ok. I shall keep this post short..
My nephew, Gabriel, has been admitted to hospital because of low blood platelets. The highest or normal blood platelets count can go up to 150 but after blood test ydae, he only had 7 in count.
I am kinda distressed by all these health issues that are going on in my family. Frankly speaking, I am really not sure how much more can I take. I need to trust God of cos, this has always been in my mind.
But I think now, I can literally feel the kind of stress and disturbance that Job had... I am definitely not in a worse situation than he was in. Well, I think I can only identify with his feelings.
Please pray that Gabriel will be fine. He is only 5 years old and he is a super hyper boy. Can't afford any knocks and bleeding... there are a lot of bruises and tiny red spots on his body now. And there is blood in his urine.. please keep praying that his blood platelets count will increase. Today, a blood specialist will be seeing his case. Hope that everything will be fine. Most imptly, I pray that my family will know God soon. Just can't bear this burden on my shoulders anymore. Can only claim Matt 11:28-30.
Labels: family, prayers
I was looking through the 'certs' (or you can say 'qualified papers') this morning... many images floated back to my mind. I just cannot imagine that I have actually managed to complete my diploma 4 years back. Why am I so amazed?
I always think that I can survive with an "O-level" cert... find work straight away after "Os" and just work hard and I will be able to provide for my family. But after going through the poly education, then I realised that a diploma cert might not be good enough for the survival momentum in a small dot that I am living in. A small but powerful dot.
Many people are asking me, "Why not go and pursue your degree?"... But obviously, I have loads of doubts about my capability to sustain throughout the course. I am one that have to study full-time if I should study, and not study part-time and work full-time altogether. I just cannot handle both at the same time.
To me, degree can surely earn more bucks but it also meant more pressure and demands. I am happy the way I am now. I will still try to work hard.. but well, just like what some friends ask recently, "Do you prefer a career or a job?"... hmm I told them "Career"... and they kept mum. But now, if they were to ask me again, hmm.. perhaps a job will be good enough.
But if God wanna give me a career through my job, why not??
Labels: w.o.r.k.
hey peeps
I've uploaded some pics at my previous
blog. Can't really blog at blogspot at home. So I shall let you visit my 'old' blog bah... enjoy!!
trish
Labels: b.l.o.g., travelling
My long awaited Friday is here.. Didn't have enough rest since back from Bangkok on Sunday till now. Finally tmr I am able to sleep a little bit later than usual.. perhaps can wake up at 9am? haha...
These days have been really passing by fast... perhaps the amount of work load has kept me really occupied and I have no time to even write in this blog of mine.. can only write short blogs..
I think I am just deprived of reflections... I want to reflect and I need to reflect.... argh!
ok... i shall make time for reflection... together with Papa... before I suffocate, vomit or whatever syndrome comes... it is not too good.. time with Papa is always the best...!!
Labels: ~r.e.f.l.e.x.i.o.n.~
Instead of writing about my BKK trip, I am inspired to come here and write about today's WAM Vision night. I had brand new revelations today after what Ps Lawrence taught and challenged about WAM ministry. It was simply a brand new learning point for me. Ps Law taught about our church's values for worship. And it just dawned upon me suddenly that I should be more concerned about if God was pleased with my worship to Him than to care about whether I enjoyed the worship that I was in.
Amazing.
Is there any difference before and after worshipping God? Is there a change in ypur spirit and attitude? Is God still working in your heart after worship? Yes... these are things that I should really ponder and be concerned about! Why be so concerned about the technical aspects - how many times should we sing the chorus, how should we sing spontaneously and how should we go about heightening the worship atmosphere? Isn't these stuff supposed to be a spirit-led thingy? Why must it be limited to practices or experience? Can't there be any form spontaneous worship, being led by the Spirit and allow creativity to set in?
Period.
God should be the one leading the entire thingy. The one and only main focus should be all about making our worship pleasing unto Him. In fact, we should be the sacrifices, not the songs, not the tune and not just the music as well. We should be the ultimate sacrifices that pleases Him that is sitted enthroned above the earth. We should be the reason why He smile. He smiled because He is glad of our praises and voices. He delights in us.
Consistency.
May there just simply be an aroma of sacrifice arising from us to Him, a worship that is not stale and mouldy. A worship that is fresh from the oven, as if we are worshipping Him for the first time! Let there be a consistent pace in our walk with Him and let us be continuously listening to His voice, His audible voice. All that He is going to say will be far more powerful than the thousand words from men. One word from Him will change my entire life.
Love.
Love for Him through worship. An expression of the Word of God with music and rhythm. Worship. Expressing ourselves with no reservation and giving Him the very best of all. With all our heart - a love for Him. With all our soul - an emotional being. With all our mind - a rationality. With all our strength - Every part of our physical being. Everything for Him and everything is from Him. Nothing belongs to us. We belong to God solely. No compromise, no distraction. Fully and 100% focus. Always and continuously being cleansed by Him. Imperfection of ourselves reveals the perfection of our Lord Jesus Christ. His unfailing love.
Let Him be the reason why we sing, why we live and why we serve. Without Him as the centre of all, everything else will become meaningless. Won't you agree with me?
Labels: ministry, w.o.r.s.h.i.p.
Oh yesh! My hols are over... kekeke... for this month only... i'm so so glad that i managed to rest for at least 2 days... anyway i will blog abt my Bangkok trip later on.
Btw, I came back to office and had 2 nice surprises on moi desk...
First one is this:
I had a small bouquet of Orchids on my desk... it's actually a door gift for one of the event last friday. The orchids are really very very nice... and mind you, they have really strong survival skills.. from Friday till now, I don't see any sign of any withering... I am beginning to like orchids le.. hee...
Secondly is this:
My boss gave me this thing. It was nicely wrapped with this note on it: "For the pet.." haha... i was so happy... she bought the gift to encourage us.. haha... and guess wat?? mine was 1.5 times bigger in size than my colleagues'... haha... they very funny.. Bibi says she wanna change with mine whereas AA says that boss is biased... wahaha...nice isn't it? The ornament says... "I'd Go Anywhere With You"... haha... in fact it's true.. the pet will go everywhere and anywhere with the owner... hehe... yeah!!
And lastly, my latest addition on mydesk to make my work more enjoyable throughout the day...
my Donald Duck Mug... bought it for A but he dun want... so in the end, i took it for my own use... wahaha... wat's better at work than to have colleagues that are understanding and loving... hee... tt's all for now. i will talk abt my BKK trip later on... a lot of things to write man! keke...
Labels: colleagues, office
Haha... this is a pic tt i took in the supermarket ydae morning... I was looking around while doing some filming in the supermarket... so I went to the fresh seafood area... and there I saw this crab blowing bubbles...
The first question that came to me is this, "Why is this crab blowing bubbles? Too free?? Want to play some bubbles game to entertain itself??" haha... So the curiousity got hold of me and finally I can't control myself, and I went up to the staff and ask her... then she say, "Oh, the crab is going to die soon... that is why it is blowing bubbles la..."
haha... I've got my answer to my question!! No wonder the rest weren't blowing bubbles at all!!
Now i really feel like the 'crab' in the pic.. blowing bubbles all around... not because I have got nothing to do... but bcos I have too much things to do le! haha... sweat man!! (btw, I am having 苦笑 now... haha)
So I think I dun want to be a dead crab but an a lively crab... so that I can 'crap' around?? hahaha.... I think choir got enough of that from me last night... I had a good time laughing ydae night!! hahaha...
Now, present to u... the lively crab!!!
ok.. i have 'crapped' enuff.. time to get back to work... n please ignore my 'crap'... haha... cos I am really stressed till the max! haha... May the Lord's grace pull me thru... :)
Labels: fun, g.i.g.g.l.e.s.
Come, now is the time to worship
Come, now is the time to give your heart
Come, just as you are to worship
Come, just as you are before your God
Come
One day every tongue will confess You are God
One day every knee will bow
Still, the greatest treasure remains for those
Who glady choose You now
© 1998 Vineyard Songs
Labels: w.o.r.s.h.i.p.
I've learnt to realise the imperfection of human beings... the imperfection of every single one that God created all to be. Imperfection is inborn. The more we try to 'perfect' the imperfect ones around us, the more we will be disappointed. Many a times, I have disappointed many out there who tried their very best to 'perfect' me. Well, at the very end of the day, I still disappointed them.
It is just the very fact that life still goes on when u live among the imperfectionists.
In fact, when we realise that God's love for the imperfect ones like us is just so deep, so infinite and so indescribable, then we will realise that we need to love as He does.
To be a perfectionist is torturing. Why live like a perfectionist when you know that you will be happier to live as a 'gracist'?
Labels: thots
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD watches over you—
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.
Labels: b.i.b.l.e.
I didn't know how to write the title for this entry. It is not easy to blog an entry like this, especially when someone dear to you is not doing well in health. I think I am just in distraught. I don't know what to do and how to do... It is depressing. Moreover, I'm facing loads of stress at work.. though I will be going to BKK this friday, I wonder if I will really enjoy the trip.
Ydae night, my brother returned from work with my sister-in-law. When I saw him, I was so disturbed... cos he was in much pain. He told me that he couldn't walk properly and his entire right leg is so painful... What I can do now perhaps, is to keep his health in prayers. I really hope that he will be healthy.
"Lord, may you protect my brother in his health and keep him from harm. I pray that he will really come to know you and your love for him. It is only You that can grant him comfort and strength. May I pray that he will come to realise your healing power as he will experience it soon and very soon. And I pray that you will give me peace and faith to believe in greater miracles, beyond what I understand. In Christ's name, I submit everything unto your will, Amen!"
Labels: family, prayers
Went to watch Howjoo's performance today. Hmm... to my surprise, I thought that I wouldn't understand it or enjoy it, cos all the songs were sung in german... how would I understand? Well, after rushing to his performance after my meeting, I thank God that I managed to rush there and be there within 5 mins time, and reached there on time. haha... amazing isn't it?
The performance was really fabulous.. though it was in german, I can see that every expression, every song that they sang represented the feeling of Bastien and Bastienne. The narrator was expressive too... and really can how the storyline went, from being misunderstanding each other to being reconciled and to being able to vouch their everlasting love for each other. I can only say that this is really worth watching!
And out of all the guys, I think Howjoo was one of the best singers. hmm.. and the gals were fantastic too. One gal was only 17 and she sang a lot of songs in the entire performance... mind you... her singing was showed me what it meant by right pitch and singing from the diaphregm... wahaha..
After the entire performance, I just felt so tired. Obviously, I haven't been able to rest well for the entire weekend, and having to worked for 2 consecutive sats, it is like 2 weeks without break at all.
So this coming weekend, I am going to have my fun resting and shopping at BKK. yeah!!
Labels: fun
Before going for choir ydae, I was feeling really tired as I didn't sleep well the night before. Felt really lethargic. Thus, before reaching S11, I decided to turn to God for refreshment. Indeed, God brought me to Psalm 51. It read like this:
1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are proved right when you speak
and justified when you judge.
5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6 Surely you desire truth in the inner parts [
a] ;
you teach [
b] me wisdom in the inmost place.
7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.
10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will turn back to you.
14 Save me from bloodguilt, O God,
the God who saves me,
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
17 The sacrifices of God are [
c] a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart,
O God, you will not despise.
18 In your good pleasure make Zion prosper;
build up the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then there will be righteous sacrifices,
whole burnt offerings to delight you;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.
This Psalm came at the very right time. God do not delight in our services or words; God delights in a broken spirit and a contrite heart. Being 'broken' before the Lord, it meant that I have to come before Him and recognise that I cannot do it all by my own self or strength. Being 'contrite' in my heart meant that I have got to be more repentant and regretful of the sins that I have committed for the day, the week, the months, the years or even my whole and entire life.
Well, God did not stop there. When I started looking through the songs for choir pract, (though I received the songs through email earlier.. i didn't have time to really digest them at all...) I saw the song that God wanted to remind me again, parallel to Psalm 51:
A Broken SpiritWords and Music by Martin Nystrom and Don Harris © 1993 Integrity's Hosanna! Music
A broken spirit and a contrite heart
You will not despise
You will not despise
You desire truth in the inward parts
A broken spirit and a contrite heart
Lord my heart, is prone to wander
Prone to leave this God I love
Here’s my heart
Lord take it and seal it
Seal it for your courts above
Lord, thank you for your ever faithful reminders. I will remember them by heart. :)
Labels: b.i.b.l.e.
So what is this part III all about?? It is about my two of my ex-sheep meeting me up for lunch on my bdae leave. The day after choir celebrated for me, I took a day of leave for my bdae retreat... thought that it will be just a day of rest at home... but in the end, I met up with 2 of my ex-sheep... you should have seen them around before...
Sam smsed me at about 11.35am that morning. I was still trying to recover from my 'pancake failure' back then... so i replied and ask him where he wanna meet me... and after that sms, he just called me and ask me if i wanna meet him and shuhui to have lunch in town. wah liew... then we settled to meet up after 10 mins of conversation. I finally got out of my laziness and went to get ready... the exciting part is that Sam drove to my place to pick me up to go Tanjong Pagar... I was so excited.. cos moi ex-sheep is driving liaoz wor... haha... at the end, when he reached my place, I got to know that he only got his license for a month. then I became a bit worried about his driving skills. However, his driving skills turned out to be very good... except for the his 'parking' skills i guess...
had a super good time talking to them. we had lunch at Amara food court... going there for lunch brought back many memories of our youth days... when youth service just started in 1997 and we had service at Harbour View Dai-chi Hotel, when now, is already known as M Hotel. I even remembered that we had a series of teachings for Virtuous Speaking Church at the hotel. The meetings we had at the food court, bdae celebrations, christmas season, the tears and pain of the leaders... all were brought back within that 1 hour plus. The curry chicken, pizza, korean food stalls were still there... haha.. dunnoe why am I talking about the food now... I'm quite full now siah...
took a few pics with both Shuhui and Sam... then realised that I really missed them a lot too... after so many years... I remember that Shuhui was in my first CG when I first became CL back then. She was my sheep for quite sometime... and I've learnt a lot of things from her... especially the area of mercy. She has a very strong gift of mercy and her compassion for the handicapped and disabled is really evident in her life. Shuhui can be quite quiet at times but also she can also be vocal when need be. Oh ya... remember the Kawan church camp when the group led by Alan Tea put up a lot of newly-composed songs in Mandarin?? All the songs were written by Shuhui... and some with melody... i am just so proud of her... and inspired by her too...
As for Sam, he came over to my group after his Os. He was nicknamed as 'mouse' when he first converted in Sec 1. Why 'mouse' leh?? Cos he can be very timid at times... but he has finally grown up le.. though sometimes he still can be quite timid. hahaha... but to me, he is a very gd sheep... cos he never fail to amaze me with his gentle spirit. I can get rather unreasonable last time when I shepherd him, but i think his patience really supercedes my unreasonability.
back to the lunch... after a great deal of ordeal... we finally met Shuhui for lunch... I think that Shuhui was really hungry cos we only managed to eat at 1.40pm?? After lunch, I accompanied Sam to return the car to the rental company... then we walked to Sim Lim Square from Little India area...
when we were on our way there, I walked pass this very cute lane... it is call 'Baboo Lane'... hahaha... maybe I 'suah ku' (ignorant) or something... I really dunnoe that such a lane existed.
Then we walked to a 'dou hua' (beancurd) shop for some nice beancurd and fresh soya bean milk... it was really fun... though I was already very full but I didn't mind the dessert. We bought 3 bowls of beancurd for Nic cos she works just right behind Sim Lim Square... but she wasn't in school... so sad... at the end I have to send the beancurd to Sing Post.
Met Zannie at Sing Post cos she got something to pass to me... and guess what did I get from Zannie?? It was yet another surprise!!! A Jigsaw Ball... not only it is a jigsaw ball.. it is actually a pooh bear n gang one.. yeah... enough surprises this year to feel the kind of love that God has shown me through this spiritual family... After the Sing Post trip, I proceed to Bugis while Nic went to CC for a good time of exercise... We met up for dinner at about 8pm...
Dewen n Junyao met me up even earlier.. at about 6.45pm... They were playing LAN game for quite a while.. and I was getting impatient liaoz.. haha... didn't know tt the LAN game can be so addictive for the guys one...
anyway, thanks to Nic, Wilfred, Shirl, Ling, Junyao, Dewen and Ethan for buying me dinner at Breko... it was a good meal la... Thanks a lot for the notes of appreciation too throughout the night. I'm just proud of u guys!!
My CG celebrated bdae for me and Jieyi on Sunday after service at Sakae Sushi... everything was good except the fact that I forgotten to bring my camera... haha... i was trying to ask all the pple at the table if they have a camera... but obviously.. none of them brought lah! But we had a special guest, WeeLiam, who is Gloria's colleague. Wah... after talking to him after service and during lunch, I finally raised the white flag and surrendered!! He is more sanguine than me and I lost to him in crappiness... wah liew.. his suaning skills is superb and my CG was amazed that I actually lost to him. haha... Shufen came by Heeren to pass me my bdae gift... really appreciate that thought and effort. The gift is a surprise for me... really...
Anyway enough bdae celebrations le lah!! What to do? I'm already at part III le wor.. If I continue to blog abt bdae, I will soon become bdae fatigue le.. I'm blessed this season for sure... though there are still a lot of pain and struggles, but I'm glad God still gave me remedies. Thank you Papa and thanks to all my frens!! Love u guys for loving me... hahaha... :p
Labels: b.d.a.e., b.u.d.d.i.e.s.
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"Our Father, Who does art in heaven, Harold is His name. Amen."
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A little boy was overheard praying: " Lord, if you can't make me a better boy, don't worry about it. I'm having a real good time like I am."
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After the christening of his baby brother in church, Jason sobbed all the way home in the back seat of the car. His father asked him three times what was wrong. Finally, the boy replied, " That preacher said he wanted us brought up in a Christian home, and I wanted to stay with you guys. "
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I had been teaching my three-year old daughter, Caitlin,the Lord's Prayer for several evenings at bedtime. She would repeat after me the lines from the prayer. Finally, she decided to go solo. I listened with pride as she carefully enunciated each word, right up to the end of the prayer: " Lead us not into temptation, " she prayed, " but deliver us from E-mail."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One particular four-year-old prayed, " And forgive us our trash baskets as we forgive those who put trash in our baskets."
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A Sunday school teacher asked her children as theywere on the way to church service, "And why is it necessary to be quiet in church?" One bright little girl replied, "Because people are sleeping."
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Six-year-old Angie and her four-year-old brother, Joel, were sitting together in church. Joel giggled , sang, and talked out loud.Finally, his big sister had enough. "You're not supposed to talk out loud in church." "Why? Who's going to stop me?" Joel asked. Angie pointed to the back of the church and said, "See those two men standing by the door? They're hushers."
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A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin 5, and Ryan 3. The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake. Their mother saw the opportunity for a moral lesson. "If Jesus were sitting here, He would say, 'Let my brother have the first pancake, I can wait.' Kevin turned to his younger brother and said, "Ryan, you be Jesus!"
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A father was at the beach with his children when the four-year-old son ran up to him, grabbed his hand, and led him to the shore where a seagull lay dead in the sand." Daddy, what happened to him?" the son asked. "He died and went to Heaven," the Dad replied. The boy thought a moment and then said, "Did God throw him back down?"
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A wife invited some people to dinner. At the table, she turned to their six-year-old daughter and said, "Would you like to say the blessing?" "I wouldn't know what to say," the girl replied. "Just say what you hear Mommy say," the wife answered. The daughter bowed her head and said, "Lord, why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner?"
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Labels: g.i.g.g.l.e.s.
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust."
3 Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
5 You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.
9 If you make the Most High your dwelling—
even the LORD, who is my refuge-
10 then no harm will befall you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread upon the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
14 "Because he loves me," says the LORD,
"I will rescue him; I will protect him,
for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life will I satisfy him
and show him my salvation."
Labels: b.i.b.l.e.
