You’re picking up toys on the living room floor for the 15th time today
Matching up socks
Sweeping up lost cheerios that got away
You put a baby on your hip
Color on your lips and head out the door

While I may not know you,
I bet I know you
Wonder sometimes, does it matter at all?

Well let me remind you, it all matters just as long
As you do everything you do to the glory of the One who made you,
Cause he made you,
To do
Every little thing that you do
To bring a smile to His face
Tell the story of grace
With every move that you make
And every little thing you do

Maybe you’re that guy with the suit and tie
Maybe your shirt says your name
You may be hooking up mergers
Cooking up burgers
But at the end of the day

Little stuff
Big stuff
In between stuff
God sees it all the same

While I may not know you
I bet I know you 
Wonder sometimes, does it matter at all? 

Well let me remind you, it all matters just as long 
As you do everything you do to the glory of the One who made you, 
Cause he made you
To do
Every little thing that you do
To bring a smile to His face
Tell the story of grace
With every move that you make
And every thing you do.

-Steven Curtis Chapman-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEqdDdvFXZ0

All the best to YOU who is starting yet another glorious semester in uni. And to YOU who is just about to start another year long of work again after the holidays. And to YOU spending the time chilling at home. May you do everything with power and strength, laced with peace and grace, that things will not be just another project, just another assignment or just another time spent, but a precious experience of life for the glory of the One who made you.

“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
Colossians 3:17 

Special note to those in exam mode now, here is a mini picture gallery featuring the Blue Guy aka Lil-Javier (credits to Vern):

Hahaa, cute? But of course, I hope you dont get bored too often k ;P All the best to you all in UTP now! And to those having a break at home, i think it is about time to pack up and get ready to rock and roll for another semester eh?

God bless you all!

Born unto us this day a Savior
Gifted from heaven to a manger
The hope of the world
A light for all mankind
All of the earth rejoice
It’s Christmas time

So lift up your voice and sing out His praise
It’s Christmas
Born is the King, rejoice in the day
It’s Christmas
Make a joyful sound
It’s Christmas
Let His praise resound
It’s Christmas

Goodwill to all the earth
And peace divine
All of the earth rejoice
It’s Christmas time
It’s Christmas time

So lift up your voice and sing out His praise
It’s Christmas
Born is the King, rejoice in the day
It’s Christmas
Make a joyful sound
It’s Christmas
Let His praise resound
It’s Christmas!!!

-Hillsong United 2011-Born is the King-

***Merry Christmas everyone!***
May the joy of the Lord fill your heart, overflowing to those around you!!!

Well, of course, it’s not just some weird and exotic stuff. Shofar has significant spiritual meaning behind it. When Hope Kuching was praying for the MNC, God gave an image of Shofar to Ps Dennis and He taught him how to blow it. So, Shofar appears in the XtraOrdinary logo, during heart preparation session, and etc.

Found online : When you buy a shofar, please remember that since the shofar comes from an actual real, live animal, there may be some particles of sinew, muscle or bone left inside the shofar which may cause certain odor…

Spiritual significance of Shofar

1. Repentance. Eg Abraham and Isaac and ram. When Abraham was willing to sacrifice Isaac, God provided a ram. The blast of a shofar is to remind us God’s forgiveness and lead us back to repentance.

2. Procession and start of war. Eg Joshua and the wall of Jericho. Joshua 6:4. Judges 3:27

3. Proclaiming God’s kingship

4. Announce important days. Eg Leviticus 23, 24, 25:9. There were ‘Day of blowing’ and ‘Memorial of blowing’, for Day of Atonement, Passover, Jubilee Year

5. Musical instrument. Eg David’s band. Ps 150:3

Another sentence found online. Well, after everybody attempted to have a blast and all sorts of weird noises came out (or to some, just wind or none at all). Being a Ba’al T’qiah (shofar sounder) is an honor…”The one who blows the shofar on Rosh Hashanah . . . should likewise be learned in the Torah and shall be God-fearing; the best man available. Then again, brothers and sisters, you are the royal priesthood, God’s chosen generation. 1 Peter 2:9

I felt sad. perhaps it was because i truly miss the wonderful weekend getaway with God and brothers and sisters in Christ. It has been truly extraordinary. In fact, 2 hours before leaving Pullman- Kuching, while the chairperson was giving the last announcement I just feel so incredibly sad and upset that it was ending already. So soon. At the same time, I also reminded myself not to see MNC as paradise and UTP as nightmare, because I have been made stronger and have been reminded once more of His goodness and grace and mercy upon me, that  I should take heart and remember that I need to bring hope and life back to UTP, not leave the goodness in Kuching and returning empty handed.

A few things that touched my little heart personally.

BELIEVE- I went with the utmost sad and broken heart. counting how much I spent for the entire trip, thinking about the test I screwed up, thinking about the people I left behind, thinking about my fyp, and so many other heartbreaking things. “God, this is a mistake. I want to go back.” At the sound of the first worship song and I just broke down in tears. God lifted my spirits up and told me to make good use of everything I will have this MNC and take a step of faith and put everything in His hands. some disappointments came along still, of course. but the sharing of the Word of God has not been less powerful and each Word carried great weight. With that, I am truly thankful. He proven Himself once again by helping Hope Ipoh with the sales of notebooks and bookmarks, where we sold out more than 70% at the end of the 3rd day of MNC when we have more than half of the stocks left on the 2nd day. Truly amazing. I cannot say I do not believe in God anymore. Anything we need is indeed in the House of the Lord. In fact last night He’d proven Himself faithful once again, by promising me that I will not miss my train despite my 1 hour long delayed flight through the great peace in my heart. And amazingly I hopped on the train RIGHT ON TIME. Praise the Lord! And now, my challenge will be to trust Him with my FYP. which also leads me to my next point.

POWER IN THE WORD OF GOD- I need to admit something. >< sometimes I find sharings in a convention or conference irrelevant. therefore I do not pay full attention or grasp the depths of the Word of God fully. However this time around I find the Word and message truly relevant and amazing, and watching how God works through those Words are really great. Yes we learned A LOT in MNC (you guys missed out so so much man). The ones that inspired me most is extraordinary Attitudes and extraordinary Favor. The MNC sharing was based on the entire book of Ruth. (You will not believe how the normal interpretation of Ruth can be so extraordinary). Ruth portrayed her extraordinary attitudes of loyalty towards Naomi, amazing courage and proactivenss despite being a foreigner in Bethlehem, accompanied with great humility and untiring diligence and obedience towards her commitments. These are not easy things to do. but we all know how it can result depending on the choice we choose. And we all learned that when we practise extraordinary godly attitudes, do the right things,  it pleases God and with that, comes extraordinary favor. And this favor, is unlike any on the earth, where God gives His divine guidance that we might go the correct way, be at the right place, right time. He also promises divine providence, meaning, absolute security. After all, His love and goodness endures forever, no? With that also comes divine appointments, and of course, we have to make sure we dont miss it or ignore Holy Spirit in leading. In short, Christ is indeed our Kinsman-Redeemer, watching after us in all things at all times, for He will surely pour out His extraordinary favor upon His people. Of course, this morning I am also reminded that while God pours out His favor, this life is not going to be less challenging for he did not promise a safe, easy smooth sailing life. But He reminded me that truly, I just have to take heart, for He has ALREADY overcomed the world. Faith yo.

BEYOND THE BOUNDARIES- Thanks to the workshop with awesome people like Juwita Suwito and band. I gotta say, this MNC would not have been complete without them! The Connectivity Extraordinaire on 2nd day or MNC was entitled Musicianship for Worship. Thanks to Johnson’s wonderful interview skills and questions, I learned a lot! And also recognized places of improvement. While I will not go into details the things i learned in the area of worship ministry here, i did remember one sentence very clearly, which is “improve and do more than you are now. if you are a singer and dont know music then learn music! if you are already….then…” I was like “okaaay. we’ll see.” cuz yah, I can sing but i dont know music. and yes it is a problem, or, more like an obstacle towards excellence la, but i ignored it. then come next day, it was yet another plenary session by Pastor Wilson, but when Pastor Simon conducted the altar call, he asked us to “write down one thing you are going to do when you go back from MNC”. At that split second it already hit me, what to write. God said “nope, you cant run away anymore.” and i was like =.= So yah. Beyond my boundaries. ;P AND also, selling bookmarks and notebooks to raise fund for the Avanza. LOL, really a challenge to put down my pride, take up faith and approach people to sell it. and I managed a few!! Whohoo! Thank God for the sales and every single bit of courage and proactiveness He put in all of us because everything was SOLD OUT! Whohoooo! Aint that amazing. Hope Ipoh team, you guys and girls ROCK big time!!!  When we thought we cant, we actually can! Now that is also what I call beyond the boundaries, stretching faith and courage and do more than usual eh

I dont know about the rest, but this MNC has been an extraordinary moment for me. Kudos and Bravo to all the Hope Kuching and KL committees who poured out so much for the event. The Opening and Closing Ceremony was amazingly grand and meaningful and not to mention, colourful as well! Truly, life is EXTRAORDINARY, because of You. :’)

List of Activities:

• pay RM22 and do warm up exercises
• adventure begins= crawl, walk, slide, walk like a duck, swim(o.O???), jump, masuk lubang, climb, and say ‘wah’ for one million times thanks to the indeed amazing adventure.
• shower and ice cream moment.
• Kampar Curry Chicken and headed for UTP home.

Arising matters:
Need to wake up early. (I realized all Hope Ipoh activities require early birds) Wonderful. Exciting aka ChiKek. Wet. Crazy. Requires faith in the darkness. (I walk by faith not by sight. Cant see anything in the gua anyway haha) Full of surprises (slide down that slope and masuk that lubang??? o.O). Tiring. awesome Kampar Curry Chicken Bread galore anyway. (should always do it again.) LOL.

Status: Success.

Praise the Lord for the glorious day and a hearty CONGRATULATIONS to all in that blue-black robe:
Richard, Eddy, Vern, Mei Le, Mei Fang, Wendy, Ivan, Christon!

All the best in your current workplace and future undertakings! May you be a salt and light in your community as you walk side by side with God always! And to all you who are still in UTP, continue to work towards your commencement yo! God speed!

“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”               Numbers 6:24-26.

After setting off an opening act with the firecrackers, we proceeded with praising and worshipping the Lord for His wonders and grace upon us all. For once, brother Ernest (as u can see in the 1st photo above) was not sitting in the 1st row! Aint that sweet for a change? The sermon by brother Keh Seng was all about claiming and living God’s promises. Quoting throughout the book of Genesis, from Abraham’s life we saw how God fulfilled His promises and how Abraham and Sarah responded to God. Faith and prayer is needed here yo! So, if we were to see Hope Ipoh to grow in quality and in quantity, we ALL need to exercise faith, and pray and in action as well eh, Amen? And it was the pioneers who have so boldly exercised their faith and persevered that brought Hope Ipoh through so many years! Learn from them? ;D

And games that followed the day’s celebration, the sumptuous meal and fellowship pretty much wrapped up the blessed day in a lovely way! Hope Ipoh has never been more alive. xD

Happy Anniversary Hope Ipoh!

Thank You God, for Your love indeed endures forever!

Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous; do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord Your God will be with you wherever you go.”