what to call this blog... hmm...

ha... i couldn't think of a title that would encompass all that i wanna share =b

yesterday evening was really emotional for all of us. before the main evening session message, we were given the privilege of sharing in the joy and sorrows of two families.

the former was the hsy family. they lost their son, brett, when his vehicle was blown up by a land mine. he had been serving in afghanistan, and had plans to marry his fiancee this coming novemeber, and to join staff together with her, upon his return.

it was a bittersweet time as we viewed a photo presentation of the boy that brett was, and the man he had become. he was only a few months younger than me. the photos showed him as the life of the party, the joy of his family and his beloved fiancee, and a light and encouragement to his fraternity brothers in the uni.

suddenly he was gone from their lives...

i can only imagine their pain. their loss. their grief at unfulfilled dreams, plans and longings. my heart goes out to his fiancee, especially, who must have been so looking forward to a lifetime of happiness together with him!

but what moved me - and us all - the most, was the sharing of brett's dad. with tears in his eyes and a choked voice, he shared with us how proud he was of his son, who had dared to shine so brightly and boldly for Jesus on his campus. he told us the amidst the sorrow of his death, there was also the hope of seeing him once again in heaven. amidst the loss of a loved one, there was amazement at how God has used even this one soul to touch so many lives through his life and testimony.

i don't think there was a dry eye in the house that night.


the second family we learnt about was the rosenberg family. joel rosenberg had a dream - to write a novel for God. and so, with no background whatsoever in creative writing, he and his family together prayed about and wrote the book "The Last Jihad".

the book was a huge success! and he has since followed it up with two more - "Last Days" and "The Ezekiel Option".

the amazing amazing thing is that each of his books have been found to be kind of prophetic. i wish i could remember the details, but here's are some reviews that talks about what i mean.

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/12/16/161914.shtml
http://www.nationalreview.com/lopez/lopez010303.asp


wow!

i was blown away by the fact that God has used this medium to once again demonstrate that He truly knows the beginning and the end. and many have learnt more about God through these books.


the message that night, by stephen douglass, reminded us all to keep asking ourselves the question "how am i doing?" this allows us to grow, to focus our life and efforts on what is really important, to help us fit in with the times and with the ministries/communities we are in.

if u wanna know more, please go watch the archived webcasts on csuweb.org


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didn't manage to sleep a lot last night cos some silly car was honking away for some reason. urghhh... so woke up none too joyful. but managed to stay awake this morning =b altho fighting the zzz-monster took up most of my listening-to-the-message-and-digesting-it energies... =(

then it began to rain, and the wind got really furious. i felt so chilled to the bone! had to scurry across the street to get my subway lunch (the nearest cheap food around) and then came back for the afternoon seminar on starting a website.

it was kinda disappointing personally. but i did see that a lot people there were pretty *ahem* mature... so probably a basics seminar was more necessary. and it was a good refresher for me.

also considering starting my own web page and getting a domain name. hmmm... just a thot for now...

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i'll be meeting lindsay for coffee and chit-chat in about 15 min. =) there's this cute little cafe nearby called wired bean - i think we'll be going there. heh...

brrr... it's SO cold today! =b


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tomorrow i am gonna have my personal retreat. looking forward to a refreshing and meaningful time...