Friday, September 29, 2006

= )

yesterday Jon said...

you are the best sister, ever.


hahaha.....
aren't i?

*grins*


Big headed me....

Thursday, September 28, 2006

No exchange or refund.

The tongue is practically weightless, yet so few can hold it

"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building other up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." (Ephesians 4:29)

Remember, no refunds, returns or exchanges with our words. Once they're out the mouth, they've done the damage or they've encouraged and built someone up better.

Which would you prefer to do today?

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Praise You in the storm

Thanks Derek, this really blessed me.

****
Job is a pretty crazy book... Here's a righteous guy who gets his house taken away, his children die, his wife despises him and worst of all, he can't pinpoint where he's gone wrong... His so-called friends come to "comfort" him, but do little other than condemn and judge in an attempt to get him to confess...

Confess what?? Job asks that over and over again - urging God to show him his faults or come down and judge him himself... for me, that's the worst part of his suffering - not knowing his fault but feeling the Lord's "wrath"; even death seemed better... the Lord's answer was His sovereignty...

i dun fully understand that answer - and in someways, i can relate with Job... i'm not close to being as righteous as him, but sometimes i see all the bad things in my life and i wonder what i've done to "deserve them"... i bring to God my quiet times, my prayers, my brokeness and wonder why he keeps silent...

"i've given up all of me God, where are you? my heart is torn, my pride is gone, why are you silent? i've repented of everything i could repent of - did i mess up somewhere else?"

God's answer is His sovereignty...

"Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you know so much. Do you know how its dimensions were determined and who did the surveying? What supports its foundations, and who laid its cornerstone as the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy." Job 38:3-7


how small am i... how little i know... how little my righteousness counts for... but how much have i been loved... how much have i been taken care of... i dun understand, but He knows and He works all things out for good...

****

I was sure by now
That You would have reached down
And wiped our tears away
Stepped in and saved the day
But once again, I say “Amen”, and it’s still raining

As the thunder rolls
I barely hear Your whisper through the rain
“I’m with you”
And as You mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away

I’ll praise You in this storm
And I will life my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am
Every tear I’ve cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I remember when
I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry
You raised me up again
My strength is almost gone
How can I carry on
If I can’t find You

As the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
“I’m with you”
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away

I lift my eyes unto the hills
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord
The Maker of Heaven and Earth

grrreat

haha, was using Max's car (big big sporty Rav4- AUTO car) from last friday to transport props for SFAS over the weekend and we exchanged cars today.
I can imagine the funny sight, i think both our cars suit the original owners- Max is tall and lanky... and i'm... well short. so the swift is good for parking and all.

So i got into my car for the first time after 5 days and..... grreat. i stalled it.

HAHA.
so now my hand, leg and eye coordination has to do some adjustment. =(

Monday, September 25, 2006

I wanna goooo....

I think Yingzi is going.... Why do they have all these fun things when i'm not in Singapore!!! Argh. But Railay Beach in Krabi is the most beautiful! Was there last year.... =) *sobS* i wanna go back there!!

He cares.

Because you are God's child, if it's important to you, it's important to God.

Why did Jesus change the water into wine? To impress the crowd? No.They didn't even know he did it. To get the wedding master's attention? No. He thought the groom was being generous. Why did Jesus do it? What motivated his miracle?

His friends were embarrassed. What bothered them bothered him. If it hurts the child, it hurts the father.

So go ahead. Tell God what hurts. Talk to him. He won't turn you away. He won't think it's silly. "For our high priest is able to understand our weaknesses. When he lived on earth, he was tempted in every way that we are. but he did not sin. Let us, then, feel very sure that we can come before God's throne where there is grace (Heb. 4:15-16).

Does God care about the little things in our lives? You better believe it.

If it matters to you, it matters to him.

SFAS 2006

The cast of "Family Matters"- Sorry Yanjing! they couldn't find you!



For more pictures- Please Go to my Flickr Account on the side bar. =)

Friday, September 22, 2006

Attempt

My ankle is not happy at all.
It's been acting up since i rolled it yesterday at touch.
Altho it wasn't like a dramatic twist, i felt the strain on impact.
Still could run around, but when i drove the car (manual :~p) ankle kinda yelled at me.

So i'm not going to run today, i'll just do a low, moderate climb at the gym.
Mari's bringing her CELT kids there today for an outing, and she asked if i wanna tag.

Maybe just for a while.

C'mon ankle.

I Will Move the Rock

A man was sleeping at night in his cabin when suddenly his room filled with light and the Savior appeared. The Lord told the man he had work for him to do, and showed him a large rock in front of his cabin. The Lord explained that the man was to push against the rock with all his might.

This the man did, day after day. For many years he toiled from sun up to sun down, his shoulders set squarely against the cold, massive surface of the unmoving rock, pushing with all his might. Each night the man returned to his cabin sore and worn out, feeling that his whole day had been spent in vain.

Seeing that the man was showing signs of discouragement, Satan decided to enter the picture by placing thoughts into the man's mind such as: "You have been pushing against that rock for a long time, and it hasn't budged. Why kill yourself over this? You are never going to move it."

Thus giving the man the impression that the task was impossible and that he was a failure, these thoughts discouraged and disheartened the man even more. "Why kill myself over this?" he thought. "I'll just put in my time, giving just the minimum effort and that will be good enough."

And that he planned to do until one day he decided to make it a matter of prayer and take his troubled thoughts to the God. "Lord," he said, "I have labored long and hard in your service, putting all my strength to do that which you have asked. Yet, after all this time, I have not even budged that rock by half a millimeter. What is wrong? Why am I failing?"

To this the Lord responded compassionately, "My friend, when I asked you to serve me and you accepted, I told you that your task was to push against the rock with all your strength, which you have done. Never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it. Your task was to push. And now you come to me, with your strength spent, thinking that you have failed. But, is that really so? Look at yourself. Your arms are strong and muscled, your back sinewed and brown, your hands are callused from constant pressure, and your legs have become massive and hard. Through opposition you have grown much and your abilities now surpass that which you used to have. Yet you haven't moved the rock. But your calling was to be obedient and to push and to exercise your faith and trust in My wisdom. This you have done.

"I, my friend, will move the rock," says the Lord.

At times when we hear a word from God, we tend to use our own intellect to decipher what He wants, when actually what God wants is just simple obedience and faith in Him...

"By all means, exercise the faith that moves mountains; but it is still God who moves the mountain."

Shared by Joe Gatuslao
Bacolod City, Philippines

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Did you know?

I thought Yingzi's "Did you know" column was so intriguing.

1. I don't own a comb
2. thus, I don't comb my hair
3. I've never had long nails, thus i've never had nice nails. (cos of netball and rockclimbing)
4. I've bungee jumped and sky-dived(tandem)
5. I hate onions
6. I love sashimi
7. i didn't own a proper wallet til i graduated from Junior College (because i simply put my money and bus card straight into my pocket)
8. I've sang and played the guitar in front of an Indonesian crowd before (in indonesia)
9. I can shower in 6 mins
10. i started wearing glasses in primary school
11. when i sleep at night, 80% i'm flat on my stomach.
12. sometimes in a conversation, i reply you 10 secs later.. not because i'm slow. But because i multi task in my head.
13. People (lots) say i'm anti-social. (haha)
14. I like to act blur alot.
15. I love theatre- the concept, the entertainment, the idea. But i think i can't act.
16. I am almost an illiterate soul when it comes to written chinese. i can speak!
17. I cheoreographed a dance once, in Sec 3 with a few frens for a teachers' day performance.
18. when i drop food, i pick it up... blow it and eat it. (depends on where it's dropped tho)
19. i have 29 books checked out on my library card. But i've only read 5.
20. i can be quite annoying when i'm bored and restless. (ask anyone who's been to meetings with me)

Productive? not....

Click on it, for a larger view. =p Can't seem to get things right.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

ouch!

Double papercut on thumb.

yeeeowch.

Diseases of the Thesis

1. Fraud Paranoia
When you start referencing EVERYTHING. including your own work.

2. Reading Depression (happens when a casual visit to the library becomes an obsessive snatch and grab session. And i have discovered by now, acquiring 17 books isn't an incentive to read them- any of them. It all starts getting worse when you walk into class and someone says: Have you read this? or [insert Author name]? )

3. Pre-emptive strike syndrome
When someone asks you how your thesis is going... or whether they can read it, you usually answer
"It isn't ready yet."

or when the dreaded day comes once in 2 weeks when the supervisor asks to see your chapters.
You reply something like this progressively...
"This is a draft"
"This is a rough draft"
"A very rough draft"
"A very very rough draft"
"This is crap"
"I didn't write that"
"I found it somewhere online, can you believe that?"
"I thought you might find this interesting."
"Actually, you won't. I don't think... i'm not sure why i'm showing you this."

Welcome to the Club.

Sunday, September 17, 2006

Chomps.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAVIS! haha. =) thats our strawberry pizza!

Had a grrreat time at little Creatures... uploaded more pictures on the Flickr bar. For now, no more holidays... back to work work work! Search for a Star in 6 days... and counting!

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Test

Personality Test

Personality type results

EI: 5 out of 17
Extrovert |----------|29%|---------------------------------------| Introvert

SN: 12 out of 17
Sensation |------------------------------------|70%|-------------| iNtuition

TF: 9 out of 17
Thinking |------------------------|52%|-------------------------| Feeling

JP: 9 out of 17
Judging |------------------------|52%|-------------------------| Perceiving


Your Personality type is ENFP.

Friends

In a Charlie Brown cartoon, Charlie is eating a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich, and as he eats he notices his hands and becomes enamored with them. He holds them up and starts looking up at them, then muses: "I like my hands. They are fascinating. They really are. I have nice hands. They have a lot of character. Do you realize that these two little hands may someday accomplish greater things? These hands may someday do marvelous works...miracles. They may build mighty bridges, or heal the sick, or hit home runs, or write soul-stirring novels..." Lucy finally interrupts this grandiose musing and puts it in perspective. "Charlie, your hands have jelly on them."

We need friends like that too -- friends who don't worship at our altar. We're only human, not gods.

If you only have friends who think you're wonderful, they aren't friends. They're admirers. And admirers won't hang around long once they see the not-so-wonderful sides of your humanity. Lucy may sometimes seem to Charlie Brown as the bane of his existence, but she'll always shoot straight with him, and he --as well as you and I -- need that.

Are your friends true friends or just admirers? Do they tell you what you need to hear or just what you want to hear? What kind of a friend are you? Are you willing to risk a friendship by telling the truth with gentleness rather than by hiding it out of selfishness?

A friend accepts us as we are
Yet helps us to be what we can be;
A friend affirms us when we're weak--
A friend gives strength to set us free.


Shared by Joe Gatuslao
Bacolod City, Philippines

***
Thank you, my friends... who see my weaknesses (many) and still believe.
Thank you for sharpening me.
Thank you for honesty.
Thank you for that shoulder to lean on.

You know who you are.
Thank You.

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Pictures speak!

Our day out at Araluen.... = )




More Pictures on the Flickr sidebar!

Monday, September 11, 2006

the bug

I've officially been bitten by the holiday bug!
Been sitting at my computer for 2 hours and i've got ..... NO work done at all.

instead, i've been surfing the net... playing yahoo games like some shark typing game, bejewelled, literati and reading PHDcomics' archives.


!!!!

this can't be.....

Friday, September 08, 2006

Train of thought.

Broken
Awoken
Light
I Fight
Glory
For you Only
Transforming
Restoring
Showing
You are all-Knowing
Healer
Comforter

Jesus, my friend.

rarrrr!!

i can feel that nagging itchy throat coming back!!
NOOOOOO...

Quote

I love this quote. Stumbled upon it in my old neighbour's blog.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God; your playing small doesn't serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

NELSON MANDELA

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Happy birthday Big boy!


Hello Bro,

i still remember when you were cute and small and cuddly.
Kor and i would play with your chubby cheeks til no end!
Now you're all grown up and 16 already...
Makes me nostalgic just thinking about when you were a little and wide-eyed punk.
Happy 16th Birthday!
May the Lord bless you in everything that you do, big or small.
Set your eyes on Him, and keep your head up =)
He is the lifter of our heads.

You will grow and grow strong.
We will keep believing that for you.
Meanwhile, enjoy your lil' ice cream cake i'm getting you = )
*hugs and kisses*

Love, Sis

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

World Cup Saga

Metarazzi admits: "I insulted Zidane's sister."

Remembering

His goodness and mercy...

Monday, September 04, 2006

Tacos

Ja made Tacos for dinner... Yummilicious Tacos. She apparently decided to go mexican tonight.

Thanks Ja for the dinner! =)
So nice to come back from school to a warm meal. *grins*

on another note: Steve Irwin passed away today! =( no more crikey.
well, ironically he was stung in the chest by one of those things i always eat at "Chomp Chomp"- a stingray!

Bye Irwin, your animal documentaries will be greatly missed.

Joy of salvation

I was asking myself when was the last time i thought about the salvation i have in Christ?
And about the privilege to be in His kingdom and in His blessings and to have His presence.
Not til very recently, when i led a friend to Christ- it reminded me that the gift of salvation is the most joyous and precious thing, ever- ever to be given to me and it should never be taken for granted.

I'm amazed that God would "own" us twice. He created us, and He bought us with Jesus' blood.

Reminds me of the "because" factor that Darlene Zschech talked about at Hillsongs. That God has given us His spirit because we are to proclaim Him and His goodness.

"Because the Lord has anointed me to preach the good tidings to the poor;
He has sent me to heal the broken hearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
And the day of vengeace of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified."
- Isaiah 61:1-3

We are blessed to bless others.
We are healed to bring His healing others.
We are comforted to bring comfort to others.
We are made righteous in Him to bring His justice for others.
Amazing how it doesn't just stop with me
It isn't about me.
It's all about You.