No More Night - by David Phelps

Before I discovered the cause of my urticaria, I dreaded the night, because my rashes only popped up after sunset. How I wish the day was longer! As the sun went down, my heart sank. For me night came to be associated with intense itchiness and misery.

But thank God I've found the trigger of my urticaria. Since I changed my diet, the rashes are almost gone, only appearing once in while. Night is no more dreaful. This song really describes how I feel recently...



No More Night
The timeless theme, Earth and Heaven will pass away
It's not a dream, God will make all things new that day
Gone is the curse from which I stumbled and fell
Evil is banished to eternal hell

No more night, no more pain
No more tears, never crying again
And praises to the great, "I AM"
We will live in the light of the risen Lamb

See all around, now the nations bow down to sing
The only sound is the praises to Christ, our King
Slowly the names from the book are read
I know the King, so there's no need to dread

No more night, no more pain
No more tears, never crying again
And praises to the great, "I AM"
We will live in the light of the risen Lamb

See over there, there's a mansion
Oh, that's prepared just for me
Where I will live with my Savior eternally

No more night, no more pain
No more tears, never crying again
And praises to the great, "I AM"
We will live in the light of the risen Lamb

All praises to the great, "I AM"
We're gonna live in the light of the risen


I look forward to the day when there will be no more night, no more pain, no more itchiness!
Happy National Day!
Happy Sabbath!

Flight delayed... almost 8 hours!

Last Friday I was supposed to fly from Kuantan to Kuala Lumpur at 6.40am. My dad and I woke up at 5am., and went to the airport around 6am. When I checked in, I was told that the airplane was not working and my flight was postponed to 12 noon.

Initially the flight was postponed to 10.30am (as you can see in the picture above), but it was already full. Those who have connecting flight were given priority to go into the 10.30am plane.

Went back to the airport around 11am and was told that the flight has been further delayed to 2pm. I was tired from waking up early, my dad too. Anyway, I was lucky because I could go to my dad's work place. There were many people waiting at the airport since 6am after checking out from the hotel. They had nowhere to go but had to wait there for hours.

As compensation, I was given 2 food vouchers. Not sure why it was 2. Anyway it's good because my dad and I could at least have lunch together.

 At the cafeteria. Most of those eating there were in the same flight as mine.

My dad and I went for a light meal around 10am. I was quite full so I didn't order much food, only cakes. Furthermore, all the other dishes there were non-vegetarian.

Most were waitng for the 2pm MAS airplane

 Firefly plane

Finally we could board!

Flying above the clouds. It was cloudy down there but sunny up here.

My seat was near the aisle but since no one was sitting beside me I went to sit by the window. I was watching the clouds throughout my flight. It seemed like God was trying to comfort me by showing me the white and puffy clouds. I was marvelled by God's creation - how could a mass of water vapors be so beautiful?  I was so absorbed I didn't even notice it's time to land at KL. The air steward had to nudge my arm to remind me to straighten my chair.

By the time I reached KL I had to rush over to Ipoh (another 3 hours driving away) to check in and attend a health convention. Thank God Pr.WS and I managed to be there before the seminars started!

At the airports

Didn't take a flight for years. Last Sunday I flew back to Kuantan. From Kuala Lumpur to Kuantan usually it'd take 4 hours of driving. A bus ride would be 5 hours! With ariplane it's only half an hour. I was lucky to get a promotionaly ticket. Thank God!

At KLIA, after checking in. The checking in process has changed (I felt so outdated!) - you just key in your flight number at the kiosk and a boarding pass will be printed. Then you go to the counter and check in your luggage.

On the way down to the gate

My boarding pass

Walking around

On the way to gate A11

Moving on

Before going into the airplane

From my window

An essential for me. I alway felt a knot in my stomach whenever the airplane is taking off. No matter what I did I could never get rid of that feeling. Thank God I have never thrown up in the airplane yet!

MAS magazine

Waiting to take off. Waited for 20 minutes. Not sure why it took so long...

As usual, orange juice & peanuts were served

Bright & sunny. Reached Kuantan after about 30 minutes.  Very fast and comfy. If I took a bus, I haven't even come out of KL yet after 30 minutes!

Boeing 737-800. A small plane.

No drugs!

A small airport

Overall it's a pleasant journey. No hassle & cramped legs. :-)

Selamat Hari Raya!

Just wanna wish all my Muslim friends...

Selamat Hari Raya!

Happy Eid!

[Will be busy this week, won't be posting... See you next week!]

A song by Lin Dan & Zhou Xiao Ou

Besides playing badminton, Lin Dan can sing too!

I'm not a supporter of Lin Dan (of course I support Lee Chong Wei, the Malaysian player), but I still think this song is very nice. Very meaningful!

I've translated the lyrics too... enjoy!

热力战放 [Re Li Zhan Fang]
战放我们激情的节奏
Release our passionate rhythm
把那束缚抛开的时候

When we cast aside the chain

共同感受这片天空带给我们的自由
Feel the freedom brought to us by this sky

挥动你我坚强的双手
Wave our strong hands

努力奔向成功的尽头
Make effort to run towards the successful end

我们的梦 握在手中 绝不等候
Our dreams   Held in our hands   Never wait

你是否在经历着平凡的生活
Are you still living a mediocre life

但心中仍然烧着烈火
But there is a fiery flame within your heart

也许你曾经还在追逐中失去了自我
Maybe you've lost yourself during the chase

却从未忘记梦的颜色
But you've never forgotten the colors of your dreams

战出来释放埋在心中的理想
Stand out and release the dreams buried in your hearts

用拼搏去点亮这希望
Fight hard to ignite this hope

热力的节拍舞动你我燃烧了沉默
The fiery rhythm burns our silence

放飞梦想在这一刻 不能等到最后
Release the dream at this moment   Never wait till the end

A bagful of book, a bagful of joy

Last week I borrowed a bagful of books (Chinese + English) from 2 friends.

A cute bag it is!

The books stacked up. I'm almost done with all of them. 3 more to go!

Thanks, my friends, for lending me your books and giving me hours and days of joy!

I love reading!

I love friends who love reading!

I love friends who love reading and who lend me their books!

Thanks again!

Step to Christ: Group discussion questions

Had a group discussion on chapter 5 of the book, Step to Christ. 3 questions by Pr. WS...

How would you answer them?

Something to ponder about...

What Faith Can Do, by Kutless

I like the lyrics, especially the chorus...

Everybody falls sometimes
Gotta find the strength to rise
From the ashes
And make a new beginning

Anyone can feel the ache
You think it's more than you can take
But you're stronger
Stronger than you know

Don't you give up now
The sun will soon be shining
You gotta face the clouds
To find the silver lining

I've seen dreams that move the mountains
Hope that doesn't ever end
Even when the sky is falling
I've seen miracles just happen
Silent prayers get answered
Broken hearts become brand new
That's what faith can do

It doesn't matter what you've heard
Impossible is not a word
It's just a reason
For someone not to try

Everybody's scared to death
When they decide to take that step
Out on the water
It'll be alright

Life is so much more
Than what your eyes are seeing
You will find your way
If you keep believing

I've seen dreams that move the mountains
Hope that doesn't ever end
Even when the sky is falling
I've seen miracles just happen
Silent prayers get answered
Broken hearts become brand new
That's what faith can do

Overcome the odds
You don't have a chance
(That's what faith can do)
When the world says you can't
It'll tell you that you can

I've seen dreams that move the mountains
Hope that doesn't ever end
Even when the sky is falling
And I've seen miracles just happen
Silent prayers get answered
Broken hearts become brand new
That's what faith can do
That's what faith can do

Even if you fall sometimes
You will have the strength to rise

[I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me! Have faith and keep on going!]

Numbers in the lift

Because I always I went with Pr.WS to visit people, I got to go to many condominiums and apartments around Klang Valley.

A strange phenomenon I noticed...

Vandalizing of number buttons, especially those that contain number 4! In the above picture even the other numbers were painted on!

In some lifts there are no buttons for 4, 14, or 24; they are replaced with 3A, 13A, 23A.

Why?

In Chinese the pronunciation of 4 is very similar to death. Many Chinese don't like number 4 so in many condominiums and apartments, either the buttons with 4 were vandalized, or they were replaced by 3A.

If you walked around landed housing areas, if a #4 house were owned by a Chinese, the number will be changed to 3A, or the word "发"[Fa - Prosperous] will be added beside it.

Similar to Westerners' aversion of the number 13?

Of course I don't believe that 4 will bring death. It's just similar pronunciation and nothing more. Why let numbers control our mind? Why let numbers bring fear to our heart?

Just because I read a book doesn't mean I'm a loser! (book & lose have the same pronunciation in Chinese)

Are you afraid of 4? Is there any number that you don't like or avoid?

Badminton, Mamak, & a silver medal

The only 2 things about Malaysia that I'm proud of as a Malaysian are found here:

Good food + badminton. A bunch of people watching Olympics badminton single final (Lee Chong Wei vs. Lin Dan) in a Mamak restaurant. One of the rare occasions where unity is found.

The only 2 things I like about Malaysia is the food and badminton - eating Naan & watching Olympics badminton single final is a superb combination! :-)

Yesterday Lee Chong Wei lost to Lin Dan. He got a silver medal and he cried. He said, "I'm sorry" in his twitter. I still think he played very very well and I cheer for him. I believe it's the same with most of the Malaysians.

No more public holiday & Baskin Robbins, but we still have a silver medal! :-)

A set of Spirit of Prophecy

This set also comes with a KJV Bible, with commentary by Ellen White.

My dad got this set for me about 15 years ago. I wasn't able to speak and write English fluently yet. But my dad just bought it, believing that one day I'd be able to read Ellen White's original writings.

The 4 big books (including the Bible) rested quietly at my bookshelves for years, before I brought them to Mission College, Thailand, about 10 years ago. My luggage was overweight but somehow I didn't have to pay for the extra kilograms.

This set includes all the main Ellen White's writings. During my freshman year, I was reading the 5 major books by her and they were all in Volume 1. To protect the cover, I wrapped it. Didn't do that for Volumes 2 and 3 because I seldom used them. I only read a few books from Volumes 2 and 3 for class assignment.

I had my devotion every morning and I started with the first book in Volume 1, Patriachs and Prophets, and went on with Prophets and Kings, then The Desire of Ages, then The Acts of the Apostles. It took me about a year to finish them.

At first my reading speed was quite slow because I needed to use dictionary frequently (hence all the definitions between lines. I was not very familar with many biblical terms in English. After a few months I slowly caught up and didn't need the dictionary as often.

I didn't read The Great Controversy of this volume, because I borrowed another version from the library, which had bigger fonts and was easier to read. I also read Counsels on Food and Diet, Step to Christ and a few other compilations of Ellen White for class assignments.

When my dad brought the set into the house, I was astonished - my English was so poor, when will I be able to read them? They are so big and thick!

Little did I know that a few years later I'd have read hundreds of pages of the volumes!

Now these 3 volumes (minus the Bible, which is at my hometown for my dad's reference) are sitting in our bookshelf, still serving faithfully, waiting for us to open them and discover the wisdom God has inspired Ellen White to write down.

Thanks, dad, for your foresight! :-)

Public holiday, work as usual

This describes the pastor very well...