Trust in the LORD!!!

Jeremiah 17: 7-8
7 "But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him.
8 He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."

vin was sharing with me about this last night. this is repeated in the Bible again somewhere else... i think he said it is in Isaiah as well... interesting to note that this shows us that even when we are truly blessed by the Lord with evergreen leaves and endless fruit, there will be troubles with heat and drought. but fear not cos we are blessed always, just trust that God is faithful and He will continually bless!

with that, it was a confirmation for me. women are the ones who get more stressed about things. especially about this bridal studio saga. over the past week, i cried to God and said no more do i want this stress and uncertainty. i know that He will bless and let this preparation phase be a joy to vin and me, not a time of sorrow... so this shows that even when there are problems happening, i know that God is FOR ME not against me and all things will turn out good for those who love Him =)))

so now, i am ok. still learning to trust and depend on God and not being a worry wart. i guess the wedding thing sometimes overwhelms, cos there is just sooo much that we need to think about. so many details and it is mostly about finances and people's views, so it is super not easy to manage. but yes it is still very fun =))) decided not to call up my designer to bug him and let God help me in this... will update you all more with good reports!!!!!

took some pictures and hope to show you all soon... about our wedding band hunt!!!!! ^_^

wonder if the 8888th reader will reveal him/herself... hehehehehe... =Pp chinese new year period leh... will you get the 'lucky' 8888??? kekeke...

so what's up with Vin & Jean these days?

been some time since i updated about our wedding preparations... nothing much done so far actually cos maybe i'm running out of steam and losing focus... think cos i was distracted with my job hunt recently and then going for my company retreat last weekend in Phuket...

my latest worry is the bridal studio (BS)... my designer is supposed to be forgetful as i read from the forums (after i have already signed up with them) so he always seems to not remember who i am whenever i call him. my friends' designers call them up to remind them about their appointments and plan their timeline for them etc... but i am the one who keeps call my designer so far... keep bugging him on when he can meet us for the design session and he keeps pushing cos he is unable to show us samples of the lace which i want for my evening gown(EG)... *big sigh*

after i put down the phone with my designer just now, i felt such a huge load on me cos yet again he pushed our meeting...

what if he can't make it in time for my photoshoot(PS)?

ideally, i would like my PS to be in mid april such that there are about 2 months for maria and joshua ho to use our wedding photos to finish up their projects... and joyce kept telling vin and me that no matter what, my first fitting must be in feb!!! *double sigh*

when we met him last week, he said he can most probably show us the lace this sat so we can finalize my wedding gown (WG) design and everything will steam roll from there. first fitting early march then by early april we can have our PS. BUT WE ARE NOT MEETING THIS SAT!!!!! and he said give him a few weeks... i was literally counting on my fingers if there was enough time and the scaredy cat in me didn't dare to negotiate or ask more questions in fear that he would think im paranoid and don't trust him etc... so i just let it go...

then i thought: i need to speak to someone who is going through this process!!!!! and i thought of mag... her wedding is on 16 feb so she would be the BEST person to advice me. and i remember her PS was in dec so her timing should be the same as mine, without much buffer from the gown design session till the actual day (AD). alot of brides that are getting married in june/july already have their PS or are going to have their PS in end jan, so to me, i can't use them as a gauge anymore cos it would just seem that i have totally no time left...

thank God for mag... she helped me count backwards and i realised ok, no matter what, i need to finalize my gown design before chinese new year. even if we don't meet this sat, it is still ok. everything will still be fine. so i have 2 more weeks. please please please all you lace suppliers... get hold of your lace supplies and show them to the world and my designer will be able to show me some georgeous laces!!!!!!!

another thing vin and i are doing, one of the ten items that we are currently working on at the same time, is looking for a wedding band. IT IS SUPER TOUGH LA!!!!! vin has found a band that he absolutely loves!!! it is very unique, not like those bands that you always see at sookee/lee hwa etc, but has a interesting design and has his favorite black gold on it. the thing is... the matching lady's version looks too dull for my liking... too dull = quite manly looking. so i have to add a row of diamonds on it and the contours of the ring will not be exactly the same as vin's cos it would not be aesthetically nice to add diamonds on the same cut as vin's. ok it's extremely hard to describe to you all... IF we buy that in the end, you will understand why when you see our bands on our wedding day. anyway, the only thing that is stopping us from getting that is: 1) it is not an exact replica of each other; and 2) it exceeds our budget...

well, we have a 2nd choice pair that is within our budget and is cheaper than our first choice pair by about S$300... but yet... oh well... i duno... frankly speaking, if i really loved the first choice ring, we would gladly buy that cos it only exceeds our budget slightly. but im still not entirely convinced cos 1) i don't fancy diamonds. one solitaire from vin is enough for me; and 2) it is not an exact replica of vin's ring...

we really need to focus on God and ask for divine wisdom in all these decisions that we need to make. it is super not easy to decide on our own... worries like 1) is this the right choice; 2) is this too expensive; etc...

anyway, vin is still in a meeting and here i am waiting for him... but i guess once im in my new job, he will be the one waiting for me. and he sure will be so glad to be in that situation instead. less stress on him and more time for him to read up on all his financial modelling stuff... hahaha...

Video time!!!

show u 2 clips...

starring: Vincent & Jean!!!!!
producer: Xiumei!!!
location: Chiangmai Hot Springs

hee... enjoy!!!!! ^_^

chiangmai mission trip (part 2)

all fresh n excited... readi to embark on our mission trip!!!!! i think it was 550am at the budget terminal... =)))

this is continued from part 1 of my post some time back... this is the 2nd dae at the 2nd sch... e thai youths r dancin to spore team's fav song!!!!! (u can c me happily dancin to it in e background hahaha) e song is abt spiderman, superman but God being our HERO above all these superheros!!! =)))

dae 3: we woke up n went tracting in e village. e thais r pretty curious abt singaporeans so our main job was to smile, look hapi n sae 'sawa-dee kar' n God bless u (in thai) cos dat were e main 2 things vin n i knew how to sae hahaha... e thai culture is v open door concept so we juz went into their homes to sit down n chat wif em (yes, vin n i didnt understand anythin but it was reali nice) n then invite em to come fer e nite rally which was a concert put up by sanphranet church n e spore team =)))

xm teachin e thai youths how to dance to 'so you would come'. we were practicing before the rally...

day 4: goin to Hod church on sunday morning. our village evangelism ends here for the spore team but e thais will b goin back in feb or march!!!pastor brought half of us to the waterfall to relak!!! e rest went back to church first (guess they had enuff of waterfalls hahaha)day 5: this was a monday, pastor's rest dae so we all went to hot springs n went fer massage!!!!! woohoo!!!!! shiok... =)))

day 6: a leisurely morning when we were to help out in the christmas service decorations... vin pretendin to b e rider hahaha... so cool!!!!! kekeke... dats rod at the pillion... he's sent to sanphranet church on attachment fer a year from bangkok bible collegei was super sick this dae... fell sick since day 5 after e village. think cos i never bathe cold water fer more than 1 day in my whole life n to bathe cold water fer 5 daes was too much fer my body... so i got high fever n flu n a bad cough... but God is good... He sustains us... =))) after helpin nu to summarize her many english newspaper articles, i could still enjoy abit of super spicy maggi mee wif em at midnite hahaha

the send off... pi tee stomachache so couldnt come... ou almost cried when we left cos she v close to xm... hee...

movin on!!!!!

e title has 2 meanings...

first meaning: WE BOOKED OUR ACTUAL DAY FOTOGRAPHER!!!!! =)))))

took us a v long time to decide... we started out in nov wif a budget of 3.8k each for a pre-wedding fotographer n a actual-dae fotographer (AD PG)... then as e weeks went by n we realised there were so many additional costs dat we didnt factor into e budget, we started to cut n cut n cut...

n now, we got our pre-wedding fotographer fer 1.8k n our AD PG fer 2.3k =))) God is good!!!!! eng howe is super famous n sherman is totally passionate abt his wk n is from ave 8!!! we reckoned dat everyone who does AD shots from ave 8 is gd n to us, we couldnt c much difference in style fer em, so we went wif e guy whom served us first hahaha... n its nice to noe dat he's aso a man of God =)))

next up, get pin (our designer from blush blush) to hurry up meet us n get things crackin so we can get e gowns n suit by apr fer our fotoshoot (PS)... do u realise im tryin to teach u e jargons pple use when they tok abt weddin stuff? hee... another one to learn... BS is not bulls**t but is bridal studio =Pp hopin n prayin dat we can manage to do e PS by end apr so we can get e pics out early fer josh to do e montage n maria to paste on our banquet ang bao box... ^_^

2nd meaning: im movin on!!!!! hee... keep u all in suspense... tell u all more later HAHAHA =Pp

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!! =)))

came in super early todae cos need to send australia a report by 9am SG time cos my colleague was supposed to send the raw data to me last nite... but realised she hasnt sent me!!! *sigh* so meanwhile update u all more abt our mission trip to chiangmai... many pple haf been askin me abt it n i noe pics r e best wae to share wif u our experience so thank God fer xiumei... she took super alot of fotos!!!!! so long post ahead!!!!! hahaha... but im sure u will enjoy it cos it is all pics wif me walkin u thro... =))) onli prob is blogspot dun allow uploadin of multiple pics at 1 time... so its gona b a tough post fer me hee... but im sure its gona b well worth it!!!!! enjoy ^_^xm's fav curry chicken noodles!!! i love e crispy mee dat they put on top... v super shiok!!! pastor noe dat xm like so he brought us there fer lunch a 2nd time on e afternoon b4 our flight back home e next dae but... IT WAS CLOSED!!!! hahaha... xm need to go back again juz fer e noodles!!!

santa is called alien n e other dog is called san cai... alien is a super funny name rite!!!!! this is fi's (a thai gal) dog n alien likes to play wif, or rather we can call, irritate other dogs as u can c later... =Pp

this is named by e sg team - ci xiang gou a.k.a kind dog... cos it looks v kind!!!!! HAHAHAHAHA... its e dog in e first home we lived in when we were in e village... there r super alot of dogs in chiangmai... there were 3 dogs in this home we lived in!!! (excluding alien who's favorite irritation target is kind dog)

pastor writin e songs on paper, somethin which we last did in pri sch... now everythin is computerized n we go arnd flashin ppts n charts etc... no wonder his handwriting is so nice, like a paintin... n mine is horrible as u can c from e background hahaha... =Pp
xm tryin to take a group pic but captured onli vin n me in e end wif xm's rite eye hahaha... we got on e back of e truck to practice our songs cos couldnt find anywhere to sit arnd... everywhere is sand lor hahaha...

our first meal wif e thai youths. everythin is on e floor n we juz sit arnd to eat... hee... e thai pple r super polite... they wouldnt go into e kitchen n we realised its cos they wana let e guests go in first. so when we sat down then they sat down n when we start eatin then they started eatin... one thing we dun haf in our culture ya... this is reali gd practice...

when e headmaster announced dat e programme is startin, all e kids took their own chairs from e classrooms n filed out to place em in neat rows on e grass field n sat on em... we were like 'waaa so obedient!!!!!' yes they yakked n yakked along e wae n it was v noisy but v cute e wae e kids were tokin to each other n yet still quickly performin their tasks... u think kids here would b lidat meh? i seriously doubt so... even xm, e teacher, was shocked... =Pp

this is how they were seated n none of em complained abt e sun n sulked... over here, u think they would even sit in e sun fer 5 min n not whine? e thai children sat there n participated in e songs n dances we had fer em n there were nothin but smiles n laughter from em!!!!! =)))

e wae they play games r aso super nice... they enjoy e games n not like children here where there will b some rascals who either dun wana participate or bully other kids if they r slightly slower etc... it was such a joy to c such innocence n exuberant joy flowin from em... =)))
vin n li jie givin out e presents. i cant stop praisin e thais rite??? hahaha... abt 90% of every child will thank us b4 we give em e sweets!!!!! it was a pleasant surprise n we were so v impressed by them. actually near e end of e lines, we ran out of sweets n e children behind had half e number of sweets compared to e children in front... then li jie n i were bracin ourselves fer childrens' whining n complainin n sulkin, but there was none!!!!! they were satisfied wif wat they had n didnt get angri at y they had less... wow!!!!!

pi tee sharin wif e children abt Jesus dyin on e cross fer our sins such that we can b saved n can draw close to God

all e children prayin to receive Christ after pi tee's sharin of God's love fer us

group foto time!!!!! ^_^

ohhh share wif u all a video of a song pi tee taught e children!!! she onli teach once or twice then u c... ALL e children learn v fast n they r v responsive n love it!!!!! even vin n me r enjoyin ourselves HAHAHA... =Pp

ok im tired... this is onli e mornin of e 2nd dae... hahaha... so much to share wif u all rite??? hee... more next time... =)))