today kinda marked the start of the thanksgiving break for me as i conveniently skipped my morning class to go to new york.  i would have gone for class, except that i had to catch the 10am train while class would end at 955....

and i had to catch the 10am train because.... i was having lunch with ted (manna alum, class of '07)!  ted was my small group leader last yr.  it was great catching up with him again, hearing his perspective on life/work/whatever and me filling him in with regards to things in manna/princeton.  i wish he was still in college!

after that i spent the whole afternoon shopping by myself.  i had a number of things that i needed to get, but i didn't really achieve my goals :(  i walked all over soho, then chinatown, then 5th ave.  i must have gone into at least 50+++ shops.  haha.  i realized that shopping alone is not so fun.  cos you have no one to talk to, and you don't have any second opinion on items that you want to get.  oh wells.  next time i shall drag some unfortunate soul to shop with me :)

i then dropped by albert's place to have dinner in chinatown with some of the AC peeps: albert, mike, lim hui, mel and gin wei.  we had a little dim sum + regular chinese food.  it was kinda funny, in that there was a wedding going on in the restaurant that we were eating in.  superrr cheena.  hahaahaha i shall make sure my wedding does not end up so cheena.  not that cheena is bad or anything... it just seems, cheesy i guess?  i will make sure the floor is not red...

after that i met up with some manna peeps (andrew, gyeong-sik, julia, grace and stella).  we had some amazing chicken & rice thingy that's along 53rd st, then we went kboxing in k-town!  i think (i have to admit) that was my first time kboxing.... haha.  it was quite funny.  stella and julia are great singers!  haha.  i couldn't really sing my voice sucks :(  anyway we are just in time for the last train back to princeton.  amazing day, i'm really glad that everything kinda worked out in the end (except not getting some of the stuff i was looking for in NY).

i'm flying off to texas tmr!  will be watching the UT Texas A&M football game on friday, that should be absolutely AMAZING!  till then, be blessed!

IT SNOWED THIS MORNING! :D

in the last entry i forgot to post the lyrics of one of the hymns that we sang today in church.  reminded me a lot of my church back home, which i miss a lot btw.  the words are so beautiful.... we do have One who intercedes for us all the time :)

Before the throne of God above
I have a strong and perfect plea
A great High Priest whose Name is Love
Who ever lives and pleads for me
My name is graven on His hands
My name is written on His heart
I know that while in heaven He stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart
No tongue can bid me thence depart

When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end of all my sin
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me
To look on Him and pardon me

Behold Him there the risen Lamb
My perfect spotless righteousness
The great unchangeable I Am
King of glory and of grace
One in Himself I cannot die
My soul is purchased with His blood
My life is hid with Christ on high
With Christ my Savior and my God
With Christ my Savior and my God

after a full wk of day-long rehearsals, captives of ashland (the name of the musical) has finally run it's course.  we had a total of 4 shows, with 2 on saturday, all of which i think went pretty successfully :)  much as i'm going to miss playing with the band and the actors and all, for now i'm pretty glad/relieved that it's over.  it's been fun, but it's been tiring too!  i need my sleep :)

playing in the musical was really a lot of fun.  totally not what i expected coming into this semester.  i remember feeling very apprehensive about having to rehearse on sundays and "hell-week".  i didn't think i would have that much time, nor that i would enjoy doing that kind of stuff.  well i guess i do enjoy performing to some extent.  maybe that's why i'm in the praise team for manna.  playing in a band is such an awesome experience... praise team is somewhat like performing i guess, performing for God...  i feel so much joy playing :D

God has been so amazing this wk.  even though i had rehearsals pretty much every night, i found myself with more free time than i thought i would have had.  work also became easier this wk, so even though i had 3 problem sets and 1 lab report, they weren't as hard as they usually are.  God simply makes everything work together :D

ok now i just need to get some rest.  and vacuum my floor and get my room in order it is such a mess.  time to get my act together!

and texas is coming up :)

"For by means of a harlot a man is reduced to a crust of bread; ..." Prov 6:26

wow.

[edit: i realized that this post presented women in quite a negative light.  haha.  of course i meant the above as an example of how women have tremendous influence.  so in defence of women, i shall post the passage all women fear!  Proverbs 31!]

(v10 onwards)
Who can find a virtuous wife?  For her worth is far above rubies.
The heart of her husband safely trusts her; So he will have no lack of gain.
She does him good and not evil all the days of her life.
She seeks wool and flax, And willingly works with her hands.
She is like the merchant ships, She brings her food from afar.
She also rises while it is yet night, And provides food for her household, And a portion for her maidservants.
She considers a field and buys it; From her profits she plants a vineyard.
She girds herself with strength, And strengthens her arms.
She perceives that her merchandise is good, And her lamp does not go out by night.
She stretches out her hands to the distaff, And her hand holds the spindle.
She extends her hand to the poor, Yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy.
She is not afraid of snow for her housefold, For all her household is clothed with scarlet.
She makes tapestry for herself; Her clothing is fine linen and purple.
Her husband is known in the gates, When he sits among the elders of the land.
She makes linen garments and sells them, And supplies sashes for the merchants.
Strength and honor are her clothing; She shall rejoice in time to come.
She opens her mouth with wisdom, And on her tongue is the law of kindness.
She watches over the ways of her household, And does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children rise up and call her blessed; Her husband also, and he praises her:
"Many daughters have done well, But you excel them all."
Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.
Give her of the fruit of her hands, And let her own works praise her in the gates.

ack i just lost my entry.  but anyway i'll type out whatever i can remember.

today was the last rehearsal for the musical before it performs tomorrow.  the last run-through was very encouraging.  just abt everything was in place, except maybe volume control.  i'm excited!  i'm really glad that i got to play in this musical.  it reminds me so much of my strings days in acjc.  rehearsals everyday leading up to syf, staying back late in sch, playing the same things over and over again... good times, good times...

God has been really good to me during this stressful period.  work seemed to get a little easier this wk, which was good considering that i had much less time to work on the problem sets.  sleep hasn't been too bad either.  been working on 6-6.5 hours a night, which wouldn't have been enough for me last semester, but appears to be sufficient thus far.

i have to get down to doing my course selection for next semester as well.  choices, choices....  i'm trying to plan my courses so that i have no classes on friday, allowing me some free time to travel, maybe to NY and boston :)

thanksgiving is coming up real soon.  i'm going to texas with blake, the director of manna christian fellowship, along with some others to watch the football game between UT and texas A&M!  really excited abt that.  well not that excited yet, because all my focus is on the musical.  i shall rant and rave more abt texas once the musical is over.

today 2 sophomores and 2 freshmen went out for ice-cream.  while they were at the ice-cream shop, it started raining like cats and dogs.  the 2 freshmen were well-prepared with hoodies to shelter them from the storm.  the 2 sophomores however, weren't smart enough to bring an umbrella of sorts.  thus the sophomores ended up being drenched from head to toe, while the freshmen were nice and dry.

and you would think sophomores would be better prepared than freshmen eh :)

anyway today's rehearsal was pretty disappointing at first, but i guess it was a good wake-up call for everyone.  we missed quite a few cues (some were extremely crucial), and in general it was not at performance standard.  i think we can learn lots from this experience though.  we're learning how to work under stress, and we're identifying the trouble spots and ironing out the kinks.  it's going to be a great show :D

today was a much happier day for me too.  after coming back from florida i felt quite out of the whole sch thing, and the past wk was just rather confusing/tiring/no idea what's going on in my life.  today that cleared up somewhat, and i think that the Bible/verse reading in the morning definitely had something to do with that.  anyway do continue to pray for me :)

All who are thirsty
All who are weak
Come to the fountain
Dip your heart in the stream of life
Let the pain and the sorrow
Be washed away
In the waves of His mercy
As deep cries out to deep

We sing come Lord Jesus come
Come Lord Jesus come
Holy Spirit come
Holy Spirit come

for the uninitiated, one of my friends wrote a musical, and i'm playing the bass guitar in the pit band for him.  the show will be performing next thursday, friday and saturday.  as such, my whole wk next wk is full of rehearsals.  today i had a "2-hour" rehearsal go from 8pm to 1.20am.

thus hell week begins.

some of the thoughts (actually just 2) from today's Bible reading:

I just finished going through the Psalms yesterday.  It's interesting to note how even though we jump from one extreme emotion to another as we move from psalm to psalm (or even just within the psalm itself), towards the end of the book there appears to be a triumphant air about the psalmist.  Psalms 148-150, in particular, are just FULL of "Praise the Lord!", over and over again.  Maybe as we get closer to the end, the trappings of life begin to fall away (in our perspective, at least), and we see that life is really just about praising the Lord.

The second thought concerns the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15.  The son doesn't say anything after v21.  I always wondered what the son might have said/felt after he saw the lavish grace poured on him by His Father.  how did he react?  how did he feel?  if you were the prodigal son, what would YOU have done?  You came back from the far country after spending all your dad's money, and not because you missed him but because you needed to fill your belly.  yet upon your arrival you are drowned in an ocean of grace that completely overlooks your grevious sin.  what would you say, what would you do?

I can only imagine
I can only imagine what it will be like
When I walk by your side
I can only imagine what my eyes will see
When your face is before me
I can only imagine
I can only imagine

Surrounded by your glory
What will my hear feel?
Will I dance for you Jesus,
Or in awe of you be still?
Will I stand in your presence,
Or to my knees will I fall?
Will I sing Hallelujah,
Will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine
I can only imagine

I can only imagine when that day come
And I find myself standing in the Son
I can only imagine when all I will do
Is forever, forever worship You
I can only imagine
I can only imagine