"..One scarred hand to the other.."

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son..

There is one word that describes the night he came - ordinary.

The sky was ordinary. An occasional gust stirred the leaves and chilled the air. The stars were diamonds sparkling on black velvet.

The sheep was ordinary. Some fat. Some scrawny. Common animals. No history makers. No blue-ribbon winners.

And the shepherds. Peasants they were. Smelling like sheep and looking just as woolly?

An ordinary night with ordinary sheep and ordinary shepherds. And were it not for a God who loves to hook an "extra" on the front of the ordinary, the night would have gone unnoticed. The sheep would have been forgotten and the shepherds would have slept the night away.

But God dances amidst the common! 

And that night he did a waltz.

The black sky exploded with brightness. Trees that had been shadows jumped into clarity. Sheep that had been silent became a chorus of curiosity. One minute the shepherd was dead asleep, the next he was rubbing his eyes and staring into the face of an alien.

The night was ordinary no more.

The announcement went first to the shepherds. Had the angel gone to the theologians, they would have first consulted their commentaries. Had he gone to the elite, they would have looked around to see if anyone was watching.

So he went to the shepherds. Men who didn't know enough to tell God that angels don't sing to sheep and that messiahs aren't found wrapped in rags and sleeping in a feed trough.

-3:16, The numbers of hope.

The day started normal enough, with the very sleep deprived me getting of the bed she just got in to 3 hours before. It was yet to be an uneventful day with tradition. first, head to uncle's place for the whole day, doing what? hang out, eat, catch up, eat, laugh, pictures, eat, pictures, laugh, laugh and eat.

i had my job cut out for me.

and yet this year, there was new meaning to Christmas. 

How would you like to be the gift instead? To really make someone's day. to bless someone. To go out of your reach. The extra mile. would you?

So I followed my dad to the prison. He had bought 60 packs of KFC for the inmates. It was Christmas and 'we shouldnt neglect family. they are our brothers, they are our sisters.' dad's words echoed in my heart as they led us into the female prison cells. Not knowing what to expect, not knowing what to say to them.. I just stood there so kaku. but remembering dad's words.. 'we are family'. The task suddenly became so easy! it was as if the holy spirit himself leading the meeting. the cold faces staring at us started breaking into smiles. names were introduced. faces forever etched in my heart. names already jotted down to remember.

You see, instead of going in there to bless them. I was blessed. Their openness. Their childlike faith! Passion in their speech. woah. i was thinking, 'mana kau mau cari nie!' what i saw in this sisters' faces were that they truly understood the meaning of his grace. his reason for coming. God loves them too. so so so much. their hugs meant so much. these sisters are loved!

I met this wonderful woman of God. not much older than me.. Chinese speaking. quiet.. BUT.. her passion for God is something I've never seen before. Sister Grace learnt to pray in BM, teach in BM, converse in the local dialect.. and even sing Malay songs! Her desire for prison work rendered me speechless. 

One thing I realized, she really understood why God, unlike the world, has always chosen to identify closest with those who are isolated and broken. “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison, and you came to visit me . . . I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:35-36, 40).

It was the best Christmas gift ever. 

Selflessness.

so what if i came late for the Christmas party?