A New Responsibility

Officially became the co-leader of a sub-ministry team in the church. DOCS coverage. Basically we take photos and videos, archieve them, and then filter and edit the photos before passing them to the Web team and the Publications team. It has been so long since I actually lead something. Recalling those days in the Boys' Brigade back in secondary school, leading was a natural thing. Got used to following after I left school I guess. It's time to step up and take the lead again. Deep down in my heart, I want to channel everything that I know to all the members in the team. I want to build a powerful DOCS team that can really document and showcase God's work and glory to the world outside the church. God, use me as You will.

Post-Drinking

I will probably never drink again.

So I met up with a close friend of mine, and we went shopping at Kroger. He suddenly suggested to buy beer and drink together as we share about our lives. Since I'm already of age, I casually agreed. But I have never liked to drink since I was young. I tried a few types of beer and wine before, and I always regretted drinking afterwards. I thought things might change as time passes. Turned out I was wrong.

Initially we wanted to buy a bottle of red wine because I told him I always added the red wine in Sprite when I was young and it tasted really good. But in the end we decided to buy some apple-flavored drink with just 5% alcohol in it since we need to go to Morning Prayer the next morning. Guess what? My face was red and my head ached after drinking not even half of the bottle. He looked at me with his mouth opened and eventually just laughed. At that moment, what I could think of was just, "I shouldn't have drunk this."

I never thought a little bottle of apple-flavored drink could affect me that much. Maybe there is just something bothering my mind right now. To be honest, I did a really stupid thing lately. And I feel really dumb whenever I think about it. Sigh. When will I ever learn.

Anyway, God's grace is enough. But I will probably never drink again.

p.s. waking up in the middle of the night, and I'm just sitting here not knowing what to do.

Torrential

One thing that I always fail is probably to update my blog. It's funny how I'm always full of random thoughts but I never care to jot them down. A few months after Spring, I finally decided to come back and drop a post. Hopefully a few years later when I look back, this will be worth it.

So !gnite Conference was awesome. Met with so many people from HMCC Chicago and HMCC Austin. Serving during this conference was so intense, especially when the lighting was so fancy. Of course it looked nice, but taking photos was such a difficult job. Capturing precious moments in the dark...tough. But thank God it was a great Conference. Gained so much from it.

Summer was spent with church community. With nothing to do every day, I just walked around the campus and talking to random people that I know. Went to church almost every day to help with random things. Jogged with CSMP teams for a few times, and even played frisbee with Asia Mission Team once. Haha...such a chill and fun summer. Weather was great, pictures turned out awesome. Officially fallen in love with the community here.

Fall semester started before I realized it. Time passes too fast. Taking 14 credits seems so little, but it is crazier than any of the semesters before. With two lab courses in hands, homework seems like an infinity. Weekends become the busiest moments of the week, and life group on Wednesday becomes the best place to take a break. The first midterm passed a week ago. Turned out better than I expected. Indeed, in the midst of everything, God is always faithful. He is and will always be my provider. With that I stay contented.

Undergrad Retreat this year was themed Torrential. Let It Rain prayers were thrown up into heaven, and hands held tight together knowing that He always answers. It was great forming all the bonds in between life groups. Seeing how God transforms people is amazing. People coming to Christ is, I quote Pastor Seth, the greatest miracle on Earth. So many Chinese students came to know Christ. My heart was moved. Deeply. There is hope in China after all.

Malaysian government banned the use of the word "Allah" in the Christian newspaper "The Herald". Sounds ridiculous to me. We have used that word to refer to our God in Bahasa for so long. Sigh. This issue raised so many problems in Malaysia now. Hopefully things will settle down and people will be reunited again. I strongly believe God is transforming Malaysia still.

Last thing. I'm amazed by a girl that I recently got to know. She saw one of my photos on Facebook and asked if I used just a tripod or with a filter as well. Man, that has never happened before. I mean, there are a lot of good photographers in the church, but most of them focus more on portraits. I'm never a portrait photographer. But I love landscapes! And using ND filter to capture the flow of water...it is one of my fondest techniques. I've always found it fun to talk to anyone about photography, but this time something clicked in my heart. Chatting with that girl makes me realized the many similarities between us. Too many. And she gave me such a good first impression. Pastor Seth preached on a sermon related to Relationship right after I got to know that girl. It's so funny, but I always ask myself, how do I know when is God's timing? Weird as it is, I always hope that my wife in the future can be a person who has the same passion for photography, travelling, nature...etc. God, could this be the girl? Whatever it is, I pray that you help me to do things in a Godly way. Trim me and shape me to be a man of God. #More of You, Less of Me