God's love magnified.

arh yes i finally decided to set aside some time for blogging.
even time has to be set aside for blogging.

back from adventure camp. it's been an awesome camp. well the word awesome is underrated. i would prefer much to share in person what i received from the camp itself.

anyways this Christmas has been special. i don't know why i say this but this Christmas, His love just seems to pour down on me like a Tsunami. yes a tsunami it shall be.
how cool it is to receive a new phone from Abba on Christmas Eve. when my dad and sis came home and a question suddenly popped out, "Do you want a new phone?"
why it's so amazing is that, i was so prepared to just stick to my army phone, without any intentions to change it at all.

i got a sermon dvd which i intended to get for a gift exchange, but He gives it to me first. i haven't watched it yet though.
and me blatantly telling my friends that i want another dvd sermon and weizhong graciously got one for me yesterday. praise the Lord.
and tons and tons of His favour raining on me for the start of my new season, with the temp job, with increased favour with the counsel, blessings from people whom i least expect to bless me for Christmas.
i feel really really blessed and loved.

the amazing part is, i did not work to get all these blessings.
going by my daily behaviour and thoughts, definitely i would not be in any position to deserve or receive the blessings.
that's why it's only grace. Grace through Jesus.

Physical Rest

yes there is a place for physical rest
God says "He gives His beloved sleep"
since the marathon, though it has been only just two weeks,
it felt like a crazy packed two weeks for me.
once again i'm privileged to be so busy labouring for the kingdom of God, and i can't be more excited about my temp job training, which starts tmr.

pretty much a blog drought over here.
i've been out so much that sometimes i just think i should be around with my family more often.
i mean yea, family's more important, and it's a long time since i last had a good meal with them.
hence i just went out with my fam instead.
there're some friends whom we would willingly give our support to whenever they need it.
on the other hand, there're some friends whom do not really make such a great impact on my heart that warrants me to actively want to support them.
yes i do appreciate the effort to catch up.

but sometimes even if some friends do make an attempt to catch up, somehow it just doesn't seem as greatly appreciated as compared to friends who are close to my heart that do so.

shalom

Grace Grace!

i forgot that the interview would take 3 hrs..
my adrenaline and the cold temperatures in the room made my stomach sick after that..
talk about butterflies in your stomach, i guess i can identify with that since i could almost feel the overflow of adrenaline wrenching my stomach together.horrible feeling..
thank God some peanuts and soya bean bought at the cheers made me feel more relaxed.

i don't know manx. i prayed in tongues, muttered verses under my breath, just to keep myself calm and steady.
i dislike group interviews. seriously make me nervy. give me a one-to-one situation and i'll feel much more relaxed talking to the person.
but wells.
during the so called "presentation" tat i had to give to eunice, while i sat there listening to others doing their thing first, i just muttered under my breath "Your grace is sufficient for me, your strength is made perfect in my weakness"
cos seriously, coach jo cut a somewhat menacing figure in the room, and she was roleplaying some stuff manx.
coach jo can be quite scary!!! hahahhaa..i said that in a light tone btw..
i'm excited for the training ahead.
yea as i sat in the bus on my way home, i was thinking or pondering if this's the right job for me?
and i realise it's not about whether i know about taxes in IRAS that will give me an edge,
training to be a trainer is going to help me in my presentation skills.
but yes.God's going to lead the way for me.

seriously i don't want this temp job period to be "whatever temp job that comes i'll take it", or taking up a temp job solely based on worldly practicality that going to help my smu education, such as the IRAS temp job.
i would rather leave this in His hands, and whatever temp job i take, it's going to be God speaking to me through it, God training me through it and God strengthening me through it.

this i say because there're so many temp jobs that one can take up, and i've seen a few people around me really doing whatever that comes their way.
but isn't it more exciting to work a temp job knowing that God has something in store for you through that job, instead of just aimlessly going through a temp job just to earn some keeps?

"All things work together for good for those who love Him"

how to be an irritating mrt commuter

while i was at city hall today, i just saw something that irked me.
the train was already so crowded, and the next train would be arriving in a mere 3mins.

still people still like to to squeeze in like packed sardines.
like hello what's 4 more minutes of waiting time instead of being a public nuisance.

these are my observations on how to be an irritating singaporean mrt commuter.
(1) attempt to squeeze into the crowded train when the door is about to close.
(2) when the door closes, you realise that your bag is caught in between the doors.
(3) after much wrestling, you got your bag in but now your right elbow is caught in between the doors
(4) summoning whatever strength you have, you try to salvage your right elbow by resisting the door.
(5) the sensors at the door sense some kind of irritating obstruction and opens up again.
(6) this time instead of the truth hitting on you, you attempt to just squeeze in even more.
(7) the door closes and shaves off a few strands of material off your pants.
well the latter point was a little exaggerated, but it really sucks to see such a sight.

i'm not really done yet.
(8) board the train and stand around at the door area.
(9) when the next station comes and many people are trying to board the train, somehow God-given common sense doesn't work and these people still choose to stand around at the door area, not moving to the centre of the cabin.

i think i can write another entry on bus commuters.
but i shall give my fingers and brains a break. just typing about them makes me angry.

next up, a spoof on enchanted the movie....

Celebrate Running

Celebrate running.

Grace grace for my marathon as i managed to come in 3hr 25mins.
faster than expected and i'm satisfied with my timing, given that it's my virgin experience, with minimal training and a lax diet.
when i say minimal training, i'm not referring to not running at all or running very little.
by His grace i completed 1 32km long run, and i was supposed to complete another 32km long run after i returned from china but i was so bored and so sick of running that i just told God "Lord i'm just going to stop running. it's not going to be based on how much i train anyway but your grace". That was the 28km mark that i stopped and i just walked home, enjoying the iced milo that i so craved for during that particular run.
the beauty of the marathon is indeed true as what those veterans say. you can just keep getting better over a distance of 42km.
this time round my tempo runs aren't that long, the type of intervals i did were also pretty standard, hence there's still so much more to mix and match in terms of training variety. the only thing now is to keep boredom at bay.

anyways, for the first part of the race, i just enjoyed my slow pace and just told Him to bless my run and celebrate running together with me.
the marina stretch was really never-ending, because all i had in my mind was to hit east coast park. that would be the 18km mark already.
i told myself not to think too much about the pace, cos it's just going to drain my mental focus that will be needed for the later part of the race.
thank God my army friend who was helping out at the race rode on his bike and paced me for a considerable stretch before fort road. that really took the monotony and fatigue off a little.
and while at east coast park, this particular male runner in tights was running ahead of me.
his pace was incredible, given that it's already more than 18km at this time.
i sorta drafted behind him and noticed that he only wore a ring stud on his right ear..hmmms...
we sorta exchanged leads at one time or another, till the part when i was at national stadium and he just sped off. when i saw him running at that pace, i could only guess that it's the result of marathon-pace training, whereby you run your last 30min of your long run at marathon pace to train your legs to run when they are fatigued.
well for me during my really long runs, i always tell myself to keep a marathon pace for the last 30min but when it comes to the crunch, i just kinda slow it down due to boredom and fatigue.
oh wells.
the last 5km of the run was excruciating. i kept on yearning for the finish line but it seems so far away. i really felt the physical and mental fatigue at this time and i didn't know i had a right hamstring till the last 5km of the race.i could just feel my right hamstring like a rock muscle popping with every stride i take.
Thank God there was no cramps and "hitting the wall" was minimized. maybe if i ran at a faster pace, hitting the wall would be even more pronounced.
fast forward to the finish, as i just strode home with a sense of relief and elation, a spirit of thanksgiving to God.

Celebrate running.