Fresh Start

Anyone reading this blog? *echoes*

Chinese New Year is today! *lights red fire crackers*

One thing about new years (since I'm about a month too late for the 2009 New Year's Day), is that it signifies a new beginning. A fresh start. A time when we can leave behind the unhappy and start the happy. Building new memories. Bridging broken relationships. Letting go of something.

It's been three years since I've joined Agape (and AYP, of course) and I feel that I have grown much, mentally and spiritually. I have grown to be a more mature person as a whole, and a more mature Christian. Many times, I may have stumbled, but there are people around me who never failed to help me get back on track, and I thank God for those people.

Three years. Feels like forever, doesn't it? After going through disappointments after disappointments, I've come to realize the fact that the only person that is never going to disappoint you is God. A little slow in the realization part, I know, but time is what it takes to learn about something so it hits home right? It's just comforting to know that no matter how men (and women) may disappoint me or let me down, God is still always there with is unfailing love, ready to accept and cleanse me all over again. I sometimes blame myself for always letting God down, not doing what he says, letting so many other things consume and overwhelm me, that I forget to sit at His feet and just, literally, bask in His awesomeness.

God shows his love for me in many ways. One of which is through church members who never cease to guide me in making choices in life, and of course showering their never ending love and kindness toward a (not so) country bumpkin like me, making me feel so at home. I sometimes do wonder, where do all these overflowing love and kindness in them come from? And then it dawned upon me, making me spew words like "Why didn't I think of that?" out loud. This love and kindness come from God. And it is because they have experienced God's love and kindness, that they want express that same love and kindness to someone else, so that other person can experience the same thing, and the cycle goes on.

D'oh!

Being in Agape has taught me how to show love, kindness and compassion toward everyone I come across, in college, in the bus, in church, my family, and the list goes on. The warmth I felt from everyone in church truly makes me feel like part of the Agape family. If the family warmth is what the church is trying to emulate, then it has succeeded in monumental proportions. But the church is more than that. It loves, but it also disciplines. And that is what I love about it.

Warmth, kindness, compassion, obedience toward God, patience in handling us (the few young, vibrant life enthusiasts), joy in teaching and educating us, goodness of the heart, faithfulness to God our Father, gentleness in rebuking, and ultimately, love for each and every one of us. These sweet fruits of the spirit are what makes this church unique. They are, I feel, what defines the Agape church. This identity, is what truly makes the Agape church, family.

So, in this Chinese New Year, I would like to thank the Awesome God above for bestowing upon me a second family, a home away from home, and love from above through them. Let's not, in this CNY, forget our God, who is the fundamental reason why we all can have a second family.

Looks like I got carried away with my writing, but oh well.

Blessed Chinese New Year everyone!