What a day

Woke up and headed of to some careers expo today. Had to pay 5bucks to get in. But oh well, it was good fun. Didn't get much directions though but came back with more options. I can't wait to see what transpires over the next few weeks.

On an impulse move, we went down to Mt Lofty and climbed it and i can honestly say, it is definitely one of the harder climbs. Took about 3 hours to go down and back up (we drove to the summit and left the car there and climbed down first then back up), including the breaks and the times when we stopped to take pictures. It was definitely a refreshing time for us, just spending time sharing things on our hearts.

There were times when we were just so tired we started singing songs/hymns and it was just wonderful to have one another. I thank God for the people that He has placed around me. It definitely makes a difference when we can encourage one another in this journey of faith.

Marley and Me

If there's one movie which has made me cried the most, it's this one. 

Updates

The pictures are not in order, just randomly dumped them all. Went to Vic for the weekend to visit the OCF centres there and the leaders too and it was an enriching one and i really thank God for that although i came back with fever and a throat infection (some ppl are claiming that its post-melb blues and im missing melb already..haha)

Came back and realised too that it was time we did something about the stack of dried leaves in the car port. We've been procastinating in cleaning them up but yea, finally realised that we better clear them up before it starts raining making them more 'annoying'. And so, the brother and i set out to clean them up and i realised that hey, its something that we probably wont get to do in Malaysia. And instead of clearing up snow, we're removing stack loads of dried leaves. In one of the pictures above, you would've noticed how our pagola thingy is like almost naked...so yea, you can imagine how much leaves we collected.

and yes, it has been raining the past few days, feels like we're back under tropical weather..oh, such joy.. :)

Received a book as a gift the other day and i'm really drawn to it. Its a shepherds perspective on Psalm 23. I'm currently also reading Wild at Heart again. ..to see what i missed last time. 

Food for thought

Adapted from Tim Hughes' blog at worshipcentral.org

Qualities of a leader

Sir Alex Ferguson is arguably one of footballs greatest managers, winning more trophies than any other manager in the history of the English game with Manchester United. On a plane out to the States, I was reading an interview with Ferguson where he was asked about the 3 most important qualities of a leader. He responded saying the 3 keys were...
1. Control
2. Managing change
3. Observation
I was really interested in these. There's lots to learn here.

1. Control - how are we leading, inspiring and developing our teams? Are we clear in the way we lead, in the authority entrusted to us? Team dynamics can go horribly wrong when there is no clear leadership.

2. Managing change - how do we keep growing teams, raising up leaders, pushing on in to new things? Any leader that settles is in real trouble. To keep at the top of your game you need to manage change and allow new ideas to flourish.

3. Observation - attention to detail is so vital. Keeping a close watch on what's going on all around, listening closely to what others are saying and acting wisely on it is always essential to great leadership. There are no short cuts here - leadership involves hard work and a constant watch on all that's going on.

OCF South Australia's first meeting for the year 09...and my first time playing guitar with Sherny

And yes, it was a historical moment. Not only was it OCF SA's first meeting for 2009 (thank God for the many who came, i think we hit 150 or maybe slightly less), but it was my first time playing the guitar with Wei Shern (yes, he is taller than me) for worship and it was something which i won't forget for a long time.

...althought the guitar went out of tune a bit suddenly, and i played the wrong chord somewhere...and maybe might have overstrummed a bit for some parts...ok..a lot...haha...but

nevertheless, it was a wonderful experience.

I grew up doing more of the leading worship part and not really playing any musical instrument. Only when in Adelaide did I start seriously exploring playing the guitar for worship as something that i can serve God with...and it really has been a humbling experience. Like how important it is to listen to one another (each other's musical instruments to make sure that all is in sync and not to overpower one another), how important it is to humbly submit to authority and to follow the leader (worship leader in this case) and how to make sure that God is reigning in our hearts and to allow the Holy Spirit to work through us as I've come to discover also how our playing the instrument can actually be an expression of the work of the Spirit or whether we allow Him to use us. .

Thanks to Woei Shyang for the pics.

currently reading up on how pain is managed in Parkinson's disease..ish ish

somehow i cant seem to get spaces btw the paragraphs. i apologize for the messy look.

The Call to prayer

Would you join me to pray for the country of Malaysia for the next 2 weeks. A transition of leadership from one individual to another is said to happen. Much has been talked about it but I trust in His Sovereign will. 

Reading news of how the global economy is worsening and its implications on the country of Malaysia, the necessity for strong and stable leadership has never been greater.

On a separate note, there has been a change in leadership in Madagascar.

2 Chronicles 7:14

if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Updates

Currently icing the knee watching 'The Guardian' on tele. So inspiring. :) I hope to have the same attitude as the US Marines Coast guard tag line 'so others may live'.

Just an update to say that i can finally receive mms'. So to all ya'all out there who relies on free mms', yup, i can start receiving em. Must've been pretty annoying to always receive replies from me saying that, 'oopss, sorry, i can't read your mms'.

I was just reading the local newspaper today and found out the most interesting piece of news today. In spite of the recent economic downturn, there is an increase in the number of international students in Adelaide. It was a whopping 26, 000 last year but this year, it has increased to  a massive 30, 000, injecting about $740 million into the state's economy. One third of them are from Mainland China, 5000 from India and about 2200 from Malaysia and the remaining from other countries. There is an annual increase of 29.2% of international students studying in Adelaide, 4.4% ahead of the national average.

Just looking at things from the outside, i belong to a generation where our parents made sacrifces or wise economical decisions to ensure that their children will be able to continue their education in a foreign land. It's not only a Malaysian-thing, clearly, it's across different cultures and nationalities. We definitely have a lot to be grateful for.

On a personal note, just finished reading 'Piercing the darkness' by Frank E. Perretti. Definitely gave me a different perspective on spiritual warfare. Might start 'Contemporary Christianity' by John Stott soon. Been on a reading spree. Some of the books that i have just recently finished,

'Dangerous Act of Worship' by Mark Labberton, 'Postcards on a Journey' by John Mallison, 'A hitch-hikers guide to missions' by Ada Lum and not to forget, 'Grand weaver' by Ravi Zacharias.

Had the most intense kau kau com meeting thus far this afternoon. Definitely looking forward to more.