Loving my neighbors

I decided that it wasn't enough to just send love and invite one person to Alpha, so I picked up a stash of Alpha cards, and stuffed them in my neighbors' mailboxes. Sure, I'm spamming people, but this spam could change souls for eternity! I thought I could take the risk of being called a solicitor, in hopes that more will come to know the glories of our wonderful Lord!

"May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us, that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations. May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you.
May the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you rule the peoples justly and guide the nations of the earth.
May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you.
Then the land will yield its harvest, and God, our God, will bless us.
God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth will fear him."

Inspiring someone with Nick Vujicic's powerful testimony!

At the beginning of the summer, I blogged about how much I was looking forward to the summer, because I could spend time with my cousin. Well, the summer definitely flew by, and given everything that happened, we unfortunately didn't get to spend as much time together as we would have liked... we didn't even get a chance to finish watching the Nick Vujicic DVD that we started watching the last time she was over for dinner. So, as an encouragement to her, and as a thank you for being such an awesome cousin that she is, I gave her the Nick DVD as a gift, and included a card with words of encouragement and Truth. I know that this summer had been a really stretching summer for her, but I also pray that she would remember that nothing is too big or too impossible for our great God!

"Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?"
Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?
For from him and through him and to him are all things."

I was invited to blog here by a dear friend ... what a privilege. Thanks dear! I think this blog for me is about being mindful of living each moment as a possibility to reflect the love of Christ.

No moment is ever wasted, if you think about it. Whether you're stuck in line at the bank or waiting for a friend, you won't be bored, because you have the most powerful activity at your disposal--prayer!

This was hammered home to me over the weekend. I was at the gym and about to go to yoga class in the studio, when I noticed in the spinning studio next door there were some people talking urgently and the music still blaring but all exercise had stopped. I understood that someone had collapsed during spinning class and he was still on the ground. A lady was on the phone with 911, describing the situation. The instructor was administering CPR. It had JUST happened, so there weren't many people around yet; they had alerted the manager of the gym but he hadn't even arrived on the scene yet.

The HK side of me wanted to go by the studio and peek in... see what the man looked like, etc. I could've done so easily, without getting in the way of anyone, but I didn't. And I couldn't be of much use. Instead I went to the (empty) changing room and prayed--out loud. I prayed for him to not be scared, that angels would come into his unconsciousness and tell him about Jesus.

This incident also showed me the urgency of spreading the gospel--you could be exercising one minute, and then unconscious with no pulse the next. I don't know whether people are given a "last chance" to accept Jesus before they die, but either way, they are missing out on living a life on THIS earth knowing our Lord and Saviour in intimate way, and doing HIS work in cooperation with Him. I have never experienced more joy than when I know God is using me.

Pressing on through the sleepiness

Do you have days where you feel so tired that it's hard to even keep your eyes open? (It reminds me of an episode in the Tom & Jerry cartoon, where Tom was so tired that he had to keep his eyes open with toothpicks.) That's what I felt like last night. Since 4 that afternoon, I was already looking forward to jumping into bed after dinner.

And of course, God always has the best timing in challenging us to love others. After struggling to stay awake and responsive through dinner, I was just getting ready to say good night to everyone, when my sister asked if I could drive her around to run some errands. Oh mannnnnn.....

Thankfully, it was a lot quicker than I expected. Plus, it reminded me how fun and relaxing it is to go out at night in your pj's. I'm glad that I got to spend that time with my sister, and she was very thankful for my help as well.

"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

True love is costly

It's interesting how love and pain go hand in hand sometimes. One would think that in love, there should be no pain, that we'd just be lying on fluffy clouds and skipping in meadows with one another in perfect harmony... and yet, often times, real love is only experienced through pain and suffering. Think about it, any true act of love requires sacrifice. When we help others, it requires us to step out and give up our time, our energy. When a mom gives birth to her precious child, it requires painful labor. When Jesus died on the cross for our sins, it cost Him His life.

Yesterday was supposed to be the greatly anticipated annual super duper lovely jubbly Island ECC Sports Fellowship summer time junk trip. Boy was I looking forward to it, especially when I was going to bring my cousins! The summer had been pretty rough on all of us, and we were really looking forward to being able to get away and have some fun in the sun. Unfortunately, 9 hours before we were about to take off, one of my cousins called and informed me that our aunt, who was diagnosed with terminal cancer, was not doing well and was struggling immensely to hang onto life. So yesterday, instead of riding on jet-skis, the Carebears (cousins) spent the afternoon together in the face of pain and suffering, comforting each other, and rooting each other on.

It's one thing to hear about suffering; it's another thing to be in the midst of it. Suffering is heart-wrenching and agonizing. Suffering makes time drag on forever. Suffering can deflate people and make them bitter. And perhaps that's why Jesus had to come and live in this fallen world, so that we would know that He too, experienced in our pain and suffering, and because of that, can give us the hope that we need, because He is victorious over pain, and suffering, and even death itself.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."

An unexpected love opportunity

I was really looking forward to catching up with a sister over dinner. We were both super busy this summer, and hadn't really seen much of each other. Even finding a time that we were both free to meet was quite a challenge. So you can tell my excitement when dinner time drew near. I was literally skipping down the street on the way over to meet her.

We ended up going over to her house for dinner, and although we spent some time catching each other up on what's been going on, an unexpected house guest arrived (her brother's friend, who was in town for a holiday) and joined us at the dinner table.

Hm, so much for girl talk. So, in efforts to be welcoming to the house guest, we ended up talking about everything else under the sun, like scaling mountains and internet speeds, to life at boarding school and Judgment Day; everything besides what I had intended to talk to my close girlfriend about.

Honestly, in the back of my mind, I was trying all night to figure out an excuse to get away from this house guest, so that I could catch up with my sister. But perhaps it was God's plan for us to talk to this house guest instead, because for a part of the night, we talked at length about faith issues and his personal view of faith. In retrospect, I feel very privileged that I had this opportunity to have such a heart to heart talk with someone whom I just met, and I appreciate his honesty in opening up his heart to a stranger, like me.

Although I didn't share the gospel with him, but I pray that seeds were planted, and that God will make them grow. I pray that he will discover that following Jesus is not about following a set of rules and rituals, but about having a personal relationship with the Creator and Savior of this world, who loves him dearly.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."

May we continue to lay down our agendas for the sake of reaching out and helping those who are still walking in darkness!

Humility

M inspired me to blog about humility. Recently, one of my sisters has been going on an emotional rollar-coaster ride, and taking many of us along with her. Now of course everyone has their good days and their bad days, but for this sister, she often seems to have more bad days than good, and the things that she claims causes her bad days, IMO (in my opinion), are not always worth of sympathy.

And of course that's where my problem lies, because I'm trying to view her struggles IMO. "To practice humility, we need to think less of ourselves and more of others." To this sister, her struggles are real, the obstacles are huge, and the darkness is thick. I pray that God will help me remember that, and put myself in her shoes, even when she calls me at the most inconvenient times to talk, even when it's late at night, and even when it seems like she will never understand or change.

God never gave up on us, so how can we give up so easily on others, who are struggling and need our help?

"Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends."