You are still God

This is my prayer in the desert
When all that's within me feels dry
This is my prayer in my hunger and need
My God is the God who provides

This is my prayer in the fire
In weakness or trial or pain
There is a faith proved
Of more worth than gold
So refine me Lord through the flame

I will bring praise
I will bring praise
No weapon formed against me shall remain
I will rejoice
I will declare
God is my victory and He is here

This is my prayer in the battle
When triumph is still on it's way
I am a conqueror and co-heir with Christ
So firm on His promise I'll stand

I will bring praise
I will bring praise
No weapon formed against me shall remain
I will rejoice
I will declare
God is my victory and He is here

All of my life
In every season
You are still God
I have a reason to sing
I have a reason to worship (x4)

I will bring praise
I will bring praise
No weapon formed against me shall remain
I will rejoice
I will declare
God is my victory and He is here (x2)

This is my prayer in the harvest
When favour and providence flow
I know I'm filled to be emptied again
The seed I've received I will sow

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In every season, we have a reason to sing to God because He has promised to be with us.

Deuteronomy 31:8
"The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."

Taare Zameen Par

Taare Zameen Par. It means Every Child Is Special in Hindi. Such a marvelous film that is sure to melt the hearts of all who watched it. At least it was for me, and still is. I love the songs that are accompanied in this film. They complemented the entire story so well. Though they are in Hindi, a language that I don't udstd and hv never heard of, they're so lovely that I can't help but to hum along.

It takes one step to break a child, but many to make one. In this film, Ishaan's (child with dyslexia) life collapsed and was completely shattered when his parents sent him away to a boarding school due to his "attitude" problem. He shut off from the world, lost his dreams and worse of all, gave up his special talent. A temporary Art teacher came into his world and little by little, step by step, built up his shattered self-esteem and revived his hidden talent. Ishaan eventually stepped out of his darkness. His parents began to understand and empathise. And he too, began to accept himself and once again, dare to dream again.

Words are powerful. They have the power to kill and revive. Check out the following excerpt from the film.

Teacher: Mr Awasthi, [your wife has checked out much about Dyslexia but] has she checked out about the Solomon Islands too?

Mr Awasthi (Ishaan's dad): No.

Teacher: When the natives of Solomon Islands want to clear the land for cultivation, they don't kill the trees. They just surround them and hurled abuse at it day and night. Eventually the trees withered and shriveled.

"Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones." Proverbs 16:24 Words are powerful. They have the power to heal or kill, revive or destroy. God has given us the gift of choice. Today, will we choose to heal or kill?

Blessed 22nd Birthday

Yesterday marked the end of my birthday celebration! A big thank u to those who remembered and celebrated the special day with me. I had a blessed 22nd!

11 and 18 Oct - F.a.M.i.L.y
There are a total of 5 Oct babies in my family! Dad, aunt, twins & myself. We went for a mass celebration at a Chinese restaurant. Though the celebration was for all Oct babies, the main highlight was my Dad's 6oth birthday!

F.a.M.i.L.y

I like the kids' expressions. Priceless.

Birthday celebration @da-jie's place

Do we look alike? 14 yrs apart!

19 Oct- Fun @ Jurong

Celebrated my birthday with the SNOs at Jurong Bird Park followed by dinner at Jurong Hill. It was a great great outing! We had fun approaching then avoiding the birds, snapping away with the super 'tok gong' camera, capturing jumping shots and entertaining baby brennen (or rather he entertaining us). It was a fun packed day. Brennen is such an e.a.s.y baby. ha, due to some chinese belief superstitions, we had to resort to spelling the word out. 'Pan Tang'. Anyway, food at Jurong Hill wa so-so. It was the activity after the meal tt made it fun! Jump jump again!

pathetic. ferocious. cute. vain. crazy

*Photos taken from peh's blog. W/o permission. (:

22 Oct - Surprises. One after another.
Bara duped me into going her counseling room for some discussion. It turned out to be a surprise. The same one we did for Mrs Cheam. Right aft the celebration were pleasant surprises from parents. Certainly didn't expect it. At night, dear & i went for dinner @manhattan where shir & sam came with a surprise! Too many surprises within a day tt i nearly cldn't take it.

Bouquets of surprises!

Dinner with Francis @Manhattan

The lady who is always full of surprises

24 Oct - Sweet Reminiscence
Had a great catching up with sec sch friends. A pity due to our busy schedule, we only get to meet a few times every year. One of my new year resolutions for 2010 will be to make time for them. (:

Buddy & myself. Worshiping Elvias. ha

Cheers to our 9 yrs of friendship!

25 Oct - Gkidz
Carine planned a sweet surprise for Cherilyn & myself. It has been a tradition for our group to have such surprises during birthdays. I need to come up with sth else for next yr.. if not it's always so predictable. ha.

Simple yet heart-warming

29 Oct - D.M.N.S & X.M.N
Cell group has finally been resumed! We gathered at Juan's house for makan. Carine's Root Beer Float is niceeee! Xi-en is groOOwing man! A big baby now!

Baby xi-en was eyeing the food...

We tried so hard to make her look at the camera!

30 Oct - e` 5 of us
我们长大了. Our topics throughout the dinner were; money, career, wedding, estate etc. Our current priorities are so different. Nevertheless, we're still as child like as before. *grins

DIY card. Can only be from Peh.

We love the camera!

Chilling out at TCC

I love my typical property agent look!

Can u keep yourself from singing?

If you ever google the benefits of singing, u'll be surprised at the tons of research that justify it. From physical to intellectual and finally to emotional health. In a nutshell, singing is good for one's overall well-being! That explains why k-boxing is so popular.

If singing is deem as such an importance by researchers, what's more to worship & praise to our God? (:

It's always easy to engage in praise & worship when things are going well. But when things turn wrong, we're quick to stuck in self-pity & discouragement that silence our praises. I like the song we sing in sunday sch:

How can I keep from singing Your praise?
How can I ever say enough
How amazing is Your love?
How can I keep from shouting Your name?
I know I am loved by the King
And it makes my heart want to sing

Such a beautifully written song. I'm reminded once again to give thanks to God for every situation, be it good or bad. The art of thanksgiving is not one that can be mastered overnight, it takes time to nurture. I guess the msot thankful ppl in this world will be none other than children. Check out their amazingly brightly litted face whenever they receive a surprise. And not forgetting the way they run to the arms of mommies & daddies whenever they're home. No wonder Jesus told his disciples that ".. for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these [children]." Matthew 19:14

No matter how great or horrible our day turns out to be, surely there is one thing to give thanks to; and that is God's sacrificial & unconditional love for us. Even when things turn wrong, we can be sure that Jesus has overcomed all the challenges with His blood, and through this, we're redeemed.

I sing.. not becos of what God can offer me, but what He has already done for me.

God's strength

It's hard to bid good-bye. Ystd marked the official day where I bid good-bye to my room. It's really hard for me to part with the rainbow wall. Captured some last shots of the room and scenery before I left.

Anyways, work is getting tougher. I find that my passion is diminishing too. I can't see any students this week as my room is not ready at all. Well, it may be a blessing in disguise.

Disappointments just kept coming. I was and still am disappointed with people whom I used to respect so much. But God's word really came in time to encourage me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

It's time to find God's strength in human's weakness. (:

Bid good-bye to hol

12 more hrs and I'll be back to quest. Certainly not looking forward especially after what has happened. Seeing it from a positive perspective, it's a good training ground to develop resilience. No matter how difficult the circumstance is, I need to remind myself to be thankful.

Anyways, it was a well-spent June vacation for me! Have been hanging around with my nieces & nephews, and catching up with friends. Time really flies when you've having a good time. It's sad to know that all good things have to come to an end. I'm now looking forward to the public holidays! Anyways 8 more days and it'll be another sch hol - youth day! (:

Thanksgiving!

Jasmine's 21st birthday bash. Great fun with all the funky looking frames! (:


Annabel's 23rd birthday celebration. Great chill-out & cam-whoring @ museum! (:


Sec 2 Survival cum Adventure Camp. Great victories for both of my students & myself. For them, it's the gain in self-confidence & faith to venture into sth new. For myself, it's the change in perception towards NT classes. They've proven to be e` best. (:


Adidas Sundown Marathon. Great race with good weather! Race e` night indeed!