Don't take things/people for granted

Not too many people know, but my grandfather passed away exactly 3 weeks ago. I was very fortunate to have returned to HK earlier this summer (in April and May) to not only visit, but spend time with my grandfather and celebrated his birthday with him. At the same time, my uncle, who originally planned to return to HK with me, was unable to do so as a result of work committments, and decided to postpone his return until October when it would've been my grandparents' 60th anniversary. When the news of my grandfather's death reached my uncle's ears, he broke down. Why? He was probably the closest son to my grandfather out of all the sons in the family. My uncle did not even have the opportunity to see his father one last time before he moved on. He is still blaming himself for not being able to go back to HK in April, therefore not having the chance to spend time with him. No body expected this to happen, it was very shocking to all of us. My uncle never had the chance to tell his father how much he loved him, how much he cared for him. It reminds of an event that happened a few years ago. The father of friend of mine passed away suddenly one morning of a traffic accident. There are many things, many events, that none of us can ever expect to happen. Many times we think "it can never happen to us", but accidents happen. Theres a reason why accident is called "an accident", if someone can foresee an event, it won't be called an accident. Many times in our lives, we take the people for granted. We take having our parents for granted, we take our friends for granted. We take having food on our dining table for granted, it seems such a normal event to be able to see your friends each weekend on the baseball diamond, or talk to them over the phone. We take our parents' love for granted. Sometimes, accidents happen, and suddenly, the person we have taken for granted for so long is no longer with us.

While we have faced many times where we wished our parents will stop nagging us, or the times we wished our friend was better at math so he can help us in our homework, take this time to reflect on your relationship with everyone around you. Have you taken their prescence for granted?

Take this opportunity, tell your parents you love them, how much they mean to you, thank them for everything they've done for you. Thank your friends for being there when you needed someone to listen to you rant, or the time when you needed help for a particular assignment, or thank them for staying up with you until the next morning when you had to get something done. Because you just never know, when that opportunity of telling them you love them, and appreciate what they've done for you, no longer exist.

Other matters:
I just realized this has been one of my longer blogs thats not sports related. Anyways, I'm still struggling, still learning, and still seeking God's direction. Many things have happened, but the most important lesson I'm still learning, is to wait and seek God's timing. In many things I've done in life, I have done things on my own timing. I have hurt myself, and I have hurt others along the way. I wish I can take back alot of the things that I've said or done, but I can't. As I move along in this journey, I've discovered many things, many weaknesses that I struggle with. I've come to a realization that many of these weaknesses, all these struggles I have, result in the lack of trust towards God, the lack of patience towards Him, and more importantly, relying on my own strength rather then relying, trusting in Him. As I continue on this journey, learning and seeking for His wisdom, I know I will encounter many more obstacles, but I pray to be obedient, to be patient, and to be humble. While I'm sure I have many other weaknesses, and I will encounter more struggles, I know that God will always be with me.


Hmmmm...it seemed like all these things just rushed out of me....does it even make sense? Oh wellz...its my blog, so I can put whatever I want on it =þ, even if it makes no sense at all!

-wes

International Flavour

A short sports update with more to come later. The Raptors' announcers are going to have a fun time this upcoming season (and seasons to come) in terms of pronouncing players' names (maybe even more so for those who announces the games for the other teams). The addition of Spanish forward Jorge Garbajosa to the team, he will join the first overall pick of 2006 Andrea Bargnani, former Spurs Rasho Nesterovic as the new international players the Bryan Colengelo added to the Raptors this off season. Imagine a fast break with Jose Calderon, Jorge Garbajosa, Nesterovic and Bargnani involved. I imagine it will go something like this:

Nesterovic with the defensive board, quick outlet pass to Calderon with Bargnani and Garbajosa on the wing with him. A 3 on 1, Calderon with the bounce pass to Garbajosa, and Garbajosa tosses it up to Bargnani for the two handed jam, are you kidding me?!

I bet you can't say that 5 times fast! =D Have a good one!

-wes

Refocus

I think I've been learning alot lately, and going through so many things leads into frustrations. Some that may have been caused by the actions around me, and more importantly, I think I need to take some time and really discover myself again. I think its more along the lines of re-discovering my motives, and my intentions in this ministry. If I'm going to contribute positively to the ministry, should I really care about things I can't control, or should these things even matter at all? At the same time, taking the competitiveness away is really ripping away the core of the activity. Should it really come down to something so small, if the difference isn't that big? If my motives is contribute to the ministry in a positive way, should I even be having these thoughts and feelings to begin with?

Need to spend time to refocus and really rediscover my motives again.

-wes

World Cup

This world cup has quickly turned into one that I don't really care about who wins anymore. Nothing against Italy and France, but their play so far this world cup haven't convinced me (and alot of other people) that they are worthy of being the world champions. I guess this applies more to France, since they barely got into the 16 with a win over Togo. I mean in a group with Switzerland, Togo, South Korea, they were able to manage 5 points? A little disappointing for sure. Italy's defence has been impressive as always, only giving up the one goal, but their road to the finals isn't exactly a tough one facing Australia in the 16 and then Ukraine in the quarters. In any case, I don't even know who I am cheering for in this final. On one side, it is ZZ's final game, and he has got to be one of the best players to have played the game, and as a soccer fan, I would like nothing more but to have this world cup be his swan song, leaving his final match of his career holding the trophy above his heads. On the other hand, I just cannot justify cheering for an Arsenal player, as good as Henry is..lol. Seriously though, lets hope we see some scoring, having a game of 0-0s isn't helping this game at all, despite the suspence of penalty kicks. After all, this is a team game, and using penalty kicks to resolve the finals takes the entire team element out of the sport. How about a prediction of a balanced, well-played, no-diving *cough Italians*, exciting match.

I'm sorry ZZ, as much as I enjoyed watching you throughout your career, I really can't bring myself to cheer for France, so Italians it is...I think. On the side note, with the Italian win over Germany, I officially became the winner of the World Cup pool that I played with a few (few being 35 other..I think) friends. I am tied with the league leader in match outcomes correct, but a couple of ties and correct scores I got launched me to the top of the leaderboard. Now I have the bragging rights for the next 4 years =D. So yes, predictions..

Finals:
Italy 2 - 0 France
3rd Place:
Portugal 2 - 1 Germany

Semi-Finals

One of the most disappointing days with Brazil and England losing in the same day. Now my #1 and #2 team is out, my emotional ties leads me to cheer for Germany. Klinesmann was one of my favourite players during his playing days, and nothing is stopping me from cheering for them now.

Semi-Final predictions:
Germany 3 - 1 Italy
Portugal 1 - 1* 3 - 1 France