Speechless

Man... I have so many things I wanna share with you. I will try to share everything, but it will have to be a short sharing though, as I have to sleep soon.

1. Be a true leader, not a fake strong leader
A leader must be strong and also look strong even when s/he is down or feeling weak. The first is very right, but the second can be misleading. I say again, it can be misleading. Yes leader must be strong, but at the same time a leader must be true to himself/herself and his/her follower/member, because at the end of the day, a leader is still a human being with many weaknesses. Here's what happened to me few wks ago, I felt so down and I wanted to cry to release the pains in my heart but could not do so. Then I called my leader/shepherd but they didn't picked up my phone (they're all busy people). And then I called my sheeps and few of my guys and just told them my feeling. Instead of looking at me as a weak and useless/hopeless leader who needed a shoulder to cry on, they sat there and just listened to me. After I finished sharing, they encouraged me, prayed for me and kept on calling back to see how I was doing.

At that time (when I shared with them) I actually was a bit worried, if they'd think of me as weak and not strong, a leader who can't stand strong under persecution. But it turned out completely different. They thanked me for sharing my pains with them. I'm so grateful for having these guys as part of my life-group. I thank God for everyone of them. I can be truthful to them. There is trust, respect, love and that bonding between us.

Many times, leaders don't want to share their weaknesses/pains/struggles because they don't want to be seen as weak or their sharing might stumble their members. Yes as leaders we need to be mindful and wise with what we're sharing, BUT we should be truthful to them and be as open and honest as possible, as we ourselves are also human being who still sin and make mistakes. When we do that, and only when we do that, we can start seeing our own people be open and honest with us.

2. Birthday
For the first time in my life I celebrated my birthday long before the day, ahhaha... and I got such nice bday presents, an RL polo, the boardgame cranium and a tie. Guys, thanks for the pressies.

3. Polo RL
ahahha.... I think by now most of my friends know that I like Polo RL. I tell you why? It's one of the most famous brand with good quality but pretty cheap price. Here's my principle, I will not buy anything that is fake or counterfeit. If I can't afford the authentic, then I won't buy the fake. I like Tommy, Lacoste and most branded stuff. I'm not gonna lie to you. The reason being is because they have such good quality plus simple designs. But I'm not gonna buy a fake Tommy or Lacoste if I can't afford the real one. People asked me why I have so many polos (as in Polo RL) and if those are real. Well, I bought most of my polos in Indonesia, they're very cheap ($20-$30 after discount) and yes they are all original/authentic. I also bought few polos in here, but I only bought them because they were heavily discounted. Yday I went to Harbour Town in GC with some of the guys from my group, and I bought 3 polos at $40ish each. So you see, I actually don't spend much, ahhaha.... I'm quite careful with my spending.

4. Farewell, Christmas and bday pressies
Man.... I'm really blessed, honestly.
This yr I feel I got so many pressies. Some of the people in my LG cooked such a nice dinner last Fri for me and they bought me this facial products to help me look young or age slower (since I'll be helping leading a younger working group), ahahha.... Besides that, I got some very nice christmas pressies from different ones in the church. One interesting gift is (sorry, I hope you're alright with me sharing this) this gift I received from our church senior pastors. They bought me this cute little globe and pen holder. I'm not sure how much thought they put into it (some other leaders might received the same thing), but I have always wanted to have a globe ball. Although the size is way very small, but I was literally speechless when I opened the box. I couldn't believe it. Long long time ago I really wanted to have a good size globe ball, or a big world map to hang on the wall. I searched for them and found out that they're very expensive (the big globe ball, or big world map). After few yrs, I lost the desire to have either one. And tonight, I was like.... " W O W ", this is awesome. It's so God. ahahaha.... It's really really God. ahahhahaa..... I got a globe, ahahhaa..... I can't believe it. It's for real, ahahhaa.... Thank you Pastors. Thank you God for putting that thought in their mind to give me this cute little globe and pen holder. ahahhaa.... I have a globe, ahahhaa...... woohooooooo.....

OK, it's getting late, good nite. ahahhaa..... I got a globe, ahahhaha....