VirtuaLife

Just a general update of the holiday happenings thus far.

LAUREN’S 21ST

Went to Lauren’s 21st which was held at Mystique Nightclub in the Valley. The theme was Emergency 911 – so ‘we’ came dressed as anything from doctors and nurses to fighter pilots and (my favourite) Italian policewomen… you know, the kind that fights the law with the pointy end of their 6-inch stilettos. Hah!

I was kind of scared to get of out of the car in my scrubs, the first time that I was rather conscious of how I looked. Not so much that I was ashamed of myself (which I wasn’t, thank YOU) but rather the fact that receiving attention in the Valley is... well, for me, it’s a bad thing. So I bunkered down for 10-15 minutes waiting for the Sunnybank crew to rock up and provide social support for me as we sauntered thorough the public places.

Only to discover that they’d dressed comparatively normally (except nurse Zoe). So much for support. Bah!

Here are some of the pictures taken. For the record, the scrubs were sourced from my American uncle who is a fellow of orthopaedic surgery. He gave it to me for pyjamas while I was in Philippines.

Reflecting on the night, I feel quite sorry for Lauren. If I’m not mistaken, out of the 100+ invites that were RSVPed, only 30 showed on the night. That’s pretty pathetic, you know? I mean, why in the world would you say yes and then have the gross indecency to NOT rock up? The poor gal. And it was her 21st, too. Sometimes the amount of selfishness that people show shits me to tears. This was one of those times.

But speaking for myself, I had a decent night. Met a few new faces, got some contacts, exercised (read: danced) a little bit and managed to fall asleep upon heading home without that incessant ringing in my ears. Snaps for the birthday girl and her boyfriend who were amazingly dressed. And the moment when her stockings got caught on his pants… class act =).

TAMBORINE RETREAT

Man, I’ve been hitting myself over the head with this one. I kept on delaying my preparation for it because of other commitments and in the end got caught out with my own utter stupidity. I was late for departure because I’d misread the email and so at the time that I was supposed to be meeting everybody and going for dinner, I was actually just clambering out of bed and wondering how to START packing. Oops.

Among the list of things I dearly missed during the camp were: a full-sized sleeping bag; dental floss; a shaver; socks and shoes; flashlight; a notepad; my birthday scripts, and; a smile. Boooooo.

Still, God is ever gracious and despite the 1 hour I spent on public transport cursing myself as I dragged my gear to Sunnybank, His plans were already unfolding for me. I left home in an absolutely foul mood due to domestic circumstances but God spent the hour quietening me down and focussing my attention back on MY purpose for the trip – inner rejuvenation. Like the landmark forum, where my motto was to ‘Be Fresh with Life’, I was looking to shelve my pride and retake some lessons in eating humble pie by learning from the recollections of others. Jazzy posed it as a question to us in the car before we arrived and I’m glad that she did – it reminded me that despite the thunderstorm in my head, I was heading for an appointment with a God to whom the seas and skies submit.

I don’t really know how to summarise how Tamborine 08 was for me, really. I enjoyed being able to speak into some of my brothers’ lives more, since they seemed to be more open than they normally are in lifegroup. I enjoyed being able to sit back and see different passions unfold and interact as people got into the business of other people. I enjoyed being able to close my eyes and FEEL the hum and vibe of life whirling around me (do you ever do that? If you don’t you’re missing out). I enjoyed the two 5am sunrises, obscured by rain and clouds as they were. I was thankful for all the people who stepped into responsibility to make the camp happen – their servanthood was not only apparent in the planning, but also throughout the entire camp.

But it’s not like me to simply enjoy and be thankful, is it? Hahaha. I was quite critical of some of the things that were said/preached. People mixing emotions and feelings with relationships, again. I found disagreement over many small areas that I have either heard before or thought could be explained in a clearer way. For every person that may have risen up to the challenge of Tamborine, I saw another who I discerned could go further, yet seemed not to want to. Looking inwards, I blasted through my own barriers of spiritual submission, yet struggled with a previously conquered area of small giving. I saw that the embers in my heart had once again grown into a raging fire, but I struggled to understand how I could control it. Should I even have bothered – was I limiting the work of God in His fullness? That’s right…. it’s not like me to simply enjoy and be thankful. There’s a valuable lesson… always a valuable lesson to be learnt.

I also discovered a concept in Tamborine that for now I wish to call the Complement personality as opposed to Split personality. I will elaborate this in another post.

For now, those are the big updates.

Abby's BD celebration is tomorrow (today, actually?) and I need to go shopping with Sarah, hopefully on Friday. My new job starts this week to, so I'll take it easy and see how things go. This whole fasting fortnight thing is playing rollercoaster with my energy levels.

In Faith, Hope and Love!