Random Musings and Thanksgivings and HopeKids

God, I'm tired of wasting my time surfing net and reading online comics. I just don't feel good doing it... hmph... want to make better use of my time. *yawn* Tired.

Shuyi mentioned about having a Thanksgiving Night. Hmm! Shall try it this week... =) Always so much to thank God for. =)

Tomorrow I've got Freshman Orientation Week. Thank God! So glad I can help out as an OGL after four years. I remember making a very dear friend and brother, Cuong, from Vietnam during my own FOW. Always treasure the time that I spend with him, and how we encourage one another with testimonies of how God has been good to us. It's such a sheer joy, just to think about it - that we are brothers in Christ, regardless of race, language or nationality. And it never fails to warm my heart when I see him faithfully serving God on campus with the Navigators, even when he's now working.

Just like what Jason told me before, "Spirit is thicker than blood."

Miss Weizhu and Ruey Fong. RF had work today, so had to delay our meetup. Always treasure this brother so much - he's really a gift from God to me in my life. And WZ'll be coming back on 17 Aug from his reservist. Yay... can continue to work together with him on the Christmas MM.

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Now thinking about HopeKids. Keep wanting to blog about it... well, here goes!

Today I woke up late for HopeKids. Took cab down, and whispering a short prayer under my breath to ask God to bless the kids, I rushed out of the lift... right into a gaggle of kids being escorted to the loo.

Whee... it started sooner than I thot. Anyway God's timing is perfect - one of the sisters was trying to get the boys to the loo - you know how it is with small boys - and she was Very Glad To See Me. So yours truly got toilet duty.

And toilet duty was... smelly. When I stepped into the toilet, I saw that someone had barfed into the leftmost sink. (BTW it's 5th level male toilet in Cuppage Plaza... so now you know which sink not to touch...) The sink was totally clogged up, and almost full of water, which had some brown smelly stuff floating in it... well, you get the idea.

So I shooed the lil' uns out of the loo and we jaunted up to the 6th level merrily. One of the little boys clambered on his own onto the top of the sink, and helped hold down the push-tap for the other boys to wash their hands. So thoughtful! :D

After that, we had a time of praise and worship. It's really not easy to take part in the P&W, especially when you have the little ones pulling at your hands, smiling and trying to tickle you and play with you. Ever try explaining to a 4 years old boy what it means to worship God while he happily tries to play boxing with you, and a little (hyperactive) girl is hanging onto your back? Haha... and did I mention that at the same time, the rest of the class is singing and you have to do the hand actions too?

Whee... I just want to laugh at the whole ridiculousness of this... it's so funny! Think our Heavenly Daddy musta been laughing a lot today. =) Bless His big heart!

Story-time was quite tiring, and to be honest, not very exciting to listen to. :P But think the teacher teaching it really gave it her best - my guess is that she's new to this story-telling thing... One of the little boys, Eugene, kept trying to climb onto my lap and I had to keep trying to get him to sit down, when another boy - I think it was Matthias or Matthew or Matthiaion or Malathion, whatever his name was - cutely played with my collar, and curiously asking me what was that thing in my left ear (it's my hearing-aid, BTW). Then the little girl chose that very moment to grab my collar, laughing merrily as she fell to the ground (almost choking me in the process). Save me, O God, for these kids have come up to my neck...

Then we had colouring session. It was a good time with them, as we coloured the pictures. Some of the boys are really artistiic. I read that someone came up with this multiple-intelligences theory, where different people have different kinds of intelligences, such as Spatial Intelligence, Interpersonal Intelligence and the like. Hmm, God really bless different people with different talents. We have a wonderful diversity of talents!

Thank God He answered my prayer to know the boys' names too. On their worksheets, they had all scrawled their names, so I got the opportunity to read their names. Seems that we have a lot of apostles and prophets here in HopeKids. ;)

Carried a few kids today. They really enjoy it - especially when I called it "flying", upon which they started vigorously flapping their arms. So sweet!

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On a more introspective note, I got to understand the children better. I realised that there's this boy who keeps on trying to get my attention, and asking me whether what he did is ok... somehow I get the feeling that he's quite insecure and needs a lot of attention. So glad that I can give him some of the attention that he needs... every child is precious to God.

And I saw a darker side to the children - in the class, there's this lone Indian boy who was quite quiet and was quite shy about joining the other children. I encouraged him to join in with the other boys in the activities. But I still sense that he's quite alone - one of the other boys wasn't very friendly towards him, turning away from him. I think I'll need to correct that boy if I catch him again, so that he'll understand.

Children can be cute, but they can be cruel too, especially towards those who are different from them - whether it be skin colour, behaviour, fashion, ideas or beliefs. I think it comes naturally to us all - we're all born sinners. Still, thank God that being in HopeKids, it's a great opportunity to teach the younger ones to love one another, regardless of who they are or what they look like - just like what our Kor-Kor (Big Brother) Jesus taught us - "A new command I give you: Love one another."

After the HopeTots session, I chatted with sis Yung, asking her for her advice on some questions I had, such as how do I stop the kids climbing all over me? Yung helped me understand the reason why one of the boys, in particular, keeps on climbing onto grown-ups' laps, even when we tell him not to. It's because he's from a single-parent family, so he lacks a big-brother/father figure... so yup, that's why he wants to sit on my lap.

Her explanation was a revelation to me, because that day, it helped me understand the children much better. Deep down, underneath all their laughter, playfulness and screaming, is this age-old need to be loved, just as they are. No wonder our Lord Jesus said, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

And she explained also why both the boys (and especially girls) can't always keep sitting on my lap - it's for their safety, because they can't just go and sit on anyone's lap anyhow or anytime! So something I learnt here was that we also need to teach the children what is socially appropriate, and what is not.

So I need to get some sweets (ah, marshmallows would be a good idea) next Sunday, and to be stricter with them, to lay down the law too. Reward the good, rebuke the bad.

Wow, thank God for the awesome privilege of being able to serve in HopeKids... it makes me feel so... awed, just to think of the awesome responsibility that a father will have in taking care of his child, to teach him/her what is right and wrong - more than that - teach them to love God and to look up to Him when they feel lonely, because no grown-up can be with them always, but only their Daddy in heaven can be with them always.

Shared a lot with Peter about these thoughts when I met him later. The importance of setting the right formative habits, to take care of my own stuff, so that it's more natural, easier for me to take care of others' stuff too. And my own desire to be a good father in future. He smiled and told me, "Take your time." - in other words, don't rush... trust God's timing as you continue walking with Him.

To sum it all up, can glimpse how God is using all my past experiences, including my struggle with being socially aware, and childhood experiences and having a caring father - all wonderfully weaved into this marvellous plan, to be working with and teaching children... Really thank the Father of fathers so much - it's totally beyond what I could have ever imagined for my life that night when I asked Jesus to come into my life.

"For I know I was born, for such a time as this..."

Thank You for being so faithful to me always, Daddy dearest. Thank You for Your teaching me how to become a better father in future. Like what You said in Ephesians 3:14-15, "For this reason, I kneel before the Father, from whom all fatherhood in heaven and on earth derives its name..." Really so amazed by You, Father.