come awaken us

MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Though Christmas is gonna be over in 10 mins time.
I really dont want it to end.
It's like I have been looking to this ever since forever.
I just love Christmas and how there are Christmas carols playing everywhere I go,
constantly reminding me of how much I can be thankful to God.

This year,
Chen Lu and Qing Le came to Christmas service with me!
We were almost late when Chen Lu's bus delayed but it's okay,
we managed to rush there (:
The whole sanctuary was so packed we had to sit at the back.
In the midst of running, the soles of my shoes came out :/
Oh wells,
that made Christmas more... memorable? hahah.

but Im still so glad the both of them can make it!
at least they have a feeling of how church is like!
It's definitely not the same as what they see in movies or Mr Bean series.
okay maybe it is for some other churches (: but we are all one body in Christ!

Bev bought me a skirt/shorts from Thailand
and Christal wrote me a card and gave me a notebook.
Im so touched by her card :')
She knows me so well that she can even predict when I will laugh when I read her letter (:
awwwh thanks Christal, I will use that notebook next year!

I shall end my post hereeeeeee and get some sleep (:

I look to the cross as my failure is lost

I just realised I havent blogged about church camp :o

It felt a little different this year, maybe because Lu's overseas again
and our cg are once again lost sheep without a shepherd hah.
We are probably too old to be lost sheep now anyways.

This year's camp is about what it means to be a Follower of Christ.
Honestly,
I was a lil apprehensive/anxious/uncertain before I went for camp.
Though we went through all the Bible studies during dg but leading them
to the campers in a clear and concise manner which captures the essence of the Word
is really not easy.
So I was kind of panicking but Im so glad Deb was there for me.
Im so so so glad that she's always there to go through the BS material one more time
before I lead the group.
I know we should be prepared already but somehow I just feel so insecure without that one
last time of last minute preparation.

Besides BS, we had games as well!
woah, im so impressed by my group's ability to crack codes during the mystery solving game
*thumbs up* hahah
 Not to forget, their enthusiasm during Amazing race.
They were more enthusiastic than me and I was supposed to be the one encouraging them
to stay enthu hah.
We went all the way from church to Discovery centre to Botanic gardens to Vivo city then to some
open space to eat dinner.
It's been a long time since I ran so when they were running in Botanic gardens,
I was lagging so much behind hahah.
They needed my phone to take pictures so I had to run with them!
Im so impressed by them, they ran so fast and it's like their stamina never runs out.
Baffled by how they can do that :o
In the end, I just gave them my phone.

Then there was the skit on the last night.
DID I MENTION HOW MUCH I HATE SKITS?
probably because during CCA camp performances, I saw how
awkward skits can get so I dreaded it so much D:
Though my group's skit was pretty... not complete but at least we tried!
On the side note, I think Christal played princess Jasmine really well.
I really admire how she can be so natural during the skit,
I was practically shaking on stage.
No, I dont have stage fright, I guess Im still fine with large crowds
but not when I have to act in front of them :/
Our Christal indeed (:


Luke 9:23
Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it."

We had talks as well then cg discussion after every talk.
What struck me was the fact that we are supposed to deny ourselves and carry our cross DAILY
and follow the King.
You know the kind of feeling you have when you hear something that struck you?
It's like something stirs in you and you feel that you have to respond.
So I asked myself have I been carrying my cross daily? Have I even denied myself.
As I look back, I was too busy living my own life and being bogged down during Os
to "deny myself" and follow Jesus.
I chose not to give the steering wheel of my life to Jesus and I really wished I did.
The journey during Os may not have to be so difficult and painful.

Sarah said we are exiles of the world and that we don't belong to it.
What the world find joy in is different from what we find joy in.
We have much more to look forward as compared to what we have now.
Sometimes I feel that I can only see the things before me and not the things
that come after because sometimes the future which Jesus promises seems so abstract and intangible.
I just can't see it as reality yet, maybe because we don't know when it's going to come
so I just pass it off as it's not going to come so soon anyways.
but Sarah told us that this is the reality, the reality is now.
We should be ready ourselves and share God's love to the people around
us so that they themselves can be ready too.

Let the ruins come to life In the beauty of Your Name

Rising up from the ashes
God forever You reign

Woah, in the blink of an eye, NCOC 13 and church camp just went past like that.
Church camp started on the day NCOC ended, so I haven't been home
for a week hahah. it feeels weird to be away from home for so long.

NCOC
Before camp and course day started, there was the instructor pre-camp!
We had to go all the way to HQ.
In short...
We went through all the lectures and even did the hiking route etc.
On the side note, a
ll the other instructors always stay up late but Amanda and I go to bed ( sleeping bags in this case )
really early hahah.
I remembered  vividly there was a thunderstorm in the middle of the night and it woke me up.
I was so glad Amanda was sleeping beside me hahaha,
what would I ever do without her?

Then there was course day,
it was really awkward with my group ELMA at first.
As the days went past and as we talked more during group interactions,
it became less awkward.
I think our group talked the most and laughed the most out of all the other groups in the end haahh.
I can be really quiet at times so thank God most of them are talkative people!

Campppp
It felt great to have camp back in SN again,
I really miss camping in school so everything felt fine (:
It was a traumatic start though, at least for Qing Le who forgot her beret and had
to go all the way home to get it ...
Hiking was great, I was gamemaster with Trisha (:
I thought it was going to be boring being a gamemaster because I rather hike with
my group and play all the games with them
but it turned out I was wrong!
I really thank God I got to be a gamemaster instead because if not,
I wouldnt have the chance to spend time and talk to Trisha for hours!
We talked mostly about what is happening in our corp and
we shared many interesting stories together!
So im really glad that I can spend time with her
since we havent met up since last year!
Ohhh, Camp performance was awesome as well!
Though the instructors performance was really really really last minute,
all of us had so much fun during the performance!
This is probably the first time I ever had so much fun performing for people haahha.
I ususally dread camp performances where I have to perform for people hahah.

I shall not go into anymore details but those were the
so called huge events of the camp!
I really miss Elma and all the other instructors/sirs/maams though.
I like how they give me the "one big family" feeling hahah.
If I ever go back to SJ,
the reason will be because of the people there.