Last night and this morning, I met two sets of brothers-in-Christ for a time of fellowship as we accounted our lives to one another. I have two accountability groups and I thank God for blessing me with every single one of these my siblings-in-Christ.
We came as fellow human beings, with our shortcomings and struggles. At the same time, we also came as Christians, redeemed by the blood of Christ; delivered from darkness to light; made victorious.
I think the power of fellowship is always so great that one can be vulnerable to another without feeling ashamed or ostracised. Instead there are encouragement and prayer support which mean a lot when one is down and out.
Of course, this time spent is not just to pour our woes to one another. It is also a chance for us to testify of God's goodness to one another. Through these, they affirm in us of how real God is and that He will always be there to bring us through every chapter of our lives, just as He had always done in the past! God will always be the same today, yesterday and tomorrow!
After the session, I headed to a friend's place to collect some documents before heading to Botanic Gardens to spend some time with God in reflection especially for the past one year of sabbatical.
In sharing about this, one thing I have to say first - all thanks and praise to God for seeing me through this one year. He has truly taught me to live my life differently; allowing me to do things way beyond my wildest imagination; for pushing my faith to the limit and as a result, strengthening it; for the good and bad experiences I had.
Three main things during this sabbatical impacted my life:-
1) Mum's Cancer
This saga caught every one in the family by surprise but God's timing is always good. It happened during my one year break. I wanted rest during this period but I did not get much of it because of the many things I had to handle at home - ensuring that all needs are met and every one is well. I am thankful that I learnt a lot from these!
God was also gracious to allow the cancer to be detected early and it was done so by a fall that mum had. If not for that incident, no one would have known that mum had cancer of the cervix.
This struggle for the family has also deepened our faith in God. Almost every night, my parents, grandma and I would come together to pray and ask God to bring about complete healing for mum. We pleaded to God for that because then we can testify to others that the God whom we worship is One who is powerful and at the same time, gracious and merciful!
Seeing my grandma going down on her knees and crying before the Lord was heartening. Observing how dad held mum's hands so tightly when he mouthed a word of prayer was touching and assuring that though they quarrelled occasionally, the love between them is deep!
Well, God heard all our cries and now mum is well! Hallelujah!
It is now my plea to the Lord to draw my brother to the foot of the cross and may he one day lift his hands in surrender to the God who has shown much favour to this family which once almost fell apart. I shall continue to pray for his salvation even if it has to take years. I interceded for my parents and grandma's salvation for more than 15 years and God answered. If he could do that, surely He will also do so for my brother.
2) Living Out The Great Commission
At the beginning of my sabbatical I said a prayer to God to help me live my life differently - no more the self-centered kind but instead I shall get to know the people around me. Strangers, that is.
I always thought it is hard to know the people I meet in public. Initially I was hesitant and very self-conscious but over time, it became easier but I had to be thick-skinned. Sometimes I get weird looks from people when I smile at them but I told myself it was alright.
In the course of my opening up to others, I got to know some of them and they come from all walks of life and nationalities. Certain friendships deepened to the point where they came to me for advice regarding their careers (they are the managers of the cafes I frequent); one of them even bought me lozenges when she knew I was down with sore throat and cough; another (a waiter) came and shared with me about his struggles at work and he was one of them who never returned my smile initially. Now he is always the first to smile when we bumped into each other. He even got me a mug of warm water one day when he saw me feeling cold; there is yet another (a waitress) who always calls out my name whenever I pass the cafe she is working in; another (a bookstore staff) came and asked me whether I was okay when he saw me deep in thoughts; a student from China calls me occasionally to ask for help in her learning of English.
There are more but these are just some people whom I would not have known if I did not make a conscious effort to take the first step. Many times we passed by people as if they are just an object - we forget that they are the very people whom God called us to reach out to.
Was it tough? Sometimes but it is possible to allow people to open up when we ourselves learn to open up first.
3) Ministries In Church
I also made a conscious effort to get to know my siblings-in-Christ in church especially those from the Youth Ministry. Maybe because of my age, there are some who think it is weird for me to want to know them. I confess I have scared some of them but this will not stop me from opening up and bridging the gap between the young and the old. Many have told me it is tough. I refuse to believe in that and I will one day prove to them that it can happen and there is power when the young and old come together!
I am also learning to cope with my responsibility as the chairperson of the Missions Ministry. There are many outstanding matters that I need to handle and a couple of them are under the "urgent" category. They can be daunting and frustrating but I have learnt over time that it is God working through me and in His time, everything will fall in place. All I need is to just follow His guidance and all will be well. It brings a lot of peace whenever I remind myself of this. I hope God can use me even more now that I have committed myself to another year of service in this area.
Well, there will be the inertia when I go back to the teaching profession on 1 October but I am looking forward to it. May all that I have learnt this past year be put to further practice. May the Lord be my help.
So was it good break? It could not have been better! Praise and glory to my God Almighty, my Help, my Deliverer, my Friend, my Father, my Teacher, my Comforter, my Healer, my Counselor, and my Provider.
I am tempted to write more but I shall leave it as that! :)
“May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” 2 Corinthians 13:14
We came as fellow human beings, with our shortcomings and struggles. At the same time, we also came as Christians, redeemed by the blood of Christ; delivered from darkness to light; made victorious.
I think the power of fellowship is always so great that one can be vulnerable to another without feeling ashamed or ostracised. Instead there are encouragement and prayer support which mean a lot when one is down and out.
Of course, this time spent is not just to pour our woes to one another. It is also a chance for us to testify of God's goodness to one another. Through these, they affirm in us of how real God is and that He will always be there to bring us through every chapter of our lives, just as He had always done in the past! God will always be the same today, yesterday and tomorrow!
After the session, I headed to a friend's place to collect some documents before heading to Botanic Gardens to spend some time with God in reflection especially for the past one year of sabbatical.
In sharing about this, one thing I have to say first - all thanks and praise to God for seeing me through this one year. He has truly taught me to live my life differently; allowing me to do things way beyond my wildest imagination; for pushing my faith to the limit and as a result, strengthening it; for the good and bad experiences I had.
Three main things during this sabbatical impacted my life:-
1) Mum's Cancer
This saga caught every one in the family by surprise but God's timing is always good. It happened during my one year break. I wanted rest during this period but I did not get much of it because of the many things I had to handle at home - ensuring that all needs are met and every one is well. I am thankful that I learnt a lot from these!
God was also gracious to allow the cancer to be detected early and it was done so by a fall that mum had. If not for that incident, no one would have known that mum had cancer of the cervix.
This struggle for the family has also deepened our faith in God. Almost every night, my parents, grandma and I would come together to pray and ask God to bring about complete healing for mum. We pleaded to God for that because then we can testify to others that the God whom we worship is One who is powerful and at the same time, gracious and merciful!
Seeing my grandma going down on her knees and crying before the Lord was heartening. Observing how dad held mum's hands so tightly when he mouthed a word of prayer was touching and assuring that though they quarrelled occasionally, the love between them is deep!
Well, God heard all our cries and now mum is well! Hallelujah!
It is now my plea to the Lord to draw my brother to the foot of the cross and may he one day lift his hands in surrender to the God who has shown much favour to this family which once almost fell apart. I shall continue to pray for his salvation even if it has to take years. I interceded for my parents and grandma's salvation for more than 15 years and God answered. If he could do that, surely He will also do so for my brother.
2) Living Out The Great Commission
At the beginning of my sabbatical I said a prayer to God to help me live my life differently - no more the self-centered kind but instead I shall get to know the people around me. Strangers, that is.
I always thought it is hard to know the people I meet in public. Initially I was hesitant and very self-conscious but over time, it became easier but I had to be thick-skinned. Sometimes I get weird looks from people when I smile at them but I told myself it was alright.
In the course of my opening up to others, I got to know some of them and they come from all walks of life and nationalities. Certain friendships deepened to the point where they came to me for advice regarding their careers (they are the managers of the cafes I frequent); one of them even bought me lozenges when she knew I was down with sore throat and cough; another (a waiter) came and shared with me about his struggles at work and he was one of them who never returned my smile initially. Now he is always the first to smile when we bumped into each other. He even got me a mug of warm water one day when he saw me feeling cold; there is yet another (a waitress) who always calls out my name whenever I pass the cafe she is working in; another (a bookstore staff) came and asked me whether I was okay when he saw me deep in thoughts; a student from China calls me occasionally to ask for help in her learning of English.
There are more but these are just some people whom I would not have known if I did not make a conscious effort to take the first step. Many times we passed by people as if they are just an object - we forget that they are the very people whom God called us to reach out to.
Was it tough? Sometimes but it is possible to allow people to open up when we ourselves learn to open up first.
3) Ministries In Church
I also made a conscious effort to get to know my siblings-in-Christ in church especially those from the Youth Ministry. Maybe because of my age, there are some who think it is weird for me to want to know them. I confess I have scared some of them but this will not stop me from opening up and bridging the gap between the young and the old. Many have told me it is tough. I refuse to believe in that and I will one day prove to them that it can happen and there is power when the young and old come together!
I am also learning to cope with my responsibility as the chairperson of the Missions Ministry. There are many outstanding matters that I need to handle and a couple of them are under the "urgent" category. They can be daunting and frustrating but I have learnt over time that it is God working through me and in His time, everything will fall in place. All I need is to just follow His guidance and all will be well. It brings a lot of peace whenever I remind myself of this. I hope God can use me even more now that I have committed myself to another year of service in this area.
Well, there will be the inertia when I go back to the teaching profession on 1 October but I am looking forward to it. May all that I have learnt this past year be put to further practice. May the Lord be my help.
So was it good break? It could not have been better! Praise and glory to my God Almighty, my Help, my Deliverer, my Friend, my Father, my Teacher, my Comforter, my Healer, my Counselor, and my Provider.
I am tempted to write more but I shall leave it as that! :)
“May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” 2 Corinthians 13:14
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