Sunday, February 17, 2008
Today is Sunday which means church day =) The word i would use right now to describe how i feel...FREE. As much as I miss Balwyn Church and the people there, at the same time I have been looking forward to going to a new church. I'm now attending a church called Wesley Mission in the city. I'm part of a congregation of just over 800 people called the Wesley International Congregation (WIC) Yes. It's a big church...you dont say. The way i see it though...it's like Balwyn Church but 8 times bigger coz the majority of people are Malaysian or Singaporean I'd say. All my relies attend this church and it is the church we have been going to everytime we come up to sydney to visit.
I walked into church with an extra spring in my step today with the prospect of making a whole bunch of new friends. Today was Vision Sunday so it wasn't like any other Sunday. The sermon wasn't so much a sermon but rather the pastor just went through WIC's vision for the next 2 years. It sure sounds like they have an exciting future ahead of them =) We had leaders' dedication as well and i was so amazed to see that the majority of people in the congregation are leaders and actively serving in God's work.
Church service finished and my cousin (geoff) introduced me to some of the members of Blue Sky (the uni group). Just like the YAG at BWMC..all the Blue Sky people sit at the front hahha i told you WIC is just a larger version of BWMC. I'm loving meeting new people. So why do i feel free? I finally can go to a church and for once..be a nobody. People don't have any pre-existing ideas of what I may be like, for now..I have no expectations to live up to and for once...I'm not known through an assosciation with someone, I'm not known as a pastor's daughter, I'm not known for the things I do and the only thing I have to deal with is being known for now as "barny's sister" but after 18 years, i've gotten used to that. Oh and I also have to deal with people going, "ooo you remind me of Adrene!"(my cousin that everybody says I'm a carbon copy of) but I dont mind :D I have the freedom to be me and it's great and it works both ways. To me...everyone is an empty canvas at the moment and it's exciting to know that maybe in a year these people could be some of my closest friends.
The other great thing about going to a new church now...all I see is a loving church family and I hope that's all I see for a while. When you've been at one church all your life..and your parents have been pastoring that one church for so long, you see things first hand which you'd rather not see. You hear things which you'd rather not hear. You face the realisation that the church is not one big happy family 24/7. You see what happens when the selfish nature of human beings come into play and realise that the ideal Christian network filled with love and happiness is not always so, due to flaws of human kind. Looking back, I think it was these couple of years which made me mature years beyond my age. It is these things which make you grow up. No child should have to see this at such a young age but I did and though it slightly scarred me, I have vowed already to leave the unpleasant memories in Melbourne and what's in the past is left in the past and things are different now =) woops..i think i went off track a little bit...
So in the next few weeks I'm looking forward to getting to know the people in Blue Sky. I think Blue Sky doesn't start until uni starts so it won't be for a couple fo weeks =) The other thing I'm looking forward to or should i say..REALLYY looking forward to, is joining the new worship team. Just so happens that one of my cousins is very good friends with the worship coordinator and they're always looking for people to join the Sunday morning worship team yayyy!! and my other cousin plays guitar in the Blue Sky worship team so they're going to talk to the worship coordinators. I love having connections here =)
All the cousins went to lunch after church..the benefits of going to church in the city is that you have the freedom to go anywhere after service. It's good being with all my Sydney cousins again =) and it's great how we all go to the same church. I guess that's one thing i was deprived of in melbourne..family. After lunch I shopped for a bag for uni. I found a nice bag that had been discounted by 50% yayyy!! BARGAIN.
Moving day tomorrow =) Everything seems to be coming together and other than missing my Melbourne friends I feel comfortable here and I see my future here. I'm excited and I can't wait. When you know you're following God's plans and not your own you feel the peace and satisfaction that you don't get when you go against God's will..that empty hole that you try to fill and it can never be filled.
posted @ 12:27 AM
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