Recently I stumbled upon a manga called kingdom, and it is crazily excellent. It reminded me of the old feeling of reading epic series like FMA and Rurouni Kenshin. The story takes place on the 6 warring estates in China (not on the 3 kingdom, but the period before that), and it tells the story of the king of Qin that will eventually unite China under one dynasty.
There are so many positive traits of this series including the manly battle scenes, fine character development, strategic battles, unexpected plot twists, very good pace in storytelling, like-able characters, powerful villains, and I can go on... I actually spent way too much on it, so I need to exercise some self-control.
One thing I really like is that what unites the two main characters, that both of them have a strong vision that fuels their desire to move forward no matter what opposition they face, and helps them persevere through the tough time. And its because they hold dear to this vision that they are able to overcome all sort of struggles and excel on who they are.
I remembered the very first bible study I ever help prepare in CCF was during a Fall leadership retreat in 2007. It was on the book of Nehemiah. And since then I have always loved Nehemiah for the valuable leadership lessons. Nehemiah exhibits so many great leadership characteristics: taking action, gathering comrades, planning well, good foresight, courageous, man of prayer, dependence on God, persevere in struggles, not afraid of opposition. All started in chapter 1, when he heard of the depressing state that Jerusalem was in, and God gave him a vision about the restoration of the walls, and he took action upon receiving the vision.
Now that I am in the work life stage, it is really easy to live life by following the routine and lose sight of the things that God has burdened me with. It is so easy to become complacent about life. My prayer is that I will hold dear whatever God has put in my heart, and that this will fuel me to live a life that is pleasing to Him.
