Tonight at leadership training (which is one of our last ones till AGM), I realized that in 11 weeks time, it will be exactly a year since I stepped up on committee for ICF. The last 9 months and 1 week (to be exact), has gone by so quickly. God has taught and given me so much during those times and I believe that there is more to come of it.

We were asked to think about two things that we are thankful/grateful for and one thing that we found challenging this year.

Firstly, I am thankful for the people that God has brought into ICF this year and those who have stayed on from last year and grown in so many ways. The group this year is much more diverse in terms of ethnicity, culture, beliefs and values. I also thanked God for the support that we receive from our sister group on campus, CU (Christian Union), our beloved staff workers, Karen, James and Val, as well as our minty, Esther and Stevie through committee meetings, retreats, leadership training, small group leaders training, Bible studies, resources, prayer and partnership in combined meetings and events.

Secondly, I thank God for my (His) DJG. I know I've never mentioned this in any previous posts this year but I have been been given the privilege of being a part of (leading) a DJG (discovering Jesus group) together with Ching Wen (who co-leads). The group consists of two members, Yuki (from Japan) and Sophie (from Korea).

In the last two months, we have had some very meaningful discussions based on the study (Genesis) and questions that have been brought up by either member. It amazes me that at nearly every meeting, I find myself learning something new from the studies through the questions that either Yuki or Sophie ask despite the fact that I've prepared, read and heard the passages so many times before. I can see God working tremendously in the lives of both these very special people. They have gone from feeling awkward at asking questions during our first few meetings and not saying anything during prayer to having so many questions to ask (that we can go on for two hours and still not cover everything), being able to relate the word with their lives and even have personal prayer requests as well as saying prayers at the end of the meeting.

My challenge is basically time. What I mean by this is not not having enough time to do things but rather having to choose who and what to spend time with. I know that this may seem selfish to some people but I realized that I cannot meet everyone's needs. I've had to say no various times to certain people when I've been asked out or to do things together and I know that some of them may feel that I have neglected them but this is not true. Part of the reason is because I have had to set my priorities straight for my own good and when I do this, I sometimes have to it seems neglect (decline) certain people especially when they are not really relevant to what I am doing at this point of time. I do try to do this with love and valid explanations and reason. At first, I did find this really difficult as I can be pretty indecisive which sometimes makes the situation rather sticky. Nevertheless, it has taught me that being truthful has it's rewards and people actually do understand. I guess sometimes you never know until you try.