I turn twenty-one :)

I remember being 16, sitting at the playground at Bishan CC after doing some crazy dance with Joey and Rachel, wondering how I would be like at 21. Will I be pretty? Will I be cool? Will I have lots of friends and have a kick ass 21st birthday party? Well now I know.

I've always felt that a twenty-first should be about thanking the people in your life who brought you where you are today. Unfortunately, I'm here on exchange away from all the people who matter mosts to me. But still, I thank God for each and everyone of you who ever had a part to play in my life, whether you're still in it or not. And to those who have chosen to stay, thank you. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you.

I am blessed because of you :)

Elizabeth chirped at 7:19 AM | No comments

I could listen to this again and again.
There's beauty in brokenness.

Elizabeth chirped at 11:07 PM | No comments

It's strange how people's idea of christianity can be so different.

I don't know if it's wrong or right or just a different game plan, but I'm starting to see that what matters most to me seems to be intimacy. I've heard it said that all you've got to do in your walk with Christ is to be conscious of Him everyday. Well I wouldn't say that that is wrong, but it doesn't seem to be enough for me. Forgive me if I sound crude, but remembering or being conscious of someone seems to be something you do with the dead. You take a moment each day to remember the life of someone great. But Christ didn't just die. People seem to forget that the work was not finished only by the death, but it was completed by the resurrection. The Christ we believe in is very much alive, and that's the very reason we rejoice. And you don't just remember someone who is living. No, you have a relationship with the living, you interact with them. You get to know their hearts as they get to know yours, you do stuff together, you share dreams and you live life. Together. It's active and it intrudes into the core of your being. And that's the kind of relationship I wanna have. It's more than the will or the mind. It's loving God with all your heart, all your soul and with all your mind. All 3.

I know I'm emotional. I know I could do with a lot more discipline and training of the mind. But don't tell me it's wrong to seek out the kind of intimacy that I'm looking for.

Elizabeth chirped at 6:59 AM | No comments

Travel the world and broaden your mind.

It's a privilege to be here. Being in Europe on exchange is different from being a tourist and different from studying overseas. We live in a bubble really. Living as if we've got money when we've really got none. Weekend trips, discovering more in a short span of time than you ever would have if you simply went touring. It costs my parents a bomb for me to be here, but I'm starting to understand why they thought it would be worth it. It's an experience like no other, and I'm only halfway through.

I cannot begin to describe what it's like to stand on top of a hill looking down on a city so unlike what I'm used to. Or to drive through the mountains, finally seeing for myself things I had only seen in picture in my textbook. My geography knowledge was put to the test as I tried to understand the picturesque view my eyes was feasting on. It sounds silly, but it gave me a cheap thrill to look at the meandering river and see that there really were deposits on the concave side, and to identify spurs, screes and the types of weathering that led to the cracks and patterns I see on the rocks. So nerdy right? But it was so cool to see the mountains and the cities and to finally understand what inspired my beloved authors to write the novels that they did. It's like a light had dawned and the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle finally fit.

I've always felt guilty about being here when we don't have much. I could save the money and use it to pay back my school fees or many other huge bills that are coming my way. But I'm here, living as a student, traveling europe and experiencing it all as only a poor student ever would. And I would never be able to see things from this perspective again. So yes, my parents were right. Loans can be paid back, but when golden moments like this one presents itself to you, you just got to seize it before it's too late.

I am blessed.

Elizabeth chirped at 8:47 AM | No comments