The Weekend

Glad to have gone to NCC last Fri. It was almost impossible to leave the workplace as everyone else was frantically meeting the deadline. As for me, I decided that enough was enough, I completed whatever test cases I could do, and left for NCC at 6.30pm. Just some quiet moments in God's presence, but oh, so refreshing!

Sat was burnt at work... Well, I'm really amazed at the commitment of the project team and ops users who are involved. The management has officially declared Sats as full work days for all involved, since deadline is drawing very near. Thank God, I have basically covered much of what I have set out to do for this cycle. Bad news is, the 2nd cycle of tests will come about pretty soon, after the CNY. Urgh!

Met up with B, K and C for dinner after frisbee on Sun. It was a nice and comfortable time of catching up and chit-chatting. Through the sharing, I learnt a few not-so-good things about myself that should be worked on, but I take heart, "being confident of this, that He who began a good work in me will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Phil 1:6

Prompted Prayers

Have decided to discard the chatterbox for now since it has expired on me again... Will bring it on when I next have the time to meddle with it.

Met up with different friends for dinner yesterday and today. Glad for the time to catch up and to update each other. It was a good time of open sharing and bonding :) Also felt a certain conviction to be keeping these ladies in prayer. And I thank God for giving me the courage, the prompting, and the words to pray with my friend today. She can certainly do with a miracle in her current situation, and I believe God answers prayers.

Another testimony of answered prayer - I prayed for God to pave the way for me to attend NCC this week. It seemed almost impossible, since I would most likely have to clock late hours to complete my work tmr and Fri night. Then, just 2 hours ago, a colleague sms to say that the project room would be open this Sat, if I need to come in. Wow, thank God for this option! I can then leave work on time this Fri :) Isn't God amazing!

A holiday

Spent the majority of this holiday cleaning up my room and clearing my wardrobe. What I initially thought was a one-morning job took me up till 4+pm. Managed to pack away 4 big bags worth of items. Felt a sense of accomplishment after that. But this also meant that I had not gotten down to doing the report that I had brought home to work on. Oh well, will start on it after this.

My bro’s gf came over today, and she invited me to join them for a movie in the evening. Not sure why, but I relished the opportunity to hang out with her and just spend time together. This is my first so-called outing with bro and gf.

We watched “Shall we dance?” at Suntec. I totally enjoyed the movie. Yes, I agree with JH’s blog that J Lopez was a superb dancer, and I was so smitten by Richard Gere’s charisma. To borrow a colleague’s phrase, Gere is so “man”. Oh, call me a hopeless romantic, but I especially like the part when he was decked out in tux, and came up the escalator… Shan’t say too much here, for the benefit of those who have not watched. :)

Back to reality, I better get some work done tonight. Tomorrow’s gonna be a long day as I’ll be attending a church wedding in the afternoon, followed by the dinner in the night.

Come to Me - Matt 11:28-30

I had actually logged on to work on a certain report whose deadline is supposed to be today... but I couldn't resist posting an entry here...

I took a half day off work today, and went to my usual spot for a rendezvous with the Lord. Felt that God was calling me for a time out with Him. Thoroughly enjoyed the time "alone" and the freedom to move around. As usual, I had a few issues to contemplate.

Number 1 is of course about whether to stay on in the organisation. The series of unhappiness and hiccups at work have caused me to seriously consider a job switch. No, my options are not laid out yet, but rumours have been rife that there's gonna be another major reshuffle in the office soon. So I'm adopting a wait, see, and pray attitude for now. I have also been ploughing through the Recruit section of the papers on Sats. The job market seems rather positive. Thankful for that.

I received a surprise call from K yesterday, regarding a peculiar issue. This is something new to me, and hence, this formed issue number 2.

I finished reading the final chapters of the book "The Power of a Praying Woman" by Stormie Omartian. It's amazing how God spoke to me so aptly about negative emotions. Afterall, one of my focus this year was on my thought life... The author described 7 good ways to get free of negative emotions: -
1) Refuse to be anxious
2) Refuse to be ruled by anger
3) Refuse to be dissatisfied
4) Refuse to be envious
5) Refuse to be depressed
6) Refuse to be bitter
7) Refuse to be hopeless

Although we are all susceptible to experiencing these kinds of emotions at one point or another, we don't have to live with them. The Word is full of promises that we can claim whenever such emotions strike. But, the first step is being aware of these negative emotions.

"Lord I refuse to let my life be brought down by negative emotions such as these. I know You have a better quality of life for me than that. When I am tempted to give in to them, show me Your Truth."

A Timely Response

I had basically complained through my last entry. Oh well, amazing how God works, for He has spoken out of the blue. Its not very often that I receive responses from God that are very specific to my state of being. Just last Sunday, my QT passage was from Col 3:18-26. I quote the short commentary by the author of the QT material:

"It's discouraging when we do something that costs us a great deal, or goes well, but remains unnoticed or unappreciated. We can conclude there's little point putting in the effort if nobody cares. However, understanding that Jesus closely observes everything we do surely provides us with the motivation to persevere.... Other people's approval is pleasant, but is not what we should be seeking. Instead, ask God to give you a tangible sense of His delight in you now."

If this is not God speaking, then what is?? Yes, I find much solace and encouragement in this timely response from God.

Frustrated

Realised that it's been a long while since I posted my last entry. 8 days into this new year, and I still don't seem to experience the excitement and newness that the beginning of a year entails. Simply plodding along day by day.

And yes, the IT project has been rather draining, I must say. Staying back at the vendor's office to complete test cases till 9+pm daily seems more like the norm than exception. Gotta brace myself for another tiring week ahead.

I was back in office briefly yesterday morning to attend to some matters, and I got rather mad after reading an email from my boss, asking me to work on a certain report quickly. I felt so unjustified! Here I am working so hard on the IT project testing, and there, my boss is undermining the effort of it all. It's so discouraging! Ever since the re-org 1+year ago, my section has been feeling like "orphans" in this new dept. Afterall, our operations did not syn with the core function of the dept. It did not help that the section is located at a different office premise, away from the dept.

The IT project, a massive one indeed, involves many other depts that are totally committed as it affects their core businesses. But, my section, a small user of the system, does not seem to get my dept's support. No doubt it is not the core business of my dept, but please understand that the demands and the schedule that we are expected to follow are just as gruelling. I am disappointed at the lack of support from my bosses as they seem to imply that I should foucs on the core business of the dept. If so, may I ask, who's gonna do all the laborious dirty work? And who will answer for the hiccups in the system in future???

Even now, the thought of it still makes me mad, as you can already tell... Ok, enough said about work. There are other more important matters in life than work. Must really spend some quality moments pondering over the various issues I am faced with. Nothing much to say about them as yet.