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Revived by God
Uni has been an interesting experience for me. It was such a ride, meeting new friends, settling into a lecture-oriented teaching style as well as learning to write proper assignments along with non-plagiarising references.
But one thing I found is, I feel very much closer to God than I ever was. I can observe the changes that the Holy Spirit has done within me, and my actions has slowly become more Christ-like. I am so eternally grateful for Him always being beside me and guiding me along during tough patches of my life, as well as for the Spirit who intercedes to God for me when I am too busy to give thanks for what He has done.
But what really helped me was the KickStart orientation camp in February which subsequently led me to attend the weekly Bible talks held by the Curtin Christian Union. These people really bear the image of Christ in everything that they do, and I find them to be a very valuable part of my life. They have helped me grow tremendously in my faith and have helped me to see that God really does love me and gave His Son to die for me on the cross.
God has really helped me through my studies, as well as using me as His instrument to bring others to Christ. Nasir is a Muslim friend in my Laboratory Medicine course. While not really staunch religious person, he holds to the faith closer than most people. But he found out about me being a Christian through Ahmad, another Muslim, and so we became closer as friends and we shared with each other the differences as well as the similarities between our religions.
Nasir was willing to hear me out, often asking questions as well as offering his views on differing opinions. He even went to talk with Brad Vigus, our CCU staffworker and asked a lot of questions. Then Jordan's talk this week really struck me, with him saying to his Muslim friend: 'Does your God really love you for what you do, or because of who you are? If it's because of what you do, then you better get praying 5 times a day or Allah won't be happy!'. I even posed this question to Nasir and he gave the same response: that Allah loves him for what he does.
A quote from C.S. Lewis: Now is our chance to choose the right side. God is holding back to give us that chance. It won't last forever. We must take it or leave it (taken from Mere Christianity, 1952). This gave me so much courage to tell more people about Jesus and what he has done for me, because of the uncertainty of the time in which God chooses to unleash His complete wrath and send all unbelievers to Hell.
I have also been praying for Eunice, who I dearly love as a Christian sister to realise that God is a much greater priority than study, which is an excuse she hides behind to avoid TBT. I know it must be hard for her to trust the Lord especially when she's struggling to pass, but Philipians 4:6 says 'Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God'. I will have to admit that it's already hard for me to do that in my present circumstance, due to my sinful human nature of not trusting immaterial things, and so I understand some of what she's going through. I can only hope that God will work in her heart and convict her to serve Him in a way that is pleasing.
I continue to pray that God will give me the strength to be bold in front of my friends and that He will give me the right words to say if according to His sovereign and foreordained will.
Legend of the Seas Cruise
We left on the 12th of January from the Singapore Cruise Center to board the Legend of the Seas. As I entered, it seemed as if I was in a completely new city with restaurants, swimming pools, souvenir shops, casinos, theaters and even bars.
I mean seriously, even though it was my first cruise, the first-class service and food really impressed me. I have never eaten so much in my entire life before, thanks to the 24/7 pizza and chips that are available at the Solarium Cafe. In typical me-fashion, I lazed around the deck just randomly wandering around as well as lying down on a chair enjoying the endless view of the sea.
Perhaps the most exciting part of the cruise was the teen group, Optix. We were just a bunch of teens gathered in one room where we challenged each other to showdowns in SingStar, Bingo and Mini-golf. The friendships that were formed will probably be remembered for the rest of my life.
Every night, our family and the Rozells would gather at the Romeo & Juliet Dining Hall at 8:30PM for fine dining. There was a personal waiter for each table and you could literally order as much starters, main courses and desserts as you want as long as they don't go to waste. I tried a lot of food that I previously didn't dare try, like the snail-like thing (forgot the name >.<). Every dish that came out was presented so neatly I felt bad about eating it and disrupting it's beauty.
On the 3rd day we reached Phuket and our family disembarked and hired a vehicle to move around the island. We rode on elephants and went window-shopping. Pretty boring to be honest. I'll tell you that the ship looked *really* pretty as we made our way back in the night.
Anyways, enough talking from me. The pictures are up on Facebook. Only authorised people are allowed to view it.
KFC Induction & Job
Well I got a job at KFC! It all started when my parents basically told me to get a job because they didn't want me sitting in the house all day doing nothing while waiting for my final results. I signed up online, waited two weeks and then came the reply, 'Please come in for an interview'. Needless to say, I was part excited and part nervous.
Alana my 'boss' asked a couple of simple questions and after no more than 20 minutes, I was in! I had to go all the way to Osborne Park for an induction, which went from 4:00 to 8:45 in the night. The following Wednesday we (there are others too you know!) were asked to complete some safety booklet and the official training began.
Being a kitchenhand, I was taught how to bread the various types of chicken, as well as how to cook them in the fryers. Part of the routine was also washing whatever dishes and chicken crates. Polishing is done during mid-day and let me tell you, it is possibly the most tedious job. The process involves dragging around this really uncouth machine that contains the oil while the fryer is being cleaned. Hot plates have to be removed and the gunk from Original Recipe chicken is dumped in a seperate container used for the potato gravy (yuk!). After all that is done, the oil has to be pumped back in and repeated for the other 3 collectros. And at the end the monstrosity is such a pain to clean! This is why I try to avoid being asked to polish as well as occupy myself during closing time.
We are allowed to have free food and drinks during work, which is an added bonus. I quite enjoy my job there but it can sometimes get fustrating during peak-hours.