Growing up

My birthday came and went! Ihad a fantastic celebration with lovely friends. I'm now [write age here]. Haha. Surreal, to think that one can actually age that far. See, for the longest time, I was (& am!) stunted at 25.

25 is often the cut-off point. Before that, you're early 20s. After that you're late 20s. LATE 20s! Gasp! The years (rather the age) following that somehow just didn't quite register in my head. Freud would say I am fixated. Yeah, Freud always has something to say about everything.

Anyway, it's weird, upon careful thought, I don't think I really grew much physically beyond that point. Years just flew by without making sense to me that my age has changed. Sure, I grew HEAPS experience and thinking wise. But apart from that, hmm, there is no clear indicator of this aging process apart from when I see my age written on application forms etc, in which I'd usually stare at that unfamiliar double digit number and have a sobering moment of realisation.

I'm prone to attribute my possible delusions to several factors.
Firstly, my size & wardrobe. The thing is, I can still fit perfectly well into clothes I had when I was 18! See, 10 years doesn't make a diff! Fashion change, definitely. But my height, weight, body built etc had remained surprisingly exactly the same. You might have noticed how the world views things: petite and small frame is always associated with young-ish looking.

Plus, being in a uni life group means I'm constantly surrounded by kids (haha, no, young adults) in their early 20s; that sort of reinforces the delusion. When your typical conversations always revolve around uni life, assignments, exams, Valleygirl and Supre massive sales & Coles' latest bargains, it's little wonder that reality rarely sinks in. Can you believe it that I still have heaps of 1st time visitors to the life group guessing that I'm in my 1st or 2nd year of uni? (That's usually before they start talking to me and quickly discover I'm definitely not a youngish 22!)

Of course reality checks come from time to time, heavily intensified over the last year actually, when wedding invites landed in my inbox in bulks! Not to mention my close buddies getting pregnant and giving birth! (Which is super awesome!! =p)

Last month, I had a reunion with some uni friends in Msia . Being with friends from your life cohort is what I'd say the best reality check. These uni friends are all currently working, a couple had gotten married, most are enjoying single/ attached life. Anyway, my friends looked at me and commented that my face looks exactly the same as when I was at 2nd year of uni; I've not aged a day it seems. They asked for the secret to this anti-aging. Haha, I chuckled. Mom would be thrilled to hear this nice compliment. She'd then sheepishly proclaim it must be her awesome genes :) [side note: My mom, who's 3 years older than Dad, looks YEARSS younger than him. Dad tries to catch up by colouring his winter white hair into charcoal black. Vain pot-ism, that's what I call it, it plagues not only the young ;p hehe).

Sometimes it feels dreamlike that you've actually lived this many number of years on earth. Fixated at 24 - 25 I may be sometimes, but heart wise, I'm so so ready to conquer the next thing! I'm excited about what's coming... There's a fire burning within with me and a river of joy!

I started 2010 feeling slightly emo. Circumstances caught me off guard, leaving me feeling rather vulnerable. But as always, Grace met me. Joy found me. And Peace took over. I got nearer to God even more than before and breakthrough came! Isn't it fantastic, that in Him, we are ever more than overcomers! So, yes, it's thrilling! Anyway, lots of different milestones lined up ahead this year:
- completion of my Doctoral thesis in Feb (yay!)
- my first international presentation of research papers in NZ
- changes in life group and ministry
- and......... THE FINAL year of my Doctoral studies!!! (HURRAHHH!!). It's coming to an end!!!

I have a sense that this year would involve closures to some chapters of my life and openings to many new exciting ones. A transition year. A year of wonderful growth, I've called it. I've learned that in life, I should hold things loosely so that if God requires me to let go, I won't throw a tantrum and say no. Growing up often involves surrendering different Isaacs. Grappling with the fears of uncertainties can often be terrifying. But I know HIS WORD is TRUE: He has assigned us our portion and our cup. In Him, our lot is kept secure :) Well, as the story goes, if we don't let go when He asks us to, how then can He put the PRECIOUS PEARLS into our hands, the ones that He has prepared for us all along? So, trust in Him, His ways are higher than our ways!

Signing off now. My Evening Mist tea awaits me. And my housemate's cooking something smelling really good. I should pay a visit to the kitchen :)

Been Listening to: Marie Digby

Am gonna highlight Marie Digby today (pronouced Ma-ri-e). She' s good, I really like her.... sings well, plays both the guitar and piano, composes her own songs, and is gorgeous! (Irish American & Japs descent). Has not been in the music industry for too long, nonetheless she has released 2 albums. She's famous for doing her own video recordings from her Mac at home; nice and laid-back. But over the last year or so, she has been doing heaps of professional recordings, concerts, etc. So, for those of you who still don't know her, check her out :)

Some of her songs...
Latest one released end of last year
Breathing under water


Avalanche


Stupid for you

The Alphabet challenge

The challenge I've gotten:
Copy to your own note, erase my answers, enter yours, and tag twenty people. Use the first letter of your name to answer each of the following questions. They have to be real...nothing made up! If the person before you had the same first initial, you must use different answers. You cannot use any word twice and you can't use your name for the boy/girl name question. It's harder than it looks! All the best!

1. What is your name : Diana

2. A four Letter Word : D-E-A-R

3. A boy's Name : Damien (My first impulse was Mc Dreamy!!! LOL) ;p








4. A girl's Name : Desreen/ Destina
A little side story: I was almost named one of these, according to my mom & dad, cos the plan all along was to have all my siblings' names nicely synchronised. I like that, think that's cute :) My two brothers are Desmond & Deswynn. Hmm, but, the story took a twist when my dad was pursuing his post grad studies in UK before my delivery and was very much enchanted by Princess Diana, thus Des became history and Diana won. That's how my Des became a Di! :)

5. An occupation : Doctor (what's with this whole Grey's Anatonmy influence today??!!)

6. A color : Dusty rose

7. Something you'll wear : Denim jeans

9. A type of food : Dessert!!!! =) Yum yum yum!

10. Something found in the bathroom : Deodorant

11. A place : Dreamworld, Gold Coast; Diana's room (haha, it's a valid place!)

12. A reason for being late : Due bu chi... *innocent smile*

13. Something you'd shout : Dream on! :)

14. A movie title : Did you hear about the Morgans?

15. Something you drink : Diet Coke (Ok, that's a lie. I just needed it to be in "D". I totally dislike Diet Coke.... Get the REAL thing, man! Ori Coke wins!)

16. A musical group : Delirious

17. An animal : Dog

18. A street name : Divine Drive, Heaven (haha, ok, I really have no idea; seems plausible though!)

19. A type of car : Daihatsu

20. The title of a song : Dance with my father again (Luther Van Dross)

The alphabet challenge- Conquered!
I now tag:
... Miranda
... Caitlyn
... Li Ann
... Christine Lee
... Melissa Ke
... Yen Nie
... Gillian

can't think of 20.... anyone of you who's up for the CHALLENGE! :)

Stepping into Twenty Ten

How great is Your goodness,
which You have stored up for those who fear You,
which You bestow in the sight of men,
on those who take refuge in You.
(Ps 31:19)

Here we go, stepping into a new decade... a whole brand new TWENTY TEN! What will this year hold? Will our new year resolutions be achieved? How will friendships and relationships turn out? What areas of growth would there be?

As I grow older, I come to realise that every year has it's share of good and bad days. Of course, some years have more good days than others, whilst some years have days where we just hope and pray they'd quickly end. Nonetheless, the most important lesson I've learned is that God is in the centre of our lives in ALL seasons of our lives. He is there with us. Right there with us through it all.

So, I'm excited! I'm excited about what the Lord has in store for me this year. A fantastic year ahead! As we step into year 2010, let us be filled with gratefulness and learn from the lessons that had unfolded in 2009... let us exchange what currently appears as challenges and pain in our lives into opportunities for growth that the Lord can use for our betterment. This I remind myself, whatever your state of mind and heart may be currently, let us trust in the Word of God which never fails!

His Word promises that He has stored up GOODNESS for us! Can you imagine a whole mega store house of goodness and blessings for His children?! Yay, that's for you and me! =) So, let's look in anticipation and know unswervingly that God is good and His lovingkindness are new for us every day! He said it, you claim & receive it in faith, and it shall be done!! Blessed New Year 2010, everyone! God's wondrous blessings be multiplied to each and everyone of you!

=) Smiley face


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Lastly, here's a goodie sent by Mel. Be blessed!

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could, and it could go no further. So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily.

But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.

What the man, in his kindness and haste, did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our lives. If God allowed us to go through our lives without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. We could never fly!

I asked for Strength....... And God gave me Difficulties to make me strong.

I asked for Wisdom...... And God gave me Problems to solve.

I asked for Prosperity......... And God gave me Brain and Brawn to work.

I asked for Courage......... And God gave me Danger to overcome.

I asked for Love......... And God gave me troubled people to help.

I asked for Favors......... And God gave me Opportunities.

I received nothing I wanted........ I received everything I needed!

Trust in God! Always!

CURRENT UPDATES

I've really been missing in action for quite some time. Ok, so, to compensate my weeks of "news-less-ness", here are some quickie updates:

* Am currently on a detox diet (haha, yes!)... am doing this with a bunch of awesome friends from life group. We've been having only vege and fruits for the past 3 days! All is good as of now, although I must admit of the random images and out-of-the-blue sensory influx of: (top in the list) KFC chicken, Morrison's STEAK, ice cream, and ... believe it or not.... Coles chicken! (Weird ey, I would never have imagined that in my moments of "distress", Coles chicken would fill my thoughts...!).

* Launcing 2-weeks spiritual detox with my life group gals this Friday =) Body, soul, and spirit cleansing!

* Guess who's going to Christchurch in March??? Moi.... yay!!! Remember my previous post (last month I think) when I was sharing about my submission of abstracts to the International Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine conference? All glory to God! From all the applications, both my research papers were accepted and I've been invited to present them in New Zealand. Will be going with my team from the Royal Children's Hospital. Fun times! This will be a lovely eye-opener.

* More exciting stuff happening in March... will be going to Hillsong's Women Colour Conference with my favourite ladies. Ahhh.... it's gonna be awesome! Great preaching, terrific company of girls, awesome food, beautiful Sydney Harbour Bridge, and shopping (hehe) .... what more can a girl ask for??! =)

* On a slightly sad note though, due to the Christchurch Conference, I've got to miss Diana Krall's concert on March 3rd. Sooobbbbss!

* Oh ya, Mission Trip to Adelaide in November! Yay! Am really looking forward to serving and ministering there. Have heard heaps about Adelaide from various people... about how lovely and serene it is. And also possibly how boring and life-less it is. So, this is an opportune time for me to go check it out myself and solve the mystery. Gillian Keasberry-Foooooooooo and Joanna Retnam, I'm coming to visit you!!!!! Get your red carpets ready!! =)

* Lastly, on the work front, things are going smoothly. I've finished writing half of my thesis. Am analysing results now and doing Phase II of my study (web survey of parents of children with cerebral palsy). Am also working on a journal article write up. Both my hospital director and supervisor are encouraging me to publish the findings of my study in psychology journals. My 1st attempt at this. Am trusting the Lord for His grace and wisdom!

* Final last, I want to buy an LCD Monitor.... Any ideas?

STOP TEST-DRIVING

The society today bombards us with lies about relationships, often aimed at tainting and corrupting God's idea of biblical relationships.... "Nyeh, it's ok to try our relationships; Co-habition is fine; Yeah, it's acceptable to be physically close to a person before real commitment is made"... bla bla bla... and the lies go on. Counterfeits after counterfeits of true love we see each day. Along the way, our hearts get clouded and perhaps even broken, because that which ought to be guarded was not.

Knowing God's principles and promises is so imperative to protecting His wonderful design and purposes for our lives. The enemy will try to snatch away God's precious blessings via his lies and wrong teachings. Let us not be fooled. The enemy's ways brings only destruction. But God's ways brings life and blessings! The question is what do we want? The more we desire for what is good and true, the more will we not be moved by counterfeits!

The articles below are pretty good reading materials. The 1st is an article written for males, but the principles go just as well for females too. Just reverse the "she/her" to "he/him" and you'll be fine. The 2nd is an excerpt from a longer article. I've inserted the links if you wanna browse thru the original articles. I've thought quite a bit upon reading these. Thought you may too. Happy reading! :)


Stop Test-Driving Your Girlfriend!
by Michael Lawrence (2006) from Boundless Webzine. (Click here for article)

"How do I know if she's the one?"


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Differences Between Modern Dating and Biblical Dating
by Scott Croft (2005) from Boundless Webzine. (Click here for article)

OH HAPPY DAY, HAPPY DAY

My heart springs with joy and thanksgiving, thank you Jesus for....

... this day: This the day that You've made!
... the never-ending ocean of Your love. I'm redeemed, restored, and deeply loved!
... sweet victories: finished and submitted my thesis chapter, yay!
... meaningful friendships & simple joys of life: thankful for the wonderful ones in my life (yay, to beautiful riverfire and lovely dinner last night with my gals) and the nice weekend stroll in West End plus yummy quiche :)
... making morning routines so wonderful: when you can sip tea after a fantastic warm shower... ahh, gorgeous!
... a brilliant Sunday morning spent with You...

Oh, happy day, happy day! :D

IT'S ALL IN YOUR NAME

I love being...

d

Why?! 3 reasons that struck me today:

1) Well, firstly, it only has 5 letters. Short and sweet. Quick and easy to write. Especially when it comes to exams when you have to colour those annoying little circles according to the alphabets of your name. Blek! Imagine how tiring the fingers can get if my name was Nebuchadnezzar or sth like that (Ok, I know that's a male's name... but you get the point). And if Diana is not short enough, I can easily go with Di or D (P/S: I like it pronounced as Dee, not Die! lol)

d

2) People tend to remember your name better. Research shows that people's memory for words increases when there is association involved. So, being named after a princess (albeit a deceased one) has its advantages.

d
3) Boost loves YOU! Yes..... This is ultimately what this whole blog post is about: I got a FREE BOOST today! Yay, happy me! (Ahh, simple joys of life! :D). Boost outlets all over Brissie were giving out free drinks to honour all "Diana"s and "James" today. You know, when I was standing there at the outlet, boy, never had my name felt so magical and powerful before. I smiled, said my name, flashed my ID card, and immediately, the staff proceeded to greet me with such warmth & enthusiasm as she passed me my large cup of coveted Boost. Isn't that amazing? Say the magic name, get the awesome drink!!! ...... If only this can be an everyday affair!s

Ahhhhhh, my green tea mango mantra and I....

Di ♥ Boost!

On a side note, it's pretty funny, I did a name analyser thing that my friend sent me, yep, some of you may have received it from me. It's a fun, silly thing that "apparently" reveals your ideal job based on your name. Guess what I got??

Diana = Ustazah (Muslim religious teacher)

Diana Wee= Pirate

Diana Wee Yuen Swan= Village idiot! Hahahah. Ain't that awesome??!

a

It has been pretty hillarious hearing from different ones what they got.

* My bro & sis in law tried their names and were BOTH presented with the same ideal occupation: ROAD SWEEPER!! Haha, talk about being the perfect match!! They can look at each other adoringly in the eye as they sweep the streets of KL.

a

* And just when you thought that this name analyser thingy is a major sadist which will never churn out any decent occupations, my fellow coursemate tried her name and guess what she got?? "Emperor of all the world!!". Seriously, I want to be the emporer of all the world! Lol, not some pirate or village idiot! :)

a

Haha, fun times!

s