Voice of Truth by Casting Crowns

A song to help one go through the hard times :)



Please don't mind the vid, just listen to the song :)

Oh what I would do to have
The kind of faith it takes to climb out of this boat I'm in
Onto the crashing waves

To step out of my comfort zone
To the realm of the unknown where Jesus is
And He's holding out his hand

But the waves are calling out my name and they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times I've tried before and failed
The waves they keep on telling me
Time and time again. 'Boy, you'll never win!'
"You'll never win"

But the voice of truth tells me a different story
And the voice of truth says "Do not be afraid!"
And the voice of truth says "This is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

Oh what I would do to have
The kind of strength it takes to stand before a giant
With just a Sling and a stone
Surrounded by the sound of a thousand warriors
Shaking in their armor
Wishing they'd have had the strength to stand

But the giant's calling out my name and he laughs at me
Reminding me of all the times I've tried before and failed
The giant keeps on telling me
Time and time again "boy, you'll never win!
"You'll never win"

But the stone was just the right size
To put the giant on the ground
And the waves they don't seem so high
From on top of them looking down
I will soar with the wings of eagles
When I stop and listen to the sound of Jesus
Singing over me

I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth 

USM

Hey guys. So.. I got USM's offer :) It's as follows!

TAHNIAH! Anda berjaya mendapat tawaran di Universiti Sains Malaysia.  Maklumat  tawaran adalah seperti berikut :

Nama : IVAN CHONG SHYUE-JUIN No Kad Pengenalan : - Kod Program : SM00 Program : DOKTOR PERUBATAN Yuran Pengajian : RM 1800 setahun Tempoh Pengajian : 5   TAHUN

Your first thought?
"Wah, congrats! RM1800/year only?!"
"Congrats!!! Medic offer!"

Well those were my first thoughts too, although I really hoped for "Dukacita dimaklumkan bahawa..."

Oh well. So have I accepted it or not? To cut the long story short, yes I did. I'm now officially taking USM's Medicine course in September :)

To cut the short story long, ...

To make things clear here, I shall explain how the public university application works in Malaysia. So all these while, all of the universities were under one application system, called the UPU (University Placement Unit). Here, you get to place 8 choices of your course + university. You only get ONE offer.

REALLY?

And then once upon a time, USM decided to compete against UM for the APEX (Accelerated Program for Excellence) status, and guess who won. Dang, USM did. And so since then, applications for USM were separated. USM decided to choose its students before any other universities do. And so, if you accept USM's offer, you won't get any other offers since you can only get one offer. However if you reject it, you will be taken into consideration of the other applications to non-USM universities.

It's a good thing if you're craving for USM.
It's a good thing if you totally hate USM, since so many others will be accepting it, and you have higher opportunities in the non-USM applications.

But it's a VERY bad thing if you don't want USM, but your parents really want it, and because of the in-my-opinion-very-stupid-you-only-get-one-offer system. Gosh I hate it.

So since I'd taken Matriculation at Kuala Pilah, Negeri 9, I'd been dreaming of being a Medicine student in UM. Ah, the KL life. And since KL is the centre of everything, life will be super awesome and interesting. Plus, I get to attend my beloved Harvest Generation church. Mm. And then I'll get to meet up with a lot of friends, since well, most of the universities my friends intend to go to are in KL.

But I couldn't help it too. Neither could my parents. My mum wanted me to enter USM really badly. It's her dream for me to be near home aww. So we agreed to pray really hard, for a confirmation from God, that if USM is really His will, His plan for me, then let there be no mistake, no cases like 'not all open doors are from God' and stuff like that. Of course, I prayed for rejection from USM (went for the interview and all), and acceptance from UM. I got USM's offer, and I was devastated.

I was angry. Why didn't God answer my prayers? Yes, I understood that whatever happened, I wanted God's plans for me, not my own plans. But why, why this time? Why USM? Dieee. And then funny ideas came to my mind.

If I could get USM, the APEX uni's offer, then I'm quite good, am I not? Then I should be able to get UM's medicine offer! Maybe God is trying to tell me I can get UM too! Why not?

Maybe I'll get both USM and UM's offer, God is allowing me to choose :D

Maybe, it's just a test of faith. UM UM UM!

And then my mum asked, "I thought we had an agreement?"

So I prayed for calmness, for peace of mind, 'cause I was asking, "God, if this is really Your will, why am I not happy at all?"

And then I felt so much better the second day. I began to think of what life would be like in USM. I'll be near home, everything can be so convenient, I can come home every week or whenever I feel like it.

So I thought of the pros and cons in my mind.

Pros of USM:
1. Apex status, quality-wise, it's really good!
2. It's super near home, <3

3. It's the only public university in Malaysia that uses the integrated syllabus for Medicine.

4. It offered me a medicine course already!

Cons of USM:
1. It's in Kelantan. Not so bad but, compared to KL, little entertainment.

2. No entertainment.

3. No entertainment.

Well.. Actually we had no entertainment in matrix college too. But it made us closer in a way. Real chat!

So.. I came back on Monday with Joshua to discuss this with my family. And the outcome? Yessss. It was for my own good. Nobody knows the chances of me getting UM's offer. So I gotta let go of UM, and start preparing for USM..

*update
Actually, I forgot to add-on something.. Before I clicked 'acecept', I went "Ok dad n yikor (bro), I'm accepting this, because first, USM has apex status and it has quality, secondly.. I LOVE MY FAMILY AND MY PARENTS! *click* 

HE*

For those who prayed, thank you so much! It's been really nice having your prayers :) And although the outcome isn't what I wanted, I believe God has greater, more amazing plans ahead for me. And quote from Candice, this journey, God's will, will definitely give me the utmost joy and satisfaction. As Zoe said, I may not see it now, but I will, soon :)

So, here I come USM, be ready, 'cause I'm gonna rock your world!

Popularity

Popularity. Fame. Everybody wants it, maybe not everybody. What does it mean to be popular?

Well, you get a lot of attention. So much so that one day, you start noticing that everything you do has certain intentions that aren't for yourself. You start doing things for others, to impress others, to make yourself look good, and someday you're in so deep you can't withdraw yourself.

And why isn't it good? Well.. 'Cause you lose yourself. Yes, you may get all the attention you want, but to the extent of losing your own purpose of doing things, of obtaining happiness by losing a lot, of sacrificing so much.

Luke 9:25
And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed?


Yeah that's it. Meaningful ain't it! Look at the world, there are people who are willing to do anything for fame. Maybe body? Selling your soul to the Devil? What's the point of getting all these materialized stuff, when you lose yourself, your being, your worth?

So guys, let's do ourselves a favour. Live life to the fullest, for God, for love, for ourselves, and the people worth living for.