i went to dc for the weekend to meet up with some of my mates :)





sometimes i really wonder when the right time to grow up really is.

it just struck me how as time passes, and as i learn -- i know more and more now that things really aren't what you thought they were back in the days of elementary school. for me, as a chemist (*in whatever capacity of chemist that i am), i have learnt that
1) water doesn't wash away everything. heck, it doesn't wash away half of the chemicals on my glassware. it is the combination of water first, then acetone, then maybe hexane, then water, then acetone -- if not bleach, an acid or a base bath -- that actually gets things sparkling clean.
2) things aren't ever really dry.
3) air can make things explode, yo.
4) ice is not cold enough. dry ice. if not (my favourite), liquid nitrogen.
5) vacuums don't just clean your rugs -- they're used to dry/evaporate stuff. and they're dangerous.

at the same time, your innocence of the world is also gradually lost as you mature in mind and in spirit. i don't believe i am quite as knowledgeable of the world as i desire to be, but i know two things -
1) there is a God who loves everyone.
2) people are suffering.
for the second thought, this has been in my heart for the past couple of days, and it is my firm belief that no one should have to suffer out of no fault of their own (and specifically, from my own hand). i read this month's national geographic magazine and there was a huge article on malaria in the world. particularly zambia. and it just struck me how my life is so blessed and... selfish. i'm not going to go into the article and compare what these people don't have to what i have.
it's not an issue about what i have, but what i, with whatever capabilities and blessings, am able to do for them, having never deserved such grace in the first place.

count your blessings and praise the Lord for His abundant grace and love. but remember that we are also called to love the people that God loves and i realise that actually means actively doing something. that includes the people around us, EVERY SINGLE ONE regardless of sexual orientation, social status, race, well-being, character etc. i admit, there are people i find incredibly unloveable -- i'm trying though. pray that i try hard and with all my heart - for Him who first loved me.

what are you planning on doing with your life?



(i don't have an answer for this - maybe God does.)