Specially for Chen Li

Introduction
Full Name: Wong Chen Li
Age: 20
DOB: 10 March 1986
POB: Malacca
Occupation: Student
Field: Interior Design
Education Center: The One Academy

For the record, this is not because of what you said the other day. I really intended to dedicate a post to each of you (including you, Geng Yi!) wan. I really couldn't do it cuz ken broke dad's lappy and I only had dad's office computer to use. And that's only once a week, for about a half hour before I go over to Miss Heng's place.

Ok.

I first met Chen Li in MGSS! The one thing I can reallyyyy remember about her was the time she wore a kebaya and dance a silly-looking traditional danced with Mei Yen. Wahaha ~ So funny. I was like watching for the sake of laughing at you guys. Sorry ya ^^ I won't do that to anyone ever again.

Then Chen Li came for our Youth Camp 2004, where Uncle Stephen Low spoke on Finishing the Race. That was when Chen Li accepted the Lord.

From that point on, we maintained a casual friendship, with her being her usual sociable self, and me passing polite remarks from time to time. Then we headed to GLO, with Ju and Sin Lan - January 2006. Frankly, I was afraid.

1. To me, Chen Li was this really sociable girl, and I wasn't really close with her anyway, so I was sure she would hang out with Ju and the rest of the GLOians and then I would be left alone
2. I was afraid of the awkward moments in the conversations to come. I mean, Chen Li would have no problem conversing, but I would be so out of place, and I was afraid I would make her feel uncomfortable
   

Well, things turned out quite differently. I found out a few things about Chen Li - Stuff like she doesn't like people slamming the doors cuz it really irritates her =P

Also, though you might not know it, you were really a source of motivation for me in GLO. During the individual morning devotions, due to my sleepiness, I would just breeze through the commentary notes first. Sometimes I would even skip reading the Bible passage so that I could bounce back onto the bed and catch a few winks before heading for the group devotion. You said something that really struck me:

I don't want to read the commentary first. I'll read the passage first and then do my devotion. THEN I'll read the commentary. Because I find that if I read the commentary first, I end up with the commentators' opinion, not my own.

I didn't really show much reaction to that back then right? (partly cuz of my pride haha) But trust me, it struck me really hard. I never told you, but it really changed my devotion for the better. I found many new treasures in God's Word that I never saw before, all because you showed me how to seek those treasures. You didn't know my bad habit before you said that, but God must've used you to correct me!

And what you said about the people weeping because of the temple that was rebuilt? I sort of disagreed back then, but that was because of my pride also T_T And all the things you shared in the adult's Bible Study, especially the one about the true meaning of "enduring", they were all very inspiring to me.

When we got back from GLO, there was one thing you said which made me really happy. We were in the car, returning from our follow-up sessions with Jess' friends, and you told me:

Thanks for our experience in GLO, I really got to know you better.

Something like that. Not quite. But something like that. I thought you were joking, but you repeated it, and said you were serious. That was so nice. I didn't think anyone would actually want to know me better, cuz in my opinion, I'm not a very nice person in the first place.

You know my previous post about being jealous of you and all that? You know why I get envious of you sometimes? It's because I can see that you are so different and so special. I may have talents that are more outstanding and more upfront than yours in church, but yours are the ones that really count. You change lives, including mine, and in many special and different ways. The one life I thought I was finally able to change turned out to be a false alarm after all. You should know who I'm talking about yeah...

You're one of those who showed me that life is not all about knowledge, and evangelism is not all about using words to persuade a person.

Your latest blog entries have been quite depressing, to tell the truth. To me la. I mean, I only write those stuff when I'm depressed.

I don't feel that I'm worthy enough to give you words of advice, the way Melissa or my sis are. But I really hope you can see what I see in you. You're not just someone among the millions in this world who help fill the earth. The world may not stop spinning just cuz you're not around, but the One who created the world in the first place took great delight in creating a world that would only be complete if you were in it. You are a soldier on the frontline, leaving a legacy and an example for people like me who stand behind you, and a comrade, who teaches and corrects me subconsciously every single time.

People say you're a sanguine, but somehow when I see you, I see a fellow melancholic. Maybe it's because of the many similiarities in the way we think. And the patterns of ups and downs we go through that strikes a bell somewhere. As a melancholic, I don't have the ability or the courage to help you emotionally or spiritually, but I hope you find comfort in knowing that there IS someone who feels the same things you do, although in different circumstances, and that I would never think you're behaving in a silly way just cuz you write things in your blog that people don't usually write.

I mean, just look at my own blog.

Hmmph.

You HAVE changed me. Before GLO, I was this gloomy pile of melancholia just waiting for Judgment Day to come so that I don't have to live in this world any longer. But staying with you in the same room enabled me to be a firsthand witness to the evidence that even I can go back to being the lively person I was when I was a kid.

I'm a much happier person now!

And I owe you a movie yeah!

Contrary to popular belief, there IS room for spiritual decline somewhere along your life. You didn't really expect it to be a straight line all the way, did you? Even Maxwell Hill was uphill N downhill! Uphill can mean a really weary climb, you know. I'm sure you know. Literally. Your spiritual life was not meant to be a straight line like that of a marginal utility curve when the prices of items X and Y are nil.

Never mind.

Remember what my mum said: It's only when you go out into the world that the real tests come.

But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

1 Tim 6:11-12

You woman of God la.