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?

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!!!!

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

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

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??

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 ..