quote unquote

2010-12-30T23:33:00.002+11:00

tomorrow
my boy and i are going to brisbane
it is our first trip together
we are excited
hopefully the skies in brisbane will be as bright as in this photo
but it's been raining there heaps.
please pray we have a safe and godly time

2010-12-25T20:44:00.000+11:00

happy christmas, friends.

always remember:
john 3:16 for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

2010-11-26T22:41:00.002+11:00

GOD is great
GOD is so great that he answers prayers that have not even been said
or prayers that i have been struggling to say.

tonight i was reminded of how BIG GOD is.
he is so infinitely large, and we are so infinitely small.
and because of our infinite smallness we do not understand everything about his infinite greatness.
and you know what?
that's okay.
that's OKAY.
in GOD's infinite wisdom, he will provide the right time in which we will understand everything.
we just need the patience to wait for that time.

2010-10-30T22:09:00.001+11:00

oh dear
i have summarised about 26 lectures
but i have to summarise almost 80
if only i could work in this library instead...
oh, but then i'd just get distracted all the time by the wonderful things around me.

2010-10-15T22:33:00.002+11:00

i am so thrilled and blessed to have the girls i lead at youth.
i've led them for almost a year now - wow! so long.
it's been so awesome getting to know them, and now seeing them happy to open up to me.
it's really exciting and definitely encouraging to see them share their stories and lives with me.

this whole experience is definitely a massive blessing.

2010-07-01T15:56:00.002+10:00

i have been leading on a study camp for the past five days
it has been a great experience of learning and growing in God
the greatest thing i learned was not to box God into a small package
God is greater than anything in this world and is capable of greater things than we have ever seen in this world
i also learned that it is only by putting my complete trust in God than anything is possible.

in a few hours i'm flying to germany
i'm pretty excited, i hope it'll be a great trip.

2010-06-13T20:35:00.001+10:00

this is to my favourite, marlee, who hates people who write blogs.

i hope you read this :)

2010-06-12T19:27:00.001+10:00

today i looked up 'possible' in an online esv bible.

i realised that in a world where there are so many things out of our control, so many impossible things, there are also some possible things.

but Jesus looked at them and said, “with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” matthew 19.26

and Jesus said to him, “‘if you can! all things are possible for one who believes.” mark 9.23

Jesus looked at them and said, “with man it is impossible, but not with God. for all things are possible with God.” mark 10.27

for nothing will be impossible with God. luke 1.37

but he said, “what is impossible with men is possible with God.” luke 18.27

jesus really drums this into us throughout the gospels.
we need to believe in the impossible.

2010-06-08T10:47:00.002+10:00

the bible in three words:

creation, fall, recreation.

the fall changed everything.

but this is not the end.

God is working towards recreation.

see what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. the reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
- 1 john 3:1

i want to define myself by my relationship with God.

2010-05-18T19:10:00.000+10:00

oh.
it rained.

2010-05-11T23:57:00.002+10:00

winter is slowly arriving.
i am combating it with these.
:)
ps: the only thing that annoys me about macs is the lack of a backwards delete button. hrmn.

2010-05-11T23:33:00.003+10:00

today my friend told me that:

'much unhappiness has come into the world because of bewilderment and things left unsaid.'
- dostoyevsky

i think this is true.
but imagining a world where the opposite is true is also very difficult.

2010-05-08T16:40:00.000+10:00

i have crossed over to the dark side.

according to many people, i will not come back.
haha!
welcome to the world of mac.

2010-04-01T20:33:00.001+11:00

happy easter everyone
happy jesus' death
but more importantly,
happy jesus' resurrection.
hallelujah!

action list for a christian

2010-03-28T21:41:00.003+11:00

1. speak the truth:
speak of the truth, and speak truthfully.

2. deal with anger:
it is inevitable that we get angry. the important thing is that we do not sin in anger. look at your anger in the light of what God has done for you.
ephesians 4:26 - be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger...

3. work:
we are not called to be lazy, but to labour for God's word. we should work so that we have something to share with those who have nothing, spiritually or physically.

4. clean out your mouth:
this does not necessarily mean 'don't swear'. the bible says that no corrupting talk should come out of our mouths. this can be anything from words that put others down to words that entince you into sin. it's funny how, once you think about, a lot of damage is caused by what comes out of our mouths...

5. don't grieve the spirit:
this one is a bit confusing. i think this has to do with not making the holy spirit 'sad', as opposed to 'grieving for the holy spirit', like you grieve for a dead friend. i think this touches on a point that many non-christians raise: if God has forgiven all your sins already and you know he'll forgive all the sins you are committing now, why not just sin as much as you want? this has to do with not using God for your own purposes. God isn't there for you to control and use and shape into whatever you wish. we should not grieve God, don't intentionally make him sad.
ephesians 4:30-32 - and do not grieve the holy spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamour and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

tough list, worth following.

2010-03-03T18:33:00.000+11:00

sometimes i really wish i could drink coffee again.

2010-03-02T23:07:00.001+11:00

...just thank god jesus came. (and died and rose.)

2010-03-02T08:57:00.001+11:00

i went back to university yesterday.
my second year.
i'm going to work hard this year!

2010-02-24T22:54:00.000+11:00

please don't let them win.

2010-02-08T23:13:00.002+11:00

today i re-found two long lost friends.
got a call from an unknown number, and now we're doing breakfast on wednesday.
also got a skype call from koh phi phi in thailand. so exciting.

God works in such awesome mysterious amazing ways.

i am happy

2010-02-07T20:22:00.003+11:00

i am really happy tonight
although i worked seven and a half hours today and felt rushed and stressed.
i have some lovely girls at youth. i am very thankful for them.
my aunt and uncle are here from hk.
my boyfriend and i are having nutella crepes tonight at pocket.
my friend gave me a teddy bear today, and some chocolate.
my dog is pretty cool.
to top it off, i'm wearing a leotard!

Wer nie sein Brot mit Tränen aß

2010-02-06T11:56:00.002+11:00

wer nie sein brot mit tränen aß,
wer nie die kummervollen nächte
auf seinen bette weinend saß,
der kennt euch nicht, ihr himmlischen mächte!

ihr führt ins leben uns hinein,
iht laßt den armen schuldig werden,
dann überlaßt ihr ihn den pein:
denn alle schuld rächt sich auf erden.

-johann wolfgang von goethe

2010-01-26T23:29:00.000+11:00

god does answer prayers.
:)

2010-01-25T01:04:00.001+11:00

i am here
and i really like it
i think i call it home :)

daniel in the lion's den

2010-01-01T17:01:00.003+11:00

at the end of daniel's story in the lion's den, the king is so impressed that God saved daniel from the lions that he issues out a decree:

i make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people are to tremble and fear before the God of daniel, for he is the living God, enduring forever, his kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end. he delivers and rescues; he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, he who has saved daniel from the power of the lions.
- daniel 6:26-27

imagine if the government issued a decree like that today. what a different world we would be living in.

be blessed

2009-12-26T18:12:00.002+11:00

blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
blessed are those who are presecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

blessed are you when people insult you,
persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
rejoice and be glad,
because great is your reward in heaven,
for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

-matthew 5:1-12

2009-12-26T17:09:00.002+11:00

i met a boy called davesmith.
he has beautiful, beautiful eyes.
he's also really into food and converse shoes,
and he reads me latin poetry.
we went on a converse shoe photo hunt around the city the other night.
epic fun times.

i'll be hanging out with this boy lots from now on.

2009-11-12T22:46:00.001+11:00

i can't wait to start baking again :)

2009-10-31T11:15:00.000+11:00

happy halloween

2009-10-06T15:45:00.001+11:00

uh, yeah, it really doesn't.
screw this essay.

the problem with putting the mid-sem break towards the end of the sem is that it feels like the end of the sem and thus you think it's the proper holidays, and therefor you turn off and are completely unmotivated and find it bizarre that there is actually more uni to go after this holiday. huh?

2009-09-17T19:13:00.005+10:00

today luke and i went to the beach.
first time this summer.
he wore his new converses and i wore keds.
we didn't really fit in, but we had fun anyway.

galatians and 2 peter

2009-09-06T22:27:00.002+10:00

i've been reading about balance in my daily devotional - the balancing act of being a christian and how to become more like jesus who held the perfect balance of everything.
this is what i want to share with you:

but i say, walk by the spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. for the desires of the flesh are against the spirit, and the desires of the spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. but if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law.
- galatians 5:16-18 (esv)

by walking with God we shouldn't be gratifying the desires of the flesh, but inevitably we do. it's a daily struggle really, if we're honest about it. i guess the important thing is to remember that what we want to do here is actually out of balance with what God wants us to do, and he wants us to be in perfect symmetry with him. we need to remember that we don't actually have to do what the flesh tells us to do, God has given us the power to turn away from that, and not be tipped over to the side of sin on the see-saw of life.

2 peter is also cool.

but do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. the lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance
- 2 peter 3:8-9 (esv)

this verse literally made my day the other day.

2009-08-24T00:28:00.002+10:00

wir fahren mit der luftbahn durch die nacht
der mond scheint nur für uns
gleich haben wir's geschafft
und all die probleme
auf der erde
liegen für uns in weiter ferne

wir fahren mit der luftbahn durch die nacht
wo der sternenhimmel für uns lacht
und all die probleme
auf der erde
liegen für uns in weiter ferne

von deinen schultern
fällt die ganze last
du spürst sie nie wieder
die erdanziehungskraft

und sollte's wirklich passiern
dass wir uns im universum verliern
dann verglüh ich für dich
damit du niemals erfrierst

deine zweifel waren groß
niemand hat sich interessiert
du spürst wie's langsam leichter wird
das schlimmste ist jetzt hinter dir
du bist noch ganz benommen
wir sind bald angekommen
du brauchst jetzt nicht mehr zu weinen
denn ich hab dich an die hand genommen
manchmal muss man einfach raus
denn manchmal ist die welt zu klein
willst du die unendlichkeit
dann lass dich fallen und steig mit ein
ich zeig dir wahre liebe
und wie gut es tut die faust zu ballen
wir fliegen von dunklen ins sonnenlicht
bis wir zu staub zerfallen

schwerelos, wir fühlen uns schwerelos

psalm 8

2009-08-05T22:11:00.002+10:00

this psalm is beautiful, and so i want to share it with you.

o LORD, our LORD, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
you have set your glory above the heavens.
out of the mouth of babes and infants,
you have established strength because of your foes,
to still the enemy and the avenger.

when i look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?

yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honour.
you have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxed, and also the beasts of the field,
the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,
whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

o LORD, our LORD, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

train travel

2009-07-31T22:06:00.003+10:00

this is what i wrote while on a train from milan to zurich. i had to stop over 3 times instead of a direct route.

i have never driven through switzerland before. you go through narrow valleys, probably no more than five hundred metres wide, which are lush and green. on either side, steep mountains rise sharply towards the sky, also a deep shade of green, and not rocky like you imagine swiss mountains to be like. there is a river that runs through the valley, with very little water in it at the moment, more like a stream trickling through oddly shaped white and grey stones. it is strange how the rocks are white, it looks like there is ice all year round that the water can't really break through. at times there are really big rocks, as if someone has come and chipped big chunks off the side to create some variety and make it look uneven. everywhere it is green, dense trees. it is really quite overwhelming how steep the mountains rise up, almost vertically, before steeping to meet at the pinnacles, some of which are still covered in snow.

there are houses dotted throughout the valleys, sometimes there are clusters of old-looking farm buildings with big green gardens. but the narrowness of the valley makes it difficult for villages to appear. i haven't seen a village for a while. we go through a tunnel and emerge. there are fly-overs criss-crossing high across the valley. to me they are cool feats of architecture, but they look kinda ugly, spoiling the landscape. we're in the iatlian part of switzerland. i find this weird, i've never associated switzerland with italy. all the signs are in italian.

dear suzi

2009-07-25T09:29:00.000+10:00

this made me giggle.

2009-06-22T23:28:00.002+10:00

see you in a month, sydney.

2009-06-19T14:13:00.000+10:00

travel, here i come.

2009-06-14T22:25:00.000+10:00

sleep is so totally needed right now.

2009-06-06T18:42:00.001+10:00

on a scale of 1 to 7, where 1 means "not at all statisfied with my life" and 7 means "completely satisfied", the people on 'Forbes' magazine's list of the 400 richest Americans average 5.8 - the same as the Inuit people in Greenland and the cattle-herding Masai of Kenya, who live in dung huts with no electricity or running water.

- from 'money really doesn't buy happiness', whitley strieber.

2009-05-25T22:22:00.000+10:00

i wanted to share this with you

2009-05-22T18:28:00.000+10:00

i want.

2009-05-04T21:49:00.001+10:00

i miss.

2009-05-02T10:51:00.000+10:00

"imagine me and you."
"i do..."
"i think about you day and night"
"it's only right to think about the girl you love and hold her tight."
"we're so happy together."

2009-05-01T21:07:00.000+10:00

i was reading through a book on music performance and came across this:

"I once asked a coleague who had played in a certain recital hall a few weeks before my own concert what the piano was like. "Well, you know," he replied, "it sounds like violently broken glass." "What if you use the una corda?" I hazarded. He had a quick answer: "Then it sounds like softly broken glass."

lol music nerd humour.

2009-04-30T21:37:00.000+10:00

this is what i wish my breakfast was like every day -
warm enough to have iced chai, nice bread and jam

2009-04-27T22:57:00.001+10:00

i have too much to do.

2009-04-25T17:08:00.000+10:00

it was cold and rainy
so i wore this.

2009-04-23T09:49:00.000+10:00

if only i don't bend and break
i'll meet you on the other side
i'll meet you in the light
if only i don't suffocate
i'll meet you in the morning, when you wake

- keane, bend and break

2009-04-20T23:08:00.001+10:00

someone on facebook had this as their status:
if you like a girl, show her by making her a mix tape

i couldn't agree more.

2009-04-18T18:53:00.000+10:00

When a performance is over, what remains? Fun can be forgotten, but powerful emotion also disappears and good arguments lose their thread. When emotion and argument are harnessed to a wish from the audience to see more clearly into itself - then something in the mind burns. The event scorches onto the memory.

- Peter Brook, The Empty Space

1 kings 19

2009-04-09T17:00:00.001+10:00

i went to public meeting on wednesday. it was the first one i'd been to with a proper talk.
it was a great reminder of so many things.

- when we are discouraged like elijah was, we're tempted to complain to God. but we must remember that God's purposes are greater than we realise, we need to trust in him.

- it was a great reminder of God's mercy. romans 11:2-6 reminds us of elijah's complaint to God:

"god did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. don't you know what the scripture says in the passage about elijah—how he appealed to God against israel: "lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; i am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me"? and what was God's answer to him? "i have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to baal." so too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. and if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace."

god did his work to say people not because of their works, but out of sheer grace. this should make us deeply humble and endlessly greatful.

- it doesn't really matter how great a prophet elijah was; he was still human and doubted. what really matters is that God is a good god, and he is.

- throughout elijah's story in 1 kings, the central character might not actually be elijah, but indeed God. he is the main focus, he is the one greater than elijah and all of us.

- an interesting parallel was drawn between this passage and luke 9:57-62. when elijah asks elisha to follow him and become the next prophet, elisha drops everything to go and follow God, but asks if he is allowed to say goodbye to his family first. elijah permits this. however in luke, jesus asks a man to follow him and this man, like elisha, wants to say goodbye to his family first. contrastingly, jesus' response to him is quite harsh. what's going on here? i think this shows the urgency of following jesus compared to following elijah. elijah was an important prophet, but God is one greater. the cost of following God is also a great one - you must be willing to give up everything for him.

after the talk the girl next to me turned to me and said 'that was great'. i couldn't agree more.

2009-04-05T22:07:00.001+10:00

here

2009-04-02T23:28:00.000+11:00

i realised today that i am never going to be fully alone, nor have i ever been alone. jesus is always there. always, always, always.

how foolish to think that i'm lonely

2009-03-25T21:11:00.000+11:00

this evening i walked home during the start of the storm. the sky kept being lit up in purple when there was lightening and the occasional thunder rumbles in the distance. i was listening to keane and singing to myself in the dark. it was really nice :)

i'm also going to dinner tomorrow night.

2009-03-20T09:13:00.001+11:00

we wake, if ever we wake at all, to mystery.

-annie dillard

2009-03-16T09:10:00.000+11:00

i woke up this morning and browsed through this blog.
from it i listened to mgmt's time to pretend. it seemed to fit perfectly to the morning that i was waking up to - pure crisp air and a clear blue sky, so clear it seemed white on the horizon.

good morning.

2009-03-11T09:13:00.000+11:00

always when we fight
i kiss you once or twice
and everything's forgotten...

you and me always, and forever

you and me by the wannadies

if only.

2009-03-11T00:18:00.001+11:00

an early chinese poem showing deep distrust of women's involvement in politics and affairs of government:

clever men build cities,
clever women topple them.
beautiful, these clever women may be
but they are owls and kites.
women have long tongues
that lead to ruin.
disorder does not come down from heaven;
it is produced by women.

quite amusing really!

2009-02-28T12:49:00.000+11:00

la musique - charles baudelaire

music often takes me like a sea!
towards my pale star, beneath a misty ceiling or in a vast ether i set sail;
chest thrust forward and lungs inflated like sail cloth, i scale the backs of the mountainous waves veiled from me by the darkness;
i feel vibrating within me all the passions of a suffering ship; the fair wind, the storm and its convulsions above the great abyss rock me. at other times, flat calm, broad mirror of my despair!

2009-02-26T22:52:00.000+11:00

my school has annual music festivals at the sydney opera house.
about 4 years ago, while at a rehearsal for that event, they had markets just outside the opera house.
there i bought a silver thumb ring for $15.
last year i lost that ring at the gym.
i bought a replacement ring with ella from a cute, cluttered antiques store in the strand arcade.
that ring was the best i could find, but it has now given me a callus on the inside of my thumb.

unrelated to this, i am angry.
this has helped slightly:

psalm 16

preserve me, o god, for in you i take refuge.
i say to the lord, "you are my lord; i have no good apart from you."...
the lord is my chosen portion and my cupl you hold my lot.
the lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, i have a beautiful inheritance.
i bless the lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.
i have set the lord always before mel because he is at my right hand, i shall not be shaken.
therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure.
for you will not abandon my soul to sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.
you make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasure forevermore.

2009-02-25T22:25:00.000+11:00

fickle fortune reigns, and, undiscerning, scatters crowns and chains.

- alexander pope

if only she wasn't so fickle.

welcome

2009-02-24T23:53:00.000+11:00

this blog will be filled with quotes of things i've read. it happens to me often that i read something and want to share it with someone and don't know how to. it will also be filled with thoughts and ideas of mine.