Valentine's Day

Lunch. With 2 Iranians and a Nepali.

Some of the best looking guys in NUS.

And thus began my very long day.

I gave hand-made gifts to Stephie, Janice, Samantha, Pamela, Jing Wen, Florence, Celeste, Valerie, Yaya, Sonia, Devi, Li Yun, Kellynn, Kimberly, Ricardo, Ricardo's friend, Dylan, Neha, Hui Ze, Ikeya, Constance, Emily, PH, Seth, Hong Ling...

All in all, I gave out about 40 gifts this Valentine's day. Some of which were given to girls I met for the first time only today.


Now...
To those whom I gave balloon sculptures, please keep them out of the sun.
To those whom I gave sunflowers, please keep them in water and in the sun.
To those I gave sweets, please keep them out of water and out of the sun.



And after all that time and money and effort, I walked down a lonely road with the cool wind blowing on my face, and had a quiet dinner in school... alone.

Heh.

Ecclesiastes 2:11

¹¹ Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
   and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;
   nothing was gained under the sun.

Don't worry, I was not emo. I chose to have dinner alone.


The day was done, the gifts were given, the girls (and a few boys) were left smiling. Whether they were single or attached, alone, with someone special or in groups, I approached them and gave each of them something special today.

Yeah, many people in school had flowers, but my friends had bigger ones.
Many people carried gifts, but only my friends had hand-made balloon sculptures.


I enjoyed the day so much and was glad and relieved at the end of it. The sun was setting; I had given all I could give to the world. I felt so drained. I felt so satisfied.


"Oh Lord, thank you for today. It's finally done, and I miss you."

As the words left my mouth, a gentle wind picked up and the leaves rustled past my feet. It was like his gentle assurance telling me that he was listening, and he was with me. I smiled.



As I ate a lousy-tasting dinner in his presence, I smiled at all that had happened today. I thanked God for making today so special. The canteen was quieter now, and the few souls left in school didn't seem to notice as I began making one last balloon sculpture. Twisting it into shape, I returned my tray and walked up to the one lady I had wanted to give a gift to since the start of the day.


She was the cleaning auntie at the Deck, and she was very pleased with the gift.



And you know what, so was I.

Ecclesiastes 5:19-20

¹⁹ Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God. ²⁰ They seldom reflect on the days of their life, because God keeps them occupied with gladness of heart.