happy sweet sixteen tracy

HAPPY SWEET SIXTEEN TRACY!!

May God bless you on your birthday!!

Yeah so today I didn't go to school. I felt so horrible when I woke up. To think that after 3 weeks I still didn't recover, but instead it got worst.

I guess it's all the stress and everything. Hope I can get back to my usual self soon.

Yeah, So I've been just sleeping the whole day. And I'm still very tired but I just want to use the computer. Haha. My parents are not at home la.

Ok, that's all I have for now. Still next time..

A Cracked Pot

A water bearer in India served his master by toting water from the stream to his master's home. He carried the water in two pots that hung on either end of a pole balanced across his shoulders.

One of the pots had a crack in it; the other pot was perfect. The perfect pot always delivered a full portion of water from the stream, while the cracked pot always arrived at the master's house only half full.

For a full two years this went on. Every day, the water bearer delivered one full and one half-full measures of water to the master's home. Naturally the full pot was proud of its service, perfect to the end for which it had been made. But the cracked pot was unhappy. It was ashamed of its imperfection and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.

After an eternity to what it perceived to be bitter failure, the cracked pot spoke to the water bearer one day. "I'm so ashamed of myself!" it said. "I want to apologise to you."

"But why?" asked the water bearer.

"For the past two years, this crack in my side has let water leak out all the way to the master's house, and I have been unable to deliver but half my load," said the pot. "You do the work carrying me from the stream to our master's house each day, but becauseof my defect, you don't get full value from your effort," sighed the anguished pot.

Kindly, the water bearer told the distressed pot, "As we return to the master's house today, please notice the lovely flowers along the way."

As the trio went up the hill, the cracked pot noticed the winsome flowers - the sun glistering off their bright faces, the breeze bending their heads. But still, at the end of the trail, the faulty pot felt bad because it had again leaked out half its load, and again it apologised to the bearer for its failure.

But the bearer said to the pot, "Did you not notice that the flowers were only on your side of the path? Because I have always known about your 'flaw'. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we wind our way back from the stream, you have watered them. And every day I am able to pick these beautiful flowers to adorn our master's table. Were you not just the way you are, the master would no have this beauty to his house."

Everyone has imperfections, some more obvious, others less. The key to life is to find perfection within these imperfections. Look at the strengths of others instead of dwelling on their flaws. Nourish these strengths and see the beauty it provides.

Do not linger on your own failures. Instead, find the inner potential in youself and make full use of this potential. Do not be discouraged when someone does better than you. Believe that you are better in your own different ways and be proud of those ways.

And remember, God loves you for the way you are!

Indescribable

Oooh I'm so in love with this song.

Look at the lyrics, it's super meaningful. Thank God for such talented composers.

Indescribable

Indescribable

from the highest of heights to the depths of the sea

creation's revealing your majesty

from the colors of fall to the fragrance of spring

every creature unique in the song that it sings

all exclaiming

indescribable, uncontainable,

you placed the stars in the sky and you know them by name.

you are amazing god

all powerful, untameable,

awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim

you are amazing god

who has told every lightning bolt where it should go

or seen heavenly storehouses laden with snow

who imagined the sun and gives source to its light

yet conceals it to bring us the coolness of night

none can fathom

indescribable, uncontainable,

you placed the stars in the sky and you know them by name

you are amazing god

all powerful, untameable,

awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim

you are amazing god

you are amazing god

indescribable, uncontainable,

you placed the stars in the sky and you know them by name.

you are amazing god

all powerful, untameable,

awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim

you are amazing god

indescribable, uncontainable,

you placed the stars in the sky and you know them by name.

you are amazing god

incomparable, unchangeable

you see the depths of my heart and you love me the same

you are amazing god

you are amazing god

The man next door

A young man learns what's most important in life from a guy next door. It had been some time since Jack had seen that old man, as he had moved clear across the country in pursuit of his dreams. There, in the rush of his busy life, Jack had little time to think about the past and often had no time to spend with his wife and son. He was working on his future, and nothing could stop him. Over the phone one day, his mother told him, "Mr Belser died last night. The funeral is Wednesday." Memories flashed through his mind like an old newsreel as he say quietly remembering his childhood days. "Jack, did you hear me?" "Oh, sorry, Mum. Yes, I heard you. It's been so long since I thought of him. I'm sorry, but I thought he died years ago," Jack said. "Well, he didn't forget you. Every time I saw him, he would ask how you were donig. He'll reminisce about the many days you spent over 'his side of the fence' as he put it," Mum told him. "I loved that old house he lived in,"Jack said. "You know, Jack, after your father died, Mr Belser stepped in to make sure you had a man's influence in your life," Jack's mum said. "He's the one who taught me carpentry. I wouldn't be in this business if it weren't for him. He spent a lot of time teaching me things that he thought were important," Jack reflected. "Mum, I'll be there for the funeral," Jack said. As busy as he was, he kept to his word and took the next flight to his hometown. Mr Belser's funeral was small and uneventful. He had no children of his own, and most of his relatives had passed away.

The night before he had to return home, Jack and his Mum stopped by to see the old house next door one more time. Standing at the doorway, Jack paused for a moment. It was like crossing over into another dimension, a leap through space and time. The house was exactly as he remembered. Every step held memories. "Every picture, every piece of furniture..." Jack stopped suddenly. "What's wrong, Jack?" his Mum asked. "The box is gone," he answered. "What box?" Mum asked. "There was a small golden box that he kept locked, on top of his desk. I must have asked him a thousand times what was inside. All he'd ever tell me was 'the thing I valued the most,'" Jack said. "It was gone. Everything about the house was exactly how I remembered it, except for the box." He figured someone from the Belser family had taken it. "Now I'll never know what was so valuable to him," Jack mused. "I better get some sleep. I have an early flight home, Mum."

It had been about two weeks since Mr Belser died. Returning home from work one day Jack discovered a note in his mailbox. "Signature required on a package. No one at home. Please stop by the main post office within the next three days," the note read. Early the next day Jack retrieved the package. The small box was old and looked like it had been mailed a hundred years ago. The handwriting was difficult to read, but the return address caught his attention. "Mr Harold Belser" it read. Jack took the box out to his car and ripped open the package. There inside was the gold box and an envelope. Jack's hands shook as he read the note inside. "Upon my death, please forward this box and its contents to Jack Bennett. It's the thing I valued most in my life." A small key was taped to the letter. With his heart racing, and tears filling his eyes, Jack carefully unlocked the box. There inside, he found a beautiful gold pocket watch. Running his fingers slowly over the finely etched casing, he unlatched the cover. Inside he found these words engraved: "Jack, Thanks for your time! Harold Belser." "The thing he valued most...was...my time." Jack was stunned for the moment. He held the watch for a few minutes, then called his office and cleared his appointments for the next two days. "Why?" Janet, his assistant asked. "I need some time to spend with my son," he said. "Oh, by the way, Janet... thanks for you time!"

"Life is not measured by the nuber of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away."

--

The reason why I decided to post this story is that as I read it, I was reflecting. Many times I find myself so busy that I barely spend time with my loved ones. I just give myself so much to do only to find myself hardly at home. I definately don't want to regret not spending time with them. I realised that I only start to treasure my family more when I think that I'm going to lose them. When I fill my head with the thought that my parents will die and leave my brothers and I alone to fend for ourselves. I just cannot help crying. Then I start to think: "Am I just going to wait around for that day to realise how much I love my parents, my family?" Definately not.

This year I know that I've a lot of events all lined up. SYF, Midyears, all my other performances, Prelims and O levels. And that's only a part of everything. So the question is that how am I actually going to juggle my time that I actually spend time with my family so that there will never come a day that I regret not spending enough time with them.

And to think that just the other day I was arguing with Brendan so badly.

So what I'm tryint to say is this. There are many things in life that we want to do, many things we want to accomplish. I'm not saying that you shouldn't do all those. But ultimately, remember to spend time with your loved ones before it's too late or before you regret. :)

petty me

I know I shouldn't be so upset but seriously, I can't stand it.

I know this is like being so petty and all. Actually I should consider it a good thing. But how fair can she get? AHHH!!

Ok I shall not think about it. Stupid!

Ok, so school hasn't really been the most fun thing. But it was not that bad la. I'm becoming very well known in the staffroom. Haha. And it's not for a bad reason ok, I'm not a bad girl! haha.

I've nothing else to post about. Wait till I'm in a happy mood then I'll go post something more fun.

brain drain

Can you imagine?

Just 3 days of school and I'm starting to feel so drained.

There's so much expected now that we're in sec 4. Teachers constantly telling you how that you don't have enough time.

And now CIP. Wow. My brain is seriously too tired to write about this.

The irony. Mrs Choo talked about brain drain today. But she didn't mean it in this way. If you do SS you'll see the pun. Yeah. All Miss Tan's fault, now everything I'm saying has a pun.

Blegh. Many more days to go before Nov holidays...

new year new goals

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Ok thank you Tiffany, Jocelyn, Amanda Lim, Tracy, Lucius, Rui Jun for the new year's sms. Sorry I didn't reply.

Had people over at my house for countdown. Then they stayed over. Shall not elaboarte on it. Not in such a mood. Kinda got upset over some issues. (Some people know why la) But overall it was fun. First time I had a countdown with friends. And I didn't sleep at all cos a dear someone just couldn't stop talking and talking and talking and talking. (You get my point). But I hoped they had fun. I know at times I started to get bored myself. Ok. So I slept after they all left. Which was like about 1130 to about 530. Really nice rest. Then went for my grandmother's birthday dinner.

Ok back to the main reason why I decided to blog.

Yeah, 2006 passed by so quickly. If I was given a 5 min to share what happened last year, I definately won't have enough time. But nevertheless, I shall do a quick summary on the main events.

Handbells

1)Chinese new year - first time handbells performed for such an event

2) Prefects' installation

3) Founder's Day

4) Musicial - super fun, all the memories

5) Expresso - super cool la

6) Carolling at Taka

7) Media Corp - how cool is this, we performed on TV

8) Dinner at OCC - all the smart people there, wonderful experience

9) Opening Day

10) Performance at Taka

11) Japan Trip - THE BEST!!

Church

1) Intermediate camp!!! - A really wonderful experience. Wouldn't mind going through another one, but it just has to be a bit more disciplined.

2) 2 car washs

3) Mission trip - SUPER SUPER FUN!!!

School

1) Became class chair

2) Survived sec 3

3) Went to NZ for sabbaticals

4) Sec one orientation camp

(haha, i've nothing to say about these events)

ok I can't think of any more at the moment. I'll add it on another time la.

--

Now for some of my new year's resolution and wishes.

Resolutions and wishes

1) More disciplined

2) Definately study harder

3) Save money!

4) Better time management

5) To not argue so much with my parents

6) Practise piano more faithfully

7) Read the bible everyday without forgetting

8) To make more friends

9) Strengthen friendships

Like I said above. I'll add on to all these another time. When I can actually think what I want. HAHA.

I'm not ready to start sec four. Time really really flies. It's kinda scary to go back to school knowing what lies ahead for me. I'm really glad some of you think so highly of me, that I'm able to do it, but I dunno if I can meet your expectations without letting myself down. Is there really no other classes you can get? I really wonder how things turned out during the holidays. If any minds were changed. I hope that I can balance my time well this year. To be able to carry out all my responsibilities and do well in my studies. The stress!! It's kinda late to say I need a breather. But oh well. May God guide me through this new year.

Oh and to 3i/4i (whatever la). Take note of these stuff. Our classroom is on the third floor, next to the hall. On the first day, we need to decorate the classroom. So if some of you who actually read this, please bring some stuff that we can use. Please don't spend unnecessary money and then want to claim ok. Cos I think it's unreasonable to be collecting money from the class for everything. And we need to all agree on a class theme verse, so if anyone have any suggestions let me know. And we should be having lessons with miss kek on wed so bring your maths stuff la. ERM. I think we should sit in the same sitting arrangement on the first day, so as to not complicate anything. Yeah. I know that a lot of you want to change seats, but please do that another time.