The Importance of Preparation

[This story was inspired after hearing from my friend's kid, who is in Primary six now and taking part in inter-school track and field. Hey, I took part in one before too! More than that, the experience was totally unforgettable...]

The $5 "rooster challenge"

In the beginning, there was a rooster...

Well, not a real rooster, but a piggy bank rooster. It stood tall on our form teacher's table, right in front and in the full view of everyone in the class. The rooster was made of transparent plastic and stored all the coins that the pupils in the class had donated since the beginning of semester. It was about two-thirds full of one cent and five cent coins.

I gazed at it one day and challenged myself, "If I win the A-girls individual champion, I'll donate not one cent or five cent, I'll donate $5!!" 'A-girls' means all the girls in Primary 6 in my School.

A few months later, a crisp $5 note sat comfortably in the rooster piggy bank, in the full view of all, especially in the full view of the one grinning from chin to chin, because what she set out to do, she did it! I came in first in my division for 100m, 200m, shot put, high jump and four by one relay. And hey, $5 was quite a big sum for a 11-year-old then.

The after-glow or was it the after-math?

If you think this blog post is to show off the trophy, actually, that's only half of the story... This trophy also reminded me of my subsequent failure, and an important lesson behind it.

After winning the individual champion in my School, I was naturally chosen to represent my School in the inter-school track and field events. I was totally ignorant of the HUGE challenge ahead and did not take the trainings very seriously. Well, I did turn up for the trainings and did my best. Perhaps I wasn't mentally prepared or did not have any exposure to inter-school events to realise the challenge that was ahead of me. I don't have vivid memories of the trainings, which goes to show that these trainings did not really matter big time to me. Sigh... ignorance is not always bliss >_<

That fateful day came. I took part in the 200m heats. The energy I felt at the event that day was tremendous. Ok, I'm talking about the energy around me, not that I just drank some energy drink or something O_o The athletes were so... were so... in good shape and full of confidence. They have that look of "this is it - the day I've been training for". I felt so out of place! I must be out of my mind and lost sight that it's a competition I was going for, not a walk-a-jog funamania. I think I was defeated even before I started running...

After the gun shot, I ran with all my heart, only to see my fellow competitors fly past me. I think I vomited after the run. Too much pressure and too much butterflies.. >_<

Turning failures into lessons

Yes, I totally flopped. The champion flopped.

Curtain.

Oh, it's not over yet... I must reflect and glean lessons from it. "I did prepare for the race what...", I pondered... But yes, I realised I did not prepare in a way to win the prize. I did the 'sloppy' preparation of turning up and thinking I am preparing but really I'm just going through motion...I took it way too casually... I did not train in a way to win the prize!! The training is the hard work, but the greater challenge was my mentality and outlook towards the competition...

There is something called, "it's too late". What can I do on the day of the race when I am so ill-prepared in the face of the challenge? Can't go back in time and salvage myself... I can only learn from it and do better the next time. I was given time to prepare yet I did not treasure it. Ok, learn and move on with greater resolve and wisdom!

Learning forward...

The extent such lessons hit me is the extent I will learn, do something about my life as I move forward. If I still don't get it or gloss over it, or worse, justify and push the responsibility to others (the sun was too hot, my leg was painful, the coach is too laid back etc), I will surely face the "it's too late" realities again. If I live my life numb to "it's too late" realities, it will be akin to drinking poison myself but hoping someone else will die from it!

Interesting how simple life experiences can dish out nuggets of truth... if only we learn and take heed... As we grow older, we do not have many more years to learn... the window of life gets narrower and narrower.... we can't count on 'next time will be better' because we lose some things (possessions, relationships, opportunities) permanently in the course of it... Some losses can't be reversed... So may we give our best in every situation! 8-)

Time passes by quickly. Events come and go. It is human to forget and get drowned in the hustle and bustle of life. I guess that's why some people are not so mature as they should be at their age because they let life's precious lessons pass by them without really learning. They will need to be responsible when one day they realise it all, if that day comes at all. Perhaps they might say, "How come no one told me so?" or "I should have known better..." or perhaps they are just happy to settle with a 'primary-six-trophy-mentality' and not reach higher.

Whenever I see a rooster piggy bank, may it be a kind reminder to myself of life's precious lessons- that of preparation- to live my life in a way to win the prize!

Until You come... how long?

One year...

I remember the day when my cell group leader challenged me to pray about taking up a leadership role in my church. We were sitting on a double-deck bus and she popped the question. I gave her the classic goldfish-eyed look. Who me? I cleared my throat and ensuring no disrespect in the tone of my voice, I replied,"Oh if you need help to organise events, I could help..." (I thought I stood out in her eyes because I was the one who would organise outings lah, makan lah etc). I paused, leaning to hear her response. Did she just said what she said?

Smiling and in all calmness, she repeated, "no, no, I'm talking about challenging you to rise up to be a leader." I squirmed in my seat and gulped. After some talking through and praying, I said a feeble yes. Afterall, there were two other interns who said yes and jumping into this with me. I'm not alone! >_< I went through formal internship classes and if I remember correctly, I was put to lead even before my internship classes were over, as the cell group was "too pregnant" with eager members =D

We multiplied from two groups into three groups. The cell leaders graduated from campus ministry and moved on. Three green green cell leaders said yes, rose up and led the newly formed groups. What a blast!

Two years... and then Five years...

So I led the cell group for two years... when it was time to graduate, they needed more manpower, or so I thought :p. I was challenged to be a cell supervisor. I still remember sitting at the sofa seats at YIH. My pastor talked to me about rising up to be a cell supervisor and shared his heart for the campus ministry. I listened intently and remembered asking him a crucial question on my heart...

I said, "But I do not have a calling, is that ok?" He asked me, "Do you have a heart for the people? for the young undergraduates?" I brightened up. I said yes and was quite relieved that this works too - that I don't have to have a 'calling' - I guess I was still growing as a believer and couldn't quite figure out this calling thingy. Sometimes calling is as simple as having a heart for where God wants you to be...

It was something to say yes to one or two years... it's quite something to say yes to five years of commitment to serve. I prayed and thought about it VERY seriously.

Until You come...

Well, my past encounters with the one year, two years and then five years sorta prepared me for what I am into now. Sorta...

The time frame now is not one year, not two or five years, but until Jesus comes... not leadership or internship - but becoming... becoming the Bride of Christ before Jesus my coming Bridegroom God, son of God before God the Father, engaging my heart in intimacy-based intercession as a House of Prayer... for I was made to relate with God and partner with Him... I can't get over this! I was made to relate with God and partner with Him... I can't get over this!! I was made to relate with God and partner with Him...

That's it. And I'm going for it! May I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus...

Go Higher

I was tossing and turning... on my feet... thinking over the issues of a friend. In the midst of the grasping and pondering, I heard a still small voice prompting me... "go higher"...

Truly this is the lesson I am to learn through what I see. Before I sink myself to the point of drowning myself in people's issues - people I care so much for - God whispered into my heart... go higher...

Got obstacles? Got trials? Don't stoop so low and so fight for your own rights. Take a step back... and go higher... not so much sweeping things under the carpet, but learning to carry one's heart.

O Lord, teach me Your ways I pray... and to You who can touch even the coldest and hardest of all hearts with Your love, I cast all my cares...

A Voice crying out of the wilderness

Did you know.. the text of chapter 40 of the Book of Isaiah (Isa. 40:3) corresponds to the text of the 40th book of the Bible, which is the first book of the New Testament (Matthew 3:1)

Isaiah 40:3 -
"The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

“ Prepare the way of the LORD;
Make straight in the desert
A highway for our God." "


Matthew 3:1 -
"In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying:

“ The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘ Prepare the way of the LORD;
Make His paths straight.’”

These are the words spoken by John the Baptist who announced the coming of the Kingdom of God and the Gospel.

WOW!!!

Can't get over this...

The God who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him (Zech 12:1) ... He wants to show you what is on His heart... He wants to share with you what He is thinking about...

Can you get over this?

The Lord GOD says He would do nothing, that's right, nothing... unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets. (Amos 3:7) I suppose God is looking for people who would hear His voice and be courageous enough to speak it forth. Why? Because God wants us to know! We can know! He wants many many of us to know! Prophets are people who would speak forth what is on God's heart.

We see God's heart, once again, in Jeremiah 3:15, written in the context of the last days where He wants to make known His hearts, His ways, His thoughts to us by raising up shepherds according to His heart - "And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding."

Have we seriously thought about what this means? God wants us to know!!! We can know!!

To those who would take God and His word seriously, He shares the secret of His heart. (Psalm 25:14) Can you just imagine that a divine God wants to show you what is deep in His heart, His thoughts... 1Cor 2:9-10 makes it even clearer:

“ Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,

Nor have entered into the heart of man

The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit.

CAN YOU GET OVER THIS???

"...in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets." (Rev. 10:7) The LORD mighty in battle, the sovereign One who sits on the throne and reigns over all, shares every of His thoughts and plans with earthlings...

CAN YOU GET OVER THIS??????????????????????

To me, this is ultimate... In Gen 18:17, "..the LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing..." God, that you would say, 'shall I hide from [fill in your own name here] what I am doing..."

Blown away.....

Five Questions Forerunners need to answer in the last days...

1) Who is Jesus at His second coming? Psalm 2:10-12

We need to develop understanding of who Jesus is so that we will welcome Him and not resist Him (out of ignorance).

2) Why is the judgment of God so severe?

In Matt 24:6, Jesus says that "these things must come to pass..." and many will die through the tribulation in the End-Times (Rev. 6:8; 9:15). We cannot 'pray these away'. Do we understand why the judgment of God is so severe?

3) How does God administer His justice?

Do we know the way of God as the righteous Judge and thus partner with Him?

4) What does God want (as He shakes the nations in the last days)? Haggai 2:6-9

Are our lives aligned to what God wants and is looking for? God will use the least severe means of judgment (shake all that can be shaken) to bring about the greatest amount of revival on earth (turning to Him).

5) What will happen to the Church? Can we endure?

There will be great deception and tribulation and revival in the last days. Isaiah 2 talks about the glory and the terror of the day - glory for the saints (overcomers in Christ) who stand with God, and terror for those who are not on God's side. There will be great demonstration of God's power (Joel 2:23, 28-32; Hosea 6:2-3). Will we stand?

Thank You for giving to the Lord... I am a life... that is blessed!

A heartfelt tribute...to the people who came, who stayed, who stayed, who stayed... and made a difference! All of us need friends and family who stick by us, work through with us, and yes, endure with us in the ugliest moments of human imperfections, or should I say earthly untimeliness... whatever...

Blessed is he who has a friend, for he has struck toto!... i mean, for he has found gold... Here are some of my favourite friend-verses: Proverbs 27:6 - "Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful."; Proverbs 18:24 - "...But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother."

// A certain prophet reminded us to honour you. Many were spurred to action... for love without deeds, what for? Some gave you a water bottle, others offered loving hugs. I stood at one corner of the room and kept the word close to my heart. God, I asked, and kept asking at various junctures all these years, “Show me how to honour her..again and again...”

It was not difficult to see that you are one who loves God dearly, for He opened my eyes to see what only He could see most clearly. And He said, “She is the one who loves Me, and she loves those I love, that includes you!” And so I know you love me... more than words can show, more than actions can tell. Today, and every time I lift up my heart to praise Him for you... I honour you, for you are the one who loves God. I honour and thank you, for loving God and me, and I am one who is blessed!

We have our ups and downs, sometimes not fully being understood. Yet before the clothes get dry in the sun (aka issues resolved), I could feel the love in your heart beaming through you...For you are one who loves God and loves the ones He loves. Thank you!

// You ever told me I meant a lot to you. I never really fully understood what you meant. I guessed I just accepted it and feel gleeful, for I believed your words. Really! Why should I doubt... You are not a chummy sort of friend, and I would even sometimes, as I shared with you candidly, find it hard to relate with you. One moment chatty, one moment sitting beside me and shutting your eyes to rest. At times it’s perplexing, but I just know that I’m going to miss all these traits about you that just make you who you are, if you ever stop being just who you are (I know you won’t change :)

In your household, there is a king, and you are the subject =D (internal joke). Both of you have an one-of-a-kind love story – one that we often relate to in that comic strip. I remembered both of you came up with a love project to bless some of us (see photo!). Your husband proudly told us, “My wife sewed those buttons, couldn’t be me!” He added smugly, “I did the words.” I cherished this gift, even after all these years, for our loving God is still completing the good work in me. He surely has a huge storehouse of buttons for a sheep like meeee! Thank you, and I do remember and am grateful for times you hanged around to talk and cry with...

// Usually one would have the least to say to the one whom you are closest to. So that explains why every paragraph gets shorter and shorter. If you are king David, perhaps I’ll would want to sign up to be one of those mighty men around you. Mighty men don’t need to talk too much. They just do it and think nothing of it. No big deal. Erm, so far, my hit list is full of duh-stunts and nothing near to mighty deeds... someday...someday...Thanks for staying true to God’s calling in your life, and not giving any partial treatment to us but honing us as God would for we are God’s.

To all of you, thanks for staying in the ‘heat of the pan’. You are like the pillars that did what you did because you stayed true to what God has called you, by His grace! I’m one who is blessed. Thank you!