red nose and rainbow wig.

I think that although i livened up the mood at today's filming with the weirdest and most impromptu comments, i talked a tad bit too much.

Sometimes people "look" stupid and say out-of-the-world things just so that others can be entertained. I was in that category of "people" today.

But i am glad the rest seemed like they had a good time. It's nice to see people still rolling with laughter after a long day's work. Smiles.

Maybe i should consider being a professional clown.

Just maybe.

OR... maybe being a clown is one of the million roles of a social worker. I always remember lecturers saying that social workers need to have a sense of humour.

AHA! This must be it. A social worker who wears the clown's red nose and puts on her rainbow coloured wig on different occasions.

There goes my wild imagination. Whoots!

Yes, you are absoutely right. Rach is tried and needs some rest. Or maybe i haven't had my dose of the day. Grins.

La de dum de doo...

real issues, real pain.

God is reminding me to genuinely love and care for others.

It's not easy, but i'm willing to give it all i've got...

A girl from Crossroads told me today that she cried during tuition because she was so frustrated about not being able to understand a maths sum. Sometimes we might see the issues they go through as seemingly trival- in fact, petty. Things like stress in school, bgr issues, at the age of 12, you'd think, "goodness, grow up...", quarrels with their friends, hate towards teachers, their parents and basically the world (haha)... We all look back at our lives and goodness, how much we have grown. Thankfully we had good parents, sunday school teachers, maybe role models or if you walked through it yourself, somehow (by the grace of God) you still turned out fine. But maybe these kids don't. Perhaps they haven't got that environment to learn and be nurtured. And as trival as their issues might sound, they are very real to them. You couldn't dismiss it because the pain they feel, the struggle they go through is just as intense as one you might be going through right now. And that, for them, is overwhelming.

I have learnt, overtime, what it means to be genuinely concerned about their lives, to be with them as they grapple with teenage issues- things i never even went through or heard of. As i begin to understand their worlds, i start to see how purposefully allowed our paths to cross. And unworthy as i might feel, He desires to use me (and you) to minister His love, His grace, His compassion. It awes me and blows my mind to see how i am part of this plan.

Yes, though it is definitely not easy walking through life with these kids (some of them really get it tough), i really desire to understand their worlds, and bring them to the knowledge of this wonderful saviour that i have. And i believe with all my heart that out of these kids will bloom a generation that will transform the community. I cannot even imagine how amazing that would be... Seeing them bring the gospel back home, to school and to the void decks. It's gonna be radical.

All these, i look forward to, and in Christ only i will boast of its accomplishment.

joy bubbling from within.

As i was spending time with God this morning, i discovered 2 passages that embodies what the Holy Spirit has been teaching me these past few days,

"Let the words of Christ, in all their richness, live in your hearts and make you wise. Use his words to teach and counsel each other. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. And whatever you do our say, let it be a representative of the Lord Jesus, all the while giving thanks through him to God the Father." - Colossians 3:16-17 (NLT)

"Work hard and cheerfully at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and the Master you are serving is Christ." - Colossians 3:23-24 (NLT)

Indeed. As i fulfill my responsibilities of student, i want to do it cheerfully, all the while giving thanks. It is not easy when sometimes you find yourself stuck with a group project that you know shouldn't be hand up in this state, when you are so tired and haven't eaten dinner yet you know you have to finish things up first because you don't want to procrastinate, when you still have an individual paper to do but the compilation of the group projects (yes, with an 's') are staring at your face, when you could choose to complain and whine and nobody will blame you for it, when it is so easy to say, "forget it...", when you could have-- a million other things. But in the midst of all these, i find something so strange happening, i find joy bubbling from within. I find my heart in delight, and my spirit in perfect peace. I find a gratitude that His grace is so sufficient for me and all i have to do is to conform to His will.

How amazing it is to be constantly in His presence! We serve a really awesome God... :)

gloomy no more.

I was walking along the corridor of after class today and sighing within at the amount of work i have to complete... Until i saw this girl looking super gloomy, gouchy and tired. And immediately, i told myself- the joy of the Lord is my strength! and strated breaking out in a song in my head and smiling to myself.

If we are called to be light of the world and salt of the earth, how can we be just like every other student in campus going through school as if tomorrow will never come? Yes, it is the time of the semester that we all dread, the deadlines and assignments but, in that split second, it was an excellent reminder to rejoice in Lord, ALWAYS, and again i say, REJOICE!

Alright, i'm gonna get my work done before i head home for dinner. Lord grant me efficiency and wisdom for this task, i want to do it with an attitude that praises You. :)

i'm back and my heart is singing.

As I sit in the library in an attempt to complete my assignment there are many thoughts running through my head. This has been a semester full of the grace of God. Full of humbling experiences and yielding to the will of God. I have never found myself being so intrigued with who He is then this semester. And gosh, as 3 months have passed, I feel so much gratitude bursting forth from within. There were times I was burdened, felt weak, asked many questions, was disappointed, but yet- I really see how God turns all things for the good of those who love Him. I certainly can’t say I love Him enough, because I will never love Him enough and I owe Him everything.

I have been learning very tough lessons that have brought me back to the basics of what Christianity means but I would rather go through each one of these lessons then wish they never happened. Because these processes have moulded me. They have strengthened my faith, built my stamina for a longer race ahead. I cannot emphasize how much the Lord has had His favour showered over me in every aspect of my life and I am ashamed that many times I do not even recognize it as His grace and mercy.

And as I attempt to start explaining the areas in my life He has been challenging me with, I don’t know where to start or update. Because there simply has been too many! And besides… well, I guess the procrastination to blog about them has made me a little at a lost as to where to start. Grins. However, I am ready to start sharing consistently again how the Lord has been glorified in my life. I am reminded of how I wanted to use this space to share of His goodness and spur others on in their Christian walk. And yes, truly I would like to use this space to do that.

Moving from the virtual to the real world, the atmosphere in the library is so surreal. I really miss the NUS arts canteen where I can sit by the tables at the side and just enjoy the breeze, being by myself. It’s amazing how I am such contradiction sometimes. I really love being around people (I can’t imagine how it would be like when I am 40 and alone. Haha.) but yet I also enjoy being alone a lot. Just the serenity, spending time thinking and being with the Lord is so so precious. Perhaps the more I am around people, the more I desire to be alone too. Shrugs, humans are rather complex. Whatever it is (haha), I guess I better hit the notes again and finish up this point of the assignment before heading home for home-cooked food and the 9pm show. Haha. Don’t mock me, I hardly get to follow any drama series nowadays.

My heart is singing, “Jesus You are so good…” Truly a privilege to be called His child. Smiles.

more to life.

When your nose gets blocked and runny at the same time and you wake up in the morning feeling groggy, you realise that its the-time-of-the-semester again.

When you have slept 8 hours the night before and then another 6 hours in the afternoon but still feel tired and lethargic, you realise that your body is not letting you off this time.

When you feel that you can't rest anymore becasue you have to do work for tomorrow's tutorial, you realise that the school has either overworked you or you have been procrastinating. (i prefer to believe its the former.)

When you say to yourself, "i am not sick." when you actually are, you are in denial.

When you are drinking cold honey and you feel it going down your hot throat, you realise that you haven't been drinking enough water.

When you find yourself taking delight in little cute things on the display of a toy shop, you know that there are things in life that help you feel better when you are feeling drowsy.

When you start having silly dreams and sharing them with your friend over msn and laughing about it, gosh, you realise how deprived you are.

When you finally admit you should just smile and thank God for the day, you realise there is so much more to life than what you think. :)