excalibur

Today marks a very important day in my life, well in my classification - it's pretty important. :P I'm slowly closing one chapter of my life, and its a slow, gradual closing. Its like reading this amazingly good book and not wanting to close it when you're done, simply cause you want to turn back to every page that made you laugh, or cry, or bring back bittersweet memories. That's the best way to describe it.

Therefore I'm holding on to those few pages left, not wanting to close it - to let go, but at the same time so excited to move on. Almost like there's an amazing sequel coming after it, but I still want to dwell with the amazing book I just read.

That's exactly how I feel.

slow fade

It's a slow fade when you give yourself away

It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray

Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid

When you give yourself away

People never crumble in a day

#01, amazing what song just came to mind. :) Slow Fade by Casting Crowns. Go listen to it and pay extra attention to the lyrics. I especially like the line, "It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray." Wow.

#o2, for your amusement and only that - I just landed flat on my butt and back while running on a freshly mopped floor. Genius, I know. No wonder we tell children not to run. I laid on the wet floor for like, 2 minutes, it was so painful. And then I went on facebook and liked the group called, Did you just fall?" No, I attacked the floor. "Backwards?" Yes, I am freaking talented. HAHA.

#o3, Day of Excellence is officially over. Sung my solo today, thought I did horrendously bad because my voice was so shaky and I'm pretty sure I went off key at some parts. I was so nervous. But I'm definitely glad that's over.

#o4, worship lead today. I'm very proud of my team for staying focused and not getting distracted in our one and only task - worshiping God. I think we did pretty well considering our terrible practice on Tuesday. :P

#o5, will be registering for SAT tomorrow and finalizing at least 3 of the colleges I will be applying to. Need to decide on a final college soon. Pray for me.

#06, haven't been doing much Science this week. It's killing, really. I have no idea what I'm reading. This 3-day weekend shall be devoted to studying my horrid Science.

#07, just finished skyping with my beloveds - Ang Bee Bee, Raquel Ho, and the sister. Fyi, I am still not over my phobia but I'm working on it, I assure you. Hopefully when I'm USA I'll be brave enough to skype y'all. HAHA. (It's not my fault, my phone-life was scarred.)

#o8. Our God is, indeed, an Awesome God. :D

you make me crazier

Time for a proper update, I knoww. Let's see if I can type a short one out in 10 minutes? (I have 15 pages of Science still yet to be done and it's not making any sense.) You have yet to experience the definition of business if you ever step into my shoes for 1 week. I need to scream.

Last Monday, went to Baskin' Robbins with Ms Cath and the gals - Sarah, Quel, and Bee. Girls time out. :) We talked, serious talk, and had somber faces on most of the time, but it was fun. :D Thank you Ms Cath for the yummy ice-cream and sending me home for two days. :)

P.E. on Wednesday was fun. Scored a million goals in the all-timer game Captain's Ball. Simply because Bee is so good at catching on top the chair. HAHA. :) Beat the other team flat, but it was challenging nevertheless, lots of running up and down.

My weekend was filled with doing college stuff. The list of stuff I have to complete is just crazy long. So you take one list of things I have to do concerning one college and you times it by 4. Cause there's 4 colleges I'm applying to. :O

Not mentioning, I got an email from the International Director of Admissions at SCAD and she's coming to Malaysia. So I'm gonna be attending the University Fair on the 3rd of October and meet up with her. :) That'll be cool, but apparently University Fairs are crazy crowded and chaotic so not cool - considering that.

This week is jammed pack. DOE on Wednesday to Friday. And I'm leading for worship on Friday since BU3 backed down. Pray for me... and Gong, my co-leader. :P

I have 5 more LPT's to complete before the end of September, talk about it. :\ And then of course, the countdown to my dreaded yet anticipated month of October begins. 11 days more.

This is messy, but there's a short update about how hectic my life is gonna be... for at least 8 months. And then off to college babyy. :D It's worth it, all the stress, pain, and sweat. :P

simple as that

Be joyful always;

1 Thessalonians 5:16

(It's amazing how hard such a simple verse can get)

philosophy of the week

You serve God when you feel like it,

You serve Him when you don't feel like it,

And you serve Him until you feel like it.

My week of school holidays have been absolutely amazing. I thought I'll be at home 24/7 but it turns out that God had different plans. ;) Time for a proper update and get ready to hear how amazing life can be when you serve Him. I'm not just saying that because I know that and its like, Bible or head knowledge, but it really is true.

Basically Monday and Tuesday were home-alone days when I tried to study and succeeded. :D Haha. Did lots of house chores, you have no idea what needs to be done when you're lazing at home and your eye catches something. And then, of course, being the perfectionist that I am, I won't feel comfortable until its done. Hehh.

Wednesday, did a LPT, and then headed off to the workshop thingy at MACEE. Bumped into Kat, sat beside her, and then in the middle I saw all the latecomers - Saphy, Jo, and Josh. It was good, made me aware of a few more details I should look out as I continue this tedious job of looking for colleges.

Anyway, I think I only labeled this week as "amazing" because of yesterday. Last day at home alone, so I took it seriously and enjoyed the peace and quiet. To be honest with you, I love staying home alone. I talk to God practically the whole day, outloud. It helps. Cause its like, you're actually talking to someone. And you can tell him the most random things. Did you know He's random too? :)

Back to my Thursday, I set up my computer speakers right near the couch, grabbed my Bible and notebook, got comfy and listened to TWO sermons. Crazy good. That's when I heard the phrase I put above. Both sermons were on a series about worship, and I have never looked at worship that way before.

The simplest definition of Biblical worship is this:

Drawing near, bending down, and giving honor.

And according to Colossians 3:17, worship is simply whatever. As in, whatever. The way you would say whatever to your friend when they ask you what you want to do tomorrow. Or whatever you're gonna do when you get home from school.

Hebrews 12:28-29 says,

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.

I've never seen such simple guidelines. Simply, with reverence and awe. How many times do we lose our reverence and awe of God's holiness? It says in Nehemiah that when the Word of God was read, the people stood up. We take of our hats, stand tall, and put our hand to our heart when the national anthem is played. In the same way, we should have such a culture of honor for God.

Reverence is the appropriate response of behavior in the face of greatness.

Awe is the appropriate attitude and the internal engagement in the face of greatness.

That's all it takes, to worship God.

I highly encourage you to go listen to Paster Jeff's sermons yourself. It's like, wow. Click here to listen to Why Do We Do That? and here to listen to In the Face of Greatness. I guarantee you, you won't regret it. Why do we always have to time to download movies and songs, watch funny videos on YouTube, but not have to time to hear God's Word? Honestly, something's not right there.

Today, I had to apply that serving-God-when-you-don't-feel-like-it concept. I was doing my morning devotions when I got a call from my dear Sarah asking me to go for this prayer meeting that Elaine and the Taman SEA people arranged. I said, okay I'll try to come, and put down the phone with no intension of going. I texted her 10 minutes later saying I wouldn't be going. She, on the other hand, started praying that I'll hear a little voice in my head telling me to go. She also told Bee to call me and try to convince me.

I got into the shower, all the while praying and spending time with my best friend. I was changing when I heard God speak. It was not clear or audible, but it was a definite urging to GO! I was like, "God are you crazy, it's 11am (the prayer meeting starts at 12), it's way too last minute, my parents will highly doubtfully let me go, so I'm not going." He answered telling me that there was a difference in saying "NO" to events that would only give ME pleasure and saying "NO" to events that meant glorifying God. I told him, "Yea I know that, I'll do that from now on, but not today."

Very clearly, "You can't compromise with God."

"Yea, God, I know that!"

And thennn, my phone rang. It was Bee.

God's timing is perfect, I tell you. It was like, true confirmation that I was suppose to go.

To my surprise, my parents immediately said yes without even wanting any details. Whoa.

&well, for the record, it wasn't even a prayer meeting because only 7 of us showed up, but we had a very deep and encouraging talk. Got to know the Taman SEA people much better, which is definitely thumbs up. Had lots of fun, laughing and chatting, because well, everyone loves Bee. :) Bonding with a group of strong Christian friends, talking about problems in our lives, getting encouraged - that's what can refresh your soul like *snaps finger* that.

I feel good, cause today was a good day. (In deep contrast to my last Friday, which was terrible.) I came back home, and I said to myself, "I actually went. Wow. I thought it'll be impossible." And listening to God, nothing can beat that.

Never lose sight of how amazing the God you serve is. Don't even lose the reverence and awe you should have for Him. And never ever forget, he answers prayers. But most importantly, when there's a will, there's a way.

Vouloir, c'est pouvoir.

insight

"Everything is permissible"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"—but not everything is constructive.
Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.

1 Corinthians 10:23-24

Stumbled upon this verse today while doing Bible. I've been meaning to search up this verse a while ago, but today I happened to find it without even looking. I had no idea it was the verse right before our SOAR 2010 Camp Theme Verse.

Well, its pretty straight forward and square. We can do anything we want, there may be rules, but no one can actually stop you. The simple point here is simply, not everything we do will help us. I don't know about you, but I don't want to waste my time doing something that doesn't even benefit you.

Anyway, my holidays are doing good. Right now I'm listening to a sermon by my old time favorite pastor, Pastor Jeff Tarbox. Its entitled, "In the Face of Greatness." Really good. When you have time, you should really try listening to sermons. Grap some chips, hit the couch, and you'll have no idea how easy it is to concentrate and get something out of it. (Not all pastors are as boring as it gets on certain Sundays) :P

P/s. I was looking through some old pictures and my goodness, memories totally flood in. I really really want to post up pictures of Matthew in a bikini and Lyd covered with flour - but I shall resist, before I get slaughtered later on. HAHA.

you got mail

Yesterday, two things arrived at my doorstep. :)

#o1. A parcel from the sister. :D



She sent me some sort of craft kit that she got me from Japan. And she stole my notepads that I left in our old house. Don't you just love my puppies and penguins, are they cute or what? :P



I started to assembly the thingy-ma-jigg immediately. And check out the nails, I totally love them. :) (Oh did I mention, I was able to read Japanese - NOT!)



anndddd...



TAA-DAA! It was pretty fun to assemble.

#o2. My humongous SAT book. :|



My one is the 2010 edition (second from the left). Talk about huge. Plus, I have my sister's one (first from the left), which is the 2009 edition, and this Up Your Score book I told you about.



Did I mention I have this huge stack of vocab cards too? :\

I'm going to be busy busy during the holidays. Toodles. :)