Sunday, June 28, 2009

Children See, Children Do

What are we doing for our future generation?
What have we learned from our parents?
What are our children going to be?
What will you be?

Your choice...

"These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates." [Deuteronomy 6:6-9]

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Youth Ministry: Q-Time

"If we would talk less and pray more about them, things would be better than they are in the world: at least, we should be better enabled to bear them."John Owen

Came home to see what daily quotes had for me, and found that the very first quote really summed up what the speaker was trying to say to us tonight.

1 Peter 2:23
"When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly."

When the speaker spoke of Q-time, he was glad it was not titled "quiet" time but rather it can be taken as "quality" time; or what he prefers to call: personal devotional life. The foundation that makes us who we are. What we are really speaks of how much time we spend with God. This particular verse was one of the points the speaker brought up. What we face everyday is what Jesus faced before. He came to earth to show us how to face these things. When our boss seemingly hates us or our friends turn their backs upon us or when things just seem worrisome (like an upcoming exam...) we should just tell it to God and tell it again until we find peace. For:

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
(Phillipians 4:6-7)

YM 1% challenge.
Give God 15 minutes of your time each day.
Just 1% of your time a day.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Weekends

July 21st, 2009:Sunday
+ mentally and emotionally drained +
+ saving this story for another blog post +
+ but it wasn't from frustration +
+ rather, accepting what I couldn't accept before +
+ it feels good to be freed of an emotional burden +

July 14th, 2009:Sunday
+ final day for the MPH book fair +
+ went with Nona +
+ bought two books: the Chronicles of Narnia & sketching +
+ would have loved music books +
+ or art books +
+ but there were none +
+ should probably have gone in the first few days +
+ I want to have more books +

Friday, June 19, 2009

Chiangmai Cadillac

Jetstar Photography Competition - Chiangmai Cadillac

A friend of mine entered this photo competition. If you like his photo, please vote for him. He really is a great photographer! (Lemme find his links again and post them up.)

Now I'll let you decide for yourself ;)
+ photo gallery at pbase +
+ my likes: [x][x][x][x][x] +
+ this is Chiann btw, my shepherd :) +

Silence and Libraries

Silence in Australian uni's are such that you're afraid to break it.

Silence in Malaysian universities?

Non-existant!

PHA3801

+ first final paper today! +
+ wishing friends all the best +
+ I can't sleep XD +
+ I want to learn javascript now! +
+ procrastination is deadly +

Thursday, June 18, 2009

For Those who Love to Save

Digi came up with a new advertising scheme:

"You Click, We Donate" - for those who love to save!

They are trying to raise RM150,000 in 30 days and all we have to do is click on the charity we wish to support and they will donate RM5 to that charity. So what we have to do is just click.

Check out what you can support through this site:
http://www.lovetosave.com.my/

Home 2009

If you can ignore the poor science and take home the important message that our lives are in our hands (literally), I would highly recommend this video. It's about an hour and a half long but it's well worth it.

On You Tube

Main Site


Teasers:
South Afric
A National Park
Artic
Alaska

PS: If you want the pictures without my meddling signature, let me know. ;)

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Up On My High Horse

I've been listening to various "negative comments" from various "people" about how "other" people behave, speak or write from up their high horses; but when some of these "people" start complaining about my grammar... boy, oh boy... it's MY turn to sit on MY high horse!

Their insufficient exposure to literature pisses me off! (If they've read more than me - my record is probably easily topped - then they really learn nothing.)

Seriously, if one cannot read in context, one really needs to hold back their tongue! I don't go around fixing everyone's grammar (not anymore anyway since it's annoying and it really shows how much you actually know; which may simply be nothing) so don't start with me! Grammar meddling should be kept within academic settings and everything else just frowned upon if upsetting but not meddled with unless asked.

I am this close (i.e. just a click away) to replying that absurd email from the-one-who-tried-to-fix-my-grammar with my own absurd smug email.

Dear the-one-who-tried-to-fix-my-grammar,
There are two if's for a reason. There's also a comma for a reason. The sentence itself is pretty straightforward. "If you are interested, contact us. If you know someone (for your benefit, I meant someone-else-who-is) capable, forward the email." I would rather have a team of people who are capable than just one person. If you can't understand, I can't help you.


[I can't and won't send this because that will just start off a stupid war of nonsense.]

So don't worry. I rant here and I reply here. I know how rude it sounds.
To anyone reading this, keep it to yourself. Spouting nonsense brings you nowhere. ;P

It really seems like a silly reason to be ticked off now.

+ first paper this Friday afternoon +
+ studied in uni today +
+ feeling stressed at home +
+ in an extremely angsty mood +
+ please pray for me +

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Otto von Bismarck

"When a man says he approves of something in principle, it means he hasn't the slightest intention of putting it into practice."

Probably the only reason why I had not believed what my parents say.
Probably the reason why I will not believe the first thing people say.
Probably the reason why I will not make claims I cannot follow through.
Probably...


By the way...
"Always and never are two words you should always remember never to use." - Wendell Johnson

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Outcome

Right, so we had the meeting. It was a peaceful one. Thank you all for your prayers.

They are now able to tell me how the keyboard was purchased and on what grounds: budget and brand and portability. I pointed out that there is more than just budget brand and portability. There is also style; there is also accountability; and there is also transparency.

They've agreed that they have overlooked this whole thing. That there was more to purchasing a keyboard. A set of procedures need to be established. I hope to see this in the future.

They've agreed that the buying of the keyboard could be different. That there could have been more communication. A proper discussion should have been there. That the young need to be trained and there should be continuous training in this ministry.

The keyboard is staying but they will be bringing back the old digital piano until I can get used to it. The after part of buying the keyboard will have to be put up with but the fact that, in the future, they must look through the buying of instruments properly before actually purchasing it.

There. That should be the gist of it. My mom was there to take care of all the extra conversations. She threw me off beat at the end and it was a bit annoying. Meh. At least the meeting was peaceful. At least we got to see where we are coming from and where we are headed.

Thomas A. Edison

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."

I am so going to use this to reply the next person who asks: "Why do you do research when you fail to get results all the time?"

PS: One should look up on the aphorisms of Stanislaw Jerzy Lec. Very enlightening. They're just great for conversations or a good laugh at humanity.

1 Chronicles 29:11

“Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.”

Father in heaven, I pray that you will help me remember that in all things, we are aiming to glorify your name and that in all things, you are the center of everything. I pray for your blessings and that you will remember me for what I am doing not so for my own selfish ambition but that our church would be a blessing unto your name and not a hindrance to our faith in you. Give your children understanding, patience, grace, and most of all be in our midst as we work things out. I pray that whatever the outcome of this meeting, we will remember that it is your will and not ours that we seek. Let your will be done and if it is so, give us peace in recognizing this. I ask for your presence to be with us during this meeting and let us not be taken over by emotion or selfish pride. In Jesus Name, I pray, Amen.

Wasting Time

+ found out that Sony Ericsson has a great support site +
+ started another facebook game: barn buddy +
+ barn buddy's boring so far... +
+ started a photo blog: see if you can find it ;) +

On a more stressful note, the persons in charge of the worship service instruments has decided to meet up tonight. The odd part is that it won't be a formal meeting because said person decided to meet at a Old Town White Coffee at AEON Bukit Tinggi. I'm not sure if he really understand the purpose of this meeting or how serious this whole thing is. Either way, I'll make sure that this meeting is recorded on paper and made known so that in the future, dodgy procedures won't be carried out behind our backs.

Finally Here

The final finals is here. Will I do alright? I can't quite be bothered with undergraduate studies anymore but a recent mid term result tells me I need to worry and worry much!

Proverbs 16:3
"Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed."

For us success is but a simple truth: to bring glory to God. Committing our works and plans to Him means surrendering them to His will and trusting that His name will be glorified. How easy it is to forget that God longs to bless us and empower us for our eternal good and His glory; and definitely not for our own selfish ambition.
- Paraphrased from Heartlight