lundi 30 juin 2003
I Can Only Imagine...
I guess I got my day off after all, although I worked from home instead. I still have tons to do but I'll do them tomorrow morning.
One of the girls that I work with recently went through her mom's death and today was her mom's funeral. When we all heard that her mom died, it was such a shock because we didn't expect it to be so sudden. I don't know this girl that well but she has been so strong throughout these last few years, watching her mom battle cancer. I can't imagine what that would be like and I don't want to. Please lift this girl and her family up in your prayers and pray that God would bring them through this time. Pray for His comforting hand to be upon the family and that they would rest in His peace and grace. One of the guys that I work with said something that was really profound, he said that this is the time when Christians should act most like Christians. How we should show our love and reach out in community to our fellow brothers and sisters even more. I wholeheartedly agree. I praise God that this woman was a Christian, because I know that her family is now left with the certainty of her destiny rather than feeling the anguish of confusion and mystery.
I can only imagine what it will be like
When I walk by your side
I can only imagine what my eyes will see
When your face is before me
I can only imagine
Surrounded by your glory
What will my heart feel
Will I dance for you Jesus
Or in awe of you be still
Will I stand in your presence
Or to my knees will I fall
Will I sing hallelujah
Will I be able to speak at all
I can only imagine
I can only imagine
I can only imagine when that day comes
And I find myself standing in the Son
I can only imagine when all I will do
Is forever, forever worship you
I can only imagine
I can only imagine
- mercyme "I Can Only Imagine"
Kate and family, my prayers are with you.
Libellés : songs
The centre of my joy
Phew, what a day! I just love Sunday morning driving (especially at 7am!) and belting out to praise songs on the radio :) That and I got a parking spot at church! Anyways, I was originally supposed to watch my friend TD but at the last minute, I filled in for PowerPoint (which I later found out was an answer to prayer hehe). There was a famous couple sitting in our congregation so during the 11:00am service, we made jokes about how we shouldn't screw up the tech... not that we would though! We also started a pool on when the TD was going to propose to his girlfriend but I don't think we ever got around to picking the dates.
I had a nice afternoon nap, which was a great way of escaping the heat. Usually it's not that hot here, but in the summer the weather can get almost swampy. I personally prefer 15-20 degree weather with a nice breeze; anything over 30 makes me agitated and gives me insomnia at night. Another reason why I love winter!
I have to work tomorrow but I just realized that the whole church is taking the next two days off, so even if I do go, I won't have access to anything I need! So I think I will take the day off :D It just means that I have to come in at 7am on Canada Day but I finally get a day off along with everyone else!
Sometimes in the daily course of life, I forget about the most important thing in life. I took communion today, but I was thoroughly distracted by the chatter on the clearcom, so I never really had the chance to reflect on what Christ did for us and how He took the penalty for us. One of our pastors was talking about the cross and its crossbeams. She explained how the cross showed the width of God's love and the height of His holiness, and how Christ looked up to His Father with His arms outstretched to the world.
In a little while I will go for you,
in a little while I will bleed for you.
In a little while I will hang for you,
in a little while I will call for you.
You, I only want to spend my time with you.
I cracked my skin so I could be with you.
I made the world to stop it just for you,
I want to be with you.
- Seven Places "Little"
samedi 28 juin 2003
Any other surprises?
Wow, yearbook actually went pretty well today! I finished all my pages so now I'm finally finished!! But what a year it's been: our editor was quarantined for a few weeks, one of our photographers lost her camera for a few months (it ended up being in her pastor's sock bin???), our editor then had to leave a month early for her missions trips, we had a major turnaround of staff halfway through the year (including our co-editor's departure and losing about 2 or 3 others), our computer kept shutting down on us as we were in the middle of working, our layout/photographer guy left for Sri Lanka for a few months, we lost a ton of important pictures, our computer then got hacked into and everything was corrupt (we thought we lost EVERYTHING!) so the hard drive had to be sent away to be completely wiped out, and I ended up being the only one in town after that to continue working on the yearbook. So needless to say, it's been a stressful year. And next year, I'll be the editor so I'm wondering what other challenges will come our way!
I have to wake up early tomorrow morning and watch my friend technical direct so I can learn more and get some experience in doing so. I'm not very aggressive so this may serve to be a problem! But I'll learn and it'll be all good. Speaking of which, I know 6 people who got a year older yesterday, crazy!! And the bad news is, I totally forgot :( Sorry!
"May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen."
- Hebrews 13:20-21
I used this verse a while back when I was talking about God's glory with my life group....
Libellés : college
"Memoirs of a Stolen Train Ride..."
I'm back... again for the second time today... (I count last night's as yesterday's!). Blogs are so much fun! You get to change things and add things depending on the way you feel; you have so much freedom to be creative :) The hard part is getting your screen to look like what you want it to!
Well, the picnic was a blast! We went on a little kids' train ride (recreating our childhood....!), then we tossed a football around and played with a super-cool frisbee that you can catch around your head! Unfortunately, I have an odd-shaped head (and a bad sense of sight!) so I was the only one who couldn't catch it. It was great getting together with old church friends, and I'm excited that we're going to make this a regular thing now. I just love that these girls have been there for me through so much and that our friendships are so strong, despite none of us having gone to the same school ('cept for a select few!). That is what true fellowship is all about....
This is getting quite long and I am working on the college yearbook all day tomorrow so I better go. I'm a little sad that my summer has so much stuff packed in it though. I don't even get Canada Day off - definitely a first!!
Libellés : friends
vendredi 27 juin 2003
Happy, happy, happy
Hello :) I changed some stuff on this blog, and I'm actually happy with this new colour! Plus, I don't have to bold everything to read it now! I am just so happy, I'm in a really great mood right now!
I'm so happy just to love you Jesus
I'm so happy singing everyday
I'm so happy just to love you Jesus
And give you all my praise
- Jachin Mullen "I'm So Happy"
I'm supposed to meet my friends for a picnic in about 10 minutes half way across town but my best friend doesn't seem to be home *shrug* so I kind of don't know what to do! Hey, she just called me and we're heading out. This should be good, the weather is absolutely gorgeous!
Libellés : songs
Let the little children come...
It's late and I should already be in bed because I have work tomorrow but I am up reading a blog, actually the blog of a person who inspired me to start my own. I've never met her but I can totally relate to a lot of her posts... and the neat thing is that she's in youth ministry too! Anyways, I feel I should credit her with a link, so lo and behold, it is mikao's world.
It just hit me that my blog looks extremely juvenile. And I almost felt ashamed for it. But these comforting words helped me to realize that things like this just don't matter in the eternal perspective.
"I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." - Matthew 18:3-4
So no matter what this blog looks like, as long as it's pleasing to God, that's all that counts. And I want to honour Him with every word I speak and post. God bless :)
Libellés : blogging
jeudi 26 juin 2003
Please disregard this page... for now
Well I spent some time flip-flopping the backgrounds around on this blog so that it wasn't too pink but now it looks funny. Everything has to be bold in order to read it, so I'm considering changing it altogether again. But I need to get off the net because I've been on for so long and I only have one line so I will try and do this another time. Plus I need to brush up on my previous coding skills and literally learn tons of new stuff!
Pray for some of my friends please. One of them has a sick sister and grandpa and the other has a dad who just lost his job for being a Christian. That would be so appreciated.
Sorry this blog is an eyesore right now. I will do my best to make it decent-looking. Remember, I'm done school now! Although summer is gearing up and camps are starting next week, ahh! Also pray that they get full because right now, they are far from it. Going to go get some spaghetti now and watch "One Fine Day". I hope it's good, the commercial for it seemed alright. Bye!
Libellés : blogging
Hallelujah! God is great!
Great news! I finished my papers! It took till me till 6 in the morning to get them done, but they are done! I think I must have listened to Starfield's album about 10 or so times last night. I think if I were stranded on a desert island, "Tumbling After" is the one CD I would bring with me that I could listen to over and over and over.... :) But I must say, now it truly feels like summer, without having to worry about papers or marks or anything!!! Bring on the sunshine (but not too much; I hate tanning and the sensation of heat)!
So... I talked to my best friend and she said that my blog is way too pink! She commented on how the blog looks like it would belong to a girly-girl, which I definitely am not. However it is late and I crave some sleep so I will spend some time tomorrow night changing it completely to make it reflect more of who I am.
I got to go to work late this morning so I spent some time with my mum watching The Price is Right on TV. It's a fun show, definitely forces you to know your grocery prices, but I dislike how they keep airing medicine commercials and ads for wills and funeral plots. Do the advertisers assume that everyone watching the show is either sick or dying? It's a very depressing thought, to know that I'm watching a show that's targeted by advertisers going after the dying!
So now that summer is gearing up, I'm excited about what's coming! I get to film a wedding again, be a technical director for a few church services, help at a soccer camp and go to camp barbeques! I guess it's pretty busy since I'm working too, oh, and I also have to fill out some applications to get into this program I've been thinking and praying about for a while.
Anyways, I was listening to the radio and I heard an awesome song by Cadet called "Nobody", here's the chorus:
I try to reach the clouds,
they try to shoot me down
I can feel the doubt
but there ain't nobody taking me out.
And I thought, life is just that. We all strive for the best but many times we fall short. However, as a Christian, I feel that no one can take me out, because God is in control and even though I'm surrounded by doubt, God is there to lift me up. He is so faithful and I have so much hope in life because of Him!
Be back tomorrow... with a different look to this blog!
mardi 24 juin 2003
Lamentations (Hesitations?)
Okay, okay. I got started last night and wrote two pages! Only 13 or so left now... it's going to be a long night! I'm sure you're pretty tired of hearing me talk about my paper though, so I suppose I should talk about something else. I was sick this morning for a bit and wanted to go home so badly but I ended up staying which was alright since there was no one in the office.
I feel I have to lament about something though... and I only will because otherwise I'll get angry about it and actually blow up about it in front of someone (not good). I feel totally replaced by someone in one of the ministries I used to work in. It's a bit hard for me to accept because I was so indispensable while I worked there and now it's this other person who's been there shorter than I have and is getting all the attention. I guess this is the jealousy that God warns us against, something I have to get rid of from my life. It's just hard knowing that I'm no longer needed or even wanted and especially in a church!!! But I know I have to let it go because:
[Love] is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Whoever said being a Christian was easy must have been joking! But there is hope yet because greater is He that is in me than is the one in the world :)
Be back soon, Blogger is getting quite addicting! I'm going to play around for a bit and add some stuff if I can... but I will give myself only 20 minutes!!
Libellés : Christian life
lundi 23 juin 2003
Did I mention I procrastinate?
Hello again, I'm back... and I still haven't started my paper! Although I do have to say this shouldn't surprise anybody who knows me. I will, however get started after I finish this post and add some stuff to my page. I wish I had more time for learning all this fun computer stuff, but alas I have to work. Which was actually really good today; God has been so faithful in providing for us :) He totally answered our prayers today and I'm excited for what will come the rest of this week! So keep us in your prayers and we'll see how things go the first week of camp!
So we finally set the date for the viewing party at church. It took a while but now I can actually anticipate when it will be coming. We will get to watch the telecast and our live production tape for the Vibe Awards in about a week! I can't wait, I've been waiting almost a month for this!! It's too bad that it's illegal to copy the tape though; I wanted to show my friends what I got to do since none of them came :(
I suppose I should end this soon and get started on my exegetical paper on a pretty cool topic: Jesus' High Priestly Prayer. It's too bad it has to be over 15 pages! I believe that length should not matter in a paper. Of course it would be ridiculous to hand in a 1-page research paper but I think a 5-page paper that is written well can express just as much as a 10-page paper. Because everyone knows that long papers just get tedious after a while, and then you can usually pick up on when the student starts to ramble and repeat themselves. Not like I've ever done that before *grin*.
Be back tomorrow and hopefully with the good news that I am done my paper!! Pray that God will give me the words I need to communicate His truth and to be an instrument He uses through whom He is glorified :D
Libellés : procrastination
Procrastination... once again
Sigh, trying to learn all these codes in one night can be fun yet frustrating at the same time. I'll be honest, I haven't done any website coding since the good old days of Computer Club, and now I'm finding that everything I learned was maybe a tiny fraction (if even) to what's out there now. I don't mind though, I like learning new things :)
Well again, I haven't started my paper yet. I plan to right after I finish this page to the best of my ability... at least get rid of all the mistakes I've made thus far! But I better not procrastinate too much, it's my only fourth year course so if I do pretty badly in this class, it won't be good. At least I wasn't late this morning though! Things went pretty smoothly surprisingly; we got to play one of my favourite songs during church, Audio Adrenaline's "Hands and Feet"! And then I watched a pretty strange movie this afternoon with my best friend, "The Other Side of Heaven". It started off fine but then we realized that it was a Mormon missionary movie, which I guess we had our suspicions about but nonetheless it was a clean flick, more than I can say about all the movies out there right now.
So something from my Daily Bread reading yesterday that I should really apply to my life:
If you shirk today's tasks, you increase tomorrow's burdens.
I guess I better get started on my paper! Have a good night! And if there are funny looking things on my page, ignore them... I'll be back after I'm done my paper (pray for me!) to fix them.
Libellés : procrastination
dimanche 22 juin 2003
Site info
This was actually written on April 4, 2006 at 6:41 pm EST but I didn't want this to be on the index page, so thanks to Blogger and their "Change Time and Date" feature, you will only see this if you happen to jump to the first month in the archives :)
Why is the blog*spot address ardententhusiast?
I went with my username as the domain name and didn't think of the title of the blog until later. I should have gone back and changed the address to something like unquenchablesongs but I didn't, so that's why it has remained.
ardententhusiast?
When I first became a Christian, I was a huge fan of dc Talk and one of their fan sites was www.ardent-enthusiast.com (which I guess is not around anymore). It was another way of saying "Jesus freak" and I liked it so I adopted it as a username. Later as I was looking up the definition of evangelical for someone, I saw this line: "Characterized by ardent or crusading enthusiasm; zealous." And I thought, that's it - I want to be that person! So seeing that name is a reminder of what I want to be for Christ.
Unquenchable Songs and Endless Praise?
It's a long name so I don't mind if it's shortened to just the first half. I remember creating a little favicon that said US&EP but it was still too long :) Admittedly I'm not as big a fan of Starfield as I was in high school and the beginning of college, but I love this line (see first post).
And the design?
I definitely cannot make layouts from scratch; I can only tweak. This site currently uses a template from Francey Designs called Asian Newsstand with some of my own added alterations. I'm very satisfied with this look and I find it ironic that as an Asian, even I can't read anything on the graphics.
Firefox or Internet Explorer?
I personally use Firefox and encourage it wholeheartedly. In terms of viewing this blog, there is no question that it looks much better in Firefox. If you don't already have it, you don't know what you're missing out on.
Neely?
Yes, that is my nickname/nom de plume. I used it by accident at first since I didn't want to use my own name and "Ardent Enthusiast" sounded too formal but it - like the blog*spot address - has stuck. I like it and there is a reason behind this name but it's not very interesting. I've enjoyed spending the last few years of my life getting used to calling myself this and being on this blogging adventure! However, if you happen to know my real name, I would ask that you not link to me or address me in my comments with that name. Please respect this; thanks!
What happened to Lissa?
Lissa wrote a couple of times on here but has since been occupied with work. Her first post was on August 22, 2004 and her last post was on April 21, 2005.
Where do the mood pictures come from?
I still check in with the LiveJournal community every so often and mood sets/themes are quite prevalent on those sites. The Amelie mood set comes from postcardjunkie and the Pride and Prejudice (2005) mood set comes from riseoverrun. I am still looking for Pride and Prejudice (1995) without the fancy borders, and others that may catch my eye.
Not only Chinese, Korean, Japanese but French? And Greek?
Part of my desire to become fluent in the other national language. Granted, since I am living in Montreal at the time of this post, it is the official provincial language and I should learn it anyways. If I make mistakes that you know of, let me know so I can improve. The Greek because I took Koine Greek for a year at school and have forgotten 90% of it. I figure a little Bible verse would help me remember what little I can recall.
Commenting system?
My first system was with HaloScan, which lasted until its sudden demise in the beginning of 2010. HaloScan was user-friendly but I kept losing comments that were over four months old. They did come back but now they are all gone; hence, the use of Blogger comments.
Why are there :) everywhere?
My permalink used to be a :) until search engines made it look horrible (see case in point). But I notice that I tend to overuse this emoticon when I write so maybe that is a reflection of my style. I've heard it said that you should be able to write without having to resort to a smiley but I find it hard to communicate every nuance of meaning over the internet, so :) it is. Ooh, remember those ^_^ that used to be popular in high school and among Asians? I so do not fit into that.
Posting frequency?
When I first started, it was every couple of days and then it progressed to daily at some point. Since then, I've found that I usually write about three to four times a week, with higher frequencies when I'm procrastinating and "about to tackle a lot of school projects - yes I will do it!" If I am travelling, this is the only site that I update along with email so it's a nice way to find out what's happening with me.
Blog directories
I was on several directories when I first started blogging as I was quite overeager but I can't recall any of the ones I submitted my blog to now. They probably listed my meta tags as things like youth ministry, etc. which are no longer true. I was also on BlogsCanada, which seems to have changed its format and probably even lost my blog listing (with which I'm completely fine).
Disclaimer
I found a great blogging disclaimer a few years ago and have been linking to it ever since. It's nice not to have to start from scratch with these things!
Contacting?
ardententhusiast @ gmail . com
Previously, it was ardententhusiast @ epals . com but as soon as I listed it on here, I received an über amount of spam. Now strangely enough, I can't receive anything at that address.
Ehh this is all I can think of to include in the site info, which I think is long enough already.
Libellés : blogging
The Start of... Something
Hello, welcome to my brand new blog. I've been reading so many for a while now that I decided to start my own and have a little corner of the web to write what's going on in my life rather than read about everyone else's interesting lives :) Although I do have to say that mine can be pretty dull on most days, like right now. Rather than working on my term paper, I the procrastinator, will try and get this blog going. It will probably take a bit, but better late than never. Anyways, welcome and thanks for stopping by. I'm rather anxious to see how this all looks now, so I will be going. That and the fact that I have an early shift tomorrow!
Oh yes. The title for my blog comes from a line in the song "Over My Head" by my favourite music group Starfield. To me, that line is an expression of the way I feel whenever I worship God, how it's such an overwhelming sensation to be in His presence and to praise His name forever and evermore. It's such a beautiful way of proclaming the glory of God!
Libellés : blogging
