In Christ

Once Again...

2011-01-26T18:29:00.002+08:00

Blogging again... and may each entry testify of His goodness and greatness, and most of all, of His love for us.

When God meets us at our time of need, He never seems closer. While we don't live for the "wow" moments with Him, those moments draw us closer to Him like never before.

Most of you know that I will be starting law school this fall, and most also know that we are expecting our second child and some may know that we have moved into a new house and are in the midst of remodelling it. Needless to say, $$ will be tight and it is easy to slip into worrying about how we would ever pay for US$130,000 in out-of-state tuition fees for law school, debt free.

An email last Thursday from the law school enquired about my current residency status for finalisation of admission. I didn't know what to reply. We had delayed law school for a year with hopes that my green card will be approved and the school will grant in-state residency status for tuition purposes. This will bring tuition fees down to $60,000. To date, green card is still in the works. When I prayed, while fretting over this matter in bed, jetlagged, Holy Spirit's answer was, "wait till Monday, you will know what to reply then". I can only believe and wait, though alternate plans and possible answers were already being formulated in my mind.

While laying in bed early Sunday morning, 2 days later, I checked my email on my i-phone and was shocked when I read this email.

"Dear Ms. Kwang,
I am pleased to inform you of your selection as a Non Resident Merit Award recipient for the 2011-12 academic year at Indiana University School of Law - Indianapolis.

This scholarship, in the amount of $35000.00, may be renewable in your second and third years (6 consecutive semesters) of law school at IU-Indianapolis, if you maintain a minimum cummulative law school grade point average of 3.000 and remain classified as a non-resident of Indiana. ....."

Further clarified with the law school that if I got my green card, and get granted in-state residency status, the scholarship will still stand, albeit at 80% of the total residency tuition costs, which will further bring down what we have to pay out of pocket.

Grace... truly is the unsolicited, undeserved favour from God.

Many FIRSTS.......

2008-03-03T10:09:00.003+08:00

Dear All,

It has been like almost 6 mths since I last blogged... and well... thought it best to do some catch up since I have had many firsts during this time:

1) Planned and GOTTEN married and become MRS JOSHUA BRADY FARRELL =)

2) Had the most heart warming wedding gift by talented pals from Purdue (not sure if I can post the video on the site)

3) Returned from our honeymoon in Bali

4) Finally took a trip and went to HKG with babes n couple of hunks from SBC, my previous church

5) First time eating JB's cooking when he cooked up a storm for cell group (Cornerstone) for Christmas Eve

6) Collected ang pows for the last time this CNY, which is the 1st that JB is spending here

It is my intent to blog on each of the above mentioned 6 items individually... and with pics and videos.... but if I don't, pls forgive me... at least there's a summary!!! haha.... perhaps you could send me pictures if you have any!!!

I'M 27...!

2007-08-29T10:28:00.000+08:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY....
Me n the yummy cake from THE PATTISIER

JB+I with JC n St Nick's friends...Kit, Germaine, Chin Guan, Chee Haw, Ah Tat, Meili!

JB + I w NTUC colleagues... Kelly, Mee Ling n Amy!

Me n NTUC bosses Hin Kee + Choon Shian and colleague, Andrea

Me n babes Satomi, Arati n Satomi's fren from Japan

Me n youngest Flamebearers cell member... STELLA (as u can tell... we will never grow old!)

the other getting married couple... Aaron (photographer for the party n our wedding studio shots) + Elaine

the married couple... Kate (st nick's classmate n she has a twin!) n Ben

lovely Purdue group that are just... aw... so awesome!...

front row: Calvin + Lynn (married couple)
back row: Elaine, Cyn Yi, Huixian, Shihyang (in courtship w/ Elaine)

they were so sweet. decorated my room to give me a surprise as the party was going on at the pavillion downstairs... they made me a poster from pic of me worshipping, we r sitting on the FATBOY human size bean bag that they got me... they even made me a card with pictures of me worshipping in the front.... love ya all!

Lynn n Cyn Yi gonna be the overall wedding coordinator
Huixian is guestlist OIC (though she's getting married next year too!)
Shihyang n Elaine will help with music n technical stuff...
Calvin... well, represented by his wife!!

FANTASTIC FLAMEBEARERS...
they helped me prepare the food, they decorated the place, they were the urshers for the guests, they cleaned up, they are just simply amazing... serving and blessing me and JB w loads of love...

baxk row: Addison, Weida / Caleb, Aaron
middle row: Stella, Sarah (cell leader)
front row: Xinwen / Mary, Alisa, Abigail, Allan

ASTRONOMICAL GRACE!!

2007-08-24T14:02:00.000+08:00

So this update is long, long OVERDUE...
My friends... some of you may already know... I am engaged... =) yes, as of 070707... and here's the account of the ASTRONOMICAL GRACE that God has shown me + JB.
He is penning an awesome love story in our lives...

06/07/07
Naomi awoke... it's 6am-ish, a little earlier than usual. Since last evening, she has been feeling a little unsettled. JB hasn't replied her sms for an extended period of time (i.e. since 04/07) and she had been wondering... "WHAT's UP GOD??" She reached for her phone and behold... there's an sms from JB... "phew... @ least he's ok".

Much more relieved, she stepped of her room groggily and bumped into her mom... I guess everyone's a little peculiar in the morning...
her mom uttered something very strange, "Your friend is outside"...

Naomi was like.."Huh???"

Nonetheless, she stumbled curiously into the living room, dressed gloriously in her PJs and adorned with slumber-ruffled hair.

Curious indeed... it seems as though she must have fallen asleep and dreaming once again...

There... sitting @ a corner of the dining table with a flipped open bible, in a tan that's a few shades darker than she remembered but with the same heart-captivating smile, sat a man that she's been thinking more and more about and growing very fond of lately... =)

Instead of the usual "slap yourself to see if you are dreaming" practice, the smart Naomi started poking and tapping this supposed man...

Conclusion
Turns out that he had been planning to surprise me for my birthday and to help me prepare for my birthday party (7/7/7)... Family n some purdue mates n cell group knew of this... which translates to seamless logistics to sneak him into the house at midnight... even while I was still awake in my room (haha... i was watching Korean drama till pretty late!!!...)

Yes... I was very, very pleasantly surprised... this sort of stuff happens in stories and movies... and when it really happens to you... it kind of seems a little unreal... but I LIKE!! =) love surprises....

Boss was super nice... gave me half day off and approved leave for 2 days week after as he stayed for 1 week (06/07-13/7). That afternoon, we had lunch with some EDB folks and then I accompanied him to his interview for admission to NTU's MBA programme (yeah, he even did tell me he was having an interview with NTU weeks before but I always thought it was gonna be a phone interview... obviously I was not fully informed!)

That evening, together with some cell ppl (sarah, weida), we had dinner and went grocery shopping for birthday party tomorrow. Addison and Allan joined us later as we chopped chickens (all 5 mainly by JB), prepare marinade, boiled potatoes and eggs, and made preparations. Solid work for 3-4 hrs till abt midnight... and it was ice-cream time (courtesy of $1 Swensen's deal with HSBC card)!!

Then... well... i guess it's 07/07/07 already....

07/07/07
Something peculiar happened again... JB came into the dining area with a fresh, buttoned down shirt... well, it's too late to think too much, and though she was still in her "working" clothes reaking of food smells... she thought it a good time to take some pictures. After a couple of pictures, JB took Naomi's hand and said, "the rest can wait... you come over here"... He guided her towards the sofa and asked her to stand on it...

was it me... or did the atmosphere seems a little weird now... oh no... this is not happening... is it really happening.... no way... oh yes.... he has a little case in hand... and yes.... he is going down on his knees... oh great, all these pair of eyes.... and here comes the question... alright... where's the hole... this is not happening... it's too sudden... what am I suppose to say?????

so yes... my friends... i was very, very, very, surprised and totally caught off-guard... i quote many of those that have witnessed the proposal... "for once, she was truly speechless". I was already blown away with the surprise visit and to have him proposed... it was just beyond what I could ask or imagine... Since it was pre-planned, the entire proposal was videotaped and if you have not seen it yet... no worries... the video will be shown at the wedding.

we announced the engagement @ the birthday party that evening.... we had an amazing party!!
JB has been accepted to NTU's MBA programme and will be starting school this Nov so he will be here from mid Oct onwards... I just returned from a 2 weeks planned trip (3 - 18 Aug) to see him and we have also fixed the US reception date.

So when's the big day??
Feb 23 2008 in Cornerstone Community Church in Singapore (no big secret to the choice... that's the week that he is out of school)
Jun 21 2008 in Lafayette, IN, USA (for his family and friends in the US)

You are all invited to the Singapore wedding... and if you can make it to the US reception to experience a US wedding... we would love to have you too!!

Email invites should be out to everyone before end of the month and the hard copy invitations some time later.... we really hope to see all of ya....

long update... part 2

2007-06-01T17:43:00.000+08:00

alrighties... so here's part 2...

we had a number of special speakers in church over the last month... it was absolutely phenomenal... seeing God work miracles and the physical manifestations of the Holy Spirit during the meetings really showed that God indeed works in the supernatural... i was touched, prayed for, prophesied over and definitely learnt during this period of time... He really showed me much during these meetings, many of which will be better shared in person... so the next time u meet me... u can ask me... =)

and of coz.. most of ya would be curious about how's things with JB... the summarised version will be... everything is progressing according to God's pace... =) we are very thankful for the grace that He has given us... suffice to say that there'll always be challenges but never anything that God has not already prepared the grace for us both to walk through...

well, he was here for 2.5 days from late night 3 May (Thurs) till early morning of May 6 (Sun). we really squeezed a lot in during the 2.5 days including supper, morning and late night walks, early morning breakfast with parents, visit to NTU, shopping around city hall, prayer meeting @ My Father's House, hangout at Lynn n Cal's with the Purdue folks and getting competitive at Guesstures between the boys n the gals, lunch with his Singaporean friends (yeah, he does have friends here that I met for the 1st time... =)), watched "One night with the King" with cellgroup... it's basically the story on Esther... seafood dinner @ East Coast and of coz the final send-off @ the airport... ok so here are some pics....

My foot n his... the yellow n brown vs. red n white... hahaha

Lunch @Marina square waraku with his NTU friends...

here's us... trying to take some spontaneous pics....

send-off at the airport...

well, I will be going to the US for 2 weeks early Aug... so we'll get to spend sometime together again then... =)

the past 2 months...

2007-06-01T17:15:00.000+08:00

hello my dear friends... it has been absolutely forever since I last blogged... ok, it really is exactly 2 months ago since my last entry....

So i am settling in very well in my new job, am still working on the first task that i blogged about... and God has allowed many opportunities to share what I put together with various department heads in the organisation... I am also very thankful for the opportunity to take minutes at the weekly senior mgmt meeting... it's very precious to be able to see how mgmt thinks, feels and acts... =)

Work
- Group Induction at the Orchird Country Club and got to meet newbies (and not so new ones) from other parts of the NTUC family (co-ops mainly);

- Ferried to Batam for a union's retreat;

- Screened PMETs (Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians) for a job placement exercise... first time i got to interview ppl, good experience...;

- Been through 3 retrenchment exercises... the older the workers and the lower their education level, the more emotional the exercise... but we are there to share with them that we are committed to helping them find a job, if they help us help them... and they are mostly appreciative.

- Attended a couple of dialogue sessions with ministers with the union leaders and got chance to observe how union leaders advocate for their members;

- Held a talk with parents of needy students in a secondary school to see if we could find their moms jobs... they really explore various ways to see how we can help those who need a job.. try first and fine tune along the way... it fail, at least we have tried our best... not a bad approach for our own lives....

- Got to pass 194+ 23 trophies on stage to Min Lim Boon Heng during the May Day Model Worker's Award ceremony... i had to modify how i pass him the trophy coz my nails keep poking him when i handed the trophies to him... hahaha....

- Toured Keppel Shipyard and ended up referring the bus driver for that day to the marine sector coz he was interested in working there.... he was going to be out of a job come end june... this is part of why i am so motivated at my new workplace...

- Assistant Class MOnitor for an event where we conducted a tour for union leaders to understand the type of training that NTUC provides to help the workers get better jobs / pay.

The experience and exposure is pretty amazing thus far... and really looking forward to really making a positive contribution to the organisation in the remaining 10 mths...

now moving onto leisure... since it'll take too long to blog on every one of them... i'll highlight the memorable ones...

- cyn yi cooked a delicious 7-8 course dinner (it's the private kitchen style.... for the gals =) absolutely spoilt us... if u are not her friends yet... u may wanna stand in line... btw, i will be conducting interviews on her behalf... we will take the negotiations offline... hahahha....

- dinner with xiaoyu and yicai at Le Petite @ Serene centre... yicai will be graduating from bible college and returning to taiwan to serve in her church... hence it was like a farewell dinner that i wanted to buy them... and funny thing is, the place takes only cash and i was cashless... so the one buying the treat had to borrow $$ first to pay for the meal... super lost form right?

- celebrated michiko's b'dae at oosh... the floor mgr was super nice and extended us much grace when it came to corkage charges... haven't drank alcohol in a long while... but had a glass of champagne and red wine that night... they were delicious but i don't think i will miss alcohol too much... =)

This is getting quite long... so will do part 2 separately....

NTUC

2007-04-01T16:29:00.000+08:00

Hello my dear friends... I have not blogged in a month and boy was it a long month... not because it was difficult but so many things happened, it's truly experiencing the fulness of life....

I have started my new job at NTUC, one year of secondment w.e.f. Mar 27 (Tues) after having spent one year at KPMG... Really wanted to share with all of ya how awesome and faithful God has been to place me at the exact place in a perfect time within the organisation.

Aug/Sep 06 --> Started to pray about whether I should extend for one more year at KPMG... and it became clear that I would not stay... fundamentally, the financial industry and the private sector at large does not motivate me... I really needed a job that impacted the lifes of ppl, not just dealing with dollars and cents, and impacting only businesses / organisations.

Knowing that leaving KPMG is certain, I wasn't sure whether it was to return to EDB or go for one more year of secondment to another organisation, and if the latter, where? there are so many options... the thing that I felt most peace about doing, was to set up a meeting with my ex-Dir in EDB (Mano) and to speak to him about this. I contacted his office but due to his tight schedule, we weren't able to nail down an exact time then.

Oct 06 --> Some of you would know that I went through a burnt out phase in Oct triggered by hectic dance schedule. When I was moving out of that phase, out of the blue, I got an email from Mano's PA telling me that he wanted to schedule the lunch that never took place... That is how gooood God is... even when I forgot totally abt arranging for the lunch... in HIs perfect time, He never forgets and He is never late. We scheduled the lunch and I started to pray real hard about what to say to him when I met him...

Not sounding presumptious, it was quite apparent to me that this appointment was divinely arranged and I would have favor with Mano... the only challenge at that time was... I did not know what to seek favor for... I had no idea where I would like to go!!!! I just kept praying and few days before the lunch... NTUC became an increasingly likely option. Actually the option to go to NTUC came up just before I joined KPMG... but because everything has been settled with KPMG, it didn't feel right / wise to pursue the NTUC option too aggressively then. So I really prayed that GOd will give favor when I speak to Mano about going to NTUC.... and HE did!!!!

He was more supportive than I expected him to be... and offered to speak first to EDB HR Dir (Anna) to see if they would have any concerns abt me going to NTUC...

Nov 06 --> at an EDB offsite event that I was invited to... Mano told me that informally, Anna was supportive and would work out the details with her staff to see how they can move forward with my request for secondment to NTUC... though she didn't see any huge problems... her preliminary support was yet another favor from God. It was clear to me that I would honor EDB and not speak with NTUC unless with EDB's consent / introduction.

Jan 07--> Up till one week before my scheduled "mini-round-the-world" trip, I still haven't heard from EDB HR. On 23rd Jan, 3 days before I was to fly off, I dropped an email to Anna to check on status of my secondment. Almost immediately, she replied and gave the go ahead to contact NTUC. In particular, she has spoken to my current NTUC boss (CS) who had quit EDB to join NTUC full time and had only been at NTUC a few months. I dropped an email to CS, and again, almost immediately, he replied and called to fix tea that evening at 6pm.

Meeting him is clearly a favor from God. He is a good buddy of Mano and back in Dec, Mano had already mentioned to CS of my intention to be seconded to NTUC. God really showed favor by allowing CS to also speak to me as a fren and not just as a prospective employer. I told CS of my intention to join the Job Recreation Department in NTUC and he shared candidly about his views on that.

To summarise, essentially, I agreed to join his department, Corporate Development Division a.k.a Strategy, Planning and Research department, trusting that God is placing me in exactly the place that He wants to be at. I had an interview with NTUC HR on 25th Jan, just a day before I flew off and it went very well. As always, I prayed for the Lord to show what must be conveyed during the interview. It was to communicate the real reason for wanting to join NTUC, which was God.

Feb 07 --> All new officers have a final round of interview with SG (i.e. Secretary General of NTUC Minister Lim Swee Say). By this round, it's 95% chance of getting ok, but 10-15% chance he may reassign the officer to different area if he thinks the officer better suited elsewhere. I trusted that God will place me exactly at where He wants me to be and SG was the best person to work through. My interview with SG was scheduled in mid-Feb. When I was praying about what to say to SG, God spoke 3 words to me that must be said... "you have to tell him that you are a person that is "Driven By Vision" and that is why you want to join NTUC"... I did. And you know what?? haha... he said "i agree with CS that you should be based in CDD but I think we should also see how we can expose you to some operations work".... yoo-hoo!!!

NOW --> My dear friends, the whole account is to really share with you how faithful God has been in guiding every single step to lead me to this organisation and in placing me in this exact role.

70% of my time is with Corporate Development where I get to work out / strategise on issues that pertain to improving worker's welfare and 30% of my time is spent with Employability Enhancement Department (EED) to have interactions with workers. The former allows me to have a broad overview of the organisation and its strategic direction and initiatives; it also allows me to have closer interactions with the top NTUC mgmt, union leaders and CEOs of coorperatives. The latter allows me to really feel the ground....

So my first day alone, I was tasked with an interesting project and experience how God can supernaturally generate ideas and angles of analysis to generate possible solutions / impactful stratefies, and I got to sit through 2 dialogue sessions that SG had with union leaders and mgmt of a coorperative. and in the next couple of days, I went through 2 retrenchment exercises and witness the reactions of the workers and understand the support that NTUC provides for the retrenched workers.

What can I say, God is so AMAZING!! If you ask Him to, He will be faithful to guide you to that place of purpose and passion. It took me over 3.5 years before God led me to NTUC... not that EDB and KPMG were wrong places, God called me to each of those organisations as well, but He was preparing me then to be effective at NTUC. In the past years, He has also been doing a deep work in me as I walk with Him before I got to be at NTUC. His timing is always perfect as we learn to wait upon Him and allow Him to do the deep work of transformation in us.

I am very mindful that I have not arrived... NTUC is not the end of it all... It is true that I have great job satisfaction, but more importantly, I know that beyond the job, it is Jesus that really gives meaning to life and while I enjoy every moment in NTUC with Him, at His perfect time, He would move me somewhere else, and I will only be most glad to follow because I know it will only be to experience a greater revelation of His love and power in and through my life.

I Stand Amazed (How Marvelous)

2007-03-01T09:39:00.000+08:00

My dear friend, that you will come to know and experience the deep love of God for you... absolutely nothing in this world will come close to the Savior's love for you...

Look no further my friend...

once you taste of the sweetness, the goodness and the life-giving Love of Jesus, you will realise that nothing in this world will satisfy the hunger and thirst within you...

there is only one answer to the void that you have been trying to fill for so long...

and His name is Jesus Christ.

" I stand Amazed in the presence
of Jesus of Nazarene.
and wonder how He could Love me
a sinner, condemned, unclean

How Marvelous, How Wonderful,
And my song shall ever be,
How Marvelous, How Wonderful,
is my Savior's Love for me...

He took my sin and my sorrow,
and made them His very own,
He bore the burden to Calvary,
and suffered and died Alone...

How Marvelous, How Wonderful,
And my song shall ever be,
How Marvelous, How Wonderful,
is my Savior's Love for me...

When with the ransomed in glory
His face I at last shall see
'Twill be my Joy through the ages
to sing of His love for me.

Enlargement of Love...

2007-02-28T13:13:00.000+08:00

So, I was riding the bus back last night after a wonderful massage... and just listening to Passion 06 CD "Everything Glorious"... what can I say, absolutely glorious album that takes u right into the heart of worship.

and at some point, I became very aware that the Lord was performing something supernatural in my spirit... He was enlarging my wineskin, literally, stretching it and stretching it, it was so streched out that I thought it was going to tear. Have u ever been physically torn in many directions? that was kind of what it felt... I felt so stretched that I thought I would just burst apart and it was getting difficult to breathe. Though stretched, the wineskin, however, was not filled, it did contain some wine, but nowhere close to filling the stretched wineskin.

Even as I am pondering and writing this blog, God is revealing and explaining the meaning of that encounter with Him...

1) the wineskin was the container to contain gifts from God... but specifically for this instance, God was speaking to me about love... about containing the Love from God...

2) God had supernaturally enlarged the capacity of the wineskin to contain more of His love... it's not just about receiving more love from God, but to know that the capacity of the wineskin is now much, much larger... the filling will be progressive but the capacity has been enlarged... when the wineskin is small, one could easily be content with just receiving a little from the Lord thinking that if the wineskin is full, it's sufficient ... now that the capacity is enlarged, greater will be the appetite, greater will be the amount that is poured in by the Lord...

3) where the provision is great, the supply will also be great, and the risk of running out (or burning out) will also be much lower. so the Lord will enlarge the container to contain His love, that there will a greater capacity to love. A greater capacity to love the Lord; a greater capacity to love man; a greater capacity to love and attend to not just one thing or one person, but a greater capacity to shower God's love in the many areas that the Lord will be leading me to.

The Lord truly is amazing and I pray that you will come to also experience the great Love of the Father.

ALIVE

2007-02-27T06:36:00.000+08:00

The Lord is my Shepherd,
the Lord is my Strength,
the Lord is my tower of refuge,
the Rock on which I stand.

To Him I will run,
to Him I will hide,
to Him I will sing my praises,
& to Him I'll raise my banner high.

To the Lord we'll raise our voices,
to the Lord we'll lift our eyes,
to the Lord we'll life our burdens,
& to the Lord our praises arise.

The Lord will grant our wishes,
the Lord is help in time,
the Lord will give us presents,
He whispers, & we're alive.

Our spirits rise to join His,
our spirits soar on high,
our spirits unite with His love,
& in Him, is everlasting life.

O Lord, U r my refuge,
o Lord, U gave me life,
o Lord, Ur voice sustains me,
& Ur breath, it give me life.

& so to U I'll run,
& in U I will abide,
Forever my Beloved,
I am Urs and U r mine...

My soul it rejoices in Thee
--- my Spirit, my Strength, my Life...
I will sing praises only to Thee
--- forever, till the day I die.

My Lord, my Lord, my Redeemer,
in U, I am ALIVE...

No voice, no face, no life
--- comes close to Ur eyes on mine,
& till I see Ur face in heaven,
In U alone... I'll abide.

Enlargement of Tent of PRAISE

2007-02-15T02:46:00.000+08:00

This is really a summary of my 2.5 week, mini-round-the-world trip.... =)

My heart's desire for 2007 was "More of Jesus", to know Him and to know Him more intimately. I knew that God was going to show me His manifestations and He gave me the key of PRAISE!!!

Psalms 100:4
" Enter into His gates with THANKSGIVING,
& into His courts with PRAISE,
Be thankful to Him and Bless His Name!"

The unfolding began at a Saturday service sermon at Tung Fook church (Annie's church in HKG). The pastor preached on being a true worshipper of God; a worshipper that worships in Spirit (led by the Spirit and not by worldly/fleshly ways) and in Truth (consistent both on the inside and on the outside) --> John 4:24. Little did I realise how recurring this theme of Praise and Worship will be.

Next, was an awesome time at "The Ark" near U of Berkeley, California. It was awesome to be worshipping with ppl that are obviously in love with Jesus. For the 1st time, I experienced almost 2 hrs of free form worship, no one song that was known was sung, everything was the result of the leading of the Holy Spirit... fresh off the oven... =) That was some worship!

The Worship conference at White Horse (church that I attended for the most part I was at Purdue) really solidified the LOrd's teachings. Pastor Jeff really taught on the benefits of Praise, how our praise and worship takes us into the presence of God, and allows us to have victory in Praise!
Few highlights:
--> a true worshipper is Grounded in the Word and Open to the Spirit
--> the direction of our lives is established in worship; we become what we worship
--> A surrendered heart is the start of worship
--> As we worship the Lord, we experience a revelation of GOd's nature (the thing that I fear losing is the very thing that as I worship the Lord with and He'll use it to multiply and bless)
--> Destiny and Vision is revealed in our worship of the Lord
--> there's Victory in Praise, it leads us into the throneroom of God's presence and changes our circumstances so that we are positioned to see and hear from the Lord!!

To have more of Him... The key is to keep Praising, is to keep Worshipping the living King... my trip was all that and much more.... way beyond what I could imagine or think... and God even uses the unpleasant things about the trip for GREAT good... He is so awesome...

Besides the great manifestations of the Lord, there are just so many other things to be super thankful for:

1) Sharing and praying with awesome sisters in Christ!

Annie n Lillian @ HKG;

Lisa @ SF

Bok+Val + 2 kids (Aaron n Nathan) @ ORD (we even played Settlers....awesome!! n esp for the special prayer time with Val n Nathan)

n many other believers that I got to know on the trip....

2) Catch up with long-time no see friends...

Jared @ SF (housemate when I was doing Masters in GeorgiaTech)

Folks @ Purdue Repertory Dance Co. that I danced with when I was at Purdue... it was awesome to be able to take classes when I was there!!

Folks @ WHCC

Leigh @ NYC

3) Prophetic Words n Prayers
--> folks at the Ark (Joseph, Sarah, Joy, Lisa, YinShen, Aileen)
--> Dan @ WHCC
--> Joy and John Weller @ WHCC

4) Mr. Joshua Brady Farrell a.k.a. JB
So I guess, this is my public announcement platform that I am attached.... =) yupps, after 4 over years.... this is for real... haha.

God has been guiding and leading us and we are both excited and looking forward to the unfolding of His plans and purposes for us. Was good to be able to hang out after not seeing each other for over 4 years and to meet his family members.

Well, if u r based in Singapore and or visiting around end Sep, u might just get to see him. He's planning a trip then.

SO much was packed and revealed on this trip that I don't believe I have succintly been able to capture everything... I look forward to catching with some of u and sharing more about the trip...
Have a wonderful CNY ya all!

Latest Trip Updates... FINAL FINAL...

2007-01-12T18:18:00.000+08:00

Alrighties... so I have been switching to and fro on my trip.... but this is absolutely, definitely the final one....

26 Jan (Fri) --> leaving SIN at 3.45pm and arriving HKG at 7.25pm

28 Jan (Sun) --> heading off for day trip to Macau

29 Jan (Mon) --> leaving HKG at 9.55pm and arriving SFO at 5.55pm

2 Feb (Fri) --> leaving SFO at 11am and arriving ORD at 4:58pm

3 Feb (Sat) --> after spending a day at downtown Chicago, driving down to Lafayette (Purdue)

(driving back to ORD on 8/9 Feb)

9 Feb (Fri) --> leaving ORD at 11am and arriving NYC at 2:18pm

11 Feb (Sun) --> leaving NYC at 8:15pm and arriving SFO at 11:31pm

12 Feb (Mon) --> leaving SFO at 12:30pm and arriving Seoul at 6:15pm (13 Feb)

13 Feb (Tues) --> leaving Seoul at 8pm and arriving HKG at 10:45pm

14 Feb (Weds) --> leaving HKG at 11.05am and arriving SIN at 2:40pm

Yupps, am cancelling out trip to Korea, not sure why, but just felt that I need to be back before Feb 17th... guess to spend CNY with family... =) at least can have reunion dinner together...

Am really looking forward to all the flying.... absolutely love it!

Words in season...

2007-01-12T05:51:00.000+08:00

God has been speaking through sermons and messages and I just wanted to share some that really ministered to me....

Pastor Benny Ho's sermon on "Habits"...
--> he spoke of the need to demolish old habits that lead to unrighteousness and build new habits that lead to righteousness with the help of the Holy Spirit (Romans 6:17-19) --
"without God we cannot but without us, God WILL not"

--> after deciding to change, we must take action to change --
"motivation = motive + action"

--> HABIT, take away the H, still have A BIT, take away A little bit, still have BIT, take away the B, still have IT --> all of IT, the old habit, must be demolished in its entirety by crucifying it on the cross

--> he also spoke abt the need to Demonstrate Accountability by staying in a community of believers (church / cell group)
"the banana that leaves the bunch gets eaten!!"

He also shared an analogy that really blessed me.....

Sugar in a cup of TEA
"When we are saved, we are being baptised into Christ by the Holy Spirit... we are like a teaspoon of granulated sugar placed in a cup of tea, Initially, you can still see the sugar (the ME / old self) at the bottom of the cup of tea, but as the Holy Spirit starts to stir, with each sugar grain representing areas of our lives that needs to be brought before the Lord, each grain starts to melt and soon enough u no longer see the sugar grains but a cup of tea... You no longer see ME but CHRIST in me"

the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit will continue to work in us until Christ is formed in each and everyone of us...

Another preacher that has blessed me with words for the season...Rev. Paulette Reed

--> "we don't have to be right in the eyes of man but we must be MEEK in the eyes of God"

--> "the world's way of lowliness may appear a bad thing but God's way of lowliness is a GREAT thing"

--> in her latest newsletter (link below), she spoke abt believers being as arrows in a quiver (covering /protection in Christ) which is what describes the season that I am going through right now... truly, a word in season... paraphrasing a thought that really spoke to me...

"it matters not how often or how long an arrow is out of the quiver, but it is absolutely critical that it hits the bull's eye when it is released"

http://dotmm.org/dotmmnewsletter/dotmm_nl_jan11_07.htm

Trip Updates....

2007-01-05T15:19:00.000+08:00

Alrighties... so the latest is ... we are adding one more city to the trip.... =)... Macau.... so it's a total of 7 cities in 3 countries (China, USA, S. Korea).... gonna be making a 2D1N trip from 26-27 Jan...

and...

am already planning for next holiday... so exciting... hopefully i have enough leave for the rest of the year... =)

So far, the details are as such:

Date: 27Apr - 10/11 May
Destination: Budapest, Vienna, Prague, Warsaw and London!!
Travellers: Moi, Arati, Satomi and xxx (we are still identifying this special individual.... could it be you??... =) )

yoo-hoo.... it would be cools!!!

GOODness of GOD ... Part 2

2007-01-01T17:32:00.000+08:00

So my friends... God is really blessing me in acquiring material things these days... I really am just in awe at how practical the blessings can be to walk with Him, to be led by the Spirit...

again, without sounding like a broken record, I need to just recap that God blesses all the time in different ways, though at times more materially than others but He is always good... it is times as these that builds faith to trust Him in the bigger things... too often though we come to Him for the big things and realise we don't really have enough faith to trust Him or have enough experience in discerning His voice in the big things for we have not sought Him out in the small things.

So after the pow-wow handphone incident.... 2 more amazing things happened....

#1 21/12/06... Dad's birthday and we went to Hua Ting for yummylicious, though ex, Chinese food... then decided that we would talk a walk down to Orchard Road to aid digestion... that took us to Isetan Scotts...

alrighties, some background, since I've been back from the US, which is now 3.5 years, I have failed to find the right kind of skincare products for my skin and have spent at least a couple of thousands on buying products but they all didn't work... about 1 month ago, I came to the Lord and plainly laid out my case, "God, I really don't want to keep hunting around for the right products and getting frustrated along the way, plus money is going down the drain, I know that You can help and I will trust that You will lead me to the right products" So I started praying and listening to hear what the HOly SPirit was revealing to my spirit about which products to buy... somehow I felt a prompting in my spirit to buy Origins....

ok, so back to 21/12, we are all now at Isetan Scotts and I was like, let's check out Origins... I went to the counter and asked the salesgal for her recommendations...

Salesgal 1: "wait, I'll ask my colleague to come and help you"
Me:"ok" (waiting around and looking at products)
Salesgal 2:"Hello miss, are you looking for products"
Me: "yeah, I have sensitive skin but have not been able to find the right kind of products, do you have any recommendations"
Salesgal 2: (looks at my skin) "Actually I also have sensitive skin, and I don't think that any of the products will work for you"...

I was like... "WHAT???" (ok this was again inside, not blurted out) I mean normal sales ppl will just be pushing products for u right? but not when u have the favor of GOd man... Turns out that she uses products from this clinic and recommended that I go there too...

and my frens, I visited that clinic last Friday and purchased very affordable skincare products (consultation plus facial wash + toner + gel + sunblock = $170... super good deal considering that I sometimes pay 100+ for one product) and am very proud of GOd to say that they are working quite fine... YEAH GOD!!!

so to recap...
1) Got the products for cheaper than I expected
2) they WORK!!!!
3) most importantly... i don't have to be frustrated "shopping" around again....

p.s. if u want the name of the clinic... sms me, my blog not an advertising site.... =)

#2 27/12/06
so... I think i caught a little chill over Christmas... and felt like resting on Weds, i.e., go take MC and stay home.... but somehow there was just no peace in the spirit... so ok... dragged myself to work... there really isn't much going on at work now, so I was just clearing up some loose ends and planning for my upcoming trip...

Alrighties, for those that still do not know... I am going on a much anticipated 3 week holiday that will take me to 6 cities in 3 countries... yeah it's exciting.... (wait a minute, have I already blogged the itinerary?... nvm, one more time is ok...)

26th Jan - SIN - HKG
29th Jan - HKG - SFO
2 Feb - SFO - ORD (then will be driving down to Lafayette (where I did my Bachelors) on the 3rd evening and returning back to Chicago on 8th Feb evening)
9 Feb - ORD - NYC
11 Feb - NYC - SFO
12 Feb - SFO - Seoul
17 Feb - Seoul - HKG
18th Feb - HKG SIN (just in time for CNY)

okay, so except for Seoul, everywhere else really is to visit friends... yes, I am going to Seoul alone (am excited that I will be spending one night at the prayer mountain) and am rather clueless as to what I really should do when I am there... and had decided that instead of looking through throngs of websites to get free advice... I was gonna invest in a lonely planet guidebook.

and that day, I just felt like I wanna go buy the guidebook.... so I first went to a 2nd bookstore... no luck there, they don't carry guide books... there was a Times bookstore nearby and I went there... turns out that they were out of stock. While the salesgal was checking stock, she kind of mentioned that actually they took stock from MPH... but nonetheless she was gonna give me a call to let me know when the new stocks arrive... the book was going for $35.70.

went back to office and somehow felt that I should give MPH a call...

Me: "Hello, do you carry the Lonely PLanet's Guide to Seoul, 5th edition"
Salesgal: "wait a minute, I'll check for you" (quite a long while later)
Salesgal:"yeah, we have and it comes with a dvd as well"
Me:"oh, really? how much does it cost?"
Salesgal: "it's going for $31.70, and if you come down today there's a storewide 20% "

I was just super psyched in my spirit at this point, also due to the accumulation of such surprises that have been happening recently....!!! turns out that mph was having a christmas storewide 20% from 25 to 27th Dec... that day was the last day... I kind of felt that that's the only reason why God led me to go to work... coz I was on MC on thursday...

neways... so here's the deal:
1) the guidebook was already cheaper at MPH
2) became even cheaper coz of the storewide discount
3) .... and it came with a free dvd introducing 6 cities in Asean....

GOD IS VERY, VERY THE GOOD... VERY VERY THE AWESOME!!!!

Christmas 2006...

2006-12-26T15:30:00.000+08:00

alrighties.... so what happened on Christmas weekend.... let's see.... beyond the mad rush to drop off presents at EDB and KPMG in the late night, and arranging to pass ppl their christmas gifts....

it first started on 22nd, Fri morning with a beautiful bouquet of roses ...

then it was chillout with L&T folks back in EDB...

following that was a nice meal (note: more food!!) with gracie, qilei, liyi, kevin and qigen @ Village Heeren... intended to pick up some make-up from Shu-Umera but turns out that there wasn't 40% discount as expected so that will have to wait... and in between getting lost (me and gracie), we squeezed in some christmas shopping at Tangs as well...

by the time i got home... which was almost 12am... i realised that I was totally stuffed, spent and really needed rest!!

23rd Dec, Saturday

well... was suppose to be tour guide to cousins who were in town from Klang, but turns out that their other relative brought them to Sentosa and I had pretty much the whole day to myself... which was awesome... watched VCDs and just chill... love it!!

then headed out to meet cousins and one of their bf for Curse of the Golden Flower starring... u all know who.... @ the Cathay

the story was so-so... the acting, at least for Gong Li and Chow Yuan Fatt were good, i liked how the movie was directed... but it was a tad commercial and yeah... the dressing for the females leaves much to be desired... and one thing i must say.... SINGAPOREANS.... give poor Jay a break.... He is trying his best to act already... the whole cinema burst out laughing on at least 2 occasions when he had his emotional scenes....!!! heartless humans.... hai.....

intended to bring them for a drive round Singapore but inadvertently, they were tired and so decided to head home after the movie...

24rd Dec, Sunday
went for service and then met up with Fanny and Grace (friend from Cambodia) for a quick catch-up @ Plaza Singapura... which turned out to be a mini-shopping expedition as well and me and grace ended up buying the same top.... haha... one stone kill 2 birds... awesome!

then it was to SBC for the christmas celebration and to help out with the hair / make-up for the kids. am sure to miss the humans there.... here are some of the wacko bunch.... =)

Ah li... future hip-hop / breaker star.... (lucky me....)

Ah Han... future rapper / R&B artiste... (again... lucky me...)

Ah qi... another future hip-hop / breaker star and beautiful Charmaine... gorgeous woman of God in the making....

who can forget the lovely trio... meiqi, zhaopei and zhiting... glorious, glorious, glorious!!!

and of coz... it is Princess lei's birthday and we all trotted down to Raffles the Plaza for the birthday bash... great room... great food (full turkey with stuffing and ham)... great prezzies... and of coz, great company.... it was an awesome way to count down to Christmas... we had like 2 bottles of champagne though i think the ladies barely finished 1 glass amongst all of us... haha!!

25th Dec, Monday.... CHRISTMAS DAY!!
I did... NOTHING.... and that was absolutely spectacular!!

actually.... i slept like tons the whole day.... which was fantabulous!!

went for a run in the morning... cooled down, showered and slept again till abt 5ish... and then had a nice home-cooked meal topped with home-made tang-yuen (glutinous rice dumplings... a sweet dessert). the day ended with a pleasant 2-hr+ conversation... and then it was to zzzz-land again....

this is just GREAT!!

will blog the dampening event separately.... by and large... it was a great holiday!

What's up recently

2006-12-26T14:24:00.000+08:00

So... i haven't really blogged for the past month.... Few interesting things that happened...

1) Garden in my Heart performance at Indoor Stadium on the 24th of November. Had a chance to dance with super "zai" dancers from korea, japan and australia... really rewarding experience though I initially really wanted to pull out...

Row 1, L to R: Danny (director of Odyssey Dance Theatre, a.k.a choreographer), Kim Sung Han (director of the Korean dance co. that the Korean dancers are from), Sung-Ho (Korean dancer based in America but not part of this production... ), Rabian (one of the 4 part-time, Singaporean dancers), (Korean male dancer that got replaced by Te-Sug (background of next pic)

Row 2: Moi..., Jung-Hee / Charlotte (Korean dancer, former principal dancer for Korean ballet co...), Jennifer and Michelle ( 2 beautiful Korean dancers and super hot!!! =) Paul (Australian dancer born in Singapore!!)

Row 3: Peisi (Singaporean part-time dancer #3), Megumi (Japanese dancer... not part of this production), Shou-yi (Singaporean part-time dancer #4), Takeshi (Japanese dancer... ), Malaysian dancer whose name escape me now (he wasn't part of this performance)

Don't be fooled by their stage presence... these are a wacko bunch!!
Te-suk in background... ah si, jung-hee, moi, takeshi and the always entertaining... Paul....

2) Ran the half-marathon and managed to finish within my targeted time of 2.5 hrs.... http://www.singaporemarathon.com/en/race/results/index.asp

3) Had an awesome dance musical... Jesus Takes the Wheel.... on the 15th and 16th of December at NUS' University Cultural Centre. it's with Queenstown Baptist Church and they were raising funds for Club Rainbow... Thanks all who came to support the musical...

Everyone involved in the production....

Jazz n Hip-hop outfits .... posing with our teddies....

Angel and Par-de-deux outfits.....

4) went carolling in KPMG... we spent the whole of 18th Dec morning floor by floor to spread the Vitamin L around in the firm.... think we sang beautifully and looked absolutely glorious!!

My goodness.... more pics n blog to come!!

On Driving...

2006-12-21T15:06:00.000+08:00

So for the most part of the past week... I got to have the car to myself since everyone was out of town for holidays in my family... and I must really say... Driving is really a very UNHOLY thing!!! my goodness i can totally understand how ppl get frustrated and get their patience tested big time on the road... and plus it was raining quite a bit the past week and really singaporean drivers become quite spazz on the road when it pours... =P

kind of became the airport chaeffeur too since family members and friend left and came back at different times so i think i made like 5 -6 trips to and fro the airport in the past week....

the long and short of driving experience is this..... while i acknowledge the convenience of having car and the joy of giving ppl rides and ability to worship God in the car... i now have more reasons beyond financial not to get a car... here goes:

1) obviously more expensive to upkeep a car then it is to take cabs or for that matter... call cabs each time i need to get around....

2) I don't get that extra sleep or time reading / thinking abt God on the bus to work... (worship is differennt from reading and meditating on the Word)

3) I have to fight for parking lots or pay lots for parking in CBD...

4) I definitely do not need to be fined TWICE for forgetting to put stoopid cashcard in reader before entering ERP zone... i mean... it's a real Art and Skill to avoid the ERP places and remember the times.... I mean I couldn't possibly simply stop in the middle of the road to find the cash card and put it in right?

5) my flesh won't be so alive.... i can be more at peace....

6) LESS stress....

but nonetheless, I am thankful that I had the car coz rehearsals and performances for Jesus Takes The Wheel ended rather late and it was good to have the car to get home speedily to bed....!!

GOODness of GOD...

2006-12-06T05:43:00.000+08:00

GOD is GOOD all the time, His breath... the Holy Spirit is what sustains creation, truly... "If He should gather to Himself His Spirit and His breath, All flesh would perish together, And man would return to dust."

As finite beings, we humans tend to associate God's goodness to the tangible, physical realm and when trials come and life gets challenging, it is quite human for us to question whether there's a good God, or in fact, if there's a God at all... hence the age-old charge against Christianity, "If GOD is so GOOD, why is there so much evil?" Nopes... this is not a theological blog entry... but if u r interested abt this... I would be more than happy to share with u over a nice meal / drink... =)

The above was to set the stage right... that GOD is GOOD all the time, He never changes, despite what our feelings may seem to suggest in reaction to our circumstances...

but there are times when He really blesses in tangible ways and u just feel super, mighty loved... like in the past week...

Been wanting to get a phone for the past 2 months... here's the expanded, uncut version.... =)

first, i thought i could get an upgrade when contract was 21mths, but the promotional upgrade price for the phone that I wanted was only available for no existing contract, i.e., after 24 mths... so i had to wait.

then when the promotion finally was for 21mths upgrade from abt 2-3 weeks ago and i didn't have to wait anymore, i somehow wasn't able to make time to go to the handphone shop... until... I received a mail over the weekend from m1 that gave me $100 off my next hp purchase for being a loyal customer!!!

YEAH GOD!! now... i understood the delay... super excited and went to the shop last evening after work... the phone that i intended to get, Nokia 6280, was the cheapest phone around with the functionalities that I like. it was going for $138 and with the discount... I only had to pay $38... or do I? hahaha...

I finally got served and at the counter... the lady started to ramble something about my existing price plan... blar blar blar... I was just hoping she would get done with it coz I was already late for my appointment with Meijing.... and then the next thing I heard really got my attention... "why don't u get the 6288 instead, since it will also be free"....

I was like.... "WHAT??"... ok, it came out more as "what do you mean?" =)

"oh, u are on a higher talk plan, and for your upgrade, you get an additional $100 off your handset. Since the 6288 is going for $198, with the $200 subsidy, it will still be free."

The cool me of coz calmly replied, "Sure, why not."

Cool? yeah rite, my spirit was just so pumped and it just couldn't contain the praises for God... I mean... when He wanna bless u, u know He never holds back... He truly is a God of abundance...

well, for those that may be technologically challenged.... hahahha... u know i still love u yeah? the 6288 is like an upgraded version of 6280 with more memory and software enhancements...

and to top it off, since I was already completely blown away, I forgot that they were also giving away a hp photo printer with the purchase....

SO here's the deal my friends... He blessed my socks off...
1) I got a better phone then I expected;
2) got a free printer thrown in; and
3) paid $0 for everything!!!

moral of the story...

it pays to obey the voice of God... He writes a new law on our hearts, it's His Spirit communicating with ours and in that obedience, we enjoy the fulness of life... it's not a "coz I obeyed God, so He blesses me; if I don't, He punish me" type of transaction with Him, His rules were made to bless us in the first place... when we choose, note it's OUR choice, not to follow Him, we choose to step out of the abundant life that He is calling us to and we live with the consequences of our actions. But when we follow Him, we know for sure that the Faithful One has promised that there will be life, and life abundant.

It's like when u were young and ur daddy says "don't play with matchsticks ok?" and you were too young to comprehend the consequences of setting off a fire. You can either choose to obey ur dad out of your love and respect, out of your relationship with him or not obey since it's a rule that you couldn't understand the "why" and u really just wanna play with matchsticks.

He didn't bless me coz I was super good or spiritual or out of favoritism... He is GOOD all the time and wants to bless each and everyone of us... the invitation has always been given that when we choose to walk with Him in obedience, we are choosing to walk in the fulness of life that He has prepared and called us to... coz only the Creator knows what's the best for us...

the only glitch to the whole story... the stoopid slider thingie on my phone seems a little wobbly... should I go ask for an exchange or is the phone just like that... hmmm....

but WHO CARES?? that's a small glitch and...

"my God is a great, big, God and a great, big, God is my God..."
.... "na na na.... na na na...."....

=)

Releasing God's Presence....

2006-11-18T08:26:00.000+08:00

One of the things that led to the faith crisis was me making work out of entering the Presence of God... instead of flowing with the Spirit... receiving His grace... a simple message that I read triggered the following...

"No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us" (1 John 4:12)

"The one who loves his brother abides in the Light" (1 John 2:10)

I agree with many points of the writer which can be summed as when we love another, we experience a greater measure of His presence... coz that is the heartbeat of God... love.

But as I read through the message, something just didn't quite connect with my Spirit, an old, familiar legalistic sense was building... "Naomi, you must love those around you more..."

Matthew 22:36-39
"Master, which is the greatest commandment in the law?
Jesus said unto him, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
This is the first and great (most important, principal) commandment.
And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as you do yourself"

1 John 4:10-11
"In this is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Beloved, if God loved us so (very much), we also ought to love one another."

1 John 5:1
"Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and everyone who loves Him who begot (Father) also loves him who is begotten of Him (children of God)"

If you have to will yourself to love those around... it's already an indication that you have lost sight of how much God loves u and r not receiving enough of His love... to release His presence u have to first be in His presence... n u enter His presence when u enter His realm of love.

Indeed, if we do not love His children, then we cannot say that we love God... if we are not loving His children... we know that something is amiss... it's a spiritual red light... and the only way we can love Him is to receive fresh new revelations of His love for us... for God is love and only He can teach us about love...

if we do not know how much God loves us, how would we know what it means to love Him and to love His children?

As the year is coming to an end... it suddenly dawned on me that this year, which is about Ministry, is about one major lesson...

"Lord, how do I know which work U have called me to and to continue in the work that U have called me to while CONTINUING TO LOVE AND MINISTER TO THOSE that U have placed in my life"

the short but important message revealed that one of the the surest indications that you have stepped out of His presence is when u stop loving those around u... which ultimately means that you are not receiving enough from the Lord and there isn't enough "love fuel" to be poured out and shared of the overflow.

and the solution to be able to love those around u or to do any good work is not to will yourself to do it... not to condemn yourself for not being able to do it... it's to step into His presence and let His love so utterly, entirely and completely fill you...

so no matter how great or important a Ministry... the fundamentals never change... and chief of which is to dwell in His presence by receiving His love.

Beloved, as we behold Him, we are transformed into His image and when He so consumes your life n u are filled with revelations of His love for u, the extent of His work on the cross and His resurrection power... u cannot help but love and do the good works as the Spirit leads...

there's no place I would rather be than to dwell daily in Ur presence, so Lord I pray, fill me and consume me with Your love...

Ta-da.... the New LOok...!!

2006-11-02T21:33:00.000+08:00

Well for those that have yet the privilege to see the new hairdo... here's the treat... =)

n pics taken on the day I got the haircut... capturing the excitement of the moment... I love it!!

What is Naomi?

2006-10-29T08:26:00.000+08:00

So I finally studied my name… Naomi… what does it really mean?

First off…. IT IS HEBREW and NOT Japanese….! Once too often I have to educate many well-meaning individuals… Though for their benefit, I typically take such comments to be complements… I guess.... I do seem to come from a rather… well… Exotic breed… hahaha… but seriouly, as far as I can tell, I am as Chinese as one can be…

Back to serious business… According to Vine’s (which is the only way I can ever understand Hebrew on my own)….

Naomi (no-om-ee) = pleasant
(and before u scream… think first… I am pleasant in more ways than you think… =)

It does come from a Hebrew root word (naw-ame), which has many other related words (nah-am, nah-am-aw, no-am, new-eem), that essentially means the following:
agreeable, pass in beauty, delightful, pleasant (- ure), sweet, splendor, grace.

Further search through Strong’s Concordance showed that these group of words typically appeared as Pleasant, Sweet and Beauty in the bible.

As pleasant / beauty, the scriptures tended to focus on knowledge and words... but it was a verse that talked about beauty that really struck a chord and really gave a voice to my heart....

Psalms 27:4
"One thing I have desired (asked) of the Lord, that will I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord (in His presence)
all the days of my life,
to behold (and gaze upon) the BEAUTY (the sweet attractiveness and the delightful loveliness) of the Lord
and to inquire in His temple"
(NJKV+Amplified)

Isn't it amazing my friends?
we are transformed into His image when we behold Him... we become beautiful as He is without any conscious effort... we just dwell in His presence and behold His beauty....

Piggie Song....

2006-10-25T11:55:00.000+08:00

So, remember the piggie soft toy from the piggies from the performance? hehehe... it has an awesome song that was recorded inside and gets played back when i press it's cute little right front paw....

"I love Nao, You love Mi,
We love happy Naomi...
With a kick, step, piroutte,
On her golden toes...
We love Naomi the most!!!"

am sure by now, you would have figured out the tune and pls feel free to sing along.... !!! =)

Welcome to Naomi fan club.... mua-hahhahahhahaha.............

nao

TRUST HIM and Just Be Me...!!!

2006-10-23T05:24:00.000+08:00

So, it's been a trying week... buried under the months, perhaps years, of ought-to and shoulds, I was at the brink of being burnt out... the physical demands of dance and work brought the tipping point... n i was burnt out... the physical tiredness just brought forth the emotional and spiritual stress that has been subciously been building up.

for every single prayer that was offered during this week, my friend, i thank u! it definitely was answered.

so, i just wanted to share the some lessons that i've learnt over the week, after gallons (so, i'm exaggerating, good sign that i'm coming back to normality... =) ) of tears and many hours of friends therapy... i hope you will be blessed too...

1) God is already VERY PLEASED with me
because He sees Christ in me, and already declares me righteous, holy, blameless and very, very precious... He loves me unconditionally, and I don't have to do a gazillion things for Him to be accepted. There's no actions to do or words to say that will add more or less to my position of great favor in Christ.

2) Focus on BEING REAL and not achieving
I need to be real with God. it's not everyday that I feel like doing all the good Christianity things or say all the nice spiritual words. these are all good things that we should desire but willing oneself to do these things (depending on own strength) or pretending that this is really what one really wants to do is very hypocritical. we can be honest with God about our true feelings (as if He doesn't know) and He'll understand and help us. while it sounds "holy" that we only want to do what a good Christian would do, or say what good Christians should say... God wants us to be real with Him... to be honest with Him about our own feelings / desires.

3) He gave us FREE WILL
He did not make robots... He made humans, with a mind to think and a will to choose. We are not puppets that God control from heaven. He delights in us being us... our own unique personalities. we don't give up being who we are... He doesn't want us to give up free will or He would have made us thus.

there are all precious lessons... but if I can have a favorite... this is it...

4) TRUST HIM and Just Be Me
generally, i distrust my own heart / desires and seems like the right Christian thing to do... but when it comes at the expense of me checking constantly whether my desires are inline with His, it borders on being fearful and not stepping out and following my heart (which is where the living waters is going to flow from...duh ) I don't have to look to myself to justify or cleanse my desires... I can trust that the living GOd who lives in me will do that.... I will have confidence to just live as Naomi not because i have desires that are His but I trust that He will take care of that.

GOd is awesome... and I mean it... no cliches, not coz it's the right thing to say... He just is...

be blessed!

nao

My Friends

2006-10-16T23:57:00.000+08:00

So it was a hectic performance week... physically super draining but i guess worth the while at the end of the night... and the most rewarding bit of it all... is to see such awesome support from u... my friends (my parents too but they r not so savvy to come read my blog....) while I am going through a faith crisis at this point, I still do thank Him for every single one of you.

here are some pics....

Fellow Princessess... (serene, me, gracie)

Piggies from Purdue...

Monkeys from QBC...

"Slaves" from Office

n how can we forget... all the beautiful ppl with golden toes, voice and fingers....

(tangible) LOVE from my friends....

Week Ending 08/10/06

2006-10-09T11:56:00.000+08:00

01/10 --> so had late night on saturday, and decided to sleep in... ignored the prompting in the Spirit to go to church and realised later that I was suppose to be ursher for church that day. =( headed for dance and we had first session of Par de Deux (go figure.... =)) it's really quite funny, i always end up doing partnering work with guys (really boys) that are 7-8 yrs younger...

02/10 --> quick lunch errand run to buy tix for Tick, Tick Boom, lunch and birthday cake @ cityhall. it was JJ's b'dae on Saturday (20th Sep) so bought a cake and got ppl to celebrate his belated b'dae and turns out that Shankar's (my immediate boss) b'dae was on the 26th and Lars (an associate director from Corporate Finance) today... so 3-in-1 celebration. cools. then surprise, surprise, it was dance at night =)

03/10 --> had lunch with Angela (colleague from office that just got back from Australia vacation.... I wanna go!!) and tried this Hong Kong cafe, quite yummy. a mini-party sponsored by Sharad (another associate director from CF) for the arrival of his new-born.... so sweets! got chance to interact with some of the newbies in CF... then it was dance again.... i really must refrain from eating when i get home from dance... keeps me up too late in the night, but how, hungry after dance??!! jia lat....

04/10 --> had lunch with Huan (friend from church) and went to the Hong Kong cafe again and introduced her to "the muffin place" @ lau par sat... hahaha... then realised got MSG attack!! so it's either bye bye HK cafe or risk being thrown out when ask them to not put MSG when I next go there =) then lancing lancing again lar....

05/10 --> ooh... it's Niluka's last day in office so arranged for lunch at Pagi Sore (real decent Indonesian restaurant). before that had a really good talk with her abt where she's at in life, etc... though she isn't the most pious Christian but her holding onto the faith is an inspiration. then before she make her official exit, there was this mad rush of "giving away" Nilu's office momentos.... =) Nilu, we are gonna miss ya!!

06/10--> this is quite a day i must say.... so 12pm comes n it was off to People's Park for foot massage with a bunch of colleagues.... NICE!! never realised that People's Park was the hub for such services... there were like at least 10-15 foot massages places on just that floor that I was at. worth every penny of the $20 that I paid... i can "gai siao" if you wanna go.... back to work after lunch but u can imagine how enthu we were that afternoon....

after work, was still full from lunch so we just hung out at IndoChine Bar before perf start... then the phone rang with a weird number.....

surprise surprise... it's Wahyu from Purdue... i was like, "how on earth did you get my number?" and he was like, "i'll tell ya when we meet".... so I obviously "had" to meet him, u know? =) turns out he's in town for a fren's wedding. but as weekend is super packed, could only squeeze in a saturday lunch in between workshop n dance.

oh, back to happening Friday.... so the musical was so-so... maybe 6/10... at least engaging enough to not think about how hungry i was mid-way through. fav part was the message that we should pursue our dreams and not sell out to the popular / easy way out. least fav part was the rather flat perf that day... maybe the haze got to them or something, with a cast of only 3, the performers really needed to be super on-form or it can be quite a drag. oh, n btw, it was interesting to watch it with 8 other men... I mean one would have thought females are more into such stuff.

was super hungry by the end of the musical and very frequent these days, I had super big craving for meat (not exactly most lady like, but.....).... thank goodness, so did Aldric. on our way to Brewekz, noticed how pale / sick the moon loooked with PSI:140-150.... i mean, i feel like we are in a big BBQ party... only thing is where's the meat? (okok... so this meat thing is getting to me as well) at least got the brief fireworks to offer some relief to what is a real gloomy mid-autumn festival.

Aldric, Terence, Jason, Yung Yih and Chee Siang were at brewekz... funny thing is, the last 2 guys have left KPMG already and this was the first time we were having proper conversation... what can I say, we all work hard in office... no time for interaction... hehe.... must say that for the first 10 minutes after the food arrived... i was just concentrated on feeding the tummy... they serve really decent quesadillas there... =)

it was just interesting to hear them talk about work / finance / business stuff, very unlike the spiritual / philosophical conversations that I usually have. though didn't have much to contribute but good exposure nonetheless... then it was time to go home and leave the boys to their "if girls around, cannot have" conversations... =) then had a ~intense conversation with terence on way back....

07/10 --> saturday really was a blur... workshop @ NUS from 8am till 1plus. then it was zipping to Marina Square to meet Wahyu with Ah-xian and another Purdue schoolmate (i really can't remember his name). we had a real interesting conversation on our views on romance / marriage and hope that in some ways witnessed to the 2 non-Christian guys. then it was off to dance.... from 3 -10pm. met Paul, Australian dancer who was born in Singapore and looks way younger than his age.... =) we will be performing together for the improv next week.

then, since it was sung-ho (korean dancer who has been in the US for the past 14 yrs) birthday yesterday, me and ah-si rushed to cityhall during dinner break to pick up cake, dinner and haha... a whole roasted chicken from Jason's for him (he has been having meat cravings too!!.. our muscles need the protein to repair the tissue....) he was super happy and glad that we made him feel special.... been so busy with rehearsals we haven't had the chance to bring him out as hosts.... maybe after the performances....

had our first full run with musician and poetry reader in the evening.... got home way too late...

08/10 --> half the mind to skip church again... but decided i must not ignore the prompting and hopped on a cab to church though already missed both services. was just blessed with the opportunity to catch up with the church family. glad to know that the turnout from last night's mid-autumn special event was good and there were many youths. then it was rushing off to QBC for rehearsal. celebrated 3 youths' birthday in between the rehearsal and was super touched when a bunch of them wanted to come for next week's perf.... felt super loved.

something awesome that evening....

my (2nd) brother wanted to speak with me and we just started sharing and for the first time, prayed together for our family and for each other... it was just amazing... praying that we will meet regularly to honor God in our family.

then had special delivery of Magdelene portugese egg tarts... yumms!! thanks dude!

to all those that are watching the perf next week.... thanks muchie for ur support!! I will Jia You!!!

Boy + Gal = Platonic friendships?

2006-10-06T10:35:00.000+08:00

well, for sometime now the Lord has been teaching me about this topic... here's my stand...

it's best not to open up your heart to a friend of the opposite gender unless the Lord is leading the both of you towards marriage... and as such, spending one on one time is also the exception and not the norm.... i know it sounds a little legalistic, but will explain further.

opening ourselves up emotionally to another of the opposite gender opens up the door to compromises that we may not be equipped to handle, esp if we indulge in our own flesh and lose sight of Christ along the way when emotions are already involved (either mutual or with one party) this is an analogy that I've used... u can walk 5 cm away from the edge of the cliff or walk 1m away... either way, u won't fall, but if u r walking 1 m away, i really believe u can walk more at ease and enjoy the walk a lot more then if u were walking 5cm away and constantly on high alert in case u r gonna fall....

granted that diff ppl have diff characters and some are more secureed in the Lord than others but I still believe that it's good to set the standards higher so that even if you fall short, u won't be as far off as if the standards had been lower... i know it sounds a little legalistic... but it's about how easy / difficult for one to make compromises..... and yet, with all these in mind, it is still by His grace and strength that we can even begin to stick with the convictions that we feel in our spirits.... definitely not by will power or our own strength...

seeing how God instituted marriage and His calling for singles, I believe that emotional support / intimacy with the opposite gender is the special privilege of one's spouse... sure, some ppl have close relationships with ppl from opp gender and the friendships never gets complicated but that doesn't form the basis that such relationships are wise. there are always exceptions to the rule but they are what they are, exceptions.... ( e.g. I've heard of a lady pastor who married a non-Christian having heard clearly from the Lord that that's the way to go and the guy came to know the Lord and ended up having a much more powerful ministry than his wife)

Ultimately, it's most important that God is our source of strength and support... it is too easy to just turn to another brother or sister for help/support when the going gets tough... it's so much more tangible. but even in a marriage, our only true source of strength is the Lord not our spouse.... it is vitally important that we establish Christ as our rock when we are singles so that when we enter into marriage, we can look to Jesus and not at our spouse for support... we are in a marriage to support our spouse but even then i believe that the best support that a spouse can give is to point that person to God. For only He has the ability to meet us at our deepest needs and sustain us in our very areas of inadequacies.....

friends are important, they give us support as the Lord grants us, but they should not be an indispensable source of strength.... without them we must still feel complete for we already have the One that completes us.... as in a marriage... we don't need our spouse to complete us... we are already complete for we have the awesome love of the Father.... no matter where we are, no matter what we are going through, He is more than enough... if we feel something's missing and need anything else besides / more than Him, then I believe we really need to sit down and slow down to let Him minister to our hearts, to meet the areas that are yet to be filled with Him.

one does not become cold-hearted and unfeeling with such an approach... in fact, it requires us to be even more open and vulnerable towards God, and towards friends of the opposite gender such an approach frees us to minister to/ interact with/ love them in a godly manner without selfish human emotions / needs being involved because our motivation is Christ and not our own needs.

that has been my journey thus far, and I believe that the journey towards marriage for many others are not that far off... God jealously guards over us, not in an egotistical way, but out of His love that will not give us anything short of His best... which is Himself.

with all these said, it doesn't mean that I have not made or will not make compromises along the way... but we do our best by His grace, knowing that the Almighty will never forsake us.

my Beloved is mine and I am my Beloved's...
and that my friend, is already great cause to rejoice and celebrate for eternity to come.

nao

In HIS Presence...

2006-10-04T18:49:00.000+08:00

So, I have somehow slipped out of flowing in His Glory in the past week... instead of going where the Spirit leads, I keep getting into the "alright, I'm gonna go this way, Lord is this correct?"... this is what is known as 本末倒置 (a.k.a. getting the order wrong). Was reminded last night that one really needs to be led by the Spirit and not go wandering off the path and then turn around to see if God is still around. Just when your walk with Him undergoes a turnaround....

the enemy will try to distract and cause one to take one's eyes off Jesus and focus on the "not-so-nice" situations at hand.

I need more joy at work and i guess, productivity n efficiency too... really, just for one particular project. Contrary to all the "not-so-nice" thoughts that the accuser places on my mind.... I must stand on the truth and know that God places me here to be a blessing to my boss and n with His help and by His grace, I WILL do just that!!! hopefully, at some point, i don't need to step out of the office for a breather and look for oppty/place to just scream to let the frustrations out.... It's not easy just focussing on Him and not let "stuff" get to u...

but I'M PRAYING..... n BELIEVING!

nao

just 2 days.... 2 cab drivers

2006-10-01T03:20:00.000+08:00

don't think i've blogged this much in a week...

guess, it's all the late dinners working their charm n the caffeine of course that' re keeping me up... i mean it's 2.45am??!! i'm suppose to be in bed =(

so let's recap friday and saturday....

hmm... had lunch with Fanny, Lynn n Grace (ex-colleagues from EDB) at Sun Japanese Dining @ Chijmes... we used to all meet for our weekly fellowship ladies lunch (and Sun is a place we go quite often for "good" lunches) ... really missed the bunch of them... good time of sharing and rejoicing and encouraging one another in the faith. interesting group of ladies, one's married, one's gonna get married, one's dating someone and of coz... there's mua... still single... =) talk about having perspective on love / marriage around the table...

then had rehearsal at night.... n the most qiao thing happened when i was heading out of the building with couple of dance mates (jia n peisi) enroute to boulevard @ e red dot building. we were going to drop by to say hi to another dance mate (lay teng) with her bunch of frens (no, i cannot remember their names)... too tired to stay but had promised will go over and say hi... then... on our way there, i was like, wait a minute, who're those 2 jokers walking past the entrance of TAPAC (telok ayer performing arts centre.... where ODT is... arts building that's in urgent need for upgrading....) turns out that Terence n Aldric had just finished hanging out @ red dot and was walking off to their next destination... it's kind of cool to bump into them... or is it.... STALKERS? (n for the record mr. ma... i had first claim to that statement!!!!!)

after a real brief hi/bye to LayTeng's friend (which technically was more a .... "u must all come n support our performance" pitch and frantic giving out of brochures) jia, si, me and terence ended up sharing a cab home...

now, for the first cab driver was this uncle.... well, first off, i felt kind of sheepish coz i know some cab uncles don't like multiple stops and well, we are making the max # of stops allowable in Sgp... 4... he was quite patient and even volunteered to correct my comment on availability of durian... (don't ask, it's quite random how that came up) in any case, at some point of the journey, we started a conversation about how many hours we sleep each night and uncle sleeps only like 3-4 hrs daily.

he said, "well, i eat something after i go home, then read newspaper then read my book, and then i go to bed about 3-4am"
I said, "maybe if u don't read before u go to bed then you can have more sleep, it's healthier"
he said, " no, the book is very important, it's the bible"
i was like, "AMEN!! uncle!!"

haha... turns out God is calling him back to church... while one who seems to walk close to the LOrd he hasn't been attending church for about 2 yrs now. but God is calling him back to the Tamil church that he used to attend... n the amazing thing is... he's CHINESE... only one in the entire church... but he knows he feels the presence of GOd strongest there. n he shared about how his wife is a believer now and how her life has transformed from one who used to go partying and their marriage was very strained just 3 yrs ago is now mended and better after she came to know the Lord. the thing that encouraged me the most was when he shared that during the difficult times... he never stopped his wife from doing what she wanted to do... he just fervently prayed for her salvation and just look what the Lord had done in her life... it's so amazing... prayer can truly move mountains if we apply our God given faith!! =) i felt so alive when i arrived home... hope that Jia (only other person left in the cab by then) caught some of that fire and will rekindle /fire up her passion for the LOrd.

8am start for workshop on Saturday... yeah, i know, it's too early.... hailed a cab and then met cab driver #2 (so sorry, really didn't remember their names) we were just having normal conversation during the journey but at one point, i asked him what is his religion... coz he stands out from other cab drivers in that he wasn't the complaining sort... the sort that actually knew contentment and had good thing to say about Singapore n singaporeans.... believe me, if u take cabs, n u talk to cab drivers.... u will know what i mean by the more "typical" cab driver... neways, realised that he wasn't a believer but his wife is n quite a strong in the faith.... squeezed in whatever testimony i could... but he really blessed me when i was alighting... he said... "GOd Bless U".... i mean, i can totally like see the seed that the wife planted growing right there... it's so amazing... God really gave me a good start for the day... esp when He knows i am not terribly thrilled to have to work on a saturday morning.....

then it was dance rehearsal and then my movie date with Cyn Yi... which i can use one word to describe... it was BRILLIANT... the company was, the movie was, the dinner was (korean outlet @ le meridien good court) n the fellowship/sharing of course... of coz... i still totally forgot the I love SAmsoon korean drama serial to pass to cyn yi for lynn... but apart from that... we had an awesome time... now, to fix up the haircut appt for the both of us....

one last word about the movie... it was surprisingly good. believe me, when i saw the title The Devil Wears Prada.. i was like... i am not particularly motivated to go watch a materialistic movie... but this one had depth. acting was good, issues were real, it's set in new york (can;t wait for my US trip), i like the ending, i identified with the characters... aaarrrr.... worth every single cent of it...

i am REALLY getting very cheong hei~~~!

nao

Chicken Essence

2006-09-29T11:21:00.000+08:00

First off, seriously... who on earth blogs about chicken essence? well... i can be the first... hehehe... this is probably the first and the most "bo-liao" entry i've blogged thus far...

i wished i could poll u all...
1) how many of you have had chicken essence?
2) how many of you like it?
and my favorite....
3) how many of you know what's in it???

ok, so I can't remember whether i've ever had it... but i think my subconcious is saying probably yes, a long long time ago.... to be fair, i think i probably didn't quite like it then coz there's just that teeny bit of reluctance to open the bottle....

think we all know it's gonna be good for health and all and it helps to "ti shen" but somehow i can't quite place this hesitance to taste it... so the reason for this is coz i actually had a discussion on chicken essence with ah-si on our way home after dance last night. I mentioned that it's been so tiring these days and I really should try the bottle of chicken essence on my table to see if it really works....

well, according to seasoned chicken essence consumer, ah-si screws up her nose if she has to drink the adult version... true to her petite physique ... ah-si drinks the children version... hehe... she says the e kiddies' one doesn't have such a strong taste....

my first question to her was.... what on earth is CHICKEN ESSENCE?? i mean... it's really suspicious that it's blackish in color and then u tell me it's the best part of the chicken.... the ingredients list is obviously more cryptic... chicken essence(99.78% .... they are really accurate!!) and caramel.... though they emphasised on the packaging that it is FAT-FREE n CHOLESTROL- FREE..... hehe.... u just know the product will sell....

so i don't have patience to read through every single write-up but these are all the benefits of the mysterious tonic......
Gives you more energy
Good for blood (think they mean blood circulation / helps iron consumption, haemoglobin level, etc)
Protects organs from damage (how on earth do u do that? forms a wall of protection around vital organs??)
For mums
Zero cholestrol
Reduce mental fatigue
Enhances mental performance
Improves sleep
Improves mood

well, i don't think i will ever really know what the "drink" is made up of... but rest assured that i will try the bottle on my table TODAY...

will let ya know how the experience went when i next blog... this is really queer, am still scratching my head on why on earth i am blogging about chicken essence... i mean... Naomi.... get a grib on urself!!!

the week thus far

2006-09-29T09:38:00.000+08:00

so.... this week is finally looking brighter... pales still in comparison to heaven but brighter when compared to past couple of weeks.... and definitely lower on the stressed scale...

well, in any case.... let's see what happened the past week....

23/9 ---> surprise surprise... was at work in the morning.... then was frantically trying to complete as much as I could before meeting Arati n Satomi for lunch @ Ristorante Valentino... Lynn had recommended the restaurant but have yet to try... in any case... was already running late when i hopped on the cab... then got this phonecall from Arati

"Naomi, where r u? I am REALLY disappointed...
(**my moment of panic, heart racing to find out what's wrong** )

"you should have been here at 12.30pm...
(**the time was about 1.10ish)

then finally....!!! i got out of my super dense mode and realised she was just pulling my leg... but boy, she totally had me... u know u r out of it when the one that's usually pulling a fast one on others GOT IT this time.... actually, that kind of helped relive some stress... laughter is mighty good....

so Satomi, in her usual wacko self, after setting a date that we will all fly to South Africa for World Cup 2010 no matter where we will be then (this was during a dinner gathering during the world cup season), she now proposes that me and Arati join her for the (half?) marathon in Hawaii end 2007.... =)

oohh.... n Arati is so cool... she agreed to pick out a few poems and recite them during our improv performances...

food is really not bad, probably go back at least once more to try their main courses... had a blast just hanging out with the gals... then also met lynette and new L&T colleague (oopsies, forgot his name). totally marketed perfs to them... hehehe...

then it was to church for youth teachers mtg... enjoyed the time when we prayed for the fellowship and the youths.... then it was more work in a cosy room until it was Shaoyun's (one of my youths) 21st birthday party...

was chatting and sharing with a youth when suddenly heard Singapore Idol on the TV ... sped over and caught Jonathon's second song... which was good.... (imagine my disappointment when i found out on Monday late night then... nopes... he didn't win....)

then it was home sweet home... yeah, not much of a Sabbath huh?

24/09 --> obviously worked... been spending quite a bit of time at Polar Cafe across from Hong Leong Building... waaaaay more productive there..... then had lunch with Tat and Chee Hao (JC mates) ... regular catch up though was too tired to be very engaging in the conversation... well, at least they liked the ramen that i like at Nanten... =) at least it was a decent lunch....

at least i had some relief before having to work for the rest of the night.... 1-hr massage.... when the masseuss was working on those knots on my shoulders.........aaaaarrrrr.... nice.... dinner and then work and then home-bound... managed to leave before mid-night... that's good....

25/09 --> so realized that me and my boss talking over one another and had to rework stuff to send to him by Weds morning... had to miss rehearsal and i kid u not... i sat on my chair from 6.30ish right up till 12.30ish in the morning and when i hit the sent button.... that was it... really appreciated Mr. ma's (colleague from work who was also working late) dinner special delivery... else i would probably have skipped dinner... then best... he gave me a ride home....

body is totally screaming in large decibels.......need more ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ........

26/09 --> found a bottle of chicken essence on my table when i went to work from Mr. Ma... (mentioning it coz think will post something about chicken essence later... =)) basically just worked somemore.... though the pressure seems to be less.... then it was time to go for dance.... little episode with one of the dancers, boy-boy Rabian having some personal problems and was hoping to be excused from the upcoming productions but this really kind of messes our original plans for the improv perf... in any case we'll have to make do.... i guess.....

27/09 --> went through the "presentation" pretty unscathe... think don't have to make too many amendments to the material... really hoping for a good headstart so don't have to scramble when deadline for final report comes along. had lunch with Huan... encouraging conversation on why we Christian single women are still single.... excerpt of conversation (as accurate as my 26 year old mind can recall)

"really need to trust and wait for His Best...."
"yeah, must have faith... every Sunday after church, wah, the faith level super high and then over the week, it dwindles and doubt starts to set in"
"the devil tries to put thoughts like... what u waiting for... just grab lar... maybe u will have to wait forever... then u would have missed the bus / boat/ train"

Deep down of coz women wanna be swept of their feet by the dashing knight in shining armor, while it won't happen literally (then again, who knows.... ), but if there's no peace, no confirmation from the Lord.... then it's not the season and we are best suited to focus on the tasks / lessons that He is teaching us on hand. think will blog separately on Not being Offended by God.... a lesson that's etched in my spirit....

then it was dance... but wait a minute, Rabian is here today, turns out he is gonna be dancing... and peisi and meself heard him out after rehearsal... though it was 11.30 before we left... every minute of it was worth it.... like i told ah si... it's not so much the impact on the company or performance that really matters... it's Ah-bian's well-being and development that's most important.... praying that He will help him find Him and to finally know what He created him to be... to find his true identity... think the mild depression is coming from not knowing really what to live for .... truly as the Word says... without hope and vision... a man perishes.....

looking forward to movie date with Cyn yi... finally after 2-3 mths (lost count) i am heading to the theatres again... for The devil wears prada....

then also looking forward to musical next Friday... "tick tick boom"... with colleagues... that's like only the 2nd one this year... after (if u remember) so-so Westside story....

wah.... super chiong hei blog.... will have to remember to blog on chicken essence and Not Being Offended by God....

think coz been working so much the past couple of weeks n really miss human interactions.... this my way of releasing my need to communicate.... =)

nao

Week Ending 23/09/06

2006-09-24T00:12:00.000+08:00

Haha... consecutive week blogging... best effort in months now.... well let's try to recollect what else happened besides wake up, go to work, go for dance, go home and sleep.....x 5 times!!

17/09 --> awesome day with the LOrd... didn't go to church coz had to return to office to work... am learning about abiding in the Glory of God... to always be in His glorious Presence. Was quite productive at Coffee Club n then grabbed a cab to go for dance rehearsal @ Ngee Ann Poly. then it was chilling with the gals (gracie, liyi n qilei n her boy boy) @ Venezia Guthrie House. got little carried away with sharing n spilt my snapple. after which, i stayed on with another glass of latte till 10ish to work somemore.... coz of the 19/9 deadline! went home, had dinner and then zzzzz

i really can't remember much for the work week coz it was just work and dance repeated. will just relate the less mundane stuff...

18/9 --> had dinner with cyn yi n her fren soo keong... since soo keong wasn't a believer but quite into philosophical stuff so had some interesting talk about religion... i guess until it's the right time... the heart will always be a little harder but trust that seed was planted that in time the Holy SPirit will water n cause it to sprout n bear fruit. only night that i didn't have dance rehearsal... went back to work after dinner, bumped into late nighters terence n aldric at work n shared a cab home together with terence. at least have company home... then it was zzzzzz again

19/9 --> awesome encounter with the Lord during lunch.... was about to just grab lunch but was led to go to COld Storage @ Marsh Centre (can't remember the building's name) and ended up bumping into Arati n finding ACts lifestyle bookstore... n picked up (finally!) textbooks for my School of Fire course. they actually carried Reinhart Bonnke's books.... i've been wanting to get them for like 2 months!! n of coz, picked up Rick Joyner's The Final Quest n The Call... man... didn't know just how blessed I was gonna be by this book.... God really surprising me with ways to perk me up on what looks to be possibly a dreary week....

actually, i have been having spirit enriching encounters with the Lord this week as GOd leads me to put into practice being constantly led by His Spirit... let me just recount one such instance in detail. Actually it's a part of the lunch encounter... the first item that I felt led to pick up in the Acts store was Pastor Benny HO's SErmon CDs on finances... i have actually placed an order through the mail 1+ mths ago for the sermon series along with other books but somehow the cheque didn't reach the cordinator... n i was wondering when i would ever be able to get my hands on the materials. but by the end of my bookstore visit, i was gonna be spending too much $$ (4 textbooks, rick's book n CDs) so at last minute, i felt led to pass on the CDs this time around... then... in the afternoon, i received an sms from my dad that the cheque had been cleared which means that my order is being processed!!!!! i can still remember the chills when i saw that sms... God really is watching over our every single need....thank u Jesus!!

20/9 --> had lunch with Alison... finally!! we've been wanting to have lunch for the longest time n it was funny coz both of us initially had lunch appts this day but both got cancelled so had lunch together instead. it's so awesome to be able to have christian fellowship @ work n she's such a sweet new mom n sister-in Christ...

21/9 --> had a real blessed lunch with Carol... she came all the way from cityhall n we had awesome ramen @ nanten n great catch up. i miss christian fellowship @ workplace... she was my neighbor in EDB for the longest time n it was just such a blessing.

22/9 --> had a meeting with NLB and MAS for 2 separate projects... glad to be out of the office but doesn't lessen the amount of stuff that I have to do.... so i guess i have to go back again over the weekend... not so thrilled aspect but am reminded that Lord, pls remind me of the things that I need to be thankful for in my life... it's so easy to slip into the grumbling n discontented state when one's attention is on self n not on Christ.... let's testify to His goodness n faithfulness!

23/9 --> had a splendid start to my day... 2 solid hours with the Lord @ coffee bean at westmall. it definitely wasn't enough but already late for birthday brunch with wey-len n merilyn. ah len is turning 28 and the only person on time was the birthday boy!! hehe... sorry len.... went to cellar door... quite cosy place but food was so-so. the company was awesome though n it's always good to know what's happening back in EDB. rushed home to grab dance stuff n then had rehearsal from 1.30ish till 6ish... then it was to church for fellowship n now back home blogging lar.... =)

Week Ending 16/09/06

2006-09-16T23:47:00.000+08:00

well, my dear friends, it has been sometime since i last did this. so here goes...

8/9 --> hung out with bunch of colleagues at Cafe Iguana coz it was our (gorgeous) intern's last day. so thanks to Susan, Aldric, JJ, Terence and myself had dinner and some pretty mean magaritas, and not to mention, some pretty honest and open sharing too, which was pretty surprising since it was the first time that we are really hanging out.

(JJ - NOT the singer!!!!, Terence, me, Susan, Aldric)

9/9--> class with Megumi (Jap international artiste) in the afternoon before going for perf at QBC... think this will finally be the last time we perform "Jesus is Alright". then had dinner with Terence, Aldric n Susan at Raku @ HOlland V. boy, did we have fun, funny pics n the drinking yakult episode... classic!

10/9 --> rehearsal for QBC musical and the appointed lead for the finale (which was me btw) had some mighty big lessons on humility to learn that day and God is always good to pull us back to focus our eyes once again on Him. it has been sometime since I last bawled in public like that... but it was all worth the while. then had snack at HOlland V's Yakun with Lei, Gracie, Liyi, Kev and Caleb. so the gals were such sweeties to hear me out while the guys, very graciously, excused themselves and gave us some room.

11/9 - probably tomorrow --> mad rush to deliver a project that's due on Tuesday. Susan (the intern) left a week earlier and I had to come in to help complete the project and boy... I think I have not looked so stressed at KPMG since I started work there. I have one too many comments that I look really fierce at work during the week. but in any case it's all good...

11/9 - 16/9 --> i don't think i've danced so much since I came back to Singapore... rehearsals every night from mon-weds and then it's class + rehearsal from thurs-saturday. it's no joke having to complete work and then to dance... though i must admit that i always feel better after dancing... the endorphines help to neutralise the stress levels... i just need more SLEEP!!

11/9 --> had late dinner with Terence (colleague from work who's also a brother in Christ) at Ember (Hotel 1929) boy... the apple tart there is so awesome!! i'm gonna have to bring humans there to try... alrighties, don't fight, queue up... auntie Naomi will bring u all ok??!!.... hahaha.... I found out later the night that it was actually his birthday that day....so....

12/9 --> bought cake and we celebrated Terence's birthday in office.... then it was back to work n work n more work... had a really good lunch with Kathleen (sister-in-CHrist at work that really has a burden for revival in KPMG)

13/9 --> supposed to meet Carol (colleague from EDB) for lunch but got postponed, which gave time for me to work thru lunch... so coz of work, i don't think i had any decent lunch from this day onwards... am so totally looking forward to AFTER 19/09!!

14/09 --> nothing exciting... perhaps to say that my stress relief has been the 2 gentlemen, Wei CHuan and JJ, both are very new to the office... the former is a "no talent but at least play sports dude and needs me to show him the self-made sign "Don't Frown, Just Smile" all the time" and the latter an "accomplised violinist and lucrative violin teacher who decided to get a "real" job though the realy job is paying much less than what he's earning now".... in any case, bantering with them, whilst can be distracting at work, makes the stress level little more manageable .... laughter is pretty good medicine I must say....

15/09 --> coz Susan was flying off the next day, we all decided to meet up one last time... so despite feeling absolutely tired after dance, agreed to go to Villa Bali with Aldric, Susan and Terence... kind of like a farewell gathering. that place had great ambience... though when we moved outside, they had to bring out the mosquito coils coz the blood-suckers were out to get me... haha... it was relaxing but trifle tiring too coz I didn't get to bed till like 2.30ish...

16/09 --> totally suppose to be more productive at work since I went back on a Saturday... but the lack of sleep is getting to me and after dance, i decided i needed to make a call to get back home to sleep to be able to complete the project and to really just spend time wtih God... getting burnt out is not gonna be any good. So didn't go for fellowship, slept from 6.30pm till i got woken up by the tad too loud Korean drama serials that my parents are watching outside and am blogging now... =)

Now that my blogging is done... to sleep i must go... maybe a little P&W with the LOrd first....

nighties my friends,
Nao

Dance... Dance.. and more DANCE....!!

2006-08-28T06:44:00.000+08:00

Hello all,

quite involved in dance recently... hope u all can make for one of the performances...
2 performances with Odyssey Dance Theatre (http://www.odysseydancetheatre.com/main.htm) in Oct n Nov and a dance musical with Queenstown Baptist Church in Dec... thought would let ya know what's up...

1) Dance Improvisation ... One of my favorite forms of performances... basically, dances are kind of made-up each different time on the spot on the stage... usually either the music changes or different props are used... dancers kind of need to get used to dancing together for a while and then put on a stage to dance... it's super fun... super spontaneous....
http://www.sistic.com.sg/cms/events/index.html?content=390 (i can get discounts if u tell me earlier... =))

2) "Garden in my Heart"... Full-length work... new work by Danny (artistic director aka my choreographer from Odyssey Dance Theatre)
http://www.sistic.com.sg/cms/events/index.html?content=361

the above 2 performances are specially meaningful in that it's my first opportunity working with professional full time dancers from overseas... I am not sure what God has in plan with these opportunities but I am truly grateful... I really don't think that I am anywhere good enough to be placed on the same platform as international artists... but He gave the chance and I will enjoy the journey and the experience as much as I can...

3) "Jesus Takes the Wheel" a dance musical to raise funds for Club Rainbow by QBC...
http://www.clubrainbow.org/Web/main.aspx?ID=,ff5b5272-18ab-4937-87ca-2acf8e72b0a6
the publicity hasn't really started yet, so when there's official promo emails I will on forward again... I truly believe it will be an awesome journey to work with a group of 30-40 youths on this musical... though they may not be natural born super talented dancers... to see the effort and the heart that they have to wanna put in their 100+++% to serve the Lord through dance... it's amazing... it's already been a very rewarding experience...

Even as I am blogging, I am listening to Pastor Bill Johnson's (Bethel Church, Redding CA) sermon and he was preaching about how Jesus mentioned in Matthew 11 that God gives revelation to babes... that sometimes knowledge keeps us from knowing what we need to know... Knowledge + Humility = Power.... I truly pray that even as I gain more knowledge in dance, there'll always be a child-like heart to be fascinated by new knowledge to be learnt.

With greater dance intensity, the body is physically adjusting to the increased load... but in the name of Jesus... I am healed... truly pray that God will protect the bodies of all the dancers that I will be and am working with...

so see ya at one of the performances....

Nao

My God... My Father... My Daddy...

2006-08-07T11:35:00.000+08:00

When God goes to such great length to tell u something... u know it's something important and u pray u'll remember that for life and for eternity to come....

"And I have declared to them Your Name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them." (John 17:26)

To really digest the Word, I am typing out Jesus' sayings and saving it in a doc... and am working through the Book of John from the last chapter...
1) first read John 17 last Friday night... awesome time with the Lord under the night sky near my condo's pool. Jesus prayed in John 17 to God that He will keep us through "Your Name" and that He had came to manifest and to declare "Your Name"... as I being ministered to by the word...
2) the CD that was playing on my laptop played the song "Your Name" by Paul Baloche.... the song really ministered to me and spent sometime thinking about the different names of God and just how wonderful our God is...
3) in case u didn't know, i just got back from a weekend trip to Phuket to hang out with the gals... awesome time... and throughout the trip, the song that kept playing in my head was "Your Name"
4) Got back last night and missed preaching so thought I would listen to the last cd in Pastor Prince's series on The awesome love of the Father.... and guess what... it was an annointed sermon on Father's Day about Fatherhood (the entire message will take too long to share... u can borrow my cds.... =)) and quoted from John 17... God has many names but Jesus came to reveal a special name of God... God as our Father!!!
5) That was not all... this morning when I came back from my morning run... thought would continue reading through John, but before starting thought I would format the Scriptures that I typed on Friday night... and guess what, the first Scriptures to format was John 17

If He keeps reminding me of His Name... and has told me that His Name that Christ came to reveal is Father.... I know my Father is telling me something and He really wants me to never forget it...

Jesus came to reveal God as Abba, as Father... as Daddy... My God is all powerful and wonderful, yes He is my God... but He is above all, my Father... my Daddy.

It is when you truly know and believe in this Name of God that you can have faith to believe that the only thing that you need to do in the Kingdom of God is to believe... because this name of God reveals that the Almighty God that formed you and mould you even before you were born, loves you beyond imagination and it is His good pleasure to give you all things... no good thing will He withhold from you... We are His beloved and the Beloved Father is ours...

Believe in His Name.... believe in your Father... in your Daddy....

Will you believe that God loves you? Will you believe that God is your Daddy?

Birthday Gifts from DADDY!

2006-07-23T23:32:00.000+08:00

Just realized i havent blogged in like more than a month... so here's one. =)

Actually God is giving gifts every single day... but when we apply faith and believe in receiving something from Him, He never disappoints.

been praying to Him about the next level of intimacy with Him, and through divine arrangement for me to attend Reinhard Bonnke's Fire Conference, I received
1) Joy that will come when I see souls coming to the Lord, esp youths. When even angels rejoice in heaven for one soul, one can only imagine the joy that one can feel in the spirit when souls are saved.

been praying to Him about how to use $$ wisely since I don't believe in investments or anything with any element of gamble / risk. Again through divine appointment, I got to attend Rick Warren's seminar, and there I received
2) how & where to sow my $$... nothing beats investing in the Kingdom of God...

3) had a vision of Jesus hugging me in Heaven.... one touch from God in Heaven will be better tahn any physical love that one can experience on Earth

4) from Matthew 6, God will not only provide, He will only provide THE BEST!! God will never short change.... He multiplies.

Truly when we follow our Creator, our wonderful Father will reveal to us who we truly r... He knows us better than we can know ourselves.... He speaks to our deepest needs and our darkest fears/secrets, and there He shines His light, that even in darkness, His light, His presence is felt... if you are praying for me, would you pray for an even greater measure of faith to believe in His word and in His promises. Nothing is left to chance in the Kingdom of God, in HIs loving hands, we were formed and moulded, and forever, His love, grace and mercy r extended towards us. WHile sometimes we may not feel Him, sense Him, but God is always by our side... His tender mercies, His loving kindness abounds and abides in us always.

Thank you Lord for your faithfulness and for all you lovable ones out there.... thanks for all the well wishes... it has truly been a blessed 26th birthday....

Does God Exist?

2006-06-19T13:26:00.000+08:00

Rarely do I get ministered to by forwarded stories but this was one good one...

"A man went to a barbershop to have his hair cut and his beard trimmed. As the barber began to work, they began to have a good conversation. They talked about so many things and various subjects. When they eventually touched on the subject of God, the barber said:"I don't believe that God exists."
"Why do you say that?" asked the customer.
"Well, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God doesn't exist. Tell me, if God exists, would there be so many sick people? Would there be abandoned children? If God existed, there would be neither suffering nor pain. I can't imagine a loving God who would allow all of these things."The customer thought for a moment, but didn't respond because he didn't want to start an argument.
The barber finished his job and the customer left the shop.
Just after he left the barbershop, he saw a man in the street with long, stringy, dirty hair and an untrimmed beard. He looked dirty and unkempt.
The customer turned back and entered the barber shop again and he said to the barber: "You know what? Barbers do not exist."
"How can you say that?" asked the surprised barber. "I am here, and I am a barber. And I just worked on you!"
"No!" the customer exclaimed. "Barbers don't exist because if they did, there would be no people with dirty long hair and untrimmed beards, like that man outside."
"Ah, but barbers DO exist! That's what happens when people do not come to me."
"Exactly!" affirmed the customer. "That's the point! God, too, DOES exist! That's what happens when people do not go to Him and don't look to Him for help. That's why there's so much pain and suffering in the world."

(New Living Translation) 1 John 5 --> Faith in the Son of God
1Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ, is a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too. 2We know we love God's children if we love God and obey His commandments. 3Loving God means keeping His commandments, and really, that isn't difficult. 4For every child of God defeats this evil world by trusting Christ to give the victory. 5And the ones who win this battle against the world are the ones who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

(New International Version) 2 Thessalonians 3
2And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not everyone has faith. 3But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.

Mighty is the Power of the Cross

2006-05-24T11:08:00.000+08:00

"Mighty, Awesome, Wonderful
Is the HOLY CROSS.
Where the Lamb laid down His life
To lift us from the fall.
Mighty is the Power of the CROSS."

I had to stop my work when I heard the chorus of the song... suddenly overwhelmed by and in awe of the love of God, by what He did on the cross for you and I. We have been lifted from the fall... we are no longer bound by sins... we are saints who occassionally sin but more than enabled by the power of Christ in us not to sin.

No words can begin to fully capture the extent and magnificence of the act of love that Christ did on the cross....

Homely;Heart @ Expo

2006-05-21T04:51:00.000+08:00

So we had our first performance at Bel'Air's 10th year anniversary dinner... opening act...

I have not been in an environment where they promote wealth so much... but they are the main sponsor for ODT and I dance for ODT's YAPP... am going to have to think hard about my continued participation... neways, here are some pics... n thought I would also include the poster...

Well, am performing at 8pm on May 26-28 and then again on June 11. so drop by if u have time... it's at Stadium Green (beside Indoor Stadium)
(7 perf + Yvonne)

(Me n Peisi... one of the few humans that r tinier than me!)

(Me n LayTeng... missie who's getting married next year...)

(Me n Jia... Missie who loves GuilinGao...)

(the gentlemen... Shouyi... n Rabian... i think, i really mean boyzzz.......... they r in their teens!!)

(too excited abt food, so Ah-Bian got changed already)

hopefully... u didn't notice all the blue-blacks... =)

GROW UP!!

2006-05-16T09:52:00.000+08:00

Was looking through New Creation Church's(NCC) website and was reading through Pastor Prince's message.... had an "AMEN!!!" moment when I read this:

"So if you have all Word and no Spirit, you dry up.
If you have all Spirit and no Word, you blow up.
But when you have all Word and all Spirit, you grow up!"

I believe that there's gonna be a coming together of churches that focus too much on Word and those that focus too much on the Spirit. Both are important and it's going to be phenomenal when we go forth with both the double-edged sword and the power of God.

Weeks ending 26/4/06

2006-04-27T00:24:00.000+08:00

for a change... let's start from today.... and see how many days, far into the past, I can remember...

26/04 - well, went back to EDB for the JP MOrgan run... haha.. felt like I had an identity crisis since KPMG also sent quite a number of ppl. then had dance rehearsal... by the end of the night... I was really quite tired... not sure why am still up typing this blog...

25/04 - watched Westside Story musical... must say a very "so-so" Aussie production, definitely didn't think it was worth the 117 bucks i paid. but met Arati's 2 Jap friends who are private bankers with ING, Satomi and Michiko. since we were all singles and the other ladies were older, we had a very extensive conversation, post musical, about what we are looking for in a relationship. was very encouraged by their openness to listen to me speak about God and how He transformed my perspective for marriage / love.

24/04 - monday lunch with MLPG (Monday Lunch Prayer Group) this is the 3rd time (3rd week in KPMG) that I am joining this marketplace prayer group. essentially, meet up for lunch and there will either be a short bible study or sharing of prayer requests after. they actually also meet on MOnday morns at 7.30 to pray but, hehehe, I usually only leaving house then.
at night, dance rehearsals as usual... but actually came in a little earlier to have a quick chat with my choreographer. essentially to apologize for giving him "lian se" last Thursday after rehearsal. He replied, "ni zhi dao ah?" summary = couldn't make for Tues (25/04) rehearsal coz bought tics for musical a while back but he wanted me to then coordinate with the other dancers to reschedule the rehearsal. I was frustrated coz I didn't want others to be inconvenienced coz of me. but anyhow, it was good... God was good... we basically switched the rehearsal to Wednesday...

23/04 - Grace, friend from Cambodia, was in town from 16/04 - 24/04. so some of the Cambodia team ppl (our project was named Hearts @ work... quite cool rite?) met her for dinner at Chomp Chomp. quite a spread and we even bought her durian afterwards...

22/04 - got a haircut at Shunji Matsuo with Chi-E, a Jap lady. went to her for my previous cut too... she's 10 bucks more ex than my usual hairstylist... instructions was "cut as short as you think my face can carry off the cut". am in the phase of trying different hairstylists coz got kind of bored with my previous one, been with him for almost 3+ years. then proceeded to help a youth with her research paper in church... not that my England very the good lar!!! =)

this is a great thanksgiving... was led to not prepare for BS that evening but to have a sharing session. attendance for my youth group has not been very consistent for the past weeks and boy, was God faithful. 5 gals turned up, plus one guy, but all the usual guys didn't. we just shared what's up with our lives and particular prayer requests. the presence of God was really quite strong when we started to pray for one another, and I know that GOd really touched each and every single one of them that night... how did I know? besides the obvious tears of joy / comfort / love that were flowing freely, there was certainly the confirmation in the Spirit... isn't God amazingly faithful?!!

alright, this is really getting quite long... till later...

Week Ending 12/4/06

2006-04-12T23:05:00.001+08:00

Well, it's been sometime since I gave summaries... thought would start again.

01/04 - door to door evangelism at 2 blocks of flats in AMK with youth. Many were Buddhists/Taoists... but got to know 2 Msians who just moved in and starting new jobs in Sgp (Andus and Sylvia)... hope to meet up with them soon.

02/04 - had church leadership mtg, so was at church the whole day.

03/04 - started my new job at KPMG... bus 75 takes me straight to work but boy... a 1-hr bus ride is no joke. but at least get to catch up on sleep. new office is at Hong Leong Finance building, right beside Lau Par Sat. got there quite early and bought tea and did QT @ Lau Par Sat... there's a line at almost every kopi place in Raffles place... !!
half day of orientation (found out that one of the newbies was an acquaintance during secondary gymnastics days... man... so cool...) and then met my division. New manager's name is Klaus... he's an Aussie. 2 EDB related humans in my team... one is ex-EDB (Wee Leong) and one is also on secondment (Daniel)... which explains why I am quite well taken care of... God is good.
2nd week of intensive dance rehearsals (Mon, Tues, Weds)... a trio... me and 2 guys... more like boys since they are both 17/18...

04/04 - 2nd day at office. had lunch with the team at a famous roast pork/duck place... food was ok only but had chance to get to know colleagues better. my team happens to have the most # of gals in advisory. typically more males... =)
had youth fellowship teacher's mtg at night... btw... one nice thing abt new job... unless u have urgent project deadlines to meet... ppl really work only from 830 to 530... by 6, usu most of my team is gone... so for the few times... i was very on time for my teachers' mtg.

05/04 - 3rd day at office... went for my first meeting. looks like won't be meeting as many clients as in EDB coz BD usually done by managers / partners. But had talk with partner and may be doing some BD with logistics companies for M&A/partnerships. got my first real piece of work... had dance at night... really tired...

well... at this point... (which is 27th April... had this version in draft for the past don't know how long...)

but as u can tell from the title... i started writing on 12/4 which meant that i was somehow free that day... and truth is ... was on MC that day... so miserable and couldn't think so visited the doctor... good thing was I found a yummy salad that i dabaoed home for sickfood... =P

more updates to follow...

Homesick

2006-04-12T22:31:00.000+08:00

When we give our lives to the Lord... can one not be Homesick?

When we have tasted how wonderfully good the Lord is... can one not seek to be with the One always?

But the flesh is weak and there's imperfect fellowship... .

Wouldn't it be glorious when we see the face of Jesus?

Wouldn't it be glorious when we truly can worship Him and adore Him every single moment, forever more...

The day when praises abound from all around will come...

I close my eyes and I see Your Face,
if Home is where my heart is, then I'm out of place.
Lord won't you give me strength to make it through somehow,
I've never been more Homesick than now.

What can I say?... I miss Home.

Reflections

2006-03-25T00:42:00.000+08:00

Just had a dinner party for the fellowship ladies at my place...
Menu for this evening:
-- Cambodian mangoes for appertisers
-- Pasta with pesto sauce
-- Salmon w/ vege n mushrooms baked in sake n soy sause
-- Green tea ice-cream.

Was in Cambodia from 11th to 22nd. 8 days for community service project @ Phnom Penh n 4 days of leisure. Visited 2 poor villages (Koh Rum Dual and Takmao) and 2 orphanages (Klin Kleang and Kulap 4). Main service project was 5-days at Klin Kleang where we repainted 2 dormitories, white-washed the outer walls and taught the kids english. The rest of the places we gave out gifts and provided a meal. As I like to put it, we were scrubbers, scrapers, painters, nannies, teachers, entertainers, and by the end of the trip... hagglers as well!!

Haven't really unpack and hence haven't upload the photos yet.... will give the fun commentary when the photos are ready.... but stuff that impacted me abt the trip. in no particular order of importance...

i) Didn't realize that the organization that we tied up with was Christian and that our Cambodian liaoson (Tommy (French) and his wife Serena (Thai) ) are missionaries. One of our local interpreter, Serena, is also Christian, married to a Singaporean. In a way, it was an answered prayer. Even got to have service on Sunday (12th) at KRD.

ii)Prayed for oppty to share the gospel and prayer was answered.

iii) U have to go out to see the needs and God can use that oppty to speak to u abt His plans for u. The greatest need that struck me wasn't from the orphanages, but from the street kids that I saw at night on the sidewalks... getting high on glue. In fact, if they had been orphanages, at least they have a roof over their heads, meals, and oppty to go to school. My prayer for Cambodia at Ang Kor Wat was for the future of Cambodia, the young, to be kept off the streets, to have the oppty to know and receive God's love. It is encouraging to hear from Serena that the young, but mainly the educated who have had contact with the West, are becoming more open to Christianity.

iv) 40% of the Cambodian population is below 14 years old.

v) the public toilets are way cleaner than I expected them to be (probably better than some of the hawker centre toilets in Sgp)

vi) it felt like I travelled back in time to when I was growing up in Malacca... albeit more polluted... the shop fronts, the large number of motorbikes, the smell of the market...

vii) Cambodian food has lots of MSG... a.k.a. AJINOMOTO... had allergies each morning that left my limbs numb and initially I thought I was just tired / lack of sleep.

viii) importance of not compromising on time spent with the Lord even in a new environment. perhaps... especially in a new environment, one should spend more time with the Lord...

Hopefully more visuals in my next blog....

the team is heading to my place for dinner next Friday... really hoping to catch up again...

Thanksgiving

2006-03-02T22:00:00.000+08:00

For the first time on Tuesday night, I sensed in my spirit that the enemy would attack me spiritually during the last week of my work in EDB. I just prayed till peace was restored that my spirit is established in the victory that I know we have in Christ.

Last night, for the first time in a while, I stayed in office till 11ish to prepare for a presentation that I was gonna give at a co.'s customers' event this morning. Largest sales pitch crowd yet, and hence was quite stressed. This morning, I thank God for the conviction to open my bible and not practice my presentation. For there in Ephesians was Paul asking the church to pray for him that he may boldly speak the gospel. The boldness in public speaking I pray the Lord will put to good use in spreading HIs good name.

I thought the presentation was so-so but divine favor made it a success. Praises all round, including from my immediate boss, and I know that glory can only go to Jesus. What can I say, I really don't deserve it but He freely gives. The SVP of the co. and the Dir for Sales in Asia separately made me job offers to join the co. (my first job offer from co. ) But of course, when I told them that there's a couple hundred thousand bond that needs to be paid for ... they told me to keep them in mind when I have abt a year left in my bond... =)

God is amazing... even on my way to Shangri-la for the event, He warmed me up with a delightful conversation with the cab driver abt Him. The uncle had many questions abt X'tianity, did Jesus really resurrect? can God really hear all prayers at one time? I don't know enough to give him very coherent answers but do pray that the seed that was sown will be greatly multiplied. He has a x'tian wife, so perhaps God will work through her.

At the very beginning, I was to start work on Apr 3rd at KPMG and I thought I could go to the US for 2 weeks after my Cambodia trip. then I found out that I had to start work on Mar 27th, before the end of EDB's FY. but 2 days ago, after a quick call to my HR, God gave my leave back and I now can start on Apr 3rd again (they just transfer me over to KPMG on 1 Apr but I start on 3rd). bottomline, God doesn't want me to make the trip to the US yet... i could sense it in my spirit but tried to get tics anyways, and all the good priced tics are already unavailable. =)
so now looking to make a trip to Klang again to visit my cousins and hang out. then chill for a little bit more before I start work.

Discipline n Fear of the Lord

2006-02-19T16:57:00.000+08:00

So I asked the Lord...

i) What's the biblical difference between indulgence in the flesh, discipline and legalism?

ii) What does it really mean to fear the Lord?

He replied through 1 Peter...

the practicalities of being disciplined...
--> "gird up the loins of ur mind" (1:13)
--> "be sober"(1:13)
--> "not conforming urselves to the former lusts" (1:14)
--> "honorable conduct" (2:11)
--> "not using liberty as a clock for vice" (2:16)

To be disciplined is to have the power in Christ to crucify the flesh, that it may be resurrected by the Spirit... to be able to say No to the flesh and to say Yes to the Spirit. Anything more rigid is legalism and anything more lax is taking God's liberty for granted.

the Whys to be disciplined
--> to be holy as God is holy (1:16)
--> fear of the Lord (1:17-19)
--> to be a living testimony to unbelievers (2:11-12)
--> to live for the will of God (4:1-2)

We fear God because we know that God is holy and not one that we can take His mercy for granted. But fear of the Lord is not to be afraid with terror (3:16)... being constantly afraid that if one does something wrong, God will mete out judgment or punishment the very next instant.

He is so faithful in answering all our questions...

Immeasurable Worth

2006-02-13T10:46:00.000+08:00

"For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21)

Is it worthwhile to live for Christ? The answer is a resounding... YES!

Does the road then become problem and challenge free? A resounding... NO!

Living for Christ gives a life that's filled with meaning and purpose.

There's a sense of purpose in the simplest and the most mundane... in dressing up for work each morning, in boarding the bus and train each day, in spending time with family and friends, in walking over familiar grounds, in observing the faces amongst the crowds.

The simplest of things in life comes to life in Christ.

Dear child of God, would you lift up your eyes to heaven and receive God's purpose for you for today.

For God's Unconditional Love, His Incomprehensible Mercy and Irrevocable Grace, has given you... Immeasurable Worth.

Further Updates

2006-02-05T23:32:00.000+08:00

well, we didn't bake 4000 cookies. but we worked from 4.30 till 10ish and made and packed 3000+ cookies. thoroughly enjoyed the industrial baking experience. when things were on a roll, we really had a smooth assembly line going. but standing on ur feet for 4-5 hrs straight is no joke. then came the logistics of movign 300+ packs of cookies back to office for sale next week. Anyways, bottom line is.... U BETTER BUY COOKIES!! (p.s. they are $5 each pack and give me ur orders and i'll personally deliver them!!) butter raisin cookies and chocolate chip cookies.... it's for charity, but most importantly, u will be blessed when u give... so give generously.

New Job
Unless something unexpected happens, my secondment is 90% confirmed and will be official on Feb 17th when the case is being brought to the CDC (Career Development Committee) mtg.

Will be working in the Advisory side, specifically in the Strategic and Performance Mgmt division under Corporate Finance. Doing anything from consulting for business plans to feasibility studies to process improvements.... with the end of improving profitability.

No doubt that it will be an oppty for me to experience more of God's grace and His love. Praying that I will be a blessing to my new bosses, colleagues and clients. don't think i'm moving on to greener pastures, but will certainly grow more intimate with the Lord. I always believe that God moves us from faith to faith and from glory to glory... so in that sense, I'm excited, though still very mindful that one should remain in Christ during this transition phase.

Am also praying that I will be a blessing to my current bosses during the handover process.

Updates

2006-02-04T07:08:00.000+08:00

We have to raise $10,000 for the Cambodia trip... $5000 from the sale of T-shirts and $2,500 each from SCS (Student Care Services) and EDB.

First off, for the T-shirt sales, I have to sell 47 of them... so far have abt 10+ T-shirts left... my dear youths and friends, if u r reading this blog and have yet to buy a T-shirt, get ready ur ang pow money!! =)

For EDB's portion of $2,500. we are baking 4000 cookies to be sold in packs of 10, selling stuff at EDB's Charity Bazaar on Feb 10th. Nestle sponsored 1,100 bars of chocolates for us to sell, Crocs shoes gave us shoes to sell, and other misl stuff... But the highlight of the event on the 10th, is what I term... "Crooning for Charity". 3 of EDB's resident singing sensations will auction off 2 songs each... must get a few of my colleagues to win a song as a V-day present to our Dir!!

Hence, must automatically offer to buy the cookies and chocolates ok? haha... do you fell saboed for reading my blog.... hahaha....

In any case, if u do not yet know, I am scheduled for secondment to KPMG. Many things to give thanks for this to happen. First off, the entire interview process was smooth and there was favor. Second, my bosses allowed me to clear leave... the way I intended... Mar 11-18 to Cambodia and after wards to take 2 weeks of leave before starting work on 3rd Apr.... I was so planning to go for my US trip during those 2 weeks... or so I thought.

The bummer thing was... tickets to the US shoot up a few hundred after Mar 12 coz of change of season. n I just didn't have much peace when I prayed to go to the US... so I told the Lord... God then show me where I should go to spend the 2 weeks... but no response... so wait lar.... then just last Friday I found out why... organizationally, EDB needed me to start work before the end of the FY, which in EDB's case is 31 Mar... Hence my leave needed to be cut short and I will start work on Mar 27 (I guess I could negotiate for a few more days after if I really wanted to... will pray abt that...) ISN'T THE LORD GOOD??!! so am very grateful that I wasn't allowed to go ahead and book my tickets.... so how now brown cow?? will be extending my stay in Cambodia to visit Ang Kor Wat (am so sure the spelling is wrong) so at least I can say I've been there. then resting for the next few days before I start work at my new job. It'll be a 1+1, meaning all parties will review at the end of 1 year to see if we'll extend.

More on my new job in my next post... today... is the day of baking and packing of 4000 cookies... and in a real bakery too!! colleague's relative who owns a bakery was so kind to let us use his bakery after they are done with baking today and tomorrow... will find out if I can be a real baker yet.

Stuff

2006-01-21T01:40:00.000+08:00

Typing with a sore left arm... took 3 jabs @ Tan Tock Seng Hospital's Traveller's Clinic (cool huh?)... 1 for Hepatitis A, 1 for Typhoid and 1 for Tetanus... the last one is the one that's causing the soreness... ouchies. definitely didn't pay almost $100 bucks to get jabs for fun... Going on a voluntary trip to Cambodia in March for a week. Building cement floor, repainting the dormatories and teaching kids English @ an orphanage. it's not a missions trip, but am still expecting to see God work miracles.

went Chinatown to do CNY shopping w/ parents last night... but trip got cut short coz of rain. that's kind of a bummer but am very glad of time spent w/ parents... mom couldn't resist the question... "so girl, are you seeing anyone?"... which of course leads to... " don't be so 'tiao'" =) Just realized that when I speak w/ parents, the old self keeps popping up; approaching them w/ familiarity meant that I tend to butt in, less patience and tolerance. Holy Spirit, got work to do here... !!

"The Lord God has given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary" Isaiah 50:4
--- when I saw this verse, I couldn't take my eyes of it, it spoke to something deep within me. perhaps the best summary of what my purpose is, of my spiritual DNA. perhaps that's why I come alive when I see a need and I can't seem to shut up... eager to speak a word to refresh, restore, redeem. sometimes... too eager.

May the word of the Lord for you in this season take root and bear fruit... let Him... it's worth every while.

The Vision

2006-01-05T11:52:00.000+08:00

"Write the vision and make it plain on tablets,
That he may run who reads it.
For the vision is yet for an appointed time;
But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it;
Because it will surely come, It will not tarry."
(Habakkuk 2:2-3)

Never expected myself to be encouraged by verses in Habukkuk, but boy, these verses are surely relevant as we contemplate what the Lord has installed for us this new year.

So often, God gives us a vision and we can't wait to make it come to pass that we miss the fact that we need to continue to abide in Christ. Many times, when God gives us a glimpse of His plans, we need to patiently wait on Him; to wait for His timing. It is possible to have a godly vision but fleshly motives. We need the Lord to work in us, to prepare us before we can step into the promised land. It was not in vain that the Lord made the Israelites wander in the desert before leading them into the land that's flowing with milk and honey.

So let's gird up our loins, wait in patience and pray with persistence, as the Lord unfolds His plans for us this new year...

NO REGRETS

2006-01-02T21:41:00.000+08:00

"No one who puts his hand to the plow, and looks back, is fit for the service in the kingdom of God" (Luke 9:62)

This is the Word for the season. To give my all to Jesus. It's onward marching, it's no looking back... it's No Regrets. Truth is, there isn't any grand resolutions for the new year. The refinement will continue, but there'll be promise of greater joy in the walk with the Lord.

Have been very blessed by my daily devotions from Oswald Chambers' "My Utmost for His Highest". To share some insights.

-- Let the past sleep, but let it sleep in the bosom of Christ. Leave the Irreparable Past in His hands, and step out into the Irresistable Future with Him.
"The God of Israel will be your rereward" (Isaiah 52:12)

-- To be my utmost for His Highest is a question of will, not of debate nor of reasoning, but a surrender of will, an absolute and irrevocable surrender.
"My eager desire and hope being that I may never feel ashamed, but that now as ever I may do honour to Christ in my own person by fearless courage" (Philippians 1:20)

-- In Christian work, you do not know what you are going to do; the only thing you know is that God knows what He is doing.
"He went out, not knowing whither he went" (Hebrews 11:8)

The Lord has been most gracious for me to divinely meet up with old friends and being able to minister to one another. Church ministry will up in tempo in 06. Will most likely see a change in my work environment. Despite all the changes that r upcoming, only one thing is needful, that is to sit at the feet of Jesus and enjoy His presence, to enjoy His fellowship, to receive His abundant love.

I pray that the new year will be an exciting encounter with God for you too...

Merry X'mas!!

2005-12-22T14:57:00.000+08:00

ppl who are still reading my blog faithfully, thanks! u r such dears... muacks!!

So here's a hug for you for being the Special YOU, for being an endearing friend, for putting up with all my nonsense...

I am blessed to have you in my life!
(me the one with red dot... you the one with yellow dot)

May this season of love

refresh and renew you

for the new year!

Huan Zhu Ge Ge

2005-12-14T13:30:00.000+08:00

This was EDB's D&D 2 Fridays ago... got coaxed into renting this costume for $50 and boy was I glad that my colleagues made me do this.

Stayed in character the whole night and yes, there was lots of chinese with the BeiJing Twang!

(this was with adeline, the cowgal from wild-wild west... before I won the most quirkily-dressed)

(this was the real, cool Ge Ge... after I won the prize...)

Now, who says civil servants are boring??!!!

22/11 - 30/11

2005-12-01T14:04:00.000+08:00

Well... Thoroughly enjoyed the David Tao concert. He sounds really good live and I even got much dancing out of the performance! Sgporeans, esp the Chinese-music listening crowd, are way too passive for concerts, they were so glued to their seats, we might as well be watching Shakespear... well, btw sitting and sulking on my seat and wasting $140 vs. accepting David's invitation to get on my feet to dance, though at the expense of irritating my neighbors.... I chose the latter and had a rocking time!! =) Next time, if I ever go for any concert, am so on the first row!!

Had dinner with my youths as a kind of post "O" level cum year-end celebration. We had a ball at NYDC... though the hang-out/sharing at the Youth Park was overshadowed by skateboarders' performance...

Btw, if u r not aware, am running 10km at this Sunday's marathon. Was encouraged by the close to 2K that my division managed to raise over the course of 1 day in pledges for the 6 runners that are running from my division. Think completing the run shouldn't be a problem but doing it within 90mins... now, that would be a test!!

Caught up with the Purdue gang (christians that were part of the same fellowship) last weekend... Missed Lin Han's (one of my youths) concert last night... (am so, so sorry!!) started rehearsal for the ORTV, "U R Special" musical, last Sunday. We will be performing at the stage outside/beside Paragon on Dec 16th and 23rd at 8pm... so do bring friends and drop by to support!

NO FEAR

2005-11-21T16:08:00.000+08:00

Joshua 1: 6 - 9

" Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

God's Word for me for this season...

The Past Week

2005-11-21T13:12:00.000+08:00

a few 1sts transpired since my last blog and was thoroughly blessed by them.

1st 1st... helped a friend (Grace, a choir conductor that also trains ORTV singers) choreograph dance steps for the opening song of the north zone combined school choir (secondary school thru to JC). taught the kids the steps on Monday (on leave)... what can I say... I love kids!! was very encouraged by Grace's comment that "some of the children never really danced when they sing, you inspired them to dance"

2nd 1st...did my 1st paid emcee job. whether in school, at work, for friends' weddings... all past emceeing have been non-monetary related. tried dancing for a commercial event (co. D&D) once, didn't enjoy it one bit. so though the job was on a Sunday morning, took the assignment to find out what it would be like... a commercial emcee job. I LOVED IT! it was a family day for a swimming school (Total Swimming) that teaches kids (from toddler to 12-13 yr olds) swimming. My audience, for the first time, was kids.... I had so much fun... actually would have done it for free!! before the event, i had no clue how it would glorify God, didn't know how it could be a way to bring God to the ppl. Turned out I was glad of the oppty to speak to the kids abt importance of having fun and not winning (u should some of the kids' face when their team didn't come in 1st)... got contacts to the event mgmt world... met one of the co-owners who's a christian and we're looking to meet up over coffee to continue our conversation. It was way cool!! Miracles happen everyday...

3rd 1st... God is speaking to me about not having any fears... not being afraid to go where God is leading, not being afraid of making choices for fear of it not being God's choice or of hearing God wrongly...

4th 1st... am in charge of guiding and leading the growth of my church's fellowship with another leader. Our church has 10 fellowships and we met all the fellowship heads for the first time yesterday. It's such a beautiful thing to see everyone united and committed to meet the needs of their fellowship. I believe God will move in a mighty way through the different fellowships in the upcoming years.

5th 1st... and this only happened couple of hrs ago. A friend actually created a blog as a gift to cheer me up, am touched by his gesture. All started cause I am a little cranky today due to accummulation of poor sleep. God truly refreshes us in amazingly creative ways.

In btw, watched Just Like Heaven with 2 of my youths (liked the movie). got a reminder that "your blog no updates". one of the bus that I took broke down 1 stop after I boarded the bus... =)

Go shine for Jesus ya all!

Where was I

2005-11-08T13:05:00.000+08:00

Haha... I seriously considered blogging a THE END, after totally not blogging for sometime... was overly committed into stuff and finally, have a breather. Am very grateful that God, in His most loving way, reminded me abt priorities and #1 is HIM. In my bz-ness, I must say, I really missed God and no wonder felt drained and burnt out. I believe God missed me too... ah, must never forget to keep soaking in His presence priority, feel energized already.

Emcees for 2 weddings, had 2 dance performances, was sick twice (now tummy still prone to indigestion),
there was night cycling (w/ jia xin fellowship),
met up with parry mates after 5-6 yrs??? (primary school friends... super sad, found out that they are gonna be closing down my primary school coz of poor enrolment... eh, u married ppl reading my blog, give birth to more kids and enroll them to parry... but must hurry!! =)),
had dim sum w/ Germ n QW,
cool dinner gathering @ Arati's,
watched cool dance performances and met dancers from Korea and Japan,
attended a 3-day business financial course for finance idiots (feel much smarter already...),
cancelled my taiwan trip,
got a new hairdo,
visited youths taking their O levels this year,
... think that's abt all the happening stuff....

far from having a restful time last week, all my holidays were jammed packed w/ activities. decided to stop BSF, gonna focus more on my online course, am totally blessed by the course materials, current track is on Prayer and the next is on Unity. Oh, it's official, am in charge of the fellowship ministry in church, praying for divine revelation and guidance. btw, had a full day teacher's retreat last week to plan and strategize for our youth fellowship... absolutely loved the mission statement that we came up with.... we are officially the VCSPP.... "Victorious Christlike Servants, with Purpose and Passion" love it! love it!

btw, was encouraged by a brother who said that he appreciated my "take-charge" attitude... in the midst of the lessons on submission, I have forgotten to give thanks for what God created me uniquely to be, "a chilli-padi" for Him. there are edges that He needs to smoothen, but it certainly is not an overhaul of my entire personality. We already give God tremendous delight by coming to Him just as we are, without pretense, without packaging. We are all fearfully and wonderfully made and by His grace, we will be transformed to reveal a greater measure of Christ's nature through our lives.

Who am I?

2005-10-26T00:30:00.000+08:00

Is who you are determined by what you do, or is what you do determined by who you are?

--> We need a firm grip on the truth of God's Word before we will experience much success at practical Christianity. A fruitful Christian life is the result of living by faith according to what God said is true.

--> Believing something doesn't make it true; God said it is true, therefore we believe it. (the cool thing is when we believe and obey His Word, practical victorious living also testifies to the truth of the Word)

--> We are neither saved nor sanctified by how we behave but by how we believe.

--> You have to know and believe positional truth to successfully progress in your sanctification or you are going to try doing for yourself what God has already done for you.

--> We are what we are by the grace of God.

--> You must believe that you are a child of God to live like a child of God.

--> We are redeemed saints, not forgiven sinners. We are saints who sin, but we have all the resources in Christ we need not to sin.

--> As believers, we are not trying to become saints, we are saints who are becoming like Christ.

--> It is not what you do as a Christian that determines who you are; it is who you are that determines what you do.

--> We don't serve God to gain His acceptance; we are accepted, so we serve God. We don't follow Him to be loved; we are loved, so we follow Him.

--> I already please Him by who I am in Christ.

--> God has not given us the power to imitate Him. He has made us partakers of His nature so that we can actually be like Him.

Some other thoughts
We affect others significantly by what we say about them, and what we say is determined by what we believe about them.

Being filled and led by the Spirit may take you places you never planned; but the will of God will never lead you where the grace of God cannot keep you.

A good theology is an indispensable prerequisite to a good psychology, but if good theology doesn't result in a transformation of heart, then the knowledge gained will only seek to puff up and in turn, be meaningless.

Thoughts n notes from re-reading Neil Anderson's Victory Over The Darkness.

Proverbs

2005-10-25T23:32:00.000+08:00

Reading through Proverbs on my way to work. A very practical book indeed. Verses that convicted me about the words that one speaks. A reminder for us to walk or, in this case, talk as children of God.

31:30 "Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised"

30:5-6 "Every word of God is pure, He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar."

29:5 "A man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet"

29:11 "A fool vents all his feelings, but a wise man holds them back"

29:20 "Do you see a man hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him"

28:23 "He who rebukes a man will find more favor aftrwards than he who flatters with the tongue"

24:26 "An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips" (boy, what a way to give kisses... =) )

22:11 "He who loves a pure heart and whose speech is gracious will have the king for his friend"

18: 2 "A fool has no delight in understanding, but in expressing his own heart"

17:27 "He who has knowledge spares his words, and a man of understanding is of a calm spirit"

16:1 " The preparedness of the heart belong to man, but the answers of the tongue is from the Lord."

13:3 "He who guards his mouth preserves his life, but he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction"

Particularly convicted, for over the weekend, my normal bantering wounded a friend. While it's true that such teasing treatment are reserved only for ppl that I am comfortable with, but the fact that it caused hurt still stands. Certainly not one with gracious and merciful words, but by the grace of God, the Spirit will guide the words that I speak. May each word proceeds from love and carries with it the love, grace and peace of the Lord.

Sing to the King

2005-10-20T15:30:00.000+08:00

Sing to the King who is coming to reign,
Glory to Jesus the Lamb that was slain.
Life and Salvation His empire shall bring,
Joy to the nations when Jesus is King.

Come let us sing a song,
A song declaring that we belong to Jesus,
He's all we need.
Lift up a heart of praise,
Sing now with voices raised to Jesus,
Sing to the King.

For His returning, we watch and we pray,
We will be ready the dawn of that day.
We'll join in singing with all the redeemed,
Cause Satan is vanquished and Jesus is King

Week Ending 16/10/05

2005-10-18T00:43:00.000+08:00

To say the least, it's been a tiring and "sick" week... meaning mua was sick for the most part of it... sore throat, fever, cough, all the glorious symptoms of the bug, or so I thought... more on this later.

Alrighties, in case u r still unaware, am performing at library @ the esplanade on 23rd and 30th Oct at 4pm. u can't miss us once u enter by main entrance... btw, since it's amateurs performing, it's free... heehee. Thus, had rehearsals on evenings of Mon, Weds, Thurs and Fri + Sat afternoon. There, so i don't have to repeat later in the daily summaries.... =) ...as my youth would put it.... "the smartness I have" .... hahaha!

Highlights include:
--> activity-less Tuesday evening, but no visible improvement in physical condition after the rest...

--> rushed for QW's birthday celebration after rehearsal on Friday. In my frenzy, left 1/2 of her gift in the cab... what a sotong! =P hung out w/ some of the S26 folkies @ a club street bar that evening, n found out a few factoids.... 2 of them started smoking =( 1 of them can really sing =) if I join a consulting co., will join the M&A division = *neutral espression* (incidentally, this sentence captures my entire range of smiley faces....)

--> early morning rehearsal @ Hyatt 4 Lynn n Cal's wedding on 22nd. met co-emcee for the 1st time n believe by God's grace, we're gonna have a rolling good time that joyous day! do pray 4 good weather so the beautiful church wedding can happen @ the garden. incidentally, God is amazing (as always). When I first met Lynn n when Chee (co-emcee) first met Cal, we both hated their guts... haha... Glory to God, now we have the honor and official permission to "wreck havoc" @ their wedding!!

--> had church leadership elections on sunday... what an eye-opener, u could see the vote count live... mixed feelings abt having the 2nd least # of voted. though expected, but 4 one that's predisposed to excellence, there's an obvious tad of disappointment. If the Lord had not been transforming me these past years, could I be a willing servant? am still work-in-progress lar, n by His grace, His strength, His guidance, etc, He'll not let me disappoint Him or the church. He equips me, He calls me, He provides me with the necessary to do the job, where to find this kind of bargain.... u tell me??!! quite touched n privileged 2 b given this oppty to serve, but i'm almost certain that I probably will screw up along the way, but I trust that His grace will more than cover those screw-ups .... Amen?? AMEN!! (classic eg of "zi wen zi da"!!... )

well... finally decided to go see doctor 17th morning... got 2 days MC for having.... ACUTE BACTERIAL SINUSITIS.... go figure!

apologies for the late report... hope it's worth the wait... haha... do pray for complete healing n protection of time for this week!

Take My Life

2005-10-14T18:26:00.000+08:00

An old hymn resung by Passion, one of my fav bands...

Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee
Take my moments and my days
Let them flow in ceaseless praise
Take my hands and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love
Take my feet and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee

Take my voice and let me sing, always only for my King
Take my lips and let them be filled with messages from Thee
Take my silver and my gold, not a mite would I withhold
Take my intellect and use every power as You choose

Chorus:
Here am I, All of me
Take my life, It's all for Thee.

Take my will and make it Thine, it shall be no longer mine
Take my heart, it is Thine own, it shall be Thy royal throne
Take my love, my Lord, I pour at your feet its treasure store
Take myself and I will be ever, only, all for Thee

Indeed Lord... All of me, Only for You...

WAIT

2005-10-14T07:26:00.000+08:00

Read this poem from my friend's website and my heart went "Lord, U R right!!" ....

an excerpt:
"So be silent, My child, and in time you will see,
That the greatest of gifts is to get to know Me.
And though often may My answers seem terribly late,
My most precious answer of all is still 'Wait'."

Week Ending 09/10/05

2005-10-09T18:30:00.000+08:00

Mon - Caught up with CY @ Cedele... rejoicing with her and praying for her work situation. Rushed off for dance rehearsal. got caught in the rain on way home, but apart from the thunder n lightning, actually enjoyed the walk home in the light rain.

Tues - Coffee break with Grace (X'tian colleague @ EDB). encouraged by her sharing n prayers wrt love/relationship. went home to sleep... body felt quite weak...

Weds - it's official, weak body succumbed a little to the bug... rested at home. read n sleep n msn n read n sleep n msn... what an awesome day! =) Barely stepped out of my room... heavenly!

Thurs - back to work, though still had sore throat and stuffed nose... but felt much, much better. productive work day. seriously contemplated going 4 a US trip next year... better start saving up. dinner w/ Christina and then BSF (Ruth 4)

Fri - had dinner w/ HX n CY @ O'briens. Ah Xian showed us magic trick that she would be performing @ AMK tomorrow.... she really quite good! SY joined us @ Bakerz Inn... yummz. we gathered to meet John, American friend from Purdue working now in TW, who was in Sgp for work. we ended up at esplanade till 12ish. took crazy pictures playing arnd with cool camera tricks that r beyond me (something abt exposure) that had the effect of making us look like ghosts if we move! then Teacher John (now turned engineer) gave the most awesome lecture/sharing abt his experience teaching 6-7 yr olds when he first started in TW. From "the Call of the Wild' to Northen lights to a young gal w/ extraordinary grasp of concepts to early childcare development to modified board games... he had us, the audience, captivated n standing for almost an hour. me was a tee-bit distracted by vicious, attacking mosquitos. reached home at 1ish am, yawnzzzz. parents were watching My Fair Lady so watched Audrey Hepburn before going to bed... =)

Sat - beauty appt in the morning. met the gang (HX, SY, Lynn + Cal, John) for lunch at Hong Lim food centre... famous crayfish prawn hor-fun. then headed off for pre-performance talk at library @esplanade for ODT's (Odyssey Dance Theatre) launch of Dance X'position (week long of performances n master classes w/ foreign artists). rehearsal @ 5pm for the youth concert. God really blessed the event... was nervous that didn't have too much practice but all went well...they even arrowed me sing 2 lines impromptu! then had dinner/supper w/ the smaller gang (CY, HX, John) @ Adam Rd... my fav ice-kacang in the world.... =) reached home at 2am after dropping humanoids off... zzzz

Sun - lunch w/ CY, HX, Lynn n John @ Soup Restaurant @ Suntec... discussed abt probable taiwan trip... have to pray abt it. John's flight @ 5.30pm so we sent him till city hall mrt.... bought cake for mom's birthday (10th Oct - Taiwan's Independent day too) massage will be b'dae treat.

These Inward Trials

2005-10-05T14:51:00.000+08:00

I asked the Lord, that I might grow
In faith, and love, and every grace;
Might more of His salvation know,
And seek more earnestly His face.

I hope that in some favored hour
At once He'd answer my request
And by His love's constraining power
Subdue my sins, and give me rest.

Instead of this, He made me feel
The hidden evils of my heart;
And let the angry powers of hell
Assault my soul in every part.

Yea more, with His own hand He seemed
Intent to aggravate my woe;
Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,
Blasted my gourds, and laid me low.

"Lord, why is this?" I trembling cried,
"Wilt thou pursue Thy worm to death?"
"It's in this way," the Lord replied,
"I answer prayer for grace and faith.

"These inward trials I employ
From self and pride to set thee free;
And break thy schemes of earthly joy,
That thou may'st seek thy all in me."

--- hymn by John Newton

GRACE II

2005-10-03T12:24:00.000+08:00

Miracles broke the physical laws of the universe; forgiveness broke the moral rules.

we are not righteous or guilty, but sinners who admit or sinners who deny. (John 8)
Unless a flaw comes into the light, it cannot be healed... we need Radical honesty and Radical dependence.
Imperfection is the pre-requisite for grace.
You cannot earn God's acceptance by climbing, you must receive it as a gift.
You can know the Law by heart without knowing the heart of it.
The best reason to be good is to want to be good.
Sacrificial love is the most powerful weapon in the Christian's arsenal of grace.
the rules of power must not displace the command to love.
The ladder of power reaches up, the ladder of grace reaches down.

"We cannot find Him unless we know we need Him" (Thomas Merton)

"Truly it is an evil to be full of faults, but it is a still greater evil to be full of them, and to be unwilling to recognize them" (Pascal)

"Grace substitutes a full, childlike and delighted acceptance of our Need, a joy in total dependence. We become "jolly beggars"." (CS Lewis)

"God blots out conscious guilt, but He brings to consciousness repressed guilt". (Paul Tournier)

"A low view of the Law leads to legalism in religion; a high view makes one a seeker after grace" (J.Gresham Macken)

"The lostness of the resentful saint is so hard to reach precisely because it is so closely wedded to the desire to be good and virtuous" (Henri Nouwen)

When Grace descends, the world falls silent before it.

Week Ending 2/10/05

2005-10-03T05:30:00.000+08:00

Mon - Since e professionals r touring in Armenia, the amateurs had rehearsal for Jonathan's piece =P stayed up way too late trying to complete ICIT finals n uploading pics onto Friendster...
Tues - found out that Joshua's grandma passed away n he had to return to Penang urgently... keeping him in prayers. caught up with Lynn n her wedding preps... boy, it's getting close to Oct 22. did grocery shopping with shih-yang during lunch... we have a "chef" in the making! had youth leaders mtg.
Weds - pilates class got cancelled. had rehearsal for both Jonathan's n Vicky's pieces. went running at night... think covered 7-8km only.... how to run 10km for Standard Chartered run??
Thurs - had queasy tummy after eating bad smoked salmon =(... but had awesome fellowship lunch w/ lynn n grace, though i just watched them eat. skipped BSF to nurse tummy.
Fri - had ban mian @ lao pa sat with Huan n Liyi... good catch up, praying for Huan to have joy n fulfilment in her job. met Christina to pick up BSF notes... blur queen... first forgot to bring the notes down when she met me, then end up giving me her notes instead! dinner n drinks w EDB folks, including DMD, at Father Flanagans... turned out much more enjoyable than I expected... ringing "drink la" in my ears.
Sat - read n read n read in the morning. dance rehearsal in the afternoon n had 1st run to Marina South... that area really quite dead on saturday afternoon. Bought Ah-Len's belated b'dae present. Youth fellowship.
Sun - rehearsal for Emcee role at next sat's youth concert night... my church really have talented musicians/singers! Watched Corpse Bride with Ah-Len @ Yishun 10. movie was 6.5/10... Tim should've made up his mind abt whether it's gonna be a movie or a musical... was neither here nor there... else, liked the animation, the songs and the quirky plot. bought him belated bdae dinner @ Courdory n Fitch and had so-so gelato for dessert... hmm ah-len, b'dae thought for turning 27? Had a super long n "deep" phone conversation w Ziyen (dude is getting his PhD from GeorgiaTech)... praying for wisdom n strength to handle affairs as he prepares for his qualifiers. Intermittently watched the thrashing of Liverpool by Chelsea... 1-4.

Ramadan will be from Oct 5 - Nov 2.

GRACE

2005-10-02T00:21:00.000+08:00

I know that I came face to face with God's love at my worst, not my best, and that Amazing Grace saved a wretch like me.

Grace does not depend on what we have done for God, but what God has done for us.
In Christian theology, when the servants erred, the King was punished.
The free offer of grace extends not just to the undeserving but to those who in fact deserve the opposite.
God's arms are always extended, we are the ones that turn away.
We're all oddballs, but God loves us anyhow.

"The economy of undeserved grace has power over the economy of moral deserts" (Miroslav Volf)

"What is your primary identity in life? I am the one Jesus loves... He's very fond of me." (Brennan Manning)

"I really only love God as much as I love the person I love the least" (Dorothy Day)

---- From Philip Yancey's "What's so amazing about grace?"

A New Thing

2005-09-28T12:46:00.000+08:00

All thing are New,
All things are Wonderful,
All things are New and Beautiful in the Lord.
Today He'll birth,
Today He'll reign,
Today the Lord Jesus will bring forth birthing pains!
Let us rejoice,
Let us declare,
that Jesus Christ today, He reigns!
He's my Lord,
He's my Savior,
He will bring forth new things forevermore!

"But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter." Romans 7:6

Week Ending 25/09/05

2005-09-26T09:32:00.000+08:00

Since I have to give weekly summaries at work, I thought let's trial blogging weekly summaries of Nao's whereabouts.

Was on leave on Mon n Tues...
Mon - spent too much time watching VCDs at home, then for the first time got to drive to telok ayer arts centre for my dance rehearsal. got a thrill giving rides home to my dance mates (Jonathan - the Brit choreographer n instructor, Lay Teng n Jia) had nice supper @ Al Ahmeen with Jia n Lay Teng
Tues - spent most of the day @PS' Starbucks ploughing thru' ICIT (In Christ Image Training - an online course) materials. Attempting to complete final exam due on 30 Sep. Materials on humility was super encouraging (e.g. Faith w/o Humility = Presumption, while Humility w/o Faith = Oppression --> cool right? something to think about) then had a super relaxing massage before uncovering a cool 2nd bookstore at PS and finally bought 2nd book of Bartimeaus trilogy by Jonathan Stroud n the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis (probably the only books that I can really understand by Mr. Lewis). Then, had dinner w/ Joshua @ Sushi Don.

Wed - had pilates class, ballet class and then rehearsal for perf @ end of Oct (yah, same place but this time no car... only my "kah", hahaha) super duper tired night!

Thurs - had dinner with Christina before going for BSF (studied Ruth Chapter 2)

Fri - watched a cool contemporary dance, Rise:Rose by Kota Yamazaki at NUS UCC, caught up with Germaine as well. Though super tired, but had promised to join colleagues (Lynette, Alvin and Adeline... lucky Alvin!) for chill-out at Suntec, ended at the lounge of Continental till 12am...

Sat - ran n swam n slept n prepared for Bible Study class (relationship with parents), attended own fellowship first before leading BS for the youths --- they got gently reprimanded for not paying attention that night, had an awkward silence but all was cool after =)

Sun - FAV DAY, was ursher for church service, had chance to have dim sum and really catch up with Gracie, spent afternoon @ Coffee Club Somerset w the Lord and bought a steal -- "snow, wolf, lake" 4-disc cantonese collection for only 19.90 @ cineleisure!!

Hmm, this summary took way less time than the one that I wrote for work (10 mins vs 1 hr).

In Christ Alone II

2005-09-23T15:30:00.000+08:00

In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand

In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
'Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life's first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
Til he returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand

The Beginning

2005-09-22T17:41:00.000+08:00

Why blog?
--- One ponders.
To capture thoughts and conversations with God, about God?
--- There's the journal, privy to God, close friends and me.
To keep friends updated?
--- There's quality time spent over meals and cups of coffee.
So, why blog?
--- To capture inspirational content that refreshes one in the midst of daily living...
--- To gather words n thoughts that breathes life...
--- To have a go-to place that reminds the soul to remain In Christ.

I pray that you too will be blessed by the thoughts captured here.

"Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 8:39

"For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. " - 1 Corinthians 15:22

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." - 2 Corinthians 5:17

In Christ Alone

2005-09-22T17:30:00.000+08:00

In Christ alone will I glory
Though I could pride myself in battles won
For I've been blessed beyond measure
And by His strength alone I overcome.
Oh I could stop and count successes
Like diamonds in my hand
But those trophies could not equal
To the grace by which I stand

In Christ alone I place my trust
And find my glory in the power of the cross
In every victory let it be said of me
My source of strength, my source of hope
is Christ alone

In Christ alone will I glory
For only by His grace I am redeemed
And only His tender mercy
Could reach beyond my weakness to my need
Now I seek no greater honor
Than just to know Him more
And to count my gains But losses
to the glory of my Lord