It's been a good few days last week! As I open up further, I'm starting to enjoy and appreciate the community of MinOps more and more. I don't know how much time I have left here (somehow, I typically leave the best bit of a season in a ministry near the very end =/), but I intend to try and make the best of it!
A few things happened during my birthday week! First of all was a smashing time at the Esplanade! Kai, Lee, Shan, Esther and I went there to witness the glorious talent of a blind man with pointed fingernails on his right hand - Raul Midon. He was simply amazing and he gave us such an incredible live performance. He strummed, plucked, pounded on his guitar, sang, played a few percussions, soloed with his pseudo-trumpet (making trumpet sounds with his lips), and gave us great insights into his songs. When a blind man uses the word "see", you know it's something special. And somehow or other, he's just really talented as a songwriter - a lot of his melodies simply go so well with his lyrics, it's breathtaking!
We went home after that. But I knew there was something fishy going on, so I didn't bother changing out of my clothes. "I have work to do..." someone said, or something along those lines anyway (Kai, do you feel a sneeze coming on..?). After all, it was going to be the 15th of March at midnight. They announced their arrival with a huge order from Mac Delivery! Of course, they knew I was hungry, but dudes, Macs doesn't make for a good night time snack eh? Unhealthy... But I appreciated the intention of it anyway. =)
Then there was dinner with my LG later on that day. Simple fare at a zichar place just outside Amoy Quee Camp, but thank God for you guys. Maybe we aren't the closest yet, but I still enjoyed it very much - the easy companionship, the ease with which we laughed at the antics of Shan and Joel, the food, and of course, the pretty cats! ^^
After that was a short break at home. Then at eleven plus, Kai turned up at my doorstep with a car full of Wal and Cong. When I stepped into the car, Kai promptly turned to me and asked, "Got bring passport anot? (forgive the singlish!)". Naturally I thought he was joking and I cheerfully replied, "No!". And then he thought I was joking! I only noticed something amiss when there was silence immediately after my reply. They were serious! Peter the organiser originally thought to surprise me, but they hadn't picked him up yet hahaha! Well, I really WAS pleasantly surprised then and after picking him up from Serangoon MRT station, and proceeded to Johor Bahru, where we spent a thoroughly satisfying three hours plus eating food such as crayfish and durians. I loved that. Absolutely from the bottom of my heart, thank You God, for them. =)
At the stupid hour of four on Friday morning, Kai picked Wal and I up for what I call a "supfast" at Tiong Bahru. If the food wasn't THAT good, I would've throttled both of them. But it was! And almost everything Wal ordered was so good that I simply couldn't be annoyed at him for going off the hook at ungodly hours. Pah!
Then before I knew it, I was at Morton's at the Mandarin Oriental with Shaun for an extravagant dinner on Friday night that lasted three and a half hours simply because I couldn't seem to finish my food! I cut and chewed and chewed and cut that marvelous Bone-in Prime Ribeye medium rare steak, but I still had to leave some fat behind. Oh well, that mayn't be an entirely bad thing... But anyway, lesson learnt - if we go there again, we're ordering a Porterhouse steak (a whopping SIX HUNDRED grams approximately), and sharing it. Then maybe we'll have room for their excellent sides. Maybe that cute waitress'll serve us the next time, if she's still there! ;) Having said all that, I preferred the quieter and better-lit dining at Lawry's - Morton's was too boisterous for me, but that may be due to that large group of joking men that were sitting at the next table. Shaun preferred it, but I liked Lawry's. Personal preference! ^^
Earlier today was Daniel Cheah's last sermon for youth, on holiness. A short, amusing, to-the-point sermon, but that wasn't the main thing - his challenge was. And what a challenge it was, to set apart everything to serve our beloved God in our youth. He wore his heart for God on his sleeve today, and everyone present saw REAL conviction. I haven't heard raw conviction like that in a long time. You need to raise your voice sometimes to get your point across. "ARE. YOU. SERIOUS?" he asked, over and over again, and louder each time. And I know I heard sniffles in the congregation - I only hope and pray that those sniffles translate into holiness. =) I'd love to hear Daniel like that all over again. I definitely can see God through that. ^^
A dim view popped into my mind today during worship, that people are God's preferred vessels. God can use anything as a vessel to impact us. Signs and miracles and wonders all wow us (like talking asses, or an aguamenti charm that turns water into wine), but we as humans fail to see the true miracle of God working through people a lot of the time. I don't know, but doesn't the Bible say that we're created in God's image? Correct me if this is an erroneous perception, but I should think that God can convey His message for individuals most accurately through people because of that, far cry though we may be from God! So we may be kinda flawed vessels, but we're the best that God has to work through here, unless He appears Himself or something, so I say that we build ourselves up holistically so that we can become as flawless a vessel as is humanely possible, so that we can become as accurate a representation of God as is humanely possible, and then, God'll prefer to work through us more and more! Makes sense, doesn't it? =D
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