Unassuming Reminders

Just went over to a friend's room

It's my eleventh day here in Liverpool

And although its loads of fun

My neck and shoulders hurt

From a pillow that's not hard enough

She gave me an awesome massage

Something I truly love and always look forward to

We discussed on our weeks reading assignments

And because I brought my guitar

We worshiped.

It doesn't matter whether you're in Malaysia or Liverpool

God's presence is everywhere

So close to you

Just the first few strums on the strings

And you know the true reason "why you're here on earth"

Came back to my room trying my best

To minimize on the procrastination

And get to my readings

Turned on my laptop

Turned on some music

In between readings

I check Facebook to see updates in our class group

Accidentally my eyes move over

To the bottom left corner of my homepage

And photos of 2013 come in sight

How did I get there?

I did not click on anything

A picture of me co-leading worship

Catches my eye

Memories come back and I sigh

That picture taken by a dear friend

Aptly captioned

"We never know how to worship until we know how to love"

Brings me back to my friend's room

Where we sang out heart's out to our Greatest Lover

Then I scroll back a few pictures

A personal feature I wrote in a newspaper during my internship

With a headline given by my editor

"Don't stop dreaming and believing in yourself"

Wow. I stand dumbfounded and amazed.

(I seriously wrote that? And my editor did that?)

I guess God works in the most mysteriously impossible ways

The measure of His love driving Him to an unimaginable level

Where He takes me on this breathless journey

On this road we call LIFE

Life given by True Life

Life has brought me here to Liverpool

A beautiful "picture-perfect" country

Trust me

My Instagram naturally looks better already

The way this city stands is wondrous

Yet aside from the beautiful people

Wonderful architecture and ancient heritage buildings

They still scream out 

What a Wonderful Maker

Reminding me of the goodness of my Creator

Oh ya, when writing the first line of this post

I looked at my computers clock

And it showed 1:11

The three numbers that God never fails to show me

Reminding me of His presence and promises

All these are but unassuming reminders

That God drops here and there

An exciting yet incredibly unconventional way of treasure hunt

Which time limit goes on forever

Just like a child, I'll enjoy this playtime

I'll go back to my readings

He makes life oh so exciting

The reason I live and breathe

Becomes even more heartfelt

Due to these wonderful

Unassuming Reminders...

"You never know how to worship until you know how to love."

My Featured Article.

Translucent tears

It hurts so bad

But the tears won't fall

Held back by the unknown

Is it anger or sorrow?

Feeling like you're gang up upon

From those you think would be the least

With your back against the wall

Your heart hardens, mirroring that wall

But other special people step into help

Indirectly through other conversations

Reminding me that I'm truly blessed

So I tell myself release and just rest

Then the tears fall gently

Accompanied with genuine laughter in between

Knowing that behind you is no more that wall

For it's my God holding my back

Thank you Lord that You see me through

That even when I feel like giving up

You see the end from the start

Helping me, comforting me

That although there's laughter through tears

The hurt isn't easily replaced

But in Your heart I'm placed

A safe haven, truly embraced

You see past that wall I built

Through that fake tone conveying I'm "ok"

The "lol" in my messages

Hoping the pain to be erased

You see my tears whether they fall or not

You've got my back when no one has

And with you there's nomiscommunication 

Because you know me all too well 

You see me through my translucent tears.. 

We Dance

So here I am turning on the lights again and putting on my glasses after tucking myself comfortably under the sheets. What made me do that?

The song "We Dance" by Steffany Frizzell from the new Bethel church album- You make me Brave (yay!).

As it's turned up loud on my ophone to put me to bed, an image of Jesus dancing with me overwhelmed me. Tears start falling before you even realize you're crying and this deep tangible fills the room. Simply amazing. 

I guess the reason why it's different this round it's cos I have seen how Jesus looks like (I wouldn't even say the closest) through the book "Heaven is for real" by a boy who really saw Jesus, confirming a painting of Jesus by another girl who had the same experience. And man is Jesus handsome! Reminds me of Hugh Grant, lol!

But this made the experience even more real like Jesus was right there before me, spinning and  twirling me with every next step as we dance. I then saw myself in a blue Cinderella gown and then it changed to  Belles's from Beauty and the  Beast and then to all these other Disney princesses. That's when the revelation came that I'm so precious to God, more than all these princesses combined!! That I was his favoured and special one! That just gives a whole new meaning to a girl like me who dreams of castles and dresses up till this day (lol!) 

As we were dancing, He instilled in me a higher knowledge of who I am and what joy I brought Him. There was no room for whether or "So I thought I could dance" and no pressure of being in a "Dance Battle" yet it felt like I was "Dancing with the stars"!  Our dance brought a greater truth than any reality show could bring- my identity and relationship with my Groom, Father and Maker! Can you even wrap your mind around that!? Still boggles me! 

Even before this encounter I thought it was nice as an opening dance song for a wedding or a piece where the bride and groom would do a first dance to this song together before opening the dance floor ( I wished we had more dance floors in Asian weddings!) depicting the love of our God and His bride/church. I guess I don't have to wait that long! I've seen it already!

So off I go back now to my land of castles, ball gowns and fine lightings with a crystal dance floor where my First Love sweeps me off my feet yet again. Yes, there will be much love, joy, laughter and dancing... lots and lots of dancing... 

http://youtu.be/fFfw6OSbUwE

My Inner Battle (pt 1.)

I try to wrap my mind around it

Why the feelings?

Why the dismay?

Why such hopelessness 

Despite living a seemingly good life

That stupid feeling returns

Haunting, inviting and oh so magnetic

Mysteriously engaging

Yet so overwhelming

The destruction it brings 

Seems endless and deceiving

Pulling me into unpleasant familiarity

Sucking me in mercilessly 

Its an ongoing battle

Sad but true.

A battle I wish could be stated as

Finished and nailed on the cross 

Yet the feelings are so real 

Fresh and anew

It comes all of a sudden

What was the seed of it?

Fear, rejection or utter disillusionment?

Neither or everything in between

Lost in a maze of transpired illusion

Thoughts run wild

Emotions go numb

You start thinking and thinking

Resulting in the belittlement of yourself

Then you start reflecting

And wondering

And your thoughts get deeper and darker

Into a place no one knows

A place where thoughts become fighters

God-thoughts vs self-thoughts vs devil-thoughts 

A battle so vicious

Like there's no way out... 

He Sees Me Through

It's past the exterior facet
Into my heart He sees
Whether true worship abounds
From deep within me

Days I wake up on the wrong side of bed
Mind instantly flooded with assignment deadlines
Thinking to myself whether they have ever left me
Or were they there substituting sweet dreams

A struggle to get up
That raging "war" with procrastination
Thoughts of defeat, desperation and hopelessness flood in
How do you even be that "women whom the devil fears when she wakes up?"

No one's at home so I blow my shofar
Hoping that something will break in the atmosphere
Took a shower and sang my heart out
"Shout to the Lord", my favorite classic

It was in that moment when I heard God speak
That He honored "that kind" of worship and lavished in it
Telling me that there is a time and place for corporate worship
But just as important a place for private worship

A place where I can sing my heart out and let it all out
Forgetting the accuracy of right harmonization
And worries of pitch perfect singing
Hitting that point of climax that is oh so liberating

Sometimes I do wonder what does God really hears
When He hears our worship
I bet He hears from a realm never accessed by any human being
Either that or keys and notes are powerless to Him
Defying what we call "out of tune"

He sees right through me and there's no room for pretense
Staged presence of how we "should" look during worship
He sees me through the storms
And He sees me through "me"

"Me"; sometimes the only hindrance between me and God
It could be a long journey in from the outside of my heart
I let go of that Simon Cowell "demon" (don't worry, it's just a metaphor :P)
And know that God won't judge my worship

In fact I believes He loves my sacrifice of worship
When it's real, raw and unhampered with
The sincerity and brokenness embedded in it
Something I could only give here on this earth

No point putting up a front with my Jesus
He knows my next thought before I can even think
He sees me through my darkest moments
And He sees me through "me"

Being a Boss

Few nights ago I finally managed to visit the much heard of Mamak here in Klang Valley. Prior to that, all I heard was how good it was and how the food there was delicious, and after three years of hearing all these, I finally got to visit it. Well, I personally think it was over-rated, but that would not change the minds of the hundreds of customers who goes there every night to get a table at the (estimate) 100 meter long line of tables.

Which made me wonder how much did the big boss pay bribe to have the allowance of tables laid out so far wide in front of all the other shops by the roadside and how much he actually earned. Seeing  the amount of rental he got to save on because he was practically using the properties of others just because they weren't operating at night.

As I was eating, two things went through my head:

1. Where did all these tables come from? I'm not sure the one unit restaurant could have housed all these.
2. Poor workers, having to run along about a 100 meter long table trail to take orders, remember orders and go back and forth.

Talk about the mind power and energy needed cos there were no table numbers! It just boggled me, how they could handle such a crowd every night. But what strike me most was how much these workers were being paid. I heard that this business had been so successful that other branches are open elsewhere so the big boss must be earning big bucks!

I'm no entrepreneur, and I doubt I have the mind for it too, but I do believe that the boss is rich enough to live a comfortable life with more money to spare. Sometimes I feel like if I were a boss, how much would I pay my workers. If we climb that high to the top and have more than we need, why not raise the salary of these workers? In turn, their way of life will be improved and their children will have the education they need (despite whichever land they come from). This world will be a better place, ain't it? We actually have nothing to loose.

 Maybe its not that simple? Maybe its just the idealistic part of me, but sometimes I feel that something can still be done. (Just thinking out loud, lol!)

Dare to Believe

Almost at the end of my college term
I look back upon what I've learned
The experiences, friendships and lessons obtained
Priceless and not to be disdained.

Through the ups and through the lows
The people that comes and goes
It's not by chance we cross paths with
More like how a Higher Power intervened

Hours pasts quickly when you're conversing with the ones you love
Reflecting on the past three years here
Can't believe that we've outdone our capacity
Surrendering ourselves to go beyond "what could be"

Despite the roller coaster ride
We're able to enjoy the moment
Sometimes exhilarating, sometimes frightening
But every moment was worth living

Knowledge is broaden
While dreams continue to expand
I guess being idealists pays off
We still believe in our Fairy Tale "ending"

I'm free to be me
And you're free to be you
Let's not let the thoughts of others
Dictate our actions

We can't base our future on people's past
Neither will their story depict our own story
Their experiences are valuable
But we can have our own new ones too

And just like a prophetic picture taken
It's like we can reach for the stars so easily
As we align ourselves to His divine plan for us
His grace will be sufficient.

We've come this far
Him seeing us through every season
So come what may
I dare to believe.

And I dare you too....

Just believe and you shall achieve.


Photo Credit: Janice Khaw