The 29th Year of KC and the 1st day in the 7th month of the 11th Year in Christ
I had just celebrated my 28th birthday and by divine arrangement, i came to know God just 1 day short of 6 full months from my 17th physical birthday.
Counting back, this is the start of my 29th year on this planet Earth and also the 1st day in the 7th month of the 11th year that Jesus came into my life.
The whole deal of birthdays is actually getting quite mundane for myself, i feel that i have reach the age where birthday rituals were no longer necessary. this mentality has manifested itself in the way i celebrate the birthdays of others; for acquaintances, i simply acknowledge their birthday with a simple greeting; for close friends, i simply set aside time to be spent with them over a simple lunch/dinner treat with a genuine desire to find out more about their life and appreciate them for who they are in my life.
i was glad to have the chance to organise a gathering for some old NUS people as claire was back for a short trip, it was made into a small celebration for me and weizhu also, however, it wasn't a party, but more of an extended time to catch up with people. that was the saturday before my birthday. all the people there reminded me of a lot of things and a lot of dreams and aspirations we had in the NUS days. also the impact i have made in some areas, people i "discipled".
the thursday was spent with another close friend who has been a source of guidance since 2003 and a dear friend who shares a lot of my life and struggles. the lunch and extended time of catching up was really enjoyable, no birthday rituals, but just simple sincere sharing of our lives and experiences. it was also one of the few times that i spent a long period in a bookstore.
friday was a struggle, or to be exact, thursday night. my heart was really unsettled about missing CG for a meet-up with wilson and jocelyn, but i had made a promise and i needed to honour it. the meet-up was filled with fun but i was rather dismayed to learn that they no longer think that there is a God. i do pray that they will one day be able to share in this joy of salvation.
saturday was spent at sijia and howjoo's house warming. i was really glad to see daisy and dehua, really miss these dear people who saw me through my NUS years, all the time we invested in people and each other. the times at NUH canteen for supper with dehua and the time during matriculation supporting daisy in the OG, these co-labourers whom i have served with in the fervent days of my life. it really reminded me of all the passion and energy we had.
today was spent at service and with the additional Uni-YA people who joined us. really blessed to see these lives which reminds me of the passionate growth and outreach we had strived for. the birthday celebration my CG had arranged was rather fun and meaningful at the same time, but i guess i would have preferred more time for sharing of certain things which weigh down in my heart. the game played was one where i had to choose 1 out of 5 gift cards from the giftTRAP game. the game made me realise that my way of thinking can be too complicated for people at times. i was surprised by some people's perception of me. or maybe how they applied their own thinking into my situation. i made choices which were irrational to some of them, but i do have very strong rationales for my choices.
i chose a basketball hoop over zero gravity experience; well who needs such an experience? it is rather meaningless to me although it maybe a once in a lifetime chance, but some people had felt that i would jump at the chance. to me, if it is meaningless, it doesn't matter how exclusive or expensive or rare the thing is.
i chose a puppy over a family holiday; well this is one thing that people do not know so i do not expect anyone to get it right, but i will not be able to go on a family holiday even if i wanted to. also i had always wanted a pet dog since i was young, a husky would be best!
the other choices were not as controversial as much of it is by elimination, which is my usual way of short-listing things and i guess some of them learnt that about me.
i used to think that i'm a very open person and easy to read, but this game had made me understand how hard it is for a man to know another's heart and mind, only God can. i was really surprised by the sharing of affirmations about me, i seriously had no idea how i made a difference in the lives of others, but i guessed those were the times where i had allowed the Holy Spirit to lead me, or to be exact, allowed love to lead me. i am also reminded of a spiritual gift that i have not been exercising actively, the gift of pastor; i have a strong desire to want to take care and help others whom i love and share a strong friendship with and to that end i will remain loyal.
some shared about how i have grown, but some of it was quite vague. huaqiang shared that he was encouraged by my desire to read, but truth be told, he is the reason that i would want to read. my motivation to read comes from the knowledge and desire to discuss what i have read with him. i am intellectual, but i do not like to think on my own, i love to bounce my ideas and understanding off others. the reason i was looking for a study bible was as a refreshing replacement to the bible which i have passed to my brother and also because of the trip to tecman on thursday with my dear friend, whose passion for reading rubbed off me that day.
now that i have received a study bible as a birthday gift, i shall commit to reading it and by God's grace write out my devotions which may in turn bless others. i do believe that i have grown, but it is not of any credit to myself, rather it is God softening my heart through the lives of these dear friends around me.
God is good, and i just wanted to record His goodness in all these experiences which i had. also i want to give thanks for Ellson who called me all the way from indonesia to say happy birthday (he intercepted all the smses in that way LOL), Meiling who "cheated" by sending sms 10 mins before midnight on sat, Claramae whose sms came in at 12 midnight sharp and in the midst of her packing for her 10 am flight to climb a mountain, Huaqiang, Huichun and Weizhu whose msges streamed in after that, followed by friends who came up to me during service, Doreen, Jocelyn, Joy, Peifang, Jiayan, Michelle, Benaiah and my CG people, followed by Melissa and Robert, Kangwei, Chiyen and Yanjie whose msges streamed in the late afternoons and also the FB msges by my colleagues and students. God is good to me.
Counting back, this is the start of my 29th year on this planet Earth and also the 1st day in the 7th month of the 11th year that Jesus came into my life.
The whole deal of birthdays is actually getting quite mundane for myself, i feel that i have reach the age where birthday rituals were no longer necessary. this mentality has manifested itself in the way i celebrate the birthdays of others; for acquaintances, i simply acknowledge their birthday with a simple greeting; for close friends, i simply set aside time to be spent with them over a simple lunch/dinner treat with a genuine desire to find out more about their life and appreciate them for who they are in my life.
i was glad to have the chance to organise a gathering for some old NUS people as claire was back for a short trip, it was made into a small celebration for me and weizhu also, however, it wasn't a party, but more of an extended time to catch up with people. that was the saturday before my birthday. all the people there reminded me of a lot of things and a lot of dreams and aspirations we had in the NUS days. also the impact i have made in some areas, people i "discipled".
the thursday was spent with another close friend who has been a source of guidance since 2003 and a dear friend who shares a lot of my life and struggles. the lunch and extended time of catching up was really enjoyable, no birthday rituals, but just simple sincere sharing of our lives and experiences. it was also one of the few times that i spent a long period in a bookstore.
friday was a struggle, or to be exact, thursday night. my heart was really unsettled about missing CG for a meet-up with wilson and jocelyn, but i had made a promise and i needed to honour it. the meet-up was filled with fun but i was rather dismayed to learn that they no longer think that there is a God. i do pray that they will one day be able to share in this joy of salvation.
saturday was spent at sijia and howjoo's house warming. i was really glad to see daisy and dehua, really miss these dear people who saw me through my NUS years, all the time we invested in people and each other. the times at NUH canteen for supper with dehua and the time during matriculation supporting daisy in the OG, these co-labourers whom i have served with in the fervent days of my life. it really reminded me of all the passion and energy we had.
today was spent at service and with the additional Uni-YA people who joined us. really blessed to see these lives which reminds me of the passionate growth and outreach we had strived for. the birthday celebration my CG had arranged was rather fun and meaningful at the same time, but i guess i would have preferred more time for sharing of certain things which weigh down in my heart. the game played was one where i had to choose 1 out of 5 gift cards from the giftTRAP game. the game made me realise that my way of thinking can be too complicated for people at times. i was surprised by some people's perception of me. or maybe how they applied their own thinking into my situation. i made choices which were irrational to some of them, but i do have very strong rationales for my choices.
i chose a basketball hoop over zero gravity experience; well who needs such an experience? it is rather meaningless to me although it maybe a once in a lifetime chance, but some people had felt that i would jump at the chance. to me, if it is meaningless, it doesn't matter how exclusive or expensive or rare the thing is.
i chose a puppy over a family holiday; well this is one thing that people do not know so i do not expect anyone to get it right, but i will not be able to go on a family holiday even if i wanted to. also i had always wanted a pet dog since i was young, a husky would be best!
the other choices were not as controversial as much of it is by elimination, which is my usual way of short-listing things and i guess some of them learnt that about me.
i used to think that i'm a very open person and easy to read, but this game had made me understand how hard it is for a man to know another's heart and mind, only God can. i was really surprised by the sharing of affirmations about me, i seriously had no idea how i made a difference in the lives of others, but i guessed those were the times where i had allowed the Holy Spirit to lead me, or to be exact, allowed love to lead me. i am also reminded of a spiritual gift that i have not been exercising actively, the gift of pastor; i have a strong desire to want to take care and help others whom i love and share a strong friendship with and to that end i will remain loyal.
some shared about how i have grown, but some of it was quite vague. huaqiang shared that he was encouraged by my desire to read, but truth be told, he is the reason that i would want to read. my motivation to read comes from the knowledge and desire to discuss what i have read with him. i am intellectual, but i do not like to think on my own, i love to bounce my ideas and understanding off others. the reason i was looking for a study bible was as a refreshing replacement to the bible which i have passed to my brother and also because of the trip to tecman on thursday with my dear friend, whose passion for reading rubbed off me that day.
now that i have received a study bible as a birthday gift, i shall commit to reading it and by God's grace write out my devotions which may in turn bless others. i do believe that i have grown, but it is not of any credit to myself, rather it is God softening my heart through the lives of these dear friends around me.
God is good, and i just wanted to record His goodness in all these experiences which i had. also i want to give thanks for Ellson who called me all the way from indonesia to say happy birthday (he intercepted all the smses in that way LOL), Meiling who "cheated" by sending sms 10 mins before midnight on sat, Claramae whose sms came in at 12 midnight sharp and in the midst of her packing for her 10 am flight to climb a mountain, Huaqiang, Huichun and Weizhu whose msges streamed in after that, followed by friends who came up to me during service, Doreen, Jocelyn, Joy, Peifang, Jiayan, Michelle, Benaiah and my CG people, followed by Melissa and Robert, Kangwei, Chiyen and Yanjie whose msges streamed in the late afternoons and also the FB msges by my colleagues and students. God is good to me.
2 Comments:
At Tue Jun 22, 12:21:00 PM GMT+8,
Anonymous said…
we have a catch up coming up! well it depends how fast the event organiser organises the organised event :p but i expect some brilliant place where we can catch up and not break any more champagne glasses! :p
Robert
At Wed Jun 23, 01:38:00 AM GMT+8,
yeu@nn said…
hey kimchun! so sorry i forgot to send you an sms on that day. had recorded it down, but arggh, was so busy that i forgot in the midst of all the nonsense. :((((
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