Thank you, God, for TLC

I decided I had to make an entry on this blog before the last official meeting of the Tropicana Ladies Cell on Wednesday. This cell holds a very special place in my heart indeed – so here’s my personal tribute to TLC.

After running away from God for a good 12 years, I made a decision to make my way back to Him again sometime in 2005 – after God, in His grace, mercy and love, patiently dealt with me to “take me from the ends of the earth and called me from its farthest corners” Isaiah 41:9. One of the first things that I knew I had to do was to find a church. Not knowing where to start, I asked God to help, but at the same time made some enquiries, thought about it, rationalised with myself …not knowing all the while that God had already found one for me.

I didn’t find SIB. SIB found me. The first time I heard about SIB was at a reunion lunch I had with 3 of my university study group friends, all of whom are Christians. I had not met up with them for years before that, and I still remember, at that luncheon at Souled Out, I started to make enquiries, and one of them mentioned SIB to me. This friend of mine, Chris, had been attending JIC for years. He told me how he met Pastor Chew when he was handling the sale and purchase of some property that involved SIB, and he was totally taken in by Pastor Chew’s dynamic personality. Pastor Chew invited Chris to visit SIB, and he did – and well, he has been there since.

After this incident, the name SIB seemed to invade my life. I cannot even remember how many times I was invited to visit this church – to the point where each time the name came up, I’d flinch – the words “not again!” would be the immediate reaction in my mind. Amongst the significant moments was when my little boy’s class teacher asked if I would consider sending him for Sunday school. Immediately I told her I really have been intending to, but was very worried about finding one where he would fit in – as his teacher, she and I knew that James had problems settling into new places then. And she told me that she could help because she served in her church, and would love to have James join her class, and thought that with her as his teacher, he would settle in much better. I was so relieved to hear that and was busy thanking God in my heart, and half lost her in the conversation … till she mentioned SIB. I nearly flipped. The “NOT AGAIN!” thought really resounded in my mind.

You’d think I’d be the first one to be in church next Sunday. No. That’s how slow to obey I was, drowning in worry and fear. Then weeks later, after being tormented by all my inner conflicts, I told myself – maybe I should find out if this SIB church has mid week activities like prayer meetings or something, so that I can “check it out” before I ask my husband and son to join me. And so I made up my mind to do just that – find out – but making up one’s mind is one thing, picking oneself up to actually do it is another. Trust me, I stopped at making up my mind.

But thankfully, God didn’t stop. A week later I made a sudden decision to take my mom and my son to lunch at Centre Point. I had never even been there for lunch before. For some reason, that afternoon, I suggested to my mom that we should try Centre Point. Little did I know that it was never my curiosity that led me there. It was nothing short of a divine appointment.

After lunch, my little boy wanted to play at the playground and I told him he could play for 5 minutes, while I went to pay parking fees at the autopay machine. When I got back to pick him up, he was talking to a lady sitting at the bench, and this lady looked up at me and smiled, and her first words to me were, “your son speaks really well!”. I smiled at her, and somehow we got talking while my son and hers played for a while. In that short 10 minutes, (I had to leave within 15 minutes of paying, so it really was 10 minutes!), we introduced ourselves and exchanged some pleasantries. Just as I was about to walk off with my son, she suddenly asked me if I wanted to join a ladies cell that met on Wednesday mornings – and when she mentioned that she was from SIB – I nearly fainted. Honest. And this time I said “Yes” without hesitation.

That was more than a year ago. The moment is fresh on my mind, like it was just yesterday. You see, God couldn’t wait for me to get off my lazy butt to do the finding out, He sent the cell leader out for me. Wow! Is that some invitation or not?

My previous experiences with cells were not the most pleasant. And I had never attended a ladies cell before. But yet, there was a great peace in my heart, and I was really looking forward to it. The following Wednesday I attended Tropicana Ladies Cell – and have been attending ever since. While they were wondering who this strange woman Anna had picked up from the streets (literally) – I knew deep in my heart that TLC was God sent for me.

I want to spend some time here to tell all the ladies I have met at the cell, how special each of them are to me. Anna, I will be ever grateful to you for allowing yourself to be used by God to find me. Thank you. Amy and Michelle – the core members at that time – thank you for welcoming me. Amy, your generous hospitality and warmth broke any ice I had in me. Mich – I will never forget all your words of encouragement during my early days and all your prayers for me.

And a little later, I joined the cell on a weekend excursion to Putrajaya, which turned out to be a trip I would never forget nor regret. I had never spent so much time with a group of ladies before this – and I had so much to learn from them. I was never much of a lady – have always wished I was more – and here, with me were a bunch of ladies whom I had so much to learn from!

To all of you ladies at TLC, then and now – you all represent the different characteristics that I had always wished I had and aspired to be. I hope you know that you have made a great impact in my life – I have learnt so much from you, each one of you – from your sharing and your openness. I could never thank you enough. And indeed, I hope, someday, I will be like you. And truly, you are God sent for me.

While we may be no longer an official ladies cell, I know that you will always be MY cell. In my heart. My time with you have been great – and nothing short of that. You, my friends, were God’s special way of welcoming me home. And, really, what a welcome!

I thank God for you. I really do. When I read Anna’s blog I couldn’t quite understand why she cried when blogging about closing TLC. Well, Anna, I do now, because as I am typing, my tears are flowing.

In closing, the only words that ring in my mind are :

Thank you, TLC. Thank you, God, for TLC. Thank you, God.

Jacq Chitty