hari ini exam udah slese, well it’s officially the end of my 3rd semester in SMU, sungguh cepat yah waktu berlalu? dan besok uda hari trakhir bulan november, dan desember akan datang, dan 2008 is gonna be over. man.
tadi kotbahnya pastor tan wow bgt. aku bener2 sungguh amat bangga sama greja ku yg sungguh WOW ini. WOW man. bangga banget sama members2ku yg imut2 itu, bangga sama leaders2 yg rela berkorban, bangga sama teman2 seperjuangan yg tahan banting. hehe. bangga banget dhe.
trus tadi pastor tan juga bilang, kalo bnyk hal di dunia ini hanya bisa di pelajari lewat pengalaman2 pribadi. some things can only be learned through experiences. memang benar, tendency nya orang2 kristen itu, kita sering baca alkitab, dengerin kotbah, malah kadang kita sering ngoceh2in orang, judge orang2 di sekitar. tapi semestinya orang kristen itu harus menjadi orang yg melakukan hal2 yg kita kotbahkan, bukan ngomong doang. (duh koq gag enak yah pake bahasa indo.. -_-) practise what you preach man. kita bisa ngoceh2in anak2 untuk punya iman yg lebih besar lagi, bisa kita oceh2in terus untuk berkorban, ini dan itu, kita pun sering dikotbahkan di greja untuk melakukan ini dan itu, gini dan gitu. tapi sampe kita melakukan nya, sampe kita bener2 angkat tangan kita dan memulai pekerjaan tersebut, we are just gonna remain as talkers, not doers. until we act it out, until we do it, then we would have truly learned it.
pastor tan juga ngomong bahwa kita harus take time to remember the good things that god has done for us in the past. do not forget. so topik kita hari ini adalah, mengingat masa lalu, hal baik apa yg telah tuhan lakukan dalam hidupku. well, all i can say is.. i have come thus far, and i am truly amazed at the works he has done in my life.. i stand amazed..
mulai dari mana? masa mulai dari taon 2000 pas pertama ke chc? lebai ah. dolo masi cupu2 gag ngerti apa2 toh. jgn lebai gini dong kekeke.
yup, so i started 2008 earlier, i actually had a clear idea of what i want to do in 2008 since october 2007. it was truly a turning point in my life. i spent the first 9 months plus of 2007 wandering in the wilderness, lost. totally gone. first 7 months i didnt even step into a church or cg or even take the time to read the bible or pray. can imagine how lost i was? yeah. so it was because i spent 7 months in indo for the long break after jc and before uni. then when i got back here, i was totally lost. july – mid oct was spent searching for myself, searching for a purpose. i was even asking myself why am i in church? why am i a christian?
my turning point was in mid oct 2008, in the svc, god told me to go to sot in 2008, be a cgl in 2008 – and he promised that 2008 will be my greatest year ever. thats the 2 things that god explicitly told me. it was clear and clear and clear i could rmbr it till now. and i dont know why, i just got back the zeal and passion again, and i started out my 2008 early. i started setting goals early.
beginning of 2008, god told me that about this year, 4 things he say: a year of breakthrough, a year of leadership, a year of larger capacity, a year of discipline. and i saw it coming true. first 4 months was really spent wisely. i made every moment count. i could even remember myself giving 4 – 5 tuitions a week, even when i have classes every day and was tired to the core. i still faithfully go to tues LM, wed BS, sat svc, sun cg, sun indosvc, i even give bible study to 7 people a week. thats how fired up i was. and when i looked back at my members.. who they used to be, and who they are now, i can only say i am amazed.. truly what god can do to one person is … well, unimaginable..
so after i finished my year one in smu, i went ahead to sot. i never never never imagined myself in sot ever before. not ever, never. and i still couldnt believe it up till now that i am an sot graduate. yeah, first few weeks of sot were really great. i was so hungry to learn. i wanted badly to be promoted to cgl. i started out giving offering messages in cg every week, and ppl were blown away. i started sharing my testimonies more often and ppl are amazed at how god has blessed me greatly. slowly i was allowed to lead praise. it was tormenting to me initially coz i couldnt sing for nuts. but ppl taught me patiently how to sing, how to lead praise, worship. i first preached during mock cg, and the evaluator dev was very very impressed. that was a great booster for me. i began to have more confidence in myself. i was so focused on being a good cgl to my members, i was so zealous and excited everyday for more of his annointing (hey i know what u guys are thinking, pasti bilang.. halah.. gara2 ada cowo yg nungguin tiap pagi aja..) no.. really, i was very focused at the start for the first 3 months at least.. kekekek… i love 2008 up till then, and i still love it up till then.. after i entered july, everything was messed up, totally distracted.. you know why lah.. gag usa di ulang2 lagi.. kekeke.. ppl do get distracted, dont they? kekeke…
july till october was totally messed up, really distracted from my vision in 2008, what i really wanted to do in 2008, and what god has promised to do in 2008. i totally lost focus. i “claimed” what god has not promised. i did it my own way. yeah well, u know.. when it is not from god, sooner or later it will be gone..
but god is still a good god, he is faithful even when we are not. i was still promoted in august to lead S42, and S42 was officially born on 1st August 2008. ^^ it was a difficult start, we initially only had around 5-8 ppl for cg and about 9-12 ppl for svc, BUT before all my ppl went back end Oct, we were already averaging 11 for cg and 18 for svc. god is truly faithful.
well, then came the moment when the thing i love most was taken away. i was crushed. but god spoke so clearly to me again in svc. i think it is one year exactly after god told me in 2007 mid oct about the 2008 that he promised is gonna be great. so it was mid oct 2008, at my lowest point of life, god spoke to me again very clearly. he says that 2008 is not yet over, we still have 2,5months left to create our best year, our best 2008 – don’t give up yet – one bad event doesnt make your year bad, do something about 2008, we still have time, we still have 2,5months. i shared what god told me that day after svc to all my members. despite my heartache heartcrush my sadness my anguish my regrets, i stood there encouraging all my members. forget what bad things that happened the past 9,5months. 2008 might have been a sucky year to all of you. but we still have 2,5months to recreate the year. so guys,i am saying to all of you now: recreate your 2008, we still have one more month. lets make it count. its not over yet, its not done yet. ^^
also there were many things that i was given the privilege and opportunity to do, my capacity was truly expanded beyond my imagination. i was given the task of organizing a bbq zone outing for 70-100 people, i was heading the whole team of people, to come out with programmes, food and everything for a zone outing. the result was much better than imagined, and ppl were left happy and enjoyed each other’s company. i also had a chance to organize a mass outreach that reached to 60 people with 34 new friends. it was a really memorable moment in my life as i sat down, planned and prepared every single thing in the midst of projects deadlines. truly, thank god for the chances.
now i look back at my 2008. all i can say is i am amazed. i am really amazed. truly there are many things i wouldnt have learned if god has not brought me through those experiences, be it good or bad. in 2008, i learned to sacrifice. in 2008, i learned to be a good leader. in 2008, i impacted many lives. in 2008, i learned what relationship really means and entails. in 2008, i graduated from sot. in 2008, i met sharon, i met jennifer, i met evi, i met so many others.. i dont regret any moments of this great and fabolous year now. though things were once bad, i could only give thanks to god that he brought every piece of this year into my life, so that now i can say that I HAVE GROWN. =)
thank you 2008. thank you friends. thank you god. =)
i will remember to give thanks always for everything, good or bad.
happy thanksgiving to all ! =)
