safe in a very very very crazy world

I try to smile my tears away
I try to keep my cool
Oh but one more door gets in my way
I feel like such a fool
Trampled and bitter
My heart just wants to bleed and stop
Believing in me

It feels like nothing is for certain
and that nothing comes for free
When they're lowering the curtain
to the theatre of my dreams
I stumble and I crumble and I'm
Sinking to my knees but you
You cradle me

You keep me flying
You keep me smiling
You keep me safe in a crazy world
You understand me
Embrace my fragility
You keep me safe in a crazy world
And in your arms I find the strength
to believe in me again

Noise keeps chasing me
No matter where I go
Oh and life likes pretending that it's
On a TV show
When it's hard to tell what's real
From what the world just wants to preach
You are the voice I seek

You keep me flying
You keep me smiling
You keep me safe in a crazy world
You understand me
Embrace my fragility
You keep me safe in a crazy world

'cause when I'm wrapped up in your arms
Nothing else can touch me
What a wonderful way to recharge
I feel like I can breathe again

You keep me flying
You keep me smiling
You keep me safe in a crazy world
You understand me
Embrace my fragility
You keep me safe in a crazy world
And in your arms I find the strength
to believe in me again

i'm just an ordinary someone serving an extraordinary God

my goals.

if it is in the will of God, i hope to achieve these things in the near future. in all, i want to be a more God-oriented and people-oriented and less self-oriented person.

2010:
Spiritual - i need a breakthrough. i will put God first in all my life and hold a greater presence and anointing of the Holy Spirit.
Personal - increase the quality of my relationships by availing more time, effort and money to bless everyone in my life.
NUS - revise all my JC maths, chemistry, physics and economics work.
CG - bless the cell group, grow my connect group, increase the spiritual and technical aspects of my guitar playing.
Choir - establish my ministry and be changed in my attitudes and methods in praise and worship.
PA - establish my involvement and widen my social circle, bless the community.

2011:
SOT - radically change my mindset and attitude to the likeness of Jesus, top the class.
CG - work towards further increasing my serving in this ministry.
Choir - rise up.
NUS - have a highly impactful and fruitful first year in my scholarship programme, studies and CCA.
PA - become a member and actively participate.

2012/2013 (provided it isn't the end of the world -.-):
NUS - lead a highly dynamic student group, assist and get noticed in top research programmes, go on an exchange programme to a cutting-edge university/city and broaden my international horizons.
CG - rise up to be a CGL.
PA - rise up.

2014:
NUS - graduate with a first class honours in chemical engineering.
MIT - go here to complete a PhD.

2010-?:
carpe diem, ambulo cum Deus.

man in the mirror (again)

james 1: 23-25

for if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. but he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

most assuredly, almost impossible. sometimes more so, sometimes less. adapting to change is hard, changing is harder. thank God for my parakletos, the Holy Spirit.

why so serious?

i haven't posted for more than a month. time to post something, whether people still read (:

life is a little too short for us to take it too seriously. i don't mean that we should play around and waste time or make foolish and rash decisions, but we shouldn't get so caught up with things that won't matter in the long run that we neglect the things that will run the course of our life.

it's far better to be able to relax, sit back and look at the big picture once in a while and get our direction in life right. i find it a waste for us to constantly be so preoccupied with petty issues here and there that distract us and then lose our way.

if we want to live a life that makes every day count, we have to:
know who we are in God,
know what we want,
know how to get there.

what stops us from knowing who we are in God:
pride

what stops us from knowing what we want:
people & possession

what stops us from knowing how to get there:
procrastination

what gives:
prayer.

so simple. life's not all that complicated. stop thinking that way, and just pray.

a matter of perspective

from pastor kong's blog:

"You are not shaped so much by your environment as you are by your perception of your environment. Life’s events don’t determine who you are; God determines who you are, and your interpretation of life’s events determines how well you will handle the pressures of life. In reality, we have very little control over our emotions, but we do have control over our thoughts, and our thoughts determine our feelings and our responses. That’s why it is so important that you fill your mind with the knowledge of God and His Word. You need to see life from God’s perspective and respond accordingly."

insightful; important yet oft forgotten (:

my favourite prayer (:

in our lives, challenges abound. they come in the form of antagonistic people, unforeseen events, or just seemingly insurmountable odds. yet there's a well-known prayer i really like, because it puts everything so complicated into perspective - i think it's called the serenity prayer:

God grant me the serenity

To accept the things I cannot change;

Courage to change the things I can;

And wisdom to know the difference.