i trust in a God who can.

haha.. i thought that was a pretty funny shot.

for crazier pictures and shots of and with the birthday girl, go to my multiply site.

We celebrated my grandfather's 82nd birthday just now.

Somehow the atmosphere this year was different. I can't remember if we lighted candles in the previous years, but this year, there was this sense of warmth in the air. Like we were so happy we can celebrate his birthday for him and the feeling that he really is so important to all of us.

Maybe it's just me.. I realise thru his whole illness the past few months, how much I treasure him and my grandmother. And I realise I really cannot take their presence for granted anymore.

Enjoyed myself very much tonight, talking to my relatives, catching up on what they've been up to. Especially enjoyed talking to liz.. She encourages me everytime I talk to her, simply by being who she is.

’Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
And to take Him at His Word;
Just to rest upon His promise,
And to know, “Thus says the Lord!”

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!
How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust Him more!

"We bow our hearts, we bend our knees
O Spirit come make us humble
We turn our eyes, from evil things
O Lord we cast down our idols

Give us clean hands, give us pure hearts
Let us not lift our souls to another
Give us clean hands, give us pure hearts
Let us not lift our souls to another

O God let us be a generation that seeks
That seeks Your Face, O God of Jacob"
-Give us clean hands

When I played this song during worship rehearsal on Thurs and again today during service, I was on the verge of tears, because it is really the cry of my heart. For myself, for the youths, for our generation.

I want God to keep humbling me, so that I will never think I can do anything without Him. I want us to be a youth ministry which really seeks God's face and to turn from the idols in our lives.

this morning, as i waited in the pouring rain for matthan to come to my rescue, i thought up two cheesy, but pretty apt analogies. :)

1. God doesn't stop the rain in our lives from pouring down on us, but He does send good friends along to save the day. (in my case, that good friend came in a car)

2. just like God sends rain to make the grass and flowers grow, He also sends rain in our lives to help us grow in Him.

hah.. i know it's pretty cheesy. but true right???

"There is a hope so sure
A promise so secure
The mystery of God
At last made known
Treasures so vast appear
All wisdom, knowledge here
It’s Christ in us
The hope of glory!

And the life that I now live
No longer is my own
Jesus lives in me
The hope of glory
And each day I live
No longer is my own
Jesus lives in me
The hope of glory

There is a life so true
A life of love so pure
For all our sin
A perfect sacrifice
And when that life was nailed
On cruel cross impaled
Our sinful flesh
With him was crucified

There is a life so strong
That a whole world of wrong
And all the powers of hell
Could not defeat
For Jesus rose again
And if we died with him
With him we’ll rise
To share his endless life"
-There is a hope so sure, Graham Kendrick

"But a biblical Christian is not just someone who holds certain beliefs about the Bible. He or she is also someone who leads the kind of life demonstrated in the Bible: a life of personal, intelligent interaction with God. Anything less than this makes a mockery of the priesthood of the believer."
-Hearing God, Dallas Willard

Friends

Heh.. the past few months have been a long journey for me. There were times it got so tough and tiring I wanted to stop and run away. There were times I could do nothing but sit before God and beg Him to hear me.

This morning, I woke up feeling abit upset again, but I paused and started thinking of things I could thank God for. And truly, there are so many people who have encouraged me in different ways..

Bernie, you know I still keep the 2 blog posts you wrote for me. Today I opened the file again and read through, and I realise how much you've been a blessing to me. How much you've encouraged me to hold my head high and trust God. :)I hope I'll be able to support another sister like you have supported me.

Yiling, as we sang "What a friend we have in Jesus" the other day, I remembered you sending me the song one day before good friday and encouraging me to fix my eyes only upon Him. I also remembered how you egged me on to study for my exams.

There are many other people who have blessed me abundantly, but I just wanted to remember the two of you today, because you have encouraged me so much and walked with me over the past few years. And as I look at the both of you, I can only thank God for His love and faithfulness to you. Indeed, He who has started His good work in you will bring it to completion. So press on, dear sisters, and thank you! :)

i love being outdoors.

"The God of Israel spoke,the Rock of Israel said to me:
'When one rules over men in righteousness, when he rules in the fear of God,
he is like the light of morning at sunrise on a cloudless morning,
like the brightness after rain that brings the grass from the earth.'"
-2 Samuel 23:3-4

This passage made me pause and reflect on my attitude toward leadership.

Choose the most difficult path and trust Me with it.

That's what I heard then, and that's what I'm hearing now..

"Truth forever on the scaffold, Wrong forever on the throne-
Yet that scaffold sways the future, And behind the dim unknown
Standeth God within the shadow, Keeping watch above His own."
-Excerpt from "The Present Crisis", James Russell Lowell

"And this Kingdom will know no end,
And it's glory shall know no bounds.
For the majesty and power
Of this Kingdom's King has come.
And this Kingdom's reign,
And this Kingdom's rule,
And this Kingdom's power and authority
Jesus, God's righteousness revealed."
-This Kingdom, Geoff Bullock

Amen to that.

Hmmmm, somehow, I still miss this place very much. Though I wasn't very actively involved in service, I was really ministered to by the services and would have liked to spend more time there.

Heh.. this is a very interesting quote I got from the bulletin this week:

There's a difference between interest and commitment. In a meal of bacon and eggs, the chicken is involved but the pig is committed.
The relationship between commitment and doubt is by no means an antagonist one. Commitment is healthiest when it is not without doubt but in spite of doubt."
- Rollo May

I still think about Canada from time to time. Still wishing that somehow I can go back there again.