Life.

1:48am- listening to some Tony Anderson music that Symphony introduced to me the other day; It’s that time of the year again when I do some reflection, not for the world to know what happened in my life, but for my own sake, to know whether I’ve grown a little wiser as time passes by, to know if I’ve become a better person in this life, and most importantly to know if I’ve grown in my love for God. & I just realized that I’ve not blogged for two years. There won’t be many pictures in this blogpost (walao I just realized no one in this world uses blogspot anymore, this shall be my last post here man) so yes, just my thoughts being typed out.

There are a couple of major things that I’m thankful for this year…

1. University Life

I’m finally in University after taking a long break from studies. Most of my friends are going to graduate already but I’ve still got another three more years. It’s quite a struggle to know that I’m still not exactly enjoying what I’m doing to the fullest (or is there even such a thing). There are days that I come home thinking why the heck am I still studying this course. Then I’m being reminded every single day of the bigger picture- I may not know why I’m being placed here, but I know it’s not for me but for the bigger Man who is sovereign over my life. However, I’m thankful that I managed to get a full scholarship pursuing a degree in Civil Engineering. It has helped ease some financial burden off my parents as I know how hard it is for them to earn money just to support the family. I’m also thankful for the few friends I have in my uni, I still have a lot of work to do this year, not even sharing Christ with them. After completing my first year here, may this be a reminder to me that I still have lots of work to be done and I should not waste my uni life.

 2. Teacher Life

This year has been pretty good in terms of sowing lots of time into my student’s life and reaping the harvest in them achieving results, being able to share with them about Christ and them being thankful to me to even leave a small impact in their lives. It’s really these things that keep me going in doing what I do. Maybe a short story about the few students that I’ve focused on this year…

i.  Roy

The Thai boy that I’ve taught for almost two years. He was actually my very first one-to-one student that I’ve taught. Mad proud of him after the many hours spent with him, he was able to get pretty good results for the subject that I taught him. I wrote about him on my facebook post a couple of months back. His mom contacted me to teach him for his college again so I might be doing something that’s not wrong. Praise God indeed! (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151682062666257&set=a.405963846256.205801.547831256&type=1&theater)

ii.  Kristen

The Sunway girl whom I call her my “xiao mei mei”. It was her PMR this year so most of my time spent was to teach her. I’m thankful to be able to teach her as she has taught me a lot of things in my life. Though she’s only 15 years old, I’m glad that I can talk to her about God even at her age right now.

iii.  Yoong Shen

I call him the champion because I remember asking him to tick the topics that he didn’t know for his Add Maths (this was two months before his IGCSE exam) and he ticked almost every single chapter. In my mind I went ‘oh boy how are we gonna do this’, but I told him not to give up and his perseverance paid off- 2 months of hardcore Add Maths and he managed to almost get an A(2 marks to an A). That’s crazy! Appreciate the Sunday breakfast that I have with you while teaching you bro.

iv.   JT

The second champion whom I taught Physics for about 3 months before his final IGCSE exam. Pretty funny dude and it was a good experience teaching him!

v.  Darren

Currently teaching him for his college syllabus. Am glad that he managed to pick up the pace in his studies as he didn’t do Add Maths in secondary school, phew hard work does pay off.

Every single student plays an important role in my life. I spend hours every week this whole year teaching them. It has taught me tons as an individual, much to learn. On the plus side, I’m also being able to save up some money for my future and also being able to help to contribute a little to my Grandpa’s medical fees. My passion for educating the next generation hasn’t wore off yet. My goal is not to just help them get the A’s, but to help them to be a better person, build them up to have better character in this life. I truly believe that getting all the A’s in the world does not prove much.

3. Skyward Life

A significant part of my life this year was joining Mhan and Myue to play in a band together. I’m extremely thankful to be able to serve our God with the passion that we have, constantly reminding each other of why we’re doing what we’re doing. Having like-minded people around me and being able to sharpen each other for the glory of God has been amazing journey. We’ve barely started in this journey so here’s to many years ahead. Soli Deo Gloria, Colossians 3:23- We give the glory skyward.

4. Church Life

I’m thankful for the people that God has called me to shepherd. This year has been tough due to a lot of transitions. I’m thankful for every single individual that has been put in my life. I’m constantly reminded of the gospel and it has to be preached to others because this is my calling in this life as a disciple of Christ. Also, for the DG that I’m in, that I can be accountable to this bunch of strong men in my life. Without them, I really don’t know how I would survive this year.

5.       High School Life, which never ended

Being a kampung boy, I’ve never really gone for an overseas holiday before. This year I was blessed by my beloved mommy to head to Melbourne to spend some time with my friends. A couple of us decided to make Australia our meeting point as we were spread at different places of the world. Truly appreciate the friendship that I have with this group of friends.

6.   Life

I’m thankful for life, that I can breathe another breath right now. I thank God for His grace every single day. I remember the feeling when I felt like dying when I had dengue, to think about it, I could have died that time because I was only admitted after at least a week since I got the fever. Another major event that happened was the death of Aunty Irene. Never thought that her time would come so soon, but I’m glad that she’s no more in pain and suffering in this life. She has definitely played a huge role in my life. There are a lot more things and people that I’m thankful for. The friendship built over the past year is just God-given. To the handful friends that I’ve got closer with this year, know that I appreciate you being in my life. To my family, love you all to bits.

Reflecting back on this year, I ask myself this, “Whatever I’m pursuing now, does it matter when The Day comes?”

I wake up every single day and most of the time I wonder, why the Almighty Sovereign God would choose to save me and use a sinful flawed and wretched man like me for His work.  I really don’t know why. All I know is that I’m living in His grace that I do not deserve at all. Knowing this humbles me to the core, to know that I’m not superman and I need a Saviour to save me from my sinful self. On that final day, I wish that I can say that I’ve fought the good fight of faith.

It's 5.15am, I should sleep.

*vanwasere. (: