What a wonderful Friday and Saturday... =)

Had met up with Shuyi in the morning to share encouragement ideas and suggestions.

Then later met up with my friends from my HYP lab for a reunion dinner - and in good time too, for Vincent was flying off on Jan 17 (or is it 18?) to the USA for his PhD. Really a good time with Qiyue, Vin, Dongfeng and Sebastian - thank God for you guys, really enjoyed the time catching up with you! So sorry I couldn't stay longer...

Because I had a brothers' gathering at Flince's house later on. We had a very mini-dialogue session with Alan Tea. He's a very inspiring bro with a very deep passion for God, and he also shines very brightly as a Masters grad and a career portfolio ranging from Ministry of Foreign Affairs to his current job establishing his consulting company.

There's a lot of things that he shared.
1. He shared about the importance of the tertiary ministry, how these young bright students will go on to make an impact in the working world, and society at large. The harsh reality is that the brighter students are going to be the ones who impact society much more, and in a way, that's true because God gives different people different levels of talent. Catch is, He expects much more of those He has given more than of those He has given less.

2. Connecting with other people who aren't Christians - we aren't called to shy away from them. They have values too, just like us, just that their values may be different from ours. But one thing for sure - we all share common "existential struggles" e.g. BGR, hope for a good job, food, games, etc... there are universal things that we can connect over. He shared a wonderful example about his own friend, even though he may not share the same Christian values as him - his friend recently wrote a very very long card of deep thanks and appreciation to him for their friendship - even though this guy is super-busy as a high-flyer!

3. Maintaining friendships after we move apart e.g. going to different ministries:
Fact is, "out of sight, out of mind" rings very true. There are friendships that feels like they haven't changed a single bit, even after many years apart, yet others that have grown cold after just a few months apart.

A possible reason is because some are the "high-maintenance" type of people who need you to spend regular time often with them to keep the friendship gg, and there are the "low-maintenance" type, who you don't need to meet up with often.

(Hee, I know one of my dear friends, SS, is definitely the "low-maintenance" type... he said to me a few days ago that it's been a long time since we last met up... so I asked him when he wants to meet up? He replied, "In June." 6 months later... haha... but I really enjoy and treasure his friendship. :))

Hmm... think I'm probably the high-maintenance type I think. Kin Wee commented that I keep on saying "It's been AGES since I last saw you..." when it was actually just two weeks ago. :P yah... I'm really not quite sure... because I'm also quite comfortable with meeting up friends once in a blue moon. Maybe it's a combination of my melancholic (likes being alone) and phlegmatic (likes being with people) self that makes me like that.

But anyway, Alan shared that one thing for sure - whether you're the high or low-maintenance type, it's essential to invest time and effort into maintaining your friendships. Ideally, the relationship is a "co-shared" one in which both parties take the time and effort to keep in touch with one another. But hee, in reality, I've got to play my own part too.

Felt very touched by his sharing, really felt that it reflects very similar to my own personal experiences.

So that sharing made me pause to thank God for my HYP friends - think the one year doing our Honours proj together really bonded us together, especially when we were complaining at times about our supervisor... :P nothing like a common "enemy" to unite us together... haha...

And I also recall with sadness a very dear brother of mine whom we really enjoyed the time together. But partly due to his increasing roles and responsibilities in ministry, and my own laziness and preoccupation with my own stuff, I failed to keep in touch, and I think eventually we've drifted apart. We keep in occasional contact from time to time, but yeah, the friendship feels quite surface now.

But I think got to thank God for this very dear friendship all the same. I was very blessed by him, and I also had the chance to bless him too before. As a poet once wrote, "Tis' better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all." Think it's very true...

4. Then Ellson asked Alan, what makes Alan the person that he is now, living a life that inspires others greatly?

What Alan shared really struck me very much. He shared that he feels very humbled that people will look up to him, because he knows that he has a lot of shortcomings (and shared an example with us). But yes, there's one thing he does that helps him, and other people, become all they can be: "Courage to be used by God despite their shortcomings." He said that he regularly reflects on his shortcomings, his sins, because this helps him remember the grace of God on his life, what he was like before he came to know God. So that he will not become proud.

Alan also shared that it's very important to read constantly, even if you can't finish the books... in fact he said, "People who don't read will not go far." Maybe in yesteryear's societies when people can't read, that'll be false... but now, yes, it's very true.

So we don't just read Christian books only, or just novels... we need to read non-Christian non-fiction books too! We can learn a lot by reading these books... and he mentioned that all this reading helps to train your mind to think well, even those academic "junk" with strange ideas that you read in school... you learn to critique and so on. As you read more and more, your mind "chunks" the information acquired until with sufficient knowledge, it eventually reaches a "tipping point" at which you will be able to think and analyse very well.

Finally, he added, continue to do whatever you're passionate at. Whether it's computer games or sports or reading, etc., as long as you don't become addicted to it, JUST DO IT! :) Because God gave you that passion as part of His purpose for you, so just enjoy it!

*******
Ha... after all that sharing, it was a very good time of fellowship with the brothers who stayed over at Flince's house. Really so happy, the memories, and the game of Bluff and Happy Family, haha, and the supper at 230 am and tons and tons of army stories... wow... and the singing... we were singing "Mighty to Save" at the top of our voices at 5 am!!! and the overnite talking... we talked all the way from about 5.45 am all the way to 9.30 am. Guanrui, Flince, Bowen, Swee Leong, Zhenzhong and I stayed up... Jan walked back home after the supper.

Hmm... also want to thank God for Guanrui. Had a really wonderful time of sharing and chatting under the moonlit sky at the doorsteps... very blessed by this very dear bro, really enjoy talking with him lots! V encouraged by how he has experienced God and abt the time he was at the previous farewell chalet for the uni graduates as a year-"0" pre-ORD...

Yup yup...