The brothers!

Was complaining to my eldest bro about my studies.. and then so funny the icon! :D

Sometimes I really cannot tahan him :p

Ernest gave me cash as christmas gift! YAY :D i am so loved!

Looking forward to family dinner this Friday at Khuntai!

Again? Yes, Khuntai! weeeeee :D

Merry merry Christmas! :)

Christmas countdown started on Thursday after my presentation :D went for counter strike with some pka-ians! So much fun! :D i like it when we only use knife to stab people instead of using guns and and and i like to hide at places where people least expect! :D

Not bad kan, I still beat Chew Yi Hong wahhahaha! Next time I shall name myself, Carmen the great III.

Met up with Joanne on Friday. She just came back for Christmas holidays :) Winter warmers, Yummy food! :D Thanks for everythingggg! 

Then at night, we went for PKA leaders outing at Khuntai..wahhh Yummy yummy food! and it's so cheap, my gosh! :) It was also a great time of sharing and testifying His faithfulness over our lives and also in PKA!

When we started in Sept, we were like the plain christmas tree that has no ornaments. But along the way, God causes us to bear fruit - in terms of shaping our character, in our walk with Him, seeing our members grow, etc. Tuhan Yesus memang baik :) :)

Serving alongside with a bunch of awesome people! what an honor! :)

Decorated my room with the tree after that hahaha

Saw this sweet little note on Saturday afternoon when I was about to leave USM to Batu Maung for church campus celebration. 

Helped out in the decoration and setting up the place... so I was showing off my girl guide's skill HAHAHA not bad, still remember those knots - square lashings, simpul manuk, all those :p (ps: Tien and Mike, pls take note)

My zaman kegemilangan :p

Unplugged: Under the stars! :) Great job to all those who worked behind the scenes and upfront on the stage! :)

Met up with Elaine on Sunday after service in the library.. study study study till they (pekerja library) switched off the air-conds :( So we went to Starbucks instead.

Had a really good time with Elaine! :D

Yes! Carolling in starbucks by Gateway City Church :)

Although christmas carols are always the same every year, I seriously can't remember the lyrics. I struggle the most with 'Feliz Navidad'.. so whenever the worship team in church sing this song, I make sure I can see the lyrics on the screen.. or else I'll go

Feliz Navidad (Feliz Navidad)

Feliz Navidad (Feliz Navidad)
Feliz Navidad pros.....zi dad!!! :D

Ms. Sun-Maid will accompany me this whole week! I don't normally makan raisins one but then according to Elaine, this is healthy snack! #pengaruhrakansebaya #truestory

Had christmas eve dinner with family yesterday, simple but nice :) and so relaxing! Not so productive in my studies yesterday but..oh well, it's christmas eve yo!

Went to church this morning and ta daaa, my favourite part! :) So cool to see people getting baptised..especially when they share their testimonies :') I'm very happy for Amos and Sheryn, especially Sheryn because the whole family was there.. her parents who are non-christians were there too :) 

My beloved June! :) God's awesome gift to me :) Thank you for the christmas gift.. most importantly, the gift of friendship :) :)

Blessed Christmas everyone!

May you experience the fullness of God as you celebrate the birth of Christ that came to give us life..so that we may have life and have it to the full! :)

Beautiful in its time

I will move ahead, bold and confident

Taking every step in obedience

While I'm waiting

I will serve You

While I'm waiting

I will worship

While I'm waiting

I will not faint

I'll be running the race

Even while I wait

RIP- my journals!

Read Wai yan's post on her journals.. then made me think about my journals. hahaa I always have this random thought - What will happen to them after I die? 

YES! What will happen to my journals after I die leh? will my family members read them? will my children read them? Hmmm kinda malu lo because I wrote things that are really really personal to me, some crazy and funny incidents, some random conversations with God and so much more! :O Nooooooo! hahaha but it will be good too, i think. I mean I will be dead by then so have nothing to be malu about kan? Good 'cause can help others to see how human I am, just as how they are.. struggles, problems, sins are so real! But at the same time, God is just as real! :D

And then, maybe by reading all these, can help my family members not to miss me so much..hahahaa at least got something for them to read, laugh and keep for the rest of their lives :p good idea right? Oh my, im so brilliant! :D

So it's ok if I don't have valuable stuff to pass down from generation to generation like what we always see in TVB series.. I shall pass down my journals! HAHAHAHA :p

So dear journals, you guys are so valuable! :D :p

despite the paths we chose :p

Ms.Woon will be coming back to Penang in 18 days! weeee! 

It was 6 months ago that u posted this: despite-the-paths-we-chose .
As I look back, I still remember that night when we had our last committee meeting.. the tears too. hahaha :p I still remember you said something like 'I can't be there for you.' Hmm.. yup, you were not here with me physically, but you were with me spiritually (in prayers) and mentally (in your moral support, advices, thoughts, etc) hehe so Tien, I really appreciate all that :) thank you!

I tell you something, there was one time when you shared with me that you might not be able to go to Australia..I secretly felt happy inside hahaha (Confession is good for the soul, they say :p). For a moment, I wanted to pray to God that you would stay..but in the end I did not.. because I thought it would be very selfish of me to do that. I sayang you :) so I prayed alongside you as you asked me to.
You know, even when I was in Camp cam, I kept asking God, "Why la, why not Tien?" haha I always compare myself with you and I feel you are so much better than me, more capable, more mature and wise :) really. But His ways are always higher than our ways. Maybe I should just stop this bad habit of trying to teach God what to do. 

Now, after 6 months, I'm glad that we chose the paths that we chose.. because I believe all these actually made us stronger in our walk with Him :) and it actually shows us how faithful God is in our lives. 

May our lives be a stirring testament to God's sustaining grace. 

I've decided to hug you first when I see you in Jan 

before doing the victory dance together :p

Happy Birthday, Tham Fong Wan! :)

To my dearest friend, 

my 'husband', 

my sanguine and loud species, 

my sister in Christ and 

my prayer warrior, 

HAPPY BLESSED BIRTHDAY TO YOU! :)

It has been a great blessing to have you in my life.

You're one of the greatest gift that I received from God in USM hehee

First Year

I remember us playing monopoly deal in this room during National Conference, shouting and laughing like nobody's business :p and you publicly confessed your love towards Justin back then hahaha so funny!

My first photo with you (only us)! and you made me your 6th wife. What an 'honor'! :p

I will never forget the first time when I met you at Tapak Convo! Sitting right in front of me with your yellow-dyed hair, so scary! With Audrey some more haha

And how you fell down at Michael's station during Theme Talk HAHAHHAHAHA

Second Year

And all of us grew closer after PKA farewell night. It has been a privilege to serve alongside you in this family called PKA :) a place where we also grow in our walk with God as we discover more of ourselves, the people around us and God Himself :)

We may come from different states..but in a way, we actually share the same 'background' hehe thank you for being able to relate to me..and encouraging me along the way :)

Third Year

Thank you for doing crazy things with me :) Thank you for also accepting me for who I am,  for being patient with my flaws and my weaknesses :) 

Thank you for standing alongside me.

Thank you for listening to me.

Thank you for being there for me when I don't know who to turn to.

Thank you for praying for me, my prayer warrior! :)

I always thank God for you.. because your life is such an example. You may not know the bible from Genesis to Revelation.. but you are so teachable and so eager to learn :) and you practice the little that you know.. You've grown so much from the first day when I met you in PKA :) I'm so proud of you! and constantly ask myself to learn from you :)

May Sophia Grace and Ultraman Bobo continue to be great friends even after Sophia Grace  graduates :) May we continue to surrender our lives to the Potter's Hands...His loving hands.

You are fearfully and wonderfully made, 

blessed birthday Fong Wan! :)

ps: Hopefully the next time when we dance, we won't bang into each other AGAIN. seriously.. LOL!

God knew how I felt.. so He sent encouragement! :)

why my God so good leh, you tell me?

:)


You know what I'm going to say

even before I say it, Lord.

You go before me and follow me.

You place Your hand of blessing on my head.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,

too great for me to understand!
Psalm 139:4-6

Life is short

Going in and out of the hospital for the past 2 weeks (and I think for the coming weeks too) made me realised that life is so fragile. Accidents happen..things happen..and you can actually lose every thing just like that. 

Through this, I also realised 2 things about servant hood:
1. In order to serve people, you have to give up your own rights such as your precious time that you allocate to do your own stuff, sometimes involve investing your money, effort, etc. It's no longer about you but the people that you serve.
2. It requires you to go down to people's level to meet their needs. It requires a lot of humility.



Ah, I have so much to learn.
I hope I won't take too long in just learning and not practicing what I've learnt..because life is really short.

She asked me, "Why God wants to do this to me?" and then tears rolled down her cheeks.. I was speechless.. because I don't have the answer. I came back to my room and asked God.. "Why?"

Isaiah 53:4-5
Yet it was our weaknesses he carried;
    it was our sorrows that weighed him down.
And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God,
    a punishment for his own sins!
⁵ But he was pierced for our rebellion,
    crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
    He was whipped so we could be healed.
⁶ All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
    We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet the Lord laid on him    the sins of us all.

Jesus was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. When bad things happen, we think that God wants to punish us for our wrongdoings.. we doubt God's love for us. But if He really desire to punish us, why would He punished His beloved Son 2000 years ago?

I don't know why.. but the truth is He did not spare even His own son but gave Him up for us all.

He has not forgotten

Went to church today as usual for second service.. because first service is too early for me HEHEE. Met Linda's dad, Uncle Low when I came down from my car...and somehow I was reminded about Linda's story about how the whole family came to know Christ (started with Florence as the only christian in the family).. this also reminded me about June's sharing on how God's grace work in her parents and the family, now even the grandparents accepted the Lord. 

As I walk towards the church gate, I was wondering in my heart, "When will this happen to my family?"..and ta daaa, God heard me! :) To my surprise, today Pr.Palan shared about the Parable of the Sower. What hit me most was 'Sower sows regardless of the condition of the soil..Sower's job is to sow..and keep on sowing.' So true..many times I get discouraged when I don't see fruits.. But that's not my duty..my duty is to keep on sowing and not give up. He also shared on the importance of having difficulties in life so that we will know what kind of soil we are and whether we have roots or not. 

To cut the long story short, Sis Hannah prayed for me after Pr.Palan finished preaching. It was the same verse that Pr.Christopher prayed over me last year when I struggled with this issue..(http://jesuslovescarmen.blogspot.com/2011/08/you-have-called-me.html)
'I knew you before I formed you in your mother's womb. Before you were born, I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.' Jeremiah 1:5
Wahh, it was like a reassurance leh :')

I know I'm not the only one who is the only christian in the family, haha maybe you're also one of 'us'.. I want to say that I feel you..haha ok sound so funny, but yeah, I feel you and I understand :) At times, you may feel like the things that you're doing macam no point one.. it seems as if God has not been hearing our prayers.. but God has not forgotten your family members! There is a reason why He placed us in wherever we are, He knows how much they mean to us.. and He loves our family members so much more! 

God keeps His promises. He can do exceedingly abundantly above all that we could ever imagine!

I pray that as we walk through the wilderness, our focus will not be on the wilderness but the Promised Land :)

Don't give up! (saying to myself too!)
:)

I wanna sit at Your feet
Drink from the cup in Your hands,
Lay back against You and breathe, feel Your heart beat,
This love is so deep,
it's more than I can stand,
I melt in Your peace, it's overwhelming.

tambourine!

I am blessed! :) 
June gave me her tambourine last Friday because she will be leaving to Australia in January. She said she won't be dancing for quite some time.. so she decided to give it to me :D :D :D
You know, I really like tambourines :) and finally, I have one myself! I'm already making plans for my tambourine.. I will bring it to PKA prayer meetings :D and hopefully Bible Expo too!! YAY! Oh, and I need to get some ribbons for it too! 

Pit..pit!!

I almost got killed todayyyyyy!!!

I almost got killed in an accident by a reckless driver!!! 

"Carmen, don't exaggerate la you."
Nooooo, i'm not exaggerating!!! 

I decided not to update my facebook status just in case some ppl might die of heart attack!

So this was what happened!! I went for lunch with June today (because she will be going to Australia soon  :( ) at Sg Dua Subway and then we were on our way to Queensbay..and like what is shown above, it was GREEN LIGHT...so she drove la, her small little kelisa.. And then here comes the reckless driver! I saw her speeding out from the junction near the famous Bak Kut Teh shop..
Then I shouted (but i forgot what I shouted haha) because June didn't notice as she was busy talking to me..haha then she quickly avoided the reckless driver by turning her steering and we crossed the other lane.. Really thank God that there was no car at that lane, at that time!!

It was so scary because seriously, the car almost langgar me okayyyyy, like so nearrrrr! very very very near, and the car was very very very fast! 

And it was a honda..can you imagine?! It must be God who protected us! :)

And the t-shirt that I was wearing today says,
 "Money is not every thing!"
So cun! heehee

:D

YES!!!!!! :D After spending about 14 hours in front of my laptop, I've completed my political science assignment!! :D YAYYY!! What a joy! :D can you feel me?!!!! Ok, it's not like veryyyy good lar but I feel very happy because at least I tried to do it on my own! and it's my hardwork leh :D 

Actually, even right now I can predict what Dr.Benny will say to me when I see him, "You need to go deeper, Carmen. You're still on the surface. Think critically." Yes i know, i know! but Dr. Benny, you know or not, whenever I enter into political science classes I feel very stupid one (maybe I am but just realised after taking political science as minor..in a way, it really humbles me!) except for Introduction to Political Science! But I'm very happy Dr.Benny because at least I managed to come out with something HAHAHA :D Please be kind to me, give me at least a B- lah :) please loh :)

it's worth it! :D

Surrender to You, God! :)

Rest in Him

No greater blessing than being with You.

Smartphones, not so 'smart' after all

Sad. Very sad.

Was having lunch with a friend at Genting Kopitiam and this boy was sitting right in front of me. I noticed him when he accidentally knocked our table while playing with the umbrella :) Then the boy sat down there eating quietly while his mum was playing with the smartphone. At first, I was really enjoying my laksa until I realised that his mum's attention wasn't on him but on the smartphone. Oh the 'wonders' of technology! It's just so sad and heartbreaking lah. Aunty, your boy needs your attention and love, not the smartphone. 

Maybe it's also a wake up call for us who are using smartphones as well. Ten years down the road, if you see me neglecting my kid(s) while playing with iphone22, I give you all the rights to dip my smartphone into my laksa soup..seriously.. 


Let us not lose sight of what's really important in life.

Cuma nak luahkan

I didn't know that I'm so stressed.. until I realize that I start to eat like nobody's business.. and when I start to long and yearn for more Cartoons/Comedies! Symptoms la ni :(
I'm still thinking if I should go for Mamu burger later?! 
Noooooooooooo...!

Can't wait for Nov to end..seriously!

Yay!

Terima kasih si Shaun dan Terima kasih si Kah Mun!

membuatkan aku rasa diberkati dan disayangi dan juga gemuk

Yang benar,

Carmen yang gembira! :)

Jokes that tear down people..are not merely jokes.

Blessed be Your name!

Every blessing Your pour out, I'll turn back to praise

When the darkness closes in Lord, 

still I will say, "Blessed be the name of the Lord!"

Greatly Blessed.

So cantiks kan the pemandangan from my hostel room NYEK NYEK NYEK  :) love it!! 

 Can you spot 'Faith'? :) Maybe not, hahaa because so messy lah my room! My room mate has been very kind to me though :) Helps me to clean the room and tahan my messy-ness, cuz not everyone can! HAHA

These are the little things that I want to thank God for :) His love for me that is shown through many many ways and little little things which I tend to overlook.

I remember the other day my friend asked me "What would you consider a blessing?" He made me think a bit more haha because i've never really thought about that.. Blessing..is a blessing la?

"So.. Is trial a blessing?"

I was reading my journal (for the past 2 months) last Thursday. As I read back what happened and how I wrestled with God, I see His faithfulness in my life. I think I've come to a point where I no longer ask 'Why me?' that often..haha I think I've accepted it in a way. I only left like one year plus in USM... I don't want to waste anymore time asking 'Why me?' because to be honest, I know He has a reason for it lah..and a reason for good. Maybe I will get my answer when I get to heaven. For now, I better use the leftover time I have in USM for good purposes. (Yes Carmen, pls remember this!) 

There are not-so-good times where I feel angry, discouraged, disappointed, burdened, lost..there are also good times where I feel encouraged by some people..when I see people grow in their walk with God :) (very satisfying one!) and when God uses me despite my weaknesses to touch lives. God has really been good to me :) 

Sometimes I'm tired but I'm happy when people come back to me with a word 'Thank you!'..not because I'm good or what lo, really.. but it shows me that God can use me despite the many weaknesses that I have. It shows me how amazing my God is!! :)

Whatsapped Tien, "Guess where am I? I'm in a bus!!! Fresh Out!!" hahaha I'm now in a position where I'm constantly being pushed out from my comfort zone, doing things that my right mind won't do :p if you get what I mean. Coming out from our comfort zone may sound very scary sometimes..because we are not familiar with it..but It's not necessarily a bad place to be at.. because that's when we know our strength can only come from God Himself.. that's when we have no one but God to look to.. that's when we no longer put faith in human confidence but God and His promises.

'Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise


Is trial a blessing?
Yes, if it draws us closer to God.. trials can be blessings too.

ps: Dear Tien, we will do the victory dance because.. Yesus yang memberi kemenangan!!

Hands Up for Children!

Hands Up for Children Campaign! 

Went for 'Hands Up for Children' Walk-a-thon with Fong Wan at Gurney Drive this morning! :) (Thank you Ah Wan!) Also went for the exhibition in the mall after the walk. In the midst of busyness (assignments, CF, etc), I'm glad that I took time to come out and see what's really happening in this world..apart from 'my own world'.

So true..it's a good reminder.

The stage.

This campaign is organized by World Vision.. and I'm pretty impressed at the amount of effort that they invested to make impact in these children's lives :) 

Healthcare 

Simple mosquito nets put smiles on their faces :)

Happy faces when they get access to clean water :)

Clean water is something that we normally take for granted because we can access to them so easily. But other children walk the extra miles just to get clean water.

I remember asking myself,"Why do I need to study?" until I went for SWEEP and realized that education can help to break the chains of poverty in poor families. There are millions of children who walk for hours just to get to school..poorly equipped schools.. because education is the way for them to get out of poverty.

Sometimes this kind of campaign/walk seems so small and insignificant.. and it's not like I'm so rich that I can sponsor a child since I haven't even started working..but maybe by being aware of it and giving it the attention it deserves is the first step to everything. Perhaps one thing that I've pick up from this campaign is: No action is too small.

The question that keep coming to me after this campaign is:

What am I going to do with my life?