Rubbing Shoulders

Just came back from morning prayer meeting.

Thank God for His presence.

But the thing I want to share isn't about how wonderful His presence was or the spiritual breakthrough I experienced.

It was an encounter with a man.

Pastor Melvyn called us to pray by gathering in groups of three or four to pray through a list of items. I had the honour of being paired up with an elderly couple. The man had such a gentle and fatherly presence about him that I was immediately put at ease. I can't really express it, it had to be experienced. He didn't share much, but his prayers for himself and his G12 men exuded such deep empathy and humility, that one cannot but help feel like he is in the presence of God in the midst of this man's prayers.

He was probably in his late 40s, or early 50s, but he prayed and asked the Lord that he would not do displeasure in His sight, and that he would walk right before the Lord. When he prayed for his members and named every one of them, he did not pray with zealous words, but simple petition of the heart for the health and relationships of his members.

I left feeling deeply impressed within my soul. He didn't share anything great or give a majestic vision, he simply revealed his heart.

That is enough for me and for God to speak into my heart.

I know that the Lord is impressing upon my heart once again, that the greatest, are not those who use clever words and wise theology on the pulpit or as a leader, but those who understand and know the heart of God. That truly indeed, I can give my life for another man, but without love, it is nothing.

But it is of deep character and intimacy with my Lord that I proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.


"And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God."

1 Corinthians 2:4, 5

then when the prayer meeting ended, he just gave me a pat on the shoulder and said,"Nice to have you, Aaron, with our prayers."

I really left, feeling touched by the love of a father. :)

A Life More Ordinary

There is something about doing mundane things.

Like laundry, clearing your room, mopping the floor, filing your stuff... you know what I'm talking about. Things that you thought you hate to do. Things that you'd leave it to your mum or your maid to do while you do the "more" important things i.e. watch tv.

Well, I just bought a couple of guitar polish and oil restorer as I decided to really give my guit a good shine today. I got home, unzipped my guitar bag and pulled out my guit, which I had de-stringed a week ago. Slowly and lovingly, I sprayed the polish onto a cloth and began to rub it on my fret board. Then, after it had dried, I applied a layer of oil or what they call fret board conditioner onto the dark rose wood. After leaving it to soak in the oil for a while, I removed the excess oil with a cloth.

Viola! I've never seen my fret board's rose wood so rich in colour before! It's like one of those extreme makeover epsiodes when the relatives start to cry when they first see their loved ones transformed! Ok, I'm exaggerating a little, but I was still very impressed with the results! No, I didn't cry, but my guitar really looked like it had a makeover. Cool...

But in the midst of it, I felt the Lord wanted to drill in an important lesson in my life. I've never been a good maintenance person in my life. I like to touch and go. Do the "important" stuff. Never enjoyed doing laundry until I was in Uni, when I was forced to do my own laundry. But strangely, these things have a deep therapeutic effect on me.

I didn't realise it until now, that doing laundry was in some ways, my way of finding relief from my fast-paced life. So, it was with cleaning my guit. It helped me to take a break in my whole routine, gives me a breather from the grind of having to deal with so many things at once.

It's a good, brainless task. :)

But I also realised that I had been so concerned with the results, I had missed out the important part of the journey, which is the process. I'm so caught up with success, with wanting to achieve results in the shortest possible time, that I had forgotten to enjoy the process of my labour. Doing laundry and cleaning the guit, helps to give me a sense of reality and brings me down to earth sometimes. It helps me to remember that I have to slow down, and drink in the ordinariness of life. That it's really simple, and still very much alive. That it's not a set of to-dos but a real journey.

It'll be sad, one day when I've reached the peak and I've forgotten the flowers along the road, the animals I've seen and the people I've journeyed along with. Really sad.

In God's kingdom, the results are secondary, the journey is primary. The results are temporal, but the relationship is eternal.

I used to think that I want to achieve this and acheive that, and be successful and all but God has finally come to make me realise, that in the midst of all who wants to be great, it is the ordinary that counts.

"Apollos planted, Paul watered, but it is God who causes growth."

A poem for my Beloved

You are the air that I breathe...
the water that I drink...

the sun in my eyes...
the rain on my face...

I lay face down on the desert sand...
Desperate for a relief for my parch dry soul...

release me from my chains...
the drone of the flesh...

your love is a spring upon my soul...
the fountain of youth that tingles my lips...

need is a word too shallow for You...
desire is a flame too dim for You...

I lay down with my face to You...
waiting... longing... yearning...
For You.

Fear the Stitch...

Here's a pic of my evil stitich that bites metal for breakfast and tires for dessert...





fierce right...?

Now... I've got you...

Caught this some time ago when I was coming home one night...

For those of you who are not in the loop, it's my neighbour's cat, which I've been trying to snap in a sleeping pose...

When the camera clicked, she woke up with a start and stared blankly at me... I wished I had captured the expression... it was so funny... hahaha...

but of course, animal rightists would say I had been cruel to wake the little kitty up... :P

ah well... you can't please every one...