steam boat and birthdays

Ah another update. I'm starting to enjoy posting here more often. So what will it be today? Well i'm quite sad to announce that sin ying is leaving miri. She got her transfer back to KL where she loves to be. Afterall they say home is where the heart is.

She has been helping out in the music ministry at Calvary Charismatic Church, the church i attend and she's also in my lifegroup so it will not be the same with her gone.

Usually things like this calls for some kind of fellowship, food fellowship that is. And thats exactly what we did last Sunday, yeah last Sunday. It took almost a whole week for me to post it because the internet is crappy so uploading the pictures to flickr wasn't possible. Thats what you get for using free internet. But they're here now and we went for steamboat, yes the eat all you want, cook it yourself chinese tradition i have come to love, even though it is "vewy expenses". Oh well I don't know anyone who is leaving anytime soon so its ok laaaaaaaaaa.

We also took the opportunity to celebrate Samson jo... ah i forgot her name, was the first time i met her so yeah. Well we celebrated their birthdays la as a lifegroup.


So we went to Michael's. Sounds familiar.


Anyone remember the Sarawak Tribune? they were just next door


Ah the wonderful equipment that makes it happen


Where is everyone?


I see food but who's eating it.


Ah there they are.


I ate mostly meat, had a sore throat the next day but thank God it wasn't serious.


There's sin ying in the middle


It took ages before we got to this point. Everyone just kept eating


Wash it all down with a nice glass of tiger beer.


And soon this was all that was left


After all that food we settled down to good ol laughters


But sadly all good things must come to an end. We were the last to leave btw.

You know, i have the funniest parents. I got a call at 6 this morning and my dad was speaking and he said with a kind of weird surprised tone, are you still sleeping. I was kind of scared, didn't want to give him the impression that i sleep all day but come one la it 6 in the morning on a saturday. So i answered, no just woke up. The line wasn't too good so i didnt hear anything he said after that. Guess where i'm going to be once the library opens.

~shalom~

oddities

A good thing happened today. This has happened to me too many times in the past i thought by now i would have learned my lesson. This morning when i went to the open lab i forgot to take out my pen drive. I didn't notice until i was in the library and noticed its not in my pocket. Heart racing, sh*t, i forgot my pen drive. :pray: please be there, please be there.

So i rushed down to G2 and thank God it was still there. There was a nice girl, well i didn't get to see her but i guess she's nice la since she didn't take my pendrive. She just kept it on the CPU. Sigh of relief.

Another sigh of relief or half sigh of relief since i just finished the 'tough test'. I'm sure i made alot of mistakes. I din't study trees and it came out. D'oh! Anyway its over. The next one is OS i just pray it won't be as confusing as the lecturer makes it. I think maybe i'll just record his lecture and listen to it when i want to sleep. Its so soothing that once i slept in class and he was just next to me. Can't help it la, you'll sleep to if its you.

This last one is kind of like an inside story so don't tell anyone ah. My housemate listens to high school musical alllllllll day long. Even at night! Its freaky. I mean doesn't he get tired of listening to the same songs over and over and over again? Not sure how old he is but man, thats some dedication.

Oh and one last thing. I got an email from my mom today, was quite surprised she took time to mail me, this is like lets see now... the second email i've gotten from her in three years. Thats got to be a record. Anyway, she was basically saying this study, study, study, study, study. She repeated it like 7 times, i kid you not. And the entire email was like three lines long. Its good to know she has not changed. I just replied with a happy face :) i don't think she would be interested to know my plans for the school break. lol I still miss her la.

:cries: I want my mummy. :sob: sob:

Ok la enough for now, i have a group meeting at 4 and presentation tomorrow.

~shalom~

About commitments

(source: flickr)

A thought just entered my mind and i would like to explore it more. What is a commitment? Here are a few definitions:

• committedness: the trait of sincere and steadfast fixity of purpose; "a man of energy and commitment"

• the act of binding yourself (intellectually or emotionally) to a course of action; "his long commitment to public service"; "they felt no loyalty to a losing team"

• an engagement by contract involving financial obligation; "his business commitments took him to London"

• a message that makes a pledge.

(Source: Google) Referencing, lol.

I like the second one more "the act of binding yourself (intellectually or emotionally) to a course of action..." Of course this could be expanded to cover a whole lot of things like commitment to a church, or to a person, to a friend, and so on. It could also be expanded to more relevant areas like studies, career, family well you get my point.

You can also look at it as a contract, a binding decision between two people or one that can be made by an individual. On the surface it may look like some kind of evil scheme to trap someone and make sure they are not free to do what they want. But the way i see it is more like a way to instill discipline, and to stay focused and purposeful.

So why do people bail and abandon ship when things get hard? Fear? Uncertainty? Doubt? collectively known as FUD. I think before you can be committed to something or an idea you must decide to accept the terms and conditions that comes with that commitment. I'm reminded of the marriage vow and how people take such a vow thats a vow between two people and God and each other so likely. I'm also reminded of the movie the pursuit of happyness and how the wife of the main character ditched him in such a desperate situation. I understand that he made a few bad decisions in his life but they have a vow that binds them, a commitment that holds them, a contract and she broke that. There's nothing like having someone you trust and rely on just desert you, take away your hopes and dreams and force you to reorder you life.

I'm also reminded of the commitment we have to God. And one he has to us. You mean God has a commitment to us? Like yeaaah! Look at the rainbow, in lamentations its says his mercies are new every morning, and he says nothing can separate us from his love. I've been saying this for a while now because i know its true and when you think of it, you'll discover its true. We have a commitment too to shine his light in the dark dark world that we live in and show the difference, share about who he is and bring honor to his name. And even though we fail in these areas he never really stops loving. And i don't believe that God hates sinners, he just hates the sin. How can he bring rain to both the righteous and wicked if he hates them. For while we were yet sinners Christ died for us, and He didn't do to show off to us how good he is and how bad we are for that would lower him to our level and that won't do, not one bit.

So what have I said? The commitments we make to people, to ourselves, to our family and ultimately to God help us in times when bailing seems like a very convenient option for through it we learn endurance and patience which are sterling virtues and in that we become different from everyone else.

What are you committed to?


~shalom~

plus one

First it was dominic, now Samson, next will be Candace by the end of the month. Birthdays are great, we're reminded that we're old. For Sam it was his transition from been a teenager to an adult eventhough he acts quite mature for his age and people like me? Well lets not go into that shall we.

Its nice to have friends close to you on this special day, especially when they go out of their way to surprise you and make you do silly things. Some people have a strange way of showing love, i mean whats with the bucket of water? I'm sure he appreciated it la. I'm too lazy+tired to post pictures. Not sure if i should. I think i can work something out hehe.

Come to think of it, i don't remember what happened when i turned 20. Oh wait i do, ah i had a surprise party too. :sigh: how times change.

Moving on.... Whats the thing you look back and wished you did while you were in secondary school, i mean you will only get to really enjoy it then after that its history. I'm thinking of going to the prom but not sure if i want to or not. Tables are not cheap and even though people like to brush it aside and so no la, hen gui. I know alot of people are going. So now i'm faced with this interesting position; to lah or not to lah, sorry. To go or not to go. Hmm.

~shalom~

I choose

Someone once told me human beings need to be reminded more than they need instruction. I find it to be very true. How many times we hear the same things over and over until finally you get it? How many times do we make the same mistakes over and over until we learn from it?

Usually i wash my clothes at home, in the toilet because there are only three working washing machines for the entire villa so its hard to get one that is free and every time when i open the tap i always forget to turn off the water supply to the shower and channel the water supply down to the bucket where i need it. So each time i open the tap and my mind thinks water will come down straight to the bucket below but i get a shock when the water comes from above. I get a little wet too. Anyway my point is, after a few times, i know that i need to adjust the tap before i use it.

Why do i do this? I mean blog here well this is part of it

My Offering is my way of saying, Lord this is my life, its a mess sometimes, its a joy sometimes but i want to bless you anyway because you deserve it. It is also my way to serve in the SHAPE that He has made me.

If you have read the purpose driven life you know what SHAPE means. If you have not read it, i recommend it. I don't read a lot of books but i'm glad i read that one.

Over the past few months its been like the ...its a mess sometimes part has just been playing out so much that i feel like i want the ...its a joy sometimes part.

Been thinking a whole lot, just reflecting and observing too and sometimes in the midst of it all i hear this voice asking, do you trust me. And i'm like sure i do, i mean i want to but help me when trust you more. Today in lifegroup we were singing that song, blessed be your name and got to the part ...you give and take away and it was like true you know. I know i say this so much but faith comes by hearing, and hearing ... the word of God. God is PURE GOOD. And nothing He does is for our harm even though we hurt and things happen but when we think of the way that he gave up for us, we just can't stop singing this song that we sing. So yeah though its hard and i dont want to keep things inside, i want to praise God again through this blog.

On a totally unrelated matter, recently i've been missing my mom so much. Dunno why ah, so long didnt get to see her and just hang out. Yeah i hang out with my mom. I miss making fun of her and just helping her out. It feels so nice. I guess because my sister went back and spent time with doing her internship i feel i also want. Haiya, what to do?

Finally, this week is test week, i pray i can do well as we look forward to exams in November. It has been a hard time in Curtin but God is faithful.

~shalom~