If God is a boss...

There is no "if" actually - God is THE boss. But let's just put aside the fact that He is the boss of all and imagine Him as a normal employer. I would say He is one who stretches His staff to the maximum. Shortly after I said I want to contribute more, He dished us with greater responsibilities in the children ministry, by letting us take on the whole group by ourselves on alternate Sundays from July onwards.

The first gulp is for not having the luxury of all teachers around to manage the hyperactive kids anymore. The second gulp is for not having Howard around to play the guitar, which means we either have rely on CDs, or for me to play the piano. I personally don't like the CDs because the music tends to drown out the children's voice. On the other hand, that leaves me with 2-3 weeks to at least bang a few songs on the piano.

It's probably God's way of a half-year work review for us. He's saying, you have been trained on the job for the past six months now. Time for you to step up and do REAL work, so that my other officers can take a rest. Fair enough.

I'll give God the answer I give to all bosses. I will try my best and work hard. Please let me know how to improve.

Heritage Race 2011

Fun was the last thing on my mind when Uncle PY approached me a couple of Sundays ago to join the Heritage Race. For one, work was the first thing that came to my mind when I was asked, since I sometimes need to spend weekends doing submissions/speeches/events/MRs. Two, past church activities I attended is a tad (no offense indeed) cheesy, and I wasn't sure if I am game for another one. But I signed up eventually, mainly to do my part to support what the church organised since response was not enthusiastic despite the publicity.

God must have known that I had my doubts, and He is determined to prove me wrong. From the start of the race to the finishing point, I sensed the amount of effort and sincerity the organising committee had put in to organise the whole race. There were some hiccups on the ground, of course, like any other events would have, but the overall running of the race was smooth. I was especially impressed with the two-way communication element throughout the race, with regular facebook and SMS updates, and the attentiveness to our needs as particants, with a professional mobile massaging team and a buffet spread waiting for us when we reached the ending point. There was clearly a lot of thought process that went on behind the scenes, and it was much appreciated by the participants.

Saying a word of thanks to the organising team for their efforts is a given. Beyond that, I want to say that the race has motivated me to want to contribute more - to be part of the community that helps bring people even closer to God and other another through different platforms. I am pretty sure that in the process, I will also be greatly encouraged and strengthened in faith.

Who likes saying Goodbye?

Our MSO left us two weeks ago to further her studies. Although she worked with me quite closely for more than half a year, I realised with a tinge of sadness that I didn't grab the opportunity to know her better. I didn't know, for instance, how many siblings she has at home, what she likes to do in her free time, and what her dreams are. I realised that very often, I get so caught up with work that all I ever do is to talk about it. "Is the submission ready?" "How many awards are we giving out this year?" "Have we settled the issue with the caller?" "Can you help check on this?"

I failed terribly as a supervisor and a colleague. And unfortunately the realisation only hit me as she was saying Goodbye.

Maybe, that is the reason why people hate saying Goodbye. This is the time when you realised, or are reminded, of the good things that surround you but never have the heart to appreciate. This is the time when you wish you had taken more time to enjoy things that really matter, like good company. This is the time when you hope that you will have a chance to relive that experience all over again, with thankfulness in your heart.

And as I await my own turn to say Goodbye, to face my own mixed feelings of excitment, nervousness, nostagia, gratitude and uncertainty, I want to remind myself that good things don't come easily, just like good colleagues and good bosses, and how blessed I am to have worked with them.

Goodbyes are never easy, both for the one who is leaving and for those who are staying behind.

Corporate life?

I am a manager but somehow, I get quite a bit of bird blah blah too. Maybe the issue is not with the title, but how many other birds you have below you. No wonder some people said it's important to climb to the top. LOL. ^ ^

(I don't know who to credit this to cos I pinched it off my friend's FB page.)

Thank you, my heavenly father

Such a coincidence that today's j network quiet time carries the same memory verse that we did at church camp but in Chinese. Thank God for constant reminders to trust and have faith.

倚靠神《詩篇》第二十八篇7節
28:7 耶和華是我的力量，是我的盾牌；我心裏倚靠他就得幫助。所以我心中歡樂，我必用詩歌頌讚他。

反省：
1. 人如何能全心全意倚靠神而不再憂慮？

TMC's church camp at Bangi, Malaysia

Mr. Jang and I went to "help out" at TMC's church camp in Bangi, Malaysia the past few days as part of the requirement under SU's course on children ministry. We were quite sceptical that we can do a good job as the complete materials arrived only a couple of weeks earlier and there was just no time to do a thorough read-through and practice in between our busy work schedules. And lo and behold, a surprise await us upon arrival. While we had earlier agreed that we will concentrate on teaching the songs and TL on the actual course materials, TL changed his mind and asked us to do the actual teaching only the night before the actual start of the programme (!?). I practically had to eat up and digest the whole book within one night, just to make sure that I know what I was going to teach the next day. For Mr. Jang and I, it was definitely the first time in our entire life that we are teaching a class. (There were some other issues with TL which we didn't agree with but that was a separate matter...).

By the grace of God, the kids were a lovely bunch to work with. The older ones were as usual more "cool" but they seemed to warm up to the games that we racked our brains to come up with. Seriously, I haven't skipped for the past ten years but I managed to skip AND recite a memory verse at the same time (yay!). We also managed to scrap together some materials for another memory verse game. The younger ones were undoubtedly the sweetest. They volunteered for almost anything and the kind of energy they had just rubbed off the both of us. I love it most when they sing out loud, because it is a combination of enthusiasm, innocence and love for God.

It was a pity that the camp had to end just when we were getting to know them better and could call them each by name. I now understand why some people said they are very attached to the children they teach, because there is really a great sense of fulfilment and joy in engaging the young ones. The greatest take away I have from teaching at the camp is that, children can accomplish much if you trust them, and they do remember what they learn and can even teach you back. There is so much potential to be unleashed and I do hope they will practise what they learn. For Mr. Jang and I, I hope we will continue to have the same level of enthusiasm and passion for the children in our own church, as we did for those at the TMC camp.. and for the TMC folks (the adults esp the Choo family (Wennie), Kelvin & Poh Kit, Sherry, Alice, Anthony, Christina, Rev Bernard etc etc), hope we will have a chance to visit you guys one of these Sundays.

In His Love...

Photos:

Children sitting in their groups


Children doing group work


Mr. Jang and the groups' unshakable straw towers


Children doing sand art


Children rehearsing for the celebration performance

打气打气！

Not sure if it is a good or a bad thing but I find myself increasingly placing less priority on work. Like, I was hoping that I could find a paper over the weekend but the need to do some church-related stuff and the desire to spend some time with hubs and in-laws overweighed the guilt of not starting on that paper which should have been done last week. That is on top of knowing the fact that I would probably be swarmed with two speeches and other overdue matters this week, and that I will be taking leave on Friday and next Monday. Argh. I am so dead.

Maybe I will just lunch in for the rest of the week and try to work as efficiently as I can.

加油加油！