a time for renewal, a time for revival.

its been a while. more than a year in fact. 2010 has come and gone without me actually doing ANYTHING here. i have to admit, most of 2010 was spent doing stuff which seemed so insignificant now that i think about it. the time has come however to revive this dormant blog. a blog i created so that i could gather my thoughts. an outlet of my views. it seemed apt that i renew this on my 21st birthday. so here goes.

i have thus turned 21 on the 21st of march 2011. looking back at my 21 years (the ones i remember of course), what have i achieved? what is it i can look back on and say - yes! i did that! have i made my mark on the world? have i been a positive influence on people i know? questions i often ask on my birthday. some might find this depressing to think of such things on one's birthday, but i find it a very suitable time to review one's life. what have I done in the past year? if my major accomplishment was just make a complete trip around the sun, i guess a time for a major upheaval is in store.

God has been working very evidently in my life. i often repeat the story of how i missed out on the opportunity to study in the UK. what some might not know is that while it was my dream and my desire to go to the UK, i told God, have it your way, not mine. Needless to say, he provided and here i am in NUS.

Singapore is a very tough place to be in. For someone with a laid back personality, who likes to smell the roses and enjoy the finer points of life, Singapore is a drastic change. The pace of life here really amazed me at first and still does continue to amaze me. in the midst of this business, God is still working in my life. i feel very blessed that He placed many Christian friends around me, to encourage and support me. It was through these friends that I find comfort the energy to go on.

I feel very thankful that God has placed me where I am today. It is not by chance that I chose physics. It is not by chance that I chose FCBC. It is also not by chance that I chose PGP VCF. I have learnt that when God has a plan for you, it is bound to be a great one. Whether you stick to the long and narrow long enough to see the plan unfold is a different matter. Sticking to the long and narrow is tough, but it is one I intend to do! No more fooling around, no more detours, no more slacking. Enough is enough! One thing i know for sure. I WILL NOT BE ALONE!

Those of us who do not live under coconut shells will know of what is happening in the world today. Revolutions in the middle east. The big earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Japan. Are these signs of the end times? We live in exciting times. Will this generation be the one who will witness the second coming? Some might argue that these things happen all the time. But I do feel that something is afoot. Major earthquakes have been happening more frequently. What used to be peaceful and stable nations are now being shaken to the very core by revolutions. Tensions amongst nations seem to be increasing. Being a scientist in training, i have learnt that random events tend to cluster. However the frequency of these clustered events make it seem unlikely that all of this is just a random event. I do not and will not know when He is coming till He comes. But i want to be ready.

This post may seem sobering but that is just what some of us need. We need to WAKE up. We need to RISE up. There is no time like the present. It is a time for renewal, it is a time for revival.