Making A Difference

Disappointments…

If it has been my passion, why is it dying? If it has been what I aspired to do as a ministry, why is it fading? Am I disappointed with situations or life itself? No denying my failures in my job. I am no parent, therefore no experience. I am no certified teacher, therefore no hands-on.

“Spare the rod, spoil the child” What, then, is expected of me? A teacher? A mother? All in one? Don’t expect to throw your child to the teacher, and let her do all the disciplining when all the parent does is spoil him by not spanking him when a mistake is done. Time is the factor. Have you got enough time for the kiddos in your hands? If I am in the liberty, all I want to do is spank them hard! All I want to do is whack them out of their skins to make them realize how irritating it has been.

Disappointments stay with the fact that expectations are piling, and responsibilities are mounting. Yet achievements are out of discussion. To top that up with a troubling medical condition, I am hoping I won’t go into a fit, haha.

Stage Two…

17^th October this year and that of last year has a similarity but yet are different in many ways. He followed me home with the intention of sharing his dad’s testimony in cell, but it sure was a blessing in disguise, as he get to have dinner with my family, hehe.

Meeting the parents may have been on this same date, but the outcome is a total heaven and earth difference. I didnt foresee it coming so soon since Stage One was just a month ago. But I guess God has His plans. With my medical condition, I too, am somehow hoping things would speed up. The similarity is different after all. I pray for the destination. Lord, please be there. Positive as it may be, I still ask Your blessings. AMEN!!

Cell Leaders’ Intern Training…

My first response was to send an sms to Affryll CLIT was great fun, superb, wonderful, yet a humbling eye opener… Thanks for sending me, haha… Although it may be too much to record, the 2 keypoints I gathered from this training is to be OUTWARD LOOKING (as a cell) and to have a SERVANT’S HEART (as an individual and as a leader).

I really do not know what to expect in ths training, but I agreed to gor it right away when Affryll asked me if I was willing. I may have told Connor that I was not ready, perhaps will only agree to it next year. But since I made a promise to Connor, it is not right to disappoint him. All the more when the need arises. I promise to try my best! Therefore, the adventure begins, haha.

It was a great preparation of the heart when I had the opportunity to listen to Rev. Edmund Chan’s sermon on tape in the car on the way there. The whole message was on SERVANTHOOD, distinguishing it from LEADERSHIP. True enough, Pastor Seng Fei reiterated that to be a leader, we have to first learn to be a servant. How true can that be. Learning how to effectively carry out the 4W’s was also a good exposure, and reason why it is not appropriate to strike off the “welcome” session. I now have a few new ideas for “welcome” when I am duty.

Hands-on experience on how to prepare communion. A skit session on how to deal with situations that may arise in the cell. One taking the role of a cell leader, naother the role of a cell intern and the remaining 2 as cell members who create problems, and both the leaders were supposed to handle the whole “cell” situation. Hands-on experience on how to do ministry, body-catching during altar call. All in all, it was great fun, minus the tests of water shortage due to a burst pipe nearby. No water was bad enough, He added an electricity cut to the test, haha. Pastor SF decided to settle the problem by getting us to drive back to Dream Centre (DC) for the rest of the session.

My cell members prayed for me the day before regarding 2 issues. Openness of the heart to the training, and a touch from God in terms of my medical condition. What a confirmation!! On the first day itself when the lesson was on worship, Andy was called upon to lead a mock worship session like that in the usual cell meetings. I don’t think it was any coincidence when he sang the song Through It All by Hillsongs. I am carried in everlasting arms, and through it all, He’ll never let me go.

Another part of the practice was to pair up and release words to our activity partners. It has to be the Lord, because how would a new found friend know anything about me going through “rough times”?? The word released for me was that “the Lord will be with me despite the rough seas I am crossing.”

A day or a hundred?

One day is better than a hundred

Yet a day is hard to get by

That one day is what I have dreaded

Yet respecting the principles you stood by.

Respecting you is one thing I pledged

Your family never excluded from the batch

For if the Lord wills my future

Here with, you and I will begin an adventure.

The assurance you gave speaks a thousand

The comfort you offered means a million

The temporary gap of separation

Is, above all, a test of my faith and submission.

A day or a hundred?

Either one, I dread

A month or a year

Both of which I fear.

But fate will lead us back

When it is meant to be

And love will hold us true

When it is ours to see.

Should it happen otherwise

To God I surrender, it sure is nice

Wishing my blessings upon you

For the journey He will pave you through.

A day or a hundred

In the Lord’s purpose you rest

Although distance is what I dreaded

Obedience deserves to be blessed.

Our paths have met

Because of fate

We will stand the storms

Because of faith.

And in Christ we know

We will meet again.

Written by Elaine Teo

Inspired by Love

Dated 14 October 2008

Protected: 我尊重你。。

THE JOURNEY THROUGH LOVE

It’s a wild, wild road of romance

On the journey of good or bad times, it depends

Either the willingness to work towards

Or the folding of arms and sitting backwards.

The journey better than the destination

True, yet not completely accurate

It’s time for humble confession through conviction

That it is only for You, my Lord, I am desperate.

People stare, people snare

But my experiences, what do they share?

Friends talk when they hear, good friends gossip when they assume

All the more when they know nothing, it makes me fume.

Honour and respect is part of life

Ephesians 6:2 clearly commands    

Whether you are a husband or a wife

It is only wise to satisfy that demand.

Love hurts when you have to let go

But you have to when God says so

When obedience is better than sacrifice

You sure wouldn’t want to pay a high price.

The road of obedience satisfies

When the face of the Father curves an upward line

The decision of love exemplifies

The overwhelming blessings I could ever find.

The blessings double over

The tears never hover

The finest treasure, the purest gem

Is when I found, in you, the love more than a friend.

Written by Elaine Teo

Inspired by Love

Dated 8 & 9 October 2008

Protected: 对不起。。

100 天…

100天的乐与不乐真的是差很多。。快乐的100天，过得特别快。。不乐的100天，慢得像100年。。不知不觉，昨天，（也就是10月3号）已经是“第100天”了。。这100天里，我真的学会了不少东西。。我终觉得，快乐，是靠自己双手，自信和努力去争取。。

其实，我也没有特别去记算这个日子。。今早，我的手机reminder一响，我就打开眼睛send一个sms。。本来想睡回去，可是在我想起昨天去医院的情况，我就睡不下去了。。我的sms已经send了，可是他有没有做到，我就不知道。。我开始胡思乱想。。 想了一段时间，我才发现到原来我已经达到100这个数目了。。

快乐的100天就这样过去了。。那不乐的100天，我要怎么熬下去呢？

I Like…

Thanks for sharing, Grace

Discoveries…

Talents and abilities are meant to be tapped, nurtured and maintained. I never knew that today’s discoveries were even possible. I didn’t expect the unexpected today. I was told that we would be going out for a replacement “makan” with Ush kakak (and perhaps 宝仪)，which I couldn’t make it yesterday.

When I found out that it will only be the 2 of us, I panicked. It was going to be a long day out, and I wasn’t really ready to be pushing all the way. Well, I have to make do with the situation. Stories cut short, half of the time, he pulled me along, and the other half of the time, I was wheeling myself.

A Spinal Chord Injury victim of C5/C6 is paralysed chest down, but yet half of the time he can be pulling me along. I am amazed. I am not trying to “blow him up”, but I have to admit that he really beat me 10 times to this. Shame on me, haha. Conclusion: Never try, never know. At least I can prove my parents wrong when they emphasize the benefits of a non disabled partner for me. Ooh thanks dear, for today Of course, I will never forget the “accident” that happened, but I’m fine. I am not going to let that spoil the fun.

We took the LRT to and fro. Before we board the return train, I just casually highlighted my curiosity on how the LRT works. U-turn at the end of the line, literally? Do the passengers get down and switch trains? There he is with his mischiefs. Instead of boarding the return train, he took me on a ride right down to Gombak. Haha. Quite an experience, having to find out that the train is not always up, and the train does not You-turn.

** Discovery #1 ~ Without pressure to rush for time, I could actually now go shopping, even with disabled friends (without my parents). ON MY OWN!

** Discovery #2 ~ A KL girl like me only finally knows how the LRT works.*sigh* lack of exposure.