The many days of rehearsals... all culminated to this very evening.

I guess it's really different when you actually know some of the people performing on stage? Haha... As much as it was an evening of music appreciation, it was heartening to see some familiar faces in the high school band in the various sections... way to go people (if you guys ever drop by)! :)

The party popper popping and the blowing of bubbles gimmicks in the "Disney at the Movies" piece were pretty effective... 'cept that some strands of the confetti landed on Junjie's right hand which was doing most of the conducting... Heh heh.

Was great on the whole - was trying to visualise the Jericho scene as the music was playing... the march, the trumpets blowing, the shouts, the collapse of the walls... Selections from "Grease" was great! So was the encore piece which consisted of many one liners from various pieces! :)

And TMS hasn't seen an outing with such an attendance in quite a while... all the regulars were there... and Starfruits did a full turnout! :P

I know most of them, if not some, don't exactly appreciate band / concert / symphony music... guess it really meant something for the whole lot of them to want to attend.

Personally? Had the same feeling I had when I first saw Jan acting on stage some years ago... and him, Peter and Amos dancing at Sonic Festival and subsequently Velocity... one that brings a smile on the face. :)

Oh... I just saw Him smile... too. :)

And eh guys... really hope some of you can start posting some stuff here... if not it'll just be a copy of my own site. Hahaha...

Sunburnt. Haha...

It was a good trip.

A reminder of God's faithfulness.

There is no reason to give up.

On self... on others... on anyone.

Because in our unfaithfulness, He is forever faithful.

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow...
Because He lives, all fear is gone...
Because I know, I know, He holds the future...
And live is worth the living,
just because He lives...

:)

Yo guys! This is to inform you that there is NO WG TIME OR WEB SERVICE on the 16th December 2006 (Sat). I'll suggest that for those of you who're not catching the musical with your folks or other friends, you guys can arrange to meet together at 6pm or earlier for dinner and then go for the musical together.

I'm not sure if I am able to make it in time for the musical that day... if I'm back by Friday night I'll let you guys know - then we can catch it together yea?

Hope the family service had been beneficial... my personal take home message is that we're all equally called and definitely empowered to disciple... and even if we're not recipients of the kind of discipleship which we wished we can have at home for ourselves (which I don't since my family came to Christ together), it can always start with us... and we do not necessarily have to wait till we have children of our own before we start the discipling process. :)

For those from Christian families all the while where parents are pretty much involved in the discipeship process, count blessings okay? :)

If anything, we're one big family in Christ... and it's really been a privilege to be a spiritual elder brother to each one of you... press on! :)

I actually wanted to post an entry on this a couple of days back when I received an email from a sister with regards to the Hoyt family. I first learnt about this touching father-son story months ago when I attended a seminar on adolecence... then I saw the video in 7's blog some time back... One of my email devotionals today happened to speak of the same story again. And so... here goes.

Really hope it blesses you... my friend. :)

The Love of a Father
This devotional was written by Kelly McFadden
HomeWord Devotionals

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. — 1 John 3:1

There is a father-son combination that is like none I have ever heard of. In 1962, Dick and Judy Hoyt gave birth to their son Rick. When Rick was born, the umbilical cord was caught around his neck, cutting off air supply to his brain. The Hoyts were told Rick would be in a vegetative state for the rest of his life. Luckily, the Hoyts disagreed. In 1972, Rick was given a computer that would help him write out his thoughts, and three years later was admitted into public school. A few years later, Rick told his dad that he wanted to participate in a 5k race for a local athlete who was paralyzed in an accident. His father agreed to push his wheelchair in the race. Since then, Rick and Dick – known as Team Hoyt – have competed in over 900 events, including 64 marathons and over 200 triathlons.

So why does this father run, swim and ride with his disabled son through all these events? Because the day they finished their first 5k, his son said through his computer, ``Dad, when we were running, it felt like I wasn't disabled anymore.'' Dick wasn’t a runner, a swimmer or a biker before those words were said. He was simply a father who loved his son unconditionally. He was a father who wanted his son to feel like he could fly. The love of this father is amazing!

We too have a Father who loves us unconditionally and calls us His children. All of us grow up with different situations with our earthly fathers. Some people have fathers who coach Little League. Some have never met their fathers. Some fathers are workaholics, while others are alcoholics. Some people view their fathers as heroes; others view their fathers as villains. But, our Father in heaven is perfect. He loves us unconditionally, cares for us, knows what’s best for us and gives without asking for anything in return. He walks alongside us every step of life’s journey, its joys and its trials, never leaving us alone. Your Father in heaven withholds no good thing from you. And, just like Rick, all you need to do is ask.

[Article From Sports Illustrated, By Rick Reilly]

I try to be a good father. Give my kids mulligans. Work nights to pay for their text messaging. Take them to swimsuit shoots.

But compared with Dick Hoyt, I suck.

Eighty-five times he's pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in marathons. Eight times he's not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a wheelchair but also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming and pedaled him 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars--all in the same day.

Dick's also pulled him cross-country skiing, taken him on his back mountain climbing and once hauled him across the U.S. on a bike. Makes taking your son bowling once a year look a little lame, right?

And what has Rick done for his father? Not much - except save his life!

This love story began in Winchester , Mass. , 43 years ago, when Rick was strangled by the umbilical cord during birth, leaving him brain-damaged and unable to control his limbs.

"He'll be a vegetable the rest of his life" Dick says doctors told him and his wife, Judy, when Rick was nine months old. "Put him in an Institution."

But the Hoyts weren't buying it. They noticed the way Rick's eyes followed them around the room. When Rick was 11 they took him to the engineering department at Tufts University and asked if there was
anything to help the boy communicate. "No way," Dick says he was told. "There's nothing going on in his brain."

"Tell him a joke," Dick countered. They did. Rick laughed. Turns out a lot was going on in his brain. Rigged up with a computer that allowed him to control the cursor by touching a switch with the side of his head, Rick was finally able to communicate. First words? "Go Bruins!" [Boston's icehockey team]. And after a high school classmate was paralyzed in an accident and the School organized a charity run for
him, Rick pecked out, "Dad, I want To do that."

Yeah, right. How was Dick, a self-described "porker" who never ran more than a mile at a time, going to push his son five miles? Still, he tried. "Then it was me who was handicapped," Dick says. "I was sore for two weeks."

That day changed Rick's life. "Dad," he typed, "when we were running, it felt like I wasn't disabled anymore!"

And that sentence changed Dick's life. He became obsessed with giving Rick that feeling as often as he could. He got into such hard-belly shape that he and Rick were ready to try the 1979 Boston Marathon.

"No way," Dick was told by a race official. The Hoyts weren't quite a single runner, and they weren't quite a wheelchair competitor. For a few years Dick and Rick just joined the massive field and ran anyway, then they found a way to get into the race Officially: In 1983 they ran another marathon so fast they made the Qualifying time for Boston the following year.

Then somebody said, "Hey, Dick, why not a triathlon?"

How's a guy who never learned to swim and hadn't ridden a bike since he was six going to haul his 110-pound kid through a triathlon? Still, Dick tried.

Now they've done 212 triathlons, including four grueling 15-hour Ironmans in Hawaii . It must be a buzzkill to be a 25-year-old stud getting passed by an old guy towing a grown man in a dinghy, don't you think?

Hey, Dick, why not see how you'd do on your own? "No way," he says.

Dick does it purely for "the awesome feeling" he gets seeing Rick with a cantaloupe smile as they run, swim and ride together.

This year, at ages 65 and 43, Dick and Rick finished their 24th Boston Marathon, in 5,083rd place out of more than 20,000 starters. Their best time? Two hours, 40 minutes in 1992--only 35 minutes off the world record, which, in case you don't keep track of these things, happens to be held by a guy who was not pushing another man in a wheelchair at the time.

"No question about it," Rick types. "My dad is the Father of the Century."

And Dick got something else out of all this too. Two years ago he had a mild heart attack during a race. Doctors found that one of his arteries was 95% clogged. "If you hadn't been in such great shape," One doctor told him, "you probably would've died 15 years ago." So, in a way, Dick and Rick saved each other's life.

Rick, who has his own apartment (he gets home care) and works in Boston, and Dick, retired from the military and living in Holland, Mass. , always find ways to be together. They give speeches around the country and compete in some backbreaking race every weekend, including this Father's Day.

That night, Rick will buy his dad dinner, but the thing he really wants to give him is a gift he can never buy.

"The thing I'd most like," Rick types, "is that my dad sit in the chair and I push him once."

Come to think of it... it actually sounds a bit like Christmas tree. :|

Hahaha...

I told some... that this retreat is pivotal to my own growth as much as it is for the guys. I purposefully planned out the schedule, gave out the roles and left the rest for them to sort it out amongst themselves. It was, in a very real sense, planned to gauge how far they are in their initiatives and their proactiveness. The fear of knowing that things may not turn out the way it should be... it was real. But then again, I had to trust... and He allowed me to.

I joked that I'm prepared to eat just toasted bread and drink plain water should things go wrong... Haha.

No disappointments at all. :)

I know they might have been grumbling with regards to certain ground rules I laid down for the retreat... but they kept them really well. Discussion and planning sessions were taken seriously, the barbeque was great... amazed to see how they worked together, especially in the clearing up. :)

But what's so amazing about this bunch... is their heart for God and for one another. I guess sometimes I'll just have to remind myself that youths will always be youths... and it warms the heart just to see how they can bond close together despite the many differences they have and the provocations and "jokes" they throw at one another. :P

It truly is a learning journey... one which I'm glad that each of them's willing to take together in Christ. We may never be perfect on this side of the earth... but we'll remember that He'll be in us and with us in this road of sanctification as we strive to be more Christlike with each passing day... and the day of glorification will come as He comes again.

And that... is Christ in us, the hope of glory.

To know what really matters at such a young age... to have that kind of heart... such great assets.

It has been quite a number of years for some of you... and a couple of months for some. I'm sure you guys know that this is just the beginning... and as how some of you have rightfully pointed out that it may be a really tough road, I'm thankful that all of you have chosen to be in this together, to know that it wouldn't be ourselves... but He who'll see us through.

It's been a privilege knowing and leading you guys. :)