A missionary's story

"On a mission to Africa, we came across this little boy around 6 years of age who was obviously suffering from starvation. Being all skin and bone, he was unable to do anything but stand upright as he watched us with his big eyes approaching him. He looked so weak and feeble, with a bloated tummy resulting from prolonged malnutrition, undoubtedly desperate for a morsel of any food. We gave him whatever we had - grapefruit. We placed it into his hands, but due to his lack of strength, it slipped onto the ground. We chopped it in half, and this time, he gripped tightly onto one half with both hands as he carried it away. Instead of eating it himself, he simply held onto it as he walked away from us. We followed him, in a way that did not draw his attention. After a while, we realised where he was heading when we saw another starving child, lying feebly on the ground. It turned out to be his younger brother. He crouched down next to his brother, and began to rip up a part of the grapefruit into tiny pieces. Very gently, he lifted his brother's head, put a bit of the grapefruit into the mouth and moved the jaws slowly to chew it up. He never had any himself.

We discovered later that the younger brother grew stronger and stronger, and continues to survive. The older brother died."


My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.
John 15:12-14


Some people may be willing to die for loved ones - family, friends, lovers. Very few may be willing to die for strangers. But will someone give up their life for someone they hated? How about going to hell? Would anyone go to hell for their enemy?

When Jesus died for our sins, He bore the wrath of God, and for a while was separated from God - His father - with whom He had a most intimate relationship. As sinners, we were His enemies.


EU gave a talk about the fourth point in the AFES doctrine - redemption which i found really good though brief =) So good how they're running a series of talks about each of the points in the doctrine =)

off to bed! sleeepy

grandma out of intensive care, should be good right?
aunt from canada there first to look after her at the moment
gonna head downstairs to find out more news after my mum gets off the fone

sleeeeepy ... been up since 5am this morn
5:40am train was late cos of a bomb scare at hornsby hmm
off to bed finally ... work tomolo ... why are all these ppl telling me i should quit?

im lopsided =P

You Are 55% Left Brained, 45% Right Brained

The left side of your brain controls verbal ability, attention to detail, and reasoning. Left brained people are good at communication and persuading others. If you're left brained, you are likely good at math and logic. Your left brain prefers dogs, reading, and quiet. The right side of your brain is all about creativity and flexibility. Daring and intuitive, right brained people see the world in their unique way. If you're right brained, you likely have a talent for creative writing and art. Your right brain prefers day dreaming, philosophy, and sports.


http://www.blogthings.com/rightorleftbrainedquiz/


who's lopsided and who isnt?

fishies at 7am!

pretty rough times lately hmm besides all the uni stuff and all the other stuff, my grandma has been in hospital in hk this past week, which has got my mum stressed above other stuff. my bro is in the middle of his half-yearlys. and my dad... things sometimes pretty stressed at home lately.

went swimming yesterday which was great. too much chlorine for my skin though, esp how being an indoor pool, concenration quite high cos none is evaporating >.<>.<

but yeh God is always there, through the good and the bad=) really grateful for the brothers and sisters He's blessed my life with! thanks for being there ppls! thanks for meeting up with me at 7 something in the morning, (though u were sick >.<), for ur hugs, for writing me emails cheering me up and showing me u care! for meeting up with me at uni at 8am! for ur patience as i struggled through rehearsal (for worship) last sun...for just being there, saying hi, talking on msn, for sending me worship songs!! hehe for getting me to install winamp (and wasting my precious time =P) for bearing with me when i couldnt make it to ur bday thingy, and movie thingy and the movie thingy when i wouldve liked to. though things havent improved as such, (can someone do my stats and physiology and molecular bio for me=P) having God and brothers and sisters there makes a huge difference! thanks!

ooh fish markets tmr...gotta leave house at 5:3oam latest! looking forward to the trek through darling harbour at dawn hehe! hopefully catch the sunrise =) gotta prepare for test and practical tonite >.< 10hrs of uni tmr...gonna be pretty dead. wonder if i should go out to dinner tmr nite or postpone hmm....dun wanna look stoned and drooping off !

exams grrrr

so much uni work to do but just dun feel like it >.< provisional exam timetable just out...not happy. cos the weeks dun match up between main campus and cumbo, im not gonna have the much-needed stuvac, followed by 3 weeks of exams instead of the 2 weeks that everyone else has! everyone out partying and ill still be slaving away at uni grrr. next semester even worse not looking forward to it. 30 credit points worth of stuff...having only 3 weeks of mid-semester break (cos wks still wont match up) and having an 18-week semester (including exams). sooo stoopid. not happy.

hmm was asked whot i find to be the most difficult abt uni so far. at the moment, id say the workload and loneliness. so behind with studying for exams atm cos of all the assignments and tests for various subjects. hmm loneliness cos i guess uni isnt like how it was back in nsg where i saw my close group of friends everyday and all. last year most of my time was spent at cumbo so got to know the ppl there well (esp physios) but this year most of my classes are at main campus, and im only starting to get to know some ppl there. ppl in my own course im starting to get to know too which isnt too easy cos ppl have formed groups and all, and im trying to get to know ppl outside my 'group'. feel so distant from ecu cos im only there for bible studies. eu is awesome...getting more involved with it but still quite distant from ppl there, prolly cos its so much bigger! so yeh finding it hard to get to know ppl well, spliting time up between this group of friends and that group...and christian stuff on the two campuses >< really grateful for the close friendships i still have with some hs friends!! hope they wont grow distant too! but though being a christian isnt easy sometimes, and can be lonely say when travelling between the campuses, i wouldnt give up God for anything, not for other ppl, not even for the world. sometimes i bump into ppl on the train and all, which is always good =)

wow such a girly post =P

just tidied up some stuff in my room =) woah had no idea i had so much lip balm and lip gloss =P hehe from mum, aunties, cousins over the years....some im using but others are just sitting there looking pretty =P my brother got me my 2nd favourite (well the one that tastes the best) which was really sweet hehe!

shopping-wise, looking forward to going shopping in hk! my mum's getting me to get some clothes hehe, esp how some of my shirts and pants ive worn since yr7 =P really want someone to go shopping with me! hehe not only for clothes and a whole bunch of other stuff but technology too! hehe thinking (hoping) to get USB drive, laptop, camera (??), mp3 player so i could listen to talks on the train and stuff!! hehe will need to scratch out a nice friend or cousin =P

hmm so many ppl seem to simply class anorexics as being 'ungrateful' (u know..."think of those who are starving! how can u not eat all this nice food! u must be dumb!" blah blah blah) but really, those who are actually anorexic (by that it doesnt mean that everyone who doesnt eat is anorexic) are victims of an illness

Anorexia nervosa: the relentless pursuit of thinness
- Person refuses to maintain normal body weight for age and height.
- Person denies the dangers of low weight.
- Is terrified of becoming fat.
- Is terrified of gaining weight even though s/he is markedly underweight.
- Reports feeling fat even when very thin.
- In addition, anorexia nervosa often includes depression, irritability, withdrawal, and peculiar behaviors such as compulsive rituals, strange eating habits, and division of foods into "good/safe" and "bad/dangerous" categories. Person may have low tolerance for change and new situations; may fear growing up and assuming adult responsibilities and an adult lifestyle. May be overly engaged with or dependent on parents or family. Dieting may represent avoidance of, or ineffective attempts to cope with, the demands of a new life stage such as adolescence.

just a bit about whot 'anorexia' really refers to


a lot of ppl who are suffering from anorexia really do wanna be rid of it. a lot of the time, rather than simply telling them off and advising them to 'just eat and exercise later', it helps much more to be there for them as a friend, help them to open up about their troubles and hardships (cos often anorexia rises from other problems/obstacles in their life). it can be so hard to get out of being anorexic

another thing, just because they mite start to eat a bit more, don't think that it's over and they're all good again....cos often its when u start to eat and start to gain some weight that it gets really really hard. often the hardest part i reckon...coming out of it


anyway brain really really tired today...hope ppl didnt notice my stoned expression at work today >.< got stuff done but not much else there...hardly spoke 5 words stringed together

RARARARA

mieow! got home about half an hr ago...stuff waiting to be done but dun feel like it yet >.<

yay! mid-semester exams and assignments all done for a while! little rest till this weekend when i gotta start up the assignments again!

oooh visit to fish markets next friday! gotta get there by 7am *groans* which means ill have to wake up b4 dawn! spend 1.5hrs there b4 heading to uni for 8hrs straight of classes >.< 10hrs straight that day followed by dinner out i think....hmm wonder how ill get through that day in a sane manner!

really hoping uni will change the draft exam timetable cos it sucks!!! on the one day ill be having 2 exams - both 6 credit point subjects >.< if i stuff that one day up, half my semester will be down the drain! and u know how main campus exams are worth like 70%! plus on the next day ill have my math exams grrr...

hmm whot else? pretty tired actually...must sleep earlier...early starts on thurs and fri usually. yay get to drive in tmr morning! hmm feeling quite detached from work nowadays actually, prolly cos im only working there saturdays whereas during the hols it was like a daily thing. been thinking whot's making me still stay there nowadays...like part of me wants change yet the other part still enjoys tutoring there and upholding its values =) don't think anyone else who got trained up at the same time as i did are still there....so many newbies now!! i feel weird cos im like stuck in-between. wasnt long after i started working there that the major change took place...there were like 7 others who went through that transition with me but all left now i think =( and the new ppl joined later and never saw how things were b4 =P so yeh i know some 'old' workers but seem to know some 'new' workers there better =P good and interesting =)

anyway just blabbing....should really get off and do some stuff! so much these days!

ikea at rhodes is huge!

so much happened this past week i can hardly remember whot i got up to a fortnight ago! mid-semester exams over...just assignments and quizzes left leading up to those horrid end-of-semester exams >.<

oooh went to rhodes waterside shopping centre yesterday with my family. woah that ikea is really huge! driving there wasnt as smooth as my dad had expected. according to the map, turning right off homebush bay drive would take us there, but in actual fact it was a left turn. so here i was stopped at red lights in busy traffic, stuck in the furthest right lane wanting to make a left turn 10m ahead >.< by the time i made it to the furthest left lane, it was 10m too far up, and the left lane was ending grrr. some young guy drive this 'wanna-be-classy' 4wd kept beeping at me from behind. far out, it wasnt like i wanted to be stuck there in front of him, and if u reckon im in ur way then just merge right if u can! dont beep at me for no reason, wasnt as though i could move any further either! read the road signs then u'd realise u've been as stoopid me in taking that lane! after a while he took the next lane, only to be beeped at majorly by this van who almost crashed into him sigh

anyways bought some stuff including lamps and vases and flowers etc! was a great day, but id say i liked those few hours i spent by myself in my room last night, rearranging stuff, changing whot my room looks like =) was great to hear my parents laughing out loud watching this chinese stuff, but i preferred being up in my room alone, thinking whilst changing the look of the room! was too sick to move out of it anyway. my parents forced me to take medication early cos i cant afford to be sick...weird and unnatural cos i prefer letting it run is natural course unless it cant be helped!

good how the songs were arranged for worship service today =) particularly liked the opening few songs sung together, one after another without breaks!!

hehe should go talk to lab partner abt molecular bio assn. looking forward to hs friend's bday party this sat!! havent seen hs friends for ages!! yay!