Price tags…hehe April 9, 2008
Posted by Donovan in Ablaze, Amusing.1 comment so far
Man, haven’t published a post in here for a while. Noticed everyone else seems to have temporarily stopped blogging…
Anyway, during Members’ Muster two Sundays ago, I had a pleasant surprise. I received an award for my contribution to my life group, a cool wrap journal, worth $…. haha The price tag was left on it, although someone tried to black it out with felt tip…hehe next time, just take the tag off. I truly wasn’t expecting to receive anything. Having the opportunity to serve in God’s house is reward enough and such a privilege for me. THANK YOU ABLAZE! Congrats to the others also for their had work! 
On a side note, 2 weeks ago I bought 5 Hillsong CDs!! What a splurge, so not like me! haha. 30% off at Koorong was so good. Was like I only paid for 3 1/2 discs 
Just in case anyone might want to get me more Hillsong, I have Look to You, Saviour King, Mighty to Save, More than Life, United We Stand and All the Above
P.S. I was meant to post this last week lol
365 Days in a year January 28, 2008
Posted by Donovan in Bible, God, Interesting.2 comments
“365 times in the Bible, it says “Do not be afraid” . Once for every day of the year.”
Phil Baker, Riverview Church Pastor
Wow, God is so amazing; He knew that humans would use a 365 day calendar. So encouraging to hear this.
What happens when it’s a leap year, though? haha lol
Two Lessons from giving away books, sounds strange? read on… January 11, 2008
Posted by Donovan in God, Interesting, Personal.3 comments
After finishing my school exams, I decided I wanted to give away my old textbooks. Back then, I was thinking, “It would be really nice if I gave my textbooks away for free.” Then, I had the thought, “I didn’t buy these textbooks, what gives me the right to do what I want with them, after all, my parents bought them, not me.” Another thought hit me about this too, “Should I not consult the original buyer what to do with them?”
The first thought really reminded me of what Jesus did for us. He paid the price for our salvation, therefore it should be Him who has the right to do what He wants with our lives. We have no excuse to why He shouldn’t rule over our lives, because He saved us from sin.
And the second thought, I think applies to many people. A lot of the times, we become carried away with our decisions without consulting the original buyer, in this case, my parents. I could’ve easily given my books away free, but when a price was offered for my books, I immediately remembered they’re not my books. This reminds me of God, being the creator/buyer of me; should I not consult Him first in everything I do? For surely He knows what’s best for me if He created me.
In the end, I did sell my books for a fee, but only after letting my parents know:) oh, and if I had bought the books myself, I would’ve given them away for free:)
P.S. I really wanted to use a scripture, but can’t think of any that fits lol Any suggestions?
Testimony December 9, 2007
Posted by Donovan in Ablaze, God, Personal.4 comments
Wow, this is my first testimony I did at Ablaze! service. This is really just for those people who missed out on my testimony like Daniel. So here it is…
Hello. For those who don’t me, I’m Donovan and I just recently graduated from Mansfield and am part of the awesome Voltage. Today, I like to share about how God uses people in my life to show me what real value there is in investing in the church.
I had the privilege of being raised into a Christian family and have always had a general interest in God but couldn’t find anyone help me to grow in Christ-likeness. My parents used to take me to church, but I didn’t feel I was growing. Also, I use to read children bibles over and over, but because no one was there to explain how the stories related to me, it didn’t really work either.
Last year, my cousin, Justin kept trying to invite me to Ablaze, but I wasn’t really interested, so I declined. Then he invited me during the holidays, I wasn’t doing anything and so I thought, why not.
Straightaway, people started to greet me and ask how I was going. It almost seemed surreal. It was as though I’ve been there for a long time and everyone was treating me like I was a regular. Was a pretty embarrassing experience too because I was chosen to be dressed as a superhero for a game we played that night. Ask Trung if you want to see the picture of me. Even though I had the ‘pleasure’ of being fully embarrassed, I wanted to come again, which obviously sounds weird but it was the atmosphere that was attractive to me.
The second time I came, I knew immediately that this was a place where I could grow in God and knew that this is the kind of community that is after God’s own heart. The genuine love that is expressed is so contagious, that I couldn’t help but just want to be like that. So, when I was given the opportunity to serve in sound production for our high school gatherings last year, I was eager to help out with no hesitation. I was also asked to help with the visuals for Ablaze Service and responded the same way with that. Fondly known as the button-pusher, I felt that it wasn’t a major thing in the running of the service like it might seem but after doing it for a while, I knew that it was a significant part of the service. When people are unsure about the words of a song during worship time, they can become disconnected from God, I find.
After serving in ministry for some time, it dawned on me the real value of serving. The church would just not be the same without people serving one another. I also came to the realisation of just how much effort is taken in these ministries to make it all happen. Both have helped in bringing people to Christ and being part of it makes it all the more exciting. I know now that my life is not my own and that my main purpose is to help accomplish the great commission.
I like to leave you with this scripture from 1 Corinthians 12:18-20
But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
For those not involved in ministry, I like to encourage you to get involved in ministry in any way you can, for your contribution can go further than you think.
Something I found really suprising is that I felt really confident saying it and not very nervous. Praise God The good news was spread even better because of this
On a side note, I’ve heard that a couple of people cried during my testimony. To me, it didn’t seem that it would affect people that way, but I’m glad that it was received well.
Also, Aaron won’t let me live it down for dropping one of my papers lol
Graduation November 20, 2007
Posted by Donovan in Personal, School.1 comment so far
Ah, the end of school… the more it seemed to be dragged on by the school, the worse it seemed
But, it’s finally finished and now I can relax. Our school is so not emotional lol including me
Probably something that’ll settle in later.
For those that don’t use msn, here’s the link to the photos, http://donni90.multiply.com/
hmm…uni, wonder what that’s gonna be like?
To conform or not to conform… November 20, 2007
Posted by Donovan in Amusing, Interesting, Personal.1 comment so far
If you can’t beat them, join them as they say. I’ve been tagged by two people already, so twice the pressure haha.
This will probably end up being six interesting facts than weird but that’s open to interpretation. Okay, here we go…
1. I have a knack of listening to two conversations at once. One being the intended conversation for me and the other one not. Although, sharing this means people might think I don’t pay full attention which could be considered rude…haha
2. According to Aaron, I can tap dance hehe Although I don’t consider it tap dancing, he seems to think so like when I make 4 steps instead of just 2…
3. When I was little, I used to always be adding, subtracting and multiplying (no dividing) numbers in my head. That’s probably why I’m good at games like Sheriff, Buzz bang, Around the world…etc
4. I am so not Asian. I like never do the ‘peace’ sign in photos, take free things…etc can’t think of anything else Asian coz I’m so not lol
5. Whenever I tap with one side, whether it be my foot or hand, I have to do the same thing with the other side. Sometimes, I do more complicated patterns, then I get confused and then can’t be bothered doing it all together lol
6. I’ve failed a couple of times for whole subjects, not just one exam. It’s weird coz I give the impression that I’m a smart guy, lol once someone said I ‘look smart’ haha
Practically everyone ’s already been tagged, so I tag whoever reads this.
Inconvinient Blackout October 2, 2007
Posted by Donovan in Amusing, God, Interesting, Personal.1 comment so far
It was only for several seconds, but man having a blackout while having a shower is really crap. To be honest, it was actually quite terrifying. Not knowing when the lights were going to come back on reaffirmed the fear. To say the least, having no light to guide us in a world full of darkness is difficult and scary. Although it may sound silly, I started to pray to God for His comfort just at that moment. Sometimes people turn away from God once trouble arises and it’s at these moments that we really need to seek God. Praise God though that it didn’t last long
Even though that happened, I continued having my shower, looking for the conditioner at the time in the dark haha(managing to find it and apply it too! lol).
P.S Two posts soon after each other? Making up for the time I didn’t post, perhaps?
Random SMS October 1, 2007
Posted by Donovan in Amusing.3 comments
Man, how long has it been since I wrote my lost post? weeks? months?
Anyway (I don’t understand it when people say anyhoo, so weird), back to the topic.
I got this SMS last Thursday:
“Hi Craig. We wish to confirm your appointment for 5:00 pm Fri 28 Sep 07 at Zabuui Hairdesigners. Replay “A” to confirm or call 02 6024 4556. Thank you.”
Yes, my name is Craig. Wonder if it would’ve been a good idea to have told them they got the wrong number? hmmm Never seen a mobile number with 02 at the front… lol It reminded me so much of that phone message at Nick’s.
P.S A familiar face might be coming back on Friday Service. Woot!
Last oral in front of a school audience… August 3, 2007
Posted by Donovan in God, Interesting, Personal, School.6 comments
Woot!! I will never have to use the word ‘oral’ again except maybe if it’s about oral hygiene haha
It was kind of strange, after I had finished it, I thought I would experience real relief especially since it’s my last one but I didn’t. I think that deep inside I really want to improve in public speaking especially after I read Who You Are When No One Is Looking by Bill Hybels, by the way thanks again Chris for it. I highly reccommend it to anyone who wants to improve in character. It really inspired me about courage. One line did it all, “courage doesn’t find you, you have to chase after it.” It even had an example of a woman who found the courage to overcome her fear of public speaking becaus she wanted to share a testimony. Exactly like me. I’m like most people, always didn’t like orals but actually didn’t mind this one.
It was amazing, my volume didn’t really drop, I was able to look up almost all the time and hardly felt nervous at all. Praise God! Well, towards the end I forgot a little bit and started to feel a little more nervous then haha. What made it easier was that most people were either outside practicing or inside but not paying attention. My english teacher is sooo nice. A funny thing happened throughout the whole thing. Because it was a eulogy, we had a podium to stand behind where we put our prompt sheet. Thing is, our podium was a music stand and it wasn’t done up tightly. So I was actually holding the podium quite tightly and pushing it down very slowly and only at the end did I notice the stand was quite low when the teacher pointed it out to me haha lol.
After I had thought about it, to me, God was the podium. I kept clinging on to it and it gave me confidence. What I really want to say is, no matter what dilemma you’re facing, know that if you cling on to God, He’ll give you that confidence that everything will be OK.
P.S Not to sound like I’m boasting but I only used the prompt sheet like twice Man, I must’ve been really confident. Yay!!
Orals August 1, 2007
Posted by Donovan in Amusing, Interesting, School.add a comment
Whenever there’s an oral to be done, everyone always seem to want to do it last. I used to be like that. I find it kind of dumb now. Last year, I had to do an oral with a partner. The teacher asked who would like to go first. So my partner said we would go first. I don’t know about you but I was like shocked for a moment haha. It was really good though cause like since you go first, you’re not pressured into beating the other people. And the just the thought of getting it over and done with is so true, when you get postponed you think that’s a good thing ie extra practice(which never happens haha) etc but the anxiety just increases so dramatically.
I was supposed to be on last today but time ran out and have to do it tomorrow. So what happened to me, I liked and didn’t like at the same time. Do I feel more anxious right now? Not really, if it was next week, I probably would be:P After this one, no more orals for me Well, I do have French orals but they are way less stressful, it’s just you and the teacher, no audience (on the rare occasion, you might haha, I haven’t had that privilege yet)
On a side note, at ice skating, a random thing happened. Girls were holding up signs that said “Free high fives” and “Free hugs.” Now, there’s usually a group of girls that stand on the other side of the rail and give high fives to you when you go past. Supposedly, I gave one of them a really hard high five and now they mention it everytime they see me lol. By the way, I got one hug lol. She almost fell over after letting go, she was so lucky we were near the rails.
P.S I haven’t fallen in ice-skating yet and don’t assume I mean I hold the rails 
.
