Floral arrangement

It was our group's turn for the floral arrangement 2 weeks ago. I decided to take some pictures of the process. Noticed that I wasn't in any of them since I was the photographer. Hee..

Preparing the flowers..

De-thorning the roses

Putting the leaves in first.

After adding in the flowers...

Another arrangement

Cleaning up after everything

There are some who feel that flowers are a waste of money and that perhaps the church does not need to spend money on them. To each their own I supposed. I love flowers, I don't deny that. They are beautiful and unique in their own special way, something that human hands can never create. They gave us a touch of nature in the midst of all the concrete, and also, a reminder that there are different ways to worship the Lord.

I wonder, how many times have we restricted worship to be only about songs and music? Or how some say that they can worship better to a certain song. I remember that a few years ago, the head of the music ministy in our youth group had commented that if anyone in his ministry had said that, he would step down as the head as it showed that he had failed to show them the true meaning of worship.

After all, in the end, it is the heart that matters.

Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.

John 4:23

Am I stubborn?

I think I can be so stubborn at times. Just like how in my previous post I had written that I'm lactose intolerant, then on Monday morning I drank fresh milk . As predicted, I had diarrhoea, followed by gastric in the afternoon.

Ting: But I still like to eat pasta and pizza =P


Anyway, I did this quiz just now. Think I'm starting to get addicted to these things...

It's a colourgenics test from http://www.goldinuniverse.com

You have always longed for tenderness, love and a sensitivity of feeling into which you would like to blend. You are a very gentle warm person and responsive to 'All things bright and beautiful'. This personifies a caring person, a person who 'needs' and indeed 'needs to be needed'.

You are a leader and possibly at this tine in a position of authority, but you are experiencing problems. You are not quite sure how to handle the present situation.

You are a dreamer and you seek perfection in any relationship that you may establish. Some of your ideas and standards are over the top so it may be a good idea to review your perception of life and accept people for what they are - not for what you would like them to be.

You are being unduly influenced by the situation that is all around you. You do not like the feeling of loneliness and whatever it is that seems to separate you from others. You know that life can be wonderful and you are anxious to experience life in all its aspects, to live it to the full. You therefore resent any restriction or limitations that are being imposed on you and you insist on going it alone.

You wish to be left in peace... no more conflict and no more differences of opinion. In fact you just don't want to be involved in arguments of any shape or form. All you want is for 'them' to get on with it - and to leave you alone.

My Working Style

Actually I took this quiz 2 years ago. Out of curiosity, I tried it again today. Perhaps to see if the results remained the same. Turned out that it was, which should not be that surprising after all.


Your Working Style
http://www.quizbox.com/personality/test47.aspx

You have a great deal of warmth, but may not show it until you know a person well. You keep your warm side inside, like a fur-lined coat. When you are care, you care deeply, but are more likely to show your feeling by deeds rather than words. You are very faithful to duties and obligations related to things or people you care about.

You take a very personal approach to life, judging everything by your inner ideals and personal values. You stick to your values with passionate conviction, but can be influenced by someone you care deeply about. Although your inner loyalties and ideals govern your lives, you find these hard to talk about. Your deepest feelings are seldom expressed; your inner tenderness is masked by quiet reserve.

In everyday activities you are tolerant, open-mind, flexible, and adaptable. If one of your inner loyalties is threatened, though, you will not give and inch. You usually enjoy the present moment, and do not like to spoil it by rushing to get thing done. You have little wish to impress or dominate. The people you prize the most are those who take the time to understand your values and the goals you are working toward.

You are interested mainly in the realities brought to you by your senses, both inner and outer. You are apt to enjoy fields where taste, discrimination, and a sense of beauty and proportion are important. You have a special love of nature and a sympathy with animals. You often excel in craftsmanship and the work of your hands is usually more eloquent than words.

You are twice as good when working at a job that you believe in, since your feeling adds energy to your efforts. You see the needs of the moment and try to meet them. You want your work to contribute to something that matters to you-- human understanding, happiness, or health. You want to have a purpose beyond your paycheck, no matter how big the check. You are perfectionists whenever you deeply care about something, and are particularly suited for work that requires both devotion and a large measure of adaptability.

The problem for you is that you may feel such a contrast between your inner ideals and your actual accomplishments that you may burden yourself with a sense of inadequacy. This can be true even when you are being as effective as others. You take for granted anything you do well and are the most modest of all the types, tending to underrate and understate yourself.

It is important for you to find practical ways to express your ideals; otherwise you will keep dreaming of the impossible and accomplish very little. If you find no actions to express your ideal, you can become too sensitive and vulnerable, with dwindling confidence in life and in yourself. Actually, you have much to give and need only to find the spot where you are needed.

The little ironies of life

I think I'm becoming lactose intolerance. Yesterday, I met Ting and SJ for dinner at Vivo. We went to an Italian restaurant and had pizza and pasta, both of which contained a lot of cheese. The food was really nice. But this morning I woke up with a stomach ache.

Thing is, I like cheese, and milk. But what happens when eating, or doing, something that you like (and supposed to be good) makes you sick? That's the irony of life I supposed. Perhaps I have to think of other ways to get my calcium now.

Anyway I had this conversation with a friend over msn a few days ago. Told him that work had been leaving most of us feeling frustrated recently, and he said why don't I quit? I replied I don't want to just quit. Then he said that I'll never quit in that case. Ah well, another irony of life I guessed. Just like what I told Angie before: sometimes we have to be careful what we asked for.

His Promise

The topic yesterday was on the sabbath. Even though this is not a new topic and has been covered previously and discussed during cg as well, it was a timely reminder.

Something pastor said yesterday strike a chord with me, and with most of the congregation as well I believed. He said that many of us couldn't stop working even on the Sabbath day because we had used work to form our identity. It is as if we had to be productive to prove our self-worth. And that is entirely pointless because our identity should come from knowing who we are in God's eyes.

Then he went on to say how setting apart one day as Sabbath was really about trust as well. Do we trust God enough to believe that we can stop working for just one day, out of 7 days a week? I admit that this is a constant struggle for me, 'cause I don't think I can ever do enough.

If we can't trust God with our time
How can we trust God with our life?

That's something to ponder on.

Read in the Masterlife 3 on Friday that faith is believing something even when we can't see it. Like what the future holds.

I don't really like waiting as I can be rather impatient. Yet perhaps that's what I should learn to do. To be patient and wait. Even though I can't see it yet, I know that in the end, it will be worth the wait.

Hymn Of Promise

Author: Natalie Sleeth, 1986

In the bulb there is a flower, in a seed, an apple tree;
In cocoons, a hidden promise: butterflies will soon be free!
In the cold and snow of winter, there's a spring that waits to be,
Unrevealed until it's season, something God alone can see.

There's a song in every silence, seeking word and melody;
There's a dawn in every darkness, bringing hope to you and me.
From the past will come the future; what it holds, a mystery.
Unrevealed until it's season, something God alone can see.

In our end is our beginning, in our time, infinity.
In our doubt there is believing; in our life, eternity.
In our death, a resurrection; at the last, a victory.
Unrevealed until it's season, something God alone can see.

Hongkong trip

Went to Hongkong with my family last week. It was just a short trip, 4 days and 3 nights. Too short, according to some of my friends.

Anyway, my brother has put up some photos and a blow-by-blow account of what we did there. Go check it out if you have the time. I'm too lazy to blog about it. Haha.

Do we sometimes say things that we don't mean and regret it later? I know I do and most of the time, it was too late to take it back.

Sometimes I think of what it'll be like if it had went the other way. But I had chosen this ending so who am I to blame but myself?

Just let it go Fiona.

Stop acting like a spoilt little girl.

No one cares anymore.

Hurting inside but I know it will pass.

Just like the song by Corrinne May goes:

I'm not the easiest person to love...

'On The Side of Me'
By Corrinne May

I'm not the easiest person to love
I'm often the one who lets things go unresolved

Yet you choose to be
on the side of me
on the side of me
Yet you choose to be on the side of me
on the side of me

I'm not too proud of some things
I've done in my life
The skeletons in my closet
Are too big for me to hide
Yet you choose to be
on the side of me
on the side of me

Blessed Charity
You're on the side of me
on the side of me

Everyone needs a friend to hold
when it's cold outsideand there's no place to go
Everyone needs a friend to hold
all alone I cried
there was no place to go
I remember when nobody cared
but you

I'm not the easiest person to love
But you, you've opened your heart to show me what I'm worth

'Cause you choose to be on the side of me
on the side of me
What a mystery
You're on the side of me
on the side of me

Everyone needs a friend to hold
when it's cold outside
and there's no place to go
Everyone needs a friend to hold
all alone I cried
there was no place to go
I remember when nobody cared
Nobody cared

But you...
Yeah you choose to be
on the side of me
on the side of me

Beautiful for a moment

Happy Birthday Jessica!!

Ok I know it is a little belated but hoped you had enjoyed your birthday yesterday ~ hee ~

Anyway, the above is a photo of a cactus flower. I had gotten it from Kia actually and had shamelessly posted it here. Oops..hope there're no copyright issues. She told me that the flower only lasted for 1 night. This was similar to what Angie told me the other time too. Hers only last for only 1 night too. Nevertheless, it's beautiful, isn't it? And perhaps, in a way, the fact that that it was short-lived makes it all the more beautiful and precious. I didn't knew something so small could bloom such pretty flowers. Never judge a plant by its size I guess.

Oh oh...and I saw this poem in a book that I was reading and felt like sharing it with my readers out there.

A Woman's Question
By Lena Lathrop

Do you know you have asked for the costliest thing,
Ever made by the Hand above?
A woman's heart and a woman's life,
And a woman's wonderful love.

Do you know you have asked for this priceless thing,
As a child might ask for a toy?
Demanding what others have died to win,
With the reckless dash of a boy.

You have written my lesson of duty out,
Manlike, you have questioned me.
Now stand at the bars of my woman's soul,
Until I have questioned thee.

You require that your mutton shall always be hot,
Your socks and your shirts be whole;
I require that your heart be as true as God's stars,
And as pure as His heaven, your soul.

You require a cook for your mutton and beef,
I require a far greater thing;
A seamstress you're wanting for socks and shirts -
I look for a man and a king.

A king for the beautiful realm called Home,
And a man that his Maker, God,
Shall look upon just as He did on the first,
And say, "It is very good."

I am fair and young but the rose may fade,
From this soft young cheek one day;
Will you love me amid the falling leaves,
As you did 'mong the blossoms of May?

Is your heart an ocean so strong and true,
I may launch my all on its tide?
A loving woman finds heaven or hell,
On the day she is made a bride.

I require all things that are grand and true,
All things that a man should be;
If you give this all, I would stake my life,
To be all you demand of me.

If you cannot be this, a laundress and cook,
You can hire and little to pay;
But a woman's heart and a woman's life
Are not to be won that way.

Musings

Two days ago, I had lunch with Kia at NYDC. It had been quite a while since we went out together. Actually I gave her a treat to thank her for lending me her guitar for the Christmas party. Also gave her the super-belated Christmas present, at long last. I had intended to give her something else but as I had left it in the office, I gave her another gift instead. Well, perhaps the first gift wasn't meant to be?

Anyway, we also saw this cute little baby at the restaurant and he kept bouncing up and down while seated. So cute! Then I was telling Kia about how babies have big heads not in proportion to their bodies. And she went on to say that I like big-headed things. Haha.

Work these days is still rather hectic, but there has been an improvement from the beginning of the year. It's the learning curve I guess. I remembered that when I first started work 1 and a half years ago, I was so tired after work that I seldom switch on my laptop when I got home. After all, I had faced the computer the whole day at work. But nowadays, I have been spending more time on the computer, outside of work. Maybe I am getting used to the grind of work, so to speak.

Now, I like the internet and especially chatting online, since it is so easy and it allows me to do other things while remaining connected with the person I was chatting with. Even my company allows, and encourages, us to use instant messaging in the office as another form of communication. I felt that there's nothing wrong with that, provided that it is used for the purpose that it is intended for in the first place, to communicate quickly and without fuss to the other party. After all, it's not much different from using a telephone right? But is that really so? Can we really get to know a person through such means? As I was mentioning to a friend earlier (through msn of all things), it is much easier to say something online than to say it face-to-face. Yes, words are important, be it written or spoken, but communication is more than simply words. How well can we get to know a person through emails, msn etc? No matter what, it will usually only be one-dimensional. And when it finally goes beyond the internet, we might come to realise that that same person is different from what we had expected him or her to be.

It is said that the eyes are the windows to the soul. Yet, more often than not, the online environment prevents us from seeing that. Then again, perhaps the problem isn't with online chats or emails per se, but rather, it lies with the fact that most of us are wearing 'masks'. Trying to be who we're not. And what better way to do so than through the internet.

It is only when these masks are taken off that we can truly be who we are inside. I am like that too. Only those who are close to me saw me as who I really am. Those who love me will accept me for who I am, though not condoning my wrongs at the same time. While those who can't accept it could only see the mask, but not the girl behind it. And when the mask came off, they were unable to recognize me anymore. Guess that's the difference between true and superficial love.

I thank God that He loves me for who I am.

Why am I so easily frustrated these days?

I put the above as my nick on msn yesterday and some of my friends started asking about it. Didn't really know how to answer them. Guess it was largely due to the stress from work. Then this verse came to mind.

Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Isaiah 40:30-31


Have I been trying too hard? Trying to do it on my own instead of depending on God as my source of strength? Trying to control things that were evidently beyond my control? I guess this is not only true for my work life, but for my personal life as well.

I should just take Kia's advice and let nature take its course instead of thinking too much.

Wanted to upload some photos taken today but am too lazy now. Maybe tomorrow then.