you know im such a fool for you
you got me wrapped around your finger
do you have to let it linger
do you have to, do you have to, do you have to let it lingerrrrrrrrrrr..

hahaha. i learnt to play this last night when my housemates gave me this thing called ice that tastes sweet and normal like 7up.. so i just drank and drank and drank cos it was so nice.. then i got the very same giddy feeling as the time that i drank the stupid mango marguerita at walas. after which i just ran to my bed at 1045 and died :/ and i had the most complicated dream ever which got me up at 3am and i lay awake till 4am. what an eventful night.

yucks. i drank one bottle of 7up-like drink and i almost died. i think people should stop asking me why i dont drink. !!

today on the other hand, was a very bright day for many reasons.

i got up to blue skies and sunshine! yaye! that i havent seen for quite a few days, what with all the rain and clouds. and i had a very yummy breakfast (that i made myself! eggs and sausages)

the first little smiley face i saw when i arrived for crosswalk (the childrens' ministry at lambrick park church) was breanna. she gave me a huuuuuugggeee smile and greeted me, showed me her new pink nails (which, according to her, she painted on her own haha) and i was really glad cos she sat down and did arts and crafts today and talked to the other kids.

the kids were amazingly hyper today, the y twins were extremely hyper, they kept wanting to take photos with my camera, all of which turned out a little.. erm.. hahahah. you can have a look when i post them.

faith came in about 40mins late cos her little sister was getting baptized at the main service today. the moment she saw me she held onto my hand and wouldnt let go. that really kinda warmed my heart cos just last week when i first got to know her she would give me a blank look and not speak a word. but when she's warmed up to you, she's such a sweet thing to be around.

keira was so pleased with the yellow leaf i brought her (long story, we did an activity last week that involved leafs and hers got torn so i promised to bring her another one this week) she kept admiring it and waving it around. haha. how kids get happy with the simplest things.

class was.. sweet, but a little chaotic cos of the boys. haha. but they all got distracted with the little experiment (which basically comprised of red food coloring and another chemical that would remove the color from the liquid) we used to demonstrate to them how Jesus has cleansed us from our sins and how we have returned to our 'original' state of purity (how God created us) and stand righteous before our Lord.

so anw the end of class came quickly and all the kids disappeared one by one as their parents came to pick them up. so i was carrying my bag and Bible and rushing for the volunteers' meeting at some other room, when i saw the y twins still in the hallway jumping and playing around and being the crazy kids that they are. haha. when they saw me they started attacking me with hugs from all sides "byeeeeeeee rayyyychhhooooooollll byeeeeeeeeeee" hahahaha i almost died laughing.. and then as i said bye to them and was about to leave, one of them said to me "i could give you a kiss if you want?" to which i just did NOT know how to respond. hahahaa. kids here are not like singaporean kids at all and i have never met a first grader (six year old boy) who wanted to give his teacher a goodbye kiss. haha. so i smiled at him and said sure! so he ran to me and gave me a kiss on the cheek and that made my day, really. that makes up for all the sadness that i felt this week when i wanted to go homeee so bad.

kids find a way into my heart like adults cant. cos with them there is just simplicity, sweetness and innocence. and this made me think about what i would like to leave with my grade 1s at crosswalk this year that i will be with them (ok more like 8 months). how i pray that each of them will grow up into a man/woman of God. that each of them will discover this joy of sweet communion with our Savior everyday of their lives. as i want to begin to enter into prayer for them, i felt the Lord impressing some things upon my heart today as i entered into worship.

the message during service today was based on 1 Corinthians 2. as the scripture was being read out, i was struck once again by the truth of this message.

Paul went back to Christ. the foundation of the Gospel.

"And i, brethren, when i came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God.

for i determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified." - 1 Cor 2:1-2

this reminded me. its not the words that i say, it is the Gospel message.
and then the speaker went back to the verse that i just read last week

"for the message of the cross is FOOLISHNESS to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." - 1 Cor 1:18

sometimes it pains me to know how foolish we may look to the watching world. why bother? why try? you cant even see this God. when i wish that they could just see what i see. what we see. as i walked back from church, it was freezing cold but i took one look at the night sky and i just stopped. and i stared upwards for a long, long time.

i have never seen the sky so beautiful. i have never seen hundreds and hundreds of stars in the clear night sky. i have never seen something quite so stunning. i searched for my stars (haha, the orion belt) and i couldnt find them. simply cos there were too many stars. too many to count, too many to search through. and so Heschel says "The stirring in our hearts when watching the star-studded sky is something no language can declare". how true.

and how beautiful to know that
"Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
nor have entered into the heart of man
the things which God has prepared for those who love Him."
- 1 Cor 2:9