Grace & nothing

Not too long ago I listened to a sermon that really spoke to me. I said so because I don't have a great memory. I tend to forget the sermon points the moment the preaching is over. :-p

It was a simple message yet very real.

The pastor mentioned that sometimes the meaning of grace has been altered/diluted

It has become something that always comes with "but you must/should do this this this and this..." It's almost like there is a condition to receive grace. It was never about what we can do but what he can do through us (Phil 2:13).

God's grace is unconditional. Whatever you have done, when you come to Him and repent sincerely, He will forgive you. It is not because of what you have or can do but because he has done all the work. But this does not mean we can continue to do things that are against Him. Instead, because of God's love, we would have this desire in us that will want to please Him and not go against Him.

Human has also created a lot of laws upon ourselves. You can't wear jeans, you MUST wear tie to church, you MUST serve, we must maintain our posture for fearing that others might look down upon you (sounds like david)... c'mon, chill. Whatever we do, whether it is praying for a specific item, reading the bible or serving, we should never do it out of guilt but because we sincerely want to.

Health

I am not sure if it was my near death experience or was it the doctor's report early this year that states I have excessive body fat and overweight. Maybe it is because I am aging! But gradually health has become something that I kind of put more priority in these days.

I have been a little more careful on food than I used to. When I was younger, I used to eat anything and everything and any amount. Haha.

I exercise more these days as well. I have always wanted to join a gym to push myself to work out. Couldn't afford it during my college years and still could not afford when I started working. But almost 2.5 years ago, I had a great offer to join a gym. Told myself that it was now or never. Was pretty afraid that I couldn't keep to it and have to quit. But I reminded myself that it is for this body that God has given me and it is my responsibility to take care of it well. So, it was not because of trend nor pressure of any kind that I signed up.

I am a member of Fitness First ever since. I didn't push myself much and was not very consistent initially. But slowly, I have began to arrange my schedule to ensure that I do work out a min number of time a week. It is challenging as I somehow have pretty much of my week day nights occupied by cell, rehearsal and meetings.

After I realized that I haven't been pushing myself enough, I started attending group classes. Well, those have pretty good so far. I haven't lost tens of kgs but I do feel stronger and healthier than before. Hopefully I can keep this up long term. I am sure that God has always planned for us to be healthy and fit. We human just aren't very good at taking care of it. :-p

God is with us

Andrea and myself had our own set of drama when noise and smoke came out of her bonnet on Nicole's wedding morning itself. Since we had a tight schedule, we decided the leave the car and get all the important things done... we just had to put this aside and figure it out later.

Good thing Andrea's Dad insist that we got it fixed as most mechanics don't work on Sun. It was a challenge as we do not know many people in Ipoh and we barely know our way around town. But by God's intervention, Andrea managed to get hold of a mechanic through a friend. It was really God with us as by the time we took the risk (somehow there was no more smoke when we tried to drive it in the evening) to drive and search for the workshop using only the GPS and landmark told by the mechanic.

We reached the workshop and their shutter was almost down. They waited patiently for us. A few of them work together to check on the car. They discovered that the problem was with the alternator. We were told that it can break down anytime for any car and there is no way to check it in advanced. Thank God they have a replacement and they didn't charged us unreasonably as we were recommended by one of their frequent customer.

The mechanic also told us that we would never had make it back to KL with a faulty alternator. Praise God that the car didn't break down during our journey there and back. It would have been a lot worse.

By the time the alternator was fixed it was around 6.50pm. I thought we were going to missed the march in for the dinner (it was supposed to start at 7pm) We did try calling Peter's friend to shoot if we couldn't make it. We reached the restaurant at 7.15pm. The dinner was delayed to start at 7.45pm.

We made it! Haha. God is good.

Nicole & Peter

10th October 2009

Nicole served with us in dew crew for quite a number of years. She was one of my 3 team members who dated someone from the worship team ;-D I remember sometimes we had all 3 girls serving in crew and all 3 bf serving in worship team on the same weekend. Cool eh. This is like the "wedding year". All 3 of them decided to get married this year. :-D

It was great to be part of her wedding helper team. My role was something I don't normally do - which was pretty challenging but this was for Nicole :) I guess I'll do almost anything for any of my crew if it means a lot to them... it won't be the best but the best of my ability.

Nicole is one of those really rare cool bride. She adapted to changes, accepted the challenges and remain cool and most of all enjoyed her wedding all the way.

I think for any lady who intends to get married, the most important thing is to expect that her wedding day will not be perfect. THEN, things will just somehow be okay. Maybe what Debbie told me is true - wedding day is overrated by the people in the industry. It's just ONE day. What is most important is the marriage life :)

Congrats Nicole & Peter and continue to grow in love with each other and with God ;-)