Birthday Blessings

Just really want to thank God for my dear CG, who helped to prepare a really sweet dinner for me... and especially for Peter who went all the way down to be with me. Feel very touched...

Just some thanksgiving that I really want to give... Sharon was the first one to call me and wish me happy birthday. It's so amazing how God has blessed our friendship, as HQ commented, within the space of 4 months... previously we had been at loggerheads, but the defining moment came about when we sat down at Le Meridien to talk things over and resolve some differences...

Seriously, it has truly been a great joy getting to know this dear friend and sister, as a fellow companion, a loyal yokefellow, together in serving Christ and the CG. :D

And I was so happy to see Tai Heng there too. Though I knew in my heart that HQ and Sharon would ask him to come by, I was still very heartened all the same when he came by. Personally, I treasure this dear friend, 'cos though he's very smart and has a lot of knowledge, he's very humble in wanting to learn more things, and knowing that he doesn't know everything. :D This is something that I really have a lot to learn from him, honestly.

Oh yes! I was especially touched by Kin Wee's SMS... especially since it came right after I was reading Proverbs where it says that a man of lowly spirit gains honor. Kin Wee's SMS:
"Yo bro, happy birthday! may many more years greet you with honor, peace and joy, courtesy of the Lord. be a blessed soul so you can bless others, which you do :)"

So surprising, 'cos the word "honor"'s not usually something that you get in a birthday SMS unless it's in the context of honoring God... I think that was the birthday verse God had for me this year - which is especially touching, 'cos a few mins before that, I had prayed, asking God for a special Bible verse for my birthday this year. :D And He showed me this:

Proverbs 29:23
A man's pride brings him low, but a man of lowly spirit gains honor.

And the touching thing was that He impressed on me the 2nd part of the verse, to encourage me to keep desiring and having a lowly spirit... and He promised me that He will honor me as I continue to humble myself before Him.

Hee. I think to be honest, it's incredibly hard to be humble, for the moment you think you're humble, tada! You're proud of your being 'humble'... so I think the only way one can really start growing in humility is to first acknowledge the fact that you are PROUD! For we are all pride-oholics... there's no such thing as a recovered alcoholic... there's only recovering alcholic. Same for cancer patients... you're never really cured of cancer... you're only in remission. So in the same way, we need to everyday check our hearts, with the Holy Spirit's powerful help, for the daily cancer to our soul.

I'm especially touched by the fact that Kin Wee SMSed me this year, because I think God has helped our friendship grow especially in the past few months... I remember how we had a "cold war" when we first got to know each other... which was my fault actually, 'cos I was very judgemental and critical of him at that time. But from his life, over the years, I realised (and HH pointed out to me) that he has an incredible gift of empathy - he's a walking radar dish I tell you - and his realness and depth of thought. He has a heart that loves God very much... and actually, when I talk with him, I am strangely ministered to. I learnt a lot from him in being real about my brokenness. He has been my greatest role model for me in learning to be sensitive to other people. Thank God for you so much Kin Wee. :D

During the sharing, as the brothers and sisters shared, they shared that he feels very "watched out for" by me... that I would notice whenever he's tired and/or down and ask him how he is. And someone else said that I'm very supportive, not only to the bros and sisters in the CG, but also those outside the CG.

I'm especially encouraged by these two particular sharings, because they are totally what Christ has done in me - through the Church especially... Because I know that I am not naturally a supportive person, nor am I an observant person. In fact, Hanhui last time had to scold and correct me so many times to be a better supporter, and to be more observant of other people's feelings and expressions...

And HQ shared that for this supportive spirit, God will reward me, either with earthly rewards or heavenly (or even both)... And actually, when he shared that, it suddenly struck me that He already has! 'Cos two of my dearest friends (Weizhu's one of them) have been a very great and precious support to me emotionally... and Sharon in particular has been a fellow soldier and companion in ministry... I cannot stop thanking God for her! :D And God has blessed me with a wonderful team in the ministry that He's called me to - they are faithful, loyal, skillful and cheerful supporters, and I know that when the crunch comes, I can count on them to hold the line! In particular I just want to truly thank God for Shunrong - he really deserves a medal of honour for all his faithfulness, availability, sweet spirit and teachability. I am deeply indebted to this brother for his heart in ministry. God knows I have not taken care of his needs, and yet... he still gives cheerfully to the Lord whatever he does. Shunrong, I really owe you big time. Your labour in the Lord will not be in vain.

So this is totally the work of God, and not I... God is so good indeed!

Ah! This is only the start... like what I had shared with them... God put me in this CG - this is the land that He has put me in, the Promised Land, with all its giants and challenges... this is just the first year, and I have only just begun crossing the River Jordan.

It has been a new phase of life, and in a way I felt like I've started an entirely new campaign in a game of Warcraft... After 4.5 years in the land of NUS (which feels a lot like Azeroth I think haha), and going through times of rejection, difficulties, loneliness... I look back now and realise how essential that time in NUS was - it was God's moulding me in every aspect of my life - especially socially and relationally. And the friendships that I've formed there... some of them are so beautiful they bring tears to my eyes even as I think about them. Of course... other memories bring tears to my eyes for the opposite reason... but what does it matter? "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

I just have this deep assurance in my heart that my work in NUS has been done, God has graciously affirmed me, and there is now a very different land to cross over into. I have crossed over from the forests into the Great Plains that stretches as far as the eyes can see. While some old friendships have faded over time, I realised that God has blessed me with newer friendships, and not just friendships - He has blessed me with COMPANIONS, fellow pilgrims, who will help me stay true to Him and His calling until that eternal morning when we enter the Celestial City, the City of the very living God.