Spring!

The word itself carries such wonderful connotations of freshness, joy, life and hope! This has to be my favourite season.. Also because in the Northern hemisphere my birthday would fall in the beginning months of Spring ;P (Have to admit that even now i’m still getting used to the fact that Summer comes in December here..) Yesterday was truly a lovely, sunny day, and our trip to Araluen was worth it, despite the long jam leading to the place because it was a Bank Holiday. So, here are my attempts at capturing the beauty of God’s creation in the flowers.. What made God take so much care to make creation glow? All the amazing colours... Tulips, bluebells, daisies.. Can't quite decide but i think daisies and tulips are perhaps two of my favourite flowers :)

If you've had a bad day

- not that i have.. But don't you think, (besides of course committing all your worries to God), that one look at this would make you feel much better:


..haha, just wanted to post up the picture of Barbara (pronounced Baah-baa-raa) ;P Bring back memories of Sheffield, anyone?? =)

On another note, was quite shocked to walk into David Jones and see a whole Christmas section up already?! And we thought Singapore was bad... It's not even October yet :P

Porridge and Prac

Wouldn't you agree that having porridge (the Asian kind, not the ang moh kind) on cold, rainy days are one of the most pleasant things? :) Or steamboat :) ..Porridge is also very comforting when one is sick. ..But not really steamboat in that case.

It being the last week of term for the school, the Year 12 students are all having their mock TEEs (something like Prelims) and the Year 10s are away on work experience. So it's probably not the best week to be on prac every day. But then again, i'm not complaining if this means i can finish early to mid-Nov ;P

Have got to get used to working full days again. Think i'm probably being repetitive, but after being at school for the whole day, (and often having stuff on at night as well), it leaves very little time to do other stuff, like my Multivariate Stats assignment (ugh!) and other readings.. And generally at nights i'm just too tired or lazy to do much anyway. My eyes were literally closing as i was typing out an email last night.. So sad - can't do without my sleep :P -which does make me rather anti-social at camps.. I do hope though that if necessary, i'd be able to function without the 7 hours!

Just worked with the loveliest little Pre-Primary girl today. Really brightens up the day (even amidst the literally rather grey weather) to have an assessment session run well, especially considering how difficult it can be to test some young kids. Brings to mind the interesting discussions we’ve had in class, about temperament, and the nature vs. nurture debate.. While there can be no doubt that parents and other environmental influences play a vital role in how a child turns out, there is also overwhelming evidence of the role innate factors play, along with the interaction between the two. Sometimes, it can be a bit puzzling how two siblings who seem to be parented in the same way can behave so differently. My lecturer says that after years of working with families, she cannot make light of the genetic component. Just tell her what the father was like at 7 years old, she said, and she’ll be able to predict what the son will be like ;)

Graduation, prac, and chocolate..

Guess it has been a while since i updated about what’s going on in my life at the moment (as opposed to what’s going on in my head ;P) Have actually been out of the house a lot lately, which might not be a bad thing because it means i haven’t been watching much TV at all ;P On the other hand, don’t want to be so busy running around that i don’t have time to sit down and reflect on what i have been doing. My weekdays are pretty much full up with classes and prac (next week is a mid-term break for UWA so i’m doing a full week of prac); regular evening commitments include girls’ prayer meet on Tuesday, counselling training on Wednesday, and OCF on Friday, plus the occasional extra activity.

This week was quite special because of the graduation ceremonies. I was finally able to meet Jessica after hearing much about her ;), and Rebecca came back too – so good to see her again! :) ..But this also means that Peter leaves on Friday. Really thank God for Peter, especially when last term he did such a great job looking after all of us in his BS group, despite being in his final Honours year.. Will be praying for him, and also for Lydia, and hope to meet again soon, perhaps in Singapore.

Prac-wise, am convinced that it all comes down to relationship. The counsellors here i think are doing a fantastic job because they are really part of the school and have established personal relationships with the students. Find it quite hard to only be here for 30days and not really know many of the students or get involved in the school's varied activities, but thank God that it is getting better settling in, and i have got a feel of the system here, and have had the opportunity to try some things i haven't done before. Same as with the active listening training, it’s really a skill thing, which can be learnt and improved on, so i shan’t give up!

..Can i also say i’m really quite looking forward to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory this Sunday, which the OCF is screening to raise funds for convention. Although i heard this particular movie is slightly dark, i do have fond memories of Roald Dahl, and isn't the idea of buying a Wonka chocolate and possibly winning the Golden ticket so appealing? :P

Change in my life?

Don’t know the exact statistics, but in general, think it’s safe to say that true behaviour change is difficult. Whether the issue is an addiction, an undesirable way of thinking, or an aspect of personality, i’m quite sure counsellors and psychologists find it a challenge to help someone turn from that particular behaviour or cognitive style. Think this doesn’t just apply to the clinical population. How do we break out of a particular habit, as much as we would like to do so? Perhaps the difficulty has something to do with being in the same context, which doesn’t facilitate the change. ..Then again, there have been countless testimonies of lives turning drastically around, and people really being transformed by the Gospel. Can't remember now where i heard the phrase about how God loves us just the way we are.. But He loves us too much to let us stay the way we are.

Amidst the busyness...

I bought a book quite some time ago that gives tips about how not to procrastinate, but i haven’t got round to reading it yet. haha sorry just being silly :P Seriously though, isn’t it just so easy to waste time and end up chasing the clock, spending our efforts and energies on things that are urgent, and less on things that are really important? Was just discussing this with YL the other day, but have a feeling it’s pretty common. I have an essay due Monday which i could’ve worked on before i got really busy, but didn’t, so now am left with trying to find time to squeeze it in the week's schedule! I’m probably still not as busy as majority of you people in Singapore (it’s just a different pace of life there!) but busy enough ;)

Then again thinking about the different things happening around the world, what with strong winds creating some disturbance right here in Perth, and the devastating aftermath of the hurricane in the US, plus the existing unrest in places like the Middle East and other parts of the world, accompanied by those plane crashes and other disasters.. trying not to get too caught up in my own little world and keep the world situation in prayer too. Have been thinking of SCC’s song More To This Life – isn’t it so true:

Today i watched in silence as people passed me by,
And i strained to see if there was something hidden in their eyes;
But they all looked at me as if to say: Life just goes on.

The old familiar story told in different ways:
Make the most of your own journey from the cradle to the grave;
Dream your dreams tomorrow because today, life must go on.

Tonight he lies in silence staring into space
And looks for ways to make tomorrow better than today,
But in the morning light it looks the same; life just goes on.
He takes care of his family, he takes care of his work,
And every Sunday morning, he takes his place at the church;
And somehow he still feels a need to search, but life just goes on...

Chorus:
But there's more to this life than living and dying
More than just trying to make it through the day
More to this life, more than these eyes alone can see
And there's more than this life alone can be.

So where do we start to find every part
Of what makes this life complete?
If we turn our eyes to Jesus, we'll find:
Life's true beginning is there at the cross where He died.
He died to bring us more to this life... (Chorus)

Happy Teachers' Day!!!

I think it’s really cool that so many of my friends have gone into teaching, and i’m always very thankful for all who have taught me before and made an impact in my life. Hope you enjoy this day especially =)