Full 18

Thank you, thank you and thankyou again for all who had wished me on my birthday this year. It was really encouraging and touching. Since young, I had been waiting to turn 18, to step into young adulthood, maybe because I have always wanted to act like an adult when I was young.

Even though no big celebratations, I can say that this year's birthday is the most special one!

First, big Thank You to my roomates and neighbour. They gave me a suprised celebration a week before my actual day (because they will be going on holidays the following week). Although there's no BIG food, BIG drinks, etc..I was very touched by the efford they put in to cook on their own. Thank you again, Friends.

Besides, I also wanna thank my parents for another simple celebration that is held for me 2 days before my actual day. This time, BIG food! Nice dinner at Kam Wu Restaurant, thanks! Not forgetting the expensive B'day cake from Secret Recipe. Thank you!

Celebrating at my nanny's house, the place where I had grown up with.

I also want to thank Him for He had created me. He had gave me life and people around who love me, Thank You God.

Ever lasting friendship.. Life long company..

Have you ever wonder..

"Let's make things easier, do it this way..."

Have you ever wonder, that in life, we tend to make things easier, rather than the way it should be.

-Let's just have the function with scores, since we can't 100% memorise the songs. *
-Let's just cancel the programme, since we are short of instructors. *
-Let's just cut short worship session, since we have such small attendance. *

*just examples

Before we make things "easier", why not we think, whether we have already put our best into it.
*Something for all Leaders to think about.*

Flash back..

I wonder why I missed those days.

“Goash!”
It was the first word that came out from my mouth when I was reading the list of the ‘Chosen One’ on the school notice board. Yes, I was chosen to attend the National Service Training Programme for the batch of January 2008.

It was not an easy journey. The long journey seems endless. After 12 hours of traveling from KL to Kelantan, I finally stepped into a place that I would call home for the next 3 months.

It took me more than 2 days to settle down and make some friends that I could talk to for the time in the training. Yes, at the same time, I started missing my family members and friends here in the town. I told myself that I was just wasting my time here and I can’t wait for the training to end and forget everything after that.

“Wao, this place is damn hulu.”
Jeremy is the first guy who had actually communicated with me on the second day. Coming along with him was Ken (I named him Ken Kor); both of them came from the Selangor state. Joining us after which was Jackson, the shortest guy among us (I called him Tai Lou, which means big brother).

Since then, the four of us became good friends. Later, after about a week’s time, Kenny joined our scoop. He was the ‘late comer’ who transferred from another dormitory. Joseph and Kan, two quiet guys also mixed with us after the Chinese group grew from its original 3.

Dorm C Chinese gang turned famous. It is because that we have the largest Chinese group among all dorms (how prejudice!). Another guy who joined us at last was Ken (again) from Dorm A. All the time in the camp, we had never separated from each other. I sincerely thank God for these people that He had brought to me. Without them, I am sure I will never have an enjoyable training time.

Besides the Chinese, I too made friends from other races, mainly the Malays. They were not as bad as I thought. They were very friendly. At times, I chatted with them over lunch, bath time, as well as pillow talk! I learned many cultural practices that I have never been exposed to. Bob, Caer, Ashriq, Razi, Acap, Eddie, Aiman, Yudi… I will never forget those names. We taught each other to write our names in Chinese and Jawi respectively. You guys had made me feel comfortable living in a multiple racial society.

3 months’ period is neither long nor short.

I will never forget the fellowship that we had in class, as well as during those rehat time. We had a surprised birthday celebration for Jeremy on his 18 years old birthday. We also held our own tea time in Dorm C in the afternoon, chatting over cream crackers with Milo. I also remembered the time when Ken Kor and I cracked our head just to write down the lyrics for the song “So Close”-Enchanted movie theme song by listening to the same headset, in which we got scolded by Tai Lou later on because we did that during midnight (how abnormal we were). We often uphold each other whenever we felt home sick as well as physically sick.

I learned about the values of friendship from these friends. Even though we have only known each other for less than 2 months, we were already able to talk heart to heart. We shared feelings at times that we were down. The spirit of togetherness brought us to high achievement in the volleyball games too!

Life is colourful. I missed you guys. All the best in life, my friends, till we meet again!

JK gang: Jackson, Jeremy, Jason, Joseph, Ken, Ken Kor, Kenny & Kan.

Friends, it is true, Milo will never taste as sweet without you guys.

A Reflect on Friends

A friend in need is a friend indeed.
This proverb became very significant to me from the very day I joined the Boys Brigade movement.

Since young, I love to make friends. A friend means very much to me personally. A friend spends his lunch time with you when you seem to be lonely after school sessions. A friend shares his excitement with you when life seems to be dry. A friend also encourages you and hold you by the arms with you face troubles that strikes abruptly. A friend is someone who will think that you were innocent, even though everyone else was talking something bad about you.

But, when we put everything together, does a friend only mean all these?

God gave me a wake up call when life seems sailing smoothly. I opened my half-closed eyes and looked at the pastor during a Praise and Worship Service, when the pastor said that the topic for that sermon was “Friend”. My concept directed me to the Jesus-is-our-Best-friend kind of message.

However, I was wrong.

The pastor began the sermon by requiring us to think of the friends we had in our life so far. Names like Sai Hong, Kar Hoe, Simon and Addison strike through my mind. These people have left important marks in my journey and eventually changed my ways of life. I drew my attention back to the pastor when he started to explain the “true kinds of friend” that we as Christians must have.

There are six in total. The first is named the sponsor. Sponsor simply refers to the person who is “in-charged” of our spiritual growth. Sponsor took the role to ensure that the new born Christians continue to grow spiritually after his or her baptism. It is ranked first because the sponsor helps us on our way whenever we fell. They will always be the one to stand beside us and say, go on with life, the Lord, our God, has great plans for you!

The second up is the affirmer. Affirmer is common in our lives. They will often agree with what we keen to do and gives us the fullest support. Even though there will always be people who do not recognize our abilities, the affirmer is there to reassure us of our strength.

The rebuker is the third type of friends that we the church people must have. These friends often points out our mistakes and gives us the encouragement to improve. We always see them as the “not-so-good-friends” due to that people dislike being demotivated. However, the rebukers are important in our lives because they are the one who knows us best. They want to bring out the best of ourselves by showing us our weaknesses for improvement.

The forth kind of friend is the intercessor. They are the ones who cared for us most. The prayed for us so that we can face our lives with God’s blessings. These friends remind us that no matter what we encounter in life, prayer is the most powerful weapon that we Christians have. Seek and you shall find, ask and it shall be given unto you! With the intercessors, we will have no more fear in life because we know that we are always supported in their prayers.

The fifth in line is the partner. Partner basically refers to our spouses. I agreed that our life partner is our best friend. They understand us better than anyone else. They know our needs in life and they will provide it to us by all means. Besides, they love us, and they love has never ask for any reward in return!

The last n the list, that surprises me, that the friend we need is the pastor. What is more important than to have a church leader to not only guide you in your Christian growth, but could also advise us when life to have too many confusions. Pastor can also comfort our tiring souls; by showing we that Christ Jesus love us. That’s nothing greater than this good news. Pastor could also be the one that we can share our secrets.

I was totally awakened after hearing the importance of having these six types of friends. Life will never complete without any type from the above mentioned. Thanks be to God that this message was delivered to the congregation. My mind set towards a friend has changed after listening to this sermon. I do hope that others could also understand what God wants to let us know about friends around us. At the mean time, I pray that I can have all the six types of friends complete in my life so that my life could be a fruitful one. I also pray that I could be one of those kinds of friends that will help others to live a better life.

The Sponsor helps us,
The Affirmer encourages us,
The Rebuker improves us,
The Intercessor prays for us,
The Partner takes care of us,
The Pastor leads us,
And God is there to save us!

Happy Mummy's Day

A mother toiled for her children..
Throwing moral coyly to the wind..

There's no measure to a mother's sacrifices for her children. Each day, mothers work their hearts out, just wanted to make sure that their loved ones are protected, safe and happy. However, how many of us actually say a little "Thank you" in return?

If you have not done so, today is a very good opportunity. Go ahead!

Let's all make everyday a Mother's day!

New face!

Just moved in, start afresh!