Monday, June 23, 2008
I could have been a Canadian.
Yes, I could have been waving a maple leaf flag on national day instead of that of stars and crescent.
I would probably find Angie, my childhood playmate/cousin, a stranger.
I probably wouldn't be attending a Chinese-speaking congregation church and wouldn't have known so many wonderful, God-fearing and like-minded brothers and sisters.
I might not have gotten to know really great friends from NYJC and NTU.
My father had actually arranged for our family to migrate over to Canada in 1989 when Singapore's job market was not upbeat. Our applications got approved by the Canadian authorities and ALL we needed to do was to do a medical checkup and fly there to Canada. Simple.
But God sees further. Not long after we got the approval, my dad got a job that took him to Japan and so we put this thing aside and remained in Singapore.
I didn't know about this until last year.
On hindsight, I am glad we didn't migrate. We'll probably be very lonely there and without familial support, my mom would have struggled to bring my sis and I up.
And then God said to me...
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD.
As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Isaiah 55:8-9
I looked back in history and I realised how the Lord intervened in my father's plans. The Lord's way was higher than my father's way.
If we were in Canada, we would have been treated as second-rate citizens, unlike in Singapore.
In the end, my sis and I grew up well in our family and our church.
Being in Renewal Christian Church and being close to our extended family are definitely not by chance, because I believe God has arranged everything nicely for His big big Plan.
Look through your life/family history.
I am sure you will be surprised to find many divine interventions along the way too!
**
I have FOUR 21st birthday parties to attend the next 3 weeks/weekends!
:)
Friday, June 20, 2008
This is my first movie-making attempt and it's soooooooo fun!! Check out my maiden attempt.
It's publicity for the church's Teens Service-Learning Overseas Trip.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Funny conversations on the bus while going for prayer meeting last night
(Ed's note: Nellis is a 14 year-old studying in Katong Convent and Minmin is a 15 year-old studying in Pasir Ris Secondary. See what their schools teach them.)
Me: What's the capital of Vietnam?
Nellis: Vienna.
Me: .... oh man.
Me: What's the capital of Australia?
Minmin: Melbourne.
Nellis: Austria
Me: ....
Me: Okay, who's the Prime Minister of Singapore?
Nellis: (confidently) Lee Kuan Yew!
Minmin: No lah, it's Lee Hsien Loong!
Minmin: Who's the president of Singapore?
Nellis: Eh... Obama!
Us: NOOOOO!
Happy Belated Father's Day, Daddy!
Thursday, June 12, 2008
[these are my favourite things]
Music (you may be surprised!)
From this...
To this...
To this...
Just close your eyes and enjoy the music.
And my latest favourite activity is card-making!
I have been rumaging through the library for Stamping & Papercraft magazines for inspiration.
The cards they make are soooooo beautiful. I love the pretty papers, pop-up stickers, ribbons and french tags they feature.
Anyway, I'm off to our church youth camp this weekend! (we have like 80++ youths attending)
I kinda dread sleeping on the cold floor at night and the scorching sun when we are outdoors (yes, I only get burnt red, not tanned!), but I'm definitely looking forward to the bonding and the kayaking at Kallang!
Okay, I'm armed with sunblock already.
Hello sleepless nights!
Sunday, June 08, 2008
"To realize one's destiny is a person's only obligation."
From Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist
To continue from the previous post's previous post's previous post (okay, are you confused? try to figure out please), I was talking about personal calling - our ultimate destiny - this very thing which we are to fulfill in our lives.
So nowadays, I ask myself, how do I know my destiny?
Then, I remember this analogy someone once told me.
There was this new object with strange alphabet and number pads lying on the table. Someone looked at it and tried to use as a hammer but it was futile attempt. The inappropriate action created a dent instead. Then someone tried to press the number pads, expecting music to come out. But nothing happened.
Along came the inventor of this new object, he wrote a difficult mathematical equation, pressed the appropriate numbers and signs on the pad... and viola! The mathematical equation was solved. Turns out that the object was a calculator.
If the inventor didn't show how to use it, we wouldn't know what it is made for. And if the calculator became a hammer instead of helped people solve crazy numbers, not only does the calculator get "hurt", the inventor would have been terribly disappointed as well.
So, to know what we are supposed to do with our lives, we have to ask our Inventor, the One who put us here on Earth! Who else, but God Himself?
I'm still looking out for "good omens" (in Coelho's The Alchemist's speak) which God scatters along the way, which will hint to me what my personal calling is. Seeking it is definitely difficult but I'm trusting the Lord in directing me to PLAN A (and not to some inferior Plan B or Plan C)!
Hold on tight to the Lord!By the way, that's my little baby nephew (my cousin's little baby - Ignatius. We call him Iggy. Ha.). Look at how he clutched my big hands. So cute right!
Our chubby little lump :)
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Grade 5 Piano lessons - $200 per month
Contemporary music piano lessons - $50 per person
Playing the piano for prayer meeting - Priceless
Homework: Practise different inversions of the 12 majors and minors
And what is pentatonic scale?
Must know.
My gift isn't in music but I enjoy it. God gave me the opportunity, to have 10 fingers to tinkle the ivories, so I use them in church.
I know where my gift lies but when other things come along and they're not what you are excellent in, FAITH and TRUST is all you need.
And we never know, we may learn valuable lessons from such experiences.
I did :)
***
Sometimes, I wish I'm not so critical of myself.
Sunday, June 01, 2008
I'm not a feminist.
But I am against the view that a woman should be seen as inferior and weak.
While on our way home today after my jc gathering, best friend Yue and I began talking about women who are too nice. Sometimes, to want something, we have to be firm and assertive, especially in the the Workplace.
Of course, I added, being firm cannot lead to being tyrannical.
So ladies, please avoid being trapped in Bimboticism (or Bimbocity! Yue came up with this. Ha!). Be firm. But not bossy or tyrannical okay.
Workplace Tip for Young Women #101 (as told by Yue)
Mistake: "Excuse me, sorry, can I have a piece of paper please?"
What's there to be sorry about, right?
Better way: I would like to have this piece of paper please.
There. This is direct and polite. Note the "PLEASE".
***
Met up with my jc classmates today in town. Kenneth introduced us this new card game, Killer Bunnies! I think we were the noisest bunch at Cream Bistro. The game's complicated but in the end, by sheer luck, I got the Magic Carrot and won the game! Wheeeeee.
So who's prettier? John or Leona?
The table of Killer Bunnies!
Plotting... Devious David.
What to expect from here
FLASHBACK
CREDITS