hey.
i'm so glad its the weekend and i can finally rest!! woohoo. last wkend wasnt much of a wkend anyway. and i so want to SLEEP. haha. this wk has been quite tough for me.. cos im not really at the peak of my health yet and i've basically just been drifiting along in terms of schwork and sch.
was feeling quite down becos of many reasons until just now in church. there is just something about church activities and church friends that is able to pull me up from the dumps if i am willing to be. the lesson was on heart connecting, and i was thinking that i cudnt really relate to the topic.. cos i felt i had been basically failing trying to connect to pple in sch this wk. but some of the lesson's main points were indeed very true. we cant just take a bible and walk down the street waving it around to change pples lives.. we have to write it on our hearts so that pple will be able to read it from our lives. also, i feel that its when we give of ourselves to others the most sincerely and wholeheartedly is when we may be the most vulnerable, but is the time when we strengthen friendships and relationships the most.
yeap. tts all.. cya =)
i told myself that i wud make a blog entry tonite and i shall.. partly cos i dun feel like doing any work like my philosophy reflections.
i've said this once and i will say it again.. u dont realise how important or how strong a friendship is until the person is not around anymore. it is the case with my sch frens who left acsi for acjc.
but they're still in singapore.
a dear sister in christ will be leaving tml for japan. to me, goodbyes are not a sad thing, cos we know that we will see each other again no matter what. recently this year a friend left for australia to study and i tried to be happy at the airport. and it wasnt so bad. i hope tml the farewell will be a joyful one =)
i guess we at pp will really miss the warmth and encouragement candice brings to the youth. it is really a gift to be able to say 'come join our circle' to play a game to a new person so easily. for me it wud take a great deal of courage and nerve. we at pp will have to exemplify the examples shown to us to connect people, and to get out of our comfort zones and start to connect to others in the youth, especially during camps as that is where we bond the most, and also during the school term where some of us may be the most vulnerable.
anyways, candice, if u are reading this, i wish u all the best for your studies in japan and be a shining light to the people there!! always trust in God and do not forget your family here in Singapore!
spent today at home. on a long awaited mc. hahah.
it really feels good to slow down (or rather completely stop) during a hard and fast crazy period of school.
just let ur brain disconnect from ur body.. and let both rest.
zzzzz..
hmm ytd i realised that we shud focus on what is eternal and not what is temporal. i knew that all along.. but just.. sorta forgot abt it. sigh. the demands of the world have finally taken its toll on me. so many deadlines, so much homework... the world just cudnt help but collapse. and the stress other pple pile on u. hmm.
hahah sometimes we always sing songs about heaven so much.. but i always wondered where the verses were that spoke about heaven. yeap but i found two passages last nite.. Matt. 6:19 onwards and 1 Peter 1. they dun describe much about heaven but they remind you that there is something beyond this life. hmm maybe this can be my sermon topic!! hahah but thats in july or august.
yeap. kinda brain dead so cant blog tt much now. cya
There are certain things in life that i consider to be important, and there always seems to be a problem in life in one or more of these areas:
1. Relationship with friends
2. Health
3. Guitar practice
4. Studies
5. Relationship with God
6. Family
right now, just after i have completely resolved problems and questions with number 1, new problems of 2, 3 and 4 have hit me. quite hard i may say. i really underestimated the scale of the maths holiday homework. or rather holiday homework in general.
perhaps it is this time that number 1 and 5 grows the strongest.
oh my its been a long time since i last blogged.
yeap anyway some updates. was actually recovering from my sore throat last sat and sun. then on monday i went for guitar camp.. and had to teach sec ones. my voice like.. totally died. hahah the first nite of guitar camp was terrible. my fren forgot to bring a sleeping bag.. so i decided to share with him... open it up flat on the floor. and we froze in the air-conned classroom. was so glad that my guitar teacher came on the second day to teach. hahah i just like.. totally stoned while he gave the lesson.
anyway, with the bulk of the week gone already with the week's homework still remaining, i spent thurs morning finishing up a bit more of it, then went out with sch frens for dinner. friday morning did a bit more work, had chinese tuition then went to church for meeting, and stayed right thru for HoF. and today was the combined youth activity!! hahah the first part was really scary when i asked all those who were present to start singing first before the actual thing started. it was scary cos i was addressing almost 40 pple who i dint see before!! in such a big room too.
yeap but the combined youth activity was fun. glad to see all these fellow brothers and sisters in Christ from other congregations come together to worship God and have fun.
hahah i dunno.. but i find it reallyyy tiring to talk to people. altho these two days have been fun, im absolutely EXHAUSTED. not to mention im still coughing my head off every sentence or so. lol. i really admire people like shawn who are so ready to take up courage and talk to new people joyfully. i need to learn from u mann brother. haha.
anyways, thats abt it for now. time to sleep!! gdnite.
after 10 weeks in sch, i have finally managed to get past the barrier of being unable to socialise with pple. yippee!! ironically this is the time i fall sick and lose my voice after 10 weeks of 'ren' :(
the past weeks were not completely a breeze, especially the first. it was as if i forgot how to make frens. which was probably the case after spending two long years wif a very close bunch of classmates. yeap but this week was when i finally overcame this barrier. and im writing it down for myself in case i need this solution again later in life haha. for pple like me, we take longer time to develop friendships. but once the friendship is strong, its almost impossible to break. but the way for me to start is to pluck up the courage to just talk to one person in a group. things havent changed.. im still really quiet in a large group of pple and i open up better in a smaller group. but according to my friend's theory, after pple get used to ur quietness they eventually start talking to you.
also on developing frienships, 1 John 3:18 really guided me a lot this week. it says: "Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with ACTIONS and in truth." the best friendships are not those where two pple are physically attracted to each other, but one where both devote time to each other and constantly help each other.
just now during sharing for heart of a fighter i cudnt really think of any failures that i experienced, but i guess learning how to make frens and develop relationships is probably one of my greatest failures, but yet i still pull through it.
okay i guess its to bed for me now.. must rest my throat. gdnite!!
hmm i like what this guy says abt love.. from
http://christianteens.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=christianteens&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.christiananswers.net%2Fmenu-ay1.html%23datingLove is best seen as devotion and action, not an emotion. Love is not exclusively based on how we feel. Certainly our emotions are involved, but they cannot be our only criteria for love. True devotion will always lead to action - true love.
"Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with ACTIONS and in truth." 1 John 3:18 (NIV)
heyy.
some updates. lately i feel i've been doing a lot of stupid things. like knocking my head while alighting off a bus on thursday. that was so -.- hahah but that happened when i was feeling really down, so perhaps it was to brighten up my day a little. and today. my guitar teacher told me about a guitar workshop at toa payoh CC on saturday (today) and that it was at 8 o clock. so after complaining twice about how badly it was scheduled, my father drove me there this morning.
like -.-
reached home at 9 and slept till 12noon. hahah got a call just now saying that the workshop was cancelled cos the guy's flight got delayed. ah well. at least i dun have to go back to toa payoh again ^^
yeap sometimes circumstances are so not in favour of us having joy. i surely dint feel too happy when i reached the CC only to find out that the workshop was in the evening. hmm but i got the see the early morning sun, which i like a lot and which i dun see a lot cos im either sleeping or in sch. yeap. well thats about it from me. cya.
hello. i was asked to write an essay to apply for some LKY all round excellence award.. similar to scholarship.. the topic was The Greatest Influence in My Life. so here it is. enjoy reading.
The greatest influence in my life has to be God. I see the hand of God in many ways around me. The very trees and plants that provide beauty and shade for us show the intricate work of a master creator. Our human bodies are also an art of perfection, and so are all the animals that roam the earth. Man can only study these living creatures, and perhaps clone them, but we will never be able to create anything completely new with our own power.
God has truly provided me with everything I possibly need. Good parents, who have good values, a place in a good school ACS (I), and many loyal friends. I am also blessed with much material comfort and with gifts of leadership, academic ability and musical ability. But more importantly, God has redeemed me from my sins and iniquities through his Son Jesus Christ. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” All of us, being human, are imperfect. Romans 3:23 states that “…all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. Even the good people of this world will not go to heaven, only the perfect will. Through the death and resurrection of Christ, all who believe and obey in Him are sanctified through His blood shed on the cross. This gift from God to all of us transcends all the other physical things the world has to offer. It gives me energy and strength for each day of my life, and also provides me hope of eternal comfort and rest beyond death.
God has not left me to search for all my answers to life’s questions alone. Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path”. The Bible is God’s word and I have found it to be true in every aspect. The questions that philosophy seeks to answer seem to have no end to their arguments, and when it boils down to the essential questions like ‘what is the meaning of life?’ or ‘why is there suffering in this world?’, we can neither find a true answer in our surroundings nor within us, we will only go round in circles. However, the Bible provides me answers that I feel are the most true and applicable in all situations. God’s word provides me encouragement when I need it the most. Colossians 3:23 encourages me to work at whatever I do with all my heart, as working for the Lord and not for men.
God has shown me love through all the people around me. This love is not romantic love between lovers, but rather brotherly love, or agape. 1 Corinthians 13:4 - 5 says, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, 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 record of wrongs.” This is the love that has been shown to me by my parents, church friends and Christian school friends, which is a manifestation of Christ’s love for us, when he gave up his life for the world. This love changes lives, and it spurs me on to show God’s love to everyone around me. Finally, God provides me comfort and hope, as Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose”.
