Random Thoughts after Port Dickson

It’s good to be back home. The welcome was warm.

I miss the sunset above. It was a beautiful moment.

The KFC dinner was filling and finger lickin’ good.

I’m glad that I don’t feel drained or tired. Three sessions was just nice for the Inti College Subang Jaya Christian Fellowship camp (which to my delightful surprise included those from Inti Nilai!). They were kind enough to be flexible to make some adjustments so I could come back before the final day tomorrow. I think they must be letting their hair down even more by now after a afternoon of being under the sun and getting wet!

I noticed how I’ll be scaling back on camp invitations on the second half of the year (read: not taking any?). It’s becoming harder to take up more than 2-3 days events especially for a young family like ours with a 5 year old Gareth, and 2 year old Elysia plus a working mom May Chin. Our parents have been very understanding and we appreciate them, but it’s becoming harder and harder these days.

Gareth told me last week that he didn’t want me to go to the Port Dickson camp. I tried explaining to him as much as I could how I’m the speaker for the camp and what I’d be doing there. He looked understanding. But on the phone last night I knew he missed me. I wonder how did we last the 28 days in Germany last year?

Gone were those days when I was more free roaming leaping from one speaking engagement to another with a single bound. It’s not that I don’t find value in these invitations, I suppose it’s the need to accept the fact that we are at a different season of our lives. The priorities are different and we have more limitations than before.

It was a good camp. Good committee members. Excellent organization. Passionate and open hearts. Lives ready to be shaped by a message which is life giving and life transforming. More reflections on this in another post. All in all, I’m grateful for the conversations, times of prayer, sharing and listening we had with one another.

The bonus for me is a nice room for myself where I got some good sleep. I thoroughly enjoyed the wind blowing in my face while allowing the sound of the waves to energize me. Food was acceptable. Special mini-breaks where I could enjoy God’s creation.

The campsite we stayed brought back quite a lot of memories for me – as a youth participant in various camps and as a speaker for others.  A special memory was when May Chin and I walked on the beach under the moonlight when we were teenagers (with a bunch of church friends of course!) 😛