YOU are my shield and sandwich, forever.

i hadn't blogged what happened during my recent mountain climb (refer to Jan 9 blog of mt climb photos). was memorizing psalm 91 a few days before the climb, and on the climb's 1st day i meditated on it along my way to 11,000ft. what happened was, on our way to the summit the 2nd morning, just after sayat-sayat hut a gust of cold wind started blowing (it didn't cease until when we made our descent to go home). you would think that by now i should know how much clothing is enough, right? i was for some reason not adequately insulated this time. so there i was, freezing my way up. then just as i was thinking of giving up and head back down, 2 friends who happened to climb as well were there and started singing a malay song to me. so 3 of us plodded along. when they saw i was getting too cold, they started walking tight together on my right where the wind was blowing from, like a shield. and at times when the wind was too much for me, we would stop and they'd sandwich me in the middle for a few minutes in a tight hug. words from psalm 91 flooded my mind, and i wanted to cry. my heart felt as though God was speaking so loud, "hey, you'll be fine, i'm your shield, strong enough for you. life's gonna be okay, i'll take care of you, we won't let you out in the cold by yourself." we made it to the top, though i stopped just short of the peak signboard - but, we made it. 2 God-sent angels.

and in regards to my future (location, ministry, covering, etc.) - that 'sandwich' experience will stick for a long, long time as a word from God for me to strengthen me through the struggle daily to remember that He has not forgotten to answer my prayer for where i am to go and what He will lead me to. dear abe, how did you feel when God told you to leave everything (you love) and go somewhere He hasn't shown you? i mean, how did you know where to put your foot?? that next step...

been taking a class on the Pentateuch (i.e. first 5 books of the bible) in which many thoughts are thrown around...4 mornings every week from 7:40am to 9:20am, i just love being there. as usual (like many prior occasions that i read these 5 books), i am awed by the unfailing love and mercy of my God reflected in Old Testament writings. if you're fond of reading the NT and have wondered why the NT seems to reflect more of the God you know, the God of compassion, slow to anger and abounding in love, turn to the pages of the OT and be awed.

it's an adventure deciding where to go this year. and how it has torn me apart inside! sometimes my emotions swing like the pendulum, and no apparent sign between the 'right' and the 'more right' path to take. learning so much in my walking this journey myself, yet not alone because He's holding my hand. Lord, You know i love You. You will rescue me and protect me, because i long to acknowledge Your name. when i call You will hear and will answer, You will deliver me and show me Your salvation (psalm 91). and JUST as i thought i finally settled into THE choice, started doing applications and all that stuff, and miraculous provisions started coming in --- something SO strange happens last Sat that everything has to halt. aaah! Lord, how long....?

this morning i just soaked in these words in habakkuk 1:12-2:3, what a timely word He spoke to comfort me :

1While standing guard
on the watchtower,
I waited for the LORD's answer,
before explaining the reason
for my
complaint. 2Then the LORD told me:
"I will give you
my message
in the form of a vision.
Write it clearly enough
to be read
at a glance.
3At the time I have decided,
my words will come true.
You can
trust what I say
about the future.
It may take a long time,
but keep on
waiting--
it will happen!

God, i DO trust You have my future in Your hand. i will not doubt and thus be tempted to disobey. You've spoken, You've opened the way, You've shown me You are trustworthy for these past 7 years. the wind can blow any which way, You surround me still. shield me from the cold, Lord. hide me under Your wings where i find my refuge. sandwich me so tight that i will neither turn to the left nor to the right, but just straight ahead where You're going to lead me...though i don't know where that is. that's the only direction i ever want to go, Lord. to YOUR peak, where i hear You singing over me...like a song on the mountain.

tis the season to be trigger-happy !

it's been a much more trigger-happy season than all other seasons...year end, reunions, family gatherings, christmas/new year get-togethers, etc. i'll let the pictures do the talking, of course with captions where necessary :)

Dec 1 > i had the privilege of being a part of melvin & fuiyen's very memorable event. it was a beautiful wedding, especially the friends bit. i was blessed. sunny and i MC-ed. ever heard of eng-man-ka? it's a mixture of english, mandarin and hakka, we invented it that night. these are what those singaporeans look like (well, two would insist they are malaysians).

Dec 14 > irwin & charmayne's wedding was another memorable affair. until now, i still wonder how come vivien gets the tiara and us three don't. and why everybody decided NOT to look up for the picture when they were told to...

Dec 22 > wilkins initiated something he termed the English Junior Youth Fellowship alumni gathering. most of us turned out, walk down memory lane using that room again...

Dec 24 > after church Christmas Eve celebration, a bunch of us hung out at pan pacific for awhile and took laugh-able photos. i won't put them here, yet.

Dec 28-30 > went with aster's youth mission team to pitas together with gem. relaxing and meaningful, all 3 villages visited (sungai eloi, kabatasan and saab) were blessed by the youths' ministering hands and feet. the 3rd photo shows our car problem on the way back, the spare tyre fell out from under aster's van. oopsie.

Jan 1-2 > great way to start the year 2008. had the honor of climbing Mount Kinabalu with Aunty Tiok Hua's family and Jocelyn (1st photo from LtoR: edward, me, tiok hua, roland, jane; jocelyn). weather was beautiful, and although i wasn't physically as prepared yet this was one of the climbs i enjoyed the most.

"family graduation?"

my dad had this UMS convocation studio project Sept 2007, and my mum, sis and i would often drop by to visit him at work and bring him dinner. found these gem snapshots today!


(anti-clockwise from bottom left: mum Lucy, dad Henry, sis Phyllis and yours truly Janice)




i like my family. things aren't peachy always, but i like 'em. over the years God has allowed me to be moulded into a somewhat 'better daughter', versus those days of rebellion (which i don't wanna blame on adolescent hormones). He's still speaking to me through my family and my times with them or thinking about them, on a day-to-day basis i'm reminded of love and humility. for that i'm thankful, and days will come when life would have turned one full circle and it's my turn to worry about them. i know God alone sustains us as a unit.

25 I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous
forsaken or their children begging bread.
26 They are always
generous and lend freely; their children will be blessed.
27 Turn
from evil and do good; then you will dwell in the land forever.