Exciting colors!

Was revising my 2007 plans for my ministry etc... and Walaaa, can't help being fascinated by the colours on the excel sheet that fill my whole screen. =p

Many things coming up... I'm excited cos' it is an exciting year of Victory thru' the very hand of God. =)

* * *

It is really essential to plan things ahead. But don't do it for the sake of filling up your calendar with many things. Know how you want your year to be, and fill it up according to your focuses for the year.

One of my top focuses for this year is to grow deep in Jesus Christ. That is why i had for the first time inserted deliberate slots for my personal retreats. That is also why i had planned for intentional training of the sharing of our personal testimonies for myself and my spiritual daughters. I want us to grow to live more and more like Christ, or more specifically, be like Him!

The next thing to do after planning?

'Commit to the Lord whatever i do, and my plans will succeed' (Proverbs 16:3).

A group of gals which i really miss!

Introducing my beautiful life coachees who have been thru a remarkable journey with me and Belinda for a year...


(From left) Ainiah, Amy, Yati, Belinda, Ronghui, (me), Shereen, Elizabeth and Asyiqin,
i am really looking forward to catching you gals up over our CNY dinner! =)

i will not fear..

On board a bus last Saturday, a pair of mother and son chose to stand at the standing bay just beside the exit door.

"Hold me up, carry me. I want you to carry me!" the son (around 4 years old) exclaimed to his mother, while fighting to climb up into her arms.

After a few pleas, the mother relented and carried the boy. An enormous grin spread across the boy's face.

We all know how buses can jerk. A slight brake brought the struggling mother stumbling to the seats on their right, and another sudden thrust brought the boy sliding downwards and their faces (almost) flat upon the transparent pane beside the door. Thank God they were not exactly hurt!

A few moments later...

"Mummy i want you to carry me again!"

"No son, aren't you scared now?"

"No mummy, i am not scared. I am not afraid of anything!" the boy exclaimed, putting all his confidence in the mother's arms once again.

* * *

How the boy trusts his mother touched me. I thought i heard his heart's voice "As long as i am in your arms, i am not afraid of anything!".

This brought me to ponder upon my relationship with my Heavenly Father. If a woman's tender pair of arms can bring so much security to a child, how much safer and assured we ought to feel in the embrace of the Heavenly Father's arms, which never fail!

And God confirms this to me thru His word...
"He reached down from on high and took hold of me.." (Psalm 18:16a)
"His right hand sustains me.." (Psalm 18:35b)

"If God is for us, who can ever be against us?" (Romans 8:31)

Father, i am not afraid of anything as long as i am in Your arms! =)

A very cool Blog Enhancement tool

SNAP!

Hover your mouse over SNAP! above and see what happens!

It works for all my links in my Blogroll too!

I just love this site preview feature so much that i snapped it straight away from its website.

I bet you are going there now too. =p

Knowing my Strengths

I took the Multiple Intelligence test.

The results did not surprise me - they match what i recognise myself to be strong and weak in.

Consistently high scores (>35) for my top strengths. Some were innate passions; others were either nurtured or enhanced by activities in my life. Let me analyse a little how i have (or not!) built upon my strengths over the years.

Linguistic Learner :[innate+practice]
Ooh i love to play with words and the sounds of them. How i loved to attempt poems! Writing is definitely one of my best expressions, even in architecture. And i do a lot of that since young.

Visual/Spatial Learner :[innate+nurturing]
'learns best by: visualizing, dreaming (?!), using the mind's eye and working with colors/pictures'. Yes my mind is usually busy doing these. =p Did i tell you that my guy friends told me that i am better at directions and maps than them? hee. My Art school for 11 years since p1 must have deepened these skills too. Architecture was my crucial training ground for this.

Body/Kinesthetic Learner :[nurtured+(fear)]
Being a dancer for 8 years in my school days did make me more in touch with my bodily sensations. The dance vibe has always been in me, but fear and consciousness bound me from pursuing it deeper. (But who knows now i may.. =p)

Musical Learner :[nurtured]
i learnt piano for 6 years since p3, but was never serious in it. However it did hone my sensitivity in sounds, rhythms and beats, and my delight to sing (a lot to God!). =)

Intrapersonal [innate] + Interpersonal [nurtured] Learner:
i like to be in total control of my projects and their paces, and thus yes finding myself impatient to work with others or ask for help. Yet at the same time, as my pastors have told me, i have an unique dose of sensitivity in handling people's emotions and feelings. With that, my architectural internship (previously) and church work and the spiritual family train me in my interpersonal skills, and i am striving to continually grow in that. =)

***

I think that heart to want to know, improve and grow in our strengths is so important. It helps us to achieve our potentials. Definitely i am thankful for my parents who so willingly gave for me to learn the many skills, my spritual family for the many wonderful opportunities to grow in my potentials... and Jesus who empowers me!

However knowing my strengths does not mean that i need to strive to be an excellent linguist, artist, architect, dancer, pianist, and singer all at the same time. It is not about what we are, but using the unique blend of our strengths to contribute to our work and people. And how we do so will reflect the more important part of us - our character.

***

To find out more about the MI test and its inventor
To take the MI test

Giants and Super Mario on NEL train

Do you know that your reflections in the opposite window are especially B I G in the NEL trains? (Hmm this photo shows poorly the magnification of our mirror images. Ok you imagine)

Haha i felt like my two bros and i were 'giants' towering over the passengers facing us (who were obviously very bored on the long train ride, haha).

i couldnt stop chuckling after taking the photo. i could imagine the man on the left bouncing from his chair to knock the 'heart' above his head. That is exactly how Super Mario wins points! Ha. (if you do not know what i am talking about, most probably you belong to.... another era)

Well well, that's me seeking out crazy little joys in every little corner! =p

Who defines B e a u t y for you?

A beautiful woman.

(Source:http://www.presscluboftibet.org/upload/news/2/fa5565455a32082689178b7a763aceed.jpg)

* * *
Elisabeth Elliot’s interaction with a missionary, Gladys Aylward:

Miss Aylward was dissatisfied with her physical appearance. But she made a wonderful discovery. Here’s what happened.

“[Gladys] told how when she was a child she had two great sorrows. One, that while all her friends had beautiful golden hair, hers was black. The other, that while her friends were still growing, she stopped. She was about four feet ten inches tall. But when at last she reached the country to which God had called her to be a missionary,
she stood on the wharf in Shanghai and looked around at the people to whom He had called her.

‘Every single one of them,’ she said, ‘had black hair. And every single one of them had stopped growing when I did.' And I said, ‘Lord God, You know what You’re doing!’”

(Source: Elisabeth Elliot, Let Me Be a Woman (Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House, 1976), 32)

* * *

Miss Aylward's last line sent a chuckle down my spine. Heh. So what if Asian women are shorter? =)

Who defined that only women with golden hair and 1.71m height are beautiful? Miss Aylward's surrounding people, the society and the perceived superiority of it. Or maybe Miss Aylward herself. Probably she chose to think or believe that way.

But come on, societal and fashion trends are always changing. Don't let something which is fleeting and capricious dictate how you feel about yourself. See yourself and your beauty through the eyes of the ever constant God "who does not change like shifting shadows" (James 1:17b). =)

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A Dove film (click on image below to view) showcasing how distorted beauty was created by group of professional hair stylists, make-up artists, and photographers in cahoots with computer graphics. A very good review of this can be found here.

"You and all your household will be saved"

Looking at this recent photo of my entire extended family on my mum's side, i am reminded to pray and claim again, that every single one of them will come to know the Lord. Yes the Lord had spoken, in Acts 16:31. =)

Mosaic Music Fest is coming!

It's here again. But i'm not intending to catch much of it due to G12 conference and cashflow constraints. =) Nonetheless there are already a few personalities who have caught my attention through their voices and music, ie. JosÉ GonzÁlez and Rachael Yamagata. It's always a twinkled discovery to learn of beautiful voices from corners of the world, voices which you have never heard of. =)

I want to be an Oak Tree

In accordance to my previous post, i had listened to Ps Khong's latest audio recording of his thoughts on his blog.

And i found out what tree i want to be.

Why an oak tree:

1. It takes a long time to grow but it is a strong tree that can stand alone. Its roots grow deep.

2. This does not mean that that i do not work together with the body of Christ, but that i do not lean on others to survive. I want to be a life that stands alone for God, and with God all the time.

3. And the desire to go deep goes accordance with Colossians 1:9-10 - Going deep in the knowledge of the God's will for my life:
For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God..

The blue statement really sums up the oak tree i want to be.

And i am reminded "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge" (Proverbs 1:7a). May this oak tree always be humbled before you, O almighty Lord of mighty love.

Check out my 2007 Jotter (Updated)

Drool at my 2007 jotter. =p Alrights, i think it's very nice ok. Haha. Thanks Esperanza for agreeing with me!

The 3 things God spoke to me on 1st Jan 2007 about its cover:

1. The title "Draw Your Tomorrow"
One thing God and my ahmi Ps Yueh Ping taught me to do in 2006 was to paint a mental picture of what i want to achieve and then claim it in the name of Jesus. My ahmi said, 'Do it in faith, and all darkness will be dispelled'.

What a timely reminder for me to draw my every victorious tomorrow to claim by faith in 2007!

2. The trees
I have always wanted to be a tree. (Did i hear, what tree?)
At the beginining of my serving in ministry, i had told God i want to be a tree - to support, shade and shelter every person God has placed in my path.

Last year, Ps Eugene also painted a picture of us planting trees "...'I will remove the sin of this land in a single day. In that day each of you will invite his neighbor to sit under his vine and fig tree,' declares the LORD Almighty." (Zechariah 3:9b-10) - trees whereby people will recognise as God's covering and righteous blessing and then run to!

3. The bird

The sight of this touched me as i remembered a verse my spiritual daughter Meiqi blessed me with during Christmas last year:

"What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade." (Mark 4:30-32)

Though it talks about the kingdom of God, but taking it personally, it definitely means growth, enlarging of territories and influence, and blessing more people. =)

I am so excited to carry this jotter through 2007! I am going to use it to record the whispers and exclamations of God to me. To think i bought it in October 2006 in Japan, just for God to affirm my life on the first day of 2007. God definitely has His ways... and plans. =)

Rainbow on my face

I saw one of the biggest Singaporean rainbows in my life on Monday evening as i was travelling along PIE to a wedding dinner.

The sight of it caused my heart to leap in joy. And it was hard not to be playful when your mood is just high on the colours of the world.











I bless each of you to always see the rainbow after every rain in your life. =)

Attacked by Afros on New Year's Eve

I am so thankful for my spiritual family from Ps Roland, Ps Lai Fun and Ps Lily's cluster who so willingly and enthusiastically helped out in the publicity segment at Hall nine the last two Sundays. I'm sure you must have caught those pretties and hunks flaunting their retro stuff at Expo. Thank you guys! You did really well. =)

Also to my good bro whale (the one with the biggest hair and brightest jacket above), your courage and passion for our publicity is greatly appreciated too. Apologies that i just couldnt help giggling at your image. =p Could you guys recognise him? Haha.

Thank God for a wonderful closure to 2006. My heart beats with intense thanksgiving for the year for many things and people. I am all ready for the year of victories and breakout! Let's go deep, look far and ask big together, family! =)