Its party time!!

Christmas is here and I'm all stoked for it! What a great way to spend Christmas with family, friends and everyone else! Even as the world celebrates Christmas, let's not forget to take time in thanking the Lord for sending His One and Only Begotten Son! Although it is a time of feasting, make-merry and gift exchanges, I am thankful for a lot of things that the Lord has provided for me this year. Nevertheless, I shall let pictures do the talking.

19 Dec: GenRev's CG Xmas Party of the Year!!!

Grooming our culinary skills!

Salad Perrrfect!

Mousing around the kitchen

Food Galore - with abundance!

Carolling in a circle, where music talents unroll

20 Dec: Youth Ministry's Christmas Bash - Toys Theatre!

Toy stories with Precious Moments



Buttercup, Blossom with reindeers and angel

Rolling the dice

North-east CG!

Lisa and I brought our lil' sisters!

Reindeers in Christ

21 Dec: Main Service Christmas Service!

The lovely Christmas decor

Jen, I thank the Lord for our accelerated friendship!

Dressed in Grey and white

24 Dec: Blessed Christmas Eve!

Claud (Cal-le-BEE) and me (roti-bin)

My prezzie from Serene

With a PT and a Cardiac Nurse

Our Storehouse - waiting to be filled with God's Blessings and goodness

Reliving our childhood

26 Dec: Just Us Gals Party!

Burning some 'calories' before a sumptous dinner

Lisa's mum Honey Baked Ham Operation!

Its Just Us Gals!

Thanks for being a great colleague and sister-in-Christ

Yes, finally!!Thank the Lord for you, Ivy!

Our emotions showed it all!

Enjoying our individual photo collage that held precious memories in our heart

The maker behind it all!

Cheers to the friendship(s) and May 2009 be a healthy, happy and Blessed one!

Disclaimer: More pictures on facebook.

We Are the Reason

We are indeed the reason for Christmas. Enjoy this song!

Jen, this song is for you! Think Amanda and Jem style!! Hahaha

Year 2008

As year 2008 draws to a close, I like to spend time reflecting on the past year and what the Lord has blessed me with.

I recall at the start of the year, making some resolutions. Year 2008 My 2008 resolutions were:
I resolve to:
1) grow in His faith
2) spend quality time with my family and friends
3) keep fit by scheduling jogging/gym/tap-dancing (Yes, I finally decided to continue/restart tap-dancing) into my timetable
4) improve my nutrition knowledge
5) be patient

I believe I have accomplished all of them, if not most.

Going to New Creation Church saw my faith grow as I feed on His word. I made godly friendships that is going to last a lifetime. I served the Lord out of an overflowing heart, praying to be blessed and be a blessing to those around me. I love it how Pastor Prince shared about having a vertical relationship with the Lord where our blessings come from and from there, we share a horizontal relationship with those around, being a blessing to them because of the blessings that we receive from DaddyGod. So precious! Thanks Soph for being "persistent" in bringing me to church - I believe if I did not take that first step, I would not be where I am now.

Career-wise, it has been a steep learning curve for me. I learnt how to be independent, developing a questioning mindset, becoming firm with the nurses, forging new friendships with different people that I meet in the wards, at the clinic etc. Its been awesome! Also, I saw collegial relationships strengthening, getting to know each of my colleague better since we see each other every day!

Keeping fit to some maybe a pain, however to me, I am proud of ALL the runs that I have completed:

• Adidas Sundown Marathon
• Passion Run - 15km
  
• Army Half Marathon
• Nike Human Race
• GE 10km Women's Run
• Standard Chartered 21km Marathon

There will be more runs next year and I know, Sophie and my other CG mates will be there too!

So, what am I expecting for the year 2009? I believe it will be the year of Manifested Blessings as Pastor proclaimed. I am believing the Lord for 3 things:
1) Relationship
2) Finances
3) Career / studies

With faith, I believe and I can't wait for these 3 to come to pass!

EJ Camp

EJ camp or otherwise known as Encounter Jesus camp, has been a blessing to me. In fact, I had personal encounters with Jesus during the camp. I fell in love with Him all over again and came to His feet as His beloved, wanting His embrace.

In fact, I thank the Lord for His favour and grace upon me during the camp. He blessed me with youths who were easy to get along and warmed up to me quickly - DIVO's the best! The youths whom I stayed in were easy-going too. I actually grew to love the youths each day passes. I recall telling Amanda that I have not seen so many youths before. Their boundless energy, impressionable minds, genuine love for the Lord and hunger to know more about Him, made me realise that these youths are in a place where they are most comfortable. I yearn for the time when I was at that age to know the Lord better. Nevertheless, I know God will restore those years that I lost.

Moreover, I thank the Lord for granting me the opportunity to get to make new friends and know others better. The sharing session(s) that I had with Amanda were intimate. Thank the Lord for a friend like her.


My precious babes from Divo

All stoked for Mass Games!

Divo's got the muscles!!!

After going through all 5 "schools"

Greek Royalties

Mel as Durian Queen, Amanda as Greek Goddess

Illumination of the Breast Plate on Finale Night after the youths were bestowed the title, King & Queen!

Last day!!

The race

She's the best!

My first ever half-marathon and I completed it. The distance might seem daunting at first, however, as I ran along the course, I was thankful for a GREAT running companion. Soph kept me going and entertained throughout the entire course. In fact, I reckon both of us were impressed at the "service" that was provided at the turning point - bananas and lots of drink stations. What made me happy was the the giving out of 100Plus drinks in bottles at the end of the race. For full details of the race, read Soph's blog.

Frankly speaking, I nearly cried tears of joy and satisfaction when we both crossed the finishing line! I'm so proud of you Soph! I'm sure this race was one of the best for you. Thanks for being a great motivator!


By the way, plans for the full marathon will be shelved for now.

The countdown

ARGH!!!I checked out Standard Chartered Marathon Website and the countdown timer reads: 006 days, 4hrs 8mins 50secs when the page loaded!! Oh my goodness! I can't believe come next Sunday, I will be running my first 21km or half marathon. My Sports Trainer colleague asked me how I felt on Friday - I told him my legs feel wobbly. I don't know how to describe the emotions that is running through my head at this moment. I heeded his advice and tried not to go for distance. In fact, I'm amazed at myself to see how far I can go without feeling tired. I did a 5km run with slopes and I was surprised I did not find myself panting. (My dog nearly "died" though! Hee!). Credit goes to my Sports Trainer colleague for training me up so well!

Hmm, I reckon the run on 7 Dec will be my last run for the year 2008. I will probably start running again in January - trying to arrange for a running session with some of the girls from my CG. To run or not to run the full marathon - that is my question?! Till then, I can only scream and exclaim, "AARRGGHH!! Freakadilly!" And carbo-loading begins this week!

PS: Soph, we will cross the finishing line together on race day! We can do it!!!

Stepping out of my comfort zone

How apt it is as I was reading today's Daily Devotional. Just over the weekends, a thought popped into my head - with a question of "Why me?!" The pastors and leaders often mention about tithing your time to the Lord. However, I have not felt comfortable at all. For selfish reason, I was not ready to give up my personal time.

Launch Out Into The Deep

Luke 5:4
4 When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”

God wants to bless you — big-time! It was for this reason that He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” The deep is where you will find a whole lot of fish. You won’t find them near the shore in shallow waters. But to launch out into the deep is to move away from the comfort of the shoreline.

My friend, God wants you to break away from your comfort zone and step out in faith to do what He has put in your heart. It may be something simple, but which you have never done before or only dreamt of, like attending a care group. A church member did just that and found love. Today, she is happily married.

Now, our Lord Jesus who said, “Launch out into the deep…” also said, “… let down your nets for a catch.” Notice that He used the plural “nets” and not the singular “net”. Beloved, God wants to give you more than what you need. His dream for you is bigger than anything you can ever dream of. Dream big and God will exceed your dream because He delights in giving you exceedingly abundantly above all that you ask or think. (Ephesians 3:20)

Another church member who was formerly working for someone else had wanted to start his own company. When praying with him, I received a word from the Lord for him to launch out on his own. When he did that, he made a handsome profit at the end of the first month alone! Today, he has more than one company and his businesses are flourishing. God is blessing him beyond his wildest dreams!

Beloved, God wants to bless you beyond your wildest dreams. He did it for Simon who was astonished at the size of the catch of fish. (Luke 5:9) But it was not until Simon launched out into the deep that he ended up with the net-breaking, boat-sinking load of fish. (Luke 5:6–7) You, too, will be astonished at your catch when you step out of your comfort zone and launch out into the deep with the Lord!

Having read today's Daily Devo, I am now prepared to step into the position that is created for me - to serve in the CG and to serve for the upcoming Encounter Jesus (EJ) camp. I don't know what to expect, just praying to receive at the end of it!

Declarations 2009

Ok, I know its still too early for New Year resolutions and stuff like that. Nevertheless, I thought I should put this up on my blog just in case I lose the tissue paper that was written on. My sister-in-Christ suggested doing this little exercise when we met up for dinner early this week. We will make a declaration for the following year and next year at Christmas (for easy remembering), we will look at the declaration that we each made and believing God for and see if we have achieved it. As simple as that. :)

2009 Declaration (Declared on 17 Nov' 08)
I: Wants her boyfriend to walk and grow closer to God; to be hungry for God's word.
J: To get promoted with a pay increase
J: To get a boyfriend

This will be revisited next year's Christmas.

2 words and equations I learnt

Two words I learnt from church service today while Pastor Peter Youngren was preaching: "Scandalous!" and "Outrageous!" Ha! Its was amazing to hear his preaching and what made it even more special, Soph and I were sitting in the second row from the front, in the center column - where the pastors usually sit. Its amazing. It made service more special. How it happened felt ordained.

When Soph and I arrived at Level 3, I asked Soph if we could try and get a seat in main audi since its only 2 of us. Expecting to sit right behind (since it was already 8.30am), we were blessed with seats just behind the audio system, near the aisle. Just nice for the two of us, or so I thought. After we returned from Soph's quick McDonald's brekky, we were settling down for service when an usherer walked by and asked if we were interested in front seats. Without asking Soph, I grabbed her and said, "Yes!" to the usherer. With that, we settled down, just a row from the front. Soph's was shocked and freaking out as we will be on camera during Praise and Worship. Nevertheless, it was an awesome service, spending quality time with Him and Soph!

During service, two mathematical equations that I learnt:
Jesus + anything = Nothing
Jesus + nothing = EVERYTHING!

Ps: Normally, there will be a mega-watt light bulb between us! Just kidding!

Protection prayer

Safety of abiding in the Presence of the Lord. Psalms 91 speaks of that.

1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust.”
3 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler^[a]
And from the perilous pestilence.
4 He shall cover you with His feathers,
And under His wings you shall take refuge;
His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,
Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
6 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,
Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.

7 A thousand may fall at your side,
And ten thousand at your right hand;
But it shall not come near you.
8 Only with your eyes shall you look,
And see the reward of the wicked.

9 Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
10 No evil shall befall you,
Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
11 For He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you in all your ways.
12 In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.
13 You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,
The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.

14 “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him on high, because he has known My name.
15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him,
And show him My salvation.”

As I type this post, I am still living in the aftermath of the shock that I suffered about an hour ago. On my way to Novena Medical Centre for my weekly evening weight management clinic, I was plugged into my Ipod, listening to a sermon by Pastor Prince. Suddenly, the taxi driver hit the E brake and I looked up to see a van losing control. It looked like my taxi might be hit. Miraculously, the van managed to stop spinning in the middle of PIE. While the driver took time to recover and try to get the van in the right direction i.e. flow of the traffic, my taxi driver looked back at me and exclaimed, "Did you see that?!" I went, "YES!" So scary!!! We drove off unscathed and unhurt. Thank Jesus for protecting me and the taxi that I was on. I could not have imagined otherwise.

Fruit salad

Its awesome to see how a bowl of fruit salad can bond my family together. Somehow or rather, most of us played a small part in contributing to making the final product with my dad as the main "chef". I had the honorable task of cleaning up after the fruit salad has been made. As I tuck into my bowl of fruit salad, it taste especially sweet.

Mr Flu Bug

The flu bug is one vicious virus. It creeps up on you without you realising it. The moment it smells a suitable host, it attacks you. You only know you are under attack when you start to experience symptoms such as a sore throat, blocked or runny nose, muscle aches, low grade fever. Ok, it sucks to be sick and even worst when you have to battle these symptoms at work.

Yes, I'm down with it and currently am sniffling, snorting and coughing like an old hag. My voice sounds nasal/husky. I'm breathing through my mouth as I feel as if I don't have enough oxygen. My patients can tell them I'm not well and have been rather pleasant so far. Planning on visiting my doctor tonight. Praying for health.

I declare that I am whole and healthy in Jesus' name! In the meantime, I suggest you better stay away from me.

My rest

This song spoke much volume to me while I was taking the train home. How apt with all that is happening around me - volatile financial market, my own emotions, feeling of tiredness/lousy at work. Moreover, reading the newspaper does not bring a smile to my face these days. I have not been affected directly by the financial downturn, or maybe not yet. However, I know that the Lord is my solid rock who is unshakeable and that my blessings come from Him.

Nevertheless, I hope this song provides some comfort to those listening - whatever trials that you maybe facing in life.

Click on song 5.

My rest by New Creation Church

My soul finds rest in You my Jesus
My hiding place amid the storm
In pastures green
You lead me down to lie
By waters still, I shall abide
By waters still, I shall abide

I shall not fear in times uncertain
I shall not look to my own strength
Into Your hands I place my hopes and plans
My trust is in the blood of the Lamb
My trust is in the blood of the Lamb

A crown of thorns pierced through Your temple
The blood that flowed took all my cares
What price You paid
What sacrifice You made
My life in Yours, Jesus my rest
My life in Yours, Jesus my rest

He is my God of my Valleys

Just when I was whinging to Soph about not having a good day at work last night, I read this passage this morning for today's Daily Devotional. How timely!

He Is The God Of Your Valleys Too

1 Kings 20:23
23Then the servants of the king of Syria said to him, “Their gods are gods of the hills. Therefore they were stronger than we; but if we fight against them in the plain, surely we will be stronger than they.

In 1 Kings 20, we find the Syrians being defeated by the Israelites. Then, some of the Syrian king’s advisers gave the king what they thought was the reason for their defeat. They said that they had fought on the hills and lost because Israel’s God is the God of the hills. So if they were to fight the Israelites on the plains or in the valleys, they would win.

What stupid advice! They thought that the God of Israel only helped His people up in the hills and mountains, and not down in the valleys.

Now, mountains refer to our good times, and valleys, our bad times. Some people have this idea that God is the God of our good times, but He is not there when we are going through bad times. They think that He leaves us helpless in the valleys, especially when the troubles are of our own making.

My friend, I want you to know that our God is the God of the mountains, but He is also the God of the valleys!

God the Son laid aside His crown of glory, His royal majesty and came down for us, stepping into a human body as a baby. He came down to where we were for the sole purpose of dying on the cross for our sins, so that He could bring us up to what God the Father has for us at His right hand. Jesus came down to crown us with glory and honor, to clothe us with robes of righteousness and make us His bride, sharing everything that He has with us. That is the grace of God. He came down to our valley.

So whatever you are going through right now, know that God is right there in your valley with you. He is holding you in His arms and carrying you through the valley. Victory is already yours. Just as the Israelites were also victorious in the valley (1 Kings 20:28–29), so will you be because the God of the valleys is right there with you!

Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

I saw a short video clip some time back this year. Then, I was blessed with the life-changing Last Lecture book by my bestie who wanted me to have it. The book was a blessing. There were so many lessons that I learnt.

1) Dreams: A Pastor once said this during service, "If your dreams don’t frighten you, they aren’t big enough." So are your dream(s) big enough?

2) Fundamentals: You got to have the fundamentals down otherwise the fancy stuff does not work. How true this is! Having a solid foundation in life - education, career, spiritual, relationship etc, matters. If anything is built on a shaky foundation, it will crumble to earth when faced in times of adversity. However, when anything is built on a solid foundation, it will remain even when a tsunami crashed into it.

3) Playing sports - the head fake: teamwork, perseverance, sportsmanship, value of hardwork, an ability to deal with adversity. I recall my cgl sharing after a run that to see a guy true colours is to observe how he plays in a sports game.

4) Brick walls are there for a reason – they are there to show us how badly we want things and they are there to show us our dedication. Once you get over the brick wall - even if someone has to practically throw you over - it can be helpful to others to tell them how you overcome it.

5) Make a decision: Tigger or Eeyore?

6) Watch what they do and NOT what they say. I found this advice especially useful. From the video and the book, Randy gave an advice for his daughter, Chloe. From a female colleague of his, "When it comes to men who is romantically interested in you, it's really simple. Just ignore everything they say and only pay attention to what they do."

7) Get a feedback loop and listen to it! The hardest part is listening to it.

8) Don’t complain, just work harder. Too many people go through life complaining about their problems. I am guilty of it. Randy Pausch believed that if you took 1/10 of the energy put into complaining and applying it into solving the problem, you'd be surprised by how well things turn out.

9) Be good at something, it makes you valuable.

10) If you live life the right way, the karma will take care of itself. The dreams will come to you. Its not about right planning, its about right living.

Yet another 10km

Termed as the biggest women race in Singapore, that's the GE women 10km. I had a great experience with the race organizers last year that this year will be just as good if not better. However, things were not to be. The race expo was a disappointment, with lots of angry and disappointed women not able to fit into their race tees.

Nevertheless, I embrace this run with much anticipation. Its been a couple of months since my last run - the Nike Human Race on 31st August. Training for the GE 10K started couple of weeks back with my Sports Trainer colleague pushing me beyond my limits. Started with 2km x 3 -> 7km -> 2km x 4 -> 4.7km (with some of my cg mates!) -> 3km x 3 -> 4km/3km/2km/1km (on thursday). I was prepared physically for the run. The only thing I had to overcome is the mental race.

My breakfast!

On race day, I filled my tummy with 2 slices of Bonjour's chocolate loaf, a warm cup of milo and a banana. Filling satisfied, I left house and met Soph at City Hall. We reached and did the necessary. With a good 15mins to the start of the race, we were at the form-up area, waiting in anticipation with other like-minded female runners.

"BBEEEEHHHHH!!!" wailed the horn and it was run time! The first 4km was good and I started to pull away from Soph, wanting to do a personal best. However, at the 6-7km mark, I felt frustrated - poor water distribution points, tiredness - I was ready to give up. Then, I gave everything to the Lord. Thanking Jesus for dying on the cross, taking my tiredness, my sweatiness and my pain. Asking Him to run this race for me. With that silent prayer in mind, I kept running and walking. At the last 50-100m mark when you enter into Padang, I decided to do a sprint to the finishing line. Just when I was about to cross the finishing line, I heard the emcee saying, "Go 1168, Joanna! You can do it!" Yes, its me. With that, I toed the finishing line. This run IS my personal best!






What better way to reward ourselves after the run! Its worth calories! :)

Other noteworthy points:
- Mini schnauzer spotted in a pram
- "C'mon, pravitha! Its Deepavali tomorrow! Give it your all!" screams the emcee.