peace . love . joy

Yesterday I went to church attic for KidZ JAM meeting. For I think the first time ever, I was the earliest to arrive. As the merciless sun was heating up every square inch of space, and the emotional air deciding to choke in as many tears as it can before it bursts (hopefully) into rain, the survivor in me desperately searched for shade and air-conditioning.

The cool gem of a sanctuary was found in the level four lift lobby, just outside the worship hall, complete with food! After eating my fill and waiting for the others to arrive, we adjourned back to the children's chapel in the attic that had just been vacated by the group before us for our KJ meeting.

After a serious message and call to serious reflection by A.Mag, we began our meeting proper to discuss the flow of events for the 31st October KidZ JAM + JAM Zone "Campfire" Night. About two hours thereabouts into the meeting, A.Mag left us to continue the planning on our own.

Then Daena said she had to go off first to meet an aunt for tea at her place.

Gabriel told me that I was to follow him later as we'd be having our cell group meeting at his new house (something like a house-warming party). So I said okay, especially since I knew not the way.

Cindy then said she had to first go home to collect the car before she went to Gabriel's.

Gabriel dragged a few of us, Sam Leong, Sam Yew, Chio Bu, Tim Lam to NTUC and the Big Bookshop at Clementi before meeting up with Yap and taking the bus to his new condominium. They actually thought Sam Leong and I didn't know where to get off and wanted to leave us behind on the bus! HAHA! Fooled you! I said I didn't know how to get there; I didn't say I didn't know the name of the condo which was so obviously proclaimed by an obvious sign!

Then Gabriel took us with our heavy stuffs for a scenic tour around his block before heading up to his appartment. Haha! I'm rather good at directions and I do know when we're walking one big round, okay! You can't fool me!

When we finally entered his house, the rest of the group plus Gabriel's family plus a few others were already there..Plus the food! We had sushi, seaweed chicken, nuggets, bee hoon, rice, otak, fried wanton, old chang kee..Man! I'm already salivating at the thought! Yum! I was wondering why I wasn't told to bring any food or drinks, mebe I missed something in some email, but hey! When there's good food, cool drinks plus great company, who cares?

Once dinner was over and we'd all had our fill, Weichen stood up and said it was time we move on to the next segment of the programme. Then she asked Sijia and I to hunt for our presents.

!!!!

I was like "what?!" I so did not expect that! That we were celebrating Sijia and my birthdays that day was surprising. That we had to search for twenty presents altogether in a house that we were entirely unfamiliar with was jaw-dropping. That we got to play a game of treasure hunting was brilliant!

So Sijia and I began our arduous search, and believe me, it was not easy. I mean, can you imagine having to pull out all the umbrellas and feather dusters from the umbrella stand just to find a small pot of Body Shop's Strawberry-scented Lip Balm? And Gabriel stuffing a present into his shorts? By the way, that was wayy gross, man! The presents were super duper well hidden.

Even after finding all our presents, our "ordeal" wasn't over yet. We still had to figure out which gift belonged to whom! Here's my loot:


And our last present was in the fridge in the kitchen! Our really tasty whipped-cream tiramisu cake from Breadtalk. Yum!

I still can't believe F.I.S.H. managed to pull this off! From what I remember, our past attempts to surprise people did not actually work. But this was awesome! I totally did not suspect anything! My goodness! Haha!

Anyways,
thank you, baby, for opening up your home to us and letting us use it for this surprise thingy,
thank you, John & Weichen, for hatching this brilliant plan and actually pulling it off rather well,
thank you, all, for the yummy food, the surprising surprise that I honestly did not expect nor suspect at all, and the awesome company!
thank you, Daena, for the sushi and the pot of strawberry-scented lip balm!
thank you, Timmy, for the shiny pretty golden bangles!
thank you, Nuraini, for making the Christmas-sy red'n'gold (my fav colours =] ) bookmark!
thank you, Hannah & Yipeng, for the awesome bronze diary!
thank you, Weichen, for that really cool golden floral snap mirror!
(I don't know from whom the other gifts came from)

thank you all for this unforgettable pre-birthday birthday surprise =D

God taught me two lessons that night:
Gratefulness & Friendship.

He taught me to be grateful, no matter what. So what if I didn't get that golden watch that I've been eyeing for some time? I've received things that have so much more meaning and are so much more special than that cold cuff-watch. I had sushi that was made personally by a friend whom I love so much. I had a cool diary which I can fill with priceless thoughts and sketches. I had so many golden gifts that really were treasures because they were chosen and made especially for me =]

I am not grateful because God said to be grateful.
I am grateful because I finally am able to see and experience what it means to be grateful:
to really understand and thoroughly appreciate the meanings and motives behind the actions.
(I am so darn taken by Weber!)

What I've received, I can honestly say is far, far better than what I had hoped to get.

I realised that these people really love me.
Stupid, huh, to take so long to realise that? But no, sometimes it'll take forever for a person to understand that he is loved, and even if a person accepts that, time and time again, he might feel otherwise, might even feel unwanted.

God explicitly told me last night that these are the people who are my immediate family in Him. And families stick together through thick and thin. I don't know how many of us really understand that phrase "through thick and thin", but it's something that I've been thinking about recently. These F.I.S.H.y people are the ones who will love me and whom I can run to and find an offered shoulder, a pair of opened arms, a warm smile, a listening ear, a loving word, a pair of feet that will walk with me.

Yes, it took me so long to finally realise that this is my family, but I pray that I will not forget that and everytime I feel unwanted, I will remember this.

Thank you.


p\s: we took this really cool pix in the narrow dining area with the wall-to-wall-to-wall-to-wall mirror =p