10 posts tagged “god”

"Love changes everything, how you live and how you die"
"Nothing in the world will ever be the same"
"Love changes everything, pain is deeper than before"
"Love makes fools of everyone, all the rules we make are broken"

Love this rendition:

Good news came today, great news actually.

Lord give me strength.

Holler! Today was awesome. I think the last time I felt this good was last year. Big difference what you can do with your head and how it affects you. I should feel horrid, but strangely I feel the exact opposite. Maybe because I'm just too used to it, or my mental will is way more powerful that I thought it was. 

Now I feel ready to tackle prelims, well not in the prepared sense but mentally ready so let's go. Life always seems to come full circle, like how you lose stuff all the time but gain in another way. Sometimes, you only need to be more open to see what you've gained, if not I'll just wallow in what I've lost, things that I can never get back no matter how hard I try.

GERALDINE ONG. without you I would have positively died for NAPFA. like seriously thanks for pacing and pushing me even though I was dying in the hot hot hot sun. And for listening to me and understanding

CHLOE ANG. For always being there! And being so nice. And like the billion times your bought me drinks since last year which I owe you a bomb for. And for being so random yet nice. And haha if you read this don't feel bad for being snappy, I understand, never blamed you!

EILEEN LIM. For being a great mei mei. And listening to my rubbish. And making all of us laugh.

STUART QUEK. Aiyah for just being there to let me bully you haha. That's more than enough.

I think no matter what, it's a blessing. I want to be able to study overseas and have anything to hold me back, or consider. There's not much point right now, especially since I can't wait to travel and do new stuff and really just soak in new experiences. Yes I like stability but was never one to just sit around and be unoccupied. It's a personal goal to lead a fulfilling life, definitely with my family supporting me always. Number one priority is going to church next year, super super super excited. Have to say I draw strength and inspiration from people who are so dedicated to God, like Marvin, Naomi, Geri, Dora and even people like Gareth. God has been great, praying has purged me of unhealthy stuff that the devil tries to grow in me, so that alone is a triumph I should be happy about. 

You know how they say that when children marry, their marriage usually mirrors how their parents were like (of course this is by no means 100% accurate)? But I really sure hope so, because I would be blessed to have my parents' relationship. And having dinners together everyday is definitely something I want. You know how the common perception is that Westerners don't value family as much etc? I think that's absolutely rubbish, my half-English cousin (who is like in some private prep school in the UK and is probably going to Oxford next year) is so close to his parents. They have breakfast and dinner together, and they do projects like paint the rooms together, which is doing so much more than most families here.

Oh had this discussion/ semi-debate with my mum today in the car on the way home about China/ urbanisation/ globalisation. Super exciting and funny, I realised I actually quite like learning Geog because it's just so applicable. Am extremely excited for my birthday though it's so near prelims. Can't wait for the dinner with family+aunt+cousins. Brilliant :D And my mum has hinted at my present, can't wait to see yipee! (:

Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall

Kazuo Ishiguro

And I'm reading! Kazuo Ishiguro's Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall (not this coverart). My dad bought a signed first edition in London, how awesome is that?

Okay so this is a mishmash summary of what's been going on, minus the bad stuff that should not be recorded and probably won't be remembered in 1 years time when I look back and laugh at what I did. But stress, better go do my stuffs.

P.s. I got a Razer (according to The Tech Twins, it's a gaming mouse so it's very very good) wireless mouse for my mac (finally after using the touchpad for 4 years!!). The best thing is that it's PINK, and it was on discount!

P.p.s. I won't reccomend Harry Potter - much better off reading the book alone. Random: Am I the only one who feels uncomfortable that Ginny is taller than Harry?? A sore disappointment that it wasn't good, there are much better shows coming out that I can't wait to watch (one at picturehouse caught my eye - Elynn/Xty interested?)

I've been pondering this over the past few days:

What exactly does it mean to be a Christian?

Obviously, the first step that everyone's familiar with is to believe in God. Not just believe in his existence, but believe in His power.

But is that enough? This isn't me questioning faith or Christianity, but questioning what does it mean to identify yourself as a Christian.

There are some who are contented to call themselves Christians because they believe in God, yet there are others who hunger to know more. I'm not passing judgements, nor am I saying those who are fervent in their Godly pursuits are better - that would just be being a religious snob.

Part of being a Christian is knowing this value system you believe in (religion is ultimately a value system because it prescribes certain ideal behaviours). I've always thought that being a Christian means knowing God's word, knowing this religion and its history. How can you claim to believe in God and his word when you don't know anything about it? Isn't that akin to saying I believe that all matter is made up of atoms without knowing anything about it? How can you truly believe when you don't know the Hows and Whys of what you believe in? And in a religious discussion, how can you ever defend your stand when you don't know enough about it. Blind faith in God because you can't see him does not mean blind faith in his word.

Really, just like how any academic course involves intensive studying and questioning, so does God's word. Being a Christian is no different from taking a stand, just like how one can take a stand against homosexuals or child abuse. As with taking any stand, you can expect critics. In Christianity, prosecution comes in different forms - it could be being forbidden to read the bible or go to church or outright attacks. But as with taking any stand, you need a certain amount of courage to stand up to condemnation - if it's something you believe in, it shouldn't be too difficult to gather that courage.

Sure, I face my own kind of prosecution, but it never made me want to stop knowing God's word. Knowledge, like any other kind, is power and is empowering. If you've been calling yourself a Christian, I urge you to reflect about your relationship with God, and if what you've done in your Godly journey is truly what it means to be a Christian.

But in the meantime, despite my daily prayers and quiet time with my bible, until I can act best in a way the God would want his children to to keep learning about him and his word (which in my case involves attending church), I will never be comfortable to publicly call myself a Christian.
 

Today was fun, but most importantly the company helped me forget stuff, things that I should not be thinking about.

Strangely, it doesn't hurt anymore. In fact I feel relieved, and I feel myself actually moving on. 

Chinese New Year this year has been nothing short of amazing.
I know recent surveys have shown that family if the topmost priority for most people this year, especially with the gloomy economic outlook and all. But I'm really just so blessed to have a family that is my strength, a family that eats dinner together almost every single night, a family whom I can talk about stuff to so openly. I pray dearly to God that he blesses me with such a family when I'm married and old and wrinkled.

It's cool, I feel quite grown up because this year I've joined the ranks of older kids. And it's super fun and interesting to play and just watch my younger cousins interact, they say innocent, funny things that just make you laugh. I've eaten a lot, had a lot of fun and learnt new stuff about my family:
- My paternal grandpa has a Malay cousin
- I have 2 aunts married to Caucasians
- My maternal grandma had 9 siblings and my maternal grandpa had 10 siblings. So that translates into many many aunts, uncles, cousins, distant cousins that I have not met in my entire life. We have never had a major major reunion dinner.

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The Girls

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The bookworms

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The Red Shoes

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Daddy and Mummy

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Derrick - Cousins, confidante, playmates

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Hayley

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Helping my mum in the kitchen

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Lunch @ Kaiyin's
Besides listening to Linkinpark HSM, discussing Heroes Friends, gossiping about Soccer Boys,
 we're super intellectuals at heart - we played upwords, chess and uno.
And we're damn cool cos we're multicultural! :D

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GUESS WHOSE NAILS THESE BELONG TO!! :D

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Going for a concert the night before school starts again might not be the smartest thing, but you get to only experience things once. Mystery Jets was good (and they played the crowd favourites). An interesting experience, though the crowd was milder than expected. But now I can safely say I will never understand why people club, it's not fun, you can barely see hear or talk. The music is so loud it makes your ears ring and your head to pound, and all this even without any alcohol.