Smelling the Air

"This is the ten minute before the rain. Take a break & soak in the smell."

I stopped painting and moved away from the foyer where everyone was working. Retreating into an open space that was sufficiently far from the smell of saw dust and yellow glue, I removed the gum from my mouth and attempted to smell the air. Was concentrating on smelling the air.

To my realisation, I hadn't been really successful in discerning the smell of the air before the rain. Maybe I have been so immersed in the strong smelling paint and yellow glue that the smell of the air before the rain has become very insignificant. My nose is no longer sensitive to the smell of air. I forget how does the air smell like.

I realised that I have been very absorbed in my Rag work lately. Maybe to an extent that I've neglected the little things in life that makes life so sustainable and beautiful. I should learn to think small and be more aware of the details around my life.

My English teacher back in my secondary school days always encouraged me to stop to smell the roses. I guess... I should learn to stop and smell the air.. Ha.. How does the air before the rain smell like?

Thanks Friend. For the gentle reminder. =)

Picture from http://www.wwoaw.net/

Man in the Mirror

"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it - he will be blessed in what he does.

If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. " James 1:22-27

I am truly blessed when I live a life intentionally to follow the foot steps of my Lord. The steps might not appear to be coherant. But when these steps lead me to my final destination of blessing and joy, the steps become united for one purpose. Disparate and incoherant steps contain similarity and order. One can discover this order when one attempts to take the incoherant steps. Life is like a box of jigsaw puzzle more than a box of chocolate. You'll never know how you are gonna get to the final completed picture until you begin putting random pieces together one by one. You may begin with the most confusing portion of the puzzle which could have given you much clue or the most monotonous portion of the puzzle by grouping the same coloured pieces of puzzles together. There are many ways to begin in order to reach one final destination. Is all about taking the first step, then the second step, then the third step and the next step ... step by step.. the destination shall be reached.

Counting my blessings each day. The bright beautiful sky... the wonderful rest... the contented heart... the happy working relationships... the interesting phone chats... the new faces I meet... Everyday can be a beautiful day when we learn to give thanks for every small or big blessing that our God has given us.

"But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. what is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ - the righteousness that comes from God and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have alrady obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Philipplians 7-11



Princess of the Heavenly King says..

Indeed, I am very privileged to be changed by the Lamb. So many things have happened ever since that day when I accepted Jesus into my life. That wasn’t too long ago, but God loves me so much that He allows many things to happen so that I could be changed at a much accelerated rate. I must admit that the journey hasn’t been smooth sailing. But it is through this process of uprooting of parts of me that are undesirable and displeasing to Him, that I am transformed to become more like him gradually. I am thankful to God for being the divine initiative who begins His good work in me. When the day I prayed the sinner’s prayer and handed my wretched life into His comforting hands, He has already begun His transformation work in me and answered my prayer.

I am sure God will perfect His transformation agenda for me. I know that He loves me and desires me to become the perfect daughter in His heart. I shall be patient and persevere in God’s strength during this continual transformation.

I am worth so much in Heaven that Jesus Christ died on the cross for me. I desire to be changed from glory to glory. Wish to become His righteous princess and bring glory to His mighty name.


"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

"being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:6

"But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. " Philippians 4:20,21


Imagine the day when we could hold His hands and take a leisure and rested stroll in the Heaven's park above with Him...
Press on BASIC. We are almost there. We will meet our Heavenly King.

"Let us run the race, till we meet your face. O Lord, Let us live in the glory of your Grace."

Rag Dinner
My training ground to become a better cook.

I cook/prepare food once in a blue blue moon for the raggers too!
ToFU Feast. Seaweed soup. Mapo Tofu. Chicken & mushroom black sauce stew. Xiao Bai Cai with oyster sauce.

I discovered the wonders of ready made sauce such as the chicken marinate sauce and Lee Kim Kee mapo sauce. Usually eat very light tasting and rather blend food at home. Hence, my taste bud is accustomed to natural tasting food with minimal seasoning. Have to get another person to QC the food so that the food tastes fine. Ha.

I'm sure Mama would be proud of me. Think she should be very amazed at my ability to cook without getting the food charred. I'm proud of myself too. But I'm lazy. hee.. I won't prepare food unless I feel like it. It's all part of being myself... being unpredictable..

Updates
Busy Busy Busy
Joyously Busy

I am a part-time designer(because i design.. duh!), baby sitter (because I have to look after the welfare of my Raggers), liason officer (because I need to constantly liase with different departments in Rag and EHOC) and PR officer (because I need to represent the Rag team sometimes since I am their Chief). Multiple profiles for a Chief D. Multi-tasking most of the time. Yes, it is tiring. But I am enjoying what I am doing. Unpaid labour. But, 3 months of invaluable experience, fun (& mostly WORK) and camaraderie.

Pardon me for not updating lately. I have been busy. Rag has just picked up pace ever since my mid-Rag break ended. I could only recall myself climbing up and down many flights of staircase, shuttling between the foyer and the reading room where the wardrobe members are. Everything else was a blur. Vaguely remembered that I have to stock check on paints, speak to my designers, coordinate the kind of paints to purchase and to persuade the designers to minimise cost and use alternative paints if possible. While I manage my designers, I also look after the wardrobe members. I have to review the prototypes they make and give feedback accordingly.

Now that the Rag preparation is already into the second week of 24/7, alot of things have been largely confirmed. All that is left to completion is to stay positively motivated and adorn the structures with recycling materials.

Apart from adhering to schedule, one of the challenges as a main committee member is to learn how to manage people. I guess I am one of the worse people around who knows how to interact with people. I spend most of my time alone and hence lacking of PR skills. It is difficult because I have to constantly motivate my team members to work in a project that lasts for 2-3 months, which is effectively almost their entire holidays. I dislike being in a leadership position because I have to be really tactful when I give instructions. Sometimes when there's a need to quicken the pace, instructions have to be given so that minimal stress is induced in the hearts of the people.

Difficult I must say. But I believe God has placed me in this committee and position for a purpose. I am constantly learning how to respond to people under different situations. Like I say, I am very poor with PR. To add matter worse, I have a face that is unwillingly BLACK when I am tired, stressed or angered. As a result, I always look fierce and unapproachable. Jack asks me to print a T-shirt that says "Look above (referring to my face). I have not slept for 48 hours." God is using this process to change me and make me into a more lovable person.

Please pray for wisdom when I respond to different situations and make decisions for the committee. Pray that Jesus would be magnifested through me. May I glorify and honour His name in my words and deeds.

I admit. I could be easily worn out and feel stressed by the project and the people working in the project. I am very much affected sometimes when I am given a cold shoulder. Would usually hide in a corner and pray to Daddy above. Most of the times, I would be tearing for being really helpless. Helpless because I do not know how to respond and handle the people. When that happens, I would return to the long black face that makes me much less prettier. Sadness just soaks me wet. Kailin reminds me that it could be a ploy from Satan to stumble me. Please pray that I will surrender myself and allow God to manage me. I know God would deliver me.

Thanks for the prayers... and if I don't blog/update... pretty self explanatory... I am really BUSY with Rag. Would really be glad to see faces that I have not seen for a while. Do visit me. of course, love gifts and suppers are most welcome. Hee. =)

EHOC Ubin Trip
Programme, Flag & Rag Team retreat into an offshore island.
Went to Pulau Ubin for a bonding trip.