The Blue Rose

On Saturday during revival meeting, during the worship, Holy Spirit showed me a picture of a blue rose. I almost discarded the vision cos i figured out that blue roses dun exist... until of course i was reminded of it again yesterday while i was on my com and i received a prompting to actually check out what it meant... so i went to answers.com...

according to wikipedia, "Blue roses traditionally signify mystery or attaining the impossible. They are believed to be able to grant the owner youth or grant wishes."

and then God began to unpack a lesson for me regarding the blue rose... a blue rose is actually a white rose but so soaked and thoroughly permeated by the blue dye... and weeks back, God's been showing me a white rose... and a white rose speaks of purity and virtue... and it's about God's call not just for me but i believe for this generation to live a life of purity first... and when we are that white rose in God's hands, He begins to change us into the blue rose.. on their own, there is nothing in the roses that can make them blue.. it has to come from an external influence.. and it speaks of the Holy Spirit coming upon us in power to do the impossible... to take us beyond ourselves and natural limitations... beyond our failures, inadequacies, weaknesses, etc... How God transforms us and changes our lives from what we once were... and changes our makeup that we'd be living signs and wonders...

Blue represents something heavenly and divine.. and the blue roses are the white roses who come under the power, influence and overshadowing of the Holy Spirit... who yield themselves to God with pure, holy lives and then the Holy Spirit comes upon them in power and revelation to bring forth something which is impossible...

Blue also represents revelation... and i remember during last Friday's Gatekeepers, i proclaimed a decree over the ministry that we will be a people of revelation! And that co-relates not just to us receiving that revelation of the Lord but being the expression of that very same revelation... us, His people, living and releasing the expression of His will and His heart on earth... we are made for signs and wonders.. that's what are lives are.. they're a sign to our generation that God is the God who makes all things possible!

So perhaps like me you had a vision of the blue rose and you thought that blue roses dun exist! And so you may have discarded it... perhaps God has shown you great things about your future but you look at all your mistakes and failings you say that it's impossible and you discard it... perhaps the Holy Spirit has sown in you a vision to see the church grow and multiply.. even by the end of the yr.. and you say that's impossible and you discard it.. perhaps God even put a desire within your heart to contend for the manifestations of signs and wonders but you say that's impossible and you discard it... just because it looks impossible doesnt mean that it's not gonna happen.. if God is behind it, He will see it to pass... and as with the message of the blue rose, He's restoring and rekindling all those visions that we've once left behind and thought impossible...

we can't be restricted any more by our old outdated paradigms and mindsets of unbelief.. God's been teaching me recently to aim for greater things... to see that nothing is impossible for Him!to ask, seek and knock until i see it happen... with our hearts we believe and with our mouths we are saved... all we need is believe in what He's gonna do and confess it out.. and by our confession, we see that things are gonna change around us...

"Your troops will be willing on your day of battle. Arrayed in holy majesty, from the womb of the dawn you will receive the dew of your youth. " Ps 110:3 NIV

"Your people shall be volunters in the day of Your power; in the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning, You have the dew of Your youth." Ps 110:3 NKJV

i already have the dew of my youth.. they're gonna be willing to move in the day of His power.. they're gonna stand fast and see the salvation of the Lord and they're gonna see the power of the Kingdom of God move in their schools, campuses, workplaces, communities, etc... they're gonna live and walk holy, free from the grip of this world... and from that place of purity, they shall be released into a place of power!

God seal this message within your hearts! :)
God bless! :D

Harvest Paradigm Part 2: The Solution

i've just watched a video on reaching the lost and weeping as i was eating my dinner, i was so undone by it.. there is something deep in my heart that the Lord is stirring and i have a few things i wanna say... so contrary to what i've promised, im not gonna talk about the new song...

I wanna just say how wicked we are!!!

tell me who's more wicked.. the poor?? or those who have bread but refuse to share it?? those who are wandering out there looking for God and looking for answers or those who have it but refuse to go and share it?? those who are bound in darkness and sin patterns or those who sit comfy warming their pews and crowding their altars, having the solution but unwilling to share it??

a few weeks back, i joked with my LG guys about bringing them all to Geylang to witness on the streets to those who are in darkness and who need it... and i was met with a very firm and horrified chorus-"noooooo!".. though i wasn't really very serious about it and i was just opening it up as a possibility, honestly before you all, my heart broke that moment... because it just shows how selfish we are... because it then raises the question.. if we dun do it, who will? if those who have the power dun exercise it, who will? and it shows a lot about the way we think and the way we see things... but can we see those people through God's eyes?

frankly to us, the power of God is just for the sake of getting our As, making us feel better when we're sick.. to provide us with money when we're out of it?? our paradigm, the way we see things is shown through our language, the way we speak... and let us examine our language, even the ones that we use in church.. am i not right in saying that the issues we talk about and pray about concern ourselves and our needs and wants and agendas instead of His agenda? yesterday, Holy Spirit was showing me that the reason why we dun see kingdom things happening in our midst is cos we dun live and preach the Kingdom... examine the way we speak.. why do we talk so much about school? career? money? these things dun even constitute a value in God's economy! and what do we pursue? the next phone model or the next ipod/itouch craze from apple?? surely something so "valuable" is worth our pursuit! need i explain the value of souls then? your soul and mine was worth the pursuit and suffering of Jesus Christ... and the rest of the world for that matter!!!

many people around the world want to do something significant with their lives.. they want the power to change the world.. most of them are not even Christians yet they carry a good degree of influence and have influenced the world through media, technology, industry, etc... and guess wad.. they dun even have the Holy Spirit! now what then about us who do have the power?? who do have the Holy Spirit?? who do have the Kingdom? We have the power to change the world but why dun we function in it??

there are terroists out there who plot to destroy governments, who cause large-scale chaos and destruction and who strategize to move into their next course of action.. yet the church who has the true power fails to dream.. fails to plot, fails to strategize with God in the prayer closet to go win more souls and to plunder hell and populate heaven! the ponderings of our heart are more consumed with self and getting added comfort than strategizing on how to win the lost! Jesus said that a good man brings out good things out of the good treasures that are stored in his heart (matt 12).. and the reason why we dun see our ministry very fruitful at the moment is cos we fail to store these good treasures in our hearts... these dreams and strategies of seeing people saved and come to know God.. they compete for space and our attention with our own selfish desires and endeavors.. and yet we claim that God's gonna multiply our ministry?! how?? a magic wand perhaps?? faith produces action... how much we believe in something is seen by how much we give ourselves into it...

why issit that we are more concerned in building the church? in building the ministry? that's the approach so far that we have toward missions and evangelism and churchianity.. programme-oriented... goal-oriented... but not soul-oriented... with all this talk about building the church, activities and programmes, no one even mentioned the needy out there.. the souls who are in darkness and bondage who need Jesus? no one called attention to them and to their plight and geniuine need for Jesus! (and here we are praying for our ipods and exams) are we then building our own kingdoms? are we then so self-absobred and self-consumed?? we have a tendency to become self-absorbed with what we're doing rather than reaching out to those who need Jesus... God said He would build His church but He commanded us to go! So who's going?! With everyone building, who's going?! What we have is far too good to keep and enjoy for ourselves! We talk more about ministry than souls... like what i said, our language reflects our paradigm... and before we talk about the work of evangelism, let's talk about the heart of evangelism... God wants us to get the order right even as He aligns us with His perspective... the reason we go, is not for the sake of doing ministry but cos people need Jesus...

And again what do they need? The dun need some guy with a singlet running past them telling them that Jesus loves them, run to Him.. as much as i love the idea (and it's so much better than doing nothing).. why dun we run to them? why dun we take Jesus to them?! they need that love communicated and demonstrated to them practically, not just through a singlet... have we peddled a practical gospel? do we pride ourselves with a cheap publicity stunt? Now that we have carried that message upon our backs, do we feel the lot better that at least we did something for God? tell that to the widow struggling to cope.. tell that to the angsty pai kiah about to kill himself if not another.. do they feel better after seeing ur singlet? (note: i have nothing against those dear brothers and sisters who do run with that singlet.. this is not a comment about them or their attitude.. i'm just using the singlet as a convenient analogy to bring a point accross...)

again... Jesus said "go"... we must bring Jesus to them, bring His healing to them, bring deliverance to them... bring salvation to them.. not just some kind religiously-neutral words and a sincere hope that they'd notice that cross that we're wearing on our necks... no... they need power to break them out of sin addiction.. they need power for physical healing... they need a purpose and hope to live for.. they need to know their destiny, what on earth they're here for.. they need to be loved, discipled, fathered and mothered... God's transforming power is available to them.. even to turn school dropouts into achievers.. and gangsters into preachers.. they may look like they have fishing lures with all those hooks and piercings attached to them yet didnt Jesus promise to make us fishers of men? sometime back, Jesus was speaking to me and He said something that is still ringing in my heart... "I've paid with My life. What price are you willing to pay?"

A few weeks back, i had a thought... God made the church, by its very nature, a potent force for the transformation of society.. not only in terms of salvation but also transformation of the economy... the removal of crime rates and vices.. even the feeding of the multitude and the eradication of poverty.. this is what we call "healing the land"... we cant leave it to the NGOs.. they dun have power and the resources of heaven like we do.. so why issit that we are so impotent?? do we give the devil and the world reason to mock us?? are the great cloud of witnesses who have gone before us cheering us on or are they slapping their foreheads? those who gave their lives and blood for the cause of the kingdom.. are they gonna see a generation unwilling to part with just a bit of time or endure just a bit of dicomfort talking to their friends?? NO WAY MAN!!! this generation is marked by the Lord for signs and wonders.. we are the people who are willing in the day of His power! and we have to live by that word spoken over us...

for some it's merely about numbers.. to grow the church (and yes if the church is gonna grow, we dun need extra people warming our pews for that matter)... why? so that we'll be famous? more people, more fun rite? but that's too small, if not altogether wrong! God wants something far bigger on our agenda, the transformation of society and the changing of culture... so that the Lamb of God may receive back souls, the full reward for the price He paid! it's more than just revival folks! And as the church, we need that goal to be on our agenda and our vision too. Its time we stop seeing other churches as competitors for membership but partners in creating a dynamic kingdom culture as we change society together.

there's just so many things in my heart that i cant express.. that's why you see that my points are all over the place and sort of incoherent.. but aside from learing the points, i want you guys to catch my heart and that's why im writing this... perhaps this may all be very high-sounding and i know that personally i've also yet to live through what im preaching.. but we gotta start somewhere right?? the vision and desire needs to be birthed in our hearts first... perhaps some may say that im beeing too extreme or radical in being brutally honest about what im writing... but let's look at it this way... all these years, conventional solutions have not been working.. maybe it is time to get extreme and radical... (and even if u see this as extreme, it's supposed to be normal Christian living!) some may give an excuse saying we're not ready.. my question is if not now then when? we're in the season of harvest and the harvest is ready even if we're not... and every farmer knows that if they dun reap the harvest at the right time, they expire...

on a slightly separate note i also wanna make an announcement regarding revival... as we know, revival is not for ourselves to keep or enjoy... its so that souls may come into the kingdom... well yesterday during Prayer Meeting, i felt led by the Spirit to decree that revival has come.. yes of course i doubted it... but the thing about this is that it has already been decided and we need to proclaim it and forth-tell it before we even see it in the natural.. it's kinda like declaring your healing before we actualy see it happening... and i do see little signs of it happening here and there already too.. :) so let's operate in the spirit of faith and echo it out until we see it fully manifested in our midst...

Revival has come!!!

God bless! :) Btw, i most gladly welcome replies to what im writing.. maybe even turn it into a discussion...

Oh and i'd like you to listen to this song... Solution by Hillsongs United
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKSIG-ol3Z0

It is not a human right
To stare not fight
While broken nations dream
Open up our eyes, so blind
That we might find
The Mercy for the need

Singing, Hey now
Fill our hearts with your compassion
Hey now
As we hold to our confession
Yeah

It is not too far a cry
To much to try
To help the least of these
Politics will not decide
If we should rise
And be your hands and feet

Singing, Hey now
Fill our hearts with your compassion
Hey Now
As we hold to our confession

Woah-oh-oh,
God be the solution
Woah-oh-oh
We will be Your hands and be Your feet.
Yeah, yeah

Higher than a circumstance
Your promise stands
Your love for all to see
Higher than protest line and dollar signs
Your love is all we need

Only You can mend the broken heart
And cause the blind to seeE
rase complete the sinners past
And set the captives free
Only You can take the widows cry
And cause her heart to sing
Be a Father to the fatherless
Our Savior and our King
We will be Your hands, we will be Your feet
We will run this race for the least of these
On the darkest place, we will be Your light
We will be Your light

We will be Your hands , we will be Your feet
We will run this race for the least of these
In the darkest place, we will be your light
We will be your light

We'll sing
Woah-oh-oh,
God be the solution
Woah-oh-ohWe will be Your hands and be Your feet.
Woah-oh-oh,
God be the solution
Woah-oh-oh
We will be Your hands and be Your feet.

Yeah, yeah
We will run we will run
We will run with the solution [2x]
We will be Your hands we will be Your feet
We will run this race for the least of these
In the darkest place we will be Your light
We will be Your light
We sing

Deep Calls to Deep

Deep calls to deep
Deep answers deep
Deep reaches out to deep
Deep touches deep

Love calls to love
Love answers love
Love reaches out to love
Love touches love...

Amazed

Dear Jesus,

Im so amazed at the work that You are doing in the midst of our ministry. Im so amazed at the love and vision that You've placed in our hearts and i stand humbled at the faith and giftings that You've placed in us. Right now i feel like Solomon... at the threshold of his career, he asked for a listening heart for who could govern Israel, that great people of Yours... and in my heart i stand humbled for who am i to be able to speak into people's lives? Who am i to have influence over people... who am i that i stand to play a part in raising up their dreams and destinies?? That i should serve to sharpen them in their giftings and in their character?... i'm nowhere near the mark yet still you chose me and im standing here with them at this threshold of something great You wanna do... who are we that we should be part of it?

Lord forgive us for those of us who do not yet perceive it... or for those of us who do but do not really give You and Your agenda much importance and place in our schedules. Lord change our mindsets and perspectives. Give us one mind, Your mind. Give us Your heart that we may be one... that we may move as one and that we may prepare for what You're already doing among us... You're the one who's going to make us ready... so i trust in You! :)

Thank You Lord for Raj and Jeremy who showed willingness to bring their friends on saturdays... Thank You that Raj is on fire for You and i can see the sparks of revival in his life. I was amazed at his simple yet enthusiastic and heartfelt response to evengelise to his friends and his willingness to bring them to church. I was also touched and encouraged by his bold and prophetic prayers just now before LG. I was deeply touched and humbled that you're using them... Thank You for answering my prayers that Your people will be willing in the day of Your power. And i believe that we're not even beginning to touch, let alone grasp the full extent of the great thing You're bringing about...

Thank You, Lord that Gideon brought his two friends today. I pray that may You take the Word that was sown into their lives and make it fruitful. Thank You, Lord for Gid's willingness and excitement. He's truly and encouragement to me. Thank You also that Jeremy's 4 frens almost came.. though they didn't come in the end, thank You for using Jeremy and Him being willing to even make the effort to ask them to come. His willingness also brings joy to my heart...

Thank You, God for Shaun and how hungry and teachable he is.. thank You for bringing him alongside me to intercede for the youth of this nation. Thank You for how You've been building him up and how You've encouraged me as i see the holy spark You've placed into his life develop into a flame. I know You're up to something...

Thank You for all the breakthroughs i've been seeing and promises You've given here and there, perhaps too many to write here.. but i know You're real cos all the things that have been happening can only come from You and i stand humbled even by the fact that there's nothing in me that could've spurned it about...

Thank You for my lifegroup and all else in soj with whom You've given me some degree of influence. Thank You for the giftings You've placed in them. Thank You that a good number of them carry the gift of faith. And i know that you're gonna use that very same faith as a building block for the ministry, the spiritual house that You are building! I thank You that it's the very same faith that enables us to move as forerunners in our church and generation... moving in the purposes of God, moving in obedience to accomplish what You've called us to... and by this very same faith we know You have something big in store for us... so let us be good stewards of the faith You've given us that we may put it into action.. that we may see Your Name glorified!

blesses and kisses,
chris:)

Harvest Paradigm Part 1: Great and Precious Promises

I just wanna articulate several thoughts that have been present in my mind ever since the Combined Youth Rally that we had not too long ago... that evening when i came back, there was one small part of me that could have gone "hey God... how come not many ppl came?" or perhaps "hey God... how come not so many ppl received Christ tonight" but the thing is that my spirit was alive and it was rising up and deep inside of me, it overruled such thoughts and such responses and the first thing i did when i got home that night was to thank God for what He did.. it was not just an afterthought that came or a biproduct of me trying to force myself to praise God anyway.. but it was deliberate.. it was from the spirit.. it was rooted in a confident expectation of something which He started and opened up in our midst.. and eager expectation of something stirring, something brewing in the atmosphere, of something great which is to come...

Glad that i was that Minh received Christ and the fact that he joined us for the subsequent youth service, i know that there is something more that God wants to do... and it's something that i've resolved to prepare my LG for... during the rally, i saw a lot of things... i saw Dee rise up in faith and boldness.. i saw Sam's readiness to share with Evan's friends who subsequently rededicated their lives to Jesus.. i saw the synergy, the corporate anointing released when Sojourners and Club Moriah worked together... i saw the earnestness in prayer and calling forth the harvest in us during the time of intercession.. and even much of what Pastor James shared on that day is prophetic for our generation.. for this season.. for our fellowship...

of all that i've seen, perhaps what touched my heart the most was when my LG members went up to dedicate themselves for service to God... i saw my three "sons" Nigel, Jon and Abel at the altar.. i saw Gideon and Naveen go up... i even saw Shaun go up to intercede for those who were at the altar... perhaps i've missed some others but the reason why i'm so glad is because i'm seeing God answering the prayers that i've been praying over my LG and even over the ministry.. i've been claiming Psalm 110:3 especially.. that His people will be willing in the day of His power.. on that day, i beheld that eternal spark, that willingness.. the same spark that, if nurtured, could catalyse a movement...

The sunday prior to the rally, i was watching the musicians involved in the worship team over at the new place rehearsing and preparing for the session... as i was doing so, the Holy Spirit said "You are looking at the birthplace of a movement"... i was mildly stunned for a while as the implications of it began to dawn on me... i questioned to see if that thought was really from Him or perhaps a bi-product of my imagination... until i realised that i wouldn't have arrived on it on my own.. because so far, all my prayers and my thinking over the church and over the ministry have always been about revival... a revival that is confined to church and ministry level, and at most perhaps to the youth of the nation... but a movement is even beyond revival scale.. it even goes into other nations... a revival may come and go but a movement continues as long as it continues moving.. and so the Lord was challenging my boundaries and my mindsets and perspectives... He was challenging me and how much i dared to believe Him for...

Can we stop for a while and imagine.. let's say maybe 10 years from now, people flocking to Thomson Hill Drive, congregating at the new place as part of an organised tour group... and they'd be there saying "this is where it all began"... and they'd stand in awe of God and His hand upon the humble no.11-sized beginnings of the same movement... very much like how tourists and neo-pilgrims alike visit Azusa Street today in wonder of what God has done... perhaps even imagining this may blow our minds away but now that we have, can we believe that God shall do increasingly and abundantly beyond all that we can ask or imagine?

After i shared this with the team that sunday afternoon, we prayed... and there i wept, prostrated before the Lord and totally undone and humbled by even the thought that He would use us in such a manner.. that He would even use us to birth something to that degree... the Bible says not to despise the day of small beginnings...

We are at the threshold of something that God wants to do.. at that very same practice session, i saw rain coming down... also, during Gatekeepers the evening before the Rally, i saw that the clouds were darkened and that a storm is coming, after which JK led us in singing "Rain Down"... and we know that rain is coming.. and the purpose of the latter rain is to bring the grain to full maturity for the harvest...

And so what do we have to do? We have to prepare for what God is gonna do... we have to pray.. to consecrate ourselves.. we have to shed aside the old ways of thinking and align ourselves with His thoughts.. shed aside old paradigms and mindsets and learn how to see things from God's perspective... the way we've thought is too small... God wants to do something understatedly BIG so let's start thinking in kingdom terms... And let's set our expectations high and let's start expecting Him for BIG things!

back to the Rally, from the altar scene, i know that my people have the heart... so now what's missing in the equation? now that it has been established that they are willing to serve the Lord, all we need is the expression... the outward working and release of the latent desires the God has already put within us...During gatekeepers the night before, we were prophesying the release of new songs into the ministry... something which Pastor James himself confirmed during the ministry time... He pointed to a direction of the room where Nigel and Abel were sitting and said something about people who were sitting over that side that God is going to use to to write songs and poems and that God wanted to anoint them... i knew that it was something in the heart of the both of them.. and that was why i expected them to go up and offer themselves at the altar (which they subsequently did)... and while there i was just amazed and thankful at what God was about to do as i eavesdropped on the words that were released into their lives...

The importance of the release of the new song is more important than what we might think. We're gonna look at that in our next piece...

Can you hear the sound of the abundance of rain?;)

anotherfunnybirthday-relatedincident

this one happened on sunday... i was supposed to be on duty as keyboardist for children's church so i went upstairs... just as auntie ivy and i were getting ready for worship, my phone started ringing and it was auntie lee noi! cant really remember the exact words but i think it went something like this...

LN: chris, are you going up for children's church today?
Me: haha... im already upstairs... im on duty today on the keyboard
LN: will you be staying upstairs afterwards?
Me: ya...
LN: amanda is not coming up today... i think jeremiah needs some help with games...
Me: oh ok... dun worry... i'll be here...

at this point i wasn't really suspecting anything though on hindsight i did notice that there was that little awkward twinkle in her voice... den after worship, i went inside auntie ivy's room and jeremiah was there...

Me: so have you thought of any games yet?
J: there won't be any games today...
Me: huh? why? i thought auntie lee noi just asked me to help you out...
J: no lah... ummm... cos service today is very short...

by this time i really became suspicious... so i decided to "test" Jeremiah...

Me: (looking at him straight in the eye and with a little glint in mine) since you don't need my help anymore, i think i'll just go home lah...

i proceeded outside of the office and parked myself behind the wall to give Jeremiah the illusion that i had indeed "disappeared"... but then, a while later, auntie ivy came out of her office and told me to go back in cos she wanted to talk to me...

so i went back inside...

Me: auntie ivy asked me to come back in... she said she wanted to talk to me...
J: (long pause)... so you're not going home right?

so i gave him a laugh and gave him that look which conveyed "i know what you're up to..." den he reciprocated with a "busted" grin and proceeded to type the following words on autie ivy's com:

how did you know...

and so the bulk of it over, i stayed in the room, auntie ivy came back and told me about some plans for christmas, watched some online vids, den the cc lesson ended... and so i went out and pretended to ignore a very busy-looking auntie ee moi who was rummaging through something in the kitchen... and i decided to play with jeremiah one more time...

Me: i'm going downstairs to see if service is over ah...

i proceeded to "go down" but i was actually just hiding behind the door... very soon, i awakened to the futility of my own enterprise and decided to return upstairs... again, pretending to ignore a very busy-looking auntie ee moi at the kitchen, i went straight into the office, plunked myself upon one of the rolling chairs and waited for the kids to "surprise" me...

jeremiah commissioned some of them to get me out of the office... i obliged provided that they'd answer my riddle.. the classic "how many animals did moses put inside the ark?" on seeing that the kids were unable to provide a felicitous response, jeremiah proceeded to answer the question himself earnestly urging me to go out... when i finally did, the kids and teachers greeted me with that timeless tune... i did appreciate it.. though i couldn't say that i didn't expect it...

ooh... but the cake was wonderful... i'd love to know where auntie lee noi had gotten it from! :9

Today

today i woke up kinda late... didn't have to go to school until 2... the presence of God was there... finished reading a book, got up, left my phone in super silent mode in my bedroom and den started to write an email.. i had intended to leave for school at ard 12 but i wasn't finished yet so i continued typing until the silence of the house was disturbed by a most pronounced series of knocks on the door... i wondered which civil-service uncle could it have been who would call on me like that.. probably related to the renovation that was going on at my block i thought...

den i heard a voice behind the door saying "i hope we got the right house"...

so i proceeded to open the door and behold, i saw two kids in white and my immediate thoughts were "what are these students doing here? are they collecting a survey.." and then.. wait a minute.. i recognised those two kids and in my totally-amused-and-semi-confounded state, i slammed the door right in their faces...

not knowing what to do and totally shocked, i opened the door again looked at them... and then i shut the door again, neither aware of what i was doing not what i should be doing.. it was the first time it happened... after a few seconds, my senses were more settled and again i opened the door and beheld Abel and Jon past the door grill... i gave them that absolutely overwhelmed smile and trying to recover from the shock, i questioned them on what they were doing... lol... they handed me a bag containing a present and gave their wishes... all the while with me still trying to recuperate... to add to it all, i have not yet showered and changed so i looked like i was in a considerable mess, no different from what my house looks like once inside...

Abel helped me out by suggesting that i let them in... lol... so i let them into my house (which looks somewhat like a bomb shelter) and den, not knowing what to say, we talked about the most logical thing that we should... the purpose of their visit... so quickly, me still feeling rather dazed, the conversation shifted to us having lunch together.. and i quickly showered and changed...

so we went out and had pepper lunch together before i went for my lecture... would have been late if not for the fact that i cabbed down with jon... lol... shocked as i was, i really appreciated their kind gesture... and in retrospect, i realised that the best gift that they gave me wasn't the present but time... I personally think that time is the best present a Singaporean could ever give me cos that's what seems so valuable to them.. and these two angels disrupted their mugging schedule just to pay me a surprise visit, all the while even uncertain if i was at home (they tried calling me 10 times in total...) but willing to go so far so as to take the risk anyhow... needless to say, i was deeply touched by the surprise gesture.. especially since it was a first time someone from soj (ie. not a server or mentor) had done such a thing.... thanks Abel! thanks Jon!

i also know that God's laws of sowing and reaping are real... last thursday, Jeremiah and i paid auntie ivy a surprise visit claiming it an excuse that she also did it to other people wad... little did i know that what i have sown, i would reap in such a short time... hmmm... maybe it's prophetic.. ;) (we are, after all, in a season of harvest)...

den in the evening, had dinner at fish and co with rena, ps ben, val, sam, serene, jk, martin, shaun and arun... they ordered the seafood platter for me and i gratefully finished it... after the meal, the staff brought out the cake and i told them that i'd stand on the chair if they were able to say my full name... and (un)fortunately enough, there was a Filipino lady among them and she did so very easily... so i had to stand on the chair while they cheered and sang in front of the dining crowd (as well as whoever happened to pass by)... (probably wun be showing my face again at amk hub anytime soon... :P )

but anyway, im really really grateful for all the time spent with you guys... i really appreciate it!

and also thanks to the many many ppl who sent me an sms or wrote on my wall in facebook... i'm really satisfied :)

btw... a funny thing happened after dinner...

<someone taps me on the shoulder from behind>
Me: (turning to serene) it's definitely you cos you have your mouth open...
Serene: what does mouth open got to do with tap
Me: i didn't say anything about tapping wad... (how did u know i meant that someone tapped me...) lol...
busted!

God bless! :D