Sunday Times

The internet is STILL NOT UP.
HOW FRUSTRATING IS THAT.
very.
I am very irritated by it
and very stressed.
ARGH.

I called up the technical support line and started complaining to the indian man on the other side and then I just started to CRY.
don't ask me why.
I just did.
I feel so dumb now.
hahaha..

ok. Pictures of my new room as promised!

My 'Room'.
We partitioned the living+dining+kitchen area to create my room :)
The dining table is on the other side of the shelves.


This is our tiny little kitchen :)
This is the view from the other side of the shelves. The kitchen is on the left and you can see a peek of Lydia's bed in her room and at the bottom, you see the tops of our dining table chairs :)

This is my bed.. It looks very different now though cause I no longer use the quilt. It's way too hot for that now.

up next, the Ekka :)

Discontentment or disobedience?

The internet is STILL down.
I have a whole lot of work to do today...
a presentation and 3 assignments to start on.

Last week at unicell I was asked to be a bible study group leader for a new group.
I declined politely as the group already had two leader (even though it only has a handful of members) and my semester is going to be increasingly trying.
the GGM made it seem like I was being selfish and not wanting to lead and she said:"you are MISSING OUT on the blessings."
I felt pretty upset after that.

throughout the week, this was constantly on my mind
and because there is no internet, I had alot of time to think about alot of things
I often hear people say that they feel that some bible study group or some church doesn't feel right to them and so they are changing to another...
and I never really identified with them cause I've always been at TPMC and I have friends there and it was really hard for me not to feel like I belong.
There were weeks I felt lonely because my CG ppl werent around or I just felt a bit off that week.
but I never really felt like not going to church on sundays, or not going for CG.
but now, I feel exactly that.

It all started off when they told me I wasn't truly a christian till I did some discipleship course with them.
Then I didn't agree with the GGP for saying that the Tsunami came to the people in Aceh because God was punishing them for being muslim.
And then bible studies during each Unicell session was nothing more than cut and paste from the bible.
there was no indepth study to see what that meant for us
or looking into the background to discover what each illustration really means.
Every week we learn and relearn the same idea that righteousness comes from obedience even though I think we are made righteous by the blood of Christ and not by our acts.

Am I right in being discontented with how they are teaching the bible or is the GGP right by saying that I am being disobedient to God's calling?
or are they two different things to begin with?

A week to remember

WE HAVE MOVED TO OUR NEW HOME!
pictures will be up soon!
I promise..
I haven't been blogging because I've been busy moving AND our internet isn't up yet..
I'm stealing choob's internet.. hoho.

We got the keys on Monday and I spent the night cleaning the place..
Tuesday, we stuffed the car and then drove to Ikea and ran through the store buying the essentials like my bed and the shelves..
made it to school for my lesson and then went to Kmart to get all the appliances and Manchester.
Made another trip to transport stuff over (lyd has a TON of stuff.)
Wednesday, we FORCED the couch out the door, went grocery shopping and picked up the last few bits from chapel hill.
The Ikea stuff came and we went straight back to Ikea to pick up the little knick knacks we needed like boxes, utensils, chopping boards etc..
We spent the night putting the shelves together and my bed!
I tried making churros but failed:(
but i'll try again soon!!
Went to bed with sore arms but felt very happy:)
Thursday, I spent the morning cleaning then walked to the city and made a visit to BigW to buy our kettle ($17! I am very proud.)
Friday, EKKA! which was fab too (pictures soon too)
spent the night cutting up the vege for salad.
and Saturday we visited the West end Markets, had THE BEST CURRY PUFF EVER, and pumpkin puffs too!!!
spent the afternoon cooking the food in the fridge before it went bad and made lunch.
then we went for Unicell.

AND FINALLY TODAY!
we had a 2 and a half hour service.
only because the people who were 'sharing' their china trip practically gave a sermon.
It's been a busy week.
Tmw, I have to start on my assignments proper..

I CAN'T BELIEVE WE ARE STAYING IN OUR OWN HOME NOW!!
It's a room in a hotel..
It's not the Hilton or some 5 star hotel..
it is a 4 star right next to the William Jolly Bridge.
Which makes going everywhere SUPER convenient :D

Life just got even more exciting.

winter chillies

Lydia's car broke down again today.
It's like a menopausal woman with her mood swings.
we ended up going for hillsongs again cause choobs came to pick us and it was too late to make it to CCCB service.
We went to Sunnybank for lunch and had the BEST CHILLI BEAN PASTE NOODLES.
It's been too long since I had good chilli.
I made mah po tofu yesterday for Unicell which was a great success
but not spicy enough for my liking..
I had to tone down the heat due to the multiple non-chilli eaters :(
I learnt that the key to good mah po tofu is sugar and soya sauce :D

It's about 9 degrees out now and its freezing.
This house is like a cold storage..
it kinda traps all the cold air in here.
SPRING IS ON ITS WAY THOUGH!
the forecast for next week is awesome..
17 deg is like the perfect temp.
I loved the weather this afternoon.
it was awesome.
cool but not too cold.
The best thing about winter however are the strawberries!!
You see them in heaps in the supermarkets
and strawberry picking is the best thing to do on weekends.
I shall convince choobs to go one weekend.
I can't wait for tmw.
It's the exciting new start to a new life in brisbane.
I am so going to scout for that good running route.
My godgrandpa just told me I put on weight today..
although he did tackfully say that I look better fat.

GG- Gossip Grandmas

I am in my room now and I can hear all the gossip that my godgrandma and her friends are talking about.
It is a pretty heated discussion...
the benefits of having a very thin floor.

ONE WEEK TILL WE MOVE!

Redirecting...

It's really upsetting to hear someone say that they are unwilling to serve in ministry because they are not being recognized for their work...
I totally understand how it feels to do so much and not be appreciated for it..
Last sem, I struggled with this quite a bit.
Felt really used by Lyd and her friends for a moment..
Cooked dinner for them every time they went to play tennis and Lyd reprimanded me a few times for not having dinner ready the minute they came back from tennis...
it felt horrible.
Like I was their servant getting absolutely no pay.
but when I took a step back to think about the situation, I realised that it's very much a choice to feel upset about stuff like that.
If I enjoyed cooking, it shouldn't matter if they didn't recognise my effort to provide ice cold water and fruits after their game and have dinner ready for them by the time they finished showering.
At the end of the day, I got to do what I enjoyed and that should make the day good.

It's really hard in reality to make that choice to ignore people and their views.
But when we truly make that choice to redirect our focus and place it solely on God,
we really do rid ourselves of unnecessary baggage and unhappiness.
So if we truly enjoy serving the Lord, it shouldn't matter what position we have in church or what title we hold or whether we get recognized for our work...
At the end of the day, we got to serve the Lord and that should make it all good.

oooorh- gust

Went to Hillsongs Brisbane today for service..
It was like going back to conference again..
just fewer people and softer music.
It's been a long time since I've heard Sunday sermon in English.
I sat there captivated by every word and it felt like God was talking directly to my soul :)
Our God is an AWESOME God.

ONE MORE MONTH TILL THE END OF WINTER!
I can't wait for spring to come.
I love Spring and Autumn the most..
Autumn passed too quickly this year.
I'm going to savor every minute of Spring.
Ekka is coming up and we are planning to go!
yippee!!
I can't wait.
I want to get my hands on some of the awesome showbags and see the giant pumpkins and all..
wheee!
This month is an awesome month!