Don't Waste Your Life

Okay. Here I am. It's surreal.
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We've officially moved out of Kensington Park, and I'm at the new place now.

It's almost like, the past 11 years flashed across my mind. I spent my teenage growing-up years in that house, and it means something to me. In the early years, I spent many hours playing football at the football court with the other estate kids. We had the super nice Blk 147 chap chai bng. My sec school friends would come over for football on Saturday mornings quite often.

I had a couple of girls who I liked when I was still there. I think liking those girls and having those crushes were part and parcel of the growing up process ba. I had tuition with Auntie Serene in my block, where I not only learnt school work but also the value of character, humour, laughter and hospitality.

I spent countless hours beside the pool with my dear brother Melvyn. We'd soak in the pool, go to the steam room, jump into the jacuzzi and repeat that process a few times. Before we got changed and walked down to Serangoon Gardens for coffee.

Church people came over too, 1520 BBQs, games, birthday parties.

I also spent my 21st birthday here, where in front of the 40-strong crowd I recalled the grace of God in my life and all that He has done for me. And I remember tearing as the word 'Jesus' left my lips in my closing remarks of my sharing.

It was a place of comfort I loved to go home to after a week of torture in the army.

I remember always walking out to da-bao meals for the family.

The recent couple of years, I have spent a lot of time thinking and reflecting at the poolside or just walking around in the estate. Times when God comforted me, when He put new visions and callings in my life, times when He helped me to see myself clearer.

My parents have grown older too. I really see it. I see them, no longer as strong as yesterday le. Dad isn't the superman who could do anything with his determination. Mom isn't the perfectly patient lady of grace. But which person doesn't have weaknesses? Isn't it in weakness that love perfects itself?

So many things have changed since I first moved in at age 14.

But others don't. Like the 烧鸭饭 outside.
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The process of moving house was insane. 74839038748447363934058595 boxes to move. Not to mention cupboards and furniture.

We engaged Breakthrough Missions to come in and be our house mover. In case you didn't know, Breakthru is a drug-rehab halfway house that helps ex-drug abusers to get back to society again. We see many many cases of lives turned around through their ministry, and I know quite a few of them myself. But of course, there are also many who fall back. This is the agency that was mentioned here in my post about Wild Wild West Western Food that I had with Caiying a few months ago.

These young men came, wrapped up our 74839038748447363934058595 boxes and got everything up the truck in an hour!

They came at 1030, and by 1230 everything had been moved into my new house. Insane!

But honestly, I was so touched when I saw them work. When I heard the soft-spoken patience of the leader of the moving team, a young man called Michael. Tattoos and long-fringe included. You know, there was really such joy and earnestness in his voice. He never lost his temper at his men, nor got irritated with our gazillions of requests to put different things in different places. All the while thanking God for the smallest things that made his job a little easier, such as us packing stuff into small A4 paper boxes. And by the way, he carried my dad's whole freaking safe on his own. Insane.

Here's a little note btw. If you're moving house, remember to pack ur stuff into small boxes instead of big ones. They're a lot easier to carry and transport up and down the lorry. And the movers prefer carrying many small boxes to a few large boxes by the way. Cos large boxes are hard to carry and are heavy too.

I was just so touched to see this bunch of big burly men with all their tattoos and their pasts pray together before lunch, and you just sense a different kind of gratitude from them for a life turned around.

As my dad said:' In the past, when they were on drugs, their whole body was nua and soft, no energy to do anything at all. Today, they can carry things that no one else can carry.'

I pray that they would also carry the weight of their pasts and show it to the world in all its transformed glory. Maybe sometimes, that is a heavier load than our boxes.
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And so as I look ahead, I smsed Caiying yesterday.

'phew. almost time to move.. lorry's on the way here. can't help but feel almost like this is a new stage in life'

'ya. more settled. e next yr will b one w so many transitions... everything's changing'

moving on from school to work, new home, new fellowship in church, relationships, new callings.

negotiating transitions are never easy. some things, if not watched over properly, fall to the wayside. and other potentially fruitful seeds start getting choked by weeds and thorns. other seeds, we don't find time to dig hard enough to plant the seeds deep in, and they just lie on top of the hard soil and get eaten by the birds.

I'm glad, that some things are strong enough not to have to rely on geographical vicinity anymore. Such as my abanghood with Melvyn.

I am sitting here in my new room. With my cosy platform bed in front of me, my new speakers on my right. I'm still listening to my favourite smoothjazz channel on sky.fm. The room's still green, just a different shade of green. It's all so familiar, yet so different. Maybe the links to our past will always be there, good or bad. But like my brothers from Breakthru, perhaps the glory is in its transformation into something better, dramatic or not. And knowing that we have the acceptance, love and grace we need to transform it. Now, that's infinitely glorious. :)

New stage in my life.

Let me not say at the end 'I've wasted it!'