he said, "fast away the old year passes part 3"

hi its me with my new year resolutions again.. :p
its been such a tough year. obstacle after obstacle, trial after trial. i feel that i've really changed a lot this year, i'm not sure for the better or the worse, but i certainly have become a 'harder' person. like i shared yesterday, my pride has taken a serious beating this year. judging myself from a third party's perspective, i seriously have nothing much. no money, no bright future career-wise, no looks, no sports talent, no speaking ability and no more voice! (Sobs.) there were times this year when i looked at myself (metaphorically) and could hardly recognise the Irvin of the past. but i thank the Lord for the friends He has given me. through this test of fire i now know who are my true friends, for who else would hang around a chap who has nothing but himself to offer? seriously, we tend to pick and choose our friends by looks/talents/other measurable values by quite a large extent, don't we? whether subconsciously or not. i thank God especially for Joseph, Aunty Rosie, Jon Lai and Aunty Siew Lian because they've always been there for me and my family everytime we needed it. i pray that i would be as much a blessing to them as they have been to me.

i read through my 2007 resolutions and i realise i haven't completed any of them, which is really sad :( for 2008 i shall not be ambitious, i only ask that i get my life back in order.
i resolve to

1)sing as much as possible
2)walk with God

there are so many things that i want to do this year and i wonder if i can. but i shall trust in the Lord's providence for He has taken good care of me all this while and certainly will this year. if the Lord is willing, i would like to attend the Church Camp from 11-14 June, Youth Camp somewhere in December, and the Tuao Mission Trip. If the Lord is willing, i would also like to sing with VC in Russia and during Christmas Carolling too.

so many plans and desires, but i shall submit them to you, O God. i leave them in Your almighty and just hands, take them and do as You please (:

shall leave you guys with my song of the moment -

'i never walk alone Christ walks beside me
He is the dearest Friend i'll ever know
with such a Friend to comfort and to guide me
i never, no i never walk alone'

thank you O Lord.
_______________________ he said, "fast away the old year passes part 2"

hello faithful readers of the annually-updated Irvin New Year Resolutions blog (:

as usual, i'll start with a review of 2006 Resolutions!
1)incomplete, now void :P
2)complete
3)incomplete (most prob)
4)complete
5)complete
6)complete
7)complete

pretty happy with the year, very thankful to God for the way it has worked out (: even if my results aren't good, my life certainly has become much more fulfilling and more focused (:

now, for 2007 Resolutions
1)spiritual - memorise sufficient passages of the Bible to share 1 on 1, specifically wanna memorise Matthew 5, 6, 7
2)spiritual - attend all possible youth activities
3)spiritual - facilitate spiritual growth of youths at PP
4)spiritual - be more aware of, accountable and responsible for my position as youth leader
5)family - bless others spiritually as a Wan family
6)personality - develop real facilitating skills and ability to engage others in discussion
7)singing - get a proper falsetto (pls)
8)singing - become more stable, consistent, disciplined as a singer

right that should be all. will add if i forget anything! (:

have a blessed year! shall leave you with Psalm 1!

Psalm 1
1 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.
3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.
4 Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
6 For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
_______________________ he said, "'fast away the old year passes!'"

it's gonna be the new year in an hour! time for new year resolutions. this is what i typed last year..

'for this year, 2005, i'm stil pretty undecided about my new year resolutions, but i guess i'll make some anyway now.first, i want to continue to be as good a student as i can be. second, i want to give 2005 to God. i want to help out and contribute as much as i can. despite j1 being a busy year, i think God will give you time to do His work :) right? haha. third is to excel in music, though right now i'm rather lousy :( i'd like to learn as much as i can so i can help out lots in the concert later this year, as well as more songleading next time! :) yup so those are my resolutions, what's yours?'

i began 2005 really satisfied with 2004, cos through God i had managed to achieve 2/4 of my resolutions. though it was 2/4, they were the 2 impt ones! 2005 wasn't a fantastic year. as you can see, my first 2 resolutions were not met. the first, cos of pure sloth and laziness. the second, cos of a lack of S.M.A.R.T.-ness in goal setting (not Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Trackable). the third was pretty okay i suppose, thanks to God!

well, on to new year resolutions 2006 (briefly)!

first (spiritual) - to finish reading the Bible by the end of 2007 (this is a two year goal)
second (spiritual) - to maintain active status in PP youth ministry by attending 3/4 of all meetings and activities, regardless of exam time or not
third (academic) - to finish the year with 3 As at A Levels (i'm dropping hist) and a B3 in GP, average of C and B4 for GP at prelims, average of D and C5 for GP at mid years (this is scary :S) fourth (CCA) - to expand operable range and improve both my light and heavy singing
fifth (personality) - to get in touch with my 'Feeler' side, learn how to relate to a person from an emotional perspective
sixth (family) - be more patient with parents, make more effort to understand them, spend more time with sister before she leaves ;(
seventh (fitness) - get at least a silver for napfa so i can evade early enlistment!

i was reading my previous posts and i realise they (the posts) are really very .. disgusting? it just seems weird reading what i wrote. yeah. very gross. brr.

another 40 minutes!
_______________________ he said, "whee!"

the age of youth camps have passed!

sobs.

yesterday was the last day of the last youth camp! okay, though we're gonna 'have it' in june, i guess it won't ever be the same as dec. but then again, i'm in full support of it being replaced by missions, simply cos we have to 'keeping walking up the escalator that's moving down'! misisons are way more trying spiritually. though only a select few would actually be able to appreciate it, i believe it would do wonders for the youth!

anyway, my mind's slightly clearer now. may God control me and grant me control over myself too!

btw, seems like my new favourite phrase when i think is 'there's no need to...'

playing ball tmr afternoon! YES! exercise ;D

God help us through the year that's coming up! We need thee every hour.
_______________________ he said, "please don't fall sick!"

my whole body esp the eyes have been feeling real bad the past two weeks! must be too much dota and late nights. sigh. hope my eyessight doen't get any worse. i suspect i'm around 400 now):

well well hehehe
_______________________ he said, "and i can hardly speak my heart is beating so"

i HIGHLY suspect i am becoming a dota addict!

adrian, j yeo, weijie and i spent the whole trip back from sgilap talking about dota. haha

okay first sermon tmr, pray for me! (;

praying that God speaks through me.
_______________________ he said, "no you don't know the one.."

who dreams of you each night
and longs to kiss your lips
and longs to hold you tight

ooh anyone could tell
you think you know me well
but you don't know me.

the reason why i've been away from here for so long is simple. my com crashed on sunday night (i think). and after 5 full days of fixing, my dad finally got it done! (yay!) apparently almost all the big parts were falling apart (goodness knows why).

my sister is going through a major turning point in her life! she has learned how to whine and she's really good at it. haha
_______________________ he said, "the art of lowering your larynx"

i am amazed at jose carreras' ability to lowering his larynx! he is really skinny for an opera singer, maybe like just a whee bit more flesh than jianhao (haha) and his larynx should be pretty high. but when he lowers it, it looks almost like a toad's throat! or whatever that lump of thing that's under a toad's mouth is haha. i need to learn how to do that man.


i have purposes in doing things and i don't regret what i did
trust me, nobody is a lone ranger lah.
you may not see it now but maybe in time to come you will (;


okay ive finally remembered to put this passage up

Hebrews 13 (New International Version)
'1Keep on loving each other as brothers. 2Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. 3Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.'

song of the moment

you give your hand to me
and then you say hello
and I can hardly speak
my heart is beating so
and anyone can tell
you think you know me well
well you don't know me

no, you don't know the one
who dreams of you at night
and longs to kiss your lips
and longs to hold you tight
oh I'm just a friend
that's all I've ever been
cause you don't know me

for I never knew
the art of making love
though my heart aches with love for you
afraid and shy
i let my chance go by
a chance that you might love me too

you give your hand to me
and then you say goodbye
i watch you walk away
beside the lucky guy
oh you'll never know
the one who loves you so
you don't know me
you'll never know
the one who loves you so
well you don't read this

(;
_______________________