Our purpose in life is ‘good works’ or ‘acts of kindness’. Instead of trying to figure out what our purpose and calling is we should just simply get involved in helping people and our purpose, calling and gifting will easily be discovered.
-Phil Pringle
No One Else Like You
By Planetshakers
My heart longs
For Your love
My soul thirsts
For Your touch
There is no one like You God
There is none like You
There is no one else like You
There is no one beside You
There is no one else like You
My God, my King
No one else
Nothing compares to You my God
No one could ever take Your love away
You're my King, my everything
Jesus
Hungry after a run! Actually I walked one-quarter of the route. The abdomen was painful. But I think a shower is more important now. After which, do some work and just sleep lah.
Oh wait, gotta prepare the songs for tomorrow's OPM! I almost forgot...
Last night the 4 of us had so much XLB that we swear no more XLB for us for the next six months. On the overall, everything was good. I think my cholesterol level shot up. I think too many calories for me last night. How can I achieve the ideal weight? The so-called ideal BMI. Come on, 8 kilos can't be too hard for me. Let's give it till end of semester 2. Let's break it down now...
I can do it!
A million years since the last entry. Okay, 3 months, 1/4 of a year. A lot of things can happen in 3 months. =)
With that to start with, it was the FOP, church anniversary, FOC, new free iPod touch, stepping down from the 15th, joining of new committees, mid-autumn festival, lots of birthdays, overnight Kbox, spoiled phone which has now recovered, spoiled laptop which has been repaired, cb team outing, morning prayer meetings, and the most recent north face run + MM promotion. Thank you God for the numerous wonders that You have done for me. The end is clearly better than the beginning and I pray for Your grace to continue to cover me.
Having shifted back to the hall with new furnishings, it felt great. Yes very comfortable. Surely rooms look like rooms from the inside while the bungalow chalet look still remains on the outside. Nevertheless, school started with a bang! Now into the third year and graduation seems not too near actually. I'm still hoping to graduate in four years which can be uncertain actually. God, direct my paths. I wanna know where I'm heading.
With that, let's just end it off right now. Leaving soon for XLB Buffet! Eat heartily and come back later to mug mug.
All pictures taken from FB and that explains the quality. =\
Dr A R Bernard says we shouldn't get crystallised. Thrill is gone and you're simply going through the motion. Your heart becomes hardened. You left your first love - the place of revelation. You didn't lose it. Always pursuing a fresh revelation to prevent crystallisation.
I have no more confidence in my intellectual ability, investment philosophy, talents, time management, presentation skills... I acknowledge that indeed these are wonderful things that I have been able to exercise and blessed to have, but what I mean is that I no longer think I can achieve great and lasting success purely based on these attributes. The most important thing I need is the approval of God which would bring peace from enemies, open doors that would otherwise be shut and peace/joy which the world doesn't know of. I don't mean that I do not have confidence in what I am stating or making the correct decision. What I mean is that even with the above attributes, unless I am living by God's grace, wisdom and favour, I cannot be the head and not the tail, above and not beneath on a consistent basis. Sometimes during the past 3 years, when I think about the results that have been achieved, I feel quite scared because repeating it isn't based on a fixed formula but each time, it takes a lot of faith beyond these attributes.
Adapted from Xin Hong's blog
Blue Screen of Death
Another fear of mine. This is a stop error. Whenever this happens, it doesn't give me any time to save my data. All my documents are unsaved, downloads stopped, and everything is gone. I mean somewhat like that. Since the previous reformatting, this problem didn't occur until a conversation with one of the bosses yesterday. He wanted to teach me on presentation skills using a software so I handed my USB drive to him to copy the software, mentioning the word 'bluescreen' as well for he feared that his computer has virus.
Okay. Here I am listening to my iTunes, surfing the web and closed down the presentation, tada! Bluescreen! After my 3 years of laptop warranty, I should just get a Mac next year. Educational rate anyway. Free iPod Touch, why not?
I closed my first cold case yesterday! God is good to me. According to the schedule I ought to be at CP, standing around at the atrium for roadshow. However I woke up this morning with a terribly aching body, could hardly sit still to finish my drama. After lunch, I plonked myself on the bed and began to watch the last 3 episodes of the Emergency Unit drama. Bliss. Hugging my pooh and watching my handsome boy. Sammul Chan (and Ron Ng.) =D Ring ring. My boss called. Jess and Pri and Geoff and Eric won't be there today. HUH!? There seems to be no meaning in me heading down to the mall already. It's not that I don't trust myself but my product knowledge and all aren't enough for me to turn things around if I can't keep a customer. So he spared me. As in, since I'm aching all over and no one's going down, I could stay at home. But no, I didn't tell him I wanted to finish watching the drama. Haha! It's just coincidental. Nothing is ever finalised. Even after looking at the schedule which looks just great to me, I received an e-mail several hours later to know one of them can't make it. After that started to call those who'll be on duty the following day to get them to come on both days. Aw. I never knew we'll have lack of manpower even on Saturday. It never occurred to me before. So while I'm typing the entry, Kel is bombarding my phone again. He says 'Thank You' to me several times this week and just now I told him 'You're Welcome'. So formal. Oh really? I thought it sounds alright to me. I'm polite by nature. =P
Ddddddddddd. Need to design.Eeeeeeeeeeee. So many things that I wanna eat since I lost the ceramic pieces on my teeth.
Starhub finally decided to revamp its website. I've always admired how user-friendly Singtel's site has been, and thought of how the green should do something about theirs. Just glad there's some positive changes at last. Been thinking of changing my phone ever since I changed it. Nah, just joking. I mean I hope to change to one with wi-fi, Qwerty keypad or semi-touch. A phone that is totally touch screen doesn't seem to appeal much to me because I like the feeling of keypads. They aid in my messaging since I message so much. Ripped open my bills last evening to realise my SMS has hit 2k for the month of June. That's why I love Starhub for its initiative to start having unlimited SMS for students ever since few years back. It's like the best thing ever that happened. =D
Another trend that is happening now is the younger generation turning to Apple. The online student promotion for Macbook and Ipod. A special bundle only for students. Aww how I love being a student. =) It's simply a privilege that is worthy to be happy about. YT got hers, LT is getting hers, Dot will get hers. Haha... I'm still loyal to my current laptop till it dies on me one day but please don't let the day come so quickly. Hehe. Apple gadgets can be so expensive, when something goes wrong. Meanwhile, I'll be happy with what I have.
Shall opt for an early night today, hopefully. It's been a long day out in town from lunch till dinner with ongoing entertainment. The members are playing L4D, with the speakers 'bang bang bang' away.
Oh last but not least, HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAISHING! And congratulations to me for braces off!
An awesome leaders' meeting in the evening that impacted me. The topic was on leadership. Jesus understands how a leader like Him is in authority yet under authority. He is in charge of His disciples, but at the same time, God the Father has authority over Him. Delegated authority always reflects the character of the leadership. From the way He serves His disciples by acts of service - washing of feet, that is how He wants us to act as well. To be a leader, one must be a servant.
Only with the right attitude that we should exercise our authority in. With different personalities, people will be confused on the correct form of leadership. The ministry can be misrepresented then. So, how should we work things out?
Product must come with service to back it up. The product is the Bible. Service starts with us, and it is how we carry ourselves that reflect the attributes and character of the personality of the Bible. We are to be like Christ! Often, we don't understand why leaders make certain decisions. Think about it.
"I want it to be done this...that way."
You argued, "No, why?"
Sometimes, it can be hard to explain. This is where faith comes in. It takes faith to follow leadership.
It does matter how you act in getting the job done. Results and behavior really do go together hand in hand. It is so often that group work ends up with cursing and swearing one another even though they manage to get an A ultimately. What an unpleasant experience~ Also, fulfilling a task doesn't mean fulling a purpose. Treat people with care. When we promise to help out to buy birthday presents, get one that people like. Find out what are the needs and wants of the person. We must do what we have been entrusted with the right spirit and attitude!
Leaders are accountable for both results and behaviors. Neither one is not too important. Hence, leaders are there to guide. Develop a strategy to move people into the state where they achieve the most with the right behavior and attitude. Be persistent, never stop keeping on. Never give up on one unless all have known Him.
It's been a wonderful Tuesday, getting renewed, recharged and motivated once again. First it was the day at CfE for my last compulsory class. We were taught how to approach people, how to face rejections, and also turning things from rejection to acceptance. Even if I end up in this line or not in the future, I guess the lessons learned are definitely valuable. (: Five of us had our lunch at the hawker centre which I still do not know the name of the place. I only know that they have yummy wanton mee, crayfish hor fun, char kway teow, bak chor mee and lots of vegetarian food there! It's not like I truly love vegetarian food but it happened to be 初一/十五 so the queues were longer than the usual. Being 21 is like an overgrown child but super young adult. The youngest age that one can be there. Everyone looks at you like they're so envious because I'm 21. A student who's 'fighting' for business with them who come from all walks of life. What I can say is that... Youth is capital.
After two long birthday celebrations, 5 of us went for supper at a coffee shop near NUS. No, not the same 5 girls! It feels a little unsafe for 5 girls to be out after 12 midnight even though it's Singapore. Guess the people were having a camp so they almost took over the entire place. Freshies. August. FOC is coming soon! Sidetracked. Prata and horlicks are simply delicious. I guess I haven't had prata in a long while. Even in school, I hardly step out to go for supper at night. Well, it is unhealthy and going back to hostel is a long journey without a vehicle. Great fellowship with the leaders(yes all leaders O_O) but happy that the plates are made of plastic and MW can't scratch the plates like the previous night. Haha... The squeaking sound makes my hair stand.
Check out the time and yes, it's so late already. It's time to get to bed or it'll be insanely insane tomorrow.
BY2 - 我知道
从来没想过不能再和你牵手
委屈时候没有你陪着我心痛
一切都是我太过骄纵以为你会懂
一直忘了说我有多感动
我知道你还是爱着我
虽然分开的理由我们都已接受
你知道我会有多难过
所以即使到最后还微笑着要我加油
我知道你还放不下我
才会在离开时闭着眼没有回头
我们都知道彼此心中
其实这份爱没停过
曾经完整幸福的梦在脑海里头
我多希望你还在我左右
答应你我会好好过
不让这些眼泪白流
这首并不是新歌，但也无所谓。两个年纪比我轻的女生所唱出来的心声，用了她们那甜美的歌声，听起来还真正！若我有她们那么会唱，那可是何等美好~ 可惜我天生就是没有甜美的尚子，天分也是假的。不过不要紧，因为上帝非常地公平，祂赏赐我才华，chorus board就是我能发挥我长处的一片天地. =) 播放歌词也很棒！哈哈！
正题其实是...与这首歌毫无关系=.= 我又没拍拖，哪里找来“爱”或“离开”。实际上，我一直期待有谈恋爱的一天，而且有一点过分期待的感觉。 希望 - Hope. 对了，有希望活在世上就不会无所期望。愿我早日找到我的白马王子！=P 我知道这一天即将到来。来来来，现在就开始为我祈祷吧，我会感激不尽的 ^^
不过最近脑子里还真的乱乱飘...XX发来一封简讯，内容并不在这揭晓，只是有“sweet”这个字。对啦，于是我开始想入非非，以为追求者送上门了。但想了一想，似乎不太对劲，便打消了念头。XX与本小姐八字都还没有一撇，怎能这样就有所发展呢？我还是安分点儿，慢慢地等待“他”的到来吧。=)
Attempted to count down to start of a new semester, and that is 36 days. That is the number of days that I have to work harder in GE, go out with friends whom I said I'll go out with, catch up with my BS lessons, polish up myself on the overall as a person. I really like Ps Phil's post on this scripture from Luke 7:33-35 where he interprets it in this way:
A bad attitude grasps issues to justify itself...Don't be surprised when the good you do for one person is thought of as evil by another. Once again, it's impossible to keep everyone happy and for everyone to like especially if you're going to step out and do something great for God.
Yes I know I'm gonna live out my life for Him. Go on, life is abundantly great. There's no standard to meet except that is His.
Semester 1 09/10, I'm ready for you.
A fanatic weekend zoomed past. For the past week, I hardly stepped into office. That equates to no peanut/kaya butter bread with warm barley for tea break. That Thursday I went for the SHP/TS Enhancement launch at CfE where after the launch Geoff took me to TB for lunch. Yummy traditional handmade fishballs and fishcakes, followed by tutu kweh. Finally satisfied that craving ever since few months ago. Yup. Dr Sng decided to give me an open date so that I need not go back to the hospital for the frequent outpatient checkups! PTL! It means savings for me. Saves time, saves money!
On Sunday it was the CB team outing. To be updated the next time. Love and unity in the team!
Reported to SIS on Friday morning and was treated to Mac breakfast. That is my 7th fastfood meal in the entire month of June. As sinful as can be, I gobbled up the food that's in front of me while waiting for the full dress rehearsal to start. On the first day, still feeling shy and awkward together with the crew. After two rehearsals, it's time to go home. That marks the end of day one(for me).
Saturday morning was the second day and that was also the AYG preview for the students. Last night was the actual AYG Opening Ceremony at SIS. At 6.30pm, we wondered if the stadium is going to fill up at all. Is it because of the rain, or the ticket pricing, or the tight police checks that held up the audience? The seats at the North gate were barely taken. Thank God. At 7pm, the show started with the emcee speaking, followed by the performances by primary, secondary, junior colleges and university students. Indeed, a youth event! The parade of athletes featured all the athletes where they walked down the aisle and it's their moment to showcase to the world. The new generation of athletes that is going to break records and do their best for all the games despite Influenza A virus. For every pyrotechnic, I jumped on my seat. =X
The night was awesome. It was my first time in the production crew, doing what I do once every two weekends in church, and getting paid for that. What's more, being surrounded by the coolest and warmest bunch of people. It was virtually Mac, Starbucks, mixed vegetables rice and roasted pork rice daily. Except for yesterday, the group went to seafood restaurant for lunch. I forgot to count the number of dishes served but I ate to my heart's content. (: Initially I thought we're going into food court, or the Japanese restaurant but we're going up to the top level. Thanks for the friendship forged over the three days, witnessing such a grand opening that's being broadcast live on TV!
God is so good to me. Thank God for the exposure to big events like this! It's just great!
Holidays are the best time to learn. I already mentioned. 20+1 makes a huge difference. Maturity comes with heavier responsibilities. It feels more comfortable with the CB people. Over the past few weeks with the start of the Song of Solomon BS with PK and PT, the bulk of us serve every week, either on the BS day or main service. After the service I'll end up having lunch/dinner with the remaining gang.
Recently I went through a rough patch.
It's got to do with speech.
It's got to do with speaking with higher EQ.
It's got to do with how I can be molded by God to become more eloquent.
But tribulation produces perseverance. Perseverance produces character. And character produces hope. (Romans 5:3-5) Hope does not disappoint. Faith triumphs in trouble. If I keep on persisting and learn things right, the breakthrough is definitely coming. 3 months ago I had been reminded of this matter where I thought I've improved. The younger ones don't see anything wrong, but the older ones are usually the ones who correct. They seemed to be more vulnerable to what I say. It's hard to say 'I'm sorry'. But I thank God for the leaders in my life, whom God uses to teach me.
In the class that I attended yesterday, the trainer mentioned: People doing sales tend to get more offended and are usually the ones who make a big fuss in restaurants and such. When they are doing business, they want to please their customers until the product/service is accepted by their clients. That's when people say the best things in the world, no matter how distorted the truth might be. However back in 'real' life, they wish to be pampered by others when they're not working. Sounds true.
Starting to miss school and also hoping that holidays won't end right away. It's hard to make up my mind.
I like this pic!! But don't have the pong pong and pong pong pong...
This contains everyone!
Lovely Sports Class @ Isaac's party
Lovely Chorus Board @ May's party (with three 24 May babies!!!)On last Friday, I met up with a friend. It's been almost a year since I last saw him. Actually I would say it's my first time meeting him ever since the same loud camp ended last year. Yes, there is fear contained inside me. But ultimately, I still went to meet up with him. It was just an hour meeting but it left me thinking what is going on in my life?
'Hey, you're so busy. Three SMSes in one minute.'
Yeah indeed. Three smses + three smses in the next four minutes. In fact I was feeling very bad from replying smses in the middle of a pre-lunch. What if the person's love language is 'quality time' and I just did the wrong thing by being busy. Kinda insulting for the opposite party eh. =\
'You told me in the SMS last night. Busy with meeting friends, work, church... What else do you do?'
*Thinks hard*
Why can't I think of anything else? It's as if I have no hobbies, no free time to watch movies, not even helping out at home with the household chores. Felt like hiding under the table. On the other hand, it's true. When I'm free, I just spend the time at home. Otherwise, I'll be running islandwide for the various meetings, gatherings, parties... My weekends are almost devoted to church services, hanging around CB area even if I'm not serving that weekend.
Does it matter? Does it matter if I don't have a hobby? Does it matter if I'm not catching the latest movies? Does it even matter? I just need to know who my Master is. What He has called me to do and how I should fulfill those tasks which He has set for me to do. No, it doesn't mean I need to be a full-time church worker/staff. I can still do what I want to, be it drink and be merry, go for a tattoo(but I'm not that interested), dress up and party... Life is all exciting still :)
-
Loud camp 09, coming soon! After the pre-camp yesterday, I've some super aches which left me tired and weak physically. Think I need to go exercise soon to gain some muscles and stamina, and pump up the vitamins. LAVIDA House!
Dwindling savings. Cash-strapped. Mom snapped at me when I said 'You could have given me the money instead of spending it on durians.'
'You should be giving me money.' Uh-oh. It's time to earn my own money and not ask for it. Perhaps that's the difference between twenty and twenty-one. Taking ownership of my life. Does that mean I can sign on the baptism form myself without their acknowledgment?
Oh yeah. It's time to start earning my own. Pocket money. I thought I'd be 'princess' when I'm home since I spend my school days in hall. Shattered dreams. There's not even a birthday celebration for me.(Isn't 21st supposed to be real BIG?)
Ok, you win. Cos you always like to compare others and me. I did nothing on Mother's Day. Fair and square? Perhaps I didn't try hard enough.
Sigh~
No tuition jobs cos I didn't find them. If I did, should I take on an assignment in the East/West? I only have myself to blame for performing so badly in Semester 1 that I have to repeat the courses again in the following Semester 1. Surely there will not be a four-day week for me. I can imagine my five-day week to be super packed.
No temporary job cos my plans(what plans?) will be ruined. I don't even know what I'm having in June, except for the camp and workshops. Am I just going to waste the holidays away? Those who are looking for a full-time job are already having difficulties. I can't commit one month as of today, let alone three months. Perhaps my life will look like it's more in place after today's interview. Only then will I be able to fill in the blanks.
Last Saturday, I spent it at Sandy's 21st. Next Friday it'll be Isaac's 21st. Next Saturday May is having a birthday BBQ. At the end of the month it's Karen's 21st.
OVERWHELMED.
This Saturday my hall darlings want to celebrate my 21st with me. (: Everything is so rush but I hope it works out.
On Tuesday WY, Ada and I made tiramisu at his place. Great bonding time together. Thank you for delivering the cake to me! With the vast amount of cocoa powder. So yummylicious. I want to share it with so many people but no, my brother has yet to eat it. Haha...
On Wednesday there was a LOUD camp meeting. Planning still in progress but there's so much excitement. So much anticipation. There's really a difference to be in it and not of it. Let's believe for a totally LOUD camp 2009. :D
Dale, you rock. I love your design.
We're BLUE. Oh yeah.
The days of rushing... Meeting in the far western end each day before the exhibition. Thank you group mates!
Oh, so you mean I just updated exactly one week ago. Those early mornings and late nights have kept me a little less alert, dreamy. Now that I recall how I walk on the road in an erratic manner, I could only thank God that I manage to get home safely every night. Got home from Sandy's celebration and I stared at the road junction. The green fence is still on the ground, broken into parts. While JY drove us home last night, we witnessed the post-accident scene of a car accident, where the ambulance arrived not long after. Treasure life, seriously. Health is important too!
It's been such a fantastic week that I don't know where to start from. On odd days I woke up at 5.45am to prepare to travel on SH's car to JW for SOT! On even days I woke up at 6 plus to prepare to travel on MRT to BL to do and present the EID project. Hey finally this project came to an end. I took some pics of the process where the group was working hard at it. (Pics to be included when uploaded). Just want to thank Eric, WH and Jo for all the time spent together doing the project. We've done it! Although not top 3 nor top 10 but it's the process. I'm just proud of how creative the team is, to come out with a prototype that is totally handmade (from the tanks to the tanker to the trees and of course to the ambiguous control tower). Well at least to recognize the efforts of A, the one who did less than he ought to, but thank you as well. Through this project I made friends like them. There's so much learning involved and it would all be so different if I had gotten an all local student team. Alright, the sacrifice was worth it. The travelling each day made me appreciate my hall more than ever.
Oh yes yes, SOT!!!!!!!! Ya SOT rocks. They were on the GOHS series so I had a full day of BS on Monday (never tried that before), and on Wednesday and Friday the students had practical sessions. It is like practical after theory so they had a chance to actually prophesy over the lives of others, and to pray for people's healing. YJ shared with me that his bro prophesied correctly over his life, while he also prophesied rather accurately on another member in his team. Yeah not to forget he received healing for his eyes so it was just wonderful. (: Glory to God. SH got prayed for and that morning her voice just changed to become so sexy. Yeah she was having a sore throat I meant. But as the day ended her voice became okay. OKAY!! Tremendous experience and exposure. I'm glad I caught something out of the few days. If not for Dot I wouldn't be there (because she wanted to go). If not for SH who e-mailed Ps. Bobby I wouldn't be there (so that I would not be considered an illegal student). If not for KH's final approval I wouldn't be there (thanks a lot!). If not for God I wouldn't be there to catch the vision that He has imprinted in my heart. Divine planning.
Ending it off with this song where I love the chorus - "I just want You Jesus. I just want You my Lord." It is He who gives authority from heaven so that we receive it on earth. Rise up! Working towards the goal of being 2IC... <3
