With faith, we pray

Blessings

We pray for blessings, we pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
And all the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise?

We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel you near
We doubt your goodness, we doubt your love
As if each promise from Your Word is not enough
And all the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise?

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win, we know
That pain reminds this hearts,
That this is not, this is not our home.....
It's not our home

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise?

What if my greatest disappointments,
Or the aching of this life,
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy.
What if trials of this life,
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are your mercies in disguise?

Not throwing in the towel, yet.

Dear you,

life may be tough right now and it may seem super demoralising, but I promise you that it would get better. Because our God is a loving, caring God who WILL carry you through this. Because I KNOW that one day, you'll be able to look back to this day and be able to testify of His faithfulness in your life. So hang in there!! Today may seem super crappy, but tomorrow will be better.

Sincerely,

yourself.

I will rejoice

This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it (:

Today I woke up after 9 hours of sleep to beautiful weather; I smiled to myself when I remembered that it's week 4 and I do not have lab today; I got to wear t-shirt, shorts and flip flops and pretend that winter is over; I got a free watermelon because they forgot to update the price in the system and the lady said "oh have it for free! (:"; I cleaned various parts of the house; I changed bedsheets and got to sun my blanket and pillows; I volunteered to cook dinner; I roamed around my backyard finding things to photograph; I sat on my bed waiting for the perfect moment to take photo of the pretty blue sky filled with fluffy clouds.

Today I did things I normally wouldn't do especially when I have a long, slightly overwhelming, to-do list with crazy deadlines to meet; and I'm proud of it. Though it was unplanned for, it was nice to just take a step back, BREATHE and just enjoy the day that the Lord has made (:

And now, it just seems so much more exciting to get back to work. Ah, the many blessings this day has brought.

(:

Colourful food (:

And in other news, there is a need for faith that things will be okay, or more than okay. There's also a need for wisdom to know how to approach this situation. Lastly, there's a need for prayer that we'll be able to survive through this tough times together.

Orientation week

Something about orientation week that always brings me back to when I was new to Melbourne; the crying, the constant prayer for good Christian support, the feeling of being homesick. It's good, because it's a reminder of where I've been, to allow me to relate to those who are new. It's also good because as I'm reminded of where I've been, it allows me to better appreciate the present. Hmm. So exciting though, new faces = more friends to make! Haha.

And this orientation week is also just a reminder that this is my final semester as an undergraduate. It's scary because all my life, all I knew was studies. And now there's so much more to consider - postgrad (what kind of postgrad), working... Gahh decisions decisions.

And that's my random update. On the plus side, I'm kinda excited for uni to start because I really enjoy what I'm studying..

Priceless

So sweet my heart could just melt.

This is just one of the many heartwarming videos that you can find on YouTube, but that's not really the point now.

Looking at how the boy ran into his father's arms; it was a priceless, tear jerking moment. It made me think, it's like our relationship with God, seen in two ways. It's like the prodigal son who came home and the father who ran to receive him back - and God receives us back with that same excitement as that little boy. And at the same time, He's always there with open arms, waiting for us to run back to Him on a daily basis, waiting to embrace us once again.

Priceless.

Unending Love, Amazing Grace

But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

...we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.

Luke 15

In the midst of the storm

Simply complex

Two households, both alike in dignity

In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,

From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,

Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.

From forth the fatal loins of these two foes

A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;

Whose misadventur'd piteous overthrows

Doth with their death bury their parents' strife.

Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

Don't you wish that life was as simple as boy meets girl, girl meets boy, they fall in love, get married and live happily ever after? And yet, if we were to remove all the 'complications' of life, it, arguably, would not be as interesting or meaningful anymore.

These complications can come like a tornado, destroying everything in its path, leaving individuals with messes and a task to pick up the broken pieces. You see tears shed, you hear hearts shattering. You see hope being lost.

Yet, it's somewhat comforting that during times of adversity, you see loved ones and people who care coming together just to uplift the broken hearted and you see them becoming "cheerleaders" as they encourage the depressed to move on. For those individuals, it's like going through refining fire, where hopefully impurities are being removed and they come out stronger and more beautiful - like a diamond. So in that sense, there's beauty in the complexity.

After being intrigued by the simplicity/complexity of life, I guess the point of all this is: dear you, hang in there because things will get better.

Random snaps