Wednesday, December 27, 2006
11:59 PM
母亲大人的生日 (27th December)
Yes. Today is my mother's 53rd birthday. But our whole family celebrated it the previous nite. Our family has this habit of celebrating birthdays by having a family dinner outsite at some good restaurants. So yesterday, we went to the "Ding Tai Feng" (not sure which chinese characters) restaurant at Paramount Hotel near Marine Parade. This year, my mother also 1st time celebrating her birthday as a grandmother!
But I guess though my mother was supposed to be the 主角 during the dinner, it turned out that my niece Jadyn has catched all the attentions instead. Haha... But fortunately, she wasn't really crying throughout the dinner, she was aslept for like 15min b4 waking up and seeking attention. So I, being the nice 小叔, went to keep her accompany, and took photos of her. As it's very very hard to capture a smiling moment from her, I suddenly thought of using the sequence shots function in my N70 to try capture a good shot of her smiling. And guess what? I succeeded! Haha, took me like 18 shots to get a good one. I shall post 8 of them to let u see the effect. =)
Well, of course, not forgetting some whole family photos... =p
(Father & Mother)
(Parent & Sons)
(Parent & Sis-in-laws)
Sunday, December 24, 2006
11:48 PM
Hope Church Christmas Service 2006
This year, our Hope Church had the special Xmas service at Kallang Theatre!!
(23-24th Dec 2006) I volunteered myself at the start of the year during the recruitment for performers. Around the month of August onwards, we had regular rehearsals back at Nexus America Room.
Our theme this year is Creation. So I was one of the gazelles which was created by God during the 1st 7 days of creation. Through this production, I got to work with many new brothers & sisters from the various districts, it's really an honour & pleasure to serve in the Kingdom of God.
Really felt amazed when I saw how God uses so many different people with different talents & personalities to contribute to the success of the Xmas service. We may be all different, but we all belong to the same One body.
"The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ." [1 Corinthians 12:12]
Indeed, although all of us are from different backgrounds, different age, different nationalities, different educational levels, but we all have this same one desire of committing our lives to God through serving in this production. I thank God for everyone who had in one way or another helped out to make this year's Xmas service a success!
Although I had participated in several drama stage performances, but this is really a totally different new experience for me. During all the 3 services, back in the dressing room or backstage, even though I felt quite nervious at times, thinking of whether I'll be able to 'jump' well on stage, but I am always being reminded that "God is always in control." Therefore, I still managed to experience much joy, knowing that God is going make all things work and touch many many lives through the service.
I am just glad that I am part of the Xmas production team! Looking forward to Xmas in 2007... Hehe...
(I am gazelle no. 1!...)
(That's my hand props gazelles...)
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
12:21 AM
My niece is 2 month old... =)
Yesterday, I spent my whole day at home... Ya, didn't meet up with anyone to celebrate my birthday... (Plus it was raining heavily almost the whole day...)
In the morning, the 1st thing i saw when i open up my eyes on the bed was my mother, carrying my baby niece Jadyn, holding her hands and waving at me while my mother sing a happy birthday song on behalf of my niece... Haha, it was so funny... But i certainly felt the warmth from my heart. Once again, i thank God for my niece. (Oh, in case you don't know about the wonderful story about my baby niece, please visit my niece's blog
http://god-has-heard.blogspot.com and read from the 1st entry.)
From being the youngest member in my family, now I have become a 小叔, it obviously gives me a responsibility now as an adult, as a person who needs to take care of someone so dear to me. I really pray that I can be the nicest uncle to my niece, can't wait to spoilt her... lol... But most importantly, I pray that she can grow up healthily and of course, grow to be someone who will do great things for God in future.
So, originally I was feeling a bit sad that I got to spend my birthday at home. But the presence of my niece really brighten up my day. My elder brother & sis-in-law have brought Jadyn home for my mother to take care so that they can go for their Sunday service. And that means, in future Sunday, I can get to spend time with my niece!
Thus she kept my day busy by just attending to her, watching her sleep, playing with her, carrying her, pampering her when she cries.. (she really has a loud voice, foresee a great singer in future.. =p)
Isn't she adorable? (One of the rare moments she laughs)
(Yawns... Time for afternoon nap...)
(Sleeping in surrender position...)
One of my birthday wishes is to be a good uncle, to be able to take good care of my niece, and to watch her growing healthily each day. Knowing now how hard & tiring it can be to look after a baby, I can really truely appreciate my parent more, imagining what they have been through during my growing up years. It definitely makes me want to be a better son to them in future. At the same time, I also can understand deeper how loving God is towards His children. And a verse just came into my mind,
"If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" [Matthew 7:11]"
I also pray that through the life of my niece, it can eventually make my family (my parent, my eldest brother & sis-in-law) who have yet to know God, to experience Him personally.
Oh ya, by May 2007, I will have another nephew/niece, so by then, I will have 2 babies to play with & to look after. =p
Sunday, December 17, 2006
3:18 AM
One year older? One year wiser?
Yes, today is my 22nd birthday... Never thought that I would blog an entry regarding my birthday... Afterall, I was the one who didn't want my birthday to be celebrated this year...
"Why is that so?"
You may ask... Well, that's a question I can't really answer accurately... I guess there's many factors to it... One of which can be tiredness, physically tired, emotionally tired, spiritually tired, mentally tired, in short -> tired...
Another question you may ask,
"Ain't you in the holiday? Why are you still tired?"
I guess holiday IS the reason why I am tired... tired of being so used to spending my whole day playing games & watching movies & not doing anything really beneficial... Somehow the word 'holiday' already have a definition in my mind all these years as 'slacking time'... That's why, even now, as a Christian, my life seems to fall back to my own self-nature whenever it is holiday period... This is not the 1st time i experienced such tiredness.
If a person is alone & he is really very free, usually he will end up starting to ponder about things, about many things, positive thoughts, negative thoughts, good thoughts, bad thoughts, anything... So if it's positive or good, then it will lead to the person doing/planning something meaningful. Unfortunately, I belong to the other group of people...
And that's what usually happen to me when I am in holidays... That's why I sometimes just chose to keep my mind busy by playing games non-stop... You can say 这是一种逃避吧... I don't deny it. In the past, that's what I do, I tried to escape from reality or trying to seek contentment through things that I do... But most of the time, it will just end up being hollow 'cos it'll be just a short temporary period of leisure & fun, afterwhich the emptiness came in...
Now, all these things are even more real & clear to me whenever I fall into the trap of my old lifestyle... Because once you experience true joy & true contentment, you can identify anything else which is not. God is the ultimate true joy & person whom He can fill your heart & solve your troubles...
Recently have been trying to reflect on my life as a Christian so far, I guess I can say that I am changing everyday, bit by bit for the better, even though there'll be times of struggles & failures... Without God, things will be much worse... And God has really been graceful to me throughout all these while. Many times God is just waiting patiently beside me, waiting for me to turn my face to Him and hold His hand, & many times, I just cast Him aside...
I never doubt God's goodness & realness in my life. It's always the playful & naughty child's fault when he didn't listen to his father and do something that eventually hurt himself. But it will be very unfair to the father if people judge how good the father is based on just seeing the failure of the son. "养不教, 父之过" this phrase doesn't really apply in this context. One cannot deny the fact that the father is loving and caring just because of the behavior of the wilful child.
"Aiyo, how come this person like that one? Isn't he a Christian? How come his life still like that? I guess His so-called God isn't that great afterall..."
I really don't want to be that kind of person. It's too unfair to God. Just like what the bible said in Matt 5:16.
"In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."
Suddenly, I remembered back in the old school days, where we need to wear uniform, and the teachers will always tell the students to behave well outside in public whenever they are in uniform, because they are actually a representation of the school.
Similarly, as a Christian, I believed I too also carry the same responsibility of representing our Lord Jesus Christ. Even though we wear no uniform, but the very moment you declare your faith, you are actually wearing the invisible uniform, and you no longer represent just yourself, you are a living testimony of God.
"We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us." [2 Corinthians 5:20a]
The Celine Dion's old classic song starts to play in my head now..
You were my strength when I was weak
You were my voice when I couldn't speak
You were my eyes when I couldn't see
You saw the best that was in me
Lifted me up when I couldn't reach
You gave me faith 'cos You believe
I'm everything I am
Because You loved me
It's true. Not only till I become a Christian then did I truely understand the meaning of this song. This isn't any ordinary love song, it's really a love song to God...
So dear friends, if you have yet to have a personal relationship with God, I truely sincerely pray that one day, God will speak to you and you can experience Him in a very real & personal way. As long as you have this open heart of letting God to show his existence to you, God will always be found. I can even challenge you to say a simple prayer,
"God, whoever you are, if you are really real & that loving as what others have said, show me a sign, prove it to me personally, in order for me to believe in you."
If you
really mean what you say, you will be
amazed how God will speak to you.
One last verse to share/encourage, this was the 1st bible verse I was told during my own journey of seeking God, and I could truely testify it, because I really did find Him in the end!
"You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart." [Jeremiah 29:13]
Thank God once again for all the blessings He has given me. Thank God for the people He has put in my life, my family, my friends, my spirtual brothers & sisters, my shepherd, etc.
Hope this blog entry is a meaningful one to you who are reading...
So, am I "One year older? One year wiser?"
...
Dunno... =)
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
12:51 AM
I am a bad blogger...
Hmmm... It seems like I really don't have the habit to blog regularly... Even though there are quite a no. of events happening in my life, but somehow I didn't manage to record them down in my blog... The only thing I managed to do is to take down the photos using my N70... As anyone will know, it usually takes a lot time to upload photos, thus I am also slow in uploading them to my blog... Another reason why I never blog often is probably due to some technical difficulties I faced last time while trying to upload the photos...
Anyway, nothing in my blog doesn't mean my life is currently un-exciting... Just that I lazy to post on a regular basis... But I do have the habit of browsing the blogs of the people around me. So for those friends of mine who r regular bloggers, do keep up the gd work...
As for myself, no promise when will be my next blog entry...
Christmas is coming... Exciting season again... Just wish to enjoy my short holiday b4 the arrival of 2007...
