reflections this festive season.

i have decided if you want to know more abt new york, please ask me for my journal. or invite me out for coffee then i'll tell you. or buy me lunch. :P hehe :)

anyway. the past few days i've been coming home dead beat and still a little jet lagged. ha. :P that's why i havent been online or blogging. :P well. but here i am, not dead tired yet. hooray for me. :P i must now blog abt these past 2 days.

on friday i went to the concourse to get christmas decorations. i missed new york so much that looking at the christmas trees made me think of all the freshly chopped trees that were on sale by the road side in manhattan. anyway. the christmas deco was for this home i was gonna go to with my youth group for a small christmas celebration thingy we planned for them. there was a skit and dinner and stuff, so it was really cool.

so i went to the home after concourse, (and i really nice, longed for chicken rice lunch :) ) and we put up the decor and stuff. what struck me was the people i met there. everyone seemed so normal and just like the person you see on the street. well except for one of them. anyway. they were really nice people, highly greatful that we were there and they seemed happy. anyway. they already sort of decorated the place. we just added on to it. :) i found myself lock-jawed blowing balloons and almost dying of an asthma attack. blowing balloons can be fatal. trained professionals only. :P

well. the one person who i thought seemed a little abnormal was the guy called mark. well. we were walking into the home and this person came walking towards us. my youth leader pao yin was about to stick out her hand and say 'hi miss!' when the person introduced himself as mark. he said he was a model trainer and like he's involved in stuff like bridal gowns, make up, yadayadayada. :) anyway. it's then that i noticed, omgosh, he's wearing eyeliner. and that he had hips! i was like, what the hell? for a moment i really thought i saw boobs! it was kinda awkward lah. very weird as well. i mean. ok nevermind. i must look at myself before i speak abt others.

mark turned out to be a pretty nice guy ... just a little on the gay side ...

anyway. i was watching the kids running around while i worked on the balloons. for a moment i felt some pity for them. the home was a shelter for single mothers, orphaned children and families in distress. for a moment i realised i am so superly blessed. i've just come back from new york. these people may never even get a chance in their lives to leave the country! i am utterly blessed. and i had a home to come back to. while i was there i counted every blessing ever given to me. and for that moment i felt no need for anything. but then i realised these people had everything they needed too. they had friends, they had a roof over their heads, clothes on their backs and food to eat. they seemed happy. or at least i thought they were. i mean, it's a simple life, but the basic necessities were all there for them. i felt happy for them. sure they could do with alot more. but it seemed to me they had all that they needed. and i felt that there was SOME love left in the world. the there are people out there helping these poor souls out, that people still cared. i realised that people arent so cold to strangers they dont know. and i found it in my heart to want to help them. i actually did consider a full time volunteering job. it might be just one of my i'm on abt it now schemes, but i suppose it might happen. see how lah :)

so. let's jump to the actual event shall we? :)

God was moving at that home that night. i think i have enough faith to say that. :) we were all there and we started the evening with some games for the kids. it was also for the adults i guess, but mostly the kids played. i watched the kids run around, smiling, laughing, having fun. :) and i cldnt help but feel warm and fuzzy inside. i thought to myself: it's so enriching to be doing something this christmas which is not for myself. it felt so good to be able to bring some joy and laughter into the otherwise pretty drab place. :) i guess it was just me. happiness from others' happiness. :) for the longest time that's been my motto. yesterday i felt it for real. :)

overall, i guess this christmas is going to be a good one. :) even though there's no christmas eve service. ah wells. it's still been a white christmas this year for me. :) it snowed in boston. :)

anyway. i must get going. :) good night. sleep tight.

hark now hear the angels sing! :)