Christmas Story

[ personal ramblings ]





Wad's your Christmas story this season ?





you know a couple of things inspired me to write up this post. It's not like i got a great grandmother story to share now. But it's been an awesome week. A week that i've spent 5 days worrying how it would work out. A week that my plans has gone kinda haywire. But God put things in track. So long as you put your plans in his hands .. you'll get to see his miracle at work.


For we know ... All things work out for the good of those who love God. amen?



I pretty like the catchline of this year's Christmas drama. (at least ..as it appears to me)



What miracles do you need this year?



me: Yesh yesh I need one very much !!


Jesus: what do you need?


me: erm A Merry Merry Christmas!!!!


He smilez.



He knows i ain't saying this for fun.

---

Indeed it has been a great Christmas. A pretty fruitful one too.


I've been very worried about Christmas. I fear it would be as sad as the past. But if only i know it sooner.... How to get to spend the Christmas i so long desire as a kid. The way to spend it is with your loved ones! with Jesus my saviour. and my beloved brethens and family.


I had a great time together with my 1st 3 months JC mates, my well-grown cell group .. and my ministry friends from usher. Truly i feel so blessed. As i look upon the newspaper today and read thru the pages.. i realise not everyone out there has the same priveledge i've been entitled too. Riots, wars, famine still continues despite the arrival of festive periods. Many people battle more than just " wanting a meaningful Christmas ". They need a miracle in their lives.


Somehow i feel that i am prepared for that stage. That one day the meaningful heart-warming Christmas i so desire will rise up to another level. I will be telling a whole different Christmas story. A story of how Jason shows why Chrismas is a time for miracles. Of how he was lost and now found. How he was loved and now loves.




Truly Jesus is the reason for the season...

............... Anyone who has been to Christmas land knows that..





back in time at Christmas land..



my 1st 3 month's friends from Sajc..




ta-la. We are ready for the ride~!




it looks like its no kick from here. wait till u try it. i say its a hair-rasing experience.. lol




we sat this fast and serious machine too! ever felt air pressure from centrifugal force?





w143! haa we are growin and growin le leh!




Perlie ( makin a face -_- ) and me :)




i dunno wad im lookin at... standin wif chubby lookin Kelvin :)




Chong and Me. Brotherhood of w143!


[ pics by Chong's digicam ]



more pics comin soon. :)




Ps: I wanna thank afew people here for helping in my journey to Christmas Land.
First is Pandy (Xiu Wen)! Thanks for inspiring hope into me. you know wad? i think ya gonna be a great cgl one day. The level of faith you speak totally changed me and inspired me to keep on trusting in God.

Second, my cell group mates. Thanks John, Jess for the x'mas gift! Thanks Chong, Mom and the rest for taking care of my friends. I felt i was like a bad host initially. But i realise with history-makers like you guys and girls around .. there was just no sweat to break! no no worries :)

Third, Turtle (qi hui)! i know i've kinda annoyed ya with my lousy planning and coordinating. But well i am glad you were around to help too! And thanks for the lovely gifts too! :)

Last but not least, the usher team! it's fun serving side by side wif ya all. You make serving a great level of joy to me now. Thanks sis peifen for yr gifts too!! and ya sis Rabbit and Jennifer too! lol..

Last but not least, Jesus! For making everything possible. A day spent with you in Church is better than a thousand place elsewhere!

Where are you going this x'mas?

[ personal ramblings ]



















you could dance with a santa ...












visit santa in the North Pole ...












ride down a hill ...












sing carols ..













or catch the fun and action at the Christmas Carnival and drama at the Singapore Indoor Stadium ..... Singapore Expo !!





OK not very captivating advertisement i'm making.... But well the point is there! Catch the Christmas spirit at a Church today! What's Christmas without the sweet carol singing .. warm fuzzy fellowshipping .... but of course !! ahhhhhh ... there is a greater reason to it! Visit a church today to find out! (Esp the one in Expo Hall 8) :D

---

Well i had not a very pleasant week ... so much worries about Christmas. It's just odd. Christmas is supposed to be my favourite season / festival! ... and every year, i always hope i will have a good meaningful one. Last year's X'mas was really like a breakthru!! I feel Christmas should be spent with your loved ones. That's Jesus!! and of course my close friends and family! ^^






Christmas! i can hardly wait...



Merry Christmas Everyone!

......................................... and a Happy New Year!

The light that shine in Expo

[ personal ramblings ]






beautiful is the word.









... not cry cos i'm tell u why! Santa Jason is coming to town! :D




lol Santa Allen looks soooo cute!!!




Santa Weng, Allen and me :)




Santa Fun ( my leader ) and me!




Santa Jacky with the candlelights




Magnificent sight. it's just heartwarming to be singing like this ..



[ photos from Jason's Nokia 6020 HP ^^ and Chong's Cam ]






I'm convicted to be a better usher. Please expand my capacity God, so that i can serve your people better. Ushering has taught me abt loving your people and the sanctity of worship. I will do my best (and better) the next round ...



I really love to sing "O Holy Night" hymn during Christmas service. It just touch my heart so deeply. I can feel the love on that very day in Bethelhem. sigh i teared again .. kinda embarass to say. But if it's because of the love of God, i will be evermore... bold to share. I'm there because i am a light .. a small light that shines to this very world.



Better me, i will be.



i miss fellowshipping with my cell grp mates .. well nxt time nxt time i will do.

High Tea

[ photoblog entry ]



Thanks to the DXO's (civilians working in army offices), NSF's like me get to enjoy a great treat at The Marriot Hotel (Orchard Road). It was a great feast :)



We all sat around at the lobby, waiting for our grand feast



Utensils check : ok! *Preparing to rush to the buffet. *



Chomp chomp chomp



gobble wobble gobble



Munch crunch crunch



Merit award winner wif a funny hat



Mdm Linda and Santa Kerene



me wif a funny hat.



What i found outside Tangs. So cool rite?







it sure cost alot..
Thanks D'Xos ...

Chalet / Expo

[ photoblog entry ]

It's a pretty busy week....


But nevertheless, it's a great week! So packed .. but so fun! I enjoy myself thoroughly ... :)






Expo

We came down on Monday for Usher Orientation and help-out. I was part of the crew in building our temporal house of God at Expo.. It was tiring ... but fulfilling!



Setting up of Stage.


*grinz* We are cool .. haha stupid egoistic statement :P



and phew~



After all that pain n sweat... we bleam with pride on our good o' hall.



It's real dusty.

---

At Prayer meeting, i kinda rushed down from my workplace.
The Bad Bad news : i forgo my usher tag ... so i cant enter to my ushering point easily.
The Good Good news : God makes a way :) I found myself at Bravo Terrace zone region for duty.


I was tired but ... i really prayed hard. I would say that even though it is our 1st prayer meetin at Expo, it's still a powerful meeting. Everyone has gone the extra mile to come. Everyone prayed hard. it's just extraodinary.





John and Jess after PM



Pandy playing "taiji", Chong grins mischievously



We rocked back home... singing " rain down ... .. .

---

Saturday service was great. I came straight from chalet (which i will later blog about). I came together with Siyuan and Shaemus for the usher meeting. Through the journey there, Shaemus showed me his 2 empty vacant teth in his mouth. I thought he tumbled down somewhere and strategically lost 2 of his teeth. ha but no .. it's a dental thing. On the other side, Siyuan blabbers away how unformal she looks (ushers are expected to wear formal at service in Expo). That's when Shamus and me come out with a new term .. siyuanish ... to describe people who whines too much ... ( in a cute way maybe) .lol



hmm i din take much photos. will put in some when if i found it :)



I just wanna say Service was awesome. Really, I've never felt so much fun and joy when i usher ... possibly none before. But the joy was really there. In a different way .. a much stronger one. Mind ya , i was real shagged. I din sleep well last night. And i woke up early to see the sunruse (blog later) .. I mean i make some mistakes too as i usher-on thru' the service.. but well all things work out~ !


Above all that, i felt the love of God. So strong that i teared. So tangible that my voice trembles when i cry out Abba . I really feel the warm and love around me ... telling me that Father knows. Father understands.. and He loves me.


Sometimes i think, it's this encounter .. this kinda experience that makes what we've been through ..... all so worthwhile. He grows us and strengthen us. I really am happy after that meeting... That experience is more than what words can describe.




W143 Chalet 2005

It's been a long time since we had chalet together. The chalet was just awesome. We had a very enjoyable time together. Jarrett confirmed what i've felt... and possibly just as the rest who came. It's so fun ... so much fellowship, guitar playing, games, fooling around .. lol it's just fun.




friday evening,


we 1st had prayer meeting ... prayed hard and well. It's great.

Den i talked with mom and the rest ... den i zzz.

Can't sleep cos of the racket n noise ... ya know chalet's like tat.






so i took pictures :)



Mom, Lala and ah jo



interesting fact : girls giggle alot when they sleep together. well at least these girls do.



aiyo... the ungraceful sight of w143 girls

---

Saturday, 5 am.



I got up and rode down to the jetty with Mom and Jarrett.




Mom wif her specs, Jarrett grinning again.



Glory to Glory. Our Glorious look


I was sleepy. I can't believe Jarett had not slept at all the whole night. Young energetic boys...


But when we caught the early morning sun .. men, it's just beautiful.


All the great pics are in mom's phone. will get from her and post again :)




*update* :)


yea! the sun is rising.



It's risen!!



wooow~



lol .. Jarrett's funny pose under the bright sun (like monkey lol)



Basking under the glory ~



tala~ end of our voyage to see the sun :D



Jarrett and me made alittle breakfast for those who were awake. Den, i went early morning cycling. It was just a beautiful morning :) the usual morning life of a saturday morning @ east coast.


I zoomed to a small jetty. Took this nice angled shot :)



Me at Jetty.


we had lots of fun at night too (after the Expo Service). We all ate , chat and cuddled together to watch Castaway on tv. The girls were again like "eeee - ing" and "arghhh -ing" when something horrible showed on the tv screen. but well, i do sharethe same feeling as them. It's a pretty ok show ... sad ending.


Later Chong, Shameus decided to rock the night with our guitar. Before that actually, Pandy and the gang were playing worship songs and i just join in. I say it's a great to play guitars together :) I particularly like when we played "Awesome God" and sang together ... It's real good.


I sleep early as usual. lol .. Chong n the rest joined me around at the same timing

---

Sunday late morning,


Got up, i went out to play more guitar..


Den Shaemus join in ... and we played alittle together.



After shaemus left, we had a sort of late breakfast cum lunch together @ Mac. I ate kinda alot! Occasionally, i can't help feeling like i'm a big balloon with river of water in my belly.



Amazing Race (w143 version again!)

We ran around finding checkpoints. Only difference is that we have to do a task after we reach a checkpoint. Task is decided by the number we rolled on a dice. Occasionally, very frequently .. we'll be meeting the gamemasters .. which i first thought was a fortunate thing.

you see... everytime you meet them, you will be force to play scissor, paper and stone (x3) with them. If you win, you get to get a free clue for the next checkpoint. If not, you have to accept the fear factor challenge. The challenge is to eat the bread with some of the sauces they've gotten from mac. Not really something to fear. I guess it's more of the fear of meeting them. you don't wanna be fed by them..

anyway the bread with the different sauces taste yucky.



We ,


got our sandles wet ...


ate a bunch of yucky bread ...


passed a rubber band to each other wif a chopstick in our mouth


groan at the never-ending walk


ran across the road barefooot.




above all .. we had lotsa fun.



second to that, we got to dish out punishments !!


cos my team - Team Revival are the Champions :D



Team Adoration just had to taste toothpaste with their face ^^



LoL ... how's the toothpaste make-up ?



Back at the last checkpoint. Chillin out at the Chalet.


Good Job Gamemasters !!! It's a real good game! Much better than the one i planned before. I am proud of you guys :)



Well it's late. I am shagged!! But very happy :) hehehe
I shall get more photos from Chong and Mom.



yea .. cheers :)
ps: i'll put a secret collection of sleepyheads i've taken in flickr :P

Turth and love.

[ personal ramblings ]




Truth Without Love Is Cruelty,
But Love Without Truth Is Hypocrisy.



Ephesians 4:15
"But, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head - Christ..."
(NKJV)

Before we ever begin to shine the light of correction upon another we must first take the time to honestly evaluate whether or not we are telling ourselves the truth. For instance, are we unapproachable about any area of our lives? Have we been guilty to allow the seriousness of our need for change to touch our hearts?

God also requires honesty with others when it is needed. He may lead us to talk to someone who just doesn't seem to understand the severity of his or her situation. If that person doesn't recognize the potential consequences of their wrong behavior, we may come to the point where we realize we cannot let the lie go on any longer - we must confront that person with the truth.

Proverbs 27:6 tells us, "Faithful are the wounds of a friend." Many
Christians do not understand how important this principle is. They want to spend all of their time telling a person how great he is instead of loving him enough to tell him the truth he needs to hear, even if it hurts.

So let us choose to be a true friend knowing that faithful are these wounds. A true friend is the only one who is willing to speak the truth in love.

Confession
Ephesians 4:15
"I am a faithful friend and I speak the truth in love."


[adapted from Ps Robb Thompson's Mailing list]





Great Reflections :)
I am a faithful friend who will strive to bring the truth in love.

Reminiscence

[ photoblog entry ]


Our last day in this faithful building ..


@ Jurong West


Street 91








It sure brings back memories ... someday

Live @ Service 2 on a regular Saturday Afternoon

Me and my Former Team IC, Brother Alex!!

That is us again!!! haa

Usher-mates! (from left) Jonathan(dat RI boy) , forgot-his-name(lol oops), Me and Noel

Hai Bin, Jonathan,pui ye and Grace

Me and svc 2 backdrop.. (kinda impromtu pic shot)

Me and the lovely couple.. John and Jess

awww.. They married here .. in this room dey are pointing.. can tell they'll miss this place!

lovely look!! :)

lol John's funny pooose! His last service as a Caterer in de Church Cafe

narcism??! haa nooooo ... it's admiration of our good o' church mirrors!! (get that right!)

wad's Jarrett doing ?? lol can someone tell me??

Brothers of w143 @ CHC lobby! So cool, we look rite? yada yoda!

Me and Zhou Jie Lun (yi zhou) @ Riveria

I've been wanting to take a new pic with Mom!! i love this one :)

Ha~ Check us out!! yo-yo-yo..

Summary of my last 2 services today :

Svc 2 : If Ms Robin Harfouche's testimony doesn't melt your heart.. i don't know what will. I mean you can tell from her speech how she was like before !! and how things really changed and move to be what it was like now ... with Christ in her life. She is a pretty lady dancer from Hollywood and she laughs real ....... erm funnily too!! lol. Her message really captures many teenages' heart and absolutely impress me. :) From a sexually-abused child to a drug addict and now to a great servant of God .. i mean there are many such stories like this are out there. But the powerful thing is : they all come with one amazing way of saying .. How Great is Our God !!!


Svc 3 : He really loves our Church! and our dear o' Pastor Kong. He bring an amazingly different message this time.. About God's covering. I have read the book Under Cover by John Bevere .. and this message really brings the things i learn to a new dimension. He really touched my heart today .. and really showed me how blessed i am .. to have leaders like my mom ... my team IC, the other usher leaders, and also Our great Pastor Kong Hee ... over my life. And i know they are going to do the most difficult thing ... on the day of Judgement... to stand with me and give an account of me to God. :) It's a priviledge and Honour to be Under Cover. Thank you Leaders !

---

so now...

Expo.. here we come! :) I know it's gonna be great there !!