Monday, April 25, 2005

okies... back to the blog again...
well... today was Anzac day, a public holiday...
well what did i do? hmmm helped dad in the morning to plaster some cracks in the paintwork of our house... (parent's resolution: paint interior of house - they want to change some of the walls abit - u know, funkify it hahaha... hopefully by Christmas 2005... allusions to Mahathir's Visi 2020 won't be appreciated... then again, my family does share some similarities with the M'sian bureaucracy... it takes a while to get things done lol =P)
so guys, what colour should i paint my room? bear in mind i have green carpet
btw pink has already been suggested hahaha
anyways
CM came over around 1... then yeah we studied till abt 6... whoa... that sounds rather nerdy... well we were a little distracted lol (lil sister watching Shrek 2 in background - seeing as we both love the show lol, and seeing as CM can recite the whole movie hahaha)...
i still cant study for 5 hours straight... but then again, we both have midsems tmr...
yeah hahaha all abt spending quality time lol =P
then again... did get to get in some guitar lessons around 9pm hahaha so it wasnt all that boring... courtesy of my *new* guitar training technique lol =P im sorry guys no free tries
time seems to fly ehh... =( especially when ure with someone u enjoy being around lol
ahh well sometimes its all abt what you make out of the moment
i mean, this may sound weird, but everyday i am reminded anew that time is a one-way street, with no u-turns or reverses - so well its what you make of the time you've been given that matters - to live a life worth living?
(time also seems to fly though when one is staring exams in the face=P)
i notice this is a rather rambling post...
but oh well sometimes... one just has to let thoughts run out ... and see where they take you
carpe diem
God bless everyone
as i sit typing this... well 'Beautiful One' by Jeremy Camp is playing in the house, a lovesong written to the Best Friend we have...
what does it mean to adore God? sure, we've all said the words 'i love you'... and i'm sure we meant it at the time. but what did we mean when we said it? what is adoration?
two definitions i really like:
1. To worship as God or a god.
2. To regard with deep, often rapturous love

well yeah... the music just switched to 'Enough', by the aforesaid J. Camp... and truly illustrating the point that music is truly a powerful medium... often i dont realise that God is more than enough for me...
'All of you/ is more than enough for/
more of me/ for any thirst and/
every need/ you satisfy me/
with your love/ and all i have in you/
is more than enough'

more than all i need... something i dont realise... why do i forget this so often? why do i often run so hard in the wrong direction? to satisfy my own needs by my own meager abilities... which were given by Him anywayz...? is it mere forgetfulness or a subconscious belief that i have to be self-sufficient? sometimes we've just got to examine ourselves and see where we stand...
on another note... i believe that true honesty lies in accepting that we often need the help of others... life is not meant to be lived alone... humans were made with an innate desire to interact with each other.

(looks at above sentences)
(thinks to himself: "rite...")

anywayz back to work for me

Friday, April 22, 2005

things to do

it has occured to me that hmmm i seem to forget things hahaha
and ive found myself disappointing some ppl... sorry Calvin!!!! really sorry
honestly i forgot honest!!!!
okies things to do this and next week:
1. Bring thumb drive to Calvin on sunday, with associated Management notes =P
2. Finish Torts assignment (due thursday)
3. Study for ITF and ME....(this and next tuesday)
4. Cycle to Nedlands ... on monday (gulp!!!)
5. Pack for Worship Retreat (lookin forward to it.... next friday)
6. Find a job .... (gettin rather urgent now)
7. Learn to drive (test in july)
8. sleep (well its hard to when u have just so much work... so much to catch up)
9. Eat (actually this doesnt need to be here... hahaha, but i need to make a list of 10)
10. Get to know my Maker even more every day!!! =D (well this should be top actually)

hehehe so yes... pplz feel free hold me accountable... (well dont be too harsh... im sorta panicky about #3, #4 and #6), and if theres anythin i forgot, well... either its somethin i definitely wont forget or its somethin that well... i'll leave till later =P

on a more serious note:

my prayerz for youz all who are weary, tired and dry inside; who feel that life is just too hard; who feel circumstances conspire against them; who feel that there is nothing bright ahead
sometimes life just is unfair, but only temporarily... 2 Thessalonians 1:6

... may the One who made us renew you; may He provide for you in your time of need; may His peace be with you throughout the day despite your circumstances; cos i know He has for me and i know He will for you... All you gotta do is ask... and He will be there for you =)

Psalm 23:1-2
'the Lord is my shepherd, i shall not be in want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
He leads me beside quiet waters,
He restores my soul...'

'...And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age' Matthew 28:20b

Psalm 63:1-8
O God, you are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you,
my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land
where there is no water.

I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.
Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.
My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

On my bed I remember you;
I think of you through the watches of the night.
Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your wings.
My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.

Matthew 28:20b
'...And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age'

okies and now i shall go back to work (man i must be stressed)
take carez all of you
God bless
Nick

Sunday, April 17, 2005

ahh midsem fever

hmmm i do recall making statements to certain ppl that uni life is abt 12 weeks holiday and 3 weeks cramming... well hahaha yes let me revise that statement...
well with 3 midsems in 3 weeks... i feel the need to cram =P
it kicked off with International Finance on Friday at 10am, and then in 2 weeks Intro to Finance on the 26th at 6pm, and then Monetary Economics the tuesday after.... arghhhh
yeah and somewhere along the line there's a torts assignment coming in... so do i feel like crying... well actually i did shed a tear in IF this morning serious... hahaah you can ask Ryan...
no comment there =D *Q: what kind of guy cries in a lecture?* *A: the kind of guy who only started studying on Sunday, and realizes he's not gonna finish studying on time by Friday*
well yeah just had the exam yesterday... and it wasnt good... CRAP
yeah i shouldnt be blogging actually... i just spent 6 hours in the Reid cramming my brains out, and here i am at home, phone on shoulder... hahaah yeah sleepy... and trying to prove that guys can multitask as well as girls... well im failing miserably =P but oh well its still good
on another note...
yeah church today was good :) it seems the sermons get more relevant everyday... i guess im just listening more nowadays. like even through a haze of sleep-deprivation (4 hours last night) i still managed to pay attention and took something from the service... well yeah have been struggling with several things in my life nowadays... and thus... its like sometimes i feel so unworthy of God's grace, and what He has given me... but then again the sermon material we've been doing is extremely relevant... its like well everytime i get stuck into a negative way of thinking, i remember something i learnt in cell or at church, and i'm able to pick myself up again... like for example, the lesson i've relearnt recently, that our relationship with God, as His children is an unconditional gift, and even when i sin, and fall short of his glory, He still sees me as His child, like it's not about what we do, because we will always fall short by our own efforts in trying to resist temptation, but about what He did on the cross (freedom from the wages of sin) and is doing in my life (maturing me by the renewing of my mind). well i've relearnt a constantly learnt lesson (for me anyways) that well its when you reach the end of your limits, that God comes in, and this goes for many things in my life... sigh hahaha well i guess all i can say is that noone's perfect... its frustrating though... we do what we dont want to do and dont do what we should... (Romans 7:21-25)... we all grow at our own pace... so all we can do is fix our eyes on the author and perfector of our faith...
what keeps me positive? 2 Corinthians 5:17 - i may not like myself because of my sinful nature, but i live knowing that God has made me a new creation in Him, and that i have a new identity in him (1 Peter 2:9-10, 1 Corinthians 1:2). why live in guilt when freedom has been given to us? (NB: this does not mean that we should keep sinning so grace should increase btw...=P)
but well... i believe that when you confess your sins to Christ with the intention to not do it again... i believe that your sins are forgiven, and forgotten, and not held against you... now if it isnt held against you anymore by the Lord our Judge, why should we continue to hold it against ourselves? is God's grace insufficient for us? we have been justified by faith. the price has been paid... so live in Christ's freedom, not in guilt, not in our circumstances... for faith goes beyond our immediate dark circumstances, but sees the future ahead of us.

Saturday, April 02, 2005

J-Life Camp

okies as you pplz who may read this blog (or just surf the net randomly... hahaha there's gotta be someone who reads this :-P)... may have guessed, yes i went to Youth Camp last week... over the Easter weekend. over 4 days and 3 nights of Christ-Seen Investigation (camp theme)... well it was AWESOME...
it started on Good Friday... as i woke up at 10, completed last minute packing up hahaha... yeah... well actually i had really left it to the last minute, so much that i missed my brekkie.. oh well... got to camp courtesy of the parents (kudos for driving me a good 1+ hours there...) yeah got there... went to the chalet... unpacked (ie chuck bags on bed) and thus camp started.
met up with my group, the "group of love" hahaha featuring Gloria (Glorz), Ancheesa (Cheezy), Desiree (Dez), Ben Phua (BP), James N (Jimi), Victor (Vicki Bravo), and me (hahaha 'poods' apparently :-P)
so we had to devise a team cheer which actually wasnt bad =D featuring some beatboxin' and lol some hastily devised lyrics...
the first session was run by Ps Stephan Sos (did i spell it right), a charming speaker of Eastern European descent, accent, and mannerisms who now works in Canada... well hehehe the first session was on angelology (ie the study of angels)... and apparently he was rushing through a 5 day course in like 2 hours... hahaha he speaks really fast but i took several interesting lessons out of it... yeah to be honest he lost me a little at certain times... (confession: i slipped into lecture mode during parts of the seminar - taking notes bleary eyed...)
then there was dinner mmmmm... awesome food. very GOOD food.
later that night we had some night game titled 'Investigators and the Mafia', well it was basically a capture the flag game. sounds easy right? well added to the fact that you have to avoid the mafia (well unless punishment and surrendering a flag is your thing), and find 4 ridiculously undersized flags in a very large area (the whole resort) in the dark of the night... hahaa yeah so we split up and... oh man hard game... man... unfortunately i was 'caught' by the mafia... while escorting one of my group members to the loo (thanks Dez)... sighh.... so yeah i had to try and scoff down a Weet-bix in a minute... well it would have taken me 1min 10 secs i think... i was almost there... then i choked... :-P... but its ok we got a 'sympathy clue'... (thanx Ben) hahaha we ended up finishing second!!! surprise surprise (well i was...=P)
the next morning ... powered by some strong coffee, 3 eggs, some ham, instant mee and 3 slices of toast (well brekkie is the most important meal of the day) hahaha yes i like my breakfasts... we had a good quiet time with the group.. unfortunately i had to leave early to go to worship practice (which actually involves this:
15 mins be4 service starts, Alex/Sarah/Pat: "okies this are the songs we're gonna do... any questions?".... muso's: "errr errr what? no practice (well just me lol)" hahaha yeah so i found myself playing a song (Free) which i'd just learnt 5 mins before service hahaha but i love it... botched up the intro tho =P oh well hahaha all good as long as we worship God... yeah camp was really great =D
i would consider it a turning point... like most of the messages were spot on... the worship (particularly in the last day) was awesome...
hmmm yeah had to lead a group this year as well...which actually wasnt as bad as i thought it would be (well hahaha i dont think leadership is one of my strengths lol) yeah the group sorta led itself really =P
one of the most hilarious things we did was ... hmmm the skit hahaha
which was awesome starring my brilliant cousin Vic oh yeahh.... you da man!!!
i mean ... hehehe we based our skit loosely on Hitched ("the principles of dating, rule no 1: dont forget anniversaries" :-P) yes and Vic our main man was awesome ... i mean he was the archetypal Johnny Bravo :D
and his supporting cast... his bevy of exes : thanx Glorz, Cheezy and Dez for being such good sports !!! the important thing was that we all had fun :P i mean there were times when i caught myself laughing uncontrollably offstage (well to the side of it anyways)
yeah we finished 2nd overall which was pretty good ... as all of the other skits were pretty funny... lets see: 10 memorable moments?:
1. Andy and Alex... and the song YMCA ... you do the maths... lets just say that Andy dances ... well...
2. Pat's 'diving header' to score with the ball rolling on the ground...
3. Well most of Victor's lines were hilarious (hahaha yes mebbe im abit biased)
4. lets see... this actually happened the night before talentime... when i saw a feathery vision hahaha... well you guys will have to find out for yourselves but we had a pluckin' good time =P
5. sqeezing 5 guys into our dorm shower cubicle (yes an area approximately 3 feet by 3 feet)... all for a novelty shot of course...
and in good fun of course...
and we were all fully clothed of course... (well yeah 'cept for Vic and Kenny but that's another story and another pic)
cheers to Kenny for turning the shower on, drenching most of us, and to Andy for wedging the door shut immediately with his leg... ensuring that we all had wet T-shirts....
6. the water fight.... lol :-D that was very wet and wild and fun... hehehe i think everyone was just releasing abit of steam hahaha... I GOT ALEX TWICE!!! yes but i said 'hi Alex' the first time so at least i was courteous... nothing personal Alex, hahah but hmmm you were sitting on a kid's bike looking pretty open :-D (then he got me with the hose)
hehehe also me and BP successfully gave Ben Tai and Sarah Ong bucket showers... oh yeah!!!
and of course the 'exorcism' of Joseph was pretty hilarious as well... sigh it took 6 of us to restrain him hahaha
7. indian poker + water + 2 diamonds + channy = hilarity :-) all thanx to a well timed card change on my part =P
8. the 'world cup' of big 2... well involving msia, sing and HK... but hahaha its still international enough... those mental games... nice work Roo....
9. not sleeping nearly enough... well its not exactly a moment but still hahaha yeah i may have slept less than 12 hours over the 4 days of camp... and that includes 7 on the first night... mmmm nescafe is good...
10. being absolutely touched by GOD... without YOU this would have been worth nothing...
that was what made camp such an enriching experience... cos when u've got the peace and joy OTL... well nothing can stop you =D
amen =P

nic

Practicing for the group skit (which we finished second in) Posted by Hello

Come on!!! Posted by Hello

Camp Group again (Vic, Cheezy, Glorz, Dez, me, and Ben) can u feel the love? :-P Posted by Hello

What the??? what was i on?.... (Andrew, Channy, Vic and me... illustrating the fact that a lack of sleep can result in poor judgment :-P) Posted by Hello

The "Group of Love"  Posted by Hello