HEY CG (:
CHURCH CAMP ROCKEDI'm sure all of us who went agree (((= I just wanna share something with all of you guys.. maybe you guys know it already but i'll just say it here again.
God has really touched me in the church camp and He changed the focus of my life and I'm really thankful for that! Because I entered church camp, with no expectancy of anything God would do in my life. Because before that, I could only think about SLCSLCSLC. my whole life revolved around SLC. and it's not something good because it distracts me from God!!!!! And, if you read my blog post about slc, you can really tell that slc seemed to be MY LIFE before that.
and, I wasn't willing to let go of slc. I could! But I wouldn't. Because I wanted to hold on to SLC forever. I was paying lip service or however you spell it, as rev. edmund chan said, when i said "SLC's the biggest part of my life. But God's my life". Because then, I just wanted to think about only ONE thing- SLC.
And, I knew that I was neglecting God. I didn't like it. I wanted God back in my life. And yet another part of me wanted to JUST KEEP SLC IN MY HEART AND MIND FOREVER. I prayed, I did, before camp started, that God would change the way I felt about SLC. That He would make a paradigm shift in my priorities!! That God will be MY LIFE. again.
During camp, i felt God's presence again. and it was the best I ever felt. To know that my God, the creator of the universe, would still accept me despite everything I did before- neglected Him because of something like SLC. And, yeah.. He is always faithful! unlike humanity.
And even though God didn't do something physical and VISIBLE during camp, He did something even better- He touched my heart. each sermon revealed something different to me, and subtly, He changed me.
God changed my focus. Now, I can proudly say that God is more important than SLC. God is the MOST impt in my life. And I can truthfully say that! Because I really prayed during camp that the Holy Spirit would fill me up again and God will break me, break the outer shell that is blocking out everything else. And He did!
And right now, I just can't stop thinking about how faithful and loving God has been. He IS LOVE. He accepts us for who we are, even though He knows the DEPTHS OF OUR HEARTS. He is our saviour. Our Lord. Our friend!!
The most amazing thing is that God changed me in the most unexpected way. I didn't expect God to do anything, as I said, because I thought I had disappointed God too much. BUT HE DID! That's the most amazing thing!! I was unfaithful to Him. I doubted that He would (even though I knew He could) and THAT WAS ONE OF THE BIGGEST MISTAKES I MADE.
But again and again, God is graceful and merciful. He forgave my sins LIKE HE DID FOR EVERYONE ELSE, and He brought me back to His side; under His wings; dwelling in Him; being a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit as well.
EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED. God answers prayers! God WANTS us to be by His side. He loves us more than we can ever imagine!!!! What more can we ask for?? Because we already have... the God of the HOW MUCH MORE by OUR SIDE.
I just want to encourage you guys that, yeah, we serve a God of miracles. And He CAN CHANGE YOU. even if you don't think He will. Even if you don't want to change. But it's not about YOU remember?? It's all about God!!
I was stuck in the middle- SLC and GOD. I wanted to be with GOD but i couldn't let go. But now, God has brought me to HIS SIDE. And because I KNOW THE 'YES' IN MY LIFE, I CAN SAY 'NO' TO SLC. And saying no to slc has been the best choice I have made this whole year xD
So!! LETS CONTINUE TO GROW IN THE LORD. KNOW OUR 'YES'. SO WE CAN EASILY AND FIRMLY SAY 'NO' TO ANYTHING ELSE THAT THREATENS OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD. I have learnt that now, through this experience. And I thank God for that ((((:
Our God is an AWESOME GOD. He deserves the BEST we can give Him. It's ALLLLL about HIM.
And I also want to say that ever since I made this choice, God has changed my attitude and everything! And He makes use of this change to open up so many opportunities in my life!! Like, after I returned from church camp, ALLL of my friends started asking why I seemed so happy and high and they ask "how was camp???" and all, AND ---DRUMROLL-------------
THERE'S THE CHANCE TO SHARE!!!!!!!!
YeAH!! And this all the more confirms that THIS IS WHAT GOD WANTS FOR ME. HE WANTS ME HERE.
God had a plan for each one of us when He sent us to church camp. This was mine. For our cg, it is probably cg bonding. I don't know how God touched each of our lives, but Im sure He did. Let's always remember that God as a better and bigger plan than us and,
HIS WILL instead of OUR WILL.
PRAISING GOD AND LOVING OUR CG,
jo-ann ((:
changeme.
10:41 PM
hello everyone (:
i'm back from japan! so sorry i didn't tell you all when exactly i was leaving!
[i think i told gladys though..]
so anyway, while i was there, the most amazing miracle happened.
i think its kind of unbelievable, but just so amazing.
maybe if it happened to someone else, and i was told about this, i would just go "wow" and not feel anything else.
but the fact is that the someone else was me, so it really affected me.
i went climbing this mountain a few days ago - tateyama alphine.
it was filled with snow, and the snow was really thick.
yeah there it was spring, and the snow from winter hadn't melted yet.
so the snow is really hard to walk in, and i kept slipping and falling down.
in short, it wasn't a nice walk.
what made it worse though, was that when we were leaving the mountain, i realised that my handphone was not with me.
it'd probably fallen out of my pocket when i fell or something.
i know by now, if you've read everything, you'll probably guess that somehow i found it.
yes some way or other.
to continue my story, i did find my phone.
but there are several things that make finding my phone even more amazing.
1. My phone is as white as the snow
2. It had no battery [so cannot call]
3. It was on silent mode [so even if there was battery AND reception, nobody will know]
four days after my handphone was lost, i went to make a police report.
the day after that, my handphone was found.
they told me that a tourist found it and it was passed to the police.
its already a miracle that my phone could have been spotted by someone in the snow.
also my phone was still working despite being in the snow for what must have been hours.
another thing is that the tourist was so kind that he/she even reported the phone.
he/she surely must have been God-sent!
and if i'd made the report a day later, i don't think i would have gotten my phone.
because we were travelling all over the place.
nobody would be going back just for my phone!
so i'm really amazed by God's miracles, He's just so wonderful :D
love, nichola
changeme.
5:33 AM
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