hi guys, i would like some prayer in regards to sch.  mmm i feel like i'm burning out a little bit in regards to math.  i guess it's just cos i spend so much time on it.... now when i look at my problem set for complex analysis my brain just shuts up and refuses to think.  i haven't reconsidered my major (yet) cos i think i still wanna do math (and it's quite the late to change anyways), but it's definitely wearing away a little at my mind.  so do pray for my mental state of health :)

i need to stop thinking and analyzing so much too.  it's not making me depressed, but it's making me tired.

here are some of the many, many, MANY photos that we took :)



boys acting cute


fireworks at the end of disney parade


sophomores!


i stole her glasses :)


all going underwater


obviously i haven't taken classes...


jon the shark!


boys in the pool :D

wow it's been awhile.  many things have happened since, and i would like to go through them chronologically.... let's see how things go.

last friday marked the end of the first half of fall semester i.e. 6 weeks of sheer hard work.  princeton was oh-so-kind to give us a week off from sch (while giving us hw and tests to do over the break zzzz).  friday to sunday was manna's fall retreat, which was held at new jersey christian academy.  i have to say that this retreat was quite different compared to previous retreats for me, mostly because i'm on the praise team this year.  as a member of the band, most of my time was spent practising with the praise team while the rest of the pple were mingling abt.  i guess it was partly cos of that that i didn't get to talk to as many pple as i would have liked.  upon much reflection i feel like i need to have more talks with more pple, conversations that are deeper than the superficial recounting of everyday life.  there is much that can be learnt from many pple, and there is much that can be gained for both parties.

the retreat's theme was on calling.  rev charlie drew came to speak (i bought his book, halfway through it right now).  i think i knew most of the things that he was talking about already, but it was definitely a good refresher, making the concepts really clear.  through his messages i was forced to reevaluate my life here at princeton.  why do i do the things i do?  i feel that there are some changes in my life that i need to make.  academics cannot be the sole goal of my princeton life.  important as they are, they are not life.  neither are they just tickets to a luxurious life.  i cannot make academics/math my god.

monday to saturday was spent in orlando, florida!  jon's (the manna intern) parents had timeshare in orlando, so he graciously invited some of us to join him.  there were 9 of us altogether- jon, ellen, andrew, angela, yoonju, angela, karen, dan and me.  even though most of us had some form of work to do over the break, we all managed to chill a lot too.

monday night was spent at universal walk, just walking around, not much i guess.  on tuesday we went outlet shopping!  i bought quite a few things.... well i haven't bought any new clothing for quite some time, my wardrobe really needs some sprucing up.  i actually managed to survive shopping with the girls :)  dan and andrew couldn't stand it though they ended up playing games in a toy shop :)

wed was chill day in the hotel, thu was disneyland!  disneyland was really coooool.  the rides weren't thrilling like six-flags-thrilling, but i guess many of the rides reminded me of parts of my childhood.  winnie the pooh, it's a small world, mickey goofy donald duck.... good times, good times...

i think we spent lots of time chilling in the resort grounds.  we went to the swimming pool and the hot tub a couple of times (maybe too many times), sat on the dock, played bball, volleyball, lying on the grass, swings and playgrounds..... so fun! :D  watched movies too.  and a sad basketball game.  lots of good conversations, i feel like i got to know the rest of them better.

now that im back on campus, it's so easy to slip back into the depressive mood.  but i wont.  God don't let me slip back into that mode.  life is so much more :D

to post some pictures soon.

hi all!  i'm in florida right now, enjoying my break :)  lots of things have happened and there's lots that i want to reflect on, but there's not much time here, partly cos we only have one internet cable for 9 of us.  anyway i'll probably blog next on saturday :)

i'm currently in the midst of midterm wk.  2 down, 2 more to go, plus 1 take-home midterm to be done over the break.  do pray for me, for strength, wisdom... and sleep :)  so looking forward to fall break! :D

"You sum up the whole of New Testament teaching in a single phrase, if you speak of it as a revelation of the Fatherhood of the holy Creator.  In the same way you sum up the whole of New Testament religion if you describe it as the knowledge of God as one's holy Father.  If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God's child, and having God as his Father.  If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means he does not understand Christianity very well at all.  For everything that Christ taught, everything that makes the New Testament new, and better than the Old, everything distinctively Christian as opposed to merely Jewish, is summed up in the knowledge of the Fatherhood of God.  "Father" is the Christian name for God."
- Theologian and author J. I. Packer (b.1926): Vancouver

How deep the father's love for us
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure
How great the pain of searing loss
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the Chosen One
Bring many sons to glory

Behold the man upon a cross
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying death has brought me life-
I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart:
His wounds have paid my ransom

ok maybe not a random walk in my mind haha.  more like a collection of thoughts about what's going on in my life.  nothing philosophical, nothing deep, just whatever's going on.

so next wk is midterm wk!  yup.... i guess next wk is going to consist of lots of studying.  i have 2 on wed (investments and signals), 1 on thu (microecon) and 1 on fri (complex analysis).  and one take-home midterm to be turned in after the break (algebra).  well, so i guess u can pray for that.  for strength, for wisdom, for favour, etc etc etc...

i also have 2 math problem sets that are half-done, to be turned in next wk.

some other academic/pton things that you can pray for me:

1. study abroad- whether i should do it or not.  my current inclination is not to do it, because the math dept here in pton is oh-so-awesome.  i feel like i may not get the same kind of education in uk, which is where i would study abroad if i decided to (english-speaking, and easy to travel around europe from there).  so right now i would say i'm not going to study abroad, but it's not a decision that has to be set in stone yet, so yeah.

2. courses for next semester.  not an immediate concern, but i would love some prayer over it.

3. eating options next year.  independent, 4-yr college, eating club?  doesn't matter if you don't know what all these are, just pray for wisdom as to which option to choose.

yup.... anthony muki tan came to visit today!  well he's having a tennis tournament in pton, so i met him for dinner :)

ok blessed weekend!

i made apple pie with grace the manna intern ytd.  it was yummy :)

Exodus 35 gave me a fresh reminder of the right order work and rest should have in our lives.  Work, then rest, seems so intuitive to the human mind that we never stop to question this assumption.

It was because of this that I found Exodus 35 rather interesting.  This is where Moses is commanding the people to give the materials needed for building the tabernacle, if needed.  Notice, however, that Moses doesn't start off with the commands "You shall give..." etc etc etc.  That only starts in v4, where he says "This is the thing which the Lord commanded".  Before that, in v2-3, he talks about the Sabbath first!  Moses talks about the Lord's commands about rest, before going on to the Lord's commands about work.

I think there's something there that we can learn.  God made us to rest first before working.  After all, Adam's first full day was the Sabbath.  In Psalm 23, I am made to lie down in green pastures before being led beside the still waters and the paths of righteousness.  In this case, God reminded the people of His divine rest before giving them work to do for Him.

Recently I've been learning to renew my mind and take a different approach to classes.  I've had the mentality of getting my problem sets done as early as possible.  Now that in itself is not a bad policy, but when it wasn't possible I found myself stressed and worried.  I was stressed because my problem sets weren't done early.  That meant that I could not enjoy life before my problem sets were finished!  Now that's wrong thinking.  What would I do then, in the working world, where tasks to do never ever end?  I have to learn to enjoy life while work remains.  Rest even while there is work to be done.

As I read Exodus 32, there was something that I noticed that, perhaps, deserve some attention.  It concerns Moses pleading to God on behalf of Israel.  How did Moses manage to prevent God from consuming Israel?  (It is a marvelous show of grace on God's part that Moses actually gets to plead his case before God, but that's not the point right here.)  I think it has a lot to do with verse 13:

"Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self, and said to them, 'I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven; and this land that I have spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall inherit forever." - Exodus 32:13

God relents right after that in verse 14.  Maybe this isn't the only reason that God doesn't go ahead and execute His judgment, but nontheless it illustrates a point- God keeps covenant.  God honoured the covenant that He cut with Abraham way back in Genesis 15.  How much more will God honour the new covenant mentioned in Hebrews 8?  Let us have full assurance of faith that God is faithful to what He has promised.