jenlee's week 8
hi peeps,
it's been two months since i've come to brisbane...again i'm amazed how time flies :)
I thank God for seeing me through the past week...here are the highlights and prayer points:
1. My testimony sharing at Friday's lifegroup went well...the person chairing the meeting that day (the core leadership team takes turns to do that) had called me to go through the testimony so I was better prepared. As is often the case, I only feel nervous when I start talking :) but I thank God that it went well! My coursemate Nilesh was there, despite having a major assignment that he had not completed, and he's open to coming again - Praise the Lord! He's a Hindu but he enjoyed the fellowship and he said he will invite a friend who is Catholic for the next meeting. Pls pray that he will learn more about Jesus and be touched by His love! I had invited other friends to lifegroup since I was going to share testimony, and a couple of them of them were not able to make it but they were open to join in for future. Praise the Lord :)
2. On Saturday night, I worked overnight on my literature review assignment for my journalism&communication research class. I had told myself to get it done so that I could enjoy Sunday, the last day of my midterm break. I finally got it done around 8.30am and then I went to bed for a few hours. When I asked for feedback on it, two of my friends said there was a logical flow to what I was saying. I really thank God because my brain was probably a little clouded from the long hours of being in front of the computer. I also thankful that I got enough relevant articles from the UQ library's online database because there were quite a few times when the database didn't work for some reason or another.
My topic, The effect of the Internet on people's perception of mental illness, is in itself a gift from God because I had been stone-walling for quite a few days when I couldn't decide on a research topic. I knew I wanted to look into media portrayals of mental ill-health and its effect on public stigma but there didn't seem to be any new thing I could contribute to the discussion. So I prayed and that's when I got the idea to look into comparing Internet and mainstream media portrayals. I quickly told my housemates and they gave me feedback that it was an interesting topic, so that's how I got going. Praise the Lord, I got everything done, including a very tedious referencing process, by Monday, which was when the assignment was due. This literature review will be the basis of the second assignment for this course, so please pray that I'm on the right track. The lecturer will return the assignments to us in 2 weeks, so that's when I will know :)
Please pray for me in this coming month, I have class presentations and more papers to write. One of the assignments is a group project with 6 people, pls pray for good group dynamics. I've been getting faster in my readings, thank God, but there's still room for improvement in the area of being focused when doing school work (i'm learning to switch off FB, MSN etc, but every now and then I will still go and check :P)
3. When I went for Sunday service, this girl I had not met before sat next to me, and I learnt her name, L. I often make it a point to ask God for something to pray for the person sitting next to me, because I always believe that there are no coincidences and that God always wants to bless people through whoever is available to partner with His Holy Spirit. So I asked God what I could pray for L, and there was a fleeting picture of a person standing alone in the dark. It was so fleeting that I wasn't sure if it was from God so I didn't act on it immediately. When the pastor gave an altar call for prayer, I went up to be prayed for, for a deeper conviction in my life that will override my tendency to be concerned about what people think of me. After being prayed for, I felt a gentle reminder that I had not yet prayed for L, so I decided to just go up to her and ask if I could pray for her. She agreed and I just prayed according to what I felt God had impressed upon me, emphasising on how much God loves her.
As I prayed, she started to blink back tears. Later she told me that she had been feeling very alone, as she is far from family and going through an intense time at school. We talked more and I learnt that she used to come to Judah 2, the lifegroup I'm attending. She comes from a strong Buddhist background but she started coming to church last year after God helped her to solve her housing problem. I also shared with her my testimony and I felt very grateful that God would use me to speak to her. Please pray that she will continue to discover and respond to God's love for her, which is as deep as the ocean and as high as the heavens. I gave her my email and mobile number, I hope we can stay in touch!
4. Today at the lifegroup prayer meeting, I helped to play guitar. it's the first time I'm doing that in a group setting since coming to australia. I thank God that the song, Draw Me Close To You, actually really spoke to me - especially the chorus and last line, "Help me know You are near". As I shared with my housemates during our weekly prayer session, I sometimes do feel lonely and it's natural to want to have a special someone to share life with. Pls pray that I will continue to look to God and trust in His provision in the right time for this :)
5. My final thanksgiving: I want to thank God that my housemate Jess has started going to another lifegroup as a result of our conversations about Christian living. She's also reading the bible on her iPhone daily. Our weekly prayer session now includes a worship song in the beginning :) I taught them Open The Eyes Of My Heart and both of them felt it was a nice song :) God has been answering our prayers, esp in the area of our school work :) I don't know if I've said this before, but they both call me "mum"...because I'm older (they are both undergrads) and they miss having their mums around. Haha, it's kind of sweet lah :) I do thank God that they see me as a nurturing figure and I'm thankful for the opportunity to do what I can to help them along in their faith journey. Please pray that we can continue to grow together.
Okay, that's all from me. Thank you for reading and being a part of my life!
In-Christ,
jenlee
it's been two months since i've come to brisbane...again i'm amazed how time flies :)
I thank God for seeing me through the past week...here are the highlights and prayer points:
1. My testimony sharing at Friday's lifegroup went well...the person chairing the meeting that day (the core leadership team takes turns to do that) had called me to go through the testimony so I was better prepared. As is often the case, I only feel nervous when I start talking :) but I thank God that it went well! My coursemate Nilesh was there, despite having a major assignment that he had not completed, and he's open to coming again - Praise the Lord! He's a Hindu but he enjoyed the fellowship and he said he will invite a friend who is Catholic for the next meeting. Pls pray that he will learn more about Jesus and be touched by His love! I had invited other friends to lifegroup since I was going to share testimony, and a couple of them of them were not able to make it but they were open to join in for future. Praise the Lord :)
2. On Saturday night, I worked overnight on my literature review assignment for my journalism&communication research class. I had told myself to get it done so that I could enjoy Sunday, the last day of my midterm break. I finally got it done around 8.30am and then I went to bed for a few hours. When I asked for feedback on it, two of my friends said there was a logical flow to what I was saying. I really thank God because my brain was probably a little clouded from the long hours of being in front of the computer. I also thankful that I got enough relevant articles from the UQ library's online database because there were quite a few times when the database didn't work for some reason or another.
My topic, The effect of the Internet on people's perception of mental illness, is in itself a gift from God because I had been stone-walling for quite a few days when I couldn't decide on a research topic. I knew I wanted to look into media portrayals of mental ill-health and its effect on public stigma but there didn't seem to be any new thing I could contribute to the discussion. So I prayed and that's when I got the idea to look into comparing Internet and mainstream media portrayals. I quickly told my housemates and they gave me feedback that it was an interesting topic, so that's how I got going. Praise the Lord, I got everything done, including a very tedious referencing process, by Monday, which was when the assignment was due. This literature review will be the basis of the second assignment for this course, so please pray that I'm on the right track. The lecturer will return the assignments to us in 2 weeks, so that's when I will know :)
Please pray for me in this coming month, I have class presentations and more papers to write. One of the assignments is a group project with 6 people, pls pray for good group dynamics. I've been getting faster in my readings, thank God, but there's still room for improvement in the area of being focused when doing school work (i'm learning to switch off FB, MSN etc, but every now and then I will still go and check :P)
3. When I went for Sunday service, this girl I had not met before sat next to me, and I learnt her name, L. I often make it a point to ask God for something to pray for the person sitting next to me, because I always believe that there are no coincidences and that God always wants to bless people through whoever is available to partner with His Holy Spirit. So I asked God what I could pray for L, and there was a fleeting picture of a person standing alone in the dark. It was so fleeting that I wasn't sure if it was from God so I didn't act on it immediately. When the pastor gave an altar call for prayer, I went up to be prayed for, for a deeper conviction in my life that will override my tendency to be concerned about what people think of me. After being prayed for, I felt a gentle reminder that I had not yet prayed for L, so I decided to just go up to her and ask if I could pray for her. She agreed and I just prayed according to what I felt God had impressed upon me, emphasising on how much God loves her.
As I prayed, she started to blink back tears. Later she told me that she had been feeling very alone, as she is far from family and going through an intense time at school. We talked more and I learnt that she used to come to Judah 2, the lifegroup I'm attending. She comes from a strong Buddhist background but she started coming to church last year after God helped her to solve her housing problem. I also shared with her my testimony and I felt very grateful that God would use me to speak to her. Please pray that she will continue to discover and respond to God's love for her, which is as deep as the ocean and as high as the heavens. I gave her my email and mobile number, I hope we can stay in touch!
4. Today at the lifegroup prayer meeting, I helped to play guitar. it's the first time I'm doing that in a group setting since coming to australia. I thank God that the song, Draw Me Close To You, actually really spoke to me - especially the chorus and last line, "Help me know You are near". As I shared with my housemates during our weekly prayer session, I sometimes do feel lonely and it's natural to want to have a special someone to share life with. Pls pray that I will continue to look to God and trust in His provision in the right time for this :)
5. My final thanksgiving: I want to thank God that my housemate Jess has started going to another lifegroup as a result of our conversations about Christian living. She's also reading the bible on her iPhone daily. Our weekly prayer session now includes a worship song in the beginning :) I taught them Open The Eyes Of My Heart and both of them felt it was a nice song :) God has been answering our prayers, esp in the area of our school work :) I don't know if I've said this before, but they both call me "mum"...because I'm older (they are both undergrads) and they miss having their mums around. Haha, it's kind of sweet lah :) I do thank God that they see me as a nurturing figure and I'm thankful for the opportunity to do what I can to help them along in their faith journey. Please pray that we can continue to grow together.
Okay, that's all from me. Thank you for reading and being a part of my life!
In-Christ,
jenlee
posted by thejenlee at 5:59 AM
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