Got an email just now!

Very impressive CV, Yeu Ann. I am wondering, would you like to do an MDA attachment with my company? Basically, it's for new media graduates who want to move into the media industry. It's for a period of one year and it's a monthly stipend of $1,000. I don't require you full-time, so do consider it.

OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. Oh my God. Praise the Lord!

I'm absolutely astounded, astonished, amazed, awed, etc. etc. Is the Lord always in the habit of doing wondrous things like this?

*ahem*

Thank You Lord... I'm so ... lost for words with all to say, Lord You take my breath away. Still my soul, my soul, cries out...

Haha... ok, let me share the background behind this fantabulous exchange. I'm so amazed, because it's really God's hand at work behind all this.

With that in mind, let me begin my tale.

NB: Feel free to skip the prologue if you want... it's background info that explains why I'm so very glad. :)

Prologue
You see, some time ago, I was seeking God for directions on what He wants me to do... and He showed me that He has called me to work with children. And so I went on to serve in children's ministry and eventually the Nurture programme.

And one vision that I had while seeking God was a picture of me sitting on a small chair telling stories to children of different skin colours. And well! one day, during the Nurture programme, I found myself doing precisely what I had seen myself doing in the vision!

And at the beginning of the year, one leader prayed prophetically for me that God would show me very clearly (among other things) the career path that He has in mind for me. The reason is not because I want a good career path, but because I wanted to do God's will in every area of my life, including my career.

So yup, God confirmed very clearly that I should quit my full-time (and good-paying) software engineering job to pursue a career in the media industry. The reason I wanted to enter the media industry was because I'm concerned about the plethora of junk media that's polluting children's hearts and minds... and well, want to produce positive, healthy and inspiring media to impact children's hearts and minds. And of course, hopefully make Christian films / write good children's books / do storytelling...

Of course, I faced the usual gauntlet of parental worries and scoldings... but thank God for my brothers and sisters who supported and encouraged me. And Peter my shepherd told me one thing that really took me by surprise: God can send me help even from non-Christians too, just like how King Cyrus helped the exiled Jews return to Jerusalem.

So one practical concern was what kind of job could I possibly get. And since I don't have any professional training in scriptwriting or film-making, how do I get a media job in the first place?

Thus, it was a step of faith. I originally had intended to take up a professional conversion course in October. But... I got the news that it was postponed to next year. Seow leow.

But God works in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform. About two weeks ago, I went for a training workshop, which some Nurture programme volunteers were invited. So I went... and I got to meet the boss of the educational consultancy that organized the training workshop. Somehow, the boss and quite a few of her team-mates liked me (haha) and when she found out that I was a software engineer before, she asked me whether I could help her look at her websites.

The Meeting That Led To The Email
Now, today, I went down to her office. We had a very good chat... and when she found out that I was making a career switch to the media industry and enjoyed working with children... whoa! she invited me to join her team as a flexi-time staff! So I sent her my CV, and the rest is in her reply to me, as seen above.

If!
If I hadn't been a software engineer, the boss might not have invited me to look at her websites. If I hadn't been volunteering in Nurture programme, I might not have met the boss in the first place. If I hadn't been at that particular service where Ps Lawrence challenged us to step out of the four walls of our church and start serving the community, I wouldn't have signed up for the Nurture programme.

If I hadn't been serving in children's ministry... If I hadn't been seeking God for His will, what He wants me to do for Him... then none of these things would have happened.

And if I hadn't taken that step of faith to quit my software engineering job in August, then I wouldn't have gone down to meet the boss and talk with her.

And so on and so forth. Ah. The Campus Crusade film ministry too. Missions-related some more. I'm feeling so excited.

God, The Grand Weaver
Whoa. I am so filled with wonder at what God can do. Even through an impefect piece of clay like me... He is the God of 2nd, 3rd, 4th... chances. We may fail, but Jesus never fails!

Psalm 139:13-16
You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.

And when I step back and look at the bigger picture of things, I see how God is weaving so many seemingly insignificant and tiny things in my life in such a way, that each little thing that I do for Him lead on to interact with yet other little things... to form a beautifully woven tapestry.

It's A Wonder-Full Life
And well, it's just so not the usual humdrum way of the "normal" route that most other people would take... you know, find career, settle down, work plenty of OT and climb up to a high position and so on. But Christ promised us a much better and more fulfilling life than that kind of hamster-wheel life! "I have come, that they may have life, and have it to the full!"

Yup! I'm not content to settle for the passive, "low-maintenance", easy-walkin' half-filled, low-carb, low-faith, pragmatic - and damned boring kind of lifestyle. I am not content to be just a "normal Christian".

Aye... I mean, Jesus really promised an abundant and exciting life. But... He never promised us a safe, trouble-free life. "In this world, you will have much trouble." But He did promise His power, and His presence with us forever more. And I think that's a way much better deal than a "safe, trouble-free and comfortable" life.

Are you feeling tired, even as a Christian, of a sian and wonder-less life? A life where the word of the Lord seems rare? Where the promised power and community of the New Testament seems literally two thousand years away?

So just really want to encourage you to seek God every moment and seek first His kingdom and His righteousness in every area, be it DMM or job or spouse or hobby or whatever else... to seek His will without any bargaining or reservations ... to humbly hurl yourself wholeheartedly into His big powerful hands! For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him! Amen!

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And oh! it's just so mind-boggling. Oh... how I wish, I wish, I wish... we would all seek earnestly to do the will of God! And not even an anthro-centric version of doing God's will - with the subtle expectation that He will bless us... but hearts totally, utterly and unreservedly abandoned unto Him!

And I think of Job's declaration of faith - I think it's the highest and most profound of them all... "Though He slays me, I will still trust in Him." Imagine. If God told me that I will die a slow, painful, lonely, shameful, disgraceful and pitiful death precisely because I want to serve Him... would I still throw myself into His hands anyway?

"Yet not my will, but Yours be done."

Ah. To be honest, I'm not sure I have the strength nor the heart nor the character nor the will to follow Him to that utmost... but God willing, one day He will strengthen me... but I really hope I don't have to face that situation... but if it is to be... then may He help me do His will, not mine. (I struggle so much, just thinking of that.)

Haha... He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose!