Another Trip

Haha..just when i just came back from holiday trip to BJ..i will be going off again..
Haha..don't worry. It is not another holiday (where got so much money?).
Haha..yes you are right. I am going for missions trip to India.
This will be my third trip & second one for teaching at the local bible school.
Haha..this time round going to teach on the topic "Modern Cults" & it is my pet subject.
Haha.."cult " leader going to recruit more "cult" members.
Oh where is my faithful subject, Joseph Peh? Till this day, still call me his "cult" leader :)

This time round, 6 of us are going there for teaching & ministry. Will have great fun together. Got to plan for training, equipping & praying as a team.
Do keep us in prayers aka elaine, regina, xue yan, ivy, jason & hwee teck.
We will be leaving on 25/11 9pm taking SQ to Kolkatta, & coming back on the 5/12, 630am to Singapore.

He Never Stops

I salute to the salesman at the NTUC today.
I salute his dedication & passion in promoting the products.
Early in the morning 9am, he started the promotion with his loud & clear microphone.
The noise level travelled up & we could hear the words VERY clearly.
Just imagine..
He kept repeating, repeating, repeating that i could repeat what he is going to say next.
The thing is HE NEVER STOPS!
No need to drink water meh? Or take a break meh? But he simply rattled on & on & on. His energy is so high & at certain times he raised his voice to attract attention. He has confidence in the products & make sure he will sell some, so that he can earn commission.
Haha..ps moses made this comment "哇，他一直讲个不停，如果他可以传福音，那该多好啊！"

Though we cannot tahan the noise level, his commitment, passion & persistence in selling his products are somethings that we should learn in doing the things of God. His heart is in his job.
Many times, we lose out because our heart is not inside.
God does not look at the outward appearances, He looks at the heart.
Where the treasure is, there the heart will be also.
I suppose when we do things with the heart, believe in the God, we can really see results.

Wrong Turn

Went to a funeral wake today.
Saw the road name, then made the left turn.
Lo-&-behold, it is not the road but another side road of the main road.
Aiya, made the turn too quick where it is supposed to be the next immediate left turn.
Bo bian..have to make a big loop trying to avoid the ERP.
Figuring out the best way is to park near to the church, but win liao can't even find a lot.

Amazingly, the HS spoke in my mind asking me to drive straight. I did.
Then i was back to the road again that i was supposed to make the original left turn
There i was, making sure that i made the ultimate correct left turn.
Of cos, i reached the place but after 15 mins of looping around.

Spiritual lessons:

1. Just because you see the road ahead does not mean it is the right one. See carefully else you will make the wrong turn.
2. When you see the road sign, follow it else you might turn into the side road that does not lead you to the right place. Watch out for small paths.
3. When you make the wrong turn, you will be running in circles which can be a waste of time & effort. When you try to find alternative, it may not be the best. Don't rely too much on your human wisdom.
4. But the HS is there to lead you back to the right way & you will ultimately find the right path when you see the sign again. HS will direct us back when we make the wrong turn. Listen to His voice.

Sometimes simple things can happen around us, yet they carry profound spiritual lessons for us to learn. Have a great day tomorrow :)

Night

BJ night scene is pretty cool..i am amazed!

We were caught in their preparation of the coming 60th years National Day celebrations, very nice light up & grand decorations..

To think that i had come to BJ 5 years ago & comparatively it has changed tremendously. Well done!

Except for the air pollution, i find it is a nice place for holidays.

Haha..forgot to mention: got to be prepared to walk alot alot

(clear evidence: my 3 blisters + 1 swollen foot).

But it is worthwhile afterall :D

MRT Day

Todae is the MRT dae..
Purely no driving, just the train..
Went to the gym in the morning, so took the train from Hougang to Raffles Place.
Then went to meet one member for lunch at Jurong Point, so took the train from Raffles Place to Boon Lay (that was a long journey, thank God for seats).
Then went to meet 2 charming ladies at AMK, so again took the train from Boon Lay to AMK. Literally MRT dae..too bad gab is not with me..

Wow, the queue to change the ezlink card was super long.
The moral of the story is DON'T DO LAST MINUTE THING else have to wait for your turn :)


** actually Jurong Point is a nice place to shop but too bad it's just too far :p

Potential

相信积极力量、鼓励释放潜能
Believe in unified strength, encourage to release potential

Powerful statement from this advert that motivates people to release their hidden talents & potentials. You will never know how much & how far you can achieve till you dare to exhibit & use them.

Bill Hybels reminds us to regularly do spiritual bucket check.
Are you full, half-full or almost depleting? Unless our bucket is full or in the process of filling it up, we cannot effectively use our potential to the fullest.

Here i am asking "Is my bucket full?" How about you?
Before you consider anything else, check your spiritual bucket.
Make sure you are filling it up to the brim everyday by spending time with God.

Once again, check your bucket :P

Foooood in BJ

Haha..these are what we eat during our BJ trip..

Haha..see already no appetite right?

But well..not too bad lah..just that too oily & saltish even after we kept repeating ourselves "煮清淡", but never happened!

Still prefer Spore & HK fooooood :)

This Day

Conclusion: No powerpoint slides using that sloooooww laptop.
One little frustration during my preaching this morning.
I think the room is also too dark when the projection is on, but well..
The building will be coming down pretty soon, so i guess just live with it lor :D
Hehe..the most important is the presence of God. Without that, whatever we do will be in vain.

Not bad. Have lunch with 2 cell members, which i doubt i can do that for the next 6 weeks since i will be teaching OT in CET term 3. Haha..then ate my long-time-never-eat aaron low's favourite chicken rice..think at least didn't eat that for more than 6 months. The couple still sells the same soft & tasty white chicken. In case you may wonder which stall, highly recommended - located at the last row nearest to the swimming pool at the market area. Haha, don't worry. They never paid me for advert, just that it's really nice. Good things are meant to share about, so yeah!

Haha..have been slacking the whole afternoon staring at the one-eye monster: TV. Purely wanted to relax before starting my reading again. Haiz..one more week to go before the block class commences, so better clear as much work as possible that i can focus on the given assignment later. This is what we called 未雨绸缪, not KS.

Oh oh..
Jesus loves you :)

熊猫

Panda

Precious 国宝

Gift of peace & harmony

I simply love 熊猫 :D

In Awe of You

Very uplifted by this beautiful song..

In awe of you we worship

And stand amazed at your great love

We've changed from glory to glory

And set our hearts on you our God

Now your presence fills this place

Be exalted in our praise

As we worship i believe

You are near

Blessing and honour and glory and power

Forever and ever

Blessing and honour and glory and power

Forever and ever

Lord,

Soften my heart as gentle as possible, so that i will not be harden & insensitive.

Brighten my eyes as clear as possible, so that i will not be blind & clouded.

Sharpen my ears as accurate as possible, so that i will not be deaf & mouldy.

Strengthen my body as strong as possible, so that i will not be weak & tired.

I want to be used by you & for you alone.

One after the Other

Today is a meeting dae..
One meeting after the other..from morning to afternoon..
Haha..many times meetings can be quite tiring..
Anyone of you enjoy meetings? Haha..that's why when i conduct meetings, i will do it chop chop. Go to the point, then give the solution & move on. Keep running in the circles doesn't help at all :(

Finally back to my desk..oops nearly forgot to print my sermon notes..
Oh..have been sitting on my trip photos..haiz better do something, not even halfway done..


"休息是为了要走更长远的路
等待是为了要练更深的经历"

Done

Yes..finally!! Completed my sermon for this coming Sundae :D
Thank God for nice powerpoint slides. Thank God for giving people creativity to design them :D

Some of my sermon extracts:
By Max Lucado
When Matthew writes that Jesus had compassion on the people, he is not saying that Jesus felt casual pity for them. No, the term is far more graphic. Matthew is saying that Jesus felt their hurt in His gut:
He felt the limp of the crippled.
He felt the hurt of the diseased.
He felt the loneliness of the leper.
He felt the embarrassment of the sinful.

And once He felt their hurts, He couldn’t help but heal their hurts. He was moved in the stomach by their needs. He was so touched by their needs that He forgot His own needs. He was so moved by the people’s hurts that He put His own needs on the back seat.

Ask yourself: How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong.

Hope you are blessed by this morning sharing :D

So Many

Downloading the trip photos..
Editing them one by one seems to take ages..
Wow guess how many photos i actually took from BJ to HK?
Haha..hold your seat tight, drums rolling please..hold your breath now..
Yes. It's 1600 plus photos. 4GB! Unbelievable..not even counting louise's photos.
Peng san..how on earth did i take so many? Besides some repeated ones, alot for a 10-days trip. Eunice actually couldn't believe it & commented that our Japan trip should have taken more pictures. Well, those times didn't have a good camera to play around with. Unlike this trip, i borrowed Laureen's camera, which is really magical, fantastic & power camera that can take night scenes very well. Haha..thanks sis :D

Wah..the pain of editing them & the pain of labelling them. Going to take me few days but i will do it since go all the way there, so die die must upload nice pictures :)

Clearing my office desk..
So many things on the table & being a neat freak, i cannot tahan one. Haha..within split seconds, i "removed" them & now my desk is as clean as before. So proud of myself..hehe..

Oh yes..need to share this testimony. When we reached BJ airport, our baggages were delayed due to missed connection flight. Blessing in disguise because we did not need to pull the luggages to locate our accommodation place. God knew that in advance. Later we discovered that we needed to climb 3 sets of stairs (no moving eschalators at that hour) at the subway station. Thank God the luggages were delayed! God is good to us :)

Wall

The dream of climbing the Great Wall of China 万里长城 finally came true on 15 Sep. Always wanted to step onto it experiencing & imagining the painstaking efforts of thousands + thousands of Chinese people building this amazing wall, where it is the only man-made structure that can be seen from outer space.

You cannot feel it until you step onto it. I did! And it made me think..

In order to protect China against the barbarians, 秦史皇ordered his people to carry bricks by bricks up the sloppy hilltop. It was really tough. Just imagine these people have to work even during winter & under the hot sun, then also without sufficient nourishment, no wonder many were buried right under the wall.

During the climb, the weather was hot. The steps were steepy, plus some were like 2x taller than our usual flat staircases. By the time i made it to the top, i was panting like crazy.

Seriously, i really felt the amount of hands laid on this wall to protect their land. Without much choice, they paid their lives for the noble cause. Though now the Wall has become worldwide attraction & nominated as one of the seven wonders of the world, the price is far too heavy. If that is the case, then how much more is the pain of Jesus to walk the road of Calvary for the sins of mankind? He chose to do it! Till this day, Jesus is still the Wonder of this world. He paid it all :)

Raindrops

Wow..miss raindrops for the last 10 days while in BJ & HK. Over there, not even any rain but sunny days with cooling nights except 3 super hot days in HK. Haha.the moment i stepped into my wonderful homeland, raindrops & clear air. There is no other place better than home :D

At GLS for the whole day, while others were sleeping away, we gathered for the leadership summit. This is the 4th consecutive year of attendance & i must say you will surely bring something back after the summit. For the first day, this is what i had learnt:

Go fast, you go alone.

Go far, you go together.

:D The power of companionship, partnership, teamwork.
One of us can put a thousand to flight & 2 of us can set the legion fleeing. Of cos, 2 brains work better than 1, so always work together with someone & you will go far.

Then another speaker commented that people said top leadership is lonely, which he does not agree. If there is power in companionship & if the leader knows how to balance his leadership & social circle, then he will not be alone.

Haha..then on my way home, raindrops keep falling on my head & the cooling weather set in. Yeah..so nice to feel the rain again & thank God i am going home so no hassle even if there is going to be a heavy downpour.


~ Be strong as you face new challenges ahead. His grace is sufficient for you. 坚强吧! ~

Back to Reality

Haiz..my holidaes have just ended. Now back to reality..back to earth!!
Haiz..time is just so cruel. One moment comes one moment goes. Simply uncontrollable!!
Well that's life right?
God is fair, giving us 24 hours 7 days a week, nothing more nothing less.
Haiz..when will be my next holidae?

Ok stop all the whinning. Now is time to get back to work work work.
Oh no..my sermon needs to be twighted but at least the main parts are out.
Tomorrow GLS..tomorrow the tomorrow also GLS, so can only work on it on wed.
Then still need to edit the 5GB photos that we took during the holidae trip. BANG!

Somebody made a comment to me todae "Ps elaine, so fast you get back to work after the holidae ah? relax leh." Well, sometimes you just have no choice but to start somewhere esp planning for event (somemore it's quite a crucial one - the last thanksgiving service in the old church building). BUT at least i must say it's quite a fruitful meeting for the very first one. Thanks team :D

Haha..you may wonder where we went & what we did during the China/ HK trip. I shall take my time to share what i had learnt, seen, experienced & tasted in the next few daes.
One IMPORTANT record i broke: 3 blisters + left swollen ankle (Don't know how many miles of road i had walked. Can imagine how much we have walked)

090909

What a beautiful number!

Haha..it's even more beautiful to me because i m getting married!!!

Haha..no lah..pulling your leg..

I am leaving for Beijing tomorrow..so exciting

Scary leh..i was still counting down the days..10, 9 , 8 , 7 & now really come oredi. Then hor, even more scary is one year has passed since i last went to korea. Just can't believe it at the speed of time. Toooooooooooo fast!!

What a beautiful day!

Haha..becos i celebrated gaius's birthday since i can't be around on his actual day.

We really have fun together, though the time spent was short. Nevermind lah, the main thing is qualitative time & i am glad that i was able to make him happy (at least he said "godma i am happy today & i love you!"). Many times, the warm smile & the sweet words make your day, warm your heart & stir your spirit. Thanks gaius boy!

So my faithful readers, don't miss me for the next 10 days. Will report good stuff once i m back in action, so BEIJING HERE I COME, 迎接我吧！

Ideas

I am crying out for ideas!!!
God, please grant me your Creative Juice, so that i can come up something different, spectacular & wow things for the coming Thanksgiving service. Haha..best still..pour even more of that upon my committee members. Oh Lord..we need your ideas :D

I really feel that we must do something spectacular, as it will be the final year of thanksgiving in this 22-years-old worship place before we tear it down for rebuilding. Presentations? Testimonies? Oh..what else can we do?
Frankly, i don't know how it can be done. I am at a total loss, not even a single idea, but i am gonna trust in my God who is very creative, innovative, spectacular & juicy.

Eh..if you have any outrageous, ridiculous, nonsensical ideas, TELL ME!

I Like

Though my beloved car needed to see "doctor" today, i thank God :D
It was a hussle initially, becos the car mechanic shifted to a new location & i have to find my way there, knowing that i m super 烂 in maps & road directions.
BUT..

• i like the time that i have, just on my own while waiting for "her"-finished reading my textbook. Yeah!!!
• i like the simple dinner that we have, among easy-going & down-to-earth friends, in that colddddddd restaurant of billy bombers.
• i like the short but good shopping that my mentee & i have, to buy the red piece of blouse just for family day? Nah..also can wear for informal occasions lah.
• i like the here-&-there short conversations that we have, as long as our relationship is strengthened. Good friends are hard to come by.

Haha.."doctor's fees" costs me a bomb..well i still like todae!

New Kids on the Block

New kids on the block including ME!!

End of Week

Haha..i just love fridaes..end of the working week in the sense..
Just simply love todae because accomplished couple of stuff before leaving for holidays next week. Better clear as much as i can since i got to attend GLS upon my return 2 weeks time, then by that time, i will be crying for help liao. In order to REALLY enjoy my holidae, i "suffereeed" now. Haha..need the strength of God..神，帮助我吧!

Don't know what happened to my stomach, keep having this pain. Initially thought it was diarrhoea as went to the toilet couple of times, but then i doubted so. Hmm..shall monitor for 2 more days. If still not ok, i better go see doc so that i can really feel at ease during travelling.

Haha..counting down to the Great Wall..my dream. Oh today, ps moses told me that it is going to be a tedious climb & steep walk. Some steps can be as high as 3-4 stairs of our HDB flats. Oh my gosh! Nevermind lah, climb & conquer to accomplish the conquest. I can do it :) err..maybe my legs will get slimmer leh. Oh please lah, then many people will have climbed there everyday but who knows there might be such people right?
I NEED GOOD PAIR OF SHOES!!!

Oh oh..i better finish up my reading. How i wish i can just scan the book with my eyes & the data transmitted into the brain. The power of scanner, don't undermine it but then seems that not many people use it nowadays. Haiz..anyone wanna invent eye scanner?

Cinderella

On 23 Aug, i wrote something on cinderella as one of my favourite fairy tales. Guess what? Today at the cell meeting, our discussion focused on it again. Haha..all thanks to andy that i have new revelation & understanding. Can't believe after all these years, such "truths" prevail!!

I am 200% sure that everyone knows the story of cinderella. This is what we learnt:

1. Which character do you like? Dislike? Many would say they like cinderella, fairy godmother or the prince charming. Then others would say they don't like the stepmother & stepsisters because they are evil, bad & selfish in ill-treating cinderella. But have you wondered why the stepmother tried all her means to ensure her real daughters to go to the ball, but not the step daughter? Though she is selfish, yet her heart is for the sake of her daughters. In that case, even if things seem bad or evil, we should learn to look at them with another perspective like the stepmother's intention.
   
   
2. What would happen to cinderella if she did not hop up the carriage when the clock strikes 12 midnight? She would transform back to her original state right? At least, we know she did catch the carriage on time. We should learn to be conscious of time, else if late things may turn out ugly. Seize the timing.
   
   
3. Would cinderella be able to go to the ball without the help of the fairy godmother? No. Because of the fairy godmother's help, she made it to the ball with beautiful dress, glass shoes, servants & carriage. On top of that, the dogs & mouses (transformed into servants), pumpkin (transformed into carriage) were part of the plot. We should have friends like the fairy godmother, dogs, mouses & even the pumpkin. Friends make up your life, who will help you along the way. We can never be an island. That's why God created Eve for Adam.
   
   
4. Would cinderella receive her happiness if she has given up hope to go to the ball? No, though she may get the help from her friends or the stepmother did not stop her from attending, she might just give up or did not wish to go. If cinderella did not pursue the opportunity, gave up easily or resign to fate, she would not live happily ever after liao. We should not give up easily but press on, then happiness would come our way.
   
   
5. What is the most illogical part in this tale? Haha..this is the best. Have you ever wondered everything else went back to its original state except the glass shoes? The writer was Illogical & mistakeable in this part, yet the tale went far across generations & nations, people just accept & no worries about it. We should not worry when we make mistakes. Just accept, laugh over & move on.

Haha..amazing lessons right? How fun can cell group be? This is my cell group :D