Sigh … it has been a long week, an eventful week, a week that has taken a toll physically, mentally and spiritually upon me. In short, it has been a week that shall echo in the corridors of my memory for some time to come.
I have aptly titled my latest post: The good, the bad (well this is arguable as you will see) and the tired. It may sound a tad odd but let me illustrate.
Allow me to weave my yarn of joy, anguish and fatigue.
The Good: Carpe diem so they say, which simply means ‘Seize the day’. Hey it rhymes. And seize the day I did.
My recollection begins on Wednesday, um, Tuesday actually, as it was the day I received an e mail from my best friend and brother (in Christ) Ernest (there is a link to his blog there too). He wrote me an email stating that he was boarding a flight to Malaysia, from the US, that very day and would like to meet up with me. Now, I have not seen Ernest in years and although we communicate over MSN, there is nothing quite like meeting up with old and dear friends. That was an opportunity too good to miss. Ah, but where is the element of carpe diem? Well the meeting was on Wednesday BUT I had also had plans to go for Superman Returns with my church movie ‘kakis’ (and there were quite a few of us). Decisions, decisions. I thought maybe I could have a quick dinner with Ernest and then join the rest for the movie. After work and prayer meeting (KDU CF) I rushed to fetch Ernest from his relative’s home in Damansara Jaya. Surprisingly, I got lost (hahahaha). To cut a long story short, soon we were on our way to 1 Utama for dinner. Time was short, too short to catch up. A thought occurred to me on the way there and I decided that I was not going to waste anytime watching movies (after all we do it so often), so I called Yoke Kheng (who had generously and kindly bought the tickets) and told her that Ernest was here and so I wanted to spend more time with him and give the movie a miss. She immediately understood and I then passed the ticket to Hui En (a youth friend from church). Yayy problem solved and the ticket put to good use. I had a very blessed time over dinner and coffee catching up and sharing old stories with my buddy. And I am glad I decided the way I did. Carpe Diem eh? (well maybe a bit over dramaticloh). That was ‘Good’ part 1.
‘Good’ part 2 began a few days later. It was a Friday morning. I was raring to go to University Malaya to register for my LLM (Masters in Law) programme (ho hum, more studying). I had been quite nervous before this, not really knowing how my schedule would turn out after registration day as there were limited subjects to choose from and since they were operating on a balloting system, I may not even get the subjects I chose, much less on the days that were ideal. Anyway, let me say up front that ‘Prayer changes things’ (Hallelujah and all praise and thanks and blessing to my Lord Jesus). Some church members were praying for me and I had a lot of prayer from the CF (many thanks guys) (James 5:16). The day started with the usual welcome speeches by the dean and other lecturers, some speeches more intimidating than others (why oh why do they need to intimidate students? Then again, sometimes I am also guilty of scaring my students. Forgive me Lord). Then the real event started – the balloting (ominous drumroll in background). There were so many waiting already. I took my ticket and waited … and waited … (about 15 ppl, if I remember correctly before me). The registration took longer than I thought and I must admit I was a bit ‘kiasu’ and wanted to get to the computers double quick to register myself for the subjects I had selected (Lord, forgive me for the lack of faith). I had to create an email account in UM and then register with that account. On my first try, it did not work. Oh wow … I was told soon, by a kindly helper that I needed to wait 30 minutes before I could log in with that password. Oh brother … (not surprisingly, I was restless for the next (almost) half an hour; still lacking faith). Let me just say that the day ended well – I got the subjects I wanted: Employment Law and Copyright Law and on the days that I think are ideal too: Mondays and Tuesdays. Lord Jesus be glorified. Will post more about lectures soon.
The ‘bad’: This may sound bad (and it was to some extent) but as I said it is arguable. You see … I woke up on Saturday morning early to get to UM for a legal research training … only to find that my car was a few inches shorter – all the wheels had been stolen the night before. Sigh … perfect timing also (hehe). I began to feel a panic rising in me, but I managed to subdue that and thought ‘I must get to UM on time first’. Thank God for my brother, Phye Aun, who agreed to fetch me to UM and I was early. The training went well, all was fine in UM. I even made some new friends (oikos?). Well, as soon as I got home, reality hit. My tires were STOLEN! Why would anyone want to steal an 11 year old (or is it 10) Kancil’s tyres is beyond me (other than the fact that the rims were sports rims). I had smsed my dad before going to UM had received a reassuring reply stating that these things happen and I should not let it rile me. I also realised soon that the tyres were about 2 years old already and needed changing. So although it was a tragedy (of sorts), it could have been a blessing in disguise (perhaps God allowed it to save me from some horrible accident). And I firmly believe that The Lord allows things to happen for our best (Jeremiah 29:11). In the words of Matt Redman ‘… when the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will say "Blessed be the Name of the Lord".’ Amen. Truly You give and take away, but my heart will choose to say, Lord blessed be Your Name, Jesus. I prayed for forgiveness after that for the way my thoughts went awry and for my questions as to why God allowed this. I know it was for my good.
Well come what may, I can say (heheh) that I have a ‘new set of wheels’. Woo hoo. I know God will provide for the cost too. Thanks to all my church friends and brothers and sisters for your concern. It was touching.
The Tired: As you can imagine, the events, worries, fears and joys of the week took a toll on me. I was physically and mentally and even spiritually tired. And what contributed to it was the fact that for each day of last week (weekend included) I had to wake up with the sun. That early. I am sooooo tired. Well slowly but surely, I will be catching up on my sleep and personal time (with the Lord and myself). I pray for the wisdom to prioritise my time now that I am occupied with work, ministry, church, fellowship, CF and studies. Lord Jesus, into Your Hands I commit my body, mind and spirit. Refresh me and restore me. Give me the wisdom to make wise, godly decisions that will glorify You. Amen.
Ok then, I am going to bed now. I am so tired (hehe).
Bless you Lord God.
God bless you all.
I have aptly titled my latest post: The good, the bad (well this is arguable as you will see) and the tired. It may sound a tad odd but let me illustrate.
Allow me to weave my yarn of joy, anguish and fatigue.
The Good: Carpe diem so they say, which simply means ‘Seize the day’. Hey it rhymes. And seize the day I did.
My recollection begins on Wednesday, um, Tuesday actually, as it was the day I received an e mail from my best friend and brother (in Christ) Ernest (there is a link to his blog there too). He wrote me an email stating that he was boarding a flight to Malaysia, from the US, that very day and would like to meet up with me. Now, I have not seen Ernest in years and although we communicate over MSN, there is nothing quite like meeting up with old and dear friends. That was an opportunity too good to miss. Ah, but where is the element of carpe diem? Well the meeting was on Wednesday BUT I had also had plans to go for Superman Returns with my church movie ‘kakis’ (and there were quite a few of us). Decisions, decisions. I thought maybe I could have a quick dinner with Ernest and then join the rest for the movie. After work and prayer meeting (KDU CF) I rushed to fetch Ernest from his relative’s home in Damansara Jaya. Surprisingly, I got lost (hahahaha). To cut a long story short, soon we were on our way to 1 Utama for dinner. Time was short, too short to catch up. A thought occurred to me on the way there and I decided that I was not going to waste anytime watching movies (after all we do it so often), so I called Yoke Kheng (who had generously and kindly bought the tickets) and told her that Ernest was here and so I wanted to spend more time with him and give the movie a miss. She immediately understood and I then passed the ticket to Hui En (a youth friend from church). Yayy problem solved and the ticket put to good use. I had a very blessed time over dinner and coffee catching up and sharing old stories with my buddy. And I am glad I decided the way I did. Carpe Diem eh? (well maybe a bit over dramaticloh). That was ‘Good’ part 1.
‘Good’ part 2 began a few days later. It was a Friday morning. I was raring to go to University Malaya to register for my LLM (Masters in Law) programme (ho hum, more studying). I had been quite nervous before this, not really knowing how my schedule would turn out after registration day as there were limited subjects to choose from and since they were operating on a balloting system, I may not even get the subjects I chose, much less on the days that were ideal. Anyway, let me say up front that ‘Prayer changes things’ (Hallelujah and all praise and thanks and blessing to my Lord Jesus). Some church members were praying for me and I had a lot of prayer from the CF (many thanks guys) (James 5:16). The day started with the usual welcome speeches by the dean and other lecturers, some speeches more intimidating than others (why oh why do they need to intimidate students? Then again, sometimes I am also guilty of scaring my students. Forgive me Lord). Then the real event started – the balloting (ominous drumroll in background). There were so many waiting already. I took my ticket and waited … and waited … (about 15 ppl, if I remember correctly before me). The registration took longer than I thought and I must admit I was a bit ‘kiasu’ and wanted to get to the computers double quick to register myself for the subjects I had selected (Lord, forgive me for the lack of faith). I had to create an email account in UM and then register with that account. On my first try, it did not work. Oh wow … I was told soon, by a kindly helper that I needed to wait 30 minutes before I could log in with that password. Oh brother … (not surprisingly, I was restless for the next (almost) half an hour; still lacking faith). Let me just say that the day ended well – I got the subjects I wanted: Employment Law and Copyright Law and on the days that I think are ideal too: Mondays and Tuesdays. Lord Jesus be glorified. Will post more about lectures soon.
The ‘bad’: This may sound bad (and it was to some extent) but as I said it is arguable. You see … I woke up on Saturday morning early to get to UM for a legal research training … only to find that my car was a few inches shorter – all the wheels had been stolen the night before. Sigh … perfect timing also (hehe). I began to feel a panic rising in me, but I managed to subdue that and thought ‘I must get to UM on time first’. Thank God for my brother, Phye Aun, who agreed to fetch me to UM and I was early. The training went well, all was fine in UM. I even made some new friends (oikos?). Well, as soon as I got home, reality hit. My tires were STOLEN! Why would anyone want to steal an 11 year old (or is it 10) Kancil’s tyres is beyond me (other than the fact that the rims were sports rims). I had smsed my dad before going to UM had received a reassuring reply stating that these things happen and I should not let it rile me. I also realised soon that the tyres were about 2 years old already and needed changing. So although it was a tragedy (of sorts), it could have been a blessing in disguise (perhaps God allowed it to save me from some horrible accident). And I firmly believe that The Lord allows things to happen for our best (Jeremiah 29:11). In the words of Matt Redman ‘… when the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will say "Blessed be the Name of the Lord".’ Amen. Truly You give and take away, but my heart will choose to say, Lord blessed be Your Name, Jesus. I prayed for forgiveness after that for the way my thoughts went awry and for my questions as to why God allowed this. I know it was for my good.
Well come what may, I can say (heheh) that I have a ‘new set of wheels’. Woo hoo. I know God will provide for the cost too. Thanks to all my church friends and brothers and sisters for your concern. It was touching.
The Tired: As you can imagine, the events, worries, fears and joys of the week took a toll on me. I was physically and mentally and even spiritually tired. And what contributed to it was the fact that for each day of last week (weekend included) I had to wake up with the sun. That early. I am sooooo tired. Well slowly but surely, I will be catching up on my sleep and personal time (with the Lord and myself). I pray for the wisdom to prioritise my time now that I am occupied with work, ministry, church, fellowship, CF and studies. Lord Jesus, into Your Hands I commit my body, mind and spirit. Refresh me and restore me. Give me the wisdom to make wise, godly decisions that will glorify You. Amen.
Ok then, I am going to bed now. I am so tired (hehe).
Bless you Lord God.
God bless you all.
5 comments:
Wow . . . it's definitely been taxing and demanding!! Give yourself permission to feel tired!!!!:)
It's very encouraging to read about how great your brothers and sisters have been though.:)
*yaaaaawn* i'm tired too! :P can't wait till i hit the holidays! hehe!
Thanks guys. I am encouraged. God bless you all.
:)
evrytime i feel i haf loads on my shoulders- knowing sum1 carries a bigger burden made my lil challeges even smaller. dat's lotsa stuff 2 juggle. but the Lord's hands are with u; like for eternity. :)
i hope d 'refresh' button on ur toolbar's clicked every mornin u're up. have an awesome day!
Thanks Adrienne.
Words of encouragement can make a WORLD of difference: like between giving up and going on.
I am persevering.
To God be all Glory.
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