Praise God...

things just suddenly zoomed and things were not in good shape the past few days. had a paper today on thurday. i couldn't sleep on saturday night. and then tuesday night. suddenly restlessness came about again. and then wednesday night. i had only 6 hours sleep in 3 days.

i don't know what to make of it. only that God had sustained me through it. wednesday night, i felt at peace at about 1.15 a.m. and i went to sleep. but i woke up at 4 a.m. and well, the muscles ache to the max out of tiredness but i still went on to do more readings.
the exam period, i had a good start. but as time weared on, things weren't so stable as i'd like it to be.

in as much as there was the struggle, i see the love of God among the OCFers. arthur and shi hui preparing dinner for a lot of people. gillian and ray and those with cars providing transport. and these are the only ones that i know of.

thank you very much for the prayers and encouragement and support. i hope i didn't take any for granted.

well, what's done is done. and done to the best i hope.

Doxology

Praise God from whom all blessings flow
Praise Him all creatures here below
Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost

He will come and save you...

i haven't heard this song for such a long long time. a wonderful song.
i categorise the song as one of my classics, alongside songs like People Need the Lord and We Are the Reason and more...

neverending indeed is God's faithfulness. He will carry you.
just look at the words. that is how each of us are to offer our hand, and help pull up our brother or sister to continue to look unto God's face.

He will Come and Save You
Words and Music by Bob Fitts and Gary Sadler

Say to those who are fearful hearted, "Do not be afraid;
The Lord your God is strong with His mighty arm,
When you call out His name." He will come and save.

Chorus:
He will come and save you. He will come and save you.
Say to the weary one, "Your God will surely come."
He will come and save you.
He will come and save you. He will come and save you.
Lift up your eyes to Him, you will arise again.
He will come and save you.

Say to those who are broken hearted, "Do not lose your faith;
The Lord your God is strong with His loving arms,
When you call out his name." He will come and save.

lord of the rings...

well, after 2 days of grueling brain concentration for exams, it ended, for a while. stopped to rest. 8 days before the next paper. :)

watched return of the king LOTR. that's my break reward.

when i first watched it, i remember thinking, what in the world is so great about the ring. its JUST a ring. a ring! with no diamonds on it. ok... maybe the invisibility i would want, but its just a ring.
but the more i thought about it, i saw some significance.

the ring is a 'ring of power'. the most powerful thing in middle earth.
and everyone was careful of it. even the wizard Gandalf.
but Elrond mentioned that the halfling(Frodo) shows extraordinary resilience towards the ring. why?
and resilience there was. but not at the very end where Frodo put the ring on.

i was thinking on. what will you do if you have the only most powerful thing in your hand? you can do so many things. what if you have something in your hand, that you can change the world or your future? wouldn't you want it?
then you can say, I will be the best. I have the power. I will rule. I will do all these things. I will lead you. I will show you. I will change the world for the best. I can do this on my own.

in reference to middle earth culture and races, the halfling, didn't have any pride or care in or of the world. the hobbits are simple people living a simple life like in a village or 'kampung' with no intentions of ruling the world or big ambitions for 'self'. things that are important, are friends, fellowship, be contented and more...

that was why there was 'extraordinary' resilience, though it isn't that extraordinary at all, thinking about it again.
there are many more examples, but that's just one of some of my thoughts.

2 types of papers...

well, i went through 2 different types of papers.

statistics didn't seem so bad after all. it was a wonderful paper.
financial economics became the very risky one.

when one has seen the other dark extreme last year, one would be very grateful and glad to have seen a very near total opposite.

Thank You for keeping my heart and mind at peace.
Thank You for giving me rest.
Thank You for Your strength that sustained me through.
Thank You for the healing that you have given me.
Thank You for the OCFers who are ever praying and SMSing, encouraging and supporting each other.
Thank You for the cold rain that refreshes us as we breathe and keep us awake. :)

continue to sustain us and pour your blessings upon us, Lord Jesus.

Thank You Lord
written by Don Moen

I come before you today
And there's just one thing that I want to say
Thank you lord
Thank you lord
For all you've given to me
For all the blessings that I cannot see
Thank you lord
Thank you lord

**With a grateful heart
With a song of praise
With an outstretch arm
I will bless your name
Thank you lord
I just wanna thank you lord
Thank you lord
I just wanna thank you lord
Thank you lord

For all you've done in my life
You took my darkness and gave me your light
Thank you lord
Thank you lord
You took my sin and my shame
You took my sickness and healed all my pain
Thank you lord
Thank you lord

You're here with me...

the times have started. no, its not the end of the world. though it may feel like it. exam period have started for Adelaide Uni. 18th June to 2nd July.

i remember, right now.. at this point of time... i would be lying down on my bed... hugging my pillow... crying in fear, crippled in fear though i have prepared.

question yourself: what's happening? where's your faith?
draw on the Holy Spirit. hold on. your faith in Him is not in vain.
there is always hope.

--- hope ---

cry lah. so what? nothing's wrong with that. you'll just have a salty pillow.

in quietness do you hear the cricket chirping.
in solitude do you hear God and feels His presence.

--- pray ---

Lead Me, O Lead Me
Words and Music by Martin Smith

O lead me
To the place where I can find You
O lead me
To the place where You'll be
Lead me to the cross
Where we first met
Draw me to my knees
So we can talk
Let me feel Your breath
Let me know You're here with me

Lead me to the cross
Where we first met
Draw me to my knees
So we can talk
Let me feel Your breath
Let me know You're here with me

Let me know You're here with me
Let me know You're here with me

© 1994 Curious? Music U.K./Kingsway's Thankyou Music

boats?

devotion at OCF today was refering to Matt 14:22 about Jesus walking on water and His disciples in the boat during the storm.

we are in a boat travelling towards a goal. to pass and do well in our exams or in the long run, graduate.

we may ask why? what's all this storm for?
it is for His glory may be reveiled to us. through the 'storms'. sometimes, i wonder how...
it recalls memories of the past. questionings and directionless moments and periods. (but that's another area of faith and seeing a small jigsaw puzzle, and waiting for the each puzzle, bit by bit to show before seeing the whole picture.)

Jesus said, "take courage and do not be afraid."

i was thinking in another aspect...
we see the whole picture of the storm, of course, because we are in it.

imagine the picture on a paper, if we cut out all of the storm and just have Jesus walking and Peter(us) looking at Him. its calmer and less stressful, right?

that's how we are to look unto Jesus. He is in the storm with us. He wasn't in heaven helping us or asking us how we are doing from above. but He is with us by our side.

Jesus was walking on water IN the storm. do we have faith to walk on the water with Him?

He is Emmanuel, God with us.

and just like the song i posted earlier (and also the song below), are we still ever praising and worshipping God, regardless being in the ups, highs, happiness, joy, good times OR the downs, lows, sadness, sorry, bad times, stress?

we should. always.

My soul follows hard after Thee
Early in the morning
Will I rise up and seek Thee
And because Thou hast been my help
Under the shadow of Thy wings
I will rejoice

Words and Music by Jeffrey Smith

in the first part of Romans 8:38,
'Nothing can seperate us from the love of God. ...'

Psalms 91:4
'He will shield you with his wings. He will shelter you with his feathers. His faithful promises are your armor and protection.'

O Lord To You...

i think this is quite an old song. sung by Bob Fitts. a slow and mellow song. look at the words. i got it in an album, Songs for Devotion.

are we still seeking God first? in the morning? night?
are we still giving thanks in the midst of our exams?
sigh...

O Lord To You
Words and Music by Gary Sadler

We will seek You first Lord
You will hear our voices
Early in the morning
And late in the night
We will sing Your praises
Giving You the glory
Offering our lives to You
A holy sacrifice

May our praise arise as incense
O Lord to You
May our worship be a fragrance
O Lord to You

seeds and Truth..

i was reading a book, 'Watchman Prayer' by Dutch Sheets. i got the book in my first year as a free gift, but read a little only. i was just reading another portion.

when we read John 8:32, "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

and i'm sure many of us know our bible verses very well. verses about trust, faith and hope. verses of encouragement. Prov 3:5-6, Psalm 121, Hebs 10:23-25, Matthew 11:35, 1 Peter 5:7.

and we thought, why nothing happens even though we know all these?
Because all truth comes in seed form. what you do with the seed after it is planted will determine or not whether it bears fruit in you.
are you putting the effort to grow the seed?

that's what it means in the parable of the sower (mark 4), the renewing of the mind (Rom 12:1-2), abiding in the Vine by abiding in His Word (John 15) and many more. it is planting the seeds and working the process.

Heb 10:23 & Psalm 121

look at these verses and pray.

Hebrews 10:23-25 (NLT)

23 Without wavering, let us hold tightly to the hope we say we have, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. 24 Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds. 25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near.

Psalm 121 (NLT)

1 A song for the ascent to Jerusalem. I look up to the mountains – does my help come from there? 2 My help comes from the LORD, who made the heavens and the earth! 3 He will not let you stumble and fall; the one who watches over you will not sleep. 4 Indeed, he who watches over Israel never tires and never sleeps. 5 The LORD himself watches over you! The LORD stands beside you as your protective shade. 6 The sun will not hurt you by day, nor the moon at night. 7 The LORD keeps you from all evil and preserves your life. 8 The LORD keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever.

BS meet...

i had been feeling much better in health. less flu and cough. still a bit feverish and a really really stubborn headache. argh... mind-hurting non-stop and it hurts more when i cough. but its the fastest recovery i have ever seen. thank you, Lord. i will try to get back to my books to put in more effort and concentrate even more. hope the resting didn't slack my heart off.

anyway, it was a gathering of BS leaders and as we see more of OCF in the future with possible growth and expansion. whoa! talking like a president with such words. haha... nah... it was just a look into the future. the hall was pretty full. with much praise and prayer points listed down, we broke into pairs later to pray.

before we adjourned we prayed for richard because most of the people may not see richard befor he leaves. after the prayer, well, as planned, the guys grabbed him and pinned him down. he's really strong. he can take 5 singaporeans. and so we had to take extra precautions and have really lots of malaysians to hold him down. it worked.

his chest and stomach don't look too good. can't tell what's the colour of his skin.
unluckier still, the organiser, jansen, also suffered the same fate.

thank you for the easter camp chef who had cooked for us. 'encounter' chicken + sushi. seriously good. and an apple afterwards also, for good... um... you know...

Lord, bless the 25 people who came for the BS leaders meeting as much preparations for exams are coming along. protect us and keep us in good health and heal those who are sick. protect me from my fears. and bad dreams. sigh...

interesting...

interesting, i wonder how accurate are these surveys.
i guess the truth can only be told by God and those who know me.

The Keys to Your Heart

You are attracted to good manners and elegance.

In love, you feel the most alive when things are straight-forward, and you're told that you're loved.

You'd like to your lover to think you are optimistic and happy.

You would be forced to break up with someone who was insecure and in constant need of reassurance.

Your ideal relationship is lasting. You want a relationship that looks to the future... one you can grow with.

Your risk of cheating is zero. You care about society and morality. You would never break a commitment.

You think of marriage something you've always wanted... though you haven't really thought about it.

In this moment, you think of love as commitment. Love only works when both people are totally devoted.

What Are The Keys To Your Heart?

headache....

aiyoh... headache, fever, cold, sore throat.
the whole package.
canm't breathe through the nose. have to breathe through the mouth. something like darth vader. hee hee...

work wasn't that productive. wrote notes. but don't think it registered enough.

my nose is red.
i wonder whether the sexy deep voice will come or not.
i hope not.

i wanna be healed. i'm so drowsy now. i think i can just get easily conned by anyone now. *please don't try*
i hope i feel better tomorrow.
and having some things to deal with.
sorry, v.

anyway, found this song. won the song of the year Dove Award 2004 that was awarded in apr 2005.

Who Am I
by Casting Crowns
album: Casting Crowns (2003)

Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth
Would care to know my name
Would care to feel my hurt
Who am I, that the Bright and Morning Star
Would choose to light the way
For my ever wandering heart

Not because of who I am
But because of what You've done
Not because of what I've done
But because of who You are

I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
Vapor in the wind
Still You hear me when I'm calling
Lord, You catch me when I'm falling
And You've told me who I am
I am Yours, I am Yours

Who am I, that the eyes that see my sin
Would look on me with love and watch me rise again
Who am I, that the voice that calmed the sea
Would call out through the rain
And calm the storm in me

Not because of who I am
But because of what You've done
Not because of what I've done
But because of who You are

I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
Vapor in the wind
Still You hear me when I'm calling
Lord, You catch me when I'm falling
And You've told me who I am
I am Yours

I am Yours
Whom shall I fear
Whom shall I fear
'Cause I am Yours
I am Yours

officially sick...

already officially sick with fever and a bad sore throat plus the running nose that will be coming along.
haven't been able to sleep last night. tried to sleep early but wasn't easy. can't breathe through the nose cause its stuck, so you breathe through your mouth and the sore throat hurts. so its just been drifting in and out of sleep. only woke up at 1pm today. terrible.
and the tar guys are just tar'ring up the road. so we got extra nice smell and noise. at least they're gone now.

aih. just complaining. was contemplating whether to go to uni or not. but if i stay home, i'll just rest and go to sleep. so i think i'll just go on the fine line of study and rest. not to overexert myself, but just to do enough.

i was just thinking, waliauleh... complain a lot and non-stop. if i set my heart and my mind on God's face, i wouldn't feel these 'things' so badly. its a choice. i would try. focus and get some stuff done. maybe some ice cream as a reward? eh no... not ice cream. haha...

studying guardian angel...

been on a non-stop action of books and lecture notes and assignments.
its a countdown.
been coming home at only around 11 p.m. - 1 a.m. daily since last week.
i did it, and completed 12 weeks of level 2 statistics.

am home.
and feeling feverish at the moment. with a sore throat. weak and dizzy.
and hungry.
i didn't do any shopping. been taking some (ok... a lot) of my housemates food. i better buy some stuff to repay them.

its been cold.
amidst everything, have to stop my life for a few moments. to think. posting helps.
prayer.

strengthen the students and me, Lord.
thank you for the people you have put around me.
put your healing hands on our health and our hearts and minds.
in Jesus' name, Amen.

richards song...

daniel and i were glad we could present it (though we got quite nervous). specially written the song for Richard a few weeks ago. thanks to addielle and eng poh for listening and editing the very lame parts. it was touching and very memorable with the OCFers singing along at the ending parts. *sigh

Richard Poh (Yan Tau)
written by D.P. and W.K.

There was a boy who weighed hundred and five k.g's (he's 80 now)
He comes from a land, a country of men, of kiasus
He is handsome and young, He is tall and is dark
He's friendly and charming and full of good fun
(D.P: oik, he's not that young lah
W.K: oh yeah, he's going to be a quarter of a century years old already)

He likes to be called, Richard Poh Yan Tau (which means handsome)
But most of us think, he looks like a Char Siew Pau (the round bun)
He drives a white car, and sends people home
He helps you and guides you with lots of good words
(Are we there yet? X3
Can we go now? X3 )

We'll miss you, and miss you
for sure
We'll pray for you, that God will guide
you through

He has a soft side, a romantic side, of love
She studies in Perth, she is called, "Dear dear" (eeyerrrr)
She came to Easter Camp, to serve with him
He was so delighted, he sang her a song
(ni wen wo ai, ni you duo shen,
wo ai ni you zhi fen)

We'll miss you, and miss you
for sure
We'll pray for you, that you will walk
in faith

Why do you have to leave us now?

The memories that we have
we'll frame in gold
You're more than a friend, a brother to us
in Christ

Don't say goodbye *W.K
It's not the end *D.P
Don't you dare cry *W.K
Show me your smile *D.P

*we called richard up and asked the OCFers to sing along*

Don't say goodbye *guys
It's not the end *girls
Don't you dare cry *guys
Show me your smile *girls

May you grow in faith and hope and love

found it...

came out of the library to make a call to a friend (my ex-classmate in MBS) in wollongong, sydney. his gf is going for extra diagnosis to see whether she has appendicitis. imagine the shock he would be going through and both of their first years overseas. he sms-ed me about it to pray for both of them. i thought he would be worried sick. so i went out the library, called him through the public phone to check up on him. (great way to use up the countless 5 cents). he wasn't as worried as i thought he would be. he was more of regretting he didn't bring his books to study cause he has been waiting for more than 3 hours + being hungry and also asking me what appendicitis was. hee hee... my friend...

and so i tried the computers at the resource center. i can read the flash. the dumb computers at the engineering and maths building must have had lots of firewalls or some security protection.

anyway, i watched the flash and type the words out at the same time. i hope i paragraphed it right. here's the song.

He Will Be
by Richard Berardi

He will be
Your candle in the dark
Your fire in the cold
Your strength
When you are just too weary

He will be
Your everlasting love
When the world fades away
With you eternally
He will be

Let Him in your heart
The power of His love will shelter you
Wherever you go
You will always know that
He will be
With you when you're alone
A friend to share your tears
Someone you can always turn to

He will be
Your silence in the storm
He'll smile away the rain
Everything you''ll ever need
He will be

Put your trust in Him
In everything that He can do
Deep in your soul forever
He will live with you

Jesus Christ
With you eternally
He will be
The same yesterday today and forever.

random writings...

stuck in the comp lab doing statistical practise lab sessions.
one of the days that i really woke up early this time. i'm feeling like i'm having a lot of time. after struggling for some time on my stats, its only 11. what the? only 11?

went around blogs. i think that's why my internet quota at uni is running a > 100 MB deficit. its a big big negative. ok... and also an online game 'utopia'.

i tried once, blog-travelling. a new term i made up. where you start with one blog. click on someone's links that you don't know. if the post bores you, click on the history and get the middle post. if it still bores you, then click on another unknown link again. and you travel.
and whoa, the amount of inspirations you get. you see great people. but also the sad side of the world.

when you read out thoughts that people posted, it does bring up thoughts of your own.

wanting to go on a vege diet or non-oily or less meat, but a healthier one. need to clear my body of Hungry Jack's (seriously, we're very good friends already), potato chips, flavoured biscuits and the 'V' caffeine drink (hey, medics. i'm going to die soon right? ).
but its hard to find a good place. i don't want to be sub-way's best friend next.

i saw the wedding photos of 2 of my youth leaders. the girl, oops... i mean lady, whom i always called 'che che' since i started speaking.
pretty...
that's where you miss your youth group. 2 years plus and counting... that's how long i'm continuing to be away and who knows. i remember feeling out of place when i went back after 6 months cause a lot of changes had happened then. what more, now.
i'll say that they still remember me, but the feeling is different compared to before.

things (or directions in life) changes a lot when you come overseas. the opportunities and doors fly open everywhere. even more things are a possibility to consider. and to know God's will?
don't ask me... i'm sitting through the journey myself. its requires the need to call upon faith in God even more than ever (for naruto fans, imagine needing more chakra). from Jeremiah 29:11, God knows who we are, our preferences, and our character. sometimes things don't turn out the way we want them to be or a direction in life requires a lot of change. i don't think God's plans will want to make us suffer because God's plans are to prosper you, not to harm you. the changes are maybe for the moment to build you up.

i found a site a few days ago through my adventures of blog-travelling. i found a site with a meaningful song. i tried to search it online but can't find it cause it is privately written. tried to open the site for the lyrics to post it up, but this uni comp don't allow me to download the flash software.

oh well... will get it up when i'm home much much later.