Circle Maker Series: Experiencing the Breakthrough

I want to close our Circle Maker Series by sharing a story about breaking the sound barrier as shared in the Circle Maker book.

 

photo source

In the world of aviation, the sound barrier was once considered the unbreakable barrier. Many engineers believed that Mach 1 (the speed of sound) represented an impenetrable wall of air, and dozens of pilots who died trying to break the barrier solidified that belief. At low speeds, the shock waves are a non-factor, but as an aircraft reaches higher speeds, new aerodynamics is introduced.  When a plane approaches the speed of sound (or Mach 1), shock waves increase and cause the pilots to lose control. The buildup of air pressure in front of the aircraft causes a wave drag.  And because the air on top of the wing is traveling faster than air on the bottom, it basically results in a catastrophic nosedive.  The British, among others, put a hold on their attempt to break the sound barrier when their prototype self-destructed at Mach .94

But that did not keep a young American pilot named Chuck Yeager from attempting the impossible. On October 14, 1947, a four-engine B29 took off from the California desert.  As his plane hit Mach .965, the speed indicator went haywire. At Mach .995, the g-force blurred his vision and turned his stomach. Then, just as it seemed as if the plane would disintegrate, there was a loud sonic boom followed by an almost instantaneous and eerie silence. As the plane crossed the sound  barrier, 761 miles per hour, the air pressure shifted from the front of the plane to the back.  The shock waves that had buffeted the cockpit turned into a sea of glass.  Yeager reached Mach 1.07 before cutting his engines and coming back down to earth. The unbreakable barrier had been broken.

Just as there is the sound barrier, there is also the faith barrier. That is the point where we have seemingly reached a wall in our spiritual journey. The point when we start to feel that our prayers are not going anywhere. Breaking the faith barrier often times feels like breaking the sound barrier.  Difficult to almost impossible. 

If we want to experience supernatural breakthroughs, we need to pray through. It may often feel like we are about to lose control and things are falling apart, but that is when we need to press further and pray harder. If you allow disappointments and doubts to stop you from praying through, then we experience a nosedive in our spiritual journey and our dreams end there.

If you want to experience a Supernatural breakthrough, you need to pray through

Do not give up. If there is one thing that we need to remember from the Circle Maker series is that giving up on prayer should never be an option. You never know when you're just a prayer away from the promise. 
 

Just like the story of Chuck Yeager, we need to wait for that ‘Sonic Boom’ experience in our spirits.  It may be the moment when the Lord answers your prayer or the moment when we have peace knowing that our prayers are in the Lord’s hands and will be answered in His perfect time. That is the moment when your frustrations turn into quiet confidence.  That is when we know we have experienced a breakthrough.

 

As we enter the holiday season, remember that the best gift that you can give yourself is the gift of hope. Prayer develops our faith, and with faith comes a renewed sense of hope. Never give up on the Lord, because He will never give up on you.

 

Romans 12:12 "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer"

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My Daughter's New Best Friend

So last Sunday we concluded our week-long Vacation Bible School (VBS) in church. I have been volunteering as a Bible and Dance teacher since I was in college.  Teaching kids everyday is not an easy job, I tell you. I have so much respect for teachers who love what they are doing and give their all for the children. 

Last Thursday evening, I was talking with my 7-year old son about his best friends when my 4-year old daughter suddenly mentioned, out of the blue, that she also has a best friend. When I asked who, i was pleasantly surprised to hear her say "God".  She went on to say "Because I asked God to come inside my heart and my tummy already so that He can be my best friend". I don't know where the 'tummy' part came from but I embraced her and told her I am very happy for her. I wasn't certain if it was a wish or if she prayed it already so I decided to pray with her anyway. Similar to when Troy received the Lord into his heart, I prayed the same prayer with Dawn. Looks like four is the magic number for my children.

I shared the story with Dens as soon as he got home. Then Dens told me that they actually talked about it in the classroom during one of the nights of VBS (Dens was also a volunteer teacher in church). I thought back about the many times I wasn't sure if being a Bible/Sunday School teacher truly had any impact on the kids and realized the amazing things God can do out of our service and obedience for Him.

So to all teachers (volunteer or by profession), never give up your passion for teaching. Our children are who they are now because of all your patience and hard work.

To my daughter's bible teachers, thank you for sharing the gospel to her. You may not have realized it then, but you have given my daughter the best gift she will ever receive in her life.  

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What's Your Bedtime Routine?

My husband, Dennis, and i are very active in our church.  We host 2 bible studies every other week at home and attend prayer meetings every Wednesday.  There are some nights when the 2 bible studies will happen on the same week which will leave us only 4 out of 7 nights with the kids minus ad hoc dinner with friends and 1 date night.

Every day when i get home from work, my kids will always ask me 'Mom, do you and papa have bible study tonight?'  This is usually followed by sad "awwww's" when we say Yes or happy "yaaaay's" when we say No.  This made me rethink the impression we are building on our  kids about time with God. I realized that as much as we are modeling good Christian habits to them, "Bible Studies" have now become the enemy that is taking their parents' time away from them.

At the start of this year, Dens and i decided that the best way for them to appreciate Bible Studies is to have one themselves. And since we firmly believe that we should  never depend on others to build good values on our children, we decided to host our 3rd Bible Study at home.  This time, with our children.

My Son turned 6 just a couple of  months ago and my daughter is only 3. I wondered how we can make Bible Studies fun and interesting for them. So we started with this simple format:

Opening Prayer 

(we rotate on who will do the opening prayer)

Glad & Sad Time

(talking about things that made you happy and sad today)

Bible Story 

(Dens is always the one telling the story but Troy has recently taken on the responsibility on some nights)

Closing Prayer

(we sit around and each person gets to pray)

The kids loved it so much that we have now made our supposedly weekly bible studies into an almost nightly ritual. We do Bible studies with them every night before going to bed. Sometimes we do 'Guessing Game' instead of Glad & Sad where we guess each person's favorites. I found it to also be a fun way of getting to know our children more (and vice versa).  We have now even incorporated film showing where we watch a 5 to 10-minute video of the Bible story that we learned that night. I usually just search for the cartoon on YouTube and we'd watch it together before praying.  Having this bedtime routine has been very rewarding for our family. When i get home these days, my  kids have changed their question to 'Can we have Bible study tonight?'  

Consciously striking a good balance of our time between church and the kids has effectively given them a fun concept of learning the Bible.  I may sometimes need to rearrange our schedule to avoid having too  many church events in a week.  And i know that's all right. After all, our children's spiritual growth is our ministry too.

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