幸福的定义

This morning, I woke up feeling my heart overflowing with joy =D
1. looked at the clock - 9:43 am: slept 7 whole hours!!!
2. it's Sunday! going to church makes me happy =) singing hymns, Christmas carols, hearing the Word =)
3. it's Sunday!!! I still have the whole of the afternoon today plus Monday plus Tuesday to study for organic chem! so much time...that means I don't have to be cramming last minute =)
4. only 2 (technically, only 1.5) finals left! counting down to seeing my family again! and sooooo looking forward to singing Christmas carols and just praising and worshiping the Lord through songs with Kris and Amanda....like the good old times =)
5. thinking of the frosh and all the brothers and sisters I have in CCF & my wonderful housemates & other friends I've made in Waterloo....plus friends from Singapore who still continue to encourage me =)
6. hehe so much more was going through my mind =P can't remember them all now...but yeah, I was feeling soooooo 幸福...
each morning I wake to find You near...

幸福...it's kind of different from just happiness though, if I, in my limited grasp of the chinese language, have understood it to be.
To me, it's more like a combination of happiness, pure joy, a feeling of being so blessed, having grace like rain falling upon you, the warmth from being held so closely in the loving arms of our Father =)
I've realized, looking back at some of my blog posts this term and last term, and reflecting upon them...that maybe I haven't really grown as much as I'd liked to spiritually. That I'm still not letting go in some areas of my life and I'm still very much in the "me and Christ" stage...not yet advancing to the "Christ and I" and ultimately just "Christ only" stage, and that I haven't shared the good news with as many friends as I had planned to....And yet, God still loves me so much for who I am!
The sermon today at First Baptist was on the truth, the purpose and the application of the incarnation of Christ from reading 1 Timothy 1:15
Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners - of whom I am the worst.
The whole passage from verse 12 to 17 is on the Lord's grace to Paul and one can really see why God used Paul so greatly...the humility of him after more than 30 years of ministry after being saved on the road to Damascus, that he would claim to be the worst of all sinners. But God gives of His mercy and His grace so abundantly to even the worst of sinners...His love is not just amazing, it's so much, so very much more than that - it's indescribable, unfathomable, mind-blowing!

so back to 幸福 =)
生在福中不知福
是在指我们吗?

~ was going to add another of my so-called 诗 here...but realized that I've gone way over-time my schedule...will be back with it the next time! =)