Yeah! Shall write down my thanksgiving point for 2006... You have been wonderfully, wonderfully good to me! :D
Think the first thanksgiving point I really want to thank You Lord for, are the dear friends, both old and new, that I got to know deeper...
Ruey Fong, Huanyan, Weizhu, Peter, Bowen, Hongtao, Yufen, Flince, Hongtao, Robert, Kin Wee, Mich, Jan, Benny, Calyn, Jitsy, Zhenzhu, Shuyi, Qiaoping, Edwin, Tamar, Guanzhen, Joyce, Minchen, Guanrui, Swee Leong, Jiahao, Yanteng, etc...
and the second one to thank You Lord for...
for Zhiwei coming to know Christ!!! Hahah...
and the 3rd one... how You grew me in developing this MM talent that You have given me...
from making tertiary service adverts for FFF camp,
to making MM clips for Alpha in June...
and finally to church-level Christmas MM...
I'm so incredibly touched by Your goodness and grace. =)
I remember responding to Your call in 2005 during church camp to make an impact for You in the media industry...
and how You heard my prayer... though I was trembling and barely lifted up my hand, felt so unworthy and shameful...
yet... "this poor man called, and the LORD answered him..."
and how my dear shepherd, it turns out, also had the same burden as me... in fact, he mentored me in this area, and helped, thru his gift of faith, stir up my own faith too...
that with God, all things are possible!
And the 4th one... academically, You have blessed me... in terms of grades and quality of work...
especially when i was struggling with my computing modules, You blessed me more and more in the media modules...
and the 5th one... children's ministry...
realising that You have enabled me to minister to children...
and the 6th one... the name change... from Ian to Abraham...
the promise of a great multitude that no one can count...
and the 7th one... the hostel stay - AND the bros and sisters who were there...
Qiaoping, Tamar, Edwin and Zhenzhong... wow, such a wonderful experience... finally i got to experience the joy of hostel life with bros and sisters...
and the 8th one... for helping me grow in humility...
really really needed it... esp after Peter's scolding me...
that i need to grow in a broken spirit... praise You Jesus! :D
and the 9th one... for Alpha 2006! WOW!!! the wonderful influx of new brothers and sisters...
seeing Wenjuan come to know Christ too... hahaha... and Ceyang too!
and the 10th one... for the times sowing with Mich and Jan... it was a truly wonderful time of serving and planning together...
and the 11th one... for the times sowing on Zhiwei with Flince and Yufen... a very very precious time... esp serving tog with Flince - he's become a very dear friend and bro to me thru this exp - i get to know him much better...
and the 12th one... the dinners with Claire and Chiyen... for the hostelites... wow!!! what an experience!
and the 13th one... the subd camp... hee... i remember working on the MM clip with Weilong... really really learnt a lot from his spirit of sticking faithfully to a task to meet the deadline... this impacted my future MM work... thank you, Weilong, for being one of those who impacted my life!
and the 14th one... Peter's affirmation of me during the bday celeb he had for me... it was very heartwarming... hee... thank You Lord for this affirmation of me... really really treasure it lots!
there's simply so much more to write, to thank You Lord for...
Psalm 40:5
"Many, O LORD my God,
are the wonders you have done.
The things you planned for us
no one can recount to you;
were I to speak and tell of them,
they would be too many to declare."
Oh... I want to cry haha... so so many beautiful memories... You have been incredibly, incredibly good to me, a sinner, O Lord!
*******
Hmm... lessons learnt...
On a more sober note, some things that I learnt from my mistakes in 2006:
1. The importance of building up trust in people...
Even if you have good advice to build... you need to build up the trust between you and the other person first...
2. Being overly-friendly...
Quite paiseh to share this actually, but learning further about the right boundaries between me and the opposite gender... thank God for the bros and sisters who fed back to me... :) really really deeply apprec it lots, need ur guidance and advice!
Especially in r/p with sisters, 'cos they tend to be very sensitive to such things... special thanks to Robert who taught me a lot in this area... haha...
and thank God for Flince who fed back to me on this area...
realised that this being overly-friendly is due to a mixture of my own insecurity, wanting people to like me... and also becos of my impatience in building up relationships...
Actually, realised that people tend to be naturally attracted to me... as long as i'm being myself... something that i discovered during school term as well...
3. Being patient in building up relationships...
This is something i really have to be aware of... as Peter pointed out to me...
And in sowing, wow... this patience reaped a very surprising reward... there's one of my old friends who started sharing some very personal stuff with me... i was very touched when he did that... 'cos tink it's one of the first times that he had shared so personally to me... or others to me, for that matter...
so learnt the blessing of being quick to listen and slow to speak...
4. the difference between being ppl-oriented and relationship-oriented...
wow... this was a major eye-opener... realised that i'd been going in the wrong direction... because actually i'm much more relationship-oriented than people-oriented... so finally understood that...
5. being more socially and situationally aware...
think it doesn't come naturally to me... but i'm grateful for my dear shepherd who taught me to be more considerate of others... e.g. not grabbing other pple's food too much... and being aware of my own volume when i'm not wearing my hearing aids... because if i don't wear hearing aids, i tend to speak VERY loudly...
(and if i wear hearing aids, people say i'm speaking too softly... wah... hahah tink quite funny in a way...)
6. being more considerate of other pple's feelings (esp in the area of meeting deadlines...)
this one, ah... wah, with my project group - they really stressed by my slowness... and also in ministry too... Hong Teck was so worried that i wouldn't be able to finish on time too... and Kin Wee was chasing me to complete the Christmas MM...
So Peter advised me to do things faster the next time... yup... tink it's against my natural phlegmatism, but hee, don't want to stress out my partners...
7. and especially important... something that Peter taught me... to learn to be aware of when i am going to sin... e.g. if i know i'm going to be proud, then i must be aware of that, so that i can flee from temptation...
*******
Some things I have grown in in 2006...
Hmm... think thank God so much, He's helped me grow in humility... and in understanding of humility too...
1. realised that we will ALWAYS be proud... if i think, "Wow! I'm humble..." then win already - you're already on the road to pride... i went down that way before... and it is horrible...
So true humility ironically starts with acknowleding that you are PROUD... that is the first step to becoming humble... to have a BROKEN SPIRIT...
(think this is the most important truth that i've learnt from Peter this year...)
and be teachable... to have a hungry heart to want to learn new things... to be hungry even for rebukes and correction... to LOVE CORRECTION! (Prov 12:1) to HUNGER for it!!!
this is something that actually i've been slipping in in the past few months... so quite sad, actually... but i'm grateful that God helped me realise that i am becoming proud... because everytime I sin, it helps remind me that I need a Saviour...
so precious this truth... that Jesus died for my sins...
2. in a sweet spirit... hee.. this is something that touches my heart a lot... thank You so much, Jesus!
Learnt this from QP and Shuyi's lives... Weizhu and Peter both said that I have grown in a sweet spirit... wow... praise Jesus! because it really is NOT me... but it is the Holy Spirit!!! "Taste and see that the LORD is good!!!"
3. to be more stable emotionally, especially when i'm being hurt by someone else... this one, yufen taught me... reconcilation and patience... with the end goal of wanting to reconcile...
4. to have a more driven and optimistic spirit... something that I learnt from Ruey Fong... a spirit that wants to do something for Jesus... to use my imagination for God... to capture my negative thoughts and use them well for Him...
something that RF told me was that I think too little of myself... hmm... yeah, think that's true... really want to grow in faith in claiming God's promises in 2007!
5. the principle of followership... something that Alan Tea taught us in the last District 242 before he moved on...
thank God for my dear shepherd... hee, think really have learnt a lot from his life, his faith and his love...
6. following up on Zhiwei... learnt a lot too... wow... learning to have a shepherd's heart... special thanks to YF who taught me a lot...
7. learning to be more sensitive to others' countenances - again, something that Peter taught me... it is an essential skill if you want to be able to take care of people... and thank God, Huili said that i am a very sensitive and observant bro... wow... thank God so much... because I know that this is NOT the natural Yeu Ann... but again then, I have been crucified with Christ, and it is I that no longer lives, but Christ who lives in me! :D Amen!
8. Learning to be more vulnerable and more open in my sharing... something that Peter taught me a LOT too. Think it's something I still find it a bit hard, but thank God, He's been teaching me a lot about being humble enough to open up my heart to share more openly about my weaknesses... and what YF told us, to be more spontaneous in sharing... think this is something that Bowen and Minchen have set an example for me in...
9. Learning to encourage and influence the younger ones to help take care of and enfold the even younger ones... thanks a lot, Mich and YF for what you taught me! :D
*******
Hmm... there's so many more... but well, like what Jasmine said in the last tertiary service of 2006, 2007 will be an even better year! Amen!
Yup... hold my hand, Daddy, 'cos really feel quite uncertain how this year is going to unfold. But one thing I pray... please help me love you deeper and to grow in character... and by Your grace, as I walk with You more, tt You may use me to impact other lives in the Adults ministry this year...
and most of all, really praying that I want to have an eager heart to minister to others...
not to be inwards-looking, but outwards-looking...
to take the initiative to serve and meet the needs of others...
to grow in security of heart...
remembering to keep my desire for God central...
to be salt and light in the workplace, being faithful, efficient and effective in the workplace...
(thankful for my HYP friends haha... :D)
to "only let us live up to what i have already attained."
(Yup! the FOUR PILLARS of the UNI DISTRICT VISION!)
Wow, it's been more than an hour. :D So let's remember the Lord's final words before He ascended to heaven...
Matthew 28:18-20
"Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
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