah! there's so many blessings and since im pretty sure these kinda things happen more than once in each day, i'd have more than 365 things mentioned if i really had to list everything out. but yes! i believe everyone is a blessing. and some are blessings in disguise so im sorry if im not appreciating you now, because I should be.. but maybe ur annoyingness overrules ur blessingness ok im kidding i seriously do not have anyone in mind when im typing this sentence. PEACE EVERYBODY! thank you for being you! God loves you!

c) Seeing friends coming to know and accept Christ and knowing that these did not happen through our convincing, but the Spirit of God moving in their hearts and their lives. Their growth in their faith in God also amazes and encourages me a lot! It's the most exciting news to hear about! :D :D :D It reminds me of God's amazingness and awesomeness (more awesome than kungfu panda), and that He is a personal God who knows our thoughts, knows our emotions, and speaks to us in various ways (through the bible, people, experiences, dreams..)

d) I PASSED ALL UNITS THIS YEAR PRAISE THE LORD!!!!!! I EVEN GOT ONE D THIS SEM!!!

e) my experiences - joyful as well as painful. God prunes in order that we may bear more fruit, and I believe He has a plan for allowing things to happen in our lives. Even though it was difficult to be thankful for some things while I was struggling then, on hindsight, i have a slightly better understanding of how God uses experiences to grow us. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. ROMANS 8:28. I can't say that I clearly understand the reason behind all things that have happened, but I'm slowly learning :D

THE BADs
this is probably space for me to wallow in self pity and rant so if you happen to be reading this, you may move on to section-next-part. (but i know la... kpo human nature... hurhur..still here right!)
I'd like to think that I'm happy go lucky and super nice because i try to be (sometimes... i think?) but this year has proven me wrong. hahaha.. i've been challenged to love and be patient with people who have different perspectives from me on the portfolios of being a friend, struggled with the thought that my friends have been taking me for granted and using me (eg. contacting me only when they have a favour to ask), being disappointed when people do not meet my unspoken expectations of them, being sarcastic/mean/scary/angry to people instead of being gracious and forgiving. I've been heartbroken by people who probably don't even know that they've broken my heart (not in the lovey dovey sense..) but its more because im such a kpo and too sensitive to everything happening around me. my theory for rationalising one of these situations is this: I draw a box as a boundary/an expectation for myself to follow, but when others do not keep to that box, i get upset. But of course I have my reasons.. I place too high expectations on people who get closer to me.
I've also lost the ability to express some parts of my thoughts into words. or maybe its always been like that all along but it just so happened that i needed to put that part of me into use, and obviously, FAIL. but it's alright.. im not perfect.. but i guess its not very helpful to other people because they cant read my thoughts and they wouldnt understand if i did an interpretive dance. i guess i'll learn... i also learnt that sometimes i struggle with being honest with myself. this is a tough one! internal battles D: i still handed my assignments in late this sem D: but some were early :D I've struggled with keeping my quiet time consistent on and off. I get bitter about ANY relationship stuff (ya i know right.. like hello jeannie? too free is it? every single thing needs to be transformed into a problem in your life?!?) my relationship stuff, other people's relationship stuff - good or bad, i have a problem with. Mine, because im so confused/cautious/awkward/cant put thoughts into words because i dont even know what im thinking because i dont know what i want or dont want because i struggle with being honest with myself/insensitive to others/self centered. Others, because I get jealous that boyfriends become more important than friends. I'm angry but at the same time I distance myself away from them because I always have the mentality that they are busy people. i suppose that's how i drift away from people close to me. of course this is something i need to get over if not i'll be friendless soon when all my friends get attached. BUT ISN'T IT ANNOYING?!?!?! just because some guy from somewhere comes and sweeps your friend off her feet, he becomes so important..you become a substitute/wallpaper/some particle hovering in space. just because of whatever emotions or excitement they have about seeing each other every second of the day, whatever magnet attracts them to each other or WHATEVER, they are suddenly very busy people. THEN finally when they're partners are busy, they will probably realise.. oh! i haven't seen my friends for a while! well.. DUH..... welcome back to planet earth my friend.. *rolls eyes* yes i have issues i know that. and people say that i will only understand when im in the same situation. but YOU, WHO ARE READING THIS PART EVEN THOUGH I TOLD YOU NOT TO, see me acting like those things i've mentioned, please kick me shake me knock my head and throw me into the swimming pool or something and call me back to planet earth, because i dont wanna go through all this anger/hurt/complaining for nothing.. >:( sigh. so childish. if everyone took my words seriously, everyone may become single and then we'd need IVF or something to multiply hurhurhur that'd be freaky and scary and no it's not what i want hahahaha i will live with happy couple friends WHO HAVE NO TIME FOR ME ))): just kidding :D but seriously :[ LEARN. ok la. im so unreasonable and demanding D: although these have been things that've made me bitter/sad/angry/frustrated/heavy hearted (ok they all have the same meaning = NEGATIVE FEELINGS), im still thankful for each and every experience. it's been my chance to grow in knowledge of the constance in the character of Jesus despite my wavering and spiteful heart, His patience and kindness, revealing verses to me to help me forgive, showing me His own experiences from the bible. It has reminded me that I'm human and I am weak, therefore, I draw my strength from the everliving God who understands my plight and hears my thoughts and cries. No matter how much of a hypocrite I may be sounding to Him, He has still chosen to forgive and love me.

will continue to think about 2011. at the meantime, happy new year everyone!

here's something i nicked off a 2010 post which has been relevant to me this year..

Apr.22.2010
We all, with unveiled face, beholding . . . the glory of the Lord . . . —2 Corinthians 3:18

A servant of God must stand so very much alone that he never realizes he is alone. In the early stages of the Christian life, disappointments will come— people who used to be lights will flicker out, and those who used to stand with us will turn away. We have to get so used to it that we will not even realize we are standing alone. Paul said, “. . . no one stood with me, but all forsook me . . . . But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me . . .” (2 Timothy 4:16-17 ). We must build our faith not on fading lights but on the Light that never fails. When “important” individuals go away we are sad, until we see that they are meant to go, so that only one thing is left for us to do— to look into the face of God for ourselves.
Allow nothing to keep you from looking with strong determination into the face of God regarding yourself and your doctrine. And every time you preach make sure you look God in the face about the message first, then the glory will remain through all of it. A Christian servant is one who perpetually looks into the face of God and then goes forth to talk to others. The ministry of Christ is characterized by an abiding glory of which the servant is totally unaware— “. . . Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him” ( Exodus 34:29 ).
We are never called on to display our doubts openly or to express the hidden joys and delights of our life with God. The secret of the servant’s life is that he stays in tune with God all the time.

Dear God, thank You for being so amazing! (: You do know my thoughts and fears and I thank You for speaking to me and reminding me to fix my eyes on You. To place my trust and hope and confidence in You and not people, because You are the light that never fails!

2010-12-31T02:30:00.000+08:00

omg. this is the ultimate ultimate patience tester.
JESUS WINS JESUS WINS JESUS WINS JESUS WINS

2010-12-30T12:14:00.000+08:00

Philippians 4:4-9 (New International Version, ©2010)

Final Exhortations

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ⁸ Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. ⁹ Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

2010-12-30T01:47:00.000+08:00

From lady thotho:

Psalm 57

    For the director of music. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” Of David. A miktam.^[b] When he had fled from Saul into the cave. ¹ Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me,
   for in you I take refuge.
I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings
   until the disaster has passed.
² I cry out to God Most High,
   to God, who vindicates me.
³ He sends from heaven and saves me,
   rebuking those who hotly pursue me—^[c]
   God sends forth his love and his faithfulness.
⁴ I am in the midst of lions;
   I am forced to dwell among ravenous beasts—
men whose teeth are spears and arrows,
   whose tongues are sharp swords.
⁵ Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
   let your glory be over all the earth.
⁶ They spread a net for my feet—
   I was bowed down in distress.
They dug a pit in my path—
   but they have fallen into it themselves.
⁷ My heart, O God, is steadfast,
   my heart is steadfast;
   I will sing and make music.
⁸ Awake, my soul!
   Awake, harp and lyre!
   I will awaken the dawn.
⁹ I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;
   I will sing of you among the peoples.
¹⁰ For great is your love, reaching to the heavens;
   your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
¹¹ Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
   let your glory be over all the earth.

From WANNI:

Psalm 5:3 (New International Version, ©2010)

³ In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before you
and wait expectantly.

2010-12-17T10:54:00.000+08:00

home is always good (:
supernatural sighting! more than one star in sengkang sky last night! reminded me of the stars i see in perth :D
loving the weather too. rain is nice :D

watched Narnia yesterday afternoon and i loved it! It made so many links to life with Jesus. The temptations from ourselves and the devil which pull us away from the kingdom of God - vanity, greed, hunger for power, jealousness,selfishness, fear. The love of Jesus, appearing before some people to comfort and encourage them. God listening to prayers, the kingdom of heaven, sanctification, and how each of us are given different gifts so that we can work together as one body to serve His kingdom.

apart from that, great scenes and effects!!
k gtg bye!

2010-12-11T10:29:00.000+08:00

withdrawal symptoms of agm+convy+roadtrip = facebook.

sore throat healed in 24 hours after 5 strepsils and water water water water + prayers.

more to post, but im catching a flight tonight! byebye technologyyyyyyy

2010-11-27T01:25:00.001+08:00

hmm. red flag.

2010-11-16T22:29:00.000+08:00

holding bitterness and grudges is like holding your pee.
over time it collects, and you can't control it's release... and then you wet your pants

moral of the story, don't hold your pee.
easier said then done..........
i foresee myself being a social recluse woooweeee

2010-11-16T01:47:00.000+08:00

dear devil,
JESUS WILL BEAT YOU HANDS DOWN ANYTIME
love, me.

2010-11-15T10:37:00.001+08:00

Hold Us Together (by Matt Maher)

VERSE ONE:
It don't have a job
Don't pay your bills
Won't buy you a home
In Beverly Hills

VERSE TWO:
Won't fix your life
In five easy steps
Ain't the law of the land
Or the government

PRE CHORUS:
But it's all you need..

CHORUS:
Love, will, hold us together
Make us a shelter
to weather the storm

And I'll, be, my brothers keeper
So the whole world will know
That we're not alone

VERSE THREE:
It's waiting for you
Knockin' at your door!
Every moment of truth
When your heart hits the floor

PRE CHORUS TWO:
When you're on your knees then...

CHORUS:
Love, will, hold us together
Make us a shelter
to weather the storm

And I'll, be, my brothers keeper
So the whole world will know
That we're not alone

BRIDGE:
This is the first, day of the rest of your life
This is the first, day of the rest of your life
'Cause even in the dark you can still see the light
It's gonna be alright, s'gonna be alright

1 Corinthians 13

¹ If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. ¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ¹² For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

2010-11-05T01:46:00.000+08:00

when violent examination winds blow your way, assignment lightning strikes your path, lack of sleep, and busyness of life attempts to choke and suffocate you...

my prayer is that everywhere you turn, you'll be reminded that you're not alone.. someone out there ordered some clouds to line the skies to make it look pretty and keep us cool from the heat of day

someone out there took the time to design pretty flowers out of soft, silky and velvety materials and knowing they don't last long, taught them to multiply themselves with the help of Mr Sun and Miss Rain!

when the someone out there sees that we're far too engrossed with our lives, noses in books, a non stop itunes playlist on the go, phone calls and text messages, he told Mrs Breeze to do her thang, so that flowers come floating down or plopping themselves around you like popcorn, to catch your attention...

and added ladybugs to some of them, just for good luck!

STOP!

Spare a moment. Have a seat.

breathe in the beauty that surrounds you and be mesmerised by the love someone out there has showered upon you day after day. spare a moment to appreciate... and give thanks!

BECAUSE IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY!
FOR US TO ROLL DOWN THE HILL AND PLAY!
HIPHIPHURRAY!
COME QUICKLY MY HOLIDAY!

2010-11-03T02:12:00.000+08:00

LOVE
PATIENCE
UNDERSTANDING
CONTROL
UNCONDITIONAL LOVE

deepeekurt D:

2010-11-01T23:35:00.000+08:00

ever felt USED before? the fact that you have made yourself available to the beck and calls of others has been taken for granted. when each time you get a phone call or text from someone, you'll be expecting a favour to be requested by that person despite their efforts to coat their request with "how have you been?", "we need to catch up!", "let's have lunch!" and whatever else.. you know so clearly that their main reason is because they want something from you and you start to wonder if there's anyone out there who would really care.. if you'd still have friends if you didn't have a car to offer people lifts, or didn't say yes to people's requests.. what was your response to the situation? continue to be a doormat for others to walk over? or withdraw yourself from those people? i struggle with that thought once in a while, seeing that the word "no" doesn't seem to exist in my world.. it could be the work of the devil, it could be just me being oversensitive, or it could be because it was pointed out to me one day that i was being used and it made me extra aware of situations as such. but needless to say it hurt, especially when it came from people close to me..and might have been the cause of all bitterness and self-pity and withdrawal from people..

so i asked God what He thought about it. i am still trying to listen.. but i tried to think from God's perspective...and i think He would have had broken record for the number of times He'd been "used". Being our loving Father, He who faithfully causes babies, plants and animals to grow and the sun to shine has shown us in so many ways of His presence.

Romans 1:19-20
..since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

in response to His effort to reach out to mankind...these are some of the responses we give back

Romans 1:21-23, 25, 29-32
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles....they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator-who is forever praised....They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

HEARTBREAK!!!!!!

im currently reading a book called Turn, by Max Lucado.. and it mentioned a statement that rings so true not just in our current generation, but also WAYYYYYY BACKKK in the times of the israelites...

"a vocal portion of the populace stares at the strand of faith upon which this country hangs and asks: why is that there?"

when we are in our greatest need and desperation, we cry out in helplessness for God's mercy and saving grace, He carries us through faithfully, we are grateful and praise Him.. life gets comfortable, we get rich and content.. and we forget God's faithfulness in our lives, pushing Him out of the picture. guess what, God doesn only experience it now, He's been experiencing it even in moses' (you know.. prince of egypt) time!
and moses said this as a warning..

Deuteronomy 8:11-14
Beware that in your plenty you do not forget the Lord your God and disobey his commands, regulations, and laws. For when you have become full and prosperous and have built fine homes to live in, and when your flocks and herds have become very large and your silver and gold have multiplied along with everything else, that is the time to be careful. Do not become proud at that time and forget the Lord your God.

Man... how many generations (and we're counting in generations! not by number of people!) of being used by the people that He has created and loved, yesterday, today and forever..

even our relationship with God... is it one which sees us coming to Him in prayer each day, requesting for good results, good health, blessings for breakfast lunch dinner, safe journey while travelling, more money?
Are we treating him like a divine santa clause? are we USING GOD? we come to Him to ask for all sorts of favours, but are we sitting down to really know Him? His passion, what matters to Him, His desires etc etc? We speak to Him, but do we listen? are we being watchful for answered prayers?

Colossians 4:2

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful

my point is... God never gives up. Generations of people calling out to Him but later on forgetting Him doesn't stop Him from loving us. unconditionally.

Romans 8:38-39

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

having formed us and known us from when we were still in our mother's womb, God already knew our life plans and our every move. He probably would already have known our tendencies to fall away from Him or forget Him. But He chose to love us still. Not in order to get anything in return, but out of His perfect love for us.

Romans 5:7-9
Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!

and then I was reminded..

Luke 6:34-36

And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

if Christ has said that about how we should treat our ENEMIES, what more the friends that we love? And what is my purpose of being generous to my friends? Is is because I want to be acknowledged for what I've done and make a name for myself? or is it because of love for God and love for His people?

John 13:34-35

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Romans 13:8

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.

1 John 4:9

We love because he first loved us

1 Corinthians 13:4-7,13
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

2010-10-31T21:44:00.002+08:00

say hi to the queen of awkwardness and making life difficult for people

2010-10-30T00:40:00.000+08:00

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"

Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

remember the first sin that entered the world? it wasn't murder, it wasn't theft, it wasn't drug abuse or sexual immorality. adam and eve ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil when they were told by God not to do so. EATING IS A SIN?!?!? come on... it's no big deal.. they only ATE A FRUIT!! no harm done! let's look at the consequences of their 'sin'..

So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this,
       "Cursed are you above all the livestock
       and all the wild animals!
       You will crawl on your belly
       and you will eat dust
       all the days of your life.
And I will put enmity
       between you and the woman,
       and between your offspring and hers;
       he will crush your head,
       and you will strike his heel."
To the woman he said,
       "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing;
       with pain you will give birth to children.
       Your desire will be for your husband,
       and he will rule over you."
To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,'
       "Cursed is the ground because of you;
       through painful toil you will eat of it
       all the days of your life.
It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
       and you will eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your brow
       you will eat your food
       until you return to the ground,
       since from it you were taken;
       for dust you are
       and to dust you will return."

And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever." So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

all these because of a bite from a fruit? am i missing something here? yes.. ! im missing the main point! which is plain disobedience to God. while sin has evolved into all shapes and sizes - stealing, lying, killing, evil thoughts, lustful thoughts, betraying etc. etc., so have our perception of sin. we think that sin is causing harm to another person.. but God calls us to obey. that's His standard, that's where He draws the line. that's how He defines sin, and that's where all of us have failed so terribly. i think of my intentions to cause harm, my lies, my rudeness, lazyness, piracy to "save money" (in actual fact, it's just reluctance to spend when there's the free illegal way out), half heartedness, worrying etc. and am confident that i have definitely missed God's mark. i'm pretty sure i also ate many times when told not to..

so if the consequences of eating a fruit is so big... what more, a murder? but God's mathematics is different from ours. any act of disobedience breaks His heart the same way. like markings on a piece of paper, whether it's just one small teeny weeny mark, or a line, or many small marks, or a fully scribbled on page, it is not a pure white page. the consequences are no different for all those pieces of paper. we lose our relationship with God and eternal life with Him... because we are not pure white pages, we have missed God's perfect standard. we are SINNERS and in Romans 6:23 it says that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. we sin, we disobey, but GOD STILL GIVES GIFTS?!?! IS HE GENEROUS OR WHATT!!! look what He did after Adam and Eve sinned against him:

The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.
back to my point on God's generosity and gifts... do you know that Jesus bore the consequences of our sins?!! He=GOD=sin-free=pure white piece of paper, receiving the punishment for the lies we told, the people that we have cursed...our messy marred paper was covered by his pure white paper in the eyes of God. our sins forgiven, our relationship with God restored, eternal life..

it's a gift. but in order to get a gift, one has to receive and accept the gift..
and the choice is yours (:

2010-10-28T01:42:00.000+08:00

if i had a personality disorder, it would be borderline personality disorder, aka emotionally unstable disorder.. but after reading it...don't you just call this life? plus PMS??

2010-10-28T00:50:00.000+08:00

geri and i chose this song for our pretend wedding when we were kids.. wishing & hoping
. teeheehee. i say a little prayer for you was playing on the radio while i was driving home. ah. oldiess ((:

2010-10-24T23:25:00.000+08:00

and so after the longest time, it dawned on me that geri and sean aren't gonna be here for much longer either ):

it will be a lifechanging time of my life. hahaha. ): i don't really know how to express my feelings.. but i suppose i need to apologise for being a pain in the butt.. especially when i become lazy and dont do the dishes/cook/clean the house, make too much noise on the piano/guitar, for being bitter and emphasizing what a good job i perform as a lamp post..for being grumpy at dinnertimes.. i hope i havent made life too difficult for you two hehehe. but it has been such a great time and i regret not cherishing that much the times we have had tgt until i realise that it's almost finishing.. THANK GOD WE ARE FAMILY AND RELATED HEHEHE cousin and FCIL WOOOWEEEWOOWEEWOOO CNY!!!
God bless you (: MANY HUGSSSSSSSSSSSS!

2010-10-23T22:43:00.000+08:00

IS "NO" LIKE A TABOO WORD IN YOUR DICTIONARY THAT YOU HAVE TO HAVE TO HAVE TO SAY "YES" TO EVERYTHING!?!?!?! GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

2010-10-21T17:31:00.002+08:00

http://theresurgence.com/

We have a theology of work but no theology of leisure. We don’t know how to relax and totally disengage; feeling guilty when we do so. We live our lives without margin and fill each day with little room for Sabbath or divine interruptions.
In a recent article in the NY Times, Paul Vitello addresses an issue that is well known: pastor burnout. There is no disagreement as to the problem, but varying ideas on the solution. Paul Vitello’s main solution is taking more vacation time; and certainly all the time we have coming to us.
Time off would undoubtedly help, but there are deeper issues involved:

We have put ministry and service where Jesus belongs.

We get our identity and value in what we accomplish in our work (the number of people we serve, the number of things we are responsible for, the number of things we get done) and not from who we are in Jesus. This is a huge and significant issue that no amount of vacation is going to solve. Longevity and health in ministry will be a result of who you are in Jesus, more than what you do for Jesus. 1 John 5:21 warns us about idols. Ministry can and has become an idol for a lot of us

We see Sabbath as a day or time frame rather than a heart attitude.

We need to practice Sabbath by intentionally engaging and intentionally disengaging through the Holy Spirit’s promptings.

Resting Isn’t Selfish

In Leaders Who Last, I devote a chapter, titled "Pacing," to these issues. Here is a statement from a local newspaper in the chapter:

In the relentless busyness of modern life, we have lost the rhythm between action and rest. There is a universal refrain: I am so busy. As it all piles endlessly upon itself, the whole experience of being alive begins to melt into one enormous obligation. Sabbath time is a revolutionary challenge to the violence of overwork. Many of us, in our desperate drive to be successful and care for our many responsibilities, feel terrible guilt when we take time to rest.

4 Ways to Keep From Burning Out

What is the solution to exhausted and burned-out pastors as well as other leaders giving lots of time to ministry?

Confess making an idol of work and find your identity and worth in Jesus and him alone
Practice Sabbath on a daily basis, taking short breaks as needed. Don’t kill yourself at work day after day and then pray for a vacation to save you
Learn how to say no to some of the needs, demands, and people that come to your attention. You can be concerned without being responsible. Say no to a lot of things so you can say yes to a few things. Say yes to less!
Develop other leaders to carry the burden with you (Numbers 11:17).

Most people in ministry try to do too much and travel too fast. Believe it or not, you are dispensable. Only Jesus is indispensable.

2010-10-20T15:18:00.000+08:00

for the first time in a long time, MY DESK LOOKS PRETTY DECENT AND NEAT AND DUST FREE AND CLUTTER FREE! bet no one's as excited as me to start on my assignment now. muahahahaha.

2010-10-18T20:29:00.000+08:00

was doing my random round of phantom bloghopping again and saw someone say something on the blog and it was something that was in my prayers and ocf's too and and and AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!
what can i say?
Jesus is too wonderful that He makes me speechless and in awe.
an encouragement to you if you happen to be reading this, God IS listening to your prayers. He is faithful, unchanging, unfailing, and very much ALIVE, greater than we can imagine, yet never fails to be concerned about us little ones.
Each child is special and precious in His sight, despite our imperfections, meanness, cruelness, selfishness, our attempts to push Him out of our lives, His love overcomes all.(Romans 8:38-39 ³⁸For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.) and He welcomes us into His loving arms again, like the prodigal son returning to his loving father.. (: God does not give up!

(: (: (:

John 17

Jesus Prays for All Believers

²⁰"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, ²¹that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ²²I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: ²³I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. ²⁴"Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. ²⁵"Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. ²⁶I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them."

heeheeheeheeheeheeheee

woohooooo *JUMPS FOR JOY*

2010-10-17T15:11:00.000+08:00

Who am I?
That the Lord of all the earth,
Would care to know my name,
Would care to feel my hurt.
Who am I?
That the bright and morning star,
Would choose to light the way,
For my ever wandering heart.

Not because of who I am,
But because of what you've done.
Not because of what I've done,
But because of who you are.

I am a flower quickly fading,
Here today and gone tomorrow,
A wave tossed in the ocean,
A vapor in the wind.
Still you hear me when I'm calling,
Lord, you catch me when I'm falling,
And you've told me who I am.
I am yours.
I am yours.

Who am I?
That the eyes that see my sin
Would look on me with love
And watch me rise again.
Who am I?
That the voice that calmed the sea,
Would call out through the rain,
And calm the storm in me.

Not because of who I am,
But because of what you've done.
Not because of what I've done,
But because of who you are.

I am a flower quickly fading,
Here today and gone tomorrow,
A wave tossed in the ocean,
A vapor in the wind.
Still you hear me when I'm calling,
Lord, you catch me when I'm falling,
And you've told me who I am.
I am yours.

Not because of who I am,
But because of what you've done.
Not because of what I've done,
But because of who you are.

I am a flower quickly fading,
Here today and gone tomorrow,
A wave tossed in the ocean,
A vapor in the wind.
Still you hear me when I'm calling,
Lord, you catch me when I'm falling,
And you've told me who I am.
I am yours.
I am yours.
I am yours.

Whom shall I fear
Whom shall I fear
Cause I am yours..
I am yours..

2010-10-14T09:21:00.000+08:00

“For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

- Jeremiah 29:11

tell me tell meeeee!!

2010-10-06T01:05:00.000+08:00

i stand firm in the belief that there is no such thing as "i can't live without you".
"You" (as in God), yes. But humans, no. But it's still so painful when people leave ): JeanYi's only leaving around feb next year and im already sadded!!!! I've truly been blessed with the most amazing people in my life and spent a long time reminiscing as I looked through facebook photos.. If only my memory could afford all these space!

2010-09-29T23:00:00.000+08:00

with a closer friendship comes high expectations
with high expectations comes high chances of disappointments
with disappointment comes unforgiveness
unforgiveness brings the lack of love

geez, im one hard person to please... but God, we won't give the devil a foothold!! NEVER.. EVER!!!!!!

2010-09-09T18:12:00.000+08:00

firefighter?

2010-09-05T21:12:00.002+08:00

I have a maker

He formed my heart

Before even time began

My life was in his hand

Chorus

He knows my name

He knows my every thought

He sees each tear that falls

And hears me when I call

I have a Father

He calls me his own

He'll never leave me

No matter where I go

Chorus

He knows my name

He knows my every thought

He sees each tear that falls

And hears me when I call

2010-09-02T11:05:00.000+08:00

10 steps to manage irritation, stress and anger and everything in between or around or across or over and under

1. scream
2. pull hair
3. throw a fit
4. collapse
5. roll on the ground
6. roll on the ground somemore
7. knock head against the wall
8. scream somemore
9. pull out more hair

10. get back to business

2010-08-22T22:05:00.002+08:00

hey sissy cant wait for you to come :D

When I survey the wondrous cross
on which the Prince of Glory died;
my richest gain I count but loss,
and pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
save in the death of Christ, my God;
all the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to his blood.

See, from his head, his hands, his feet,
sorrow and love flow mingled down.
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet,
or thorns compose so rich a crown.

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
that were an offering far too small;
love so amazing, so divine,
demands my soul, my life, my all.

2010-08-17T22:29:00.001+08:00

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

2010-08-14T20:30:00.002+08:00

without the rain, there would be no rainbows

SO CHEESY.. BUT I LIKE

2010-08-12T00:50:00.003+08:00

the sound of rain has a nice calming effect... even when i already am calm and cool as a cucumber

ah.. nice. (:

2010-08-08T23:19:00.002+08:00

but God has surely listened

and heard my voice in prayer.
Praise be to God,

who has not rejected my prayer

or withheld his love from me!

psalm 66:19-20

God's been reminding me about lots of things this week. very simple things that i tend to think I understand but He reveals that there's more to it!

Lesson #1- my God is so BIG, so strong and so mighty, there's nothing my God cannot do, FOR YOU!

Lesson #2- Jesus loves me this I know, for the bible tells me so

Lesson #3- Do your best, leave it all on the field and leave the results to God

ahh.. past bedtime!

2010-08-05T19:01:00.002+08:00

"if i can't see you, you can't find me"

2010-08-02T22:42:00.003+08:00

stop. turn around.

your courage has yet to be found.

2010-07-27T23:27:00.002+08:00

things that make you laugh are good things

2010-07-16T03:19:00.003+08:00

packing and cleaning and going through old stuff is making me feel so nostalgic

im in such a reminiscing mood in an awkward hour early in the morning that i dont know what to do and how to respond but to come onto blogger.com to type this random post -.-

old friendships i miss and cherish... good ol' days.. young and silly

i think i have a long list of people i wish i could talk to right now

oh my lovely friends and familyyyyyyyyyy..

AAAAAAAAAAAAAHhhhhhhhhhh

i've been very blessed by every single one of you!

May God bless you and keep you!

2010-07-12T01:05:00.003+08:00

discipleship with glenna again! FINALLY :D

now we're sure we will be regular with our meet ups because IT'S ALL WRITTEN DOWN :D

The Spiritually Vigorous Saint
Text Size: Zoom In
Jul
11
2010
. . . that I may know Him . . . —Philippians 3:10
A saint is not to take the initiative toward self-realization, but toward knowing Jesus Christ. A spiritually vigorous saint never believes that his circumstances simply happen at random, nor does he ever think of his life as being divided into the secular and the sacred. He sees every situation in which he finds himself as the means of obtaining a greater knowledge of Jesus Christ, and he has an attitude of unrestrained abandon and total surrender about him. The Holy Spirit is determined that we will have the realization of Jesus Christ in every area of our lives, and He will bring us back to the same point over and over again until we do. Self-realization only leads to the glorification of good works, whereas a saint of God glorifies Jesus Christ through his good works. Whatever we may be doing— even eating, drinking, or washing disciples’ feet— we have to take the initiative of realizing and recognizing Jesus Christ in it. Every phase of our life has its counterpart in the life of Jesus. Our Lord realized His relationship to the Father even in the most menial task. “Jesus, knowing . . . that He had come from God and was going to God, . . . took a towel . . . and began to wash the disciples’ feet . . .” ( John 13:3-5 ).
The aim of a spiritually vigorous saint is “that I may know Him . . .” Do I know Him where I am today? If not, I am failing Him. I am not here for self-realization, but to know Jesus Christ. In Christian work our initiative and motivation are too often simply the result of realizing that there is work to be done and that we must do it. Yet that is never the attitude of a spiritually vigorous saint. His aim is to achieve the realization of Jesus Christ in every set of circumstances.

GOAL: to know the bible :D

2010-06-26T23:47:00.002+08:00

y so critical and judgemental?
y so insensitive and refusing to understand?
why do you only see the speck of dust in your friend's eye, yet ignore that plank of wood in yours?
y do you think you are any better?
aren't we all just sinners, saved by grace?

if only there was a restart button. but even if there was, i don't know if any other ways would make better decisions. or an escape button to ignore what people say and pretend nothing's wrong. it's not even my problem but i make it out to be. do i even need to worry?

bu zhi dao bu zhi dao bu zhi dao
D:

2010-06-19T01:25:00.003+08:00

was thinking of going to uwa reid library to catch some study vibe tomorrow after josh ang's farewell bbq, then i realised they are holidaying already D: oh mannn.. i want to holiday too!!!

it is coming sooooon :D this time next week i will be grinning from ear to ear packing my luggage to sydney, canberra and melby! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH finally catch up with some busy people that i love!! "if we cant do it in western australia, we ketchup in another state!" meowmeow hambaobao kristi gohbiaomei and FutureCousinInLaw! so exciting :D

past week was spent camped at the library with OCF study buddies. takes commitment to wake up early every morning to chop room i tell you.. thank God for those friends!

so weird to blog nowadays... because there's so much i can say but they don't exactly matter. hahaha.

family returns to perth tomorrow evening-hip hurray! could do with some noise and *poot*pause*hello!* moments :D

thank God for 6.30am brekkie with XL! mee goreng from HAIBRO *flexes muscle*! butter cake from hair and butter cake and pandan cake and eggtart and etc etc cake buddy! starburst and entertainment from polarbear! laughter and tea from cecilia jiejie! oh man too much.. God is so generous....

this is an opportunity to love. don't be mean and speak before you think! patience, patience, humility, love and gentleness!!!!!!!!!

2010-06-15T00:21:00.004+08:00

God our loving Father sends His love in various forms

- in my lovely family who whisper "i love you"s over the phone when I'm the one in the library

- in my lovely study buddies/schoolmates

- in my lovely friends who scribble on my wall (fb.)/send fb messages/text messages

- in providing us with a study room 6 times the size of the stuffy library room we were in a few minutes before

- in the form of boxes of free dinner from a church we dont even attend

- in the knowledge that we can speak to Him anytime, anywhere

- in knowing that we dwell in His presence and can seek Him for strength

- in having the privilege to intercede in prayer with people and for people

- in the super quiet room that i've recently discovered where i'm learning to listen to Him

Hebrews 11:6

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

2010-06-02T13:09:00.003+08:00

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/world/7332299/blinded-mountaineer-left-to-die-on-everest/

i just read the news of a mountaineer who was blinded and left to die 250m from summit of Mt Everest...

It took four hours for the fellow climbers and sherpas to help the stricken mountaineer down to Mushroom Rock at an alitutde of 8600 metres, but they never managed to clear him of the 8000-metre "death zone".
Mr Kinloch is the 30th climber to die on the mountain in the past five years. He lies now with the many bodies now scattered on the upper slopes.
It is not uncommon for climbers to perish in the "death zone" on Everest, and more than 200 of the 4000 people that have made the summit have died in the attempt.
Mr Kinloch’s father, Peter Senior, told the Daily Mail: "We can take comfort in that he achieved one of his lifetime's ambitions.“How many people can say they stood on top of the world?"

it MAY be comforting to some that Mr Kinloch did reach the summit of Mt Everest- something that many people have not done. but why is it that we value so much being the FIRST or the ONLY or ONE OF THE FEW to have done something which many others haven't? i mean... if it is going to cost you your life....why choose to die doing that.. of all things? i suppose he didn't expect to die.. obviously....

it broke my heart though, when i realised how many of us are blinded by our desires to achieve, to succeed and to earn ourselves a name, to gain glory.. and have somehow missed the main point of the purpose we were created for. Is it worth it to have much passion about something, and put all your heart and soul into perfecting that skill to gain a crown that does not last?

Have you ever wondered why we're here?

Hohum.

On a brighter note, guess who's here! ((:

the loveliest people in the world!!!!!

Thank You God for

a mummy who wakes up early in the morning to prepare breakfast for me

a daddy who stays up till late trying to fix my computer for me

a sissy who cleans the house and does some laundry

feels like a piece of singapore in perth. havent had my home so lively in a while!

Psalm 25:4-6

Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Saviour, and my hope is in you all day long. Remember, O Lord, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old.

2010-05-31T20:30:00.001+08:00

owh pain. i shall faint.

breathe...............

2010-05-24T00:11:00.002+08:00

don't know why but someone seems cold today ): maybe i think too much.

anyway, DID YOU FEEL THE MOUNTAINS TREMBLE TODAY :D
it was Global Day of Prayer on sunday and I think the angels' prayer baskets are overflowing right now! (:

God says do not worry!

2010-05-21T11:57:00.002+08:00

there's so much more i could do... Lord, open my eyes to your plans and opportune moments! Teach me to be sensitive.

2010-05-21T02:39:00.001+08:00

2010-05-20T00:47:00.002+08:00

geez man.. ONE YEAR?
it sounded fine to me in the beginning. but its the second week now and im starting to feel a bit "tak boleh tahan"

patience is a virtue jeannie, they are gifts.

yay for an exciting life
GOD HELP ME LOVE AND BE PATIENT

2010-05-12T00:04:00.004+08:00

interesting how i never fail to end up in this situation.. its like a fact.. predictable.. quite tragic. even more so now that i've decided to visit blogger.com OF ALL TIMES.....

whats ur problem jeannieloi...!!

i officially have.. 14 hours to..:

12.30am -read 5 journal articles

3.00am -fill in 5 review forms

5.00am -write 400 x 5 words worth of annotated bibliography

8.00am -write a 1 page professional looking piece of proposal to tell my "boss" that Snoezelen is a waste of money.

12.30pm -check font and font size, print assignment, print coversheet and marking rubric, manila envelope it

1.00pm -run to car, drive to school and pray for parking, park, run to ot school, scan, DROP IT IN THE BOX!!

even more exciting news, daddy arrived last night, mummy and porridge brother coming on the 28th! :D (daddy vaguely resembles a watermelon here. the colour of his shirt.. and i don't know why both my parents put their hands on my right shoulder like it's gna fall or something.. interesting..)

being a student is an occupational hazard to your mental and physical health.. I LOVE ASSIGNMENTS! YAY YAY YAY

2010-05-08T23:23:00.002+08:00

Love...

is patient,

is kind..

1 cor 13:4a

Love..

must be sincere..

Romans 12:9

16This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 19This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence 20whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.

1 John 3

loving not with words or tongue but with actions and in truth is a challenge. talk is cheap. and its getting cheaper. Dear God, teach me how You love.

2010-05-04T09:42:00.004+08:00

hello everyone, meet barnslig park, aka pandie, my panda-sausage-dog-frog looking bolster. he helps me sleep well. too well.

my utmost for His highest, 29 April 2010

Gracious Uncertainty

. . . it has not yet been revealed what we shall be . . . —1 John 3:2

Our natural inclination is to be so precise— trying always to forecast accurately what will happen next— that we look upon uncertainty as a bad thing. We think that we must reach some predetermined goal, but that is not the nature of the spiritual life. The nature of the spiritual life is that we are certain in our uncertainty. Consequently, we do not put down roots. Our common sense says, "Well, what if I were in that circumstance?" We cannot presume to see ourselves in any circumstance in which we have never been.

Certainty is the mark of the commonsense life— gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life. To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways, not knowing what tomorrow may bring. This is generally expressed with a sigh of sadness, but it should be an expression of breathless expectation. We are uncertain of the next step, but we are certain of God. As soon as we abandon ourselves to God and do the task He has placed closest to us, He begins to fill our lives with surprises. When we become simply a promoter or a defender of a particular belief, something within us dies. That is not believing God — it is only believing our belief about Him. Jesus said, ". . . unless you . . . become as little children . . ." (Matthew 18:3 ). The spiritual life is the life of a child. We are not uncertain of God, just uncertain of what He is going to do next. If our certainty is only in our beliefs, we develop a sense of self-righteousness, become overly critical, and are limited by the view that our beliefs are complete and settled. But when we have the right relationship with God, life is full of spontaneous, joyful uncertainty and expectancy. Jesus said, ". . . believe also in Me" (John 14:1 ), not, "Believe certain things about Me". Leave everything to Him and it will be gloriously and graciously uncertain how He will come in— but you can be certain that He will come. Remain faithful to Him.

God knows best! (:

stuff stuff stuff stuff stuff after stuff. when people ask me how i am, its same ol' busy but good. but it is :D now i just need to take away distraction time and maybe learn to walk faster or just do things faster in general so i can save time there too. i... need.... more....hours.............

- book flights

- organise accommodation

- reply + write emails

- assignments

- tests

- exercise

- plan dg

- ketchup

- aaahh

2010-04-23T14:07:00.003+08:00

the night before i turned twenty, the dining table was a warzone of books, my head was heavy, my laptop knew i was going crazy.

at midnight when i turned twenty, i had my mobile on my left ear listening to special delivery of indian music and chipmunks singing happy birthday, then siums and joel singing happy birthday. on my right ear, i hear my family singing and eating my awfully chocolate birthday cake all the way in singapore.

thank you for the texts and calls and hugs and fb msgs :D it's v heartwarming to receive email notifications in the wee hours of the night/morning while im chionging my assignments

God bless you all!! <3