wee!! CNY is coming! which means i have a reason to shop and stock up on new clothings! haha. i've never really enjoyed shopping... only after i got married that i would think of going shopping.. don't ask me why.. i don't have an answer myself =P

maybe it's coz i've been gaining weight these past few months... which is a really good sign considering that i'm underweight.. and i didn't realise that gaining 1kg can be quite significant.. gosh.. i took out this t-shirt that i've not worn for months.. and it actually felt tighter. oops... but it also does mean that i can fit into more things now when i go shopping. =) hahaha.

cny this year is gonna be so different... yes yes... my first year giving out ang baos is definitely one major move forward.. but this year also mean the setting of new routines for cny... how to arrange 除夕 dinners with both of our families.. and whose homes to visit.. what gifts to bring.. fun fun fun... =)

i feel that cny is more meaningful to me now compared to new year's day on 1st jan.. why? coz it's a time where everyone makes it a point to go home (ok, let's not talk abt those who takes the opportunity of the 2-day public holiday to travel) and spend time with the people who matters to them most and a time when you can say 'no' to all other obligations so that you can shower that time with your family.

and till then... more shopping for me!!! muahaha! i need a few more stuff.. as some of my clothes i've been wearing them for more than 2 years.. golly.. good time for a change. so there she goes!

{ Tuesday, January 30 }

it's always so inspiring to hear from pastor khong.. and especially yesterday, since it was the first working day of the year. and his speech is so seasoned and so full of faith. well, he spoke exactly about what i was writing about in my previous post... that this would be a year of victory...

but one thing i probably didn't understand in while i was writing that post was that i would be fighting for the victory. actually, that's not exactly true. we don't have to fight for the victory. we fight from the victory. it is because we have the victory, the power over death, that we can stand strong to fight and be led in triumphal procession. just imagine this, every step you take, you're a winner. the only problem now lies in whether you believe in this battle that has been won for you.

"But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him." 2 Corinthians 2:14

so because we have the victory, we should be light! and we should be a warrior. be a warrior of light. for where there is light, there cannot be darkness. and we were challenged to take back the marketplace for God.

there was a sharing of testimony by a fellow brother who works among prisoners. to hear his faith and how the Lord has led him to start many initiatives, providing him with the resources, is simply amazing. it's miracle upon miracle.

faith.

a simple word to define, yet a difficult word to live out. the problem with us is that we usually base our belief on what we can see in the physical. yet, sometimes when we do see, we do not believe because it challenges our logic and interllect. but we know that faith is beyond all these -- the physical and the logical. well, i'm not saying that math and science are not from God. if we believe that He is the creator, such knowledge is definitely set in place by Him. afterall, God is a god of order. but what i'm saying is that faith goes beyond just all these things we can calculate and explain. it's the inexplicable character and doings of a God that simply loves us beyond even our imagination.

the more we walk in faith, the more we grow in faith. for only when we walk in faith, do we see works of faith. and the more we see works of faith, we can be full of faith. it's a cyclical thing, you see.

i have forgotten about the greatness of God. i have shirked away from situations that require a move in faith. i have functioned too much with my own interllect instead of depending on Him.

i want that to be different this year. i want God to be change me inside out -- starting from the inside so that it is reflected on the outside. i want to remember that i serve a great great God.

o Lord, walk with me through 2007.

{ Thursday, January 4 }

happy new year all of you!!

as we bid 2006 goodbye 3 days ago and enter 2007, i'm sure we are moving into the new year with lots of new hopes. though some may feel stressful entering into 2007 because of major exams or changes, many of us enter into it with great hopes for the year.

for me, i've got quite a lot of things lined up.. and it is going to be a very packed and busy year once again. and this year, i really wanna strive to remember people's birthdays and remember to send greetings for festive seasons like christmas. busy-ness has really gotten the better of me in 2006... preparing for marriage and settling down into a new life really zapped much of my time and energy. not that 2007 is gonna be any easier juggling some things that comes with married life, but it does make me think about what i want and how i might go about doing the things i want.

this year is gonna be a year of victory. and where there's gonna be victory, there's gonna be battles to be fought before they can be won. and there can only be battles when there's a prize to be won because that's why we're fighting.

go deep. look far. ask big.

going deep is building the foundation for battle. looking far is looking forward, not just looking at current and surrounding circumstances but looking towards the finish line and what is to come out of the difficult situations you find yourself in. just like a person running a marathon.. along the way you find yourself drained, the lactic acid taking a toll on your leg muscles but does the runner let that stop him? or is he going to continue running because the finishing line is where he really wants to be? and finally asking big. when you ask big, you dream and when you dream, you aspire. that is drive. that is passion.

want a life driven by passion? ask big. let the child-likeness in you take over. like the glimmer you see in every kids eyes when you ask them what they want, have that same faith to ask God, because you're His child.

so if you've not given much thought about 2007, what is your foundation? where are you looking towards? what is your dream?

{ Wednesday, January 3 }