P & L

I recently drawn up a expense sheet to track my personal expenditure, because at some point in September I got the

"Where did my money go?" problem.

So I decide to go back to recording my expenses.

And for the fun of it, and to apply my accounting knowledge, I made a Monthly Summarized Income Statement so that I know where my money went.

So here's the statistics!

Lin Yihan
2007 Oct Income statement
( All percentages are % of income/allowance)

Food - 39.38%
Transport - 14.54% ( 4.05% was unnecessary cos I took cab. Ha)
Phone Bill - 13.54%

I call these 3 -> Operational expenses ( Ha, now the accountants are really going to kill me)
Totalling: 67.46%

The rest are better not to be revealed in cyberspace. Haha.

But I got
BLESSING expenses ( Stuff related to church, gifts to people)

INVESTING expenses ( Stuff related to education, books and CDs)

LUXURY expenses ( Clothes and Accessories, Electronics, and others) -> This was 0% by the way. Haha. I know some people can't believe I put clothes in the luxury expenses...

OTHER expenses ( Like in Income Tax, this is the Section 10(1)(g). Everything not covered goes under here. Ha)

I accrued the expenses on 2 books and a Times Card Membership I just bought to November.
( Means I treated them as Nov expenses instead of Oct expenses even though I spent them in Oct).

Haha, now the accounting students are really going to kill me.

God's love

I was just having a conversation with a friend some time back:

"Oh, I could never be a Christian. I'm not qualified. You guys(church friends) are too nice!"

It's very flattering to hear that ... but I just had to clarify with her.

I think alot of people think that because as a Christians, they have to be nice people. They have to help people. They have to care for other people. And since they feel they're not very nice people, therefore they can't be Christians.

That's not true.

I'm not a nice person because as a Christian I have to. God never forces anyone to have to.
It's a want to.

When we spend time with God, God just pours out His love so much that there is an overflow of it. He makes us want to be good to the people around us as we experience His love.

Hmm, think of it this way. Like it's always generally the people who have loving families; they tend to grow up to be more caring, more loving toward others. But for most Asian families our parents are not like that. Another example will be girlfriend/boyfriend. Like when you first get attached, you're just smiling from ear to ear ( until reality strikes. Ha).

In God's terms, it's called the joy of the Lord. The radiance you see in some people. People who are smiling from ear to ear everyday that it makes some people even irritated. Haha. People who are so passionate about life and every single thing that they do. ( I'm thinking Xinhong here. Haha)

Well, though God's love is incomparable with human love, but we can get a rough idea about what it means to have the love of God in our lives. It's not the same because people can love for the wrong reasons, seemingly 'love' for something in return, but God's love is like a father's/mother's love. Unconditional. ( Though even not all parents would love unconditionally)

People may change, but God's love remains the same. From our youth to our old age.

So in summary: Christians don't try to earn their salvation by doing nice things. They do good things because of what God has done for them already.

Anyone is qualified. Ha..

My second second Birthday: Two years in Christ.

I refer to my entry written exactly one year ago in my older blog:
http://yihan90.blogspot.com/2006_10_01_archive.html

Seriously if you don't have time don't go and read it. It was quite a long post. But I think if I read it now I might not recognize myself. Ha..

( Edit: Okay, I just went to take a look at my older blog post. Nah. The theology is still the same. Ha. My thinking in those areas are pretty much the same. The difference now is I don't make it into some theory or theology, but I have applied those beliefs into my life: on purpose, on love)

( FYI: Most people closer to me today don't know the existence of the previous blog which I stopped writing after Jan 2007. Well, I guess it's a good place for me to track my progress from the first few months as a Christian. Feel free to read it.)

I think I've really grown alot since Oct 29 2006. Not so much in the area of passion, I remember as a younger Christian I was really excited about everything that God had to offer and I would love praying and spending time in His presence. Not that I'm old now. Ha. 2 years is not old, typically.

I still am around there, maybe I have dipped abit in this area. But I definitely have grown to depend on God much more. I now really can't live without prayer. Though many times I still lapse in this area and don't pray coz too tired. I need to work on this area.

And I've grown in the area of wisdom and self-confidence. I wouldn't call it self-confidence. I'll call it God-confidence. My confidence is not found in myself, but found in God. It's not about who I am or what I can do, but who God is and what He can do.

The fact I can speak without stammering, without making a fool of myself like last time. Without getting the jitters like last time. I remember in Year 1 I used to be SUPER nervous when I go up to speak, so nervous that the audience knows.

But there's just this peace in God. The peace, the serene confidence that nothing can stand in your way. That I can do all things through Christ. Actually now I still do get a little nervous, and stammer sometimes, but that's because of inadequate preparation. Ha...

Anyway I heard nervousness is good. Keeps you on the ball and from complacency.

As for wisdom: I guess it's through experience in dealing with people. Through extensive reading and then seeing it happen in real life actually helped me in growing. I love reading. There's a thirst for greater knowledge, greater revelation inside me. Everyday nowadays I'll be reading something without fail. On top of the Bible lah. That one don't count.

But I don't just do reading. I fill my iTunes with podcasts on topics from sermons by Pastor Phil, Pastor Ulf, Ravi Zacharias, Joyce Meyer, and topics like Marketing, Internet Marketing, Harvard Business Reviews. Though I must confess I have only listened to the sermons for now. Haha.. they're just soooo good.

And I notice I observe and learn from people rather quickly. The leadership methods of the cell group leaders in the church ( who are excellent leaders by the way).

And I must say God has really blessed me with leadership wisdom when it came to handling the Freshmen Orientation Camp. Fyi, it was my first ever big thing that I was in charge in. ( I used to be super introverted, lacked self-confidence kinda guy) And praise the Lord, it went pretty okay, thanks to the whole team also, but glory to God!

Hmm, what can I say?
I seemed to have run out of things to share.
Oh, School of Theology. I think that's the place that really marked my second year as a Christian.

I can't exactly pinpoint which part of me did SOT change, but one thing I guess: Building up of my spirit. All the praying and praising God in the mornings had surely increased my spiritual capacity.

The fellowship was great. SOT is really a heaven on Earth. Not because it was free from trials and troubles, but because it was filled with people who loved people, and people who loved God.

Well, here comes Year 3 as a Christian. 2 months after Year 3 as an SMU student. Haha. New visions, new dreams, greater capacity, greater faith.

My prayer for myself is that I'll achieve one of the dreams which I have had in my heart for a few months this year. I'll really chiong for that dream this year. Ha..

BUT also, that I learn to become more loving. More concerned about the people around me. More caring about the people who are hurting, and those who don't show. In the midst of 'chionging' toward the vision, I don't want to lose the more important part.

Simply to love the people around us. To be that star-thrower.

Revelation

Today Vincent gave me a revelation.

1.5 hours before my Corporate Reporting test, I was in front of my computer playing some mini games.

"Doing your website?" He asked from the other side.

"No. Playing games."

Revelation. Ha i realized I really could have been doing my website instead of wasting my time playing games. Who says that just because your test is 1.5 hours away you cannot be doing anything else but study.

I was after all.. playing games. Ha..

But well, I guess it went pretty okay. Got a few careless mistakes cos I had kinda of headache when I stepped into the seminar room. Couldn't do it with a clear mind. Might be coz its at 12 pm and I didn't eat my lunch before that. So abit kinda cannot concentrate.

But I realized that for me, I dunno about the rest, but when tests come, I tend to lock myself in this mental prison. That tells me. No you got a test, you aren't supposed to be doing anything else. You got a test. You got a test.

So what! I'm going to do whatever I wanna do. Balanced with studying of course.

Pardon my mention of studies so much. Ha. I really am trying to figure everything out. How to put God first. How to give all the worries, stress, frustration to God. It's one thing to say it, it's totally another to live it. What practical actions can I take to give everything to God.

I gotta break out of this mental model ( according to Xinhong's lingo) or this mental prison. In the end, most of my time isn't spent studying. I probably need like to study 1 day before, look at the past year papers to do reasonably well. I should leave it as that, instead of thinking about it for the whole week. Not doing much of anything else productive. I end up playing computer as a 'form of relaxation'.

In the end, the test is done. Life goes on. I shouldn't let it affect me so much. God help.

I'll do better next time. ( in handling this, not the grades. Ha)

A phenomenon

Now that I'm out of it. I just wanna share something really interesting about myself that I noticed since the past week.

I'm having 2 papers this week. One tmr, one on Friday. They are the major accounting modules. Income Tax and Corporate Reporting.

I noticed that because of these two papers. I haven't been doing much else except thinking about it. Like "Oh I can't do A now because I have a test next week. Oh I can't do B now, I gotta put it aside till after my test."

It's like the test is some sorta 'milestone' kinda thing. And yesterday I got a little down because my brain just refused to take in any information about Income Tax. I took 1 hour to get myself ready to start. And then 10 mins reading and I was gone. Ha.

I'm not even sure why I'm like that. And then I allow myself to waste the time away. Watching my bro play computer. Blogging. Ha.. But refuse to do the more productive things thinking that I should leave it after the test.

It gets a little irritating when it's like that. Till today morning suddenly I thought. God. I just wasted 4 hours probably playing the computer and doing nothing productive. When I could have just done the things that I thought should be left after the test. Then I thought. Yes. Why not. I should just continuing building my website since it excites me to do so. I should continue to read books since it interests me to do so.

Why should life stop because of two tests! Haha. What's with me ah. Overly concerned about it?

It seems counter-productive. I end up wasting more time.

And even better:
Corporate Reporting is 8% quiz with 12 MCQs.
Income Tax is 10% quiz which we can bring in our cheat sheets.

It's really not a big deal you know. Now that I'm one day before the Corp Reporting Test; I'm wondering, why did I let so much time go to waste just because of that stupid 12 MCQs. I'm just going to forget about it anyway.

For me. After I'm done with a test I usually throw it aside from my mind. Even after I get my results, after one look I'll just put it aside in my mind, no matter the marks. I figured life still goes on whatever the marks is anyway.

And yet I'm wasting time getting overly concerned about it. There's just this dark picture in my mind. Like there's no life beyond the two tests. It just seems so vague, so unknown, so ... I dunno how you describe it.

But when I really think about it. I imagine myself in front of the paper. It's actually quite okay what. Like 1000 times before. Argh.

I'm getting a little headache again. The kinda headache from studying too much( And I haven't studied alot)In this case, from trying to absorb corp reporting stuff. I think I'm just going to retire for the night at 8 pm. Have a good read and a good quiet time with God.

Okay, maybe I'll scan through the MCQs questions from homework later. Ha..

Great message

Wow. Great weekend in church with a great message. And superb drama too.



I think today Pastor Tan really addressed alot of things in my heart. And felt challenged to be more loving to the people around me. What touched my heart, or spoke to me:



1.The Spiritual Gap and Love Disparity.

Sometimes when people get too spiritual, they might becoming 'spiritually elite' and become judgemental of people who are different and less spiritual. The spiritual become more spiritual and the weaker people backslide. Sometimes we just have to give people time.

We're not a church for the spiritually elite. We're a church for everyone from every strata of society.



2.In the natural, we should be gentle and loving to all around us, but in the spiritual, we're aggressive, and we wage warfare.



3. The star thrower. It seems that this story has been shared many times in church. But nonetheless this is actually my first time hearing it in church. ( I've heard it elsewhere)..

There's this little boy walking on the beach.

And as he walks along the seashore, when he sees a starfish on the sand, he picks it up and throws it back into the sea.

He does it repeatedly as he walks along the beach.

A man comes along, observing the boy.

He's puzzled at what the little boy is doing, so he asks the boy," Little boy, what are you doing?"

The little boy answers,"Oh, I'm saving the starfish. When the tide comes in, the starfish gets washed up and if they don't get put back into the sea, they'll die."


The man laughs and said,"Look at the coastline, there's thousands and thousands of them, how can you possibly save all of them?"


The little boy smiles. He bends down, takes another starfish and throws it into the sea.
"I may not save every starfish on this beach, but to that one..
(He points to the one he just threw in)


I make a difference."


Oof.

I don't know how to describe the feeling as pastor shared that story. Convicted. Challenged.

We may not change the world in this lifetime, but everyone should be saying," To that friend, I made a difference."


We change the world 1 soul at a time. =)

Sometimes we just got to slow down from the busy-ness of life and look around. Maybe we'll notice that someone is signalling that deep in their hearts,they're saying:" I'm hurting.."


what a message.


Pastor then showed a video of the opening ceremonies of the Sun's primary schools in China. Some of the kids there were crying as Sun was passing out the free bags she bought for them. One of them even kneeled down and cried as Sun passed him the bag, and Sun went down with him to comfort him.

I was really touched. Everytime I see what Sun is doing, I tell myself: One day I'll be part of this . But it all starts from home. I've got alot to do in Uni-Y. Ha...


One day I'll do what she's doing. She's such an inspiration.

Spent the afternoon

with doctors. Ha..

My marketing reserach consulting job brought me to Camden Medical Center for a seminar on clinical management. In layman's terms, how to manage a clinic.

Was listening to a workshop and kinda dialogue about the general problems that doctors face. In one sentence: Doctors are not managers. They need alot of work in that area. Ha... Their problems are generally staff problems. How to confront staff, how to retain good people, how to create a compensation package that is fair.

So we were the only SMU students and non-doctors among the crowd. It was pretty weird, especially when they were doing the introductions.

And we ended the day by playing a team building game with the doctors. V weird. The doctors are all like 40 - 60 years old that type one. Like playing team building with your dad and uncles.

Ha...

I give up

bothering about studies.

Not that I don't care. But well. Whatever.

You know, I was thinking of describing the peace of God on my blog. But I was thinking it was really hard to describe. But i'll try anyway.

Okay, the peace of God goes like this:

In a situation where everyone's tense. Mugging their notes. 5 mins before exam. Oh no! Forgot to read that Chapter 7 notes. Come, let me take a look at it!

In this situation, the peace of God is like a ...... in the midst of a !?@?!@!?!@.

There's this stillness in your heart.

Like for example, next week I have two tests, one for Corporate Reporting, one for Income Tax. Both I suck at it. Seriously. And I haven't started studying. I think I just might be screwed. Haha.

But ... there's this stillness in your heart.

Imagine a cave in some far far away land. And then it's so quiet you hear a water droplet fall unto the ground.

It's like the world around is falling apart. Then there's just this ' .......' in your heart.

Cool =) I love God.

Someday

Great song, great lyrics from Hunchback of Notre Dame ( I think). Only caught my attention recently. Ha..

Someday
When we are wiser
When the world's older
When we have learned
I pray
Someday we may yet live
To live and let live
Someday
Life will be fairer
Need will be rarer
And greed will not pay
God speed
This bright millennium
On its way
Let it come
Someday

Someday
Our fight will be won then
We'll stand in the sun then
That bright afternoon
'Till then
On days when the sun is gone
We'll hang on
If we wish upon the moon
There are some days dark and bitter
Seems we haven't got a prayer
But a prayer for something better
Is the one thing we all share

Someday
When we are wiser
When the whole world is older
When we have learned
I pray
Someday we may yet live
To live and let live
One day, someday
Someday
Life will be fairer
Need will be rarer
Greed will not pay
God speed
This bright millennium
Let it come
If we wish upon the moon
One day
Someday
Soon

One day
Someday
Soon

I make a decision today..

to not let school dictate my life.
I don't care if its Week 9.

I'm still going to start my exercise regime tmr morning.

I'm still going to for cg and church on the week before exam.

I'm not going to let studies affect my relationship with people and with God. There are things important in life than getting that GPA.
As my Creative Thinking Prof says, "so what if your exam is tmr, life still goes on, you know." lol.

Not saying that we should slack off in studies, but I believe that excellence and hard work coupled with balance in our life is more important than grades. I have always frowned on last minute work, or last minute mugging. I think it's a reflection of a lack of planning and organization in our lives; there must be a consistency when it comes to this.

It's surprising how much weightage of our lives on things affecting our GPA ( 80%?) when the truth is after our first job, its importance drops to o.01% or something.

I'm still trying to figure how much importance should I place on studying. In the end there must be a balance in everything. I will not take this to an extreme.

While the Bible believes in hard work ( Proverbs: In all labor there is profit) but in studying really hard? the Bible says: Much study is wearisome to the flesh." Haha. Conclusion. Work hard, but don't study too hard.
----------------------------------------------------------

I have begun to read slower. I used to rush through books, one after another.

I have realized that I should take extra focus when it comes to reading. Because after all, the words that we read reflect the experience and character of the author. By reading any sentence carefully and studying it, we can actually ascertain the person's driving philosophies in life and value system.

"What kinda person would say such a thing as this? What has he/she gone through to be able to make a statement like that?". If we are sharp enough, we can actually catch more from in between the lines than the lines itself.

And then I realized...

That's how they asked us to study the Bible. Ha..

Every verse in the Bible reflects a partial face of an omnipotent God; His character, his value system, his principles.

Which is why we can't just scan through the Bible. There's much more to God when we begin to search beyond what He says, to why He says it. Every sentence is like a window into His heart.

----------------------------------------------------------

Today I just had an interesting conversation with a pri school boy in church.

He was looking at the chains and necklaces in the bookstore and I sounded him out. It went something like this:

"Oh, you buying for someone you like ah. This one is nice.."

"No lah.."

"Yes right, aiya, must be someone you like lah.. "

"Don't suan me leh.." He smiles.

Haa... got him.

"So yah, this one is nice. It's a heart."

"No lah, a heart is too obvious. She'll know that I like her."

"It's okay one, see this one can change shape."( There's a necklace in the bookstore that you can twist to change it from a heart to a cylindrical shape.)" so you just give her like that ( cylinderical shape) and then she will twist it and realize its a heart!"

So I leave him for a while.

He comes over and tells me a short story about how the girl he likes fancies his friend but his friend don't want, because the friend says he will whack him, but the friend got together anyway but he has no interest in the girl .. blah blah blah...

"If I want to buy the necklace, with the Membership card, how much can I get it for?"

"You can get it at $11.70."

"Okay I'll ask one of my cell group members to lend me their card"

"But if it's the person's birthday month, you can actually get it at $10.80 because there's 20% off"

"So if I save $0.50 a day, how many days will it take to buy"

"About 4 weeks."

"But I get more on the weekends, about $2."

"Then you can get it in about 2 week plus."

"Never mind. I can just ask my dad for money. 5 dollars. 2 dollars. Then I can get it in no time."

"Noooo.. Cannot like that. You remember how God appreciates our offering no matter how little it is? What God is more interested is in your heart when you give the offering right?? So you cannot just ask money from your dad. It's not sincere. You got to slowly save, then it really means something, correct or not?"

"Hmm okay. So I will save 50 cents a day and then get 2 dollars on the weekend then can get in 2 weeks plus. Or maybe I will save extra 55 cents a day by walking to school. Then I can save $1 a day. How many days will that be?"

AWWWWWW... talk about sacrifice!

"You can get it in a week plus then.."

"Actually I already have 4 dollars in my pocket. I can buy in one week. But means I cannot eat today."

awwwwwww...more sacrifice!

"You can actually walk home from Expo. then you can do it faster. " HAHA. Evil me.

So he walks back to the necklace section and browses around."

" I know what, for the chain I want for myself, I'll ask my dad for money, and then the OTHER necklace I'll save up."

"Correct."

I'm impressed. TEACHABLE! Hahaha...

Now I know

I'm really living by God's grace.



I was supposed to have meeting on Tue, have 4 meetings on Wed, 4 meetings on thursday, 3 meetings on Friday. Crazy. Ha..



All these consisting of: School Project Meetings which is the majority, Meeting up with friends, Cell group meeting, Marketing Research Consulting Job Meetings.



Then I didn't spend alot of time with God because I was too tired.



And I almost fell apart on Friday! There was this spirit of heaviness on me, and I didn't even know why I was feeling very lousy, I tried to think about it, but it just doesn't make sense, and all the negative thoughts starting feeling my head. It's really spiritual warfare..



Well now that I did yesterday, it's much much better. I really cannot live without prayer.



There's this life in the Spirit, that we by our human strength cannot live. For the past few months I really have had little time for rest, and been busy throughout, but there's the peace in my heart that keeps me together,even now i'm beginning to understand what it means to walk in the Spirit, to live under the anointing of God. There's this rest, this peace... that no matter what happens out there in the world, you're undaunted, unfazed by it.



I remember when God gave me a revelation regarding Uni-Y to fulfil the cultural mandate, I knew it was going to be a time of trials and alot of spiritual warfare. God gave me alot of ideas, I had alot of big plans for Uni-Y to define the value system of the student, to show that serving people is more important than their grades.



I knew was going to come against the spirit over SMU, and well I was thinking, oh crap... I knew that the devil was not going to let it off easily. It's going to be alot of spiritual warfare.



It's only in these times that I realized how strong each and everyone has to be to be in the marketplace. "Greater is He who is in me, than he who is in the world!" comes to life here =)



Sometimes I feel unappreciated doing things in the marketplace. Some people think that I'm just getting busy with the wrong things that I should just focus on what I already have. But I guess that's how it's going to be... No one from the church will see what I'm doing (except my team of course) and sometimes it's exasperating because after all we do have only 24 hours a day, I can't do things as well when I have my commitments in 3 areas. Cg, Uni-Y and SMU school work.



Not that school work bothers me. It's really the least of my concerns. I'm not concerned about grades. But I don't like not finishing and doing what is required of me to be a good student.



But God! I know God.He will make a way for me. I know I stand with a few people beside me only to do culture in SMU, but I believe it will happen. Tough, yes. But I'm not going to listen to a single word from the devil that tells me I cannot do it !



I only can pray for His grace and anointing to be upon me. I can't do this without Him.



To God be the glory. =)

Anatomy of my Desktop

I've been a little overwhelmed with work. I really do feel I'm not cut out for accounting. My favorite subject this semester is Marketing ( out of Marketing, Financial Markets, Income Tax and Corporate Reporting -Analysis of Financial Statements).



Financial Markets (FIIM) is at least not too bad. I think it's pretty interesting to know how the markets work.



But when you ask me about how Section 14 or how FRS 39 affects how this $249,703 is supposed to be reported, or whether is it deductible, I don't really care. Ha.. I don't like to do these. Not my passion.



Well, I'm just suffering from the consequences of bad choices. Never mind. I think I have about 5 mod not so nice mods to take. After that should be fine. Ha.. but I'm definitely NOT going to be an accountant. Unless you want my soul dead.



Anyway, after reading You the Leader by Pst Phil and particularly on the chapter that says "The Leader is Organized" , I felt challenged to be a more organized person. So now here's the anatomy of my desktop:



I only added Sun's Picture today with a: You know you can! (Inspired from the Shanghai Olympics 2007 Video), to remind myself of what she has done and to remind myself that we too, can become people of destiny!

The other are post-it Notes labelled:

Cell group to do list

School work to do list

Uni-Y(CCA) to do list

SBI!(Website) to do list

At the top of each to do list: I put a vision. Everyday when we do something, we gotta know why we're doing it, so the vision kinda reminds me of where I'm headed so that 1. What I'm doing makes sense 2. I can decide what is useful and what's not.

Important things to remember: Generally revelations to remind me. The one you see in BOLD says: " IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU!". A reminder not to be so selfish and self-centered.

Things to do today: At the beginning of the day, I'll put a list of things I want to be done by the day ( not successful all the time tho)

Today's schedule: This is my things to do from 8am to 12am. I'll put the things to do in the time I want to do them. ( still trying to follow exactly to the dot, getting there la)

Misc to do list: General things to do.


On the right side of the desktop is the list of things to do for the week. It's a program that is a calender-like thing, so I can forecast my stuff for the week.




On the top left hand corner is 4 excel files:
SMU Personal Adminstration: My course progression planning and my accumulated GPA

Website Adminstration: Income Statement and Timeline of Things to Do for my Website

Personal Expenditure: Daily Expenditure Sheet and Monthly Personal Income Statement

Life Adminstration: Goals for life and this year classified into various areas ( Spiritual, Health, Material, Financial, etc)


Haha.. it might seem a little overwhelming and a little extreme for some people. But I think it's good. It keeps my life in order and so the saying goes, those who fail to plan, plan to fail.

Chance favors the prepared.=)


Ha.. okay, anyway I'm just needed a little time to relax, so well.. The desktop seemed something interesting to blog about. Ha...

Funny thing to note

My Income Tax professor is Director of Taxes from Deloitte, and he mentioned that he did the tax returns for David Copperfield when he came to Singapore some years back.

David Copperfield said that since he was not here for more than 60 days, he should not be taxable, but under Sec40A of the Income Tax Act it says he has to be taxed at 15%.

I was thinking to myself: This guy can walk through walls, levitate on mid air and perform all kinds of magic, but he can't run from taxes. Ha..the irony.

Superb Sunday=)

This sunday was Vision sharing weekend for our church. It's great to take stock of what CHC is doing in the community and in the mission field in Asia. It's truly an honor to be part of this ...

Sun came to service today! Every time I see her, I remind myself that our sacrifice to God in our youth is never in vain.

Everytime I take a good look at her, I tell myself this: "One day you'll be a person of destiny like Sun. One day you'll stand on the world stage, bring the values and beliefs of the Kingdom into places where no preacher can go. One day you'll be history maker as well!"

Same to all you guys out there. Keep running. Don't stop. Don't look back. Take stock. Redeem the time.

I was just thinking to myself as Pastor Kong was sharing about the various community work that our church leaders are engaged in:
-Sun is doing her humanitarian work in China, building 4 primary schools in the rural parts of China, setting up music schools..
-Pst Tan is in charge of City Harvest Community Services Association, People of Destiny ( a center for Youth at risk), Social Innovations Center( For Social Entrepreurship).
-Pst Derek is in charge MS Care( Multiple Sclerosis)
-Principal Kenny Low is in charge of City Harvest Education Center and O school, a dance school for youth at risk.

And me? I'm in charge of Uni-Y! Haha for all you who don't know, Uni-Y does Community Service, Overseas CIP and Social Entreprise. I tell myself: I must do it as well as my pastors and church leaders! Excellence! Haha v inspired. Although its not in a sense recognized in the church, but it is ministry as to the Lord nonetheless! =)

As the Bible says in Matthew 25:35-36,40
for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.'... ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

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Today they also screened the 'I know I can' video in church; but even though it was like my 6-7th watching the video.. I almost teared again. Ha.. I'm just very touched by the courage and perseverance of these people.

But yet many are rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—" ( Rev 3:17)

So many people have much more than those in the video, proper working limbs, proper thinking processes, but yet, never had the kind of courage and determination and purpose that those in the video have. Sometimes I do wonder who's better off.

Let's be people of destiny. Let's work on our daily habits. Let's become people of excellence.

Let's not live life like its a Mon,Tue,Wed, Thurs,Fri,Sat,Sun, Mon cycle. The "Sian, it's monday again syndrome.."

Our time more correctly is represented by:" Oct 8 2007, Oct 9 2007, Oct 10 2007,..."
Let's live life like it's never going to turn back again...
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And here's a great song by Annabel, called Blue Sky to end it off. Take time to listen to it and let the lyrics soak in. =) We need more songs like this nowadays...




IN EVERY HEARTBEAT
LIES A DREAM OF GREATNESS
AND DEEP INSIDE US
TREASURES UNFOLD
REACHING FOR THE STARS
THAT SHINES ABOVE
I WANNA LIVE MY LIFE FOR ALL ITS WORTH

EVERY SUNRISE
DAWNS A NEW BEGINNING
AND WHEN THE NIGHT COMES
A FIRE BURNS WITHIN
EVERYDAY I LIVE I WANNA GIVE
THE VERY BEST OF ME
SO LET THE DREAMS WITHIN
COME ALIVE

FLYING TO THE BLUE SKY
SOARING HIGH ABOVE
EVERY CLOUD EVERY MOUNTAIN
IS A NEW HORIZON
FLYING TO THE BLUE SKY
REACH FOR SOMETHING MORE
AND THROUGH IT ALL
I WILL STAND TALL
I WON’T GIVE UP
I AM STRONGER THAN BEFORE

I’LL CROSS THE LINE
LEAVE MY FEARS BEHIND
EACH STEP I TAKE
I’LL REACH FOR GREATER HEIGHTS
FOR IN THE END
DESTINY IS IN MY HANDS
THIS IS MY CHANCE
I’LL GIVE THE BEST I CAN

2007 Shanghai Special Olympics Official Song - I Know I Can

Go Sun, you're always my inspiration! =)
And that's to all you out there. You know you can too! No excuses ;)

I'm still alive.

Hi guys, been ages since I blogged ( Last sat). Been busy la. =P

Here's something to keep my viewers around. Ha...

1. My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE."If you're going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished cleaning."

2. My mother taught me RELIGION . "You better pray that this will come out of the carpet."

3. My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL."If you don't straighten up, I'm going to knock you into the middle of next week!"

4. My mother taught me LOGIC." Because I said so, that's why."

5. My mother taught me MORE LOGIC ."If you fall out of that swing and break your neck, you're not going to the store with me."

6. My mother taught me FORESIGHT."Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you're in an accident."

7. My mother taught me IRONY."Keep crying, and I'll give you something to cry about."

8. My mother taught me about the science of OSMOSIS."Shut your mouth and eat your supper."

9. My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM ."Will you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!"

10. My mother taught me about STAMINA."You'll sit there until all that spinach is gone."

11. My mother taught me about WEATHER."This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it."

12. My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY"If I told you once, I've told you a million times. Don't exaggerate!"

13. My mother taught me the CIRCLE OF LIFE ."I brought you into this world, and I can take you out."

14. My mother taught me about BEHAVIOUR MODIFICATION."Stop acting like your father! "

15. My mother taught me about ENVY ."There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don't have wonderful parents like you do."

16. My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION. "Just wait until we get home."

17. My mother taught me about RECEIVING."You are going to get it when you get home!"

18. My mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE."If you don't stop crossing your eyes, they are going to get stuck that way."

19. My mother taught me ESP."Put your sweater on; don't you think I know when you are cold?"

20. My mother taught me HUMOUR."When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me."

21. My mother taught me HOW TO BECOME AN ADULT."If you don't eat your vegetables, you'll never grow up."

22. My mother taught me GENETICS."You're just like your father."

23. My mother taught me about my ROOTS."Shut that door behind you. Do you think you were born in a barn?"

24. My mother taught me WISDOM."When you get to be my age, you'll understand."

25. And my favorite: My mother taught me about JUSTICE"One day you'll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you"