THANK YOU FOR THE CROSS

Thank You for the cross the mighty cross
That God Himself should die for such as us
And ev'ryday we're changed into Your image
More and more
Yes, by the cross we've truly been transformed

And we're so amazed and we give You praise
That You would save us at such a cost
We're so amazed and we give You praise
For the power of the cross
For the power of the cross............................

I was busy studying and got really tired, so I sat on my piano and started singing praises of God. This song from the old song book that I've got here, I sang it through alot of times. The more I sang it the more it got me to really think what it meant for Him to die on the cross. I have heard millions and zillions of times of God's cruxifiction, but what is the outcome after hearing it?

"God died for you and me on the cross" ... "Yea yea....", but then what?

As this song suggests, WE ARE CHANGED, WE HAVE TRULY BEEN TRANSFORMED. We are supposed to be a changed-people of God. It involves our whole human being. Our thankfulness should be reflected in our daily lifes, the way we act, what we say, and what we think. Should we (christians) compromise to being the same as the world we are in today? It's hard to be different, that's the cross that we have to bear today, isn't it?

GOD WORKS!

I couldn't wait to sit down and type this up here.

Well.. for some this would sound pretty ordinary and so much of a coincidence. But not for me! I believe God works in every situation as said in Romans 8:28 - And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Today we had our christmas 2004 BBQ, I wasn't going to come, thinking of my upcoming exams. But I changed my mind (coz Vic, Ken and Fred "sort of" convinced me to go hehe *not blaming them though*), and also to a thought of needing some refreshing moments and fellowship. So I went! Went with Ken and them. So here it is...

Ken's got a classical CD along with the SMH paper that he bought today. So I thought "wow", so I checked it out, looked at the cover, IT'S GOT ONE OF THE CLASSICAL PIECES THAT I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR FOR MY EXAMINATION NEXT TUESDAY!!!! Freaky! It's so hard to find classical CDs here or else you gotta buy it.

If I didn't go to BBQ today, I would've still been looking for that piece now! God's amazing! I don't know if you think it's a coincidence. With all my faith .... I know God works for the good as HE already promised, and He works even the smallest thing you think it is.

**Lord I trust in You, thank You!**

Gotta study now! Brb!

BELIEVE IN SOULMATES?

8 singles share why they do or don't believe God has only one specific mate in mind for each of us.

"AREN'T CHILDREN WONDERFUL?"

"Aren't children wonderful?!" says a mum.

I had these students telling me about some categorised as "personal" stuff about their parents, about snoring, rejection and bla bla bla (in front of their parents! That must be real embarassing for them knowing that secrets are out from their own children).

Hmm I felt bad to be the one to listen to them. Felt sorry for the parents but then that's the nature of children, they tell what they know and what's in their hearts and on their minds. Not sure whether it's a good thing/a bad one. Depends on which context you are applying it to... I guess.

Pro: pure and honest and transparent.
*Matthew 19:14 - Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

Con: talking without thinking?
*Proverbs 10:14 - Wise men store up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool invites ruin.
*Ecclesiastes 10:12 - Words from a wise man's mouth are gracious, but a fool is consumed by his own lips.

Jerry (the groom) + Hans (the bestman) 

Amel + her dad walking down the isle 

Jerry + Amel exchanging vows 

Congratulations, Jerry Amel! 

Harianto + Freddy  

Shaking hands 

Pageboy + the flowergirl (very pretty hehe) 

Joan, myself + Lydia 

The bride and the groom 

Salad for entree 

Jerry + Amel, pieecceee! (Nice view at the back) :) 

BUMPED INTO A STRANGER

It was last night, I finished teaching and was going home (pretty late around 8:30pm). Arrived at Hurstville station, this australian born chinese guy looked at me strangely and not long after he was approaching and sitting next to me (I felt he was still looking at me). I thought well .. just ignored him, although I got a little nervous. Train was due out in around 3 mins, we were just sitting there. So the train arrived, we went to different carriages next to each other, he was with his friend I'm pretty sure. Not a while I sat down, this guy (alone) walked into my carriage which at that time was kinda quiet, not many ppl around. I thought *oh no, this guy again!*. I tried not to look at him, but he started talking to me ... he said "what are you up to?". I thought *God please help me!*. So I said that I was going home. So we introduced ourselves. Here's how the rest of our conversation went approximately:

The guy: "Oh, where do u live?"

Me: "Oh uh...I live in Rockdale..."

The guy: "Right.. cool. I just live in Carlton..pretty close ey."

Me: "Yeah"

The guy: "U know I was just looking at you and you looked familiar to me, I just can't recall...yeah you're very familiar..hmmm"

Me: "Really? Hmm well I go to church, maybe you've seen me there."

The guy: "Which church do u go to?"

Me: "The Indonesian Presbyterian Church.."

The guy: "Umm no but I used to go to church, Hillsong church in the city.."

The guy: "So u just finished work or something..?"

Me: "Yeah just finished teaching piano.."

The guy: "Wow..you must be very good. I play abit of guitar but I'm not good at it...but I love to be able to play well. Do you just work or..?"

Me: "Yeah work and study."

The guy: "What do u study?" *I knew he was going to ask that!*

Yeah...bla..bla..bla... so we arrived in Carlton he had to get off.

The guy: "Alright Jenny, nice talking to you. If next time we bump into each other again, I will have to ask for your number!"

I was like...*Uh?! I'm not giving out my number to a complete stranger!*.

Girls! Be careful... this happens quite common these days. Don't ever give out any personal information to ppl you hardly know.

Well this guy was really nice the way he talked, looked like he just wanted to be friends, but who knows?! He's got tatoo on his chest ...so pretty scary to me!

I hope I won't see him again at the station! Please God, help me. Even if I see him again in the future, please guide me safely.

TODAY

Today I awoke. I walked out of my house and down the road I chose. There was a hole in the road. I fell in.

Again today, I awoke. I walked out of my house and down the road I chose. There was a hole in the road. I fell in.

Today I awoke. I walked out of my house and chose a different road.

THE HARDEST PART

There are many "first steps" in life, and they are usually the hardest. If you want answers to life's questions, this is your first step. The hardest part is over.

"As children bring their broken toys with tears for us to mend, I brought my broken heart to Him because he was my friend. But then, instead of leaving Him in peace to work alone, I hung around and tried to help with ways that were my own. At last I snatched them back and cried, "How can you be so slow?" "My child", He said, "what could I do? you never would let go." -Anonymous

How comforting to know that while you have been searching, God has been working preparing special blessings with you in mind, and waiting for you to take that first step. Can we walk with you?

SLEEPY

Eventful weekend! We had Christmas 'Gladi Kotor' on Friday night followed by Sunday AM practice (yes! on friday night), we then had to packup all the music instruments that night due to church being used the next morning by RPC. We didn't finish everything until 11pm. Some of us then went to Java Restaurant to surprise 3's with a b'day cake, yep he was all surprised, mission accomplished! We then stayed and talked and laughed until 12am. Uh! Time to go home so we went home.. got home 1am then went to bed around 2. Got up at 6:30am to get ready for JA's wedding. Beautiful and chilly morning.

Arrived at the Presbyterian Church at Rosebay, everyone dressed up, looked pretty and handsome. Especially Amel, she looked beautiful, liked her dress. Vic and I sang "The Prayer" with Deb playing the piano for us, it was beautiful, thanks Deb! Uh, I forgot the 2nd line of the begining of the song, it was embarrasing, tried to cover it up with "uh oh ah"..but everyone did notice, wuih! It's ok, ppl make mistake.. especially me, so not perfect. Vic did very well. Well done, Vic!! :)
Ok, then after the ceremony we went to the Luncheon on a floating boat at the bay, about 2 mins away from the church by car. View was great!

In the evening, it was Sherwin's 21st b'day party, around 120 ppl came. Great and funny show, Shewin was great, all the performers (except me, I got really nervous in front of all these stranger-to-me-ppl, of course I knew few ppl too), the slides, everything, oh the food (thanks for his parents). Because of the daylight saving time, few of us had to leave earlier due to early morning the next day. Went home with Vic and Ipung. Got home and dozzed off at 1:15am. Got up at 5:30am to be able to get to church at 7am for a set-up! Ah....it was a very sleepy morning for me or perhaps for most of us. I went to church and saw all these tired faces around hahaha. Also there were these 2 persons turned up at church at 10 pass 9, haha, we know why (sorry, I don't mean to tease, it happens, I guess it's understandable). After church and choir and all, I got a ride home and then got back to my bed and slept for 6 hours to make up for the missing sleep hours. I still feel very sleepy....... zzzz.

Going back to sleep now. Nite2!