Grace. Love. Hope.

I got accepted!!

2011-08-09T01:01:00.000+10:00

:D :D

praise God!

I've been accepted into the exchange program for Korea University for the first Semester of 2012 :D so great to know that I have at least 2 friends also going to South Korea during that period :)

I'm feeling really excited, quite scared but overall not knowing what to expect!

Thanks to everyone for all your supportive responses, I feel so loved! I googled for some blogs written by other students who went to Korea University for exchange.. and also judging by what my work colleague Esther and Rosa have been telling me, they've found it a blast!

This guy seems to have written a pretty detailed blog from scratch on what it's about :) while this blogger presents what seems to be quite an honest blog about the university work there and the challenges of working with local students as an international student. :)

I'm so excited, I'm feeling jittery! I don't want to study Admin Law, I just want to learn more Korean! Thanks for the advice, Brendan Wong :D

Hopefully I'll be able to track down my thoughts and experiences leading up to and going on Exchange (if that's what God has in plan). I'll end with a few tips in applying for exchange at UTS that I found handy.

Use your electives. SERIOUSLY. especially for law!
if you can't find enough subjects in English in a Korean university (대학교 (dae-hag-gyo), literally “big school”), try to see if they let you use postgrad subjects!
look for subjects that match your subject plan long before the application process

Goals:

learn more Korean and be able to order in a Korean restaurant before I leave
not pack too much before I go
try to meet more Kodae (Korean University) students.. somehow, and get in contact with their christian group/churches
take photos of street fashion :D
being bold in getting to know and hanging out with the local students
not getting distracted by the excitement of it all and continue to pray for God to use me throughout this experience :)

Deuteronomy 12

2011-06-08T19:39:00.001+10:00

“When the Lord your God cuts off before you the nations whom you go in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land, take care that you be not ensnared to follow them, after they have been destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods?—that I also may do the same.’ You shall not worship the Lordyour God in that way, for every abominable thing that the Lord hates they have done for their gods, for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods.

2011-05-11T23:39:00.001+10:00

SO DISTRACTED!

come on commercial law!

2011-05-01T23:21:00.000+10:00

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.

- Jim Elliot

From:

http://www.crossroad.to/Victory/stories/missionary/11-auca.htm

Jim Elliot was a boy who loved Jesus. One day a friend of his parents asked him if he was going to be a preacher when he grew up. “I don’t know,” Jim replied. “But I would like to tell someone about Jesus, that never heard of Him before!” And that is just what happened.

When Jim grew up, he and his wife Betty were missionaries to the Indians in South America. They met a missionary from Ecuador, who told them about the needs of the Indians in that country. There were several different tribes of Indians living in the jungle. Some of them were being taught by missionaries already. Others had never heard of Jesus. One of these tribes was a wild and savage people called Aucas!

The Aucas were great hunters in the jungle. They hunted wild pigs, monkeys, and jaguars with their spears and bows and arrows. Auca Indians always went barefoot, and they could recognize another person’s footprint like we recognize the faces of our friends!

But the Aucas didn’t know about Jesus. Their lives were dark and sad and full of fear. They had many cruel customs. If they saw anyone in the jungle who was not of their tribe, they would sneak up and kill them with their spears. They also speared each other, killing their own friends and relatives during the slightest quarrel.

When a man killed another man, the family of the dead man would hunt for the killer and spear him too. Often parents killed their own children, just because they were tired of taking care of them. Everyone was always afraid of being suddenly killed! That is how people live, when they don’t know anything about Jesus or God’s laws or how to be kind.

Jim and Betty Elliot and their friends felt sorry for the Auca Indians. They wanted to help them learn about Jesus, so they could be free from their darkness and fear. But how could they get into the Auca’s village without being killed?

Several missionary families built themselves houses in the jungle. They lived with the friendly tribe of Quichua Indians, across the river from the Aucas. They learned the Indian language, and preached to them about Jesus. Many of the Quichua Indians became Christians.

But Jim could not forget about the poor sad Auca Indians. He wanted to tell them about Jesus, too! There was one Auca girl who lived with the friendly Quichua Indians. Her name was Dayuma, and she had run away from the Aucas several years before when someone was trying to kill her. Now the missionaries talked with her, to learn the Auca language.

The missionaries decided to try flying their little plane over the Auca village, and dropping gifts to the Indians. They hoped that this would be a way to make friends with the Aucas! They would put the presents in a bucket at the end of a strong fishing line, and lower it down from the open door of the plane. Nate Saint, the pilot, experimented until he found a way to release the bucket from the line and set it on the ground.

The first gift was a shiny aluminum kettle with a lid. Inside they put twenty brightly colored buttons, not for the Indian’s clothes, because the Auca Indians didn’t wear any clothes! But Jim thought the Indians might like to string the buttons and use them for decorations.

The first time Nate and Jim flew over the Auca village, the people were all frightened and hid inside their houses. A brisk wind buffeted the small plane as Nate tried to hold it steady over the group of thatched houses. Cautiously Jim reeled out the line. The kettle almost got caught in the trees, and he pulled it back a little. . . then set it down gently right in front of the biggest house!

The next time Jim and his friends brought the gifts to another house, so the Aucas would not get jealous of each other. And this time when the Indians heard the plane coming over, they ran out of their houses! They watched excitedly as the gift was lowered from the plane. A gust of wind blew the gift-bucket toward the river, and splash! It dropped in. Then, quick as a wink, there was another splash! as an Indian dived in for the treasure. They soon found it, and stood around talking happily. Jim saw a sight that thrilled him: an old man waving with his arms as if to say, “Come down!” As the plane turned and flew away, Jim prayed: Lord, send me to the Aucas!

Every week after that, the missionaries made another flight to drop gifts to the Auca Indians. They gave them shirts, knives, and plastic cups, candy and a flashlight. They began to fly lower and lower above the Auca village, and would lean out the door of the plane to shout at the Indians: “We are your friends! We would like to visit you!”

On the sixth flight, after the Aucas had taken the gift bucket, they held onto the line for a few minutes. When they let it go, it came up with a present for the missionaries: a headband woven of feathers! The next time they sent a basket back up on the line. In the basket was a beautiful tame parrot, with a banana for the parrot to eat! Jim and his friends praised the Lord. It seemed like the Aucas were becoming friendly.

Other people said, “You fellows are crazy to waste all that good stuff on the Aucas. They will be just as mean as before.” But the missionaries kept praying that God would make the Auca Indians friendly, so that they could tell them about Jesus.

After about two months of flying over the Auca village with gifts, the missionaries decided it was time to land on a little beach beside the river, close to where the Aucas lived. They would build themselves a tree house to live in, and try to talk to the Aucas.

There were five men altogether: Jim, Nate, and three others named Pete, Roger, and Ed. They prayed and talked with their wives for a long time before they made the decision to move into the Auca’s country. All of them knew very well that it was dangerous. But they loved God and knew that they belonged to Him. They were not afraid to die and go to heaven.

So they landed their plane beside the river and built a house in a tall tree. Some of the men flew over the Auca village again, calling: “Come down to the river! We want to visit you there!” Then they camped and waited.

On the third day, the men were sitting in their camp, when suddenly they heard a shout from across the river! Their hearts jumped as they turned to look. Three Aucas were stepping out of the woods: a man and two women. Calling out, “Welcome! Welcome!” in the Auca language, Jim waded across to meet them. He took their hands and helped them back across to the missionaries’ camp. The five missionaries tried hard to show the Aucas that they wanted to be friends. They gave them food and gifts, and smiled and talked.

They soon nicknamed the Auca man “George”, and when “George” asked for a ride in the plane, they were happy to give him one! They flew the plane low over the Auca village once more, and George laughed with delight as he recognized his home. He leaned out to wave and yell at the other Aucas.

When the plane landed back at camp, the five missionaries gave thanks to God out loud, looking up toward the sky so that the three Aucas could see what they were doing.

That night the three Aucas returned to their village. They did not invite the missionaries to come with them, so Jim and his friends stayed at their camp. That was on Friday. On Sunday, Nate called his wife on the radio to say that a big group of Auca men were coming. “Just in time for a church service!” he told her excitedly. “This is the big day! I’ll call you back this afternoon and let you know what happens!”

So the missionaries’ wives waited eagerly that afternoon. They were hoping to find out if the men had been able to visit the Auca’s village. But the afternoon passed, and the men did not call as they had promised. Night came on and the women began to worry. What could have happened? Were the missionaries safe?

The next day more men took another plane and flew over the camp. They brought back sad news: Jim and Nate and their friends were all dead. The Auca Indians had killed them with their spears!

The five missionaries had guns with them in their camp, but they did not use them to fight the Indians. When the Auca men came toward them with their spears, they did not shoot back with their guns. They knew that if they would shoot the Indians, they could probably save their own lives. But then they would never be able to teach the Aucas about Jesus! So they chose to let themselves be killed, and let the Aucas have another chance to become Christians.

The Aucas always remembered those five strange white men who had been so kind to them and had not tried to kill them. And so a year later when more missionaries tried again to speak to the Aucas about Jesus, they were ready to listen.

Several of the men who had helped to kill Jim and his friends with their spears now became Christians. One of them gave his testimony at a meeting. He counted on his fingers and said, “I have killed twelve people with my spear! But I did that when my heart was black. Now Jesus’ blood has washed my heart clean, so I don’t live like that anymore.” God’s love had changed his life!

Historical Note: The death of these five brave missionaries happened on January 8, 1956 Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, and Pete Fleming did much for the Kingdom of God. Not only did the Aucas learn about Jesus’ forgiveness and love, but many other people all over the world decided to serve the Lord too after they heard the story.

Endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ

2011-05-01T19:49:00.001+10:00

1 Thessalonians 1:3; We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Mon spoke really well on 1 Thessalonians 1:1-3 today and it really rebuked me about how little endurance I have to resist temptation and to stay focused on where my life is heading towards, and how much I think about Christ continually moulding me to be more like Him.

Sometimes I feel like I'm moving towards everything and I feel that this is because I'm not realising how His coming and the reality of ETERNITY should transform the way I'm living now, how it should transform the things I spend time on, how it should transform the objects of my affections and the things I look forward to and the things that should break my heart. I forget that the Christian life is meant to be active and not passive, and moving towards becoming more like Christ to radiate God in our lives :)

To end, here are some lyrics from the song Hosanna that we sang today, and I really like the bridge. Lyrics to a song mean a lot to me, they're like the soul of the song and they speak a lot; sometimes I don't even realise just how powerful they are.

Heal my heart and make it clean
Open up my eyes to the things unseen
Show me how to love like you have loved me

Break my heart from what breaks yours
Everything I am for Your kingdom's cause
As I go from nothing to
Eternity

The Sufficiency of Christ

2011-05-01T19:29:00.000+10:00

Just came home from a really challenging sermon about submissive wives - submitting first not to their husbands but to Christ as our bridegroom, lover, sacrificial husband.

The Real Property quiz that I have tomorrow that I haven't studied for is postponing the rest of this post... but one thing I was challenged about was:

The flipside of the unconditional love that Jesus first showed to us (and husbands now to their wives), is the unconditional respect that we should show as wives to our husbands, who we submit to out of our reverence and love for Jesus.

Some really confronting biblical truths that really prodded me to think about my supreme satisfaction and joy in who Jesus is, and the attitude I have towards the brothers I serve in ministry with - our respect for them shouldn't need to be earned!

A Day of Encouragement :)

2011-02-15T21:33:00.000+11:00

What. An. Awesome. Day. :)

1. Spent the morning in a skype meeting with S & J about the Cumbo Uni Outreach :)

2. Spent the afternoon with my sister A, sharing about our trips, praying together and thinking of how to organise home economics/biblical wife preparation classes with our sisters/non-Christian friends :D

3. Spent the evening grocery shopping, cooking bulgogi and making a complete dinner for the first time :)

4. Spent the night getting surprised by her brother W who is so lovingly delivering custard tarts & messages of encouragement from brothers and sisters to each other!

Praise God :)

Really Catchy Ads.. that go on for 3 minutes ._.

2011-02-06T00:56:00.001+11:00

An extremely hot day at work today but it was a day to praise God for nevertheless :) So blessed to have at least one enthusiastic and encouraging student in my class, who's ready to engage at 8am in the morning!

Still discussing about the prayer meeting before wrk on Saturdays, but there wasn't too much thrill about having it at 7.20 in the morning, but remembering why we're there is important :) That's what I think anyway!

To the annoyance of everybody else, Ryan and I had an interesting singing/humming (since we didn't know the Korean words) session of the Se-Ga & MGIAG OST's, and some interesting conversations about Korean girl groups, G-market etc - which led me to looking up IU's Good Day (where I'm really impressed by that high note held so long!) & still wondering why GD's Gmarket ad is so catchy; it's kind of corny and I feel kind of brainwashed while being preached about Gmarket & their benefits for so long with 'Gmarket' chanted on every beat...

Cyclone Yasi and Intense Heat

2011-02-03T13:20:00.000+11:00

Yep, those two things were the two things that stopped me from having good night of sleep last night.

Cyclone Yasi had all of Australia on the edge of their seats, fearing for the damage that may hit Queensland and the family of many. Moreover, the intense heat over the past few days have just sent people into restlessness and exhaustion.

Have been starting to read John Piper's Don't Waste Your Life; it's quite readable and has been giving me lots to think about, and one of the quotes from Scripture led me to 2 Timothy 2, which I wanted to share with you guys.

2 Timothy 2

The Appeal Renewed

¹ You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. ² And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. ³ Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. ⁴ No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer. ⁵ Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules. ⁶ The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. ⁷ Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this. ⁸ Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, ⁹ for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained. ¹⁰ Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.
¹¹ Here is a trustworthy saying:
   If we died with him,
   we will also live with him;
¹² if we endure,
   we will also reign with him.
If we disown him,
   he will also disown us;
¹³ if we are faithless,
   he remains faithful,
   for he cannot disown himself.

Dealing With False Teachers

¹⁴ Keep reminding God’s people of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. ¹⁵ Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. ¹⁶ Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. ¹⁷ Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, ¹⁸ who have departed from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some. ¹⁹ Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.” ²⁰ In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use. ²¹ Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.
²² Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. ²³ Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. ²⁴ And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. ²⁵ Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, ²⁶ and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.

Reminders

2011-02-02T00:40:00.001+11:00

Since coming back from Japan where it was such a spiritually intense environment while on mission, where it was really a God given opportunity to focus on my relationship with Him while being able to talk to other people about Him. Coming back, I have to admit that I suffered from reverse-culture shock, finding it hard to get used to coming 'home' without the customs of Japan (people don't bow here, or sort out their rubbish, or have sound boxes in the toilets, gasp!) and ultimately being in a spiritual low, always finding reasons to be distracted from God and resting in an ungodly way - I watched a whole drama in about 4 days and became quite obsessed with it.

As a new year of ministry starts, my church held a training day for leaders training and equipping us for ministry this year. It was really by God's grace that I was reminded of why He placed me to serve at Extreme at the training day - to lead the youth to love Christ, love each other and the city/world by teaching, modeling and praying the bible into their lives. Coming back to my church back in Sydney... I really feel so thankful for the leader's training we've been provided and the older women who are constantly looking out for me spiritually and physically - and I know especially now not to take it for granted.

I was really reminded of this bible passage when I was reading the other night (before I totally conked out from exhaustion):

1 Corinthians 3:10-15 (New International Version, ©2011)

¹⁰ By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. ¹¹ For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹² If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, ¹³ their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. ¹⁴ If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. ¹⁵ If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.

It's really sobering, isn't it? Are we encouraging each other to grow in their love for Christ with cheap materials, or good materials - the bible, prayer and discipleship and godly modeling? I have to confess that I'm not confident in the least when it comes to discipleship, especially with 1 to 1... but please pray that God will continue growing His people in their churches towards full maturity in Christ as we run the race together! :)

It's really hot, so I'm going to go. Happy Birthday Harrylam! :D

PS. It made me sad that the songs on GDandTOP's album are quite nice and quite catchy, but the lyrics are really quite inappropriate. :(

mission blog :D

2010-11-17T14:02:00.000+11:00

http://daikondiaries.blogspot.com/

blog for mission! :)

please keep Japan and the teams in your prayers + check back for updates + please comment :D

THANK YOU!!

2 weeks to go!

2010-11-11T00:44:00.005+11:00

Haven't blogged for a while.. haha how has everyone been?

There's only 2 weeks to go until mission.
Wait, I lie. 2 weeks and 2 days, 3 exams, 3 21sts, 1 20th and 1 more Mission Team meeting to go.
:(

See what I mean when I say that it feels like a lot but not a lot at the same time?

Am pretty excited though; stayed up until 3am setting up and blogging on the new mission blog & making a powerpoint to share about the Omagari mission @ FCG on Friday night... kinda scared but after Euge's sermon on Sunday.. I think I have to remember that God tells us that He has a harvest ready and no matter how hard it seems in the mission field, don't be discouraged because God is faithful :) Reading the Manders' newsletter (missionaries at the church we're going to) it's made me realise how impatient I am to see fruit in ministries - they talk about a lady who has shown no interest in Christianity despite coming to worship services for years despite other Christian women sharing their faith with her consistently... until really recently when she asked another sister to read the bible with her! Praise God so so much :) It's really made me repent and see that God has His perfect timing for everything that isn't the same as the time we see..

Will update with the link soon. :)

At the moment, preparing for exams (1 at a time!) is quite draining :( and realising that I do need to take better care of people around me + myself by resting more and being more alert! Major shoutout to John for the notes and I hope you get that position with LSS :)

Really praise God this week by guiding me through changing my major from Int Business to Finance :) I think He really made me realise (read something on Prov 31) how blessed I am to be given the chance to study Business (that I've always whined about and hated) and to be equipped with valuable skills to serve my family, my future family (yay!), church family + others who don't know Christ :) From now on I shall no longer hate but study with joy +; thankfulness! If I'm complaining, someone please remind me! =P I also realise how precious it is to have older sisters in Christ I can ask for wise and godly advice :) many thanks to the brothers + sisters who reminded me that God can be using whatever we're doing to serve and glorify Him.

On another note, am so so excited that Gracepoint Burwood will be so close to Westfield's (and so close to my old house!), and am currently praying and thinking about whether I should go to the Lidcombe Evening service plant next year. God has been so gracious in the mission opportunities He has provided even though our church was having a lot of stress with having nowhere to meet for service, and just a whole lot of uncertainty but God uses these things to make us realise that we only need to rely on Him in prayer, be willing to go wherever He tells us to, and to be ready to hold out the gospel to everyone and anyone :) Please be praying for the ministry God has given to the church to be reaching out and training international students in Cumbo & even (maybe) starting a Christian youth group @ Homebush Boys! :D

I have decided to stay at Burwood Extreme for another year to encourage + support to my lovely little sisters who are starting Year 12! :D It is my prayer that these youth will be serving and loving and growing in Him even when the stress hits! I'm really looking forward to making support packs for you girls + shouting you guys de-stressing cafe adventures + iced chocolates/coffees :)
- I shouldn't forget my brother in all this.. okay I'll be nicer to you from now on :D

Also, am thinking of going to KYLC and doing Children's Ministry Strand 1 next year, and really praying that many of the Extremers will come and be equipped with how to read + lead with His word :) Seriously, I thank God so much for the way He has been growing you guys this year to step up to lead! So so encouraged!

It is now 12.32am and time for me to sleep so I can make the last 10AM Constitutional lecture tomorrow morning. For once :) Love you all :D

Another thought I had today was that I should really stop fangirling over groups like Big Bang, etc etc. :( I admit I get infatuated/obsessed with things and constantly just maul over it. Approaching the age of 20, time to grow up, further understand my identity in + mature in Christ :)

1 Corinthians 13:11

¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.

Came back with some photos!

FBF!!!! I accidentally thought my cheatsheet was scrap paper so ran over it with my chair a few times. :(

the mission team to Omagari/Sapporo :)

haha white radishes are roots - like ROOTEd in Christ, get it? ;D also, vegetables can't plant or grow themselves, they have to be planted and grown by Christ :)

it's also because we were thinking of what to cook for the Australian Outreach Nights and we realised that we needed a lot of vegetables, but apparently it's really expensive in Japan, so we were (jokingly) going to bring 25kg of potatoes, carrots, apples etc from Australia) :P

How to be Content

2010-10-05T11:40:00.003+11:00

I found this Recipe For Contentment in SMH this morning.. what do you guys think of it? I wonder what the reactions would be if added to that list was "Have a partner who considered his glory above all else"..

RECIPE FOR CONTENTMENT

Have a happy partner

Don't be overworked or underworked

Prioritise family and community, and have a partner who does so as well

Don't be materialistic

Don't be obese

On other notes, I am super sick and have had to miss out on everything this week - though I had a very fun midsem break, where I did crazy things like...

PIZZA HUT BUFFET with the girls from uni,

go fabric shopping @ cabramatta + parramatta (!),

go to EXTREME CAMP!!!!! (which was the best camp EVER) where we learnt a lot about growth, bonded a lot with each other, served each other in wacky ways and just had an awesome time,

watch Despicable Me, had Korean food at this restaurant in this alleyway in the city which was really good & went to the Lindt Cafe all in the same day,

went on a walk with Focus from Bondi to Bronte to Coogee + had hotpot afterwards @ the summerhill manor,

went to the Maculty BBQ @ Kat's & had a seminar @ credo about relationships which was quite practical + useful, then had a japan mission meeting,

watched the final episode of MY GIRLFRIEND IS A GUMIHO with viv @ church, visited studylounge where heaps of year 12s were studying & had dinner with some FCG people @ darling harbour, followed by some awesome hat game fun :),

went to Brendan Wong's 21st dressed as villains (I went as the wolf who ate the grandma from little red riding hood.. Ninja still couldn't guess after very obvious clues!! =P )

and yeah.. going out everyday is probably how I got sick. :(

BUT IT WAS AWESOME :) okay, back to bed!

quite a rebuke :)

2010-09-07T23:50:00.001+10:00

Ministering When It's Inconvenient

Posted on 02.19.10 by Erin Davis
Topics: Impacting your world, Relationships with Others

In Matthew 15:29, we find Jesus trying to rest on a mountainside. He barely sat down when a crowd of people came to Him looking to be healed. How did He respond? He healed them.

When Jesus received word that His cousin, John the Baptist, had been killed, He tried to grieve alone. But crowds of people followed Him and begged for His attention. Scripture tells us that instead of hiding in His grief, He had compassion and healed the sick in the crowd (Matthew 14:13–14).

On the night before Jesus was betrayed, He didn't hide out. He didn't run away. He spent the evening with His disciples. He even took the time to serve them by washing the mud from their feet (John 13:1–17).

If we look closely, we find an interesting pattern. We know that Jesus spent His time on earth serving others. But have you ever considered how often He ministered when it was inconvenient?

He served others when He was tired.
He served others when He'd have rather been alone.
He served others when He was sad.
He served others when He'd been serving non-stop for days and days.
He served others when things went terribly wrong in His own life.
He even served others when He knew His own death was right around the corner.

I am deeply challenged by this truth. You see, I don't mind serving others when it's convenient for me. I like to help out when it works into my schedule or fits into my agenda for the day. But there are lots of times when ministry is inconvenient. I'm tired. I'm stressed. I've got more important things to do than to meet the needs of those around me. Under those circumstances, I feel justified in giving priority to my own needs and temporarily ignoring the needs of others.

But this isn't how Jesus lived. It isn't how Jesus served. And it isn't what He wants from you and me.

The reality is, serving others requires sacrifice. If we only do it when it's convenient, we're missing the point.

What's keeping you from serving like Jesus? Will you let Him inconvenience you today?

The creeping up of Spring

2010-09-06T13:36:00.003+10:00

Heavy sunshine and cool breezes.

Spring and Summer, how I have missed thee.

It didn't seem too long ago that I wore my black thongs everyday in the summer, running around. Yet as I tried them on again, it made me feel like I was meeting my cousins again after a few years; cousins who I could be very close with, yet every time we meet for the first time, there's an awkward shyness, a foreign feeling and sometimes some discomfort when we don't fit together as well as we used to.

Nowadays it doesn't feel like I'm stopping.. there's always something to be done after something else. I'm longing for that time where I'll get to sit around and gaze at insignificant things; the things I never get time to pay attention to.

I've actually been spending a lot of time on sewing and just simple craft design blogs lately. Among my favourites is A Little Red Ribbon - I've realised that a lot of these ladies who run these blogs are mothers who want to express their creativity whilst loving the people around them, and they're a wonderful read.

Bizarrely, the fact that there's only 2 and a half months to go until Japan startles me. So little time.. yet I can feel that God is still teaching me day to day, whether I realise it or not.

Yesterday while on the bus, the gusty winds swung the whole vehicle from side to side - it was quite scary, really. Lately I've been quite unsettled and unsure about some things, and my bookmark that I was quite sure was randomly placed, brought me to Psalm 13 in the bible.

How Long, O LORD?

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

¹How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
²How long must I take counsel in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

³Consider and answer me, O LORD my God;
light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
⁴ lest my enemy say, "I have prevailed over him,"
lest my foes rejoice because I amshaken.

⁵But I have trusted in your steadfast love;
my heart shallrejoice in your salvation.
⁶I will sing to the LORD,
because he has dealt bountifully with me.

Euge has been telling us to do this thing for ages: pondering on the words the psalmist uses, why they use that word, where else in the bible it's used...

Trying that yesterday, it takes a long time to ponder over a single psalm - I can see how someone could be thinking about this for a whole day, or even a whole week!

What does the word steadfast mean? Why does David trust so much in this steadfast love? Should we be trusting in it? What does it mean to be trusting in it? Why does he use the word steadfast and not anything else, for surely God's love is not just steadfast? Is God the only place/one we can find steadfast love in?

Why does David rejoice? Why does it find joy, when the rest of his psalm is in such a longing tone? What does it mean for us to be rejoicing even when we're asking God for answers?

What is the salvation that David speaks of? If the salvation as we know it comes from Jesus, is David referring to Jesus, the one who was promised by God? Or is it another type of salvation, such as from war?

Because. It's a big word. BECAUSE of what He's done already, I'll sing to him - David doesn't say, I'll sing to him so He'll deal with me bountifully... and what does bountifully mean anyway?

Hmm...

Praise God also for Credo mission on campus :) I liked John Smuts' talk on 'If I were God I'd end the Suffering' especially, and the Muslim & Christian debate was especially eye opening -I realise that I have a lot of reading up to do. Be sure to check out the video/audio recordings on the Credo website!

.. and then there's reading for the Constitutional law essay.

6 Items or Less

2010-08-05T17:06:00.002+10:00

While surfing Soompi last night and throughout today, armed with a sewing machine, looking for ideas on what to make for a 21st present (which I found heaps of ideas on in the Show Me Your Creations! thread (everything is awesomely cute), I came across the thread Six Items of Clothing where some Soompiers were discussing whether it would be possible to wear the same 6 items of clothing for a whole month, not including underwear and accessories.

Upon a bit of reflection, many of Mum's lectures and nags about how I don't wear most of the things in my wardrobe, come to mind. PeiChi told me about her workmate who clears her wardrobe and only shops for 10 items of clothing per season, and when that season is over, she donates/throws the clothes away and starts new with 10 new ones. Pretty revolutionary when I first heard it.

However, the thread linked to a site called Six Items or Less, which is where the original, and actual project started worldwide. About 100+ people joined in the challenge of selecting and committing to wearing 6 items of clothing, and wearing it indifferent combinations; one woman claimed her husband didn't even notice, and another girl, her parents. Pretty amazing right? Day in and day out, many around the world blogged about their adventure/journey/plight/nightmare or whatever it was, and it's amazing reading about them getting to the finish line and reflecting on the change they have gone through in their lives, whether it be moving out of home and into college, or travelling on a trip overseas.

I've always had an issue with overpacking on camp; I think it's the Asian inside me... or my mum constantly reminding me that I could do no wrong by carrying extra, whether it be camp in Year 2, camp in Year 7, Duke of Ed in Year 9 and 10, travelling overseas to HK (where my parents tell me that I'm going to buy lots of clothes anyway), or even law camp last year, where the bus driver smirked/laughed at me asking, "So how many days are you going for?" as I loaded by bag on the bus. I didn't answer and just smiled embarrassedly, running away - wait, make that half running away, because of the shell on my back, which was in reality the huge Duke of Ed-style backpack my mum encouraged me to bring.

So the thought of travelling for almost two months at the end of the year scares me a bit, because I know I will be packing sooo much, despite advice to pack lightly as we'll be moving around and travelling alot. That, and because I doubt and in fact do not wish for my arms to be fully built after a semester of studying Constituitional and Contracts - after all, as Cheryl says, we're law students and not bodybuilders.

Hey, while we're talking about textbooks, really praising God for the people he's put around me and the facilities he's placed to help me not buy my textbooks this sem (because I'm cheap...) and a major shoutout to Jonolee for always being so awesome and lending me his business textbooks, even when there is such a high demand for the finance textbook :D you're the best!!! & hopefully borrowing and renewing the law textbooks at the library will get me through!

Anyway, so about packing for holidays, let me link you to a fantastic blog entry on 6 items or less by this girl who travelled a whole month overseas with 6 items of clothing, taking 5 minutes to pack (it usually takes me at least a few hours.. and perhaps a week for a 3 day hike! There's always something I manage to forget as well..).

I'll post some extracts of her entry:

My 6 included a pair of leggings, a skirt, 3 tops, and a knit jacket and let’s face it skirts aren’t really travel friendly clothing. Desperately needed another pair of leggings but was determined not to buy another one. As a result of which I think I’ve extracted as much value as I could out of that $10 I spent buying them...
..
By the way, my parents didn’t notice that I was wearing the same 6 day in and day out. A few years back I’d have gotten a good listening for not being well turned out, etc. Guess I managed decently with the 6. Also, a few of the guys I know have been swearing they live in 6 pieces (4 shirts + 2 trousers) of clothing any way. They just get a new set of the same every 6 months. Hmmm… (my note: word!)
..
All in all here’s what I got from my 1 month:

– No need for spares. Be it clothing or stationery or anything else.

+ Leggings are awesomely comfortable. And they hang-dry way quicker than jeans

+ Check for longer lasting clothes. And bang for buck.

+ What doesn’t fit you anymore will surely fit someone else. Give it away

+ People aren’t always watching you and noting what you wear.

+ If you’re comfortable and okay, it’s all okay

+ it’s not difficult to stick to a routine,

especially when you’ve got a 100 other people doing the same thing :)

It brought a smile to my face the joyfulness and just enthusiasm these ladies (and gentlemen!) had on the blog, and I could tell they learnt a lot about being less.. wasteful (?) with their wardrobes... and there's ANOTHER amazing project this girl did called The Uniform Project where she (and others now!) committed to wearing this one particular black dress for 365 days a year with different accessories and items and stuff, to raise awareness for children who couldn't afford education, and she donated the money that she got donated to these children, and ended up raising $103,374 = 287 kids in school! Her outfits are quite amazing though, and you could hardly notice them at all :)

Sooooo, yes. I'm sitting at the library now waiting for Credo Public Meeting to start, and was going to do some law readings when I came across this! Hope you guys enjoyed reading and I'll keep sharing interesting things I find with you guys :D

Something I spotted in a signature =)

2010-08-05T01:21:00.000+10:00

Question:
If you knew a woman who was pregnant, who already had 8 kids -- three who were deaf, two who were blind, one mentally retarded, and she had syphilis, would you recommend that she have an abortion?

Answer: If you said YES, you just killed Beethoven.

Mission Prep Update #1 Prayer group

2010-07-29T23:06:00.003+10:00

Hey guys, preparation for the mission at the end of the year has confirmed dates now, and one of the things I'd like to do is to get a bunch of friends who would be willing to pray for me while I'm are in Japan & I'd love to keep in touch with you guys, updating you with what's happening in the preparation and while we're in Japan with a prayer letter/email/newsletter :)

Please let me know by telling me your email address and thanks so much for supporting us through prayer :)

Personality Test

2010-07-29T10:59:00.001+10:00

You are an ENFP (Extravert, Intuitive, Feeler, Perceiver)

ENFPs represent between 6 and 8% of the U.S. population

Curious, energetic, adaptable, and creative, ENFPs like considering unconventional approaches. They enjoy batting around ideas and finding creative solutions and are energized and intrigued by new possibilities and anything out of the ordinary. ENFPs tend to be talkative, enthusiastic, playful, and generally fun-loving people. Warm and caring, ENFPs have strong personal values upon which they base most decisions. Conversations with ENFPs can be very circular as they excitedly move from one topic to the next, making connections and associations.

Unconventional and occasionally irreverent, they pride themselves on their uniqueness and originality. Optimistic, and spontaneous, ENFPs have a strong sense of the possible. For them, life is an exciting drama. Because they are so interested in possibilities, ENFPs see significance in all things and prefer to keep lots of options open.

What's yours?:D
www.personalitytype.com

Prodigal: An Animation

2010-07-20T11:49:00.000+10:00

Reflections on Rice Revo & Kids Club MYE

2010-07-17T18:58:00.006+10:00

Last night was the best 9 hours of sleep I've gotten in a really, really long time :)

Waking up late and missing the 10:53 train this morning was how my day started this morning, along with convincing my brother to skip Chinese class to come to Rice Revo; praise God, my parents actually were okay with it!

So met up with quite a number of Extremers at Central to go to UNSW today, got a bit lost, had a lot of bus ticketing difficulties... but overall, it was really a day that made me want to praise God endlessly.

Even just gathering together as youth from our church was extremely (ha!) encouraging, and getting time traveling, eating lunch, chatting with you guys were so so valuable to me.. just getting to know you guys better, and seeing you guys being fired up and being challenged for Jesus makes me love you guys more and more, just as if you were my own children (even though I'm only 2-5 years older than you guys!)!

Today's theme for Rice Revo was revival (from what I got!) and God through His word & His servants really convicted us about being lukewarm, and how we're missionaries wherever we are, whether we're at school, uni, work, in our social groups or in our families... God gives us so many opportunities in our everyday lives, and it's true when Steve said that as we get older, we get busier doing more ministry things but our non-Christian friendship circle fades so rapidly and there's less people to simply tell about Jesus from the bible, pray for them + ask to church..

What I really saw today (along with getting my own reminders about continuously fueling the fire and asking God to take away the things that rob my affections for Jesus so that we can be entirely consumed + satisfied with God), was a lot of young people who are a bit younger than I am being so passionate for God, who want to see their friends and family saved. It made me a bit sad that I didn't try going to ISCF when I was in high school (although God works in His perfect timing!) and I really praise God for the love and encouragement that the NSGB ISCF give to each other! I saw Sharon and Julia, whom are my peer support kids from when they were in year 7 three years ago, and I really praise God that He has made you His children and that we're sisters in Christ! As Una said, today was really overwhelming and emotional, and I saw lots of hugs and a few people in tears..

What we learn can merely be taught to others, but what we experience we need to imitate and display to others... because we experience and encounter his love, we need to love one another and J loved us, displaying his love.

Adrian also talked about how God's pursue of us is like a guy proposing to a girl, and how the girl doesn't need to prove if she's worthy of being a wife. Rather, she just says "Yes, I do"; it's her commitment that she gives, and she's committing to him and no one else; just like how we need to say "Yes" to commit to Jesus everyday and say "No" to other things everyday.

Coming back to simplicity, Matt x2, Jane, Emma, Andrew, Zoe, Nat & I have been serving at St Luke's @ Clovelly for the past week in their Kids Club. It was so much fun, and it has been a time where God has been showing me and teaching me more about kids! I'm really sad to hear that people don't think that Kids Ministry is worth the time and effort that others think it is, because kids are the most amazing people and Jesus loved them so, so much.

The K-2 kids we were teaching were sooo cute, so well mannered, so enthusiastic and most of all.. they really surprised me with their answers on the last day when we learnt about Heaven. On the first day, we learnt about how God created everything in 7 days and the talk I did... was pretty bad. I couldn't engage their attention all the time and I made the mistake of not sitting on the carpet with them :(

We had an awesome workshop on Tuesday with a lady who was a children's worker on storytelling, and I learnt some amazing skills, such as never raising your voice with kids but dropping your voice so they pay more attention and listen, and using your body, your tone, your facial expressions, using tone, volume, pitch, actions, cultural allusions, discussion questions, eye contact with every single child... it was really insightful and I definitely was really equipped by the brothers & sisters @ St Luke's when I was there so a major thanks to them and to God for the week, and really could see how different parts of the church could serve, whether it be by teaching, by playing with the kids, prepping food or playing the guitar!

So on Monday, we learnt about creation, planting cress seeds (which I didn't think would do anything because the packet said it'd take 5-8 days or something like 10-14 days!! but praise God they grew!), making animals out of marshmellows, biscuits and M&Ms (and it was truly by God's grace because I had no idea what to do because we didn't have bananas and we forgot we couldn't give them nutella :( ), played this memory game where we built up on what we thanked God for, and one of the boys (and no he wasn't Asian! =P) he shouted out, "Thanks God for CHEAP PRICES!", which got a laugh out of everyone after him who had to repeat it =P I was actually surprised by some of their comments/questions like, "Who is God's mum then?" "Everything is God!" etc etc which were quite interesting..

On Tuesday, we learnt from Zoe about the prodigal son and she really awesomely used a farm set which worked really well visually. We then made pig masks and kids love painting! I painted for the first time in ages too, and it worked really well. The seeds starting sprouting! We started learning our memory verse, John 3:16 by cutting up the sentence into little individual words and distributed them to the kids and they would collectively build the verse together after reading it together. I think their favourite part was shouting, JOHN 3:16! at the end; well, it was MY favourite part! :D

On Wednesday, we learnt from Nat about the lost sheep and coin, and Nat hid the coins around the room and they all had to find one each to demonstrate how happy they were when they found them, just like how happy God was to find us! We made sheep in a paddock from pom poms that Nat and I made and they loved them :) Who is this Shaun/Sean the Sheep by the way? All the kids named their sheep Shaun/Sean! =P I used Julie's story about Sam the Shepherd and his lost sheep Wooly, which was a really good interactive story where they repeat every line/action that you do to tell the story, it's really fun!

On Thursday, we learnt from Zoe how Jesus is the good shepherd and we made another paddock but with felt animals, and she led us all in a roleplay game where she was the shepherd and the kids were sheep around the room, demonstrating the roles of protecting, leading, guiding and fending off enemies that a good shepherd does. Nat was the tree and I was the wolf!! (complete with growls and teeth-baring, ha!)

On Thursday arvo, the minister there also gave us a handout about church planting and talked about how their church plant came to be and explained to us the process of how they did it, consisting of a core team of 17 entering the area and living as missionaries, getting to know everyone around the suburb and meeting up in someone's lounge room and eventually moving into a building and just forming friendships with neighbours. I've been thinking a bit about whether to move to Lidcombe or stay at Burwood next year, and for now I've said that I'll wait and see where most of the year 12 girls in my group next year will go, so I can encourage them :) the minister mentioned how it was good for us to consider being part of church planting, and it does sound very exciting and if I'm considering long term mission in the future perhaps it would be really helpful to be part of that... but at the same time, if everyone moved it would just be relocation! :(

On Friday, I gave my second talk and it was on HEAVEN - the best party ever :) I made a golden ticket (like the ones from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) and it was a ticket to heaven (the best party ever) and it would start from when Jesus came back and it would finish.. well, NEVER!

Today I was thinking about why heaven is so special. To be honest, I hadn't really thought about it deeply until perhaps the end of last year; I had only read bits of Revelation by then but I didn't really think much about it, but Peichi led me to read through Revelations 21-22 with her while listening to a Mark Driscoll talk on it, and as Dan said in his talk, finding out about the end really changes how you see the middle of the story (which is where we're living now!).

To me now, I guess I see heaven as God's promise to us. It's where he promises he'll bring us at the end of the journey, the battle, the race; it's our prize - and the reason why it's the best prize ever is because we get to spend forever and ever with Him. It's spending the rest of eternity with the one person you admire, you cherish, you pine after. Then again, perhaps considering the alternative, which is spending forever away from Him and His love & everything that is good, because He's the giver of those good things. The bible says it'll be painful too, not a walk in the park...

So I followed Robin's advice and Nat's suggestion and split up the talk into two parts. The first part was on how God would only let us into his big party at his house if we were Jesus' friend, like how our friend's parents would only let us into their houses if we knew their children, while the second part was about how Jesus tells us all to give up everything and follow him, and I used the stories of the rich young man and Zaccheus to illustrate how some people did and were saved, and some didn't.

I actually found the talk quite hard to write, and didn't get much sleep the night/morning before haha. It was a really humbling experience, and through kids club I realised just how abstract some of these concepts were and how great the gift of the Holy Spirit is in being able to understand His word. Nicodemus asks in John 3 how one can enter God's kingdom, and Jesus replies that one has to be born again. When Nicodemus asked how old people could be born again, Jesus clarifies that they must be born again of water and Spirit. When Nicodemus asked how this could be, Jesus replies that just as the snake that Moses lifted up, so must the son of God be lifted up so that whoever believes in him shall have eternal life, because the son of God has been the only one who has gone into heaven and came from heaven. Man, that's really confusing even for a big kid like me! :(

Anyway, this snake that Moses lifted up was actually mentioned in Numbers 21 in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament, as I discovered..

⁴ They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, ^c]">[c] to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; ⁵ they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!"

⁶ Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. ⁷ The people came to Moses and said, "We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from us." So Moses prayed for the people.

⁸ The LORD said to Moses, "Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live." ⁹ So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived.

Later on in 2 Kings 18,

Hezekiah King of Judah

¹ In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. ² He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother's name was Abijah ^a]">[a] daughter of Zechariah. ³ He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David had done. ⁴ He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called ^b]">[b] Nehushtan. ^c]">[c] )

Which I find really interesting :) Another thing we were taught was to not sell the bible short, nor the kids short - teach them biblical theology, because they do understand it! I was really surprised but really praising God for their answers to the questions, when I asked how the people felt, why Jesus was sad when the rich young man walked away, whether they noticed a pattern in the game we were playing where some kids followed Zoe even though no instructions were ever given to them to (I said in the end how we followed Zoe in that game but in life we follow Jesus! - Thanks Matt =P)

Jesus also replies that:
¹⁶"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,^f]">[f] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ¹⁸Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.^g]">[g] ¹⁹This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. ²¹But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."

which is amazing to think that God's love and Jesus didn't come to blame us or make us feel bad but to save us so graciously. Later on that day we made paper lanterns with cellophane with Nat and sang lots of I am the Way, the Truth and the Life :) we played with the kids, the parents had a sausage sizzle and talked with each other and some of the people from the church and it was awesome! I really miss them so much now... they're so sweet and cute, and the things they said.. I was gonna melt! :D The minister there gave us books as gifts and wizz-fizz and fizzers.. yay! :) We really got loved so much by them! :) Nat and I then went to Bondi to go shop a bit, and I must say that I'm really proud of her, she didn't buy anything at JB HiFi! =P

Later that day I also got a call from PreUni about working there so I'll be working there from now on, and a call from one of my student's mum and we arranged a time so I'm pretty excited and really thanking God for answering my prayer for work :) Pete told me today that it's quite probable that we'll buy our plane tickets for the Japan mission this week, and perhaps God is opening more doors to make going overseas for mission for Him possible. At the same time, I'm not too worried if I don't end up saving enough for mission, perhaps it's just His way of telling me that He doesn't want me going which I know is for good & all under His plan!

Loooong blog tonight! :) sorry have had a lot on my mind. It's freezing! :( stay warm everyone & continue to live God glorifying lives (:

lots of love,
shirley :)

CAN I SCREEEEEEAM?!

2010-06-28T23:23:00.003+10:00

??!?!?!?!?!?!??!

I could scream right now; but I shall take deep breaths instead.

How do you be honest with someone yet be considerate and sensitive to their feelings while you're blowing up inside?
How did Jesus do it... ??!

On a side note, it's finally holidays! :) and i want to be sleeping lots.. and may just self-learn japanese as it is a lot more expensive than expected :(

by the by, this deserves a FANCLUB; i'm going to buy potatoes this week and try it! :D

The final stretch.

2010-06-24T00:16:00.008+10:00

makes

slightly better (:
heaps more to read, let's get to work!

edit @ 4.02AM:
am really tired.. but amfinished going through john's notes :D thanks for being a lifesafer, john!
see you guys on the other end!

Attempt #1 @ making red bean rice (pot bab)

2010-06-23T19:26:00.005+10:00

'

So this was my first attempt at making this; the day before my 2 exams haha.. :) though it didn't turn out the purple that I thought it would, it was an interesting experience and it didn't take too long to make either!
I definitely will try to soak the beans longer & maybe even simmer them after that to make sure they're soft.. because they were a bit harder than desired this time, even at the end :(

Taeyang - Wedding Dress (English Version by Kevin Lien) W/ LYRICS

2010-06-23T02:28:00.000+10:00

ahhh! :) D-8 TIL SOLAR!
& this is a fantastic cover :)
Now I know it's late,
but I just can't wait
until all these exams are OVER.

LOL of the day. - a YG Family heavy post :)

2010-06-22T16:52:00.008+10:00

After a year of owning the 2ne1 album, I watched the MV for Fire for the first time today!

So here it is; at 3:21 of the MV, here is GD making a cameo appearance! =P

credit as linked :)

This was back in the days when he was depressed and I think he was getting treatment for it, but it's nice to see him being so goofy :)

Missing Taeyang & Wedding Dress epically! :( His album comes out in 9 days, anyone in for a group order? :)

I saw a really good dance cover of WD today; this dance group is pretty awesome - it's in the States, though!

and their cover of Haru Haru; they were JUST like BB... almost. =P

some happy snaps @ judy & venus' 21sts; i love you girls! (:

2010-06-21T12:01:00.010+10:00

am about to go do my stats exam in a few hours.. and i feel like i don't know anything! :(

Am also thinking about looking into the TESOL diploma the Jane told me about.. but I should do this after exams! D:

My mum made me support food! :) am feeling really loved right now & am going to try a bit harder to understand my parents' POV in whether I should be continuing with law right now..
peace! :)

exam time!

2010-06-20T22:03:00.002+10:00

Wow.

It has been a loong time since I blogged, apparently!

In exam mode at the moment, and struggling to study... and yes it's a problem, because it makes me not want to study at all! (so I don't!)
but got an exam boost today! :) love you so much Nicole, haha! :)

and many many many thanks to all the encouragement sms's, messages, FB messages + prayers + words of encouragement I've gotten from everyone.. I feel really loved :D and thanks for reminding me that the result doesn't matter & to trust God because I've been saved into His wonderful family! :D & to Mum for always reassuring me that it's okay if I need to repeat the subject.. hehe. :)

congrats to Joel + Caleb for their baptism today! all these babies at church, so cute!

What I learnt about today..

Exodus 34: what Jesus would say to us if we were in a room with him; face to face, toe to toe, knee to knee.. and Andrew used a wonderful example a mother who has twins who have down syndrome. One of the kids sorta.. didn't do so well at toilet training and he came in crying at a family dinner because he couldn't control himself and stuff.. and he was just so helpless and he was just in tears. The first thing his mum does when she runs over is give him a hug.

Just like we are sinful creatures who are just shamefully.. in sin.. God loves us; and the glory of God that moses was overwhelmed to only see a glimpse of we see in his son, Jesus.

When Jesus was alive, people were so close as to touch him, punch him, spit at him.. and kill him
even though he's God's glory in person and so if we were to see Jesus face to face and looking him in the eye.. he'd tell us non stop that he loves us; even if we are sinful, he loves us + despite everything he loves us.

This morning @ Extreme, Dan gave us a great talk on Revelations 19-20, and about how Kesus is going to defeat his enemies when he comes back and he'll judge everyone, because God records everything we do in his books, showing that he doesn't take sin lightly and that he's a just judge
but at the same time, he's merciful + he records those who have faith in his son in the book of life, which you can do nothing to get into apart from have faith

things I'm thinking about now..
changing courses... :( but there's much to think about and consider; should think about this after exams!!

and this is us, haha, Nicole, me + Nat! :) today we were colour coordinated again, and in height order + age order, all wearing navy + wearing glasses during service (I took mine off afterwards :( ) !! :D thanks Karel for taking the pic :)

PS. am so full of praise + thanks to God for Extreme. :) I love you girls! (and guys!) please continue to pray for our mission to Southside in 2 weeks!!