Update 26/6

I see its been 20 days since i last updated... almost 3 weeks.
My life during this time has not been boring, unfruitful nor monotonous. in fact so many things happened that i forgot quite a few of them. Failure to blog the past 3 weeks is attributed to either Forgetting, Lazy, or No time. In which No time is most often the case.

wednesday 9th June, was the day the silver award for Napfa was finally given to my hands. After countless tries and re-tries, i achieved what ive been persevering towards - quite unexpectedly and miraculously though.
I didnt even feel like going that week. i felt i needed more time to train, after seeing my SBJ and sit n reach deproving. it was like a pit i have been struggling to get out of, yet when my hand gets a grip, my foot slips down. But what compelled me to attempt that day and even made me hopeful to an extent, was that just the day before, as part of the bi-weekly Go-fest prayer walk, i was part of the group that went to the toa payoh stadium to pray cause it is a YOG venue. A coincidence that it is the place i have been going every other wednesday, trying for my napfa, just wishing for the time i could stop seeing the place again. Since we were there, my prayer team took the chance to pray for my deliverance from my Napfa agony. And there we were - praying at ground zero, just the day before the next test.
And the next day, the Lord delivered the Napfa into my hands. Though a combination of God-sent testers, ideal weather, and divine help. I obtained the silver award, on the extreme borderline of it. Had i done any poorer for any station, i would have missed it.
the 2.4km run was the most miraculous one. my legs were wasted from the 5 tries of shuttle run. i felt the strain already from the moment the run began. totally prepared to fail. i was burnt out halfway through. but somehow i just kept going, never slowed too much. i finished with 27 secs to spare - it was the second time i ever passed my running.
Immediately i felt as if my chains were broken. All that happened before doesnt matter anymore - it is finished!!

Now im waiting for my new enlistment letter, which has yet to come. I could just throw away my enlistment letter for september. It should now be in november... extra 2 months free yay!

14 - 17 june - St James church camp (taking root, bearing fruit)
held all the way in malacca, in renaissance hotel; or in the case of several fortunate jym guys, staying in the suites of Bayview. The camp was more like a retreat, with 4 sessions thrown in. it was buffet day and night, for all meals. ate till i was sick of food each time.
there was quite a lot of free time (some of which were bought using sleep time) for supper, swimming, birthday celebration, watching movies in the room, and playing poker. thats not including the 7-hour free & easy time on the third day where everyone went shopping and got rather bored.
overall i wouldnt say it was very fun or memorable, but it was a great time of relaxation, with much fellowship. thats something important too.

The friday which followed was supposed to be a work day for me, which i took off to go to Universal Studios in sentosa with a bunch of friends. we met, made our way to sentosa, paying the $3 entrance fees, headed to USS, only to find a signboard outside saying, "Universal Studios Singapore tickets for today - SOLD OUT."
i might have just strangled the ticket booth guy if he wasnt hiding in that booth.
ended up just watching a movie at vivo and then trying to kill time walking around the shops.

And this week hasnt been anything much.... other than a pastor's breakfast which really helped to kickstart the churches into action for go-fest, and a subsidised Go-fest outing to minds cafe.
It should be more eventful in the weeks to come. im looking forward to it!

Call Of Duty

I thought i had escaped the september batch. I heard that several people have already received their letters for enlistment into the army in September... I did not receive any. When would be the next intake after that?.. December? i dont know, but m sure would be a long time. I started coming up with long-term plans on how to spend my time after Go-fest asia.

Then i came home one day and found a letter for me, with the words 'enlistment notice' water-marked all over it. and just like that, the anticipation ive been having for so long was broken so abruptly. the only reaction i had to seeing my enlistment date was, "oh.."

my enlistment date is currently 13th sept. Just below the enlistment date stated in the letter, a sentence in caps stood out bold and menacing:
"AS YOU DID NOT ACHIEVE THE REQUIRED NAPFA TEST STANDARD, YOU WILL UNDERGO 8 WEEKS OF PHYSICAL TRAINING PHASE, FOLLOWED BY 9 WEEKS OF BASIC MILITARY TRAINING"

immediately after reading that sentence, for a moment my heart sank. then i realised; hey its not over yet, its not too late unlike what is stated that 'YOU WILL UNDERGO'. In actual fact, i still have about 3 months to train and try to attain my silver for napfa.
And when i do, i can totally scrap this enlistment letter, cause then ill get a new letter in which my enlistment date shall be pushed back one month, till october. I have tried many times already, and i am not far from the mark now.

Oh yeah, im still gonna have one more month of precious free time after Go-fest and before army! Ive been hearing this piece of advice couple times already, "make use of every moment of your free time before army, cause when you go into the army, youll really appreciate and treasure every moment of free time you have."

I pray that ill get this extra month of free time. And I pray that my remaining free time wont be disappearing into emptiness like it did for the 2 months after returning from disney.