Being tested by God reminds us that our function and task is to be about His business, that our purpose is to be an extension of his nature, an ambassador of His throne room, and a proclaimer of His message.

Note to self:

“Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep His promise.”
Hebrews 10:23 (NLT)

“Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.”
Hebrews 10:35-36 (KJV) 

“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need. So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” 
Matthew 6:33-34 (NLT) 

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”
Philippians 4:13 (NKJV)

(let me ramble my interesting day…)

Woke up today having only slept 3 hours last night and I’ve only completed half of my essay, which was due today 7pm.

I should really start panicking, hyperventilate, or just go crazy. Half of my essay meaning, there’s still another 1200 words to write - and it has to make SENSE! 

Writing for me is like trying to wake me up really early in the morning - engine cannot start… But today, it went really smoothly! I took 2 days trying to write the first half of the essay and today I finish the second half less than a day, that is :O GOD, you make me a miracle :O

OK, I prayed! Walking to the bus stop en route to school - all the scriptures I had in mind and I ASKED GOD FOR A FLOW in my day and now thinking about it, my day has been so smooth - it’s the smoothest school day I’ve had.

It takes me 1.5 hours to reach school, and I didn’t like waiting for buses or trains. On coming to the first bus stop, the bus came immediately! At the MRT station, the train is also already there (which is usually the case); at second bus stop, the bus came immediately again! And waiting for 74 can take reallyyyy long sometimes, so I’m pretty amazed already.

I initially planned to reach school at 8-ish in the morning before the school crowd comes in because when they do, YOU CAN NEVER FIND A SEAT ANYWHERE… I walked up and down campus yesterday for like almost half an hour and I still couldn’t find a seat with nearby powerpoint. And hmm… I wanted THAT particular seat which I always go to in the spacious area in the new building AND THAT WAS THE ONLY AVAILABLE TABLE when I reached school today. (smooothhhh number 2) whee~

Studying alone can be troublesome, especially when you want to run to the washroom or the library - I won’t be able to watch my stuff and I didn’t really like to ask strangers to help take care of my belongings. BUT, GOD sent me a friend, and she was so nice! (totally did not expect this… smooothhh) :O After she left and I had to go print out my essay, two other students came just in time to share table with me - haha so they helped watch my stuff! :D

Then there was also the submission for Turnitin where the website would check for plagiarism and give you a report with a percentage mark - and lecturers like to scare you that the systems takes a day to generate that report (which I had to submit at 7pm today as well) - I obviously don’t have a day… But this went smooothly too, the report was quickly generated and I got a very good percentage mark! The best one I had so far too… whee~

Although I kind of can’t offered to get distracted today, but today I am considerably more focus! Usually I had to ‘psycho’ myself to endure a little more, but today felt more like ‘keep on keeping on’. YAY, and I submitted my essay EARLY, EARLY :O NOT on the dot 7pm kind! I was there at like 6.30pm! (good job yong) I could slowly walk to the submission box :O How delightful. No fluster :))) I am a miracle and not a zombie! I still had some sleep, red bull helped a little - but God really sustained my energy/brain power today.

GOOD DAY - so my brain must have grown.
2500 WORDS DOWN - 2500 WORDS TO GO. AND IT DUES on MONDAY, I got 2 days, and I HAVEN’T START. *peace*

I want to be a lady - virtuous, modest and pure; to be known for her kind heart, her tender love and her daring soul. Not vanity, not pride, not fame, popularity or fortune. Not what fades in the wind - our physical appearance, but that stands eternal - our inner beautiful soul.

was browsing through my journal where I write to God and very recently I was asking God for tremendous amount of grace and courage.

You know about the courage part of my name and

I just realised, in chinese, En (恩) means grace.

and my name is Yong En.
(haha this makes my chinese name very christian =D)

nice, I am a happy girl =)

(pardon my random moment, I am random. haha like a ninja! lol) 

princessgracesdairies:

“I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.” Philippians 1:20 (NIV)

I had the most interesting conversation with a friend who lives in Hollywood. Although her family lives in the midst of glitz, glamour and extreme excess, she said they are determined to teach their kids something rare… the courageous choice.

You see, there are two kinds of courage. There’s the courageous act that makes our heart beat fast when the knight fights the dragon or the firefighter rushes into the burning building. These are extreme events most of us won’t ever face. And because most of us aren’t put in positions to participate in a courageous act, we don’t necessarily think of ourselves as courageous.

But there’s a second kind of courage that, dare I might say, is widely available but not widely embraced. It’s the courageous choice. This is the decision to do the right thing even when it’s unpopular, uncelebrated and probably even unnoticed.

Have you been faced with one of these kinds lately? Probably one of my toughest courageous choices has been in the area of my food choices. It was my hidden struggle. The one I didn’t want to deal with or talk about. Not with my friends and certainly not with God.

But then I started coming across verse after verse in the Bible that spoke directly to my issue. Though I didn’t want to talk to God about it, God certainly seemed to want to speak to me. Verses like Philippians 1:20 as well as many more:

Deuteronomy 2:3, “You have circled this mountain long enough. Now turn north…” (NASB)

Psalm 73:26, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” (NIV)

2 Corinthians 7:1, “Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.” (NIV 1984)

God assured me He loved me exactly how I was, but He loved me too much to leave me in a state of defeat.

I made a courageous choice to read the Bible looking for God to speak to me about my struggle. I made the courageous choice to walk willingly on the path of discipline. I made the courageous choice to pick something healthy even in the quietness of my pantry when no one else was looking.

I made the courageous choice to put a stake in the ground and say, I’m more than the sum total of my screaming taste buds. My heart doesn’t want that junk food. My arms don’t want that junk food. My legs don’t want that junk food. And my soul certainly doesn’t want that junk food.

It is possible to layer one courageous choice upon another and find victory in your area of struggle. No matter what your struggle is, are you willing to make one courageous choice today?

Make that choice.

And then make it again.

And then make it again.

You are a courageous woman. Now, go out and prove it to yourself.

- Proverbs 31 Ministries, Lysa TerKeurst

readthisplease:

Premise

the children of Israel were more willing to die for their past than to die for their future

// anytime we step out for God, its going to feel like dying

Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. (Luke 9:23 NIV)

Where God wants me to go is going to require the death of me

God’s call and the purpose of death

1. a calling out of “Egypt” // requires the death of Jesus Christ 
2. a calling into the promise land // requires the death of me

side note: Moses was accused of being a mass murderer by the children of Israel! D:

A sincere born-again follower of Jesus Christ who has been called and gifted to express the love of Christ and the glory of God through entrepreneurial ventures recognizing that they are mere stewards of the accumulation of wealth derived from such ventures and entrusted to use this wealth according to God’s good and perfect will following the teachings set forth in the Bible.

ecc3-11:

• Moses and Isaiah were politicians.
• David was a shepherd and King.
• Samuel was a prophet.
• Peter was a fisherman.
• Luke was a physician.
• Matthew was a tax-collector.
• Paul was a theologian.
• Amos was a herdsman.
• Joshua was a General.
• Job was a businessman.
• Nehemiah was a butler/cupbearer.

God can use anyone with any profession. You just have to be willing and ready.

“Butterflies can’t see their wings. They can’t see how truly beautiful they are, but everyone else can. People are like that as well.”

(Source: c-atacrese)

amongthethorns:

Our past does not determine our future. Our identity does. And when we are Christ’s, our future then, is known while being unknown — it can only be full of endless possibilities. And our past —the failures, pain and shame— are dust and cleansed, reflecting only the glory of God beaming through a transformed life. A life that is ever transforming. O happy day!

(this is actually supposed to be a funny post btw)

I have a bad reputation as a student, even though I think I have a good student face. (lol, it didn’t help) Infamous for being late, sleeping in class, handing up work late - and that’s what most people know me for, it even spread to people outside school… (I don’t exactly do bad deliberately, my efforts just seem to fail miserably)

ok besides making my reputation even worse by typing that above paragraph, the point is, I might just be “redeemed” from that bad reputation! haha

I am currently finding myself undergoing a new course with several mods:

I have to study on different human poses and my textbook illustrates 600 poses to be exact;
Another mod requires me to understand the idea of being profitable in the business world and I actually need to come out with a business plan, marketing plan, calculate my business and personal expenses before I can formulate my pricing plan on the day rates I can charge; (ACCOUNTS omg, hi numbers, let’s be friends)
Then, there’s the guide on balancing business and personal live - teaching on goal setting, working smart and excelling on time management, which I have 2 textbooks for.
Finally, there’s the specialisation part, for otherwise known as my major, which is wedding photography and my textbook brings me through step-by-step of the entire event, the key areas to take note and common mistakes made. 

(are you getting this yet? I am laughing)

AND THERE’S GROUP WORK!

The task is to create the whole brand identity of the business, which encompasses the logo, slogan, colour scheme, domain, typefaces, et cetera. “Branding is an all encompassing experience” (Ilasco & Cho 2010) so plans need to be made as well in effectively communicating the brand to the targeted audience.

When there’s group assignment, individual assignment can never be missing:

There is a whole set of Adobe Photoshop CS (whatever number) tutorials that needs to be completed, so that post-processing can be improved and better knowledge possessed for the software. This is besides, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Bridge, which all have their own CS (whatever number), but they are extra materials for the curriculum for now.

Something’s missing? YES, how can I forget, I ALSO GOT EXAMINATIONS!

Mostly I can be well-prepared for, but you can never study enough for examinations and you never know what’s going to happen when you are in the examination hall! My examination can range from 1 hour all till 4 hours (As I progress in this course, examinations may go even longer). I must remember to charge my camera battery so I don’t enter into examination without working equipment! (I have never forgotten to charge battery btw)

This is also the kind of exam where you have to bring other equipment, like the tripod, reflector, various props and they are all used differently depending on what is the question of the exam that day!

The funny thing is, as nerve-wrecking examinations are, I love this kind of exams that I will be having. (I can’t believe I just typed that) The markers will all be different, and I will have the general public as my bell-curve to determine what is my final “grade”, and so far, I’m not that bad! Yay!

Can you tell? I’m enjoying this “new school” already! And do you get it! I am talking about all the stuff that I’m going to do for my business in photography! =D Whatever above isn’t bluff, they are merely presented in a perhaps symbolic and more academic approach. And the exams are just all my photoshoots.

HAHAHAHAHAHA (yes I’m loving this)

I am REALLY going enjoy this “school” more than my real school, although the real school is the real priority still, even if I’m still angsty about it.  

BUT! I’m going to excel in both schools anyway because I know there’s that potential in me and I have Jesus on my side, so regardless of how I feel, I will still be working hard and that’s my faith declaration. =D

so hi real world, be ready to welcome me because I’m coming with Jesus and this is Tay Yong En, with a major in photography and business awarded by the School out of this world and my classmates are angels.

and thank you Jesus, I think all these just helped me like the idea of school a little more. =’)

last day at work in GE! (not last day of work in my life. hahaha)
been there for 3 years and 1 month! so there’s lots of mixed emotions today and I actually cried a little (in the toilet), so no one saw. =’)

and in the montage there’s my desk (super messy cause I haven’t packed it) and the outside area where all the other desks are (and it’s super empty cause everyone has left) and the intercom area, where you tap your card to enter into the office!

so i am officially “not allowed in” because I’ve returned my access card, haha but i am sure they welcome me back anytime =)

filled with gratefulness and really thankful to God for blessing me with such a great job and all the favour that I had with the people there - and I really got alot of favour, which I seriously do not deserve. 

in transition - next chapter! 

Prayers are prophecies. They are the best predictors of your spiritual future. Who you become is determined by how you pray. Ultimately, the transcript of your prayers becomes the script of your life