Am preparing for a sermon on Romans 5:1-11 and it's been a struggle. I have been working on and off (admittedly, more off than on) on the passage for the last two-three weeks and feel that I am going nowhere. The passage seems basic and yet deep and I struggle to articulate what's on my mind and heart.
This evening, I bounced some reflective ideas with someone that I highly respect. The feedback that I received was that I'm in danger of being too academic and irrelevant. *groan* My greatest fear coming to life!!! :p On a more positive note, I did manage to find ONE good material that relates to the passage... Yipee Yay!
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Friday, November 17, 2006
Happy Birthday Dan!
Hey Dan..
Just want to wish you a very Happy and Blessed Birthday!
Just want to wish you a very Happy and Blessed Birthday!
You are one of the finest friend a person can have... Thanks for being a good friend to me this past year. I've been truly blessed by your friendship.
God Bless.
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Ramblings
I find myself 'stoning' in front of the computer... So, after a few minutes, when my brain cells started kicking in again, I decided 'why not blog?'...
Things here are picking up - it seems to be going from slow to fast to faster. It's around 4.30 now and I've absolutely spent most of my focus today getting stuff done for the Children Vacation Workshop. My eyes are feeling droopy and my brain is generally protesting for a rest. I 've been so engrossed in my work that I totally forgot to call one of my friend to say good bye.. *sigh*... That 10 minutes(in which i was supposed to call him) turned to 2 hours before I realised how much time flew away. *sigh*...
Despite my complaint, I do love being back and the change of pace. I have quite a few roles at the moment- Christmas Musical director, help out with Christmas service, Cross Gen committtee, Camp Commandant for Children's Vacation Workshop, prepare for my sermon (includes exegesis) to the church staff *gulp*and my current role as Worship Coordinator. As I've informed one of my friends online, at least when I get bored with one job, I can change to another I get back to it after.
I find myself generally getting tired out at the end of the day.. When I get back, if I have no guests for dinner or no meetings, I just do the chores and play with my dogs and just savour the evening with my mum by talking or watching tv with her.
Other than all that, I've been bombarded with lots of thoughts as I go back to working in the church office. When I win the struggle with the lack of time, I'll try to blog down my reflections (I've attempted starting an entry or two but only got as far as the title - the window was left open for the rest of the day but just couldn't get any further. also, as it is, keeping a certain 20 minutes of solitude in the morning is already an uphill battle many times - I have to constantly remind myself that the work can wait and the emails that need to be read won't multiply by a hundred if i don't check it then and there). :P
That being said, I'm glad to be home - I love times with my family, I love playing with my dogs in the evening, I am glad to slowly connect back with my friends here (though I do feel the absence of my STM friends greatly at times - I look forward to seeing them again in 7 weeks or so)....
Ok... It's time to stop rambling and get back to the pile of work (which I'll see through by the grace of God)..
Things here are picking up - it seems to be going from slow to fast to faster. It's around 4.30 now and I've absolutely spent most of my focus today getting stuff done for the Children Vacation Workshop. My eyes are feeling droopy and my brain is generally protesting for a rest. I 've been so engrossed in my work that I totally forgot to call one of my friend to say good bye.. *sigh*... That 10 minutes(in which i was supposed to call him) turned to 2 hours before I realised how much time flew away. *sigh*...
Despite my complaint, I do love being back and the change of pace. I have quite a few roles at the moment- Christmas Musical director, help out with Christmas service, Cross Gen committtee, Camp Commandant for Children's Vacation Workshop, prepare for my sermon (includes exegesis) to the church staff *gulp*and my current role as Worship Coordinator. As I've informed one of my friends online, at least when I get bored with one job, I can change to another I get back to it after.
I find myself generally getting tired out at the end of the day.. When I get back, if I have no guests for dinner or no meetings, I just do the chores and play with my dogs and just savour the evening with my mum by talking or watching tv with her.
Other than all that, I've been bombarded with lots of thoughts as I go back to working in the church office. When I win the struggle with the lack of time, I'll try to blog down my reflections (I've attempted starting an entry or two but only got as far as the title - the window was left open for the rest of the day but just couldn't get any further. also, as it is, keeping a certain 20 minutes of solitude in the morning is already an uphill battle many times - I have to constantly remind myself that the work can wait and the emails that need to be read won't multiply by a hundred if i don't check it then and there). :P
That being said, I'm glad to be home - I love times with my family, I love playing with my dogs in the evening, I am glad to slowly connect back with my friends here (though I do feel the absence of my STM friends greatly at times - I look forward to seeing them again in 7 weeks or so)....
Ok... It's time to stop rambling and get back to the pile of work (which I'll see through by the grace of God)..
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Happy Birthday Sis!
To My Dear Sis,
A Very Blessed Birthday to you!!! I hope this day will be a special one for you (though you're having your exams shortly).
I'm blessed to have you in my life as my sis and I love you very much!!
Saturday, November 04, 2006
A B-day Prayer
Dear Creator, Father and Friend,
Thank You for this day- for creating me on this day so many years ago. Thank You for the gift of life.
Thank You for always being there -especially during the many times when I've desperately needed You. Thank You for Your love, guidance and assurance along my journey in life. I love You more than I could ever express.
Thank You so much for loving parents who have brought me up in Your ways - I don't know what I'd do without them. I've been especially blessed to have them and my siblings in my life as You've used them to mould me and refine me in so many areas of my life. They've been my conscience, my safety net and my companions in my journey of life. Thank You for the joy and the sorrow that shared in the past years.
Thank You too for the many people who You've placed in my life. Thank You especially for many great and wonderful friends who You've placed in my life throughout my journey thus far. I've learnt so much about You through them. They've enriched my life in many ways and I am who I am today because of them. They have been great blessings in my life as they show me different facets of You. I've learnt to treasure each one of them just because....
Thank You for the bad in my life - though I've hated them at the time, I now see that though it was painful and sad at times, I am the better for it. And even if I'm not, they teach me that I need You more and more and not to depend on myself.
Thank You for the many blessings in my life - for the many lessons taught. I've learnt to treasure each moment because they are a gift from You. I look back and I see that I've come so far. I look ahead and there's lots more to go and I thank You that You're going to be with me each and every step. I look forward to the coming year and the adventure with You that's ahead.
Your beloved child,
Ruth
Thank You for this day- for creating me on this day so many years ago. Thank You for the gift of life.
Thank You for always being there -especially during the many times when I've desperately needed You. Thank You for Your love, guidance and assurance along my journey in life. I love You more than I could ever express.
Thank You so much for loving parents who have brought me up in Your ways - I don't know what I'd do without them. I've been especially blessed to have them and my siblings in my life as You've used them to mould me and refine me in so many areas of my life. They've been my conscience, my safety net and my companions in my journey of life. Thank You for the joy and the sorrow that shared in the past years.
Thank You too for the many people who You've placed in my life. Thank You especially for many great and wonderful friends who You've placed in my life throughout my journey thus far. I've learnt so much about You through them. They've enriched my life in many ways and I am who I am today because of them. They have been great blessings in my life as they show me different facets of You. I've learnt to treasure each one of them just because....
Thank You for the bad in my life - though I've hated them at the time, I now see that though it was painful and sad at times, I am the better for it. And even if I'm not, they teach me that I need You more and more and not to depend on myself.
Thank You for the many blessings in my life - for the many lessons taught. I've learnt to treasure each moment because they are a gift from You. I look back and I see that I've come so far. I look ahead and there's lots more to go and I thank You that You're going to be with me each and every step. I look forward to the coming year and the adventure with You that's ahead.
Your beloved child,
Ruth
Friday, November 03, 2006
Being back in the church office
This week has been a time of adjustment back to the church office. In the past week, some STM close friends stayed over, I attended a wedding and an ordination service - all which means that I'm still seeing STM people - which have made the transition of being home more bearable. I do miss people at STM(especially my close friends) quite a bit.
Being back at the office means busy-ness. Have just been given a list of assignments (on top of the ones that I've set for myself previously) and am closed to being overwhelmed. I expected lots of work but somehow, just not this much! *groan* Anyways, I'm sure once the momentum gets going, it should be cope-able.
Though things don't seem to have changed much in the office, I realise more and more that I've changed in the past year - especially in the way that I view church. I do see things that contradicts what I've come to believe and I struggle with those issues. "What do I do?" is foremost in my mind. I'm concerned of sounding overly critical and being misunderstood. I'm also concerned that I give wrong advise as I am still in the process of working out the issues. Just because others think that you are a Bible Seminary student, they tend to assume you have THE answers and that is somewhat daunting.
Well these are my thoughts thus far. I do hope to blog more often on my journey as I do my practical in church. I'm sure I'll have a fair bit of material as I try to apply what I've learnt in and out of classes in STM this year.
Being back at the office means busy-ness. Have just been given a list of assignments (on top of the ones that I've set for myself previously) and am closed to being overwhelmed. I expected lots of work but somehow, just not this much! *groan* Anyways, I'm sure once the momentum gets going, it should be cope-able.
Though things don't seem to have changed much in the office, I realise more and more that I've changed in the past year - especially in the way that I view church. I do see things that contradicts what I've come to believe and I struggle with those issues. "What do I do?" is foremost in my mind. I'm concerned of sounding overly critical and being misunderstood. I'm also concerned that I give wrong advise as I am still in the process of working out the issues. Just because others think that you are a Bible Seminary student, they tend to assume you have THE answers and that is somewhat daunting.
Well these are my thoughts thus far. I do hope to blog more often on my journey as I do my practical in church. I'm sure I'll have a fair bit of material as I try to apply what I've learnt in and out of classes in STM this year.
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