Yeah, served in my first ever ministry on Saturday! Wooo~ And I had to go with an imperfect, ill-laiden body... After shopping, had ice-cream with my mom, and instantly suffered from a sore throat, which leads to fever/runny/blocked nose and eventually right now, a cough. I mean, sheesh, first time serving and down with fever :( Hence on Friday, I swallowed all the meds and lozenges I could so I can serve Him in perfect health. Saturday morning came, and woke up at 7.30am. I nearly lie back down on my warm, cozily tempting bed, but, NO, I was determine to serve Him. Prayed: God, You are the source of my strength! Heal me and remove any illness! All things are possible! Then dragged my weak body out of the bed and prepared to go to serve Him with all my soul and might :) I couldn't back out to the promise and commitment I made.
Reached at about 9.05am, and felt ALOT better. I thought I was late, but apparently so did many people. Haha. And I bumped into Mei Yean! Wow! What a girl! New to church yet already has the passion to serve Him! Kudos to you girl and keep it up yea ^^ So the first thing we did was to blow countless (3000 to be exact) of ballons. Prayed to God to remove the virus/bacteria from my breath... I mean, poor kids. Don't want them to fall sick. After that we had a short briefing for assigning positions. The IC mentioned something about toilet ministry and I went oops. Three hours in the toilet... After a few seconds, I snapped back, asked for God's forgiveness (hehe) and to use the talents that He has given unto me and use them, be it helping kids out in the toilet!!! Hooray, I was assigned as an usher at the back gate (so what if I'm going to miss the service). I guess my talent is to smile, greet and make people's day! Ahahahaha. Make myself sound so noble. Had fun and met fellow helpers from SOT (envision SOT in three years time!) while serving. Oh, some of the kids were sooo much taller than me that led me thinking: WHAT ARE THESE OVERGROWN KIDS EATING NOWADAYS?? I felt so small even though am way way older than them. Laughs. I managed to attend the service with Mei Yean and Carol during our break. The whole auditorium was packed with hyperactive kids! It was fun and the praise was so cute! I love to sing children praise songs! One from Hillsong Kids: Jesus you're my Superhero, You're my star, my best friend. Better than Spiderman... Superman... Batman! Hahahahaha. So cute! (I've got to admit, I know the dance moves to this song. Ahaha)
After serving, while waiting for Jireh (the boy we had to babysit till his mom comes) with Christina, my mom called and said that my step-grandmother was about to passed on. She was on her last few breaths on her bed. My brother picked me up and rushed down all the way from Boon Lay to Punggol. He had to sped and broke several traffic rules. This is when I wish we can teleport or something. Unfortunately, we were too late. She was gone when we reached. An immense guilt came over us. For myself, I wasn't able to visit her due to my exams and that I fell ill on Friday. At that moment, I was indirectly the blame for not being able to see her for the last time. Mom: told you you shouldn't go to church already. You are sick, and so is ah po.
I couldn't teleport, I would have if I could. I tried my best to rush. How was I to know she was really going off. She has been unstable... I'm unable to predict... I felt like the worse grandchild ever at that moment.
She looked peaceful and she had been a peaceful, joyful woman who lived 96 years of fruitful life; gave birth to 11 children and a whole generation after them. She was a part of Mao's Red Army (Yes, Mao Ze Dong). I wasn't close to her, but, I got reminded of how smiley and nice she was, and accepting us into the family (trust me, that took a whole lot of strong will to overcome). I couldn't help to shed a few tears when the undertaker carried her body down, especially when my Aunt wailed - wailing of a true love from a daughter who lost her mother whom she dearly adored. These past two days had been hectic due to the ceremony and attending to guests who attend the wake. I had to display servanthood by cleaning tables, washing this and that and serving the elders. Through the ceremony I learnt alot about Chinese culture and tradition. Sadly, it was a Buddhism ceremony. Yes, she wasn't saved. And that saddened me the most. I really want her to enter God's kingdom and have eternal life with Him. Prayed that somehow... she can... Now, I MUST let my maternal grandmother to receive salvation before her time comes. Honestly, I just can't imagine losing her as I'm extremly close to her. She raised me up when my family went through the "dark" and difficult times. So yeah, really want her to know Jesus and experience God's Agape.
I really really really really really REALLY want to thank my CG for their condolences and going the extra mile to come all the way from Bukit Gombak to Punggol to visit me at the wake. I LOVE them soooo much! Really appreciated their gesture. I thank God for placing these wonderful people in my life =)
Life can be really unpredictable sometimes. I was having fun at church, then the next moment, a tragedy strikes. I guess that's life. But no matter what, God is always with us because He cares. Him caring is the greatest thing of all.
Ah po, you are dearly missed. Chinese New Year/Christmas visitations will never be the same without your warmth and constant-smile.
Ong See (1912-21/06/2008). A beautiful and nurturing mother, and loving grandmother and great-grandmother.
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