7 Go, eat your bread with joy,
And drink your wine with a merry heart;
For God has already accepted your works.
8 Let your garments always be white,
And let your head lack no oil.
9 Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of of your vain life which He has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity; for that is your portion in life, and in the labour which you perform under the sun.
10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grace where you are going.

Ecclesiastes 9:7-10

i would really appreciate prayer for sleep :)  maybe it's cos of jetlag, maybe it's cos my body clock is just messed up.  but anyway, my sleeping time has adjusted to singapore time, but my waking up time has not.  that kinda explains why im up right now....

I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; For You along, O LORD, make me dwell in safety. -Ps 4:8

It is vain for you to rise up early, To sit up late, To eat the bread of sorrows; For so He gives His beloved sleep. -Ps 127:2

When you lie down, you will not be afraid; Yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet. -Prov 3:24

All the kings of the nations, All of them, sleep in glory, everyone in his own house; -Isa 14:18

I will make a covenant of peace with them, and cause wild beasts to cease from the land; and they will dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. -Eze 34:25


hmmm it's really weird... as i went through all the references in teh Bible pertaining to sleep, it seems like most of the references are negative references.  i wonder why...

there's also one other issue that i've been struggling with.  well, maybe not struggling.  but i'm quite afraid of what might happen... are the stakes too high for me to move?

i woke up real early this morning, like 6am.  guess its the jet lag :S  anyway i went to the dentist this morning to get my cavity filled up.  it feels SO MUCH BETTER now, i can actually eat without feeling any pain :)  i then visited my dad's new office, which is quite spiffy, even though i don't know what spiffy means.  lunch at plaza sing.  man im so fed up with singapore's traffic!  just like any other big city.  pple are inconsiderate, inconsiderate, inconsiderate.  how singapore is going to maintain a population of 6 million, i have no clue.

prices have gone up too!  i spent $9 worth of food in the food court.  that's wayyyy too much.  the food was good though :)  CHICKEN RICE :D  after that mum and i went around looking for christmas/bday presents.  not too successful though, didn't really get much.  think we'll have to continue this shopping outing tmr.

night was spent out with zhic and grace.  al azhar was closed cos of hari raya.  but i guess it was just as well, cos none of us were hungry.  ended up sitting in macs and talking till 2:30am.  great stuff :)  i love hanging out with pple i'm comfortable with :)

pray that i will meet the pple that i should meet up with, and that i will not meet up with the pple i shouldn't.  and pray for my air ticket back.

finally i'm back!  the plane ride wasn't the best in terms of sleep and comfort, but it was ok nontheless.  being home is... wonderful i think :)

i leave my room in 15 min, to catch the cab to the airport.

its harder to leave every time.  much as this place isn't home, over the years it does become a home away from home.  it's hard to imagine my life now without princeton, just because it's been my life for the past 1.5 yrs.  i can't imagine what it'll be like when i graduate...

but for now, i'm really looking forward to going home :)

i will be back in singapore from 20th-25th dec, 2nd-11th jan. so.....

date me! :D

:)

for my Bible reading, i'm now in Deuteronomy.  it's interesting to see that even in the midst of laws, God's love for His people and His willingness to do things for them is evident.  Just reading Deut 7 today made me realize how much God really does for us.  The phrases "The Lord will" and "He will" appear so many times, indicating that the Lord wants to act on our behalf.  very similar to the terms of the new covenant in Hebrews 8.

12 Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you.
13 Six days you shall labour and do all your work,
14 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God.  In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.
15 And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
- Deut 5:12-15

verse 15 caught my attention.  in this verse God tells us the reason for the Sabbath.  as Jesus said in Mark 2:27- "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath".  The purpose of the Sabbath was not so that the Pharisees could bind the people with their many laws of not doing work.  The whole purpose of the Sabbath is stated in v15, for the Israelites to stop and remember the mighty work God had done for them.

in the same way i believe that during the Sabbaths i take, i should not focus on not doing work, but focus on God's mercy and grace in my life.  remember that it is God who brought me through the weak.  that i was a slave to the trappings of this life, but God has set me free from all of it.  as i not do work, i remember that it is God who is the one who is really doing the work.

this line tickles me every time i hear it:

"She laughs at my dreams, but I dream of her laughter"
- Just the Girl, The Click Five

haha so funny.  anyway a more profound line, but in the same vein:
"When I make time for God, God makes time for me"
- Kenneth Tay, 11 Dec 2007

:D