Old Friends Are Like Gold

One of the highlights of Christmas break for me was spending a week in SFO with dear gal pals...

There, I realised how much I miss our lovely bunch and the easy banter we have always shared despite the years that have passed since JC, and the pretty distinct lives we now lead in various parts of the world... Concurring with Mel, it is really not easy to stumble upon girl-friends with whom we find a soul-connect, but perhaps that is what makes friendships like these all the more precious... truly God-appointed gifts no less. :)

There are the wonderful new friends who share the exciting new experiences and unique time of growth... Yet, there are the comfy old friends who know you as you are, where you've been, and with whom you can be yourself... And I now understand the tension of the reality of how these worlds will not coincide - each walking similarly definitive, but distinct journeys of my life with me.

Each friendship for each season.

Brings to mind one of my favourite quotes on friendship from CS Lewis:

"...friendship exhibits a glorious 'nearness by resemblance' to heaven itself where the very multitude of the blessed increases the fruition which each has of God. For every soul, seeing Him in her own way, doubtless communicates that unique vision to all the rest."

White Christmas

So we did have a white Christmas here in Vancouver after all! :D I even heard that one store had a sale the week before, offering rebates on their items bought before Christmas if it did snow on Christmas Day itself - I'm sure a white Christmas was great in more than one way for some!

The morning started out pretty bleak and wet, but all was dandy when the raindrops eventually transformed into snowflakes... the change in mood was as instantaneous as the change in weather - there is definitely something about snow that invokes wonder and peace. :) It was nice just walking down the street all bundled up and watching the snow floating gently down...

Had a cosy Christmas lunch at a Brett's (Canadian schoolmate from Regent who has been teaching me the ropes in some audio stuff) with 2 others as his wife who is a nurse, was on duty in the hospital. Then full-on Christmas dinner at my godparents'... am so stuffed now it's not funny. :p I guess that remains the common Christmas experience eh?

I have also actually been thinking quite a bit about this beautiful carol this Christmas since singing it for the first time during one of the chapels when I received a link to Corrinne May's lovely redition of it! Thanks for sharing it Des...

You just gotta hear it and take in the meaningful lyrics... Blessed Christmas everyone. :)



In the bleak midwinter,
Frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron,
Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
Snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter, O so long ago.

God, heaven cannot hold Him,
Nor the earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away
When He comes to reign.
In the bleak midwinter
A stable place sufficed
For the Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.

Angels and archangels
May have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim
Thronged the air;
But His mother only, in her maiden bliss,
Worshipped her beloved with a kiss.

What then can I give Him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd,
I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man,
I would do my part;
What then can I give Him:
Give my heart.

Season of Advent

With exams out of the way, I can finally soak in the wonderful season of Advent for at least a week before Christmas! Exam-time was really intense and I have not felt such a release of relief in a while after my last CTC paper last Thursday. :p The next couple of days was just about resting in all aspects after pushing ourselves hard and long with adrenalin - everyone had the same experience of still feeling tired even after sleeping long hours after the exams!

I was especially looking forward to this time because everywhere around were just reminders of the coming season... invitations to marvel at the miracle and beauty of incarnation, when God was made flesh. Just a week before exams, we witnessed the first snow of the season! It was just beautiful... covering the houses and streets in a blanket of white!

But it went as quickly as it came... By the next day after a weekend of snow, everything melted away and the streets were back to normal... such is an example of the notoriously bizarre Vancouver weather! :p But apparently it will be back as it is predicted to be one of the coldest winters in Canada and that Christmas will be a white one this year... I'm hoping for that! So long as I'm warm and indoors with a good view of the snow at that point... heh.

Also, because many students were returning home to other parts of the world for the holidays immediately when term ended, we had all our Christmas gatherings and fellowships interspersed with our study 'cramming' time... which was initially frustrating, cos I figured I couldn't be fruitful at either. I was even tempted to skip the programs to bury myself in my books - which I thankfully did not do, because as it turned out, the experience was quite the contrary! Having things this way really helped me not to be sucked into all the studying, and pulled me back to prepare my heart for Christmas, and certainly made me look forward to Christmas with greater anticipation and eagerness. :) Sure reminds me of the Mary-Martha dilemma... :p

For the past 4 Sundays at First Baptist, we have been lighting Advent Candles each week and singing carols of Advent which really draws out the season by slowing us down... and through this, I do wonder if this time of Advent perhaps holds just as much significance as Christmas itself, if not more... Often Christmas greets and leaves us in a flurry of activity, and once gone, we are often bewildered by the fact that Christmas is indeed over! I do suppose that even as God desires of us to spend our time now purposefully anticipating His Second Advent, and not be caught by surprise when it does actually come... similarly it could be a good idea to start 'practicing' - by how well we discipline ourselves in preparation for Christmas each year during this time of Advent... :)

Yet another illustration of Advent was given by Rev. Tom Cowan a few weeks back when he shared how we are now living 'in between two advents' in biblical history which is not cyclical, but rather linear - awaiting the final act of history. As such, our anticipation should not be characterised by a 'hanging around' kind of waiting... but an expectant moment of pause. What a great mental picture eh?? :p

Will leave you now with some 'Advent Snippets' at Regent...

Crunch Time

7 Dec - History Research Paper on Nestorian Christianity in China due
12 Dec - OT Foundations Final
13 Dec - History and CTC (Christian Thought & Culture) Finals
[whole day of essay writing... I need finger strength. :p]

14 Dec - Freedom to feel Christmasy!!

Dad & Mom Visit

A quick blurb on the folks' visit here a week back, extracted from their lil post-trip sharing...

"The finale of our journey was meeting Rachel in Vancouver after we left Philadelphia (it is a freezing minus!). Thank God for provision of our accommodation at campus through the kind hospitality of a pastor on sabbatical there at Regent College, and it was just two doors away from Rachel's hostel room. The one and a half weeks there was indeed a fruitful time of connection not only with Rachel but also with the people God has blessed her with there.

At the request of Rachel we hosted a group of her classmates with eagerness to a Singapore home cooked meal (they love Dawn's olive rice and tau yu bak! Not bad can bluff quite well haha).
Those were absolutely beautiful moments with these vibrant young Christians (from Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Korea) who really love the Lord.

Another group we had the opportunity to meet is the Singaporean Christian families who have played 'parents' to Rachel. There are some who gave up their corporate identities to equip themselves to serve the Lord. Such testimonies have certainly jolted us from our complacency. Thank God for all these wonderful people we met along the way and for their warmth and kind fellowship.

Rachel insisted that we sit in one of the open lectures at Regent (wow so timely!) by a Professor of Philosophical Theology from Yale university. The presentation and argument on simply 'Agape' alone is so philosophical we 'liak bo kiew' (so cannot elaborate lah)!

Timing couldn't be any more perfect when we were there it was Rachel's reading week and although her readings are tremendously heavy we were able to take her with us for a short 4-day drive exploring Seattle (2 hours from Vancouver)..."

Nothing beats family. :p

Kingdom of God

My favourite rendition of the 'now, but not yet' aspect of the kingdom of God by my OT lecturer...

"neither cake-on-the-plate-while-you-wait,
nor pie-in-the-sky-till-you-die!"

Humour aside, it's exactly 2 weeks *gulp* to my 3-course finals (OT, History, and Christian Thought and Culture), with 2 major assignments due in between... am feeling pretty overwhelmed right now. :|

Appreciate prayer for strength, discipline, and clarity of thought as I plough through much work that needs to get done...

Counting Down

4 more days till Dad & Mom come! :D

5 more days till my research paper on pluralism is due...

12 more days till US Thanksgiving break!

18 more days till my diagrammatic summary on Job is due...

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A GREAT piece of news though is that I've just been granted a scholarship to attend a Worship Symposium at the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship in Grand Rapids, Michigan next January!!! Which is the very place I wanted to go to visit Dr. Nienhuis and Betty-Jo at some point... how awesome it that?!
God provides in SUCH amazing amazing ways... I'm thrilled. :)