Thanksgiving aplenty!!

Indeed, it's been ages since I last blogged. For the longest time ever, I had problems with my PC. So until it was thoroughly overhauled, I had no functioning home PC from which I could log in to check my e-mails, blog etc. Felt rather cut off from the world and realised I had become fairly reliant on the Net.

Anyway, the first thanksgiving is with regard to a new kid I've been blessed with looking after in Sunday school. W joined the Sunday school group that I am currently teaching, and I quite liked him. He's a good kid, and I've 'staked' my claim on him as my sheep. Looked forward to seeing him and teaching him about the values and stuff in the Bible, as he is keen on it. He has been a real blessing too, in that he actively engages his unsaved cousins to attend church with him, and he will speak to his parents about God etc. Praise God!!!

On another note, I've also been extremely blessed. Just started work at my new workplace in a foreign bank yesterday. Amazed, humbled and awed at how God has moved in my career. Sometime around end March / early April 2007, I was in the regular office fellowship group meetings with my brothers and sisters. We were praying and worshipping, and I got a prompting to 'move on'. Wasn't quite sure if it was from my own desires, or from the Holy Spirit, so decided to sit tight and do nothing about it. I was praying to God, that if this is indeed from Him, He will open the way. I won't have to write in to any bank to apply etc. Previously when we had a major gathering of the various fellowship groups in the CBD, I noticed that my current workplace was not represented, and I did wonder if God is calling me to go there to connect with the believers and non-believers alike, and link them to the various office fellowship groups in the CBD.

Anyway, that same weekend, saw a job advertisement in the papers for a role that, at one glance, I knew I could perform and I had this assurance that the role was mine. But I resisted from writing in to apply, as I wanted to be fully sure that it's not from my desires. Somehow, this head hunter whom I have known since my days in Credit Suisse called me and spoke to me about the role. So my profile was presented to the hiring manager (now my new boss) and I went for the interview, sat through a few tests, and got the offer at a fairly decent wage. Everything fell into place so seamlessly that it had to be from Him. Tendered my resignation, and then I went to Hong Kong for a holiday. Previous boss had asked me to reconsider my resignation, so out of respect, I did. In Hong Kong, I received a call from a HK recruiter who wanted to place me in a similar role and in a similar capacity, except that this was for the HK office of my new bank. So this was the 'sign' I had been waiting for. Totally wanted to claim Jeremiah 29:11. Indeed, God is an amazing God.

Further to this, I had a health 'scare'. Spoke to my previous boss about it, and she mentioned that I'd do better to stay on since I was already a confirmed staff member there, and they'd no issues if I have to go for medical check-ups and appointments. Told a few people, and when I realised that this was simply a ploy by the evil one that will thwart God's glory and His plans, the health 'scare' went away immediately.

Even at my new workplace, the portfolio I have been given and tasked with is exactly the one I would have gotten if I had stayed on at my previous bank, which is a portfolio I really wanted as I am more inclined towards it. Thank God!!

Praise the Lord!!! Sing with me, How Great is our God......

Woeful loss

This morning, while I was packing my bag getting ready to go to work, I started 'rummaging' for my Bible - the oh-so-reliable and compact one that I lug around with me for easy access and reference to God's word while commuting to work. After some frantic searching, I still could not locate it. With a heavy heart, I set off for work.

The night before, I had returned home from a run and did some last-minute 'spring cleaning' of my study desk. In the midst of doing so, I junked quite a lot of mails that were piling up. I had also emptied another bag of its contents. Perhaps I had unwittingly swept up the Bible and placed it amongst the pile of rubbish that was scattered on the floor.

Work today was a torture.......all I could think of was my Bible. I had no mood to work, and was depressed and irritable. Weird as it sounds, I am rather attached to my Bibles. I have, or rather had, 3 Bibles, each of which holds a certain amount of significance. The first one was given to me by a friend when he had finished his stint in the army, which is currently in my office drawer. Another one was given to me by my cell group when I took up the walk with God. The compact one that I lost was actually bought by myself and in it, there were all the little cards and verses of encouragement, as well as assorted mementos. I can easily get another Bible, but it's the highlighted verses and bookmarks and cards that were amassed in this compact Bible that made it heart-rending. All these are items that cannot be replaced. My mom was concerned in that she thought a Bible costs a lot, but when I told her it's all these that cannot be replaced that she also understood the loss.

I totally felt lost without it - my trusty Bible. Although I don't quite know how and where I actually misplaced it, but I am pretty certain that my Bible is lost for good, and that I won't be able to recover it, and the items in it.

Revelations

This week, the Lord has been giving me quite a fair bit of revelations. On Monday, the few of us who are Christians in the department got together with my big boss (who happens to be a strong and devout Christian herself) and we shared freely. The intention was to have in place some form of office ministry. Just a few weeks back, the Lord impressed upon me during service that it's high time my other colleagues (who happen also to be my friends from the same Youth Net in my church) and I try to kickstart an office fellowship. Talked to Q and apparently he felt the same thing. Then on Friday, we visited other people during lunch - fellow Christians who are experienced in setting up office fellowship ministries, and the sharing was fruitful, and gave plenty of food for thought.

For the longest time ever, I did wonder why God placed me in banks. Back at the foreign investment bank I started my career in, I felt rather 'alone' in that I seemed to stick out like a sore thumb, since there weren't that many Christian colleagues around. I was pretty certain that God placed me in my current bank for a reason, and now these are all sinking into place.

On Thursday, while eating lunch and reading the Book of Proverbs (Proverbs 28), the intern I was supposed to mentor, K, came over and asked me about Christianity. I was totally ill-prepared for this, so decided to share with him about my walk, and how I finally came to acknowledge and accept Him. Three-quarter through my sharing, when it came to praying in tongues, I felt a tad inadequate, and wanted to call on 'reinforcements' in the form of my church mates and colleagues, Q and A. Q was not in the immediate vicinity, and A didn't respond as she was thought I had mentioned her in passing. So it was all left to me. K did remark that they were not around, and he seemed totally receptive to want to find out more.

I did the best I could, which wasn't too bad, and shared with him what 'tongues' entailed and the whole gamut of it all. Surprisingly, it wasn't as hard as I had thought it to be. When I talked to A after the whole episode, she told me she was praying for us, K and I, while I was sharing.

Now that I reflect, truly it's all by His grace that I was given a chance to share with K, and that it didn't turn out to be negative. I pretty much left it open, as in I did not want to come across as being too pushy, and scare him off by being overly enthusiastic and invite him to church immediately. All in His timing.....and even if I was not the one who finally brought K to accept Him, I am comforted in that at least I know I did play a small part, no matter how tiny that may have been.

An even bigger revelation was that I was placed here for a reason, and that until I distinctly hear Him telling me to move on, I should stick around. The pursuit of material items can cause us to be myopic and neglect the bigger purpose. I also realise that things are starting to 'click' finally, so I should focus on that, and not feed the hunger to move because I feel I can command more pay, but at the risk of longer hours etc.

2007 - New Year, New Cheer, New Victory

I'll be the first to admit, albeit sheepishly, that the new year came and went, and along with it, one of my new year resolutions. As much as I had resolved to 'curb' my temper, I had a 'spectacular' outburst in office sometime last week, all simply because I 'jumped' too fast. That over and done with, some wise person was really right, in that most of the time, it's how one reacts to a situation that determines how the said situation will turn out. I shall strive to remain controlled in all situations, so as to not 'stoke' my temper.

Among the resolutions is also one in which I want to be a better steward of His resources that He has blessed me with, and to be more grounded in my walk. Where my spiritual walk is concerned, I realised the impact yesterday during church service.....

As usual, it was a Sunday morning - the very first one for 2007. So I had moved up with my boys to the P4 Sunday school classes, which are structured along homogeneous lines, with male leaders looking after boys, and female leaders looking after girls. We were supposed to introduce ourselves to the kids, and since I was taking the whole group I had last year, I didn't specifically see a need to have to beat around the bush at introduction. So I just went in front to the stage, said my name....and went like, "Ok, all my boys....you know who you are, please stand up while I call out your names."

What really warmed the heart was the moment I said 'please stand up', the entire lot of them stood up together in unison, with these huge grins across their faces. I was counting them (had 4 new ones, one of whom I had specifically requested for) and realised I had 1 boy missing. So I was like, er where's N? And the boy jumped up for joy and ran forward. Apparently, he was concerned that he would not be in my group, and dared not come out with the others.......

Some time later, it was during Youth Service that I was praying and responding to a worship song, that I felt totally humbled by the whole experience and it really touched me. The part when they all stood up together collectively with these grins on their faces (ok cheeky or otherwise, it does not matter) was an affirmation of sorts to me - that my efforts in their lives mean something, and they know I care about each of them. The idea of them being my 'spiritual sons' had never been fully cemented until yesterday, and the responsibility to watch over the spiritual walk of 11 boys aged 10 is huge, and it's such a blessing.

The humbling process was when I realised, 1 year ago, I would never have imagined that I would find myself in such a position, that I can actually serve the boys and love them and that I have established a rapport with them. So now the onus is on me, to get my act together, and ensure my spiritual walk is steadfast, seeing as it is that it is no small honour. Totally humbled and awed by it.

Christmas...Oh Joyous Night

Prior to Christmas, I had spent a glorious week in Bali....soaking in the sun and getting all red like a lobster. The weather there was HOT!!! I was drenched in perspiration wherever I went, and felt really dehydrated despite drinking large quantities of water like a camel. The entire experience was good, though slightly marred by the fact that we were swindled twice by money changers. Like what Ben said, shame on you if you fool me once, but shame on me if you fool me twice.

However, the trip was enough to re-charge my batteries for work. I even went direct to the office from the airport. And this was to tie up work issues before the party atmosphere of Christmas descended upon us. And indeed, what a Christmas this has been.

2006 will always be remembered as the year that Christmas came early for me. I had earnestly 'appealed' to the pastors in charge of the kids ministry at my church for a boy to be placed into my group when they move up into P4 next year. My prayers were answered.......my request was granted. I was prepared that the appeal will not be successful, but lo and behold, it came to pass. I was totally delighted with the latest arrangement. I was also rather stunned when I got Christmas presents from the boys. It's heart-warming to know that my efforts with them have not been in vain, and that I have managed to 'win' them over. It's not so much the monetary value of the gift, but the thought that counts, cliched and trite as this may sound.

And the countdown to 2007 begins....12 days of Christmas?

Contiki Bali

Today's the third and second last day of my trip to Bali. This trip was good...but of course laced with the undertone of some frustration. How so? The naivete in me chose to believe in the honesty of people here. Frankly, with their ready smiles and seeming friendliness, it seemed to bode well for a vacation.

Well, the truth is, we got conned by the 'sleazy' money changers here. Although we had watched them like hawks while they were changing our cash, when we recount the money back in the room, we always end up short. Some expert sleight of hand they must have practiced. This really marred the enjoyment of the trip here. Had I known earlier that all items here can be paid in the domestic currency of rupiah, I would have brought all in rupiah, rather than the greenbeck.

Heading back home tomorrow. Oh well.

Thanksgiving

I know, the title of this entry sounds way too late, as in the American tradition of Thanksgiving took place a few weeks ago. Here in the li'l red dot of an island I call home, Thanksgiving is not a holiday that is celebrated.

Anyway, this entry had more to do with giving thanks to God. 2 - 3 weeks ago, I was prompted to undertake a fast, as I hungered for a spiritual breakthrough among the boys I was teaching in Sunday school. One of them, J, is no longer 'averse' about going for Encounter - a church camp conducted over the course of the weekend for believers to be ingrained with the word of God and to experience Him. Meanwhile, I had also prayed while fasting that L will get into Anglo-Chinese School (ACS) for the Gifted Education Programme (GEP). Previously I had prayed that he'd be able to get into the GEP. This time around, it was to pray he'd land a place in ACS. I was convicted that God would answer my prayers. But when I heard L got posted to another school with the GEP programme instead, I was disappointed but thought perhaps He has better plans.

Then last week, L's mom rang me in the middle of the day while I was in the office. L told me himself that he had managed to succeed in his appeal to ACS. Praise God!!! I was ecstatic and totally elated for him.

On another note, this week had been a struggle......work wise. Struggling to submit to a manager whom I was reporting to. Why? She had seemed supportive of my request to switch portfolio at work, but yet she is not releasing me to the new portfolio. Her reason? My replacement has yet to report for work. I was disappointed with her, and things got to a head when she swept into the office on Thursday and called for a team meeting (with my ex-team) and told us off. I felt the things she said were uncalled for, and really felt so pissed off with her that I made it clear and obvious to her. Somehow I realise I have lost all respect for her. In my fury, I even wanted to go talk to HR about it. But I resisted, and decided that I can choose to be professional about it although I have lost all respect for her. God placed people above us for a reason, and I know there is a lesson to be learnt in this trial.

Hanging in there, and trying to be edifying in my actions and thoughts...