It's 2009!

As I think about 2009 and what it will bring, I am beset by mixed feelings of anticipation and cautiousness.

This year, I start to teach Sunday School. I have been helping with the Toddler's Ministry at church (for 3 year olds and below) for the last few years, but this year I jump into the deep-end to take on a class of Primary 6 kids (11 to 12 year olds). Pre-teens are a tough bunch to reach, especially when the world has so many distractions for them - e.g. exams, social pressures, X-box, PSP, Wii, Hannah Montana, iCarly, etc... I am praying that I may be relevant to them, and hopefully point them to the fullness of life that Christ came to give us.

Besides Sunday School, I will be continuing to help out with the Kid's Soccer ministry on Saturdays, and also continuing to lead my Care Group "Life with Christ". Kid's Soccer is supposed to be a "soft evangelism" ministry, but we did not quite get there in 2008 as most of the kids were our own church kids, and it did not help that there was a long disruption at the end of the year when the soccer field was not available. 2009 brings a new venue for Kid's Soccer and hopefully we grow this into a outreach ministry for the kids. In terms of my Care Group, it has been a gnawing thought in my mind that I have not done enough as a CG leader. We do not seem to have a clear vision/objective, and as such it is hard to say if we made progress in 2008. I need to figure out a way to balance the group's social needs (we love to chat) and chalk up some tangible spiritual growth.

Perhaps the most important requirement of serving (and my weak point) is a humble, willing and committed heart, especially when the pressures of life set in. Please pray for me, that I will follow through and serve with all of my mind, my heart and my strength in 2009.

Work-wise, I think 2009 will bring new challenges with the anticipated economic slowdown. Some say that the real test of management occurs during hard times, and having managed a team through the Asian financial crisis some years back, I tend to agree. That was one of the most stressful work experiences I have ever had. It doesn't take a genius to cut cost and improve short-term profitability, but the real challenge is how to manage costs and yet still find new avenues of business growth/sustainability. There is already a lot of talk that 2009 will be tougher than the last Asian financial crisis, so things could get rather interesting/challenging.

On the family front, R2 goes to "real" school in 2009 - Primary 1 (i.e. Elementary School) - no more kindergarden stuff. Sigh, my babies have grown up and we have to start getting serious about schoolwork and exams and such... Will R1 continue to do well in school? How will the baby of the house (R2) adapt to school life? What activities/clubs should we sign R1 up for? How do we maintain a healthy balance of academic achievement and just letting them have fun? I still can't believe R2 goes to Primary School tomorrow! With R1 and R2 both going to Primary School, the entire family will be up at 6am every weekday, which is probably a good way for me to get into the discipline of getting up early and getting some exercise in before work.

Talking about exercise, 2009 brings me back to going slow and long after a 2-month hiatus. I am trying not to think about how much fitness/speed I have lost (not that I have ever been particularly fast, which only makes things worse), nor about the pain of getting back into training mode. I did manage to add some cool stuff to the bike, which I will write about next time.

Yikes almost forgot to introduce my young bloggers in the family:

• R1: http://reuben-tan.blogspot.com/
• R2: http://ryan-is-cool.blogspot.com/

Have a blessed 2009!

Seeing RED...

Bought this Japanese made Pearl Izumi Tri suit for the bargain basement price of SGD$99 (USD$70, 60% off retail price)! Ok, so it is an older model and probably not the best looking suit, but the quality is excellent and the chamois is just about perfect for me - I don't much like those towel thin "terry cloth" type of Tri suit padding so common nowadays.

I was actually checking out another Pearl Izumi suit marked down 40% to SGD$156 (USD$111), which has black/white/grey, and a much better match to my bike. Just before paying, I saw the one above on a rack, which is an even older model with the "unfashionable" red side panels. I had to smile to myself, because less than 2 months ago, I ended up buying a more expensive grey helmet instead of just using the replacement red helmet, just because of vanity - I wanted it to match my bike. This despite my buddy and Mrs Nitrox both preferring the red helmet, and despite the still small voice in my head telling me to stop being so vain. Oh well, another lesson in life, I guess.

On the training front, after a break of more than a month, I am finally easing back into training. Easing being the primary word here. Been a busy stretch at work, been travelling 3 of the last 4 weeks and will be travelling again next week, this time to Sydney & Melbourne.

20/20 Vision

I am writing this, sitting in my hotel room in Malaysia, missing my family and feeling heavy in my heart because it seems R1 may need glasses (he is coming to 8). It has always been my hope that my children will grow up with 20/20 vision, even though nowadays most Singaporean kids develop Miyopia at a very early stage.

Incidentally, my daily scripture reading today brings me to Ezekiel 20:20, which says that God, in His perfect vision, has given us the Sabbath as a means to remember that He is the LORD our God. I have always wondered what's the fuss with the Sabbath, and why God put so much emphasis on it in the Old Testament, and is it still relevant to us today? This verse reminds me that God gave us Sunday to keep us real. He gave us Sabbath so that in coming to church and in worshipping/serving Him, we will be reminded that He is our God, and not be distracted/misled/discouraged by the world. Amen!

My Country, My Home

Singapore's National Day is just around the corner, and this year marks the 1st year where we proudly fly the flag at our apartment. My father has been loyally flying his national flag at this house every August for as long as I can remember, but this is the 1st time we're doing it. Maybe I am getting sentimental with age.

On the bible reading front, would you believe that since my last post on this in June, I have caught up with my "reading deficit" of 40 days and is now right on schedule again? Yup, I have been making use of the extra time during taper and the rest weeks after OSIM Tri to do some mugging. =) Now that I have finally caught up with the daily readings, I am running out of excuses to be still resting...

"Little Brother" By Mildred Mead

Another semester, another show and tell...

OSIM Triathlon Pictures

Hi all, my OSIM Triathlon pictures are out and I have put them up on here on FaceBook. I must be gettin vain because this time I am tempted to buy a softcopy of one of them, so while you are there, please do 2 things:

1. If you have a facebook account, add me. :-)

2. Help me choose which photo I should buy. I think my current favourite is this one.

10min Video on How to Fix a Flat

Got a special deal on this tyre (Panaracer Stradius Elite Z 700X20C) at my LBS simply because it was the last one they have left. So I have done the radical - run 20C tyres at the front and 23C tyres at the rear. It works for rear wheel drive sports cars, so I guess it will work for my bike too. =)

Since I have to switch my current front tyre to the rear, and install this new tyre on the front, I offered to show a friend how to change a flat. Unfortunately, he got busy during the weekend and I fly off to India on Monday, so this video is for you, Philip. :-) What I forgot to say on the video is that if you've got a flat while out riding, it is IMPORTANT to thoroughly check the tyre after it is removed. Feel the entire length on the inside of the tyre and remove foreign objects if any. And of course, if the tyre is damaged, get your LBS to check if it needs to be replaced.

Rest and Repair

I guess it's time for rest and repair these 2 weeks before I re-start training again.

The same goes for my gear. First up new running shoes - these just arrived at the store and I got myself a pair. The sales guy told me I have the second pair to be sold in Singapore (someone else bought the 1st pair in the morning). Have not gone for a test run yet, but with so much techno mumbo jumbo, it's gotta be good! (The 30% discount I got for my TAS membership also helped.) :-D

Secondly, I managed to nick my rear tyre side wall somehow. Noticed a "bulge" which upon closer inspection revealed the fibres of the side wall construction (see below). Guess I better get a new rear tyre. I must say that I have not been impressed with the wet weather peformance of the Continental GP4000, so I think I may try another tyre.

Just realised that my spare inner tube work not work with my new wheels without a valve extender, so I think I will save myself the hassle and get a spare inner tube with a longer valve stem. Good thing I have a buddy who just got his first road bike, so the my current spare inner tube is not wasted. :-)

Doom & Gloom Friday

On the way to work, the calendar in my phone reminded me that in 586 B.C. today, Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians. (Yes, I have a calendar entry for that.)

Then when I got to the office, the TV in the pantry said that Saunier Duval-Scott withdrew from the Tour de France thanks to Riccardo Ricco's cheating antics. My Finnish colleague (who cycles) said "Are these cyclists stupid or what?". I quite agree. The saddest part is that the general public does not even react to news about doping in cycling anymore. Perhaps the only good thing in all this is that Cadel Evans (Australian rider for the Silence-Lotto team) is in the overall lead by one second over Frank Schleck of CSC Saxo Bank. Which means there's a good chance that either the Austalian underdog will win this, or a Cervélo - Canadian triathlon bike builder- (also an underdog amongst the big road bike brands) will. I like it when underdogs win, so maybe I will keep following the news. :-)

Official Race Timing - OSIM Triathlon

Swim: 00:53:37
Bike: 01:23:10 (includes T1)
Run: 01:08:26 (includes T2)
Total: 03:25:13
Position: 75/118 - Age Group Olympic Distance Male (40 - 44 YEARS)

I DID IT! (OSIM Triathlon Race Report)

Praise God, I have finally completed my first Olympic Distance Triathlon! You ironmen/iron ladies out there will laugh at this, but it was much tougher than I thought it would be.

Pre-Race
I slept rather well last night, none of the usual nervous energy that keeps me awake before races - I think not having any expectations except to try to finish works well for me. The nice thing about my wave starting at 10:40am is that I can wake up late and have a leisurely breakfast - coffee and 4 pieces of toast with peanut butter and honey. I even managed to take a quick self protrait before setting off (sorry for the poor aim, there's not much hair left up there anyway). :-)I arrived more than an hour before my wave starts, which gave me loads of time to fuss over my transition area. I even had time to watch some of the elite triathletes flying by the transition area - man, they are fast!

Swim (2 X 750m)
While waiting for the swim, I overhead the announcers making multiple warnings of a rough swim due to strong winds - seems the fastest swim by the "elites" has dropped from 16min (last year) to 21min. That's a whopping 30% increase! I tried not to think about it too much, and got in a quick warm-up swim, and sure enough, it was choppy. I even managed to drink some yucky sea water in the warm-up swim thanks to the chop. Not good.
Nervous minutes ticked by and it was my wave start. Perhaps having the mental expectation of a tough swim helped, and I did not struggle too much. I tried to relax and just bob along with the waves, so the swim did not turn out as uncomfortable as the NUS Biathlon. Still, there was lots of physical contact pretty much throughout the swim because the current was causing us to bunch up into groups. I even got kicked in the face twice by guys swimming breast stroke - which is exactly why I use a swim mask instead of those tiny goggles. Swim Time: >50mins.

Bike (4 X 10km)
The good thing about being a slow swimmer is that there is loads of room at the transition to put on my socks and cycling shoes. :-) I have always liked cycling, so was happy to be able to pick up the pace from the start and catch quite a few people early on. I don't like to fuss with HRM/speed/cadence meters in races. I like to just feel the wind in my face, and hear the buzz from the drive train. I had decided to put a bottle of Gatorade on the bike (which I would finish during the bike leg) and also a gel for "spare". The 1st 3 laps went by in a blur, and I was having fun. Lap 4 is when I started to tire, and I just could not keep up the pace and stay on the aero bars consistently. The sun was bearing down and I could feel the uncomfortable feeling that my entire back is dry and hot - mental note: maybe bring a bottle of water instead next time so I can splash some on my head and back. I decided to take the gel and wash it down with Gatorade - yummy! Decided to slow down and leave some strength for the run. Bike time: 1:20?

Run (2 X 5km)
The run was a totally different matter - I just never got up to pace on the run. It felt like I was just "surviving" and trying to make the distance. Somehow the 5km loop felt like it was going on forever - Mental note: maybe I gotta check the run distance sensor on my Polar, perhaps I am running short during training. Turning back for the 2nd 5km loop was a real morale buster - it was all I could do to keep running and not give up. Out of the blue, it started raining - a sudden tropical downpour. I didn't exactly pray for rain, but I did tell R1 & R2 that if it rained, it might be a good thing because the noon sun can be pretty terrible in this part of the world. I was thankful for the rain, it brought cool relief, but the downpour soon soaked my shoes and made them heavy and uncomfortable. I gotta be careful what I wish for, I guess. :-) Somewhere along the 2nd loop, I gave up my target time of 60mins and re-set the target to just being able to complete without walking. I was telling myself, "God brought the rain, you better not give up." :-) Run time: 1:10 (?)

So all in, a tough event for me. I did wear my trusty Timex, but I managed to mess up the lap times, so you will have to wait for the official results to see how I did. I did not put in quite as much training as I would have liked, so I am very thankful to be able to finally complete my first Olympic Distance Triathlon. There's actually a Night Olympic Triathlon in Oct, but that's the LAST thing I wanna think about right now. :o)

All Packed and Ready to Go

I have rather mixed feelings as I packed for tomorrow. I am thankful to be able to train and participate, but would have liked to put in more training. Then again, I guess I will always like to have put in more training. :-)

This will be my 1st real attempt at a Olympic Distance Triathlon - the same event got rained out last year and it so discouraged me that I actually stopped blogging for quite a while. When I look back, I may have been just as physically ready then as I am now, but mentally perhaps I just wasn't ready for it last year. A lot of thoughts are going thru my mind right now: With a late start (my wave starts at 1040am), would it get too hot? I did most of my training in the coolness of the morning or evening, will I be able to cope with the weather? Is my fueling plan correct? I will be biking/running through lunch-time, will I get hungry? Will it rain, and would my GP4000 tyres grip well in the wet? Is it gonna be strong currents like the NUS Biathlon? I usually get stitches in my sides in races, will they come back to haunt me again tomorrow? I had planned to do some light training during taper week, but I had to go to Manila and just could not squeeze in any training - have I lost form during taper week?

Then again, I think back 3-4 years ago when I could hardly swim 100m, bike 20km or run 5km, and was 16kg heavier than I am now, I guess I have come a long way. It has been frustrating many a time for me to note just how GRADUAL the improvements in speed and distance are coming along, but I cannot deny that I have gotten faster and fitter over the years. Am I going to complete the race tomorrow? I can't be 100% sure. But I am reminded that it is this uncertainty that draws me to Triathlons - the uncertainty that forces me to be humble and to just depend on Him.

God Willing, I will finish my 1st Olympic Distance Triathlon tomorrow. See you at the finish line.

One Last S-T-R-E-T-C-H

Yesterday was my last STRETCH workout before the Olympic Distance Triathlon next Sunday:

• Swam: 550m front crawl, 440m kicking (with buoy), 440m pulling (with buoy), 550m front crawl - total distance swam 1980m
• Biked: 67km
• Ran: 7.5km

Think I am ready? Somewhere between now and next Sunday is when I start asking myself questions like: Can I really do this? What was I thinking when I signed up? Wouldn't it be really embarassing if I got fished out of the sea during the swim? I wonder how many people in mountain bikes are gonna pass me in my carbon tricked-out speed machine? I just gotta take my own medicine and remember to commit my works to the LORD. HE will see me thru, AMEN!

LORD, Establish My Thoughts!

According to my inbox, I am now 167 days into into my http://www.bibleinayear.org/ reading plan, and 37 days behind schedule, so I slowly but steadily making progress to catch up. :-)

I have finished reading the book of Proverbs, and am going thru 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles. A particular verse really spoke to me:

"Commit your works to the LORD, and your thoughts will be established." (Proverbs 16:3, NKJV)

I have been rather unsettled lately, there just seems so much to think about in just about every aspect of my life - my job, family, even training. This verse reminds me that everything that I do, I am to commit to the Lord. Meaning, whatever I do, I do unto the Lord and to the best of my abilities/resources, and then I leave the OUTCOME to God. Only then, will my thoughts be truly established - i.e. only then, will I have true peace.

So at work, there may be uncertainties around changing job scope, but I just do what I can for the good of the company and the people I work with, and leave the rest to God. If my job scope increases, I praise God for enlarging my tent and use my increased influence to do more for Him. If my job scope reduces, I praise God that He is in charge and gives me the work that He wants me to do.

In training, even though I have lost 4 weeks of training and my 1st Olympic Distance Triathlon is less than 2 weeks away, I just enjoy the training I can still put in, and leave the outcome to God. If I complete the triathlon, I praise God that He gave me the strength and fitness to do so. If I have to pull out halfway, I praise God that I am fearfully and wonderfully made, and for the priviledge of being able to swim, bike and run.

In my family, I accept that it is a journey with God, and trust Him to provide for us, protect us and lead us, come what may. I hold onto the truth that His will is to prosper us and not to harm us, and that Jesus has already come to destroy the works of the devil, and He has left us the Holy Spirit to continue to do so and establish His kingdom here on earth.

It's funny how the most powerful truths in God's kingdom are also the really simple ones. Truly our God is an awesome and wise God. Amen!

New Helmet - Uvex Boss Race

Sorry the picture turned out quite small, but if you look VERY carefully, you will see that I managed to crack my helmet - a MET Sfero (only 2+ years old). Don't worry, I didn't fall or anything. Not entirely sure why it developed a hair-line crack. I get to buy a replacement helmet (same model) for half price, which I will sell to buy this beauty - the Uvex Boss race helmet.

Why didn't I just use the replacement helmet? Well, because the replacement helmet did not meet the most important requirement for bicycle helmets. It did not match the colour of my bicycle. :-) Yes a poor reason for spending twice my budget for a helmet, but middle aged men are vain that way. In fact the helmet cost so much that I am also selling my Mavic Ksyrium Equipe wheels and Vredestein Fortezza Tricomps racing clinchers. Had intended to keep them as training wheels, but my new carbon aero wheels are so sturdy that I will just use them as both training and race wheels.

So PLEASE tell me that my new helmet matches my bike perfectly... :-D

2 weeks from my 1st Olympic Distance Triathlon which means 6 more training days before my 1 week taper. Thankfully I did not seem to have lost much fitness in the 4 weeks of on-again/off-again training, God Willing, I will complete it.

World's 1st Night Triathlon in Singapore!

Just when I was mulling over how to be ready for the OSIM International Triathlon on 13th July, this popped up in the local newspaper - World's 1st Night Triathlon in Singapore (18th Oct). Not sure if there is an element of over-enthusiastic news reporting with regards to the "World's 1st" part, but a night triathlon sure sounds interesting when day time temperatures hovers from 30 to 33 C (85 to 90 F).

I am very tempted to sign up for this one, especially since my training plan for the coming OSIM International Triathlon got de-railed by business travels, vacation and illness. The article above says that it will be a time trial swim start, which will be a welcome break from the usual "kick ya goggles off" mass start. It also says that "the swim course will ... follow the coastline, instead of the out-and-back swim courses seen in regular triathlons". That would also be another interesting change. The bike and run route will be right in the city/CBD (Central Business District) area, which should be quite fun - usually these roads are chock-a-block with vehicular traffic and probably not ideal for a ride or run.

Early bird registration ends on 15th July, and I am guessing that it is not an accident that this is 2 days after the OSIM International Triathlon. I think like many others, I will make up my mind after OSIM. :-)

Intimacy

I am now 153 days into into my http://www.bibleinayear.org/ reading plan, and a 40 days behind schedule, so I have caught up a little.

Today I my readings bring me to the Song of Songs, and it feels like things have come full circle. Back in Dec 2006, at our bi-annual church camp, this was where the speaker pointed me to. He told to look into the Song of Songs to find intimacy with God. He also said that when I have intimacy with God, others will see the presence of God in my life. I must confess that I don't think I have reached a deeper level of intimacy with God. I try to read His Word regularly, and I try to pray regularly, but I don't think I have grown significantly more intimate with God. I still feel as though I am too pre-occupied with this world - my job, family, training, etc... Please continue to pray for a break though for me in this area.

Talking about training, I am getting anxious. I am finally getting better (sore throat is gone and I have stopped snortin'/hackin' out greenish stuff), but I have lost 4 weeks of training to business travels, vacation/church camp and this virus attack. The OSIM Triathlon (my 1st Oly Tri ever - last year's race got rained out) is 4 weeks away, which means I have the next 3 weeks to pile on the training before tapering on the 4th week. I don't even know what I should be doing anymore - will the training I put in these 3 weeks even make any difference to my race form on Jul 13th, or is it just a mental/confidence exercise? I really do not want to pull out from the race, so I will probably just take it easy and if I can't finish it, tough.

The positive side of not being to train is more time with the family, which is always a welcome thing. This week is the last week of June school holidays so it was good to be able to spend some time at the beach...

God-Who-Forgives

According to my mailbox, I am 146 days into my http://www.bibleinayear.org/ reading plan, and a whopping 43 days behind schedule!

Just came across this verse that speaks so much about our God's nature:
"... You were to them God-Who-Forgives,
Though You took vengeance on their deeds." Psalm 99:8

Truly He forgives the sinner yet punishes the sin. Praise God!

I am less than a month away from my 1st Olympic Distance Triathlon (again), and it is not looking good. Training has come to pretty much a stand-still in the last few weeks due to business travels, vacation in Malaysia and I have gone from sore throat to snortin' out green stuff in the morning. Maybe I will call it an extended taper. ;-)

Beware the Comfort Zone!

Comfort zone: That comfortable place in our lives where we can finally sit back, rest and coast a little (my definition). I now believe it also fertile ground for the devil to interfere with God's plan to prosper and bless us, so I am burdened in my heart to share this (rather long) message with you.

But before that... We have been at church camp, where we were much blessed by an anointed speaker - Pastor Henry Madava. Pastor Madava is a Zimbabwean who heads a church in Kiev, Ukraine, which in itself is a interesting testamony of the work of the Holy Spirit. Pastor Henry has the gift of teaching (he makes complex things simple) and the gift of healing. You can read some of the amazing healing testamonies from our church camp here. Truly He that is in us is greater than he that is in this world, and the Holy Spirit never rests from working against the works of the devil. Praise God!

As is often the case with anointed speakers, many things Henry spoke about jumped out at me. In particular, his preaching on Joseph and how to be a champion for God continued to play in my mind for many days after the camp. The Scripture says to test everything that we are taught (1 Thessalonians 5:21), and upon prayerful reflection on his sermon on Joseph, my current readings on David, and the ups and downs in my walk with God, I am convinced that the comfort zone is a dangerous place to be. In fact, being stretched and tested seems to be a pre-requisite for growth in the Lord.

When I look at great men that God used - like Moses, Joseph, David, etc - He never did allow them to get into any sort of comfort zone. At no point were they able to sit back and "coast" for a while. For a few years now, I have been asking God to make me more and more like Joseph and David. Joseph was blessed with success in whatever he put his hands to, and because of the Lord's favour upon him, he was a blessing to his family, boss, king and even to the nations around him. David was arguably the greatest king the Israelites ever had, and he had such initmacy with God that he was called a man after God's own heart (Acts 13:22).

But sometimes I forget that David (and Joseph) did not have it easy in life. David started fighting and killing lions and bears (1 Samuel 17:34-36) when most of us were struggling to get to school on time! Even after his famous victory over Goliath, he had the privilege to be appointed the royal harp player to a king who would occasionally try to kill him with a spear when David was playing for him (1 Samuel 18:10-11). After being anointed as king by God (thru Samuel), he still had to spend many years escaping/hiding from King Saul who was bent on killing him despite his repeated demonstrations of allegiance.

Even after King Saul died, and David was finally crowned as the new king, he never really did rule in peace. The bible tells that David had to contend with the shifting alliances and personal agendas that we now call politics. For instance, David had to appoint Joab as his army commander, a man of unsavoury character who committed pre-medidated murder. Joab was a man who stooped so low as to abuse God's law to lure Abner to the gates of Hebron - one of the cities of refuge God gave to the Levites to show mercy to innocent men who accidentally kills another - and kill him there. Joab lured Abner to Hebron (despite the fact that David has reconciled with Abner and made a covenant with him) and murdered him right at the gate (2 Samuel 3:20-27), so that he could have cold blooded revenge without facing the consequences. In fact, Joab was also the one who finally killed David's son, Absalom, despite strict instruction from David to his army not to harm him. Imagine being David and having to live with one such as this leading all your army - it truly gives me pause when I start to complain about "problematic" staff that I have to manage at work!

And when did David finally fall, and kill one of his most loyal and dilligent soldiers to steal his wife Bathsheba? It was "at the time when kings go out to battle", but David sent Joab and stayed behind in the comfort of Jerusalem (2 Samuel 11:1). Perhaps that was when David finally got into a comfort zone, when his armies was at war, but he felt that he need not go with them anymore. Instead, he was in his house in Jerusalem, when he arose from his bed, walked on the roof of his house, and saw Bathsheba, which then led to a whole string of sin, deception and finally murder. Compare that to Bathsheba's husband, Uriah, who refused to go into the comfort of his own house despite being called back to Jerusalem by King David, because his loyalty to his commander and his fellow troops would not allow him to do so, when they were all still out there in the battlefield (2 Samuel 11:6-13). For his sin, David paid a heavy price and lost a son.

Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to explain why I feel there is cause for us to beware the comfort zone - just like in Tri training, if we are not stretching, we are probably not growing stronger. But the message is not all doom and gloom, because even though tests in life come to tempt us to give up on God, He will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13), and we know that what does not destroy us, only makes us stronger. Amen!

Proudly Brought to You by the Youth of CMC

Found this quite by accident on YouTube. Written and performed by the youths in our church - Christ Methodist Church. I am SO proud of our youths. Sometimes looking at them, it is easy to think that they are just another noisy, rebellious bunch. But it is very inspiring and humbling to see that despite the many distractions/snares out there, our youths are walking and rocking with Jesus. Praise God, truly He that is in us is greater than he that is in this world. Amen!

Mr Roboto

My 1st Olympic Distance Triathlon (Again)

I'm off to church camp for a week, and when I am back, I will be a month away from my 1st Olympic Distance Triathlon (again) - got rained out last year. I'm not quite as prepared as I would like to be (and learning that I will probably never be quite as prepared as I would like to be), so I will aim to complete and not compete in my 1st O. D. Tri.

Given that training opportunities at church camp will be limited, I am pretty much counting on current fitness levels to pull me thru. I am now running 17km long slow runs (in 2 hours), 2.2km pool swims (in a little less than 55 mins), and 60km bike rides (followed by 5km transition run). Let's hope that enough. :-)

R1 & R2 Up the Ante!

What is it about human nature that makes us want to keep doing things faster and better. To swim smoother, bike faster, run longer, and to go from 1 Hula Hoop to 2? ;-)

Wonderfully Apt

1 Chronicles 1-10, 2 Samuel 1-4, Psalm 17, 121-125, 128-130, 6, 8-10, 14, 16, 19, 21, 43-45, 49, 84, 85, 87, 73, 77, 78, 81, 88, 92 ,93, 102-104 (13 days from http://www.bibleinayear.org/). In short, I am making SLOW progress catching up.

I believe one of the manifestations of the miracle of God's living word is how it is so wonderfully apt even today despite the huge change in historical/geographical/cultural context. This time, Psalms 73 really spoke to me, and I can find no better words to express how I have been feeling than these:

Psalms 73 (New King James)

1 Truly God is good to Israel,
To such as are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled;
My steps had nearly slipped.
3 For I was envious of the boastful,
When I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

4 For there are no pangs in their death,
But their strength is firm.
5 They are not in trouble as other men,
Nor are they plagued like other men.
6 Therefore pride serves as their necklace;
Violence covers them like a garment.
7 Their eyes bulge[a] with abundance;
They have more than heart could wish.
8 They scoff and speak wickedly concerning oppression;
They speak loftily.
9 They set their mouth against the heavens,
And their tongue walks through the earth.

10 Therefore his people return here,
And waters of a full cup are drained by them.
11 And they say, “How does God know?
And is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12 Behold, these are the ungodly,
Who are always at ease;
They increase in riches.
13 Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain,
And washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all day long I have been plagued,
And chastened every morning.

15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
Behold, I would have been untrue to the generation of Your children.
16 When I thought how to understand this,
It was too painful for me—
17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God;
Then I understood their end.

18 Surely You set them in slippery places;
You cast them down to destruction.
19 Oh, how they are brought to desolation, as in a moment!
They are utterly consumed with terrors.
20 As a dream when one awakes,
So, Lord, when You awake,
You shall despise their image.

21 Thus my heart was grieved,
And I was vexed in my mind.
22 I was so foolish and ignorant;
I was like a beast before You.
23 Nevertheless I am continually with You;
You hold me by my right hand.
24 You will guide me with Your counsel,
And afterward receive me to glory.

25 Whom have I in heaven but You?
And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You.
26 My flesh and my heart fail;
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

27 For indeed, those who are far from You shall perish;
You have destroyed all those who desert You for harlotry.
28 But it is good for me to draw near to God;
I have put my trust in the Lord GOD,
That I may declare all Your works.

Amen!

R1 & R2 discovers the Hula Hoop

We are safe keeping a hula hoop for one of the lil' gals in the neighborhood (who left it in the playground). Looks like we gotta get one of our own now. 6-pack abs here we come! :-)

R2 pretty much got it 1st time around:

R1 had to practise a few times before he got it:

Sanctified to serve Him

Just want to let you know that although I have gone quiet on my daily readings, I have NOT given up, in fact, I have been trying hard to catch-up. Since my last post (a month ago), I have covered Deuteronomy 30-34, Joshua 1-24, Judges 1-21, Ruth 1-4, 1st Samuel 1-24, and some chapters from Psalms (7, 27, 31, 34, 52, 56, 120, 140-142), which is a total of 27 days from http://www.bibleinayear.org/. So, no I did not manage to do much catching up. :-(

How can I do justice to all that the Lord has said through these chapters? I simply can't, there is just so much to write about. One thing that sticks to my mind as I look back now is that I remember getting depressed reading about how human nature forces us to behave like the Israelites in Deuteronomy, Joshua and Judges - they were singularly unable to rise above their human nature and serve God, and today we are much the same way. We all have weaknesses in our lives that the Lord deals with, and some of these weaknesses have become such strongholds that we continually fall back into the same sins. But compared to the Israelites of old, we are so priviledged to have Jesus already come to die for us, and also to have Him tell us that He has removed our sins. Without Jesus, we simply cannot fulfill what we are made to do - to worship God.

Pictures from JP Morgan Chase Run

Pictures from the JP Morgan Chase Run that I wrote about in this post.

Chilling out on the company bus. Hmmm.... I guess we were expecting a whole lot more to take the bus...

The obligatory team photo before the start. It's nice to be able to run right through the city centre, check out the city skyline in the back!

Let it be known that Ol' Nitrox takes his warm-ups very seriously. No need to ask who's that leaping off the ground then. ;-)

New Carbon Wheels!

OK, technically they are not quite new. I bought them from a Finnish colleague at "buddy" price. He had them for a year or so and have been using them as race wheels for his BMC TT02. After trying the Easton EC90 tubulars, he had to get them, and I became the blessed owner of his carbon clinchers on Friday. Being colleagues and good friends at work, we did away with the second guessing and bargaining at comes with buying/selling, and I knew the wheels would be in good condition because he is quite a bike freak (like me). I also knew he would include the Titanium skewers and his almost new Continenal Grand Prix 4000s tyres, but was surprised on Friday was that he also included wheel bags and even a Dura Ace 9-speed casette for me as he knew I do not have one for the new wheels. Thanks Jarmo! As you can see from the pictures here, the wheels and even the tyres are in immaculate condition, so I am extremely chuffed to be blessed with these latest acquisitions.

OK, for the technically inclined, these are Mavic Cosmic Carbone SL Premium wheels (yes, quite a mouthful), and the main difference with the lesser priced Carbone SL is that the Premium comes with Titanium axle, nuts and skewers to reduce weight, and subdued white detailing (as opposed to the loud yellow decals on the SL). Technically, they are not really carbon wheels - as you can see, the rims (where the brake pads contact the wheels, and where the clincher tyres mount) are made of alloy. Only the 52mm "fairings" are made from carbon. As such they are not the lightest wheelsets out there, even for clinchers - 1755 grams per pair, compared to the likes of the ZIPP 404 clinchers @ 1660 grams and the Easton EA90 clinchers @ 1545 grams. Tubular wheelsets tend to be significantly lighter - e.g. ZIPP 404 tubulars @ 1252 grams and the Easton EA90 @ 1370 grams - but I can't be fussed with tubulars, glue/tape and pre-stretching. What's good about the Mavic Cosmic Carbone SL Premium wheelset is that they have the reputation of being strong and stiff. Since I have time to ride only once a week, strong wheels are a key criteria as I have half a mind to use them as both training and racing wheels. (I am still holding onto my old Mavic Ksyrium Equipe wheelsets for wet weather riding, but leaning more and more towards selling them for some fast cash.)

Took them out for my 2 hr weekend ride this morning and I have to report that I am 100% satisfied. I was all smiles with the noticeable improvement in overall "smoothness" - e.g. free-wheeling produces a muted "purring" rather than the mechanical "clacking" I am use to. Ride quality is significantly improved, and overall response/turn-in is excellent. The wheels feel very solid and stiff even under full-on out-of-saddle stomping - this is no fragile carbon wheelset that I have to tread gingerly upon! :-) Given that my old Ksyrium Equipes are only about 100 grams heavier, there is no significant improvement in acceleration/pick-up, but I was pleasantly surprised to find a 5% improvement in average speed in my first ride today - i.e. 6mins improvement on a 2 hour ride despite a unusally hot and clammy day. Not sure if this is my enthusiasm coming through, and it is hopelessly unscientific to make conclusions from one test ride, so I will be keeping my eye on speed/total time taken for my rides in the next few weeks.

Ok, enough talk, now for the pictures:

I'm one of the bike "freaks" who proudly rack up my bike in the living room - Mrs Nitrox thinks of it as storage, but I see a work of art. :-) I still catch myself admiring it when I am watching TV sometimes - Besides being good wheels, the carbon aero fairings goes very well with the naked carbon weave on my Scott CR1 frame. :-)

Here's a close-up of the rear wheel:
And here's one of the front:


Yes, early test seems to suggest that it does go as fast as it looks. :-)

Best way to busy up the weekend...

Sorry, I seem to have caught blogger constipation. So much has happened in the last 2 weeks so I have a feeling there will be multiple posts from me this weekend as I purge from my system all the pent up blogging. :-)

Was busy all last weekend - Yup, seems one of the best ways to busy up the weekend is to volunteer to babysit a 5 month old labrador puppy. It also helps that despite claims of being house broken, "Brother" (don't look at me, I didn't name him) peed on everywhere but the papers, and has the habbit of whinning/barking late at night and early in the mornings. Seriously though, it was good fun having him, and a good lesson for the boys on what it means to have a dog. Having Brother for the weekend also confirmed that R1 is the more emotional of my 2 boys - he cried when Brother was returned. R2, on the otherhand, was nonchalant abt the whole episode.

In terms of my daily bible reading, I am afraid I have now slipped to being an entire month behind schedule. :-( Given that the scriptures are being emailed daily to my office email account, this also reflects the sad state of where I am at work. I am literally getting "mailbox full" messages every 2-3 days so I am operating on the "if it is urgent, they will call me" mode. Hopefully when 1st June comes and I hand-over one of the 2 roles I am currently holding, things will get a little less crazy - call me the eternal optimist. :-)

Having said that, I did manage to inject a bit of work-life balance on Wed (23rd April) by participating in the JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge ® (5.6km road run). Hopefully I can share more pictures later when I copy them off my colleagues. We had a team from work ranging from sub 25mins sprinters to 60+mins strollers, and the company management was kind enough to sponsor race entry fees and even provide company team shirts. Over 10,000 runners showed up, many in their corporate colours, so it lended to a carnival atmosphere right in the centre of town. This was a "self seeding" race, which meant that we were supposed to line up at the start according to our expected finishing times, but it felt like we were the only ones doing it. You guys/gals know ol' nitrox ain't a fast runner, but I was dodging and weaving through strollers and joggers pretty much for the entire 5.6km route!

Despite that, I came in at 31:38 which is a decent timing for me (I am happy to turn in sub 30mins 5 km and sub 60mins 10km), and I was surprised to see that I was 7th in the team from work. :-) I started off pretty slowly as it was hard to settle into any sort of rhythm with the constant "stop-start" squeezing thru the joggers/walkers that decided they wanted to start in front. Felt good and comfortable throughout the run, and when I look back at where I was 3 years ago when even 2.4km was too far to run, I am amazed that 5.6km is considered a short run for me now. I looked at the guys/gals struggling through the route and think to myself "that was me just a few short years ago", and am encouraged that the training has made some tangible difference - Praise God! It is easy to forget that I am getting fitter and stronger when I am putting in the training hours and still rounding out the bottom of the pack in races. :-))

More big news to share including yet another sexy bit of "go faster" kit for my bike, but more on that later...

Profile Design Lightning Styke (Lotsa Pictures!)

Woohoo, I finally have my Profile Design Lightning Stryke installed on my 2005 Scott CR1 Team, and headed out for my weekend 2 hr ride yesterday. I couldn't find much useful information on this clip-on bar in the Web, nor could I find pictures of it actually installed on a bike, much less a road bike, so I have taken the liberty to include lotsa pictures. The short of it is that I found them to be comfortable and fast, and got it dialed up just right after a few quick stops for minor adjustments. In case anyone is wondering about the red bar tape, I was too cheap to buy an entire roll just to tape up the bar ends, so I ended up with used bar tape at the LBS. Would have prefered white (to match the rest of the bike), but the wallet prevailed. :-)

When it comes to using clip-on aero bars on a road bike (with a drop bar), I think I am one of many who have learnt things the hard way. There just is not a whole lot of relevant information about how to choose a clip-on bar, and what works best on a road bike with drop bars. Road bikes tend to have longer top tubes, which makes mounting a clip-on bar tricky. My previous Deda Clip-One looked good and worked great, except for 2 problems:

1. The elbow rests are mounted on top of the drop bar, which meant very little fore-aft positioning of the elbow rests are possible. This can be a problem especially on road bikes because the long top tube may put the elbow rests (on top of the flats of the top bars) too far away from you, which results in a "stretched" position when you are in full aero tuck. [Read: Tired neck, shoulders and back after a couple of hours in aero position.] The picture on the right is what my Deda Clip-One looked like mounted on my bike, compare it with the pictures below of the new Lightning Styke clip-on bar.


2. The Clip-One comes in two sizes (26.0 or 31.7mm diameter handlebars), this means that if (as in my case) your handlebars have 31mm shoulders that taper to 26mm, you need to fashion your own "adapter" (in my case, used MTB handle grips).

If you look carefully at the picture on the right, you will notice that the Profile Design Ligthtning Styke solves the above 2 problems for me, because it mounts on the stem and not the base bar. This means that: (1) I can position the elbow pads much nearer to me (which mitigates the longer top tube on a road bike), and (2) I don't have to worry that my drop bar has 31mm shoulders that taper to 26mm.

The Lightning Stryke also comes with pretty high spacers to raise the elbow rests above the base bar, so if you decide to use them (as I did in the picture above), much of the flats of the base bar becomes accessible. I.e. now I can also grip the flats of my drop bar in case I need to sit a little more upright in climbs or just to ease my aging back. :-) With the Deda Clip-One, the elbow rests mounted onto the flats on the base bar itself, which means I had to hold onto the elbow rests instead of the flats if I want to sit upright. That always made me feel a little odd (especially since I have difficulty getting the elbow rests mounted securely despite my home made "adapters" - see previous paragraph).

Perhaps one last nugget of information before I let the pictures do the talking. The Lightning Stryke comes with 2 choices for how far apart the elbow rests are. This is certainly more restrictive than the Deda Clip-One simply because you can mount the elbow rests anywhere on the flats of the base bar. I found that even the widest setting for the elbow rests were more narrow than where I had my Deda Clip-One elbow rests, but even this ol' body adjusted to that pretty quickly. I used to have my elbows outside of my knees with the Deda Clip-One, and now my elbows are aligned pretty much straight on with my knees. This means that even though technically I can set the Lightning Stryke elbow rests much nearer to me (by using the 6 available fore-art positions), I had to reach a compromise position so that (1) my knees don't knock into my elbows when I am seated, and (2) my knees don't knock into the elbow rests when I am "stomping" out of the saddle. As you can see from the pictures above, I still ended up 2 inches nearer, which goes a long way toward mitigating for the longer tube tube of a road bike.

Clip-on Aero Bars Work!

Yup, I have removed my clip-on aero bar. The "go faster" kit that I hinted at was a new carbon clip-on bar to replace the Deda Clip One (more here) that I have been using for over 2 years now. Well, the LBS ordered the wrong stem and so now I am without a clip-on aero bar for a few days. So, off I go for my weekend ride, and you know what? I was consistently approx 3km/hr slower in the flats. At my (slow) bike speed, this equates to almost a whopping 10% decrease in speed!

I have always felt that having the clip-ons make a lot of difference, and now I know for sure. So if you are considering clip-on aero bars for your road bike, GO GET THEM!

So why did I decide to replace my trusty ol' Dedas and what difference does it make? Well, you'll just have to wait till I get the new clip-on aero bar installed (hopefully tomorrow). :-)

Rejoice!

I have definitely fallen behind in my daily scripture reading. It has been almost a month since my last post, and I have only covered 14 days of bible reading from http://www.bibleinayear.org/ - Numbers 28-36, Deuteronomy 1-29. :-(

As I recall the chapters that I have read, I am reminded that we are commanded by God to rejoice in Him. In the book of Deuteronomy alone, it was commanded 8 times (or more): Deuteronomy 12:7, 12:12, 12:18, 14:26, 16:11, 16:14, 16:15, 26:11, and probably summarised in the verse "... you shall rejoice in every good thing which the LORD your God has given to you and your house ..." (Deut 26:11, New King James version). It does not say "you will rejoice" nor does it say "it's good for you to rejoice", it says "you shall rejoice, which implies that what is required is a conscious effort to rejoice in Him, even as we remember God's awesome grace in our everyday lives.

I have to confess that this is an area of failing in my life. Whenever the troubles at work becomes too much to bear, I tend to start looking for things of the world to retore my peace and joy - be it training or dreams about "extravagent luxuries". I'm struggling with what it means to derive joy from the Lord - I am sure that He blesses us with material things out of love, just as I want to give R1 & R2 nice things, but I sometimes find it hard to make sure that I am seeking Him and not His blessings.

Updates

Wow, has it really been more than 2 weeks since my last post? Where has all the time gone?

So much has happened since then. I had to stop training for an entire month - essentially sincce the NUS (National University of Singapore) Biathlon - and am finally easing back into training. I am not quite back to race fitness yet, but getting there SLOWY. This week I hope to get back to my full training week - 2 runs, 2 swims, 1 strength training, and 1 long brick. As usual when my training level drops, I start thinking about adding/replacing new go-after kit, so keep your eyes on this space, I am receiving my latest "go faster" kit for the bike this week! :-)

On the home front, the latest news is that R2 fractured his elbow last Saturday night. The lil' guy was playing with some friends after dinner and running with much abandonement when he fell awkwardly. One look at the right elbow and it was pretty obvious that "something is wrong" - there was a lot of swelling and it looked like something was jutting out. So we rush to the A&E (Accident and Emergency) ward of the children's hospital where they confirmed that he has a fracture just above the elbow joint. They were a little concerned as the fracture is very near the joint, but there was too much swelling for proper diagnosis to be done. So they put a full splint on him and we are to go back for consultation with the orthopedic specialist on Thurs.

We were graced with a miracle at the A&E: The poor guy was clearly in pain and was not a happy camper at all for the entire period after he fell to while we were waiting at the A&E. He was cried and complained of intense pain, and finally settled down but his face was screwed up in pain. While waiting, we prayed over him and Mrs Nitrox also text'ed some of her "Mummies support group" to pray for R2. Literally within seconds of laying hands on his elbow and asking the Holy Spirit to come and heal him, he went from being in pain and miserable, to being his usual cheerful self. The doctors were amazed that he was so "cooperative" even when the splint was going on - they warned us that it might hurt, but all R2 was concerned about was not getting the plaster on his shirt! :-) PRAISE GOD! The doctors can't be sure if the fracture needs to be re-aligned (hence the need to come back to see the orthopedic specialist on Thurs when the swelling has come down). But, encouraged by the miracle, we are trusting by faith that the Lord is healing his little elbow, and continue to pray that R2 will receive 100% restoration in his right elbow without surgery. Please do continue to agree with us in prayer too!


Since coming back from the A&E, R2 has been pretty much his normal cheerful self (as you can see from the pictures). He does complain of some pain now and then, but it is more like 3-5/10 level of pain (right after the fall was 8-10/10, and after we prayed for him at A&E it went down to 0-2/10) . Most of the time, he is reporting 0/10 in terms of pain, so we are not even giving him the prescribed pain meds - Ibuprofen - just children's Panadol once so far. Encouraged by the miracle, we are trusting by faith that the Lord is healing his little elbow, and continue to pray that R2 will receive 100% restoration in his right elbow without surgery. Please do continue to agree with us in prayer too! Our God is indeed an AWESOME GOD!

More Puddles, More Mud

I guess the Bedok Reservoir Park is now our favourite bike track - perhaps until we manage to find some place with even more mud. :-) Here are the boys showing off the "leopard spots" on the back off their shirts from riding through the many puddles.

In the words of R2, "Papa, when I am riding through the puddles, I forget that I am not on training wheels anymore!". (We just took off his training wheels last week - despite some rather vocal protesting.

Yao Ming in 20 years

Based on my own intense Internet research (being on leave and not being able to train does these things to ya), Yao Ming (left) better be careful or he will end up looking very much like ol' nitrox (right) in another 20 years or so. :-)

I'm on leave

It's school holidays this week so I've taken leave to spend more time with the boys. :-)


On the training front, I'm still recovering from the flu and hacking out green stuff, so it's another no training week. :-(

Korah's Rebellion

Numbers 14-27 (6 days in my http://www.bibleinayear.org/ reading plan).

The nice thing about reading through the Bible is that it makes it easier to understand what I am reading through the context of the chapters preceeding. Take Korah, for example, his life story spans from chapters 3 to 26 and it would have been easy to miss the context of his rebellion against Aaron & Moses if I was not reading through the chapters.

Korah was a member of the Kohath clan among the Levites during the time when the Israelites were wandering 40 years in the desert (Numbers 16:1). Korah's clan was 2,750 men strong (Numbers 4:34-35) and their job was to carry (by hand) "the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the utensils of the sanctuary.. [and] the screen" (Numbers 3:31) used in the Tabernacle whenever the Israelites moved. Oxen and carts were given to the other Levite clans to help carry the heavier stuff like the tents, screens, pillars and boards, but Korah's clan was assigned to carry the holy articles in the Tabernacle, and they were to be carried on their shoulders (Numbers 7:1-9).

Numbers 4:5-15 tells us that each time when it was time to move, Aaron and the priests would cover the ark and the instruments in cloth and animal skins. Only after that would Korah's clan move in to carry the stuff. All those years of carrying the holy articles in the Tabernacle without being allowed to see or touch them may have gotten to Korah, because one day, he and his buddies (Dathan, Abiram and On) rounded up 250 of the influential leaders of the Israelite community and rebelled against Aaron and Moses (Numbers 16:1-2). It doesn't pay to rebel against God's appointed leaders of course, and the result was that Korah and his friends were swallowed alive by the earth that they were standing on (Numbers 16:31-33), and the 250 leaders were literally incinerated by God's wrath (Numbers 16:35). In fact, Dathan and Abiram's entire families were also swallowed alive because they did not stand apart from their families (i.e. their families stood with them in their rebellion), but Korah's family was spared (Numbers 26:9-11) because they were not standing united with Korah's rebellion.

This entire encounter teaches me two significant things:

1. We each have our God given ministry and we need to find out what it is and serve. Not all of us will be leaders or pastors, and God certainly doesn't like it when we rebel against the leaders He put above us. This doesn't mean that we should not try to be leaders in our own right, nor does it mean that we are to follow our leaders with blind faith. (In fact, 1 Thessalonians 5:21 warns us to "test all things" we are told/taught.). Instead, we should not take our ministry lightly and think too highly of ourselves, lest we fall into Korah's sin - Korah felt he was literally too good for his ministry and resented the authority of the God appointed leaders over him.
   
2. God judges us by our own sins, not the sins of our family (past and present). Some passages in the Old Testament seem to suggest that God punishes the children of sinners to the 3rd or 4th generation (e.g. Exodus 20:5-6), but if we take into context the entire message of the bible, we will find that God does not visit the sins of our fore-fathers upon us. In this case, it is clear that Korah's family was spared even though he committed a terrible sin, and we can find other passages that similarly support the fact that God judges us by our own sins (e.g. Jeremiah 31:29-30). This is significant for me, because coming from a non-Christian family, many Christian friends have advised me to pray against bondages that my fore-fathers may have placed upon me through the generations of idol and ancester worship. I have always found that hard to accept. Somehow it does not fit in with what I know of Him. And now I know why. Praise God!
   

R1's Chinese Show n Tell

This is a bit long, so I won't blame you for not watching it to the end. ;-)



My literal translation:

Good morning Teachers & Friends of P2C. Today I am going to tell you the story "Si Ma Kwang Smashes the Pot" (Si Ma Kwang is a famous Chinese scholar/wise man who lived ~ 1019-1086.)

Once, when Si Ma Kwang was a little boy, he and his friends were playing in the garden. There was a large pot in the garden which was filled with water. The children played hide-n-seek, and were having a great time.

Just then, one child decided to find a good hiding spot so that the others cannot find him. He decided to hide in the large pot. He was not as tall as the huge pot, neither did he realise that it was filled with water. As a result, no sooner had he climbed up the pot, that he fell in with a loud "SPLASH".

All the kids panicked and ran around, not knowing what to do. Only Si Ma Kwang remained calm - he picked up a large rock from the ground and threw it at the large pot with all his strength. The rock smashed a large hole in the pot and the water flowed out. The child was saved!

I like this story because Si Ma Kwang is a clever boy. When a problem arises, he is able to remain calm and think of a clever solution to the problem. Thank you for your attention.


[ What follows is some questions and answers, soI will spare you the details. :-) ]

Quick update on training end: No training done since the NUS Biathlon, partly due to work and partly because I picked up the flu bug. I seem to have a pattern of falling sick when I visit India - I think the stress and lack of sleep (4.5 hr over-night flight back) got to me. R2 coughing into my face in his excitment to see me come home probably didn't help either. :-) So it's 1-2 weeks of rest for me then (I am on antibiotics). :-(

Confession: I was Impatient with God...

Numbers chapters 1 - 13 (6 days in my http://www.bibleinayear.org/ reading plan).

I have a confession to make and it is related to Numbers 11. Chapter 11 describes how the Israelites "yielded to intense craving" (Numbers 11:4) in the desert and complained to Moses & God about not having meat to eat, despite being provided with sweet tasting Manna daily. The Lord responded by giving them meat "not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, but for a whole month, until it comes out of [their] nostrils and becomes loathsome to [them]." (Numbers 11:19-20). However, God was not impressed with their whinning and impatience, and "while the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was aroused against the people, and the LORD struck the people with a very great plague." (Numbers 11:33)

This has such a strong parallel to what happened to me yesterday that I cannot call it anything else but a strong wake up call from Him above. For 4 years now, I have been unhappy with my financial situation - in short, I have not been contented with the many blessings the Lord has poured upon me and my family. By all accounts I am blessed with a comfortable life, yet I have been struggling with the worry that I am under-paid, and I have at times "yielded to intense craving" just like the Israelites in the desert. I wanted something (let's call it an "extravagent luxury") that my present finances does not allow. I have been impatient with God, and have been frustrated trying to find the balance between waiting upon Him and taking things into my own hands and finding alternatives. There is of course no such thing as a balance when it comes to waiting on Him. When I am waiting on Him, I am supposed to WAIT. Period. Not make up excuses to "speed things along" nor help God out by running ahead of Him. Yet somehow that is so much easier said than done.

Yesterday morning, I came into some money that was totally unplanned. Not exactly a windfall, but just about enough for me to commit to getting a loan towards the the 1st installment of this "extravagent luxury" I have been wanting. Yet strangely, I just wasn't ready to commit to getting it. I was very happy and thankful for this nice surprise, but there was just no conviction to go shopping. That same afternoon, I heard from Mrs Nitrox that R2 has high fever and threw up. Whatever elation I felt just about disappeared. The rest of the day was a blur, but last night as I was lying in bed, a few thoughts occurred to me:

1. I am guilty of the sin of being impatient with God. Because of that, I came so close to missing out on this nice surprise that He had in store for me. It is only His awesome love and generosity that has brought about this totally undeserved blessing. Like the Israelites in the desert, who were too busy whinning to see His blessings, I am an undeserving recipient of His manna and quail. I am overwhelmed by His love.

2. God also made it pretty clear that despite my sustained whinning, the "extravagent luxury" I wanted wasn't really all that important to me. The reality is that lots of other things more much more important - my family and their well-being being one such example. For some strange reason it is so easy to forget that. I am half convinced that the next time I see a young guy driving a sports car or sitting in business class, I will again forget and start to whine again. Lord, please help me to guard my heart!

3. Maybe I enjoy whinning and complaining about not getting what I want more than the "extravagent luxury" itself. Now that it is within reach, I am basically not ready to take the plunge and get it anyway. What is it about me that thrives when I am curled up in self-pity? How can God Himself see something beautiful enough in something so twisted and wrong that He came to die for me?

My friends, we have an AWESOME, AWESOME God, and we are so priviledged to be loved by Him.