Catching up

Money spent: roughly keeping to budget of 40 pounds per week. Calories burned: ran Hyde Park yesterday evening. Words written: 700 (one section). Currently reading: Isaiah + 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (Stephen Covey).

Looking forward to the weekend. Have been encouraged by Scripture and reminded to remember God. O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago (Isaiah 25:1). The Boy and I are still together. God has through events of the past two days reminded us of His centrality in our relationship. And, although it seems that He chooses to be silent in the face of our questions, it becomes obvious that He has in fact spoken. If you hear His voice today, to do harden your hearts as if in rebellion. Despite what has happened, I find myself giving thanks from the bottom of my heart that God is still real and present and speaking to us - He always has been throughout our relationship. And strangely, though it is pretty scary to contemplate, I look forward to the next journey we must take, even if the outcome could go either way - to seek and discover with clarity God's will for our future; to communicate to God our sincerity in wanting to obey Him, even at great cost to ourselves; to communicate to each other that God is the centre of our relationship, and that we love each other because He first loved us.

Frankly, I'm just glad it is The Boy I am walking with.

Anyways, it's not all doom and gloom over here. The Boy and I have also planned some grocery and other shopping this weekend, do some running practice in preparation for the race in July, catch up on our Bible reading, and other miscellaneous errands. We also have a big date on Saturday night, involving monkeys and such! What else? I plan to edit the pics from my USA trip and BLOG. hurrah! And there's this huge bag of ironing that has been left since I don't know when... sigh.

Weather's turning warm. Will need to clean my air cooler and keep my winter clothes soon.

Was doing my BSF homework (Romans 15) the other day, and one of the personal questions asked: What are the "priestly duties" that God has given you? hoo hah! What a tough question! Was reminded of the three things I believe in fundamentally. The more I wait on the Lord, the more excited about the third I get. After three years, I am beginning to realise that really, I am exactly where God wants me to be. As my PhD thesis develops, I often find it dovetailing with Scripture, and this makes me more confident about my future role. I've always been a thinker, and have always been rather political and zealous about issues of justice. I've always had a heart for the poor and needy, and wondering confusedly what kind of secular non-mission field that occupies. I really hope that my PhD thesis makes a difference, and that it will open the door to serving God in whatever small role He has planned for me long ago.

Woe to those who make unjust laws,
to those who issue oppressive decrees,
to deprive the poor of their rights
and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people,
making widows their prey
and robbing the fatherless
...
The sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears
from all faces;
He will remove the disgrace of his peoploe
from all the earth.
(Isaiah 10:1-2, 25:8)

That's all for now. Look out for USA and birthday pics next!

P.S. I swear I just saw a Brad Pitt lookalike walk past!

P.P.S. I thank God for giving us both Christ-loving and loving mothers.

My Psalm 2 (edited)

There is a deep sadness carved on my heart
It waits silently, without tears or words
I've never known it before, this questioning sadness
Never knew I could feel this way about you

But it also leads me to the Cross
It reminds me that the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want
He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters
Indeed, He will restore my soul

We love because He first loved us
Abraham and Isaac, our mums and dads, thousands who have gone before us
There is so much to hope, my darling
Please do not despair

I love you.

Bored while invigilating an exam...

To LG: Thanks, girlfriend. Guess what? With this test, I found out the top cities in the USA that match my preferences:
1. San Francisco, CA (so predictable!)
2. Seattle, WA (what? I specifically stated NO RAIN, especially DRIZZLE...)
3. Minneapolis-St Paul, MN-WI
4. Chicago, IL (no, no, noooo)
5. Denver, CO

Natwest sucks

NATWEST bank SUCKS big time too. Actually, the entire UK banking system sucks.

To cut a long story short: the root of my woes is that bank transfers take between 5-10 days, which resulted in this instance in me paying SIXTY pounds total in "valid" (I quote the bank officer here) bank charges.
Firstly, bank transfers only take "5-10 days" in THIRD WORLD countries.
Secondly, what kind of half-ass period is "5-10 days" - how are people supposed to plan their finances this way?

I'm closing my account after 7 years of oppression and taking up with HSBC instead.

Tell me you haven't been through this hell.

Shopping in the UK sucks

I cannot use a hairdryer. I simply don't know how. I mean, don't you need to be ambidextrous to use these things?? You know, hairdryer in one hand, styling brush in the other. Then you gotta contort yourself to get both in just the right angle to blowdry various parts of your hair. I always end up with tired arms and not-very-nice-hair to show for the exercise.

My answer? What is known in the industry as a hot air styler.

I bought this from Argos recently (to replace my old one which I lost in India):

Vidal Sassoon Hydration Ionic Variation
Hot Air Styler, 1200w

DO NOT BUY! You will find yourself trying and trying to grip your hair with the too-soft bristles and end up with even more tired arms. Not to mention that the grip is so big that your hand gets tired too. Plus, it is DEAFENING. I'm serious, I'm so scared of progressive deafening using the thing that I'm not even going to try to palm it off some poor soul. What a total rip-off.

Luckily, I have another hot air styler (Braun) that I keep in my gym locker, which I bought in SINGAPORE (shopping paradise), AND for much less. It works like a dream.

Just another addition to the long list of things that are wrong with London (like smelly buses/tube, expensive skanky cages called apartments, people who drink too much and swear all the time, dirty uneven streets that trip you, foreigners who can't be bothered to learn English, ugly people on TV, indecisive weather, third world grocery stores (except Waitrose in Brunswick Square and Borough Market), rude customer service, fat people, inflation).

Don't get me wrong - London's a dream in many respects, and I do feel bad that I'm being all negative and irritable here. Don't know why I've been unhappy recently - maybe I've been here too long... or maybe it's because it's been cold, wet and miserable every day... I miss home, where life is easier and I have a C.A.R.

Haven't forgotten promised updates - stay tuned!