Friends

This morning, I woke up with thanksgiving in my heart. It was just wonderful and there is this very gentle delight in me. I reached the office, went to the toilet and was humming and singing to myself. At my desk, before the onset of IT problems, before the busyness and the harried looks, I read an email from Pamela. (http://www.xanga.com/pamelakoh) Emotions welled up in me and so many things that she wrote about challenged and encouraged me… Suddenly I found myself humming to the tune of Michael W. Smith’s “Friends”. Dear friends, have you heard this song?

Friends (By Michael W. Smith)
Packing up the dreams God planted
In the fertile soil of you
Cant believe the hopes hes granted
Means a chapter in your life is through

But we'll keep you close as always
It wont even seem youve gone
cause our hearts in big and small ways
Will keep the love that keeps us strong

Chorus:
And friends are friends forever
If the lord's the lord of them
And a friend will not say never
cause the welcome will not end
Though it's hard to let you go
In the father's hands we know
That a lifetime's not too long
to live as friends.

With the faith and love god's given
Springing from the hope we know
We will pray the joy you'll live in
Is the strength that now you show

But we'll keep you close as always
It wont even seem you've gone
cause our hearts in big and small ways
Will keep the love that keeps us strong

Well, I am not exactly thinking about friends who are going to leave but I am talking about having friends… Friends you know you can count on in your life. Yesterday, just yesterday, after work, I met up with 3 such friends separately and it was so good to spend quality time with them.

Here’s a bit of thankfulness I want to express to each of them.. :)

Ziwei has been a great friend and my mentor and leader and this one guy is REAL. No pretenses about him, no airs and despite being busy busy busy all the time, there is this confidence and calm he portrays. Hurhur… Last night’s dinner and coffee was really good. We just talked and talked and shared and shared and listened and listened and encouraged and encouraged. :) Sometimes, as we get caught up, so caught up with work, with commitments, the effort to consciously take time off to fellowship with close friends becomes sacrificial and very, very precious. Yet at the end of it, both parties will leave knowing that there’s been an imprint of the depth of friendship nourished and understanding deepened. That’s really what I felt last night on my way home. And this morning, I went online to ask him for a nice pict of him because I wanna write about him and hurhur… here are 2 pics he sent to me!! Dashing ne!!



















Graduation at SOT


Ziwei and Jelaine


Celebrating his bday at Expo!

And next up is Wanz. She’s incredible. She brings another quality of what a friend is TO LIFE. She’s a great listener, encourager, radiates energy and love and most importantly, she goes the EXTRA EXTRA MILE. I know people do walk an extra mile but to me, Wanli goes a few extra miles… Steve and I, and I believe, her close friends, can testify to that.

We met up last night to go to StarHub because she wants to subscribe to their student plan. She could get a new handset because of that but guess what, she asked me if I would like to get one free or discounted handphone instead. This girl is really a gem.



















At the airport with Wanz

And last of all, I’d like to share about Mr Goh. Haha, through Steve, I got to know Robin more and more and he’s one great, funny, solid, interesting guy. (Did I mention that he owns cafes too?!) He’s full of ideas, creativity and energy and takes his responsibilities seriously. One of my first impressions of him was when Steve visited me in Japan. Then, a typhoon was raging outside and Steve and I were at home atop my mountain.. hurhur and I was watching the telebe (otherwise known as TV) and both he and Robin were talking on the phone. I had NO IDEA that guys could talk for so long… It was revelational! It was a one-hour drama that I was watching and they were talking be4 the show… and still talking after the show… Really, they were like excited little boys, or little girls, yakking excitedly about everything!! Amazing and very amusing to me!

So last night, when Ziwei and I finally left around 11 plus, I called Steve to find out their wheareabouts (Steve and Robin and the security guys went to a wedding dinner). Heez, and Robin was sending them home and cruising through ECP when he heard that I was still at City Hall. Thanks brother… he turned back straightaway, picked me up and sent me home. Awwwww… so nice and so sweet and so 4 of us huddled in his branded van and I reached home before the clock struck 12.


Zhaowei and Robin