Tuesday, July 31, 2007: rain rain go away.
thank You Father for the beautiful sun that shone down today. (: its been so rainy the past few days that it had gotten dreary..
was somehow reminded of this verse,
"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. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity."
Jeremiah 29:11-14
a shout of praise.
11:44 PM
Monday, July 30, 2007: wait.
waiting is too difficult a concept for me to grasp.
i grew up in a family where everything was done chop chop. eat fast, change fast, think fast, act fast, everything fast.
i grew up in an environment where everything needed to be done fast or you'll miss out.
kiasu lah, they say.
so when it comes to waiting on the Lord, i just dont know how to. things go too slowly, and i get impatient and end up doing thing of my own, which obviously goes terribly out of order. i dont listen, i just rush through things, heck i rush through life.
kind of like Adam Sandler in Click.
mm.
food for thought.
a shout of praise.
11:12 PM
Saturday, July 28, 2007: help me to love like You do.
To Be Like Jesus
To be like Jesus
To be like Jesus
All i ask is to be like Him
All through life's journey
From earth to glory
All i ask
"A new commandment, i give to you, that you love one another, as i have loved you, that you also love one another."
its so difficult to put what i'm feeling now into words because i end up just typing around a bush. so forgive me if i seem random putting up songs/verses. (:
Labels: friendships and agape love.
a shout of praise.
9:40 PM
Thursday, July 26, 2007: God, my rock.
Isaiah 53:12-13, 15-16
“12 I, even I, am He who comforts you.
Who are you that you should be afraid
Of a man who will die,
And of the son of a man who will be made like grass?
13 And you forget the LORD your Maker,
Who stretched out the heavens
And laid the foundations of the earth;
You have feared continually every day
Because of the fury of the oppressor,
When he has prepared to destroy.
And where is the fury of the oppressor?
15 But I am the LORD your God,
Who divided the sea whose waves roared—
The LORD of hosts is His name.
16 And I have put My words in your mouth;
I have covered you with the shadow of My hand,
That I may plant the heavens,
Lay the foundations of the earth,
And say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’”
**
i wonder why i fear the wrong thing sometimes when i have God watching over me and protecting me. hmm.
a shout of praise.
10:45 AM
Monday, July 23, 2007: psalm 71
Psalm 71
1 In You, O LORD, I put my trust;
Let me never be put to shame.
2 Deliver me in Your righteousness, and cause me to escape;
Incline Your ear to me, and save me.
3 Be my strong refuge,
To which I may resort continually;
You have given the commandment to save me,
For You are my rock and my fortress.
4 Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked,
Out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.
5 For You are my hope, O Lord GOD;
You are my trust from my youth.
6 By You I have been upheld from birth;
You are He who took me out of my mother’s womb.
My praise shall be continually of You.
7 I have become as a wonder to many,
But You are my strong refuge.
8 Let my mouth be filled with Your praise
And with Your glory all the day.
9 Do not cast me off in the time of old age;
Do not forsake me when my strength fails.
10 For my enemies speak against me;
And those who lie in wait for my life take counsel together,
11 Saying, “God has forsaken him;
Pursue and take him, for there is none to deliver him.”
12 O God, do not be far from me;
O my God, make haste to help me!
13 Let them be confounded and consumed
Who are adversaries of my life;
Let them be covered with reproach and dishonor
Who seek my hurt.
14 But I will hope continually,
And will praise You yet more and more.
15 My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness
And Your salvation all the day,
For I do not know their limits.
16 I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD;
I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only.
17 O God, You have taught me from my youth;
And to this day I declare Your wondrous works.
18 Now also when I am old and grayheaded,
O God, do not forsake me,
Until I declare Your strength to this generation,
Your power to everyone who is to come.
19 Also Your righteousness, O God, is very high,
You who have done great things;
O God, who is like You?
20 You, who have shown me great and severe troubles,
Shall revive me again,
And bring me up again from the depths of the earth.
21 You shall increase my greatness,
And comfort me on every side.
22 Also with the lute I will praise You—
And Your faithfulness, O my God!
To You I will sing with the harp,
O Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing to You,
And my soul, which You have redeemed.
24 My tongue also shall talk of Your righteousness all the day long;
For they are confounded,
For they are brought to shame
Who seek my hurt.
a shout of praise.
10:54 PM
Friday, July 20, 2007: its good to be back.
ahh, the fresh, cool air that you breathe when you step out of the Perth International Airport is something that i miss so much, at least compared to the heavy, stale air that Singapore has. its so nice to be back here, i've missed perth so much.
silly me left my brand new 2 week old ipod with a heck load of scrubs episodes in the Qantas aeroplane and i'm really really feeling very crummy cos i cant be more stupid that this. and i paid for it with my own money! $385 bucks can buy me a new wardrobe ): darn.
but other than that, its really lovely to see so many wonderful familar faces! (: so far: debs, glenna, esther, youyan, tim, steph.. (well of course raymond and jeannie but they're not counted since they've been back with me in singapore), and i'm gonna get to see everyone tonight cos its jason's farewell! so exciting, yet so sad. ): i cant believe he's leaving already. time passes so quick!
its so difficult to admit that i've become less singaporean everytime i return back there because i havent spent enough time with everyone from back home. everytime i come back to perth i feel like this seems more like home because i've just got everything here, friends, school, beautiful air, a great room, church, ocf; and its hard to have a balance between both since i only have time for one group of friends. its so hard to choose, since i had to make perth my home to be able to enjoy what God had in store for me. yet it always makes me wonder, everytime i leave singapore, there's always a 'what if'? what if i had stay on in singapore? what would my life be like then?
but anyways, i have to stop thinking about it.
a shout of praise.
7:23 PM
Wednesday, July 18, 2007: my God is mighty (:
Jesus Loves Me
Jesus loves me this i know
For the bible tells me so
Little ones to Him belong
They are weak but He is strong
Yes, Jesus loves me
Yes, Jesus loves me
Yes, Jesus loves me
The bible tells me so
~
children's min starts this sunday! the subtle email reminder from christa made me think about the stuff that i have to prepare for this sunday. i mean, i have already prepared for class, but then somehow i dont feel ready ): so scary, yet exciting! its so weird how now i'm so oriented to looking out for kids min stuff. i've been listening to children's christian songs, looking out for object lessons etc. mmm (:
pray for me as i am challenged each week to bring an interesting and fun way to deliver the message to the kids; pray for God's patience and love to exude me each week to each child; pray for these kids that they will be able to come to church each week with an expectant heart, and most of all pray that being the vessel that God is using, that i would be able to fill their hearts with the word of God.
i am weak, but God is strong.
a shout of praise.
11:27 PM
introducing bren:
he has become my new msn buddy, a fellow insomniac.
he annoys me with his emoticons, which are all gross by the way. talk about sticking stuff into sheeps butts and up goats noses. eww.
he believes that i purposely sign off msn so that i can secretly win at msn games (hurhurhur ;) )
he is jealous cos i get to watch five whole seasons of scrubs and he doesnt :DDDD
he cant wait to get back to currie and i cant wait to get back to perth.
ahh. brendon brendon,
i will avoid currie at all costs so that i wont get kicked by you.
but thank you for spending hours on msn with me so that my boredom is reduced by half.
i'm coming back to perth, i'm coming back to perth. :D:D:D:D
a shout of praise.
2:02 AM
Tuesday, July 17, 2007: snapshots.
a shout of praise.
11:42 PM
watched Harry Potter today with raymond, joy, mark, joseph pang and josh sim. (: was a fun fun time although the theatre at lido was kinda dodgy :S
was thinking about the Harry Potter movie on the way back home and how typical it was: good versus evil, good triumphs over evil. but yet i loved the lesson that was brought up by the movie. you know the part where Voldemort manipulated Harry Potter to think in such a way that he shouldnt implicate his friends in his problems so that he'd be alone and it would be so much easier to destroy Harry.
drawing a parallel from this, we see how God had designed us to be in relationship with one another. how He has provided friends as support for us in the mundane everyday life so that we would be able to fight against the one thing that wants to destroy us. interesting eh?
but i think the most important lesson i relearnt today was the fact that even though the Harry Potter movie i saw today was just mediocre and common, it all plays a part in building the Harry Potter story up into the final saga - into what Harry Potter will become in the last book that is coming out this weekend.
i was reminded of how just like the movie i am subjected to mediocrity and commoness. a train of thought this morning as i walked along the street: i was amazed at how far God has brought me to, and i saw a glimmer of what God had in store for my future. loveMGS, sunday school ministry, mission trips. i was reminded of how the opportunities that God has given me now has/can/will build me up to fufil those roles in the future. it occured to me that even though i am not someone great God still can use me to play a part in that magnificent finale.
anyway, it was an interesting day out today. bubble tea, far east chicken rice, harry potter, and starbucks mocha. nice way to complete the holiday. cheesecake at siglap tonight with raymond and joy! exciting.
a shout of praise.
7:49 PM
this song popped up to me today while reading christine's blog, and i was like hey! i sang this at church on sunday and i really liked it then. but then the tune just was catchy. but now actually reading the words brought some kind of comfort to me. psalm 33 just came up to me. kinda complements the song.. (:
You Are God Alone - Philips, Craig and Dean
You are not a god
Created by human hands
You are not a god
Dependent on any mortal man
You are not a god
In need of anything we can give
By Your plan, thats just the way it is
You are God alone
From before time began
You were on Your throne
Your are God alone
And right now
In the good times and bad
You are on Your throne
You are God alone
Youre the only God
Whose power none can contend
Youre the only God
Whose name and praise will never end
Youre the only God
Whos worthy of everything we can give
You are God
And thats just the way it is
Unchangeable
Unshakable
Unstoppable
Thats what You are
Psalm 33
1 Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous;
it is fitting for the upright to praise him.
2 Praise the LORD with the harp;
make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.
3 Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully, and shout for joy.
4 For the word of the LORD is right and true;
he is faithful in all he does.
5 The LORD loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of his unfailing love.
6 By the word of the LORD were the heavens made,
their starry host by the breath of his mouth.
7 He gathers the waters of the sea into jars;
he puts the deep into storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear the LORD;
let all the people of the world revere him.
9 For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.
10 The LORD foils the plans of the nations;
he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.
11 But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever,
the purposes of his heart through all generations.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he chose for his inheritance.
13 From heaven the LORD looks down
and sees all mankind;
14 from his dwelling place he watches
all who live on earth-
15 he who forms the hearts of all,
who considers everything they do.
16 No king is saved by the size of his army;
no warrior escapes by his great strength.
17 A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
despite all its great strength it cannot save.
18 But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him,
on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
19 to deliver them from death
and keep them alive in famine.
20 We wait in hope for the LORD;
he is our help and our shield.
21 In him our hearts rejoice,
for we trust in his holy name.
22 May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD,
even as we put our hope in you.
a shout of praise.
1:48 AM
Monday, July 16, 2007: almost over...
and so the two weeks of holidays are almost up; strangely i dont feel any longing to stay here. its also strange how many good days there were just in these two weeks, yet today just made the whole holiday feel miserable. today, i went visiting, just to say bye to some friends, yet they felt so foreign and distant. i guess that's what studying overseas does to you.
was just reminded of something as i walked to the bus stop: in everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven. Ecc 3:1
it was hard reminding myself that where i am now is where God wants me to be. to step out of what was my comfort zone, something that i was part of, and to sacrifice what i could have done to the plans that God laid ahead for me. yet i look at the things that God has put in my life, and i realise how much so God had, and still is, cared/caring for me. He put so many friends and things in my life so that i wouldnt be alone.
but just today, it was tough, it was so so tough trusting in God.
moodswings aside, i'll be getting back to perth in 3 days! so many things to look forward to, glenna's party, teaching at crossroads, and then finally 2nd sem starts next mon. okay so maybe i'm not looking forward to school. but i guess i'm missing company (: i cant wait to embrace another sem down under because i dont think there's anywhere else i'd really want to be now.
a shout of praise.
6:27 PM
Sunday, July 8, 2007: updates
wow, i just realised i really havent blogged in a while, there's so many things that have happened since the last post! just a quick update..
exams came and went, they were tough alright. FA was the killer and i think i might even flunk that paper (its possible), but i think i'll pass overall, since i've been doing okay for everything else. well, results are coming out tmr, i cant wait to get over and done with knowing how i fared for this first sem. scary.
my mom came over to perth for a while during the last week of exams. went shopping and stuff. most of the time after exams was spend on winter camp preps. oh, and andy's birthday party. (: was cool. hehe, great time catching up with the smags people, since i hadnt seen them in ages..
then came winter camp, which was rather hectic at first, getting everything sorted and ready. but all those months of planning was really worth it, i really enjoyed my first winter camp! (: the company was great, the messages were stirring, food was yummy, alot of bridge going on.. haha, it was fun (: next year's going to be equally awesome. i hope (:
did a heck load of sleeping and laundry after i got back from camp. we went through alot of dvds too! good time spent with debs and esther (: i did alot of spring cleaning in my room as well, cleared the post it notes from the wall, made my table, folded my clothes, stacked my books, yeah. alot of rubbish cleared. (:
then i came back to singapore, and here i am now. almost a week's worth of holidays gone, mostly spent with raymond and joy. we do the silliest things! like yesterday, it was practically a round trip around singapore, ikea@ tampines, raymond's house @ upper thomson, holland v @ holland v. hahahaha (: its fun la.
going back soon, next next thurs, there's glenna's birthday party to attend. then i have to go to coop to sell my text books. mm, alot of things to get back to, i really dont want school to start! yikes.
:S
a shout of praise.
2:29 PM
thank You Father for the beautiful sun that shone down today. (: its been so rainy the past few days that it had gotten dreary..
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