Proof that you can apply reverse psychology on yourself

Roughly two weeks back, Fergs and I agreed that we should watch what we eat just in the lead-up to CNY to sort of mitigate the gorge fest that will happen then. It worked for a while, and we even managed to squeeze in some exercise. Self-control 1, fat ass 0!

However, a week ago my appetite suddenly went through an exponential, ferocious surge and I find myself thinking about snacking ALL THE TIME. For instance, this is what I've eaten today in addition to lunch:

1. Half a pack of San Remo instant mushroom and herb pasta with added milk for breakfast (not a
regular breakie eater before this)2. One third of a pack of tok tok candy
3. Two bite-sized Nestle Milk & Cookies Milkybars
4. A Coke Light (feeble attempt to be good but never again, original is the best)
5. Two fistfuls of kuachi
6. Two Four Five chocolate wafers

Yes, I have been stocking up on snacks. Do you expect me to gnaw off my arm in desperation? Anyway, I still have 20 minutes more before going home and the pack of Cadbury Bytes sitting on my desk is calling my name. Must....re...sist....

Project ideas

A bird mobile (via Museum of happiness). A perfect excuse to start collecting colourful fabric scraps.

Embroidered text messages. I like the cheeky take on a traditional craft.

How successful was your LIITA event?

So, the LIITA dust has settled and reports have been sent in. Now is the time for measurement and evaluation. After looking at the form we had to fill up, I realised that it wasn't comprehensive enough. With some inspiration and a few suggestions I've come up with a handy list to help measure the success of your LIITA event. Presenting:

The SCL-Inspired LIITA score guide!

Scoring of visitors brought:

1. Uncelled believer from church = + 1 point
2. Unchurched believer = + 2 points
3. Pre-believer = + 3 points
4. Pre-believer who, upon being presented with the gospel via the Bridge method, accepts Christ= + 7 points5. Irregular cell member shows up = + 1 point
6. Irregular cell member leaves early for another appointment = - 2 points
7. Uncelled believer from another church = + 0 points
8. Visitor is from a foreign country = + 2 points
9. The foreign country was formerly communist = + 3
10. Cell member from another cell in your church = - 10 points
11. College cell member who has graduated and is transitioning to the workforce = + 2 points
12. The transitioning college cell member can play guitar for cell = + 5 points
13. A boy/girlfriend that actually attends another church tags along = - 2 point
14. That boy/girlfriend who attends another church just got installed as a cell leader there = - 5 points
15. That boy/girlfriend who attends another church and just got installed as a cell leader wants you to settle in that other church so that the next 100 years of your bloodline will be members there = - 50 points

Scoring of the program:
1. Christmas carols were sung = + 1 point for each carol
2. The organisers relaxed and smiled* = + 1 point
3. Your drinks were chilled, using ice where necessary* = + 1 point
4. Ice wasn’t used because it melted into a huge chunk and someone tried to break it into smaller pieces
by bashing it against the wall, causing the bag to tear and spill all the ice^ = - 5 points5. The cell made their own Christmas video to present on that night = + 50 points
6. There are left over LIITA flyers after the event = - 1 point for each flyer
7. Cell members met up earlier to decorate Christmas trees for the event = + 3 points
8. LIITA flyers were cut up to decorate the trees = - 5 points per flyer
9. Neither of the two recommended programs were used = - 30 points
10. Cell members were planted to share their personal testimony = + 3 points per testimony shared.
11. Two weeks after the LIITA event, you don't get invited to a leader's meeting = - 500 points

12. Three weeks after a LIITA event, you receive a letter from the church that says “We apologise but we are unable to process your marriage application form as you have been ex-communicated from this church. God bless you.” = - 1,000,000 points = time to find a new church

* criteria taken directly from the guide booklet, as seen here.
^ true story, apparently.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My cell's score is in the region of -700 points, which after glancing through the other YA reports sent in and making some rough calculations, would be the lowest scoring cell. Bah. I bet this guide is skewed.

Anyway, at least we got a video. Pretend you don't notice the cut-up LIITA flyers in it ok?

In oh nine,

"I don't want to finish this year with only a few months experience gained. I don't ever want to live life redundantly."

This line from Jon Acuff's Everything is replaceable sums up how I feel about this year. It's a soaring, optimistic feeling.

Balloon canopy by Gustafson Porter (via A cup of Jo).

Alright.

I am a sucky blogger. Besides that, here are 9 reasons (since it's 2009) why this page has remained stuck on LIITA for over 6 weeks.

1. My computer ran out of ink.
2. I had no transport.
3. Wild kangaroos laid siege to my home.
4. Durian season started.
5. Then, I had a lobotomy.
6. After I recovered, I was going to post about it but my hedgehog ate
it. (The post, not the lobotomy. You can't eat a lobotomy.)7. I like ice-cream and pickles.
8. It was too windy.
9. ZZZzzzzz....huh?

But it doesn't really matter. Only one person has complained so far, and as you can see, he's not someone you need to take seriously.