alright, some updates from my side.

Yesterday was entirely wasted away. well, in most sense. I was part of half of the company which didn't have to go for live firing (my turn is on Monday), so they kept us in for no apparent reason. We slept; played rounds of chinese chess to blaringly loud music in the background, all of which I’ve ended up on the losing side; crunched down 2 apples brought from home, and a precious gemlike piece of the all time family favourite Raffles Hotel mooncake while having an intake of God’s Word; went for a casual lecture on 'Care for Soldiers'; and whined about not being allowed to book out but instead being forced to be imprisoned with nothing better to do. well, i guess thats one of the common grouses about the army system that soldiers are always quick to point out - that the army should be more flexible.

This past week has been great. Great deal of experiencing the Lord - His peace and joy overflows in our physical lives. It’d been a hectic week, took SOC test on Monday, IPPT test on Wednesday, outfield drills on Tuesday, urban warfare training and live-firing sessions on Wednesday & Thursday. So I’m thinking probably it was a blessing in disguise yesterday, what seemed to be meaningless confinement, may work to give me compulsory badly needed rest time, which I won’t have if I were to book out early. See? God works in wonderful ways. In most cases I don’t actually see how well planned things work out to be until some time later.

All I was praying for was to be able to enjoy the tests, through relying on Him and running for Him, not piling up unnecessary pressure on myself. I have to say I’ve ate a large portion of humble pie coming into this test. I’ve uncharacteristically floundered the previous 2 tries, through which I’ve finally found the ground with my feet. To say that I wasn’t confident at all is an understatement. I’ve had a rocky start to this course, when I’ve been blighted by illness and a measure of ‘misfortune’, all of which under God’s plan and His sovereignty, but not discounting my responsibility in these situations.

Well, God has taught me important lessons. I’ve breezed through both tests comfortably, romping home to the results i'm only capable of achieving through Him alone. Thank God.

Went for service this early morning, for a 2^nd consecutive Sunday. I love the early morning service. It feels so good to start the day at its freshest. It was nice to hear the guys (Peng Swee, Johnson, Chris, Liangfa, DeZhang) present a song, and I’m thankful for the South View ministry that huEy shared. I’ve found myself praying for the children attending Sunday school too, that even as they grow in age, they may also be taught the right godly values. What pastor Ong shared today is very true, it’ll be good if the children can be drilled from young.

Next week: 32km route march. I’ll see if I can survive that. 28km had me on all fours at the end. this time with an addition of 4km, coupled with crossing a stretch of water body towards the end, I hope I won’t come out crippled. Ha… Next Saturday will be taken up too, I’m rather disappointed about it, its morale lifting to have the weekends freed up. This time, I’ll only be able to book out on Sunday morning, which rules out any chance of going to the Sunday service also…

God is always good. Have a great week experiencing His goodness.

Vin

(the fonts are a little screwed up, i dunno why. apologize for that, so i've decided to mark each paragraphs using different colours for distinction purposes)