Happy Birthday, David!

May15

My one and only turned 36 today.

How time flies.

Earlier today, I tweet random things about him and me…

Him: extrovert. Me: introvert.

Him: Star Wars. Me: Lord of the Rings.

Him: forgetful. Me: historian.

Him: Asian cuisine. Me: European cuisine.

Him: too much like Mum. Me: way too much like Dad.

Then he replied, “Whoa, you got everything right so far! Hahaha!” But of course! I could go on forever with this…but, better stop.

We came from the same parents, same grandparents, same great-grandparents, but our characters are far from alike. Well, we do have common interests in being silly and perpetually tease people. But, other than that, we are so unlike each other – as you can see from that “him and me” tweets. But I do love that, it makes our family complete. We are enriched by each other because we’re different.

I thank God for my brother. Like his one and only sister, he’s not perfect. But I love him terribly and wouldn’t trade him for anything…unless Peter Jackson ask me to turn him in an asylum for me to get a part in “The Silmarillion”. Oh, of course I wouldn’t do that.

So, once again, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAVID! I love you to the moon and back!

“I thank my God every time I remember you.” – Philippians 1:3 / New International Version (NIV)

::e::

Morning Coffee With Jesus

Mar29

Well…I have a few things in mind…but I think He would ask me,

“Why are you still not using all the talents I gave you?”

And my answer would be,

“Err…”

Exactly.

Have you ever been in a situation where you know you could do more…only you’re afraid to because you often underestimate yourself? Welcome to the club!

Ever since I was little, my big brother has always been the talented one. But I never envy him in any way. I love him and I was and will always be proud of him. The point is, I was content with myself being in the backstage as the spotlight was always on my brother.

Apparently that was not God’s plan.

When my brother was 18 and I was 17, he went to Australia to continue his study and later on he stays there for good. Since then, the spotlight has been on me. To tell you the truth I didn’t like it. I hated it. I was so used to being overlooked by people, I felt uncomfortable when people started to “look”.

But in those years, God revealed to me things that I thought I could never be or never do my whole life. And some even shocked me and made me say, “Wait, what? That was me???” But God was so awesome He sent good, accountable people to assure me that, yes, with the strength and wisdom from Him, I really did it. God opened my eyes of the talents and gifts within me that I myself overlooked.

I learned that sometimes God wants to “show off” His children. And I fully acknowledge that it all can only be done by His grace and mercy, and with His strength. I’m so grateful that God counts me as one of His children and He does wondrous things for me and through me.

So, I am now learning to use everything God has given me, for His glory and for other people to see that Jesus is alive, He loves us and He wants to use us to do great things…as well as small things such as smiling to a stranger or buying someone a cup of coffee. Maybe the next day, they will have their morning coffee with Jesus.

“But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of Him everywhere.” – 2 Corinthians 2:14 / New International Version (NIV)

::e::

Peace

Mar27

“Sometimes I think God put certain people in my life simply to see whether my boiling points are still active. Sadly, they still are.”

I tweet that some time ago.

Lately I’ve been experiencing situations where my emotions are at stake. Full of drama, plenty of crap (sorry), zero peace. Forget about the fruit of the Spirit, let alone the self-control part, I still have a LOT to learn.

I love how For King & Country describe it in their song “Middle of Your Heart”:

“This is where I admit
I don’t know how to handle it
Life in all of it chaos
You are my only hope”

Although God knows everything, it’s important that we admit to Him that we cannot handle life and all the chaos inside it. In all the madness that’s been going on in this world, Jesus is our only hope. Our only peace. Dare I say, only those who have been through madness itself can deeply relate to this. Myself included.

The “madness” I’m talking about is in our private, daily lives; how we can’t handle tons of things at work, how we can’t solve those problems at home or how we can’t accept losing someone. We all have our “madness buttons”. Yours and mine are different. Maybe you can handle well the things that I want to give up quickly and vice versa.

As humans, we want to be in control. Of everything, if possible. When we’re in control, we feel certain peace. That is natural. But sometimes we forgot that there is a God and He is in control. It may not seem like it, but when we obey His Word and live by faith, we will see that God is behind this every step of the way.

The world’s kind of peace and God’s kind are totally different. Worldly peace makes you feel safe when you see everything goes well and smooth. Godly peace assures you you are safe even though you’re in the middle of an F5 hurricane.

I’m going through circumstances that seem quite impossible for a human to face by herself. But I’m here. Still here. I believe it means God knows I can go through these tough times – with His strength and wisdom, of course. Honestly, I’m dealing with situations that often makes me say, “God, what the heck is it now?! You know very well I cannot do that!!!”

But I just figured this out:

God has more faith in me than I in myself.

Ouch.

It is true though. Many times we almost or already gave up on ourselves when to God it was just another step that we should take, another road we should travel. And yet, somehow, we fail to see it that way.

Rick Warren said, “Until you’re sold out to Jesus, you’ll always be for sale to the highest bidding temptation.” I know this one far too well. If it wasn’t for Jesus, I’d still have those holes in my lungs and would probably be dead by now. All because, in my youth, I fell into my biggest temptation – smoking. Later on, it became excessive smoking. Doctors had given up; the holes were too many and no medication could heal me. They said there was no hope.

So, two things I knew for sure: I could never stop smoking and I would die young because of it.

After some time, I finally came back to God. When I repented for the 10.528.369th time, He changed me from the inside out. I quit smoking completely. Next thing I knew, the holes were gone. My lungs were totally clean, like I’ve never smoked a cigarette my whole life. Doctors couldn’t believe it. They thought the nurse brought in the wrong medical records. They examined me again. And again. And then they asked what kind of medicine did I take? What method did I use? Who did I go to for treatments? I said to them, while trembling in shock but beyond grateful, “I am a Christian, I believe my Jesus healed me.” I left while they were still in awe that I literally did not do anything to make those holes disappear.

I was, I am and forever will be incandescently happy and grateful that God loves me so much, He wouldn’t let me die before my time.

I’m not proud of my past, my mistakes and my scars. But I don’t hide them. If the time is right, I talk about my scars – not to brag, but to let people know that Jesus lives and He heals. If you feel like you’ve been torn to pieces, that is actually the right time to come to Jesus – just give Him all the pieces and trust that He will make all things new for you.

In this hectic, messy, mad world, Jesus is my peace.

Let Him be yours.

“And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:7 / New International Version (NIV)

::e::