JSS P5&6 stayover @ Pasir Ris Park

I truly want and need to thank God for His goodness. My busy hectic week didnt turn out as bad as I thought. In fact, I wasn't as tired as I thought I would be. God was very gracious and granted me quite a bit of sleep as I do not have to go early to the lab for some of the days. I didn't go for LM on tuesday though, as I was held up by my fyp that evening due to some unexpected changes. As for yesterday's stayover, albeit tiring, I was very thankful that I get to sleep for almost a good 4-5 hours. So after getting back home, i bathed, and totally konked out for another 4 hours. And now, i'm refreshed to start studying for my test. But before I do so, I wanted to do some reflections about the stayover.

It's my 1st time joining matt's JSS (Junior Sunday School) stayover and i thoroughly enjoyed myself. We gave much thanks to the Lord, as Mondays - Thursdays were practically raining cats and dogs. But when it came to Friday evening, there was no rain, and the weather was rather nice and cooling. The amazing thing was Uncle Tony (the planner) refused to have any contingency plans (while we, of little faith, were really worried if the stayover had to be cancelled seeing that every other day of the week has been raining). He had great faith that God will hold the rain, and true enough, He did. Praise be to God. It's so heartwarming also, to hear that some of the kids were praying very hard throughout the week too. When both of us reached the place yesterday evening, the little ones were pitching their tents, and it was also my first time literally helping to pitch the tents. It was pretty fun and interesting. Followed which, these kids had to cook their own dinner. I think this was one of the fun parts, as they get the chance to find big stones and use solid fuel to cook their instant noodles and canned food. Both of us cheated, hehe, we ate dinner before we went :P.

This camp is special in the sense that no programmes were lined up. Basically, it was meant to facilitate the bonding of the P5 and P6's. So, they could do anything they want, play any games, and just be themselves. I was really comforted that the P6 girls approached me to ask me to play with them. So we had a good time playing cards together inside their tent, and afterwards, proceeded to play mother and hen, outside...and then some group games with the boys. I thus came to know the girls a little bit better and i'm thankful for the bonding session. As for the boys, they were like monkeys running around, and matt kept them entertained by playing ball games with them.

So anyway, we both had a good time mingling with these little ones. And it was through this stayover, (it's actually my 1st time literally sleeping in the tent), that made me see how beautiful each of this kid is no matter how monkey-ish they were. I am sure God has a great plan in store for each of them, as they continue to grow. The opportunity to stayover at a park, is truly refreshing. The sounds of the waves crashing on the breakwaters, the chirping of birds, the persistent croackings of toads through the night, the warm sunshine and the cooling seabreeze, is a very good break and reminder of God's magnificence for me. I'm glad I went for it :)