(v v v long update of half of the past week; brace yourself!)
Last week was a very busy week, not over studying for papers, but for praying for those who were studying for their papers.. hahaha! Finally decided this semester to give my time after end of sem to pray and spend time with the brothers and sisters of nyc who are still fighting with their mountains of notes and academic papers. (by God's grace I managed to unofficially end my semester 2-3 weeks before the official end of exam season, because i only have 2 papers which took place very early in this 3-week exam season.) I remember i had wanted to sign up as prayer warrior to pray for them the previous sem, but somehow i didn't, and i regretted it a little.
Am really glad I made this choice, because if not for signing up for all the prayer warrior timeslots, I might not have been able to spend more quality time with the nyc community, and knowing many brothers and sisters better one by one. I wasn't very able to do so during the semester itself because ADM is very far away from NYC HQ, and i rarely, if not never, have lectures or tutorials in the vicinity of South Spine, so it's often quite inconvenient for me to drop by hq, due to distance, time, and unconducive environment to do design and art work, since it's always much more efficient to focus on doing creative work in a quiet, enclosed, lone environment (for me at least). Even though there are times when I am freer and am able to spend some time in hq, the time i spent there cannot be compared to those whose schools, classes and lecture venues are much closer to there.
Thank God, for giving me the strength and courage to pray for those whom i am not very close to as well, such as Chuting, Yingxuan, whom I have never even talked to ever since I was in NYC (haha!), as well as Brenda, Ruixian and Zhiqin. such things are usually really out of my comfort zone because I'd be afraid/shy, but thank You for reminding me of our role to love others with Your love, and valuing that over my own fears. Additionally, got to know Tianli, Kelvin, Junwei, Cuiting, Brian, Huang Hao more as well! Praise God :D Even in this season of tough times and tests of perseverance, You are nevertheless in control and using these events to draw us closer to You and Your people.
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Also, wanna share a testimony of God's faithfulness and love. Last Friday evening, 9 May, the lifegroup + Brian went to watch The Amazing Spiderman 2 together at Junction 8, to celebrate the official end of exams of Sem 2. (Tim, JS, Eileen all ended their last paper that day - hooray!) But I carelessly (and also due to my fatigue) misplaced my wallet while waiting for the group to arrive at J8, and only realised it was not with me when we went to Pastamania for dinner before the movie. I panicked, naturally, furthermore as I had just withdrawn allowance money that day itself, and dreaded over thinking I have to remake my bank card, NRIC card, NTU ezlink card, and incur so much time and cost again, as I had experienced losing my wallet before.
Just then, God reminded me of the possibility of a reception counter, and I decided to try my luck to make a report there. The receptionist then was attending to another customer, which took very long, and made the wait seem even longer and more tense. When it finally got to my turn, I told the receptionist,
"I would like to make a report for a missing wallet."
"How does it look like?"
"It's a light brown, Charles and Keith wallet..."
She suddenly reached for something below the counter, on her table, and revealed THE wallet.
"Is this the one?"
"YES."
Turned out, I left it at the KFC table when I changed location to wait for the group, to the MRT gantry area. How careless and tired was I!! And a kind soul saw it and gave it to the counter. Apparently, the counter also paged for me over the speakers but I wasn't able to hear it as Pastamania is situated at the outer fringe of the mall.
Later on, as I shared my testimony on Instagram with a photo of the retrieved wallet and the name and number of the finder written on paper by him, a SA band junior commented saying that the person is his friend! Hahahahaha!!!
Am hugely relieved to be able to retrieve something so important and dear to me, and and even more thankful to God for being such a loving God who pays the biggest attention to our smallest needs! Who is more faithful than Him?
~
The third big blessing happened on Monday 12 May, where the Hope in ADM community met up after several months to surprise celebrate Tianli's birthday (in the disguise of a farewell lunch for the exchange trip seniors - lol!) Decided to initiate it as I was the closest to Tianli, being batch mates with her in ADM. Went through lots of headaches thinking over what colours, styles and designs she likes, to make her birthday board, but it was worth it!! Hope she liked it! But the gathering turned out to be a surprise-ception because it turned out that they planned to surprise celebrate both our birthdays together... ha ha, most blur organiser ever please.
The birthday card they gave me came in the form of extra pages on the front of a square cream-paged sketchbook, compiled, typed, printed, cut and sewn on by Pete! They/He also stole my Instagram sketchbook drawing photos (lol) to print them out as blown up pages in the birthday sketchbook. Super amusing, but really creative and thoughtful! Was so surprised that they knew what I like. :")
That night, as I got home and shared about the event and the gift to my mom, I began to realise that the sketchbook started to resemble something I had wanted to buy 3 months back... a Nudebook, a sketchbook which I found out was popular amongst skilled local urban sketchers in Singapore. I promptly went to look it up online then, and already knew where to buy and how much it cost, just that I didn't have the spare cash to buy one for myself. Lo and behold, 3 months later, God lovingly answered this wish I put in a Notepad list in my laptop, through the thoughtfulness and effort of the ADM community - and I didn't even ask Him for it. This is not a coincidence; God doesn't work this way. Coincidences are excuses to keep God anonymous. And I know this is God's plan, to remind me in a fresh new way, that He is my Lord, He is near, and He loves me/us. Still very amazed by this providence by God, because no one knew of this to-buy list except myself. :)
The same day that evening, was the wedding decor team meet for Tracy's and Seng Kim's wedding. Am grateful to know new friends and people in Hope, as well as people who share the same interests and passion in art, design and decor. Am extra thankful for the Korean food dinner treat by the future Mr and Mrs too hahaha! :) :) :)
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Before the meet, some of us from the ADM gathering went to the ADM Grad Show together. The night before, I received a random text from my cousin, Jack who asked if I happen to be going to the Grad Show and asked if we wanna go together, as he was keen to go. It just so happened that I would be going the day after, so we planned to go together, with some of the ADM people as well.
Hence Jack came, along with a junior, Ginger, who joined last minute as well. Talked to her and found out she is also a Christian, who is currently going to CHC but feels uncomfortable about going as she feels affected by the Kong Hee case. Am thankful towards God for placing me in this position to show concern for this new friend, and listen to her, even though this is only the first time we've met! Pray that she will learn to see beyond the circumstances of the church, and remember the one and only reason why she is going to service in the v first place.
Anyway, just want to share that the Holy Spirit prompted me to invite my cousin for the NYC retreat the next day @ Siloso Beach, Sentosa, and I obeyed. He was initially quite hesitant as he worried if it would be awkward for him, so I let the matter be. However, later on in the day, I decided to take the courage to ask him and persuade him a bit again, saying we would cruise together on our boards with Kelvin as well (he rides a longboard), and after some thought, he eventually obliged. :D
This is seriously something worthy to praise God for, considering how I usually don't ever hang out with my cousins outside of visits to my grandma's house, and the first time in years I do with my cousin, he agrees to come for our sub-district retreat! I know full well that this isn't the work of my human efforts, but the work of God, under whose hands all things fall perfectly in place to realize his sovereign will.
~
Hence, the fourth big blessing is the fact that my cousin, Jack, came for the NYC Retreat @ Siloso Beach the next day, on Tuesday! Hallelujah!!
Even though he appeared to be a little meek, reserved and socially awkward (he said so himself haha), he said he appeared to be socially awkward the day as he is currently trying to cut down his caffeine intake, hence the sluggishness. Relieving to hear! :) And am very glad he managed to enjoy himself with us too, albeit not knowing everyone well! He even stayed with us through dinner @ Vivo till post-dinner fellowship at the rooftop too... :) Am going outdoor sketching with him on Sunday, pray for his heart to be continually softened by God please! So I can take the chance to invite him for conference's healing rally and/or service!!! Woohoo.
Know that sowing seeds is not a once-off event, sometimes it takes a continuous, consistent effort, to know a person better, to allow God to soften his/her heart over time, and speak to the person.. It may take days, it may take weeks, it may take months, sometimes even years.. God, I pray for more of such persistence, patience and love from You, so I can best love Your people into Your kingdom!
Am beyond thankful for all that has been happening this wonderful month. May has always been one of my favourite months, because of all the blessings of events which happen; maybe it's the good birthday vibes! Haha kidding.
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