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..

I miss Cambodia!

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 (:

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!

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 ..

“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?

next> 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!

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!!!

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

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