My blog with daily world news and thoughts from life!

This morning I read in the ‘Purpose-Filled Life’ (Rick Warren) that authentic fellowship is not supericial, surface-level chit chat. It’s genuine, heart to heart sharing and happens when people get honest about who they are and what is happening in their lives. After all “Mind your own business” is not a Christian phrase.

I was thinking of what i was going to say today and I wanted to share with you honestly about my life. how spending quality time iwth God and getting to know Him, helped me deal with difficult situation.

I started the fortnight fast with some others on Tuesday and was excited to do so because i had never fasted before and was eager to know what God would say to me and how I would grow closer to Him. i found it really difficult to go without lunch because I tend to ‘graze’ a lot throughout the day (What’s so funny PH?) It felt like I had not eaten for several days and my stomach was starting to digest itself…

But no, seriously, it enabled me to focus on God and spend quality quiet time with Him - an area in my life which needed more attention. This time of fasting and in depth prayer made me delve (or as Lisa H. says ‘dwelve’) into the words of God. Already it has drawn me closer to the Holy Spirit, develop stronger godly convictions, revelations of God’s principles and character and set spiritual goals.

Anyway, apart from fasting and praying, this week, I have been working at Red Rooster. I must say that it has been a ‘mad-chook house’ (excuse the pun). This is the job that I asked God for and was expecting it to be perfect in terms of growth. I guess it was, just not in the way I had planned.

Suprisingly, I enjoyed working - with customers and talking to high schoolers. However, I felt that the assistant manager has always had something against me and yesterday (and other occasions) made it extremely hard for me to cook chickens in peace. Nearly every shift with her I’ve had to deal with immature remarks, lazyness, unprofessionalism, ‘the swivel head’ (we all know it) and just plain bullying.

Even after placing a complaint about her to the area manager, she continued to behave this way and even more so yesterday. Yesterday, i walked in having to face her and her like-minded companions. Racist comments behind my back, constant gossiping and orders. It was a good time to utilize my zoning out skills…i was biting back the tears. I was given double the jobs as usual, for some reason but i knew that I shouldn’t be bitter about it. After all Jesus taught us to forgive each other because He first forgave us. If it weren’t for the reminders of God’s love for me and my support from others outside work, i would seriously have walked out. I tried really hard to bite my tongue and refrain fromscreaming obscenities at them and instead humoured them with courteous responses.

Apparently my efforts were not good enough and i was sent home 2 hours earlier with no real explanation as to why. I assumed it was because she simply did not like to work with me. I didn’t care though, I was glad to leave.

Even though yesterday was not one of my better days, I felt God’s presence, strength and love around me. If it weren’t for His word and ability to help me overcome, I think I would still be distressed over it.

I’m sure you have been through situations like this and will maybe in the future. Just know that ‘nothing can separate us from the love of God’, ask Him for strength and meditate on His words.

^“3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴ perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ 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

I’d like to share with you (who haven’t already) about how God has brought purpose, meaning and fulfilment into my life.

Before I met God, my view on life was very different. I believed that my highest purpose was to achieve the best marks an Asian nerd could possibly obtain, find a prestigious, high paying job and possibly marry someone rich, famous and handsome :P. You could say that my reason for existence was normal by the world’s standards.

I felt life lacked direction and a purpose that was worthy. Don’t get me wrong, I believe most of those things are important but I wondered, “What if there’s more to life? More than I ever dreamed of hoping for?”

The biggest worries of the month would be: the upcoming English assignments on Shakespeare, what i was going to do on the holidays or what I was going to wear to the formal. I needed to be recharged with the next activity. I felt something needed to permanently fill the void..

I remember one day, when i was in grade 10, I asked myself,

“What’s the point fo all this? 

“Why are we doing these meaningless things, over and over -to climb maybe one rung up the social ladder or for no reason at all?”

So what, if i get those cool new sunglasses?…So what, if i get on tv?… So what, if i become CEO of a huge and successful company?… So what, if i win the lottery?…

Fads fade quickly, money runs out, people forget. Then what next?

Many questions floated around in my head.

(especially) Is there life after death? A heaven?

This innate curiosity stayed with me and I continued to question. Anyone who would tell me something about higher purposes, amazing circumstances, God; I would be listening.

God planted a seed of curiosity in me and it grew. This was one of the reasons I was drawn to Church, to learn more about a possible creator and a direction that came from the highest being.

When I met the Ablaze (youth group) people, I knew these people were different. THey seemed to have a direction, purpose and a joy - something I wanted.

As I kept attending church and my relationship with God grew, life completely turned around. I looked forward to each day knowing that I had a vision from God to make a difference in the truly desperate world we live in. A  part of making a difference is sharing with others that they have a higher purposes too. Praise God for the path He made for me and the seed of curiosity He planted in me! Praise God for letting me be part of His awesome plans!!

I know that He has a path for each and everyone of us, all you have to do is seek Him.

For,

The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.

Psalm 19:7-8

I think its important in life to find a balance between not taking life too seriously and taking life really seriously, like thinking about the bigger picture.

This is a sentence.

 An uncontradictory paradox.

Speling Eror.

here

word

 Though bombastic forms of circumlocution must generally be avoided, one mustn’t shy away from using sesquipedalians where necessary.

(Stay tuned for more randoms)

‘Tis the silly season once again. This year has passed so fast, did it not? It feels like yesterday when it was summer. Yesss, i always love Christmas - a time when almost everyone is nice to everyone else, a time of seafood, mangoes, chocolate, turkey and other high calorie food, a time to remember the real meaning of Xmas and a time for injecting the house with lashings of tinsel and garish, glittery condiments.

I only did so a minute ago actually. hehehe. I totally went for my life! … When mother wakes up she will pleasantly suprised at the sudden outburst of festivity the house has undertaken. Either that or she will shreik in horror at the plentitude of shiiny objects plastered and suspended in the house….mwahahaha. I love Christmas.

 Christmas is so popular, speaking of which, Celine Dion is so popular (heh, another smooth Anna Coren transition. No need to applaud). Today i had the duty of obtaining tickets from Ticketek to her concert, for Mum. Now that was an epic. yeesh. At exactly 8:59am the computer screen displayed the dreaded words - Internet explorer cannot be displayed. Of course i was already on the Ticketek page. So after at least 40 mins of computer game wars with the other fans i manage to scavenge 6 single seat tickets in (believe this) row ZZ. They were pretty expensive too. I hope mum appreciates my computer savvyness otherwise she would not be paying through the nose for a single seat ticket on the planet Venus…

Yayeah, i start my job tomorrow @ Red Rooster. I hope i can last 3 months with Deep Fried Roosters. But dw coz i have the determination of a rabbit! I will endure through thick and thin. I am going to walk through that blazing hot sun, serve those demanding, couch potato customers, smile at my teeny bopper colleagues and fry those fat chickens!…..No seriously its not that bad is it? Maybe, overreacting is the word. hehheh.

Anyway, make sure you get into the Christmas spirit by writing cards, eating mangoes and making your house the New Tinseltown. Capiche? Capiche.

Greetings with Seasoning on them

BLue Dom

Hallelujah! Prac assesssments are ova!!

I really cut it thin this time round….but i felt the Lord really help me through it.

I had my printmaking critique on tuesday. My concept for this term was materialism, obsession with money and Christianity. I printed off quite a few copies of coffee stained Jesus-prints (which doubled as ‘2Dand 3D Visualisation’ assessment hehe), then did dry-point etchings, which is where you scratch into  plastic sheets with a really sharp thing to get a cool effect (i will post)… Being the ambitious fool i am i decided i wanted to make something bigger and better, so i was to print a 60cm x 30cm counterfeit $50 note. This involved me camping in the printmaking studio for at least a wk, nah jokes, three whole days (hey, its worse than it sounds - metho,turps fumes cramped in a sterile studio with not very nice students and a whole lot of techniques to remember) working my Backside Burger behind off.

hehe i thought tomyself, all this suffering will be worth it, the teacher will be proud and realise the hard work put in  to get this amazing print.*cough*

After madly rushing to put the finishing touches on my counterfeit, i took my ‘masterpiece’ to The Room of Judgement.

mostly everyone showed their amazing prints to the class while my teacher and the other teacher gave comments, both good and bad, mostly good.

YOu know how sometimes when you need to speak in front of ppl u suddenly feel as if everyones eyes are piercing into you and every word you say is anaylsed - well yes that is how i felt, so i didnt quite pull off my explanation very well. the other teacher critisized my work and my teacher gave it a back-handed compliment, the other teacher also rudely rushing me because she needed to be elsewhere. Tried to defend myself out of that one, itmay have worked but was left feeling grossly, wats the word - crap.

3 minutes later i had coolen down, this girl from my class was up. Suprisingly, her concept had something to do with Christianity as well. About how she reads the Bible everyday and writes a journal. Her print booklet may not have been as bold as mine, she may not hav worked as hard as me but there was a humbleness and substance about it, everyone else agreed.

Her critique touched me in ways becoz it opened up the conversation to the class about expressing religious views, spirituality and simplicity. most importantly though it taught me that You dont’need to rely on your own strength but rely on Jesus and everything will fall into place. It made me think to myself afterwards, that i dont really care what mark i get, but it felt good to tell some about JEsus

So yer, thats my testimony for the wk, don’t wear it out :). May the Lord be with you in those stressful, hair-pulling times.

<—..Dom has mastered the art of not worrying..–”

Man, i really need to change my background - toooo pink! Even though it is relevant for Spring hehe. will chnge soon promise, no more blinding ugly pink (for this month).

Hey internet junkies,

check out my artworks!

Thanks for your comments.

(I commision artworks and sell some originals.)

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Heaps of stuff happened today. Got up early to try and keep up with art assignments but kept getting sidetracked by breakfast, cleaning, cooking and the internet.

Was excited coz we had Outtadahouse for lg in the afternoon. We planned to play sport for once, but only if the weather was fine…unusually it has been bucketing, but praise God today was the first day of sunshine!!

Anyway had a power nap and got ready at 1245…was painting while waiting for Fung and Rosie to pick me up and was wondering where they were coz i had waited for 15 mins….looked at the clock—-> !! i got ready an hour early lol.

At the rite time, this time, arrived at the Sunnybank Parrk with 96.5fm frisbee, 96.5fm beach ball, hula hoop, and skipping rope. Haahaha was funny coz everyone from Powerhouse brought something and people were just chucking footballs, volleyballs, frisbees, etc everywhere. But thats partly wat made it fun ay.

Then, Mae had a super fun game install for us - team water bomb catching game, this involved ppl getting drenched in park water and catching (or lack thereof) skills. Oh yea, also Chris B scratched his toe on some bark and was whinging like a wuss ——-> jokes, Chris i know ur reading this and objecting… and trying to break ur computer screen lol.

When phs ppl lost all their energy, they retreated to the undercovered area with junk food and soft drinks. Noice.

Then Li, Rosie, Fung and I found an asian family to play basketball with, awesome slam dunking fun!! I can actually participate in basketball when against kids half my size haha.

All up a gr8 outtadahouse, next time its the art gallery (jokes alex).

Byenow

hey peeps,

yesterday was a bit of a rollercoaster…

After feeling a bit sad and down in the dumps i decided to take a nap. So i put on 96.5 radio station and heard another one of their compettion questions. - WHere is the Maritime Museum? Studying at the QCA and doing a WHOLE SEMESTER of that subject matter, me of all people should know this question.

And me, being the type who gets excited very eaasily at the prospect of becoming slightly famous or winning something, quickly checked out 96.5’s hotline, online.

So cordless phone in hand, phone no. practiced and Fergie’s ‘BIg Girls Don’t Cry’ on in the background, i punched in the 8- digit code as soon as that woman on radio could say the words “Are u ready to win….”

Oh my goodness…the phone is actuall y ringing (usually its engaged)……………….20 secs later (maybe 10 but it felt like half an hour), still ringing. “PLease God, let someone pick up, please God i feel really crap, this may make my day…”, i pleaded desperately.

To my heart-attacked suprise this dude answered, both my call and my prayers. “Hello, wats ur name, have u won a showbag before….ladi da da da. [Just ask me the million dollar question!!] im just recording now and ill put u through to the main person who presents the show.”

(Oh crap im on radio im o n radio, someone out there better be listening) Is it at Southbank?

…..yes!!!! uv won our craptacular showbag worth over 100 $.

WhhhhOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooo!!““`~~~~~Go QCA!, i’d also like to say hi to Ablaze!!, my uth group.

\And yes that is the melodramatic story of my 12.3 secs of fame. Now i just have to pick up my showbag in Alice springs :).