do you want to only be right?

Hello Ladies!! How are you all?? I hope everyone has been great and has managed to keep heart over these past few weeks during exams and school!

So I have been reading the book "Sit, Walk, Stand" by Watchman Nee recently - it's a really good book! I recommend it to anyone, although it has taken me a while to get around to, I think that God has really brought it to me right when I needed!

There have been a lot of great take-away's from the book that I've been trying to apply and keep in mind - and I've chosen to share this one w/ y'all for now ^_^

The question of "right" or "wrong".
Often times, it is so easy to think of our situations in terms of right and wrong. Someone wronging us, how we were more right than someone else...

In his book, Watchman Nee says that we can become preoccupied with what is and what is not right, and whether we have been justly or unjustly treated.
and Nee says some stuff that I find really eye-opening:

"The whole question for us is one of cross-bearing. You ask me, 'Is it right for someone to strike my cheek?' I reply, 'Of course not! But the question is, do you want to only be right?' As Christians, our standard of living can never be "right or wrong", but the Cross. The principle of the Cross is our principle of conduct. Praise God that He makes His sun to shine on the evil and the good. With Him it is a question of His grace and not of right or wrong. But that is to be our standard also: "Forgiving each other, even as God also in Christ forgave you." [Ephesians 4:32] "Right or wrong" is the principle of the Gentiles and the tax gatherers. My life is to be governed by the principle of the Cross and of the perfection of the Father: "Ye therefore shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." " [- Sit, Walk, Stand pg. 32]

Nee then goes on to illustrate his point with an example,

"A brother in South China had a rice field in the middle of a the hill. In time of drought he used a waterwheel, worked by a treadmill, to lift water from the irrigation stream into his field. His neighbour had two fields below his, and, one night, made a breach in the dividing bank and drained off all his water. When the brother repaired the breach and pumped in more water his neighbour did the same thing again, and this was repeated three or four times. So he consulted his brethren. "I have tried to be patient and not to retaliate," he said, "but is it right?" After they had prayed together about it, one of them replied, "If we only try to do the right thing, surely we are very poor Christians. We have to do something more than what is right." The brother was much impressed. Next morning he pumped water for the two fields below, and in the afternoon pumped water for his own field. After that the water stayed in his field. His neighbour was so amazed at his action that he began to inquire the reason, and in course of time he, too, became a Christian." [- Sit, Walk, Stand pg. 32-33]

"So, my brethren, don't just stand on your right. Don't feel that because you have gone the second mile you have done what is just. The second mile is only typical of the third and the fourth. The principle is that of conformity to Christ. We have nothing to stand for, nothing to ask or demand. We have only to give. When the Lord Jesus died on the Cross, He did not do so to defend our "rights"; it was grace that took Him there. Now, as his children, we try always to give others what is their due and more." [- Sit, Walk, Stand pg. 33]

"Be ye therefore imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, even as Christ also loved you, and gave himself up for you." - Ephesians 5:1-2

haha I could keep going and going - so many great things.. but I'll put it into a different post ^_^

we're only any good if we apply what we read and learn as well.
I really took a lot out of this, the value placed on acting out of love, and not trying to justify things as who was in the right or wrong, since if we were going on deeds and actions and earning - we all fall short of the Glory of God. Praise the Lord for His grace, and the chance we have to pour out grace and love on others!

I've also been keeping the rice field story in mind for this past week because it doesn't mean that Christians should allow themselves to be walked all over, but that our 'reaction' in Christ can be more powerful than simply seeking our form of "justice". hehe I especially like the line "If we only try to do the right thing, surely we are very poor Christians. We have to do something more than what is right."

I know I still have a long way to go, but through Christ, there is so much more =)
haha ok, enough of my rambling... Take heart dear sisters =D Keep on hard after Him!

Looking forward to seeing you all soon!

seeking a country

Hello Ladies!!

How are you all doing?? I hope school is treating you well + you haven't been too bogged down by work and stuff - the end is near, which is... good and bad; good b/c it means more relaxing, bad because we miss out on all the friends and the crazy, but fun bits of the school routine!

Jen - How did the elections go? I hope work isn't killing you!
Kat - How is all the crazy practicing going? Any changes with your friends?
Michelle - I hope you're not crazy bogged down with work!! What are you planning for summer?
Valerie - How are you feeling finishing 1st year? Did you work out your housing plans?
Noelle - Are you excited to be finishing? What are you plans?

Everyone - How has your walk with God been? Anything we can pray for you?

Something I wanted to share with you all -
I was reading Hebrews 11 the other day - and I came upon this verse:

"13All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. 15And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them." - Hebrews 11:13-16 (NASB)

And my thoughts on this verse are twofold:

First, although this currently applies most for those in the situation of University graduation - it can also apply to anyone who needs to leave a group of friends, or place etc (maybe for you ladies as you might not see the same people over the summer); for me here @ Western, there has been seed sowing, and fellowship, and encouraging and building up of the body. However, as I (and other grads) leave and graduate, the things that we've started or had a hand in - we really won't see them come into fruition in our "lifetimes" at University, but we see them from a distance, knowing that God will do great things and will move powerfully in years to come. This works for any situation really - that sometimes we put in works and efforts, but we must leave the full fruition to someone else, trusting that God will continue to work.

Second, involving desiring a country, in a way this relates to the first in that, if God sends us away, we need to trust in His sending, because we are seeking to do His will, and to obtain a 'heavenly country'. Especially for those graduating, but for anyone who needs to leave somewhere that is good - it's tough. I've done most of my spiritual growing at Western, I love the fellowship there and all the people, and I'm going to miss it greatly. I suppose, that if I really wanted to stay @ Western because I'm clinging onto what I think is good - I could find a way to come back; but God tells us that He has better in store.

Think about Abraham - God sent him out to find the promise land, and had Abraham said that where he had come from was so good that he wanted to stay there, he would have missed out on the blessings of the LORD; and although he never got to see his descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky - his bit of faith was needed to start the ball rolling.

So this is just a little bit to take heart over; God has the best in store for us, may we trust and be willing to go where He sends us. And that for you all - even though in the summer you may not see the same people, you can still definitely keep in touch - and there is always the next year to prep, pray, and be excited for ^_^

" Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that." " - James 4:14-15 (NASB)

hehe my family came by yesterday.. moved out some stuff.. haha my empty spaces look so crazy. I won't be at service this weekend - needed to stay in London b/c I have a huge essay due on Monday, but I look forward to seeing you all soon!! Let's finish strong. God bless y'all.

This is no "long thought vomit" ...

wow jen that was such a long post! but very good to read about how've you been and everything!

i really don't much time right now to post, so it won't be quite as long as jen's post below haha.
soon, i will have to make dinner and then go perform some student composition for their class.

i've been quite good. things have been more busy than ever though! but i'm enjoying my life here at Laurier, and making music and being a music nerd. i've pretty much been brainwashed into critiquing (my spelling sucks, i know, i also don't remember my times table!!) everything i hear, translating it all into solfege (do-re-mi system, which is a lot of fun and so useful!), clapping and speaking rhythms as a hobbie, and craving classical music all the time and shutting myself from pop music (well not entirely yet. haha. but honestly that stuff really isn't that great!!). jen actually visited me a few weekends ago and her and imelda saw some of the musicness that happens here =)
i'm very glad that i chose to come here to this very school and to study what i love. well not all of it is that good (ie. theory...sucks a lot!), but i'm doing pretty well overall.

i've also been trying to go to the gym!! (except last week, which was a week of endless rehearsals to prepare for concert). that i never thought i'd start doing, but i felt so disgustingly out of shape and unhealthy, that i finally dragged myself and a few friends there with me too.

(...i'm beginning to think that this is becoming really long...!!!)

anyway, in terms of spirituality, i'm doing alright. i'm not going to ccf here (and that will come with a longer explanation in the near future, i promise), but the church i go to here is great, and i also try to go home at least 2 times every month. i've been trying to do more devos and just putting post-it notes of bible verses around my room to remind me now and then of what i've read about for the past week and stuff through my devos. it's pretty helpful.
the friends i hang out with most are all non-christian, and we've had some pretty interesting conversations. they're amazing people and so fun to be around, and i guess it kinda saddened me to know they aren't christian and a few are like totally stubborn about it. i'm just praying now that God will do something with me, and use me somehow amongst this group of friends. please pray for that too - my friends Nancy, Vivian and Christopher (Jen, you've met them!)
Thanks =)))))

Anyway, I REALLY GOTTA GO NOW..eek. but it was really nice getting to post! hope u girls are all doing fantastic =)!!

thoughts as of late...

**beware of mad long thought vomit**

hmmm where to start.
the past two weeks have been.. very... interesting, for the lack of a better term

alrite, let's start off with the week of march 12th.. aka march break for the highschoolers (which, for the first time, no longer includes me :( ). For the past few years of my life, i've been participating / serving at Teens Conference, basically a conference for high school students during the march break that also poses as an opportunity to connect with Christians around them as well as an opportunity to bring people who have not heard of Christ, to experience Him. Well, last year, i was serving as a part of media, so this year, me and a few friends who's been serving there for years on end, were feeling mighty nostalgic and decided to see how the respective teams were doing this year...

So on thursday we trekked to t3c, entered those oh so familiar doors, greeted all the organizers and people, just a year ago, had been guiding us as we prepared to go on stage with the message that God has instilled in our hearts, and together we walked up to the balcony, where the visitors and the AV team sit, and there we sat for evening session.

As i sat there, i looked around. To see all the kids from all the teams... media, sycamore aka sr worship, jr worship team and people from AV. Waves of nostalgia were hit me full force. Just a year ago, we were all a little younger, all a little greener, at the first few pews, exhalting the Name of the Lord. All the teams were mingling with each other, just all ready and excited to serve God. And now, here most of us sit, as university students. Just to sit there and think of all the changes that occured in our lives, how we've all grown so much since then. Looking around at those pews, i just felt so blessed. To be able to be reuinted once again with this family, and a year later, still being able to praise God with these people, all united under the banner of His love and Grace.

Then there were the 400-500 brothers and sisters on the main floor. They were family too, all of us uninhibited, shouting and praising God's name. wow, what a sight. I think that's what fellowship should be, what a community in Christ should be, people gathered together, earnestly seeking, not caring about what the people beside them think, just hungry for more of Jesus. oh myyyyyy what a sight.

---
last week.

was the worst week academically, i've never had so many things due, and at the same time, i was struggling with my nomination. (on the wednesday of the week before i had been invited over by the vice chair of ccf to her place for pie... and was told that i was nominated, but i didn't know what for.) Therefore for an entire week and a half, that had been at the forefront of my mind. lots and lots of prayers were prayed for God to save me from "skule"tm and make my decision for me for nominations.

honestly, when you draw closer to God, God draws closer to you

even in such a short period, i felt that God was so much more prevalent the more you earnestly seek Him. i wish i could be like that all the time... i feel that nowadays my heart is not half as sincere as it should be, half as longing as it should be. I wish that i could be in that place all the time, that place where i bring EVERYTHING back to Jesus. all decisions, all worries, all trials and all happiness. Even with this week, though it's only monday, i feel that there's been less of that, less of that yearning, even though there should be ten times more than last week.

why are my affections so fickle?

i know what it feels like to have God close, why isn't that desire greater?

to earnestly seek, to be humbled before God, to long for more of Him, all the time, and never EVER settling for anything less than Jesus.

that's where i'm gonna try to be.


...to finish off my nomination story

i emailed the vice chair again on thursday night as to what i was actually nominated for.
cuz throughout praying i was drawn to female devotions leader, and i wanted to see if that's what they saw too
it wasn't.
she replied at 2 in the morning, telling me i was nominated for large group coordinator, which was really administrative and really... not where i'm gifted.
so at 3 in the afternoon friday, after talking to my school small group leader, came to the conclusion that i was only even tempted to say yes because i feel that God has bulit me up this year for something more, all the struggles of this year was for something greater, that God does indeed have a plan for me but more of building relationships with people on a personal level, rather than administration. and me thinking about saying yes was jumping the gun. it wasn't the time, this wasn't the position was meant for.
so i called the vice chair again.. told her no.

but at fellowship that night, the social coordinator said "i heard you turned down your nomination"
and as i explained to her why, she asked me if i had a vision for the fellowship, to which i replied yes, and what would i say if i was nominated for female devotions leader. and i said it's not my call...

and on saturday after getting off work i checked my email
and the vice chair sent me an email saying the social coordinator has found someone to nominate and second me before 11:59 friday night.
and if i wanted to, i can run for that

....i said yes.

but we'll see what happens.
it's all God's call

but if you guys would pray for me, that would be great :)
just for protection against satan's attacks, for discernment as to what i'm supposed to say on friday when i have to do a speech, for guidence of the Holy Spirit throughout this week, and for God to work in my life :)

thanks for reading (if you actually read to the end, GOLD STAR FOR YOU!
:D

have a blessed week!

ps. here's one of the two songs that have been running through my head for the past few weeks, in tune with shelby's post about hymns...

I Surrender All

All to Jesus I surrender,
All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him,
In His presence daily live.

I surrender all,
I surrender all.
All to Thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.

All to Jesus I surrender,
Humbly at His feet I bow,
Worldly pleasures all forsaken;
Take me, Jesus, take me now.

All to Jesus I surrender,
Make me, Savior, wholly Thine;
Let me feel Thy Holy Spirit,
Truly know that Thou art mine.

All to Jesus I surrender,
Lord, I give myself to Thee;
Fill me with Thy love and power,
Let Thy blessing fall on me.

All to Jesus I surrender,
Now I feel the sacred flame.
Oh, the joy of full salvation!
Glory, glory to His name!

it is well with my soul

Hello Ladies =)

I hope you're all doing great! Like I wrote in my e-mail, I shared this with the small group leaders at Hallelujah, but I thought I would share it with y'all as well ^_^

This past week has been rather interesting for me, God brought a lot of things to the forefront of my mind that I needed to deal and come to terms with; It seemed that big or small, there were things which God pointed out as needing resolving and offering up to Him. And after each incident, I always felt great peace with God.

Some things that I needed to give up to God were easier than others, some were particularly painful, but even if I had doubts, I knew I couldn't talk myself out of giving these things up because God asked it of me, and I love Him. Just as you all do. We have chosen to follow God, we pick up our crosses daily, and we are reminded daily, hourly, every minute - that He is worth it.

Sometimes, we give things up and we get to keep them, like Abraham and his son Isaac in Genesis 22; other times, we offer these things up to God permanently.
but the Love of the Lord keeps us going =)

I learned of this hymn at Western around 2 years ago; our counsellors of the Asian Christian Fellowship open their house up to us on Sunday nights for Holy Spirit led praise, prayer, worship and sharing - as well as learning from scripture - and this is one of the many blessings received from those times...
Now, you may not like hymns, and think them too slow or boring - but while the melody may be simple, its words are powerful.
It is my prayer that these words, even when repeated to yourself, in whatever situation, can become your heart's cry. That whatever goes on, wherever God brings you - you can find strength and hope in Him, and all will be well with your soul.

It is well with my soul

1. When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
 when sorrows like sea billows roll;
 whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say,
 It is well, it is well with my soul.
Refrain:
 It is well with my soul,
 it is well, it is well with my soul.

2. Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
 let this blest assurance control,
 that Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
 and hath shed his own blood for my soul.
 (Refrain)

3. My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
 My sin, not in part but the whole,
 is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
 praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
 (Refrain)

4. And, Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
 the clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
 the trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
 even so, it is well with my soul.
 (Refrain) 

Happy March :)

Hello ladies,

I figured I'll follow Shelby's pattern with the title of these posts. How have you guys been? How's cope-ing with going back to schol after our lazy mood from Reading Week? As for Noelle, it's alright March Break is around the corner, hang in there!

Can you guys believe it? Since my last post, it's been almost a month. Midterms are almost over (I still have 2 more to go), but after all this, only 5 more weeks of classes then it's exams. Time flies when....you're working hard (Time does also fly by when you're having fun, but it's not "fun" in this case).

I really don't have much to share this week. I just want to see how you girls are doing. I've got a feeling we won't be meeting up until after our final exams in April. So we'll probably be meeting in May. It seems like a long time from now, but we will survive.

I don't have much to write, it's just that this blog is getting lonely. With a few more notes:

Noelle, hopefully you're doing well in high school, if you need help, feel free to ask, we're gladly to help.

Catherine, good luck (or have fun, if you're going as an audience) at the Percussion Studio Concert this Sunday.

Jen, I MISS YOU LOTS! You have no clue. I miss you as much as I miss dee + Yvo combined!

Michelle, too bad I only caught a glimpse of you before you left. But at least I did!! K-BBQ was so random.

Shelby, thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to encourage us. Greatly Aprreciated.

_val :)

Happy February!!

haha I'm not very good with these titles =D and actually, w/ Valerie beating me to blogging first in February hehe she really got to say the first "Happy February"
(yiay for joining the blog Val!!! Now we just have to get Noelle to finally join as well!!)

Wow! It's halfway through Feb already!! time really flies! How do you ladies feel to almost be done your first year?!?!?! (hehe and done last yr of high school, Noelle!)
This may sound weird, but I think I am FINALLY getting into the "groove" of things with 2nd term - haha and it's only taken me 1 month!!

so in our women's cell here at Western (the women gather together to share and chat and go through scripture, and they touch upon different themes and stuff ^_^) we looked at this passage in scripture from Psalm 127:1-2

"Unless the LORD builds the house,
They labor in vain who build it;
Unless the LORD guards the city,
The watchman keeps awake in vain.

It is vain for you to rise up early,
To retire late,
To eat the bread of painful labors;
For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep."
- Psalm 127:1-2 (NASB)

and I thought it was an interesting passage for a couple of reasons

I feel like God provides us with the resources in order to accomplish the work, and that includes school work - haha sometimes I know I've like.. wasted my whole day, so I need to stay up late trying to do readings...
but I also feel like, there are times when God would best have me spend time with Him in prayer, or bible reading etc - but I'm trying to use that time for school work instead
Or other times, I feel like I really need to get lots and lots of work done, b/c there's just sooooo much to do - and ALL my time become spent on work and studying, but then that's not good either.

So, I'm not saying that we should all throw off the bondage of studying (hehe even if it does seem appealing), or shouldn't spend time w/ God - but find a balance.

and the other thing that I thought was cool about the verse - was how in the end of verse 2 it talks about giving to His beloved in his sleep - and I think it refers to how, sometimes we work hard for results and God blesses us; but other times, we work hard and we still can't seem to get it all done - but we lift it up to God, and He still blesses us, even though we maybe haven't worked as hard as we should have, or we weren't able to finish all we thought we needed to.


I hope alllllll you ladies are doing WONDERFULLY WELL!!
hehehe I doooo have a different reading week than you all!! (mine is from Feb 26 - March 2 officially) What are your plans for reading week?
I hope the studies are going well and everyone is staying afloat! God bless you all!
in Christ, much love and smiles =D -shelby

[EDIT]:: I wanted to qualify and clarify a bit on balance. I was talking to a friend today about the different elements of balance... sometimes, we think of balance as 50% work + 50% God... equal - but I think that's wrong. I don't know if we can look at balance in terms of numbers, or hours spent, people talked to, and chapters read. More so, I feel that God has the universe in balance, and some days, He may call us to work super hard w/ school - and other days, despite our plans, he may have us talk to a friend, or be somewhere else. So the point to balance would be that by being right in God's will, and following His direction, we will lead well "balanced" lives. Hehe post comments if this is confusing, I would love to discuss with you all!

The deadly-ness of procastination

Hello my dears,

haha I haven't realized that I haven't accepted to be part of this blog. So I was wondering how come I couldn't sign on and all that stuff (thanks for the email Shelby *smiles).

I'm not much of a blogger, but I thought that I should contribute to this wonderful journey of ours. Well, Reading Week is coming up and I hope that we could get along together. Though I know Western's Reading Week is a week after ours (Feb26~March2), is that right Shelby? If so, I guess we could still meet up sometime...what do you guys think?

There's nothing much with me. Pretty much same as everyone. Crazy midterms time now. I just had my first two midterms of 2nd semester last friday. That would be calculus back-to-back with macroeconomics. EWWWWW! Val dislikes macro with a passion. And val almost failed calc last year. As in...I applied to university with a 50% failing. haha...I don't know how that's going to turn out, but everything else is going to be just as tough. I have midterms from now on (every Friday) until mid-March. Then in April it's exams! So...I'll only have 2 weeks of break there. eek!

Well, look on the bright side. We're "almost" done our first year of university! 'cause midterms = almost end = summer soon = we finish before high school peoplr (sorry Noelle we have a longer summer).

In a way, I'm not looking forward to Reading Week. Being the workaholic that I am. I'm goign to be working, on top of that I have 4 accounting assignments due, 1 calc, 1 macro, 1 law. Oh this is going to be joyful. That's just assignments, and the studying...STUDYING! Who studies on reading week? =(

Refering back to the title. I'm supposed to be getting myself ahead of this week and starting some work for Reading Week, then there's less wor to do for Reading week, but I'm in the same spot as Jen, Facebook sucks your soul! And other such, such as checking my emails, sometimes I clean my room, laundry (ever so often, even when I don't have clothes to wash). This is sad. But I wanted to make a message:

If you're going to procastinate....make it a productive procastination.

For example, when I procastinate I do my laundry, clean my room, and post of Blog, like I am doing so, right now =] Sometimes, I go jogging, so instead of doing homework I exercise..it's the only way I'll get myself to exercise "val, if you don't study you've got to go swimming and jogging".

Remember that ladies. And I will see you guys in a week.

<3 val