Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Dear Mandy,


Merry Christmas!


This is a picture of Angkor Wat in the wee hours of sunrise, and truth be told... it is a majestic sight. I've only just came back from Cambodia on Saturday, China before that, and well, also been for Christmas Service, as well as "Tell the World - A Christmas Eve Service" and now, it's Christmas. A lot has happened in the last few trips, eventful, and full of God's grace, and being perfectly honest, I've been awed constantly by what has happened and have seen, once again, the beauty of God's plan in His time.





This is a picture of a dance that the children that I spent time with in Sunrise CHildren's village put up. In truth? Time in Siem Reap (the place in Cambodia where the Orphanage was situated) seemed to pass by so slowly... time was not of the essence, and I found myself really enjoying the sweet, somewhat crawling pace of life, as for once, I didn't really feel pressurised into having to conform to a otherwise hectic life of planning, events and activity. I was content to just take things a step at a time, without thinking too much (Ok, I know, this is not possible. Fine..) and just enjoying the time with my friends.

During the time in Cambodia, it was... really much a time of fellowship over Munchkins, puns and accents. Well, the big picture for me, however, was still the immaculate presence of God, and how He watched over all of us. Sure, we met a lot of unexpected circumstances, but in all honesty, it was a through and through experience about God and His amazing grace. For the 7 of us who went up there... XiaoYun, Rachel, Audrey, Joel, Randy, Isaac and I, I guess we all walked away with a new learning experience and a whole new outlook on life.

Christmas is here, but the honest truth is that it hasn't really sank in, apart from the fellowship that I share with my church friends. If anything, I'm really growing to love each and everyone of them, and after having spent close to a year and a half in JB tribe, I guess I can safely say that I really couldn't picture myself being anywhere else. :)

Christmas is a celebration of Love and of life... and I completely agree with that. God's greatest gift and blessing, was when He sent Jesus to us on this very blessed day. And because of that, we have eternal life. Well... that just makes Christmas even so much more meaningful to me. :)

Merry Christmas, everyone. God bless you. :)

Dear Mandy,



In the blink of an eye... 3 exams are over... and to think that this time last week, I was fretting and worrying over my exams... wow.



Yesterday, we had a guest speaker... Nick Vujicic... and he is a living testament to the abundant grace of God. Born without limbs, the outlook he adopts towards life, and his simple purpose in life sets it all for him. Though indefinitely, maybe he comes from a well to do family that can provide the healthcare that he needs... but one cannot dispute the fact that his emotions are going to be a tad similar to everyone else- the initial despair, the hopelessness, the feelings of defeat and anguish- the temptation of giving up. But God came to him, an gave him a purpose. At the age of 25, he has lead thousands of people to salvation, and he believes that that is God's purpose for him. That through his predicament, he can lift up other people; that he can be a major blessing to people... that he can be the spark that people need to find their way back to the arms of our great God.



I brought Fionna to the service, and she hasn't changed much, to say the least. It was truly heartwarming to see this student of mine, who used to give me attitude, become a somewhat gentler and more mellow young lady, with no loss in her usual spunk and sass. And the best part of it all, is that it was really thanks to God for giving her good friends, and changing her heart. Well, I believe that Nick's message really reached out to her too.



When I went on stage to hug Nick, I mean, really, he's one great guy. And when he said "I love you", something struck me, and I've been thinking about it ever since.



During his message, he said that humans basically need to hear 2 things:

1) that we are loved

2) that everything's going to be alright

How often it is, that the most basic things are what makes us happy and contented? I was doing my philosophy revision paper just a while ago, and in Plato's Republic, Cephalus implies that being rich is necessary but not sufficient for happiness. And that really got me thinking, I guess... haha... Where did we lose our innocence and naivity of what make u essentially human? Aud says that the devil came in and clouded our minds, and I guess that that's really true too.

The exams so far.. well, God's been with me throughout this entire journey, and I'm really glad that He has helped me through this period... Prayer really calm me down, nd honestly speaking, it has helped me answer some tough questions in the exams too! Haha.. Praise God for His abundant grace!!

Well, as I look at it, 2 more papers remain, and after that, I fly off to China, and subsequently, Cambodia. Then come back, rush-write all the Christmas cards, then do some last minute Christmas shopping.. and that's when the mad rush escalates again. Rush the planning for Dinner and Dance for OVA, attend FCBC's Countdown party, do the 2 camps I'm called up to do, plan my modules for next semester, clear the OVA Dinner and Dance, and try to push away Victorians' Day, which is hard to do, looking at it. Darn.

Life's busy! Haha.. but I guess that's just the way it is..