The Leap Year

Dear Diary,

It’s Dad’s birthday today… Couldn’t do much for him today except dropping him an SMS to wish him “Happy Birthday” in the morning as I rushed to work in the drizzle. My sisters and I will give him a treat tomorrow… a buffet? Sigh… my tummy is getting bloated and bigger since Monday this week! Yup, since I drank 2 glasses of red wine on Monday and 3 glasses of red wine on Tuesday…. Yes, those wedding dinners, haha… since then, with the assistance of the “supper-ing” habit, I am getting a tummy I cannot ignore now! What a sign especially when it is the period of Lent! I am supposed to be prayerful and possibly even fasting! I guess this year’s Lent is anything like Lent to me. I am living it so frivolously. Sigh… Possibly a reminder to not over-indulge myself… my favourite ice-cream store “Scoopz” was gone on 29th Feb (Friday)… yes, on leap year. There was this sign saying there will be renovation works at that store… not sure if they will return after the renovation. I have kinda associated that ice-cream outlet with memories of youth. If it doesn’t reopen, gonna really miss its durian ice-cream!

Yesterday on the leap year day… a pharmacist came to my counter and had a long chat with me. I know her by sight, as she is the founder and owner of a US-based health supplement company. She was surprisingly very nice despite her exalted social standing. Somehow, I really admire her for the fact that she took the step of faith and went to set up her company despite the odds. Maybe her family is very wealthy in the first place? Haha… She told me to strive for what I want while I am young. That’s true… but I am not even very sure what I really want! I am officially lost! Have been praying for divine guidance. She is a Catholic and thought that the Anglican church is going back into the fold of the Holy See by the end of this year… I was like… huh?????? Think she got her religious facts wrong here unless she is like part of some secret Catholic intelligence agencies in Vatican City and know information that the public does not, hee… =P Really enjoyed that encounter with her. I really think I should be seeking God more on what I should do next. Yet another colleague has tendered her resignation on leap year day. She sure knows how to make it dramatic and leave with a “bang”, haha… Wish her all the best!

I used to think that many girls are dumping guys out of their relationships. Maybe my contacts were mostly male then. In recent times, I have consoled a couple of female friends when their boyfriends “dumped” them. Sigh… break-ups are never nice but better now than after marriage, right? I realise that girls get more affected with such break-ups than guys. My advice is to just break total contact with that ex-boyfriend. Yup, a clean break. No point remaining as friends… at least, not for the initial phase. Absence of contact is a very effective way to get over a break-up or an episode of “being jilted”. I can testify that from experience. I took quite a while to get over a particular girl but as the absence of contact gets longer, she just disappears from my heart. Maybe I am heartless lah… haha… Anyway, for this friend who confided to me on the early first hour of the leap year day... I really hope she can be strong and get on with life because she has been a very nice girl since I knew her in pharmacy school. We weren’t from the same class though. She was from my junior class. That’s relationships for you. Heart-breaking at times… but generally… better to have loved than never?

Okay, I will leave you with the lyrics of this song playing on the background… This is the song that I am choosing to motivate me through the remaining period of Lent. I am so looking forward to Easter Sunday… other than the fact that I will be in Taiwan on that day, haha… Easter Sunday reminds me that I am a redeemed child of God, and of God’s love for me and the people around. Enjoy this song!

How Beautiful

by Twila Paris

How Beautiful the hands that served
The Wine and the Bread and the sons of the earth
How beautiful the feet that walked
The long dusty road and the hill to the cross
How Beautiful, how beautiful, how beautiful is the body of Christ

How Beautiful the heart that bled
That took all my sins and bore it instead
How beautiful the tender eyes
That choose to forgive and never despise
How beautiful, how beautiful, how beautiful is the body of Christ

And as He lay down His life
We offer this sacrifice
That we will live just as He died
Willing to pay the price
Willing to pay the price

How Beautiful the radiant bride
Who waits for her Groom with His light in her eyes
How Beautiful when humble hearts give
The fruit of pure love so that others may live
How beautiful, how beautiful, how beautiful is the body of Christ

How beautiful the feet that bring
The sound of good news and the love of the King
How Beautiful the hands that serve
The wine and the bread and the sons of the Earth
How Beautiful, how beautiful, how beautiful is the body of Christ

God Bless,

Andrew