@hhChoooo… who sneezed?!?!

I’ve recently been posting more stuff on Multiply than here, one major reason for that is that on some really personal stuff, I can limit the viewing to whom I know. Though not often, its a useful function, plus also its really user friendly when posting comments and photos. It just the “See it all at a glance” kind of convenience. So think my postings here will be less frequent.. If you’re following this, then go to http://choopoot.multiply.com/ for updates

.. 2 days to reckoning.. yikes!

“…that the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as himself.” 1 Samuel 18:1b

In the life of every man, there rarely is a David and Jonathan, whose hearts and soul are so closely knitted and bound, that a man can love another as he loves himself. Kindred spirits.

Truly its even rarer for men today because we find it hard to open our hearts to share with each other, and the tyranny of today’s society and fast paced lifestyle causes a great isolation of souls.

I once heard a godly man telling me that in his whole life, he has had less than 5 of such friends. Souls knitted together by the Lord. I believe that its so true because such friends rarely come by.

And so back in the end of 2004, when I met Yau Chung, I believe God caused our hearts to connect instantly. I remember the first time we had a real good chat was at a TCC at Holland Village and we found we could share so openly and honestly, our hearts burned with the similar passions. From then, we shared this journey.

This brother has a great heart for God, a great desire to love God and his people. One whom I hold in great esteem and love and honour. I do not think for once I’ve had such a close brother in Christ before. I mean, I do have people I know and I’m close to, but when scripture describes a bond as David and Jonathan, I believe this is it.

On Saturday, when YC had to fly to the States as part of his job attachment for the next 3 years, there was a deep sense of loss. I know I’m really going to miss this dear brother very much, and that I’m going to miss the times and things we’ve shared in the last 2 years. I know too that God will continue to knit our hearts in spite of the distance.

So, my brother, my prayers are for you over there and for your family back here. May God continue to bless our friendship and bind us deeper in His love. May it be so that we continue to press on in this race, though in this part of the journey, we may be apart, I believe that God will sustain us through His grace and love. Love you, bro.

Awoke this morning to find myself feeling all funny inside.

A feeling of vulnerability, and felt emotionally raw. Almost like anything could make you weep and cry.. Sounds funny, but it was through this that I felt much closer to God’s heart.

On Friday’s CG, as well as at the CG retreat and with other brothers, I shared that my prayer request was that I could feel again. (basically to be revived) To draw close to God and to feel and touch His heart again.

Its been a long time since I’ve felt “alive” inside.. almost as if my heart had hardened to such a state that nothing moved me. Sunday’s praise and worship no longer ushered me into His presence, sermon messages come across dry. Morning QT was mainly focused on self, and the Word of God.. stale and boring.

But last night after coming back from YC’s farewell party, I just started praying and praising God in song. God’s presence descended and as I came before Him, tears rolled down and I felt such wretchedness before our God. I believe God has heard these brothers’ prayers (Thanks so much!!) and answered them. I called to God for forgiveness. And really felt lifted and cleansed. (one really does not know how much burdens we carry until its lifted off)

Lost in His presence…

Today, during Vision Sunday, as Pastor Kai shared about two major upcoming events.. our Church’s prayer walk and the Global Day of Prayer. What really spoke to me during his sharing was that unless we come to a point where we truly come before God in repentance(or in Ps Ann’s message today.. Remorse without repentance).. in true repentance.. revival will tarry… it will not happen. God IS calling individuals to Himself. And my prayer is that all brothers and sisters will arise to this call to prayer and repentance.. I’m truly looking forward to this saturday. My prayer is we will catch a glimpse of revival..

4 June 2006.

Singapore is going to be part of the Global Day of Prayer.

This is something that stirred my heart greatly when Ps Edmund shared about the Global Day of Prayer, in my mind’s eye, I could see thousands upon thousands of people gathered in one place, interceding for this nation. Its been 5 years since the Vision 2001 movement ended. Unprecedented prayer and unity among the local churches brought about many salvations and stirred the hearts of men then.

This could possibly be something even bigger. A greater move of God, bringing His people to repentance.

Watch this video on the prayer movement happening around the world. Its really moving.

I pray you catch the vision.

Seems like that website has a REALLY slow server. So I’ve posted the dive videos on my multiply site.. you can check it out here

Check out the videos caught of underwater life!

This is one of the Banded Sea Snake. I think its quite a young snake judging by its size.

This is an interesting one, you’ll see some fishes in their natural feeding environment. And their favourite food??
Click here!

And this is of the throngs of glassfish we saw on our cave dives! It was really awesome to see so many tiny glass fish totally shutting out our view of the wall!!

And finally, the Blue Spotted Sting Ray. Really cool!

This is my Video site. Hope to upload more vids in time to come!

Returned from a really great trip. Quite eventful I must say. But I’ll leave that for later.

For now, I’ve uploaded some of the pictures at my photo site and will include more later on this week, am exploring ways to put videos too, coz I managed to catch some vids using my new underwater camera!! (casing rather!)

Yay!

I’m getting increasingly excited about the upcoming dive trip. Going with Seb and Juergen and my dive buddy Aldridge. No doubt this would be one of our more pricey trips, but guess its gonna be well worth it! Its got one of the most interesting itinerary. Wall dives, Cave dive, wreck dive!

Our dive will take us all the way to Phi Phi (which I always wonder if I should pronounce “Ph” as a “F”.. Fi Fi island or Pee Pee island? but since we call Phuket as Poo-cat.. rather than Foo-cat, then I shall pronounce PeePee.) where we will stay for the night and continue our dive the next day.. I’m so very tempted to get myself an underwater camera case, so I can take some pics of those cool stuff we see… ooo…

Well, I’m counting the days…3 days to go… looking forward to some sunshine, massage and compressed air!!!

ITS HERE AGAIN!!

Lunar New Year! Another time of the year to pile on the pounds and get hoarse from the snack binge-ing!

Its also the same time of the year where you meet your relatives again. And they would be asking you some really tough questions… somehow its based on your station in life.

Age: 1-3
They go “Ah!! So cute!” *pinch* *pinch*!

Age: 4-6
They go “Wah grow so fast ah!” *pats on head*

Age: 7-18
They go “Got study hard or not?”

Age: 18-21
They go “So dark now hor, army tough huh?”

Age: 22-25
They go “When you graduate?” followed by “Where your girlfriend?”

Age: 25-now
They still go “When you graduate”… I go “Graduated 5 years ago liao”… then they go “Wah! so long liao hor.. So where’s your girlfriend?”… I go grrr…

Age: 30-married
They go “When you having kids?”

Age: Married with 3 kids
They go “So when is the next one coming?”… and my mouth falls to the floor…

Age: Kids grown up and working
Relatives would probably be long gone.. but I would go to my nephews and nieces and irritate the s**t out of them by asking “When you getting married?”

HAHA!!

So there you have it.. The questions most faced during Chinese New Year!

Have a blessed CNY!!

I’ve always wondered about consumerism and its effects on us.

I’ve always wondered if there is any answer to it.

Think I may have found the answer.

Looks like this is gonna be keeping me busy for awhile!

Pain.

Something we’re all familiar with. Yet pain is also a reminder that where we are, here on earth, is an imperfect world. As the bible says, this IS a fallen world. And pain, suffering is but an outcome of it. And pain is God’s way of telling us that we are in a fallen, imperfect world. Just as bodily pain from stepping on a nail tells us something is wrong, the pain and suffering we feel, also tells us that there’s something wrong with this world.

Dealing with Pain.

The physical body deals with pain by telling us the source of the pain. Pain tells us where the cut, the bruise, the knock is localised. Immediately we treat the wound. If the wound is not treated it festers. Most of us know how to treat physical wounds. What about emotional pain? Emotional pain can be inflicted by caustic words, loss of loved ones, conflicts, unresolved situations, quarrels etc.

There’s no easy way to deal with emotional pain, here I’m offering some practical ways. Note that time DOES help in the healing.

Talk about it.
Talking helps one to deal with pain. As an outlet it allows one to process the experience/trauma. Gradually as one talks about it, one learns to accept the situation. Talking about it with others may also bring new insights and shared experiences.

Cry.
God’s in built mechanism for emotional release. Therapeutic and good for the soul.

Pray.
God knows our hurts and pain. Rest assured that He is there. Pray and ask for comfort, peace and healing. Don’t bother asking for God to take away the pain, or remove you from the situation. We need to go through the process of growing up.

Acknowledge the truth and the pain.
Acknowledging the facts helps. Don’t go into denial of the truth. It only makes the pain last longer. By accepting the truth about the situation will bring one closer to healing.

Engage in activities
Keeping the busy with other activities helps. This is not escapism. Time can heal, and filling your schedule with healthy activities such as exercise and sports helps. Meet up with friends for meals and catching movies will also help. Basically, don’t give yourself time where you become bored and start pondering over hurts. Keeping yourself busy especially at the initial phase of hurting helps.

Choose your attitude.
This has got to be the most powerful thing I’ve learnt about dealing with pain. I believe in choice.
How are you today? Still moping around the house and wallowing in self pity? Feeling sad all day? When going through tough times, I allow myself a max limit of 1-2 days to mope and wallow, moan and groan. Its perfectly ok to feel down. After the day(s) has passed, I ask myself how I want the next day to go. And I would remind myself that I can choose how the day goes. Choose to think positive things. Choose to give thanks to God. Praise Him. What an exercise of the will!

Trusting God
This, of course is the most important. Whatever you are going through, never lose sight of this. Else all things in life would seem meaningless in the midst of the pain and hurt. Trust that God is in full control of the situation and that whatever you are going through is purposed for your good, for your character development and moulding. A wise sister told me, “Sometimes it is just God saying no because its not the best for you.” and I realise that this is true when I don’t get what I desire, be it job, relationship, promotion etc. And ultimately God wants surrender from me.

Many folks tend to allow themselves to feel sad too long and wind up in a depressive state. It can be harmful if allowed to go unchecked for too long. Depression can set in resulting in terrible consequences. So if you’re in this state I’ve just described. Snap out.

My prayer is this will help the hurting.

(Dedicated to those I know who are going thru quite a lot now)

I spent a good afternoon over the long weekend just chatting and sharing with a dear sister.

It was a blessed time, and I really walked away blessed from the conversation. God uses his people to show things about yourself. Things you never knew. Things (issues) you thought only others have. I mean, hey, I thought I knew myself well enough! Guess not.

Seemed that deep inside, there were some deep seated issues - recent, but deep. Camouflaged, stashed aside. Kept from view. I never knew were there.

You know how people become a sounding board for you… when as you share, they help you to see things that you never saw before. A different angle, a new perspective, a revelation. This sister helped me see it. Old wounds. Still raw and fresh as then. I thought it was a matter of the past, that I was already over it. And old wounds surface itself, manifest itself as something new, that you cannot recognise. Only a third party would be able to see it. Commonly it surfaces as an insecurity, self blame, a fear, an anxiety that you could never let go.

The question now is, what next? Its been unveiled. I see the wound, what’s the treatment?

I think I know the answer, I just need the strength to apply the strong medicine… Ouch!

Pre-race: Woke at 3am to get myself ready. Was hoping to fully clear my bowels before the race, therefore the early waking time. Unfortunately, seems like my system is still asleep… will this come to haunt me during the race?

Start of the run

1km: Nice run, very cool morning

2km: Kenyan marathoners came running in the opposite direction! Boy! They are really FAST!! Its such a sight to see the non competitive runners cheer them on!

3km: Sky’s starting to brighten up.

4km: Is it just me or does it seem like more and more people are overtaking me.

5km: Yes, they are overtaking me.

7km: What?! Only 1/3rd the distance!!??

9km: I can feel the blisters forming.

11km: Something doesn’t feel right in the belly….

12km: Something really isn’t right in the belly… I need a toilet, and I need one FAST!

13km: Alas! Porta-Toilets in front of esplanade. Bomb time. Pray they have toilet papers.

13km: No progress… still bombing.

14km: Resume race, feel A LOT LIGHTER!!!

15km: My legs are sore, blisters getting to me.

16km: Nicoll Highway was never this long and this hot!!

18km: Finally, out of the Highway. 3km to go!

19km: Just a little bit more… Back at Esplanade…Hey, that’s the Porta-Toilet I used just now!! heh heh!

20km: So nice to have pple cheering you on. Perhaps its because “Going to die liao” is written all over my face.

21km: My first half marathon.

Race week is here.

The Standard Chartered Marathon. (Half for me tho’)

I feel really ill prepared. My longest run thus far is barely an hour and a half. The whole run would probably be 2 hrs and 20 min. It means I’ll be relying on pure mental strength after about once I pass the 1-1/2 hr point in the run. Oh well, I signed up for it. So grit my teeth, pray for good weather and just run.

Funny when I recall all my past races, there will come a stage during the race, when I will ask myself why I’m doing all this and the thought of giving up is just so real. The limbs go numb, the lungs pant, the lips parched and the heat overwhelms. During those times, I remember always asking God for strength, just to finish the race. Just to reach the End point.

Well, this race, like any other will be no different. We need power from on high!! haha!!