His Majesty's Service

this post is exactly one week overdue. think about it.


it just goes to show how different the standards are by which God and men measure things. By all earthly standards, it was a washout. One frantic week of planning, the now-familiar mild flutterings of panic, it all came to naught. Yet somewhere in the extremely-small crowd, God was doing something special.

And I guess it's time to get used to the fact that this is how it's going to be, much of the time. God shows his awesome power by working through those who are weak. what was that verse, "He has used the foolish things of this world to shame the wisdom of the wise." We can be absolutely sure to take no credit, when the event fails spectacularly. His ways are higher than ours.

and yet, the fact remains that i did it. if i had not done it, then perhaps God would not have had that singular opportunity to speak into someone's life. It's an obedience thing, and will always be an obedience thing. We do what we are called to, as best as we can figure out what it is we are being called to do, and God does his own thing through our feeble efforts.

And it's a remarkably freeing discovery, and humbling too. The progress of God's Kingdom is not dependent on our abilities - God works in spite of it, for His greater glory. The progress of God's Kingdom is only dependent on humility, and obedience. To do that to which we are called, and to call out to Him in our weakness. and failures are not necessarily reflections on us, but merely God accomplishing His work in a subtle way. It's utterly amazing.

SBWR

that's short for Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, where i was today. saw about a hundred crabs, a handful of giant mudskippers, and two monitor lizards happily basking less than a metre off the path.

saw a single magpie robin, and a copper-throated sunbird, both of which are apparently considered quite rare in Singapore. also huge flocks of what i THINK are curlew sandpipers. shore birds are more difficult to identify.

been to lazy to blog properly of late. been too busy. plenty to write about, no time to write it in. bah.

The difference between learning and being taught is this: learning appeals
to our pride and ego...being taught requires submission and the acceptance
of authority. Learning can end up filling in the space between our
ears. But correction and discipline will not give up until there is
life-change. It's the difference between information and
transformation. God is never satisfied to fill our minds...He wants to
radically alter our lives. - Rick Foster

post-exam fever!

well. not exactly fever. don't thinki'm feverish. down with flu, though. missed the casting crowns worship concert thing. missing cell tonight too probably. yet somehow i'm glad.

there's nothing like being a little bit ill to make you appreciate how good life is. sitting in the car with my dad and sis, and talking about not much in particular, and enjoying it thoroughly.

i think i crave companionship alot more when i'm not feeling well. had no company on the way home, but at least i had a nice full-size pillow, which i was bringing back from hostel. slept rather well on the train. =)

there was once i told someone that it was probably true that guys thought about sex roughly 500 times a day. but that was where i was then. i think i was in the army at the time. i no longer think its true. i think it depends alot on where i am in relation to God at that point in time.

i have learnt that telling yourself you will not do something doesn't work. not for me, anyway. worked for Job apparently, who made a "covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a woman", but not for me. what works for me is when i approach God in the morning, and humbly ask for grace and His protection from the temptations that come to me, knowing full well and having proven over and over that i cannot do it on my own. and faith sustains me throughout the day.

I thank God for the exams that have just gone by, and for this first semester at uni. Never have been so stressed in my life - to the point of tears at one point. stupid term paper. But i have learned part of what it means to trust God, and to be a faithful steward of my time. i have learned about rest at appropriate times, and i have learned that whatever work we have, it has been given to us by God, and in doing it faithfully, we worship God. i've learnt about the dangers of self-indulgence.

the challenge is to remember this once next sem starts again.

i saw an eagle today. too far away to make out the species. i saw a small flock of white-crested laughingthrushes some weeks ago, and i think i'm learning to recognise their calls. and this big black bird with red eyes which i can't identify yet. another unidentified species of woodpecker. there's a scarlet-backed flowerpecker who like to hang around in the trees just outside my window, and i've learnt how to recognise it's calls. the amount of variety in the plumage of the birds is simply incredible. awe-inspiring. indescribable.

It's amazing what prayer does. Amazing how much God cares about the little little details in your life. Like how when i sit down in the outdoors to be quiet and i ask God to show me something amazing, He has never failed me. Like how I had some strange extended family function which i was rather dreading going for, and somehow my gf appears at the same table as me to keep me company all night. how i only fall ill on the day of my last exam paper.

and it's stunning how faithless, and prayerless i still am, in the light of all this. in spite of the joy i've had in my quiet times these past few months, i find myself drifting away again. letting my feelings, my physical tiredness, any excuse to get in the way. but it's all excuses. but i'm still learning.

popcorn

a hard exterior, undergoes explosion. form changes, feeds people.

i have come to believe that the single most important criteria for doing well in examinations is divine inspiration. not that i can tell my students that, i think.

and so it comes to that time once again, where i find my own strength insufficient. i look at my efforts, and see how dismal they are. i am surrounded by supermen, but i am only clark kent and nothing more.

truly good grades are a gift from the Lord, and no-one else. let no one boast in this. if He wills to be gracious to you, that is good. and if He chooses to give you some other good gift instead, that is good too. what have we to do, but to be faithful in what we do daily.


Take my heart it is Thine own
it shall be Thy royal throne

Bird-watching

gotten quite enthusiastic about birdwatching of late... it doesn't take much effort. just look around when you hear them calling. but you usually have to spend quite abit of time looking... birds tend to be fairly small. and then you go look on the internet and in books and stuff to find out what they're called.

i saw a Greater Racket-tailed Drongo in Macritchie three times... i think it was probably the same bird, on three different occasions. I saw a pair of Magpie Robins and a pair of Black-Naped Orioles hanging around FASS, a small group of Olive-backed Sunbirds hanging around near Physics, and a pair of Common Flamebacks (beautiful woodpeckers with bright orangey backs) behind PGP. thinking about joining some of the Nature Society (Singapore) excursions.

also saw a skink wander across the track in Macritchie and a kingfisher in Bishan Park

useful links:
www.nss.org.sg
besgroup.blogspot.com
www.pulauhantu.org

Giant Alien Bug Found In Germany!!

http://googlesightseeing.com/maps?p=1082&c=&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=18&ll=48.857635,10.20529&spn=0.002527,0.005032&t=k

Satellite photo of giant alien bug found recently in Germany. very authentic, very cool. Satellite photos don't lie, do they?

i just recently subscribed to the google earth sightseer e-magazine thingy, and this appeared in the first issue. quite fun.

Eye-fo

Video, by a french delegate, from the recently-concluded 37th Eye-fo. Such memories...