ONE MORE WEEK!

its down to 6 days before the exam. frankly, i havent really revised very thoroughly especially for geog. i dont know how or when or what or who can i be able to finish my revision for so many chapters, but its in His hands, not mine.

"Lift up your burdens to me, all who are burdened and heavy loaded."

van needs to mug now *sad face*

bye (: will upload in a weeks time. i mean after midcourse. bye blog.

Holiness

1. Holiness is the habit of being of one mind with God
2. A holy person endeavors to shun every known sin, and to keep every known commandment
3. A holy person will strike to be like Jesus Christ
4. A holy person will follow after meekness, long-suffering, gentleness, patience, kind tempers, government of his tougue
5. A holy person will follow after temperance and self-denial
6. A holy person will follow after charity and brotherly kindness
7. A holy person will follow after a spirit of mercy and benevolence towards others
8. A holy person will follow after purity of heart
9. A holy person will follow after humility
10. A holy person will follow after faithfulness in all duties and relations in life
11. A holy person will follow after spiritual mindedness

Up til now, i cannot confidently say i am holy enough to be called holy. although the list goes on about what a holy person should be, the ultimate thing we all should beware of is that God has to be in the equation or else one can never be holy, because God Himself is the Holy One.

( the interesting thing was, i found this in the reference library at the national library. haha )

van

new blog skin (:

hee hee, born of the new blog skin.
i think im kinda sick of the old one although it was simple and nice, but i dont know, looking at clouds always made my day brighter because it reminds me of the wonders of God's creation. and i just love to look and wonder if i could sleep on those fluffy clouds. haha but clouds only make me happy when its a sunny cool day when they are fluffy. on rainy days, clouds are grey and dark and lifeless. so rainy days kinda reminds me of the song "bring the rain", where overcoming obstacles is not a task i rely on myself to accomplish, but one where God is in the picture. so no matter how heavy the rain is, we will overcome it. and after the rain, there will be a rainbow (: hee hee. love the new blog skin. looks so bright and happy and refreshing and cool and cute and.....ME (: *BIG SMILE* haha.
alrighty.
bye
van loves clouds.

God answers prayer

I was walking around in a Target store, when I saw a cashier hand this little boy some money back.

The boy couldn’t have been more than 5 or 6 years old.

The cashier said, “I’m sorry, but you don’t have enough money to buy this doll.”

Then the little boy turned to the old woman next to him: ”Granny, are you sure I don’t have enough money?”

The old lady replied: ”You know that you don’t have enough money to buy this doll, my dear.”

Then she asked him to stay there for just 5 minutes while she went to look a round. She left quickly.

The little boy was still holding the doll in his hand.

Finally, I walked toward him and I asked him who he wished to give this doll to.

“It’s the doll that my sister loved most and wanted so much for Christmas. She was sure that Santa Claus would bring it to her.”

I replied to him that maybe Santa Claus would bring it to her afterall, and not to worry.

But he replied to me sadly. “No, Santa Claus can’t bring it to her where she is now. I have to give the doll to my mommy so that she can give it to my sister when she goes there.”

His eyes were so sad while saying this. “My sister has gone to be with God. Daddy says that Mommy is going to see God very soon too, so I thought that she could take the doll with her to give it to my sister.”

My heart nearly stopped.

The little boy looked up at me and said: “I told daddy to tell mommy not to go yet. I need her to wait until I come back from the mall.”

Then he showed me a very nice photo of him where he was laughing. He then told me “I want mommy to take my picture with her so she won’t forget me. I love my mommy and I wish she doesn’t have to leave me, but daddy says that she has to go to be with my little sister.”

Then he looked again at the doll with sad eyes, very quietly.

I quickly reached for my wallet and said to the boy. “Suppose we check again, just in case you do have enough money for the doll?”

“OK,” he said, “I hope I do have enough.” I added some of my money to his without him seeing and we started to count it. There was enough for the doll and even some spare money.

The little boy said: “Thank you God for giving me enough money!”

Then he looked at me and added, “I asked last night before I went to sleep for God to make sure I had enough money to buy this doll, so that mommy could give it to my sister. He heard me!”

“I also wanted to have enough money to buy a white rose for my mommy, but I didn’t dare to ask God for too much. But He gave me enough to buy the doll and a white rose.”

“My mommy loves white roses.”

A few minutes later, the old lady returned and I left with my basket.

I finished my shopping in a totally different state from when I started. I couldn’t get the little boy out of my mind.

Then I remembered a local newspaper article two days ago, which mentioned a drunk man in a truck, who hit a car occupied by a young woman and a little girl.

The little girl died right away, and the mother was left in a critical state. The family had to decide whether to pull the plug on the life-sustaining machine, because the young woman would not be able to recover from the coma. Was this the family of the little boy?

Two days after this encounter with the little boy, I read in the newspaper that the young woman had passed away.

I couldn’t stop myself as I bought a bunch of white roses and I went to the funeral home where the body of the young woman was exposed for people to see and make last wishes before her burial.

She was there, in her coffin, holding a beautiful white rose in her hand with the photo of the little boy and the doll placed over her chest.

I left the place, teary-eyed, feeling that my life had been changed forever.. The love that the little boy had for his mother and his sister

is still, to this day, hard to imagine. And in a fraction of a second, a drunk driver had taken all this away from him.

The truth changes you

The bible does not just inform you of things, it does things to you.
van, the bible is the instruction manual you turn to every single day, its the word you abide to and the commands that you ought to follow. not the so called "truths" of the, not the forces of your everyday life. but the Word alone.

"All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you." Philippians 3:15. He is the one who grants insight.

None can refute the Word of God.

The Bible stands like a mountain towering
Far above the works of men;
Its truth by none ever was refuted,
And destroy it they never can. —Lillenas
To trust God is to trust in His holy Word.

trusting in His word is one thing that keeps going every single day. turning to His words rather than to the words of the world is really something i use to keep myself side tracking from the narrow path we ought to walk on. today in the car, daddy said it is through those tough times when we need to pray more, praise even more and turn to Him even more. although i didnt really give him that sign that i understand, in my heart, i cannot agree enough. to turn to His word which is solid rather than the word of the world which is...i dont know how to describe, but yah. this book isnt as easy as it we w think it is. and im living each day by it. every single thing we need to know about ourselves and our lives and the way we should lead our life is all written in this BOOK OF LIFE. haha. so yah, van needs more time management to read it inside out...so far, not yet finish...so yap. need to do so!.
its like 2 am already and i need to go to bed. pout.
God loves me and i need to be contented and not make Him sad. (:
van van van (:

The Blind Side

Watched this show last night with mum and dad. it depicts of a wonderful christian lady who funded for a boy name michael oher who did not have a home to stay in,had no mother to take care of him and had only one shirt and a plastic bag. he did not even know when his next meal would come from or how he was going to survive the next day.But with the help of Mrs Leigh Anne Touhy, (acted by Sandra Bullock), he became a famous football player (rugby in america) who also had an education. the school he was enrolled was a missionary school and what really touched me was how she was willing to lend a hand to michael and the way you could see God working in her life. its a amazing true story and it really touches me heart because it taught her lessons as well by helping him. he was changing her life because in the show, she is a really really rich woman since she is a designer, and she eats overpriced salads at like US$18, but as she starts to learn more about him, she starts to realise how fortunate the whites are and how much they have that they should be thankful for. its really a movie worth re-watching. and it also acts as an reminder about how fortunate we are to have a roof over our heads, to have parents to provide for our every need, to have more then one tee shirt, to have a comfortable environment to study in, and of course to have the freedom to praise the great God above.

trusting Him with anxious concerns

from the daily bread website,
we are sometimes just like sparrows, i mean me at least. i tend to worry to much and get anxious too much over things and i forget that He is watching from above. But God said in His word "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell."

from the short story about how the sparrow that went into the author's house was fluttering around to find a exit when he was trying to guide it to a safe exit, it just illustrates at times how i sometimes get anxious for nothing over things that are in controlled. Proverbs 15:3 "The eyes of the Lord are in every place", and nothing escapes His attention, and He understands the finest point of our being. it was also stated,"And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered"(matt 10:30), than what more is there to worry, right, van?

If God sees the sparrow’s fall,
Paints the lilies short and tall,
Gives the skies their azure hue,
Will He not then care for you? —Anon

yoguru ( late post)

went to support jie jie again at her third day at yoguru (: (:

Pressing towards the heavenward goal

"Brothers, i do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing i do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press toward the goal to win the prize for which God had called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3: 13- 14

pressing towards the goal the Lord has set for all of us.and worldly treasures will fade one day, but His word will still remain.
Today, me completed 5 km (: haha. it was quite smooth, but the old muscle ache thing relapsed again and it hurts quite badly as if it was burning again. this time, at 4 km plus plus, the pain came and yah really wanted to give up and like just walk my way through the whole thing, but thank God, i could feel His peace upon my head and yap, went all the way. and i thank God for this great experience (: next up, THE GREAT EASTERN WOMEN'S RUN! 10 KM. hee hee. and before that comes,i need to solve the muscle burning problem cause it makes me weaker and weaker every time i run. which is no good no good. but im lifting it up to the almighty healer up there.... (:

its sunday, and tomorrow will be the start of something new, a new term to look forward to....garh.this year is coming to an end really really soon. and im sort of excited, but im not really really excited to all the work i see before me. but with the Lord strength,i will conquer them all. heehee. as the song lyrics go, "in You, i found my peace, in You i found my Hope, Jesus, You're the reason that i sing~~~...." yap.

love, van (:

self control.

its friday already and this week really zoomed passed like nobody's business.which is sad, but it was a good week of rest, thank God for the rest. anyway, today woke up a little then usual, and went to the market with mummy to buy ingredients to cook lunch and also to prepare for the dish to bring to dan's house. and yap, cook cook cook and we ate ate ate, although some stuff happened in between, but looking at the big picture, it was great to have the whole family sitting together for lunch, a rare occasion.
after which, it was time to go swimming (: had a great time with e at the pool because it was really empty and there wasnt many people, which was nice. and we got time to laugh and talk and yap do cute stuff and i enjoy hearing her talk and how she will laugh at every single thing. ahaha. the cute queen e is irreplaceable. and i will miss her. yap, miss her talks, her smiles, a cute laughters, her curious amusement for earthworms, her interest in doing bio and how she would love to start taking care of pets and the list goes on, and of course, her love for God which is so real in her life.
anyway, stop being emo because there is still time, after that we head over to dan's house.and aaron came over too. poor him, he is sick, yet he came. thank God he make it. and we had dinner and time passed like no one's business again and yap we watched ip man. haha. many many cute parts in the show and memorable scenes. and ya dah ya dah, we ate lots of stuff in between, there was apple juice, and barley, and baskin robbins ice cream, grapes, pear, fried banana, more apple juice etc. i think thats it, but it was really alot of food altogether. haha. and in between got a chance to chit chat with dan's mummy. haha. cute awesome mum who can cook so well too. and she speaks canto too. hee. gave me a chance to practice canto (: and yap, ya dah ya dah.... watched ip man again (continue) and yap time flew to about 10 from like 4 which i left the house..garh....
and yap, 10: forty something we left the house. and ya dah ya dah, walked to mrt. and this was the part that i made myself so angry with myself. the old habit relapse again. and im so so tired of that side of me. the weakness of interrupting people and being quick to speak. and that terrible feeling stroked me once again when dan reminded me to listen. and whoa, just right at that second my whole mood changed because i realised my old habit relapsed and it just made me so angry with myself. im a bad listener, and i need to have better self control over my tougue. maybe it was a sign God wanted to tell me. to beware of this tougue of mine.

James 1:19-20 -My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen; slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.

this verse came right in my face that very second.
van needs to have better self control over her tougue.

went running with THE MUM (:

Went for a run with mummy along the canal today (: and it was awesome mummy-daughter time. i run 7.2km and mummy walked 3.6 plus km. it was nice nice nice. hee hee. but something not nice happened, my leg was really burning when i was running my 4th kilometre. it was like burning....but the funny thing was, it only hurts when i run. after awhile, the burning sensation goes away when i stop running and it wont hurt anymore. so its weird. but nonetheless, i kinda know why it hurts after hearing what E said about the way to run. and i realised i might i have been running with the wrong part of my feet. anyway, still i had a great time with mum since dad and sis werent home. And 7.2 km is a great achievement! praise be to God!

Proverbs 4:10-12 "Listen, my son (daughter as for me), accept what i say, and the years of your life will be many. i will guide you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths. When you walk, your steps will not be hampered;when you run, you will not stumble."

Yoguru

Today was jie's official day 1 working at yoguru where she really looked forward to for the past weeks. and im glad she is happy. when over to great world city and bought that huge tub of yoguru which was really really big, plus jie twirled more cause im the mei and yap bought even more for mummy (: but she couldnt finish it. haha. me bigger eater i guess. but that means more fats to burn cause that was really alot alot of ice cream with oreo toppings on it. haha. im glad she was happy to see me there.hee. and yap, although i know that mummy and daddy are kinda worried cause its jie's first secular paid job apart from the one she did at church, im happy that she is happy. but kinda sad face cause she ends work really late and all. ....
yap, but the ice cream maker story was really inspiring and caused me to think abit too.
thank God for ice cream and thank Him for He is the ice cream maker (:
van

The Ice Cream Maker

Got this powerful message from : christypovolish.wordpress.com

As I listened to our pastor yesterday, he really got me to thinking about today’s story. We were reading out of Mark, chapter 8, verses 27-38. One question that Jesus asks to His disciples is “Who do men say that I am? The disciples shared what they had heard others say. Then Jesus asked each of the disciples, “But who do you say that I am?, referring to each one of them. The question that Jesus asked was different the second time He asked it. The first question was more on the lines of what they had heard others say about Him and the second question was what do each of them say that He is. Very different, just like each of us and I like to refer to us as the 31 flavors. We each look different, and will say something different as to who do we say that Jesus is, yet we all were created by the same Ice Cream Maker, and once we become alive in Jesus, we will truly know who is He. Jesus was created with a purpose as each of was. We are to live in our intended purpose. Had He not died on the cross, then I wouldn’t be alive in Him today.

This really got me to thinking and so I wanted to take this a little further and move into Mark 9, verses 1-5. Here Jesus shows Himself by ”transfiguring before them, His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them.” Mark 9:2-3

Not only did God ask them before in Mark 8, who they thought He was, in Mark 9, He began showing them who He truly was. He was letting them in on the “ice cream making business” if you would so call it. He allowed them to be a part of what is to come and to be held with the highest secret of not sharing the news with anyone. The step by step process of making the different ice cream could not be told to anyone until the store was open for business. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t consider my Lord dying on a cross, a business, but had He not done the job that He was given, then, I would not be privy to the information that God has blessed me with. He has taken me in under His wing and has allowed me to manage this Baskin Robin store until He comes back. It is has now become my job to advertise for my Savior and to share with others all that God has to offer, through His Son Jesus Christ.

So the question today to all of you is as you look into your heart is, Who do you say that Jesus is? Have you made our Lord one of the flavors in your life, setting Him equal to you or are you allowing Him be the Ice Cream Maker and sharing all the wonderful things that He has to share with you? We have to die to ourselves daily, pick up our cross, and move forward with the plan that Christ has set before us. To do this, means that we must recognize who He really is.

“In a dream I saw the Savior. His back was bare and there was a soldier lifting up his hand and bringing down that awful cat-o’-nine-tails. In a dream I rose and grasped his arm to hold it back. When I did, the soldier turned in astonishment and looked at me. And when I looked at him, I recognized myself.”- W. A. Criswell