Dust Gets Into my Eyes

Just came back from a heartwarming mission trip in Bakong, 2 hours from Miri. We touched down at Miri airport on Saturday afternoon, and straight away headed to the heartland of Borneo, through miles and miles of bumpy untarred roads, and found ourselves in a rural church, next to a 40 doors- traditional long house, and into the middle of constant man-made dust storms.
As the church is situated next to a massive road construction site, and we are in the midst of a terrible 24 hour haze, the debris of dirt and flying dust from passing vehicles were enough to put off the faint hearted, but thank God, all of us were even more determined to brace the cloud of dust.

We had opportunities of visiting 2 long houses, shared our testimonies and prayed for the people there, and distributed new Bibles and other stuff to the people in the long-houses. As much as we wanted to bless the Iban community there, we were shown the warmest hospitality and had a lot of fun too, especially for the children.

Faith & Jordan.... had a real good time.
Praise and worship time with the villagers.
These children enjoyed the activity led by Jackie while the adults were listening to our sharings.
Praying for those who needs a healing touch from God during the 2nd night meeting.
We witnessed the baptism for new believers in a pond nearby the long house.
It is my prayer that God's presence continue to dwell in this place and bring about a spiritual revival.Halleluyah !

In Anticipation

The joy of anticipating something is always exciting. Whether it's a big event or a small one, it can create a spark of happiness in our soul. The whole of last week, the family ,young and old alike has been excited about Carol's return. The kids are doubly excited over the contents of her luggage...especially Jordan who has been conspiring with her for months over a football jersey. And like today... I 'm thinking how nice it is with the holidays coming up next week and the whole family will be together again. Carol is already back tho a bit jet lagged and Alie will be touching down on Monday. It's really nice for everyone to be back together and boy... what fun.

I know hubby is excited about the upcoming mission trip and it will be Jordan's first foray into the jungles of Borneo. The whole team going is excited about sharing the love of Christ with the our native brothers and sisters .

All of us regardless of age look forward to events in our lives. Tho' some events we dread like exams or doctor's appointments or certain meetings which drag on for hours on end yet on the other end of the spectrum are events which we so look forward to like a trip , or birthdays or parties. For certain events we have to make preparations for instance for our next year's trip to NZ we are looking into winter clothes which are so necessary if we are not going to freeze to the bone.

In our spiritual journey... I wonder , “Do we anticipate the second coming of Christ ?” It is something which no one knows when but it is surely gonna happen. Looking at the world events … we Christians are not to be surprised as the Bible has already mentioned what is to happen in the last days. The only thing is we don't know exactly when the event will occur. My next question is, “ Do we make preparations ?”

Often times, we make a whole lot of preparations for events in our lives and the second coming of Christ never cross our minds.... so we don't give it any thought. As His children , we need to spare some thoughts on this matter. We need to consider our lives and evaluate on whether what we do and spend time on has any eternal value ? I am not saying that if you are facebooking or twittering away .. you are doomed or condemned but my thoughts are more on... apportioning our time and learning to be selective on how we spend our waking hours. We need to know what God's plan for our lives is so that we can groove with it.

The last day events do not sound pleasant. Yet is is inevitable. Are we prepared for them ? Are we God's army prepared and ready for battle or are we drowsy sleepy complacent soldiers who are likely to be the type who is caught unaware ?

Let's not just drift thru life … day in day out without purpose. Catch God's vision for you and run with it.

Maranatha!!!

Guess Who ?

I was at my parents’ place today and mom left a stack of photos out on the sofa. I think she must have been sorting out some stuff and I happily thumbed through them and had a really good laugh at some of them. I am posting them to remind the 2 aunties that their nieces and nephews are growing up fast and they have to make a point to come back more often regardless of cost & distance!!!!

Looking at these photos only served to remind that these tiny beings are not so tiny anymore. They will eventually be taller than us and the likelihood of them outshining us is certainly there.

Mr Cupcake & Miss Pumpkin

Mr Cool

There used to be 4 …

now here’s one more.

Miss Gong Xi Fa Cai

MUSINGS

All of us , whether we like it or not have swiftly hurtled into the second half of 2011. Mark my words …. Christmas will not just creep up on you... it will be right in your face before you know it. I was looking thru my diary a couple of days ago and I realised that I should start thinking about what to buy for Christmas gifts. My Christmas list is long and that's just my list and over the years it has come to include Heather and Jordan's friends as well. Thank God hubby does not have a long list. Man are really not into gift buying. They just leave it to their obedient wives to do it!!!!

Normally I try not to leave it to the last minute to shop. I don't buy all the gifts too near Christmas coz when the credit card bills come... I think hubby might pass out. I would buy them a few months before so that I don't fully feel the impact of the amount spent. My reasoning is “ If I don't feel it, he won't either”. Ha ha.

At work I am starting to look into 2012 and getting the teachers to plan for next year. How come the days go by so quickly ? When I was much younger, Christmas , Chinese New Year and my birthday took forever to arrive. The phrase “time and tide wait for no man” is an apt description of our lives nowadays.

The Word of God tells us to number our days. Some might find that verse negative but I think it is such a positive proactive thing to do. When we number our days so to speak we are reminded of our mortality and how we need to live each day to the fullest in Christ. This does not mean that we need to be engaged in all sorts of activities at every single moment. There are days when I completely indulge in being lazy. No housework, no thinking about work and that's very nice too .

Living our lives in the fast lane can be very tiring and with the days going by so swiftly , we need to take a step back and look at our lives and see whether that is the direction we want to see it heading. If the answer is “yes” then by all means carry on. If the answer is “no” then we need to re-look into the situation and bring it before God ...which is what I am doing right now!!!

Uncluttering Your Life

I don't like clutter. That's one thing about me. If other people want to clutter I am ok with that but no clutter in my house. So I don't have many cabinets or huge wardrobes in my house. I keep everything to a minimal. If the wardrobe or cabinets are too full... then it's time to throw or give away some of the stuff.

Hubby cannot understand this side of me. A few times in a year , I would rummage through our wardrobes looking for clothes to giveaway. He would hold on to them for dear life declaring that he still wants to wear them while I will be defending my position stating that he hasn't worn them for the last 2 years or so. In the end , he would relent coz I tell him that I am giving to those who need it more than him.

For me life is pretty simple. If we don't wear the clothes anymore... why keep them? Give it away to someone who can use it. Same thing with toys and books. We have CDs that we no longer listen to or some of them doesn't even appeal to us... so why line them on the shelves ??
So the best recourse is to give them away. There are many people out there , who would benefit from this very simple exercise of uncluttering.

Right now... I am looking through our clothes again. My hands are itching to give them away. Hubby will be going to Baram area for a mission trip at the end of August.. So I am sending him off with stuff for the village folks.

So if anyone wishes to unclutter , you can drop your clothes off with hubby. Your LV bags, Jimmy Choos , Pradas are greatly welcomed. We also accept Guchi, Blurberry, If San Lorong and the likes.

The MERLION fun

Just recently, I went to S’pore with my school band and the trip was a blast. This trip was part of the school band exchange program. The trip was 5 days and I visited many places which broadened my mind. These are just some pictures from the trip.

We stayed at the Costa Sands Resorts and my roommates and I had a fun time together. we slept late but had to wake up early.
The impressive auditorium @ Yong Siew Toh Conservatory.

Trying out the piccolo trumpet @ the Brass Explosion in Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts.Music exchange program with Bukit View Sec School.
Swimming with Esjoy @ the theme park linked to Costa Sands Resort.
Universal Studio here we come!!!
Me & Daisy Duck.
Frankenstein got me & my friends!!!!
I went on 3 roller coaster rides & this one is the BEST!!!
Don't we look cute together ???
I watched a 4D movie in this majestic castle. I wanna watch it AGAIN!!!
Fishball picking competition at the museum.
Shopping in S'pore.
We also visited the Science Centre, 2 museums and saw the Marina Bay plus a host of other places. It was a glorious trip & I wish i could go again.

STS Symphonic Band Concert

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Last Saturday, we all trooped excitedly to watch Heather's school band concert. The school band has been working hard for the concert as well as the upcoming trip to Singapore for the music exchange programme.

Overall the girls did well. We managed to take some photos during the concert.

The band kicked off with the “Band Overture” and throughout the night you see the band girls having different attire for the different kinds of pieces played.

The Taylor Swift songs saw them all in pink and whites.




The flowery hippy dresses for the Beatles Song “ Here, Now & Everywhere”.

The black number for the "Full Throttle Funk".

Apart from the band performance, we had the Holloback girls performance. Faith enjoyed the very upbeat hip hop style.
Then we were highly entertained by the Desperados an offshoot of the band. These girls won the St Joseph School Idol Competition. They were cool.

Few days before the concert, Heather was asked to fill a 3 min gap between presentations. She chose “Croatian Rhapsody” coz she said it will not require a lot of practice time.
This video clip sees Miss Tan just out of the shower and having a final go at home before the real thing.

Grandpa was worried that Asher might doze off half way thru but he was wide awake till the very end. Faith was swinging and feet tapping or was is stomping ?? to the upbeat numbers. Hubby had a difficult time holding the camera with all that movement next to him.

As the curtains fall , and the instruments kept temporarily we just want to say we are proud of you HAT....eventho u make a lot of noise with the trumpet when u practice but you sure was good in all the presentations.