Tuesday, April 24, 2007
{Wedding Bells in the air}
Wedding Bells in the air~~ lalala....
One of the most inspiring people/leader I've met is getting married. First met this brother in CF, and have hence learned alot from him, been encouraged and inspired countless times by him. Had coordinated with him during my short stint as CPCF chair and the MEET mission trip to Yunnan last year. Really enjoyed those times. And I'm really thankful that God has put such people (among various others) in my life to show how amazing christian walk can be.
Also, through this wedding, i can see how much joy and blessing is brought forth when people who love God get together. Which reminds me to put Him first once again.
Going to post the wedding invite pics, hopefully the bride and groom wun mind, haha...
The Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to live alone...
...I will make a suitable companion to help him."
That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united with his wife, and they become one. Genesis 2:24
2:40 PM;
Monday, April 23, 2007
{秋雨之福}
It finally rained in Brisbane.
The land was dry, parched, thirsty. It has been deprived of the freshness of dew, it has lost its fluidity, its gentle grace and sway in the breeze.
It needed rejuvenation, a refreshing touch from heaven. Just as the people's hearts needed a new breath of love, hope and joy.
"....Rain down on me, rain down on me
Here in your presence i am free.
Pour out your rain, come and touch me again,
Lord let your presence fall on me...."
9:43 AM;
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
{Straddie Getaway}
Hee, this is exclusive: Pictures of my Straddie Getaway. Certain pictures are of course censored *ahem*, but those over here are just as good. Enjoy!
Me at the rocks!!
You jump, I jump....
The roaring Pacific ocean
Say Cheese~~
Look at the ferry-barge behind us!!
5:30 PM;
{A battle fought. A battle won.}
8 April 2007. Remember this date.
The day that marks the truth that sets me free.
I shared my Testimony to the congregation of Hope Brisbane Church. Testimony of my happenings over the past semester. Here goes:
"Good morning brothers and sisters. My name is Eliza and I come from the family of Judah 5. I came to UQ last July for studies. I was enrolled in a Bachelor of Biotechnology course that was to be completed in two years.
Before I came, I had managed to secure a sponsor that pays my entire course fees. So I had no financial problem, I was happy and it was all good. In fact, I knew that it was a blessing, and I was just so excited and full of thanks to God.
Everything went well until the end of last semester, when there was a misunderstanding which resulted in bad terms and fallout between my sponsor and I. And because of this, the sponsorship was cancelled. I was very upset, and I kept asking why. Why did such a thing happen, if this was a blessing from God? God, how could u allow such a thing to happen, when the sponsorship was supposed to be a blessing from u?
I was also very angry and bitter with the people involved, as I believed that it had all happened because of other people.
At the same time, I was worried that I may not be able to complete my 2 years of studies here. At a point of time, I even thought of quitting the honours programme, so that I could shorten my degree to 1 year.
After all these, after the semester has ended, I went back to Singapore for the holidays. When I was in Singapore, in January this year, God miraculously provided for me again. During that time in January, the stock market did extremely well for just a brief period, and stock values increased ___________.
At this point, my dad realized that he had some unit trust, and even though it has not matured, but due to the good stock values, he could sell it off and not make a loss. So he sold it, and the amount was exactly enough to pay for my second year of studies.
After all these, even though the money has been provided for, I realized that I still had no peace, and there was a lot of bitterness and unforgiveness within me. God reminded me that I had to change. Gradually, slowly, God helped me to focus back on to Him again, and I learnt that at such times, trusting God and submitting to Him is still the best. Now, I am able to forgive, I have looked beyond the situation and even give thanks.
Finally, I would like to end with this verse from Proverbs 3:5-6. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”
8 July 2006 was where it started. 8 April 2007 is where it officially ended.
A battle fought. A battle won.
Thank you God.
2:20 AM;
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
{Straddie Day 1}
I was thinking of blogging about my Straddie weekend when the pics are uploaded, but i can't wait. Afterall, I have know idea how long Cheryn wants to hog my bikini pics....better just do a verbal description first....
Saturday morning, 1 am
The J5 gals (aka Jace and gang) came over to my hse for an ice cream cake making session. Watched them make cake and made a mess of the house. Still, my house needs a housewarming, so come on over gals!! They made cakes and watched DVD -- Princess Diaries 2, and were amazed at the palace. Shin yee mentioned that i just got out from a palace too. I said "yea, its nice palace, just that i wasn't mine..." They continued watching, I went to bed.
Saturday morning, 7.30am
The moment is finally here!! I packed in the remnants of my sunscreen, tidbits and headed out the house. Heehee, so excited, can go beach liao!! Reached the UQ bus stop and Mek was there! I should have know it!! how could she resist not coming to this free holiday??
Cheryn came next, and pretty soon after, we boarded the bus. We were all tired, but were too busying yakking on the bus to fall asleep. Talked abt everything, from religion (which i tried to enlighten their understanding) to Cheryn's/Mek's drunk experiences. Sounds fun but a little over too.
Reached the port (think it's called Cleveland port) an hour and half later and waited for the ferry. Its those kind of ferries trawling between mainland Malaysia and Penang Island, where u could crive the whole vehicle up. It was cool!! Reminded me of my childhood days where nin and i would get out of the car and walk all around the ferry. So the bus got on the ferry and we clambered out. It was fantastic. The crisp summer/authum breeze, with a slight tinge of sea salt refreshed us as we walked around the deck. The water was utterly beautiful, a crystal clear turquoise hue that danced gently around us. I could get lost in it forever. Even thinking of it now makes me go "aahh".
Had a nice chat facing the ocean on the ferry. Once on Straddie, we were whisked away to the UQ MBRS( Moreton Bay Research Station), where we would be staying in. I was already v excited, and could stop taking pictures. We had free time, whereby we took even more pics!! Heehee, "tou1 pai1" a lot of ppl( cute guys obviously). so we wandered around, and even spotted aboriginal ppl. Had a nice walk on the neighbourhood before heading back to the Station for lunch.
After lunch was a series of seminars (well, u can't expect an entirely sponsored school trip to be free of seminars) of which all of us were fighting to stay awake. I dozed off during the presentation of some shark antibodies, but was clear-headed enough to sit through Steve's presenation. An absolute no-no to be caught dozing by Steve, as he knows us well, and it would be v paiseh. Cheryn tried but failed. Just as well that Steve didn't spot her (or that's what i hope).
After the seminar sessions was another hour of pure drudgery -- Group discussion. We were given a scenario and asked to design a recombinant plant that was supposed to signal the presence of landmines. On and on my chinese (well, she's actually malaysian) tutor went, with her high pitch australian/malaysian accent. I was just stoning and getting irritated all the while. anyway, our group did came up with some ideas, and we presented them.
We had nearly two hours of break time, of which it was a unanimous decision to head back to our bunks and sleep! We were sharing a room with five other malay gals (they're msian too, from college) and they were utterly, terribly, scandalously, unforgivably noisy and rude. It is such a shame that I carry the same passport as them. Terrible. For two bleak hours, they were just chatting in malay, slamming the room door (i was sleeping next to the door), and making a ruckus. all the while when they could see that we were trying to get some sleep. What a bad name for the Biotech industry in malaysia. After seeing this, all the more im sure malaysia has to try harder if it ever wants to establish such an industry. And it could start off by asking their scientists to be more civilised.
Anyway, we "got up" from this "nightmare" (Cheryn calls it nightmare coz she's from a convent in JB, so she's been subjected to all the chattering) and went for dinner. Dinner was good -- lots of barbecue meat, and 4 types of cake!! (Oreo cheese, carrot cake, lemon meringue & custard pie) I haven feasted so much in ages!
We were supposed to go pub that evening. (Going to the pub is in the itinerary, apparently the ang mohs think their students should go there) Turn out the pub closes at 8.30pm. So the next best thing to do to find excitement, is to visit the local cemetery. So a group of us, with Steve, walked to the cemetery and hung around there. It was quite spooky initially, but towards the end, it was actually quite peaceful. Steve was showing us some landmark graves, telling us abit of history. We walked back to the Station soon after. And this concluded the first day on Straddie.
*******
more coming up, stay tuned....
4:28 PM;
Monday, April 02, 2007
{}
I was going to blog about Straddie, but something else caught my attention.
A phenomenon known as the "i'm-getting-bored" syndrome.
Consequences of this syndrome? Feelings of loneliness and a penchant to fantasize about guys.
Precisely what overseas students(female) are facing right now.
******
Apparently, when you are single, and away from home, you will want to start a new relationship. It's not because of the loneliness, rather, its because everything has somehow lost its initial ability to capture your thoughts. Positively speaking, life is very much settled down; negatively speaking, life is boring. So something or someone has to come and spice things up a little.
******
The above represents the observations and interpretation of the author. Any resemblance is purely coincidental and unintentional. However, if you identify with any of the above description, the author suggests you switch your focus on something else, and let nature run its course.
7:08 PM;