2008: The Best Year That Was

2008 has easily…and I really mean EASILY been the best year ever for me. I don’t say this because everything has been smooth sailing for me and that it has been all positives, but rather it has been a really unique year, filled with experiences and little journeys which I will never forget. Ever.

I knew that I would write this post the day I knew that 2008 was going to be over. And I didn’t want it just to be another meet-the-deadline-before-the-new-year post of what has happened in my life last year. I want it to be one that lifts the name of Jesus high because He is the reason why I can write this post today :)

So here I am, 1.11 a.m. in the morning, back in my wonderful hometown of Kota Kinabalu, sitting in my room in which my brother and I have grown up in, making an attempt to put into words how 2008 has truly meant to me.

My Best Moments of 2008:

1. Passing my Final Exam Year as a medical student. Trust me, I wouldn’t have been able to do it without God’s grace and wisdom!!

2. Receiving the news that my Study Loan got approved. An extra lift of burden from Papa and Mama’s shoulders :)

3. Village Life Group. Words fail me in saying how grateful and honoured Christine and I are to lead such an awesome (I use this word a LOT), young, energetic and full of potential bunch whose hearts are so tender for God. You guys rock and I am looking forward to an even greater 2009 with you guys :)

It is the first time actually Christine and I have been in a leadership role together as a couple, and boy, have I learnt so much from this wonderful girl! She is the master of multitasking, baking, listening, just to list a few! She rocks! :)

4. Higher level of passion for Basketball, meeting new basketball friends. You guys know what I mean :). Thank you for the steals, blocks and school-bussing sessions you guys have unselfishly given :D. I shall be back for more, with more!

5. Confirmed my career path choice. As in what I will specialize in after graduation :)

6. Modelling for the first time. Eek!

7. Opening the boxes to my iPhone and MacBook! Some of you all must be going, “oh here he goes again”..but I DON’T care! I am a very, very happy and satisfied Mac user. No more Vista blues. Sadly it is also the year Microsoft has decided to say bye bye to Windows XP. Maybe I will consider Windows 7.

8. Sydney trip in July. Loved Sydney. Despite the hustle and bustle most people dislike about Sydney, the beauty of its landmarks and its special vibe more than make up for it.

9. Melbourne trip in November/December. Went to watch WICKED with dear which was awesome! The best musical I have ever watched. We actually arrived in Melbourne on my birthday. And I got sick on my birthday night! So I spent my birthday night in a budget YMCA bed, covered up in blanket, sleeping after two paracetamol tablets -_-”. Thank you dear for taking care of me that night! 

10. My God-given vision for a hospital has been reconfirmed. Ps Mark prophesied over me during a Sunday service and it was in line with the vision. He did not know about the vision before this. I was and still am refreshed by it and I am going all the way to make the vision happen! Thank you Ps Mark and Ps Nina for your constant encouragement and the positive environment you bring to me :)

Ending this post and to wrap up 2008, I want to specially thank:

God for His grace and unconditional love. Everything is possible through Jesus!

Christine dear for your constant support, for being my stake, for being what I am not and doing what I cannot do :) 

Dad and Mum for always being there for me. You are always in my thoughts and you will always have a special place in my heart.

Ps Mike and Auntie Chiew-Har for being such amazing leaders who lead by example. Thank you for always feeding us both Word and FOOD when we needed it the most!

Ps Mark and Nina for the positive attitude you have instilled in me through Paradise City Church. Thank you for your constant encouragement and I will always remember the short conversations we had together.

The ministry team especially Andrew, Jia Ching, Ernestine, Zie, Don and Yong Ling for being there for me through thick and thin.

Wen Hao and Sze Liang for constantly being my best proxy buddies! (proxy buddies, sounds cool eh? :D)

All my tutors and seniors and peers alike for adding so much more into my life.

My basketball buddies. Thursday nights and weekends have never been dull with all of you around!

With this I end another chapter in my life, a great one!

Propel 2008 by God’s grace, has truly come to past!

It’s Been A While…

…since I last blogged!!!

I have so much stuffs in my mind to put into words. I am currently spending my well-earned holiday back in my wonderful hometown of Kota Kinabalu. Been trying to gain weight but have not been very successful so far =/

Very encouraged and provoked by what Ps Ashley Evans spoke about lately;

“Do you want to be BLAND or GRAND in 2009?”

You decide. I certainly want to be grand. There isn’t even another choice to settle with :)

Next up: Christine arriving in KK next Wednesday and trip to Hong Kong next Saturday! Can’t wait!!

More posts to come if I can only start my blogging engine again.

*Thank you for participating in the oh-so-provocating poll of whether you like the newest MacBook or not. Whether you like it or not, I’ve bought myself a new MacBook before flying back to KK and boy, there is no turning back since :) 

This is just for the records: My first blog entry on a Mac *beams with joy*

Happy Grand New Year 2009 Everyone!!!!

New MacBook and MacBook Pros Tonight

WooHoo I can’t wait!!!! My Dell Inspiron 600m has served me very well for the past 5 years, and has worked flawlessly bringing me through Medical School :). It is still running happily on 512MB of RAM and 40GB of hard disk space with XP, of course. At one point it dual booted XP and Ubuntu Linux.

My Dad has recently expressed his interest in owning my Dell Inspiron, using it as his portable stock exchange/ database computer. What better time it is to get a new laptop than these exciting times when the new MacBook and MacBook Pros are coming out??

*Oh yeah, btw, I am still using a 256MB Kingston Datatraveler II thumbdrive as well, and i’m sure it felt so daunted this morning when it was doing its job alongside thumbdrives from my other colleagues which had the capacity of 8GB and beyond. 0_0 It was lost three times and found again. And it survived a washing machine cycle without any loss of data. Time for an upgrade?

Happy Birthday Dear!

To the stake of my life, makan-kaki of my life,

supporter of my life, cook of my life (hehe),

supper-kaki of my life, travel mate of my life,

bubble tea-ohwemusthaveit-kaki of my life,

my one-and-only ever dancing partner of my life,

my hair stylist, my movie-buddy, my encourager, my listener, my best friend.

To the Love of my life. To my Everything.

*Disclaimer: This picture is so sizzling hot that you may get sunburned just by viewing this post. chriskia will not hold responsible for any damages caused :D.

Do You Know…

…what you want in life?

Isn’t it true that sometimes we feel aimless because we do not know what we want to achieve in life?                        Some say, ‘live for the day’, but would you want to do so without having and end point to achieve in the future?

Bible says that without vision, people perish. (Proverbs 29:18, KJV)

So start asking God what He wants to do through and in your life. Ask for a vision. And while waiting for God to do so, list down some practical things that you want to achieve out of your life (write them down so that you are constantly reminded of them)! However always remember to ernestly seek for His ultimate plan in your life. It is one that is out of your imagination, one that will prosper you, one that will give you hope and future! (Jeremiah 29:11, NIV)

As for me, my vision is to build a hospital one day. One that will touch generations and nations. One that shouts how much God loves His people :)

And things that I would like to achieve at the short term at the moment would be:
1. Pass my End of Year Exam.
2. Same as above.
3. Same as above.

If Only..

Sounds familiar? Well I certainly have a lot of ‘If Only(s)’. If only I have done this…if only I have not done that…if only I have not made that decision…

The highlight of our ‘If Only(s)’ is our past. When we say ‘If Only’, we are referring to our past.

In Genesis 3:17, God cursed the ground after Adam first sinned. Since then mankind has to work the ground in order to produce food.

John 9 tells us a story about Jesus healing a man who was born blind. Blind since birth!. In this famous passage, Jesus spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva before putting it on the blind man’s eyes. The blind man could see soon after, for the first time in his life.

Sometimes we allow things to blind us from what God wants to do in our life; most of the time they are things from our past. The Devil likes to remind us of our past because there is nothing we can change about our past (true?). Then we start to say ‘If Only..’

In the passages above we find that though God has cursed the ground in the beginning, He has sent Jesus with a purpose of redemption. The ground symbolizes things that He wants to restore in our lives. The ground which was once cursed was used by Jesus to restore a man’s sight! Think about that.

Do you have anything in your past that you want to set free? We might not be able to change our past, but God can change the course of our future by not allowing our past to hold us down. God can turn your painful past around and do something great in your future, just like Jesus did with the blind man.

This post is inspired by Ps Matt Heins, Pastor of Paradise Community Church :) You rock Pastor Matt!

Propel 2008

Welcome to my new humble little blog! This blog was birthed through a conviction and commitment to live 2008 fruitfully, honoring God and impacting lives along the way. Recently Christine dear prayed and felt that the word for me this year is Propel, hence the title of this blog :). When she told me about the word, something clicked in my soul, and I believe that this year is going to be a year full of amazing experiences for me. I believe that this year is going to be the year in which I am going to grow exponentially in many areas of my life. I am already so excited about this year and what God has in store for me! I pray that you will only want to propel forward this year as well! Let’s believe together for a great year ahead :)