Gifts Under the Tree

A very Blessed Christmas to everyone! Christmas, one of the most widely celebrated seasons all around the globe. Who wouldn't love the Christmas atmosphere? Christmas carols that fills shopping malls all around, Christmas trees with colorful ornaments, and the gifts! Talk about the gifts! One of the nicest views we'd like to wake up to on a Christmas morning would probably be a tree FULL of gifts underneath it!

With all this festivity around us, it's so easy to miss out the true reason for Christmas and become too preoccupied with things like what gifts we are getting for our loved ones, or even what kind of gifts we'd love to receive for Christmas. I celebrate Christmas because I'd like to celebrate the greatest gift God gave to us, Jesus Christ, His Son to be a sin offering for us. I celebrate this Gift that was the only way for us to be saved from our sins and I really really thank God for that.

I thought to myself, "Since we're celebrating Jesus' birth, shouldn't it be proper to give Him a gift too?" With that thought, the "gift ideas" I had ranged from acts of obedience, to sharing God's love to people around, etc etc. During church service on Christmas morning, a vision came to my mind as we were worshiping and praising God.

It was a vision of a TREE, except it wasn't a Christmas tree. It was the Tree that Jesus hung upon: a large wooden CROSS! And as I imagined what gifts to put under the tree, I only offered the best I have. Then Jesus told me to put under the tree, not only my victories but my failures; not only my acts of obedience but my sins as well. It was perplexing as I thought that I was only supposed to offer the best I can to Jesus. How can He ask for anything less?!

Jesus didn't only want parts of me, but ALL of me! He wanted me to put under the Tree, my life! Not just the victories or the good things that I've experienced through Jesus. He wanted me to put my sins, my failures, my insecurities all at the foot of the Cross too! That was when I realized that offering my life as a living sacrifice to Christ for what He has done for me wasn't just about coming to Him with my victories, but it was also to put before Him my sins and my failures. That was my birthday gift to Jesus!

What are your gifts under the Tree for Jesus? HE wants every part of you, not only the good, but the parts that you may be ashamed to present to Him as well. Do you have a sin that you have been struggling with? Put it under the Cross! Has the world's view of beauty made you feel inadequate or insecure? Present it to Jesus! Let's come before Jesus with all we have and all that we are; put it at the foot of the Cross and that may be the best gifts we can offer!

This Christmas, I pray for all of us to be truly set free and with no more burdens that will hinder our fellowship with God. Wasn't that why Jesus came in the first place? :)

Blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year! 

Put all that you have under the Tree; both your triumphs and your failures, and that's the best gift we can give to Jesus for Christmas! 

Run To Win The Prize

A couple of months ago, I competed in a wheelchair race in Terengganu and throughout the whole run, my body was weak from days of lack of rest and proper nutrition. It was a time where I really needed God to help me if I wanted to win, 'cause there was no way I could achieve it with the big gap in distance some competitors had over me. God in turn replied with not just strength, but some lessons that He wanted me to take back from the race. Lessons that was more important than the prize or medal.

1. Do not give up before the race is over!

I immediately knew the moment I started the run that I wasn't at my best condition. This showed throughout the whole race as I was struggling to catch up with the two other competitors who was in front of me. No matter how hard I pushed and pushed, I just couldn't close the gap between us. Instead they were going further away. I wanted to save my energy till the final kilometre so that I could go all out, and so I maintained the 3 place position throughout the whole race. 

However, there were no markers on the road to show the distance we've covered, and before I realize it, I recognized the turning in to the finishing line which I passed by earlier in the morning. It was just about 150 meters away and I was still in third place position; in fact I was still quite far away from the 2nd place racer. I knew I was a little too late in giving my final push. However, I asked God for strength and with Philippians 4: 13 in mind, I gave my hardest sprint and overtook the 2nd position; though I was still very far away from the 1st racer and he was already in his final 10 metres.

Some part of me wanted to ease up and just "accept the result of my defeat". How on earth would I win anyway,right? At that very moment, I could sense as if God is telling me that it's not a race between me and the other racer, but a race against myself and my complacency. I needed to give my very, VERY BEST regardless of what happens. It's no longer about winning, but about FINISHING STRONG. Never give up before the race is over! The same goes with life. Don't throw in the towel at the face of challenges and hopelessness, but choose to finish it strong and triumphantly! 

2. Do not think victory is already certain before the race is over and stumble right in front of the finish line.

As I was giving my all to reach the finish line (still thinking that I will end up in 2nd place anyway), I noticed that the 1st place racer was slowing down and relaxing in his pace. The next thing that happened was truly unexpected. He thought that he had won and decided to stop 5 metres right in front of the finish line! I immediately caught up and almost overtook him but he soon noticed and managed to block me from overtaking him in the finishing lane. I ended up finishing just centimetres behind him as I couldn't overtake in the narrow lane.

The results came out and we checked out our timing to determine the winner. It was a TIE!! We actually tied with the same timing! The organizers didn't know how to handle the case and asked me to accept the result based on who crossed the finish line first, though our timing was EXACTLY the same. I decided to accept the decision and took 2nd place. 

At that time, I realized that if I were to give up and just go easy before the finish line and accept my "defeat" I would have never gotten a tie. I also realized that because he was confident that he was going to win, he wasn't fully alert of his surrounding, thus stumbling right in front of the finish line. In life, there will be time where we get over-confident that we are already "there" and because of that we sometimes stumble at the most crucial moment and thus risk losing the "prize". Always keep our heads levelled and our eyes focused on Jesus, not on our own abilities to "win". 

There was one more lesson that I took back from the race but I shall leave that to another post as to not make this one too long. Anyway, never give up before the race is over! You'll never know the full potential you have if you do not decide to finish strong. Also, when it seems that we are winning, always keep our heads levelled and keep running as hard as we can. Be sure to run as to win the prize, focus and look to Jesus because He IS our prize! There's so much we can draw from a race to application into our spiritual and daily lives. Praise God for His grace abounds all the time! 

"Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."  (Philippians 3: 13-14)

Before the run started in the morning

I am SECOND

Ever since I started joining runs (not with my legs,course), people around have been inspired. I actually thought it was a little ridiculous when I got onto the news simply by joining my first 10km run! I mean, tonnes of other people were running but I ended up on the newspaper. How ridiculous was that?! However, I guess this is simply because people like to share stories that inspires them, be it people or sometimes even animals (like the news about the dog that led firemen & police to his owner's burning house).

I just finished my second half marathon so far at the Brooks Half Marathon. Officially, that was my 5th run ever since I participated in the Standard Chartered run July last year. I look at every run I join as an opportunity to inspire others and most of all, to make Jesus' name famous. That's why I would always wear  a shirt with the words "Powered by Jesus" and a verse printed at the back of it. I would normally choose to be slightly behind the crowd of people during a run so that I can pass by more people, and as a result they will be able to see the words on my back. 

With that in mind, I always do still dance on a fine line between inspiring people and glorifying Jesus, and the intention of feeling better about myself by indulging on people's compliments and making MYSELF famous. It's not easy to have the good intention of bringing glory to Jesus, and at the same time fight off the temptation to brag about how well I did, or how I overcome such "hard" obstacles during the run. 

In this Brooks Half Marathon, God was teaching me all over again. I really found this half marathon to be tougher than my previous one in Penang. The hills were steeper and the roads were rougher. It was also the first race where I could actually feel that I was getting cramp during the run. A few runners asked me if I could do it when we were at one of the steeper hills that day. I insisted that I was fine and needed no help when they offered a little push. At the back of my mind, the thought that I can't really take credit for my run really became the real reason why I refused help. Though I really was able & I did go through the hill on my own, I realized the real motivation of doing that on my own.

Along the way towards the final few kilometers,a few runners actually did offered to help me up some hills.Though I was hesitant, I finally gave in and allowed them to help. I actually could feel that God was trying to teach me what it means to really give all credit to Him at the end of my every run. It would mean that I no longer put myself as priority. The pride I was holding on to so that I can claim some credit to my own runs, didn't actually gel well with what I say about all glory to God every time I get a compliment from someone. 

I will continue to train harder so that I "run" stronger, but I will also continue to learn to know that my runs are not about me. It's no longer "my runs", but His. Only then will I be able to say that all glory goes to Jesus alone and truly mean it. I am POWERED BY JESUS. And I AM SECOND!

p/s: To know more about the "I am Second" movement, check out www.iamsecond.com, or find them on Facebook. 

Some of the few people whose lives I was to privileged to have got the chance to make a mark on.

Let me truly learn to say that I am SECOND! 

YOU are NOT a Mistake!

Was watching Wreck-It Ralph again on my pc on Chinese New Year's night. I must say that it is one of my favourite animation of 2012. It is so sweetly heart-warming. Plus, I really identified to the story the writers put the protagonists in.

The story follows Wreck-It Ralph, the main villain from the game Fix-It Felix Jr. who left his game in the quest of winning a medal from a game called Hero's Duty, hoping that by doing so, he can finally be accepted by the people from his own game. After a series of chaotic events, Ralph managed to obtain a gold medal but ended up in a game called Sugar Rush. There, he met Venellope Von Schweetz, a little girl whose only dream is to be a racer but was never allowed to race because she is a "glitch". What follows is a series of heart warming encounters between them while they soon learn that they don't need to be liked by everyone in order for them to accept themselves.

The two characters are portrayed as "outcasts" of their own games. Accepted by no one, stays alone and more often than not, they are convinced by the people around them that they do not belong there, or even supposed to exist in the first place. I guess that's how we feel sometimes, huh? I know I felt that countless times.

"It sure must be nice being the good guy." -Ralph

I always found myself trying to fit in, but failing instead. I was always the one who is sitting at the outer part of a conversation group, trying to find the right time to say something & get myself into the conversation too. I was also emotionally & verbally bullied in Standard 5 simply for being disabled. In other words, I wasn't really the candidate for the People's Choice Award.

"Everybody here says I'm just a mistake." -Vanellope

I can't remember how many times I've felt worthless, with no one to care, and sometimes I wondered if I was even supposed to exist at all. Just like the Ralph & Venellope though, with a little encouragement along the way, and with some faith I found the purpose for my existence. It is when Ralph & Vanellope knew for sure who they were supposed to be, that they stopped looking everywhere else to find their worth.

Through knowing Jesus Christ, I now truly understand that my worth is not in what other people say of me but in what the Creator says. Along the years, I understood that God has a specific purpose for me & for everything that has happened to me. I know that He wants me to use everything I have to encourage, motivate & inspire as many people as I can, for as long as I live. God has a PURPOSE for me! As Venellope said, "I can feel it in my codes" that I'm supposed to be an inspiration!

The next time you wonder if you are a mistake, think again! When a Creator creates something, it's for a specific purpose. Know the Creator, that is God, and know the purpose that He has for you. Then you'll find that you never need to really try hard to "fit in" anymore. You'll just fit right in, like a natural.

Even Jesus himself was rejected by His own people before. So,be encouraged! You are NOT a mistake! :)

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." (Psalms 139:14)

"I'm a racer! I can feel it in my codes." -Vanellope