The Written Word

The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever. ISAIAH 40:8 NIV

How important is it to write out our thoughts and feelings? I'm so glad God decided to put His thoughts and feelings into the written word! I love to know that He thinks about us constantly and carries us in the palm of His hand. I'm thrilled to learn about His character and read about the experiences others have had in His presence. Words have power--and we have the privilege of preserving them in our journals every day.

When we take time to record memories, journal our prayers, and write down our thoughts, we truly give ourselves a gift to be opened over and over again. We can recall times of laughter, be encouraged by God's faithfulness in difficult situations, and feel a sense of comfort by expressing and managing the emotions He's given to us. It feels good to revisit the joys and even the struggles in our lives, because God is working in us and building our trust through every circumstance. We never outgrow His gentle and wise instruction. We never graduate from the learning process.

As another school year begins, we might all use it as a little nudge to begin an "essay" on the days God gives us on earth. No due dates, no grading scales, simply an opportunity to appreciate the gift of the written word--and a chance to allow God to encourage our hearts and remind us of His unconditional love and continued faithfulness. Our journals can become one of our favorite reads...and perhaps one of our greatest teachers.

Bonnie JensenSenior Writer - DaySpring Cards

oh some more before i go...

my one and only

eldest bro

Thank You

I wanna say thanks to all of you who made yesterday really special for me. Thanks for all the laughs, the support, your lovely messages, the great presents and being a real life blessing in my life. =) You don't know how much I really do appreciate it, from the bottom of my heart.


Special thanks to Fei, Ange, Bev: you three have stood by me, stayed honest with me and never failed to understand my situation and teach me different things each day. As we grow older (as said by Fei) from talking about school, life to boys, school, life and God, I'm glad to have gone through it all with you three. I know that we'll sooner or later go our separate ways and that's OK. Life wouldn't be exciting without change eh? But I thank you three from the bottom of my heart for being there, sharing the same dream, loving Jesus with all of yourselves and knowing that He alone has a great plan for each and everyone of us. Thanks for being my friends. (also for the necklace. loving it!)

Fauzi: For making me that scrapbook. Oh, you don't know how much that really touched my heart. You went through all that trouble from my mom's shop, to Bev trying to lie to me, to SAS, PTE, to AFC (with all your blur questions) and then back to MD with all those pictures filled with memories. I know its your first and last gift. It's something I will cherish. Thanks man. You're the dood.

Thanks Juan and Des for the donkey. haha I like what you can do with the tail. Yank it baby!

Thanks Sharon for the photoframe! It's totally cool

Thanks Pui Lim for that special movie. I am yet to view it la!

Thanks for all the sms-es. you know who you are

Not forgetting the blog that Ling put up. the craziness from me that Ting and Angel puts up with and the rest of the CGLs. To all ACTs29nerz, with so much love and passion. muahz

And thanks also to Juang for that snack and Jasmina for the card, not forgetting my cool friends from Math U1.1, Physics U2.1, Bus U3.0, GP U5.2. You guys are the best.

Anyway, I decided to take a new picture of my second day of being 19. Here it is:

And here is me.. back to normal.

And I gotta end today's post with this song, because thats what it's all about...

It's All About Jesus
It's all about the way he changed our lives
It's all about Jesus
The power of his blood can't be denied
It's all about Jesus
It's all about the convenant he made
It's all about Jesus
Victorious he rose up from the grave

It's all about Jesus
It's all about the way he set us free
It's all about Jesus
Bearing all our sins at Calvary
It's all about Jesus
It's all about the gift of love he gave
It's all about Jesus
The precious lamb of God was slain

We lift our hearts to him
He is the reason that we sing
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah,
We praise your name

bloggin online

hi all. not much pictures from me at the mo! wait till i have time to take more pictures. everything have been really busy lately and i woke up with a drowsy feel. couldn't sleep much last night so I stayed up reading a book called "Before You Hit The Wall". Its my second time reading it and it's a good reminder. I think the first time I read it i simply breezed through it. Didn't pay specific attention and I missed out on several funny jokes that the author tried to display. Here's one.

To the Corinthians, Paul wrote:"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone wgo competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but wee do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize" (1 Cor 9:24-27)

The Corinthians were Greeks, so they understood Paul's meaning. Using the imaginery of Olympic-style games, Paul was challenging them to run the spiritual race with gusto. If Paul were saying the same thing in the language today, he'd probably say something to the effect of, "Look, you guys, if these pagans go through all this self-denial and rigorous training just to win a wreath of dying leaves held together with a piece of fishing line, then how much more should we train with diligence to obtain God's crown for us?"

How true is that? I've failed to recognized that back then, they dont get gold medals and stuff. They get recognized and dying-leaf crowns. People race their heart out for those stuff! It must've been an 'IN' thing. (this post is not to criticise anyone who is a greek!)

Reading this book has only reminded me that we do 'hit the wall' from time to time. When I say 'Hit the wall' I meant that you find yourself in a situation where you can no longer go on, no strength left and all you want to do is give up and go straight to sleep. I'm encouraged by how some people may hit the wall, and still choose to move on and find a way out. The author pointed out that it's not JUST about going through, under or over the wall but finding out a strategy to avoid bumping into the wall again. I think many times we try to avoid to wall instead of finding a strategy to overcome it and to never let it pull us down again. Tsk tsk, this call for drastic measures : TRAINING and it comes with a capital "T".

Some people think that just because I don't go around moaning over something I've got it all under control. I do go through a lot but I don't have to tell the whole wide world about it. So what's wrong with being joyful throughout the situation? I'm not going to choose to stay depress! No way! It's taking up too much of joy inside of me and I'd rather enjoy whatever I'm doing and find joy through it! (my name is Joyce after all!) The last thing I want to do is to turn to my blogger or to UU which I am affliated to and start pouring out my troubles hoping that someone from all around the world would come and make me feel better. I'm not saying that that's wrong. I'm saying that if that is my reason to blogging, then I've turned to the wrong source of comfort. I'm saying that I'd rather turn to my Jesus first, and the rest of it second. He's not a display in my heart, He is living in my heart. (this post is not to offend fellow bloggers, bear in mind. I'm just speaking my mind)

I remembered that when I first started blogging online, I've always thought that someone out there would be so kind and nice enough to leave me a comment or tag my tagboard then I would feel loved and well-known. Even seeking this sort of attention to a site that's world-wide and within an individual's finger-tip does not give you all the attention that you need. I doubt it can ever fill the void in your heart, no matter where and who you seek it from unless it come's from an eternal and unfailing love: Jesus of course. Now, I wouldn't speak of this if it wasn't true for me. Sure I say the wrong stuff at times, but about Jesus, I'm dead serious and I'm not speaking jargon. =p

If you're gonna go, 'oh no.. another Jesus story?'. Can I really help it? I can come up with different formulas, different ways of trying to tell you who has helped me through situation, but I cannot compromise the ways of God. He is the way, the truth and the life. And I made it through Him. I've hit the wall countless of times, but I pulled through because He gave me a hope and a future that will prosper and will not harm me (Jer 28:11). He gave me the love and the attention, more than I ever needed, that no one else can. He called me precious in His eyes and He honours me (Isaiah 43:4)! You don't get a lot of people who honour you that way and especially someone with royalty. This doesn't just go out to me, but it goes out to all of you. All you gotta do is believe and trust, and definitely re-think. A lot has to do with changing your mind set and it takes a lot of discipline. You don't expect an ordinary three year old kid withouth the right food and the right training to run the 100 metre race and break the record! (I emphasize on ordinary because there are some extraordinary kids as shown by Ripley's Believe it or not!)

Online blogging, gives us an insight to what others are going through. It opens the door for a lot of us to enter into your world and it does allow us to feel for you. But it's not the ultimate source for everything. The comfort that comes from online commenters are to encourage you but it doesn't sustain you. Jesus sents His heart out for you. Won't you open the door to Him?

TESTING

My masterpiece! hehehe
Three stooges!
Derek the geek. well he attempted to be
Justin the bat man! so cute with the price tag
Gasps!

Bev, me, steph and choon mei
Us going crazy! mehehehe

More pictures

Okay some more pictures to greet you with!

Lookie! my blog! hahaha lame la
Tyler Yeo!
The state of my room!
Can you guess who this is? this is what happens when you dont bring your own clothes for a project~
We were stalking that red car. naw kidding. i love the view of sunset. =)

Well I was going to entertain you with some vain pictures. But... something is wrong. oh well!! next time!

picture blog 101

Picture blog. Finally! okay some of the pics are blur and i blame it on my nokia 3250. but anyway... have fun!

I love taking pictures of flowers. dont ask me why.

These crazy girls I met over my mom's friend's house. The girl in red described my friend as the guy with a lot of veins popping out. haha

WORLD CUP CRAZY! lagging la

and then I say goodbye with a hole in a sock. Can you guess whose is this?

mm

boooo