My 22nd Birthday

Yea, I know it's a bit too late to blog about something that happened on 20 Oct, but I just had to do this. It's my small way of saying thank you to all those who made my birthday a memorable one.

Those who made it happen - mom, dad, and May.

Somehow there wasn't a picture of the 4 of us together.

Joseph presented me the gift, but in this picture it was more like his birthday. Haha...

When you have a dream, some friends will dream along with you. Some friends will encourage you & push you forward. And then there are those who ask you to be reasonable & sensible, to keep a balance between chasing a dream & facing the realities of life - which is understandable.

 

 

My bunch of friends (BIG FAMILY) have so much faith in my dream, and more importantly, in me, that they actually invest their money. Most of them are students, mind you. Took me 3 days to write 28 thank cards. I could have just send them an email or print something out, but writing to each one of them personally is the least I can do.

So this is it. My new camera, costs nearly RM3000. 3.1 Megapixel, 3 CCD (don't ask me what it means. I just know that it's very cool & extremely good). May managed to bargain and got several free stuff too, like a very cool umbrella (finally an umbrella I can call my own!!) and a tripod (sweet!!).

 

Thank you everyone!! It's a truly awesome gift. To TOUCH, thank you for loving me. Maybe I shouldn't be the youth leader next year, cause the next thing I want is....Haha. Thank you all. Thank you for believing in me. I won't let you down, and I'll make you very proud. It's an investment you won't regret, and someday you'll be proud to say that you helped kicked off Joash Chan's dream.

Thank you, Chi Wing, for this very cool pen. Johannah Ang, thank you so much for your card. You're a sweet girl. I hope you always remain a joyful person. And of course, Lemuel & Melanie, thank you for the wine. We shall open it when both of you visit my house.

 

I am bold and courageous, cause the Lord my God is with me!!

Psalm 37:4

Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. (New International Version)

Previously I struggled with this verse, a lot. To gain what I want, I'll have to desire what He wants? It felt unfair. I had the idea that ultimately He wins, because I didn't get what I asked for. But I got what He wanted for me. That just didn't seem right. What about me?

It was only recently that I looked back at this verse & finally understood what it means. Mom & dad helped me out with that too. A friend was telling me about how she decided she couldn't believe in God anymore. He didn't answer her prayer. The first thing that came to my mind was "hey, He's God. He can do whatever he wants. If God moves according to whatever we wanted, He wouldn't be God - we would. And the world will be in total chaos, simply because there are so many gods". I gave an example of 2 guys praying for the same girl. Who will win? In the end, it's God's will that'll prevail.

She did not give an answer to that. She was just quiet. But her face tells me that she wasn't convinced. In fact, after some thought, I wasn't convinced myself. Then this verse popped in my head - this Psalm 37:4. It took some time before it finally sank into my soul.

To delight in God is to find everything we need in Him. And He is indeed everything we need. A friend that never gives up on us, always forgives, loves us unconditionally. It's about understanding who God is and how much He loves us. It's about being assured by the One who gave it all, and will continue to provide all that we need. It's freedom - freedom from trying too hard to gain love, acceptance, peace, comfort, security.

Get insurance with God and do a good deed, settle down and stick to your last. Keep company with God, get in on the best. (The Message)

Psalm 23:1 - The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

Galatians 5:1 - It is for freedom that Christ has set us free

A Pleasant Surprise

Saturday is the longest day of the week for me. So it was nice to come home to see something different on my table last week.

Jeff at So I Go mentioned about sending a book to me more than a month ago. And it finally arrived. Just days before the package arrived, I emailed Jeff to make sure he actually sent out the mail already. He replied, mentioning that he even had to declare that the package contained a book (not any biological weapon of mass destruction). The green paper on the package validates his statement.
But I still couldn't figure out the reason for the delay. Studying the package further provided me with more answers.

(A chop indicating that it was only released by the Malaysian customs on October 25th.)

Every morning I get excited about opening my email account, hoping to see an email from the friends I seldom meet. And to receive an old-fashion, snail-mail package... The feeling is just awesome. Though I have never met Jeff Jacobson, he is a man I truly admire. He started off like me (I think). Just a guy who wrote a script & wanted it out there. But Jesus took him on a ride & now he is literally living my dream.

And just when I've been considering about writing a book (yes I am), he sends me this...

His first blog gained so much viewership that it became a book!! Wow!! Often times reading So I Go gave me the feeling of sitting with Jeff at a coffee table & just listening to him talk about his journey. I hope that I can lend this book to someone who would enjoy it over a cup of joe... Haha...

I flipped through the pages & then settled upon the acknowledgement page.

"For my fellow bloggers, who believed in me and provided a steady stream of affirmation throughout these chapters, I cannot thank you enough"

Wow... What a joy it is to have someone, from half-way across the world, to share his dream & allow me to participate & be a part of it.

If you want to buy this book of his, you can go here and get it online. For more of Jeff Jacobson, check out the following sites.

• So I Go Now Volume II ~ A New Kind Of Church.
• So I Go Now Volume III ~ The Word Got Out.
• The Reclamation Project.

p.s I forgot to take pictures of what Jeff wrote to me personally. Aiya...

Choose This Day.

Our beloved Brother Mark Ng, currently serving YWAM, reminded me about aligning my life to serve only 1 God. The story in Daniel 3 is familiar, yet I forgot the significance of the lesson taught there.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego had this unshakeble faith. Just like the heroes of faith mentioned in Hebrews 11, they stood steadfast without the assurance that they would survive the King's wrath. They were willing to go through the fire, and their faith was proven to be unshakeble & changed an entire nation's allegience (Daniel 3:28-29).

Lemuel Yee, from Canaan Church, came for the youth service and told us to no longer hop on one foot. The text was taken from 1 King 18, highlighting the showdown between Elijah & the prophets of Ba'al. The people of Israel showed up too, and Elijah gave a call...

' "How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, then follow Him; but if Baal, follow him." but the people answered him not a word.'

Have we become a people who waver back and forth between Jesus & the other idols in our lives? Are we like the people of Israel in 1 King 18, awaiting for the outcome of the fight... Awaiting to see if God will deliver us from a certain situation before choosing to live a life of obedience towards Him? What if God does not deliver? What if God does not heal? Would we still choose to follow?

It was much more convenient for the 3 teenagers to just bow down, to submit to the waves of demands that come our way. It's safer to accept things as they are, and simply follow the crowd. After all, everyone's doing it. Why bother making the extra effort to initiate change and right the wrong now? Why risk stability? Why break the silence & risk being unpopular?

Elijah made his stand. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego made theirs. They found it necessary to stand strong, to speak out loud, to suffer, to be laughed at, to risk it all; all for what's true & good. I pray that we all will find our reasons to do likewise in this time.