Humble Beginnings

Had a great CG meeting last night where we worshipped God and then my CGL, Char, preached about our worship to God. During worship, Char also began to prophesy to each one of us. For me, God said that He saw how I struggled and how I picked myself up and I was told not to despise my humble beginnings as I move into my new career. That I am going to be like David, small shepherd boy, going to face Goliath. That God has brought me into this career to be a sheep among the wolves, than people will see God's glory in my life. Wow! That's great, isn't it?! That I should not depise my past, which I inferred as my previous job, and that God will use this past to help people in the future. Wow! I never knew that this past would be of any use.

Towards the end of the worship session, a verse popped into my head... it was something like "the least will become great". I forgot where it came from. I only knew that it had something to do with being child like and humble and that it's in the gospels. So this morning, I searched for this verse. I found it in Luke 9: 48 - "Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me. For he who is least among you all will be great." Amen!!

How assuring the prophecy and word were to me! I have nothing in me that can possibly be of any cerebral use in my new job, given my not-so-well-developed mathematical intelligence which therefore, translates to some degree of difficulty in picking up financial stuff. But I have God! I can do all things through Christ. When there is none of me, then, God's glory will be clearly evident.

Ps: was told twice that I had shared my testimony with dry, deadpan humour.... hehehe... I kinda like that. Didn't know I had that in me (;

Happie 2 Years!!

Yesterday, 25 Sep 2006, was my lao gong and me's 2nd wedding anniversary! Married for 2 years le. 2 years of fun, 2 years of teasing and 2 years of togetherness. We loved being married. Almost everyday, we find something stupid and slapstick to laugh about. The lao gong is very easily amused by anything stupid, such as weird adverts on the tv or some stupid mistakes which I make, such as my typo on "delicious" and "delirious" and "HRD" and "HRS". He has been teasing me almost relentlessly the past few days... Anyway, we went to the Aspara at Goodwood Park Hotel for massage and scrub... I thought the scrub was great! Love the orange scent and the roughness of the salt grains. I had the Balinese massage while the lao gong had the Swedish massage. I chose the Balinese one because the therapist said that it was the hardest. It was hard alright... my shoulders are still aching from it... by it's not as hard as the shiatsu one which I had in Batam... wah, the shiatsu one had me crying "saya mati ah!" and the Indonesian therapist giggled at this lousy girl and assured me in her sweetest voice, saying "sayang, tak orang shiatsu mati" Back to the Balinese massage at the Aspara... I am not sure if I want to go there again... I mean, it's alright lah... but she focused too much on my shoulders and pressed and pressed and pressed on some points on my shoulders... quite pain leh... the pain not evenly spread out, unlike shiatsu... so wasn't as relaxed as shiatsu... But I do recommend the orange scrub though. Maybe you guys can try the swedish massage, cos the lao gong likes it.

We then went to Great World City to watch "John Tucker must die"... teeny boppy show lah... little chicks' flick... it was fun and relaxing to watch, no need to use any brain. Had some Macs fries with hot chocolate before that, wah really yummy... very long never eat mac fries le. Love it so much.

I am looking forward to tomorrow! meeting my mum in the afternoon, cos we are going to get me a real good handphone! I am looking for one with the best camera function. Have been so deprived for the past 6 years... while friends and my parents have the latest handphones with the best camera functions, or PDA or MP3... mine is just plain and functional for sms and phone calls only, cos my office didn't allow us to have handphones with integrated cameras. I am coming back with a VENGENCE!!!! Muahahahahahaha.......... try stopping me! Saw Jen Jen's N73 last friday, over dinner at my favourite peranakan restaurant, CASA BOM VENTO, at 467 Joo Chiat Road (I do free advert for them because the food and the ambience is really D*** good!!! it's not like they need any advertising anyway... Please guys, must make an effort to go there to eat the food before you die. The food's really to die for...) see lah... I digressed again... back to the N73... very cool leh... I am eyeing that.

okie... where to go for dinner on thursday with Emily and Carol? hmm.... any suggestions?

oh, btw, guys, I shared my testimony in church last sunday. If any one wants to read my testimony, sms me or email me, I'll send you the soft copy.

Foolish and Weak for His Glory!

I was reminded of some verses in the bible regarding my testimony about having no relevant experience in banking and yet, getting a job in a big bank where at the interviews I talked about church and about serving as an usher.

"But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence, ... ... that, as it is written, "He who glories, let him glory in the Lord." 1 Cor 1:27-31

Less of me and more of Him. None of me and ALL of Him! Amen!

Emancipation!

I am emancipated! Woo Hoo! Today's my second day clearing leave... going to meet lao gong's colleagues for lunch later today... Yesterday, I went to rebond the wiry mess on head, now, I look weird, cos all the hair "plak" on my scalp... but it's ok, it'll be ok in a week's time. Sat in the salon for 4 hours, was so urgent and hungry and thirsty... but it's all worth it... cos for 6 months, I'll have nice straight hair.... haha! Went to eat at delifrance at centrpoint, wah, not bad leh, restaurant style. I was seated and the waiter came to take my orders. I ate this delirious and rich chicken thing with mash potatoes, with d*** tasty wine/onion sauce. Yums! I "wallap" everything on my plate and wash it down with rich mocha coffee... wah, so satisfying. Everyone should eat at delifrance.
Got lots of stuff to do before I start work in Oct. Trying to lay my hands on this book called "clueless in banking"... later got MPH to find. Got to read up before I start work, cos I am a blank piece of paper when it comes to anything banking and finance and business. That's why my getting a job in the big bank is a miracle! God is good. Since I have nothing to me that would grant me a job in the bank, God's power and grace is shown greatly in my testimony. And I will work hard and ask God to help expand my ability to learn about banking and finance stuff, then God's power can be shown through me. What will I do without God? I think I will probably be dead or be really depressed until cannot function. Thank God for God, if no God, then no me. I definitely cannot function without God.
Hehe... during my last days at work, I went round the office to say my goodbyes and to pass gifts to the colleagues who mean something to me... So funny, you guys have no idea how many of my colleagues were not only happy for me, but they also told me that they want to resign. Even those whom I thought have it all going for them. One of them even said to me "eh, ask your Jesus to give us a job leh!" hahaha!!! I said, "ok lah... I'll say 'Jesus, can you btw give them a job too?" hahaha!! I really should have said "ask yourself lah!". Aiyah... too late.
okie, get back in here real soon.
ta!

I Feel Good!

I know that the purpose of this blog is being fulfilled, cos some of you, my friends, have been reading it and sms-ing me about the stuff that I wrote in here. Hey! Thanks for giving me face man! Feel free to drop long comments if you want!

Ok... some of you have been "pestering" me for the story behind the delirious episode... well, here goes! I got the job at ***!!! Yippee!! Hey, I worked in my present organisation, let's call it "XYZ" for 6 long boring years. I remembered I spent the 1st three months in XYZ doing absolutely nothing! Zilch. Zero. Nil. So I totally understood what "bored to death" meant. I persevered and worked for 2-3 years before I really realised that there was nothing more to the present job/portfolio that I was doing. I was "bored to tears"... I cried many times about how boring the job was... I really did. Guys, do not for one moment think that I am unproductive or slow... on the contrary, I do churn out volumes of reports and I do finish my tasks. In fact, one ex-boss had commented in a d*** sarcastic manner that I did my work so fast and so this meant that I had nothing to do. I think this ex-boss shot himself in the foot. If I, as your subordinate, had nothing to do, it only reflects that you are a lousy boss. So beat it. Anyway, this ex-boss is no longer in the organisation... was convicted in court for something not so pleasant (that is a dumb statement from me... since when got people got convicted in court for something pleasant one? hello? hehehe... my turn to shoot myself in my foot...)... anyway, see, bad habit, digressed again... anyway... where was I?

Oh yah... sometime in 2004, I know I had to quit. I felt absolutely underutilised, bored, underemployed and wasted. I knew I could do more. I asked God many many times to show me what else can I do? I wanted to quit so badly... but I did not budge as I had to pay for my wedding in Sep 2004... So well, I was stuck in XYZ... well meaning friends from my former church, often chided me for not being thankful that I have a "great" job. Most told me that I should be "contented"... but hello? Can't they see that I am wasting my time? I am definitely not satisfied. I want more. I am sure my God would not like to see me not fulfilling my potential. These friends from my former church and some colleagues who are Christians, often told me to pray about it. Yah. I did. The answer was the more I prayed, the more I am convinced that I must leave XYZ. So, to vision my resignation, I drafted my resignation letter in July 2004. This was triggered by the appointment of Ms Lala as my superior in my section. I shall not write too much about her. I have nothing good to say about her. Remember my earlier post on "nothing good to say, don't say"? yup, I shall not write anything about her. Thankfully, after my persistent prayer and crying to God about Ms Lala, she was posted out of my section after 6 months. Yup, so 2005 came and went. 2006 arrived. I have gone for countless job interviews. I have rejected so many times. There were 2 common reasons the companies that interviewed me gave: 1) We can't match your pay; & 2) You have no relevant industry experience. Sigh. I have to start somewhere right? My pay wasn't even high. Hey, after 6 years of working, you would expect my pay to be high, right? but no. It wasn't. Even my teacher friends were shocked when I told them about my measly pay. It was pathetic. Then I thought my break came... after 5 rounds of interview with this MNC, they finally offered me a job. I was excited. I was hyped-up. But alas, they offered me a pay package that was so low, I am not sure if I could even apply for a credit card. The reason was simple: I had not relevant industry experience. Sigh. I was irrational, as I only wanted to quit. The push factors were way too strong. I thought that that was all that I am worth. Thank God that He gave me good CGLs and Pastors to hold me back. They told me that God will never short change me and they believed that a better option would come my way. So I reject this job offer and stayed put. Sigh. I pressed on. Mondays were terrible. I could die from the pain of being trapped.

I continued to apply for jobs. Only one gave me a chance. Hey, this time, I decided not to talk about my current work during interviews. It felt different this time. It felt as though that God is with me. But I wasn't sure as I might be too eager to think that way. Just before the 1st round of interview, I felt a prompting... it went "talk about ushering"... I was like "huh?"... So when the interviewer asked me "tell me more about you"... instead of the usual banter on what I do at work, I said "I am an usher in church". So I talked about the detailed and meticulous task-oriented operations and also the people-oriented work. I talked about how I like to greet people who walked into the church on sunday mornings and ushered them to their seats and if I knew their names, I would greet them with their names. I spoke with sincerity about how I loved being an usher. Haha! The interviewers were surprised and impressed. They started to tell me about the job scope of the job that I was interviewing for. It was as if I had already been offered. Before I left, they even said that they liked my suit. Haha! so funny! So, I was called back for a stats and reasoning test and 2 more rounds of interviews with HR and also the big boss. Both times, I talked about the values and the good attitudes I learnt from church. It seems that I learnt so much more in my almost 2 years in Heart of God Church than the 6 years I was working in XYZ. XYZ never taught me about good attitudes and how to handle diffcult people, but my church did! I am so thankful to God for bringing me to this church. Great teachings, great pastors, great leaders, great people, great everything.

Just last monday, on 27 Aug, I felt so sad that I was still stuck in XYZ. I had to be alone to talk to God. So I went to the office gym, sat in the dark, on the exercise ball and started to cry a little. I didn't know what to say to God. I just said in my heart "God, how long more?". I didn't hear anything from God. After 5 minutes, I went back to my cubicle and continued labouring on my boring tasks. Then da phonecall from *** came on the morning of 28 Aug! I got the job! Yippee!! The terms were great and best of all, there was no pay cut. In fact, there was a slight increase! It takes a miracle! My God is a God of miracles!

So, friends, do not think that God cannot do you any good. God is a good God. God is a good father. He sees. He hears. He blessed me. He will do the same for you. The bible says that if you seek God, He will seek you. Every week, I hear stories of how God has blessed his children. In my church, there is always a miracle. Each person has his/her own miracle to tell. You've heard mine. Do you want your own?