Why? Why the tiredness? Why go to church? Why this day? Why such a long time since Dec 2022 when I stopped?
Those are pretty good questions. Suffice to say it's all cos depression and move along.
I had a great time at church almost from the get go. It was like stepping into a new church, with some old stomping grounds and familiar faces. Our choir leader has now become Lead Pastor of the English Church, our worship pastor is now in charge of the Mutiara Damansara church on Fridays, and a lot of friends are married with kids this high!
Speaking of those kids in particular, I knew their parents from choir days, back in 2011, and I bumped into them looking for friends to sit with, cos my friends had to go to the children and prams corner. So I politely asked if I could join them when all of a sudden - pastor walked past.
Now it's been a long hiatus and I've never mentioned my relationship with pastor before. With his authority as a Founding Pastor I approached him once before I made my decision to get baptized, about getting parents' blessing for the baptism. He tried his best to remember my name, but I can swear out of five thousand people he can remember names for, he always forgot mine. But good news is he remembers me.
Naturally I was happy to see him, so I greeted him and chatted with him, all the time guiding him into the building's main auditorium where he already has a seat (they all sit in the front most row). We parted ways and left me hoping we can catch up soon.
Pastor is the reason I'm in DUMC. Still. I left when working in the hotel got too tiring for almost any other activity, even church. After almost two years, pastor showed up out of absolutely nowhere in the lobby of the hotel I worked in. Shocked, I asked them bluntly, "What are you doing here??" Maybe that might have sounded rude to some people but in my defense out of sheer shock and admittedly a little guilt, I just blurted them out seeing the pastor at my workspace.
And then, AND THEN, I found out the serendipitous plan that God had for me.
You see, back in the day, there was an unwritten custom in the Banqueting department of said hotel that, whichever assistant banquet operations manager and supervisor attend the food tasting event, they will also attend to the main event. Makes sense? Cos they already have a relationship, like it or not, with the client(s) and/or event organizers. With me so far? This will make sense down the road, bear with me.
So, a few months leading to this meeting with the pastor, I was placed in charge of my very first food tasting, for a Chinese wedding dinner. I was humbled when they called for a blessing prayer before dinner, so I casually mentioned midway through the tasting that I used to attend church.
I never asked what church they went to. If had, this story would have gone much differently.
Fast forward to meeting the pastor. I brought him and his wife to the hotel lobby lounge as they had arrived early for lunch. Bear in mind this was during the fasting month so the buffet restaurant was closed, but then I found out just for today it was open and fully booked for this post-wedding reception. So I tended to them while they waited for other guests to arrive, organizing some warm water to them, all while the lobby lounge staff wondered what or who I was fussing over.
It was then when I realized that the food tasting clients was the married couple he had just presided over.
Coincidence? I think not!
Why then would I not know? What was I doing in the lobby when I met pastor? Well, that is a sad backstory. You see, back then the food director had this brilliant idea of generating more profit for the hotel, which is by selling festive goodies seven to eight months of the year. Our country being as it is is one of the countries with the most public holidays, period. So there I was minding my business assisting the management of this little festive desk in the lobby, pulled out of ordinary banquet operations when...
Fast forward to the evening. The main event is underway. I just finished my shift packing up the festive desk. I went to the backlane of the event space where this VIP wedding dinner event was taking place. Why VIP? cos the bride's parents had titles. When I found out I shook my head. They had it the wrong way round. This is a Christian wedding dinner, the VIP is the pastor who came there right after evening church celebration. (VVIP was of course the Holy Spirit and God.)
Later still I realized, my whole cell group was there having dinner, at the other end of the event space. And the future senior pastor, unknowing of his destiny then, was also present...
Long story short, it was a comeback. Again. I sincerely hope it will forever be the longest I strayed. I never want to go through that again.
No comments:
Post a Comment