Faith Noodles

A dear, dear friend couriered a gift to me today with a little note reading: "Abby, you've been working too hard. It is time to pamper yourself and relax a bit." Awh mann, I'm tearing up. Flying off at an unearthly hour on Thursday morning, haven't finished my project, so it's coming with me on holiday. It's been such an up-and-down process. This is so special. Heheh, more motivated to work harder now!! Haven't opened it yet - the package looks too nice! It's like wrapped in weaved flax and it's about as thick as a fat textbook but is square-shaped :D What could be inside? I'm even more touched by how thoughtful this gift is so I'm just as happy leaving it unwrapped. O-kay, but I admit, I'm curious. *dabs eyes* *time to unwrap my first Christmas gift!* :)

Can't get this outta my head (: "I am a mystery, I am a locked room in a tall tower.. While I am tuning you in, you are deciphering me, not such a mystery, not such a faint in a far away sound. It's love, it's love that holds us, we will be alright. It's truth, it's truth that shows us, if we'll walk in it's light." - "Deciphering me", Brooke Fraser Ah, I love her music! Puts me into a better frame of mind so I can work better :) Guess it's no surprise whose songs I'll be putting on repeat all day! (:

This morning I feel like even taking it one day at a time is hard, it's too hard. I don't even want this day to start, I wish it won't. Instead of dreading every bad thing that may happen today, I'll just take it one step at a time - I'll just focus on putting one foot in front of the other. That I can do, as long as You are with me, Jesus - I have all that I need to face and overcome every moment of this day. Come whatever, let my eyes and heart be fixed on You - that there will be a spring in each step - pave my path with hope in You, joy in You and love for You for whomever and whatever; rocks, nails, banana peels.. I meet along the way. NO, it won't be a dark day, it'll be a hard day but a very bright one still :) "There is no circumstance, no trouble, no testing, that can ever touch me until, first of all, it has gone past God and past Christ, right through to me. If it has come that far, it has come with great purpose." - Alan Redpath ...

What I really really want to do after all this work is over is.. Go to a good cafe. By myself. With a good book. And my journal. And my iPod. Sit outside. On a sunny day. Sipping a cool drink. With my dog beside me. For half a day. Then afterwards, go for a long walk. By myself. With my dog. I really don't care how muddy we get. 

(warning! musshhyy to the extreme) If there is anyone in my life that I am most thankful to have and know I can never do without, it's God, my Daddy, my Pa. You saw that coming right? It's You who sustained and helped me through the times when I was 4, 13, 15, 16, 17, 19, 21 and 22. All those years were hard but amazing years for me 'cos You just used it so that I could know You better. You've collected all my tears over all these years (how many litres already ah? :P), You know my sorrows and my joys, the things I think are cute and the things that make me happy and not-so-happy. I just can't begin to imagine that every day of my life is already written in your book. It makes me feel so secure and so unafraid of whatever may happen. Like how You helped me through those years, You will help me through however long I may live till. My heart just sings along with the psalmist: "How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can...

I want to attend every catch-up, party, hang out post-exams but I'm really really worried I won't be able to finish my 50k word assignment. Exactly a month now. So here's where I need to ask God for wisdom in my decisions and stop worrying, He knows better than I do.  By Paul Miller, "A Praying Life" Pray like a child.. So instead of being frozen by your self-preoccupation, talk with God about your worries. Tell him where you are weary. If you don't begin where you are, then where you are will sneak in the back door. Your mind will wander to where you are weary. We are often so busy and overwhelmed that when we slow down to pray we don't know where our hearts are. We don't know what troubles us. So, oddly enough, we might have to worry before we pray. Then our prayers will make sense. They will be real as we tell God where we are & what's on our mind. They will be about our real lives. Your heart could be, and often is, as...

Just let me hear Your finest whispers As You gently call my name And let me see Your power and Your glory Let me feel Your spirit's flame Let me find You in the desert Til' (I learn that) this sand is holy ground And I am found completely surrendered To You, my Lord and friend. -  Darlene Zschech, "Just let me say" Just such beautiful words dontcha think? That I may hear Your "finest whispers", Pa in everything I do - there's nothing else I will ever need or lack if You are with me and that You teach me to be consciously aware of You every waking moment.. how much more will You be able to use me and how much better will I be able to love You and love others for You. There's nothing more amazing than the comfort and joy of Your presence, even in the midst of a trial and an uncertainty and a challenge. And although I am so bad at being faithful and I keep making mistake after mistake, ...

So my last paper was on Saturday but I still have work to do for research that's due on mid-December. Took Saturday off. Worked on it a little on Sunday. Today? I've just been procrastinating since 6:30a.m. and I still am. It's like my brain is protesting - and I just don't feel like doing anything but need to get some work going 'cos I'm going out a lot this week :( Catchy song a friend shared with me - very nice! :D (doesn't matter if you don't understand a word ;)) Planning to get some work done after I post this though with this verse in mind :) "We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised." Hebrews 6:12

You know you're exhausted when.. (yup another one of these!) instead of reaching for your keys to unlock the door, you reach for your purse, take cash out & hand it to your doorknob.

*telegraphic sentences ahead - tired student. As girls, we have a tendency to compare our looks with each other. On a deeper level, as people, we tend to compare our circumstances with one another - sometimes wishing we could swap places with another person, or just have a taste of the other person's life. I'm guilty on both accounts. This video (worth a listen!!) has taught me a lot about how to respond to the situations in my life (past/present/future) that I "don't want, don't like, but just can't change". Carolyn Mahoney tells us of Peter in John 21  who also had the tendency to compare. When Jesus had just told Peter that he would die a martyr's death and followed it by a simple command to follow Him, you wouldn't believe how he responded - yet I am so grateful that he responded the way he did 'cos I've learnt much from Peter's highly relatable faults! Peter responds by turning to another disciple and asks Jesus, "Lord, w...

This is only a mountain You don't have to find your way around it Tell it to move, it'll move Tell it to fall, it'll fall. This is only a moment You don't have to let your fear control it Tell it to move, it'll move Tell it to fall, it'll fall. - Jason Castro, "Only a mountain" (Jesus said:) "if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it would move. Nothing would be impossible." Matthew 17:20

Yesterday, I went to my friend's 23rd birthday. And this friend was my best friend from kindergarten when I was still a wee 5-year-old. I knew her even before we could add, subtract and spell, before we lost our twelve-year-old molars. Bizarre how we both ended up in the same town this year. What's cooler still is how much she's encouraged me in my faith and how well we still click, even though we grew up in different countries. Just love your timing and how generous You are, God :) And now I give you... a doodle I drew of Esther and I when I was 5. We must have had massive heads then.

I remembered asking God why.. so often while I'm singing or while listening to the pastor preach or when I'm at my small group, my strength is renewed, my cares are released and my faith deepened. But not long after, I return to my tasks and responsibilities with drudgery and I worry worry worry worry worry. I got my answer through this sermon I was listening to: it's because though I lay my burdens down while I'm at church, at the end of the church service - I pick up my burdens and take the whole pile with me out the door. Ha. And this little article I just read (below) is pretty much saying the same thing, really blessed by it! ‘Casting all of your anxiety on Him because he cares for you’ 1 Peter 5:7. The word casting means to throw upon. It’s a deliberate forceful throwing. Some suggest Peter used this term because he was a fisherman and that involves taking a fishing net and forcefully throwing it out from the boat. Peter is actually quoting from Psalm 55:22...

I was feeling really really low today about my research project. But these are a few insights and unexpected surprises God used to encourage me today.  Biiiiiiiiiiiiig thank you Papa for: - reminding me of how I allowed something as insignificant and earthly as my uni work to steal my focus from the joy I have in You when I repeatedly sang the phrase: 'Let the weak say I am strong; let the poor say I am rich; because of what the Lord has done, give thanks' - met a friend of mine (doing an honours in stats) for dinner who listened to the whole statistics design for my project, insisted on explaining foreign statistical concepts to me and shared valuable research tips with me even though it was supposed to be a catch-up :') - feeling so frustrated with the ambiguity of my research project, I tweeted: 'I feel.. crestfallen about my research :'(' and my friend who just submitted her honours project today read my tweet and sent me this super encouraging...

I was introduced to my favourite hymn everrr last night! (: As I was singing it, I felt like this was a really important song that I had to pray over and really live out, so I've since listened to it for like.. ten times! Listening is easy, but living it out is much harder - it's so encouraging to know that all I have to do is to have faith and make the decision to follow Jesus - He is the one who will be fine tuning the melody and rhythm of my heart! This song doesn't 'sugar-coat' the cost of following Jesus (e.g., 'giving up every fond ambition, all I've sought or hoped or known', 'go then earthly fame and treasure, come disaster, scorn and pain'). It's reminded me that living my lukewarm Christian life just isn't enough and showed me that there are many things in my life that I've put before God. Apart from reminding me of the cost, God's correcting me for being so discontented with the cost of following Him through EPIC line...

To be quite honest, sometimes I get just a little irritated (I'm sorry God for using this word, but this is how I feel sometimes) at God because there are so many things I can't do as a Christian with my friends.. and sometimes I think: - "Oh, if only, I could say some swear words and not use my 'wholesome' Christian lingo all the time, I'll be more accepted."  - "If only I could drink like a fish like all my other friends while I'm playing that drinking game so that I can join in the fun." - "If only I didn't have to think twice about going clubbing." I've always been someone who really seeks to be accepted, since I was a kid, I've always wanted others to approve of me. And even now, although God has previously shown me that knowing Him just doesn't match up to anything this world can offer and that I should not conform to what everyone thinks is "socially acceptable/admirable" (see Romans 12:2...

If God is "living and true" (1 Thes 1:8), that means all the other idols/things that I've ever loved more than God are all things "that will never bring life.. only death and are false/counterfeit/lies/fakes". 

I wonder if I've always been destined for a long academic life.. Hmmm.. - I graduated twice from kindy (from Mandarin and English sessions) - I graduated twice from secondary/high school (Form 5 in Malaysia and Form 7 in NZ) - I've got my undergraduate degree after studying for four years; I will be able to graduate with my Honors by the end of my fifth year of study and hopefully, with my Doctorate in three years time if all goes well, which I believe it will - primarily by God's grace, and secondarily, a lot of hard work and less procrastination on my part! (that's three graduation ceremonies) Ooooh, that's a total of 7 graduation ceremonies. The fact that I'm even asking myself this question is ridiculous! Gah. It's terribly exhausting but I know since this is what He wants me to do, He'll certainly help me through it! *You can do this, Abby - by the grace of God!!!!* (and if I really rely on God's grace and believe that it's more th...

So "Mary Poppins: The Supercalifragilistic Musical" is drawing near and with all my hard core sing-a-longs during my childhood days (was and still am quite the chronic songbird..), I've pretty much memorised the whole song and saying "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" forwards takes very little effort - but now, I'm learning to say it backwards (yea, I know, I'm cool heee) and I found some pretty fun facts about the word on wikipedia ! #1 Apparently, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious DOES have a meaning! When asked how they came up with it, Sherman and Robert, the writer and co-writer of this song commented: "That's a word we sort of concocted from our childhood when we used to make up double talk words. In the screenplay version of Mary Poppins we wanted her to give the children a gift they could bring back with them from inside the chalk drawing when they came out into the real world. If it was a tangible thing like a seashell or pi...

There are many things in my life that I wished had not taken place and so many plans I made that God thwarted which just broke the little heart that had its obstinate mind set on doing things its way. It's true, trials do build character but they only build character if we hold on to the lessons we learned during them. We don't THINK clearly until a long time passes - but we sure can SEE clearly right now and right here. We won't be able to reason WHY we have to obey, why this is being taken away, why this is happening or has been allowed to happen. And strangely, the more we try to think and reason our way out of a problem, out of confusion on what God's will is - we get more confused. Sure, we can do that in intellectual matters but in spiritual matters, it just lands us in further spiritual confusion. "Simplicity is the secret to seeing things clearly - to see things clearly, to 'conquer' spiritual confusion, I must obey. Even the very smallest th...

Come meet a friend of mine who has added plenty of zest to my life. I can't seem to properly standardize the font sizes of the captions under each photo (ok, I own up to having noob IT skills), so we'll let the photos speak for themselves!   

Last night in our small group, this lovely woman who used to deal drugs, and was a drug and gambling addict came to share. What she shared touched everyone - it was pretty amazing because it was as though God's blessings were overflowing from her to us as she shared and then, we started sharing with one another (i.e., the blessings overflowed even more!) - like He was really pouring out 'immeasurably more than we could ever ask or imagine'. There's so much I want to blog about but I haven't the time, so I'll just post this much to remind myself to blog later. :) I will share this one thing I learnt though: I've been really struggling to have faith when I pray lately - ever so often I'd pray for some area and then go away and live like God didn't even hear me talking to him. I've been praying a few times for God to help me have more faith. At the end of her testimony and her pastor's testimony (he was the one whom God led to take her in w...

A quirky little piece from  stuff.co.nz Butterbeer (Harry Potter) On cold winter nights, who wouldn't give their left arm for a foaming tankard of butterbeer - the drink of choice in the wizarding world? Heck, you can even get cold butterbeer for summer, but as the taste has been described as like "less-sickly butterscotch", I'm not sure ice-cold is the way to go. Since Harry and his mates were underage in the novels, I'm presuming there's not much alcoholic content in these and hey, because it's magic, maybe it's calorie-free too! Pan-galactic gargle blaster (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)  Described as the best drink in existence, it's meant to have an effect on you "like having your brains smashed in with a slice of lemon wrapped around a large gold brick". It was invented by Zaphod Beeblebrox, who says it's the alcoholic equivalent to mugging: expensive and bad for the head. Here's the recipe. ...

Following on from  my previous post on materialism , these excerpts are a further extension of my reflections on the wanton futility of materialism From the chapter, " Good News to the Rich "  taken from the book, "Good News to the Poor" by Tim Chester. Shopping is the religion of our age. Just look at shopping centres. Just as the medieval architects built cathedrals to glorify God, so we build wonderful shopping centres to glorify what we believe is important: shopping. Alan Storkey warns that consumerism 'is the chief rival to God in our culture'. He recognises that may seem an odd claim: 'it is, after all, just shopping'. 'But the servants of the Lord God are dwarfed in number and working hours by the servants of consumption. Its ability to recruit seems unlimited'.  Today's culture advocates the notion that consumer goods are what give meaning and satisfaction. 'I shop, therefore I am.' Consumerism tell us that t...

By Greg Furguson. i met a wise old soul who let me in on a secret consider if you will he said three possible destinations Yesterday is better known by the name Regret journey there and you will find it contains great masses of people Tomorrow is famously known as Worry and it too is overcrowded the ancient eyes of the wise old soul brightened I submit for your approval said he the third destination Now it's best known as This Moment it's almost uninhabited it's vast and spacious and absolutely brimming with possibility all it requires is a keen eye and a bit of faith truth be told he said in a whisper it’s the only real place to live i wanted to hear more but I was running late and I had to go i wonder if he’s still there

Almost everyone in my social circle who are of the "wealthier or at least middle class" are constantly talking about the latest phones and gadgets.. and I went through this phase where I was pretty determined to buy an S3, spent a lot of time comparing the specs of the S3, S2 and iPhone 4S, and the prices online and at stores etc. Then, I had this conversation with friends who aren't dependent on their parents and are living by the $180 student allowance a week the government is offering them. I was just telling them about the features of the S3 and how I'd like one etc, and immediately the three of them retorted: "Oh wow, I'd never consider buying an S3, I can't afford it. I've got to pay my rent, save up to repay my student loan, I got my phone for only $50 from a friend etc, so that's way too expensive for me."  And then, we launched into a conversation on finances, and one of my friends talked about how after she left home, her dad...

Whenever I feel like I've accomplished a sizeable number of tasks that I'd have never dreamt I'd accomplish at the start of my day, my favourite thing to say is: "I feel like I've just climbed Mt. Everest!" :D And the satisfaction of being able to say that after working pretty hard through out the day puts me in such a good mood. Was going through my tweets this morning and this tweet by Max Lucado caught my eye:  "The sweetest satisfaction lies not in climbing your own Mt. Everest, but in helping others climb theirs." Maybe, instead of aiming to conquer my own Everest each day, I need to make an effort to help others in conquering theirs too. Ah, I just think God uses the coolest ways to speak to each of us!

I was just thinking about the prayer chain some of my friends in Fiji commit to every Friday, and basically, they pray all night long from 9pm to 6am in the morning. They all gather at the office, and they each take an hour or two hour slots any time within that time frame. A friend of mine who participated in that prayer chain for the first time was relaying to me what the experience was like. He was telling me how it was just so inspiring that the Fijians looked forward to that Friday, every single week, saying that it was their favourite time of the whole week.  He was also telling me how he had the 2 to 3am shift, half asleep and jet-lagged, he prayed for Fiji and the areas affected by the floods, for the world, for things that God had put on his heart to pray for. At 2:45am, my exhausted and relieved friend nudged this 55-year-old Fijian lady, telling her that it was soon her turn to pray at 3am, and  this was her enthused reply: "Ohhh, I can't wai...

One of my most loved movies/ books are the Anne series - written by L. M. Montgomery. A skinny red-haired orphan, Anne comes to live with the elderly siblings, Marilla and Matthew who had intended to adopt a boy to help them out with the farm work. Every character, every scene is just so relatable, so vivid, so beautifully depicted. Montgomery's gift and love for the beauty of words is so captivating and makes you want to re-read her books and re-watch the movies again and again.  I personally feel that her books have this uncanny way of putting things into perspective, they bid you to slow down in this fast-paced world where you are able to appreciate the overlooked and long-forgotten beauty that lies in the simple pleasures of life. There's something very powerful about enjoying the moment you are in, as opposed to fretting over future or past events. A taster: “I believe the nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything very splendid or wonderful or e...