May He grant your wish

Orang Cina kalo lagi Imlek suka mengucapkan kata2 berkat kepada sesama, wejangan dari orang tua buat anak2nya, atau encouragement yg bersifat nasehat. Salah satu ungkapan berkat yg sering dilontarkan adalah: "Sin Siang She Chen", yg kalau diterjemahkan artinya kira2 seperti ini: semoga pikiran yg ada di hati akan terwujud. (sin=hati, siang=berpikir, she=hal, chen=terjadi). Hmm.. how nice kalo semua impian kita akan tercapai tahun ini. Tapi atas dasar apa semua impian yg ada di hati kita akan terwujud?

We know too well that we can only plan, but God has the final say. Ini mengingatkan ku akan Mazmur yg ditulis oleh raju teragung bangsa Israel ribuan tahun yg silam. Raja Daud; Raja yg punya segala sesuatu.. tahta, kuasa, kemakmuran, kemasyuran. Kepada siapa bersandar? Kepada siapa dia minta bantuan?

May the Lord answer you when you are in distress;
may the name of the GOD of Jacob protect you.
May he send you help from the sanctuary and grant you support from Zion.
May he remember all your sacrifices and accept your burnt offerings.

May he give you the desire of our heart and make all you plans succeed.
We will shout for joy when you are victorious and will lift up our banners in the name of our GOD. May the LORD grant all your request.

Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed;
he answers him from his holy heaven with the saving power of his right hand.

Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the LORD our GOD!

They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm.
O Lord, save the king! Answer us when we call!

Psalm 20,
king David

May this be your prayer too in this Chinese New Year..
Continue to trust in Him and may He grant your wish...

Happy "Piggy" Chinese New Year everyone!

LHAJW

Currently I'm reading a book entitled Loving Homosexuals as Jesus Would by Chad W. Thompson. You might wonder why I'm reading such a topic. Well.. this issue has been tagging my heart for many reasons for the past years. I was caught off-guard with facts revealed by some of my close friends. Honestly speaking, I was so unprepared and unequiped while confronted with such contemporary issue in relation to my conviction and belief.

I bought this book at the Book Exhibition during the Calvin Worship Symposium that I attended in the end of January. For some reasons, this book attracted me instantly; I only read the title and the content, and that's enough for me deal with the book keeper. I made the right decision. The author, Chad Thompson identifies himself as an ex-gay. I know in an instance that I would learn many new things "first hand" from the author. Indeed, in this book I learn about homophobia, the struggle, the cause, scientific/social/psychological reasoning, the hope of change as God's image bearer, and how we, as Christians should act and respond to the matter. Even though I can't fully comprehend the issue yet, but at least I could learn to identify with them. This is definitely an eye-opening book for me.

May the Lord grant us a sensitive heart to care for His image bearer.

If you are interested:
Thompson, Chad. Loving Homosexuals As Jesus Would. Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2006.
ISBN: 1-58743-121-1

Extra (BIG) Blessing

Sekitar bulan October 2006 yg lalu, sehabis gw ngajar anak2 class Piano level 0, Dr. Sturm sang koordinator class piano (my superior) hampiri gw dengan secarik kertas dan nanya: "Pink, i got an e-mail from an old classmate of mine.. See if you're interested in it." Gw dengan bingung baca e-mail itu.. Ternyata Dr. Woodard, classmatenya itu head of the music department in Washing and Jefferson (W&J) College in Washington, PA mau sabbatical semester ini dan mau cari guru pengganti. I was like... YES, I'M INTERESTED IN IT! Basically the college is looking for an adjuct faculty that could cover 6 applied piano students of Dr. Woodard. The offer to have an invitation for an interiew caught me by surprise. I've never even thought about it before..

Pas Thanksgiving break yg lalu, gw diundang buat interview, sekalian teaching demonstration, dan perform dihadapan faculty members yg laen dan murid2 yg ada disana.. Fiuhhh... what a gruesome and rigorous day! Everything went really well.. and at the end of the process, Dr. Woodard udah kasih tau kalo gw yg bakal gantiin posisi dia.. Agak2 ngga percaya.. hehe... I was thinking: are there no other candidates?

Akhirnya setelah semua paper work di finalize akhir semester lalu, gw ditugaskan mulai 'ngantor' alias ngajar hari ini.. hehehe... What a day! W&J is a charming little Liberal Arts college in the heart of Washington, PA. Since ini private school, fasilitas lengkap dan bagus.. Lokasinya sekitar 48miles from Morgantown. It took me 40-50 mins on I-79N to get there. (tadi pagi gw rada ngebut sih.. around 75-80miles/hr hehehe.. soalnya takut telat).

Gw kebagian 6 murid yg level permainannya jauh banget satu dengan yg laen. Ada yg boleh masuk ke class piano level 0 (no piano experience at all in the past) sampe yg udah bisa maen Brahms Rhapsodie in Gm. Six students in a row.. No break from 9am-3pm soalnya gw mesti balik ke WVU, my own school, for my other duty. What an experience! Enam jam non-stop menghadapi murid2 dengan kebutuhan, kepribadian, pengalaman, latar belakang yg beda2.. Very interesting. Btw, 4 dari 6 murid gw tuh pre-med students.. 1 biophysics, 1 bio major.. ada 2 yg double major! Gile benerrrr... kok bisa yah??!!

Anyway, it started really well today.. Hope that it will be a fun and wonderful semester for me and them as well.. Diharapkan dukungan doanya.. Semoga selasa depan ngga saljuan, biar jalan pergi dan pulang bisa aman terkendali.. hehehe.. ;-)

Of Divine Glory

Itu lah tema dari Calvin Worship Symposium yg gw hadiri Jan. 25-27 yg lalu di Grand Rapids, Michigan. Trip ini udah gw nanti2kan sejak dikasih tau sama temen.. since ngajak temen2, walaupun sangat berminat, tapi akhirnya ngga ada yg mau ikutan [initial Z and Z hehehe..] akhirnya gw pergi sendiri dehh.. I took 3 days off from school, melarikan diri gitu ceritanya buat winter vacation di Michigan.. hehehe.. Hasilnya: more than i ever imagined! Thank you God for answering my prayer..

Disana gw baru tau kalo Symposium ini dihadiri oleh peserta dari 30 negara, dari Asia sampe Afrika, Eropa sampe Amerika Latin.. We are one big family in Christ! Yg sebenernya paling bikin gw excited is the fact that I get to meet ppl from all around the world who share the same passion and burden in worship and music ministry. Those 4 days were so full of worship, knowledge, fellowship, and friendship. Not to mention the opportunity to network with many music ministers around the world; reunion with some friends that I met in church music camp in the past; and of course making new friends.

The location.. very nice and suitable for this kind of major symposium. Calvin College is known as 1 of the top 10 Christian Colleges in US. The environment is very friendly, buildings are well kept, facilities are great, housing is well maintained, and most importantly they have a great Fine Arts Center (FAC).


A praying snow sclupture outside Calvin's housing

Tahun ini Indonesia menerbangkan 7 kontingen ke Calvin Worship Symposium. Salah satunya Christina Mandang, one of the presenters of the workshop. So proud to have a fellow contry(wo)man to be 1 of the honored presenters. Dosen STT Jakarta, lulusan M.Mus dari Rotterdam Conservatory in Organ Performance ini membawakan kelas "Creative Accompaniments to Enliven Congregational Singing." What a great and fun class.. We get to learn songs from different parts of the world and learn how to accompany those songs creatively.

Yg pasti kelas2 yg dioffer semuanya bermutu banget. Kita semua pilih kelas sesuai dengan kebutuhan dan keingintahuan kita terhadap topik yg disediakan. I was exposed to gospel piano playing and choral literature. Sooo much fun! Great teachers.. God bless African American! I wish i had some of their 'blood and soul' in me... ;-)

Sebenernya yg paling mengesankan tuh bisa melihat dan menyaksikan dedikasi dari begitu banyak pastors, theologs, professors, musicians yg begitu setia meningkatkan mutu dan kepedulian gereja2 terhadap ibadah, which is the center of Christian life. Ada yg masih muda, ada yg udah super senior.. begitu banyak pengarang2 buku, pencipta lagu, guru2 besar, semuanyaa... dengan penuh kerendahan hati membagikan ilmu dan pengalaman mereka buat kita2 ini.

New friends... yeah, new friends!
I get to know 7 kontingen dari Indo... 2 pastors, 2 anak remaja, Christina, George, Pak Indra Lazuardi (ketua komisi musik PPGII), dan ngga lupa anak2 Indo yg lagi kuliah di Calvin Seminary: ada Ci Mega (red. ibu Pdt. Benny Solihin), Jimmy Setiawan -- Jakarta, Amos dan Yuso -- Surabaya. Selama disana diajakin makan Chinese buffet 2x!! hehehe... biasa...

Disana jg kenalan sama orang2 yg ternyata punya banyak common friends sama gw.. waktu cerita2 nanya "... jadi kamu kenal si x,y,z jg yah?" yah... ternyataa... what a small world! Ada jg cerita lucu aneh tapi nyata, Jimmy yg accidentally ketemu sama long lost cousinnya di Calvin. I'm serious: real cousin, same blood, from father's side. Baru sadar waktu masing2 tulis nama Chinese di tissue dan 1 temen bacain in Cantonese. hehehe.. ternyataaaa... Dua2nya jg kaget kok bisa2nya ketemu di event seperti ini. hahaha..

Tapi mungkin yg paling impressive adalah experiencing Divine Glory selama Symposium, not from the elaborate well planned morning/evening worship or the classes, tapi dari kesaksian 2 temen: a pastor from Iraq that shared how God protected his life, and from my new dear friend Shen Lang from China. An attractive, intelligent, and passionate girl that within a couple minutes of casual chat during the farewell party for International guest shared her personal testimony of her life on how she became a Christian and how miraculous God is through out the process!

Just like the message we heard at the opening worship, "Divine Glory" happens every day in our lifes.. It is God's power and divine glory that enables us to love, to forgive, to accept, to change, to repent.. and to enjoy the assurance of His salvation, knowing that He will raise us up on the last day. Let's worship Him as we wait for the coming of that glorious day!