YAF Retreat 2012: Legacy

Just got back from Legacy. It was a great weekend away.

The roughly 25 of us spent three days at Kinta Valley Hotels & Suites, which will also be Grace PJ Youth's camp venue later this year. Neat place, very new and great location too!

I now understand a little bit more why young adults do retreats more than camp. RETREATS ARE SO RELAXING! And they deserve it because after months of work and work, all you wanna do is let your hair down and chill. (Also when you're younger you have more hyperactive energy to run around to get as many GY currency as you can)

They specially invited Pastor Henry to share for two sessions (three, if you count the morning watch/morning prayer) and for that, you know it's gonna be worth while. He is a really gifted speaker on many topics and always has the cutest jokes. Over the weekend, he shared about his own legacy of Grace - this year celebrating its 40th anniversary - and shared the secret of being a successful Christian.

Do you want to know the secret?


Start your day and end your day with God. Prayer and reading the Bible.


Overall, it was a fun retreat where everyone knew everyone and the only thing I wished for is for it to be longer. And yes, the two bus breakdowns, I don't mind them too. It only gave us opportunity to chat and another transport problem for the YAF Retreat history. Hehe!

Weekends and Rubber Bands

Last Sunday, after dance practice, Manisha came to me and showed me her shoes with the soles gone all alligator-y. You know - the bottom is unhinged from the base and goes all flip-flappy.

So I took two rubber bands that have been hanging on my wrist since 11am (more on that later) and tied two rounds on each of her shoe. Industrial usefulness at its best!

Why did I have two rubber bands hanging off my wrist the whole day? Well, I was on duty that morning and had to wear my uniform - yes, the ones with the loose sleeve bands. I always "wear" a pair of bands to keep it from slipping off! And after changing out of my uniform, I'll keep them on my wrist till I get home. But it was a very busy Sunday and I didn't even had the time to go home, haha - and it proved useful in the end!

This whole week I have been (and am) looking forward to the weekend - because it's the first weekend I'll be away from Klang, to Kinta Valley! I'll be joining the YAF to their 2012 retreat, and I have a feeling that (although I'm one of the youngest/newest additions to the group) I won't be the youngest there. Woohoo!

Tomorrow night, practice for Grace's 40th Anniversary. I love to prepare for presentations. It's time consuming and exhausting and stressful but it's always SO MUCH FUN.

Oh, which reminds me - I should probably get packing for the weekend now. I am notorious for packing ahead of time - if I had a choice, 5 days in advance would be great. But now that time is not on my side, I find packing in 2 days' notice just fine. Also I like to procrastinate nowadays.

attending to the church

Today when Nick mentioned that he has been in church for nine years out of his 19 years of life, I thought, man, that's a long time to be attending church! (For a young person lah) Dude, that's like half his life! Wow.

And then I thought about myself - I've attended Grace since 2006, which doesn't seem so long ago. I still find it hard to embrace the fact that I'm a "regular churchgoer". I don't like being a churchgoer. I think that label is outdated. The only reason I go to church is for the community and for the connecting with God. And also my Sundays would be dead boring without it. Hah!

*storytime* I wasn't always a Christian my whole life. There was a point in time when I was an angst-filled teen with no place or purpose to live for. If it weren't for God's touch back at that rally, I would probably be someone I won't want to meet in a dark alley today (Granted, sometimes I still don't want to meet myself in a dark alley. I'm not perfect!).

Six years have passed. SIX. The transformational encounters in that period, the amazing experiences, the uplifting fellowship - all of that, and God, of course, trumps any bad encounters (both in and out of church) I had during that time, and has molded me for whatever is going to come my way (still being molded!).

I just want to say that attending church is a choice for many people. I know of some Christians who've attended church their whole lives, some have not done so. But most Christians grow the most and the strongest in an environment like that. God didn't call us to him for us to be alone in our faith - just look at the book of Acts! Either way, whether you attend or not, God loves you all the same.

Remember that.


14 Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. ¹⁵ See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. 
Hebrews 12


*Comment or send me a message if you want to talk! I always answer FB messages :)

pretty lady smiles - a blog

Found this awesome blog

the right kind of sorrow

Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.

See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done.

2 Cor 7:10-11

dear diary, today i feel like crap & i deserve to

giggles is such a girly word

When in the face of awkward situations, laugh.


Prov 31:25

note to self

(I foresee a similarly hectic week at work next week)

Grrl, give time to yourself to think and reflect. Pause. It doesn't hurt to take a break!

Also tear yourself away from the screen when you're at home. You're already facing the screen for hours on end at work, what are you doing looking at it some more at night?

And kick start your journalling habit again. It was going just fine.

let your words be few

Speak less, listen more.

DIY ombre hair

Not sure if frugal, or hipster.

I bought a box of Hi-Bleach hair dye this evening. I have been planning to dye my hair ombre (gradient) for quite some time now. Like, three days. I was too lazy to spend two hours at a salon (and a hundred bucks) so I settled on DIY!

So I followed a video on YouTube for the DIY. It didn't really turn out 100% the way it should - and I think it's because of my impatience, hah! You're supposed to dye the tips first, rest, rinse, then dye the tips + a little higher than that for the ombre effect. 

This is how the ideal ombre hair is supposed to look like:

source via pinterest

I'm not comparing mine and that, that was done by a color correction specialist!

I'll show you mine when I see you! :)

our 1 year anniversary

I'm so glad they don't judge me for this. LOL!

It has been, almost on the dot, a full year of being in the workforce. Yes...I cannot comprehend how time smacked my face so quickly I didn't feel a thing. Goodness gracious. Maybe it's the way I think - like, you are what you think.


My thoughts on being a member of the society as a working person for the past one year:

The good: I enjoy this different social setting. I enjoy making a living. I enjoy the company and the things I've learnt thus far, making me a too-good smarty pants.

The bad: I'm spending less time with family*. I've not developed any additional skill set beyond that which I've learnt at church. I'm afraid I'm not making a life.


Ugh girl. Why do you have to complain about everything? Just accept the fact that with everything, there is good and bad, and successful people know how to balance the two! 


A crapload of news articles state that fresh graduates nowadays are less faithful to their employers and are willing to hop to another job at the drop of a hat if the prospects are better there. Loads of these Gen Ys are also giving the reason that they're fast learners who can do so much more than is expected of them, and thus want better opportunities and more recognition for what they do. I used to think this way too, until I read an article on Relevant (sorry can't find the link!) from a Gen X-er that really set me down for the hard facts: No. Privileged as we are, we still have to work for the experience. And sorry to say, experience isn't something our instant-grat culture can provide! "There's no app for that."

That's the truth, yo. No syllabus or textbook taught me that. College education, you disappoint. In all fairness, I think a leader did mention a crux of this issue at a meeting last month - "We need to teach the young ones to say NO. We have been obsessed with change and changing to keep up with them. It's time to tell them to stop changing so much, that it's time to develop whatever skills that they have in hand!"


*This may be a good thing, cos I appreciate any time I spend with them more, now!

music for the melancholy

At first I thought to go rock (again) for this round's music, but I've only recently discovered these gems of songs and would love to share it with whoever's reading!

Today's song selections carry a little bit of melancholy notes, perfect for that afternoon in the sun you spend alone, then it starts to drizzle a bit and you wish someone would come home already. Hehe!

Jesus loves you like no other

This week has been a pretty good week so far. I am learning to let every day go by as it happens and live knowing that God is here for me. Yes. Revolutionary. He is not against me,


Also the insane amount of workload that exponentially (I am not kidding you) increased gave me something to think about for eight hours every day, which really helps in tiring me out and giving me a purpose in life  JKJK
But I must add it really helps to keep my mind off the Matter.


More of God. We can never have enough of Him. He makes all things purposeful and beautiful in his time.


Doubt or hope? I choose hope, simply because the alternative is a black hole with no beginning and no end.


Good night, my skin needs rest.

PS: I may go to the hairdressers this weekend, should I have sufficient funds. Just a reminder to myself.

A picture of my cute bubble tea

"Treat every person you meet as if they were an angel in disguise"

Every person has his or her own shortcomings. It doesn't matter much what those shortcomings are or what you think of them, it doesn't even matter when you start silently judging them for it. What really matters, I think, is the way you treat them in spite of their shortcomings.

At the end of the day, people are people and they just want to be loved and understood and acknowledged. Did you know that deep down, everyone is lonely for affection and are crying to be understood? Emo but true. Every single person. No one is exempt from this.

I'm still learning to treat all people equally well, but it is a learning curve, so it takes time. I hope you'll join me to do the same!

And the quote above? It's probably true. God did make us in his image. So lets start treating one another with a little more dignity, respect and love.

The first day of September

...you can now sing "wake me up when September ends," (aka the most overplayed song of 2006) without people correcting you with "hey, it's not September yet!"

Dee, I haven't seen you in three days.

3 Things I'm Into Lately

1. This TV show

source unknown, possibly BBC

BBC's Sherlock, ehmergerd! I just can't get enough of it. Even though each episode spans 1 1/2 hours, which is kinda like a telemovie. It can be long and tiring, and Aidee cannot tahan it. But I enjoy watching this series whenever it's on BETV.

Maybe it's the fast dialogue. The sometimes jargon-ny script I can't understand. The dry humor. Or maybe it's Benedict Cumberbatch. 

source unknown, possibly BBC

Yep, definitely Benedict Cumberbatch.

2. This quote

source

I see a load of words like these everyday on FB and pinterest, but none stood out like this one did. I think this resonates with me because of my own experience with the issue and knowing that girls actually do still continue to think themselves lesser value, because they do not have 'the right look'. 

(I know lot of people who have no patience with people facing this particular issue will brush it off with a million excuses but ees okay, to each his own)

This quote was a reminder to me that real beauty is anything but typical.  

3. This meme (and many more, from the source)

source

In all fairness, I found myself drawn into the Jesus Culture song when I first heard it...two years ago?  

Let me explain. The way Kim Walker sings so passionately about the unbridled love of God for us was really impactful, and the revolutionary lyrics were the first of its kind I ever heard. It's something that really resonates with your soul, especially if you've had a relationship with God. Like, it stops you dead in your tracks and really forces you to face the reality of God's love! 

"I don't have time to maintain these regrets, when I think about the way he loves us," 

But if you force me to sing this song every single week I will undoubtedly tire of it, because it really takes effort to connect with. Hence the face, LOL. 

Nah, I'll still sing along anyway :D