Shining in a World of Darkness...

Great is Thy Faithfulness

2011-12-30T00:44:00.000-08:00

I designed this recently and have it as my desktop wallpaper right now. Its great to have truth displayed in front of us so that we can meditate on it!

Jolynn's Back!

2011-10-12T06:23:00.000-07:00

Aren't we glad to have her around again! :)

Abi and Aunty Sek Jen planned a surprise tea party for her which we had instead of Bright Lights, and we had a good time eating donuts, fruit and shortbread, drinking tea, and catching up with what has happened in each others' lives for the past six months.

It will be great to have her at Bright Lights again! And I think Abi did a great job while she was gone. :)

A True Iowa Experience

2011-09-06T22:31:00.000-07:00

It was truly a blessing to attend the 10th Annual Turning Hearts celebration at the Bontrager family's farm on labour day. I don't think I've ever attended anything quite like it! Seeing so many large families, being on a farm, the ten degree weather, sitting on a hay bale, petting calves that live in "kennels". Hmm...any way we can re-create the experience in Singapore??

One thing that was really different for me was the music. Bluegrass type music is definitely not something we get back home! But I really enjoyed hearing the Bontrager and Bates family singing and seeing all the unique instruments they were playing:)

The Lord has blessed me in so many ways,
That I could not begin to tell you how good He has been.
He's my Friend, He's my Guide, He's my Shepherd, my Light,
The Lord has blessed me in so many ways.

Internship Memories

2011-09-06T21:54:00.000-07:00

Discussing our convictions...searching our Bibles for verses relating to the current (often very random) topic...cooking meals...sharing family stories...painting the guesthouse...planning Bright Lights meetings (and having a unusual amount of disagreements while planning a meeting on loving difficult people:)...travelling on conferences...emailing links...laughing just because we were tired...going on impromptu shopping trips...shrink-wrapping and packing orders at the Bright Lights office...our weekly wal-mart trips...becoming a little family of sorts...all our inside jokes...

So many highlights! I wasn't expecting my favourite part of the internship to be the people...but it definitely was:) I miss you all my fellow interns!

In Quietness and Confidence

2011-08-12T11:52:00.000-07:00

"For thus saith the Lord God, the holy one of Israel; In returning and rest ye shall be saved; in quietness and confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not." - Isaiah 30:15

There are many promises in God's word that are so comforting. This is one of them. Sadly, in reading it in context, we find that it was one that the Israelites did not claim. They chose to trust in men instead of God.

I was reminded to trust in God's promises as we started the Strong in the Lord conference here in Pennsylvania. To rely on His strength that comes in quietness and confidence.

One conference down and three more to go! I love reading through response forms after the conference.

The girls write such interesting comments and it is encouraging to hear the ways the conference has impacted their lives. Anyhow, this one made my day...

How did you hear about this conference?

Answer: From my computer

He Is Faithful

2011-07-17T22:46:00.000-07:00

Thank you so much for your prayers. We are finally back in Cedar Rapids after doing four Bright Lights conferences in the last two weeks. It is good to be back "home" :)

As always, I really enjoyed helping out at the conferences. Sharing my heart with the girls during small group, giving testimonies in the main sessions, playing the violin to accompany the singing, setting up the book table, enjoying good fellowship with the other leaders...I could go on and on!

It was also challenging at times. Through those times, I saw the Lord's faithfulness as I brought my requests to Him in prayer. Let me share with you two of such circumstances...

The day before the Nebraska Strong in the Lord conference started, I read this verse:

"Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long." - Proverbs 23:17

As I usually do, I copied the verse into my journal and also wrote some thoughts about it. Looking back I'm surprised that they even made sense since I usually write when I'm tired or in a hurry!

Excerpt from my journal:

The paradox of us being told to love the Lord but also to fear Him. How can we possibly do both? Because we love the Lord, we should fear doing things that we know will displease Him. If our fear of the Lord comes out of our love for Him, it will be a healthy fear that brings us closer and not farther from Him.

What was so neat was that during my Strong in the Lord small group, one of the girls in my group asked me that question: how can we fear the Lord and also love Him? A few days later in my Radiant Purity small group, another girl asked me that same question again in the course of our discussions!

Another circumstance through which I saw the Lord's faithfulness was during my Radiant Purity small group. Our discussions on the first night of the conference went really well and I expected the next day to be the same. However, the next day brought some unexpected challenges. My team doubled in size and one of the new girls had some special needs. As a result, my small group was distracted throughout our time together despite my best efforts. To make it worse, in the middle of our discussion, one of the girls said: "So, how many of you want to date....and how many of you want to court?" She then proceeded to get my whole group to vote based on a show of hands. I was discouraged to see that about half of the group raised their hands to indicate that they would choose to date. Well, as I ended my last small group with the girls on this note, I wondered if the girls had benefited from anything in my small group . It certainly didn't seem so to me! Later on, as I read through their response forms, I couldn't stop smiling as the majority of them said that they enjoyed the small groups the best and many indicated specific commitments in the area of purity that they were going to make!

Sometimes, even after we spend time in prayer and do our very best preparation, things will not turn out the way we planned. In such situations, we have to remember that God's definition of success is different from ours. His ways are higher than our ways! Through it all, HE IS FAITHFUL!

Morning by morning, I wake up to find

The power and comfort of God's hand in mine

Season by season I watch Him amazed,

In awe of the mystery of His perfect ways

All I have need of His hand will provide

He's always been faithful to me.

Honouring Your Parents

2011-07-11T22:56:00.000-07:00

So we had yesterday's Bright Lights meeting at Abi's beautiful house!

Thanks for letting us meet at your house Abi :)

Our lesson was on honouring our parents, so, can all of you think of ways in which we can honour our moms and dads?

Well firstly, why do we honour our parents?

Because God has placed them in authority over us, and another obvious answer is because we love them!

Ways to Honour Your Parents:

1. Commit yourself to wanting a good relationship with them your whole life.

God puts us in our specific, individual families for our good. Honour your parents at all times, not because they are perfect (they're human too!), but because God has commanded you to.

2. Honour their authority - they are God-given!

Be thankful for them.

Be willing to submit to them.

Recognize the value of your parents' advice. There is much wisdom in the "hoary head"!

3. Maintain a clear conscience with them.

No secrets!

4. Avoid doing things that dishonour your parents.

Don't spread "funny jokes" about your parents.

Don't be disrespectful, don't complain.

Personally I feel that oftentimes I complain and murmur about my parents and their shortcomings without even realizing. So I think it would be good for us to be more sensitive to our parents' feelings just as they try their best to be sensitive to ours.

5. Encourage your parents.

We could honour them in little ways e.g. thanking them for their cooking, praying for them and with them, being cheerful around them (how many of us pull long faces when we're at home?), serve willingly and volunteer to help around the home, and take initiative! Don't wait for your parents to ask you to help; volunteer your services first!

Compliment and praise your parents. Don't we feel happy when others praise us for something? Our parents are people too!

Remember their special occasions - birthdays, anniversaries, etc.

Write notes and give them special gifts to encourage and show your appreciation to them.

Treat your parents as your best friends!

Give your heart to them; make them feel important.

Make what is important to them important to you.

Enjoy your parents as one of God's greatest blessings to us.

Be proud of your parents!

For those of you who couldn't attend our last meeting, do try to do this activity in your own personal devotions!

1. Write down three specific things you appreciate about your mom.

2. Write down two things you can pray for her.

3. Write down a word of encouragement for her. (And tell her about it! :))

4. Do the above three things for your dad!

After we did that activity, we went upstairs to share what we wrote...

And yes... Some of us were up on the roof... Shhh :)

Ming Hui and Natasha got the best spot in the garden.

And this is all of us who were there!

Plus Danielle, of course, who was taking this picture. So...

Here's a picture specially dedicated to you, Danielle! :)

And this was Madison's last Bright Lights :(((

We will miss you and will all be praying for you Madison!

All the best in your studies and in whatever you do, always seek the Lord first!

Deuteronomy 5:16 "Honour thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee."

Proverbs 1:8-9 "My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother: For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck."

Remember to pray for Madison. And for all those who are away too!

@the Wisconsin Radiant Purity

2011-07-11T09:56:00.000-07:00

One thing we stress at the Radiant Purity conference is that purity is not a goal in itself. As with so many other virtues in the Christian faith, purity is the result of us making the love of the Lord our foremost goal.

The discussion times at the conference went really well but I wish I could have spent more time getting to know the girls! Well, I did the next best thing - wrote individual notes to the girls with quotes on purity on the front. So glad that I remembered to get some pictures of them!

What are some of YOUR favourite quotes or verses about purity?

In a little girl's eyes...

2011-07-10T10:09:00.000-07:00

My favourite memory from the OshKosh Wisconsin Strong in the Lord conference:

"This is my brother when he is angry"

Thanking God for the opportunity we have to teach sweet little girls!
Go to Emily Schuurmans' blog for more pictures...

Book Review: Choosing Forgiveness

2011-05-30T13:55:00.000-07:00

I've been reading some really good books recently and thought that I'd share the things that I learnt from them. I'm going to try to do regular book review posts here in the future:)

I saw this book and immediately thought that it was something I needed. Forgiveness is something that I have chosen to do many times in my life but there is a lot more about it that I want to understand. For instance, does forgiveness mean that I have to forget the wrong and act as if nothing happened even if the person isn't repentant? Does it mean that I shouldn't try to protect myself from further hurt? Does it mean that I will no longer feel any anger towards the person? Does it mean that the hurt I feel will go away?

Well, I actually haven't finished reading this book so I haven't found all the answers but I LOVE this book so far. Nancy Leigh Demoss is to the point - no matter what, you MUST forgive. But she also writes from her heart, out of concern for the reader and I can feel her love.

So, one thing that has really helped me is her answering this question: Why would God ask us to do such a difficult thing? (referring to forgiveness)

because God has promised to forgive all our sins. (Psalm 103:12)
we can forgive others because God has forgiven us.
God is not commanding us to do something that He will not enable us to do. (2 Corinthians 12:9)
when we forgive, we are promising to never bring up that sin against that person again - not to God, not to anyone else.
even when I cannot see the results of my forgiveness, I can still know that I've done what God requires of me.

"To be a Christian is to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in us." - C.S. Lewis

These are some important truths about forgiveness that have really helped me. This is a great book for everyone whether you think you need it or not. To be forewarned is to be forearmed. You can order the book here.

Is there someone in your life that you need to choose to forgive today?

April+May 2011 in 6 pictures

2011-05-30T12:46:00.000-07:00

Hi Girls! How have you all been?
I just realized the other day that I've been gone for almost two months and still haven't sent you all an update! Well, I have been really busy but hopefully I'll get better at doing this:)

So, here is my last two months summarized in 6 pictures...

Worked with Evan in the IBLP Headquarters kitchen.

Can you imagine how fun it is to work with a good friend in the kitchen all day?

My second Journey to the Heart!

It was a different experience than my first one...then the whole idea of "hearts" was new to me but this time I learnt to apply it to my life practically. The biggest key to doing so? Prayer!

Oh, and the snow was AMAZING! I couldn't stop taking pictures:)

Attended my first Regional ATI conference at Big Sandy, Texas!

It was fun to meet people I haven't seen for some time. The sessions were good but between volunteering in the dining room and being down with a bad cold I didn't get to sit in on many:(

I cannot believe that I didn't take a single picture while I was working in the Bright Lights office for a week and a half! Well, it was a very busy week and a half:) Grace Mally posted some pictures on her blog though. The Mallys were very encouraging of all my work but I think I benefited a lot more from them!

Went for Jordan's advancement ceremony from Alert Basic Training

This trip is interesting cause I get to meet up with different people from home at different parts of my trip. God knows that I get homesick!

Right now, I'm still at Alert in Texas. I stayed on to volunteer and I'm having fun working in the camps and conferences office and with housekeeping. The work here is not busy so I've been having quite a lot of free time during which I've been spending time reading, journalling and catching up on blogging and emailing!

Do drop me an email when you are free! I would love to hear how you are doing and how I can pray for you. Since Bright Lights won't be meeting this June (and some of you are having school holidays!), use the time to read some good books or meet up with a friend who needs encouragement!

P.S. You can check out more pictures from my trip here.

Disrespect

2011-04-28T22:53:00.000-07:00

We had our last meeting (which was more than a week ago :D) at the Lynch's, with "President Abi" leading us because Jolynn's away. :(!

(Btw, Abi's doing a GREAT job. Thanks Abi!)

We played Ninja!

And there's Petra in a very unique pose :P

Proverbs 15:20 "A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish man despiseth his mother."

Abi mentioned that oftentimes we respect our friends' parents but we show disrespect towards our own parents. This is not acceptable, of course, and we're actually being hypocrites if we do so.

How to overcome disrespect:

1. Find the root of the problem. Examine yourself, your attitudes.

2. Purpose to take the position of humility!

3. Ask the Lord to reveal to you any area of disrespect in your life.

4. Confess wrong attitudes and disrespect. (Disrespect is sin!)

5. Ask for forgiveness.

Purpose to seek the HIGHEST standard in this area of your life! Not your own, not your friends', not the world's, but GOD'S yardstick :)

And then we did an activity!

My group with our recipes :)

Eph 6:2-3 "Honour thy father and thy mother; which is the first commandment with promise; That it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest live long on the earth."

Isn't it wonderful that God always has so many promises for us? And He keeps them all too!

Have a blessed week, girls :)

And remember to pray for Jolynn!!

Bright Lights Thailand Mission Trip 2011

2011-01-25T22:19:00.000-08:00

Our first Bright Lights Mission trip! Of course, to just have us girls go didn't seem like it would be very safe...so we're so thankful for our families who came along:) It was a great 10-day trip, during which we taught English at a public school, visited different ministries, stayed a night in a mountain village and conducted a VBS. What I found really encouraging on this trip was seeing the believers there and the different ways they were serving God in the ways that they could. It was also lots of fun to be on the trip with good friends...almost too much fun:)

Hopefully the girls who went on the trip will be posting more here soon!

DAD: an important part of my life

2010-10-25T06:45:00.000-07:00

Wow, its been a long time since our last post!

Thankfully, our meetings have not been as neglected as this blog:)

At our last meeting, we learned how to turn our hearts to our dads.

We found out that that including doing things such as asking him for counsel, praying for him, expressing gratefulness, communicating with him and making it our goal to please him.

During our activity time, we put two of these points to practice.

First, we prayed for our dads in six areas:

1. For his work

3. For his relationship with our mom

4. For his health and protection

5. For his leadership of our family

Next, we divided into groups and wrote poems to our dads.

I was impressed by the different ones each group wrote! Some were funny, some were serious, but all were interesting and original:)

Abigail Meyer's team...

Families need a father

As a guiding hand

To offer us assistance

Help, but not command

Eager to serve us till the end

Rest he will in the promised land!

D'Ette's reflective poem...

The storms of life produce many problems

And sometimes I just can't solve them

My father dear, will help me here

To strive to rise above them

Although he is not perfect

With many weaknesses to spare

I trust and believe in God's good will

My dad will always be there

Danielle Lee's most humorous poem...

Esther Meyer reading her team's poem...

My Father in heaven gave me someone

To love me, protect me and such

I never knew he could be so much fun

Daddy I love you so much!

My Father in heaven gave me someone

To learn from and show me the Lord

And tell how He created the moon and the sun

The Bible to use as my sword

Daddy, I'll never be finished with you

No matter what happens, I love what you do!

As you can see from the photos, a lot of concentration and effort was put into the writing of the poems!

Oh, and I love how many of you put what we learned during the lesson into your poems:) I see some familiar words...storms of life, protection, etc. A great job everyone! Hope your dads loved your poems as much as I do!!

Courtship

2010-07-25T01:26:00.000-07:00

Bright Lights meetings have resumed after our break in June! And I'm back to blog again! :) Anyways, the past meeting on July 19th was on Courtship, at the Lynches'. I thought it would be hard to teach the small group and lead the discussion because Courtship is a very diverse topic, but by God's grace many of the girls were willing to open up and share from their life. And we had a great discussion! These are some aspects of Courtship that Jolynn included in the worksheet:

There was dinner that day! We used to have dinner at every meeting, but now it's been changed to every three meetings. So of course everyone's happy when a meeting includes dinner! And these are some pictures of all the fun and crazy things we do, like play those clapping games and Broken Telephone Line and whatnot. Well, till the next meeting, God bless you!

"Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." - Philippians 4:8

Update!

2010-06-14T01:33:00.000-07:00

Liz and I are now into our 3rd week of our mission trip. So far, we've taught children from KL and Penang. This week, we're back in Singapore teaching the children at the IBLP conference. The trip has been a great one so far. Not so much one with a lot of fun, but definitely one when we've learned a lot! Do continue to pray for us that we will set our hearts right before God so that we can teach the children from our heart!

For Bright Lights prayer requests, please pray for the Meyer sister's brother, Benjamin, for health and strength as he continues his chemotherapy treatments. Also, do pray for Esther Joy who had her appendicitis operation last week.

Looking forward to Bright Lights starting again in July!

Till then....
Jolynn :D

P.S. you can check out more photos of our trip here

Discernment - and several people's birthdays!

2010-03-18T00:06:00.000-07:00

Petra, Amiel, Jolynn, Claudia, Wei Lyn, Madison and myself celebrated our birthdays at Bright Lights last monday! The very yummy carrot cake was baked by Natalie S. :))

Taking turns to blow out the candles! :)

I'm sorry for the lack of posts here! Despite the fact that we don't post very often, we still are having fun and learning lots of stuff at Bright Lights! This week's topic was Discernment.

What can we learn from doctors and detectives?

Discernment waits to get all the facts; it doesn't jump to conclusions.
Discernment asks questions.
Discernment seeks counsel.
Discernment examines details - search the Bible for "clues".
Discernment learns from past experiences.
Discernment observes history

We also had a lot of fun playing Balderdash and a truth-and-lies lava dash where the girls had to distinguish between a truth and a lie which was written on a piece of paper, and by stepping on the truths were able to get to the other side. :)

"Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves."

Seeking God - at camp!

2010-01-22T00:24:00.000-08:00

Wow.. we've just had our first Bright Lights camp! It was so much fun (although the main purpose of the camp was not to have fun but instead to seek God and spend time with Him) and the fellowship was so encouraging! The highlight for many of us was the personal time we spent away from other people, searching our hearts, and hearing from God. It was a very special way to begin the year :)

The venue: A huge, amazing, three-storey chalet with a large deck, wicker chairs, swings and umbrella tables at 324H SAF Seaview Resort. It had four bedrooms (plus we used the living room), and it was just right for the 22 people we had. Thanks Uncle Eddie for booking it for us!

It was great getting to know new friends better as well as spending time with old friends! Each room took turns to have clean-up duty after meals, and we also had to tidy our rooms each morning.

After the 'serious' events of the day (such as small group, discussion, and quiet time), some of the leaders organized games for the evening. Here we are playing telephone charades, which was hilarious :)

Abi, with all our snacks! (a very useful thing to have, as I've found out, when watching a movie!) Abi was one of our amazing photographers :)

Here's Joanna pointing to her mailbox! Everybody at camp got a little envelope, which was stuck on the wall, and we would write notes to each other throughout the camp and put it in their 'mailbox'. :) Often there would be clusters of girls around the envelopes, and they'd be sitting around the table writing notes :)

This is one of the little huts they had out on the deck. It's so nice to sit there and have quiet time, or chat with someone.

Each day, we had an activity where the three small groups had to come up with a skit, video it, and present it to the rest of the group. For example, we had to do a video on "seeking" and the video had to reinforce what we had learnt. We laughed so much watching each teams' videos!

During the sessions, Jolynn would share a short lesson with us before we went off on our own to a quiet place where we would search our hearts, and listen to God. Then we would get back into our groups and have discussion. Small group time had us learning about different Bible characters (specifically Ruth and Solomon) as we completed a worksheet, as well as craft and prayer.

The Sparklers!

...the Candles (they were the best at the jump shots!), and...

...the whole group! (no group picture of the Torches sadly, but we're in other ones further up:))

We're doing a Knights, Maidens and Dragons pose :)

I think everyone really learnt a lot during these few days we were together, whether it's making special effort to wake up early to have quiet time, encouraging someone, or just letting others shower first!

We especially want to thank Jolynn, for all the planning, hard work, and love; the mothers for cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner for us; and the dads for doing all the barbecuing for our last dinner, where the families were invited!

"Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:

And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

Psalm 139:23-24

New and Upcoming...

2009-12-30T23:48:00.001-08:00

We just want to say...

2009-12-17T06:51:00.003-08:00

May God bless you all abundantly :)

Meekness and weakness?

2009-12-09T20:05:00.000-08:00

Mention meekness and the first thing that comes to mind is probably a doormat. A doormat helplessly allows people to step on it and that's just want a meek person does...right? So, a meek person must be a weak person who isn't able to stand up for himself! But think about it this way, suppose I walked up to you and gave you a tight slap on the face. Would it be easier for you to shout at me or would it be easier to forgive me and remain silent? Meekness is hard! It requires great strength of character. Let no one be mistaken. Meakness is NOT weakness. It is power under control.

"Let nothing be done with strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves." -Philippians 2:3

In meeting news...

We celebrated the birthdays of four very sweet girls! (from left: Abi, Amber, Liz and Leah) Hope you all had or will have a great birthday! Thanks Danielle for baking the cake!

As this was our last meeting of the year, we had DIY ice-cream sundaes and also an activity in which we wrote encouraging notes to each other on paper taped to our backs. That was fun!

Danielle, obviously enjoying it all :D

"Trains" starting forming everywhere. One moment there might be nobody behind you, but the next minute there might be four or five people.
Quite scary:)

Thank you all for being sooo encouraging! I was encouraged when I read the little notes you all left on my back:) Till our next meeting...Bye!!

Sensitivity...a necessity for Christians

2009-11-03T19:33:00.000-08:00

In today’s fast-paced world, people have many different problems that are causing them pain. These problems are not always obvious but it is our job as Christians to look beyond the outward and see these hurts and difficulties. If left alone, these problems in their lives will continue to grow and might have tragic results. By showing sensitivity and giving them God’s solution to their problems, we will shine as Bright Lights.

Practical Application:

Listen more than you talk

Learn to read body language

Send encouraging notes/smses

Pray that God will open your eyes to those who need encouragement

28 girls??

2009-10-20T19:29:00.000-07:00

The day before a Bright Lights meeting, I usually have no idea how many girls will turn up. On the day itself, I kind of have an idea how many will come. So, its only when the meeting itself starts that I know how many girls we have. This particular meeting was unprecedented....a total of 28 girls attended! Its exciting to see what God is doing in Bright Lights here and I hope that all the girls will continue to join us.

Here are some pictures...

All three small groups were in the Lynch's living room, so it was a little squashed:) Here is Abi teaching the older girls.

Elizabeth's team discussing something...

Danielle and Naomi's team having fun making Christmas cards.

Random note...I leaned a little too hard on the sofa (which you can see here at the bottom of the pic) and the back slid down, leaving me in a akward position, to say the least:) I didn't realise that it is a sofa bed!

How to Develop a Ministry

2009-10-06T22:57:00.000-07:00

Anybody can do good works and have a “ministry”. Unbelievers can too! But the ministry that we have is based on something else – love. While unbelievers do good works to gain themselves entrance to heaven, we do so in obedience to the two greatest commandments: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind...Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”(Matthew 22:37, 39) Only with genuine love can we have the kind of ministry God wants.

As part of our meeting, we had an activity in which the girls had to read a biography about a missionary and then come up with a way to present it creatively to the rest. Here are some pictures of them working on that assignment...

Natalie, Kyrianna, Taran and Gabrielle reading their biography of David Brainerd.

Nicole, Petra, Abigail and Amber working on William Carey's story.

Amiel, Danielle, Wei Lyn and Kimberly learning about the life of Hudson Taylor

Joanna, Destiny, Naomi and Danielle reading about David Livingston.

Their presentations were both entertaining and informative:)

I hope you all had fun and learned lots!

Away from distractions...

2009-10-06T04:11:00.000-07:00

The day before we were to have this older girls' meeting, I realised that only one girl, Joanna, had replied to say she was coming. I panicked. We can't have a meeting with just one girl! Then I remembered that numbers don't matter to God. If He wanted only one girl to come, that was fine with me:) I sent out smses to remind everyone about the meeting and I found out that eight girls were planning on coming. Praise the Lord!

Together, we spent a nice quiet afternoon at the Botanic Gardens.

While the sun shone and the crickets chirpped, we fellowshipped, shared thoughts, and most importantly, spent an hour alone in God's word and prayer:)

The topic of our meeting was David - a man after God's own heart.

We studied passages in the Bible and excerpts from books that explained to us how...

1. David worshipped God

"One thing have I desired of the Lord. That will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beuaty of the Lord, and to inquire at his temple." Psalms 27:4

2. David searched his heart

"Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting," Psalms 139:23-24

3. David delighted in God's word

"I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart." Psalms 40:8

I was encouraged to hear the girls' sharing about what they had learned and wanted to apply:)

Pray that we will all persevere to change in the ways the Lord has shown us!

In your hectic day to day life, do you find it hard to find time where you can unhurriedly study the Bible and pray? For me, the solution is to specifically put aside the time and to do it in a park because there are less distractions. I pray that you will do so today!

Truthfulness

2009-09-23T05:47:00.000-07:00

Definition of truthfulness: Earning future trust by accurately reporting past facts.

Three major concepts:

1. It is important for us to tell the truth and avoid all forms of deceitfulness.

2. It is important for us to know the truth so that we will not be deceived by the enemy.

3. It is important for us to proclaim the truth and bring the message of salvation to the world.

Playing the telephone game - some of them were really funny! :D

We also celebrated Evangeline's and Kyriana's birthdays!! :)

Happy birthday, both of you! :)

"But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth." --Acts 1:8.

Scavenger Hunt pictures

2009-09-23T05:30:00.001-07:00

YAY! I'm so happy because now I can put pictures into our blog!! :D

So there you go: pictures from our scavenger hunt, courtesy of Joanna! :)

These envelopes contained very important information: our clues, our map, and so forth.

I think this sculpture is of Chopin :) It's by the Shaw Foundation stage :)

As you may notice, they are all of Joanna's team! haha but that is because I didn't have any on my camera and I wasn't able to get any from my team. :(

Can't wait for the next outing!! :))

Scavenger Hunt

2009-08-21T07:32:00.000-07:00

We recently had a very interesting scavenger hunt at the Botanic Gardens!

Though it began to rain, we still had fun!

One of the teams that competed (there were a total of two) made some mistakes as to where the end point was, and that team ended up on the other end of the Botanic Gardens, most unfortunately! They made it in the end, but after a lot of walking. (Names are not mentioned to protect the guilty.)

Pictures coming soon; I'm having trouble with blogger here cos they won't let me upload pictures!! So sorry for delay :( As soon as blogger works again with uploading photos, I'll also put some up here from our lastest meetings. :) Do check back soon!

Till then, God bless y'all! :)

Accepting the Way God Made You

2009-07-10T06:03:00.000-07:00

Anybody still remember the meeting we had last March at Abigail's house when Evangeline taught the meeting on Accepting the Way God Made You? :) When we did the "human caterpillar" (writing things on the paper on someone else's back)?

Well, here we are again! This time it was Jolynn teaching it. I find it pretty amazing because no matter how many times we study this topic, and no matter how many times someone teaches it to us, I still learn something new.

Some things we did on Monday:

001. saw pictures that Evangeline (yes, she's back!!!!) showed us from her 6-month time in Australia and Africa with YWAM.

002. sang some of the old Bright Lights songs, like I Will Be Your Shield and Grace! It was so nice, singing them again with Evan at the piano.

003. watched a documentary on Joseph Merrick (aka the Elephant Man) and how he accepted the way God made him.

004. did the design experiment! (in my small group) It was pretty funny.

Application:

Thank God for the way He has made you, especially for the things you dislike about yourself.
Put yourself back on "God's easel" and purpose to cooperate with Him in developing inward qualities.

Camp-out!

2009-06-23T05:56:00.000-07:00

We had a camp-out at Pasir Ris Park in May. Some families stayed overnight in the chalet that we booked (both in tents and in the chalet's bedrooms) while others came the day after for cycling, games and a BBQ dinner. Although it rained, we still had a lot of fun!:) Those that slept out in the tents got woken up by the storm in the middle of the night and they had to come inside to sleep, but the next morning we all enjoyed a good time at morning devotions that Uncle Stu led.

Some of the highlights and pictures:

A lunch of tin-foil-chicken (??) taught by Auntie Suzi and Uncle Joseph. We cut potatoes and carrots and tomatoes and along with chicken and sausages, wrapped them in aluminum and cooked them over the barbecue pit.

The packets of food cooking. Rotate the packet every five minutes, and once it bloats up, it's cooked. It was a really good meal :)

Games led and planned by Carolyn! There were a lot of team relay races (such as the three-legged race and others), and everyone enjoyed it, especially the younger children.

And, of course, we played Captain's Ball, where everyone had a ball of a time.

It was a pretty exciting game because though one team got the ball more times than the other, the latter team scored more often. :)

It was the eve of Mother's Day so everyone gathered together, and the fathers sang Blessed Assurance while the Bright Lights girls sang Beth from Psalm 119 as a serenade to the moms. :)

It was a great gathering and was a lot of fun! We're looking forward to the next one. :)

A Big Thank You

2009-05-14T22:48:00.000-07:00

This is wishing our dear mothers a very blessed and slightly belated Mother's Day!! Our moms have been very supportive, encouraging, hospitable and gracious in helping out with Bright Lights, and we're very grateful for that!

Every fortnight they put in a lot of effort in shuttling us to the meetings, in preparing food, in organizing events, and just in being of assistance in any way possible.

THANK YOU, MOMS!

It is definitely by God's grace that we've come this far.

While we're being thankful...

Here are some videos from a Bright Lights meeting long ago, when we were studying Gratefulness. An activity we had to do was to compose words on the topic of gratefulness to familiar songs. (I was supposed to post it up after our meeting, which I didn't do, but I guess it ties in pretty nicely here too). They are both videos thanking the Lord for His provision:)

G-R-A-T

E-F-U-L

N-E-S-S

He's so good to me.

Thank God for trees.

Thank God for cheese.

Thank God for keys,

And for manatees.

Hey!

I want to thank You

For all that You do.

You are so providing,

And I'll be grateful.

Gratefulness is

When you give thanks

For the things that He's given,

Like promising Heaven.

A Random Update

2009-05-14T07:06:00.001-07:00

How long has it been since we've continuously posted stuff??

It's been very long...though Jolynn posted something on one of our meetings in March:)

And so, I decided that I would just write a little something to declare that yes, we're still having Bright Lights meetings, and yes, we're still learning more about the word of God!:)

We've had a few new friends join us, while a lot of our old friends have gone overseas or elsewhere. Bright Lights has changed somewhat from last time, but we still have lots of laughter and good fellowship every fortnight:)

We also have gone back to the beginning of Set 1 for the sake of those who weren't here when we last did Set 1.

Last week, we learnt about developing a disciplined walk with God. John Wesley said, "Do not seek after a ministry, rather anticipate the fruit of a disciplined life."

We were encouraged to purpose to keep some new disciplines as well as the ones we already have. Being disciplined is not getting a punishment; it is instead a healthy habit.

It is also getting a closer relationship with God, which is the most precious thing we can seek after.

Some disciplines to consider are:

01 Bible reading

02 Prayer

03 Fasting

04 Memorization

05 Meditation

06 Honouring the Lord's Day

07 Giving

08 Witnessing

09 Early rising

10 Modesty

11 Listening to good music

12 Wise internet use

I love what was said about giving: 10 things we can give that cost no money... a warm loving smile, a precise word of praise, a verbal blessing, a word of encouragement, a note of encouragement, a fervent prayer they request, a listening heart and ear, a good report to others about them, a recognition of a birthday, a word of comfort during sorrow.

As you go about your daily life, you can give to others by noticing them and giving them one of these ten things mentioned above, and you might make someone's day:)

The next Bright Lights meeting is this Monday, 18th May 2009. Check the email for details!:)

Meanwhile, we will try our best to post more often. LOL:)

Update: Arguing

2009-03-12T19:43:00.000-07:00

"We all face irritations and the temptation to respond in harsh, unkind, prideful, or annoyed ways. So how can we “do all things without murmurings and disputings” as Philippians 2:14 commands? Is it possible? After all, doesn't everyone get into arguments?" - Quote from Bright Lights Set 5 Meeting 5.

Going through the lesson, we learnt that arguing happens when...

we take things in to our own hands in order to get our own way.

we see things only from our own perspective.

we stand up for our rights.

we love ourselves more then our neighbour.

we have an expectation of others.

May God give us all the grace to be humble and not argue!

ATII conference, Melaka

2008-11-16T03:58:00.000-08:00

Next up was the ATI conference, which was held in Melaka and was 11-13 September. The girls who came participated very well, considering the fact that the age gap was ranging from 6-year-olds to 13- or 14-year-olds! During large group, although the younger ones did get a little antsy (it had been a long day) they all still managed to pay attention and take part in the activities. Some of the girls were quiet at first, but since it was over three days, they warmed up some. :) Here are a few pictures:

DAY ONE
Large group! The girls, especially the younger ones really enjoyed the singing, which I believe is what we're doing in the picture. :)
This year there were a whole lot of new crafts, specially planned by Carolyn and Cassandra Lo! Here is my group (12 little girls!) making a little memory verse booklet.

DAY TWO - field day! We rode buses out to the forest, where the ALERT Cadet was, for the whole afternoon. Led by Major Farr, we had a "paralympics" theme, where each team could compete in discus, javelin, Olympic torch relay, shot put and long jump. The girls always enjoy field day cuz it's like going on an excursion. :)
On the bus ride, which was filled with laughter and singing
The final heats! haha.. I think they're doing the javelin throw, which is really a foam noodle
Besides using our muscles (?) we had to use our brains. Using simple materials such as a styrofoam cup, plastic spoon, ice-cream sticks, tape and a mousetrap, we had to make a catapault to fling an eraser as far as possible. Most of the catapaults basically looked like this. And I think the record distance was about 12 feet!:)
This was another project we had to use our brains for. We had to build a boat out of, again, basic items, like a CD, a cup, straws, tape and a plastic bag. The boat which could contain the most pennies without capsizing won. It turned out that the youngest group held the record of 285 pennies!
The teams walking back to the bus at the end of the afternoon... it was a pretty long walk but the girls were good sports about it. :) My group in particular liked to run...

Aileen (from my group): Can we run noww?? Pleeeaase?
Me: Okay, you can run.
Girls: *feet pounding the road*
Me: Okay, STOP!
Charity: Stop so fast?? I wanna runnn!
Me: No, you see, coz we caught up with the other people alreadyyy.. if you want to run, we have to walk slowly, and then once they are further away, we can run. Okay?
Aileen: Oh! OKAY! Charity, we have to walk slow slow!

DAY THREE
Here's the girls performing at the Parent Presentation! They did several memory verses (with actions!), and a few songs too. Parent Presentations always are a little confusing, but by God's grace everything went smoothly!
Some final pictures before at the end of the day... This was the last day and so a lot of pictures were being taken.
All the leaders from the ATI conference 2008! We really thank God because everything went well, the girls were mostly cooperative, and we had enough strength for each day! Without Him, we wouldn't have made it, that I'm sure!:)

This video is of the girls singing a song entitled God's Word Abides Forever during the Parent Presentation. The song was composed by Grace, just the night before the conference began! The girls really loved the song. :) Grace did a very good job with it! :) haha.. okay, that's all!<3

Strong in the Lord conference in Singapore

2008-11-16T02:56:00.001-08:00

I thought that I'd also add more pictures and such on what Jolynn already said about the conferences... Of course, it wasn't all play play play; we had lotsa work during the conferences! :) haha. But it was a "good" sort of work. :) So this is the Strong in the Lord conference, 6th September: My group! It was nice having Emily as an assistant and Phoebe, who was not actually an assistant but a "talker", getting the other girls to respond too.

Sitting in the church during large group
"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your father which is in heaven." ~Matthew 5:16

Outings with Bright Lights girls

2008-11-16T02:12:00.000-08:00

I just thought I would add some things to what Jolynn posted before this.
It was a blessing having the Bright Lights team from America come to Singapore and Malaysia! They were very encouraging to all of us, and a huge blessing in many ways! Without them, all the conferences would be impossible. :) Here are some of the places we went with them in Singapore while they were with us in September...
Hort Park! (Dani's hilarious...)
East Coast Park! It was so hot. Haha:) It was their first day here and we went on a long, long bike ride from ECP to Changi and back. Even though they were jet-lagged, they still managed the ride really well!
From left to right: Liz, Priscilla, Petra, Naomi and Chrissy

Little India: Chelsea takes a big bite of Sev Puri or something of the sort
Singapore Zoo, on a tram ride!
On the ferry to Pulau Ubin where we went cycling on a tough terrain trail. It was pretty challenging, but fun, and we were rewarded by a lot of food at Auntie Suzi's house after that. :)
Sentosa: Jolynn, Sarah, Chrissy, Abigail and Nickie, who is talking about a concept in Bright Lights
Chrissy and Dani chased this gecko they found at the beach, and they actually caught it (in Chrissy's shirt) and played with it, to the terror (?) of some of the girls. :)
Dani and Chrissy proudly holding their new friend Balancing on a coconut tree! It was not easy to stand up there! haha.

We miss the Bright Lights girls very, very much! It was great having them, and we sure enjoyed it too! <3

Bright Lights conferences 2008

2008-10-31T18:32:00.000-07:00

This year, there were five Bright Lights conferences held in 3 different cities in South East Asia: Singapore, Malacca and Kuala Lumpur.

Thank God for all the opportunities we had!

Singapore:

Malacca:

Kuala Lumpur:

What did you benefit from the conferences you attended?

Standing Alone

2008-09-03T06:42:00.000-07:00

Our most recent Bright Lights meeting on August 18 was Standing Alone, which is the last topic for Set 4!

Standing Alone:
-Engraft the sword of the spirit into your life ["But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear"~I Peter 3:15]
-Choose to live in the fear of the Lord not the fear of man ["And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."~Mt 10:28]
-Place your faith in the Lord knowing you are never alone ["Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied."I Sam 17:45]
-Purpose to rejoice in every opportunity you have to suffer for Christ [Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.~Mt 5:10-12]

Pictures! We had a really fun activity, by Evangeline and Priscilla, where we were divided into two groups and each round, each group would send up a participant, who would be blindfolded and then fed some kind of food. The first girl to guess what food it was won that round. And my group won! And they made me eat bittergourd. Yuck! :) But it was a whole lotta fun, with each team cheering each other on, and really making a lot of noise. :)

Petra blindfolded by Priscilla's belt... at least she's happy!:D
Naomi and Abigail waiting while Pris and Evan got the food... some of the food was easy to guess, like peanut butter, or carrot sticks. But others were really hard, such as Japanese rice, or macadamia nuts (which some hadn't eaten much of), or green raisins. :)
Phoebe pretends she can see:)
Natalie has a victory pose!
Priscilla Fong and Danielle Moi up against each other!
Gabrielle laughs (I like this picture:))
After about 10 or so rounds, some of the girls sabotaged Pris and Evan (who had done a great job, by the way) after that and made them get blindfolded and eat the food! It was hilarious.
<--The two of them in their matching striped hoodies while waiting for the rest of the girls who had gone scouting round the house for some food to feed them... At first it was going to be garlic, but they decided it was too mean and in the end fed them laksa leaves. :) Haha.

Finally:
["Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest." Joshua 1:9] Have a great week!:)

Pray for the Nations Day!

2008-09-01T06:43:00.000-07:00

On Aug 4, since it was near Singapore's National Day, we had a Bright Lights meeting that wasn't actually a normal session but one where we wore different national costumes/attire of a particular nation and brought food from that country as well. :) Here are some photos from that day!
It started with singing lessons as usual, with Ms. Hazel. Phoebe played her flute, which was nice:)
Evangeline singing some songs for us!
Ms. Hazel shares some facts and prayer needs for the Philippines
Petra, Suyin and I: India!
Natalie: Sweden!
Priscilla: Japan!
Abigail: America!
Evangeline (left): Vietnam!
Phoebe (right): Jordan!
Jumping for Joy!!:)
Natalie, Petra, Danielle and Naomi leaping in the air too:)A surprise birthday brownie for Evangeline!:)
After the whole thing, we played Captain's Ball around the cul-de-sac. It was so fun!:) We had quite a lot of people to participate, so that was good.
Josiah grabs the ball from Priscilla!

We thank God that He has blessed Singapore in so many ways and that we all are in His family! Remember to pray for the Nations around us. :) God bless!

Wedding singing

2008-08-30T03:20:00.001-07:00

On July 26, some of us Bright Lights girls went to sing at a wedding of some friends of the Moi's who are from Rangers! The song we sang was titled Cherish the Treasure. We really thank God because we only had one practice before the day itself, but by His grace it turned out pretty okay! :) And I think we all enjoyed ourselves.
Practicing the singing before the wedding - we had to memorize the score, but thankfully there was a mini screen of which we could see the words. :)
More practicing... Philip and Nathaniel sang with us too!
Doing the photo shoot after the practice! [we could relax a little bit:)] From left to right: Danielle Moi, Gabrielle, Abigail, Petra, me, Evangeline, Phoebe and Priscilla.
Making a star with our pretty shoes:)
Some of the lyrics of the songThe 'Angelic Voices' (as the MC called us) taking a picture with the couple, Kum Kit and Stephanie
These were the cute little chocolates that were served at the reception... chocolicious!

This is a video my mom took of us singing the song... it's kinda soft, but yeah, hope you all enjoy seeing it! :) And that's it! God bless!

{Courtship}

2008-08-30T02:52:00.001-07:00

July 21, 2008: We had Bright Lights at the Sandquist's house! The topic was Courtship. We listened to the CD by Sarah Mally and a testimony by Chrissy Baskerville.

A few basic concepts and commitments:
-If we truly desire God's best in our marriage, not only must we be willing to wait for God's choice, we must also be preparing ourselves to be the best marriage partner that we can be. The way to find a mate is not to look but to prepare.
-Christians must marry Christians - "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?" II Corinthians 6:14
-God works through authorities (our parents and those He has put as authorities over you) so we should choose to follow our parents' direction and work together with them.
-Rather than beginning the painful cycle of dating and breaking up, wait for the Lord to bring the right person into your life.
-Be commited to the highest standards of purity so that you will be able to tell your future mate you saved everything for him.

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."

This is a looong marshmallow stick that Evangeline brought back from her trip to Italy! It was very sweet of her to buy things for us - we got a whole bunch of stuff, besides some of the marshmallows. :)
Learning how to make apple crisps, taught by Aunty Lisa and Emily Marie (they were good!)
The finished apple crisps! On the left side you can see all the skins of the green apples we peeled and peeled and peeled. :)
Celebrating Priscilla's birthday (which was on today itself)! The cake (which was mint and chocolate...yum!) was baked by Phoebe I think. Happy birthday, Pris!:)
We all had a good time of fellowship at Bright Lights. Also, it was the Robertson's last time attending our meeting!:) May God bless your week!
*pictures by phoebe!

Polluting Influences - July 7, 2008

2008-08-28T04:50:00.000-07:00

Hello everybody,
Once again here I am with a blog post which is not in chronological order with the next two. :P This is before the Lohs left for Canada - the last Bright Lights meeting that they attended!

The topic was Polluting Influences:

~Do you know what is pollution?
Water, streams, lakes, air, fields, food, our bodies etc. can all be polluted.

~What pollutes it? The things that pollute it include:
Garbage, chemicals, preservatives, ozone, dirt, clutter, plastics, litter, germs, toxins, drugs etc.

~Our bodies can be polluted by what we eat and breathe, but do you know that our mind, soul, and spirit can also be polluted? In Matthew chapter 15, the scribes and Pharisees came to Jesus and complained that His disciples didn't wash their hands before they ate. But Jesus explained to them that it is the inside, and not the outside, that defiles us.

~Now that we know that our mind, body, soul, and spirit can be polluted, do you know exactly WHAT pollutes it?

~Things that pollute our mind include:
False concepts, wrong words, evil words, improper attitudes, nonspiritual heroes, a rebellious spirit, goals of the world, fads of the world, bad pictures, wrong advice, desire for wealth, fears, etc.

~So what IS our goal? Our goal is to "escape the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (II Peter 2:20).

~Dangers to avoid:
- The danger of considering yourself strong enough to withstand polluting influences and not let them hurt you. Do you take poison and say, "My body is strong enough to fight it off!" ???

- The danger of believing that there are no polluting influences in your life.

I Corinthians 6:19-20 says, "or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit."

Conclusion: Be careful about the things that may pollute our minds, soul and spirit - these things pollute our lives and this hinders our testimony for the LORD as Bright Lights.

And on to the Kodak (no, I mean Canon) moments!:)

We celebrated Priscilla and Carmen's birthdays with these yummilicious cupcakes baked With Much Love by Priscilla and Phoebe! They were faburiffic. :)
And a different angle... They were soooo delicious and I was greatly honored to get two! haha:)
Pris and Carmmie blow out the candles (this store-boughten cake wasn't as nice as the cupcakes)
Some kuehs to go with our tea party (the moms said we were very much privileged to get two tea parties in a row because we had one last Bright Lights too!)Auntie Suzanna praying for the birthday girls
All the Bright Lights girls... from the oldest, Emily Marie, at 18 to the youngest, Danielle Moi at 9. We managed to get up on this wall with quite a bit of difficulties, but we got up all the same! Yay! :D
We did baking... or cooking rather - it was mashed potatoes with a tomato filling, recipe courtesy of Evangeline. They were a blast!
So sweet right? Both in blue:)
Emily, Autumn, Vicky and I hanging out after dinner:)
And finally: Priscilla and Evangeline with Vicky and Johanna. We played Blow Wind Blow and it was especially amusing because those two little ones sat on Evan and Pris and so it was hilarious seeing them trying to change places and such. :)

{Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God} II Corinthians 7:1

May God bless your week, all! :)
*text by Carmen [as it was her last meeting attended] and pictures and post by Danielle

Friends!

2008-07-30T10:15:00.000-07:00

Our Bright Lights meeting topic on June 23 was Friends. A very important topic:) Some things we learnt:

"He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed."
~Proverbs 13:20

There are three significant decisions that every person will make or has made:
1. How we respond to authority
2. What friends we will choose
3. Whether we will be a 'giver' or a 'taker'

-We will be very influenced by whom we choose as our friends. If we desire to be strong in the Lord, we need to be discerning as to which friends influence us in which ways, whether right or wrong, godly or worldly.
-Some young ladies struggle with their friendships. They might feel they have no friends, or they have difficulties in their relationships. These problems can be cleared up if we focus on being a giver rather than a taker - focus on how to be a friend rather than have friends.

Ways to be a giver:
-Have genuine LOVE
-See other's needs and take initiative to make friends with them
-Be sensitive
-Be compassionate
-Be loyal
-Be faithful
-Have a servant's heart
-A smile always brightens someone's day!
-Look for people to encourage and praise

And above all, our closest friends should be our family, and even more importantly, Jesus Christ. He is THE BEST friend anyone could ever have. So talk to Him, and walk close to Him!:)

Now on to the pictures! (Phoebe has some nice ones of the tea party, so hopefully she'll post that on sometime)

Ms. Hazel teaching singing warm-ups! Lalala...
Abi and Ms. Hazel... Don't they look like sisters?Auntie Linda Robertson giving a slideshow presentation on the Robertson's ministry work overseas
The girls attentively listening to the presentation:)
The moms lovingly prepared a delicious tea for us! Yum yum... There was curry, baguettes, some different kinds of kueh, cake, and other YUMMY things. Thank you, moms!Priscilla's small group!
These little origami baskets that we learnt to make are supposed to represent friendship - friends carry one another's burdens, and you can put something sweet in the basket to give to a friend (this picture's a little over-exposed... apologies all round!)We made a little 'circle of friends' around Carmen and Joy and said words of love and encouragement to them... I'm sorry, I don't know what else to call it!:P
And of course, we've got to have in a picture of the little cuties. So that's me with Maryann and Gloria... they're SO fun to have around! Really. :)

We had the privilege of listening to Ashley and Autumn sing a beautiful song for us... It's really sweet! May you all be blessed in listening to them and in reading this post!

Have a great day, and God bless you!:)

P.S. I'm sorry, this post and the following one are not posted chronologically. This one was before the Lohs left. My bad. :P

Goodbye Loh family...

2008-07-30T07:22:00.000-07:00

So the Loh family (comprising of Carmen, Joy, uncle Jonathan and auntie Jackie) left for their Big Move to Canada on the 17th of July! There were a whole lot - I mean a whole lot - of people there to see them off! It was saddening, to see such a dearly loved family leave, but we know that it is all in God's plan and we'll meet again, right?
And on to the pictures...
Carmen and Suyin...Carmen and Abigail...
Carmen and Liz...
The three sweeeet little girls who came too! (Gloria, Maryann and Cheryl)
Auntie Suzi is directing us on a verse we had to recite with actions for the Loh family. It's pretty funny.
We sang the song that we always try to sing at airports when people leave... (notice I said try to sing... it doesn't quite work most of the time, because most people start to cry) Anyway, it's I Will Be Your Shield. A really beautiful song.More singing... We got stared at by passers-by but that was okay:)
A cute cheerful little flower thing from the Moi family. It's really amusing. And you can see Carmen and Phoebe crying in the background... I hope they don't kill me for this:) just kidding:)
A word of prayer for the family before they made their departure
Walking through the airport

So remember to keep them in prayer okay? Pray that they can adjust quickly to life in Canada and that they can settle into their new home. And that's all. God bless, everyone! :)

Our Words

2008-06-22T03:50:00.000-07:00

Hi all, I know it's been a really long time since this Bright Lights meeting that we had on May 26, and I'm sorry it took me so long to post it over here. So anyway, here's what we learnt and some pictures to go with it. :)

Our Words
"Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer." ~Psalm 19:14
Here are five ways we should not use our words:
1. Bad Words (swearing, cursing)
2. Harmful Words (gossip, blame, teasing, criticism)
3. False Words (lying, exaggeration, deceit)
4. Proud Words
5. Inappropriate or Unnecessary Words

~ The tongue may be little, but it has an incredible power - power to bring life or death (Prov. 18:21), and our words can pierce like a double-edged sword.

Benefits When We Use Our Tongue Wisely:
-You will have joy (Prov 15:23)
-You will nourish many people spiritually (Prov 10:21)
-You will bring healing to others (Prov 12:18)
-It will guard your life (Prov 13:3)
-You will see good days (I Pet 3:10)
-You will be kept from calamity (Prov. 21:23)
-You will be able to keep every other area of your life in check (Jas 3:2)

Three Best Ways
Three of the best ways to use our words are found in Psalm 100:4, which says simply, "Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name."
1. Praise
We should praise God, praise others, and praise God to others.
2. Thanksgiving
We should not take things for granted but instead have an attitude of thanksgiving, "...for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." I Thess 5:18
3. Blessing

We played the Telephone game to show how words, like gossip, can change.

"The Indonesian prawn crackers are good!"

"The Indonesian pastor threw a light stick."

"The Indonesian lipstick."

(Don't ask me how they changed so dramatically, but that's how the message really went!)

My small group sharing testimonies

Abigail teaching with an awesome mind map she drew

Priscilla's group!

After dinner, we all played Taboo (that just so happened also to have something to do with words; in fact, it's about being careful about what words you say.)

Taboo from a different angle:)

Okay, that's all! I hope you all had a lot of fun at the recent IBLP seminar! I know I did! :) Have a great week, girls! :)

Update

2008-05-29T15:56:00.000-07:00

Hello!

How are all of you?

Wow, looks like you've all been having fun Bright Lights meetings!

Things have been going well for me.
I'm at a more interesting part of my stay here when I'm travelling around and not just staying at the Indianapolis Training Centre. I'm currently in Chicago at IBLP's headquarters and it has been so nice being here after hearing so much about the place.

Its getting very pretty around here now. It is supposed to be spring so there are lots of beautiful flowers everywhere.

One verse that I've been meditating on is Psalms 139:23-24
It says: "Search me, O God, and know my heart, try me and know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting."
I have been thinking about how important our heart is recently.
I was also reading a book and it was talking about the difference between learning spiritual truths with our intellect and with our heart. When we learn spiritual truths with our intellect, we are just learning with our brain that is why we sometimes find it so hard to apply it into our lives. It is only when we learn with our heart that we have really learned it.
Wow, this is hard to explain!
Anyways, I guess I'm just making sure that I am using my heart to think and learn spiritual truths and not just storing the information up in my brain.

Time has passed so quickly!
I can't imagine its almost June;)
I have been in Chicago for the past two weeks. I'll be leaving here for Wisconsin this weekend and will be staying there with a friend for a week. Then I'll be going back to Indianapolis for 3 weeks, then I'll be coming back to Chicago, going to Northwoods and then to Iowa to visit the Mally's. Just thought I would give you an update on what I'm doing;)

It was really nice how things worked out in the end. I think I told some of you about how one of my courses was canceled and that I would have had 5 weeks with nothing to do as a result of that, but God worked it out and I got to do so much more instead. I got to come here (Chicago) for another course which was really interesting and also to visit a friend I got to know on one of my courses-that's the friend in Wisconsin;)

Its also been so funny to be here and meet Mr. Bill Gothard and speak with him.
You know how we spend long hours watching him speak at the Basic Seminar, and to actually see him in person feels weird. We went to his church last Sunday in the van with him and after church he asked us what we learned during the service! Good thing I had really enjoyed the service and learned something!

Sorry, I haven't been able to get access to the internet easily recently so have not been able to keep in touch. And I'm also kind of in a hurry now so this post is not as organized as I would like it!

Anyways, here are some more photos...

walking to a nearby town

The town!

Okay, I really have got to go.
So have a great day!!
Really missing all of you!

Love,
Jolynn

Total Dedication to God

2008-04-11T06:40:00.001-07:00

We had a Bright Lights meeting on the 7th April 2008! That was our last meeting for Set 1. We actually started set 1 again as the newer girls did not have a chance to go through set 1.

This week, we learnt about being fully dedicated to God:
~If we want to fully dedicate ourselves to God, we must love Him. If we love the Lord, we will dedicate ourselves to Him.
~God has given us everything we have, and he wants us to give our lives back to Him. (1 Cor 6:19-20)
~Our life goal is Colossians 1:10 - "That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God."
~God wants us to live our lives wholly for Him, and base our thoughts and actions not on earthly things that will perish but on heavenly things that will last for eternity (Matthew 6:19-21)
~God will bless us if we commit ourselves to living for Him. (Matthew 6:33)

Here are some affirmations for loving the Lord.
Affirmations for Loving the Lord:
- I will ask God to give me the grace to love Him.
- I will not withhold from God that which He asks of me.
- I will be alert to avoid loving anything more than I love the Lord.
- I will set aside my own desires to follow Christ.
- I will seek God with all my heart.
- I will learn to converse with God throughout the day.
- I will ask God to reveal and remove the secret sins of my heart.
- I will resist the devil's attempts to draw me away from God.
- I will learn and keep Christ's commands.
- I will meditate on God's Word.
- I will yield the members of my body to work out the righteousness of God.
- I will examine my love for God by evaluating my love for others.

And now, on to the pictures!:)

Doing singing exercises by Ms. Hazel

Evangeline playing If I Planted A Garden

Phoebe and Priscilla singing...
Lalalala...

Phoebe playing For the Beauty of the Earth
I am really proud of her because she played really well and it was her first time playing for us during singing:)

Pris sharing a testimony during large group

Fellowshipping after the meeting..
Smile, Suyin!:)

Phoebe and I cleaning up

Since we finished set 1, we celebrated with ice-cream sundaes! Yummy... Phoebe took some really nice pictures of them and so she'll be put them in another post.

May God bless all of you in your week as you do your schoolwork, housework and relate to people. Always remember to do everything for the Lord! Be strong in His mighty grace and power!

"Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ."
~2 Timothy 2:1-3~

*text by Carmen, pictures by Danielle:)

Accepting The Way God Create You!

2008-04-04T21:36:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

Hope you had enjoyed the last Bright Lights Meeting!

For those of you who couldn't make it, here are some pictures for you to see what we did!

Beauty of the heart, which is right before the Lord will last forever.

That is more important than outward beauty that will last of a short while.

Singing, Singing, Singing!

We learned a new Italian song: Non Nonbis, Domine

Large group: God made us all with different Characteristic.

Some may be Dominant, Influencing, Compliant or Stable.

Well, I'm not sure what this is called.

Maybe: writing-encouraging-notes-on-a-friends-back 'Caterpillar'.

We had a fun time indeed!

The happy faces shown while reading their encouraging notes!

Small group!

We also had a great time of singing and fellowshiping!

My group picture!

The younger girls doing their funny actions!

Great dinner prepared by our great moms!

I guess that's all! Thanks for reading, and hope to see you at our next Bright Lights Meeting!

I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

Thanks to the mothers who prepared the great dinner for us, Auntie Suzie and family for hosting, Danielle and Philip for some of the pictures, and of-course: Evangeline for making time to prepare for this meeting!

God bless you all!

P/S: I would like to add something encouraging that happen to me while posting this post:)

A reply to my dear friend- Danielle

Hey Danielle,

Thanks a lot! (for the second picture)
About the blog, I had some problem yesterday. My toolbar was missing, so I couldn't post pictures. Well, I was a lil angry because I had to sleep sooon. Today I prayed and asked God to forgive me, and guess what?! True enough, it worked!!!
God REALLY answers our prayers!

Thats all. And God bless!
Phoebe.

Thanks for the birthday blessings!!

2008-03-23T17:25:00.000-07:00

Hello!

I just wanted to write a short note to thank you all for all your birthday wishes!

I had a really great birthday. People here were very nice to remember my birthday, so it felt almost as if I were celebrating my birthday back at home;)

Here's a photo we took...

Thank you again! You have all been such a blessing to me!
Hope the rest of you who had birthdays in March had a great birthday too;)

Love,

Jolynn

The fear of the Lord

2008-03-16T19:38:00.000-07:00

What we do not understand, we fear. What we fear, we tend to worship.What we worship control us.

A very Blessed Birthday to everyone who were born in March!

(plus Jolynn)

The Cup-cakes that were made for them that day by Evangeline and Priscilla.

Blue icing for blue cup-cakes!

The pretty cup-cakes!

Each of the cupcakes have an alphabet which says: HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Those who were born in March!

Petra (whose birthday was at that same day!), Hannah, Charissa, Faith and Danielle!

Mess up time!!

I hope everyone enjoyed the cup-cake!

Thanks to Auntie Ruth and her family for opening her house!

God bless you and have a great week ahead.

Blessed Birthday Jolynn!

2008-03-16T02:38:00.000-07:00

Dear Jolynn,

Wishing you a Blessed Birthday!

These cup cakes were made for those who were born in March at our last Bright Lights Meeting. And of-course, we had you in mind:)

May God bless your many birthdays to come!

Jeremiah 29:11

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end."

We miss you,

Phoebe and everyone in Bright Lights.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOLYNN!!! :)

2008-03-15T07:35:00.000-07:00

Surprise, surprise!! Happy 17th birthday, Jolynn! :) We appreciate you very, very much and you have been a wonderful channel of God's blessings to our lives! We thank the LORD for you and for making all our paths cross! We have been so encouraged, blessed, taught, and influenced by you to be godly young women for Christ! Joyful Organized
Loving

Youthful
Noble
Nurturing
Jolynn, we pray that you'll continue to walk closely with the LORD and always be the cheerful young lady He has made you to be! Keep shining as a Bright Light for Jesus! May God bless you abundantly as you serve Him in all that you do!

"And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love."

~1 Corinthians 13:13~

Always remember: We LOVE you! And God LOVES you too!!!

HELLO!

2008-03-14T08:53:00.000-07:00

How are all of you?
Looks like you've been having a great time at the last few Bright Lights meetings!

I can't believe how quickly time has passed... Can you believe I've been in the US for one and a half months already?

Looking back, I'm so grateful to God for all that's happened so far. I remember the morning I left, I felt really scared. I had been telling everyone that I would be okay by myself, even feeling surprised that they actually thought I wouldn't be. But as I left that day, the realisation suddenly came: that I would be away from everyone and everything I knew and loved and was going to a place where I knew no one. It was not a reassurring thought. But then I was reminded that there was nothing to fear for God was with me. So that has been a really comforting thought all the time I've been here;)

I've grown to really love the training centre here. The place, my room, the people. Its an amazing environment. Think a never ending ATI conference in Malacca. The people here have a close walk with God and are inspiring to me. Its not unusual during mealtimes here for someone to sit down and just start sharing about what God has been teaching them.

There's really been lots going on in my mind, that I've been learning this past month. There's so much I can share with you that I don't think it can fit in this post!

Well, the my first course just ended yesterday, so I was reflecting about the class and all.
When I started my music harmony class, I did not know what to expect. I thought that it should be fairly easy – wasn't harmony just about following rules? Or so I thought... Well, it wasn't exactly difficult, but it was certainly alot of mind work. The first phase was hard, but it got easier as I learnt more. Still, I could never have done it without God's help. At times, my emotions would get the better of me and I would just feel like giving up. Some days we worked on harmony from 9am-9pm with just a 15 minutes break after meals. But through it all God's grace, God's grace and only God's grace that helped me pull through. I am overwhelmed when I think of all the difficulties I faced in harmony but how God yet again was faithful.
I was reading II Corinthians 1:9-10 the other day and it was again a reminder of that.

It reads: "But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that He will yet deliver us."

But yet, in the midst of all those difficulties, there were happy times during the course. The walks we would take as a short break, the morning devotions when we shared what God was teaching us and the mealtimes when everyone would exchange funny stories.

Definitely the best thing I liked from the course was learning how to compose music and arrange vocal music. It was something I never even dreamed that I would ever be able to do, so I was encouraged that it could be done;) My classmate and I each chose to arrange a girl's choir piece. The one I arranged is called "My Song of Jesus" and the one my classmate arranged is called "Before the Throne". The thing I find the most meaningful about the songs are the words. I will probably be sending it to you soon, and it'll be great if you could all learnt to sing it!

Okay, so that's about all the news that I have:)
Below are some photos...

SNOW!

More snow....or maybe its ice...hmm

The training centre's fleet of vans!
(We took the school bus to church last sunday;)

icicles}}

A trip to starbucks last weekend.
That was really fun!
Hadn't had coffee for a long time;)

My classmate and I had some fun writing words in the snow;)

A class photo that we took for my music harmony course

I wanted to share with you a song that I've been loving a lot the past weeks.
Its called: "By the Gentle Waters"
Go to this link to listen to it and see the lyrics:
http://www.walkinthelight.ca/psalm%2023.htm

So, have a great day! And may God's strength and peace be with you;)

Lots of love,
Jolynn

Bright Lights Meeting on 25 February 2008

2008-02-28T01:48:00.000-08:00

Last Monday at Bright Lights we learnt about Developing a Disciplined Walk With God.

-Being disciplined is not a punishment, it is like a healthy habit - we do it because not only we have to, we want to be disciplined in God's eyes. (Proverbs 1:7-9)
-If we discipline ourselves in reading the Bible, praying and memorizing Bible verses we will have a closer relationship with God. (Colossians 3:16)
-If we have a close relationship with God, we will be blessed. (Joshua 1:8)

And.. here are the pictures!

Singing For the Beauty of the Earth

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord!

And, we celebrated Suyin's 15th birthday too! Her birthday is actually on the 26th of February:) We love you lots, Suyin! Continue to walk closely with God and radiate his love! You're such a sweet girl!

The lovely cake is baked by the Fong family. It's very delicious!

Happy birthday to you,
Be a Bright Light pure and true,
Keep shining in all you do,
May God bless you!

We did a fun activity - making magnets out of Plaster of Paris and painting them (it was planned by Priscilla)! We all had a good time.

Well, we really missed all of you who didn't come. We hope to catch up with you all sometime! Have a great week and hope to see all of you at the next meeting! :) God bless.

Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.
With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.
Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
Blessed art thou, O LORD: teach me thy statutes.
With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth.
I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches.
I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways.
I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.
~Psalm 119:9-16~

Bright Lights Meeting on 11 Feb 08

2008-02-14T01:59:00.000-08:00

Here are the pictures from the Bright Lights meeting! :-)

The moms having their Bible Study

(Clock-wise from left: aunty Ruth, aunty Sarah, aunty Sek Jen, aunty Jackie, my mom, aunty Jenny)

The Chandeliers having small group

(Clock-wise from left: Annabelle, Elizabeth, Petra, Evangeline, Carmen)

The Sparklers playing pictionary! (They had words like clear-conscience, forgiveness, resurrection, guilty-conscience, radiant, and so on!)

Clock-wise from bottom left: Naomi, Natalie, Rebecca, Hannah, Joy

My group (the Sparklers) baking raisin-oat bars taught by Emily Marie

Naomi and Rebecca baking!

And here we are mixing the yu sheng! (courtesy of aunty Jenny - not the pictures; the yu sheng, I mean)

"Let's eat it quickly before Uncle Bernard comes and finishes it!"

Evangeline: "Girls! The traditional way to eat yu sheng is from the plate, not from the table!"

"Let's hurry and get done with this so we can eat!"

Many hands make work light!

Yup, that's it! And we missed all of you who couldn't make it! :-) See you at the next meeting!

P.S. I think Carmen did a great job on the post about the topic of Keeping a Clear Conscience! :-)

Bright Lights meetings on 11 Feb 2008

2008-02-14T00:43:00.000-08:00

Our Bright Lights meeting on 11 Feb 2008 was the first meeting we ever had without Jolynn, now that she's in the States!

We learned about gaining a clear conscience.
What does a good conscience involve?
- Every thought (II Cor. 10:5)
- Every word (Matt. 12:36)
- Every deed (II Cor. 5:10)
- Every motive (Jeremiah 17:9-10)
- Every attitude (Prov. 6:13-14)

There are eight attitudes to help us gain a clear conscience:
1. Poor in spirit -- One who is bankrupt, e.g., a beggar. We should be grateful for what we have.
2. True mourning -- Breaking up the hardness of our hearts.
3. Meekness -- Yielding our rights to the Lord.
4. Spiritual hunger -- Hunger and thirst for righteousness.
5. Mercy -- Clearing our conscience.
6. Peaceableness -- Making consolation. Peace = making the first step to ask for forgiveness. Clearing our conscience.
7. Purity of heart -- Dealing with our root problems.
8. Willingness to suffer -- Clearing our conscience. It may be painful. Humble ourselves. When we have this attitude, God will give us grace.

Hi from USA!

2008-02-11T18:55:00.000-08:00

A big HELLO from Indianapolis, USA!

How are you all doing? (pls post comments if you don't write emails;)

Things here have been going well for me. I was a little homesick and depressed the first week I was here, but by God's grace I overcame that. Well, so much has happened since I said a teary goodbye to all of you at Changi airport. It is almost two weeks since I left! I don't know where I should start to tell you about all I've learned so far.

Here are some photos to start of...

me, studying in the classroom.

(my hand is on my forehead cause I'm thinking hard to find a solution to a harmony problem)

my course-mates and I at Wal-mart

(there are just 3 of us on this course)

having lunch in the dining room

(I usually share a table with these girls)

The view outside my window.

Anyways, just thought I'ld share with you one way that God worked in my life last week.

So here goes....

The story starts when I was feeling homesick and depressed, as I mentioned before. The reason I was feeling that way was rather selfish. You see, I had been here almost a week and I had been no where except church and the statehouse. And I'm so used to going out everyday in Singapore and being able to go out whenever I wanted to. Well, its different here! I'm not allowed to go out alone because the area is unsafe. Anyway, I really, really , really wanted to go out. So I prayed to God that I would be able to go out. But I also complained to my mom and some friends about it.

The next day, I was reading Luke 15. Its the chapter about the prodigal son. The verses that really stood out to me were verses 17-19. In these verses, the prodigal son reflects on his situation and asks himself what is he doing feeding the pigs and perishing in hunger when he had a rich father whose servants lived a better life then him. I know this is not the normal way we would interpret this passage, but to me, it seemed that God was saying: why are you lamenting about not being able to go out. You can't do anything about it but I can! Don't you believe that I can make it possible for you? Can I not do everything? Haven't you heard testimonies of how I answer the prayers of those who serve me?

It was amazing to me how the prodigal son had no doubt that his father could help him. So in the same way, I then prayed that God would take away my will and make it His. And that I would believe that if it were God's will for me to go out it would come to pass.

The next day, I heard some girls mentioning over lunch that there was a shopping trip planned to wal-mart for that day. I was really excited and asked if I could go, but they said that normally music students couldn't go as the trip was planned for the staff at the training centre. So I was sad, but I thought it was God's will so I didn't really mind. Later on, I heard someone mentioning that the trip was full already so I thought well, anyway I couldn't have gone. And it was amazing how many times God tested me, how many times I gave up complete hope of going out on that shopping trip. So throughout the day I wanted to ask if there was anyway that I could go, but I didn't really dare to, so I prayed that my room-mate would want to go to and ask for me. Well, the shopping trip was to be at 7pm that day and at 5pm still nothing had happened. Then around 5.15pm, I was working in my room and my room-mate suddenly came in and said she was going to ask if she could go for the shopping trip. So I told her to ask for me too. I was so excited, thinking that I would finally get to go! But she came back and told me that the shopping trip was indeed full and there were 3 of us on the waiting list. So I thought nevermind...maybe it isn't God's will. Then at dinner, we met the girl who was driving everyone there and she said she would check and see if there was any extra space like if anyone decided not to go. So at 7pm that day, when the shopping trip was supposed to be, we went downstairs and asked how the situation was. And you know what? There was just enough space for EVERYONE to go!

Wow, I'm sorry, that was a really long story!

But I hope you understand my point. Wanting to go out on a shopping trip was a really small thing. I mean, it was a want, not even a need. But we have a great God cares about the desires of our heart. Isn't that wonderful? He might not always answer our prayers exactly the way we tell him to, but he knows what's best for us.

Actually, the real end of my story is that last Sunday, I managed to meet up with a lady who is the daughter of our pastor in Singapore. She brought me out and offered to bring me to the stores to buy some things I need this coming Sunday. She's really nice! So God really answered my prayer in more ways then one.

So, that's just one of the things I learnt last week. I'm currently taking a course in Principles of harmony and will be doing this for the next month. Its a great course of study, examining what goes into pleasing music and we are learning how to compose music too!

So I hope you are all doing well. How did the last Bright Lights meeting go?

I thought I'ld end with this hymn that I heard for the first time last week at church. Its called "The old fashioned way". It really reminded me of how in our Christian walk we should not be ashamed of being called old-fashioned in our convictions and ideas but to declare that what is right is what I will do.

They call me old-fashioned because I believe
That the Bible is God's Holy Word.
That Jesus who lived among men long ago
Is divine and the Christ of God

Chorus
My sin was old-fashioned, My guilt was old-fashioned,
God's love was old-fashioned I know, And the way I was saved was the old-fashioned way, Through the blood that makes whiter than snow.

Old-fashioned, because I believe and accept
Only what has been spoken from heav'n;
Old-fashioned, because at the cross I was saved,
At the cross I had my sin forgiv'n.

Old-fashioned, because I am bound to do right,
To walk in the straight, narrow way;
Because I have given my whole life to God,
Old-fashioned because I pray.

Have a great day as you continue to shine as a Bright Light to those around you.

God bless,
Jolynn