Jen Lee's week 6

Hi everyone,

it's full moon tonight :) just called my dad for a short chat - he's a Chinese romantic at heart who is prone to recite moon poetry such as the following at full moon:
chuang qian ming yue guang, yi shi di shang shuang
ju tou wang ming yue, di tou si gu xiang

Here's a translation provided by my friend Sun, who is from China and doing a masters in translation:

床前明月光,There is moonlight reflected to the front of my bed
疑是地上霜, i thought it was frost on the ground
举头望明月 raising my head, i saw the shining moon
低头思故乡 lowering my head, it was my hometown which was on my mind.

In the past when i was studying abroad in the US, my family and i would think of the moon as our "satellite", we would think of each other and the moon would
beam our love to each other across the miles (or rather kilometres :).

Anyway, looking to the present, here are some highlights of my past week and my prayer requests:

1. Parents' 37th wedding anniversary on 24th. There have been many ups and downs over the years, but I thank God that my parents have stuck with each other. It's something I do not take for granted. At first it looked like there was not going to be much of a celebration, but in the end they went out for a nice dinner :) Pls pray that they will continue to be committed to each other, not relying on their own strength to love but on God's.

2. Group work for my participatory development communication course: As part of our project, we planned to have small-group discussions with some PhD students but there was no way of ensuring their attendance. Twenty minutes before the first session on thursday, we only had one person confirmed coming - how to have discussion like that?
But thank God, in the end five of them decided to come and the next day more came :) Prayer answered! The discussions went pretty well and tomorrow my group is presenting our findings, and we've got to hand in a report after that. I've got to write up my part of the project after this email. Pls pray that I will write it well and that the report will flow well, as four of us will have input. Also pray for two of my project mates whose first language is not English, pray that they will not be too nervous, especially during the presentation.

3. My FIRST dive trip in Australia! On Sat, I went with about 15 others to dive at Cook Island, along Gold Coast. The trip was originally going to another place, but because conditions there were rough, they went somewhere else. I'm so glad they didn't cancel! I had to wake up at 5am and I was pretty sore by the end of the day because currents were still quite strong in some parts, but it was WORTH IT :) I saw sharks, turtles, rays, tonnes of fishes, beautiful tiny nudibranchs (sea slugs) and a lovely little red sea star. Pics are up on my facebook page for those who are interested :)
During the trip, I thank God that I got to know a few people better. One of them is from Russia and he was telling me that he gets pretty frustrated due to the communication barrier, he finds it hard to express himself in English. Another person is from Canada and she gets her food from the same community-supported agriculture scheme that I'm on (food is grown by local farmers, according to season). Yet another person was my dive buddy, who's from Singapore and he's the younger bro of one of my lifegroup brothers. Pls pray that I can get to know them better in the weeks ahead.

4. My FIRST serious assignment was completed on time - Thank God! It will comprise 20% of my grade for my planning development class. It was due on Monday, I finished it on Sunday night after struggling to understand the five articles that I'm supposed to summarise and critique. The articles are long and full of technical jargon so they are a real challenge. I did my best given the fact that I didn't fully understand the articles, ha ha. Will trust God with the results. In the coming month, I will have a lot more school assignments coming up and also lots of readings because two of my courses are intensive mode courses taught in just a few weeks. Pls pray that I will be disciplined in managing my time and also that I will be able to get what I read so I can synthesise my thoughts on what I'm learning.

5. Finally, I am looking forward to Good Friday and Easter as I remember the love and sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross. Last Sunday was Palm Sunday, the day when Jesus came into Jerusalem and was welcomed by the crowds using palm branches, signifying his Kingship. But because He was not the kind of king they were looking for, He was betrayed, tortured and killed in the most cruel way devised by man. When I was in church and reflecting of all Jesus went through, I was moved to tears that He would go so far to "seek and save the lost". Truly I once was lost, but thanks to His love, I am now found. I will be attending a church convention from Friday until Monday, it will be held at Gold Coast so I will get to see the beach every day! Pls pray that I will hunger for a greater presence of God in my life, because where God's presence is where true transformation takes place.

Ok that's all for this week, dear friends and family. Thank you for reading and praying!

In-Christ,

jenlee