Hello world! I'm back from... ok I have an alternative name for it after shopping but nvm. Hainan Dao it is.

The trip was... ok. I guess I saw quite a few sights of Hainan.. hmmmm. But in my opinion, it was mostly an 'educational' sorta trip. We went to see how crystals and pearls were formed.. A tea-tasting session, a jade place.. err... ya and some other sightseeing places. Not exactly the sort of trip energetic youngsters would want to take. But our tour guide was nice, I enjoyed the company (you can't imagine how funny the adults are! Haha.) and the food...... was alright. Ironically chicken in Hainan wasn't really to our tastebuds. It was served mostly cold/lukewarm, tough, and had quite a bit of bones. Quite unlike our Singaporean chicken rice- deboned, warm and tender chicken. Haha.. The shopping was not very fruitful either. Blah.

Now that I'm back, it seems that I've got so much work to do. School email inbox had 69 unread mails, personal email had 39 unread ones... plus all the preparation for youth camp next week and Cambodia trip coming up immediately after youth camp. :X Only just managed to clear them. Took me nearly two hours, eeks! :P

Current list of things to do:

Youth sharing

Prac for youth worship

CC teaching

Camp worship

Trip devotionals

Trip 'lesson plans'

Trip... so many things I haven't even thought/planned out properly, my word!

Sounds very scary, rather daunting.. My December seems to be flying by! But even as my heart's pounding at the possibility that I may not have enough time to be sufficiently prepared, the sticker on my laptop reminds me: "Every opportunity to fear is also an opportunity to TRUST GOD". Indeed. I'll take things one at a time and trust that God will give me the ability to do what I need to do!

So, it's thanksgiving time! God answered all my prayers during the trip. I found myself continually amazed by His grace! Here's an example. When we were leaving a shopping centre to go back to the hotel, my family boarded a cab first and left the other 4 standing there, waiting for their cab. As our cab drove into the distance and they still didn't get a cab, I watched them and prayed, "God, please send them a cab as fast as possible, let the cab driver drive safely but speedily, and I pray that their cab fare won't be expensive."

When we arrived back at the hotel and were getting out of our cab, another cab pulled into the driveway right behind us and guess what? It was them! And Aunty Maureen said "Our driver drove fast and we only paid 16 yuan (as compared to our fare of 17 yuan)!"

Amazing, ain't it? :)

More than just the trip alone, God provided for my scholastic needs too. :P I came home to find that all our grades had already been released for the semester and although I could only view 3 out of 4 grades, I did well beyond my expectations for those 3 modules, especially for 1 of them. I was worrying because I'd heard other project groups had marked my group down cos of a certain issue that had happened in class due to my 2 groupmates' actions. And because of that issue I was expecting a low grade... I was unhappy, I told God that it wasn't fair.. But God said to trust Him, and indeed, He came through for me! :) Truly, in my university life, God has shown me EVERY semester, that He has never failed me. Really thankful.

Also, I signed up for a school event next year and they said that briefings would be held in the last 2 weeks of December, which is when I won't be around. I was half thinking that I wouldn't be able to participate in it and was gonna email them regarding my absence, but I decided to wait till they sent out the next email. When I returned from overseas, guess what? The organizing committee sent out an email saying that they were postponing the briefings to the first 2 weeks of Jan so that those of us going overseas wouldn't have to miss any! Yay!

It's just... mind boggling sometimes. How God can continually come through for us despite our failings. Just think about it. It may not have to be the big issues like healing a family member of some serious illness, but even the simple things in life, we can thank Him for. Take a look around and reflect, and you will definitely find some way that God has provided for you. Don't forget to thank Him! :)

I've spent a considerable amount of time on this post. Gotta get back to work already! But I'll remember to trust God. Little me, big Him! :)