I am posting because I really have to thank God for the way He's been moving in my life. He's been confirming my mission and really comforting me, I've been getting the feeling that if I am faithful to Him with business as my ministry, then He'll be faithful and give to me my heart's one desire: a loving home with wife and kids.
Small things like yesterday, I talked with an immigration lawyer and he gave a contact for evaluating my degree. It was my mistake to not save the text file I had written it in but when I was helping my mom with her Sunday school stuff, I accidentally killed my text file. I absolutely panicked. But armed with only an area code, a vague recollection of the person's last name, and the fact that it was a degree evaluation company, God helped me google out the name and contact. I was so relieved. Incredible. My mom said that God takes care of those who do His work and I believe that is true.
Later that day, for my friend's going out party, one of her friends was chatting and I found out she used to be a knowledge manager at two of the Big 4 accounting firms and her husband was a consultant, with a software background, at Arthur Anderson. I got both some great advice and confirmation that I was on the right track. They told me that being a consultant was very much about personality - you had to be able to be independent, identify the client's needs, come up with the solution, convince people to use the solution; you had to get it done and no excuses about it. Well, roughly that's what I remember. Haha, I just mainly remember I'm on the right track. Great people. And my friend's awesome. Haha.
And the verse that spoke to me this morning: John 12:24-25 "Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you'll have it forever, real and eternal."
Oh. In case you don't know my mission: to develop communities, by helping people improve their businesses, for the glory of God. Sounds like consulting to me and they thought so too. =)
Been happier and more stable these past few days / weeks (my memory's kinda melded). A colleague even complimented me for being "emotionally stable". Cool. Haha!
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Buzzed.
For reasons I don't fully understand (but yes, I'm well aware of my sexual orientation) I've been feeling very happy today studying at a university well known for its very pretty female students. And no, I'm still being decidedly anti-social (though attending the young adult worship session on Sundays and hopefully eventually the small groups involved therein will change that) so I'm not really doing anything about that. Just being happy. Haha!
On other news, I'm feeling amused at discovering that I might be turning into a slight workaholic. Slight. Two jobs, one of which simultaneously scares the crap out of me while making me feel excited at the challenge, and the other just provides some cash. A far better disciplined approach to school than I've ever mounted. Ever. Though I can still do better.
So as of today, I'm just very grateful to God. He's been good. I'm just really thinking that in terms of the social thing, I should step up more while letting go of things to him more. You know, in Singapore, He pretty much pieced together the support network I really badly needed. It wasn't even close to meeting me halfway, it was more like 90% of the way, kinda like, you better say yes, Joe. Though without the pressure. I mean, I was the one who pressured myself cuz I knew how badly I was doing.
Anyway, no, this post isn't really significant as to whether this blog will be revived. Heck, I might start a new one. You know, with a better name. Or rename this. Or something. Wishing well to all my friends and still slightly buzzed from having a very pretty girl sitting across the library table, see ya!
On other news, I'm feeling amused at discovering that I might be turning into a slight workaholic. Slight. Two jobs, one of which simultaneously scares the crap out of me while making me feel excited at the challenge, and the other just provides some cash. A far better disciplined approach to school than I've ever mounted. Ever. Though I can still do better.
So as of today, I'm just very grateful to God. He's been good. I'm just really thinking that in terms of the social thing, I should step up more while letting go of things to him more. You know, in Singapore, He pretty much pieced together the support network I really badly needed. It wasn't even close to meeting me halfway, it was more like 90% of the way, kinda like, you better say yes, Joe. Though without the pressure. I mean, I was the one who pressured myself cuz I knew how badly I was doing.
Anyway, no, this post isn't really significant as to whether this blog will be revived. Heck, I might start a new one. You know, with a better name. Or rename this. Or something. Wishing well to all my friends and still slightly buzzed from having a very pretty girl sitting across the library table, see ya!
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Housing
My daily trod through the bible yielded this interesting tidbit:
Leviticus 25:35-38 "If one of your brothers becomes indigent and cannot support himself, help him, the same as you would a foreigner or a guest so that he can continue to live in your neighborhood. Don't gouge him with interest charges; out of reverence for your God help your brother to continue to live with you in the neighborhood. Don't take advantage of his plight by running up big interest charges on his loans, and don't give him food for profit. I am your God who brought you out of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God."
Thought it was rather relevant to today's news.
Leviticus 25:35-38 "If one of your brothers becomes indigent and cannot support himself, help him, the same as you would a foreigner or a guest so that he can continue to live in your neighborhood. Don't gouge him with interest charges; out of reverence for your God help your brother to continue to live with you in the neighborhood. Don't take advantage of his plight by running up big interest charges on his loans, and don't give him food for profit. I am your God who brought you out of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God."
Thought it was rather relevant to today's news.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
a sign of change?
metamorphisis. i like that. i know what you're talking about Shirlyn and i'm glad to read that you and Mary had a good time in Tioman; for me, i gotta come out of my cocoon. i've been spending too much time with myself and not with others. anyway, i cut my hair (literally though my dad decided to "fix" it up a bit afterwards) so here's me:
this was taken via the lovely LG Shine procurred through a new family mobile contract. lol, Mary i remember you were trying to decide between your current phone and the Shine. it's too sexy. haha.
anyway, we'll see how things go. i gotta get free of my head. the next two weeks, i'm gonna write a 15page research paper on the recently signed Intellectual Property Protection Act which looks like more of the same battle between content providers and tech providers. i've a corporate finance test next monday and i think i should do well (how'd you find yours, Mary?). i've a business proposal to submit by next thursday plus a few short chapter summaries. there's also that corporate finance project that is due sometime but no info so not thinking about it. haha. finally, there's the 2 day class that i have to take, world-view leadership, happening on the 24-25th. dunno how that'll go. we'll see.
hopefully, i'll check the blogs more often. then start responding to emails again. and go on from there.
this was taken via the lovely LG Shine procurred through a new family mobile contract. lol, Mary i remember you were trying to decide between your current phone and the Shine. it's too sexy. haha.
anyway, we'll see how things go. i gotta get free of my head. the next two weeks, i'm gonna write a 15page research paper on the recently signed Intellectual Property Protection Act which looks like more of the same battle between content providers and tech providers. i've a corporate finance test next monday and i think i should do well (how'd you find yours, Mary?). i've a business proposal to submit by next thursday plus a few short chapter summaries. there's also that corporate finance project that is due sometime but no info so not thinking about it. haha. finally, there's the 2 day class that i have to take, world-view leadership, happening on the 24-25th. dunno how that'll go. we'll see.
hopefully, i'll check the blogs more often. then start responding to emails again. and go on from there.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Oops
Ehehe, haven't looked at this blog in a while. Actually, haven't been reading blogs much at all. Things have been fine since I arrived in the US. Somewhat busy. Making friends and all. Getting email addresses. Meeting pretty babes. If I was wont to repeat jokes, I'd write about a girl I met in the library that I fell hopelessly in love with but I used that one while I was in Australia. Haha.
At any rate, life's looking up. APU's looking to be better and better. Did you know that Bryan Clay, the decathlon gold medalist is APU alumni and trains at APU pretty much daily? Or that my course is AACSB accredited, something only about 312 Business Schools in the world have, a list that includes Harvard and Wharton? Fascinating.
The people are looking to be great people and I think that's a fabulous thing given that environment was the main reason I chose APU. Anyway, 2 days of orientation done, should be settling my registration by tomorrow.
At any rate, life's looking up. APU's looking to be better and better. Did you know that Bryan Clay, the decathlon gold medalist is APU alumni and trains at APU pretty much daily? Or that my course is AACSB accredited, something only about 312 Business Schools in the world have, a list that includes Harvard and Wharton? Fascinating.
The people are looking to be great people and I think that's a fabulous thing given that environment was the main reason I chose APU. Anyway, 2 days of orientation done, should be settling my registration by tomorrow.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Great Evenings
Wow, two great evenings in a row. Yesterday night, I had a really great time with my choir friends at Hanabi; great company plus I ate like a pig. Hehehe. All that training with the people in HRMC paid off. Cleaning up Din Tai Fung orders has shown me the path to how to stuff myself thoroughly. Hahaha.
Tonight, I had a great time with Liling. Laksa at Toastbox plus foot reflexology plus random shopping. Fun! Haha! She's wonderful to be around. A great end to a trying day at work.
I really thank God for the beautiful people He's placed in my life and for teaching me how to appreciate and to love them more and more. Life with You is truly better, Your ways and Your love I really cannot do without.
Tonight, I had a great time with Liling. Laksa at Toastbox plus foot reflexology plus random shopping. Fun! Haha! She's wonderful to be around. A great end to a trying day at work.
I really thank God for the beautiful people He's placed in my life and for teaching me how to appreciate and to love them more and more. Life with You is truly better, Your ways and Your love I really cannot do without.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Good Day
today was a good day at work. tiring and in some ways blur but good. was almost late for work -- went to bed 2:30am and struggled to get out of bed. hehe. was still in time though i missed breakfast.. which was ok because lunch was bak kut teh! woot! good stuff. God is good. hehe.
anyway, ran about with a packet of pocky because i couldn't get myself to say no effectively and firmly enough. but it was alright. i mean, i usually don't snack but i went around giving pocky to kids who'd finished their lunch and haha, i'd say the lunch went pretty well. they were going crazy over it. haha.
homework time was pretty amazing even when i had to take the class solo.. can't remember why but i was alone. then i just told everyone that they can talk BUT if i can identify the voice, that person gets IT time reduced. good tactic but execution can be better. the idea is to really bring down the hammer on the first person to exceed the line, even by a bit, but i was too focused on helping some of the kids with their homework and.. yeah. i'm not sure where or when it started but i just don't notice the background noise when i'm concentrating. end result -- a lot of names on the board but hey, it was amazingly quiet compared to the usual chaos. hehe.
gretel also gave me a fairly loud *complete* sentence today. something along the lines of "timothy doesn't want to give yvette's brush back" plus a few more words i didn't catch. wow. she must really care about yvette to speak like that. i mean, it was audible. i wasn't specifically listening for it and i could still catch her meaning. wow. i mean, it's like jenny volume. soft, shy, but clear within a small radius. i feel really blessed and honored, really, thinking about it. one of my fellow teachers hasn't even heard her speak before and i've already gotten plenty of talk-time. mostly from making her read homework questions together with me but also some of the fun times when she forgets that i'm a "teacher". hehe. her throat-clearing can also be surprisingly loud. as in, whoa, gretel can make such a loud noise?! i have a vague suspicion that she's doing it on purpose. hehe.
caleb almost cried on me today yet in the end, he did his work. it was tricky but i felt i handled it well. i gave him a choice to do some of his work and get some playtime in later or just sit beside me while i help gretel with her homework. it was really give and take. i think i got conned by his school bus argument but given how emotional he was feeling, it's entirely possible he forgot his dad was picking him up. anyway, he went from, i don't know how to do, don't know to do, can never learn how to do to just needing to confirm his answers with me. i consider that a great success even if he only did 1 question without any input from me.
and speaking of helping. wah. gretel almost defeated me but for the grace of God. she is... one tough cookie. from 4:50pm till 5:55pm, she did a grand total of 2 math questions. ouch. most of the time was spent just her doing her sway. wow. what endurance. i thank God for yvette -- i have a strong suspicion that it was her argument that she was willing to sacrifice her playtime to be beside gretel, her constant encouragement for gretel to be willing to learn and to do.. ok, i'm convinced it was yvette that got gretel to finally do the question. i mean, it took her about all of 20 seconds to write out the working and the answer for the question. she must really, really hate doing math. she's likes english and chinese though. something to take note of. =)
and yeah, i was ready to give up at 6pm. it's torture for both gretel and i to just sit there, me intermittantly trying to teach her, encourage her, blah blah blah and her for the most part, doing her silent sway with roving eyes. oh she has pretty eyes by the way. i noticed after i cajoled her into more eye contact. hehe. yeah, i feel really blessed that she would still feel comfortable around me -- we've had more than one of these "torture sessions" before.
also had a good chat with ling lao shi. i had a feeling she really knew her stuff and now i know for sure she really knows her stuff. got a few tips, few insights, and some encouragement. what teachers really need is ai xing and nai xing and she says i have both. good stuff. =)
if you haven't gathered by now, i adore these kids even though they can really manage to both irritate and wear me down. thank God for giving me such a good training environment. i've got lots of improvement to go, but i've improved a lot.
anyway, ran about with a packet of pocky because i couldn't get myself to say no effectively and firmly enough. but it was alright. i mean, i usually don't snack but i went around giving pocky to kids who'd finished their lunch and haha, i'd say the lunch went pretty well. they were going crazy over it. haha.
homework time was pretty amazing even when i had to take the class solo.. can't remember why but i was alone. then i just told everyone that they can talk BUT if i can identify the voice, that person gets IT time reduced. good tactic but execution can be better. the idea is to really bring down the hammer on the first person to exceed the line, even by a bit, but i was too focused on helping some of the kids with their homework and.. yeah. i'm not sure where or when it started but i just don't notice the background noise when i'm concentrating. end result -- a lot of names on the board but hey, it was amazingly quiet compared to the usual chaos. hehe.
gretel also gave me a fairly loud *complete* sentence today. something along the lines of "timothy doesn't want to give yvette's brush back" plus a few more words i didn't catch. wow. she must really care about yvette to speak like that. i mean, it was audible. i wasn't specifically listening for it and i could still catch her meaning. wow. i mean, it's like jenny volume. soft, shy, but clear within a small radius. i feel really blessed and honored, really, thinking about it. one of my fellow teachers hasn't even heard her speak before and i've already gotten plenty of talk-time. mostly from making her read homework questions together with me but also some of the fun times when she forgets that i'm a "teacher". hehe. her throat-clearing can also be surprisingly loud. as in, whoa, gretel can make such a loud noise?! i have a vague suspicion that she's doing it on purpose. hehe.
caleb almost cried on me today yet in the end, he did his work. it was tricky but i felt i handled it well. i gave him a choice to do some of his work and get some playtime in later or just sit beside me while i help gretel with her homework. it was really give and take. i think i got conned by his school bus argument but given how emotional he was feeling, it's entirely possible he forgot his dad was picking him up. anyway, he went from, i don't know how to do, don't know to do, can never learn how to do to just needing to confirm his answers with me. i consider that a great success even if he only did 1 question without any input from me.
and speaking of helping. wah. gretel almost defeated me but for the grace of God. she is... one tough cookie. from 4:50pm till 5:55pm, she did a grand total of 2 math questions. ouch. most of the time was spent just her doing her sway. wow. what endurance. i thank God for yvette -- i have a strong suspicion that it was her argument that she was willing to sacrifice her playtime to be beside gretel, her constant encouragement for gretel to be willing to learn and to do.. ok, i'm convinced it was yvette that got gretel to finally do the question. i mean, it took her about all of 20 seconds to write out the working and the answer for the question. she must really, really hate doing math. she's likes english and chinese though. something to take note of. =)
and yeah, i was ready to give up at 6pm. it's torture for both gretel and i to just sit there, me intermittantly trying to teach her, encourage her, blah blah blah and her for the most part, doing her silent sway with roving eyes. oh she has pretty eyes by the way. i noticed after i cajoled her into more eye contact. hehe. yeah, i feel really blessed that she would still feel comfortable around me -- we've had more than one of these "torture sessions" before.
also had a good chat with ling lao shi. i had a feeling she really knew her stuff and now i know for sure she really knows her stuff. got a few tips, few insights, and some encouragement. what teachers really need is ai xing and nai xing and she says i have both. good stuff. =)
if you haven't gathered by now, i adore these kids even though they can really manage to both irritate and wear me down. thank God for giving me such a good training environment. i've got lots of improvement to go, but i've improved a lot.
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