Magical Christmas

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Today is especially christmasy...

Christmas Giving "Tradition"
Early in the morning, I walked into my department with my little sweet "hampers". My colleagues have reminded me not to buy gifts for everyone but I insisted that this is my "christmas tradition" to wrap little packages of sweets as a way of sharing the Christmas joy with my fellow colleagues... it feels so good to be able to give...

No 1's Sleigh Stopped By
Shortly after lunch, my number 1 and number 2 (bosses) came down to each department and gathered everyone together to sing christmas carols and later distributed little gifts to each staff... wow, what an interesting culture and there is this warm kind of feeling being in this family of wonderfully nice people...

Hamper of "Belly-Buttons"
My colleagues went to buy many many "belly buttons", drew nice faces on each belly button and packed it into a nice christmas present to me... OK, there is a history behind it... you see, everytime after lunch, one of my colleagues will always supply fruits to everyone and everytime she buys oranges, she will choose those with deep "belly buttons" at the bottom i.e. sweet oranges, hence the nickname "belly buttons". Now, I call oranges "belly buttons" :) So today, they gave me a "belly button" hamper :)

Winter Wonderland
Was invited to a thanksgiving function at one of the centres under my organization. Hahaha, felt so "important" because I was like one of the VIPs since I came from HQ; I was quickly "qurantined" with the other VIPs and although it felt great being a VIP, it also was very stressful since I was among many directors and officers and didn't know anyone. As usual, I was quiet in one small corner and kinda "battered" myself up cognitively asking myself why I am so shy again? Anyway, that feeling is not important but more the gifts I took back with me after the whole function...

When I entered the hall, I really felt all christmasy because there were christmas trees everywhere and all the trees had "snow" (shredded paper pieces) on them... the whole scene was so picturesque. There was snow on the trees, snow on the chairs, snow on the floor and it was freezing cold... recreating the feeling of winter. It really felt like I was in winter wonderland :) Towards the end, everyone was even having plain innocent fun and was throwing "snow" at each other... what fun!

Revelations - God's Love
Tonight's function brought many a revelations... it reminded me of the true meaning of Christmas. I mean, I have kind of taken Christmas for granted in the past 26 years of my life... not really fully comprehending the reason for Christmas, seeing it just as a merry time of being happy and receiving gifts... a "feel good" period of shopping and enjoying nice-sounding carols...

This Christmas is different from other Christmas as I finally come to realize that Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, our saviour who has been given as a gift to humanity to save us...

John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son"

God sent his son, Jesus, to die on the cross for us so that we may be forgiven for all our sins and be closer to God... this explains why Jesus is also called "Emmanuel" which means God with Us... I have learnt that despite how much we have sinned and moved away from him, he has again and again shown so much grace to us and have even sent his only son to die on the cross for us... As the youths and children acted and sang, this realization of God's love suddenly touched me so much that I felt tears welling up...

A particular phrase from the song "Amazing Grace" came to mind...

"Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me...
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see"

Yes, I was once lost but now am found... and God has again and again showed me his grace and have not given up on me despite me having backslided so long... I continue to count my blessings day after day and can only thank God for all he has given me thus far.

Revelation - You are Uniquely You
As the show went on, I also find myself envying the some of the people; some spoke so well, some are so outgoing, some are so good with singing and I remember asking God "why I cannot be like them". Then, I hear something like that in my mind:

"You have been given certain skills and talents and have been put where you are to serve God in your own ways. You may not be able to be as outgoing and fun as other people but you have skills and talents which others do not have and you are putting it to use, doing God's work. Do not compare because God made everyone differently with a different purpose"

I guess this is a imporant revelation and I can go on battering myself or recognize my God-given skills, talents and gifting and put it to good use.

Revelations - God's People
Before tonight's function, beneficiaries to me are like people who are disempowered and need our help. I guess I was so caught up with work that I focused too much on my volunteers to really forget that beneficiaries are humans too and not just pure numbers.

Watching the beneficiaries perform today has made me refocus on my work and remember my purpose... I am not only serving volunteers but also beneficiaries... Both are humans and are capable of growth... today I saw the many talents the beneficiaries had; some were even better than me... some sang incredibly well while some acted very well.

I guess, in a way, I underestimated the potential of beneficiaries. Just because the beneficiaries have made mistakes before in their lives doesn't make them any lesser a human than other humans. In fact, I come to realize that having made mistakes before put these people in a better position to be better people... having "been there and done that" and being more convicted to come back on track... I was given a second chance and don't see why I should not given others a second chance?