A Time for New Things

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:

a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

-Ecc3:1-8

Just read it from RF's blog, and I was thinking about today.

Today's a very meaningful day, because it's the first day with my new caregroup, a new ministry, and a new phase of life.

And today is also very meaningful too, because RF left for the USA today. He'll be there for a few years - he doesn't know how long it'll be - could be two years, could be seven.

But it'll be a long time all the same.

Yes, it's true we can keep in touch via Skype, and even video-conferencing, but in the end, there's really no fuller joy than to meet face to face and share life. I'm very inspired by his passion for life, for God and for whatever he does. Really pray that God will keep him safe and sound and direct all his ways over there in the USA, and help him be rooted in a strong and biblical church over there.

Hey bro, I'll miss you. You've been a very dear brother, not only to me, but also to many others.

But as this beautiful saying goes, those who love God never meet for the last time. :)

It struck me about something else that I observed at the departure hall too. All those who went to see him off were his family and friends, both from the church and outside the church.

And also something else that I observed was that not a single representative from NUS or a company was there to see him off, despite NUS awarding him an award for being an outstanding student and his being publicised in the newspapers as The Guy Who Won Eleven Patents, Etc.

Not that I'm putting NUS down, but the reality of this observation struck me - at the Great Departure Hall of Life, when it's your time to go, who will be there at your departure hall?

It won't be the Fortune 100 companies that you poured all your time, money and effort into.

It won't be the gold medals that you won in the Olympics.

It won't be the news media or the TV shows that you've made.

But it's the people whose lives you've invested in.

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."
Jim Elliot, martyred missionary