My Best Friend

Taken from "Here I Am Lord" by Anita Corrine Donihue

Our friendship

Here I am again. It's that special time I get to talk with You - just You and me, Lord. I feel as though I'm sitting at Your feet, telling You all about my day. Thank You for being my dearest Friend.
Those close to me are more precious than gold. But You, Lord, are priceless. I love You and want to honor You with my friendship. When I felt others didn't care, You understood and loved me. You recognized worth in me and developed my abilities. I love how we walk and talk together. I tell You my deepest secrets. You take time to listen. Thank You for never being too busy for me. Each day You unfold new lessons and help me mature. In turn, I listen to You and learn.
Thank You for looking for the best in me, Lord. When I feel I lack beauty, You make me lovely inside. When I struggle and fail, You help bridge the gap.
Now You speak to my heart. I know Your voice. I stop and listen. I trust in You and will do whatever You ask, for You are my Friend and know what is best. In this quiet time, I enjoy the fellowship we have with one another and want to honor You.

I really love this book because of the "conversational" way she writes, as if we are talking to God as our friend, and there is nothing more true, for indeed He is our friend. God is not someone far away, but He is like our closest friend, every ready to listen to our smallest gripes and seemingly ridiculous problems. We may sometimes catch ourselves and think, what am i saying? This is all so silly...just meaningless ramblings about how our lives are so complicated and problematic. Nevertheless, if it is bothering us, however small or insignificant the problem is, it matters to God. It never fails to amaze me how we can reverent and fear our awesome God, and yet at the same time love Him like a friend. That is our God, the God we serve, our Best Friend.

Holiday Down Under - Part II

Day 4 - I love Spongebob!

Today was another theme park day. Like I mentioned before, theme parks are rather wasted on me because I flatly refuse to ride anything that looks like I could die on it. So the good thing about Dreamworld was that all their rides had classifications on it - "high thrill", "moderate thrill" and "low thrill". I don't need to say that I did not go on anything beyond "moderate thrill". However, there is much more to this place than exhilarating rides which puts your heart in your mouth and your stomach in your shoes. What I enjoyed most was Nickelodeon Central, home of Spongebob Squarepants (I love him!), the Rugrats, the Wild Thornberrys. CatDog etc. So it was absolutely great to be able to meet them (shows how much of a kid I still am). The day was even hotter than yesterday. Clever me decided to wear a tank top and shorts today because I was cooking in my jeans at Movieworld yesterday, and as a result I got a nice tan. Now my skin has two tones to it..ugh.

Day 5 - Birthday girl

I probably forgot to mention that part of the reason for this trip was a birthday present from my parents. I woke up this morning and realised that I am now 24 years old. In just a year, I will be quarter of a century old. I don't like the sound of that. Anyway, to be honest, I didn't feel like 24 years old. I didn't feel any different from the day before when I was only 23. Sigh, how time does fly... So, today was shopping day, something that a girl will never say no to :) My dad decided to take us to the largest shopping mall in the Queensland, but on the way we stopped over at Surfers' Paradise because that was something that I really wanted to see. The view was just awesome, something I had only ever seen on TV or in the movies. The sand under my feet felt just like powder and seeing the surfers riding the waves was absolutely incredible. Made me wish I could do it too! At night, my parents took us for dinner on a cruise and that was memorable too. To sum it up, it was a great birthday and I just want to also say thanks to my gal pals (sisterhood! :) ) for all the birthday smses - Caroline, Mabel, Sybella, not forgetting Hann-ah :) Also to El, thanks for the email :)

Day 6 - Finding Nemo

My mother complains that I always fall asleep during long car journeys. It's funny how I cannot sleep in planes, but I have no trouble dozing off in the car. Despite this fact, today we went on a long car journey to the Sunshine Coast, north of Brisbane. We went there to visit Underwater World. I did see a lot of Nemo look-alikes but somehow none of them had his cute cheeky face :) There were also giant sharks and sting rays in the underwater tunnel, much like the one we have in Langkawi. I have always wondered what would happen if the glass were to break and all the sharks came tumbling down on the peoples' heads. It would be quite a scene. We also passed through the Australia Zoo, home of the Steve "The Crocodile Hunter" Irwin. I have never stopped being amazed at how enthusiatic and excited one individual can get about reptiles. I myself shudder at the thought of them. Anyway, just to say that I've "been there" to Steve Irwin's habitat, we stopped and took a picture with a giant signboard picture of him outside the zoo.

My journal ended here...so I guess that's it for my holiday stories. :)

Holiday Down Under - Part I

This is a day-to-day journal of sorts of my recent holiday in the Land Down Under. Sorry for the long absence from my blog, but as I said, I was away on holiday :)

Day 1 - "If you can finish it, you can have it"

I opened my blurry eyes slowly waiting for my vision to clear...this is what happens when you sleep, or try to sleep for about 7 hours sitting uncomfortably in an aeroplane chair. Usually I can never sleep on the plane, however, this time due to the fact that I had not slept properly for 3 nights in a row immediately preceding my flight, this was an exception. Anyway, I collected myself together and proceeded wearily into Adelaide International Airport, bracing myself for another long wait. It takes forever in this place to clear immigration and customs due to Australia's very strict regulations on bringing in any form of food or plant produce. I stood in line waiting for my turn at the counter. Finally, I was through but I still had to collect my luggage and clear customs. Nevertheless, today seemed to be a day of exceptions. Normally, if you have nothing to declare, you will be able to get through with a minimum of fuss. Today, however, Mr Customs, Robert something-or-other, insisted on turning my bags inside out. So there were all my most personal belongings a.k.a. underclothings etc. sitting on the counter for the world to see and all the while Mr Robert what's-his-name was making small talk like he did this kind of thing every day (which he probably does). The funniest thing was when he asked me about my water bottle. He asked if the water in it came from the plane or from Malaysia. When I said it was from Malaysia, he told me, "If you can finish it, you can have it". Well, I wasn't prepared to let him take away my beautiful purple bottle which has served its purpose as more than just a water bottle (it has been known to protect me and my friends from unwanted predators). So there I had to stand and finish the water, amidst his telling me to take my time. Good thing there was only a little bit left, otherwise I might have had a very bloated tummy.

Day 2 - Sandcastles on the Broadwater

The very next day, I was on a plane (again!), this time on the way to Brisbane for a week's holiday with my family. Upon arrival, the first thing that struck me was the weather, which was so like Malaysia, hot and humid. You sweat and get sticky, much different from the dry hot weather in Adelaide. We then proceeded to our holiday destination on the Gold Coast, a small block of service apartments quite aptly named "Sandcastles on the Broadwater". Broadwater was the name of the area where the apartments were located. The place was just perfect for the four of us - two rooms, a kitchen, dining, and two bathrooms (most important!)

Day 3 - Movieworld

Apparently this is the home of Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman, The Flash (I just found out his name- I always refer to him as the guy in the red suit) as well as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and all their friends. I must say that it was rather an entertaining day. I'm not much a person for roller coasters (my sister says that theme parks are wasted on me), but I did enjoy browsing the souvenir shops and shaking my head at their ridiculous prices. Also, there was a main street parade Disneyland style where all the characters strutted down the street in their costumes as well as on floats. I couldn't help thinking that they would be cooking in those outfits as the day was extremely hot. But oh well, it's not anybody who can put on a funny suit and entertain children (as well as adults) day after day after day. Thus after a day of taking pictures, watching silly shows and going on a few rides ( yes, I did go on some), I came back hot, tired but thoroughly happy. I guess there's still the child in me who likes to take pictures with Bugs Bunny and Batman :)