Dear Wesley,
Yes. After so many letters to Sum Sum and Lok Lok, I have decided to write you one too.
This week I have quite a bit of time to resume my blog writing, mainly because you have not been feeling well and you need more rest and sleep early each night. I treasure this quiet time by myself. But I treasure our time together even more.
Though I know I shouldn't worry, I still worry about you. I know it's only flu, but it breaks my heart to see that you can't have enough rest and there's so much work to do that you can't even call in sick to rest well for half a day.
I thank our Lord for He has blessed me with such healthy body. Even when I feel sick I would usually get well soon and I can still remain energetic even before full recovery. I pray the same for you too.
And apart from praying for you for that, we really need to do something about it too. We have talked about regular exercise for so long now, and we have just done our weekly ping pong ball for about 4 times. Let's get really determined and do some exercise together at least once every two weeks as our date. What do you think? For long term good for ourselves but also for the kids, it's really important to keep healthy. We may already be too late to start but late is better than never.
Being so good with self-discipline, I know you can do it once you have set your mind to it. And you can bring me along to do it too!
Apart from exercise, we should really stick with our monthly dating plan also. I think we have skipped October? And we did it once in November. I really treasure our time together.
You know, time is so short for a normal weekday night that after we put the kids to bed, you would already be too tired to talk or to share anything. As for weekend, it's just hectic, every single minute. Only when we have our date out, seated comfortably, taking our time to enjoy a 3-course dinner, that you would have enough time to relax, to think about what's in your mind, and to share with me. And that's really important to you, as you know. I really treasure you sharing your thought and what you're going thru at work, what you are thinking and what you are feeling.
Sigh, there are just so much things I wanna do. I want to spend much more time with you and the kids. Though part time may not be an option or may not suit me, I certainly hope there're some other ways. Lord would find a way for me.
Sleep tight. Have a good sleep tonight and a good bright new day tomorrow.
Love,
Grace.
Thursday, December 03, 2009
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
7s
The HK7s this year is very special to me. It's special because I have experienced God's grace in it. So much!
Before the 7s weekend, I have joined a prayer group at office. We would come back 30 minute early every morning, quiet down, worship and pray to our Lord. I have just joined 2 meetings before the 7s weekend. But God has changed so much in me just in these 2 meetings! It has been long long time since I last enjoyed such close, intimate, quiet moment with God. And in these two prayer meetings God has renewed me. He has renewed me to prepare me for the challenge I faced on Friday!
First it's the challenge of last minute change. Lots of changes in terms of program content, responsible parties, rehearsal schedule, procedures...
If God hasn't prepared me in the prayer meeting, I think I would have blown up already. But with His peace in me, I managed only to let out my temper just a little bit. And I know without Him we could not complete the task.
Then it's the problem of our marquee at the HK Stadium - it looked like a big umbrella - and was a leaking one! Adding to it, water came flooding through the bottom of the side wall. You really needed an umbrella and a pair of rain boots in our box. And it was supposed to be for our VIP guests! Should I hand them each a poncho??!!
My boss told me, 'I don't care what you do. Throw money at it. I want it water proof on Sunday.' As the weather forecast said Sat would be OK but there would be thunderstorm on Sunday.
I prayed to our Lord. That's really the only thing I could do, apart from repeating myself to the constructor 'please do something.' I prayed to Jesus that it wouldn't rain on Sunday or even if it rained, no water would come into this leaking house. I prayed that not only me found favour in front of God and my boss, but that it's important for my boss for this marquee to be not leaking! So please bless him so he found favour in front of his boss as well.
And so it is! No more leaking of flooding in the marquee on Sunday! And except the little rain in the morning, it's basically a dry day and we even had a bit of sunshine!
It's just a great 7s weekend. Not because of the game. Not because of the drinks. Just because of the grace my Lord has showered on me.
Thank you Lord!
Before the 7s weekend, I have joined a prayer group at office. We would come back 30 minute early every morning, quiet down, worship and pray to our Lord. I have just joined 2 meetings before the 7s weekend. But God has changed so much in me just in these 2 meetings! It has been long long time since I last enjoyed such close, intimate, quiet moment with God. And in these two prayer meetings God has renewed me. He has renewed me to prepare me for the challenge I faced on Friday!
First it's the challenge of last minute change. Lots of changes in terms of program content, responsible parties, rehearsal schedule, procedures...
If God hasn't prepared me in the prayer meeting, I think I would have blown up already. But with His peace in me, I managed only to let out my temper just a little bit. And I know without Him we could not complete the task.
Then it's the problem of our marquee at the HK Stadium - it looked like a big umbrella - and was a leaking one! Adding to it, water came flooding through the bottom of the side wall. You really needed an umbrella and a pair of rain boots in our box. And it was supposed to be for our VIP guests! Should I hand them each a poncho??!!
My boss told me, 'I don't care what you do. Throw money at it. I want it water proof on Sunday.' As the weather forecast said Sat would be OK but there would be thunderstorm on Sunday.
I prayed to our Lord. That's really the only thing I could do, apart from repeating myself to the constructor 'please do something.' I prayed to Jesus that it wouldn't rain on Sunday or even if it rained, no water would come into this leaking house. I prayed that not only me found favour in front of God and my boss, but that it's important for my boss for this marquee to be not leaking! So please bless him so he found favour in front of his boss as well.
And so it is! No more leaking of flooding in the marquee on Sunday! And except the little rain in the morning, it's basically a dry day and we even had a bit of sunshine!
It's just a great 7s weekend. Not because of the game. Not because of the drinks. Just because of the grace my Lord has showered on me.
Thank you Lord!
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Four of us went to church
Today, the four of us went to church together.
It's the first time I went to church in 2 months time. We were a bit late. By the time we arrived, worship was more than half way through already and we were just there for the last 3 songs.
But God was so kind to me (as always). As soon as I settled down and concentrated on the worship, I felt very touched in the spirit. Tears started streaming down my face and for the first time in many months I prayed in tongues again, to praise and worship our Lord. Those were not the very touchy or emotional worship songs. And my tears did not fall because of sadness or joy. I just felt overwhelmed in the spirit. I felt so moved to worship our Lord. I felt so close to Him in the spirit. It seemed that He just reassured me that I have been staying close to Him all along in the past few weeks though we weren't able to attend Sunday service. And once we were back, He in me, resonated in great joy.
I am just so thankful and it's so good to be back, to be able to worship our Lord.
And it's good to be back to see other brothers and sisters as well. Though we were back only briefly (we were late and we left early), we still received lots of blessings and love from brothers and sisters around us. And they were so passionate with the 2 kids and taking them away for most of the time, giving me and Wesley the opportunity to truly immerse ourselves and enjoyed the worship. Hope that we could be back 'full time' very soon.
It's the first time I went to church in 2 months time. We were a bit late. By the time we arrived, worship was more than half way through already and we were just there for the last 3 songs.
But God was so kind to me (as always). As soon as I settled down and concentrated on the worship, I felt very touched in the spirit. Tears started streaming down my face and for the first time in many months I prayed in tongues again, to praise and worship our Lord. Those were not the very touchy or emotional worship songs. And my tears did not fall because of sadness or joy. I just felt overwhelmed in the spirit. I felt so moved to worship our Lord. I felt so close to Him in the spirit. It seemed that He just reassured me that I have been staying close to Him all along in the past few weeks though we weren't able to attend Sunday service. And once we were back, He in me, resonated in great joy.
I am just so thankful and it's so good to be back, to be able to worship our Lord.
And it's good to be back to see other brothers and sisters as well. Though we were back only briefly (we were late and we left early), we still received lots of blessings and love from brothers and sisters around us. And they were so passionate with the 2 kids and taking them away for most of the time, giving me and Wesley the opportunity to truly immerse ourselves and enjoyed the worship. Hope that we could be back 'full time' very soon.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Calling of Levi - Luke 5:27-32
Levi was a tax collector. He was seen as 'the bad guy' by his fellow countrymen as he worked for the Rome government and he made his living by collecting extra money from people.
Though knowing all this, in the past I just thought the Pharisees and teachers of the law too narrow minded and unforgiving to challenge Jesus' act to make friend and dine with such group of people.
But when I try to go deeper than that this time, I try to imagine seeing Jesus to dine with a group of people that I most abhor: persons who sexually abuse children, parents who rent out their own children to others for sex, burglars who rob and hurt elderly people... and the most important thing is that there are not yet converted, that they are not necessarily feel sorry for what they do! (I believe that among the many guests that Levi had invited, not all of them repented at the time.)
By substituting the type of people Jesus dined with, I started to see why it was so difficult for the 'establishment' to accept what Jesus did. I could see how much love it required for Jesus to dine with them, to love them, for only with much love could he see beneath their skin the beauty and godly image that was deep, deep down in their soul. For only with great love could Jesus see through the many sins that were burying and tying down and killing the goodness within them, and within us.
And when there was not enough love, I would only see what the Pharisees and the teachers did see, i.e. what I normally see every day, i.e. how disgusting these people are and what horrible things they do - not did, but still doing! It takes great love to see through all these and to see through to the persons that they can be - the persons as God has created, the persons as Jesus see, the persons that they, and we, can be.
Though knowing all this, in the past I just thought the Pharisees and teachers of the law too narrow minded and unforgiving to challenge Jesus' act to make friend and dine with such group of people.
But when I try to go deeper than that this time, I try to imagine seeing Jesus to dine with a group of people that I most abhor: persons who sexually abuse children, parents who rent out their own children to others for sex, burglars who rob and hurt elderly people... and the most important thing is that there are not yet converted, that they are not necessarily feel sorry for what they do! (I believe that among the many guests that Levi had invited, not all of them repented at the time.)
By substituting the type of people Jesus dined with, I started to see why it was so difficult for the 'establishment' to accept what Jesus did. I could see how much love it required for Jesus to dine with them, to love them, for only with much love could he see beneath their skin the beauty and godly image that was deep, deep down in their soul. For only with great love could Jesus see through the many sins that were burying and tying down and killing the goodness within them, and within us.
And when there was not enough love, I would only see what the Pharisees and the teachers did see, i.e. what I normally see every day, i.e. how disgusting these people are and what horrible things they do - not did, but still doing! It takes great love to see through all these and to see through to the persons that they can be - the persons as God has created, the persons as Jesus see, the persons that they, and we, can be.
Healing the Leprosy & Paralytic - Luke 5:12-26
Then it was the story of Jesus healing the man with leprosy. Many have pointed out before how loving an act Jesus has done, by not only healing him but in fact reaching out and touching the man. Indeed this is something we can do even today: we may have been giving out small changes to the beggar at the street corner every day, but have we ever reached out to talk to him or to give him a pat on the back? I remember reading from Mother Teresa that it's LOVE that all these people needed most. And I am guilty on this one, along the many other things.
Another thing I noted from v14 is that Jesus told the man not to tell others about his healing him. But then in v15, "Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses." It wasn't stated in Bible but it is quite obvious that the leprosy man did tell others about it; frankly, how could he not to? It's such great, great news! If it were me I would tell every body I meet, not only just those that I know! Though Jesus has told him not to tell, to give more allowance to the leprosy man, I would just imagine Jesus didn't tell him WHY he shouldn't tell and so he didn't follow Jesus' order, thinking Jesus just trying to be modest.
Next is the story of healing the paralytic, who was hoisted down from the roof by his friends. When reading this passage in the past, I just simply put on Jesus' view point: why would you the Pharisees and teachers wonder in your hearts for Jesus' authority to forgive sins? Of course he has the authority! He is Jesus the Christ!
But when I read this passage again this time, trying to put myself into their shoes, I could see their reaction was only normal and reasonable. Truly, there were only 2 alternatives: either the person saying this blasphemy, or he truly had the authority to forgive sin, i.e. having the authority of God! To them, Jesus was just 'another person' and they didn't know he was the Christ. So it made sense to them to blame Jesus for blasphemy.
I wonder if I was born at that time as a Jew, whether I would be able to accept Jesus Christ to my life. I suspect that I wouldn't. Imagine Jesus was no longer the 'figure' in Bible that has been spoken about so much and be remembered in Christmas and Easter every year. Imagine Jesus was just like a "John Chan" or "Mary Lee" growing up next door, living in another housing estate, going to the same primary and secondary school as I did. How would I, how could I, believe that he's the savior of the world? Especially with my pride and ego, there's only a slim chance I could believe that indeed he HAS the authority to forgive sin. Indeed, He is God.
I guess another very good reminder from "The Jesus I Never Knew" was that actually I am not that much different from a Pharisee. When I used to identify with Jesus when I was reading the Gospels in the past, I am now more alert on the words Jesus spoke against the Pharisees, and check myself against those deeds instead.
Another thing I noted from v14 is that Jesus told the man not to tell others about his healing him. But then in v15, "Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses." It wasn't stated in Bible but it is quite obvious that the leprosy man did tell others about it; frankly, how could he not to? It's such great, great news! If it were me I would tell every body I meet, not only just those that I know! Though Jesus has told him not to tell, to give more allowance to the leprosy man, I would just imagine Jesus didn't tell him WHY he shouldn't tell and so he didn't follow Jesus' order, thinking Jesus just trying to be modest.
Next is the story of healing the paralytic, who was hoisted down from the roof by his friends. When reading this passage in the past, I just simply put on Jesus' view point: why would you the Pharisees and teachers wonder in your hearts for Jesus' authority to forgive sins? Of course he has the authority! He is Jesus the Christ!
But when I read this passage again this time, trying to put myself into their shoes, I could see their reaction was only normal and reasonable. Truly, there were only 2 alternatives: either the person saying this blasphemy, or he truly had the authority to forgive sin, i.e. having the authority of God! To them, Jesus was just 'another person' and they didn't know he was the Christ. So it made sense to them to blame Jesus for blasphemy.
I wonder if I was born at that time as a Jew, whether I would be able to accept Jesus Christ to my life. I suspect that I wouldn't. Imagine Jesus was no longer the 'figure' in Bible that has been spoken about so much and be remembered in Christmas and Easter every year. Imagine Jesus was just like a "John Chan" or "Mary Lee" growing up next door, living in another housing estate, going to the same primary and secondary school as I did. How would I, how could I, believe that he's the savior of the world? Especially with my pride and ego, there's only a slim chance I could believe that indeed he HAS the authority to forgive sin. Indeed, He is God.
I guess another very good reminder from "The Jesus I Never Knew" was that actually I am not that much different from a Pharisee. When I used to identify with Jesus when I was reading the Gospels in the past, I am now more alert on the words Jesus spoke against the Pharisees, and check myself against those deeds instead.
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