So many minute incidents have happened in the last 3 weeks that I haven't had the time to sort the message from Him behind them, before the very next one appeared. However, they are all interrelated.
3 weeks ago, I was due to attend the wedding of a former pri sch friend whom I lost contact with for quite a long period of time. Of course, when you attend weddings, you are expected to give a gift or ang pao of a courteous amount. The Ebenezer Scrooge in me wasn't exactly too happy with it (You appear out of nowhere after such a long time and the immediate thing you do is to bomb me... Worse, I have no chance of recouping my loss in the near future as I have no bf...). I called up a fellow friend of ours (I am much closer to her as we have been in close contact even after we left pri school) who was also invited, and told her the amount I felt was appropriate, seeking her advice. Now on retrospect, it was more of asking for affirmation rather than advice. My friend honestly rebuked me for my miserliness, telling me off on the importance of being courteous in social protocol, as it would reflect badly on my character. However, my temporal blindness led me to say a very nasty remark to her about whether she was afraid I would be scroogy at her future wedding. Thankfully she was calm enough to give me a final scolding and hung up quickly without giving me any further chance to spoil our relationship.
After calming down, I was reminded our the verse my cell group had just discussed about that very night, before I had made this errant call. Then God's word hit me...again. By segregating those around me in those which I showed more or less favour, I was practising the very "unjust scales" which I so was so very disgusted against! Worse of all, this act of segregation actually worked against me by pushing away those whom I held dear, in this situation the friend who rebuked me. The amount in the next day's ang pao is a forever a secret between me and Him, but I know He spoke very clearly, that if you treat the bride in such a disrespectful manner, regardless of what her intentions of inviting you are, you are not just going to lose her as an aquaintance, you will lose this other one close to you as well....
Well, attending the wedding banquet turned out to be a very enjoyable outing for me to catch up with that dear friend and another close friend. Of course the 3 of us did some girl bitching (e.g. critiquing the banquet menu/wedding gowns/photo albums/groom's height... :P) which we haven't had the opportunity to do since a long time. Thankfully God's warning prevented this wonderful gathering from having never occurred...
Thanksgiving Prayer
1. The 2 close friends of mine. If you are reading this, you will know who you are. May God bless you all the way. Uncle P and Prince Roy each are very blessed to have the 2 of you as the bride of their life... :)
2. My cell group for having chosen to go through that verse that very night, just in time to knock sense into me... Really, there is a time for everything... Talk about timliness....
3. The bride and groom of the wedding. God bless you for your union. You 2 looked especially cool in Japanese style section (bride in kimono, groom in Japanese warlord suit) of the photo album.
I'll conclude this part of the serial blog with the verse from that night. Follow up will come soon, before it gets wiped off my memory due to complacency.
For God shows no favouritism. --- Romans 2:11
