Today was Missions service. :D V. exciting haha. =) Tentmaking. Ah... I've been praying and hoping from time to time that my company'll send me to Botswana to work. :D Haha. And you know what? My project manager is slated to go there to train the staff there for a few months. So been asking my PM to train me in the same field of specialization as him, and indicating my interest a bit here, a bit there, to go Botswana. I don't know what'll happen out of this, but do my part and God will take care of the rest. :)

And! I gatecrashed Peter's birthday celebration by his caregroup. :) It was a simple but good time of affirmation. And listening to the rest of Peter's CG share, I have a better idea now of the great and challenging things that he's been facing here and there. :) The more pairs of eyes to see, the more perspectives there can be.

But yeah, I told Peter that when (even though I wish it was if) the time comes for me to change shepherds... I'll be very sad, even though it'll be a time of new growth... I'll still be very sad all the same. (There's a time to be sad, you know, and I think that would be a good time to be sad.)

Thank God so much for Peter and his grace and love as a shepherd. We've had our share of conflicts, but again then, one of the most beautiful things about Peter is his deep loyalty, faithfulness and commitment to his friendships. He'll sit down to talk directly, express his frustration sometimes (in a gentle way)... he'll do whatever is essential to resolve the conflict in a good way, even though he doesn't like it very much. That, I think, is a great sign of sure maturity and wisdom. :)

And I'm so touched by a prayer request that he made last time during this year's church camp, when I asked him what I can pray for him. "Pray for me that I can be a stronger and better friend to you." Whoa. =)

Lots of other things, but I'm so proud of my shepherd. Not to forget how he helps to cheer me up when I'm very mel at times. :P

Went with Edmund to Novena Square. There's this art-and-craft shop that sells a panoply of stamps. Very nice designs. I bought some card stock and brush-tip pens. Beautiful colours!

Bought Adobe CS3 Production Premium Studio yesterday. Got it as an investment for ministry use. And praise God! I was going to buy the more limited Premiere Elements ($225), but turns out I was allowed to buy the software at the educational version price!

Really very thankful, because the price difference between the non-commercial version and the commercial one is more than $3K. I wonder if it's a blessing from God for having given what was to me a rather painful offering to the missions fund a couple of weeks ago. But I remembered that God has blessed me so much with a good job and a good amount of money... surely I can part with that little amount to bless the missions team? Haha. So decided to give cheerfully, 'cos the Bible says God loves a cheerful giver!

And yeah! God is faithful to His promises indeed. "Give, and it will be given back to you..." I have personally found that the more I give towards extending God's kingdom, the more resources I somehow receive back in return - be it time or money or other resources... which makes it possible for me to give even more to God. It's crazy, but it's such a joy to be able to give more and more... it's a miracle I tell you... sorta like the poor widow's jars of little oil and flour that somehow never managed to run out.

In The Hiding Place, a biography of Corrie ten Boom, and how God used her and her sister Betsie, in the Ravensbruck death camp:

Corrie was given a Bible, a sweater, and a bottle of liquid vitamins by their sister Nollie the last time they saw her before deportation. The Bible was never taken away. It was as though the guards did not see it. Corrie doled out the vitamins, a drop at the time, to her sister.

As more women became ill from malnutrition, hard labor, and depravation, Corrie reluctantly began giving them drops of the vitamins from the small bottle. And just like in the Book of Kings where, after the widow of Zarephath gave Elijah the last of her food, her jar of meal stayed full and her cruse of oil never failed, the vitamins lasted and lasted, far beyond what that little bottle could hold.

Wow. It's a giving competition between God and me, and the joy of it all is that I am discovering for myself that I can never ever outgive God! For God is the most generous Being in the whole universe! :)

"There is no pit so deep that He is not deeper still." :')