my fight. my race. my faith

always find the meaning, never lose sight of the purpose

2010-02-26T23:11:00.005+08:00

today is the last day of one of our team leaders- serene. she is being promoted to senior manager in another cdc. i was moved by her farewell email in which that she shared about her passion in this line of work and cited a few real stories of her encounters with her clients. I was deeply touched as I was reminded of being a compassionate person in this job. how often, I was carried away by the numerous calls and requests from clients which i forgot about how a small gesture of care could bring an impact to someone's life.

i want to continue to find the meaning in what i do and never lose sight of the purpose here :)

help me, G.

girls jus wanna have some fun

2010-02-26T23:02:00.002+08:00

last week, we met together for a belated birthday dinner for livi. ooh, i really like this picture alot. the colors, the pose and of course the ladies :p

another post- cny outing with some of my colleagues at KTV. we were belting out many chinese songs with some english songs sung by pin sung too :p hehe.

from left: yiping, peiru, esther, ruiling, me.

2010-01-26T19:23:00.001+08:00

have so much to say, but don't know where to start

a surprise visit

2010-01-23T23:35:00.002+08:00

i was very blessed by a few lovely peeps who popped by with a surprise visit :) :) its gonna be a nice sleep with lotsa sweet dreams.

ID2010

2010-01-19T18:36:00.002+08:00

A very happy belated New Year to you! :D

Last weekend was really a great time at our first combined service 2010 at Suntec! I also had my first chance to sit among the congregation, a refreshed break for me. I danced so hard, not remembering that Suntec floor shakes. I recalled Shirls' sermon few weeks ago on The Worshiping Community. extreme Devotion with extreme Emotion = Extravagant Worship! Qianjin led really well for the second praise- Real. The lights effects were so creatively and aptly done!

Much thanks to the endless coughing & sneezing, I got to stay at home today to also digest ID2010 sermon by Ps Jeff. A very clear call for us all in 2010: To be a disciple and to be a disciple-maker. I was reminded of my own God's Aim, how am I doing in my personal God's Aim. As a believer for years, spiritual habits are really a personal responsibility. I need to faithfully and quietly read the bible everyday. God reveals alot (and really alot) through our personal God's Aim time. The truth that I need to hear, sometimes, is painful but needful. I'm excited to learn more in-depth about Matthew 5-7.

Next, i also evaluated how am I doing to disciple someone. how often, the word- "disciple-maker" sounds like a very huge word, its like only big shots like bill hybels or billy graham can be called a disciple-maker. however, the sermon changed my perspective. a disciple-maker encourages a heart. a disciple-maker adjusts a misconception. a disciple-maker affirms a right. a disciple- maker corrects a wrong. Now, these are some things which I can do. I can model a right attitude. I can share my past experiences or new things I learnt. All these can be done in DAILY living :) I need to add "intentionality" in doing so and not live my days anyhow. I don't mean to say that we need to get into the whole act of planning and scheduling and trying to slot in activities for our schedule. Rather, to ask God to heighten our sensing of Him everyday, so that whoever we meet, whatever we do, we are living in the present, at the moment.

I am excited about this year and what's is to come :)

4 days to Christmas!

2009-12-20T12:29:00.002+08:00

aaaiiiyyyoooooo! i haven blog for so long >.<>

a week ago...

Shirls: "hello shuz ar, you and roy free for a dinner on 19 Dec? yups lor, i wanna go enjoy good food after my pre-cmas sermon..."

19 Dec...

After finishing our ramens, we were chatting over our green tea when suddenly, "he" appeared in front of us!!! *gasps* i let out a scream & roy stared in shock for a few secs.

Its SENG! :D :D :D

It surprised me because he told us he was coming back on 27 Dec. :) It was a very pleasant & happy surprise by a good friend! and shirls actually knew of the surprise plot. what a fun night!

2009-11-29T21:25:00.002+08:00

Discerning leaders of artistic teams hold loosely the way things are done,

always recognize that if there is a better way to do process,

we need to be bold enough to

make the change.

Pg 83- An Hour on Sunday

Gangsters Paradise!

2009-11-12T21:21:00.007+08:00

Attended my first D&D on 4th Nov! :) it was a whole lot of fun and laughter during the night! Everyone was dressed up for the theme "Gangsters Paradise" and KUDOS to Ian (aka iannie... hahaha ^^) for organizing the event for us. most of all, here are some pics to formally intro my great colleagues at CS CDC!

Pic 1

Extreme left is Jolain, one of our senior managers! She has a cute cute son~

2nd on the left is my kawaii team leader (TL), Chew Leng. her nick sounds as cute- "chew chew". She is the one handling most of my cases for approval and she is encouraging! sometimes, i'll make some careless mistakes here and there, she will patiently point out to me and guide me along, esp in my sentence structure (hoho~)

Next to ChewChew is Carina (the one with the biker look *whistle*). Just caught a movie- song of sparrows with her yesterday! so arty that we dont quite get the meaning of the ending. hahahah~

Next to Carina is Andrea!! my wonderful & always-so-bubbly covering buddy! In CS CDC, every officer has a covering buddy for our duties if we are on MC or on leave. She is really a wonderful person, very helpful in follow-upping on my cases or clients whenever i'm on MC. and oh, she luvvv KOI the bubble tea!! ^^

and then....we have Jane Tan! recently got married too! she won the first prize of the D&D- LCD TV!

Extreme right is Xiangru (aka xiangxiang or ah xiang). She specializes in our payment stuffs. a sweet lady who enjoy reading.

Pic 2

Posing with me is Jane Lee. She is from our employment dept. Just today, she brought me to her fav hangout- specs shop!! I cant wait to collect my specs!! :D Jane has a cheerful personality~
Pic 3

Welcome to the Ah-Lians gang! hoh! Lady in Pink is my Senior Manager, Elizabeth aka Eliz! Can you believe it?! she is the same age as me! Eliz is a very approachable person, patiently guide me in my assessment of cases.

Lady in green is Janelle! i always think that she has a eurasian look. maybe because of her sharp features :)

(we'll skip the lady in white first ;p)

Lady in yellow is Pei Ching aka Mdm Teo or ah teo. She is another very helpful person during my initial weeks in CDC.

Lady in blue is Ling Ling, sometimes we called her "Ms Neo". Also one of our senior managers, on most days, she will have her own kawaii pink lunch box.
Pic 4

here are the newbies who joined CDC this year!

(from left) We have Xavier (aka ah tiong), Adel, Joreen, Pin Sung, Jasmin (me la) & Kumaran! It was a good chit-chat time after the D&D in Joreen's room.
Pic 5

Tada! This is Adeline aka Adel. She is also the one in white suit during the event. My days in CDC have been filled with much laughter and joy because of Adel. we are toilet partners, lunch kakis, blah blah. 3 fun things about Adel: Adel LOVES to SHOPP! She could buy 3 things within 30 minutes! i have to pull her out of the shop. hah~ Adel LOVES to dragon-boat! She has been going for DB twice a wk to train for an upcoming competition in PA. Adel LOVES to say "Is my hair okay ar?" keke teeheehee!

amplifying every detail of the Christian life

2009-11-05T15:38:00.002+08:00

- It’s where our Bible study becomes much more intense, because we’re not merely reading Scripture as a devotional or academic exercise, but we’re searching for fresh insights and wisdom to use in reaching our spiritually confused neighbors.

- It’s where our prayer life becomes ever more focused, because we’re pleading for God’s help and guidance in bringing the gospel to family members who don’t know Christ.

- It’s where our worship becomes increasingly heartfelt, because we’re praising the God of the second chance, who in his astonishing grace loves our wandering friends even more than we do.

- It’s where our dependence on God reaches new heights, because we know that apart from the Holy Spirit there’s no way we can bring anyone to the point of putting their trust in Jesus.

(adapted from an article by Lee Strobel)

The article serves as a fresh reminder for me about reaching out to someone. Its the time of the rain again. Entering fall season. Christmas is here.

Wedding bells still ringing?

2009-10-22T20:53:00.020+08:00

5 months after the wedding, i realized there were still some photos coming in :) Here are some to share. cant found on facebook too. haha. enjoy!

my darling aunt Jane

my dearie hougang neighbors!!! Ying & You!

my gals are so spiritual sia... bible quiz for gate-crashing?!

my handsome daddy!

my impish sister! i luv her

this is one of my fav! check out their very diff poses! Hendra wins!

many many very pretty cakes/kuehs were displayed. most of them hand-made by Rendy's mother! (Rendy is Roy's niece, how cool right!) i was so tempted to eat them mans :S but we were too busy going through the tea ceremony. i wish to eat them again in future.

:p teeheehee >.< (observe the witnesses' names)

surfing replies

2009-10-09T23:58:00.002+08:00

something interesting I'm going to do for this post- will be the replies to the random blogs I've read tonight :)

to the Dancer

dont you feel that how come people grow up so fast? sometimes TOO fast that we have not got enough time to think through thoroughly what we want to do in our life? or perhaps what do we want to do as our career? many many thoughts swimming in our mind when we near our last lap in our studies. but i really like your last para, to think about the big picture again :) its never about us, but about Him & how things are linked with Him. I believe the faithful Him will not leave u clueless when you are at any crossroads.

owner of Caramel

your recent post got me thinking about my faith as well. Why do I choose to believe Him as well. I shared a testimony in services weeks ago about how I grew up in church & how various people guided and impacted my life. Yet, nothing beats this: the very tangible experiences with Him. He was here to comfort when my mum passed away. He was here to guide when I entered my teenlife (all crazy & notty things in student life). He was here to supply strength & wisdom when I sat for my O's. He was here to encourage when I started my first job. and many many. Its a good time to remember :)

Miss Jonah

Out of your 10 things, point 5 hit me!

Briefly distance yourself from a decision in order to find reflective space and gain clarity. Look at the situation from a different reference point.

often times, I find myself too quick to offer an answer or solution to a situation/problem arise. Well, on another hand, leaders are trained to think quick on the spot to provide a way out (at least). However, the above statement displayed the next level of wisdom one could have. A leader should have enough discernment to know which situation or problem that need the space for thinking. Having the ability to see things on a broader perspective helps the leader to weigh things out in a more wholistic manner. Well, if a familiar situation comes around to find you again, perhaps the plain answer is to find more reference points :)

Taropanda (new nick!)

your latest post is so short & direct. i also agreed la, I will re-phrase like this:

Tough times are growth times! Rejoice!

Anyway, congrats for your presentation work today! I believe God has staged it in such a way to let you be a beam of light. You really inspire me alot in having excellent attitude at work. e.g. Servicing a client is not about how to avoid or reject additional work/ tasks, saying "oo... cant be done la... you never tell us to do in the first place" Rather, we ought to give our best service to clients & helping their business, in any ways we could. I know your team leader isnt the nicest boss around, like to arrow you & your colleagues to answer to clients when she doesnt know how to. Yet, you perservere to keep a right spirit about her. Hats off. Want to learn from you more :)

A Bday Lays

hahahah! yups, Y-Comm has a brand new name! Creatives! See you back soon! ^^

Alrightey, thats all for tonight. I can feel that my migrane is back to haunt me again ><><

An advance blissful marriage to Ron & Biqing! See ya at your wedding later! =)

plus.... THUR & FRI !

2009-09-16T22:47:00.004+08:00

Praise God for today cause' its....... MIDWEEK WED! :D yahoo! just 2 more days to a longer weekend~ Just met Jinqi over dinner for a catchup. drank huge bowls of soups from souperlicious soup spoon and dug into our durian puree and mango sago desserts! believe us, we were bloated @_@ nonetheless, it was a good time spent together, yakking away about our lives and work. Its really exciting to know that she is gonna be away for the next 5 days for a mission trip. its her first time, believe its gonna be real fruitful time! Jia you, JQ! :)

On a TUE 1030pm, Roy & I were beaming with joy as we drove to PJ's house with our very own apple tart- freshly baked from the oven! It was a belated birthday gift to him after a failed attempt on the 6th Sep :p An sms that followed warmed us up: "just wolf-ed down a chunk of it. Nice!" (i wonder how is that done... ^^)

Happy Birthday to....... MEI MEI! yups! We gathered for a family dinner on MON evening at my dad's favorite zicha stall to celebrate my lil imp sis' birthday! I think every year, i say almost the same thing to my meimei, she is really my constant friend, 24th listening ear and a very kind person who is sensitive to people's needs. She is really dear to me. Apart from that, the dinner was a happy one also due to the fact that the 2 boys joined us too. my dad's face literally lit up *light bulb*

I will never forget my dinner last SUN... crispy durian dessert, this-super-tasty-noodle, yummy soup- Da Hua, a cantonese fusion restaurant which Esmond brought us. Double thumbs UP! *salivating*

Attended my first annual District Meeting of Central Spore CDC last SAT. came at 1045am & left at 9pm. coincidence, it was themed as "Heroes". When I was going through the whole progress, it felt like I'm attending another camp (I've been to both the Youth Heroes camp & Adults Heroes camp) :p haha~ I was glad to be involved in the event as one of the stage person during the prize-giving moment. I observed and learnt a few good points too. its the post-event activity that i enjoyed the most- i went for coffee with some of my colleagues. It was really a good informal time to spend together. for the first time, I really enjoy working life. I felt that God is really so good to me, He blessed me with great & helpful colleagues in my current workplace. I'm glad that I stayed and "passed" the test in my first job. It really mold and trained my attitude in being a joyful and responsible employee.

As i'm closing off, Roy is on his way home from caregroup and he just called to say that he will buy a bowl of warm tau huey to share together :)

He's back!! Good night!!

9

2009-09-09T21:17:00.002+08:00

9 takes place in a world parallel to our own, in which the very legacy of humanity is threatened. A group of sapient rag dolls, living a post-apocalyptic existence find one of their own, 9 (Elijah Wood), who displays leadership qualities that may help them to survive.

The conflicted, but resilient group includes 1 (Christopher Plummer), a domineering war veteran; 2 (Martin Landau), an aged inventor; 5 (John C. Reilly), a stalwart mechanic; 6 (Crispin Glover), a visionary and artist; and 7 (Jennifer Connelly), a brave warrior.

There are at least several malevolent creatures up against this group; namely, the cat-skulled creature from the short film, a split-headed flying being that resembles both a bat and a manta ray in wing shape, and an insectoid creature with jointed legs and a pod-like body.

what is mature love?

2009-09-09T21:07:00.000+08:00

seeking understanding and reconciliation and not to prove your own perception as the only logical way to interpret what has happened.

Focus

2009-08-14T20:55:00.002+08:00

"...if you want the necessary to stand out,

you have to get rid of the unnecessary..."

missing 53rd cohort days...

2009-08-14T20:37:00.009+08:00

Hello world! Its been sometimes since i last blogged >.<>this was the first prata outing - visiting Raju and his prata. hoh! they have this prata called Chilli Prata. no joke, its crimson red in color and all who tried gave two thumbs up!
we went to water venture for some dragonboating too! it was my first time! and seriously its SUPER fun! :D posing with me is this guy - Stanly (yes, his Stanly is without an "e"). He is our cohort IC aka class monitor la. He's working in the Buona Vista CC, near holland V.
luvv this pic ALOT! it looks as if we are like super sporty and sunshine-y girls! hohoh! she is Shirlee, a very sporty girl. enjoys outdoor and water sports. she is real good at dragonboating mans!
ahh haaa! we had our farewell dinner themed "MisMatch" hee! posing with me is my secret pal! oh well, we had this secret pal game and i picked the name "Kevin". i was supposed to encourage, say nice things, buy nice snacks for him. hoho~ He is working in PA HQ.
Posing with the 3 ladies (from left): Shirlee, Yoke Ling and Canny. we were getting ready for our final project presentation! *gasps*
One more prata outing which was on my last night together.
Posing for a group pic while waiting for our food~~ Extreme left is Ian who works in Central Spore CDC too! :) He's been really nice, often text to offer breakfast delivery! :D

okays........lastly, HOW ARE YOU GUYS mans??? We have one more time to meet again, for our re-course! hoh! see you guys real soon! ><

53rd Cohort

2009-08-01T22:50:00.003+08:00

Am gonna see you guys one more official chance on coming Monday...

mixed feelings. excited to see our pictures of our "Mismatch" farewell dinner. cant wait to know who are the "Snow White & Prince, and the 7 dwarfs" too. looking forward to do lunch + tea breaks with you guys on Monday. Yet, its really mixed feelings inside to know that its our last official meetup together. Lets have reunion soon! :) hoho!

to 53rd cohort: you guys are a crazy & fun-loving & passionate bunch of people!

2009-07-27T15:19:00.000+08:00

“… at the end of the day, our church services are all about life change. If people drive away on Sunday mornings no different from when they came in, we haven’t accomplished anything that matters. We’re aiming for an enormous goal. We want people to make decisions… Our Daddy is in the business of changing human hearts… he has chosen to partner with the likes of us… We are called to prepare services that have the greatest potential for human beings to quiet their souls, to feel emotions deeply, and to choose growth and change. It is An Hour on Sunday."

(from An hour on Sunday by Nancy Beach)

Booked out for the weekend

2009-07-26T09:49:00.002+08:00

yesshh.... I am in the midst of my work induction camp :p before the camp, i was feeling all gloom and sian about it, cant leave behind my work (cases pile up as the clock ticks?), cant leave behind my people in midst of our Ess, cant leave behind ernie also (good thing is that he has the whole bed to himeself! ;p) However.......... after 4 days of the camp, I really and totally enjoyed it! :D Firstly, the average age is around 26-27, thus, it really does feel like back-to-school-days feeling! can click with most of my cohortmates (we are the 53th cohort induction). Secondly, I did dragonboating for the first time! It was really fun, except that it left me lots aches after that, including my butt-aches (haha!). Thirdly, I started on An Hour on Sunday! It is like a personal retreat for me, to do what i like- Reading! Am looking forward to this week of camp- we are going to OBS (YAY!!), doing some outdoor cooking plus our farewell dinner (I proposed the theme to be "Mismatch"!! How cool mans! Am gonna wear the same what i wore few youth camps ago.... hahahaha!)

Apart from the camp fun, I wanna say a huge huge SHOUT-OUTs to......................

Yao kor kor & Nate dude! they totally rocked us with an awesome & hilarious ESS program yesterday! (Kudos to Nate!)

YongDeong! I just have to blog about him- He is so FUNNYYYY, doing that guitaarrrr SOLOOOO *his own voice effects*

Pete! mans, I was laughing so hard with Philo besides me during his performance! It was one of the biggest "Da Dong Zhuo" I ever saw Pete in action!

Huiyang & Peter! Thks for playing my fav-est piece from FF. Its so melting la!

To the rest out there, if you missed out ESS part 1, pls pls pls dont miss out the 2nd! Its this weekend- 1 Aug! See ya there! :D

just one more thing before my next entry....

2009-07-16T23:16:00.001+08:00

"...without vision alignment, the people are busy doing something else..."

(from "it" by Craig Groeschel)

debster is what i called her

2009-07-16T23:01:00.005+08:00

i know i am super laggy in my blog..... >.< but anyway, a few of us celebrated Debbie's birthday last week! :) This girl ar..... Liting.... woops i meant.. Elaine........ nonono sorry....i MEANT Debbie, yups! She is truly one of my hao jie mei :D *grins* I have known her since donkey years (I meant since High School E times), she has been such a faithful and consistent friend towards me. If i have 15 days of annual leave, I will spend one of the days to go to her house & eat her all-time favorite- Curry Maggi Mee! (which was what I did exactly last year! hahah) She is one of the few names that came to my mind whenever I need some chill-out times. She is as comfy as a tofu (Btw, tofu is one of her favorites) *grins again*

Happy Belated Birthday, my dear debster! As you have always been my listening ear, my comfy tofu, I'll be there for you too :)

At this............... I am totally & seriously HAPPY to find back my good pal from Poly days- ADELINE LEE WENLING!!!! *screams* (okays...i found her through FB)

and just one more random shout-out............. How to twitt via mobile phone ar?! *scratch head*

(ernie is not home yet..... >.<)

My 2nd time blindfolded...

2009-07-08T22:07:00.005+08:00

Yiyou handmade a similar blindfold for my birthday surprise last weekend. hoho~ looks funny and out-of-shape mans, the face shape.

Taking group pictures together. Guys, thanks so so much for the birthday celebration. It means alot to me and I will always remember this year's celebration. I simply LOVVVE the affirmation calendar too!!! would flip to read daily and laugh at some of the pictures inside too! *winks to rayson & steven*
the picture below is with my SPT!! (missing Ruiz, Jiali, Eevoon & Dennis though) we super seldom have pictures together. must take more photos during meetings manss~ fun fun!

Daniel's graduating from Youth

2009-06-25T17:40:00.002+08:00

I count myself a big blessing to be able to serve with Daniel in MinOps. I vividly remembered a very passionate dude in his Maris Stella uniform leading his grp of guys, a very willing-hearted person involved in many productions and services and definitely a very visionary leader in the worship ministry. and now, Daniel has graduated from Youth and moving on to PolyDINs ministry. He will always be our role model in Youth~ :)

2009-06-25T12:28:00.006+08:00

A big ThankU to these sweet SMSes from...

Carmen Shar Dewen Jency Ashaa Debster Jacq Kaixiang Jem Lee Aloy Nate

AuntJane KorKor Shanshan Mei Livi PJ MrBao Ruiz Simun Zihui Pat Angeline Jiali

Huiying GwenKhoo Yiyou Huaxiang Yihui Eevoon Puay Jerel Xinyi Philo Yaoguo

GwenLee CS Esther Huiyang YongDeng Winnie Jiayi Veron Ame Ruth

where is the honeyedmoon?

2009-06-21T01:22:00.014+08:00

Hero

2009-06-17T22:51:00.003+08:00

Welcome to my new life as Mr & Mrs Tan!

Well, for the first in our lives, we got ourselves a set of couple tee from Korea! not exactly the exact couple tee, we chanced upon these cool tees at Adidas shop and decided to buy them together!

Just got back from Adults Camp in KL. It was indeed an awesome experience! one of the fun moments was going for a thai massage with Jasmine on Day 1. Its my first try & woww.....the after-feeling was GOOD mans! :) thumbs up for those who often experience bodyaches or deskbound work. A few vivid moments were....

1. During the 3rd night ministering time, when Ps Simon called out a few groups of people to the front to be prayed for, and leaders were called out to pray for them too. I was praying as usual in my seat. Out of nowhere, a thought came to me: "What's the difference between you praying for people in Youth service & here?" I knew at once that God is challenging my position of spiritual leadership. After that, I was nervous to step out & go forward to pray for the people. I paused and hesitated. (long story cut short) I stepped out and prayed for a sister at the other corner of the hall.

2. I was deeply moved in my heart when the DLs came on stage to affirm Ps Jeff & Claudia. I was very touched because I truly can testify the many things that the couple did, invested, sacrificed, in serving God and all of us.

alrightey............. and in a few years' time, we hope to have alot of children, i meant spiritual children! hahahah! like the picture you can see below ;P

p.r.a.y

2009-06-04T22:24:00.002+08:00

Time really flies! I have not blog for a week plus *sobs* I miss reading my usual blogs too *double sobs*

first of all, I am just SO glad that tomorrow is FRIDAY!!!! that means.......... WEEKEND IS GONNA BE HERE! *yahooo*

why am i so glad?

firstly, ever since back to work, alot more new cases came in that I got no breathing space except for lunch breaks. Thus, I'm seriously happy whenever people ask me for lunch dates. its like a super happy escape from the busy work. and tomorrow Yao Ge is bringing Shuz meimei to another makan place in TPY. *jumps*

secondly, I've booked 2 movie tix for my date with hubby Roy tomorrow night! Catching "a Night in the Museum 2" brings back good memories as we caught the first sequel when we were just friends.

thirdly, I can sleep in on Saturday!!! *yahoooooo*

Nonetheless, I want to share something I learnt recently which really strengthened my walk with God - Pray specifically.

As I went back to work, I know that I really need God in my new job. Barely 2 weeks into my new work, I had my wedding and flew to Korea for a week. I was praying hard that the things I learnt at work are still kept somewhere in my brain. I began to pray alot. As I pray, I sensed in me: "Why do you keep praying the same sentence again and again?" (As I remembered that I prayed something along the line of "Lord, help me, help me, help me.... in my work, please please...") It was then, that something clicked in me! Pray Specifically!

Thus, I prayed for my next day of work, my first duty at the service counter. I asked God for: only 3 cases for the day, 1 in the morning, 2 in the afternoon, and for the morning case, let it come at 11am. God answered all I asked of him! Wow! :)

And till now, I've been praying specifically about things in my life and others too. Hope it bless you too! :)

I am Mrs

2009-05-25T14:19:00.010+08:00

160509

A day I will never forget

I am truly thankful and appreciative to all our families and close friends

who have made this wedding a beautiful one for us

Romans 8:32

Mr & Mrs

our lil gwen is 21

2009-05-11T22:23:00.003+08:00

look how happy she is!

ahhhh.... she looks SO cuteeee! *pinch pinch*

Dear Gwen, Happy 21 Birthday! Hope you enjoyed yourself greatly with all the stations you stopped by during last Sat's celebration. not forgetting the super cute blindfold you had too! the long black cutie eyelash super cute mans and it totally suits you! i just want to thank you for all your care and help towards me. your joy and helpfulness really blessed me in many ways. I'm also encouraged by your spirit of giving towards people around you too. Gwen, God is able and continue to dream big for Him :) Have a blessed birthday!

2009-05-03T10:20:00.002+08:00

I thank God for a long weekend break. it was well spent and have some time to relax and rest too. its been an enjoyable first week at my new workplace. my new colleagues and mentors are very helpful people, they guided and taught me alot. the nature of my work revolves around helping the poorer families and needy people living in the central part of our island, my office is at Hdb Hub at Toa Payoh Interchange (lotsa good and cheap food!). I have been mindful about the two aims I previously set it. I've been asking God to help me along too. Am looking forward to tomorrow actually. Its a strange feeling because usually monday blues hit the offices at the start of the week. I know He who is at work in me is more than able.
after a long chat last night, I could sense a clear nightsky within me :)

vision is the reason for existence

I Heart Shirls

2009-04-29T22:53:00.007+08:00

What else can we say about our pastor, except to make a tee that goes "I Heart Shirls" :p *winks* To, of course, declare our love for her.

Daniel, we miss you in the picture... but here are two pictures for your fun!

I shall blog about my new job soon! :) Till then......

2009-04-28T22:59:00.001+08:00

"...i really, really do enjoy them all... am not the mushy kind, hehe, but am really happy God placed you in my life!"

That, kinda brighten up my day! ^^

Wonderful!

2009-04-20T00:17:00.009+08:00

Gab looked so happy and red
Belting out songs

This picture reminds me of the neoprint era.

The Cool Couple

The Bubbly Couple

Spot the difference:
We were trying 2 different poses... but Yao's 2 poses looked almost the same! hah~

An Easter prayer answered

2009-04-16T12:25:00.004+08:00

At the Easter rehearsal over the weekend, Pastor Jeff led the team to pray and ask God in prayers for our individual need. I prayed for a job offer call to come this week. After praying, I sensed an assurance it will be on a Wednesday. Monday and Tuesday came and i continue to pray. on Wednesday, I was expectant and constantly looking at my mobile phone, making sure its on the loudest mode. the call came in about 330pm! and i was offered the job on the spot! :) Praise Him! my two criteria in this second job search were fulfilled too!
I'm so overwhelmed with joy and gratitude towards His faithfulness.
Many many thanks to my friends who have been praying together with me.
I've set two new objectives for my second job: First is to build friendship with my colleagues, i want to learn to be humble. Second, I want to be diligent in my work. I am looking forward to 27 April.

I took it, not because i finally know which one i prefer... rather i answered to His timing...

A very meaningful Easter

2009-04-12T22:31:00.003+08:00

Ten blissful moments of my Easter:
10. A good dinner with Seng, Shirls and Roy at Izakaya Nijumaru, with Jeremy Goh joining in halfway. We had our fill and took on many cups of hot green tea. our conversations' topics ranged rom mini cows to superbabe. haha~ *winks*
9. The easter testimony was really the highlight of the whole easter service this year. i was close to tears even when I heard it during the rehearsal. I was reminded of the significance of Holy Communion when uncle Kelvin shared about his experience during his testimony. Holy Communion is indeed a time when we, believers, repented and take it by faith :) I know that God will honor the couple with His blessings as they courageously shared their lives with us.
8. I'm so encouraged by our Filipino choir's level of joy! they are really joyful and serving bunch of people.
7. I couldn't stop smiling whenever I think of this: During the welcome segment before Pastor Jeff starts his sermon, Daniel (Pastor Ben's son) actually went forward to shake Pastor Jeff's hand to welcome him too! so cute!
6. Steven's little boy, Joash was dancing to the praise & worship rehearsal! He is really very cute!
5. Heroine of the day: Weiwei from Sound team. She is really a very serving and excellent person. she is proactive and attend to details prompty. During the services, she was positioned at the back stage, ready to assist the stage crew at anytime.
4. I was very happy that my dad came to service too! Aunty Jane asked him to come and he came and sat with uncle michael. After the first service, he came to the front of house and saw that Roy was on duty. He looked surprised to see the huge digital soundmix board. I can tell that my dad was very moved by the entire service too, his eyes were abit watery. hehe.
3. Hero of the day: Esmond from Lights team. With his exams is coming up in the following week, it did not stop him from going to P&W practice to watch and listen to the sequence of the P&W songs in order to design the lightings for it. He also did his best in his studies by staying up at night to do revision. He has 2 papers tomorrow (Monday) and 1 paper on Tuesday. Lets pray for him together. It warms my heart to see people serving in their best, doing their best in what they can and trusting God as well.
2. O yea! my zipia stuffs arrived! yushan passed them to me today!
1. Before I ended my night, I thought of 3 treasured overseas friends now and wanna wish them a very happy Easter too. Happy Easter, Wyn, Eve & Eelee! I'm missing you ladies.

39 days more!

2009-04-07T17:42:00.003+08:00

Last Saturday was our wedding food-tasting. Before we meet Roy's family, we took some pictures around the club. The first picture is taken with my aunt Jane. The second picture is taken with my Ah yi. And yup, our wedding is coming up in 39 days. Its pretty exciting, yet also many details to see to. At this point, I really want to thank a few of my friends like Baowei, Wenjun, Livi, Dewen and many more for their help in the preparation and reminding us of the details.
Anyway, Easter's coming up in less than a week's time now! :) I'm also very excited about it. Eevoon's sms came last weekend about Easter, some lines that goes: ...have we pause for a moment in the midst of our 'busy' lives for God, our Savior... Have we allowed God to be in every part of our lives... I've been reading her sms daily, to be reminded of the real meaning of Easter.
TGIGF

2009-04-06T09:20:00.002+08:00

Joined some of my people last friday to catch a movie- Fireproof screening in Nexus. Its a very good movie with an emphasis on love and relationships. anyway today's........................................

JIA'S BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and anyway, yesterday was quite brain fried, after 5 meetings. but i must say, i really enjoy being with people, spending time with them. one of my pathways is through relational pathway, i get refreshed when i'm with people, talking and catching up about things in our lives.

Trio J

2009-04-03T11:21:00.003+08:00

I was supposed to join Trio J for dinner at Ikea. I realized I was running a fever when I went to the clinic for my flu and cough. I headed back home to rest. While sleeping halfway, I got a call from one member in Trio J that they were outside my house. They bought fav meatballs :) Thanks Jia, Jerel & Jase! I'm much better today. Thanks!

its a starry night

2009-03-29T01:00:00.002+08:00

after the whole lily convo the night before, we met up for minops 1 cg dinner at a hainanese makan place, the same stretch of shops as Miss Clarity. its the second time i ate at that place in 2 weeks. Roy and I brought Niyom and Dion last week, and I introduced to minops 1 last thursday. It was a good and nice catch up over the dinner, as some of them quickly joined up after their work too.
earlier before the cg dinner, I headed out to meet Jiali in Bugis to have some desserts at liang seah street. it was a good catch up and also sharing about our lives and ministry too. as recently i continued with naruto shippuuden and one of the recent stories was on Shikamaru (a few traits like easygoing nature, strategic thinker, etc), i kinda likened Jiali to the character. its an enjoyable time with Jiali because we shared deeply about ministry matters and spar ideas off together too.
talking about that, congrats to both Jiali and Yaoguo on the excellence in studies award today! :)
speaking of which, in today's service, minops' rows looked rather empty, because some of them were doing Easter service filming, two are out of town, in hongkong and china. lets keep them in prayers okays? i meant philo, gwen, puay, yiyou, kaixiang, huaxiang, jiayi, lays and aloy.

okays tonight's post is so random. i am so sleepy now. shall go to bed soon. tomorrow is a new day, ulm in the morning (yay!), meeting debbie to train down to church office (yay yay!)

Oyazumi nasai.... zzz....

we are the lily gang!

2009-03-26T00:41:00.002+08:00

seah_hua_xiang1@hotmail.com says (12:18 AM):
who's lily
charis says (12:18 AM):
LOL
charis says (12:18 AM):
no such person
`eevoon says (12:18 AM):
HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA

gwen. says (12:24 AM):
-gwen feels entertained looking at this window-

seah_hua_xiang1@hotmail.com says (12:24 AM):
whats' this CG man
jasminwangshuzhen says (12:24 AM):
this cg is lily's cg
seah_hua_xiang1@hotmail.com says (12:24 AM):
GOD I NEED U MAN!!!!!
charis says (12:24 AM):
hx do u regret coming over?
seah_hua_xiang1@hotmail.com says (12:25 AM):
4.999/10
seah_hua_xiang1@hotmail.com says (12:25 AM):
hahahhaa
`eevoon says (12:25 AM):
HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA
charis says (12:25 AM):
haha
`eevoon says (12:25 AM):
lily's CGGGGG
gwen. says (12:25 AM):
dun worry. you'll be like one of us sooner or later
`eevoon says (12:25 AM):
LOL

jasminwangshuzhen says (12:41 AM):
i love u guys
jasminwangshuzhen says (12:41 AM):
you make my night so fun
jasminwangshuzhen says (12:41 AM):
see u guys tmr k
jasminwangshuzhen says (12:41 AM):

yiyou faith. says (12:41 AM):
love u too~
charis - i love this family of God... says (12:41 AM):
cya!
kaixiang. hiphop. says (12:41 AM):
Haha
kaixiang. hiphop. says (12:42 AM):
I will bring a lily flower down if I can
gwen. says (12:42 AM):
o.O
charis - i love this family of God... says (12:42 AM):
o.o

Good Food

2009-03-25T23:19:00.010+08:00

Feast #1
Eugene & Veron's Birthday Celebration
Seafood Paradise at Defu Lane
22 Mar, Sunday
A few of us went for a good dinner to celebrate Gene & Ron's birthdays. Its Eugene's first time trying their crabs and its simply delicious!
Feast #2
Gabriel & Gerlyn's Wedding Dinner
Grand Copthorne Hotel
23 Mar, Monday
Congrats, Gabriel & Gerlyn! :) I've known Gab since his chinese high days, during the chinese high cg which Nicole during our youth days. Gerlyn used to be in Roy's sound ministry during the earlier youth days together with susi and shufen. its really happy to see them tie the knots and building their lives together in God. Wishing them joy and love in this new life station as newlywedds.
During the whole preparation, i also got to make a new friend, Daphne, Gerlyn's ex-colleague. she was one of the hosts for the lovely evening. the pillarless grand ballroom was beautifully decorated with candles and red roses along the aisle. Guests could have a choice of either a pair of lavender colored chopsticks or a baby blue language tag as wedding flavors.

Nicole is always mothering the boys. hahaha

with our fairy godmother :P

counting down to 160509

cheeky reagan ^^

from left: happy groom, mei, jie, pretty bride, new friend- daphne

heys hendra! hoh! esmond is as cool as an anime character

we are from table no. 9! yay! :)

God is so good

2009-03-24T00:42:00.010+08:00

Our friends, Niyom and Dion flew here for a short business trip and we managed to catch up over a dinner last friday. they are really godly couple who have blessed us in many ways. Niyom took great care of Roy when he was in Bangkok 3 years ago. They recently celebrated their 5th anniversary with a Korea holiday trip. coincidentally, we will also be flying there for our honeymoon in 1 month plus time. heh. i look forward to see them again in May :)

I always salute our tech teams for all the pre-service preparations. see the amount of work they did? our faithful sound crew re-set the instruments on the floor, doing up the patching work an stuffs... our mm team set up cameras and videos around the auditorium to capture the best shots during the show. our light crew serves very excellently too. seriously, its not easy being the lights person, because you have tons of tiny bits of instructions to remember at every stroke of the dance! really thank God for all of them :)
Check out our cool backdrop for the show. so ah-go-go! :D Gwen and I posed for pictures during the early Sat morning.

She's the woman mans~ Here's charis aka Jiali for you!
Jiali: when you free for rums and raisin?? ^^
our dance troop! God really grow us from glory to glory, strength to strength. Many thanks to Raph & Jialing too! they worked really hard to pull together the whole show too!
Your Curtain Call

okays something random....
i went around town searching for actors for Jia's internship film production. it was a whole lot of fun! this was a random picture that i took of her when we walked from PS to clarke quay.

pivotal

2009-03-22T23:04:00.002+08:00

Definition: of vital or critical importance.
this word hit me in the core of my heart. it brings forth a fresh meaning to my serving these years.

the best is yet to be. Onwards!

Guo Da Li

2009-03-21T18:25:00.004+08:00

Today is our Guo Da Li, a chinese pre- wedding customary thingy where the groom and his matchmaker will go the the bride's home with some gifts.

2009-03-18T23:32:00.001+08:00

charis says (11:28 PM):
God is with u every step of the way :D

nakama

2009-03-13T11:08:00.002+08:00

jasminwangshuzhen says (11:07 AM):
i can literally feel the verse coming alive
jasminwangshuzhen says (11:07 AM):
iron sharpens iron
hunnybunny says (11:07 AM):
haha!

Thanks gal for sharpening me too. Praise God for being in the center and His Word to so readily cut us to the core of our hearts to love Him more.

Found #1

2009-03-11T16:02:00.006+08:00

While packing my notes and books these days, i found these stuffs...the above brochure was our church concert that we had many years back called Bits & Pieces. If you belong to the first generation of the presently- known as yhope group, you would definitely remember this brochure - HOPPIES! i cant believe i still have a few copies of this somewhere deep in my pile of notes.
This is my first church wedding attended - Pastor Jeff and Claudia. its a very simple invitation card and its wedding bulletin titled "For His Glory". so many years have gone by and we're really excited to have Pastor Jeff to be our solemnizer! :)
This was one of our past ESS invitation brochures! it was a 3-part series in November 2003, with an exciting game challenge among the 4 districts - PolyDI, Northeast, Axis & Titans (hahahahah!). closing up, you can see Clarence & Lolita representing PolyDI, Jeremiah & Siew Luan for Northeast, Daryl & Cathy in Axis, and DENNIS & SHARLENE for Titans!!! I was ROTF when i saw 2 of my cg mates' pictures! posing like models! hoho~~

Warrior

2009-03-10T18:34:00.001+08:00

i came across this article and it boasts my faith level :)

The War over Worry by Adrian Rogers

Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? (Matt 6:25-26)

Somebody did a study about what the average person worries about. They found that forty percent of what people worry about never happens. And thirty percent of what people worry about have already happened and you can't do anything about it. Twelve percent of what the average person worries about is what others say about you, which most of the time is untrue. Finally, according to this survey, ten percent of worry deals with your health and worrying will only make that worse!

That leaves about eight percent of the things that are considered to be real problems… and worry will not do any good with these either! Why is it that we worry about a lot of things that are not going to happen or already have happened? It’s like the little lady said one time, “Don't tell me that worry doesn't do any good. Most of the things I worry about never happen.”

Let me share with you four ways you can win the war over worry:

Trust in the Lord

God wants to prove Himself to you. Let me ask you, “How do you know that the Lord is the joy of your life?” You don’t know, until He takes away your automobile or your health or your home or your family. When you say, “Jesus is all I need” make sure you can prove it. You’ll never know Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have.

Do Good

One of the signs that you’re not trusting God is that you drop out of your usual activities. They get down. You say, “I lost my job!” Well, what are you doing about it? “Well, I’m just sitting around the house!” Well, quit it! Get out there and do something because you’re trusting God to provide!

Delight Yourself in the Lord

Do you want to have a life of joy? Then, put your faith in something, or should I say Someone, who cannot be touched – the Lord! God isn’t finished with you until you find your greatest joy in Him alone. Now take the sentence very slowly – God is going to keep giving you this test until you pass it. He doesn’t flunk anybody out. And so, if you don’t pass this time, He’ll just run you through again.

Commit Your Way to the Lord

“Commit” literally means “to roll.” It means to roll your burden on the Lord. Whatever that burden is, you are to give it to God. His shoulders are broad enough. Matthew 11:30 says, “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Is someone critical of you today? Give it to Jesus. Has someone hurt you? Give it to Jesus. Are you unsure about your future? Give it to Jesus.

Rest In The Lord

This word “rest” means “to be silent.” We want our answers yesterday. And God is saying, “Hush! Rest in Me!” Friend, God isn’t interested in time. He’s interested in timing. He’s never in a hurry. And He’s never late. Waiting on the Lord is like waiting for the sun to rise. You can’t hurry it. And you can’t stop it.

Gaze

2009-03-09T14:20:00.003+08:00

to put the sermon into application, I took a longer time and more efforts to gaze into the Word today. i was on Isaiah 52-53.
i biblegateway-ed it and read the message version as well.

One look at him and people turned away.
We looked down on him, thought he was scum.
But the fact is, it was our pains he carried—
our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us.
We thought he brought it on himself,
that God was punishing him for his own failures.
But it was our sins that did that to him...
He took the punishment, and that made us whole.
Through his bruises we get healed.
We're all like sheep who've wandered off and gotten lost.
We've all done our own thing, gone our own way.
And God has piled all our sins, everything we've done wrong,
on him, on him.

the magnitude of His love, we cant understand at all. God has done everything. so what else can i do, but to live my life in Him, to acknowledge his presence and power in me, to walk by faith, to live life on the edge.

i had alot of fun!

2009-03-09T10:57:00.003+08:00

(last Thursday afternoon, 130pm, Cineleisure)
myself, Gwen, Yiyou, Jerel, Jiali and her korean neighbor went to watch Marley and me. Sniffs could be heard towards the end of the movie. Its quite the same feeling when i watched 10 promises to my dog. Dogs aside, it was pretty fun to know a new friend, to ask about her culture and stuffs. well, since i am going korea soon, it was exciting for me to learn some korean words too.

(Fast-forward to Sunday afternoon, 2pm, Meridien foodcourt)
i seriously think that my cg is crazy people. At our first agenda- Metamorphosis, we digressed 5 times in the first 10 mins while Dennis was talking.
About an hour into the meeting, Shirls, Shar & Raph went off to get desserts, the rest started to play "Dai Di" with cards and Gideon started to mimic the singing of Fantasia (american idol). i had goosebumps all over me and had to run off from the table to find the sane people at the desserts stall. towards the end of the meeting, we were practically chanting "left4dead left4dead"....
team A: dennis, gideon, dewen, daniel
team B: shirls, shar, shuz, raph
(we "o-ah-pei-ah-swom" for the groupings)
all i can say is, i wanna train more mans! *hmpf* :D

Thanks Roy for the surprise gift! :) i am watching it soon! right after i post this entry! :) *hugs*

arghh

2009-03-05T12:23:00.001+08:00

why must it be on 22- 23may.... sobs....

Music | Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy

Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy

Arnie Roth with Singapore Festival Orchestra/ Victoria Chorale/ The Vocal Consort (USA/Singapore)

Keep Celebrating!

2009-03-02T13:07:00.002+08:00

last sat we kicked start the first lesson on Spiritual Habits in service. i always know that God's timing is the super best timing in my life, for whatever things that happened in it. i know its God's Word speaking to me again about rejoicing in Him, in all circumstances. i am still currently on a lookout for my second job, everyday is a fresh day to pray and thank God about the situation i am in. something that struck me in the sermon was: If we don't rejoice today, we won't rejoice at all. i was very challenged to do that- rejoicing everyday, from now onwards! talking about this, Wyn and I made a pact to encourage and pray for each other in this, cause she is also on a job search. God is waiting for us- our grateful hearts, to thank Him in advance.

my thanks to God for...
many of our friends who asked me about our wedding preps and offered help. thanks thanks! so far, God's been really good. We are on track in the wedding planning, we just booked our honeymoon tour yesterday at the Natas fair. we are going to eat some kimchi soon.. :p Funnily, sometimes, I don't quite like the planner side of me. there was one night last week when i was on bed, about to sleep, i suddenly thought about the wedding. all at once, all the tiny details rushed into my mind, making me both excited and nervous, i got up after much turning and tossing in bed to switch on my laptop and continued with the wedding planning for another 1 hour plus! @_@ hehe. Another blessing from God came when this morning Roy's colleague kindly gave us the one and only copy of our honeymoon package tour itinerary which she took at the fair yesterday too (coincidentally). We accidentally threw away all the brochures yesterday and realised we need the information for our package tour.

Thanks God for the interview call from Mcys last Tuesday too! the interview went well and i'm praying to be shortlisted for the 2nd round of interview soon! :) thanks for praying for me.

I appreciate the time spent with Shirls last Monday morning, watching the Oscars award together. its always nice to spend unrushed time chatting away.

some things i want to thank God in advance this week...
Our Dance troop! want to thank God for their hardwork, giving their 101% in all they do. very thankful for Jiali. recently, we had a funny convo which i liken her to be Shikamaru, a Naruto character. hehe. Jiali is someone who is committed to what she do, her school work, her ministry. Its my joy to be in Minops with her.
Royston, for his patience and understanding when i am cranky and notty. this week, we will continue with the wedding invites and also some other details in the wedding program. i want to pray with him for his family too, we want to sow seeds of understanding in relating with our parents more.
2nd round of interview with Mcys! yahooooo!!! :D
SPT gang! we're going to meet this weekend and there are more things to discuss, more exciting stuffs coming up :) team, lets continue to dream together as a team and be committed to the Cause for which we are called.

Have a blast today! :)

Freedom in the worship ministry

2009-03-01T23:16:00.002+08:00

ripped this off Shirls' blog. its a very reminder for me and a good read for all of us, serving in the ministries. enjoy it :)

Guest Blog: Wade Joye, Service Programming Director

One of the frustrations I tend to hear from other worship leaders or creative directors is that their lead pastor does not give them the freedom to drive the creative elements of the Sunday worship experience. What most fail to recognize is that they have not earned that freedom.

At Elevation, we have a very unique situation. Pastor Steven used to be a worship leader. He loves the creative process and is extremely good at it. However, he has given us tremendous freedom to take his vision for a series and program around that. Because he trusts us, he is able to focus on preaching the word of God rather than carrying the weight of the other aspects of the service.

Here are a few ways you can gain that freedom with your lead pastor as a worship leader or creative director.

• Embrace and understand your pastor’s vision for the worship experience: If your pastor’s heart is to have a high energy worship set, and you always bring set lists filled with slow songs that put people to sleep, your pastor will feel compelled to begin picking out songs for you.
• Present your series ideas as far in advance as possible: This will let your pastor know that you are being proactive and putting significant thought into each set, rather than waiting until the last minute and picking your old favorites. Any great creative element takes time to really plan well and execute, so the last minute doesn’t produce a world result.
• Don’t grunt when you have to make last minute changes: There will be times when your pastor feels led to change their sermon at the last minute, and the element you were so excited about just doesn’t work now. Or he feels that a certain song (that you may not like) really sets up his message well. When that happens, don’t act like the world is ending. Go with the flow and make it happen. Trust that God is leading them and submit to authority. Doing this joyfully goes a long way.
• Take chances: If you play it safe, your pastor will feel the need to push the envelope. Our services and the worship of our God should be remarkable, and if your programming falls into a rut and becomes boring, your pastor will feel the need to step in. Push the envelope, take chances and get reigned back in if needed.

the rainbow connection

2009-02-28T11:01:00.011+08:00

A rainbow always remind me of God's promises and goodness in my life. seeing one always make me feel happy and re-affirm the God's presence. He is around and He is everywhere.

hung out with Jerel and Jason for lunch yesterday. its been a long time since i last caught up with Jerel too... miss the west days. its also to thank God for the feb ess too. throughout the process of preparing the services, we learnt many valuable lessons and we praised God for that :) many things are changing, yet one thing remains constant- God's presence and help.

After a full lunch, i headed up to amk to meet with my family. i am never a big fan of jewellery, yet, i have to choose a gift set for my wedding. after looking through a few sets, everything seems to look the same. haha! this is daddy and me. we were bored after i made my selection choice and the 3 ladies are looking at the jewellery... no wonder, "...a diamond is a woman's best friend..."

from left: ku ma, ah yi, aunt jane

Miss L&M

2009-02-27T10:53:00.005+08:00

last week, we celebrated Livi's birthday. the chocolate cake that germs bought is simply.... AWESOME! Thanks germs! its a great time of catch up too, with evelyn in town too!
something random, we were chatting and commented of how love can make you radiant and flourish with a glow... just look at yanyan! :P
ooh! two strangers kinda crashed our photo! how fun! :) something random again, ooo.... i like germs' top! nice nice~

DEYI

2009-02-24T18:34:00.003+08:00

Do you know that i was from Deyi Secondary? :p
recently i found back several of my secondary school friends through facebook. fun memories....
Can you spot me? ;p
these two pictures were taken in my sec 4 days. the above picture was my class kakis. maybe it would be fun to have a reunion gathering after so many years... :)

25 and above club

2009-02-19T00:35:00.011+08:00

A few of us went for a steamboat buffet dinner at Bugis just now. It was a fun time together, makaning and chatting. Its 15 bucks per pax and it offered free flow of drinks.

We simply love Gideon! Its fun to be around him.

After the dinner, we were so full and we decided to try a game at Left4Dead. yahoo! Here's a shot while Dennis was queuing up to get PC seats.

Sharlene is all in black - black top, black pants plus her new pair of black heels! Hot! *whistle*

Daniel is flying to Taiwan for a family holiday this weekend. Soon, he will be going to Germany for his overseas program.

Gideon demo-ing to be the Hunter, Dennis tried to mimic the Smoker.

2009-02-16T12:06:00.002+08:00

A big THANK YOU to the FALL hiphop drama team!!! :)
from left: Joel, Jian Hao, Jason & Joanne. (ooo.. the 4 Js) They worked really hard in putting the drama together, many many hours of rehearsals, memorising their lines, improving their acting skills, etc.
It was Jason's first time coming up with the story plot and directing the drama. It was also Joel's and Jian Hao's first time taking on acting on stage. you guys served with such excellent and joyful spirit.
Also, big big THANK YOU to Dennis and Yushan who came in to help the actors too ^^
Who can forget about the shimmering/ all-glitter lit up stage too! Brillant idea of the Decor team for piecing together many CDs for the stage backdrop :D

After a busy day, i headed down to Pasir Ris to meet up with Roy to do our grocery shopping for our Vday dinner. We are quite noob at cooking but decided to go with that option as its cheaper and fun too. We did pan-fried salmon & some steamed broccoli and carrots plus clam chowder soup. We watched an old film on dvd "Interview with a Vampire" starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. hehe. (Pitt is soo young and dashing!!)
It was a very simple celebration for us, but its meaningful because we are also preparing for our big day too. i love how Roy leads our relationship by his love for God's Word. a short abstract from the pink card he gave: "...i pray that God will help me to understand more and more about the highest standard of His love described in 1 Corinthians 13 and apply it to our relationship..." it just reminds me of the 3 Ps Shirls said in her recent blog entry...

Priest, Protector, Provider

HP colleagues

2009-02-12T10:34:00.002+08:00

I got to know Kristin and Henry a little bit more when we were tasked to plan the Christmas party last year. Its really fun knowing them as we are all fresh graduates from Uni and HP is our first job. These photos were taken at my farewell lunch, both of them were nice to treat me to Sakae. Keep in touch, guys! :)

a step closer to cosplay dream

2009-02-09T22:52:00.009+08:00

come come paradise! is kakashi's only and favorite novel.

Livi san from Konoha village.

Shirls Yagami

heartbeat

2009-02-08T23:30:00.001+08:00

"Love is the root of missions; sacrifice is the fruit of missions."
Roderick Davis

Its February!

2009-02-04T16:20:00.007+08:00

February is soon here, after the cny festive season and i almost forgot about my blog! *gasps* the above picture was taken with Roy's niece, Tanya, a sweet little girl. we hung out together on day 1 afternoon when i went over to Roy's late grandma place to pai nian.

This is Rendy! Another niece of Roy. (at his age, he has a few nieces and nephews le...hoho!) we took with Rendy's poloroid camera.

Last Monday, a few of us had dinner with Joanne who is leaving for her degree studies in Perth tomorrow morning. i am very surprised and blessed by her wedding gift for us! she couldn't join in the wedding celebration coming May, yet she thoughtfully bought us a gift. Thank you, Joanne! i'll be praying for you in your next venture over at Perth.

spelling Grace

2009-01-25T18:05:00.003+08:00

from nursery school onward we are taught to succeed in the world of ungrace. the early bird gets the worm. no pain, no gain. there is no such thing as a free lunch. demand your rights. get what you pay for. i know these rules well because i live in them. i work for what i earn; i like to win; i insist on my rights. i want people to to get what they deserve - nothing more, nothing less.
yet if i care to listen, i hear a loud whisper from the gospel that i did not get what i deserved. i deserve punishment and got forgiveness. i deserve wrath and got love. i deserved debtor's prison and got instead a clean credit history. i deserved stern lectures and crawl-on-your-knees repentance; i got a banquet- spread for me...

forgiveness is not the kind of thing you count on an abacus.
God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.

"What's so amazing about Grace" by Philip Yancey.

2009-01-21T10:27:00.004+08:00

"... joyful in hope, patient in affliction and faithful in prayer..."
this was what i've been praying for the entire last week. it has been a fruitful week of starbucking. i've grown closer in prayer and my level of trust has increased too through a few eventful happenings these weeks. last Friday's Cpm, Saturday evening's Clm & Sunday morning's Minops Cg were really great and lengthy times of worship and praying. these 3 things have been ringing in my mind- prepare our lives, prepare our base camp, prepare our leadership.
i am quite lost for words now. all i can say is i am very grateful to God :) for the little things He surprised me with.
as CNY approaches, i also look forward to a good long break. to continue to ruminate, to catch up on the wedding planning and....... i want to start some reading on Lonely Planet! *jumps* Yesterday, i was browsing through some Lonely Planet books in the bookstore and i got so captivated by the many beautiful spots around the globe.
a few of my ex- west cg mates came over to Funan to surprise me after my meeting last night. it was a good short catch- up, its encouraging to hear about how they are doing now and all.
and........ Happy Birthday to my daddy! :) Mei and i shared a prezzie for him and we'll order pizza for dinner later to celebrate his 55th birthday.

save the hair

2009-01-12T13:39:00.003+08:00

yesterday was my good pal, Simun's wedding. we have known each other since secondary 1. it was a touching moment when Ong Heng, her hubby went down on his knees during the couple's thank-you speech in front of 700+ guests at swissotel padang ballroom. of course, Simun was moved to tears.
i was privileged to be their mc for the night & as lovely the night was, i was very nervous inside. I really want to give my best for my friend's wedding & thus, kind Ruiz agreed to help me with my makeup and hair. we were pressed for time as i needed to standby on stage to announce the march-in of the couple. we realised we need pins and clips for my hair too. thank God for Roy and Davin who went to buy them. I'm really thankful for their help! after the whole thing, i'm even more convicted that image team is so so important. every little details counts for the big cause! :)

a greater Gift

2009-01-08T10:50:00.002+08:00

He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

during a call with roy last night, he shared about what he learnt more from the verse. often, we acknowledge that we are gifts to each other. but actually, a deeper understanding is that God is the gift in our relationship. Because of Him, we are able to come together... Because of Him, we are able to love & forgive... Because of Him, we are able to serve and correct... and many many.

Romans 8:32 - 160509

30 mins to knockoff

2009-01-06T17:00:00.000+08:00

jasminwangshuzhen says (4:54 PM):
can i include yao in this convo?
* super girl. says (4:55 PM):
yaog is in class
jasminwangshuzhen says (4:55 PM):
ooo..
jasminwangshuzhen says (4:55 PM):
let me try
* super girl. says (4:55 PM):
im free next wed
* super girl. says (4:55 PM):
i think he should be also
jasminwangshuzhen says (4:55 PM):
YOYO yao & jia!!
jasminwangshuzhen says (4:56 PM):
woops..he left...
* super girl. says (4:56 PM):
hahahah
* super girl. says (4:56 PM):
told you
* super girl. says (4:56 PM):
LOL
jasminwangshuzhen says (4:56 PM):
i am hurt
* super girl. says (4:56 PM):
hahaha
* super girl. says (4:56 PM):
.paste plaster.
jasminwangshuzhen says (4:56 PM):
very hurt
jasminwangshuzhen says (4:57 PM):
*sobbing*
* super girl. says (4:57 PM):
.put bandage.
jasminwangshuzhen says (4:57 PM):
totally heart shattered * *piang piang*
* super girl. says (4:58 PM):
.picks up broken pieces.
* super girl. says (4:58 PM):
.use scrotch tape. and tape it.
jasminwangshuzhen says (4:59 PM):
heartbeat dead.... *need ambulance* *pi pong pi pong*
* super girl. says (4:59 PM):
we're talking rubbish
* super girl. says (4:59 PM):
hahaha
jasminwangshuzhen says (4:59 PM):
HOW FUN!!! :)

MinOps Thanksgiving 08

2009-01-02T00:41:00.029+08:00

MinOps, we've been through thick and thin together for the past 3 years. It is also my joy to be among you guys too. God is faithful & i am fully assured that as we yield ourselves to Him, He will make Himself real to us too :) Onwards to 09! Lets root ourselves deeply in the Word as we serve. Luv, Shuz

Wine Company

2008-12-31T10:44:00.008+08:00

we celebrated post christmas together at wine company, evans road. celebrated dewen's birthday as well. after which, we made our way to raph's house to overnight. it was really fun and i thank God my holiday is well-spent with people whom i dearly treasured. through these years of ministry, wherever we are, its the friendships that we made along the way counts. strong friendships serve as encouragement and inspiration towards the future.

nakamas

recovering jerk

2008-12-30T13:20:00.002+08:00

(continued with my reading)
one day andy took me for a walk. he put his arm around my shoulders and said, "randy, its such a shame that people perceive you as arrogant, because its going to limit what you're about to be able to accomplish in life."

do you have someone who love you enough to give you honest feedback...
who cared enough to tell you the tough-love things that you needed to hear...

santiago

2008-12-29T22:35:00.003+08:00

after the christmas buzz, Eugene joined us to go to our bridal place, Santiago for our second gown & suit fitting. we enjoyed a nice dinner @ Ding Tai Feng after that. blessed to have him as our close friend around. its really happy to know him settling good in his new job.
interesting fact 1: gowns really weigh a ton. *huff*
after the gown fitting, i also did a trial makeup.
interesting fact 2: i am so fascinated how mascara can "enlarge" the eyes!
today marks another milestone in our wedding planning. we had our wedding photoshoot. we went to haji lane and sentosa for our outdoor shoot.
interesting fact 3: smiling throughout the entire day can make the mouth numb
interesting fact 4: fake eyelashes further "enlarge" the eyes! *like seriously...wow*
interesting fact 5: after his hairdo, Roy looks like Ryu from dragonball.
interesting fact 6: my wedding designer, Amanda told me that my AD gown weighs the heaviest in the store! (my sweet jie meis, pls help lift, kick and pull my gown on the day yea ><)
interesting fact 7: during phototaking at haji lane, a caucasian couple took a picture of us too~
interesting fact 8: the scene that we both felt most comfortable is the nose-to-nose! haha!
blessing 9: God gave us a good weather! it rained the night before, thus, morning was nice and breezy. by the time we were outdoor for photography, it was windy and cloudy. after we finished our sentosa shoot, the minute we got into the car, it starts to drizzle.
blessing 10: after a long day (i'm on high heels), God gave us 2 seats on our next train stop at raffles place.

throughout the whole day, also got to know our studio photographer, Ah Teck more. he is the same age as Roy, and his baby girl is 2 months old. he has 2 dogs back home in JB- a golden retriever and a shin tzu.

i have just came out from shower, shampooed and conditioned my hair. washed my face twice, slapped some toner and moisturer. gonna put a mask later. i felt like a wayang singer today. hehe

Happy Boxing Day

2008-12-26T14:49:00.007+08:00

21 Dec. went for beach road prawn mee together with our ablaze friends, dennis, gwen & philo for lunch. it was really a good time of sharing and fellowshipping. i also gotta know that both nick and lucy are teachers back in Brisbane. cool! :)
what followed after the lunch was a very refreshing ulm with them too. i was deeply moved by a word given by torchie. its both a confirmation to my recent praying and an assurance of what i've been doing. thanks torchie for praying for me.

do not fear... grow taller... the very same spirit will flow into others... i am a big tree!

24 Dec. The Gift @ the rock auditorium for our annual Christmas celebration services. managed to take a few pictures in the midst of the busy day. this is ray, part of the drama team. also a friend i have known for long... around 12 years? bro, keep going strong and joyful :)
happy birthday, asher! aka dewen. he was the one with the pen knife and bottle of pills in the drama. thanks for being a faithful friend these years.
posing with jiayi during our dinner break, shortly before the 3rd service starts. i received eve's christmas prezzie and gift. its a very unique gift where "big sis" & "lil sis" are on the pendant. i can give the other half to mei mei :) thanks eve! *hugs*25 Dec. roy and i went shopping for our wedding bands in town. town was so crowded. esmond and mei came together with us too. ended the night with a nice dinner at wine company.

Happy Christmas to....

2008-12-26T02:04:00.002+08:00

Pei Key! thanks for serving together in the Christmas services. am thankful for a chance to know you more too, esp our chat over the dinner break :) Bless ya, sis!

Germaine! i'm totally so blessed by your spirit of willingness and joy! i saw that you and your people were busy from morning till night, to help the stage ministers make-up and touch-up. what you and your team are doing, is very important to the church. have a great 09~

Steven! event after event, i'm always so amazed at your gentle and joyful spirit in serving. over the intercom, i really think that you tech- directed very well, our live recording has improved so so much! praying for you and your family, great blessings and anointing in 09.

Ah Long! a scene that touched me alot was looking at how you stretched out your hand and eagerly prayed for the non-believing friends to receive Jesus into their lives. i'm blessed by your pastoral heart.

Huimin! thanks for praying for me before the 3 services start. we barely know each other, but i saw from time to time, you prayed quietly during the rehearsal. i'm very inspired by your prayerful heart. thanks for being there early in the morning and helped around in ways you could.

Jiayi! first time being in stage managing team with you! really enjoyed on-the-job with you! thanks for serving and seeking ways you can help me out too.

Jasmine! thanks for leading the entire production team! i saw and learnt from how you handled certain situations with wisdom and tact, and the encouraging words you gave aptly to the team.

Roy! heys dear! thank God for a chance to serve with you again. this time has been fruitful as we get to "rub shoulders" with each other in communication throughout the entire day. thanks for being an encourager in my life :) romans 8: 32.

EVERYONE in the production team! Thanks to all of you who worked hard, night and day, rehearsals after rehearsals, serving happily and diligently. i am encouraged by each and everyone of your spirit and attitude.

from glory to glory

card-writing marathon

2008-12-25T01:54:00.000+08:00

its really quite an amazing event that all of us were able to gather for an overnight in our team. we stayed over at dennis' lovely girlfriend, gwen's house for the christmas cards writing marathon. believe it, some of them has records of 100 over cards to write. *faints* Of course, the night was long and some of them fell asleep while writing. hehe.

towards 6am, we dialed for macs breakfast and had rounds of mahjong too. i really enjoyed the overnight as we seldom (really seldom) get to do this. for me, it kicked start a warm fellowship and rest for my block leave too.

happy christmas!

roots

2008-12-22T10:18:00.003+08:00

on the first day of practice, we were all scared to death. plus he hadn't brought along any footballs. one kid finally spoke up for all of us. "Excuse me, coach. there are no footballs."
And coach Graham responded, "we don't need any footballs."
There was a silence as we thought about that...
"How many men are on the football field at a time?" he asked us.
eleven on a team, we answered. so that makes twenty- two.
"and how many people are touching the football at any given time?"
One of them.
"Right!" he said. "so we're gonna work on what those other twenty-one guys are doing."

Fundamentals.

You've got to get the fundamentals down, because otherwise the fancy stuff is not going to work.

living

2008-12-19T10:08:00.002+08:00

began a new book yesterday evening. continued on my morning train ride today.

"...kids, more than anything else, need to know their parents love them. their parents dont have to be alive for that to happen..."

engineering isnt about perfect solutions; its about doing the best you can with limited resources.

Heroes Camp

2008-12-15T11:24:00.008+08:00

Yesterday was a cool morning to begin with. woke up to light drizzles outside my window and quickly get changed to go to SSS for our bi-annually youth camp. i was excited to start my day at camp because i aimed to enjoy every single moment of the entire day.

i reached the hall and found philo distributing breakfast packs to the cg. i was blessed by her hospitality as well. its really nice to see my people at the start of the morning. went through the loyalty lesson on David by DanielC and Dennis. what led me to think further about the lesson:

what makes David so powerful that his mighty men follow him so wholeheartedly? whats so special about him?David expressed his loyalty to his mighty men too.

your friend's spirituality is your responsibility.

forgive easily. sometimes, i find that i am quick to correct the wrongs. in midst, i maybe too rigid and not done it in loving ways.

Gideon and i delivered the workshop on spiritual gifts. one of my camp objectives is to reclaim my gift of teaching. i have not taught for quite sometime and i really want to teach again and teach the Word more. thank God, the workshop turned out good & God blew my nervousness away! haha!

we had so much fun clowning around during Minilution rehearsal. it was so much fun doing something together with shirls' cg and the uls! :) did a tee for our beloved pastor that says: "i heart shirls!" *jumps* it was nice and encouraged to receive cards and notes from some of my people. i really really appreciate the words written on the cards. they meant so much to me and it always reminds me of why i am doing what i am doing :)

Pastor Jeff came and shared a lesson on the life of Abraham. some points he mentioned really struck a chord in my heart, kept me up to keep thinking about it.

moving from comfort zone to combat zone.

spiritual growth is being on new & unfamiliar grounds and thus need to learn new skills and abilities

daddy, mei and i

2008-12-13T23:39:00.007+08:00

we went for our cousin wedding dinner just now. it was an outdoor dinner, very windy, thank God for the weather. some pictures we took with my samsung phone.

One Fine Day's Disney & Japan Launch

2008-12-10T22:08:00.002+08:00

Heys friends! :) Check out my friend, Nicole's online shop:
http://www.one-fine--day.blogspot.com

Her latest Disney & Japan Collection has been launched! :)
pay a visit for your year- end Christmas shopping!
God Bless~

Giogio!

2008-12-09T21:59:00.004+08:00

Last sunday, a few of us brought giogio out to bishan park for some fresh air. giogio is soooo cutteeee! there was an incident where a husky came near giogio and smelled him, giogio was so still and he didnt move an inch! he was trembling. hehehe. anyway, if you are wondering what was he wearing that day, it was an england jersey. heheh. so cute!

29 Nov 08

2008-12-09T21:03:00.006+08:00

Here are some late photos from the hangout on 29 Nov. went for a jog at bedok connector park and off we went to have our late dinner plus a nice ice-cream treat *yums*

roy lovesss ice cream alott.

Are you coming? :)

2008-12-07T22:10:00.002+08:00

24 Dec 2008 @ The Nexus Auditorium
Mandarin Service
07:30PM - 09:30PM

24 Dec @ The Rock Auditorium
Service 1: 2pm-4pm
Service 2: 5pm-7pm (with children programme)
Service 3: 8pm-10pm

25 Dec 2008 @ The Nexus Auditorium
"The Gift"
Family & Children Service
10:00PM - 12:00PM

Its my life musical

2008-12-05T16:21:00.001+08:00

this picture is rather dark... a few of us went for Its my life musical directed by Lim Yu Beng. we sat at the first row and had some neckaches after it. hehe. nonetheless it was fun going for a play together. while watching the musical, couldnt help but memories of Teenage Textbook during my youthdays kept coming back... student days were fun!

mookie

2008-12-05T11:40:00.002+08:00

i miss mookie. little miss mookie texted me a few days ago...
"...suddenly missed u greatly... ystday saw facebook updates... i wanna meet u up b4 ur big day. let me noe ok..."
she is none other than joey aka zihui. my ex-sheep who is with me during my central and west days. thinking back on our pioneering days, she is a faithful and consistent support in the team. currently, she is in the Hopekids ministry, influencing and impacting many many young lives for our future.

Yesterday had an enjoyable spt with my team. we met for some japanese food at cathay basement and it was really lively and active interaction that i had to repeatedly mentioned some same things over and over again. haha. at one point, yao turned to me and repeated what he has understood. funny mans. i feel like a naggy granny. *faints* After the meeting, we did our unknowingly usual practice- we stood around in circle and went on talking and talking. it was then someone would "heys, lets move people...", then we would inched forward bit by bit. it was not long before we paused in our steps and stood in circle to continue our conversations. well, it goes to show that we just had so much to talk and share when we see each other, i enjoy the fellowship times.

a long weekend, yay.

so touched

2008-12-03T21:55:00.002+08:00

yesterday i went for an interview at one of Touch community centers at Ubi. seriously, i felt that God has orchestrated the interview for me, to encourage me and advice me through the center director. i was very totally blessed by her spirit and warmth towards me. i was very excited about the interview, not because i die die need to secure a second job. rather i am very keen to find out more details about social service industry and serving the needs of the needy. indeed, the whole trip was not in waste. i know that i need more time in prayer and getting my focus clearer on what He wants me to do and what i am passionate about. this interview serves as a step to make my focus clearer. i am very encouraged by Julia, the center director and Danny, the HR personnel. towards the end of the session, she even offered to pray for me! i was very touched. i was very touched because through that act of kindness, i felt God's love and hand directing my life. though it seems like a tiny incident in my life, but i am convinced that it totally mature my perspective towards work and my career direction.
something Julia shared that caused me to ponder further.
Faithfulness is satisfaction.
i began to slowly understand this statement bit by bit. its when i am faithful with any tasks given to me, it is having job satisfaction from it. job satisfaction doesnt come from solely the job title or job scope or job description! rather, it is from the person's faithfulness.

thank you, Mr J

quality

2008-11-26T15:35:00.003+08:00

it was a casual, routine train ride with roy back to his house after our work for dinner yesterday. we chatted about our day at work, continued abit on our wedding planning as well. but it was only a short while before we decided to leave the wedding discussion to friday, we do not want to always talk about it, can be quite boring... haha. slowly, our conversation led to ministry and people. we talked about christmas services, caregroup, etc. he mentioned something along the line of building quality into people's lives. it really got me thinking hard. ministry is all about people. ministry is all about building quality into people's lives. i've been thinking throughout today about how i can build quality into people's lives. its not just about having fun activities alone or wonderful plans, rather, at every moment, every week, every day, i want to build depth in the relationships i have with people around me.
to sum it up, something i found at Hong Teck's blog encourages me alot:
Care group never fails to encourage me. Never once.I find that through the years of care group going, the extend of encouragement you get is directly proportional to the level of giving you did in care group.

anyway, i enjoyed today's lunch with angela. we've been trying to arrange a meet-up since last week. finally, today we lunched :) more to come.

He blows my blues away

2008-11-25T09:54:00.003+08:00

Last week was down with fever and cough, so, not much happenings except a few good ones :)
Last Wednesday a few of us celebrated Jiali's 21st birthday @ a pizza place inside Raffles City.
Last Saturday Roy and i went down to Santiago for our gown/suit selection. it was quite a fun experience. i have never know that wedding gowns really weigh a ton! my designer who helped me was Amanda. we have also settled our studio shoot
to be around late december and we get to choose up to 3 outdoor locations too.

since i wasnt around at Sat service, i went for sunday morning service. Ps Johanes' sermon refreshed me alot. i realised since young, i worries alot. i have absurd fears for natural disasters while living in singapore and other fears. yet, i learnt that fears can rob us of many good things! it robs us of our joy, our relationships with people, our confidence to do things and even our potential of what we can be in God! i prayed in my heart that i will not fear, i want to have faith in all i do. i am glad that i can put into practice because on that same sunday evening, both roy's and my parents are meeting for a dinner at raffles town club. i was quite nervous about the meet-up. roy and i reached the place earlier and we prayed together to ask God to bless us a fruitful dinner time. during the prayer, i set my heart to abandon any fears or anxiety i have. God is good! :) He gave us a wonderful time together and both our dads were pretty chatty throughout the night. yesterday, another blessing came where roy was granted to take leave for the day of our studio shoot too.

160509

"keen"

2008-11-17T15:05:00.003+08:00

my 1 year contract is ending soon. it has been quite busy at work recently as the HR dept went through some restructuring in the org chart. my first supervisor, also the one who hired me into HP left last wednesday. she was with HP for 13 years. my first few months at work was tough, she is a strict boss and has high standard of quality for work. yet, upon the news of her leaving, i pondered on the things she taught me, i was thankful that i went through it to learn. it is good for my character growth. i appreciate her patience towards me. moving forward, i just had a one-to-one meeting with my 3rd supervisor last friday after being restructured from my current 2nd supervisor to her. she asked me if i will continue in HP after my 1 year contract ends in Jan. i seriously need to seek in prayers. as much as being an adult is exciting, i still long to be a student, where things are simple, just study, no need to think so much. being an adult need to make decisions, decisions, decisions. thank God i have God. thank God mans.
yesterday's Rdmm was very fruitful, we talked about 2009 calendar and camp matters and 4 hours just flew past so fast! it was fun la, cuz we had our fun laughing and talking too.
i went to meet up with roy to look at levis jeans and a late dinner after the meeting. we have been so busy for the past few weeks that we couldnt meet and some wedding discussions and decision-making were abit lagged too. if not, we have to talk at wee hours of the nights to get things moving.
things been well at home too. i enjoy talking to daddy more and more, maybe because i know the date is nearing also. my dad's been a very understanding person and he always wish for the best for both my sister and i. i do hope to spend more time with him since our work schedules oftenly clash too. now i learnt to note down his entire month's work schedule and i planned my home dinners to be on his off days. so sometimes, i do go home for dinners to spend time with him :) its important to me.

24/7

a text from india

2008-11-16T22:51:00.003+08:00

to sum up the whole of today, an sms from India brought about a smile.

it is always timely.

gwen, you did it! yahoo!

2008-11-11T22:37:00.002+08:00

this post is specially for little gwen! :) a few hours ago, an sms came in from her saying she cleared her modules and even passed her final theory too! i was truly very happy for her!! i know how much she wanted it. she replied my congrats sms saying this: "its God man. wouldnt have done it without Him."
i look forward to celebrate her joy soon :) *jumps*

Biennale 08

2008-11-10T11:25:00.008+08:00

went to Biennale yesterday. been wanting to go for it before it closes on 16 Nov. it was quite a relaxing weekend for me as i roamed the bookstore before meeting shirls for some yakun too.

we were trying to pose. hehe. shirls looks studious ar, ma chiam on a student exchange program arts tour.

ooo.... i particularly like this photo! its so oriental feel.

the big screen

2008-11-06T16:09:00.007+08:00

as the christmas lights are up on the street, we will soon enter the last month of the year. to celebrate it, there are some movies i hope to catch them :)

Sky Crawlers. This award-winning anime is set in the near future where there is a group of humanoids called Kildren who are bred and designed to live as adolescents for the rest of their lives. For the Kildren, they realise that every day could be their last because they are engaged in a battle game operated by the adults, where it is seen as pure entertainment. Even though faced with this harsh reality, they decide to go about their daily lives by living it to the fullest.

Twilight. When Bella's mother remarries and sends her to live with her father in the little town of Forks, Washington, she meets the mysterious and dazzlingly beautiful Edward Cullen - a boy unlike any she's ever met. Intelligent and witty, he sees straight into her soul. Soon, Bella and Edward are swept up in a passionate and decidedly unorthodox romance, for Edward is a vampire. But he doesn't have fangs, and he doesn't drink human blood, as Edward and his family are unique among vampires in their lifestyle choice. To Edward, Bella is that thing he has waited 90 years for - a soul mate. But the closer they get, the more Edward must struggle to resist the primal pull of her scent, which could send him into an uncontrollable frenzy.
"I was born under unusual circumstances." And so begins "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," adapted from the 1920s story by F. Scott Fitzgerald about a man who is born in his eighties and ages backwards. A man, like any of us, who is unable to stop time. We follow his story set in New Orleans from the end of World War I in 1918, into the 21st century, following his journey that is as unusual as any man's life can be - a grand tale of a not-so-ordinary man and the people and places he discovers along the way, the loves he finds, the joys of life and the sadness of death, and what lasts beyond time.

With a budget of US$80million, "Red Cliff" is the most expensive Asian-financed film to date. The movie is based on historical records of "The Chronicles of the Three Kingdom" rather than the novel, "Romance of the Three Kingdom". In the early third century, the land of Wu is invaded by the warlord Cao Cao and his soldiers. The ruler of Wu, Sun Quan (Chang Chen), calls on the rival warlord Liu Bei (You Yong) for help, but their two armies are still badly outnumbered. However, the strategists Zhou Yu (Tony Leung) and Zhuge Liang (Takeshi Kaneshiro) see that Cao Cao's army is unused to battling on the sea. With 200,000 men, Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang defeat Cao Cao's army at the Yangtze River.

daniel and huimei

2008-11-04T22:45:00.003+08:00

we are missing roy in this picture *aww*. took this photo after our dinner at shokudo today. more than just the food, the time spent was very fruitful, its very encouraging to fellowship and share about our lives. they are very encouraging and sacrificial couple :)
tomorrow is wynnie's second exam paper. lets pray for her.

5 km run

2008-11-03T23:16:00.004+08:00

the day after Freedom ESS, a few of us went for the Great Eastern Women 5KM fun run. it was organized by debster who signed us up for the event. nearing the event, all of us felt that we were crazy to pay to run. nonetheless, money paid, goodie bags collected, we arrived on Padang field on 26 Oct morning.
we took these two pictures after the run. felt so shiok. sharlene and i went around to hunt for giveaway jellies, bananas and mineral water.

yay! i ran it :)

How

2008-10-30T09:41:00.002+08:00

Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since i am a virgin?"
(Luke 1:34)
remember the angel's answer? "Nothing will be impossible with God" (v.37)
How is never a problem with God. when he puts something in your heart to do, he goes to work behind the scenes to ensure that it happens. in the meantime, we are to remain faithful to him and focused on the vision.

If you dare to dream, God dare to give.

Freedom!

2008-10-27T10:04:00.001+08:00

last weekend marked another breakthrough in the youth service programming team. i am so proud of my team who worked super hard in the weeks of preparations.
it started with Stomp- "examination in progress, silence please". clangs and bangs from peter, ruiz, yihui, yushan and jeremy. it was really entertaining and fun to watch yushan hit the metal bin. aloy, huiy and their mm team did a super nice ipod clip playing the different songs from various radio stations. most would still remember the classical piece done by yaoguo, so soothing. daixuan and qianjin sang their hearts out to the tunes of fly me to the moon and huang jin jia. qianjin really memorize the chinese lyrics like mad man! *claps claps* few would have known that our musios can dance too! :) the dance was so entertaining and fun to watch. the whole music team did "Smooth" and many were wowed by the instrumental solos. how can we forget about beatboxing by jason and drum sparring by walz and lee. these images are still fresh in my memory as i blogged.
many many thanks to Philo and gang for the invite cards and the publicity clip. the things on the invite cards are all assembled together for the photoshoot! woww~
thanks to Eevoon, Carmen, Yong kang and their team of ushers, we have seen both services fullhouse. yay~
the list goes on.... our Media team! :D Thanks for the full mobilisation of volunteers. you guys came for rounds of practices and rehearsals to take care of the details and all.
there are just so many people i wanna thank for making the services a great success. Thank You, all of you :)

some smses of encouragements...

"service was awesome. esp the performances. seamless. really can see the effort ur team put in. my visitors and leaders enjoyed it. thanks for the hardwork."

"well done, team, for the relevant and awesome service todat. keep up the great work! better stuff to come in 09! =)"

"just want to let u know dat i think minops really did a great job on freedom. i was talking to my leaders n we all were saying how much it blew not only our visitors but even our people's expectation. and u know how hard it is to impress the old birds. i think u guys really outdone urself. this ess was the best i've seen! just want to affirm u and ur team doing a fantastic job! rmb, the best is yet to be! may God anoint u even more!"

here's the lady behind the successful project- Veron! she is the project IC of Freedom and she worked very hard right from the start to the day itself, she danced and keyboarded.

taking pics with the nice props and decor! :) many thanks to Yiyou and her team.

Freedom Team! 3 cheers for our Savior! :D

Lord, amen, the best is yet to be. Grant my team and i your wisdom and strength to serve you. Onwards!

opportunities

2008-10-24T11:44:00.003+08:00

our tendency is to pray for miracles. but in most situations, it is more appropriate to pray for opportunities. instead of praying "God, pls change that person.", pray "God give me an opportunity to build character into that person..."
it is looking for opportunities to work alongside God.

yesterday, after i read the above lines, i asked God to give me an opportunity to encourage a person, and He did :) its an exciting partnership.

Waiting is a fruitful thing

2008-10-23T10:21:00.002+08:00

Nehemiah also had his desert experience. this was a man with immerse leadership ability who awake everyday to do a job that tapped little or none of these skills. can you relate? do you wake up everyday to circumstances that have absolutely remotely to do with the vision you sense God is developing in you?

this really blew my mind off. and i must really thank God that day in and out of HP can get really routinely dull. yet, i have learnt new administrative skills that can help me to be more efficient in my ministry work. very often, whenever i step into the office i'll always have this question, what is your plan for me here, churning out reports and tabulating data for analysis... i want to have a changed perspective. i know i am learning something new, that can be useful for the future.

the need often seems so urgent it seems foolish to wait. but God is sovereign. keep that in mind.

more to this life

2008-10-22T22:35:00.000+08:00

i am so excited to start my reading on visioneering by andy stanley. it was once mentioned that reading books on vision or thinking about vision is quite a dangerous act to do at night. it can give you sleepless nights and keep your eyes wide open, and your heart bubbling with excitement.
just only from the introduction is a short abstract that i would like to share with the readers of this blog:

vision will prioritize your values. a clear vision has the power to bring what's important to the surface of your schedule and lifestyle. a clear vision makes it easy to weed out of your life those things that stand in the way of achieving what matters most.
without vision, good things will hinder you from achieving the best things.
without vision, there is no relational, financial or moral compass. consequently, they often make foolish decisions.

the above para kinda "jumped" out at me when my eyes went through them. rightaway i was reminded of the current sermon series going on- priority living. vision and priority go hand in hand. His agenda must be my first priority. i am bought at a price, the price that no one else can ever paid.

before "oyazumi nasai", Eph 2:10, "For we are His workmanship..."

Happy Bday, Lee

2008-10-21T15:38:00.003+08:00

4 days more and i'll be running the 5km fun run at the great eastern women run event. i'm so not prepared for it :( for this week, i shall be more disciplined in my diet. *veggies, fruits, veggies, fruits, veggies, fruits....*
on a cheery side, i got to know a new friend last weekend, she's angeline and also a dancer. during our convo, i found that she learnt 7 years of ballet and she stays very near me!
its fun hanging around my people during the Freedom rehearsal on sat night. i was hovering between asia room where aloy and huiy were doing some filming and nexus stage where clangs and bangs could be heard. its really exciting and i look forward to Freedom services this weekend :)
i shall claim this verse in this week's prayer:
Haggai 2:9 "the glory of the present house is greater than the glory of the former house... and in this place i will grant peace..."