Blog revival

*Dusts the blog*

*cough*

phew. almost forgot about this blog. been drowning in a pile of work. At first I had 8 tasks, but it fell flat on the floor and now I have infinite tasks to complete.

Much work maketh wearied bones.

Had been wallowing in a lot of frustration. can't quite fit into this world, I feel.

Then, I read Spurgeon's exposition on the beatitudes and I'd come to realise that I've been very joyless for a professing believer. Come what may, I should give thanks, not paying merely lip service to my heart, but truely living it from the heart.

I will delight in this:

His grace is sufficient for me, His strength is made perfect in my weakness. adapted fr 2 Cor 12: 9

freebiz(y)

whenever new ideas pop up, i keep telling myself this:

"one day when i'm free, i'll do this"

one day when i'm really free, i'll be really busy..

Encouragement

words of encouragement from the Lord, in the midst of an o-so-weary week..

yesterday:

Psalm 62:8
Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge. Selah

today:

2Cor5:1-10
Our Heavenly Dwelling 1Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, 3because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
6Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7We live by faith, not by sight. 8We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

life is a struggle,
and living is tough.
but i will look to the Lord yet,
and be strengthened by His presence.

Musings of the day

Chemistry Inspired
always thought chem was interesting, but never knew it could get so fun..

today's lab session..
1) cooked eggs using paper as fuel
2) measured CO2 gas composition for soft drinks (results: 1cm3 soft drink yields 1cm3 gas)
3) cooked egg without fire using just KOH (potassium hydroxide) pellets and water (exothermic reaction demonstration- water went fr 20 deg to 110 deg in 1 min)

Giving thanks!

its a tough month, really. i must have said this umpteen times. I don't know how I got through, but I got through it. Thank God=)
Thank God for getting me thru grammar test (phew!)...thank God for getting me thru IPPT (i passed..!! no more rt..!!)..
i've triumphed over learnt helplessness, yes!
it seems really trivial.. but to me, its an affirmation of God's faithfulness (even though we're not)..still He is sovereign over all, and even if i didn't get thru, He's teaching us to give thanks in all circumstances.
BUT, i got thru anw, so thank God=) !!!

Praising God in difficult times

its been a really difficult time for me this past month or so.. the workload at NIE is really crazy. was doing some simple math yesterday and found that we have more than twice the modules as compared to the degree program. perhaps they think grads can do it better so instead of the 4-6 modules for undergrads, they crammed 13 modules into 1 sem for the post grad students like us. so smart.
mission trip training has stepped up as well. peaked at 4 times a wk for last wk. lots of things to settle still, but little has been completed.
have to go for rt. twice a wk. hope i pass it this time rd, otherwise, it'll be 3 times a wk. then i'll really GG le.
lots of ministry work on hand to do as well. had youth ministry (facilitating lesson, leading worship, playing as musician, meetings and plannings)..have been neglecting I and J..feeling quite guilty but i really simply dun have more time on hand.. main congregation ministry too..but thanx to yix for helping out with translation duties.
On top of that, there have been people i believe God is leading me to reach out to, and along the way, edifying others. trying to minister to them as and when possible. just that day, i was praying with a pre-believing friend JY. still, there are many friends that have been contacting me, of whom i try to reciprocate (and nt ignore) in the hope that i'll be able to reach out to them someday, and that Christ's name will not be shamed by me.
sometimes i feel like martha, but its hard nt to be when you see needs everywhere. at times, it gets really overwhelming and i struggle so much. because of the hectic schedule and busyness, esp with ministry work, i neglect my walk with God. Oh what an irony it is!

but despite all these..i told the Lord; that i'll still give thanks in all circumstances, and praise and worship Him. i did just that yest on the school shuttle bus, and it was a bit difficult, but i still sang songs of worship in my heart. this morning, i've found the joy of worshipping God once more=) was reading ODB, and it reminded me of how the Lord always goes before us in all the paths that He is leading us (Jn 10:4) and it really reassured me. Somehow i started to worship spontaneously acapella and then it moved to worship with accompanyment. Indeed it is a joy to worship the Lord=) it realigns the focus back to Him instead of ourselves. yes, God is truely good! not because He gives me all the desires of my heart, but because He is God! ( we need to engage in a paradigm shift to achieve this perspective)

this too shall pass..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_too_shall_pass

a folklore of solomon, fr wiki..

One day Solomon decided to humble Benaiah Ben Yehoyada, his most trusted minister. He said to him, "Benaiah, there is a certain ring that I want you to bring to me. I wish to wear it for Sukkot which gives you six months to find it." "If it exists anywhere on earth, your majesty," replied Benaiah, "I will find it and bring it to you, but what makes the ring so special?" "It has magic powers," answered the king. "If a happy man looks at it, he becomes sad, and if a sad man looks at it, he becomes happy." Solomon knew that no such ring existed in the world, but he wished to give his minister a little taste of humility. Spring passed and then summer, and still Benaiah had no idea where he could find the ring. On the night before Sukkot, he decided to take a walk in one of the poorest quarters of Jerusalem. He passed by a merchant who had begun to set out the day's wares on a shabby carpet. "Have you by any chance heard of a magic ring that makes the happy wearer forget his joy and the broken-hearted wearer forget his sorrows?" asked Benaiah. He watched the grandfather take a plain gold ring from his carpet and engrave something on it. When Benaiah read the words on the ring, his face broke out in a wide smile. That night the entire city welcomed in the holiday of Sukkot with great festivity. "Well, my friend," said Solomon, "have you found what I sent you after?" All the ministers laughed and Solomon himself smiled. To everyone's surprise, Benaiah held up a small gold ring and declared, "Here it is, your majesty!" As soon as Solomon read the inscription, the smile vanished from his face. The jeweler had written three Hebrew letters on the gold band: gimel, zayin, yud, which began the words "Gam zeh ya'avor" -- "This too shall pass." At that moment Solomon realized that all his wisdom and fabulous wealth and tremendous power were but fleeting things, for one day he would be nothing but dust.

life is transient..

I am only but a passer-by in this world..