Another ditch in the road, you keep moving...

Don't know why, felt compelled to write that as the title for this post. 1st line of the chorus of "Two Beds and a Coffee Machine", by Savage Garden. Really really sad and innocent song played on a piano. Hmm, been a long 3 days since my last post. Church on sunday, followed by two evenings of guitar rehearsals. Aching fingers to say the least.

Service on sunday was good. Testimony from a brother who was given the 'death sentence' by his doctor 7 years ago. Told he had 6 months at the most to live. His condition? 80% of heart nerves are dead, one heart valve blocked, heart was enlarged 20% cos of that. Surgery was more or less a 0% chance of success. Doctor suggested using the heart valve of a pig to replace the blocked one. Once stablised, would remove it and let the old one work. He was just 55 years old. Just withdrawn half his cpf. A roman catholic, who only went to church once a year, during christmas. As time passed, his colleague at work brought him to Lighthouse's miracle service, held at tampines. Back then, it was held once a month only. He got healed of a 40 year old gastric problem, and he didn't even know till a church friend bought him something that he normally couldn't take. Progressively, he got healed of several other conditions that surfaced further down the road: liver, kidney problems, and so on, and also accepted the Lord into his life. Really encouraging to hear that he's been praying for the healing of others while he was still gravely sick. Now, he's completely cured of all his conditions. Praise the Lord!

Lunch with Emily, Weiqiang and Terence followed. Talked about democracy after the meal, what sort of identity we have as Singaporeans. Quite a long discussion, with the sun's rays drawing closer to us throughout (we were sitting at the edge of the pavillion), and the heat starting to be unbearable. Hung around tampines mall after that to kill time while waiting to meet up at the airport with Eliz and Steff to pick up Joyce from her mission trip to China. Met up with some Cornerstone members who were there to receive the team as well. After they landed and came out into the arrival hall, sharings started to flow. We all prayed, that they managed to accomplish what they had set out to do during their trip, and for them to arrive back home safely. Though Joyce and another of her team members suffered from an unsettled stomach/food poisoning for the last couple of days. Asked her to go see a doc when she gets home. Dinner at BK followed after Joyce and co left. Me, Eliz, Steff, Finna, Shirlyn (did I spell correctly?), and Timothy tucked in and chit chatted for quite a while. Think it was like 7+ before we left to take the train. Discussed some guitar matters with Eliz on board the train ride. My two cents on the instructor issue. Online meeting was held later that night to confirm stuff. More or less, things got settled, and a group meeting was to be held on wednesday to go through other issues.

Monday and Tuesday were sleepy days. Elected to stay in bed till late morning, or in the case of tuesday, till after lunch. Weariness getting to me. Rehearsals as usual in the evenings. This time round, I recorded the songs as we went along. Not too good, but not that bad either. Still need to work on the techniques. Team, if you are reading this, use this 6 days to work on whatever you need to work on. I'll do the same. Hope come monday, everything will be better and we can have good recordings to motivate us further. I'll post up the recordings that were done so far online later. My mp3 player is still charging. Had a haircut done earlier in the day. Finally had it cut after letting it grow for like 1½ months. So if anyone sees me, don't be surprised :Þ EDIT: Performance team, please go to and download the recordings and review and fine tune: http://sg.geocities.com/simgc_team/index.html. Hope to able to have better arrangements on monday. 10 songs to record in total. Besides the ones listed on the site, there's still Better Man, Closing Time and Virginia Moon to record.

Been a long few weeks. Comex finally beckons from thursday right through to sunday. Which means I'll miss cell group, miracle service, church service. 48 hours of work out of the 96 that comprises of that period of time. Is it worth it? Sure, the money's good. But at what cost? Exhaustion, missed sermon/fellowship/worship. Guess I'll have to sit down and rethink my priorities. Joyce threw me some interestings thoughts to ponder and reflect. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom". She felt that The Lord wants her to tell me that. Do I need wisdom? I'm sure I do. Wisdom is something everyone needs. But for me, feel it's something that can be sometimes lacking in my life. A lot of wrong decisions in my life, which turned out to be regrets later on. Don't think I should dwell in the past, should focus on what's ahead in life. Especially on what the Lord has in store for me. And to know Him better in every way. Have to read more of the Word to understand His character and personality in a deeper way. Still continuing to pray to receive the gift of tongues. Yet there's so much more that The Lord can give me. Will strive harder towards that. Wisdom starts with fear of the Lord. Have to keep this in mind.

"My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you search for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding." Proverbs 2:1-6

Busy, as usual

Hmm been a couple of days since I last had an entry here. Make that like 3 days, heh. Lazy days throughout, except for earlier in the day (saturday). Thursday was the usual, like the days that preceded before it. Slack the whole day, then get to school for rehearsal. This time, Elicia made it. So we went through Lover's Concerto, as well as getting her to try backing up Jiaxing on Radio and Jie Tuo. Radio went well. Same for Ni Yao De Ai, Collide, and Lover's Concerto. Couldn't do much about Jie Tuo, as Yew Yap didn't make it. Sigh. Should make this song the priority when we get down to rehearsals. Most difficult song of all. So after going through what we have, this should more or less be the final song list:

Day 1
- Collide
- You and Me
- Ni Yao De Ai
- Radio

Day 2
- Wonderwall
- Better Man OR Dan Xiao Gui OR any of the other alternatives
- Lover's Concerto
- Jie Tuo
- Virginia Moon

Encore (?): Closing Time

Alternatives
- Let It Be
- Here Without You
- When You Say Nothing At All (instrumental)
- Wherever You Will Go

So many songs, 8 practice sessions left before the performance. Still yet to decide on the 2nd item for Day 2. And Virginia Moon is gonna be tough. Very tough. This sentence comes to mind all of a sudden as I'm writing this. "Don't worry, everything's gonna be ok. Let it be." Paul's inspiration to write Let It Be, which came from a dream. Love the song, arguably my all time favourite secular song. Been in love with it for like 13 years already. Still going strong, heh. Anyway, still got some songs to work out and songs to polish through. Any one involved in the performance and reading this, you know what to do. Just want to say thanks for helping out so far. Hope I didn't drive you all too hard so far. I'm no music director, just a player like all of you.

Got a sms from Emily later in evening that she had to work OT on friday evening, so she couldn't lead and that Terence's taking over. Tried to find the songs that she picked, but only managed to find one of the two she chose, both of which are Hillsongs, and of which I'm unfamiliar with. Sigh. Need to listen to more christian cds. Or mp3s. Smsed Terence the next day in the morning to ask whether he knows the songs. Got a call from him in reply asking me to lead in worship instead. Still kinda in dreamland when the call came, heh. Guess I'm too exhausted by everything so far. Lapsed in and out of sleep the whole day. Also spent time in between downloading game videos. Been too long since I've updated myself. Of cos, also sat down with my guitar to pick out the songs for cell worship. Decided on A Pure Heart and Be Magnified after going through some songs. Packed my bags and left for Tampines after to transfer to a train to Simei. But missed my bus, sigh. So spent the time grabbing a quick bite of a cup of corn. Not really satisfying (read my previous posts regarding my appetite), so grabbed a waffle and red bull to take with me to Simei to eat while waiting for the others to arrive (which STILL didn't satisfy me, lol. It's more like a drop in the ocean). Cell meeting was ok. After worship, we shared about stuff, and the topic came to grey areas like gambling, drinking and going to pubs/clubs. For me, I feel that going to clubs are a no-no. Really feel empty after visiting a couple before in the past year. Can't seem to find the presence of God at all. Pubs, I do enjoy to an extent, mainly cos of the live music played by bands. Gambling, I quit it after coming back to Christ. Gambled before here and there when I was still in my back sliding period. Which lasted for 6 years. Drinking's not really a problem for me, I can hold to a certain extent. But I'm trying not to drink these days, unless it's some special occiasion. Hard liquor's out for me, prefer beer. Even then, there's always milk to help me over the throbbing and help me retain control :) Tried and tested before. Supper ensured after cell ended. Last opportunity to eat at the coffee shop there for a long while, so wanted to savour it. Had yong tau foo again, this time with noodles in it. Guess the carbs in the noodles made me satisfied. Still had a bit of space left, but decided not to pursue it, heh. Horrible right?

Hitched a ride to Tampines with Kemin and Weiqiang in a cab. Forgot to pay her. Must remember the next time. Same routine followed once I got home: change, get my contacts off, Quiet Time, get online. Bumped into Xinyi online around 1.50am. She didn't attend cell earlier, guess she's too tired. Chatted with her and other people online till like 4+ in the morning, before I turned in. Was thinking of visiting NYPGC's handing over ceremony. Haven't really visited for ages. Turned out I was the only alumni to turn up. Guess relations are still peachy. Hopefully with the new committee, things can work out better. Didn't really have a chance to talk to the new president. Actually wanted to ask him about the objectives he's going to set, and whether he considers alumni to be an important part of the club. Which (sadly, I feel), wasn't the case for the outgoing committee. And I thought I could help foster better relations. Guess I was wrong. I can only do so much. That's why I decided enough was enough, and concentrated more on SIMGC, and other stuff that required my attention. A lot of memories, especially for the years I spent in the club. It was time to move on.

Lunch with a friend whom I've no met in two years followed. Kinda impromptu as I didn't know that she was doing her stuff in poly till I smsed her. Chatted and did some catching up before she had to go back to work on her projects. Did chat with her on msn and sms every now and then, but meeting up was the first time in two years. Didn't recognise her, heh. Rather the opposite happened, lol. Went down to east coast to do some roller blading and to see how the others in welfare were doing. Got blisters due to a misalignment of one blade, but only discovered that when I'm already far away from the shop. Ouch. Walking's gonna be on pins and needles for the next few days. Just hope I can endure for Comex. Ching cao you, or no ching cao you, that is the question in my head now. Gonna be painful either way. Went for miracle service. Just felt something during the service. Can't put my finger onto it. Can it be that I'm getting deeper in the Lord? I'm not sure, but I hope so. Trying to stay focused on Him these days, to know more of Him and His ways and applying them in my daily life. Not really easy, but I'm trying ü. Still praying for receiving of tongues. Hope I can receive that gift soon.

"Therefore prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed." 1 Peter 1:13

A virtual repeat of last night

Lunch was ok. Had nasi lemak and got some 'you tiao' and 'butterfly'. Chinese should know what I'm referring to. Rather heavy meal. Not to mention oily. Chalk up more unhealthy points for me. Maybe I should put up an ad, something like this: "WANTED: an exercise partner to go running with. Call to enquire."

Lazed around, reading the X-men novels I borrowed yesterday. Till I fell asleep for about an hour. Already 4+ when I got up. And I wanted to head to school early to do some practice on my own in the cold room. Shucks. Took a long shower, using the time to think and clear my head. Kinda fuzzy after my nap. Headed down to school after downing a can of red bull from 7-11.

Did manage a bit of practice on my own before time beckoned and had to buy dinner to eat outside 2.09. Was still in a bit of a daze then. Went through the worship still ok. Small group discussion, still ok. Only during the combined discussion that I started to phase out into semi-consciousness. Still awake, but not really processing much of what the others are saying. Just like last night. Sheesh... Stayed back with the others a bit while they chatted; I downed a cup of lemon tea and proceeded to lie my head on the table and get a bit of rest. Did chat with Addie and Yiyi as they came over. But didn't really say much as I was too exhausted. Headed home on 156 and felt a bit more energetic then. Not sure why. Used it to bury my nose in the novel again. And get myself another ramly burger when I got off ü. More unhealthy points for me. Where's my running partner?? Still no answers to my ad yet. Heh.. Better turn in early. Else, I'll have less energy to use later in the day. And that's not a good sign. I'll need all the energy I can get. Red bull blue power, anyone? Oh yeah. Prayer also! ü

"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." Isaiah 40:28-31

A long day (exhaustion creeps in)

Woke up early yesterday to head to the airport. But instead of waking up at 7.45am as what I intended, I only managed to wake an hour later. Sheesh. Hustled and bustled and got out the house at 9.10am. Which was just about right to send Aloy off, since his flight was about 11.25am. Bumped into Weiqiang on the bus. We were like smsing each other: he saying that he'll be late and just got on 27, while I mentioned that the bus just got onto the PIE towards the airport. That's when he poked me in the back. Lol. Imagine that. I was too absorbed in my reading, and he didn't notice me. Managed to finish More Than A Carpenter. Nixon, if you are reading this, go pick up that book. Very good read.

Anyway, we discovered that we didn't have Aloy's number when we got to the airport. Walked about the rows trying to find him. Called Xiuming to ask her for it, but she's too busy I guess; she didn't pick up. Then called Terence. Managed to get the number and call him. Met, and chatted about stuff and his flight. WQ's ever the aviation buff, talking about the flight path, down to which economy seats are the best! Haha. He should set up his own travel agency one day. Think he'll make a tidy sum. Parted with Aloy there and then. Wished his stay could have been a bit longer and can know more of him, since I came into the cell when he wasn't around and don't know him that well at all. Breakfast with WQ at BK followed. After which, he proceeded to NUS while I decided to go catch a movie.

Cineleisure. In some ways, my favourite movie hunt. Love the 24 hour screenings. The sound system. The seats. The free listings. Had to pick between Valiant, Must Love Dogs, and Wedding Crashers. Picked Must Love Dogs as it's a time slot that's pretty close to the current time. Can't say it's a good romantic comedy, seen better ones. Love those by Studio Canel/Working Title. Examples include Notting Hill, Love Actually, Wimbledon. But it also got me thinking of my past, well, experiences. On a whole lot. Still thinking about it everyday, but on a lesser note these days. But after watching the movie the thoughts hit me like a runaway train; all the things that I wanted to get out of my head before came surging back. Decided that I need a quiet place to think and write or read. And pray. Took to Libray@Orchard to clear my thoughts. Picked up some X-Men novels to read. The resurgent thoughts were still bombarding me then. But they died down as I started reading. And praying at intervals. Thank God. Morale of the story: I'm still too raw to watch romantic comedies. Especially emotional ones. Need more time to pull myself back together to the way it was before. And need to focus more on the Lord for everything, trust that He'll provide for all my needs, including my emotional ones. Can't say I'm ready now for a new emotional experience, but will follow where the Lord leads. What I think may not be what He thinks.

Headed to school for dinner and rehearsal around 5.15pm or so. 2 quick bus rides later, and I'm back within familiar surroundings. And the smelly canteen, lol. Good thing I dumped my stuff into the guitar cupboard before going down for dinner. Else my new bag would be smelling. Yucks.

Rehearsal was ok.Yong'an was late again. About 9 or so. Oh well. At least we managed to go through an early version of Radio. Jie Tuo needs more work. It's like an uncut diamond right now, the way we are playing it. Ni Yao De Ai sounds ok. Needs further refinement next week. Still yet to work on Collide and Lover's Concerto with Elicia. That's to be on thursday. Hope we can go through all the songs at least once then. Still got one more song to finalise. Can't seem to decide between Better Man, Dan Xiao Gui, or Closing Time. Sigh. Need Sean to come down and help. Seems a bit lost without his input.

Ended earlier than the previous night, but still dead tired. Was already half asleep during the later half of the rehearsal. When they were talking about the chords in the score for Wonderwall, I'm already like, huh? Sheesh. Need more sleep, note to self. Yap and Yong'an managed to work it out for me. Thanks guys. Ended the session and we all headed home. Except Yong'an went to eat. Train ride for me again. Tried to sleep, but just too uncomfortable a ride to sleep, lol. Went to the 7-11 with Jiaxing to grab a bit of food, since she mentioned she's hungry. Bee Hoon soup if I remember, that she bought. I bought some milo and headed to the pasar malam to scout out whether the ramly burger stall is still open for hungry people like me, while she headed home. Just on time to grab the last beef ramly before it closed. Yum. Did my QT after, and fell asleep after reading the Word and closing my bible. That's how my mum found me later on and turned off my lights. Really wanted to turn on my com and check my mails or blog. But if I did, think I wouldn't be blogging now and would be seriously lying on a bed in hospital. So just crashed there and then. Woke up at 8+ earlier, but still feeling weary. Now too, at 1+ in the afternoon when I'm compiling my thoughts into the blog. Guess I'll need to take cat naps thoughout the day later. CF beckons later in the evening, and I'm comtemplating whether should I go down earlier to work on the songs for the performance alone. Now it's lunch time. My mum's asking me to buy back for her, since she got washing to do. Just as well. I'm hungry, heh.

"When I said, 'My foot is slipping,' your love, O Lord, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul." Psalms 94:18-19

Challenging weekend past

Finally finished the weekend at Challenger. Can't really say it's that good in terms of sales, totalled only 6 for the entire weekend, of which one is a dot matrix (no commission, sigh). Oh well, guess superstores are like that. I've been attached to superstores for my last 3 assignments. When will I be attached to Sim Lim again? Or places that don't use MAP? Guess I'll have to be patient. Comex's coming up, so that'll be a good chance to make up I guess. Hope to go beyond my sales of 90 units that I achieved for IT Show in march. I need to pay back my dad after all. I'm in debt of 500 bucks to him. That and my need of a semi-acoustic guitar. And a dvd writer. DSLR camera also. Add in the need to start saving, I'm tight. Spending a lot on food also. Those who know me, should know why :Þ. Don't know why my appetite is picking up these days. Need to slow down my metabolism before it bankrupts me. For those who are in the dark, I usually go for 2nd rounds (or more!), especially at coffee shops/hawker centers. Only exceptions are fast food joints and buffets. Haha.

Lazy day so far. Need to head to school for rehearsal again. Hope tonight we can come to a conclusion regarding the final song list. Else we won't have enough time to rehearse anymore. Have to pray about it. Keep me and the rest in prayer, whoever's reading this. Will need it.

Gonna go cook some instant noodles after this. Kinda lazy to go out for lunch. Still got some things to do. Dennis's been pestering me to upload the photos from the PA performance for some time now. Will try to upload after lunch if I can clear my backlog of stuff. Which includes backing up 20gb of data, price tagging all my old toys that my sister's bf wants (lego, m.a.s.k, centurion, silverhawks) against ebay, some guitar practice on my own, clearing my very messy table, as shown below:

And to clean up some spyware that's been in my com for weeks. Hate those annoying pop ups. Water's boiled while I was writing this. So time for lunch. Jya ne!

"Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood." Acts 20:28

Refreshing Night

Cell was wonderful. Worship included a chinese song, which incidently was included in Shawn's wedding programme when he got married. Wow. Really wonderful session led by Aloy, who's going back to the states on tuesday. Now that I'm no longer queueing up for the primary school, will be able to send him off ü. Anyone wants to come also? Flight's about 11am if I'm not wrong. Will have to check with him soon.

Broached on accountability last night during the meeting. The general acceptance is that you are answerable to a person for your actions/things you say. Think it's a good idea to be accountable to someone regarding some things in your life. The person depends on you, but your parents must be one of them, Shawn said, which I feel it's right also. Not really that close to my parents, as I'm usually back only quite late, and they'd have left by the time I get up. Except on weekends, when I can see my dad more. Still trying to build up the relationship with them. Won't be easy, but will pray about it. And one thing about the person to be accountable to is that they have to be godly men/women, preferably also that they are older, and of the same gender. These are recommendations, so don't think you have to follow so strictly. I'll leave that to you :Þ. I for one intend to, so that I won't commit the same mistakes I did.

Supper followed, as usual. Andy and I were the hungry ones, lol. As usual. My metabolism's picking up these days, don't know why. Same for the bulge in my stomach. Need to exercise more again. Anyone want to join in? Had a $4 bowl of yong tau foo, one plain and one egg prata, iced milo and one sarsi. Which had PW who was sitting beside me exclaiming that it's a lot, considering I had chicken rice for dinner before I came for cell, and I felt very hungry after it ended. To the point it turned to gastrics. Ouch. Should have started out with milo instead of the sarsi. But thank God my stomach settled after the milo. Felt very stuffed, so walked back to tampines from the coffee shop with WQ and PW. Sent PW back to her place, as it's along the way to tampines. Full moon shining, as it's the 15th in the chinese lunar calendar. Not bad, really nice. And to think the 2 of them are joking about it. Heh. Got into a cab once at tampines, as I was thinking the last bus's gone. Then I got a call from WQ that he saw my bus while walking to his place after we parted. -_-" Guess I have to be more patient.

Anyway, work beckons. A full day awaits! Church after work. Anyone want to come? Sms me if you do. Gonna be a message about this islamic professor who turned to Christ. Promises to be an interesting message.

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lack wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him." James 1:2-5

Challenging Weekend ahead

Thought I'll have this short post up before I head out to cell. Been a lazy day so far. Just got a msg from Mary regarding my assignment for the weekend. Challenger at Funan Center. Remembered it as the first place I got posted to when I first started work as a promoter. Heh, will have to do better than the 3 sales I managed back then for the entire weekend. Heard sales were good there for the last few months. Have to work hard. And pray that the Lord will be with me throughout.
Spoke to PW a bit before this was up. Seems like she's excited about mac at airport being open 24 hours from my blog. And the other mac outlets throughout that are as well, like the one outside Lido(?). Last I know it was till 0430 on weekends. Not sure whether they've changed it or not. Oh well. Good place for supper if I feel that twinge of it. Which can be often, lol. Time for a shower and a fulfilling night with the others.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not persh but have eternal life." John 3:16

Chance to catch my breath

Right. Finally have a chance to catch my breath and get a bit of a rest. Data entry ended yesterday after 14 hours of keying the data for lots of properties, a lot of which require a monthly rental of $10k and above. Sheesh, expats really make a lot here. Districts 9, 10, 11 and such are a common feature among the entries. Can't imagine myself earning that much to support such a rent.

Anyway, managed to send Joyce off at the airport yesterday. Which meant a early morning get-up at 0520 and leaving the house at 6 to get on the bus to the airport. Didn't really know how tired I looked till Joyce mentioned she's feeling quite guilty that I was there to send her off, and that I should go home and rest. Heh, oh well. 3 hours of sleep can contribute to that. Saw some of her other church friends as well who came to send the team off. Haven't really seen some of them for the better part of a year, after I stopped visiting Cornerstone and went back to Lighthouse. After the team checked in, breakfast at mac followed. Somehow, it changed to become a 24 hours place. Which wasn't the case when I last camped at the airport to mug for exams. Still would prefer BK though :Þ. Samantha came around this time. All I can say is she looked as though she just got out of bed. Literally. Lol. Think she's gonna kill me if she reads this... Sent them off after a word of prayer. Will keep them in my prayers for the time they are there.

Work was a very groggy feeling. Struggled to keep awake. Red bull blue power from TTSH's 7-11 helped a lot. That and coffee later while working. Still can't believe I added a pack of creamer to hot water. Heh, thought that was a pack of instant coffee. I was asking myself, since when was coffee white in colour. Oh well, added the coffee to it. Then I forgot about the sugar... Sheesh. Corrected that and went back to work. Managed to finish almost everything by 3+. But can't do anything else, as it was time to go. My boss leaves around 3 everyday, that's why. Left out some mistake I had to commit on the first day due to a technical complication, and the photos for the properties, which were not ready yet. Due to the upgrading of the server that was to be done today, I had to end my work there and then. Can't carry on as there's no guarantee that the entries will be saved correctly.

The journey to school followed. Hung out in the student lounge's cold room for a bit before meeting Yew Yap for dinner. Joined Jiaxing in the room afterwards. Had a fun time working out the songs. Decided to try adding Jie Tuo to the song list as a closing song for Day 2. She should be able to handle the vocals. Which leaves the playing to be worked out. 6½ more songs to go through, 1 still unknown, and 4 weeks more to the performance. Praying for a miracle to happen and that everything will fall into place. Now considering whether should I just play the instrumental with Freya for Day 1 closing, as I'm worried about the time left. If so, that takes one song off, and everything will be confirmed. If so, maybe the list can be like this:

Day 1 Collide You and Me Angels When You Say Nothing At All (instrumental)

Day 2 Don't Look Back In Anger Lover's Concerto Ni Yao De Ai Jie Tuo

Will have to ask the others what they think. Will have to pray about it. What I need now are good songs that are easy to play and sing. Oh well..

Chatted with Jiaxing on the way home. Kinda tired, so took the train with her. Seems like she's busy with YEN also. A lot of stuff on their end. Parted at the train station and I headed to the pasar malam to get my favourite ramly burger. Still don't know why it can taste much better than those in fast food joints. Watched L'arc-en-ciel's SMILE tour dvd once home and promptly got visited by the Z monster. On my couch. With jrock music playing (softly) in the background. Heh.. In the end, my parents woke me up before they headed to work and went back to my room to crash.

One thing I don't really like about the dvd was it didn't really capture the feeling of the band that was there before. Seems to have lost a bit of their appeal somehow. Same can be said of their concert in the states. Grand Cross Conclusion video still seem to be better. Oh well. Still like their music, especially when I need something upbeat and fast to listen to.

Hmm seems to be a long entry this time around. Too many things happened between the last time I blogged and now, I guess. Heh. Have to start preping for cell group soon. Still waiting for Mary to give me my assignment for the weekend. Hope she's not forgotten about it like the last weekend.

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9

Heading for exhaustion city

So far, data entry's doing ok. Just need to insert 2 more fields when I'm keying them in now. 146 entries in 4.5 hours compared to 214 in 5 hours the day before. The 4.5 hours included backtracking to the entries done the day before to key in the 2 extra fields. -_-" Never knew data entry can be so... tedious. My boss is nice though. Environment's rather friendly as well with all those expats around. Really nice place. Just hope to finish this assignment by friday. Else Sean will have to look for someone else to cover for this. Heard there's still photos to be inserted -_-"""""

Headed to school after work ended. Met Joyce to get from her "More Than A Carpenter" since she offered to lend me. Thanks sis ü. Have not seen her for a very long time, so took the time to chat. Went to the library to copy some songs that she needed. With the printers down in the library, and the labs are occupied, she couldn't print some of the other stuff she needed. A light dinner followed, and we talked about guitar, CF and other stuff. Really have to do something regarding the administrative side for guitar, but with everyone so busy with their own stuff, it's very hard. She left soon after to get some of the other things she need for her mission trip to China, and to get a bluetooth headset for her dad's birthday next week. Hopefully things will be ok for her over there. Praying for her to be able to accomplish the things she set out to do while over there, and for a safe return. Trust that the Lord will be with her.

CF came about after Joyce left. With Addie sick, Winston needed a guitarist. Which fell to me (yet again). Lol. Seem to be always playing for CF, like what Joyce Pan commented. Don't really mind, as it's a good chance for me to learn how to worship properly. Feel it's a ministry I can serve in later down the road. Some new friends came. But kinda forgot their names already, my bad memory and all. Haha. My apologies to anyone who were in CF earlier and are reading this. Had a good session discussing God's glory during the time of Moses with the rest. My re-reading of the OT during my QT certainly helped a bit during the q&a parts. Have to learn how to apply more of God's Word in my daily life, and to reflect God's goodness that is reflected in me in the relationships I maintain with the people around me.

Getting exhausted these days. Guess I need to relax and get more sleep. Else I'll end up on a hospital bed if I don't take care. Or do anything to my current schedule comprising of weekday work, weeknight guitar rehearsal/CF/Cell group, weekend work/church. Rinse and repeat. Have to pray for strength to get me through. Things should be better after the performance, I hope.

"For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life." 1 Thessalonians 4:7

3rd Rehearsal

Just want to say thanks to everyone who have helped me over that issue, and that I'm grateful for the support and the understanding that was showed. Definitely will take measures to prevent the same mistakes from happening ever again. Want to thank God as well for the things He's done in my life, that I have such godly people around me. :)

Got a new job, albeit it's only for a few days. Recommended by Sean for one of his clients or something, doing data entry for a few days. Gonna be 6 bucks per hour, but oh well, it's better than nothing.

Headed down to eastpoint's starbucks to have a talk with Shawn earlier in the day. Sat there for 2 hours talking and sharing. Really grateful for his input and advice. Will have to treat him starbucks one day. He insisted on getting the drinks even though he's not working now. Thanks bro. ü

Went down to Epson's office after to submit my timesheet. Looks like it's gonna be another tight month ahead. Will have to commit more time to work. Which also means less time for church. Will have to ask the Lord to help me find a balance to it. Still looking for a ministry to serve. Might consider ushering, as it doesn't take up too much time on sundays, and I can leave for work after. Correct me if I'm wrong. Bumped into Brian and Jing Song at the office. Hung around and chatted with Clifford and Mary. Apparently, the office's gonna move to Harbourfront Tower 1 next month. Which means I'll have to submit my stuff there from then on. Heh, kinda enjoy the view of the harbour from the office windows. So nice scenary. Oh well, at least harbourfront will be more accessible for me. One direct train ride down. Got a bag and t-shirt from Mary, so did the other 2. Apparently they need to clear some stuff. Waiting for them to give me Photoshop Elements 2. Seems like there are some lying around, but can't get them yet. :(

Ate some laksa at suntec's kopitiam with the other 2, then headed to carrefour to walk around and bump into my mum. Seldom see her these days, as both her and my dad are usually asleep by the time I get home, and already out of the house by the time I get up. Seems so hard to spend time with family. Will have to try and build the relationships.

Guitar rehearsal was better than the last one, I think. Jason managed to pop by for this one, so that helped. Still have like 6 songs to go through, with 2 still unknown. We drafted a list of potential songs to go through for tonight's session. Hope to go through them and select the songs to fit the empty slots soon. One thing's for sure, I need to drink more water. And focus more on my playing and singing. And be able to face an audience. Will have to pray for courage to face crowds. Won't be easy. But I will trust in the Lord for everything.

"Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." Romans 5:3-5

2nd Guitar Rehearsal

Slacked at home again. Played RO for most of the day and afternoon. Got a call from Xinyi asking me to help play guitar for worship during cell group. She kinda forgot about her turn to lead worship, lol. Picked out some songs for her to choose, which meant going through the songs individually to see if I can play them. Not really that good at playing praise and worship songs. Still a lot more for me to learn. Settled on "Above All", and "Power Of Your Love". Just praying that I won't screw up when I'm playing. Guess I'll have to depend on the Spirit to guide me along, like during CF :)

Rehearsal didn't really go well. For one, I got there late. And Yong'an had to leave early. So only went through "You and Me", and discussed some songs to fit the 2 empty(?) slots. And the playing was messy. Guess we really need Sean around to guide us properly. And I need to practice more.

Mum forgot to buy cup noodles again. Didn't really eat anything till I got to school. Laziness being the main culprit. Was raining most of the afternoon anyway. Comtemplating whether to order mac to be delivered, but scoffed at the $2 delivery charge. Decided to diet. Need to cut down on the fat I have anyway. Either that or work out to tone the fat. Still lazy to head out to do so. Plus with my current schedule, may not be possible unless I go do it in the early morning, or late at night. Neither of which sound feasible to me. Sigh. Guess I'll have to stick with push-ups after my shower and occasional crunches to work my pot belly. Busy life. Can I see it through? Only God knows. Will have to depend on Him for all my needs, my strength and my wisdom, and other things that I need. Really thankful for all the things He has worked or showed in my life so far. :)

"let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching", Hebrews 10:22-25

A tired Jon

Heh, have not been posting for a day or two. Actually meant to blog earlier in the afternoon, but just couldn't find the time to do so. Woke up at around 11 with a sms of Yiyi asking me to lead worship for CF earlier in the evening. Being the good natured person I am, I agreed. So rushed to pick (and play a bit of) songs and get the draft lyrics done and saved into my thumbdrive so that I can print in school. Had to hustle cos had to meet JY at chinatown to pass her the HP books before her lunch break ended. Decided to sell off my set, felt compelled by the Spirit to do so. Don't really read them these days, plus my church isn't really advocating HP. Oh well. 40 bucks for the lot, with OOTP being hardcover, what's more. Another big lost, greater than 50% discount. This should remind me to spend my money more wisely on stuff next time.

Anyway, headed to school right after lunch of mac at chinatown point. Developed diahorrea along the way. So headed straight to a toilet on the 4th floor. Won't want to really describe what happened, but it's not a pretty sight (or feeling). Begged for diahorrea pills from SRC room. Thank God the excos were conducting interviews and hence, the room's open. But charcoal pills don't really agree with my stomach, I must say. Made me queasy for the rest of the night. Those who went for CF might wonder why I was kinda quiet after the lesson by Evelyn started. Now you know :Þ. Really have to thank the Lord in guiding me during the worship session. This is like the second time I'm leading worship only, with the first being one of the prayer meetings on mondays last semester. Songs I led are as such, With All I Am, To You, Lord I Give You My Heart, and I Wanna Be With You. The last being unknown to the rest as it's written by one of the worship leaders at cornerstone church. Introduced to it some time ago by Joyce. Really like the song :) Maybe I should play it during one of my cell meetings one of these days, when I'm tasked to lead in worship.

Gonna be a long 4 weeks before the performance in september. Rehearsals 3 times a week on mondays, tuesdays and thursdays, CF on wednesdays, Cell group on fridays. Weekends are spent working. Just want to apologise to everyone if they want to meet me, but can't due to my schedule. Hope I can catch up again soon. Btw, all my stuff are like from 7pm onwards, so I'm still free during the day time. So feel free to call me out for coffee or something, or a chat. Don't mind either :)

National day was fine for me. Nothing much went on. Met Terence to head to Changi Village for him to sample International Nasi Lemak. Long queue, as expected. Had to get in line for like 20+ minutes before we got served. But they ran out of otah! Sigh. Settled for the fish fillet, which wasn't as nice though. Terence also bought some fried wanton to share. Coupled with some sugar cane (2 rounds!), we were pretty much stuffed. Headed to bugis after to look around at who's playing. Only one 'real' player around, and that was like at 6+ or so in the evening. Heh, drew him I think, with the last match being ocved by me before he left. BCC against MSP. Really getting rusty with my execution. Really got me thinking about retiring the scene and be an observer. Headed down to marina bay next to take a look and look for a friend. Got there late cos apparently she closed shop at 8pm. Went with her to HDB hub at toa payoh where we met her bf for dinner. Really nice guy, but she told me he's kinda petty, plus other differences, so she's not acknowledging him. Sigh, don't know what to say. This is like the second couple in distress that I've seen this week. All I can maybe say is, forgive and forget. Accept him for who he is. And Tim, if you are reading this, remember what I told you about. QJ's a nice gal. Don't waste the past year. That's all I'm gonna say. But if you need help, just give me a buzz. Don't keep things bottled up inside. I'll help if I can.

Gonna RO after this. Hope the new hardware's installed so it'll be lag-free and can log in more easily. Kinda miss playing it after an absence of a few days.

Really have to start focusing on the Lord for all my needs and for my burdens to be taken care of. Need to overcome the ways of the world, starting from anything and everything around me! Have to seek for wisdom and for the Lord's protection in everything I do. Lest I be tempted. Have to really apply "A Way of Escape" into my life, and not just read and forget. Speaking of Christian books, anyone has "More than a carpenter" by Josh McDowell to lend me?

"To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat with with my Father on his throne", Revelation 3:21

1st Guitar Rehearsal

Hmm, nothing much for most of the day. Slacked at home mostly after I woke up. Read up on stuff online before I headed to the shower and headed down to school for guitar rehearal, which started at 7pm. As can be expected, all came late. Heh..

Rehearsal was good. Managed to get a brief idea of the songs that were to be played. Mostly went through You and Me, by Lifehouse. Chords were a bit fast to change, but oh well, have to get used to it. Decided on 2 rhythm, 1 melody and 1 bass guitar parts for the song. Sounds nice with me, Yew Yap and Yong'an playing, with vocals by me and Yew Yap. Heh, don't know how I'll fare with the vocals later on. Kinda messed up the chords while trying to sing and play, but overall, think I need more practice.

Since the performance is gonna be held around lunch time, we thought of playing songs that might be a bit fast paced or catchy to draw the crowds. Original item list for the first day included You and Me, Collide, Somewhere only we know, and Look what you've done. Might give the last one a miss and change it to another song though, as it's kinda slow. But we decided to run through it on thursday to see how it sounds like. Still waiting for Jiaxing to come online on msn and send me the 2 songs she suggested for the 2nd day, which will be mostly the gals doing the vocals. See a pattern here? Guy vocals on first day, gals on the 2nd. Lol. Still got a lot of work ahead of us for this performance though. Yong'an won't be able to handle all 4 songs for the guys, so Yew Yap and I will have to cover at least for 1 or 2. Still need another guitarist, preferably a guy. Jason, where are you hiding?? I need you to come on board! Sigh. Looks like I'll have to forget the idea of getting different small groups to rotate around the songs. Time to buy honey and drink more water!

"The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks", Luke 6:45

Quiet and peaceful day

Headed to bed early last night cos was kinda knackered from all the activities (not to mention lack of sleep) from before. But still had to drag myself off my comfortable bed to turn off my alarm and drag myself to my couch. What for, you ask? Zzzz. Haha. Was too comfortable lying on my couch reading today's newspapers that I didn't want to get up. Till I saw the time. Even then, lingered on for a while more before I dragged my feet to the shower. Headed to church after and met Terence at the entrance. Seems like the sanctuary was packed. Think PW reserved a seat for me on the left side, but had to give that up cos of the crowd. In the end, me and Terence settled for the right. Sermon was very interesting. Had a guest speaker who's a scientist who talked about evolution (ie. man's view) and God (Christian world's view). Seems like fossils aren't as old as they seem to be. Dino fossils aren't 65 million years old, but rather a few thousand. Red blood cells were found in the bones of a T.Rex. Check out the website: http://www.answersingenesis.org Really good site where a lot of questions that are on your mind can be answered through the articles published on it. Would recommend it even if you are not a christian.

Had lunch with PW Terence and Emily after lunch at the coffee shop opposite. All of us ordered chicken bryanni (did I spell that right?). Not too bad, wasn't as spicy as I thought. Can't really take spicy stuff as I will sweat due to my metabolism. Hot day today, with everyone commenting on the weather at least once. Sitting outside the coffee shop with a shelter above our heads and fans blowing didn't help at all. Not to mention the thick polo I wore cos of church's air-con climate. All of us headed to tampines central's mac for drinks after lunch ended, and we continued chatting till about 4pm. Emily and PW headed for home. Since I didn't have much to do, I took up Terence's offer of going to his place to hang around. Had a good chat with him till dinner which we had at a coffee shop next to simei mrt. We talked about his life experiences and some things like worship. Appreciated the time spent with him. Thanks bro.

Nothing much after but headed to bugis to chill out at the arcade for a while. Not much of competition, considering it's sunday night already. Oh well. There's always another time. But thinking of retiring. Not much time to really hang around the guys anymore. Need to concentrate on what's important. Still, there's irc.

Been reading up on the AiG site. See link above. Fascinating especially about the articles on dinos. Considering that I started writing this blog around 11 and am still writing it halfway at 12.37am! Oh well. Time flies, I guess. Almost to the end of my vacation and time to mug. Still have not started on IBM as I told Neo I would in July. Been considering reading at night and RO in the day when there are less players around, and hence less lag and easier access. Sigh. Need to get back to a studying mindset. Not the one like before which used last minute studying, but one that puts consistent studying a priority. Heh, have to break out of my laziness. Still, have many commitments. Wondering whether should I drop the less important ones. Considering SRC now that I'm a senior and don't really have to plan projects or events like before. Maybe just get involved in one or two if they interest me. God and studies have to come first. Won't be an easy road. But life was never a bed of roses for christians anyway. Have to endure the trials set before me!

"We sent Timothy, who is our brother and God's fellow worker in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage in your faith, so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. You know quite well that we were destined for them. In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way, as you well know", 1 Thessalonians 3:2-4

SIMGC Beach Day

Had to wake up really early to get to harbourfront on time for the beach day outing. Just didn't expect the small turnout and lateness of some people. Sigh. Didn't really get to sentosa till like 10+. But I must say the games are rather enjoyable given the small crowd. Had fun at least, not sure about the rest though. Shots taken using my camera are up. http://segafreak.fotopic.net --> A gallery site I have. Photos from past events are also posted up there. Still waiting for Samantha's photos to be sent to me before I have the complete set from the beach day outing.

Went out for lunch with the others at harbourfront food court after the event. Ate a bento set , then had some yong tau foo, while the rest just left right after I got it down on the table. -_-"" Winner. Won't comment on that, but just forgive and forget.

Headed home then to church after another shower. Really liked the sermon during the miracle service, about focusing on God instead of other things in life, the negative emotions and stuff. Feel it's really helpful and something we can all apply in every situation and every moment. Had supper with Jon, Peiwen, and Xiuming after the service. Or rather, I had supper of wan ton mee and milo while they had some hot drinks. Seems that PW and Jon have some dinner waiting for them at home while XM's eaten already.

Ok. Have to post up a pic here for use with my profile.. Seems like angelfire don't like links from outside to files on their servers.. So bear with my mug shot k?

"Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart", Hebrews 12:3

An interesting day

What defines an interesting day? Something exciting happened in that day? Met someone new? That was the case for me and Eliz earlier in the evening when we had a chance to meet up with Joleen Wang, an assistant producer and instructor from E-MAGE Artiste International. Purpose of the meeting was to determine some options for instructors for SIMGC, which, were sorely in need of due to our lack of manpower. And Joyce felt that having an instructor onboard will bring about a formalised structure to the teaching, which was not really in place last year. Not to mention letting us have a breather and concentrate on other stuff that needs to be settled, like admin matters. Managed to get some ideas down, which we all have to discuss together. Not an easy decision to make. For those from last year's beginner's class, what I can say is, most likely we'll continue with what went on last year. BUT don't take my word for it. We'll try to find an option that suits all of us.

Dropped by the wake with Eliz earlier again. Seemed that one of my pastors was there holding a service, which had already started when we got there around 2030. Kinda surprised at him being there also. Then I remembered that Kelvin's parents are attending my church. Oh well. Just glad that he was saved and baptised before he passed on. That there's comfort that he's with the Lord now.

Hmm beach day later on in the day. Almost forgot to bring my cam till Joyce msged me to remind me. She's sick now, hope that she'll feel better and can come. Prayed that the Lord will heal her and deliver her from the sickness and she can come. What is a club without its president around?? Been praying also that the weather will hold and it won't rain. Else I can say goodbye to my idea of swaying in the breeze in my hammock, listening to my mp3 player while soaking in the sun. Heh, already did that once before. Taken during the recent SRC camp at sentosa. Nice eh?

Hmm, getting pretty late. Have to be at Harbourfront by 0830, which is like in 8 hours. And I still wanna RO for a bit. Just hope I can get in. Will see if I can post some shots back here later in the day when I get back. Jya ne!

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things, there is no law", Galations 5:22-23

A long journey home

CF was great last night. Addie and his MEETS team shared their experiences while they went to thailand in may/june. Really glad to see a place like thailand opening up to mission work. It's hard going and a very humbling experience, I'm sure. Some of the luxuries which we take for granted back here in singapore are non-existant there. Thinking about this whole mission thing, never really thought of myself as a missionary someday. My mindset is currently that of a 'sender' than a 'goer'. Been reading this book called 'Revolution in World Missions', by Dr K.P. Yohannan, an indian who was saved about 40 years ago in his homeland and who had been dedicating his life to missions ever since. Now based in the US, he founded Gospel for Asia, an organisation that trains new native missionaries and places them in countries like india, nepal, etc. Places in the 10/40 window that's so hard to reach out to. Reading the book really touched me, about his experiences and how he was blessed by the Lord in so many ways. Considered setting aside a bit of money each day so that I can do my part to support a missionary. After Addie's presentation, Evelyn shared a bit of a sermon regarding missions as well. Took down some notes somewhere, maybe I'll post them up here later.

Dropped by the Kelvin's father's wake after CF ended. Good thing it's right next to school. Never really been to a Chrisitian wake before. It's much like a chinese one, except without all those lanterns/altars/paper idols and stuff like that. Ok, there was a small altar with bible and a guestbook on it that I noticed. Never really observed in detail though. Really hope that the Lord will aid him with strength during this period of time. Will try my best to help in any way possible.

Took a long bus ride home, as was my habit after school when activities end late. 156 from clementi bus interchange is no joke. 1 hour and 15 mins at least. But kinda glad for the time also. Usually will take a nap or catch up on some reading during this time. Went back to reading 'Boy Meets Girl', by Joshua Harris again. Really good book talking about relationships and courtships. Not just for couples, but also for singles (like me). Already finished the book once before recently, but decided to go back to it from the beginning again to try and get more insight and better apply what was written in it to my life. After the incident from the last few weeks, felt I should do so. Would recommend the prequel to it also, "I Kissed Dating Goodbye", which I got as a baptism gift from Eliz. Thanks sis :)

Regarding the book, was reading through this account that paints a really gruesome picture of how and why Christ died for all of us sinners. Don't really have permission to reproduce it here, so I won't. But if you happen to be in a christian bookshop, read through page 173 to 179, the section called "The Great Rescue". Managed to copy that part into the small notebook that I always carry around with me, so that I can be reminded of it always.

Guess I'm gonna be rather busy in the following weeks to come. Besides coordinating the guitar rehearsals for the upcoming performance in September, got a call from Elaine yesterday asking whether I would be interested to join some IT competition by NTUC. Some mention that SIM would be up againse SMU. The way she sounded over the phone, it's like I don't really have a choice whether I should compete or not -_-". Oh well, guess I'll look into it. Still have a job contract to do, queueing up for River Valley Primary for some guy for a week, from the 22nd till the 29th of this month. Will be paid 100 per day. Can't possibly stay there for 24 hours, so will be spliting with Gary over this one. Don't mind the company if anyone wants to drop by :)

Have to go pick up new lenses and head over to the wake again. Cell's after that in simei. My current lenses are on "borrowed time". Supposed to be monthly's, but already overdue by 2 weeks or so. Simply can't find the time (as well as budget) to get them. Oh well, at least I'll have new lenses for 3 months :)

Quoting a verse taken from http://www.biblegateway.com here. Jeremiah 33:2-3, "This is what the Lord says, he who made the earth, the Lord who formed it and established it - the Lord is his name: 'Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.' " Think it's very meaningful, to call upon the Lord. A reminder to us all :)

A restart?

ok. Decided to get my blog up and running after such a long period of limbo.

Managed to sell off my 3x3 manga set (finally!), that's been sitting around in my room in bags since like march when I put it up for sale on gamersquare's forum. One potential buyer didn't reply after hearing that virtually half the collection was from an unlicenced publisher. Come on, I was just a kid when I first started with the collection, how was I supposed to know??? Sheesh.. Anyway, sold that and Legend of Lemnear to a good friend of mine for a grand total of 23 bucks. That's 56 books. Big loss, but oh well. Needed the space and I don't really read the sets anymore.

Was supposed to go meet Steff to go visit Kelvin's dad in Mt E after my friend came to pick up the books from my place, but got a call from her on the train down. Seems that he's already passed away at 2pm earlier. Hope that the Lord will help him through this difficult period of time. Will be praying for him. Can relate for the lost of a family member, just missed my grandma on the 21st of May earlier this year also. I took it alright till the last day of the wake after the funeral when I broke down in school. Why does death affect people, especially those around the deceased, when it's supposed to be a joyous occasion for that person to return to the Father's kingdom? I guess it's due to the bonds we all share with the person before he/she passed on. That we'll miss the person, but only for a short period of time before we are reunited with him/her in our Father's house. Kelvin, if you are reading this, just want to say that I'm sorry to hear about your father. Know that the Lord is always with you, and He's always the faithful comforter. "Cast all your cares upon Him for He cares for you", 1 Peter 5:7