always look beyond the surface.heard the story today and wanted to share.

'You will be rewarded for your hard work.'

That was the motto that was drilled into the mind of the son of a wealthy family.

The reward for high academic achievement was a car, any car of his choice, be it a volvo or a porche.

So with this as the driving force, the son worked hard, strove, and succeeded on graduating at the top of his class at Harvard. Upon graduation, he returned home to celebrate with his family and waited eagerly for that long sought after prize...only to be given a wrapped 6" x 9" rectangle with a

'Congratulations, Son, on your achievements. I love you.'

Confused, but still eager, the son ripped open the package only to find a gold-edged Bible. In shock and disgust, the son just turned to his father and asked, 'That's it? All that hard work, and all i get is another book to read?' Throwing the Bible to the ground, the son walked out and never looked back.

As time went on, and the father sadly passed on, the son returned to pay his final respects, despite having never spoken to his father since the 'incident'. Upon review of his father's will, to his dismay, the son discovered that his inheritance was none other than a Bible. The very one that he had thrown to the ground many a year ago.

Curious as to why his father had bothered to keep it after all those years, the son took the time to open and inspect it. In it, he found two pieces of paper. The first was a congratulatory note. The second was a cheque made payable to him from his father in the exact amount of the dream car that he'd wanted all those years ago.

Not only did the father pay attention to what the son had wanted, but he was willing to provide...had the son only been willing to look beyond the surface.

i've lived through it before, and i'll live through it again

...with no regrets.

Stranger -- Hilary Duff

Nobody believes me when I tell them that you're out of your mind.
Nobody believes me when I tell them that there's so much you hide.
You treat me like a queen when we go out,
Wanna show everyone what our love's about.
All wrapped up in me whenever there is a crowd,
But when no ones around

There's no kindness in your eyes,
The way you look at me
It's just not right.
I can tell whats going on this time
There's a stranger in my life.

You're not the person that I once knew,
Are you scared to let them know it's you?
If they could only see you like I do,
Then they would see a stranger too.

Did I ever do anything that was this cruel to you?
Did I ever make you wonder who was standing in the room?
You made yourself look perfect in everyway
So when this goes down, I'm the one who will be blamed.
Your plan is working so you can just walk away
Baby, your secret's safe.

There's no kindness in your eyes,
The way you look at me
It's just not right.
I can tell whats going on this time
There's a stranger in my life.

You're not the person that I once knew,
Are you scared to let them know it's you?
If they could only see you like I do,
Then they would see a stranger too.

Such a long way back, from this place we are at.
When I think of all the time I've wasted, I could cry.

There's no kindness in your eyes,
The way you look at me
It's just not right.
I can tell whats going on this time
There's a stranger in my life.

You're not the person that I once knew,
Are you scared to let them know it's you?
If they could only see you like I do,
Then they would see a stranger too.

There's no kindness in your eyes,
The way you look at me
It's just not right.
I can tell whats going on this time
There's a stranger in my life.

You're not the person that I once knew,
Are you scared to let them know it's you?
If they could only see you like I do,
Then they would see a stranger too.
Then they would see a stranger too.

fun day.

boating's a fun recreation..but a cold, cold one...

haha and there's nothing wrong with driving a cute motor boat. despite it being an 'unmanly' boat, me being there, reduced it's unmanliness cuz it'll just look like you were forced to drive it =P

then THE OLD SPAGHETTI FACTORY! that place is so cool. it's so colourful and fun and yummy and there's lots of stuff to look at! haha i wanna go on a merry go round now...

fun day. i know you were busy, but thx for coming out wif me =)

rant of the moment.

emo guys just need to be wiped off this planet.

how do you deal with emo guys? they're so...ARGH! flipping retarded! i just can't be around them. i feel brain cells dying just being around them. honestly, just talking to them makes me wanna kick them in the face. don't they feel retarded being so wimpy???? which then totally just ruins everybody else's day by witnessing their weakness. what they need to do is find out where balls are being sold then buy a friggin pack of them. maybe that'll do something to make them less emo. ARGH!

blurry -- puddle of mudd

Everything's so blurry
and everyone's so fake
and everybody's empty
and everything is so messed up
pre-occupied without you
I cannot live at all
My whole world surrounds you
I stumble then I crawl

You could be my someone
you could be my scene
you know that i'll protect you
from all of the obscene
I wonder what you're doing
imagine where you are
there's oceans in between us
but that's not very far

Can you take it all away
can you take it all away
well ya shoved it in my face
this pain you gave to me
Can you take it all away
can you take it all away
well ya shoved it my face

Everyone is changing
there's noone left that's real
to make up your own ending
and let me know just how you feel
cause I am lost without you
I cannot live at all
my whole world surrounds you
I stumble then I crawl

You could be my someone
you could be my scene
you know that i will save you
from all of the unclean
I wonder what you're doing
I wonder where you are
There's oceans in between us
but that's not very far

[Chorus]

Nobody told me what you thought
nobody told me what to say
everyone showed you where to turn
told you when to runaway
nobody told you where to hide
nobody told you what to say
everyone showed you where to turn
showed you when to runaway

[Chorus]

This pain you gave to me

You take it all
You take it all away...
This pain you gave to me
You take it all away
This pain you gave to me
Take it all away
This pain you gave to me

choices. Does it mean anything to you? In particular, what’s going on w/ the Christmas season.

until last night, i'd totally forgotten about how Steve Hawkins had predicted the possibility of me becoming a prayer warrior. it'd be mine's for the taking if i choose to follow down that path. but in my current state, that's at the complete other end of the other spectrum from where i'm standing...and i don't really have plans to move towards that direction at the moment. and all it took was alex asking me whether or not i'd see myself going back, really going back to the church and God.

one day, i'll be back.it's too ingrained in me to ignore it forever. as to when...that's yet tbd.

do i give God the time of day? another good question he asked me. i actually had to think about that one. in the conventional sense, no. i acknowledge Him, but i don't...i suppose...praise(?) Him, when something comes to mind. i just don't actively search God out. i'm not against it, in so much as, just not pursuing Him. life goes on as He plans it regardless of whether you want Him to or not. He knows what we'll do even though it is our choice in the end. there's no avoiding it, you just live it...and with the consequences of the choices that we make.