Yep it was my birthday yesterday, and I am super thankful to everyone who have sent my greetings one way or another. Although I think 97% of the people I know do not read this blog, because I think nobody really has the time to keep up with blogs everyday now haha. So if you're the 3% reading this, you have my sincerest gratitude! 

I am 24 now, and have gone two full cycles of with the lunar calendar dragon (I'm a dragon)! Or in other forms of lingo, I am a complete two-dozen of age, or four and a score. I think I am immensely old, but then some middle-aged uncle in church will pooh-pooh me and say I'm at the prime of my life. And then I will possibly meet some elderly auntie with very gray hair and I will just keep quiet about my age. But I only feel old in relation to my cell group, because the Sec 1s next year will be dragon babies too, and that means I am a full 12-year cycle older than them! Don't quite know how I am to deal with that hahaha. 

But birthday was great. I was going around all the restaurants and shops asking for my birthday special, if any. I think it is the only day in the whole year where I am actually allowed to ask for that, so why shy and pretend that it's not my birthday when I am possibly missing out on all these discounts! And you will be surprised at some of the birthday promotions that you are entitled to, some of it are really great, but requires you to be shameless. Other forms of celebrations include replying "happy birthday" when people greet me with "happy birthday", because well, it seems to be the same when people say "Merry Christmas" and you reply back with "Merry Christmas" too! 

A year older. 

Back from a youth leaders' training camp, and I cannot shake off the feeling that I've been doing this too frequent and too often. I think I have been staying over at William Booth Retreat Centre at least once a year for the past four or five years, each time for various retreats or camps or workshops. Which is well, quite a surreal experience, because I have no idea why I am committing myself to another two years of youth leadership when it is probably time for me to pass it on. 

This coming year will be my 6th year in a row doing the Sec 1 & 2 ministry. And possibly 9th or 10th year in total for leadership?! Haha too much for too long, but I will always remember the humbling experience at Hillsong Conference earlier this year when I met this woman who was in her 40s, and she says she has been doing youth ministry for the past 25 years. That's even longer than my life put together. And her three-word advice to me was to "keep it fun". Couldn't disagree with that haha. 

And with extreme irony, Celine will be my co-cell leader next year. She was in my first ever Sec 1 & 2 cell five years back, and I seem to be forever co-leading with people who were once in my cell when they were teeny teens (hello Jolene), but have somehow transformed from that cocoon into more-than-leaders in their own rights. I don't quite know how God does it, but if I ever need encouragement when I think my work isn't sowing the right seeds and reaping the right harvest, I talk to my co-cell leaders. Somehow, it all just adds up. 

This weekend's highlight involved engaging in a new activity/hobby! I happily signed up for a floral arrangement class about two weeks ago, when the women's ministries in my church announced that they are hiring someone in to teach a one-off session. Partly because I have always been super encouraged by the team of ladies who does our floral offering for Sunday service every week. They rotate themselves on a roster and come in every Saturday afternoon cooped up in the servery, and it can take as long as two hours!

I have to confess that I always thought floral arrangement very easy. I just have to snip the flowers and then decide what arrangement I want then poke it into the sponge, hahaha quite easy wad! But it seems like everytime I thought it looked nice, one of the aunties will walk by and "Guan You! So messy!", and then they pluck out everything I've poked in and rearrange for me. Auntie Charlotte gave me the best advice haha she attended many classes before, and she will tell me that the tallest apex flower need not be the prettiest because no one really looks that high up, so you should put the more "uglier" flowers not-yet-bloomed as the apex. And then there's symmetries and asymmetries in every shape and design! Haha completely astounded. By the way I was one of only two males there (the other was Uncle Patrick), and this is essentially part of my movement to show that floral arrangement need not always carry sexist connotations!

Pictures!!

Step 1: Have a good base foliage with the roses as the general triangular shape.

Step 2: Put in the centrepieces

Step 3: Touch up and tadaa!

This was the one the teacher did in 45 mins. It is a lot taller than this picture made it to be, with the torch ginger flowers really magnificent and with brassica flowers (the purple ones). But what I liked about this best was the three leaves sticking out at the back, it's quite funny but it's so suave!

I think I left with a deeper understanding of floral arrangement, more than just snip and poke! It seems like no matter how I arrange it, the teacher's own arrangement always looks nicer than mine! There is a technique here, and it does take a creative eye to visualize the patterns. I do hope this is not my last class! 

So today during service, I was asked an interesting question midway sermon. Rebecca asked "why was Jesus male and not a female". Haha truth be told, the first thing that I was sorely tempted to say was this small little joke that I always use as an icebreaker. It goes something similar, like "why is God referred to as he and not a she", and the answer is because we sing hymns (hims) and not herms hahaha. Okay I know it's not the best thing around, but it helps me to get the lightheartedness to where I need it to go, and people do generally laugh at it okay!

So yeah, I digress. Why was Jesus male. I thought for a moment and realized that in the patriarchal society that Jesus lived in, he probably wouldn't have gained much currency if he was a female! No one will listen to him (or her, for that matter), and no one will take him seriously, and persecution for a heretical female will be even more outright madness than a heretical male (which some already deemed him to be). Read somewhere too that Jesus' timing was always perfect, like he was in the right place at the right time. And even subsequent events after his resurrection, such as the gospel being written in Greek helped it to become widely circulated and read because it was the lingua franca of the Roman empire. So I kinda believe that Jesus has got to be male for some reason.

But then Rebecca being Rebecca, she asked further on why the Salvation Army song that we always sing "they shall come from the east they shall come from the west and sit down in the kingdom of God", why does it not include north and south! To which I have no idea really, and it was one of those Gowans and Larsson song, of which they probably wrote so many. So I googled, and they did give me a verse each from Luke 13:29 and Matthew 8:11. Funny thing was, the Luke reference had all four north south east west, but Matthew reference only had east and west! And being a Geography student this kind of thing annoys me when I can't find the answer, because I think directional references are very important haha.

Help please!!!