Retreat
Retreat
I was away for a 4-day retreat in the island of Phuket - an annual staff retreat. When friends and classmates heard about it, they were so envious. Real funny when one of them said, "Oh, I thought you are going to say Bukit ... Timah, or Bukit ... Batok, or Bukit ... Panjang. Phuket! What good life!" =) And of course I got the same response from my lecturer when I told her I'll be missing her class on Friday because the group is leaving early that morning =)
Well, it was a good restful time - away from the crowd, listening to God, catching up with other colleagues. There's of course the "serious" side and the "fun" side. I'll try and recall these as I share them with you ...
The "serious" side
The retreat was a good time of listening to the Lord. It was a time when we are reminded to connect (1) to God, (2) to self, (3) to others, (4) to church/school.
Throughout the retreat, I'm very, very clear that God was reminding me the importance of staying connected with Him in all areas of my life - because only then will I not depend on my own strength and end up being frustrated. And by staying connected with God, He will show me the next step and I will not end up running ahead of Him and getting myself into all the mess that He will afterward have to untangle. Matthew 11:28 and Isaiah 43:1-4 (esp. vs 2) were what I felt the Lord telling me, and of course the reminder from the song "Great is Thy faithfulness" - nothing beats the faithfulness of God and His promises to us! =) The caution is therefore our pride, as we sometimes think we know better than the Lord ... we depend a lot on our own experiences, intuition and feelings, etc. Pastor K reminds us that "nothing sets a person so much outside the devil's reach as humility" which he also rephrase as "nothing sets a person so much outside staying connected with God as humility". How true - the humility as God's children as we come before Him. It's all about identity - knowing who we are and whose we are.
Pastor KM spoke about the need to center our lives around the Lord, allowing Him to mold us, and surrendering our wills to Him as he reminded us about the need to connect with ourselves. It's all about integrity.
Pastor W spoke about us as intercessor as we connect with others. It's interesting that he uses 3 chairs, one stacked upon another, to illustrate his point - God is the foundation chair, we are the ones in the centre as the intercessor, and others represented by the chair in between us and God. He reminded us about praying for our schools and our churches - leaders who are sometimes "sandwiched" in between policies and people.
The rest of the session were spent discussing on how we could improve our ministries in the schools - sharing ideas with each other, our struggles and concerns etc, and of course a proper Holy Communion closing service.
The fun side
Well, it was definitely a retreat where I got to know a number of my colleagues from other schools better. We only meet once a month and for formal meetings, so there really wasn't enough occasions for such catching up except until retreat.
Hmm... it was so interesting how we went galivanting around the vicinity of Patong Beach and having pampering sessions together =) 5 of us went for a real good 2-hr traditional Thai massage to loosen our muscles and joints during our evening free slots. It was so good that a few of the others went again the next day =) As I recall back, it's really amusing that we rather go hungry and have our pampering session first - coz by the time we finished our massage session, it was like 8.30pm (Singapore time 9.30pm!) and by then our minds were not connected with our thoughts because we were SO HUNGRY! And the worse thing that could happen then was we walked the wrong direction, away from the seafood restaurant that we wanted to have dinner at. Only after walking for about 20 minutes did we realize we were on the wrong tracks and had to "keblakan busing" - by then we were almost "crawling" because we were so so so so hungry =p Of course we found the place we wanted (Savoey, a highly recommended one =) and had a sumptuous dinner. We ordered (1) Tom Yam Soup, (2) a veg, (3) 2 garlic butter lobsters, (4) fresh prawns cooked with chilli sauce, (5) fresh fish grilled (salted) - real heavenly as we taste the freshness of the seafood! My colleague took some pictures which she said she will email to me, so when I get it, I'll try to post it here - real big tempting lobsters - haha, hopefully her skills is good enough to show it off *wink*
The next day we went back to the same area, looking for some more pampering sessions. From Famous Five (the original 5 of us), we "upgraded" to Secret Seven =) some of us went for manicure/pedicure, some went for foot reflexology, some went for some more massage =) well, the 3 of us who went for manicure/pedicure concluded that for the price we paid for (S$12 for both), we cannot have too high an expectation - the work is so "rough" and the session so "non-pampering" =( The dinner that night was also rather disappointing - we had Thai food this time round, but the service staff at the restaurant was rather rude (I mean, really really rude and with real bad attitude), so that kind of spoil our moods ...
The final night was real fun - our crazy colleagues came up with the idea of having each group putting together an "MTV" using the music they gave to us (one Mandarin song, one Cantonese song, one English song, one Marcarena, one Tamil song), and we are supposed to have "stupid" items (like shower cap, wig, coconuts, toilet roll, etc) included in the act - and guess what, I had to order 2 coconut juice on 2 separate nights during dinner just to ensure that I get the items for the group ... but oh, we all had fun. It was the craziest time we all had in the entire retreat. Even the few pastors who came along with us participated so spontaneously and we were all bursting out and laughing non-stop =) wink*
In conclusion
On the whole, this retreat was really a good time away from the madness and the rush of our usual everyday life =) And of course, it was a also a good time catching up with some reading that I need to do for my theological studies =P ... a lot more to read though =(
It has also been a time of wonderful encounter with God as He reminds me: "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze." Isaiah 43:2
If you are feeling tired or having uncertainties in life, may this verse remind you of the wonderful promises and faithfulness of God. Take a step back - retreat backwards before God tell you to move on ahead and forward =)
I was away for a 4-day retreat in the island of Phuket - an annual staff retreat. When friends and classmates heard about it, they were so envious. Real funny when one of them said, "Oh, I thought you are going to say Bukit ... Timah, or Bukit ... Batok, or Bukit ... Panjang. Phuket! What good life!" =) And of course I got the same response from my lecturer when I told her I'll be missing her class on Friday because the group is leaving early that morning =)
Well, it was a good restful time - away from the crowd, listening to God, catching up with other colleagues. There's of course the "serious" side and the "fun" side. I'll try and recall these as I share them with you ...
The "serious" side
The retreat was a good time of listening to the Lord. It was a time when we are reminded to connect (1) to God, (2) to self, (3) to others, (4) to church/school.
Throughout the retreat, I'm very, very clear that God was reminding me the importance of staying connected with Him in all areas of my life - because only then will I not depend on my own strength and end up being frustrated. And by staying connected with God, He will show me the next step and I will not end up running ahead of Him and getting myself into all the mess that He will afterward have to untangle. Matthew 11:28 and Isaiah 43:1-4 (esp. vs 2) were what I felt the Lord telling me, and of course the reminder from the song "Great is Thy faithfulness" - nothing beats the faithfulness of God and His promises to us! =) The caution is therefore our pride, as we sometimes think we know better than the Lord ... we depend a lot on our own experiences, intuition and feelings, etc. Pastor K reminds us that "nothing sets a person so much outside the devil's reach as humility" which he also rephrase as "nothing sets a person so much outside staying connected with God as humility". How true - the humility as God's children as we come before Him. It's all about identity - knowing who we are and whose we are.
Pastor KM spoke about the need to center our lives around the Lord, allowing Him to mold us, and surrendering our wills to Him as he reminded us about the need to connect with ourselves. It's all about integrity.
Pastor W spoke about us as intercessor as we connect with others. It's interesting that he uses 3 chairs, one stacked upon another, to illustrate his point - God is the foundation chair, we are the ones in the centre as the intercessor, and others represented by the chair in between us and God. He reminded us about praying for our schools and our churches - leaders who are sometimes "sandwiched" in between policies and people.
The rest of the session were spent discussing on how we could improve our ministries in the schools - sharing ideas with each other, our struggles and concerns etc, and of course a proper Holy Communion closing service.
The fun side
Well, it was definitely a retreat where I got to know a number of my colleagues from other schools better. We only meet once a month and for formal meetings, so there really wasn't enough occasions for such catching up except until retreat.
Hmm... it was so interesting how we went galivanting around the vicinity of Patong Beach and having pampering sessions together =) 5 of us went for a real good 2-hr traditional Thai massage to loosen our muscles and joints during our evening free slots. It was so good that a few of the others went again the next day =) As I recall back, it's really amusing that we rather go hungry and have our pampering session first - coz by the time we finished our massage session, it was like 8.30pm (Singapore time 9.30pm!) and by then our minds were not connected with our thoughts because we were SO HUNGRY! And the worse thing that could happen then was we walked the wrong direction, away from the seafood restaurant that we wanted to have dinner at. Only after walking for about 20 minutes did we realize we were on the wrong tracks and had to "keblakan busing" - by then we were almost "crawling" because we were so so so so hungry =p Of course we found the place we wanted (Savoey, a highly recommended one =) and had a sumptuous dinner. We ordered (1) Tom Yam Soup, (2) a veg, (3) 2 garlic butter lobsters, (4) fresh prawns cooked with chilli sauce, (5) fresh fish grilled (salted) - real heavenly as we taste the freshness of the seafood! My colleague took some pictures which she said she will email to me, so when I get it, I'll try to post it here - real big tempting lobsters - haha, hopefully her skills is good enough to show it off *wink*
The next day we went back to the same area, looking for some more pampering sessions. From Famous Five (the original 5 of us), we "upgraded" to Secret Seven =) some of us went for manicure/pedicure, some went for foot reflexology, some went for some more massage =) well, the 3 of us who went for manicure/pedicure concluded that for the price we paid for (S$12 for both), we cannot have too high an expectation - the work is so "rough" and the session so "non-pampering" =( The dinner that night was also rather disappointing - we had Thai food this time round, but the service staff at the restaurant was rather rude (I mean, really really rude and with real bad attitude), so that kind of spoil our moods ...
The final night was real fun - our crazy colleagues came up with the idea of having each group putting together an "MTV" using the music they gave to us (one Mandarin song, one Cantonese song, one English song, one Marcarena, one Tamil song), and we are supposed to have "stupid" items (like shower cap, wig, coconuts, toilet roll, etc) included in the act - and guess what, I had to order 2 coconut juice on 2 separate nights during dinner just to ensure that I get the items for the group ... but oh, we all had fun. It was the craziest time we all had in the entire retreat. Even the few pastors who came along with us participated so spontaneously and we were all bursting out and laughing non-stop =) wink*
In conclusion
On the whole, this retreat was really a good time away from the madness and the rush of our usual everyday life =) And of course, it was a also a good time catching up with some reading that I need to do for my theological studies =P ... a lot more to read though =(
It has also been a time of wonderful encounter with God as He reminds me: "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze." Isaiah 43:2
If you are feeling tired or having uncertainties in life, may this verse remind you of the wonderful promises and faithfulness of God. Take a step back - retreat backwards before God tell you to move on ahead and forward =)
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