u hold my world?

this is ridiculous. I am supposed to pack for my batam camp for tmr yet i am worrying about my trip in march. It entails so much uncertainties and i am facing so much constraint due to cash and my small built compared to big ang mohs who can carry much luggage. It would feel so good to say 'if only' .. like if only i have more cash to spare.

Then again, i feel so guilty spending so much on traveling and exchange. It's like something extra. On top of basic education, which is already a luxury i am blessed with. URGH.

When everything fades, you will still be honey on my lips

It has been quite some time since i last blogged. Exams ended on4 Dec and my holidays have been enjoyable so far! :)


After the last paper outside LT7a. This time leoleo wasnt in our usual after-exam pix.


Then we went to watch Bolt and had Jap food @ Ichiban :)


And slept over @ Jas's house. Played Monopoly till 4-5 am and managed to sleep for a few hours before we went shopping @ Queensway the next morning!


Wayne was feeling super rich and spent so much during the 2 days! Ended our Jie Mei outing cum stayover with a pic @ Anchorpoint.

Also, Jas and i signed up for the air-pistol beginners course organised by NUS air shooting club. It's such a coincidence that i met my primary school friend Zehan who is the organiser of the course. We had great fun, despite Jas gg to civil service club instead of homeNS and me... gg to the wrong wing of the building and made circles in the building itself before getting to the shooting range. I managed to shoot in the Bull's eye on one of the cards that i brought home too :D

Went out shopping with Jie and Marcus too :) And met Nat twice to plan for our trip to Scandinavia. We decided to just visit Stockholm(Sweden) and Tromso(Norway) and the plans are getting me all excited because



i want to catch the Aurora in Tromso!



and try dog-sledding in the Artic Circle as well :)

Of course i feel the financial pinch and uncertainty of traveling and really hope God blesses our trip!

And ultimately, when all the hustle bustle fades away, when i put all the plans aside, Jesus, you are still my best friend whose presence i want the most.

I want to hold the hand that holds the world

Who are we, that the creator of the universe would be mindful of us?
Who are we, that He knows us by name?

Beautiful one i love,
Beautiful one i adore,
Beautiful one, my soul must sing.

rushrushrushfeelinglousyfeelingsadbutgladshegotreallygreatteammateswantingtojustbeherselfingodspresencewhydoihavetoberesponsibleformybrothersirresponsibilityiguesshowgodseesusaspreciouschildrenashowiwouldlovenadtreasureeastereventhoushesblackandoldandhasholesbutiloveherjustthewaysheis

the closing sem.

YipEee one module down! Today marks the official end of German 5, which i probably have to S/U juding from today's exam. lol. But the thought of su-ing really takes the load off my shoulders. Enjoyed working with Michelle on our German Project especially and i like this small class of 12 :) Many of them are thinking of taking german 6 and i do hope i can sit in for the lessons till my SEP.. that would be super cool :D

Your living word that always speaks.

Your word
is living water that gives life and quenches that thirst within,
a powerful double edged sword ,
light that guides my path,
sweeter than honey to my lips,
and i mean every word that i say.

ein bisschen langsamer, bitte.

warum gibt es viel Frust innerhalb mir? Manchmal fühle ich mich ganz schlecht.

Vielen Dank, Vater Gott.

For my ever expanding family


my lovely sisters


great food


parents who pour out unconditional love


sister who knows me inside out


brothers and sisters in Christ


close friend


my special one


their efforts to make my day a memorable one



great time together


and Your everlasting love that will last even when memories fade.


I thank You, God.

May God bless you.

Recent feelings reminded me of this prayer that is printed at the front of the 40day season book.

May God bless you with discomfort
at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships
so that you may live deep within ur heart

may God bless you with anger
at injustice, oppression and exploitation of people
so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace

may God bless you with tears,
to shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger and war
so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and
to turn their pain into joy

and may God bless you with enough foolishness
to believe that you can make a difference in the world
so that you can do what others claim cannot be done
to bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor. Amen.

A trip to hell.

Suffering severe stomach pains due to food poisoning was like a trip to hell. Was really sorry i woke my sis up with my cries, troubled my bro and dad to send me to the doctor at 2am plus when they shld be sleeping..yet at the same time God was showing me the way my dad loves and how my bro does care. :)

God would say, i love you just the way u are.

I enjoy talking to Robinaa from my german class because she has this endearing and bubbly disposition that makes me gravitate towards her. Then today i found out that she's penta-lingual! She can speak English, German, Swedish, French and Chinese. How cool is that.. esp when her command of the first 3 languages is really good. She has exciting experiences in New Zealand (where she grew up in ), Germany, Sweden and currently in Singapore. There are just many things that admittedly make me really envious and i somwhow wished i grew up being more 'international'.... and today i also found out that Michelle got the DUO award for her exchange! ( It's a super duper attractive scholarship that's interview-free and valued at 4,000 euros!! I applied for it but didnt get it.sigh. ) Once again, i was like wow.. how i wished...

Then again, i knew the way i felt was wrong. If God were to speak, i am pretty sure He would be telling me how unique He has made each one of us. I have focused so many of the wow-factors in the lives of others that i have took the blessings in my life for granted. I have failed to appreciate the beauty of my own life that's crafted by God our creator.

Anws, the recent spate of affairs like Merril Lynch being bought by the Bank of America..and AIG that almost collapsed but was saved by the US gov drew my attention to the complicated US market.. the way economics functions intrigues me and currently i cant grasp the concepts like subprime mortgage market, credit crunch, the US housing bubble, etc. Gosh, i should find Jie to link everything up and explain to me in simple, idiot-proof terms :D

Perspective.

my current fav song, which we sang for cell too. :) Enjoyed preparing for cell and enjoyed cell as well :) Thank God for the ideas and flow, and may he grow the seeds planted in our hearts.

Anws today was a really demoralising day. I spent like close to 3 hrs on each question and am still unable to solve my biothermodynamics qns. Stress levels escalated exponentially and made me feel so suffocated.:(

But today's sermon was really good and i am totally amazed how God places pple in different backgrounds, allow them to experience various circumstances, and make all things happen for their good..and to bless other pple as well. I am sure his gift of academic excellence, great command of language, being a buddhist initially, borne into a family of several religions, took drugs, and various other circumstances wasnt by chance. It's a unique mixture that God had in mind to mould him. Was constantly reminded of my prc colleague during the sermon as well and i wished i heard this message before my internship ended man. :/

Time to lift my eyes off the probs, and turn back to God.

more than a language lesson.

I wanted to learn a 3rd language, but God taught me more. He taught me humility and grace, empathy and also perseverance. I must admit i have always been very sheltered, from teachers in school to mentors in my internship, i have been blessed to meet very kind pple. Welcome to the school of life, where i must learn to ignore ( in marcus's terms) or simply learn to be thick skinned. Show some toughness, jasmin.

a lost love found.

I am someone of great inertia and proscrastinate alot. Yet yesterday i just felt like staying back in school today to run. And thank God, the weather was perfect for a lovely jog @ the school track :D

When i stepped on the track, the feeling was simply amazing. I realised how much i missed running in a team. Snippets of nj memories on the track also came flooding back.. like the morning jogs with canoeing gals, running with mr yong to achieve my 2.4 personal best, running up slopes with cross country gals, and even pe lessons ..like teck kuan cheering me on. It was a nice, warm feeling that i get only from jogging in a school environment with atheletes training at the track as well.

As i ran, i am also reminded of Biomechanics. Learning about how much force is exerted on our joints during exercise made me a little kiasi ..or shld i say, more aware of the importance of resting the joints? It made the daily runs in the past seem incredible and those uncles running marathons seem like energiser bunnies with super joints.

Hopefully when i degenerate into a slob in the near future, i will be reminded of this feeling and head for a rejuvenating jog at the track.

Pao ba, hai zi.

Der Liebesbrief des Vaters

Der Liebesbrief des Vaters

Mein Kind,

Ich kenne dich ganz genau,
selbst wenn du mich vielleicht noch nicht kennst.
Psalm 139,1

Ich weiß, wann du aufstehst
und wann du schlafen gehst.
Psalm 139,3

Ich kenne alle deine Wege.
Psalm 139,3

Ich habe alle Haare auf deinem Kopf gezählt.
Matthäus 10,29-31

Ich habe dich nach meinem Bild geschaffen.
1. Mose 1,27

Durch mich lebst und existierst du.
Apostelgeschichte 17,28

Du bist mein Kind.
Apostelgeschichte 17,28

Ich kannte dich schon, bevor du geboren wurdest.
Jeremia 1,4-5

Ich habe dich berufen,
als ich die Schöpfung geplant habe.
Epheser 1,11-12

Du warst kein Unfall. Ich habe jeden einzelnen
Tag deines Lebens in mein Buch geschrieben.
Psalm 139,15-16

Ich habe den Zeitpunkt und den Ort deiner Geburt
bestimmt und mir überlegt, wo du leben würdest.
Apostelgeschichte 17,26

Ich habe dich auf erstaunliche
und wunderbare Weise geschaffen.
Psalm 139,14

Ich habe dich im Leib deiner
Mutter kunstvoll gestaltet.
Psalm 139,13

Ich habe dich am Tag deiner
Geburt hervorgerufen.
Psalm 71,6

Menschen, die mich nicht kannten,
haben mich in falscher Weise repräsentiert.
Johannes 8,41-44

Ich bin nicht weit von dir weg oder zornig auf dich.
Ich bin die Liebe in Person.
1. Johannes 4,16

Ich wünsche mir nichts sehnlicher,
als dir meine Liebe verschwenderisch zu schenken.
1. Johannes 3,1

Ich biete dir mehr an, als ein Vater
auf der Erde es je könnte.
Matthäus 7,11

Ich bin der vollkommene Vater.
Matthäus 5,48

Alle guten Dinge, die du empfängst,
kommen von mir.
Jakobus 1,17

Ich stille alle deine Bedürfnisse und sorge für dich.
Matthäus 6,31-33

Ich habe Pläne für dich,
die voller Zukunft und Hoffnung sind.
Jeremia 29,11

Ich liebe dich mit einer Liebe, die nie aufhören wird.
Jeremia 31,3

Meine guten Gedanken über dich sind
so zahlreich wie der Sand am Meeresstrand.
Psalm 139,17-18

Ich freue mich so sehr über dich,
dass ich nur jubeln kann.
Zephania 3,17

Ich werde nie aufhören, dir Gutes zu tun.
Jeremia 32,40

Du bist für mich ein kostbarer Schatz.
2. Mose 19,5

Ich wünsche mir zutiefst,
dich fest zu gründen und deinem Leben Halt zu geben.
Jeremia 32,41

Ich will dir große und unfassbare Dinge zeigen.
Jeremia 33,3

Wenn du mich von ganzem Herzen suchen wirst,
werde ich mich von dir finden lassen.
5. Mose 4,29

Habe deine Freude an mir - ich will dir das geben,
wonach du dich sehnst.
Psalm 37,4

Ich selbst habe diese Wünsche und
Sehnsüchte in dich hineingelegt
Philipper 2,13

Ich kann viel mehr für dich tun,
als du es dir denken kannst.
Epheser 3,20

Ich bin derjenige, der dich am meisten ermutigt.
2. Thessalonicher 2,16-17

Wenn dein Herz zerbrochen ist,
bin ich dir nahe.
Psalm 34,18

Wie ein Hirte ein Lamm trägt,
so trage ich dich an meinem Herzen.
Jesaja 40,11

Eines Tages werde ich jede Träne
von deinen Augen abwischen.
Offenbarung 21,3-4

Und ich werde alle Schmerzen
deines Lebens wegnehmen.
Offenbarung 21,3-4

Ich bin dein Vater und ich liebe dich genauso,
wie ich meinen Sohn Jesus liebe.
Johannes 17,23

Jesus spiegelt mein Wesen in
vollkommener Weise wider.
Hebräer 1,3

Er kam auf diese Welt, um zu zeigen,
dass ich nicht gegen dich bin, sondern für dich.
Römer 8,32

Er kam, um dir zu sagen, dass ich deine
Sünden nicht länger anrechne.
2. Korinther 5,18-19

Jesus starb, damit du und ich
wieder versöhnt werden können.
2. Korinther 5,18-19

Sein Tod war der extremste Ausdruck meiner Liebe zu dir.
1. Johannes 4,10

Ich habe alles für dich aufgegeben,
weil ich deine Liebe gewinnen will.
Römer 8,31-32

Wenn du das Geschenk, das Jesus dir macht,
annimmst, empfängst du meine Liebe.
1. Johannes 2,23

Nichts kann dich jemals von meiner Liebe trennen.
Römer 8,38-39

Komm nach Hause, damit wir die beste Party feiern können,
die der Himmel je gesehen hat.
Lukas 15,7

Ich war schon immer dein Vater und werde
immer ein Vater für dich sein.
Epheser 3,14-15

Ich frage dich nun:
Willst du mein Kind sein?
Johannes 1,12-13

Ich warte auf dich.
Lukas 15,11-32

Alles Liebe, dein Papa,
der allmächtige Gott

Sie sind erstaunlich

Es ist sehr erstaunchlich,
wie Sie meine Stimmung heben
wie Sie mein Gebet antworten
wie Sie uns Ihre Liebe überschütten
Sie, sind ehrfürchtig.

keep ur eyes fixed on God, cuz He's doesn fail us. When your heart sinks, turn to Him. All i need is You.

Ich werde lernen, Schritt fuer Schritt.

Last Wednesday i had my first German lesson in German 5. There are only 12 students taking that module and most of them are students who came back from SEP. They can speak really well..or even if not really well, they are just so comfortable using the language after staying in Germany for 6 to 12 months. Gosh. There's also this Polish guy who has 7 years of experience in learning the language.. i have no idea why is he taking this module!! It seems to me that he probably will not learn anything new cuz he's so proficient in the language already. There's another French guy who also has a good command in the language.

I felt totally intimidated. :(

I doubted whether i made a right choice in taking the module. There were many times i didnt understand what the teacher was saying because there's just too many foreign vocab/ i just didnt catch her words. There are a few times pple nod in agreement or laugh in unison but i had a big question mark on my mind..or maybe even face. It seemed that the pple are there either to polish their German after returning from SEP / chill and pull up their CAP/ and 3 of us who are gg for exchange next semester. sigh. But it was yet another lesson from God. It was more than a language lesson. Feeling so inadequate once again helped me to emphathise even greater with PRC students who come over to Singapore to study. I have seen their strong desire for academic success in Nanyang and NUS. I have seen them struggle with languages (English and German) and yet are always striving.

That reminded me of Exodus 23:9. Do not oppress an alien; you yourselves know how it feels to be aliens, because you were aliens in Egypt.

Anyway i rejected thoughts of dropping the module because there's so much i can learn thou i will really struggle. After all, the true challenge lies in my exchange when i face native speakers, not just students with a much better command of the language.

Your grace is enough.

THIS IS OUR GOD

VERSE 1:
Your grace is enough
More than I need
At Your word I will believe
I wait for You
Draw near again
Let Your Spirit make me new

CHORUS:
I will fall at Your feet
I will fall at Your feet
And I will worship You here

VERSE 2:
Your presence in me
Jesus light the way
By the power of Your word
I am restored
I am redeemed
By Your Spirit I am free

BRIDGE:
Freely You gave it all for us
Surrendered Your life upon that cross
Great is the love
Poured out for all
This is our God
Lifted on high from death to life
Forever our God is glorified
Servant and King
Rescued the world
This is our God

A different window.

After 3 days of waking up early for sch, i finally got to sleep in today! :) Collected my biopass at ICA before i met my mum for Money No Enough2 @ J8. Ate together at the interchange before gg home too :)

Initially i thought Money No Enough2 would be another cliche attempt of Jack Neo to poke fun at the government, but after watching the movie with my mum today, i found it surprisingly good. I didnt enjoy the parts they kept mocking the ERP system cuz the costs of living has to rise and this is inevitable. But perhaps by thinking in this way I am being unfair to the folks who struggle to scrimp and save every cent. Nevertheless, i personally enjoyed the scenes that tug at the heartstring of mine, a true-bred Singaporean Chinese. It provided a window to look at the society differently and reminded me to treasure kinship, sth that we often take for granted.

I liked the scene where the mother and wife of the eldest son reassured him that his value in their hearts that would not be diminished by his failure in his career. It also reminded of our value in God's heart. The pastor from FOP said that every child of God is graded 10/10 in His heart. A constant 10. How cool is that :)

of mixed emotions.

Tue was horrendous. I had a horrible nightmare! And despite waking up at early 6 plus, i arrived 30mins late for my lecture..but only to sleep for 1 hr and woke up for the last 30mins of lecture. I take comfort in knowing this is only the first week of sch and i can slack a lil for my lectures. Waited from 10 to 5 for a stupid thermodynamics tutorial, which was absolutely ridiculous cuz the lecturer hardly taught anything to equip us for the tut. I think the only good thing that happened from 10 to 5 was talking to natalie from 10-11 as she waited for students who wanted to buy her books. :) I had a horrible eye-headache in the evening and night and i was just feeling like crap due to various reasons. Thank God for my mum and sis who cared when i was feeling super down and crying for reasons only God knows.

Today was much better cuz lessons started at 9. Got to know a German exchange student during lecture today thru Arnold and once again i felt my inadequacy in the German lang, esp understanding accented German :( Mum sms-ed me during lect to ask if i was feeling better :) Met Keith after lessons to catch up abt cell stuff and later dear, dalun and desmond came along. Stayed in lib with des for a lil while before i headed home. Dozed off on the journey home and i missed my stop, only to end up at some potong pasir stop. Fortunately, i have a great sense of direction and found my way home eventually. :P

I finally finished reading the Manga Messiah today. Sometimes i wished i have the ability to travel back in time. Should that be possible, i want to go back to the time when Jesus was crucified and died for us... then again, witnessing how our savious died for us may just be too painful to bear.

Back to school!

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, and it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no records of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejioces with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

I decided on 1 Cor: 13 for my key verses of this sem! After 3 months of break, i am ready for a new semester and i am in fact v excited abt the semester. In fact i look forward to all 4 Bioengineering modules because step by step, we are getting closer to the real stuff. lol. I know it will not be easy, esp when i have to wake up at 6.20 for my 8am lessons and the modules are definitely gg to get more and more difficult. And i gotta revise my german soon before lessons start!!! I dont want to be muted and lost during my german lessons... :( and I hope that i will not lose sight of God when the going gets tough. :)

Yay, my current fav song :D

The week has been a great one :)

Sun: watched online movie with dear, FOP with dear and gloria, prayed at my fav swings. Turning point when i got out of the calvinism mind trap, thanks to my mum, dear, FOP sermon and even the manga messiah book that reminded me of God's character as a great God.

Mon: swam, spring-cleaned the house, AMK hub with dear, Fish & co with beth franco and dear, long walk after dinner, chilled at starbucks.

Tue: Solidworks, dark knight with dear, salty popcorn! Amphitheatre at night with cool breeze :)

wed: solidworks, jas dajie and i surprised wayne with a cake. shopped at toa payoh.felt so much like secondary school days when i had time after school to shop. over-ate pancakes and felt like puking when i swam later.. lol

thurs: solidworks. met Victor with dear for lunch. packed my books and notes.


I am very excited about the new semester but yet dread not having as much time to relax like now. But it's ok,i am sure there will be new things God will teach me this coming sem and i am looking forward to it :D

Sie sind mein Gott.

What if reverent fear becomes a warped type of fear? I refuse to accept Calvinism. I cant reoncile with the fact that a loving Father will predestine His creation to be unsaved? Isnt it scary if your family member or friend happens to be one of those God predestined to be unsaved?What's the whole point of evangelism in this case? What if one day we all find out the matrix is true? This is not unimportant because it affects my perception of God, man, salvation, what grace and mercy truly means. The mind is indeed a battlefield.

Der Himmel, der Gott malt.

I have always enjoyed looking at the sky. To me, the sky is God's canvas, through which He paints to speak to us. It has the power to amaze, comfort or even calm raging seas within me. At times when i feel down, looking up at the boundless sky just lifts me up. It jolts me out of things that i unconsciously dwell on and reminds me that hey, God is much bigger than my problems isnt it?

Perhaps the next time when you are walking on the streets, just lift up ur head, to see the awesome work of our God, our wonderful creator. You may just hear what our Father wants to say to you.

I will be still, and know You are God.

Celebrated Mummy's birthday at Shokudo last monday.


Happy Birthday Mummy!!


Family Pic :)


Xiao Mei and marc

Then it was Jie-meis farewell dinner on wed for Amy who will be flying to the US for NOC pretty soon. Sigh, it means no leoleo to laugh with, laugh at, crap with for 1 year! Come to think of it, i have known her for 6 years! :)


Group shot


Fooling arnd with Amy and Jas :P

Over the weekends, i went to shop with dear and attended leepeng's 21st bday party @ an east coast chalet :D


With marc @ swissotel


team with leepeng!


Pretty birthday gal :D

Am back :)

I cant get my previous address youpaint-theskies back :'(
Will be using inaweof-you instead... Shall briefly update abt the fun weekend!

Sat: Met a few of the canoeing gals at mich's house first before we headed for Mindy's 21st bday party!







Had cell outreach on sunday @ Sentosa and God was so great to bless us with breezy and cooling weather. We had fun with frisbee and captains ball but unfortuately there were minor accidents here and there. Nevertheless it was still a great time at the beach!




Met up with Gloria, Mich and Weiying @ Holland Village on monday. We had mexican food and then chilled at island creamery with desserts :)

The tree man.

read about Dede here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1895809/'Tree-man'-regains-use-of-hands-New-pictures.html

I watched a documentary about the tree man yesterday and my immediate reaction was one of fear and disgust.. because the roots looking warts on his hands and extensive tumours all over his body send creeps down my spine!! I cringe, and could not bear to look at times. Then when marcus said that his reaction was of ' so poor thing', i was shamed immediately. Where was my heart for the man, or in the eyes of God, for this child of His?

But i was desensitised after some time and didnt cringe as much towards the end of the show. Multiple thoughts and feelings ran through my mind throughout the show. The documentary also featured Dede's friends who have growths on their bodies and together, they perform for the circus in the city. What was heart-wrenching was a scene where Dede had to pull a vehicle using his hair until his scalp was red. Such was the exploitation of Dede, which his 'circus manager' claims was all in a bid to provide help for Dede. Yet there was no complaints from Dede, his face was one of resignation because that was his only means to earn a living.

Once in a while, we need to take our eyes off our own lives and look around. Then we will realise how often we take things for granted.

Tame that tongue.

A few incidents led me to be really convicted that when one is consumed by anger, or even hatrd, he can hardly control his tongue. Wicked and deceitful words are often then spoken and they harm, they hurt. Just take a couple who quarrels for example, it's has become rather common for them to say hurtful things like ' i regret marrying you', ' i hate u', ' let's divorce'... Such are things satan places in our minds when we are angry. Hahs, never underestimate the repercussions of such careless remarks. I am sure when such remarks are said, it subconsciously seeps into our minds and slowly we are deceived into believing them. Worse remarks will then be thrown at each other in subsequent quarrels.. and tadah, it opens the floodgates to future hurtful comments.

For us to make sure we dont use words that are wicked or seductive or deceitful, we must ask God to give us restraint-- to help us say only what is positive and heloful. The Holy Spirit can guide us to be even tempered.

water and joy.

As i was swimming towards the end of the pool, i saw this familiar tall, toned physique standing by the pool, looking for a strategic lane to swim in.

It was.. MR YONG.

YES, Mr yong. As usual, he came from canoeing training at macritchie for his swim. I never understood where his boundless source of energy comes from. I called out to him and we chatted. But after that, i started to wonder whether he really recognised me or talked to me as an ex-canoeist. First becuz i was wearing a swim cap and goggle, secondly cuz i graduated 3 years ago. How possible is it that he remembers a jasmin whom he taught 3 years ago? Nevertheless, he told me that he was training for a 3000 laps swim in 2 years time. I was shocked, 3000 laps?!??!?! I dont think i have ever clocked that distance in my lifetime.

He swam breaststroke throughout and i had to swim freestyle to match up with his after-canoeing-breaststroke speed for the last few lap. I just felt so invigorated seeing a familiar face and that motivated me to swim a lil faster than my usual snail pace. At the end of my swim, my face was a lil warm and that was the feeling i always get after morning runs in jc. I have never felt that way for ages cuz i have been slacking! hahahas. It sure felt god to have swim beyond my comfort..or rather super-slack zone for that few laps!

yet another week of blessings.

Almost a week has passed and i thoroughly enjoy my hols :) Went shopping @ ikea with sis on sat and we had smoked salmon and meat balls! :) We smuggled ice cream up the bus from ikea to church as well using the unfolded box that we bought as a shield. tsk! Had team gathering on sunday to celebrate chiteng's birthday and we had delicious seasoned meat.. prepared by US :):) But of cuz, nothing beats the great company!

I shifted workdesk twice during work this week and face a constant technical problem with my com and the settings at the workplace... they do not have a com for me currently and i hafta bring my own laptop. Face frustration at times but i know God is always teaching me sth. I still count my blessings for the great supervisors, lunch kahkis , evening swims, delicious dinner cooked by mum, meeting/ talking to dear, etc. These lil small things really make my week :)

Glide, and breathe.

One of the things that i enjoy the most is swimming and i have started swimming again recently after not doing so for more than one semester. In fact, ever since i broke my arm at the start of the year. The feel of gliding through the water brings much pleasure, it's a sensation that deeply etches to ur mind. Perhaps it's the surge of endorphins. :)

On my way to the pool yesterday, i was so fortunate to catch this beautiful sunset view. It's like a mixture of orange, blue and red swirled in the right proportion that is so awesome, it takes my breathe away. How apt of my blog address ' youpaint-theskies'. heh, God is a wonderful artist isnt it.

Things at work have picked up this week.. except for the discomfort due to my sore throat and feeling a lil feverish today. I felt like an architect or contractor today cuz i had to draw out the layout of the sterile rooms in the lab, which was pretty enjoyable so i didnt feel sleepy at all!

Anws, i wanted to visit Xiaxue's blog and accidentally typed in http://www.xiaxue.blogpsot.com/ ... those who have sharp eyes will notice that i typed blogPSot instead of blogSPot. which led me to some christian webbie. I was shocked for a few seconds cuz it's unlike XX to post religious contents, let alone a long list of evangelistic contents!! Then I speculated that perhaps her blog was hacked into...but immediately i noticed my typo error. -_- Hahas, perhaps it would do readers good to read sth edifying instead of hmm.. not-very-edifying stuff written by xx. lol.

Faith.

Deborah Reeds was the guest speaker for saturday youth service and she led pple into prophesying over their lives. Then Liane asked me, what if the visions the pple had are merely what they imagine, hope to see? That very question struck me before..and even though i told her the politically correct answer of praying and asking God if that's from Him, etc.. i cant help but to wonder, then why did so many pple see visions like armour, soldier etc.. Could it be a result of reading abt these from the Bible? I mean like once those images are registered in the brain, it's easy to just recall them, isnt it? O man, sometimes i wonder why i question .. and i wonder if it displeases God when i question.. cuz is it considered as doubt? Am i then not a child who has 'childlike faith' that pleases the Father?

I lose the drive easily too. I know God can renew .. so if i am not renewed, so that mean i have yet to rest in Him? I started work with this drive and motivationbut now i am partially deflated. I started the pray&fast thing with Marcus well, yet i cant persevere. I agreed to help Keith out but i think i cant really help and even when i do, i think i wasnt of much help.Okays, enough of ranting.. i am sure God is teaching me sth during this season.

To what extent can we really claim

You are all i want,
You are all i ever needed.

the joy of the weekends when you work.

I started the week feeling very refreshed but by thurs i was already very drained. It was more of physical fatigue but it kinda affected my spirits especially when i didnt have much challenging tasks to do on thurs. I was extremely tired and bored i could hardly keep my eyelids peeled. I do enjoy learning things at work but there's always this 15% of worktime when u get bored and the sleepy bug sets in... :/

Cell on friday was good..got to know Michael better by leading worship with him. lol lil bro with lil eyes. Had CLT on sat morning before i met gloria in the afternoon :) Before she came I sat down by the the fountain at raffles city alone, simply enjoying aolitude, looking at cute lil kids and waching pple pass by. Also enjoyed catching up and chatting with gloria when she came.. and looking back, it's amazing how our friendship evolved over 8 years. Though we do not get to meet very often, i am glad to have a friend whom i can connect to and talk abt deep stuff whenever we meet up. After service, some of us sent Belinda off at the airport and perhaps cuz i learn German as well, i feel so excited for her as well!

Today.. was CLT in the morning. Then spent the day with dear at town. :) I just realised how much of a horror it is to drive through little india on a sunday cuz the indians jay walk everywhere, like even 5cm away from cars..

tmr's a public hol and it's NO-WORK-JUST-RELAC day. SMILE :P

Ihre Erstaunlich Liebe

my current fav song :)

Went out with marc after his last paper on tue! We watched ironman, which was very nice and not as guy-ish as what most girls think. Walked arnd Orchard after that and though my foot hurts at times, i still enjoyed myself alot :) Ate dinner at Jap Marche and had my fav salmon sashimi and unagi too!

Today was my first day of internship. I was really afraid that i would be late when i saw the morning peak hour jam at braddell- CTE, but was relieved when the jam only lasted till the cross junction. God blessed me with a bus 93 that came shortly after i reached the bus stop too and i arrvied at the office early after all :D Basically for today i observed how quality checks are carried out on the contact lens at the lab and familiarised myself with the production process. I even got to try checking for the lens power, diamater, curvature and wetness. The production line consists of a few processes with many QC checks in place esp since the eyes are very sensitive and delicate... and i gotta write them out before i see the one that's in place..gosh. It's exciting when i realise what i learn does build up my overall understanding of things and are relevant in the workplace. I am amazed when i found out that the company did not employ interns for the past few years and how great God is to provide me with this internship despite me feeling so inadequate in many ways. It was really an answer to my prayer of asking God to open doors and close doors for me when i was wondering whether i shld apply for church HIP prog. :)

i breathe freeeee-dom :)

Today marks the official end of year2sem2! I was pretty tickled at how they attached big detachable tables to the chairs in LT7a and even placed a HUGE clock in front. And when i say huge, it's really beeeggg for a portable clock, like at least 1 metre in diameter. So when physio was finally over, it was time for pix again! :)


the big SISTER. lol.


now with er-jie


Lunched @ Mussel guys.. hmm without any muscle guy.

Will be working on Wed and so basically tmr's my only free weekday :( But will be out with dear tmr! :)

I wished i had God's eyes, to see everything in perspective.

Die Zeit geht wie im Zug!

Huiying ang's bday celebrations on sunday :D

The Eintest test yesterday marked the end of one module! :) It was enjoyable reading about those crazy theories though i never really understood them fully... The module only aims to educate us on the bare minimum of the theories and it's fully up to individual students to read up more for better understanding.

If a parallel universe really exists, i will perhaps leave this universe to take a break and relac many corners over there.

Your living word. You, i cant fathom.

The word of God speaks.

Yesterday when kaiyun shared how God's word about peace spoke to her thru the purpose driven book while she had much unrest within her, i smiled and was happy that God spoke to her. But being cynical me.. there was this 0.5% that says, ah, maybe it's just a coincidence. Maybe it's cuz ur situation forced u to interpret in such a way that whatever is being spoken ministers to u. Really, this cynicism within used to be much stronger but over time it's diminished due to conviction by personal experience.

Yet today, when i flipped open the daily bread, it spoke about finger-pointing and not judging. It tied in with the Sozo team incident on sat and what marcus reminded me. Bascially, i didnt understand why some sozo team members behaved so 'weirdly' and when rachel was disturbed by the 'hissing sounds' i couldn explain and reassure her exactly because i didnt understand why either! I concluded it was merely a cultural shock, just like should any christian from a baptist church visit a charismatic one and see them breaking out in tongues, he/she may conclude that we are a cult or sth. But as the days passed, it slowly settled in that i am just unable to fathom the multi-faceted Father. He is multi-cultural in such a way that pple can worship Him in such their own ways that are all pleasing to God.

When King David danced for the Lord, a lady judged him. When some scientist of the past said the earth was round, pple of the past ridiculed him. Similarly, it is beyond us to say what's right and wrong for certain issues.

The entry summed it up by saying ' and that's the bottom line---love. It's the glue that keeps us together over matters of opinions. So the next time you feel your grip tighten arnd a matter of personal prefernce, think about roman 14.13. If you stop passing judgement and make up your mind about what really matters, love will win every time! '

what makes lects fun.

It's monday..


zZzzzz


Zzzzzzz


Wayne felt like taking pix ! :)



Shawn's funny pose...


hahaha erjie must be really honoured to have 3 great xiao meis taking pic with him


either amy's sense of balance is good .. or she has a flat head.. lol

celebrate the singaporean way.

Had team gathering/mich bday celebration last sunday at Sudoku, a jap marche place at Raffles City. They had my favourite unagi yanagawa and salmon sashimi! As usual, we feasted like deprived kids and our fav drink for that day was the macha tea which was rich and sweet :) We talked to ps over the fone and mich even photoshopped her into our team pic =D lol. But it must be really an unforgettable celebration for mich who lost her car key and had to be towed home ... by a green truck! hahs.

It was Beth's graduation day on wed so beth, franco marcus and i went to Ministry of Food for dinner. The food was ok only but i enjoyed the time of chill-out by the merlion and later at fullerton hotel. :) Had dental check up on that same day too and yay, my teeth are surviving well so far. Praise the Lord! I really hope they do not die cuz the dentist said that there are cases where teeth do die 6mths/ 1 year after trauma. :(

Sozo team from Betel Church came over and i didnt comprehend some of their actions..

Anws, it was combined bday celebrations for dad and sis today! :) Had cake-cutting at home before we walked over to toa payoh for dinner. The crabs were not as nice as those at changi but the great company was that that mattered. :) Dad bought like 6 boxes of grapes over this weekend and i think they may last throughout the week.. woohoo!

bro bday

Shopped with jie this afternoon and in the evening, we celebrated bro's bday @ Changi village where we had v nice black pepper crabs and salted egg butter crabs. yumm :) After learning about Einstein and his theories, i cant help but to fantacise about space time bending on Earth such that somehow.. perhaps there was a tunnel to suck me into and bring me into another planet or dimension of space. Then today on my way home, i wondered, is it possible that individual objects be in their own frames, such that when the mrt accelerates from rest, everyone and everything will flung to the back continuously and not succumb to the frame of the moving train? Will that happen for a floating object not subjected to 'gravity'? It would be pretty exciting to see chaos reign. lol, then again, it would be disastrous cuz our only safe mode of transport wld be walking..

surrender.

Read this insightful interpretation of Romans 8:28-29 last nite.

We know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son.

We know-- Our hope in difficult times is not based on positive thinking, wishful thinking, or natural optimism. It is a certainty based on the truth that God is in complete control of our universe and that he loves us.

everything-- God's plan for your life involves all that happens to you, including your mistakes, your sins, and your hurts. It includes illness, debt, disasters, divorce(eh.. ), and death of loved ones. God can bring good our of the worst evil. He did at Calvary.

to work together-- not separately or independently. The events in your life work together in God's plan. They are not isolated acts but interdependent parts of the process to make you like Christ. To bake a cake you must use flour sat raw eggs sugar and oil. Eaten individually, each is pretty distasteful. But bake them together and they become delicious. If you will give God all your distasteful, unpleasant experiences, he will blend them together for good.

recess week

Since my blog has been pretty wordy w/o pix,here are pix of physio lab 2/3 weeks back. hehs, it's one of the most fun and slack labs we have :)


me, jas and leo.


dajie and erjie gaying around. -_-


dajie using the spirometer and erjie figuring the data log device


3 of us blocked by dajie's fat finger.

Answs, i went for star gazing and a talk on pulsars by some female british prof yesterday. Was kinda disappointed that we only managed to see Sirius B cuz the sky was too cloudy! It's a pretty common prob in the humid climate of Singapore thou, so i wasnt very surprised.The only time i managed to see very nice stars was at germany and pulau ubin, and the mental snapsnots of these 2 scenes remain vivid till date. The therapeutic effects of natural settings are so strong that tt's no wonder Gulustan says the view of the sky from her kitchen/balcony is her television. lol :)

To me,
it's the best art piece ever. And the painter? God.

Morning Prayer

The reason i went for morning prayer for the first time a few weeks back was because i was convicted of the power of intercession...never did i expect to be ministered to by God during today's prayer session.When Gee-ian came up to me and edified me with a one-liner from God, i knew immediately that it was from God. He said, People may not understand you, but the Lord says, i do.

God never fails to amaze me. He's the only one who knows what hurts, who makes me so excited, stand in awe of Him and take my breath away!

That was exactly what i heard from God while jogging some time back...and today, God was once again restoring me. That 1.5hrs long of worship ministered to us and started prayer session well as it speaks of God's love for His people.That's the reason why we pray!

Read this poem last sat too and coincidentally i got to share with Kaiyun abt it on that very day, which i believe is not by pure coincidence.

You are who you are for a reason.
You're part of an intricate plan.
You're a precious and perfect unique design,
Called God's special woman or man.

You look like you look for a reason.
Our God made no mistake.
He knit you together within the womb,
You're just that he wanted to make.

The parents you had were the ones he chose,
And no matter how you may feel,
They were custom-designed with God's plan in mind,
And they bear the Master's seal.

No, that trauma you faced was not easy.
And God wept that it hurt you so;
But it was allowed to shape your heart
So that into his likeness you'd grow.

You are who you are for a reason,
You've been formed by the Master's rod.
You are who you are, beloved,
Because there is a God.


Ask God to amaze you today, and He will!

God, why do u work in mysterious ways? Trust the Father's heart.

God, You are really, really awesome.

hmm.

The 2nd week of sch was relatively gd.. esp the CNY party yesterday :) Enjoyed making popiahs that jian and desmond prepared, hosting games with baosheng, being able to pray for tanjo, steal a few mins to have a nice walk arnd the playground with beth, etc etc. Struggled abit abt sharing when i saw a familiar face but God is faithful and once again He reassured me again, like how he did so after i shared in church.


beth marcus tanjo and me. look at the huge pile of cny deco.. lol


with beth :)


some of us!


the physiotherapist wee kok. lol



Anws my body clock has kinda changed for this sem and i woke up at 10.30 today! lol, a rather great achievement considering i used to wake up automatically at 7plus am. Went for a jog @ bishan park before chilling at bishan stadium. I love these 2 places cuz there were quite a few times i felt God speak when i was jogging. cool. I even fell asleep at the stadium once while lying down and relaxing. Sometimes i wished i have more free mornings-afternoon to just jog and chill, but i guess i will just be satisfied with the current time table :)