steadfast gift of God Unknown

He's finally here. 

My brother, Ethan Matthew Sim, came into the world on the morning of November 28, 2011.

I still can't quite believe it.

I have another reason to live.

Dear Ethan, I look forward to the day I'll meet you in person.

Look out, guys, there's a new man in my life.

=) 

I Smile because I Can =) Unknown

Wanted to post this yesterday, but blogger was merajuk-ing. But anyways...

I made it through Saturday!

I ran the 5km nonstop, my left foot getting better with each step; went straight to uni for the workshop; ate only at 12.45pm; went for class which ended 10 minutes later; and even followed Lindley to FGT's youth service.

Talk about complete recovery. Can't believe I actually made through the day! Then yesterday evening I joined some 10,000 others at Stadium Melawati to celebrate the Global Day of Prayer. Was a good experience, biggest gathering of Christians I've ever been to.

All praise to God, and thanks to so many of YOU for your prayers and encouragement. =)

Two at Once Unknown

Apparently Wednesdays are my 'lucky' days. I had another eventful day yesterday, a stressful one, but by God's grace I made it through.

It started like any other day. Wait, rewind. It started like any other okay-my-assignments-are-due-today day. I had two due at 5pm. But I wasn't worried. I finished one on Monday, so that only needed polishing and referencing. And the other was a video assignment. I'd gone through the footage and selected parts I wanted. Since Wednesdays are my free-est, I planned 3 hours on each assignment - 6 hours of relaxed refinement.

So I started on the video. The three hours went like a breeze. I was just about done and ready to convert when suddenly... the program hanged. AAAAAHHHHH!! Nothing was saved! Noooooo...

It was partly my fault, and partly isn't. While working on the editing, I had regularly rendered the video to save the formatting. With that I assumed that it meant saved in the project automatically. But it sure wasn't that way. Now I had to spend more time on the video and less on the essay. I was so depressed, I really felt like crying. But somehow I composed myself and asked God for strength, peace, and to extend the time. Thank God for Lindley and Victor for their timely text messages, I really needed the support. And also for Melody for being my buddy in the lab.

By His hand, I completed the video within an hour and finalized it the next half hour. That left me with only an hour and a half for the essay. In that disconcerted mindset, I thought I had a lot to go through. But, as I went through my essay, I noticed there wasn't really much to do. I tell you when you're pressured, your mind works in overdrive!

Amazingly, time did extend, and I could submit both assignments at 5pm. I don't know if they're high-distinction worthy, but I believe I gave my best. Distinction or not, still I really thank God for His sustenance. The Christian Fellowship meeting that evening was so refreshing. In fact, the first lyrics we sang was 'Refresh my heart, Lord'. And Hannah Yeoh (Selangor state assemblywoman) was our speaker. Although I heard the same message twice, it still moved me. I'll write about that next.

I joined the gang for dinner after, and as a bonus, I bought a kebab and was given another for free! RM4 for both yo! God's so cute la. =)

Lesson of the day is: Never assume something is saved. But if all else fails... Jesus saves!

Not being able to find any picture related to my topic, I decided to post a random one. 

P.S. Thank you Mummy for praying for me! =)

Just Because He Is Unknown

Wow, my previous post was pretty emo, wasn't it? I didn't realize how down I was.

But anywaaays, I'm not here for another emo post. The weekend gave me a good break and I've picked up steam again. And today has been an amazing day, simply because God reminded me that He's still lovingly watching over me.

So early this morning during moral class (yes I have to take Moral Studies), my teacher announced that the coursework group project will be taking place on the 22nd of May. We're supposed to run a half-day leadership development workshop for underprivileged youths. Now I'm fine with the project. The only thing is that the workshop is the same day as Run for the Nation! How now? I checked the workshop program and noted that it started at 9am. RunNat starts at 5am but I feared my team would be slotted as one of the last teams. Desperately, I prayed for a mini miracle while at the same time thought of acrobatic ways to juggle the two.

The day went on, and I had to go to Asian Beacon's office at Atria. It's close to impossible to find parking along the shophouses outside Atria. Of course, I could park inside Atria, which I did previously, but it cost me close to RM10 each time. So again, I prayed. As I neared Asian Beacon's office and no parking spots were open, I started to give up. But next thing I knew, a car backed out right in front of the office! But wait! Oh no, there's a car in front of me and the driver's signaled to book the spot. I was so disappointed! Yet I tried to be optimistic and started looking out for any more empty spots. Suddenly I noticed that the car in front of me stopped signaling and was driving off. I paused in disbelief for a long while. Was that lot really for me? Sense returned and I quickly parked. For a good half an hour there, I was numb with amazement that my car was actually parked directly in front of Asian Beacon! Talk about WOW!

The day progressed with me sitting on the office floor sorting out magazines. I was enjoying the alone time when I glanced at my netbook screen and noticed a new email. I opened the email and guess what? It was the RunNat committee announcing the schedule, and my team will be running from 7.00-7.40am! Double WOW! Now I can make it for both events!

If you think those two providential happenings are already amazing, I haven't told you of how, between moral and magazines, I was mournfully noticing the lack of colors in my purse. Living in KL sure is costly, I thought to myself.

But some hours later, I unexpectedly got last month's pay (I thought it would come next week).

Sometimes God gives me these little miraculous treats, I wonder what I did to deserve them. Why the 'special' treatment? Then I remember He's my Father. He's good just because He wants to, and just because He is. Reflecting on how small my faith was, all I can do is humbly say thank you. What more can I say?