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When I was younger... not that I'm really old now... 

I used to dread reading storybooks, or as a matter of fact... any other kinds of books that were filled with pages and pages of nothing but... text...

During those years, I developed a bad habit. As I'm reading, I'll pseudo-close the book from time to time... with my thumbs still firmly fixed on the pages I was at. The purpose of doing so was to gauge how much of the book I've read... and how much more I've to go before finally getting over and done with it. 

I was so focused on simply completing the storybook, I failed to recognize the value of appreciating a beautifully crafted plot... which slowly unveils as each page is flipped.

I think it would have been terrible if I "read" my life as a storybook the way I've read in the past. I'll be merely getting through life each day without purpose or plan.

It got me thinking... that...

God NEVER moves without purpose of plan... if I just get through each day's businesses without including Him in the equations.. and in my plans... I'd be missing out on a whole lot of things God wants me to see and learn... as well as to live "each page" of my life seeking God's will to be the person He wants me to be moulded into...

It's every Christians' hope to see Christ return again, however, it's not just about predicting and worrying when the exact day and time will eventually come. Instead, we should live each day by faith, putting our trust in His promises knowing that Christ will return again.

Oh well, I admit I can't kick the habit of closing the book and gauging my progress, but I am sure enjoying each page I'm reading... and giving thanks for "each page" of my life which God has richly blessed me with...

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Arh. It's late at night. BAhhh.. but still... as promised... here's my blogpost for Thursday! =P

Will share a few interesting encounters...

Encounter 1

I lost... my iPod Touch... but "found" it!

Ok.. eRhm-z. I didn't find it... my friend did!

Let me briefly recount the day's activities and explain when and where I misplaced my iPod touch.

I went to school at 10am to help out with a research study and got myself 2 free Cathay movie tickets! WheE... huRray~ *Slumdog millionare... here I come!!*

After which, I had a quick bite at the Arts Deck (canteen) before proceeding for my tutorial from 12-2pm. It was a weird tutorial lesson, pretty much confused with our tutor was trying to bring across to us. He's quite new to teaching so yea, the least I could do was to encourage him by paying attention.

The lesson ended and our group stayed on for a further 5 minutes to decide on the venue and time to meet for our project discussion. We then dispersed and I headed to the Arts Deck to grab a drink (carrot + orange) before taking a loooong walk back to Prince George's Park Residences (my hostel). *Ps: I like long walks/runs*

I decided to flip open my laptop and wanted blog... but was toooo tired to do so! So I dozed off on my bed before waking up to the vibration of my phone.

"Hello... This is (friend's name)... you lost your iPod Touch right?"

*Super horrified face*

"Eh.. eh... ya..." *Note: Yes, I just woke up*

So... guys... where... exactly... was the crime scene where I misplaced my iPod touch...?

a. The Arts Deck?

b. The tutorial class?

or...

c. In my dreams?

Ok... answer's (b)...

I left it on the table while I was planning for my project meeting. Careless me... *Random thought: Careless... Care-less... Care less... Hmz... did the word careless come from someone who simply care less about their things...*

Thank God the person who picked it up was someone I knew!! She didn't know who it belonged to at first... until she opened up the email application from my iPod Touch and saw my name... *phewz*

So I attended an Eco-Tourism talk organized by NUSSU-Save from 6pm-7pm before heading down to Redhill station to collect my iPod Touch. I thanked her profusely when I saw her and she explained how she found out the iPod Touch belongs to me. After she left, I opened the email application... wondering which email it was... erh... and i realised it was quite a personal email which I sent to a dear friend of mine... @_@

Moving on to encounter 2...

So I left Redhill... had to take to Outram before changing over to the NEL~

When I boarded the NEL train @ Outram, I began reading a book which I borrowed from the library. *Sidenote: False Impression by Jeffrey Archer* While I was engrossed with my book, a mother who was carrying her little daughter caught my attention.

There was this lady (who was a stranger to the mother and daughter) holding on to 2 big balloons, one of which was a huge yellow smiley face. The little girl was fascinated by it. A seat was offered to them but when the mummy approached the seat, the little girl started making disgruntled sounds... she didn't want to leave the big yellow smiley face balloon. So the mother stayed on. The little girl wanted to touch the balloon but was extremely apprehensive about it, probably because the whole smiley face was as big as her.

The mother started to jostle the little girl and egged her on to touch the balloon.

*Ultra cute alert*

As the little girl started "befriending" the big yellow smiley face... the mother started posing questions to her...

"Where is the nose?" the mother asked.

And of course, Mr Yellow Smiley didn't have a nose. So the little girl appeared a wee bit confused and didn't know how to answer. The mummy started teasing her...

"Where's your nose? (little girl touches her own nose) I pluck out your nose and put here (on Smiley's face) can?" mummy joked. The little girl giggled and shakes her head... AwWww...

Then the mother continued to ask her a series of question like, what was the colour of the smiley? I think she hasn't touched on colours yet... couldn't answer!

And there I was... standing at the corner...

"It's YE...LLoW....!"

Yes.. that was me thinking... not aloud though! Haha... if I did, I think everyone around me will just stare at me lar... Haha... Then the mother started asking... where're his ears? And again the little girl touched her own ears and giggled to herself. "I pluck out k?" the mother said again. She jovially shaked her head and smiled to the lady who was holding on to the balloon.

Haha.. I think I was smiling to myself the whole time as I watched on the conversation of the mother and her daughter.

Anyway... yes... that was really a really cute sight! =)

It wasn't exactly a cute sight to me initially when I saw the little girl making disgruntled sounds when her mother wanted to take a seat. I was thinking to myself the mother should be feeling real tired having to carry her all the way until she alights.

I was thinking to myself... hmz... Using this as a parallel to my spiritual walk with God, I think I do behave like a child when interesting things takes my attention away from Him. Instead of keeping our eyes on God and setting our affections on things above.. we often fix our eyes on things on this earth...

We fail to remember these things don't belong to us. (just like the balloon don't belong to the little girl). Many times, when we are too caught up with these "shiny" objects and things that interests/ please us... we fail to realise and consider the implications we have on others (the tired mummy).

For me, I think there are many times I'm too engrossed with talking about myself and fail to stop talking and start listening to others... to be sensitive to other people's issues instead of rattling on about my own problems.

Oh well, I guess I've got a looong way to go... and learn not to be selfish... but to be selfless when the need arises...

Christ has a compassionate heart... and I pray I'll be more like Him each day...

To develop a heart that is sensitive to people around me.. and by God's grace... He'll bless me with opportunities to bless someone, to encourage someone or to share to someone about His great love for us! =)

By the way, while the mother and her daughter were preparing to alight at their stop...

There were no hints of disgruntled noises...

Instead...

She turned...

pointed at the balloon...

and smiled as she was carried away...

Contentment is the key! =)

Some verses that came to mind or appeared while I was prowling through the Internet:

Ephesians 4:14
"That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive"

1 Corinthians 13:11
"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: and when I became a man, I put away childish things."

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Blessed Tuesday morning to all!!

I'm typing this out as I'm travelling to school. Will upload it up onto the blog later in the morning.

*yawns*

I've got a 8am lecture but didn't stay over in my hostel last night. I didn't want to because the hostel lacked the comfort of my good ol' home... which is pretty much what I needed for me work through a 7-page report. Thank God for providing me with the strength to sustain through the night.

Anyway, back to Lamentations 3: 22-23. I meditated over it again this morning as I was waiting for the LRT on the platform. As the sun slowly rise and illuminates the ground, a thought struck me.

God's word and revelation is pretty similar to that of the sun rising above the horizon.

When I was in amy, there was this motivational pet phrase I always used to encourage my men on as they go through navigation through the forest... deep into the night.

"Do not be afraid when it's pitch darkness all around. The darkest hour of the night only symbolizes that dawn is coming soon."

God's word... Like the sunrise will always arrive on time, everyday... Sometimes, we might feel that the night/ darkness is taking too long for us to endure... but be patient and wait! Not only literally wait... but be reminded to wait on the LORD!

The sun will rise again and His word will be revealed to us just as the sun illuminates the ground.

Humans are often impatient, and we can't wait to see and understand things all at once.

The sun rise doesn't work like a light bulb. One click and eureka, the light bulbs instantly glows! The sun, however, slowly reveals the great Earth, showing us details of our surroundings as it ascends slowly but surely. It might not instantly light up a place, but it sure is breathtaking to see its beauty and granduer gradually unfolding before us... 

And unlike light bulbs which might blow after a period of time, the sun has faithfully served us as long as we can remember. (Funny thing is, I was helping my mum fix the light bulb just yesterday afternoon before I left for school.)

His will for us... will be revealed to us if we speak to Him through our prayers and allow Him to speak to us through His word! =)

Thought of the Day

At the darkest point of our lives when our spiritual well runs dry, just as we are confident that the sun will rise every morning... let us trust and be confident in the Lord... that He will provide us with the strength to overcome trials and sins... as we set our hearts to seek Him to fill our spiritual thirst!

John 7:28

"He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water."

Let us worship and praise Him for His faithfulness towards us, and to seek forgiveness from Him for our unfaithfulness!

Psalms 113:3

"From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD's name is to be praised."

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Good morning peeps!

It has been a while since I've blogged. Even when I did, they are all YouTube videos arh... Haha shows where my priorities lie... tsk tsk tsk! *shakes head*

Haha, how come no one remind me to talk about my spiritual life HURHHHHH!!? For those nice people out there who puts up with reading my lousy blog, remember to "superpoke" me and probe about my spiritual life when you start to see only youtube videos on my blog hor?

Thanks in advance to my accountability partners~~~

Anyway, thought about something interesting I'd do! No matter how busy I am, I'll try my best to post about a verse I've read during devotion in the morning... and if time permits, blog again about my thoughts about the verse in the evening arh...

Haha, imagine God's busy schedule, having to deal with each and every single one of His "sheepies"... Thank God for His omnipotence (all-powerful), omnipresence (all-around), omniscence (all-knowing).

He'd never say... "Hello Irving, I'm busy right now... You're on queue number 1234567...."

That'll be scary... I'll be long dead... Haha.. I need His forgiveness everyday, every hour, every minute of my life!

What He gives, He can take away at any point of time.. so cherish the time we have we friends and family members! Trust that our Lord is good for His mercies never ceases... through good times and bad...

When we feel distant from God... guess who moved away?

It's US, always us! We often neglect Him when we are caught up with our busy schedules. Either that... or we might actually be secretly indulging in certain sins, small or big ones, and are too prideful to confess and ask for forgiveness... God hates sin and there is no way we can have a closer relationship unless a reconciliation through Christ has been made!

If we were to assign queue numbers to prioritise our to-do list, let us all put God on queue number 1!!

Let's remain faithful and do our part to work towards building a closer, personal relationship with Him!

Work with Him, for His namesake...

Pray for His will to be done by His perfect timing!

and...

Trust that He'll supply ALL our needs...

...according to His richness in blessings!

His mercies are new every morning... =)

Lamentations 3:22-23
22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

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Air Supply - Lost in Love

I realize the best part of love is the thinnest slice
And it dont count for much
But Im not letting go
I believe theres still much to believe in

So lift your eyes if you feel you can
Reach for a star and Ill show you a plan
I figured it out
What I needed was someone to show me

You know you cant fool me
Ive been loving you too long
It started so easy
You want to carry on

(chorus)
Lost in love and I dont know much
Was I thinking aloud and fell out of touch?
But Im back on my feet and eager to be what you wanted

So lift your eyes if you feel you can
Reach for a star and Ill show you a plan
I figured it out
What I needed was someone to show me

You know you cant fool me
Ive been loving you too long
It started so easy
You want to carry on

(chorus)
You know you cant fool me
Ive been loving you too long
It started so easy
You want to carry on

(chorus)
Now Im lost, lost in love, lost in love, lost in love
Now Im lost, lost in love, lost in love, lost in love
Lost in love, lost in love, lost in love
Lost in love, lost in love, lost in love

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"Say"

Take all of your wasted honor
Every little past frustration
Take all of your so-called problems,
Better put 'em in quotations

Say what you need to say [x8]

Walking like a one man army
Fighting with the shadows in your head
Living out the same old moment
Knowing you'd be better off instead,
If you could only . . .

Say what you need to say [x8]

Have no fear for giving in
Have no fear for giving over
You'd better know that in the end
Its better to say too much
Then never say what you need to say again

Even if your hands are shaking
And your faith is broken
Even as the eyes are closing
Do it with a heart wide open

Say what you need to say [x24]

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Ok... this is like a revisit.... to the song...

With or Without You by U2

Sooo many different covers... Haha... Niceeee.....