Thank You Lord

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Woah! Can't believe that I managed to survive the last few days... ended up being so zombified by the end of yesterday and today. But thank God that not only was able to survive but also managed to accomplish quite a number of stuff at work; been real hectic trying to manage recruitment and coordinating placements of volunteers into the different time slots for the upcoming fundraising event.

At first, was really worried because I was only able to get volunteers after office-hours, leaving the office-hour volunteer shifts empty but thank God people started to come one by one to volunteer. And it is really heartwarming to see people stepping forward to help, both Myanmar nationals and locals... some even taking leave to help with the project. And some dedicated volunteers immediately contacted us once they received our email about the fundraising project. I even had a great time talking to this cheerful senior guy who, together with his wife, continue to help us with our fundraising year after year, without fail, since 1986... talk about long service!!

Some other volunteers also pledged their companies' support and initiated their own fundraising project to raise funds. And today, I also heard from another group of volunteers who did a fundraising project for us last Christmas and they shared that they too want to help; initiating their own fundraising event on their campus.

Thank God too that things also eventually worked out after an issue with the firewall which prevented volunteers from reaching me through email (and some of them also got quite annoyed by the fact that they are not able to get their application forms to me). I thank God for my fellow colleague and brother-in-christ who promptly helped me with the issue and, together with another colleague over in another continent, worked to troubleshoot the issue. Things are OK now and emails are coming through again.

I also thank God for a conversation that went well, with a volunteer who got so annoyed when his email application bounced. He got quite annoyed when he tried to email his application to help out at the upcoming fundraising but his application got bounced due to the firewall issue. He used strong words in his email. Today, I felt I needed to call him but I struggled because I might be scolded by him (since he sounded so annoyed) and since I was going to tell him that the shift he is applying for is not available. But, to my surprise, he did not but instead affirmed me of my work, encouraging me that I am doing a "good job". Phew!

But then, things did not go so well with the mediacorp artiste who recently approached me about featuring a dedicate volunteer mother... He had been very nice to try to find for me student volunteers who can help me with my video project but then, because of my Myanmar fundraising project, me and my colleagues have been kept from following-up with finding a suitable volunteer for his project... Today, I tried to ask one of my colleagues from a children care service and they are keen to feature one of their volunteers but then would like to speak to the executive producer first but the earliest they can meet is after they come back from their upcoming mission trip two weeks later. I thought of calling the executive producer to update him a little but in the end, he got quite upset saying how we are making things so complicated and having to go through so many levels just to speak to the volunteer and subsequently mentioned how he is so disappointed with us and even say that of this is the case, he would like to just call off the thing and do not need us to find anyone for him. Strong words and I was speechless. But then I can sense his frustration given that he has been trying to find someone like that and only have till end of this week to confirm the person. Finally sense the "fierce" side of him that I usually see on the TV screen. But at the end, I still did tell him I will try my best to see if I have other nominations and he did apologise for using such strong-words...

I thank God for my ISFJ gathering yesterday with two colleague friends... it was a tiring day yesterday and by the end of the day, both me and Stitch-Giver were so "zonked out" that we just wanted to go somewhere nearby to chill out. A simple but great chillout with friends.

I also thank God for devotion today and for the sharing today... And guess what... the verse shared was from Ephesians 4, and again reminding me:

26. "In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27. and do not give the devil a foothold. 28. He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.

Yes God, I am dealing with quite a bit of anger and with the recent sermon on that, last week's cell discussion on that and now tuesday devotion, I really feel I needed to do something about my anger I have of people who have hurt me and who have made my life less bearable... I needed to forgive... maybe the upcoming holiday is good... giving me some time away to recharge and to spend some time alone with God... so looking forward to it... am quite tired as well. But thank God for the reminder and also how another colleague's sharing from his journal. I did not know why he was sharing about how when a bible teacher is bring corrected, take heed if it is correct, just at a time I was so upset about the "meet me at the well" incident last week. I also thank God how a fellow colleague seems to be growing so well after she accepted Christ and we sang one of her favorite songs, Power of Your Love:

Lord I come to You
Let my heart be changed, renewed
Flowing from the grace
That I’ve found in You
Lord I’ve come to know
The weakenesses I see in me
Will be stripped away
By the power of Your love

~ chorus ~
Hold me close
Let Your love surround me
Bring me near
Draw me to Your side
And as I wait
I’ll rise up like the eagle
And I will soar with You
Your Spirit leads me on
In the power of Your love

Lord unveil my eyes
Let me see You face to face
The knowledge of Your love
As You live in me
Lord renew my mind
As Your will unfolds in my life
In living every day
By the power of Your love

I also thank God for a meeting that went well today with a new visitor to my cell. I have recently received an email from the church office of someone who has signed up to want to be linked to a cell and they would like to link both he and his wife-to-be to my cell. Frankly, I get all nervous whenever I know that I am going to get a new member, mainly because I do not know their expectations of cell and whether I can be a good mentor... But anyway, I wanted to meet them before they come to cell so I can get to know them and their expecations better, while they get acquainted with me and find out more about my cell.

As I made my way to meet him and his wife-to-be, I prayed a little prayer "Dear Lord, please guide the session later because I know I can very rather introverted and quiet. I do not want the session to turn out to be awkward and if you had willed that this couple to join my cell, please bless the session later and we can be comfortable with one another." And I thank God for blessing the session because not only was I rather extroverted, we talked and they began sharing candidly about their family background etc. After understanding their expectations, I am not sure if my cell would be the right one for them but then I did tell them to try my cell out. They seem like a nice couple, genuine and simple... but then they seem to rather Chinese-educated and I am concerned that they may not fit into our English-speaking cell. Also, I am rather concerned whether I can be a good mentor to them, helping them to grow spiritually (since the guy is a new believer) and lastly my cell is not a couple cell so I am not sure if we can minister to them in this area. Anyway, we talked and I come to learn how this guy was a school-dropout but worked hard so he can study again, to earn a diploma in the end and land himself in where he is today. And I can see his love for his younger brother because he also long for his brother to one day be like him and be able to make it in life. It is people like him, who have gone through a lot in life and who is so determined to work so hard to pick himself up, that really inspires me and yet put me to shame... but really, I am happy to have met him and learnt how he is doing well and have come to know the Lord. I'm so happy for him! :D