small hug = big blessing

One of my students gave me a birthday hug today. So much love packed into one small person. I must be the most blessed teacher in the world.

=]

random melancholic musings

Saw this in a book. It's by Woodsworth from Ode, Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood (what a mouthful...=])

Here's part of it.


There was a time when meadow, grove, and stream,
The earth, and every common sight,
To me did seem
Apparelled in celestial light,
The glory and the freshness of a dream.
It is not now as it hath been of yore;--
Turn wheresoe'er I may,
By night or day,
The things which I have seen I now can see no more.

The Rainbow comes and goes,
And lovely is the Rose,
The Moon doth with delight
Look round her when the heavens are bare,
Waters on a starry night
Are beautiful and fair;
The sunshine is a glorious birth;
But yet I know, where'er I go,
That there hath past away a glory from the earth.


I wish I could write such pretty words.

TLL dinner - Riot of Colours (14 Dec 08)

I finally won a prize in a lucky draw!!! First time in my life...have never won anything before...3 yrs at TLL. It's time I took something home! Had so much, so much fun! And managed to take a dept photo too!

the lovely ladies in my dept

my twin!

my beloved Peggy who drew my name in the draw

Alex bought the gift that I won

photographer of the day who only ate when everyone was leaving

Last, but not least! My PRIZE! HOHOHO!

The happiest songs cannot make you feel happy when you're down.

The saddest songs cannot make you feel sad when you're happy.

someday we'll find it

the rainbow connection

the lovers, the dreamers and me.

Walking With God

Went for a run after dinner because I felt God prompting me to start exercising again. Haven't  really been taking care of my body these few months. Harharhar...chocolates make me happy but I have a feeling that one day, they WILL clog up my arteries.

Anyhow, I usually run 2 rounds around my estate and stop. Today, after 2 rounds, I pushed myself to go on and I realised that it wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. I was exhausted and thought that if I stopped after 2 rounds, it was quite justified coz after all 2 rounds is slightly more than 2.4km (I think!). Well, I ran 3 rounds today (abt 3.9km!). Heh...quite an accomplishment ok! God was cheering me on!

As I ran, I thought about today's sermon that Ps Grace shared. When she pronounced it as one of the best years of her life, I was immediately skeptical. I mean, she lost a son! How could it be, right???? And my next thought was that 2008 has been one of the worst years in my life. THE WORST. Like words can't even begin to describe how ABSOLUTELY awful it has been...aargghh...

But then as she went on, I understood why she said what she said. In addition, I've just started reading Walking With God by John Eldredge. About halfway through now. And one sentence in the book really stood out. Let me quote him:

"As long as our happiness is tied to the things we can lose, we are vulnerable."

This sentence gave me a good shake-up. Many times, I think that I'll be happy if only I had this and that but in the end, it really boils down to recognising God is ALL. EVERYTHING I would ever need. Joy should be based on having God alone and not on what or who we have in our lives. Look at another excerpt:

"God is asking us to let go of the things we love and have given our hearts to, so that we can give our hearts even more fully to him."

At the beginning of this year, I committed myself to having regular QT and so far, although I haven't been perfect, I've been pretty regular and I've learnt so much, so much just by waiting on Him. Perhaps, that's why when my world started to collapse, I escaped with life intact. I gave my heart to God. It's a hard lesson to learn. But if that was what it took, then I can safely say that 2008 is probably the best year of my life. Ironic. Harharhar...

Life still has its rough spots and every now and then, I trip, fall and cry. But God helps me up and that is enough.

=]

Happy Teachers' Day

This is what one of my students wrote to me -

Hi Ms Liu,

thought I just send you a Happy Teacher's day card. Anyway, even if you grew super old and have so many wrinkles or either grow v.v.very fat, I will still regard you as my best teacher ever!

I laughed like crazy when I read this sincere note. And on reflection, I realised that no one has ever said sweeter or more sincere words.

I love my students. How could I not. =]

Happy Birthday, Singapore! =]

I was in the LoveSingapore prayer meeting yesterday at Expo and I was really pleasantly surprised to see that the hall was packed with Christians from all walks of life! Huifen told me that about 20% of Singaporeans are Christians. I didn't know that! I thought only 12%! Harharhar...it was really awesome to see so many people gathered for the same purpose. As I wondered what brought so many different people to the same place, I suddenly realised that none of these people were here by chance. It was part of God's design and purpose that each unique person was at Expo at 7.30pm on Friday 8 Aug 2008. How awesome is our God!!! =D

When I was in SAJC, almost every morning, the then principal, Mrs Belinda Charles, would tell us, "No one is here by chance". After so many years, her words are still in my head and even though I forget sometimes, God reminds me that no one and nothing happens by chance. God doesn't slip up!

God must really love Singapore. We are a tiny island compared to the countries around us but our influence far surpasses our neighbours. The odds were really against us but God has made the impossible possible. He has used the small nation to impact the larger ones. It's truly God's grace that has enabled our country to be where she is now.

7 more years to the Year of Jubilee. Let's make the right decisions till then!

Happy Birthday, Singapore!