my new 'hobby'
today's been a pretty good day i guess. stayed home all day to chat online and of cos, snack on whatever i laid my hands on. went to jaime's place to get a ride from dn goh to uncle siong teck's place for squash/tennis and heyyyy...wat a BIG pleasant surprise i got. alex got changed and went along for the first time! was real glad to see him come along : )
today's game...i only played squash with junhao and decided to play tennis after tt...played with alex against jaime for a brief moment, at the same time hearing him go on and on abt wat a tough game it was...couldn't help but tot he was trying to say we're terrible...anyway, spent the rest of the evening playing tennis with junhao against jaime & auntie celine...funny, but this evening seemed real long...i was so tired. and heyy, even junhao was saying he's tired...and it's the first time i heard him say tt i tink...lol.
well...i've got a new hobby - toasting marshmallows. toasted marshmallows with ice-cream really rocks to the heavens. haaa...imagine tt piece of marshmallow...crisp on the outside...and as you bite into it...the warm inside just flows out into your mouth...oooooo...
and ha. so much for playing squash, or rather, tennis today...all the eating has made all my efforts to keep fit go to naught.
YF cottage meeting-cum-bbq
m thankful to God for a wonderful YF meeting at my home today : ) it's been a long time since everyone came over like tt...and was really glad to see all 5 of my 1985ies here today. i may not tell it to them, but i was really happy to see alex & ss today...i really thank God, too, for dear, eve, & jaime for coming to my rescue by helping me out with preparation of the food & i tink they did a really great job (esp with the chicken marination)! thank God for josiah who came early, lugging the songbooks & guitar with him to practise the new song with me : ) of cos...thank God for each and every one who turned up today. was expecting less than 15 to turn up...but more than 20 came...and by God's grace, we managed to feed everyone! :D
'cher told me she's really proud of us. honestly...i am too : ) really glad tt God provided me with friends who willingly went grocery shopping with me in the morning & spent the entire day with me preparing for today's meeting. and seriously speaking, without their help, i wouldn't have got thru today. they were nice enough to work away in the kitchen while i was up in my room preparing devotions so last min. *shame on me* but anyway, m so glad i've learnt lessons from all these planning over the years. was telling 'cher tt haa, i no longer depend on myself...i now know very well to ask for help, & m so glad i have friends who will gladly say "yes". also...i'd like to thank God for my darling bro & jonathan (hey, you're indeed my Best Friend! haa) who without complaints, did the dirtiest job - cleaning up the bbq pit!
was really touched tt ric made it here today despite feeling unwell, so as to not disappoint us. i just pray tt our God, who is the Great Physician & is able to heal, would make her well soon...
alrite...it's finally sunday again : ) wanna thank God for the chance to be able to go to His house to worship Him each sunday...
extremely glad weekend
thank God for today's worship service. was quite sad i couldn't attend yws again but thank God for seeing me thru & giving me, ben, the choir & chairman the coordination as i played the piano this morning : ) and yay!!! the 6 of us 1985 peeps got to take a nice shot in the sanctuary *jumps with joy*
i wanna thank God so so so much for a really wonderful weekend. it's been a great time since i got to hang out with so many of my friends. yesterday evening's dinner after YF was a pretty big grp & i sure had fun. even 'cher came!
had our recording session today & i expected everyone to head straight home after it but heyyy, 16 of us went out together to holland v to chill! really thank God for each & everyone of them whom i spent the evening with...there were so many of us, the staff at essential brew opened a function room just for us! other customers there were wondering why we got to use tt room lehhhh *grins* anyway, i just pray tt we'd get to hang out like tt again : ) it was really sweet fellowship...something i've missed having for such a long time & really thankful to God for.
oh yes, thank God for bringing our doctor zer back safely frm ireland too : )
1985 peeps - 1st try (aiyoh! look at the boys)
1985 peeps again - 2nd try (oh-oh, joanne has got feelers)
friends i've grown up with & love so much - josiah, alex, shelia dear, joanne dear, me & ss
16 of us at essential brew's this evening : )
i got a haircut, hee.
thank God for an opportunity to meet up with my Best Friend & my dearrrr shelia for dinner this evening : ) it's been a long time since i've seen jonathan so crazy & i hope he stays this way : )
anyway, i've cut my hair after so long! i finally allowed this guy to cut my hair. not tt he did a bad job, but i hope shunli (don't know if tt's how she spells it) gets well soon so she'll be able to cut my hair the next time i go...poor girl, cut her hand yesterday! ppl cut hair, she cut her finger...aye. anyway, i don't even know the name of the guy who cut my hair...haa...
and wat a surprise to see mr ngan & ms low at westmall! m glad they're doing fine : )
a not-too-good day
well, was really disappointed tt i wasn't allowed to send papa off at the airport but most upsetting was how ms tang put it when she said no. "it's also not the first time your dad goes off". and lousy me actually allowed myself to cry so easily. *slap my own face* well...just a lesson learnt - this is the working world. anyway, pastor was nice to give me a ride to the airport to recieve mrs heng & eve : ) spent some time at pastor's place & at jurong pt with eve & ric. thank God for the time to catch up. thank God for bringing them back safely, and of cos, thank God tt papa has arrived in vietnam safely too. also thank God for papa who was so nice to drop by at church to give me a goodbye kiss & hug before gng to the airport :D
well...just got the bill frm kor. i spoilt the lcd of his cam on my trip to KL & as a result...anor $132.30 has flown out of my pocket again. just don't understand why i had to pay for so much...panel, lcd - $34, rear cover unit - $52, service charge - $40. anor $6.30 for gst. when all i broke was the lcd...hais. but there's no pt asking him abt it...i'll just get into trouble.
okay, 2 days gone. looking forward to have dear come over to my place to just erm, according to her, hang around. haa...but with our brilliance, m sure we'll come up with something fun : ) anyway, in everything give thanks...so, despite all the not-too-good stuff, thank God for today.
dinner at essential brew's : )
hahahaaa...thank God for the chance to treat my family to dinner at essential brew's this evening : ) been wanting to take my parents there cos it's got really nice ambience. m glad kor got to go too...i guess papa was quite disappointed tt kor hasn't sat down for a meal with him since he got back on thu. but thankfully, kor turned up...cos pa's flying off tmr. well, it sure feels good to be able to afford this evening's dinner. this has to be my most expensive treat...haa, but m just so glad they enjoyed the meal : )
anyway, today was really a pretty fun day at sch. got reprimanded by ms tang cos i was late. kinda. well, reporting time's 8am but she wants me to be at sch earlier on mondays...guess i really deserved it anyway. just before prayer time, she was really in a bad mood cos one of the teachers had been sick (even today) & wasn't able to carry out some duties like doing up the teaching board last fri, writing reports for the kids & stuff. this was the first time i saw her flaring up while all the teachers kept quiet...i was really frightened & i guess it was written all over my face cos mrs choo told me "ms van, everything's okaaay. don't worry okay" & auntie maureen had to ask me "are you frightened? poor thing". well, m fine actually. this is the working world afterall, according to mrs chiew : ) thank God it isn't out in some non-Christian sch with non-Christian staff. it would have prolly been worse : ) anyway, i've learnt something today. if there's anything teachers have to be afraid of, it'd be the principal. lol.
okay, i've digressed. anyway, wat really brightened my day was of cos, the kids :D had to take the nursery kids for a while today & it was a pleasure. those kids were suuuure talkative, but i enjoyed my time with them. thank God also for giving me wisdom as i took my pre-nursery class on my own for the first time : ) and best of all was my bus ride home. caleb was with his grandma on the bus and he shouted loudly "my teacher!". haa...don't know why but tt sure felt good. best of all, just as i was alighting, this cute lil boy shouted across from the front "bye bye ms van!". lol. anyway, ppl prolly won't understand how it feels unless they were in my shoes : )
praying tt ms tang would allow me to leave after my class tmr to see papa off at the airport, and thereafter wait for mrs heng & eve to arrive. gonna miss papa. can't wait for my grad ceremony.
well, thank God for a great start to this week! tue, wed, thu, fri, here i come!!!
a different kinda sunday
haa...just wanna thank God for today. i felt pretty disappointed when all my friends couldn't hang out with me this afternoon after church. ric was willing to meet up with me in town for coffee but i felt a lil unwell cos of well, some girl reasons. went home to pop some pills & was well enough so i decided to go watch the guys play soccer, since they were just playing just behind my home : ) haa...and i learned how to play soccer gameboy-style! lol...interesting. i had gone home to change into my shoes but when i returned (with a container of orangeade mommy made me bring to them), i decided not to play, cos there were just waaay too many malays playing. m not being racist, just tt i figured they weren't gonna be as nice to me as the church guys would. i didn't wanna go to sch tmr with limb missing & scare my kids off.
oh well, but my wait there wasn't futile. got to play basketball with josiah, joel tai, david, colin & his 2 friends winston (an ex-galilean) & this other guy who called me a handicap. just becos most of the time i stood at the same spot waiting for the ball -.-" it's okay, cos at least i got to spend my afternoon with some church friends afterall. haa : ) well, no usual chilling out with the girls but m glad i had a pretty different, and of cos, interesting sunday afternoon with the boys : )
it's been prolly months since i had dinner out with my family. well, kor didn't go...but i thank God for the time together. papa's flying off on tuesday...i was right, he'd be home at most 5 days this trip. but m still thankful for the past 5 days anyway...moreover, he's trying to make it back for my graduation ceremony. so yeah...i SHOULD be grateful.
a brand new week starts tmr! wonder wat surprises those kids have instore for me this week...lol
my first soul led to Christ!
feeling really excited now! i've finally led my first soul to Christ! and it actually came when i least expected it to! i never expected my lil cousin to ask me "this Jesus, how come He die on good friday?", while we were in the midst of talking abt muppets, sesame street & those cutesy stuff kids would normally prefer to talk abt!
and shame on me! when my uncles & aunties first told me tt i'd be sitting with the kids to take care of them, i was so siaaaan. i mean, heyy, i deal with kids from mon-fri & was hoping to really enjoy my dinner tonite. afterall, it was grandma's birthday & it's not very often that the whole big family gets to come together for dinner. oh well, anyway, just really wanna thank God for this evening's family dinner. thank God for keeping grandma well & fit (even fitter than i m!) all these years! i pray that God will continue to sustain her, and also, grant her journeying mercies as she goes to china for a holiday tmr! thank God also for the chance to see all of my relatives once again, and we even got to take a big family shot! most impt of all, thank God for the chance to share Christ with my cousin, jordan! m so glad & haaa, believe it or not, it's seriously my first soul led to Christ!
just for records sake: little jordan tay, accepted Christ as personal Saviour on saturday, 14-5-2005, 8.20pm at harbour city restaurant : )
to God be the glory!
kindergarten outing
just wanna thank God for a couple of things. first of all, the kindergarten outing to the farms. thank God for safety & well, pretty good weather (altho it drizzled for quite a while). m glad it wasn't blazing hot or pouring heavily. tot the weather was just fine...cool & shady. felt espcially good at this place called gardenasia where the kids had their lunches. really tranquil place to sit down with friends but haa...well, tt's if we remove the kids frm the picture. today was really tiring, much tiring than normal classes in fact. but i thank God tt i was taking care of the k1 kids. at least my pre-nursery kids didn't go...it'd have been ultimately crazy if they did...haa. anyway, it was fun visiting places like the goat farm, fish farm & vegetable farm.
was really nice of teacher belinda to share her bread with me cos i didn't have my lunch. it's good to have christian colleagues who show love through situations like tt : ) in the end, we were both so hungry...but again, we weren't the only teachers feeling so so tired & hungry. after everything ended, i had a nice time over lunch with mrs choo & mrs ng too : ) the first time i had lunch with my colleagues outside sch.
well, thank God for bringing papa back safely. haven't talked to my parents much today...but i guess i really need a lil time here.
really wanna thank God also for my friends. for being a listening ear, esp dear...m sorry for making her feel upset becos of me. but i just wanna let her know tt it's okay & tt she doesn't have to feel helpless cos she's given me the help by listening. in fact, nothing she does can change anything. only God can. just read her blog...and i really thank her for the words of comfort. thanks so much dear. thank God also for alex, whose simple sms just made my morning a lil brighter...
thank you, gentleman
was glad to have supper with mag & nelson after ff class & prayer meeting this evening. just got home & very thankful for a gentleman - nelson - who saw me right to my doorstep. well...looks like the guys in galilee still have got some hope. haharz. at least i know tt there are at least more than 1 guy who's gentlemanly : )
well...did some packing & got rid of some stuff again this afternoon...lots more to go actually. m praying tt God will help me be mindful tt all my possessions can't be brought up to heaven with me when i meet Him so tt i'll be able to throw them away without feeling so sad. alrite...kindergarten's gng on an outing tmr morning...Lord, i pray You'll grant us good weather if it's according to Your will...
and yes, papa's coming home tmr...
the soundtrack!!!
today was good : ) met up with ric & mag for dinner in town after work. thank God for answering my prayers by stopping the heavy downpour! i had to come home to change out of my jeans after work cos they were terribly soaked! but of cos, thank God for the rain that He sends, to water the earth : ) it's been pretty hot & dry here & m sure God has sent the rain cos He knows it's time to do so : )
it's been ages since i had dinner with ric & mag. well, eve wasn't arnd, but we had someone else join us. lol. i've finally met mag's boyfriend & yup, he's a good boy. but i just pray tt her prayers regarding his faith would be answered...well, anyway, i really had fun having coffee with 3 of them at starbucks : ) lotsa stuff we talked abt - serious, funny, stupid. all sorta stuff. but wat i really appreciated wasn't the talking, but simply their presence. m just glad tt i got to sit down with ric & mag after what seemed like such a long time : ) anyway, was contemplating buying the soundtrack for "howl's moving castle" today...i actually like only the song "Sekai no Yakusoku; The Promise of the World" by Chieko BAISHO (got the title frm alex; thanks) & the cd costs $25.95 lo...hais. should i get it???
wanna really thank God also for seeing me thru today. i've been feeling unwell esp at nite, the flu bug seems to only attack me at night but after praying tt God will allow me to be well, i usually get thru the day totally fine! indeed, God is my Healer : ) nm even if it comes back at night...haa, wat matters most is He makes me well enough during the day : ) well, there's been a confirmed case of hfm disease at sch. a couple of the teachers suspected it & only today, we recieved a letter frm tt kid's doctor. thank God for all the preventive measures taken today & i pray tt God will rid our sch of any disease & take care of each kid as well as the teachers...m not afraid, cos i know our sovereign God is in total control : )
fellowship - impt or not?
really thank God it's sat again & of cos, for YF. was glad to have dn gideon & auntie irene share their testimonies with us. as dn gideon spoke of the old YF days, i couldn't help but envy the youths of his time. he shared abt how they used to come so eagerly for YF, how they played sports after each meeting, sometimes gng to the reservoir together for a run, and then gng for dinner together at west coast hawker centre & tt each YFer really looked forward to every sat to have fellowship with fellow brothers & sisters-in-Christ. i guess tt's something tt youths of our time has taken for granted. very few ppl would look forward to seeing their church friends, much less look forward to YF on a sat afternoon, esp when it's a day they can spend with other friends somewhere else, having fun. it's sad tt the kinda spirit tt used to exist during the old YF times no longer lives in ours. but m still very thankful to God for each YFer, esp the younger ones, who make it a point to come for YF each sat afternoon. i must say tt tho i don't get to talk to all of them a lot, i really appreciate their presence & their presence never fails to encourage me. whether or not to come for YF? it's really a tough choice but ultimately, still a choice we all have to make. how often we turn up or, rather, the effort put in to make it a point (and not out of convenience), in a way, actually reflects how much we treasure the opportunity to meet our friends at YF.
i thank God for today's time of thanksgiving & prayer with the girls. i felt tt today's was more heart-to-heart sharing & i pray tt we'll always be willing to testify of the Lord's goodness to us.
thank God also for a wonderful time spent with josiah, jonathan & darrell over dinner. cool huh...haa...siblings dinner. we didn't have any problem looking for seats this evening since there were only 4 of us and dinner ended so early we could even go to cafe galilee's for drinks. but of cos...i look forward to having a huge group at dinner again soon : )
thanks dear!
met up with dear at suntec after work today : ) was really nice of her to accompany me to look for a gift (tho she says it's cos she has nothing to do)...haa. well, didn't really shop, cept for the bag she bought & the gift i got for steph. we spent the whole day walking abt & talking, and of cos, eating...haa. anyway, really thank God for auntie christine who booked the tennis & squash courts for us today even tho she & uncle siong teck just got back frm bali yesterday...a pity only dear & i went. and poor junhao who went there to see if there was any game & tot we don't meet to play anymore cos he didn't see anyone...until he came by to take a look just as he was gng out. oh well...just hope next week's would be on & ppl would come...but heyyyy, playing squash alone rocks! you really sweat it out...dear & i took turns playing alone cos we only had one racket & boyyy, it was lotsa running. but i feel so shiok now...after a great workout, and of cos, a wonderful time spent with my dearrr shelia the entire day : ) thanks dear!
anyway, i pray tt God will give me strength for this whole week at sch...m sure He will anyway. He always has : )
i wanna go chiangmai too
john john said "i love you". my heart almost melted. okay, maybe it did...i wanna go chiangmai. bro nat, sis pat & family are leaving on tue morning & m so gonna miss them. their trip back this time seems extremely short. perhaps it was cos they came back while i was in the midst of my exams.
well...as for whether i'll get to go chiangmai this may, it's all up to God now...i really don't know wat to do cos i intended to go during their christmas celebration...i just pray tt God will give me a clear direction...tho i pretty much know wat i want...but again, wat i want & wat God wants might be 2 very different things.
thank God for a good time spent with allvina at essential brew's. thank God for a chill out kaki! haa...while waiting at the bus stop i realised tt heyyy, most of the time m with allvina on a sunday afternoon at some cafe! :D
thank God also for time spent with family at grandma's. but today was really stressful. everyone seemed to be pressurizing me abt something. worst was abt my future studies. i just pray God will help them understand wat they want is not wat i want in life...it's really tiring to sit through such session where they'll go on and on abt wat & why i should take up. i guess ultimately, their focus is money. (which i don't blame them for. human nature. sometimes i do get distracted by this whole money issue too.) study more, get a great job, get more money. well...perhaps, yes, perhaps, someday they'll come to realise wat i look for in a job isn't money, but joy. and of cos, contentment's one of the keys to this real joy...which i tink i've found.
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