" I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun."
Quote from Solomon, known to be the wisest and richest man ever. What are we chasing after today...? Is it really worthwhile...?Labels: church
This year is the year where I'm flooded with wedding invitations. Haha... although it is not from January till December, I think it will be as good as from April to December. So I have no choice but have to skip some of the weddings. Think cos my pocket had been burning holes and I have been really busy for ministry and work. Need some time on my own too I guess.
Anyway, I was telling my boss that wedding preparation really takes up a lot of time, which is really troublesome.
Haha... I guess that I will still enjoy my singlehood now... till the "Right Adam" comes and God approves it! :)
Labels: random
Introducing the new online dictionary website:
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/
Quite an interesting website with a lot of fun interactive games, helping us to know and discover new words everyday. Better still, it comprises audio pronunciation of words as well.
It is quite fun after all!
Labels: websites
It was an interesting day today. My shoulders and back were aching very badly and for the most obvious reason, I haven't slept well for the longest period of my life. Thus, my face wasn't showing the best expression after all. And my poor boss, thought that I was moody because of work, asked me if i was ok and even volunteered to go for breakfast with me, so as to fill my hungry body. haha...
Actually, I am really thankful to God for my boss. She is not just a boss or supervisor to me. She is like an elder sister to me. She listens to me, hears me out, identifies with me and share with me her experience. I love to tell her things about my life. I share with her a lot of stuff... And especially today, during lunch, I shared with her about my childhood.
My family has always been not doing well financially. My dad was a gambler, idler, smoker... He used to be working as a newspaper despatch and my bro will have to go to the one of the shophouse nearby to sleep as he need to help my dad in slotting the newspapers sections. But at the shophouse, there wasn't any quiet corner at all. There was constant mahjong games going on and of course my bro cannot rest at all. And he was only in his primary 7-8. I remembered this very vividly because there were nights that I was there as well, at Coronation Plaza, helping my dad out too. As I grew older, I wasn't able to understand why my dad did not consider the well-being of his kids.
And of cos, when family lacks finance and my dad kept picking fights with my mum, my mum will of course be frustrated. Then she will punish us and scold us whenever she feels frustrated by the kids running around in the 2-room flat at home. I remember how she used to tie 2 canes together and caned me till both my legs were swollen with cane marks. She used to ask us to kneel down for 4-5 hours at the door step or at the kitchen, when we were mischievious. (that explains why we didn't study too... hahaha) When kneeling on the floor doesn't help, she will take the beer bottle caps and ask us to kneel on them. Painful as it is, smart as we are, we will obviously not kneel on the sharp edges of the bottle caps. haha..
There was this once that my mum actually slapped in front of my neighbours at the corridor of my hse, just because the neighbour staying beside maligned me of saying something that I didn't say at all. That was a very bad one for me.
If I had not known Christ, I think I will not be able to forgive my mum. There were just too many things to hold against her. Who would expect a 13-yr old girl to start working outside and be bullied by the older colleagues at workplace etc. Who was there to protect and who was there to deliver trust at that point in time? I think God really pulled me out of the storm and brought me to the safe land, helping me to stand firm on my feet and walk on the right path. I could have ended up becoming astrayed also. That possibility was really high.
Will there be forgiveness? Will there be trust?
If not for God, I think I would still be a confused girl going around, looking for friends who can provide security, jobs that could provide stability etc.
I thank God for bringing me from where I was to where I am now. I know that I have thanked God many times but I cannot help but to thank Him again and again and again and again... Till I see Him face to face, I will still keep on thanking Him again...
Thank you Jesus for saving me from the pit. Thank you Lord. :)
Labels: about me, family, thanksgiving
"Our world is filled with familiar strangers. We go around getting busier by the days, but inside us, we are getting more and more disconnected, isolated and lonely. Does God really have the answer to this isolation and loneliness? Come find out what He has in store for you!"
Date/Day: 29 June 2008, Sunday
Venue: Nexus Auditorium
Address: 5 Koek Road, Cuppage Plaza #05-07 Singapore 228796
Time: 9am (1st service), 11.30am (2nd service)
For more info, you can email me at faithtricia@gmail.com :)
Labels: church
I was catching up with a friend over msn just now and after talking, I realised that I have not been catching with many people for the past one year. Talk about being a true Kawan...
Missed talking to some of these kawans a lot. They brought many joy and revelations to my life.
I think these are people who really love God and serves God with me in this journey to the Lord.
I love my kawans and I wanna appreciate them more.. :)
So, what am I going to do now then?
I will write. watch out for this space then... ;p
ciaoz!
Labels: friendships
It has been a tremendous period of time lately as things at home aren't that smooth-sailing at all. As much as I want to stay cool and fix my eyes on the Lord, my heart just doesn't feel that steady after all. I know that God is in control and I believe so. But it would be even better if my family believe in the same faith as I do.
I've been praying to the Lord for many weeks, months and years, for my family to know the Lord. And I know that one day they will be knowing Him. I want them to know His love, grace and mercy, which is ever so abundant and never runs out of stock, ever.
I wish for more peace and endurance in the family. I wish for joy and fulfillment. I wish for meaningful and purposeful lives in this generation, which God has placed me in to make a difference.
I want to run, run to the Lord, for strength and wisdom, ability to communicate, providence and support..for everything. I know that I can't do all these by myself because only God can. If I can do all these, why would I still need God? In fact, I might as well be the "super-woman" in the entire universe. But I am not super. I am just a mere human.
If I have not known the Lord, I do not think that I will be where I am today.
God is my precious treasure and I will by all means protect this relationship that I have with Him today, tomorrow and forevermore. :)
Labels: family, God's beloved
I had a very good time catching up with our Church Planter - Ms EeLee Tan, our Youth Pastor - Shirley Melinda, our Tertiary Pastor - Jasmine Poon, our newly appointed Mrs Leung aka Nicole. Although there were not many of us there... but we had a good time of chatting and laughter. Talking about spiritual stuff... the BGR stuff... and the church stuff...
haha... I thought that after not catching up with them for so many years, I will feel weird. But now, I felt so much more comfortable chatting with them. Don't know why, we clicked the moment we sat down and talked. silly me... laugh until I nearly fainted.
But you know ar... we chat so much until we forgotten to take pics together. so.. no pics for this time round.
But seriously, there are so much to do for the Kingdom of God, and it is good to see one by one going out to the missions field, becoming pastors, leaders etc.
I am glad to be groomed with these leaders together because we know that our heart is always for the Lord. :)
More years to go!! Till Jesus's return.
Labels: b.u.d.d.i.e.s., church
Kudos to our ushering team... who served without any complaints throughout the church camp... They are indeed the friendly and approachable ushers!
Here's a pic of me and XinYing, taken with her Canon camera (if i'm not wrong..).. very nice pic taken indeed... cos I feel so much like 10 years younger!! hahaha.. love this pic... :)
This was taken from my room's view. Cool isn't it? The architecture of the building is magnificent. But the every morning prayer at 5.30am is not that cool la... like an alarm lor.. haha... but still, cool view!
My UL and my member, Thomas. Know this man, Thomas has the gift of admin and he is very faithful in this area too! May the Lord add on to him more gifts :) and he is getting married in July and I am going to be his Emcee. woah... haha...
My CG, doing the form at the end of the camp. :p
Pastor Jeff and me. He saw how I grow up from a 15-year old silly girl to a 27 year old to be silly girl? haha... He is like a spiritual daddy to me and he is always so concern about the lives of the people in church. Really love his pastoral heart! Pastor Jeff, jiayou! By God's grace, I will continue to move on in this journey of loving and serving the Lord together with you!
Oh, this is Pamela and her sister... they looked so photogenic. And once again, haha, I am proud to say that my photog skill is really not bad de wor! kekeke...
Jieyi and Thomas.. poor Jieyi, fell sick and had high fever for the entire night. She was really weak when I took this pic of her. But thank God that her fever was gone by the time we were taking the coach back to S'pore. :)
Ok.. this is the pic of the flowers that my CG gave to me. Too bad, the flowers can't survive for too long. Btw, many were asking me which guy gave me these... haha.. I was like.. I also wish.. but dun have leh... hahaha... :p
Anyway throughout this church camp, I've shed many tears.. cos I just know that God has given me a pastoral heart for people. Missions will definitely be somewhere that I want to move towards. And people is God's heartbeat and I will follow that in a stable manner. Trust that God will be moulding me more this year. More sacrifices to be made but I am seriously willing!
Labels: care group, church camp, missions
Day 3 was pretty cool. We started the day with our QT and worship in my room. The QT message was about "Learning to Forgive".
In the passage, there was the example of how the master erased the servant's hefty debts.
Matthew 18:21-35, The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant
21Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?"
22Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.[f]
23"Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents[g] was brought to him. 25Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
26"The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' 27The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
28"But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii.[h] He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded.
29"His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'
30"But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32"Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' 34In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay
back all he owed.
35"This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."
I presented the song that I wrote few years back about forgiveness and the lyrics goes like this:
D
Is there someone who ever did you wrong
D A
Is there someone who ever let you down
F#m Bm
Pain as it is, hurt it may be
G A D
We shall never ever let it hold us down
D
Is there someone who ever let you down
D A
Is there someone who makes you sad
F#m Bm
Pain as it is, hurt it may be
G A D
We shall never ever let it hold us down
Chorus:
G A D
Learn to forgive one another
G A D
Let us learn to love each other
G A D Bm
Love the Lord as He has loved you so
G A D
Forgive others as God has loved us all
Anyway, that QT was a very touching one. Thank God for moving in our hearts once again.
Below are some pics of that day...
Josherine and Mikka
Jieyi and Thomas... Jieyi was down with cough and sore throat.
Weird thing is Jieyi looked so sad n Thomas looked so happy...
So Thomas repented after he smiled so happily.. haha..
This was done by my team during the workshop.. :)
This is Jennifer from NG5C1
This is me and Angie... haven't talk to her for a long long time.
kinda miss the fun we have at Choir... finally managed to catch her for a short while in camp..
ok.. this is Ms EeLee Tan. wow.. though she claims that she put on weight but I think I put on more weight than her leh.. haha...
This is Pamela and Junming.. my fellow CL and core in the unit.
a good team of leader and armor bearer...
my UL and my sheep.. dun need me to intro le ba...
This was during our night time affirmation for the leaders.. a lot of surprises and fun for the CLs and the UL. Felt so loved and blessed by my CG pple. They even composed a song for me.. Btw, the picture above is Pamela... nice right? I take one wor...
And the Mr Funnybone.. Junming. Thank God for this fellow CL.. I really think that he really loves his CG a lot. Got a lot to learn from him.
End of Church Camp Day 3.
Labels: care group, church camp
Yesterday's shepherding was interesting. I was facing the dilemma of whether to go back to Yishun or should I just stay put in Bukit Batok. So I've decided, Bukit Batok is better. I needed some quietness. :)
So, after working, I went back to my shepherd's place for dinner and blog abt camp. After blogging, I went on to meet my shepherd for shepherding. It was an interesting session. She shared with me about this thing call "Personal Mastery". New terminology to me.
Personal Mastery is similar to having a good intra-personal intelligence, where one can understand where he or she want to proceed on from a current life stage, understanding where he or she is heading towards and wanting to pull oneself out of the emotions, in order to achieve the goals set in life. It also talks about being able to motivate oneself towards the vision and purpose in life, and not just dependent on the abilities, talents or experiences that one has achieved.
I was quite lost at the start but at the end of the session, I began to question myself on my own "Personal Mastery". Questions like these started to go through my brain:
i) What is my vision in life?
ii) What are the possible hindrances to my vision?
iii) Is there anything I need to change or give up in order to move on in the pursue of this vision?
iv) How has God led in this vision?
v) Objectivity vs Emotional - How have I been doing in both? Is there a balance?
Only when one knows God's vision and calling for him or her, then will he or she be able to know what he or she wants in life. It is never easy to surrender oneself onto God, but I know that I am trying and I am willing.
Towards this journey of Personal Mastery, I would need to first know the Master of my life. :)
Yes, and there are a millions of promises just for me. I will surrender to Him.
Labels: conviction, shepherding
Day 2 of camp was very interesting because everyone in the camp was looking forward to the afternoon's programme.. ACTSperience KL. All the shopping, fun and photo-taking left everyone excited and geared up! It was pretty cool to have the entire Times Square flooded with Hope pple.. haha.. in fact, everywhere u go or see, you will bump into Hope CGs.
but guess what? the part that intesrest me is when I managed to take a photo of Ian (ah long's younger son) sitting on his shoulders pulling ah long's ears to gain gravity stability!! So far, I have not managed to carry Ian. Haha... I think I need to work harder to allow him to realise moi existence. haha... anyway I printed this out for Ah Long and wished him Happy Father's Day!! cool right??
This is Xueyun... we used to be in the same group under Nicole. We pioneered Chinese High and Nanyang Girls together. And today, we are in the same CG again. Xueyun, it is good to see you around after so many years. Really look forward to serve God together with you. :)
Here is my unit. NG7D. Don't know what to say.. our unit is kinda low profile and I think it is good to feature the gals in the unit.. cos majority of them are still single except for 2 who are already attached. Hope bros, what are you waiting for? The gals are good catch!! :)
Anyway, after our afternoon teaching, we proceeded to KL and managed to reach there at about 5.30pm. Despite the jam and after-work hours, we have a tour guide that brought us around KL with ease and he is none other than Junming, my fellow CL in the unit!! Bravo, Junming!! Thanks for bringing us around the town. :p
Btw, I quite like this picture! Well-taken isn't it? I quite like my photography skill... :p
(from left: Gloria, Mikka, Lirong, Me, Thomas and Jieyi)
This is my CG, NG7D2. Powerful man and women of God... I am glad to lead these sheep because they are ever so ready to receive God's word, and wanting to love God more. I am privileged to be their CL.
2 more entries to go.. I will try to complete them soon =)
Labels: care group, church camp
2 Samuel 22:31
31 "As for God, his way is perfect;
the word of the LORD is flawless.
He is a shield
for all who take refuge in him.Yes, God's way is always perfect. For me, I long to seek refuge in Him in times of trouble. I still take faith to walk, step by step. Whether others know or understand anot, it no longer matters. Because I know that God understands it all.
Yes, faith tricia, just keep walking in faith, you will be there soon!
Labels: faith, Word of God
