Saltshakers
Matthew 5:13a : “you are the salt of the earth”
Vision: to love God wholeheartedly, to serve and preserve one another and to bring flavour to the rest of the world
Speak with love
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Sunday, April 01, 2007, 8:44 PM
hey guys :)i hope u all enjoyed today's bonding session and the not-so-good quality video. as u know, i'm not very good at the IT stuff, so couldnt do much to improve the video. nevertheless, the video is my little present for all of you; to thank you guys for making my life different.
i spent about 5 hrs in total getting the video done (thank you sarah for uploading and sending me the pictures!) and honestly, i was quite sian of doing it as first cos i wanted to get some work done too. but last night, at about 4am, after i finally finished it, i just sat there quietly to watch the whole 11 mins long video, and i was somehow v.moved and touched. i feel like we've come a long way despite all the obstacles in the past and even now, as we face many difficulties not only as individuals, but also as a whole group. but i feel like, we've really come far since we started as saltshakers. maybe the younger youths dont see it the same way, but for us (me, charlene, kor, sarah etc), we really see how the grp 'evolved'. it was a nice time for me as i looked at all the photos, and remember how each of u are important.. sorry if i've neglected any of you and havent been able to show enough care for any of u.. even for some of you who are no longer in the church.. i wish i could have shown you more concern. anyway, i trust that God is working in each of our lives! and i hope that it will be our desire as a group to mature in Christ, come what may.
just want to take this chance to say thank you for all the support you've given to sarah and i. i know that i have failed in many ways, and i thank you all for yet still accepting me and not rejecting me, especially for those who have supported us through the hard times. it is God's gift of grace that i can 'lead' you all because He has really taught me alot alot about my own faith, and it forces me to take a good look at my own faith, and because of that, it gives me room to struggle and grow through my failures. and it's a gift because serving God is a reminder for me to keep looking at my own heart, and to rediscover it if i have lost the "heart" somewhere down the road. and it is also a process where i can learn to love you all, and learn to face my own sins and weaknesses.
oh no, i didnt mean to be so emo! sorry..! but i do hope that what i shared today will be of encouragement to you all in some way, especially when u are facing your own difficulties. we're all struggling, and never alone. but even as we are struggling, i really hope that we'll learn to open up to one another and learn to encourage one another through prayer or just some simple words of encouragement, or just to let one another know that there is support, and there is love. and i'm sure, that is the way God intended His family to be, not to just laugh and crap around, but to really learn to love one another through the difficulties, to be there for one another, and to grow together towards Christ. i know that it may somtimes seem difficult, because the age gap (and gender differences) is quite huge, and everyone else seems to be either busy or silent, but i assure you that if you take a good look around, you'll find someone who cares. what i've also learnt is that, you dont have to be perfect when you are in God's family, because no one is perfect anyway. we dont come as the Perfect Man/Woman of Faith, but as Jocelyn, as Lydia, as Nat, as Alston, as Gavin etc, and that.. we'll love one another for who we are.
we love because He first loved us. and because we are learning to become family.
eh next time when we sing "welcome to the family', let's try to sing it with more.. love and meaning? :) :) :)
alright, that ends my long long post :) have a blessed week!
love, jocelyn