Hi there. My name is Laura Wong. In case you're wondering, yes I am a Chinese. I may or may not have a slight obsession with green tea and daisies. A follower of Christ and a shopaholic.

All too often, we are not focusing on the many little blessings that God has given us. I am so caught up with my day-to-day activities that I tend to forget the good things that I am blessed with. Some time ago during the Studles meeting, Ben popped up a question, asking us to think of what are we grateful for. I went home that night, thinking of the few things that I have been blessed with recently and I thought I should write them out on this blog.

INTI Reapers

A while back in June, I was given the opportunity to join Perak Open, a dodgeball competition held in Perak of course. Being a newbie in dodgeball, I knew I was not up to their standards yet; given that I still lack in my throwing, catching and tanking skills. Regardless of it all, the seniors still gave me the chance to join the team and to work together in winning this competition. 

The girls team! (and Doreen who refused to be  part of the picture)

Dinnermates LOL. We went back to the same seafood restaurant twice in a row for dinner because their food was so mouth watering!

Sheryen. One of the seniors who taught me how to catch when I first joined dodgeball. 

Even though the girls team did not make it to the finals, I am still happy with my choice. The whole trip was something new and different to me; be it their lifestyles, the people, having to adapt to the new accommodation- Trust me, all of us were freaked out upon our arrivals at the apartment we rented. The parking spot looks exactly like a haunted house for it has minimal light source, terrible hygiene and definitely very low maintenance. Luckily, our apartment did not turn out as bad as it seemed from the outside. 

I am so grateful to have these girls with me throughout the whole trip. We started joining this sport around the same time, and I have watched them improved since then. I feel glad that we were able to go through this together and I could not have asked for better teammates (and roommates) aside from these girls.

When I came back from Perak, I was down with flu, sore throat, and fever. While I was sick, I realized something which I have not notice for a long time. I was aware that I had not fall sick since New Year's eve; which means I was actually blessed with good health for the past five months! In case you didn't know, I grew up with a weak immune system. I am always falling sick and when I do, it's not minor. It compromises of flu, sore throat, cough and eventually fever (not sure why the process repeats itself every time I fall sick).

Throughout the whole week when I was sick, it made me realize that God had been working on my health lately. Given that I have a weak immune system, my body had been doing well so far. It's not that I did not fall sick at all; I still have flu and sore throat from time to time; but my health at this current stage is definitely much more better compared to the previous years. I feel really blessed in this aspect for having good health beats everything else in this world.

To be able to serve in 4Twelve is another thing which I am grateful for. 4Twelve had been a platform for me to improve myself in almost every aspect in my life. Given the opportunity to sing on stage every now and then had reduced my stage fright and boosted my confidence to sing in public. I am no longer afraid to express myself in public especially when it comes to signing. Through this opportunity, I have learned a lot about singing itself and how teamwork is required to hit every song at the right note. 

Not only I got to put my talents into good use, I managed to pick up some valuable skills as well. Being able to work as the service coordinator with Bailey and serve as one of the leaders in 4Twelve, I have learned how to be responsible, to be efficient in work, to be punctual and to stay committed. Even just by attending church itself has helped me to improve my socializing skills and it allowed me to deal with people of different kinds. If it wasn't for this platform, I would have been an awkward turtle whenever it comes to meeting new people. All these qualities had guide me to who I am today which I am very thankful for.

For the past few days, I haven't been getting enough sleep due to the never ending piling up of presentations I had. Actually, there were just three presentations, but three presentations in a week is enough to kill you. I did have a lot of time to prepare actually but you know how most young adults like us tend to urm, put things aside and save them for later and..- let's just say, I procrastinated. It was definitely one of the worst things to do because last minute work usually does not work well for me. I would get all tensed and stressed up burning the midnight oil and habitually, I would release my temper on the people around me and regret about it later.

This time, I had to work in groups for all three presentations and I am glad to say that I have the most understanding group mates I could ask for. Instead of arguing with me or walking away each time I get stressed up, they would calm me down and discuss things nicely. I am so pleased that we finished all three of them even though not all turned out well. Thank you for being such awesome group mates, Alex and Cliantha. You girls are the best!

Not only I am grateful for all the things I've listed out but I also appreciate the people who invested in me, the fact that I have a good bunch on friends in college and church- There are just so many things to be thankful for and words can never be enough to describe them. Sometimes we cannot seem to see all the good things around us because of the pain that is within us. Instead of counting our blessings, we count what is missing in our lives and our problems. I've learnt that we will all have pain and problems in this world but we have to be of good cheer of the little things that happened to us. Looking forward to what life has to offer in the next quarter of 2014!

And now, I am grateful for my dad whom has just rescued my life by killing this cockroach in the living room. Ugh cockroach, you disgusting creature.