finally done... whee!!

finally.. really finally.. i am done with my honors project officially.. research ended, report handed in and poster presentation finished.. haha.. it wasn't smooth sailing at all for those who know what went on for all these while.. thank God that He delivered me through.. really.. think i wouldn't have done it without Him and the people who encouraged me, supported me, helped me and prayed for me.. thanks a lot!


Photos to share:

shi ping, zhou jie and me
working under Dr Xing for our honors project
fun company.. lol..

a small preview to my poster
i finished it within a day
lol

i am not good at presentation and it turned out to be rather true cos i was asked until speechless by a lecturer.. which i should have been prepared for.. i still thank God for it cos i know i am not good at it so i prayed that He will deliver me through and He did.. yeah.. to say that i don't care much about the grades is bluff you de.. i still care.. but i think i really need to trust that God is in control and knows the best for me.. cos i don't want to fall back to the same old trap of achievements orientated life.. actually a greater part of me, just wanted to get it over and done with.. cos really took a long time to come thus far then i can graduate le..

even though i have wanted all the things to come to an end.. i realised i felt a sense of lost after it all ended.. really seems like it was just yesterday that i started my uni life.. but the reality is that i have graduated.. people envy me cos i have graduated.. but i don't feel super great about it except for the rest that i can get.. simply cos i haven't made up my mind about my next step.. yeah.. so i want to take a sabbath rest with God and really think things through.. finally got time to slow down and really rest..


thank God for Your deliverance!!


Love,
Naomi

jan babies until today.. lol..

Happy Birthday to all the January babies who reads my blog and to those that i have celebrated and going to celebrate.. lol.. not really a lot of them that i know of.. but enough to make a hole in my pocket.. lol.. really hope that they have enjoyed themselves for the celebrations..


Photos of most of my jan baby friends (in sequence of their birth dates) :

First in line: Lai Quin

Lai quin with her chewy junior..

chewy junior up front
candle not lighted cos no lighter
y? cos sarah brought the lighter home.. lol..

Second in line: Eileen (21st birthday)

eileen looking happy with her coffee cake
made her malu on that day.. lol..
21 tasks completed..
welcome to adulthood..

Last in line: Zhi Wei

zhi wei and his choco cake

wee boon, zhi wei, rui xia and me
we celebrated his bdae with him
=)

zhi wei's bdae cake up front
mud lava cake @ starbucks
he say it's very nice

present and card for zhi wei
card and gift wrapped by wee boon
quite good taste eh.. lol..

I am very blessed to be in each of their lives.. they have blessed me in different ways through the times that i spent and interacted with them..

Happy birthday to Lai Quin, Eileen and Zhi Wei once again.. and even Jun Xin who i didn't get to attend the celebration.. lol.. there is one more to come.. the last to come of the jan babies is Xiuhua.. will update about her birthday when time to come..



God bless each and everyone of them.. Happy Birthday!


Love,
Naomi

~thinking points~

a lot of things have been going through my mind recently.. a lot need to be processed.. really haven't have the time to just really sit down and think everything through.. a lot learning need to be consolidated.. a lot soul-searching to do.. going to the very foundation and basic of things..


some questions to ponder over:

- Why are you doing what you doing? (essentially what motivates you to do what you do?)

- Have we been a good steward of what God has given us? (in all aspects of our lives)

- Are we doing what God has called and commanded us to do or are we doing what we THINK God wants us to do?

- Are we where we think we are at and why?

- Do we really know what really matters?

- What is the heart condition that your heart is in rite now? then how are you gonna move on from here?

- What are the things God wants you to learn in the coming year or longer?

- What is the boat (comfort zone, security, etc) that we have to step out of to be walking on water with God?

haha.. overwhelming eh? indeed.. but they are very helpful to help us really search deeper into our hearts to know what has been going on within us all these while.. things that have went unseen to the people around us but not for God.. He knows everything and we should allow the Holy Spirit to help guide us to make sense of everything that went through our minds, what we have done and how we have reacted.. don't just allow them to run through you or you doing the things without knowing what caused it and what are the reprecussions..

1 O LORD, you have searched me
and you know me.

2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.

3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.

4 Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD.

5 You hem me in—behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.

7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?

8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,

10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.

11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"

12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!

18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,
I am still with you.

19 If only you would slay the wicked, O God!
Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!

20 They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.

21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD,
and abhor those who rise up against you?

22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.

24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

~Psalms 139~

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer

~Psalms 19:14~

really pray that every words that come out of my mouth and every meditation of my heart will be pleasing to God.. and that the Holy Spirit search me to such depth that i will have a revival and renewal in my heart.. also want to pray that i wouldn't resist any work that God is going to do in my heart, no matter how painful it may be or how much i will struggle.. i want to wrestle it out with God until every bit comes clean..


God, do a spring clean of my heart.. Amen!!


Love,
Naomi

food for thought

yesterday i met up with huiying for shepherding.. then she was sharing with me about the book that she has been reading.. it's 'Mere Christianity' by C. S. Lewis.. a very famous Christian literature, i would say.. a question that was brought was that if you are contented with life and that's good enough for you, and you even think that you are actually quite a good person.. and maybe religion means nothing to you.. so why must you believe in a God?
i have heard it more than once from the friends around me.. lol.. as we were talking about it, it strikes us that why is it much easier for people who are the so called bad people to receive Christ.. actually, it is pretty much simple.. cos they recognise the fact that they are not worthy of what Jesus did for them cos of their sins.. however for people for think they are good enough and contented with life, they never thought of how sinful and how unworthy they are.. and that Christianity is just another religion that people go for to make themselves feel better.. so sad rite? i may have been one of them actually.. cos my life is rather normal.. not very rich or very good.. but it is not that bad afterall.. and i am quite in my studies.. i think if circumstances never hit me and make me see God is real in my life.. i think i would be like them too.. as humans we all like to be in control of things or to say as many things as we can.. not wrong cos God made us to rule and reign with Him in the first place.. but are we trying too hard to take control of things that we couldn't possibly take control of? God wants us to rule and reign with Him not on our own cos He knows we are not capable to do that on our own.. only when Jesus is in us and with us then can we do it..

"26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

27 So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them.

28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." "

-Genesis 1:26-29-

"4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.""

- John 15:4-6-

frankly, after knowing God and experienced Him working in my life.. i can't comprehend the kind of life that i am going to lead without Him.. maybe it is good and normal.. but i don't want to settle for just that.. i want the best and i know only He can give me the best.. if you have the best, why settle for second best or just good enough?

in fact, God knows about us wanting to settle for what we already have.. He even knows that it is going to be very hard for people who have great wealths in life or great achievements in life to want to accept Him into their lives..

16Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?" 17 "Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments." 18 "Which ones?" the man inquired. Jesus replied, " 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, 19honor your father and mother,' and 'love your neighbor as yourself.' " 20 "All these I have kept," the young man said. "What do I still lack?" 21 Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." 22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

- Matthew 19:16-24-

why pursue all these riches, achievements, relationships and so called happiness, knowing that at the end of the day, there is nothing that you can bring away with you when you die? and at the end of the day, how are you feeling? lonely? sad? a void that has always been there but never exactly filled? no matter how hard we try to find means and ways to fill it? i have been there done that.. i don't say i am not happy for some time, i was indeed.. it was just a fleeting feeling that i have.. looking deep i only found myself with nothing and all alone.. everything is just a chasing of the wind.. even the most wise on earth, Solomon said that..

10 I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;

I refused my heart no pleasure.

My heart took delight in all my work,

and this was the reward for all my labor.

11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done

and what I had toiled to achieve,

everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;

nothing was gained under the sun.

- Ecclesiastes 2:10-11-

so because of God's love for us, He don't want to see us like that anymore.. so He sent Jesus down to identify with us, die for our sins and give us a life to the full..

"God so love the world that He gave His Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life"

- John 3:16-

"I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

- John 10:10b-

"14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. 16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."

- Hebrews 4:14-16-

just something to ponder about..

Don't settle for second best if you can get the best!

Love,

Naomi

a day out.. =)

whee!!!

a day out without school work or stress at the back of mind is fun!! lol.. i met my sheep, huiying for shepherding in the afternoon at jurong point cos she wants to go back to school to do her fyp after that.. shop around with her.. her usual fave to go to dvd shop to walk around and update herself what shows she have missed and she wants to watch.. cos she is an arts student.. forgot to take a photo with her to post online.. she just permed and highlighted her hair.. a new image..

then i met up sihua cos she say want to celebrate my honors project report handed in.. want to go havoc.. lol.. but not much of a havoc.. met up at tecman cos wanted to buy some books and a gift.. we went bugis junction foodcourt for dinner.. then shopped at bugis junction and her fave place, bugis street.. a lot of good and cheap stuffs there.. then we went to eat desserts.. yum yum!! haha.. actually it's not what we did or where we go that matters.. but the presence of one another that matters.. i hope we can still hang out much after things start to get busy..


Some photos of the day out:

desserts that sihua and i ate
she bought another bowl after that
lol

me posing with my dessert

sihua with her dessert
stop acting cute eh..
lol

i bought quite a bit of stuffs today.. 1 cute notebook.. btw, i have a fetish for notebooks.. lol.. 3 Christian literatures.. 1 devotional calendar, meant to be a gift.. 3 pairs of earrings.. 2 cute t-shirts.. so much rite? lol.. can buy more if i want.. cos i can be quite impulsive when i buy stuffs.. both sihua and me actually wanted to go buy chinese new year clothes de.. but nothing caught my eyes except for a pair of shoes that i didn't buy in the end.. sihua did like something but can't make up her mind whether she wants to buy.. lol..

thank God for both huiying and sihua.. i enjoy both their companionships.. i've learned different things from them through the times that we spend together.. and i treasure the experiences a lot.. don't know how things would change when they move on to another ministry.. i hope our friendships will continue on and be everlasting..

sharing and further thoughts that i have for the meeting i had with them today will be posted again.. =)


Sisters and Friends Forever!!

Love,
Naomi

wee boon's 1 yr old spiritual b'dae

yoz yoz..

Happy 1 year old birthday to Mr Chock Wee Boon!! haha.. you are 1 year old in your walk with God le.. come a long way ya? haha.. i know cos i was with you most of the journey.. yeah.. really glad that you have stick with God all these while despite of what have happened.. you will grow strong in the Lord de.. as long as you allow Him to plow your heart and mould you.. and give whatever burdens and trashes that you are carrying with you onto Him.. yeah..

had mini celebration just now for wee boon's spiritual b'dae at lai lai beef noodles there.. he don't eat beef.. ironically.. lol.. think it was a good time to come together as a cg even though not full strength.. to celebrate his spiritual b'dae.. i think we all enjoyed one another presence and the time we had together.. yeah.. wee boon, did you enjoy yourself? haha.. we brought him a cake.. had affirmations, sharing of his wish and prayed for him.. yeah.. had the privilege of sihua and hongyao from our unit to join us for a short time of fellowship after that..



Photos of wee boon and his cake..

wee boon making a wish..

wee boon blowing the candle for the 3rd time..
lol..

thank God for putting wee boon in my life.. yeah.. i think i can learn quite a bit of things from him and from being his cl.. yeah.. he is someone that i really got to interact and got to know much better.. he is dearly loved by his cg, NYC B2 which includes me.. even though they don't always show it out.. they really love you de.. him and me quarrel quite a bit and sometimes i even say stupid things to him.. but i really treasure the friendship that we have.. i hope our friendship will have a breakthrough.. and i really hope to be a listening ear.. maybe someone who can really help you.. this family will be one you will not regret to be in.. not because we are perfect people but because God places us in this family to help and love one another.. and the relationship that we have is centered around God and based upon His words..


his wish is to let God take control of the things in his life.. cos he knows he is holding on to too many things.. that he need to give it up to God.. let this post be a reminder of what he wished for on his first spiritual b'dae (7 jan 2009)..


Continue to grow up in your salvation..
Jia you, Wee Boon!!


Love,
Naomi

my day and thots..

Hey hey..

i spent the whole of today editing my honors project report.. i din expect to have so much changes to do.. first time man.. edit until i really feel like crying.. feel like crying cos i can't see an ending to it and don't know how to start.. really so so much that it's overwhelming.. practically stucked in front of my lappie the whole day sia.. haha.. but actually, come to think about it.. it is gonna be the last time to have to madly rush to finish up a major report.. a report that will determine what class of honors i will get.. haha.. actually till this point in time.. it doesn't matter anymore actually.. i just want to get it over and done with.. very tiring.. lol.. think i need a break from doing research, studying or to say anything academics.. rejuvenate myself.. yeah..

come to think of it.. i'm graduating very fast.. 2 weeks or less.. i will be free from studying.. so fast man.. time flies sia.. it feels like i was just a freshman yesterday.. haha.. but i am still gonna go back to further my studies actually.. frankly, i only have a few months of break before embarking in another round of studies.. lol.. so exciting rite? a bit crazy rite? i think so too.. that's why i want to make full use of this break to think about things, slow down and plan at least a few years of my life that is ahead, relax and refresh myself.. maybe learn a new skill.. there are many options available.. i hope that i can go travelling for a while too.. yeah.. let's see how.. lol..

thank God for Sihua, today.. she thought of me in the afternoon and sent me an sms to asked how i am.. then i told her i editing until wanna cry le.. then she immediately call me to find out how i am and ask me if i need help.. yeah.. very touched.. she is a very sweet sister.. she prayed for me a lot of times today.. haha.. and blogged to encourage me.. wanted to come find me too.. but i doubt so.. lol.. cos she don't even want to come tiong bahru plaza the other time around la.. haha.. but i still want to thank this sister.. i really really appreciate what she did for me.. thank God for putting this sister in my life.. she really is a great support to me.. yeah..


There's a time for everything..
Hugs, Sihua..

Love,
Naomi