december: a month to thank God for.
As my ears bleed from a terrible rendition of Nobody But You belted out by the Getai singer and annoying overenthusiastic emcees who try to rouse an apathetic audience, I can’t help but to smile at God’s sense of humour. So what if I’ve gotten everything ready for later – shoes, socks, tag, singlet, watch, shades, bread, banana, isotonic – and I’m ready to sleep at an unheard-of 9pm to wake up 7 hours later to run my second 42km. There was nothing that I could do to prevent a town council dinner from taking place right below my house. I can only chuckle at the unpredictability of life and thank God that He’s in it all.
This December is more intense than the previous years. However, there’s so much to thank God for:
- 15 intense days of school (with accompanying assignments), from 29 Nov – 13 Dec; I thank God for committed group mates and good lecturers.
- 4 days of Rhema conference (where I’m overseeing 7 vastly different services), from 12 – 15 Dec; I thank God for a thoroughly creative experience.
- A sermon to deliver on the weekend of 18-19 Dec; I thank God for many preaching opportunities this year and for my growth in this area.
- A REAL reunion with my beloved REAL champs on 20 Dec; I thank God for this bunch of youths who will always have a special place in my heart.
- A good break in Bintan to look forward to on 21-23 Dec; I thank God that I’m celebrating 3 years of God’s grace with my beloved girlfriend, Huiyi.
- A Christmas celebration at Jadene’s house on 24 Dec; I thank God for a wonderful group of colleagues who have been such blessings in my journey.
- A maiden baptism experience to anticipate on 25 Dec; I thank God for the privilege to baptise the youths whom He has given me to pastor.
- 4 days of REAL lock-in camp (where I’ll take on the role of Commandant), from 27-30 Dec; I thank God for sending me youths to disciple and train.
- 2 days of Leaders’ Retreat (where I’ll share my heartbeat and vision with the R-AGE @ GII Leaders!), from 30-31 Dec; I thank God for new leaders.
- And to conclude the month, I’ll be performing a song during Watchnight Service on 31 Dec; I thank God for 2010 and I look forward to 2011.
- And REAL 2011 begins 3 days later on 3 Jan (thank God I’ve already prepared everything!); before I know it, I’ll be marching on to March already.
For now, I have a marathon to run at 5am and a leaders’ meeting to chair on the same evening; I can’t wait to meet some of my favouritest people in this world! I apologise for the lack of updates and infrequent writing; I wish I had more time to think and write too, for a thought ceases to exist until it has been penned down. Do cover me in your prayers, my friends. I’ll leave you with the back of my running singlet; I hope it spurs you on, my fellow runners in this marathon of life – may we all run to win an eternal prize (1 Corinthians 9:24-25)!
Posted on December 5, 2010, in Affirming Faithfulness, Extraordinary Mundane, Forever Young, Picture Perfect, Simple Pleasures, Top Ten & Other Lists and tagged baptism, Bintan, Camp Commandant, Christmas, God's sense of humour, Jadene Ng, leaders, Leaders' Retreat, Lee Huiyi, marathon, pastor, preach, R-AGE @ GII, REAL 2010, REAL 2011, REAL lock-in camp, Rhema Conference, RMIT, running, sermon, Standard Chartered Marathon 2010, Watchnight Service, youths. Bookmark the permalink. 4 Comments.
joey asher | misunderstoodsunshinekid 
Nice to see you post.
“2 days of Leaders’ Retreat (where I’ll share my heartbeat and vision with the R-AGE @ GII Leaders!), from 30-31 Dec; I thank God for new leaders.”
Your heartbeat and your vision, or His heartbeat and His vision? =)
hello WW,
it’d be arrogant to say His heartbeat and vision, no? but how does He communicate? through me. How did i get this heartbeat and vision? through Him by prayer and understanding the Word. God gives us the wisdom to plan based on what we know, how we are made and what we have experienced. (:
i’d avoid using, “God said this to me” or “God told me this”, when i can because, personally, it’s spiritually presumptuous; i dare not speak on behalf of God. i can only speak humbly and pray that it truly is a part of God’s will for the ministry. but hey, whatever i can conjure and imagine, and whatever my heartbeat and vision is, all comes from God eventually. i dare not take credit for anything.
just thought i’d clarify that. but let’s not get into semantics. whether it’s His or mine or yours, at the end of the day it’s all about Him. (:
j.
Hi yeaps,
I agree with most of what you said. And yes, I think it might be presumptuous to tell a person that ‘God told me so’ especially if God can speak to the person directly etc.
I guess my comment was made along the lines of: there are certain elements that are always on God’s heart – His people, for instance – so there’s a certain confidence that these things are part of His heartbeat (though of course the route that one takes might not necessarily be His plan). Yes, I do believe that you prayed and consulted His Word, but I guess I, personally, was wondering: If one is in tune with His heartbeat, and by faith, believes that God spoke through His prayer (and after confirming it against His Word and His people), can’t I say with a certain amount of conviction and faith that it is His Plan, His Vision and His Heartbeat since they weren’t mine to begin with? *I’m really not trying to say that this is the correct interpretation of get into quibbles over semantics*. I was just wondering about how faith should kick in in such situations.
And yes, everything is truly for Him, and His glory.
well, time will tell. hehe. i’m trusting God to be faithful to His ministry! (: