Believe it or not...

There are some traits that actually can save a life in the nick if time!

Let me reveal you a secret

Being Asian (particularly Chinese speaking community), being sentimental, and being biblically right standing in Christ, could save your life in a nick of time!

I am really not bragging my life and my faith right now, but if I was never saved and born again 18 years ago, I will never be able to imagine the last 24 hours 💔 horror could have done to me.

(I will share with you how I got saved 18 years ago later if you are willing to read the juicy parts of it)

That being said, God allowed this to happen for HIS reason.

I digress...

So back to how this is saving me from immediate bankruptcy

(I cannot believe I actually say this about me!)

So how do 3 traits of mine saved my life this time round?

Being a (Chinese Speaking) Asian

Or Asean.... from my mixed Asean ethnicity

My community, unlike many other types of ethnic groups (even though in the same Asean region) do not really believe in "enjoying in the moment blessing" (material that is useless)

Or at least my family background who survived WW2.

Whatever we can bless, unless it is some kitchen utility, we always prepare monetary blessings.

We call them RED PACKETS

But this is not just any "tradition" (that is being hyped up by the wrong intentions for Hari Raya and Deepavali in Malaysia, especially Hari Raya kids' disrespect to the meaning of Ang Pow), it is a mindset. A mindset of save it for the rainy days and to be blessed by an elderly to be healthy and strong always.

Due to the fact that my family are actually not well off during my entire childhood life, these "Ang Pows" (Red packets) and never treated as an "instant bonus", rather, it is only opened when utmost necessary.

When I was little, during Chinese New Year, my mom always made my brother and I never to open them until 15 days of celebration passed. When we were little, once that 15th day passed, we are like kids on Christmas day, start "opening our presents" and see how much we got.

This is particularly wonderful for those who have yet tied the knot.

And once those have opened, the next day (or the weekend), my mom will bring us to our near by post office to deposit our money into our joint savings account.

During that time when I was little, the post office also functions as a bank.

(How many out there in #teammalaysia remembered this? It will reflect how old we are)

I personally experienced several times during my childhood how the money we saved up save the household, especially when my dad was retrenched and we lost the main income of the family.

(We got it out eventually. But that's another long story to tell)

And since then, I have cultivated this habit not to touch the Ang Pow unless utmost necessary.

However, have I saved all those Ang Pow money in the bank, those would have been lost entirely.

That's where my 2nd trait play into place

Sentimental

If you have seen all those red packets, they were all received during Chinese New Year or during my birthday, written in heartfelt blessings by my parents.

When I received them, I kept them in the same condition until this morning, when I was looking for them to prepare an Ang Pow for my nephew's wedding today.

I totally have lost count how many I kept in tact because I just slide it into my secret place and totally forgotten about it, and this is the utmost vital thing we learn in the crypto world, HODL mentality (that was established in my life since little), and when the REAL EMERGENCY comes, like right now, these has become my lifeline.

But what has the 3rd trait, faith link to all of this?

My faith in Christ that truly all roundedly saves!

If it was not for Christianity, I would never have read the bible, the Holy Spirit wouldn't have embedded me the alarm (that I didn't listen in spirit, unfortunately) , nor would I have read the 7 years of plentiful and 7 years of famine, in the end of Genesis instilled in me to set aside when abundant .

So, no doubt my bank is now almost emptied, I can still use the cash I have to survive without applying more credit pressure because I have all maxed out.

I truly hope that these 3 traits would have encouraged you how to be ready when real emergency comes , and may whatever saved me from immediate bankruptcy this month, can propel you to tune to a different mindset of giving to you ones this Christmas, while also knowing how to be prepared.