Funny

Funny how sometimes everything seems to be going well, and how sometimes things don't seem to go well at all. Funny how sometimes everything seems to be caught in the middle of these polar ends, and sometimes things bounce back and forth. Funny how sometimes things bounce, other times they dawdle. Funny how some periods of time seem to drag, and other periods just fly past leaving only traces to be washed away by the next moment in time. Funny how im not making much sense at all, but am stubbornly continuing to blog. Funny. Meh.

Wow :)

A large crowd followed and pressed around him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed." Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who touched my clothes?"

"You see the people crowding against you," his disciples answered, "and yet you can ask, 'Who touched me?' "

But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."


God is the creator of all that exists, and He sustains all life. He's sovereign over all ... the King of kings and Lord of lords !! Yet He cares for each and every one of His created beings, loving them so much that He sent Jesus to die for us. The woman who was healed from touching Jesus' clothes was just one of many many women who existed, and yet Jesus loved and cared for her. Knowing that she probably felt guilty after being healed from what seems like "stealing" a touch of Jesus' clothing, Jesus purposefully turned around and made sure that she would go away in peace, not feeling guilty from having been healed. Wow!! Not only did He heal the woman, but He made sure that she was reassured :) It's so wonderful how even though God has created everything from nothing, and is ruler over all, He still cares for all that's in creation! He's numbered the hairs on our head, and cares for each and every one of His sparrows :) How wonderful is it to place ourselves in His very hands!!

Perserverance

Training the body's muscles makes them stronger by increasing their size and by improving their tone. But how? In physiology, I learnt that a bout of strength exercise damages muscle fibres, which may die, leading to a release of substances that cause inflammation and pain. But it's all necessary for growth. As the old muscle fibres die, our bodies replace them with new and better ones, and hence the increase in muscle size and improved tone, allowing our muscles to be stronger and not as easily fatigued.

"Um it's the holidays, why on earth is she being so nerdy? She's not like this during the semester..."

Growth and maturity through trials and suffering may be likened to improving muscular strength. Suffering is awful to live through more often than not, but it is one way God uses to refine us like gold. I was reminded of the need to persevere yesterday, and look to the future with hope instead of fear.

As Christians, we are already saved through faith in Jesus, and Christ's righteousness has become our own. Perserverance does not achieve righteousness for us, but it contributes to the maturing process. Say, for example, Peter. Scripture portrays him as very human, coming to Christ in loving submission but with the passing of time he is tested, and denied Jesus when He was crucified, as was predicted. However, after the crucifixion and resurection, Peter preaches before a crowd and proclaims boldly: "Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36). Peter was tested, but perservered and endured hardship. Luke 22:31-32 gives insight into what God was doing, "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift youas wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."

Just as Jesus intercedes for us, the Holy Spirit also intercedes on our behalf, "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will" (Romans 8:26-27). With both Jesus and the Holy Spirit interceding for us, we are empowered to persevere :)

Jesus comforts us in John 14: "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me". To perservere through fears by believing true things about God - to keep on believing in His sovereignity, His omniscience, His omnipotence, His mercy and His loving grace!! Jesus not only encourages us to not give up, He shows us how.

Learning to trust

So hard to let go sometimes *sigh* especially when it comes to something that you've got. Grrr ... all these insecurities associated with living in this world today. What im trying to let go willingly is this job that's been offered to me by Royal North Shore hospital in the food services / nutrition department, which would be such a great experience! I mean, in wanting to become a dietetian at that hospital, what better experience now as an undergrad? But it's a 7-day rotating arrangement, which means that it's 7 days on, then 2 weeks off, then 3 weeks with 7 days a week on, then another 2 weeks off, which repeats. And it's 5-9pm, something my mum is totally unhappy with. But yeah it's wise to let go of this opportunity i know. Need to learn to trust God more and lean not on my own understanding, because He knows what's the best and He alone will provide!

revisiting childhood :P

Hehe finger is okay now, well okay as in i still cant use it like normal and it still hurts but i get to keep it and it doesnt hurt as much now :) Went to see the doctor, who gave me antibiotics, drilled a few holes through my nail to drain some of the blood out and told me to keep strapping it. Still rather black but meh it's a little better! Wonder when i can start using it again ... im worried about my piano playing the most

Went to work at child care centre this afternoon! This time it was at a small centre at Beecroft, so it was relatively quiet and boring at times. There weren't many kids (probably cause some of them had older siblings who are on school holidays at the moment) so it was rather bludgey. Had quite a bit of fun playing hide-and-seek, threatening to catch the kids for my dinner :P Ohhhh and i didnt realise until this afternoon how much ive missed playing with those kitchen toys!! They're so much more sophisticated these days, with the packaging being so detailed! And they have all sorts of things, from cans of coke to packets of choc chip cookies, to cornflakes to frozen cod fish fillets !!! It made me think about going to some toy shop and buying some just for me to play with and laugh over at home! That was before i thought about the pointlessness of that and decided that the money could be spent on more worthwhile stuff. Booo. I really miss playing with all that kitchen stuff, cooking for soft toys and Barbie dolls, taking them on picnics :(

Annnnnnyway, to more grow-up issues. Hmmmm ... ohhhh went to a buffet lunch with family on sat which was yummy :) It was an RSL club so people over the age of 18 had to sign in and stuff. Hehe the person there looked at me and decided that i was under 18 :P And then while he attended to someone else, this other person looked at me and asked if i was over 18 cause if i was i'd have to fill in the form as well. But before i opened my mouth he decided for me that i wasnt over 18 and waved me through ... i was like wah? But there were quite a few people behind us and it really makes no difference whether u sign in or not, cause we were heading for the buffet and not the poker machines :P Aiya ... i thought those few hours of sleep i had been getting would tell !

Aiii getting rather sick, having to blow my nose like every 15mins this evening/night! Hmm wonder where i got it from ... most likely from not wearing enough clothes. Mummies are always right! Hehe i should listen to her when she tells me to wear clothes hey :P

Hehe was fixing up this doll house today at the child care centre and almost ruined my other index finger from jamming it between these two walls :P Ohhh that centre received all these new toys today, and so i helped out with piecing stuff like prams together! Was soooo much fun! Hehe always wanted this really nice lego set, like a big pirate ship that one of my primary school friends had, but never got such a thing :( Apparently pirate ships were for guys ... boo hoo ... used to be jealous of him for having one. Hehe i liked my Barbie dolls, well all except one because she wasnt as pretttttty as the others :P My favourite one came with undies, which i must've flushed down the loo ... i remember being so devastated when i lost them, and spent days looking everywhere for them, but they were forever lost :( Ah well.

Anyway can't believe i rambled on for so long about nothing! Hehe early start tomorrow so i should head to bedddddd ... maybe tomorrow i'll find something more worthwhile to rant on about here!