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..

Faraday

Inspired.

updates and thanksgiving..

havn't had an entry for some time le..

some thoughts with regards to the past few months..


Grad Trip

hmm..very long trip for me..too long in fact..6 weeks overseas and on the go is no joke..i think I'm more suited for Singapore, seriously..

quite enriching in some aspects..finally saw some of the sites and monuments in france, italy, greece and turkey but was definitely very taxing..in many sense of the word..
throughout the trip I was meditating/ruminating on the Ecclesiastes passages..and i just wondered what was I doing..? i think it disrupted the mood of the trip quite a bit..it seemed like the world was beckoning so invitingly..how easy it is for us to lose ourselves, i thought..

ESE Experience
really was quite an experience..my CS1 CT was on maternity leave, so from day 2 onwards I had to take 3 of her classes..was almost like a full fledged teacher. very memorable and very steep learning curve. though some of my colleague felt like it hasn't been very fair on me, i think its been good. quite a shock having to take so many classes alone without prior experience but the Lord has His plans and I believe in Him. just hoped that His name has been glorified through the situation He put me in.

anw, on retrospect, I really enjoyed taking the classes..the classes I had were very fun and most of the time cooperative. quite sorry that i made some mistakes in class, both technically in subject matter=P and techniques wise, but I guess its part and parcel..they were all very endearing..

so things to thank God for for putting me in this situation..

1) steep accelerated learning curve

2) God glorified through my willingness to take the task, maybe?

3) got to really know the students and to build rapport with them

4) made me rely on Him more

also had some very painful/frustrating/heart wrenching moments..

had to relief 2 classes which were totally difficult to manage
one of the classes had students running all over and i almost had to call the DM..
the other class was plain rebellious and defiant..(i shall not go into the details)

but i guess God brought me through it all and He also used it to remind me of why He put me here..His love compels and He has enabled me to love others, even the unlovable ones..b'cos He has first loved me, and that they too, are precious in God's eyes.

also want to thank God for a good CT for my CS2, Mdm S who arranged for several observations with other teachers that i might learn more..

thank God also for letting me find favour among colleagues and students..

considering whether to go back to my ESE school or to my alma mater..a dilemma to be prayed over..

NIE

school has started..feeling a little disoriented still..but its getting better..was feeling rather lonely in school..didn't feel like i had spiritual support/company..then i thought of Jesus..and i felt comforted as I recalled the times when walked really close to God; and I know He's there beside me all the time, never leaving nor forsaking me..

anw..thank God for the 2 hr lunchbreak which i had alone..managed to have quiet myself down in the midst of busyness and to be still before God..thank God also for the friends made in class after the break..met someone who was also keen on missions and seemed like he walked with God..praise the Lord..=) then met more ppl from the same 'upgrading course'..and found fellow sisters in Christ..

lots of mugging to do..NIE really thinks very highly of us..they crammed our timetable with modules i can hardly breathe..hope i don't GG..

impermanence

if everything is impermanent,
is the concept of impermanence itself impermanent?
Is nirvana then also impermanent..?

if there is such a thing as absolute relativism,
is then relativism absolute..?