SISPEC - School Of Infantry Specialists

Yes, thats where I am training in now. SISPEC, for those who don't know what abbreviation means, you can just read the title. Specialists! What does that mean? At first, I thought I would be specialized in something. Well, in a way yes, its just a place to train section commanders, and pushing people to become sergeants through BSLC (Basic Section Leader Course) which I am currently in, and then ASLC (Advanced Section Leader Course). Ha, basic intro for those who are lost.

Hows life in SISPEC? Hm, many people asked me that. One word, tiring. Much much more tiring than BMT. Its the tempo of training. Its almost as if they don't give us any break at all. In the morning you can have ability group run, then after that SOC, then strength training, then another run. When I finally get to lie on my bed and rest, I can only say "woah, what a day." I read my bible, pray, sleep and wake up to the same thing again. 6 days of that in one week.

Its so bad that I actually got a little depressed around the 3rd week of my training. It was really tough. I had injuries on me and I still had to push on through the training. My muscles were aching like crazy and I missed home badly. I dreaded every single day I was in camp. But somehow I managed to pull through. Every night I would read the bible and pray, seeking God for encouragement, and then something great happened to me.

God helped me to realise something. He helped me to find joy in every single little things around me. Like there was this time when dinner was pretty good, and I got cheered up by that. Haha, I know its a little lame but I was really quite happy after that dinner. I also learnt to take each day at a go and not try to take down the whole week with one breath. Every night when I lie down on my bed, I would thank God for the day and thank Him for helping me through it. I also became more cheerful and crapped alot more with my friends, this lifted their spirits up too! Ha, I am glad I can spread my joy to friends around me! Its finally working, I remembered I promised someone I would spread my joy to the people around me when I was in BMT, I finally fulfilled it.

Well, life's alot better now. I am going into the 5th week of the course and its going to be half way through the 10 week course. Once its finished, I don't know where I will go. Its either ASLC, OCS, or CBREDG. Well, CBREDG basically stands for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Explosives Defense Group. The name speaks for itself. This unit made me go through a 3 hr psychological test, when everybody could rest in their bunk! Argh~~!!

Ah, just completed my appointment as a leader section commander. This basically means I had to be in charge of the section for 3 days. Was fun. And busy. Especially since my appointment just happen to fall on the day of Exercise Gypsy 1! Its always busy when theres an exercise. You have to constantly check on your men, check equipment and make sure you complete the mission. The section depends on you, so you need to be extra vigilant.

Well, exercise Gypsy 2 is this week. Pray that I can be successful in this exercise! Next week is long weekend because of Labour Day! Yeah yeah! Finally can get some rest! Woooot~~! :D

Victory Through Defeat

2 days ago was Good Friday, and today is Easter Sunday. Both are special days, but how special? To the world, Good Friday is a public holiday that everyone can enjoy and well, Easter Sunday has got something to do with eggs and I don't even know why. But surely there is something more special and important that makes these 2 days SPECIAL.

Surely everyone knows what a cross is. The "+". It is a symbol of christianity. On the maps, "+" would mean a church. Christians wear it on their necks, put it on their walls, on their doors or anywhere. But the cross is surely more than just a symbol. It is something that represents victory through defeat.

In the Roman times, that is when Jesus was still walking around on Earth, the cross is known to be one of the most cruel methods to punish a criminal who commited worst crime you can ever think of. Its method of punishment is to hang the criminal on the cross for hours, sometimes lasting more than a day, letting the criminal wreathe in pain and moan as his blood continues to flow out of his body due to all the wounds inflicted upon him. It is a very slow and painful death.

Our Lord Jesus Christ was hanged there, supposedly on Good Friday. Some people ask, why is it called Good Friday? Our Lord was punished and put to the death on this day and you still have the cheek to call it "good"? No no no, I can call it good coz the reason He died was for everyone, so that He can die for our sins, so He can take all of our sins and put it on the cross with Him. Thats why I call it good, but thats not over yet.

When Jesus died on the cross, it appeared to be a total defeat. The Son of God who was supposed to come to Earth and save the world has just been put to death. All the years Jesus spent on Earth seemed to be a joke because the Son Of God just died. The devil must have been thinking to himself, "I finally got rid of this guy, now the world is mine!" The disciples were also greatly discouraged, many of them turn back and went back to fishing, thinking that this was going to be end of the story. Christianity looked to have been killed then and there.

And what happened later on didn't really help either. If Jesus would have suddenly awoken on the cross and flew off with wings, it would definitely have caused a super big uproar and everyone would be in awe and all that. No, it didn't happen. Jesus's body lie motionless on the cross, and subsequently transported into a tomb donated by a kind man. Jesus remained dead. Many of us wonder why is there this one day gap between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Why? It was the day Jesus remained dead.

Sometimes, we face trouble and when we cry out to God, theres no answer. God seems to be in silence. We remain in this state of problems and we just cannot seem to get out of the situation. It seemed like a total defeat had just fallen upon our life, as if we are going to remain defeated, like how Jesus lay dead. But no, God didn't plan our life to be in defeat forever, He wants us to be victorious! So 1 day later, Jesus arose, well and alive.

Thats Easter Sunday. Jesus resurrected from the dead and rose into the sky. His body could not be found and He has defeated death in the face. A total victory was won on that very day as Jesus picked Himself up and walked again. On that day, the devil could only eat defeat, complete defeat. All the souls had been set free from the chains of the devil, from the curse of sin because Jesus has taken all the sins, died on the cross, and rose up again. That is brilliance of Easter.

So like how Jesus arose and won victory despite seeming to have been defeated, we can do the same as well. Even when our problems seem to drag and even when God seems to be keeping His hands behind Him, we must still look towards Him for help. Why? Faith. Only through this can our faith be tested and our patience be tried. Jesus wasn't resurrected in a day. When we manage to last through this one day of death, we will surely experience victory.

One of my friend once told me, "In those times, against a glaring face of a negative reality, true faith arises, appropriates courage and locks into the integrity of God's promise. For this reason, God will allow us to go through times where we need to trust Him in spite of how things appear." Quite alot to digest there but I feel its really good.

John 19:28-30 "Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty." A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus' lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit."

John 20:19-20 "On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.