Arose early in order to hitch a lift from S.O.S. to church as usual on Sunday morning (it is ALWAYS hard for me to rise early on weekends, even though that is supposed to be my regular schedule now and I am supposed to have accustomed to it...). Tumbled straight into my routine task as soon as I stepped foot into the cafe - making sandwiches. Was halfway through my work when the saw-like knife accidentally slipped and its razor blade sliced into my finger - felt a sharp, searing pain instantly! Glanced at the "inflicted" finger but couldn't see anything. Was just about to continue with sandwich-making when the pain compelled me to take another look...and...Whoa! I saw myself sporting a finger adorned in the signature colour of Liverpool Football Club! Blood was gushing out from the fresh wound - resembling a mini waterfall...Instantaneously, I tried to reach for a paper-handkerchief from the tissue box at the counter-top with my other hand...struggled for quite a while before someone helped got it for me...Covered my "Liverpool fan" finger and applied pressure on it. Meanwhile, asked around for the church medical kit (as there is no more bandage in the cafe drawer) and rummaged through it...struggled for a long while once more until some church member lent out a helping hand and helped found me a bandage...Managed to unwrap the bandage with one hand...then thought: bleeding SHOULD have ceased by now...? Lifted the paper-handkerchief to take a peek - Hmm...still flowing like waterfall! The paper-handkerchief was already soaked with my generous outflow of haemoglobin - bright red patch against a white background - attractive colour combination~! No choice, covered the wound again and re-applied pressure upon it...Waited for a really long while this time before checking on it again - bleeding was receding, though a tiny stream of blood was still dribbling - wrapped bandage firmly over finger. Finally, was able to turn my attention back to the "abandoned" sandwiches...Served at cafe for close to 6 or 7 hours with practically no rest - I only managed to "steal away" for a break when I had my lunch - the one time that I ever get to Really SIT down...! Thank God for chairs~! Was "operating" purely on "back-up battery power" in the afternoon...yet, when the time came for Captain Ball, I was "miraculously, instantaneously and automatically recharged"! We were divided into 3 teams for the game and each team consisted of 10 members whereby 6 would be out in the court playing for the team during any one match (3 boys, 3 girls), with the remaining members on "stand by" as substitutes. Was assigned to be in one team with Rick, Johnson, Min Jun, Alvin, Yun Juok, Vei Ling, Meei Yi, Tracy, Vui Theng and Yi Wen - with Johnson being our team leader. Our team name is “一點通”, which, verbally translated, would be "MagicFinger" or "MagicTouch". We even created our very own special gesture for the team! Tried to play "with courtesy" during the first-half of the game - since Viktor da Lee said it was to be a "friendly match" - but, turned out that...some girls seemed wilder than boys in the game!! No choice...really had to "show them some colours" for the rest of the game...Alvin is the best keeper~!! His signature technique is the ability to catch a goal with only one foot remaining on the chair and his arms and body completely swayed to one side, and that is not all - he is able to hold that position for a minimum of 3 seconds!! Perfect balance!!! Kudos~Alvin! We had a fantastic game. When it has ended, however, some of us haven't had enough yet, and formed teams of our own to continue playing the game...Haha...At the end of the day, Captain Ball has "added colours" on to me, and I looked more "colourful" after the game than ever before - bruised black and blue - marks of accidents during the game...Didn't really realise that I was bruised until Kitt poked me gently in my shoulder with one finger in church afterwards (as she wanted to speak to me) - that poke really had the effect of “一點‘痛’” ("PainfulTouch") - and I jumped right out of the chair I was sitting on due to the sudden, excruciating pain! My spontaneous reaction shocked her so much that she jumped, too. Hahaha - we were like two kangaroos that had escaped from the zoo...What I have gained (6th July, 2008): (I) From the cafe incident I realised that I could hardly do the simplest things on my own with only one hand - from trying to take a paper-handkerchief out of a tissue box to searching for a bandage in a medical kit - when I only have one hand to spare, I need other people to help me even with these very simple tasks... God is using this incident to remind me that I can't do everything on my own. I am not saying that God had it in mind to make me get injured with the knife so that He can make me realise all these, but that out of every circumstance (no matter how bad or terrible it is), He will make sure something good comes out of it - things that will benefit us. He reminded me that it is not good for me to always do things alone by myself, that I also need other people's help from time to time (maybe I have been too obstinate recently and always forced myself to go beyond my own limits and would only ever ask for help from others when I am really K.O. ...?) He reminded me as to the reason why He placed us to live in a community and not lead a solitary life. I have been too headstrong and have overestimated my own ability all these while that, often I refused to ask others for help until I am in a really critical stage. If I continue to be like this, perhaps one day I might even be too proud to seek help until it is too late...God foresees everything and He revealed this to me, in His perfect timing...Thank You, Lord! I just realised that I am the culprit who has used up all the bandages in the cafe - cafe had to sponsor one bandage to me almost every week - because somehow I always manage to add a nick or a cut to myself while helping out there...
Felt a slight unwillingness to dispose of the paper-handkerchief after I have bandaged my finger - seeing that I have "donated" so much of my blood to it - it's kind of wasteful to throw it into the dustbin...Farewell, "My Precioussss~~" bloody paper-handkerchief...kakaka...
One other thing I realised is that my blood actually has a very nice colour! I like the colour of my blood - it's scarlet - a really really pretty shade of red~~
(II) From the game of Captain Ball
(i) I came to realise that sometimes you just can't be too nice to everybody. In order to survive, you have to be flexible and try to act and move in accordance to your surrounding environment. Life in this world...sometimes you really have no options left but to treat others the way they treat you...Do not let others step down on you or take advantage of you. Christians should live a life that glorifies God but that doesn't mean we should become doormats. Stay intelligent and be flexible!
(ii) The arms that caught me when I fall...I was reminded of the Lord's loving arms when Crystal from the opposing team (playing as defender) caught me as I fell off from the chair trying to catch a goal while playing as keeper - after a couple of falls I think the others were worried I would get injured and advised that I switched position with another player from our team...
God reminded me re two things via this incident: first of all, Love your enemy (not that I see the opposing team as our enemy, just that this verse from the Scriptures suddenly struck my mind via this incident)- Even though we were from opposing teams, Crystal turned to me and said,"Don't worry, I'll catch you when you fall." I could see the light of sincerity illuminating her eyes as she said that...honestly, I felt so touched then... - touched by an angel...hahaha...secondly, God will always be there to catch us as and when we fall...ALWAYS! Because if men can do this for each other, how much more would God do this for us!! Thank You so much, Lord...
(iii) I finally have the opportunity to experience the saying "I jump, she jumps" - with Kitt...! Hahaha...we really did make each other jump, though it was rather unexpected...
I just realised how much I missed sports...and I have actually forgotten how sports can revive me...! I have always loved sports, and even though I may be tired, I will still welcome a game of sports - instead of making me more tired, sports has the amazing power of refreshing me...! Captain Ball has "awakened" my passion for sports again...
The "souvenirs" of the day:
(a) A rather deep wound on my finger measuring about 1/4 inch in length - the cafe knife "insisted" on leaving a mark on me every week...(this is the worst injury I had from the cafe so far...)
(b) Large and "beautiful" bruises on arm and leg - parting gifts from Captain Ball...Hey, not bad, now I have "proof" that I really did participated in the game~ Haha...
Whenever I begin to lose focus on God, He always draws me back to Him through the various trials and persecutions that I face...He constantly reminds me that I should always seek Him, commit to Him and depend on Him in all things no matter what...and that His promise stands forever...
"When I am weak, then I am strong, for You live within me..."
Thank You, Lord, for all the blessings that You have showered upon us...Hallelujah...
+God bless you all...+
