i was really encouraged by melissa on friday night. how she boldly went up and shared exactly what the Lord had impressed on her heart. such courage and obedience to go up in front of a large group of ppl you don't even know and pray for them. i can really relate to her about that crazy feeling in your heart when God is trying to tell you something or tell you to do something. i'm sure a lot of us can. it feels like your heart is gonna jump out of your chest! mmm.. such an exciting thing when the Lord speaks to you. and even more awesome is when you are obedient like melissa was :)

it was so cool how God told her to pray for us about something so specific too.. dissatisfaction. something i would have never thought to pray for.. or at least.. haven't prayed for in long time. to get out of our comfort zones and with open hearts.. allow the Lord to challenge us. often we're too comfortable. often we're too complacent. and God looks down at us and wishes we would snap out of it and DO SOMETHING.

let's be sensitive to His Spirit's leading when He tell us to do something. what do you really have to lose when you are obedient to the Lord's direction?

at work today (bookstore) i went through all the kids books and made sure they were all in the right order.. alphabetical by author. at first i thought it was gonna be such a boring job.. but i'm glad my manager had me do it. it was fun going through all those kids books! i couldn't resist stopping and reading some of them :P there was nothing better to do anyways.. haha.

did you know that a lot of celebrities write books for children? i saw books by billy crystal, madonna, joy behar, etc. my favourite was kurt browning's figure skating abc's :D also.. that movie lady in the water.. is a storybook by M. Night Shyamalan!? i haven't seen the movie but i guess it started off as a book? *shrug* i was thinking.. why is this a story book for CHILDREN?! isn't it SCARY? so i read it. and i'm thinking.. if i were a kid i'd be so freaked out. this guy is telling me that there's a nymph-lady that lives underneath my pool and this other creature that lurks around trying to prevent the nymph-lady from being freed. and if i see the nymph-lady i'll start to feel pricks in my heart and that means i'm going to do something important in this world and that will set the nymph-lady free........ *raises eyebrow* i liked the book tho. it ended very interestingly. i'm intrigued. now i want to see the movie.

oh and guess what!? there's a book called WALTER THE FARTING DOG! HAHAHAHAHA.. it's a series! it was brought to our attention a few weeks ago while i was working.. we all laughed at it. so today i actually read the whole thing. oh man.. sooo hilarious. i just stood there alone in the kids section.. laughing to myself :D so clever. if you ever get a chance.. go down to the bookstore and read it. i guarantee it'll make you laugh and brighten your day.

on a totally separate topic.. i was studying for my palliative care midterm (this course is all about death and dying) and one of the points we learned was that ppl die the way they lived. i found that pretty interesting. and i started wondering what i would be if i were dying? would i handle it in the manner in which i normally live? like.. would the outlook i have when i'm living.. be the same if i were dying? there are different attitudes and approaches ppl take when they know they are going to die. it's what you make of it. you can die with a positive outlook, encouraging and giving of yourself to ppl throughout your dying process regardless of all the pain and suffering you're going through. or you can go just thinking only about yourself, sucking life and energy from other ppl because all you do is receive and not give. these ppl may go kicking and screaming into the grave. hmm.. then it made me think of this verse:

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.
Ecclesiastes 9:10

basically.. do everything with 100% or more. because when you die.. there's no more chance to do it anymore. death is inevitable. life is a gift from God. what are we doing with it? what am i doing with my life? my only hope is that it is pleasing to the Lord. and praise Him for His gift of eternal life.

no guilt in life, no fear in death. this is the power of Christ in me!

the greatest discoveries are made at exec meetings :P

we learned at retreat that love is rest.

yun ping says "i love rest".

since love is rest.. that means i love love.

and since God is love.. that means i love God!

*gasp* hahaha.. snap! good job guys. PTL! :D
















i love you guys!!

we had an awesome time at prayer meeting last friday.. i'm still feeling blessed by it even now :) yay for freedom in prayer/worshipping/sharing of scripture!

9 What does the worker gain from his toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on men. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. 13 That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him. Ecclesiastes 3:9-14

He has set eternity in the hearts of men. i'm just amazed at how that can be. that God has allowed us to have eternity in our hearts. i can't even fully wrap my mind around that. we as finite beings are allowed to have eternity in our hearts...!?!?! thank you God! what a gift!

God's beautiful but tantalizing world is too big for us, yet its satisfaction are too small. Since we were made for eternity, the things of time cannot fully and permanently satisfy.

so it's time to re-evaluate. why do i do the things i do? why do i toil and labour? God made it clear through roger at retreat that He doesn't care if we serve Him. He doesn't care if we read the bible. He doesn't care if we get good grades. He cares that we love Him. He cares that we find joy in the gift of life that He's given us. if we can't do that.. there's no point. it's meaningless. utterly meaningless! everything is meaningless. a chasing after the wind.

there is nothing new under the sun. there is nothing that can be added or taken away from what God does. meaning there is nothing we as mere human beings can do to add to the work of the Lord. it is HE who did it. it is HE who does it. and it is HE that will keep doing it in the future. mmm.. to rest in that truth. what peace it would give us.. He's able, He's able, i know He's able :)

Only in God does life have meaning and true pleasure. Without him nothing satisfies, but with him we find satisfaction and enjoyment. True pleasure comes only when we acknowledge and revere God.

thanks wilk for showing that verse to me (that caused me to read Ecclesiastes again).

thanks karina and yun ping for a great time at pm last friday. and for being FUN prayer warriors!

thanks God for your Word. i really love Ecclesiastes :)

looking fwd to friday again! wooot.. and womens cell tmrw! excitingness! *does the bart simpson heart attack dance* :P

thank you for a great day everyone :)

thanks for the txt msgs, voice msgs, lunch, cards, emails, e-cards, gifts, penguin, picture, flowers, cake, hello kitty-ness (haha), hugs and kisses, phone calls...

but most of all.. thank you for all your love. and just making me feel special. i'm so blessed to have you all as friends, brothers, and sisters.

it was a blessed day.. i couldn't have asked for more! love you all!