Tuesday, April 29
2 papers down, 3 more to go...but those are next week, so i have the rest of this week to prepare for those 3 papers...
thanks to those who have sent their well-wishes through the week and those who have been praying for me..really appreciate all these..during this period of exams, when well-wishes are spoken to one another, a lot of these well-wishes are wishes of gd luck..in fact this seems to be the most common one among my friends as they wish one another just before the examinations...well, personally, i always wish the person all the best for the paper and not gd luck...luck to me is something not reliable..how do u actually define luck?? luck is very intangible and definitely not something we can depend on...
if you say you score well during the paper or that the exams were easy, does that mean you had the 'gd luck' as wished? I rather acknowledge it to God instead..for all things are attributed to Him alone...whatever is the outcome of the exams, i'll still praise Him and thank Him simply because He is God..its really regardless of good or bad things...
thats why i nv wish anyone gd luck, i wld rather wish the person the best..better still, to be the best in what God can do in you...thats my desire, to be the best in what God has for me...so for me, i'll strive to do not what my own capabilities can do but to do God's capabilities in me..woa, thats almost impossible for God's capabilities is boundless, but hey, thats the standard we shld all aim for...
as for now, i'll still accept the well wishes if you wish me gd luck but i'll take it that you're wishing that i'll do the best of what God can do in me :)
jel; 11:18 pm
Friday, April 25
Thank God for the preparations for exams..really very blessed during this period of time..for He honors the time i dedicate for dance worship and make the remaining time i have left sufficient for my studies...
All the best for the exams everyone!
jel; 11:29 pm
Wednesday, April 23
this week is my study week, the week of preparation before exams start next week..i thank God for the preparation this sem which is so much better than last sem..the stress level is more comfortable and i can study at ease...
nothing really much to blog about..but just so happen to chance upon a friend's msn nick..a call out for someone to hear his cries...and it dawns upon me how many people out there could also be in similar situations, whose hearts are also crying out for someone to hear them, to listen to their grievances, their pain, their disappointment..many times they hide their emotions behind happy facades, covering up the true feelings within...how many of such people are there in this crowd of faces we see everyday?? many, maybe but we'll never know..
all these people need is someone to hear their cries...and i wish everyone would know and remember that Jesus is there to hear them, to hear their sorrows and cries and to comfort them..for all those out there, this song is for you:
Cry Out To Jesus
Words by Mac Powell / Music by Third Day
To everyone who's lost someone they love
Long before it was their time
You feel like the days you had were not enough
when you said goodbye
And to all of the people with burdens and pains
Keeping you back from your life
You believe that there's nothing and there is no one
Who can make it right
There is hope for the helpless
Rest for the weary
Love for the broken heart
There is grace and forgiveness
Mercy and healing
He'll meet you wherever you are
Cry out to Jesus, Cry out to Jesus
For the marriage that's struggling just to hang on
They lost all of their faith in love
They've done all they can to make it right again
Still it's not enough
For the ones who can't break the addictions and chains
You try to give up but you come back again
Just remember that you're not alone in your shame
And your suffering
When your lonely
And it feels like the whole world is falling on you
You just reach out, you just cry out to Jesus
Cry to Jesus
To the widow who struggles with being alone
Wiping the tears from her eyes
For the children around the world without a home
Say a prayer tonightdear friend, may Jesus be the One who brings the restoration of your heart and soul. To God be the Glory
jel; 1:15 am
Friday, April 18
today was nchs's sports meet..haha..guess time really passes by real fast..its being one yr since i've attended their sports meet at hougang stadium..well, i guess the time factor is reflected in my current situation too..my exams for my second sem is coming soon which means that i'm going to complete my first yr of uni and today also happens to be my last official day of day too...
on to something else which i've observed these 2 days..if you've being on the road over the past 2 days, i believe you should have noticed a series of billboard advertisements at the bus stops promoting a particular brand of chicken essence..this is not the leading brand which everyone is familiar with so i guess this company is splasing big bucks on gaining a bigger share of the market with this series of advertisements featuring past yrs' top PSLE and O level scorers promoting this brand of chicken essence as their 'choice'..
as an intellectual person, and i'm sure most pple will agree with me, that its obvious that not all of these so called top brainers really drank this chicken essence and i doubt everyone of those featured even knew of this brand before they shot this advertisement...and their success stories obviously don't depend on this brand of chicken essence...
what message is the advertisers trying to tell us? that by drinking this brand of chicken essence, we can become as smart as them? oh come on..thats why i felt that this series of advertisements are really inappropriate and its really a desperate attempt by the company to sell their chicken essence...and the fact that almost every billboard along the bus stop features one of these advertisements..as i travel to and fro school, i can literally see these students almost at every bus-stop...its lk literally screaming out to you 'buy me, buy me' to the point that it gets a bit irritating...
i, for one, will not be bought over by the advertisements and will choose to stick to the BRAND that i've always drank since yg, the BRAND that i trust most..hmmm..i think this can be the new advertising framework which that BRAND can work on if it wants to counter its rival..but on the other hand, i dun think they need this counter-action..i'm sure consumers will be more discerning..
jel; 1:48 pm
Friday, April 11
examinations are coming soon..well its natural that the atmosphere now in sch is quite diff..everyone's focusing on their preparation for the exams...just want to share my thoughts on the bell curve system which nus adopts..for those who doesn't know, the results for nus exams are moderated according to the bell curve system which means that everyone taking that particular exam will have their grades based on their performance ranking among those who took the exam..which simply means that you dun need to do well literally but as long as you do better than the rest then you're safe..and it also means that even if you do well, if others did do better, you still won't get the results...
such a system could potentially spell trouble to the student population if we get overly engrossed in this system...the spirit of competition can arise in a negative way when students get sucked into this system...its hard for me to know how strong this sense of competition is present cause pple usu will avoid voicing it out but the actions and words might reflect whats in their heart...
i'm saddened by how examinations and results can potentially cause us to be so focused on achieving things which are only temporal...what more can good results and sch performances bring us? everlasting glory?
i'm saddened when i see their only focus is on how to get the best grades for examinations...trust me, there are lots of people out there...and thats the reason why i choose to pull myself away from the crowd sometimes, maybe in silent protest against the values adopted by the world...i don't want to be sucked into this system and i want to set myself apart this world..
i thank God for keeping me with Him all these while..He knows i struggle a lot when i have to face this environment everyday but my heart rejoices simply knowing that He's with me all these while, bringing me calmness in my heart as i choose to obey and trust Him to deliver me in times of difficulties and most importantly, to honour Sabbath by calling it a delight
jel; 10:00 pm
Tuesday, April 8
Thank God for the SOL 3 class on sunday. SOL3 lessons with Ps Seng Lee have always never fail to be rewarding. Was reminded of the theme of Sabbath again and Isaiah 58:13,14.
13"If because of the sabbath, you turn your foot
From doing your own pleasure on My holy day,
And call the sabbath a (AM)delight, the holy day of the LORD honorable,
And honor it, desisting from your own ways,
From seeking your own pleasure
And speaking your own word,
14Then you will take (AP)delight in the LORD,
And I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;
And I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
And this verse brought me back to my feet once again. I want to be caught doing God's will in this yr of Sabbath and not be doing my own ways. And Ps shared with us abt the kind of fasting which God desires found in vv 5-7. Fasting not only in terms of food but also to have a place in our hearts for the poor and the needy. And i ask myself this qn: what have i done with regards to care for the needy and poor? well, yes i may be going for qqs but thats somewhere far away. What abt somewhere near home? people ard me perhaps? do i have a heart for these people?
i can't say i've done much but God brought back the checks and balances in my life when i guess recently, i might have been a little overwhelmed by the material riches of this world, admiring fanciful cars and beautiful houses i past by, thinking of how wonderful it could be if i ever have a chance to drive one or stay in it. And the Lord simply prompted me abt how i can't be taken away by the riches of this world and instead to lead a humble life, a life which God desires for me. And that is the desire of my heart, to live the life He desires. And to achieve that, may i always be found doing His ways all my life and not only in this yr of Sabbath.
jel; 11:27 pm
Friday, April 4
if you have been following the news for the past few weeks, the government has been trying to curb the problem of increasing number of vehicles on the road by coming out with many initiatives, lk the start of operations for new erp gantries, offering cash rebates for scrapping of cars and improving efficiency of the public transport.. seriously, i doubt these measures can really be that effective in reducing the number of cars on the road although it might help prevent steep increase in number of new cars...drivers themselves, who have experienced the convenience of driving ard will not want to return to taking public transport..its too drastic change of lifestyle for them to adopt, so no matter how expensive erp charges are, they will still continue to drive..the erp charges might only be efficient in distributing the flow of traffic during peak hours...
even people lk me who are yet-to-be drivers would also want to have a car in future despite the many discouragements...i just don't lk the fact that having to take public transport meant restrictions in where i go, when i go and what i carry ard with me...well, in the worst circumstances i can still endure all these but the worst is the frustration i get in my experiences in taking public transport...although not always, but i do get times where the buses just go so slowly...its lk crawling on the road and when it approaches a green traffic light, it slows down even more, as if its waiting for the green light to turn amber so that it can really come to a pause...and just last sunday, i waited a whole 35 minutes for a bus!! can you even believe that?? and its not due to delays caused by traffic cause the bus stop is just outside the bus interchange...just one bad experience is enough for me to make the decision to get a car in future although its really made up of many other reasons too...
well, enough of rattering abt the public transport...its hard for me to change my decision to get a car in future unless the public transport system has a radical change (which is highly impossible) or taxi fares become dirt cheap (which is even more impossible!)...
jel; 11:31 pm
Wednesday, April 2
I thank God for the refreshing spirit He placed in me today...believe He brought me through the experiences of today for a purpose. Went earlier today over to TKSS to meet ernest and at the same time to visit lijuan who was faciliating her youth congress project with the students. I didn't really interact much with the students although i did teach a bit of maths prob but being there in the company of students reminded me of the times when i was relief-teaching. Being in a sch environment also brought back the memories of the joy i have being in a sch. Followed by Project Smile with the Monfort students in a sch camp brought back the joy i always have in interacting with the students...
And i think all these are divine opportunities in which God is refreshing me in the joy and love that i always have when i decided to join the teaching profession. Its something which i really need in the midst of just piles of works and being preoccupied with just sch stuff, a break which will bring back the pure motivation and inspiration. Its one thing to know in my mind what my purpose for being in uni is but its another to experience it all over again. I guess its being pretty long since i've mingled with school students in a sch environment....
And i thank God that despite in the midst of tiredness that He pulled me aside to re-experience the simple joy of my love for teaching. I hope He will continue to keep this passion burning and renewed in me...
jel; 11:52 pm
