wonderment

I am back.

Photos and a good sharing of the trip in the next few days.

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Was on my way back to Singapore, in KL International Airport and a swollen left foot forced me to sit down in the lounge and wait for my next flight. I opened my Bible just hoping to read something when it fell open to Psalm 125. I just felt that it spoke so greatly about what I had learnt in the missions conference as well as what I needed to know for the rest of my life.

A song for the ascent to Jerusalem.

¹ Those who trust in the LORD are as secure as Mount Zion;
they will not be defeated but will endure forever.

² Just as the mountains surround and protect Jerusalem,
so the LORD surrounds and protects his people, both now and forever.

³ The wicked will not rule the godly,
for then the godly might be forced to do wrong.

⁴ O LORD, do good to those who are good,
whose hearts are in tune with you.

⁵ But banish those who turn to crooked ways, O LORD.
Take them away with those who do evil.
And let Israel have quietness and peace.

‘Cos I’m leaving on a jet plane … don’t know when I’ll be back again …

Hahaha! Nah, I’ll be back, in just about 6 days time!! Catch me again right here on ruthsong.blogspot.com when I get back. Sure to bring back tons of pictures … I read from the weather report that its snowing ….. *collective sigh*

Byeeeee!

Steven Curtis Chapman - Much Of You
From the album All Things New

How could I stand here
And watch the sun rise
Follow the mountains
Where they touch the sky
Ponder the vastness
And the depths of the sea
And think for a moment
The point of it all was to make
Much of me
Cause I�m just a whisper
And You are the thunder and �

I want to make much of You, Jesus
I want to make much of Your love
I want to live today and give You the
praise
That You alone are so worthy of
I want to make much of Your mercy
I want to make much of Your cross
I give You my life
Take it and let it be used
To make much of you

And how can I kneel here
And think of the cross
The thorns and the whip and the
Nails and the spear
The infinite cost
To purchase my pardon
And bear all my shame
To think I have anything worthy boasting in
Except for Your name
Cause I am a sinner
And You are the Savior and�

Chorus

This is Your love, oh, God
Not to make much of me
But to send Your own Son
So that we could make much of You
For all eternity
Chorus

A friend SMSed me during dinner yesterday asking how I was and we chatted a bit. Although it was really short (like 3 SMSes back and forth), I suddenly felt cared for. Everything began to take on a somewhat lighter tinge and I was strengthened to do stuff that usually zap a lot of energy.

Sigh, I guess we all need a little care at times to go the extra mile.

Care for someone today, won’t you?

“When Christ calls a man to Himself; He calls that man to die.” ~Dietrich Bonhoeffer

I wore my green crystal cross around my neck today.

In my jewellery drawer, I have a beautiful rhinestone cross on my charm bracelet.

I think I’ve forgotten to carry my cross for a long time.

The Cross is anything and everything that seems to hand us a raw deal - rejections, sorrow, disadvantages, sufferings and whatever other form of pain and death - on account of our obedience and faithfulness to the Man of Sorrow (Jesus)

As we walk the Via Dolorosa during this last week, may we never sanitise the message of the cross.

No news as yet. I emailed another lady, an American missionary who’s the secretary of our host and she hasn’t a clue too. One good piece of advice she did give: Just remember to be flexible. *stretches arms and legs, cracks neck muscle* Hookay.

CL and I covered Pagoda Street at Chinatown yesterday looking for stuff to buy for our hosts and we realised that actually the things at Chinatown ain’t all that expensive and cheena-fied. In fact, we got lost in a couple of shops looking for our own things. Of course you’ve got rows of shops selling basically the same cheesy souvenirs “3 for $10 ah Miss, very cheap ah!” and a whole bunch of students everywhere selling flags, it was an interesting experience to be in Chinatown on a Friday afternoon, acting like a tourist, but also feeling right at home.

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I’m packing right now while watching the weather news. Seoul is at a low of -1C and a high of 8C. 0.o. I’m bringing lots of socks, stockings, thermal underwear and camisoles. I’ve been looking everywhere for a thicker pair of pants that could double up as formal wear but the closest I got was a pair of cordroy-material pants which don’t look even half formal. I wouldn’t blame the shops for not carrying thicker material because who’d wear them?? Will be bringing my flimsy dresspants but let’s just hope I don’t become a walking popsicle.
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I’ve not done the powerpoint presentation for Korea!!!! Ahhhhhh!!!!

I’m so close to fulfilling one dream when another dream collides with all I have planned. To which shall I pursue first? To which shall I put on hold, maybe forever?

I am very hungry and the one thing that is in my head is this: a packet of freshly deep-fried french fries from McDonald drenched in oil and salt and dipped in curry sauce.

*glup* Ok, I shan’t lead myself into temptation.
This is the second Wednesday since the day that the girls and I have decided to go on a fast together. We’re praying specifically for people in our YA group. It was just so amazing how God brought together the 3 of us with the same burden for our friends.

We’ve not been able to meet up to pray together yet, but it helps to know that somewhere on the other side of the island, right now, 2 other people are going through the same thing.
On Monday night, I managed to talk to another girl from my group and she shared with me some things that the rest of us should have known, but still remain ignorant about. I was honestly struck by her desperation. It’s been difficult to break into that nice, polite exterior to find out what is going on behind and I think on Monday, God provided the perfect setting to share what’s been bothering her for quite some time. We prayed together and though we couldn’t come up with a good solution, we prayed for God to do His will in “hearts of stone”.

(Monday is a whole new testimony to share!!)

I’m supposed to be scripting up an extra program for next week but with the aircon freezing my fingers off, my tummy making funny noises and the lack of sleep, it’s really hard to think.

However, I will try! For God is my kaya bread! my minestrone soup! my McDonald french fries!

Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro:
He bustles about, but only in vain;
he heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it.
“But now, Lord, what do I look for?
My hope is in you.
~ Ps 39:6-7

Took this from a friend’s blog. Don’t dismiss it being so short. The questions are intuitive and clear cut. Usually the answers in these sort of personality tests are so vague, its no wonder that half the time they’re only 50% accurate.

This one pretty much describes me at this present moment … I sat for the real Myer-Briggs personality test 8 years ago (100 questions) and high on the list was my introvert nature. Could an extrovert have been behind the wings, just waiting to burst out?

I still prefer to remain silent and listen while people talk but I think you can be an extrovert yet be like that too. I know that I need people to bounce off ideas otherwise I’ll go cuckoo.

ESFJ-The Provider
Your Type is 100% Extroverted, 62% Observant, 18% Logical and 87% Structured

Providers, a subgroup of the Guardians, take it upon themselves to arrange for the health and welfare of those in their care, as well as being quite sociable. Wherever they go, Providers take up the role of social contributor, happily giving their time and energy to make sure that the needs of others are met, that traditions are supported and developed, and that social functions are a success.

Providers are extremely sensitive to the feelings of others, which makes them perhaps the most sympathetic of all the types, but which also leaves them rather self-conscious, that is, highly sensitive to what others think of them. Because of this Providers can be crushed by personal criticism, and will work most effectively when given ample appreciation both for themselves personally and for the service they give to others. This is not to say that Providers are afraid to express their own emotional reactions. They are quick to like and dislike, and don’t mind saying so, tending to put on a pedestal whatever or whoever they admire, and to come down hard on those people and issues they don’t care for.

You share your type with 10% of the population.

As a romantic partner, you work hard to nuture and protect your relationships. You go to great lengths to maintain harmony and are motivated to resolve conflicts. You have a very clear idea of what is important to you and do best when your partner shares those same values. You want your partner to be loving, commited, and willing to support your frequently overwelming feelings and reactions. You feel most appreciated when your partner is kind, considerate, and helpful, and compliments you often on your hard work in their behalf.

Your group summary: Guardians (SJ)
Your Type Summary: ESFJ
vincex’s shorter version of this test.

Itinerary is up!

22 Mar SIN - KLIA : ETD 1725
22 Mar KLIA - ICN: ETD 2150 (ETA 0755, 23 Mar)
28 Mar ICN - KLIA: ETD 1135
28 Mar KLIA - SIN: ETD 1930 (ETA 2025, 28 Mar)

VOOT!

I nearly bought up the whole of Robinsons yesterday … well nearly. It was fantastic going with a buddy who likes shopping as much as you do and well … we did quite a lot of damage to our wallets.

I’m not very ready for the trip though. The other side has been slow in coming forward to give us information about the conference and I’ve been chasing them for a while but nothing concrete yet. For a must-confirm-everything-maniac like me, living in uncertainty can get rather disconcerting but something CL said this morning gave me something to think about. She said that instead of hounding them for our schedule (which we suspect they don’t have) , we tell them what we have to help them slot us in somewhere.

I know this sounds a little odd but for self-proclaimed conference queens!! like us, we should have known earlier. This conference must have been planned way in advance, with all the speakers all nicely lined up and informed already. However, when our host suddenly invited us late last month, the organisers did all they could to scramble around to put us in somewhere.

Koreans are big on etiquette and we guess that any visitor, no matter what your rank is, gets VIP treatment anyway. So on one hand, you have an already confirmed guest list, but here comes your boss with another 2 guests and expects you to stick them somewhere.

Now, knowing that made me suddenly realise how difficult their job is and why the utter lag in communication. In any case, the only things we can really speak about is our radio ministry and we’ve already got a powerpoint done for deputation purposes. We informed them about the content as well as how long it’ll take to go through it. We hope that at least with that, they know where to go from there.

Living in uncertainty is disconcerting but perhaps one thing that I’ve learnt is that to be truly happy and contented, you don’t have to know everything. Just remember that no matter what unexpected situations pop up, God has allowed it to happen and He is teaching us something through it.

Right now we’re wracking our brains on suitable gifts for our host and the people we’ll meet. Work is getting more urgent too, to meet the deadlines for the next few weeks. Suddenly after 2 weeks of going into relax mode, we’re back in the fast lane pushing late nights and cramming as many things to do in the shortest amount of time.

Exciting lah, life is.

I am becoming very forgetful these days.

I walked out of the house without my handphone this morning and I only realised it after breakfast and we were travelling to work.

I decided against going back to get it because 1) its was 845 and my dad had to go back to fetch the mother and sis to go meet the designer at the new house at 930 2) it’s a Saturday and I don’t really get calls today 3) what a glooooooorrrrrrrrious day without the proverbial electronic leash!!

Or so I thought.

The day went pretty well. Didn’t suffer any withdrawal symptoms except when a friend MSNed me while I was away in the class. He left by the time we stopped for a break and I instinctively groped around my bag to reply via SMS. Then I remembered …

But that was nothing compared to what would happen later.

After class I was to wait for the folkies at City Hall as they finished church. Now, its irritating because it seems that there are fewer and fewer public phones around and for every 4 phones that require a phonecard, there’s only 1 that uses coins!!

Who carries phonecards around now when you have handphones? It was certainly something you don’t do everyday - searching high and low for a coin phone, and making sure you have enough coins.
But not yet, that wasn’t the most frazzling issue.

So I manage to contact my mom after calling her like a million times (I played smart, if she didn’t pick up by the 4th ring, I quickly hung up to prevent the call from going into voicemail and the sneaky phone to swallow my 10 cents). We arranged to meet at the taxistand at Funan in 10 minutes. I walked around a bit until it was nearly 10 minutes and I went to the taxi stand to wait.

And I waited …

And waited …

And waited …

Nearly half an hour later, I was getting mighty pissed - no dinner and all you know! I thought they’d gone off to IKEA without me!! I thought about going to find a phone to call them to check where they were but I couldn’t leave because 1) what if they came while I went away? 2) the nearest phone was 2 streets away.

So I carried on waiting.

Thankfully, they appeared not long after. Seems they were caught in a humongous jam at Dhoby Ghaut.

I was very, very angry. Angry that I survived well without the phone all day but one silly incident made me so frustrated. Angry that no one seemed to remember that I hadn’t had dinner yet. Angry that I was angry? Why should I be angry? They couldn’t possibly have done anything else in the jam.

Sighhhh … adventures of a day without a telephone. If you ask me honestly, a phone has become pretty necessary even if I don’t use it that often.