Saturday, May 31, 2008
here's an awesome song! i can't even begin to describe how beautiful it is!
How Great You Are - Phillips, Craig, and Dean
A thousand sparkling stars upon
a midnight summer sky
The majesty and wonder of
the ocean's endless tide
And the more I see,
the more I can't explain
How the One who set the world in place
could even know my name
And, I'm amazed.
I'm so amazed.
How great You are,
how small I am.
How awesome is
Your mighty hand.
And I am captured by
the wonder of it all.
And I will offer
all my praise,
with all my heart,
for all my days.
How great You are.
How great You are.
How great You are.
A million snowflakes gently fall,
yet no two are the same.
The colors fill the canvas of
the seasons as they change.
And everywhere I look,
I see Your hand.
Why you would love
someone like me,
I'll never understand.
And, I'm amazed.
I'm so amazed.
How great You are,
how small I am.
How awesome is
Your mighty hand.
And I am captured by
the wonder of it all.
And I will offer
all my praise,
with all my heart,
for all my days.
How great You are.
How great You are.
How great You are.
How great You are,
how small I am.
How awesome is
Your mighty hand.
And I am captured by
the wonder of it all.
And I will offer
all my praise,
with all my heart,
for all my days.
How great You are.
How great You are.
How great You are.
yay!! simply love it:)))
anyway i've realised just how bad my mandarin is. three nights ago i called my mama at her hotel in taiwan and i was stunned at the ramblings of the receptionist in mandarin that i didn't know how exactly to ask for my mama. thrown into a loss for words i simply blurted "wo3 yao4 zhao3 wo3 de4 ma1 ma1". the receptionist did not speak for about half a minute. me neither. i couldn't really believe i actually said that ha. finally the receptionist spoke slowly in english, after he kinda figured that english sounded my medium of communication. but well, he sounded really painful speaking english so i switched to mandarin and whew i finally got to mama!
and when i told my section about this, stickman asked, " so is his english worse than your mandarin?"
i'd like to think so HAHAHAH.
wc :: 12:57 AM
Saturday, May 17, 2008
7 hours of spiritual time today!! there was holy spirit baptism class, service and jc pm which got a lil draggy HAHAH. learnt a GREAT deal today, really. pastor jeff's sermon touched me as usual, xiangyu and fungmin's teaching on hsb was a new lesson too, since i wasn't taught right previously hah. well but what matters is that i've learnt it right this time round:)
love the word of God.
great is God, no, GREATEST is HE.
exalt Him as He deserves, and love Him love Him love Him.
anyway here's something reallyreallyreally inspiring that i wanna share with the world!!!
Power In Your Praise
“Offer unto God thanksgiving (praise); and pay thy vows unto the most High and call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shall glorify Me” (Psalms 50:14-15).
We serve an Almighty God who is worthy of all our praise. The Bible says “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess His name” (Hebrews 13:15). It also says in Psalms 150:6 “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.” This means praising God not only in church prior to the message, but continually. It should be a part of our lifestyle.
This is so important because when we praise Him, we acknowledge our faith and total trust in Him. In doing so, we invoke His omnipotent presence and power enabling His glory to fill our temple (us) and act on our behalf. It also helps us to look beyond our problems and see the promises of God.
Now, a very simple definition for praise is; a declaration of God’s goodness, who He is, His faithfulness, and what He has done. When this acknowledgement is made with our heart and spoken verbally, God is blessed and obliged to move. Psalms 22:3 states that God “inhabits our praise.” There are several illustrations of how God moved mightily based on the praise of His people:
Ø Paul and Silas were thrown in jail for preaching the gospel of Christ. Instead of complaining about the way they were beaten and tortured, they praised God with singing in the middle of the night. It was so powerful it changes their circumstances. God shook the prison, let them go, and caused the jailer to get saved. (Acts 16:19-31).
Ø King Jehoshaphat and the Kingdom of Judah were faced with certain annihilation by the armies of Ammon, Moab and Seir. However, after prayer and fasting, Jehoshaphat and the Kingdom of Judah praised God in the midst of their enemies, and “the Lord” caused the armies of Ammon, Moab and Seir to destroy each other. (2 Chronicles 20:1-23)
Ø Gideon defeated a huge Midianite Army with three hundred soldiers without even striking a blow with their swords. They simply praised God. They blew their trumpets and shouted “The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon” and, the Midianites turned their swords on themselves, destroying each other. (Judges 7:19-22)
Give God praise! He is so worthy. He deserves all we have to give and so much more. Sincere praise from our heart is necessary to invoke God’s presence and omnipotent power in our lives. It should not be something that we do only at church, but a part of our daily lifestyle. It helps us to look beyond our problems and to see the promises of God.
“Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God” (Psalms 42:11).
YESSSS!! praise God! for He is worthy and deserving! as i did my devotion someday the past week, i came across this verse:
(psa 144:15b) blessed are the people whose God is the LORD.
AMENAMEN i'm such a blessed little kid!! i've got the God of all creation, the Maker of heaven and earth and all that's in it backing me up what more can i ask for! what could be better!
i realised also, how kind God has always been to me, only that i fail so often to see. thank You God for opening my eyes to see Your lovingkindness:) another thing i saw, was that the more difficult the challenge i face, the kinder God is to me! in times such as these, God simply reveals Himself to me in all His greatness and just fills my heart with hope, joy and thanksgiving. even if i had to traverse rough rocky terrain, make my way on valleys and mountains, strenous and painful that might be, God has and will always bless me in His special ways, big and little:) and that's simply fantastic. fellow christians would always encourage thanking God in bad circumstances. this may sound annoying to some who think that the mess they're in warrants no single blessing from God to be grateful and thankful for but truth is, we've got the GREATEST blessing we need!! we've God walking with us every step of that difficult way, carrying us upon His shoulders, only that we've allowed our problems to overshadow the presence of God in our lives, every minute of it. so yes!! be thankful in all circumstances as God's word has instructed, because that's just so true! i've tried and tested that and CHECK, that's the truth and nothing but the whole truth. following, i prayed for a grateful heart that heaps thanksgiving unto God all day and God has really answered my prayers and now my life's even better and more joyful than before mann!! hahahah YAYYY!!! here's a quotable quote from a really old edition of Our Daily Bread that i wrote in my little prayer slip:
the pain of disappointment is soothed by a heart of gratitude.
i testify to the truth of that statement with my life's experiences.
God has taught me an amazing lot the past week once again and boy am i grateful! i love how God's wondrous methods of loving ministers directly to my heart, i love the way He loves me:)
Daddy Daddy Daddy thank You for Your tender and perfect love. i love the way You love me, and i want to love You more:))
wc :: 9:41 PM
Friday, May 16, 2008
“The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.”- Zephaniah 3:17
GOGOGO wanchien!!
every step i take, i take with You. every move i make, i make with You:))
thank You God:)
wc :: 9:38 PM
Friday, May 9, 2008
a memorable stay at TTSH!!
PHOOOOOF!!! whew i'm back from ttsh! hahahha thank yall lovelies who texted and called and of course how could i forget those who made personal trips down, (and didn't get to see my pretty face HAHAH) SHINQ, LINGYAN and SANDRA!! and thank you 6G, jo and dingyi for the cards and stuff, especially the smartypants who blotted out AHEM's face HAHAHA nice job there!! thank yall also, TINGJUN, MICH, SHUMIN, LYNNIE for making a house visit together with shinq and lingyan, especially tj for that ultra pretty and cute card, thanks ol' pal, YOU ROCK!!
alrighty i shall begin with mr chua's FANTASTIC driving skills hahahha he drove pretty fast and i was totally surprised cus i expected him to go no more than 60kmph OOPS hahah but he just sped down the highway and conveniently missed the road to ttsh hahah. when we got there mr chua was his usual funny self, fascinated by everything and anything at the hospital hahah he's super funny!! uhh shan't go into the details hee!
so i waited a good while till the doc called for me and mr chua was presumably too fascinated by the parachute free fall that the movie was showing on the tv at the waiting area so he only jolted and wheeled me to the consultation area after my name was being called three times HAHAH! when i saw my doc, i stared. he had a pitiful looking hand cast in some weird plastic thingy, absolutely mummified and not exactly reassuring for the patient. so i asked him what he did to that poor hand of his and he went on to tell me that he hurt it somehow and if he removed the plastic thingy i'd see wires sticking out. UH HUH. and he seemed to have a really painful time typing; he was basically jabbing at the keyboard with one finger from his mummified hand and the other good hand in an extremely awkward position ha. then he went on to ask those routine questions, one of which i found to be most ridiculous but i shan't publicise it here! yeah and he tested my reflexes by scratching the soles of my feet with this sharp-ended thing. and i roared in pain each time till i think mr chua was rather alarmed hahah. ohoh then the doc wanted to draw some blood to run a couple of tests and that was after mr chua left and my mother came in. i told the doc not to break the alexandra hospital's doc's record of inserting the needle into the wrong spot four times and he was like, "don't worry...i'm a professional despite my mangled hand, trust me" oh i'm sure. my mother was like yeahyeah i trust you but i told him straight, "i don't trust you!" he asked why and i said, " look at your face!" and he happily continued, "it's so trustworthy, we're the paragon of human hope and we love our fellow humankind" I'M SURE. that line popped out at least thrice and it's seriously funny coming from him hahahahah i love talking to my doc! OH he told me not to take medicine(the course, i mean). yayy he's the coolest, chattiest and wittiest doc i've come across; bantering with him=FUN! oh but when he told me i had to be admitted i was seriously annoyed cus there's chem spa on saturday!! rahh so i had to stay, and i was parked in the observation ward the entire duration cus till i was discharged there still wasn't a single free bed/ward. i was appalled by that, as well as how the observation ward was filled with predominantly females. ha. more than appalled, i was utterly disgusted and irritated by the fact that i had to stay in that 'parking lot' with a dying phone and a dead ipod(ran dead after two lines of a song played) chickendonutmiaow. oh the observation ward's a different story...
being parked at a random spot in the observation ward wasn't fun at all, especially when they parked me near all the rather *ahem* EXTRAORDINARY cases. here are a few of my personal favourites from this absolutely thrilling episode:
1) Cindy
cindy was parked one bed next to mine and the poor lady, i suppose, needed care and attention real badly; she kept calling out to the nurses to get her water/milo, of which she'd drink only half and yell for more. after that trick didn't work she began shouting for people to change her diapers. so the diaper-changing antic carried on for two hours into midnight(shinq heard it over the cordless phone i was chatting to her on). and nobody did change her diapers. when cindy realised nobody liked changing diapers she decided her fingernails were too long! so this time she yelled for the nurses to cut her fingernails! but seriously, the nurses were way too busy for her, the A&E department was like a battlefield - paramedics, nurses, doctors and everyone else rushing in and out and that was crazy. well anyway cindy spent the night wailing for attention, not succeeding until she threw a huge tantrum and kicked the eating tray and stood on her bed to proclaim her greatness. yeah. cindy ftw!
2) scary
there was this really skinny lady who was accompanied by three policemen/women when she came and she kept insisting on being discharged. she looked really fierce man. i'll bet she's enough to make us all do every tutorial hahah. and my mother couldn't take her eyes off that lady, and she didn't get the hint when the policeman stared at her with that "watcha lookin at" face.
3) life
there were, parked by my sides, two ladies, one young and one old. the young one had a 'suicide caution chart' on top of her 'vital signs chart'. yeah. i was pretty freaked, i mean, i wouldn't know what to do if she attempted anything out of the ordinary. oh but she had a bible on her eating table and that set me thinking, why would she even entertain the thought of giving up her life on earth if she's no stranger to God's love? the older lady on my other side looked reallyreally sad, and for some time she went telling everybody she needed to "start afresh". it was only when i was about to be discharged that the sister of this lady started talking to me and at that point i really, sincerely wanted to tell the lady how much God loves her. somehow i couldn't. no, more like i didn't. so now i've this huge regret in my heart of not sharing the good news with these people who need them so badly. in a way, God has used this hospital stay to teach me that, no matter where i am, i'm an ambassador of His love, His grace and His mercy. never under any circumstance should i hesitate in spreading His message of love when the spirit stirs in me a conviction and need to do so. this regret i carry is also my shame, that i've failed God in a place where much of His love is needed. but i shall use it as a reminder to spur me on in my days in the future, to carry out my rightful duty as a messenger of God's love, cus i don't wanna add to this same regret. ever.
yay while i hated the physical stay at the hospital, i can't help marvelling at how good God is at working in the most unexpected of ways. He's opened my spiritual eyes and heightened my spiritual senses to His people, thank You God for showing me the way:)
and i love my doc too!! yay i love dr liam!! he rocks!(even though i told him i hate him OOPS)hahah i'm further convinced that i'll never work in the health&med field, BUTBUTBUT i shall marry one who does!! i'm gonna marry a doctor HAHAHAHAH!!
after i got home i had visits from my beloved sn4c/hc friends:)))) yall rock!! that was real heartening, on top of all the cards and well-wishes i received. sadly the good time didn't really last cus things started happening at home again, right after i was discharged the same afternoon. and it really annoyed me a considerable lot, but more than that i was absolutely saddened/pained by such happenings. i went bawling to God again, who reminded me that He has made me so strong. and i know that through these experiences, God will make me even stronger:) God has further given me a conviction to use my life as a lesson, a teaching, to let my experiences and encounters teach His people, to speak to them, encourage them and show them His great love and the wonders of all His ways:) yes God, let me teach others with my life, let Your love, grace, mercy and faithfulness unveil themselves to Your people as You speak through my life:)))
OH and God has taught me an amazing lot this week!! every single day from monday God has revealed a new treasure to me in His word each day!! and as i read the book of Daniel and how he lived a life in full faith and trust in God, i'm just so in awe of this great man of God!! i've got SOMUCHSOMUCHSOMUCH to learn from him!! the book of Romans is another eye-opener as well, peace and joy just floods the soul as i take in those powerful words:)
"And we[b] rejoice in the hope of the glory of God."(romans 5:2b)
the funny thing is, when i read this verse, i didn't understand it in its entirety, in fact even if i tried to dissect it into parts or individual words, somehow i feel that i just can't decipher it fully(i shall try to find out) but what's important to me about this verse is that i know that God's will for me is to rejoice, and though i know not what "the hope of the glory of God" means exactly, i'm filled with joy and hope!! ahahahah Gods words are THAT powerful!! hahahah actually the whole of Romans 5 is incredibly encouraging and heartening, READ IT!!
as i read the book of Daniel, these three words just struck me - How God Saves. many incidents in both the old and new testament show how our mighty God saves. the conclusion i came to was, God saves us by His GRACE, we (can only) save ourselves by our FAITH.
Jesus loves you!! <33!!
wc :: 8:39 PM
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
yay!! God has been teaching me to be joyful these days and yeahhhh LIFE IS GREAT man!! here's something really nice!
Nothing Compares To You
by WhtDove
I'm sitting here filled with wonder
At the amazing things you do
How the waters stay in the oceans
And the vast beauty of the view
How the stars are hung in the sky
Within them is written your word
How we are the following sheep
And you are the only Shepherd
How the sky is painted with color
Bursts of orange in the sunset glow
How much knowledge it took to make
And how little us humans know
How intricately you planned it
There was nothing you left unthought
From the delicacy of a babyT
o all the sins of ours you bought
There's no other love that's out there
As deep and as faithful and true
No other comfort to be found
Because nothing compares to you
Nothing compares to your miracles
Or the listening time you spend
How you always take good care of us
And our broken hearts that you mend
To us, our problems like mountains
To you, they're no problem at all
You're ever so watchful and there
To help catch us, when we do fall
I'm just sitting here filled with wonder
At the awesome things that you do
At being our Lord and Savior
Because nothing compares to You!
“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.”- 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
wc :: 9:22 PM
Friday, May 2, 2008
God is God
truly, God is God. and God is faithful! i've never met (and never will i meet) anyone more faithful, reliable, patient, loving, gracious and generous than God. i've learnt this hard but i've learnt it well - friends may fail you, family may fail you, even your spiritual family can fail you, but God will NEVER fail you, because man is man but God is God!! yay i really thank God for being so faithful and loving towards me, and of course, PATIENT. hahah God's patience is simply amazing man - He can put up with such an obdurate, pertinacious and rebellious child like me!! and He reallyreallyreally loves me alotalotalot!! :))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
YAY!! met up with AUDREYCHONGGYSHORTY-ZHEN today!!! hahah i was sosososososo happy to spend time with her, however short it might have been! ZHEN I LOVE YOU LIKE CRAZY!!! hahahahah yay let's do great things for God together k! ohman can't wait for our next meeting!!!!!!!!!! i'm totally looking forward to it!!
i love You God!!! thank You for everything!! :))))))))
“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.”- 1 John 5:14-15
wc :: 5:54 PM
