WaHhh

Woo. Its crowded in here isnt it?

Like I promised, it was really hot in herre at my place last Friday. The reading on the thermostat read 32 deg! By God’s grace, we managed to fit in almost twenty people in my little house. More amazing was the fact that we actually managed to have a good soup out of something seemingly orthodox and unconventional, and I really hope everyone enjoyed as much as I did.

The beginnings were humble. We just wanted a small cosy steamboat that served healthy food to a small group of people. As the days went by, the invitation list grew and so did the food list! Now it almost resembles the Lord ’s Supper, and I’m glad that things went on smoothly and that we had a wonderful time together J

For one, I think it was a prayer answered. As I ponder on Pst Joshua’s sermon that came a few months back, I thank God that I was very able to prepare for such a big event as a first timer, yet do it with the peace and grace of God. Nevertheless, I want to thank my dearest mother and eldest aunt who were really busy with me the whole day, and who took much effort to prepare the ingredients.

I was really touched by their enthusiasm and involvement. My aunt gave me a prep lesson on the basics of soup making, and went about getting all the ingredients beforehand. My mom went around shopping for stuff, and was on her feet with me the entire day, and even during the event itself, to make sure things went smoothly! The two ladies were occupied the whole day preparing the dishes and cooking the stuff.

At this juncture, I’d like to thank each and every one of you who turned up, contributed in your priceless ways and made the event such a roaring success! Now you know why we see the same old faces in any logistics team for the church, ha-ha.

I had the mind to take pictures of the preparations right till the event, but I was so tied up myself that I hardly found the time to take any pictures. Feeling bad for making my mom stay up on Friday; I apologized to her on Sat morning. To my surprise, she said that she had actually enjoyed preparing for the event and that it really helped to take her mind off her workload.

To the backache, the cuts and the fatigue I experienced that day…nothing is comparable to the immeasurable joy I felt being able to serve in such a manner. The joy of fellowshipping outweighs anything else I guess.

Whoo.

The gathering on Friday spells my second week at work. While I enjoy it despite the occasional tongue lashing I get from frustrated people, I like the business and the dynamics of a call centre. I can hardly afford to have time to feel bored! On top of that, this job has plenty of opportunities for me to OT…hehe. Naturally I’m on a little favor of that cause I get to earn more and save up for school.

On another hand, I find it unhealthy because the workaholic side of me is showing up. Other than my roaring tummy, I doubt I would have found the motivation to pack up and go home. On the other hand, I have things to do at home. I have to fulfill my responsibility as my son, an elder brother, and of course, sleep.

I actually opted out of singing this week for service, and missed my BS session with Melvin (SORRY!) because of my body yelling at me to catch some sleep. If this is the direction I’m headed towards, I’d really need to do something about it.

Sleep is something I’d really want to catch up on, and my body’s finding ways to tell me to get more rest and exercise. Physically and mentally, I feel like I’m 42, not a 24 to be. I just had a wonderful swim on Sunday, and I was surprised at how stretched I could feel, yet amazed at how fast my energy levels dwindled after that.

As I struggle with my never ending commitments and my irrational endeavors to run myself in overdrive mode and achieve them, I received a meaningful email. Excerpts of the mail as shown:

But God gave us twenty-four hours each day to accomplish our tasks and oh how we chafe under the restraint. Then we try to accomplish more than time allows. We place
ourselves under huge amounts of self-imposed stress.

As we do so, we also fight against God. We fail to recognize it cannot be God's will to pack more into twenty-four hour day than will fit. Because we don't like God's time constraints, we push ourselves. We get up early. We go to bed late. Yet the list of work
grows and stress grows too.

Look at what the Bible says, "It is vain for you to rise up early, to retire late, to eat the bread of painful labors" (Psalm 127:2). The word "vain" means "deception." It is a deception to get up early, to cram the day with activities, to retire late, and to
see each day as a day of "painful labor," only to repeat the cycle again. Why? You will not receive that for which you work. Because you are forgetting God, you are not using each day properly. Psalm 118:24 says, "This is the day the Lord has made." Remembering the Author of time and setting priorities will reduce stress.

In moments like these, I am not ashamed to admit that I’m probably struggling with despondency at times because I’m not handling things in the right manner.

God help me.

For now, I cling on to this phrase: Be Privileged, Positive and Persevering. John 17 tells us why. J

Stunned

Wow. The week passes so fast, and its been a WEEK! since I last updated this space. Last Monday saw me being "fired", this Monday saw me starting my first day at my new workplace.

I was still pretty in a state of daze when I left my ex workplace last week. Although deep in my heart I knew that that was not the place for me to be in, I was still unsure if I had made the right choice in moving on. I went back for a "farewell" lunch on Tuesday, where I really enjoyed the company and the fun we had over lunch..

On Tuesday, I spotted this job opportunity as an events assistant. Naturally I was super excited and called up straight away. I went down for the interview full of hope, but I guess that wasnt the right place for me to be at that point in time. I didnt make it thru the second round! Wahaha.

Nevertheless, I thank God for a really efficient person by the name of Jaz...haha. A super enthusiastic and bubbly person I got to know. She's been of great help in keeping a lookout for me, and before I knew it, I was penning down details for my new job offer and attending an interview on Friday.

I wasnt really expecting to get the job cause I slept really late on Wed night, and as could be expected, was kinda zombified on the day itself. I was really nervous but the manager was super disarming. We had an interview over the wine counter in the pantry, and I was almost expecting to be offered some red wine during the interview itself!

Surprise surprise. In 30 mins flat I recieved the good news that I had been accepted, and "they liked me so much" that they extended my minimal contract to 3 months. I could stay indefinetly if I wanted.Ooo.

Saturday saw me doing street E's for the first time. Now to those who know me well, I always regarded this area as my weakness. I was really apprehensive about doing it in the first place, but after a period of learning, discovery and spritual prompting, I decided to go for it. At the end of it, I realised that it was not about "how ready I was", but the condition of my heart and my level of faith.

I was rather nervous, but I had a great time learning from James, who apparently was really experienced in this area of ministry. I'd like to thank James for his patience and the deep chat we had along the way, plus all of those who came along for being encouraging and supportive in their own special way.

I was deeply touched as the topic of "suffering" spoke to me greatly. Somehow, I prayed that this topic would strike deep into the hearts of those we were to minister to. Lo and behold! I met Tom, who was really an answered prayer in every sense. He was simply the highlight of the event. God is amazing!

I am thankful that
1) I finally got out of my ex job
2) I had a one week break!
3) I've a new job in less than a week.

For the past few weeks, I was in a state of searching and self reflection. I look on my spritual life and I wonder how far I have moved since the day I first came to be exposed to Christian teaching. I realised that at times, my knowledge of the Bible seemed inadequate. As I questioned myself, I was seeking the reasons behind my "slow" spritual progress.

Amidst all the involvement in the ministries that I am in now, I fear that I may have lost touch of the big picture. I fear that I could have been serving for the wrong reasons, but I do feel a strong sense of spritual passion for the ministries I am involved in.

Sometimes, I fear that I may develop this sprit of arrogance and self exaltation. May the good Lord humble my heart and keep me in check.

As I reflect on my walk with God, I am reminded of the need to be humble and seeking, not only in my spritual walk, but in the daily activities that I do. Christ's Humuilty was one of the impactful messages I've heard so far, and one that convicts me and puts my heart to shame.

God help me.

I have nothing to say about my new job, coz its the first day, but its a freezer in there (20 degrees), and the job's certainly exciting!

This time, I am DETERMINED not to repeat my mistake. May God be my daily companion thru every season of the soul.

To end off, I'd like to thamk the so many people who've been a great source of encouragement and support. Thank God for all of U.

Shalom!

Parents, realise your worth!

Came across this interesting article on the newspapers on-the-road, and was rather moved by the contents.

Strikes a chord in me somewhere, cause I can more or less relate to this lonely child in the article. I was fortunate enough, however, not to fall into deliquency or severe behavioural problems, thanks to the grace of our Heavenly Father.

To all fathers out there, please realise that you have an important role in the family, one that material nor wealth can fulfill!

While this article mentioned articles, I hope all parents will make the effort to spend quality time with their children. Such is the rentless pursuit of wealth and material gains in this fast paced society of ours that some of us cant even spend more than 5 hours of quality time with our children each day.

I certainly hope that despite my decision to join the events industry, I will have the luxury of spending quality time with my wife and children... :)

The Emancipation of Frazzie

24 hours a day. 7 days a week. 365 days a year. That’s what is given to us. How we utilize it is up to us!

Time is precious indeed. I find myself in a constant battle for time, time and more time to juggle between work, personal commitments and time for myself plus indulging in the things I want to do. Over the weekends, I wish I had more time to spend with my family and myself.

On Thursday night, I had a bad relapse of gastric pains. It had already hit me since Tues, but I didn’t want to see a doctor as I regarded it as a minor problem. However, the pain was so bad that I couldn’t even sleep on Thursday night. The end result was a zombie-fied me dragging my feet to the clinic. I was SO tired that my aunt had to wave in front of me before I realized that I had actually bumped into her along the way.

As I waited for 30mins, freezing in the otherwise undercooled common space of the clinic; I started thinking about the state of mind I was in. The confusion and struggles were certainly getting to me and making me a bitter and paranoid person.

I had a chance to chat with my doctor about work and even managed to tell him more about the products I sell. He offered words of encouragements before proclaiming that I had gastric flu and some viral infection.

Now that explains the lethargy and the body aches I’ve been experiencing the whole week. As I’m typing this on a Monday, I’m still pretty worn out by the experience. I napped for a record breaking 5 hours

A week of mad work, cell meetings and the weekends have come and gone by. Friday’s cell was a simple presentation on the 5Cs of evangelism, yet ideas flowed and we ended up doing in much deeper (or was it further?) than we expected. It was a great time of sharing and I was glad we were able to learn from each other. I shared about my struggles with work and gained invaluable perspective from folks who were already in the working world. As for me, I learnt how to be more effective in my spiritual skills in that area. God be willing, I want to be a fisher of men!
Saturday zoomed past so fast, that I didn’t even remember what went on. Sunday was a more interesting day. I attended my first church anniversary (it’s really my first!!) and I was really touched by how a “small” church like ours had big hearts for God. Everyone was working hard to make sure that things were in place, such that the celebrations went on as smooth as possible.

As for me, it was really gratifying as this was one of the few times I actually got off my lazy bum and chose to be involved in the logistics team for this event. Through this, my heart was humbled and I experienced the joy of serving and giving.

The highlight of the event was the sound system in the car park. With a great team of Ad, Art and Mel plus myself, we took down the ancient speakers and wired up the new ones. I was pretty amazed by the improvement in the sound itself, more so on how I was so privileged to be blessed in this area.



On that very night, I had a chat with one great gentleman I got to know recently. M’s a really insightful person and I felt really blessed to have him in my life. I thank God that He has sent this blessing to share unselfishly his learning and experiences!

One thing was for sure though. I was greatly reminded of the very basis of our belief, in JC Himself. At this juncture, I felt convicted. How many times did I actually place my wholehearted belief in Him while things were going haywire? I felt this great need to come before Him and surrender my life.

Monday, yet another day back to the same old place. I called some religious schools today. The B schools didn’t mind placing a listing with us and were extremely polite and friendly over the phone. In contrast, the C and C schools were rather edgy and declined to place a listing as they felt that their course attendees were “referred” by churches and that was no need to create publicity for themselves.

Couldn’t help but feel bewildered. Why were the responses of that of the B and the C institutions of learning so different? I hope wouldn’t display this spirit of exclusiveness when it comes to sharing the goodness of God.

On my MC, I wrote a small note to my manager, sharing with her how I felt that it was of an uphill struggle for me to continue with my telesales stint, and how I was plain frustrated with my inferior command of Chinese to communicate effectively. She was nice and took time to share my concerns and well, I was surprised to learn that in her opinion, I wasn’t doing so badly after all.

However, I voiced my intentions to move on, and although I could sense hesitation in her voice, she agreed to let me go.

I’m officially unemployed now. I walked out of my workplace feeling so much lighter and emancipated.

At this juncture, I’d like to have a little Thanksgiving session:

My aunt: Thanks for passing me your National a/cs! They rock.

Acts 1:8, Ad, Mel N, Mel C, Ferg, Viol and JH: Thanks for praying for me and keeping me sane thru this 1 month.

YPTMTeam: It’s a privilege working with ya lads, lets keep the friendship goin!

Lastly but not least, God, who maketh all things beautiful in His time.