Journal 19.1.2010

(an excerpt)

Just got back from Sunway Pyramid. Watched 'Old Dogs' with Amanda. It was better than I'd expected!

Don (Robin William)'s character spoke into my heart. He gave up work and moved to be near his family, his children. Ultimately he just wants to be with his kids. Whatever the timing, he loves them, and wants to be there for them.

That's the heart of my heavenly Father! He just wants to be with me and be there for me no matter what and irregardless of seasons, all because He loves me. Whether it's at a crossroad, in work, in relationship, in business and even in my daily routine, my Creator just wants to be with me in every moment. He had given up everything to be near to me. That's the ultimate example of loving out of choice, not feeling.

I am smothered in His love.

Journal 2.2.2010

Exodus 33:8-9

When Moses enters the tent of meeting to meet with the Lord, the cloud representing the presence of God will descend onto the tent and stay there until Moses leaves the tent.

God draws near to those who draw near to Him. He isn't a distant God who wants no involvement in our businesses. He desires to meet with us and is delighted if we take time to meet Him. When I genuinely and intentionally seek God, He will come meet me, like how He would come to meet Moses at the tent. I have used excuses like busyness or exhaustion or "I can do it later" to not intentionally meet God. It's always put aside to later. When I feel dry spiritually, I find myself blaming Him for not speaking but how can I hear Him if I don't even take time and intentionally seek Him, right?

The truth is God will surely come meet me if I genuinely seek Him and go into my own "tent" to meet Him. He is definitely someone who loves communicating with me. The lie that I hear about God won't respond is not true! If I intentionally seek Him, He will surely come meet me.

Sowing What I've Received

I re-read my journal as I did reflection on my journey with Jesus in 2010. It's been a testing year, but all trials are for my good. I am glad that God seeks to refine me and bring me back to the foundation of His love in every aspect in my life.

Every word spoken into my life as written in my journal represents a seed planted by God. One of the reasons God did so is so that I will sow the seeds which I received. So I will be sharing some of my journal posts here. I pray that you will be blessed by it. Happy 2011!

Pray.

Praying - is apparently a huge thing.

ALL religions practice it.

Even people who don't believe in God's existence cry out in prayer when they are in dire need.

Justin Bieber sang about it.

So what is it to you?

I do it too. Everytime I pray, it's not the same.

Sometimes I cry.

Sometimes I declare truths that break the power of negative thoughts.

Sometimes I simply tell the recipient of my prayers how my day was, how I feel.

Sometimes I just listen.

Prayer is conversation.

I pray to connect with my Helper, my Creator, my Dad who listens to everything, who answers in His time.

Without prayer, life would be meaningless, without hope, without a clear direction.

I recently found this picture that touched my heart.

I love the fact that prayer changes things.

It changes me.

I'm in need of that connection with my Creator that comes only through prayer.

So, yes, praying is really a huge thing.

Putting a smile on their faces.

The outreach event at Angsana USJ 1 last Saturday was an awesome success!

By God's grace, we put a smile on over 120 kids' faces and I was personally inspired by the genuine love shown by the volunteers towards the kids and their families.

Here are some photos (by Gaby AT and Victor Yu) Selected from Facebook.

Starting point - We met at Project Fireflies centre

Some kids were so semangat that they waited at the field since 8.30am!

So the volunteers had to keep them entertained until registration start.

Even Lionel Messi didn't want to miss the fun!

Good things come in 2's?

Registration.

Joanne, Stephanie and Jochebed doing their stuff.

Our MC briefing the kids.

The balloon-team getting their gear ready.

And the fun began!

Boys were divided into teams for the football competition.

Coach Mahesh: Hari ini strategi kami adalah untuk makan ais krim!

Coach Kerry: Jangan pandang mak-we sambil main bola tau!

Fuiyoh! Girls playing football! Way to go!

Alamak! Collision on the field!

Thank God we had Dr Stephen on-call :)

Most girls went for gymnastics/dance.

We had a few younger boys too!

Colourful ribbons in action!

Swing it!

Coach SinYee: Luruskan tangan tu, nanti terbelit kang...

Coach Tammy: .... (limited Malay :P)

Whee! This is so fun!

Guitar workshop was the only programme under a shed.

They were cranking up under the canopy...

Some kids were pretty serious on learning to be a rockstar!

Guitar teachers: Tekan sini sini sana sini.

While all the fun was going on, volunteers served their parents :-

By baby-sitting younger children who weren't old enough to join the programmes!

Nanny Gaby: Babies love me cos I'm comfy :)

Kids saw the Media team at work and asked:

"Teacher, camera tu untuk TV ke? Yang tu 8tv punya ke?"

Josh: Kami dari Channel 6 KC TV...

Kids: *scratches head* ???

Syazwan, one of the kids from Project Fireflies, showing off his paparazi pose.

After an hour of fun, kids and their families were given their treats:

Free ice-cream!

Courtesy of the Last Polka.

Nutella...Horlicks...Malt + PB...Black Sesame...

Eeni mini maini mo.

Kids enjoying the ice-cream with their parents.

Yummy!

Nothing beats having ice-cream sitting on the grass after a hot day!

Group photo!

I have to say that it was a privilege to be part of this successful outreach.

Well done people! I am already looking forward to see the kids at Angsana for Project Fireflies :)

PS: The Project Fireflies centre is open every Wednesday and Friday for kids from unfortunate /underprivileged families to come for English and Maths tuition, do their homework, learn arts and crafts, play games and just hang out. Drop-by Angsana flats Block H 1st unit on the left corner if you like :D I am sure the kids will be happy to meet you.

God bless~!

Kids Ice Cream Day!

KingdomUni of Kingdom City Church PJ believes that God has called the church to rise up and go out to a world that is in need of Christ. In line with its passion for this nation, KingdomUni is having an outreach event on 27.11.2010 from 9.00am until 12.30pm at Angsana USJ 1, Subang Jaya.

In this outreach event, there will be football competition, dance/gymnastics lesson and guitar

workshop with prizes and gifts all going on at the open-concrete field behind the Angsana low cost flats. At the end of the event, all kids will get free feel-good ice cream, courtesy of the Last Polka.

This event is a collaboration between KingdumUni and

Project Fireflies which is a community project started by people who're passionate about making a difference in the lives of less fortunate under-achieving children in USJ 1.

If you would like to get involved either by volunteering on the day of the event, or make a donation to Project Fireflies, please check out this video : http://vimeo.com/16720393

Here are the links to some of the photos of Project Fireflies :-

Children Medical Camp -

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=164355&id=662269618

Fireflies Graduation -

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=247262&id=662269618

Transforming Angsana -

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=57820&id=662269618

I am looking forward to this event and seeing the smiles on the faces of the children who will come, and also see the joy in their eyes as they head home after the event.

Look out for the photos of the outreach! :)

Insignificantly Famous.

There's a new movie in my Favourite-List : Unstoppable.

I watched it last Saturday with Teng Yung, and we both liked it a lot. It's intense and every minute gives an on-the-edge feeling. The best part is that it is inspired by true events!

Denzel Washington and Chris Pine's characters, Frank Barnes and Will Colson were based on 2 men named Jon Hosfeld and Mike Smith who actually lived the story depicted in the blockbuster movie that happened on 15th May 2001. So many people lived because of their courage in risking their own lives to stop the rain, now known as the 'Crazy Eights'.

After watching the movie, I thought about how awesome that it is inspired by true events. It hit me that those events really happened, and those men really did it! But if it wasn't for the movie, me and so many people wouldn't have known about this significant event.

There must have been incidents in our lives where real people risked their lives or made sacrifices to save us or to make a real-significant-meaningful difference. But they never made the news, and even if it did, it wouldn't have been as famous as 'Who's Justin Bieber Dating Now' or 'Lady Gaga's Meat Purse'.

I know many people in my life like Hosfeld. What they've done may be insignificant on the world's scale of significance in comparison to other news. But to me, they are the real famous people, and they are really insignificantly famous. Eternally significant.

Do you know someone like that in your own life? :)

If yes, I would love to hear from you.

Adui!

I haven't had a free Saturday morning for ages! So since it was my first free Saturday morning after so long, I decided to do something unusual - to join Jai and Daenielle for their Saturday morning badminton sessions at Ara Court Badminton Hall, Sg Kayu Ara PJ.

You can check it out at this website: http://facebook.com/pages/Petaling-Jaya-Malaysia/ARA-COURT-BADMINTON-HALL/164682089149

There was a promotion going on for the courts there and it's pretty cheap! If you are a badminton enthusiast, you must check it out. Jai and Daenielle would love to have more people join them for badminton every Saturday and they are both good players! If you are interested, please don't hesitate to join them ;)

Anyways, back to the topic...I haven't play badminton in ages! After 2 hours of badminton yesterday, I woke up this morning and felt like I just went for a battle in the war! My arms and legs are aching until the tips of my hair. It was even painful to sit on my bum! :-O A slight twist of the body and a little lifting of my arms and legs will be followed by an "Ouch!" or "Argh!"

I walk funnily today, haha, simply because my aching legs don't allow to walk normal.

Lesson of this is: Exercise regularly. Haha. I don't think any Perskindol and massage will help now. Lets just hope I recover sooner :P

Lights...

Light: an illuminating agent or source.

...but what a difference it can make!

Not just to let us see in the dark, but also for decoration and dressing up. Like dressing up the Kuala Kangsar clock tower.

When driving into town at night and if the lights are on, my dad would always say :"Wow, look at the clock tower! It's in a beautiful blue dress today!" :) I've seen it in yellow too. It is nice!

Yes, light can make a huge difference. And I know, Jesus is The Light :D

Weird + Fun.

I am prone to having weird but fun moments, Haha, just because I'm weird myself.

:P

This morning, I received a weird SMS from a stranger. I thought he must have sent it to the wrong person. I just deleted the SMS and went back to sleep.

Later, he called! And the conversation went like this (Translated from Mandarin):
SY (Weirdo 1):Hello?
Weirdo 2: Sin Yee rite?
Weirdo 1: Ya...
Weirdo 2: Did you see the 'Dada' SMS this morning?
Weirdo 1: Ya...
Weirdo 2: Can you please keep the netbook 1st. It's downstairs by the staircase.
Weirdo 1: You mean at home? Downstairs?
Weirdo 2: Ya, beside the pile of my clothes...
Weirdo 1: Huh? I didn't see it wor...don't have what netbook also...
Weirdo 2: Oh, you wait ah... (background noise of Weirdo 2 talking to Weirdo 3 "You called the wrong person is it??")
Weirdo 2: Hello?
Weirdo 1: I think you called the wrong person.
- Weirdo 2 hung up phone - Tut Tut Tut Tut -

LOL. What a fun morning.
Eventhough I don't know who's that person, I will still layan for the fun of it and see how it ends.

:D

Skytrex.

Went to Skytrex yesterday with 15 other out-door lunatics from church.
It was awesome!
21 extreme obtacles in the sky, and we passed them all! Yipee! (except for monkey bars which only Tony and Kevin managed to complete)
The best was flying fox, because its the only one which we don't have to use any energy for. Just sit, relax and enjoy the fly. The rest were quite challenging really.
Not recommended for people who are afraid of heights, but definitely a must-visit place :)
You can check it out here: http://www.skytrex-adventure.com/
Now, my WHOLE body is aching! LOL

A Step Of Faith.

I couldn't leave office in time to avoid the heavy rain yesterday. I waited at the edge of a walk-way either for some kind soul to offer me cover to my car, or for the rain to subside.

I became desperate since I had dinner appointment with Hugan and Yoges at Piccadilly PJ. So, like what every desperate person would do (No, I didn't terrorise a passer-by to give me his umbrella), I prayed to God to make the rain stop, or give me an umbrella.

I prayed again and again. Didn't seem to change.

I couldn't wait any longer, so I thought 'Oh what the heck, get wet get wet la...maybe once I step out it will subside'. And, I took my step of faith, started walking in the rain towards my car. And the rain subsided once I started walking.

I thought about it and figured that God was joking with me. But then again, it is true that sometimes, in order to see God move in our lives, we are the ones who need to take the first step of faith. Once we do, everything else will fall into place. Right?

Or else, what the Bible say 'We cannot please God without faith' would be false.

God bless ya!

God's Protecting Me.

Thank God for protecting me in times of danger.

Last night, I finished work around 11.45pm and haven't had dinner. So I decided to drive to the nearest McD's. The street was very quiet. My car was parked somewhere further from my house because there was no other place for me to park. When I stepped out of my house, another car suddenly turned into the road that I was crossing. It has big, loud exhaust, and sure enough it was making all the noise it can possibly make, disturbing the stillness of the night.

The guy in the car whistled as he drove past, and his scary loud laughter faded off as his car drifted off into another corner at the end of the road. Oh man, I just stepped out of my house! My car is still quite a distance away. And I seem to be the only human being around.

So I quickened my steps towards my car, fumbling through my bag full of rubbish for my car keys. And then I heard those loud exhaust again. It was getting nearer and nearer and I was SO scared. I still have to cross another road to get to my car. So I quickened my steps some more. Thank God the guy only reached where I was after I opened my car door. But I heard him shout "Baby, need some ride?!!" And then he drifted off into another street again until his tail-lights were gone, and so was the noise of the exhaust and his evil laugh.

Of course I didn't sit in my car and wait for him to come back. I immediately ignited the engine and sped off to McD's. While I was driving, I could still hear that laughter in my head, creeping the crap out of me. But when I turned to God, I thank Him for protecting me. Who knows what could have happened to me, or if that guy actually reached me before I could cross the road to my car.

Really thank God for protecting me.

Finger Juice - RedtroClassic.

Transforming my journal.

Yin Yang.

Starry Starry Nite.

RedtroClassic - a fusion.

Close-up.

Velvet On Paper.

Finger Juice - Cherry Blossoms.

First cup of Finger Juice posted here :)
Just thought I'd get some feedbacks to improve.






A peek from the top.







With love.









Ruby-centered.








Cherry blossoms.








Clearly handmade.

Yellow Butterflies.

I don't know about you but I see so many yellow butterflies recently. I saw it in my walks, as I was driving, as I look out my window, as I step out of my house door, it seemed to be everywhere I looked!

So what's the big deal about yellow butterflies?

The first meaningful memory I have about yellow butterflies was the Penang Butterfly Park which my parents took me to when I was really small. At home, the picture of little Sin Yee holding a paper cone looking into every bush trying to capture a butterfly is still in the photo album that I browse through twice a year. It was an indication of how much my parents loved me, and they would always take me to nice places so that I can have the best.

Later on, yellow butterflies didn't really mean much to me until I came to know God. There was a time just after I accepted Christ as I was taking my morning stroll along Gurney beach in Penang, I said a prayer to God and the second I opened my eyes, I saw a yellow butterfly fluttering by. It was small, yet brightly beautiful. It made me smile :)

Whenever I see a yellow butterfly now, it reminds me of how much my earthly parents love me, also how near and how real my Saviour can be and how much He loves me. If He didn't, He wouldn't have let that beautiful yellow butterfly flutter by ;)

So what reminds you of how much you are loved?

Not an ordinary Saturday.

Last Saturday was one of my craziest Saturdays.

I don't remember when was the last time I woke up at 5am in the morning. But I did last Saturday. The reason? Well, I signed up for RunNat. Over a thousand Christians all over Malaysia has purposed to Run For The Nation on that fateful Saturday morning. So I ran only 5km, together with 3 other new friends I made that morning. But the coolest part? We didn't just run. We ran AND prayed at the same time.

I really like the RunNat concept. So from 5am in the morning until 12pm there were people praying for Malaysia. It didn't happen just in KL. It happened ALL OVER Malaysia. So within the span of 7 hours divided into 8 slots each covered by a group of 3 to 5 running for 5km, we covered the nation in prayer while we run over 1000km altogether. How cool is that?!

My group's slot was at 6.20am until 7am. I got assigned by the system to Kepong-Sg Buloh!! I had no idea how my name got loose from the KingdomCity gang which was running in Putrajaya. But I believed I got assigned there for a reason lah. It was raining when we ran. Our 'baton', which was a 7-page prayer card that will be passed from group to group, was already wet and koyak when it reached us. Haha! But we prayed fervently and loudly nevertheless, attracting many onlookers.

It was a cool morning!!

Then I rushed home to fetch my mom to Wisma Pandu Puteri for her meeting, grabbing some breakfast at a mamak shop with her and enjoying the cloudy morning together.

Then I rushed off to Fireflies, which was awesome!!! A kid in my class brought chocolate cake for me. How sweet!!

Then coaching...and then Fireflies teachers meeting, which was by God's grace very very productive. We came up with so many great ideas on how to improve Fireflies and how we can impact the lives of people there. I thought some ideas were pretty cool.

And then pick mom up, go to Klang for sea food with my aunt and family...When I was in Klang, I didn't think about the one person I thought I would think of. Breakthrough!! Yeah!! Thank You God...but I thought of Cherinnee, and how she said the cow by the side of the road was a big dog. Hahaha!! I will never forget that every time I go to Botanic. Never :)

It's been a while.

Felt like ages since I last blogged.

So much has happened, where should I start?

Well, I am getting the hang of legal practice, and I have started part-time coaching gymnastics. Practice is getting more difficult, even more so with the new systems in court that is not practice-friendly at all. One thing good though is that now courts dispose off cases faster, though sometimes at the cost of justice. And each time when a client comes to office to meet me for discussion of an issue they have, whether it's divorce, or construction problem, debts issue, I always wish that they knew Jesus too. Because if they did, everything would be different....(and a train of thoughts ensued, which I will not dwell in here). Coaching is FUN! Really plan to do it full time in near future. The girls in my classes are cool! They really test my patience, especially when one of them poop-ed in my class. I am not joking. It was a nightmare! And my very 1st experience.

Fireflies is coming to an end for the 1st semester. New kids will be joining us soon. Recently, I got two Teacher's Day cards from the Fireflies kids. They are so lovely. And I like the fact that I am used by God to bring hope to these kids. Love them so much. I do hope I have made some good impact in these kids' lives that will be carried on into their future. I have faith that God will nurture those seeds.

Church is one word -AWESOME! It's getting better each week, no kidding. God is so faithful and good. He never failed to show up and touch lives, including my own. There was a time I had to deal with disappointment, and that wasn't the sweetest season in my life. But I really thank God for being there for me, never in a single mili-second left my side. KingdomUni and KingdomKids are launching, or launched...hahaha, I am not even sure. But, I am sure that they are awesome!!! The kids rooms were recently painted, and man, they make me want to be a kid again so badly! And the youths, well, never more vibrant than this! We are seeing more and more new faces each week in church. It is very encouraging to see this amazing family grow.

I am seriously considering starting a crafts business, or if not teach kids to do crafts. There is always something about arts and crafts...I guess it's the way it can bring out the best creativity in a kid and promote thinking outside the box. I love the wild imagination in a kid's mind. It always dazzle me. Really.

And, finally, I am seeing someone. And I like Channing Tatum. Haha.

Adios for now. Zoo-eey-Mama!

Zooming Out.

Some counters in banks, courts or companies separate the officers and the customers with glass on which you can see rows of tiny holes.

I never really knew why the holes are there. Maybe it's for breathing, maybe it's for the person on the other side of the glass to hear better. I don't know.

But when I looked closer at the glass at the court payment counter this morning, it was obvious the cleaners only cleaned the glass but forgot about the tiny holes. The holes were dusty, and dirty. The first thought that came to my mind was 'Man, this glass is dirty!'.

But is it really?

I found myself zooming in on the tiny holes only, and was in total ignorance of the big piece of clean glass that was right in front of my face. All I saw was the dirty tiny holes, not the clean wide glass. The tiny holes were dirty, but not the glass.

I wondered it I have looked at people that way too. As human beings, we tend to zoom in on the small imperfections in others but often when we do that, we forgot to see the bigger picture. We point our fingers at others for their once, twice in a lifetime mistakes or small abnormalities, and forgot all about the truth that life of these people is bigger than that and there is still a long journey ahead for them. We zoomed in on their small imperfections and made them the only image in our viewing screen.

We all, myself included, should zoom out more on people. The small imperfections are only a small part of who a person really is. If we don't zoom out, then we will be missing out on knowing the person as that person really is.

...plus...we don't see the blackheads anymore. Hahaha!

Pregnancy Contrast.

I received news from a close sister in church that she just got pregnant!
I was exhilarated! So much joy flowed out of me because of that news, and I am looking forward to becoming an aunt to their kid. That's great news!

Well, they were the second newly-wed couple in church after a year or 2 to conceive. This is great news!! :D Very very exciting too.

But when I think of other friends of mine who got pregnant, I don't feel that same kinda joy when I found out that they are pregnant. In fact, it is mostly feeling of pity and sorry... because these 2nd group of pregnancies are those that became the reason for their marriage.

Shot-gun weddings are just not the same as real proper weddings.
And bearing a child on purpose is just not the same as taking responsibility of the consequece of two persons' uncontrolled lust.

It's not like I am not happy about them getting married because of a child that's coming. At least the man is taking responsibility as the father and husband. But the joy is never quite complete in these instances. And I always find myself praying quietly and crossing my fingers that their marriage will turn out good.

The contrast in the feelings for both groups of pregnancies confounds me. Either way, bringing a new life into the world, being the chosen two to bring into this world a person created by God is something to be celebrated.

But if I am able to choose (praise Jesus that we are all able to!), I would rather have the complete-pure joy of bringing into this world a new life on purpose, and not with a duty on my shoulders as a result of an act of lust. After all, life is about choices, ain't it?

I hope I, and you can choose right.