Wave of Gratitude

I have officially started school at NUS School of Public Policy since 3 weeks ago, and hence, i have 1.5 beautiful stack of readings and a case study left to cover before my class tomorrow evening. BUT, i've been wanting to blog for so long on a wave of gratitude since the last week or so, so no more procrastination. There'll always be readings, there'll always be case studies.. but my memory lasts for only this long. hehe.

Been feeling very thankful of late, for many many things.. list them here bit by bit in no particular order of priority:

1) LIfe within the church community

I just realized what a great privilege and experience it is to have people from all stages of life and different walks of life to open my eyes to a world that would extend far beyond a life that i'd have had if i'd only hung out with my peers. I have seen a greater reality of what marriage, motherhood and golden age is like, i've also seen how people from different nations, different life experiences have overcome different odds in their lives and been inspired by them. I've watched people from supposedly privileged backgrounds walk humbly, and also those supposedly "less privileged" (in financial sense), walk with dignity and confidence that comes from knowing God. What makes it even better is that when we're together, there's no disparity in status.. we're just all the same, the same children before a loving Father in heaven.

2) Amazing Mentors and Role Models

I have been SO privileged to have before me, living role models of people that fear and love God, who live uprightly in love, humility, strength and grace. People from World Conference, from my School of World Missions, from ENCS , from my schooling days.. I am so privileged to have in my life GREAT teachers, that have taught me invaluable values (hmm) that ground me in life.. teachers that impart not only in words, but through them living out their lives. People who show that it IS possible to live right and lead an impactful life. I've had people that have poured out their lives into mine, as friends and as teachers, bosses and co-labourers. I am just so overwhelmed by the lives of those God has put me with, older and younger, experienced and inexperienced in different things.. I am so immensely grateful to God for them. What a privilege, to be able to call them family and friends! i'm filled with gratefulness and also a sense of "honored-ness"!!

3) An Amazing Family

I had and have a wonderful family, my dad, mum, stepmum, brother and stepsis.. and also my 2 helpers in the past and present. I don't know why but i think God picked the BEST pp ever for my family!! God, thank YOU so much!! i don't know how else to say it, but i am so blessed. Even my father's second marriage is such a miracle.. i don't know how God was able to handpick a family out of the 1 billion people in China to join them to mine.. how amazing it is!!! And my heart is filled and overflowing with gratefulness!!

4) Provision always!

God has always provided for me, even when i least expect it! it makes me want to cry when there are secret wishes that i have that i don't articulate, but HE provides! It reminds me of a time when i came home from school and i saw a tshirt that said "tomato" on my bed. My mother had bought it for me, and i never even knew she knew my nick name in school as "tomato". I was so touched that i cried! haha.. and i love it how God is like this with us.. sometimes we forget that He knows us so well, so He comes along with all these mini surprises that just keeps you reminded that HE is watching over you and no detail escapes Him. He has provided abundantly not just financially, but in so many other ways that monetary provision can't buy, and for that, I am truly grateful. There's no better way to experience provision than through God's hands. No wall street amount of income can ever compare to the joy that comes with seeing provision that comes through Him! Provision that comes not because you earned it, but because Someone really cares about you.

5) Security and Peace

What is the price of a secure being ? How do you measure the value of a peace of mind? Someone mentioned that i seemed so happy all the time (and it honestly never struck me, because i'm really not happy all the time lah) but it just struck me how knowing GOD has really "alleviated" my problem of "kan chiong-ness" and "stressed-ness" since i met Him.  THough i am not entirely worry-free or "peaceful-minded" all the time, i realised that indeed, the security that has been given to me in Christ has provided me a very firm platform on which to stand. I no longer have anything to prove about myself or need to try to defend about myself from false accusations or insinuations. I no longer am tied to the ever changing opinions of people, and i can just focus on living for just One Him. I don't even feel as vindictive as i used to when i feel i've been treated unfairly (i say "as vindictive" because i still get grated when taxi drivers cheat me- THAT, i must confess). For all that i am SO grateful.. because now i know when i do return home to the Lord, the only identity i'll carry home with me, is that of the Child of God. that's all that matters.. no other titles, no other accolades i'll bring with me.

SO many things to thank GOD for, and i'm grateful that i have things to be grateful for!

THANK YOU, GOD for saving me, searching for me, bringing me back home and now still watching over me. There is no better God to serve and live for than the One who gave me life and showed me how best to live it!