Rounding up 2009

What better way to round up 2009 than to start with thanksgiving! And I must say I have many things to give thanks for as God has been very kind & gracious, despite my occasional grumblings, which thankfully, I repent of.

The first & foremost thing I want to thank God for is the successful operation that my father went for. He's recovering very well, and this is one of the most significant thing I want to praise the Lord for.

Secondly, thank God for my nephew! He's so adorable and 乖, and most importantly, healthy and growing (quite big). Just seeing/remembering his smile makes me smile too. *sigh* why are babies so cute...so that we can love them to bits!

In the area of my career, even though I grumbled a bit about it, but I must still thank God that I still have a job in these times and am doing something I like. I had the opportunity to study a module at NAFA (despite the admin glitches...which thankfully, was resolved) and am especially thankful for the opportunity to visit Atlanta and do an attachment with the music department at the Emory University. I learnt a lot there and also, had the privilege to have gotten to know my mentor & his family better. They are a great family and am really grateful for them. It would have been very different if I had not had the good fortune of having my mentor as my host. The whole experience became more enjoyable and it gave me new fire in a time of restlessness in my work. I think (if I heard correctly) God has something in store for me 2 years down the road (well, by this time it would be considered 1 year plus), so I'm looking forward to what's the next move.

I also wish to thank God for the friends I have that keep my feet on the ground and share my dreams with. They've been great and I believe that for some of us, our friendship has strengthened. And I'm also truly grateful that I have a friend of many years (ten and counting) whom I travel and share most of my thoughts with (you know who you are gal :P).

I also thank God for the Songcraft concert we had this year. It was different from before and it was great fun, planning and performing even at new premises with the 'perfect' setup. It's also the first time I actually had friends coming.

Well, this might sound weird, but I must still thank God for the many times I've fallen sick this year. Well, at least I'm now immune to 4-5 more strains of flu!

I am also grateful that I have a nice & understanding RO (I'm very paiseh she calls me “小老板”). We have our share of friction, but it's good that we always reconcile eventually.

Of course, most importantly, I must also thank GOD for being God. There is none like Him who can bear with me, and still be gracious and merciful, sheltering with His love. Even being alive is a blessing, as I know in many instances, God's protective hand has always been upon me. He knows my every thought and guides my path. May I always be receptive and humble to Him.

Well, I'm sure there are many more things to be grateful for, but I must leave some space to evaluate my 2009 resolutions as well. Here goes:

1) Person: to be nice to people and learn to put aside some differences
I guess this should be a constant thing. I am not a good judge of this as it is up to those around me to evaluate this. But I'm taking things in my stride so that I can be more friendly. Ever since I started work, think I've become more skeptical, "hostile" and selfish, but I've been trying harder to remind myself to think of others before myself and well, be more "blur" if I can help it.

2) Ministry: volunteering in church
I still haven't made the commitment in any areas of volunteering. However, I was "volunteered" to do intercessory duty a couple of weeks ago. It's one of those network duty roster thing, but I guess it's good practice and a trial run I would say. I was supposed to be on duty another time in another role, but as I was sick then, I didn't. I must say I am privileged in a way to serve God in any way I can, and it's a blessing to be always volunteered for the job (it means something right?). Then it came to me that hey, maybe right now, even though I have yet to find my calling in the church, I should volunteer to be the "rep" for my cellgroup when the roster comes round. I think that's a good start...to keep in mind as 2010 resolution.

3) Music: more time & inspiration to write more songs; write more Christian songs; make more use of my GarageBand functionalities; brush up on my music skills
I would say this ain't much fulfilled. I only wrote 2 new songs this year, and none of them Christian! I only managed some lyrics, but no tune. But I did present some of my older songs at Songcraft for the first time. Try harder next year.

4) Sport: fencing skills - speed, accuracy and tactic
Due to my "constant" travelling and many "MCs" this year, I missed quite a lot of classes, so there wasn't much improvement...rather, I think I'm getting worse at it.

5) Work: better manage my time
Hrm...maybe a little, but with all my travelling, there's backlog.

6) Rest!
Thank God that I have had the opportunity to travel a lot this year. I went to Hokkaido, UK, KL and Atlanta. That's really a lot, especially for one who's afraid of flying. But they were good experiences; good getaways and I was rejuvenated for a while.Of course, the company mattered too.

7) Vocal classes
And yes, I signed up for beginners vocal class (for worship) and it just ended this week. Will want to continue, but not straightaway...probably the following term. Outcome? Well, learnt how to breathe.

This year passed really fast and it's coming to an end in 2 days. What will 2010 have in store?