=)

This is my first written testimony from many of the unwritten ones and many that are coming.

It is based on the progress on my work last week and the amazing thing that God has led me.

Just a bit of background about my work, I'm in research. I've started this new job about 6 months ago. And compare to my colleagues that started about the same time as me, my research progress is the slowest, at some point it wasn't going. The topic seems to be a dead-end. Ideas were running out. Making it worst, it is a completely new topic for me, zero experience and knowledge. I did managed to get some data, but when we looked at it, it didn't tell us anything. Praise God that my boss and mentor were somehow very patient with my snail progress. Then they went off overseas for conferences. Before they went away, we had a silent agreement that we had to change our research direction again. Very demotivated for me.

But!!! I have this great great awesome God, who doesn't stop giving me visions!

Beginning of last weekend, after fellowship with my brothers and sisters in Christ, after church service, I rose up and started to have motivation towards my research again. I prayed so much on that weekend for my work. "Lord, let your will be done in my work, and let You shine through me so that people at work can see You, let me be the "Jeremy Lin" in my work place and let You be the centre of my work!"

Monday, God gave me the motivation to re-look at my data, started plotting the data, organising the data. Still I had no idea what I am doing. Through Tuesday, and Wednesday...it was so difficult, I just couldn't make sense of the result. Keep on asking God "what's happening God, I still couldn't see anything". And then the questions of " why am I doing this anyway, how is this going to glorify Your kingdom Lord?!" Everytime I felt discouraged, I remember to look at God, communicate with Him, pray, and have endless consumption of His words. He didn't stay quiet too. He kept on tellling me "Be faithful with the little tasks that I've given you as the bigger visions are coming", "This is what my plan for you right now", "Be faithful and I'm showing you the way".

I really hold to that promise. And on Tuesday afternoon, amazingly hmmm I think I can connect the dots now. I think the results are making sense. I think I can create a story for journal publication...eh...is it really? Again I was looking at the data, cross-checking it with the references that I've gathered from beginning of the week. Took a piece of paper and I just kept on writing, and by the end of the day, that was it, my proposed plan on a piece of paper! On Friday, I finished creating a power point presentation of my proposed journal paper storyline and sent it to my mentor. Ahhhh my heart was sooo overjoyed, so full of gratitude to God who did not stop leading me the whole week. At the beginning of the week, I had nothing, not even a clue, my data was scattered, but by the end the week, I've come up with a proposal. In research world, really that's a month worth of work.

The devil, however, didn't stop telling me lies as well. "Do not be overjoyed, it's only a chance, come on, how can you gain that much knowledge in a week, your bosses probably will not like your proposal, and you have to start again"....

Today (monday, the week after) both my boss and mentor returned, hahaha...of course the devil can only lie, but has no power over me. Everything is in God's beautiful plans. My mentor called me for a meeting, I explained my proposal and she said.."hmmm yeah we can really write something from all these results".."let's do it"..."but we need the approval from the big boss"....Oh my heart was already full of joy at that point! That wasn't enough for God though, I got a phone call from my big boss tonight (yes we do have late meetings). He was all smiling, saying "so you can write a paper now"... "send me your draft"..."I want to send you to a conference in Taiwan"....
Woahhhhhhhhh.............God is amazing!!!!

And the last thing that my boss told me was, "hey something changed in you, in a good way, what has changed?"...my colleagues were "she had a hair cut"...I was still processing the conversation...and in my heart....hmm...maybe 2% of it is because of my hair cut, but the other 98% is because of God's light in me. You guys are looking at God's shine! Ever since I've decided to follow my Lord Jesus 100%, God's light in me is shining so brightly....and although they don't know what it is, but my boss and colleagues can feel it, can notice the difference...

How awesome!!! =)

Stress level test

Waiting for another half an hour to leave work...yay..weekend is here...thought I'll write something interesting that happened today.

I received this email today in my work email:

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Dear (me),
Hello! I am ????, in charge of the Personnel Section Welfare Group.
In recent years, the number of employees who are taking long-term sick leave because of mental health problems are increasing, and it becomes more and more important to think about mental care.
When the stress builds up too much, it might cause a variety of health problems, including mental health disorders.
This stress check carries out as part of your health care and NIMS pay expense.
Please use the “Stress Check” to measure your stress level and mental conditions, and then try to reduce the stress and give full play to your ability.
In addition, the questions are not inquired the correct answers.  You can get exact results if you answer the questions on a first impression with honest feelings.
-----------

I don't know about you guys, but I think it's funny and at the same time worrying how they have this test going on. Or I guess to be positive, it shows that they care? Anyhow, think as you'd like.

Anyway, just for fun, I took the test hoho... the result came out great...to be exact this is what the report said:
"Don't really feel this to the extent that one feel it's a problem"
(I'm sure you have to read it twice.. quite a weird sentence to be understood huh?)

To conclude, I'm still way below the stressed level..... so all good... =)

Why do the Japanese work so hard?!!!!!

http://www.stippy.com/japan-work/why-do-the-japanese-work-so-hard/

The article portrays my frustration with the working culture!!
Mir and Howie, you guys are allowed to say....we tried to save you....

Travel blogs?

Dear blog (diary?),

I've realised that this blog is filled with lots of my thoughts, afterall it is titled "pemikiran", some can be quite depressing. So I may change the course of this blog a little bit. I'm also gonna make use of it as a travel blog. Basically just writing about all the places that I've been and will be visiting. Although I can guarantee you that those "pemikiran" will pop up once awhile =).

I love travelling, you can say it is my passion. My hope is that maybe by starting a travel blog, it will be my first step closer to achieve my daydream jobs, a travel documentary reporter, or an international food critiques, or a missionary in the outback of Africa, teaching =).

Anyway, while I'm enjoying my leftover pecan cream tart, I shall start with Tongariro Crossing, New Zealand...

Novi, you are in Japan...Tokyo is just next to you..you are working on a Japanese national research institute...
Of course sometimes it is not perfect, just how normal life is...but zooming out, this is what you daydreamed about in your classroom or your lecture room...to go out, explore foreign land, to work amongst leading experts... you worked towards this back then... Now you are here, enjoy, be here, be excited about it, be thankful and grateful....

Whether this is what you want...well noone really knows what they want anyway...

So relax, enjoy, absorb...and love it...

Nyampah dulu

Lord, I've made my peace to be here, I have and You know that, but please please, let it be a bit easier, if this is Your will, please make it a bit easier. Help me to preserve, strengthen me.