i can't help but blog about it!

HEADLINES OF DOTTIE'S DAY

#1 My Darling Mummu Bought Me A Wok!

Heh. Not just a wok, but a spatula too! My very own wokkie and spatty! =D hee. I shall name them. Ha!

Which means that... from next week onwards, I can begin to cook in my very own home! =) Oh man.. I'm so psyched! My family doesn't cook in general, so I'll need to buy lots of raw materials to begin with, like cooking oil, garlic (lots of it!), salt and rice. It's all qutie exciting! I'm really looking forward to hitting the supermarket next week to stock up on some stuff.

How sweet of my mum to buy the wok and lug it home for me! I really feel so touched.

#2 I Had My First Driving Lesson Today!

YEAH! Finally. I passed my advanced theory last April, but somehow just couldn't find the time to start practical lessons. Today I had my very first!

I've decided to take Auto, after discussing with various people and my Dad, and today was the first lesson of my life - at Bukit Batok.

It was kinda unnerving actually. I have never really driven anything before, except a go-kart ONCE. So it was freaky and fun to sit behind the driver's wheel! We went to this square car park, and spent the lesson driving around it again and again, mostly right turns, one or two lefts. I tried out a U-turn and a straight Reverse too.

Hee!

However my turning was a bit discouraging to me. somehow i couldn't quite get the hang of it. like keep over-steering or under-steering when I turn. Then end up in the wrong lane or between lanes... haiz. i felt quite frustrated, and the instructor wasn't encouraging too (although to his credit he wasn't discouraging either). But I've decided... no point moping about it. I'll just try more next time, and keep practicing. And pat and mel and my dad all told me that i should just keep on trying out different stuff and learn at my own pace, and not get stressed out. =)

i was like "God, how come i can't get it?!" but i guess God is showing me that I need to be patient with ME. I need to let go of the need to 'get it' straight away. it will take time...

#3 It's Not The Storm That Rocks The Boat - It's The Wood The Boat Is Made Of

The Senior Pastor at mel's church gave a sermon on the Lord's prayer this evening. I felt really enlightened by His sharing. But what really stuck in my mind for me was the story he told of a little boat out at sea.

Very often, we think of the obstacles we face, and the trials we go through, as the storms in life. The storms that would rock our little boat. And we think, 'How can beat this storm and stay afloat?'

But the truth is, no matter how strong resolve to 'beat the storm', to rise above the situation, that little boat would only be able to stand firm against the wind and the waves if it was sturdy. If it was rotten old plywood, it would collapse in a minute. But if it was specially grown, sandpapered, high quality timber, it would stay together in one piece.

Well the analogy the Senior Pastor used was us as the little boat. And what forms our spiritual foundations, or what constitutes our being, such as our character, our relationship with God, our faith - this is the wood that the boat is made of. So that's something we should actively be seeking to build up. Not how beautiful our boat looks, with war paint and rigging, but how strong and sturdy our wood is.

i know you might be thinking: 'er.. what's this got to do with the Lord's Prayer?!' well, the point is that our spiritual foundations (wood) can only be strong if we are walking intimately with God. And prayer is a huge part of that. without prayer, we are like a piece of hollow wood (my own words here). like prayer gives us that closeness with God, that forms the 'core' of our wood, that helps us to develop into the kind of 'wood' He wants us to be, to prepare us for our storms in life.

i pray that my boat will stay afloat. =)