Went to send off Shaw and Katharina at the airport earlier today, and it's a real joy to meet people like them who consistently inspire me in my faith and challenge me in my Salvationism as I got to know them over the course of the last year and a half. They've been here for studies and work, and have also been involved in various ministries in church. And of course, it adds more international friends to visit if I ever have the chance in future. 

Weekend came and left, and I get the nagging feeling that I haven't done anything much that is productive. Although if someone else looks back on my behalf, they will probably say it's not so bad, but I feel like I want to learn something new or do something different. Haha okay next weekend! 

And lastly, I am in the preparation for a Friday topic on who is Jesus Christ. Again, I can't express how much I am impacted and inspired just from reading and researching, and for Christ's presence which is just so overwhelming. 

Keeping this short =)

Just a small little thought that is going in my head. I think the role of SMS and instant messaging and Facebook and Twitter and Whatsapp is quite indispensable to my cell group leading. For what it all does with keeping up with everybody, I think I am tremendously thankful for technology for being able to just message anyone in my cell and have a decent conversation with them from it. The obvious things that I can do with it are to disseminate prayer requests lists, or send out Bible verses, or small encouragements, but in reality I do very little of that haha. Majority of the time I get the feeling that the main fellowship of my cells operate separately from the Fridays weekly meeting, on virtual space!

And perhaps, just perhaps, sometimes I think I understand them even better through SMS, cos if I ask them out for face-to-face meetings it somehow seems are more intimidating for teenagers? Haha of course this is what they always say, that technology depersonalizes and destroys actual interactions. But I think it works in the reverse way for me, because SMS and Whatsapp brings out the more intimate and more personal sharing, and when I meet them face-to-face it breaks down more walls.

Haha quite funny how things change in a matter of a decade, cos when I first took my very very first cell group when I was 15, I didn't even have a phone! Friendster and MSN were all the rage. And when I took the Sec 1 and 2s a few years back, I know my phone was constantly abuzz with truckloads of SMSes and long phone calls (little girls). And fast forward to now, everybody in the cell or ex-cell is included in a Whatsapp group that never stops ringing cos there's 8 people all vying to speak.

Past four or five days hasn't been easy on my emotions. First thing is that the new school semester started again, and it is with an extremely poignant heart that I am embarking upon. It is probably my last proper formal education that I will devote myself to, and the final semester also marks a transitional period into working life. I'm not even sure what I want to do or where I want to work, much less even began to look. I am kinda waiting for some huge signpost to point me in the direction that I should head, but nope so far nothing haha.

More than that, Uncle Timothy Lim passed away last Saturday from cancer relapse. Past few years I had reason to get to know his family better, because his children Federic and Hannah were in my cell groups. Got the opportunity to visit him once in hospital a couple of years back too, and am just so captivated by his fervent pursuit of Christ-likeness. Think the least I could do was to accompany both my little kiddos as much as possible. It included a lot of supper, late night chats, playground time, and a lot of texting heh. Nobody handles death very well, and I have to be frank to acknowledge that I don't really know the right things to say or do for every circumstance. But the cremation service was today, and I hope that put some rest to everything that their family have been through past two or three years. 

Was away at Batam past two days for a weekend getaway. It kinda started with Amelia wanting to get out of country before school started (she is always doing this), so her and Matthew and Isaac and Priscilla and I all went holidaying! We booked a villa at a resort with really nice waterfront view, and it came with its own private swimming pool! Needless to say we were swimming every opportunity we could get, and board games and cards and TV and a little bit of shopping and arcade and lots and lots of junk food.

Really appreciated the time away from everything before my final semester in school starts again tomorrow, but to be honest I don't really enjoy such kinds of holidays where I don't really do anything at all! Haha I'm the kind of traveller that likes to go and do something or see something, and I will gladly stay in one foreign city by myself for a month (if my mum ever allows) and just live there. If you tell me beach resort with sun sand sea swim, I'll just baulk mostly.

But probably what made this great fun was the company of people I was with, and how I had to be the one jumping into the cold pool last every time cos we were putting the camera on timer, and each of us with a facial mask under the stars at 2am. There is a picture of my hideous masked face, but I think I shouldn't put it up here, lest it horrifies thee.

I usually try to do an annual recap post before the new year begins, but as always there are tonnes of things that happen during year end that makes it impossible for me to sit down quietly and think through this. This is a little bit belated, but there was the customary stayover in church after Watchnight service, and we were tearing the walls down with some mass games here and there. Past couple of years I didn't quite make it through the entire night, so usually by 4am or 5am I am scooting off back to my home to sleep, but this year just seems more energetic somehow. I don't think anyone really slept throughout the night for this year, and it was a great fellowship to start/end the year, following all the outings and camps in December.

I think every year I force myself to do a recap because it helps me to give thanksgiving and praise for all the good things in the year, and I try to see where my next step should be in the new year. Generally I think 2012 has been an excellent year for me, just that the first half of the year didn't really get off with a huge bang! Usually it gets really crazy by middle of the year because I would have gone overseas or have some church camp to help out with, but I think this first half of last year was relatively quiet. I totally cannot remember what I did for my 3-month summer break, except that I was in Sydney and Melbourne for Hillsong Conference! That was a good refreshing break for my soul, and as ever a great opportunity to come back to Singapore fresher to serve in all my various ministries. And of course, the year-end preparations for all the various camps and not really being home for most of December.

This is probably as much as I can remember of my 2012. It was quite a busy year, especially when I throw in school into the equation. I know I have told myself countless times to reduce my commitments in church and let go more so that I am not doing so much in church all the time, but somehow or rather it still feels like I am spending time in church almost every other day! Okay truth be told I am really not as involved in worship ministry as before, and a lot of people around me are picking up the things which I don't have to worry so much about. Church is really my safe haven to escape from school before I go home, mostly because it is in limbo and in transit en route home.

The new year has been quite ineffably ambivalent so far. If you remember my caterpillars, one of them metamorphosized into a nice butterfly, but the other didn't make it. Releasing the butterfly took ten minutes because there was quite a strong wind and it was testing its new wings. Which is somewhat how I feel about the new year. For one thing, it is going to be my last semester in NUS, and very likely the last 5 months of studying that I will do in a long time. I don't know where I should work in, I don't know what I want to do, and I don't really have much openings or offers given to me either. And adding to that, I committed myself to another two years of youth leadership, when I'm not at all certain what this additional two years will bring. It really feels like I've been doing this too long and too much, but it doesn't feel like a chore nor a burden also. Possibly the only reason why I'm staying put is because God isn't telling me to go anywhere.

Which is why everything has started now, even though my new cell group for 2013 has not officially met together in full strength yet! Already, the small little ones that Celine and I are going to be in charge of have already been telling us excitedly about their new schools and what CCAs they are going to choose and what new phones their parents are getting for them. I think the P6 camp and the youth camp of last year helped tremendously, and I am looking forward to new experiences and new challenges with this new cell group. 6th  consecutive year of doing this. Here we go.

Have been home quite a bit and have been out of home quite a bit these few days too! Choosing to stay home mostly because my poor mum is alone. Dad has gone back to Philippines after the Christmas holiday, and my sister is holidaying in Korea and won't be back till next year! I'm trying to allow my presence to be felt more at home so that mum doesn't have to be alone all the time. Update on Cater and Pillar, both have started their cocooning, but one of the cocoons fell (I think) and the poor caterpillar is currently in three separate pieces, so I presume it dead. The other one is still in the process of metamorphosis.

And out of home because it is holidays after all! Been out a lot with friends and with the cell group especially. The year is coming to an end, and so is the cell group, and they want to meet up as many times as possible before we all get new cell groups next year. There were some shopping trips here and there, we went down to Ikea just to eat meatballs, and today we were at the airport simply to see if we can find interesting stuff to occupy the Sunday afternoon. Well they did zoom around the entire check-in area of Terminal 2 on trolleys!! It was easily one of my better days well spent for the whole year, and I am going to miss the time spent with them. I've led many many different cell groups before, so I cannot really say anything to suggest that this is the best cell group ever or the most tight-knit cell or anything remotely related to any forms of absolutes! Haha I have to be fair and impartial to my past, present and future cell groups. But still, among the best people I've ever met in life.

So Christmas came and went, and that concludes the most bittersweet season of every year-end. This year's celebrations has been pretty quiet and muted. Yes there were a couple of parties here and there, but apart from that Christmas this year kinda sneaked past my calendar. I didn't sign up to go and ring the bell for kettling, because I had reservist which took up most of my available holidays. We didn't plan to go carolling at houses too. And most of all, I think I wasn't really put in charge of anything significant this year, because past few years I was either leading worship or speaking or something like that. Haha it was a nice break.

And every year I embark on an ambitious essay writing project for all the people that matter to me in my life. Christmas card writing is one of my favourite things to do, because it allows me an opportunity to express my gratitude or thanksgiving to the person I'm writing to. Usually have about 50~70 cards to write, and then there's an essay for about about half of those people, so it does take quite a lot of effort to get it done! I figured if I'm writing a card then I might as well fill it up full with words that matter. 

Present of the year comes from Daniel and Kathryn! They bought caterpillars and gave them out to some of us, and golly it's the most ingenious present ever in my life! Well, apart from the time I received a hamster... Haha I received a pair of caterpillars, and I just need to put fresh leaves once or twice a day  for the caterpillars to eat. Most amazing thing was finding out that caterpillars can actually poop, and they do poop a lot! The eventual hope is that they pupate and then transform into butterflies so that they can be set free. Hopefully they start to cocoon themselves and turn into butterflies before the year ends, cos that will be a great start to the new year! Anyway, I named them Cater and Pillar, but it's not as if I can tell them apart.

A couple of things which I wanted to blog about.

First, I have a new hair colour now! It is the first time ever in my life I was willing to try something new and different to my hair, and first time ever in my life I actually dyed my hair. The Gatsby package says "Natural Bleach", but it looks more like light golden brown. And I'm not sure whether this is a hit or miss, because some people tell me I look ten years older, but I also have the other camp telling me I look ten years younger! Either way, this is probably the most irrationally random decision ever. Reason why I wanted to do it? I ended reservist recently and my friend said that we can all go dye cool hair colours immediately because it would have some time to fade before our next in-camp training. So... haha this is probably too weird a reason, but I figured that I should try somehow, and here I go.

Second, I decided to organize a small Pri 6 outing on Christmas Eve today. And as with every batch of new Sec 1s that come under me, they must go through the "cycling at East Coast" initiation, because I have been consistently going to East Coast every year to cycle with practically every Sec 1/2 cell that I have ever led haha. Tradition must not be forgotten! But we were caught in a sudden downpour this afternoon, and although we were drenched, I am super duper excited for these would-be new cell members! It was, and still is, my greatest privilege to be part of all these young lives, and I am constantly challenged to mould and shape them into what God intends them to be. 2013 will be my sixth consecutive year of doing this, and they are a full 12-year lunar cycle younger than me (we fiesty dragons). Nope, I am not too old for this! =)

So we had our youth camp over the past weekend, and the biggest take-home nagging feeling was that I was the oldest at the camp for large portions of it! Not that that gave me any special privileges, nor did I have to exercise any authority from it, but simply the fact that I think I am getting quite old for youth ministry! But still, camp was really great, and I count it my privilege to be part of something whereby the Spirit is so insistent on transforming lives and touching hearts. 

And leading a group lets me experience first-hand all these miracles, from people finding answers to their questions, then believing in a living God, to a whole new dimension of worship, and even an experience of Jesus taking them for a walk! I cannot quite imagine all of these, and I can only trust that what's sowed at this camp will eventually translate into something much bigger beyond me. 

Highlight of the camp include getting my group lost on a huge 40-minute detour, because I didn't heed Google Maps' instructions and the bus we were on went on the expressway! But we made an amazing comeback from finding Kar Leong at the right place at the right time literally. 

I don't have a picture of my complete group, but I'm sure they will be somewhere on Facebook, so these will do for now. 

Slightly long post ahead, but I need to put this out to encourage myself, and possibly you too. Just want to marvel and be amazed at how much people grow and change once more! I know I consistently blog about how it is a joy for me to watch people grow up over the years, and it doesn't help that I am involved with Sec 1 and 2, which means that it is practically inevitable for me to witness huge dramatic change over the course of their teenage lives. But if I do not document all these down, one day when I'm much more older and I don't have much recollection on things, I will at least be able to pull these out from 'Search' and read to catch up on my memory.

Roxanne messaged me on Saturday night and asked about our Sunday service timings. She wanted to start coming back to church again, and to be super honest and frank, I don't know why me or why our church! She was in my cell group two or three years back because Janice brought her along, but when Janice and her family changed church, Roxanne stopped coming too. So I was sitting beside her in service this morning, and it felt so weird to know that I once had this responsibility to ensure that this young lady grow up the way she is supposed to grow up in Christ. I vaguely remember praying over the phone with her friends over a phone conference and going down to her netball matches, stuff like that haha. Several years later, she's graduated from secondary school now, I've not seen her for years too, and it's just bittersweet knowing that she's back with us somehow, even if it's just one Sunday. 

And then I was at worship practice for youth camp (which is next week!!!), and was playing with Celine for some of the sessions. I can't tell you how much of this reminiscence thing played out all day for me. Celine used to be in my cell group too, the very first Sec 1 batch I took in which I had no idea where to begin and no idea what or what not to do. So I taught her guitar at the first opportunity, and I always teach 'Heart of Worship' for the first song because the chords and rhythm are relatively great for a guitar beginner. So we were midway into our worship practice, and guess what song came up through the set-lists? Haha I can't imagine how much poetic justice or irony or coincidence there are, when she went playing the same strumming pattern that I first taught her five years back, but no longer as someone who just picked up the guitar for the first time, instead as someone who have been serving in ministry for several years now. And next year she's going to be co-leading cell with me!!! 

I think I am old that way. I know I am only (just turned) 24, and it is incomparable to aunties and uncles and grandparents all around, but I always feel old in relation to the teenagers I hang out with. Just the other day, the kids in my current cell now asked me if will I still talk to them and be friends with them when they change cells next year. We are doing a massive cell group transition next year, and my cell group is currently at the "we don't want to leave each other" phase because of whatever that has been built up for the past two years, even if they vehemently deny this is the case hahaha. And I always placate them and say yes yes yes I will still talk to you, but I know pretty much that they will settle into their new cell groups and new lives and it will be THEM who won't want to talk to me! 

Just like how Roxanne and Celine are now. I don't really find out what's happening in their lives, and they don't clamour to meet me either, plainly because we all move on and our priorities change. There's only so much I can put in to care for people, and of course I have to put my current cell group on high priority. Like I reckoned, there's probably 50-odd (or 60 or 70 or 80) teenagers that I know and have met just from the length of ministry since I first took on Sec 1 and 2 five years back, and I can't know for certain where they all are now. They all bring friends, then I hang out with the friends of their friends, and it's like an exponential epidemic. I can only pray for all these young ones from my previous cells, that they are getting on fine from wherever I left them off. It's only once in a while when they sit beside me in service or play guitar with me, that it hits me like a rock where my ministry has brought me to. Somewhere somehow God deems it fit that His work and His glory is magnified through what I don't even know I'm doing. Roxanne said nobody in our church really remembers her anymore (she's proven wrong anyway because people did recognize her), but I'm more thankful that at least she remembered me enough to ask about the service timing! And I feel I can only boast about this in the Lord's strength. This commitment may have really been my sweat and blood and tears, but that's cos I am a do-er all the time. If God didn't keep reminding me to rest, I wouldn't have done much on my own efforts anyway. Likewise, seeing just a small fraction of the fruits of the labour is really the hugest encouragement for me to carry doing this. 

Today I am happily done with exams! Although I have been acting as though it ended quite a few days ago haha. Yes I was studying hard for my papers and there were many many late nights, but the truth is that it is also my final year, and there are not many ways to improve my grades by huge margins. So I have been taking it rather easy, which meant also that I have been going for cell group outings and whatever gatherings even before exams ended!

And right after exams today, I went down to support the Starbucks Open House, not as a volunteer, but as a coffee-getter! Every year they have this collaboration which involves free Starbucks drinks for a couple of hours, with all donation proceeds going to Salvation Army. For the past two or three years I have been serving as a volunteer at various locations, but this year my exams wouldn't have ended in time for the start of the kettling, so I didn't take it up. I went with Federic to Northpoint at Yishun to support the girls in my cell who were there to ring the bell, and I have to say it feels so funny to be in the queue instead of being the one in apron and ringing bell! But it's a good role reversal for once, I'm quite sure there are plenty more occasions for me to ring bells in future haha.

Joanna and Si Xuan! 

Was invited to attend a Gracehaven thanksgiving concert today, and they doubled it up with a carnival celebration too! Towards the end of the year they usually organize some special form of appreciation for all their volunteers, and for the past two years or so I think I have not attended any of it due to December's crazy schedules. Quite glad that I managed to catch this year's! 

I have to admit that every time I go down to Gracehaven, it is almost always for some form of service or ministry that I am giving. Whether it is to support them in their worship services, for tuition, for meetings... It always involves some work from my part. Haha it was quite a good experience to be able to be in the Gracehaven premise to actually enjoy and talk to the youths there without having to do anything! Over the past few years I've got to know quite a lot of people there, and of course new people come and go all the time because their length of stay in Gracehaven is usually two years. I am really motivated and encouraged by the Kingdom's work, and each Gracehaven opportunity for ministry opens my eyes to what church beyond the confines of the church is really all about. Can't quite imagine just how much some of the youths have grown in stature since I first knew them, and most of all I never knew some of them could sing or play instruments that well!

Am currently at a juncture whether to continue committing next year to the various Gracehaven ministries that I support now, and part of me is irresistibly torn to let anything go. But I do need to prioritize my time and efforts, and I am really seeking what God wants in all of these.

Yep it was my birthday yesterday, and I am super thankful to everyone who have sent my greetings one way or another. Although I think 97% of the people I know do not read this blog, because I think nobody really has the time to keep up with blogs everyday now haha. So if you're the 3% reading this, you have my sincerest gratitude! 

I am 24 now, and have gone two full cycles of with the lunar calendar dragon (I'm a dragon)! Or in other forms of lingo, I am a complete two-dozen of age, or four and a score. I think I am immensely old, but then some middle-aged uncle in church will pooh-pooh me and say I'm at the prime of my life. And then I will possibly meet some elderly auntie with very gray hair and I will just keep quiet about my age. But I only feel old in relation to my cell group, because the Sec 1s next year will be dragon babies too, and that means I am a full 12-year cycle older than them! Don't quite know how I am to deal with that hahaha. 

But birthday was great. I was going around all the restaurants and shops asking for my birthday special, if any. I think it is the only day in the whole year where I am actually allowed to ask for that, so why shy and pretend that it's not my birthday when I am possibly missing out on all these discounts! And you will be surprised at some of the birthday promotions that you are entitled to, some of it are really great, but requires you to be shameless. Other forms of celebrations include replying "happy birthday" when people greet me with "happy birthday", because well, it seems to be the same when people say "Merry Christmas" and you reply back with "Merry Christmas" too! 

A year older. 

Back from a youth leaders' training camp, and I cannot shake off the feeling that I've been doing this too frequent and too often. I think I have been staying over at William Booth Retreat Centre at least once a year for the past four or five years, each time for various retreats or camps or workshops. Which is well, quite a surreal experience, because I have no idea why I am committing myself to another two years of youth leadership when it is probably time for me to pass it on. 

This coming year will be my 6th year in a row doing the Sec 1 & 2 ministry. And possibly 9th or 10th year in total for leadership?! Haha too much for too long, but I will always remember the humbling experience at Hillsong Conference earlier this year when I met this woman who was in her 40s, and she says she has been doing youth ministry for the past 25 years. That's even longer than my life put together. And her three-word advice to me was to "keep it fun". Couldn't disagree with that haha. 

And with extreme irony, Celine will be my co-cell leader next year. She was in my first ever Sec 1 & 2 cell five years back, and I seem to be forever co-leading with people who were once in my cell when they were teeny teens (hello Jolene), but have somehow transformed from that cocoon into more-than-leaders in their own rights. I don't quite know how God does it, but if I ever need encouragement when I think my work isn't sowing the right seeds and reaping the right harvest, I talk to my co-cell leaders. Somehow, it all just adds up. 

This weekend's highlight involved engaging in a new activity/hobby! I happily signed up for a floral arrangement class about two weeks ago, when the women's ministries in my church announced that they are hiring someone in to teach a one-off session. Partly because I have always been super encouraged by the team of ladies who does our floral offering for Sunday service every week. They rotate themselves on a roster and come in every Saturday afternoon cooped up in the servery, and it can take as long as two hours!

I have to confess that I always thought floral arrangement very easy. I just have to snip the flowers and then decide what arrangement I want then poke it into the sponge, hahaha quite easy wad! But it seems like everytime I thought it looked nice, one of the aunties will walk by and "Guan You! So messy!", and then they pluck out everything I've poked in and rearrange for me. Auntie Charlotte gave me the best advice haha she attended many classes before, and she will tell me that the tallest apex flower need not be the prettiest because no one really looks that high up, so you should put the more "uglier" flowers not-yet-bloomed as the apex. And then there's symmetries and asymmetries in every shape and design! Haha completely astounded. By the way I was one of only two males there (the other was Uncle Patrick), and this is essentially part of my movement to show that floral arrangement need not always carry sexist connotations!

Pictures!!

Step 1: Have a good base foliage with the roses as the general triangular shape.

Step 2: Put in the centrepieces

Step 3: Touch up and tadaa!

This was the one the teacher did in 45 mins. It is a lot taller than this picture made it to be, with the torch ginger flowers really magnificent and with brassica flowers (the purple ones). But what I liked about this best was the three leaves sticking out at the back, it's quite funny but it's so suave!

I think I left with a deeper understanding of floral arrangement, more than just snip and poke! It seems like no matter how I arrange it, the teacher's own arrangement always looks nicer than mine! There is a technique here, and it does take a creative eye to visualize the patterns. I do hope this is not my last class! 

So today during service, I was asked an interesting question midway sermon. Rebecca asked "why was Jesus male and not a female". Haha truth be told, the first thing that I was sorely tempted to say was this small little joke that I always use as an icebreaker. It goes something similar, like "why is God referred to as he and not a she", and the answer is because we sing hymns (hims) and not herms hahaha. Okay I know it's not the best thing around, but it helps me to get the lightheartedness to where I need it to go, and people do generally laugh at it okay!

So yeah, I digress. Why was Jesus male. I thought for a moment and realized that in the patriarchal society that Jesus lived in, he probably wouldn't have gained much currency if he was a female! No one will listen to him (or her, for that matter), and no one will take him seriously, and persecution for a heretical female will be even more outright madness than a heretical male (which some already deemed him to be). Read somewhere too that Jesus' timing was always perfect, like he was in the right place at the right time. And even subsequent events after his resurrection, such as the gospel being written in Greek helped it to become widely circulated and read because it was the lingua franca of the Roman empire. So I kinda believe that Jesus has got to be male for some reason.

But then Rebecca being Rebecca, she asked further on why the Salvation Army song that we always sing "they shall come from the east they shall come from the west and sit down in the kingdom of God", why does it not include north and south! To which I have no idea really, and it was one of those Gowans and Larsson song, of which they probably wrote so many. So I googled, and they did give me a verse each from Luke 13:29 and Matthew 8:11. Funny thing was, the Luke reference had all four north south east west, but Matthew reference only had east and west! And being a Geography student this kind of thing annoys me when I can't find the answer, because I think directional references are very important haha.

Help please!!!

Every two months or so, I get the privilege to lead the Sec 1 and 2 Christian Education class on Sundays. I try to structure my lessons to ensure that it maximizes attention and imparts something at the same time, because they lose focus very easily! I try to do a lot of drawing or descriptive stuff or taking a walk to MacDonald's while reciting the Zacchaeus story hahaha. Anyway for today, I got my inspiration from a book title (which is yet to be published though) to fill in the blank "Jesus is _____". The whole point was to make Jesus a lot more personal to every individual, and it really is anything goes! It can be an adjective, like "Jesus is awesome", but it can also be verbs like "Jesus is carrying me". And youth being youth I was kinda hoping for crazy answers like "Jesus is not emo" or "Jesus is better than noobs" or "Jesus is rolling his eyes at what I think I should be doing instead of doing what God thinks I should be doing", you know crazy stuff like that I came up with which sounds cool! But nah, it didn't quite cut through today, haha they thought it was too kiddy. But still, it was quite fun to get some of their responses, after much cajoling!

Some of what I received:

"Jesus is like magic"

"Jesus is like Avengers" 

"Jesus is a man"

"Jesus is a name" 

Which wasn't too bad I guess, and it actually is quite biblical if I wrangle it! Because Jesus is fully man and fully God, and Jesus is name above all names, and his miracles are cooler than magic hahaha. I mean, it's a bit too weird and too contemporary to situate Jesus outside of New Testament times, but I think that if I cannot make Jesus relate to me right this time and this place now, then the whole point of a relationship in Christ is kinda meaningless isn't it? So yup, if Jesus is like the Avengers, then he is really very mighty and powerful! I love how Jesus is king, but he is also my friend. 

And, this was my favourite response from Rebecca. For some of them I don't really know what she's trying to depict though, but Jesus is her favourite animal and her favourite colour and so on..

And this is my own response!

Probably one of my craziest weeks ever since school started. It's crunch time now, group assignments are due in a couple of weeks, presentations to be made, essays to be written... Have been spending a lot of time lately meeting project groups, which is both good and bad because most of the time it is with familiar fellow geographers haha. 

And the reason why I feel like I really need a breather is because I have been handling a lot of hall rentals-related stuff this week! Towards the end of the year, it gets especially crazy because all the kindergartens are holding their graduation concerts, and I am coordinating and liaising with the rental groups to provide technicians from our side. This week alone we had three different groups coming in for rehearsals or concerts. And occasionally in the week I have to meet several of them at various times for informal discussions of how they want their setup to be like, what equipment they need, measurements, lighting. Phone keeps ringing with unknown numbers, because I don't really bother saving the many many contacts, and because they are more likely to ring me than me ringing them. Really glad for the end of this week, because it is driving me borderline crazy dealing with so many people. 

Last of all, I finally initiated a conversation with our new front desk receptionist at church! That job appointment has seen two or three changes in the past few months, and the current receptionist has been there for a month. And you know very well that church is like my second home haha, so I have been smiling and saying hi to this auntie all the time, and she recognizes me too. Her name is Jane, and she thought that I'm some part-time staff working in church! But she doesn't attend any churches herself, which led me to share about what I really do in church and how I came up through Sunday School (since I was teeny 8 years old) and blah blah. You must always have a testimony on hand, yes that is very very important. And nothing made my week more fulfilling, than to be able to share about growing up in church. 

Was at a Primary 6 camp on Thursday and Friday! Okay it wasn't really a camp, more like a stayover with many activities. The whole point was to begin the bridging journey from primary school to secondary, and last year Youth Dept decided to start an annual camp for all the P6s across all the corps after their PSLE. This year we only had six of them who were with us at the camp, but the small numbers meant that there were a lot of interaction with everyone and it was a lot more intentional! Had a really good time there, really enjoyed the time spent with them. We went fishing in Bishan Park, swimming with slides and wave pools, bowling.. Amidst all that fun there's a growing-up teenager talk hahaha, and it ended with SAY service on Fri night. Dedication is very important, and glad that it was a very good initiation for all of them!

Yes there are pictures!!! This blog post is not all words.

So I did say that I will continue my previous post of my university education, but obviously I never really got to it after more than a week haha. And then I received a surprise promo on Shihui's Twitterfeed!! So here it goes, I took that as impetus to pick up where I left off. 

I really really enjoyed my Literature course tremendously over the past three years. There were some slight dramas with my choice of minor, because I initially wanted to minor in English Studies, which is a combination of English as a language and English as a literature study.And I am so so glad that I decided to do English as a literature study fully! But I am not the best Literature student haha. Yes I read widely, and yes I enjoy reading, but the truth is that I read very slowly too! So there's 6 to 8 thick novels per module, and I barely get through 3 most of the time hahaha. Which is sometimes enough, because the exams tend to need only involve about 2 to 3 books for analysis, because you have essay choices. When I was doing A'Levels, we did about 6 texts in two years! Now we have to do it for ONE module alone, in three months only! I love it when the professor decides to put poetry as set texts, which is awesome as poetry is really my strong point and it is a lot easier to plow through. But I still love the stuff I learnt in my books Literature classes, because it really demanded from you a wide knowledge from as diverse disciplines as required. We had to dabble in psychological analyses, feminist writings, post-colonial writings, postmodernist deconstructions, modernist hallmarks, war, tragedies... Of these all, 19th century novels were the most painful, because that's when Victorian writers like Dickens and gang began exploring novels as holistic forms to encapsulate life, which means they wrote the longest novels ever with the longest plots and so many twists and characters! 

Which is why also, that I signed up for a lot of film studies modules! It is much easier to go to class and watch a movie, than to carry a book around everywhere I go every day of the week (which I still seldom read). Now film analysis is more fun. We try to understand how certain techniques unique to the camera gets rendered and portrayed as a moving image, and hence sound lighting cinematography editing all matters. Different camera angles or different panning modes or colors or editing sequences go under our literary knives. And then the really cool stuff comes in when we study auteurs, stuff like how Tim Burton movies always have macabre themes; and spectator theories with performativity, like how we react when watching a performed movie. 

For most parts I really really love my Literature exposure, and it is a shame that I couldn't take more modules from the department! Since I am only taking a minor, I really only need to take 6 modules, which is not a lot when you come to think of it. I would have been really interested in script writing for theatrical plays, or cultural studies! Yes I am hugely interested in cultural studies, you may recall from previous blog post about my affiliations with cultural geography. Which is what I sit in my Literature class and what I do! I unpick all those analyses and criticisms about the literary text with geographic underpinnings hahaha! All Literature students need huge reserves of knowledge in practically every philosophical topic possible, and  I am so thankful that my geographic discipline actually sufficiently prepared me in deconstructionist thought that I was able to throw in geographic jargon about space and place, as my only way to act smart in front of the class haha! But it is often airy-fairy mumbo-jumbo. Sometimes I can sit in class and everyone is talking English (and not even bombastic vocabulary), but for the life of me I can't understand a single concept. Ditto. About 30% of the time it flies above my head, and that's when I am secretly thankful that I am not a full-fledged Literature student.

For all the new friends I've made though, it was worth every bit of time and effort to stay alive through those Literature classes. I was basically hanging out with a lot of Year 2s (I was Year 3), and they all think that I am in their classes with an unfair advantage and that I am attempting to wreck the curve, but truth be told I am not very smart, and they are fantastic at critical thinking. Although you have to keep in mind the 30% information leak, which means either they are spouting nonsense, or I really am not equipped with the best Literature toolbox. 

More to come! Final installment on Geography next.