Fantastic Mr Fox and Marriage

"Similarly, I also think of Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox. The situation may be more fantastical than in Win Win—these are walking, talking animals, after all—but it’s still the marriage between Mr. Fox (George Clooney) and Mrs. Fox (Meryl Streep) that grounds the story, giving it a maturity often lacking in children’s animated films.

Mrs. Fox is the deep breath to Mr. Fox’s over-caffeinated enthusiasm. She slows him down. She helps him see where he’s gone wrong. And, most importantly, she helps him grow and take responsibility for his actions.

It’s in this sense that Fantastic Mr. Fox develops a recurring theme of Anderson’s—namely, that commitment can be a catalyst for maturity, a bridge from childhood into true adulthood."

From Relevant magazine's article on marriage in movies (relm.ag/wev3uzo).

The Alabaster Jar

A good rare chat with Ian from his month away in Michigan, ie a 13 hour time difference from Singapore,  time with church friends, and a cool night walk home.

Mm mm. Good day.


--


Journal entry // 9 November 2008 // 2007hrs

I want to be like the woman with the Alabaster jar who abandoned herself. Totally. Didn't care what others thought. Just Jesus was her world. She beheld Him in her eyes. She only had eyes for Him. She gazed upon Him. Undistracted, nothing and no one else (opinions) mattered. She fixed her eyes on her one and only, and she did what she was compelled to do — she bowed down and washed His feet with her hair, her crown, her pride — all in total abandonment, with Jesus as her world, as the apple of her eye.

That's how much she loved Jesus. She was completely absorbed in Him. She couldn't take her "eyes" off Him.

How? It was a choice.

She did not care what they thought. It did not matter that they were religious people who knew the law. Because you see, as much as we are commanded to print His words on our hearts, above that, it is the Holy Spirit who guides us into all truth. He guides, we follow. That's how it works. Go with the flow. Unbound. No inhibitants.

That woman — she was truly free. Truly free to love to love and to give and to be who she was made to be (one to worship Him in total abandonment).

How can I go back to old life? I have been set free! No one goes into bondage and chains willingly. I will stay free. Because I can. So I will.

Jesus.
I fix my eyes upon You.

The Sacrifice for Purity

We are called to be pure.

Purification required blood.
Purification requires sacrifice.
What are we willing to sacrifice, for purity?

Thoughts from Hebrews 10.

To the Beat

I love that I love music.

That as I sit in the train with earphones plugged in, I can tap my feet according to the beat. And not just at every '2' and '4' beat like clapping, but to a certain extent like I'm drumming (on a drum with only two parts lols). It's fun!

It's a good gift. Well all gifts are good. But I particularly like this one :)

Thank You!

iLike :D

Four Brains and I Digress

I need to learn to not just regurgitate, but to think. So my thoughts go through, well, not so much 4 stomachs like cows, but more thought-processes. That things are critically thought of and not just... bleah-ed out! To know that I should have an opinion, and that my opinion matters.

On a side note, while trying to find funny pictures of cows, I found a pretty bookshelf instead. Might make a pretty unique feature in a house with plain walls. Like, instead of some painting, put a few of those instead. Though if your books were of different colours it might end up messy. Hm.

And while I digress, Blogger has gone prettier too. Aww, so proud of your change, blogger. You have progessed. Haha.

Yups still chewin' on my thoughts.

Which makes me think of Singapore's very own Chew on it. 

Ohhhh, nevermind!

:)

Dr Suess on Love

Work Work (Say it like Warcraft does)

I've been working on the design for this booklet for work and every designer knows its no fun to have new pages introduced because it means changes to the layout, and also fitting everything to make sure pages come in fours.

So yesterday I was rushing to complete the book after some new page introductions.

And. And it happened again. New pages were introduced. So frustrated! Just that this time, it was in my dream.

-_-

Yups. I dreamt about work again.

Crazy People, Crazy Love

What is so powerful about love?

It is
choice.

You choose who you will love.
You choose how you will love.
You choose if you will love.

Doesn't that make that even more amazing
that God chose to love crazy people like us?

He must be a crazy God :)

The Safety of Light

I like the light.
With light, you can see everything;
nothing can be hidden.
That's what makes Singapore so safe.

I want my life to be "safe" too.
No place to hide - in darkness.
But living in a flooding light.
Let Your light shine, in me.

Lord, Let Your light shine in me. Let there be no hidden places, no secret spaces, but complete comfort and intimacy – You and me. No shame, no condemnation, no embarassment. But just a pure, flooding, dazzling light. That leaves me in awe, in awe of You.

In awe of You.


-
Thoughts while walking home at 11.45pm in the bright Singapore night, some days ago.

Stories, Lessons and Warm Fuzzy Feelings

It's a tad harder to quantify efforts when it's more qualitative in nature. But it isn't impossible.

At Halogen, we've been "collecting" stories of the impact we've made through filming, and it's been encouraging hearing from people of various walks of life. 

Some things I've learnt:

• You just gotta love hospitable moms. At the first house we went to today, we were given nut cake for breakfast, and foccacia for lunch. At the second house, it was cranberry cake. Maaaan, all homemade and very very yums. Don't know if I'll ever reach that level of cooking skill :P


• At this age, I shouldn't be calling people "Uncle/Aunty" anymore – at least not in the work context! It's not about not giving respect, but perhaps, it's about being professional. And... remembering that I'm not actually a kid anymore :P


• It's really such a joy to work with people who are so willing. On Thursday after training at a secondary school I've been at for the past 4 weeks, I explained to some youth that at Halogen, we believe that leadership education should be for everybody. In order for that to happen, our programmes have to cost less so more schools and students can afford to provide it school-wide. That's why we need donations. And that's why we needed them to share their stories of how Halogen has impacted them. And they readily said, okay!

Talking about impact...

At the end of most classes, we hand out a feedback form to find out what the youth have learnt and how we ourselves can do better. The ones that touch me most are the surprising ones that mention things beyond the curriculum.



It says, "The teacher is respectful to those who doesn't respect her at all". (Probably referring to those who choose to sleep or disrupt the class.)

It's not about boasting. But it shows that the work we do matters; and more importantly, the example that we set also can make a change. That's when I get the "warm fuzzy feeling". Haha :)

Yay for building young leaders who will practically change the world in the issues they believe in! That's Halogen's mission – which I am sowing into and living out. Because that is the way I am practically changing the world in the little way I can, with what I have (been given) – empowering young people to be all they can be.

Divin' in

Reading a part in Oliphint and May’s “Things That Cannot Be Shaken”, about how God used messengers such as angels, prophets and people like Moses in the past. To not rely on and trust them was sinful because it showed lack of trust in God Himself.

It wasn’t just all “honour” though, “As appointed by God to serve him, they were also meant to be trusted with the tasks God had given them.”

It gave thought to how scary it can be.

To put all our hope and faith in God.

Are we even 100% sure that He is God? That there is heaven, which we will go to when we leave Earth?

They say, “Faith spells R-I-S-K.” True?

But once we decide to jump in, we can’t quite jump out of the rushing waters again, can we?

For me, I’ve decided - I’m in. Even in the midst of my questions and doubts, I’m in. There’s no getting out anymore. It’s like when Esther in the Bible said, before she met the king (judgement) said, “If I perish, I perish.” And I say that to – I’ve committed to this, I’m committed to this. This is what I’ve chosen. Let me “see it through” the whole way. If I perish, I perish.

I’m diving in, I’m going deep
In over my head I wanna be
Caught in the rush, lost in the flow
In over my head I wanna go
The river’s deep, the river’s wide
The river’s water is alive
So sink or swim, I’m diving in
-Steven Curtis Chapman, “Dive”

Jing Jing You Wei!

Yupppppps. That's what I drew on the white board in my brother's room.
He posted it up. So I shall too. hur.

International Cleaners' Day

We should have an International Cleaners' Day.

For all the people who keep our areas clean.
Which makes for a better environment, healthier lives and happier people.

Thank you, cleaners. Especially those in Singapore.
For not just cleaning our streets (and more),
but doing it so much so that us Singaporeans get commended for our cleanliness;
When really, a lot of it is your work.

You have important, essential jobs.

Thank you :)




Apparently, there is such a day! June 15th!

32 days of heart

Ian was here for a month. It was good to not just communicate via Skype, but be able to see each other and speak face-to-face. I feel refreshed :)

While I do wish we didn't have to do the distance, all I'm thinking of is: 2 months!!! 2 months and I'll be in Melbourne again! With Ian!!!

(Yay - a post that ends and begins with Ian, literally) \m/