Taught in the College Bible class at church last Sunday. The subject was Uzzah's death during the Ark processional in I Chronicles 13. Reminded that God is not to be messed around with.
Shared in Alpha & Omega on Tuesday. Learned in Exodus 32-33 and John 15 about how God calls us to a deeper "face-to-face" relationship with Him as friends.
Snowed on Thursday! :) Went sledding and snowfighting. Lots of fun and aching arms the next day.
First looks at the snow..
Snow-covered El!!
Lots of people taking pictures of the unusually heavy snowfall
Happy people after sledding and snowfighting :)
Me and a random snowchild
The snow-covered campus the morning after. It all melted away in the 50+F afternoon
Went to WinterJam yesterday (Friday) night. Newsong, Skillet, Barlowgirl, and MercyMe. God spoke to me about faith throughout the concert, even though I normally don't enjoy such events as much. Tony Nolan spoke of the benchmark for faith through the story of a tightrope walker who walked on a rope across the Niagara Falls twice with a wheelbarrow. The crowd cheered him on for a third, screaming their belief in his ability. He told them to demonstrate their faith by coming out to sit in the wheelbarrow as he walked. How many of them really believed? How many of us really believe?
Right now I'm waiting for 30 pork dumplings (siu mai??) to be done in Anna's steamer. Jian Peng's idea. Tongue and stomach itchy dy. =p
Gotta go study for my Intro to Music Lit. test. And then find time to sift through 62 assorted Raphael frescoes, Madonnas, portraits, and other works for a 30-40 minute presentation for Monday.
Well, Christmas is over, and I'd be robbing God and my wonderful friends and extended family here in Clarksville of credit if I didn't tell of my positively marvelous Christmas season. :) Here are some snapshots to aid in the telling..
December 24th: Christmas eve at the Crows'. Robyn is in green, and Cady, her sister, is in red. Robyn is Anna's roommate. Her family graciously invited us over for Christmas dinner.
Matthew, Robyn's brother, waxing dramatic over the contents of his stocking.
Robyn's mum, documenting family memories.
Nana, Robyn's grandma - an AMAZING cook. In the background is Robyn's grandpa, fondly known as Hoot Nanny.
Joy in a Christmas card. :)
A giant remote control for Hoot Nanny. Lol!
The aftermath of the gift exchange. Many thanks to Robyn and the Crows for a wonderful Christmas eve! :)
December 25th: Christmas day at the Edingtons'. Samantha is in her new pink pajamas, and Emily is in colorful new pajamas also. The Edingtons get new pajamas every Christmas eve.
One of Lisa's faceless angels. They usually creep me out, but this one doesn't look half bad up close. :p
Anna with the girls, trying to figure out Emily's new Barbie laptop.
Anna and I are literally paparazzi at every event we attend. But hey, memories are well kept in photographs, no? You'll be thanking us years down the road, just you see. ;p
Mark joins in the Barbie fun. Looks pretty intense!
New bikes for the Edington girls!
Sam says Merry Christmas to grandpa while Lisa takes a photo.
Emily sweet-talking grandpa. Precious, isn't she? Many thanks to Mark and the Edingtons for letting us in on a warm and joyful Christmas day with the family. :)
December 25th: Christmas makan/surprise birthday celebration for Anna with the Ozark-Malaysians. Angust displaying the results of his ridiculously strong arm. One stroke from the butcher's knife cut through the chicken, split the chopping board in half, and cut the table too!!
A closer look at the carnage..
Relaxing after a great Christmas and birthday meal. Thank you, my countrymen, for your part in a truly satisfying and meaningful Christmas and birthday party! :)
Anna and I.
Florence and Anna.
Lay Hoong and Anna.
The cousins! Susan and Anna.
Fun with Florence! :p
Those three are something else! Susan helped to surprise Anna with Zai Choi, her favorite Christmas and birthday dish. The three of them also baked a scrumptious chocolate cake for her (with Angust's help). Thank you all! :)
I think this year's Christmas has been one of my fullest and most meaningful one yet. Heaps of Christmas food and cheer at the Crows' and Edingtons', oodles of Malaysian food and fellowship (including Zai Choi, Emperor Herbal Chicken, sardines, and Crash Bandicoot), a Malaysian gift exchange, and the joy of having a part in making Anna's birthday a special time.. All these goodies swirl around my deep gratitude to God for leaving the splendor of heaven for the squalor of earth and the shame of the cross, all for love.
Yes, God has been very good to me, and I cannot help but praise Him for who He is and what He's done for me. My God is a loving Father to me, who takes care of me, is willing to stand by me through tough times He puts me through for my own good, and never lets up loving me, no matter how many times I fail. My Father loves me for who I am, not who I should be. I was adopted into His wonderful family when I latched onto His Son Jesus (whose birth, incidentally, is the occasion for yuletide cheer) 19 years ago, and He wants to adopt and love you too! I pray that as the Christmas season passes and the new year approaches, you will find peace and love and joy in my Father's arms as I have.
me is pitiful. last post was weeks and weeks ago. ah, me. =p needless to say, i still live. as to how i'm doing? as i wrote on an old friend's facebook wall the other day, i am "taking photos, learning psych, playing music, loving life, god, friends, missing home and char koay teow and mamak, beginning to stress about postgraduate options, looking for internship this summer, trying to save $$, wishing i was rajin enough to blog consistently, sleeping late.." to sum it, life is good.
the sem's winding down to a close, and i can't shake this gnawing feeling that i've only barely scratched the surface of the disciplines i'm supposed to be studying this semester - social psychology, descriptive statistics, and new testament greek. it's a true statement (that i've only scratched the surface), but it does not follow that i haven't learnt much.
i realized yesterday while talking with anna bout the sem that i've actually amassed quite a bit of skills and knowledge in my studying this sem - the only difference i can identify between this sem and sems past has been my level of output (measured by the amount of tests and papers i've had to do for my classes).
i've previously gotten used to weekly 30-page reports, bi-monthly tests, and homework, homework, homework. this sem's been different. with the absence of "output" (read: busy work), i've had more freedom to explore the disciplines. i've been using my handy greek new testament for my bible study, and have actually begun browsing psych journals (esp. social psych) for FUN (god forbid!! =p). i like things this way. even now, as i'm studying for an impending social psych test (on tues), i'm enjoying looking up research and actually LEARNING the stuff, as opposed to merely engulfing material to be regurgitated come test day.
makes me feel like the money invested in my education is paying dividends. =)
enough talk, then. let me entertain you with... *DRUM ROLL* *CHIANG!!!*
THE LIFE OF A PAPARAZZI PHOTOGRAPHER
(introducing.. Alicia and Kellie!!)
Kellie: eh? is he taking our picture ar?
Alicia: erm... wait ar, let me think..
Kellie: think so long for wat, just look at the fler la!!
Alicia: hmmm.. ya hor..
Both: WAHH!! HE REALLY TAKING OUR PICTURE WORR!! SHOOT THE PAPARAZZI MAN!!!
Note: No subjects or photographers were harmed in the making of this pointless excuse for a story.
Updates are looooooong overdue. A 2 month blogging hiatus is unacceptable. I hereby make amends in point form. Since I last blogged...
1. I got new shoes. From Fayetteville. The first pair of "real" Nikes that I've actually bought. $39 for a pair of white Nike Air basketball shoes. I love them to death.
2. I got my hair cut by a first-time hairdresser. One of the best haircuts I've ever gotten from someone with no professional training. Kudos, Anna, for actually listening to the customer's wishes. :) 3. I learned that when John told his disciples, "Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world" (John 1:29), he was actually saying, "Look at the Lamb of God who is [right now] taking away [and putting on himself to bear] the sin of the world." This from a simple analysis of the layers of Greek semantics packed into the word "takes away" in that verse. I'm thankful for the opportunity that I have here to learn New Testament Greek.
4. I've finally started learning jazz songs. For those of you who don't know, I ardently desire to become a jazz pianist, but before last week, I had zero jazz songs in my repertoire. Go figure. That's changed tho. I've learned "Misty" and "Peace Piece" (Bill Evans), and am working on "Autumn Leaves" and "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."
5. Prayer meetings are growing!! It's exciting to see how God is moving on this campus.
6. I added "really-tasty-beef-semi-stew-with-onions-and-tomotoes" to my culinary repertoire.
7. I'm awestruck by how the Malaysian population on this campus has grown. We are now 22-strong, and a sizeable (and oftentimes vociferous) force on campus.
8. I got a grade changed from an A- to an A for one of my classes for last semester (Abnormal Psych) and can now give God glory for my first 4.0. 9. I've been driving like MAD. Made 3 trips to Little Rock airport and 2 trips to Fayetteville (running errands for Huy). And no one died. =p I did get a teensy bit lost tho.. But it turned out all right in the end, thanks to some cool nerves inherited from my beloved father, and to my co-driver Anna Yong's reticence from yelling, "What the heck is your problem??? WHY didn't you take that turning????". =p 10. I learned to play basketball. Yes, as shocking as that may seem, yesterday was the first time I actually learned how to shoot - from the legs, follow through with the arms, use the backboard, jump shots, etc. Many thanks to Susan Low (our resident freshman wonder-athlete) for taking 45 minutes of her time to patiently coach me. It's exciting to learn new things!! 11. I've learned to skip rocks. Yes, another new skill that I would expect me to already have under my belt. Cool, nonetheless, to watch a rock leave your fingers and skip across a body of water, thanks to fascinating mechanisms of physics I am unacquainted with. 12. I've been pressed with a growing realization of my own depravity and pride and abject need for God. May God continue working in me to develop the humble character of His Son. A life verse I have recently received has been from Matthew 11:28-30: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Many thanks to the Holy Spirit for opening my eyes to see the context of the verse: weariness and burden is a direct result of self-striving and selfishness and pride, the opposite of gentleness and humbleness of heart. Jesus invites us to adopt his mantle of humility and find the ease and lightness of that way of living.
13. I've been more active and outgoing this semester, spending time playing captainball on Sundays, swim parties, going out to lakes and mountains, playing racquetball (the American equivalent of squash), cycling. I've discovered that healthy eating and exercising naturally go together: the more I exercise, the less I am drawn to fatty foods and the less I tend to overeat. A neat little cycle that you might want to experiment with.
14. I'm beginning to look at post-baccelaureate options. As of now, I have a pretty good idea that God's direction is to go ahead to graduate school, so I'm working by faith on that assumption and searching for fields of psychology to specialize in and places to study at. At present, it looks like God's leading me to stay on in the States after graduation to pursue a PhD or PsyD. God's timing is weird (in a sense that it rarely ever fits our schedule) but perfect: I talked to Prof Jones last week, and found out they're just beginning to reach out and look for Universities to network with for internships and graduate school opportunities for U of O psych majors. I'm excited to see how He will lead and I will follow in the days to come.
WOW. It has been awhile. My last post was on March 16th? *shakes head and bows in apology*
Here are some updates in point form:
I did NOT get wasted with drunk girls over Spring Break. I went for tour with the Ozarks Chorale, Chamber Singers, and Handbells Choir during Spring Break. I thoroughly enjoyed the thrill of performing, and the company of my fellow musicians over the course of 5 days. Between performances, we had lots of time to sightsee and enjoy Texas, so I had the chance to snap a LIBRARY of pictures. Good times.. ;) Here are some pictures:
Me. ;p
Samantha Puent
Anna Yong.. Contemplative?
In a host home: Robyn with a real live telegraph.
In San Antonio: Lily - a Chinese adopted girl. Precious.
Group pic at the end of Tour, back in good old Clarksville.
WAH. That's a lot of pictures! Phew.
I have been working like a horse in Clinical Experience Class. Averaging 10-12 hours of work a week for 1 hour of college credit. o_0 Good experience tho.
I went home with James Wesson to witness his baptism, and got the chance to watch a St Louis Cardinals' baseball game (against the Cleveland Indians) in Memphis. Good times..
Erm. For criminal psych, I had to read and review a book about a serial killer - Donald "Pee Wee" Gaskins. SICK, SICK man who killed 110 people, mostly girls, mostly involving sadistic sex. God have mercy on his soul..
I have a "B" in Business Stat, an "A" in American National Government, and I'm passing the rest of my classes (cos my professors are either unable or unwilling to post my midterm grades).
I think I now function best with 6-7 hours of sleep.
I have discovered that I am a morning person.
I planned my first service for First Baptist Clarksville. I now appreciate the enormous amount of work that goes into a worship service (e.g., putting up songs on Worshipplanning for people to listen to and practice, finding and uploading lead sheets and chord charts), and feel a small sense of delight for being given the privilege of giving up time for my Daddy. =)
The end of the semester is coming!!
Huy (my excellent roommate) is moving out next semester to take care of his sister who's coming over from Vietnam for an exchange program.
Huy is taking us (me, Anna, Kathy, and Sam) to his host family's home today for some grilled chicken, fun, food, and fellowship.
God is seriously SUPER KENG!! He is a really amazing Daddy who takes care of His kids. Had the chance to be used by God during a recent prayer walk organized by FBC. Anna and I had the rare privilege of being an answer to a woman's prayers. I lazy to type up the story again (=p), so here's Anna's bloggy about that cool moment:
"It was a hot Saturday afternoon, and me and Joel were almost done with our route for our church’s Prayer Walk.
We spent 1 1/2 hours before that praying for the families and hanging door-hangers on the doors of different homes along College Avenue. That was our church’s way to show Clarksville how much we really love and care for them..
We only had two more houses down our road, but we had a little more than two door-hangers with us. We saw some apartment houses to our left, which was also off our route. We stopped to decide whether or not to pray for those apartments as well.
Well, there’s always no harm praying. So we decided to go ahead and hang the extra door-hangers there. We stopped after the 5th apartment. There wasn’t enough for the two more houses on our original route. Joel decided to continue hanging whatever extra door-hangers we had, and I called up the rest of the people on our team for more door-hangers.
Joel passed by an open door while he was hanging the last of our door-hangers, and he decided to pop in and give it to the lady in there personally.
“Hi! This is for you, and so that you know, we just prayed for you and your family. Have a good day!”
Not long after we left, a lady came running up to us..
“Hey, I was thinking.. Could you pray for me now? I’m from Texas, and I’m here in Clarksville to visit my sister. All our money just got stolen, and I don’t know how we are going to get back home. Things have been tough on me. My husband left my and my three kids about 5 months ago.. We were married 11 years..”
Her name was Delisa. Joel prayed for her.
She thanked us after the prayer. And it was then I found myself reaching into my wallet to give her my last $10. She started crying..
“I don’t know how to thank the two of you.. I was not brought up in a very religious family. I did attend a Pentecostal church before I married my husband, after that, I hardly ever went to church anymore. You know, right before you two came up to our door, I was praying to God, asking Him to send someone to help us. And then you came..”
Joel gave her another $20; we hugged her, mentioned that our church would be there if she needed any extra help, and then continued on our way.
God is so cool.
It was not us who touched Delisa’s life that day. It was God. We were merely used by Him to bless her life.." (Anna Yong, Exaggerated Tales, 2007)
God also takes care of us by protecting our lives - one of my friends on campus was attacked by his roommate with a knife, but survived fairly admirably (needless to say, his roommate is no longer here - was expelled). He also cancels classes when His kids are drowning in work and crying out for relief, and plays nice songs on media player shuffles to bring comfort and healing to his hurting children. God is SO COOL.
Here's a cool hymn to chew on (part of my time with God this morning - He is SUPER KENG!!
O FOR A CLOSER WALK WITH THEE
William Cowper
1 O for a closer walk with God, A calm and heavenly frame; A light to shine upon the road That leads me to the Lamb!
2 Where is the blessedness I knew, When first I saw the Lord? Where is the soul refreshing view Of Jesus and his word?
3 What peaceful hours I once enjoyed! How sweet their memory still! But they have left and aching void The world can never fill.
4 Return, O holy Dove, return, Sweet messenger of rest! I hate the sins that made thee mourn, And drove thee from my breast.
5 The dearest idol I have known, Whateer that idol be, Help me to tear it from thy throne, And worship only thee.
6 So shall my walk be close with God, Calm and serene my frame; So purer light shall mark the road That leads me to the Lamb.
This is my prayer, and I hope it is yours too. Taste and see that God is GOOD. =)
Sinner. Saved by grace. Saint (in the making). Worshipper. Musician. Wordsmith. Artist. Lover of beauty. Man. Child of God. Wannabe athlete. Emotional. Thinker. Complex. Different. Person.
First looks at the snow..
Snow-covered El!!
Lots of people taking pictures of the unusually heavy snowfall
Happy people after sledding and snowfighting :)
Me and a random snowchild
The snow-covered campus the morning after. It all melted away in the 50+F afternoon
Went to WinterJam yesterday (Friday) night. Newsong, Skillet, Barlowgirl, and MercyMe. God spoke to me about faith throughout the concert, even though I normally don't enjoy such events as much. Tony Nolan spoke of the benchmark for faith through the story of a tightrope walker who walked on a rope across the Niagara Falls twice with a wheelbarrow. The crowd cheered him on for a third, screaming their belief in his ability. He told them to demonstrate their faith by coming out to sit in the wheelbarrow as he walked. How many of them really believed? How many of us really believe?
