Thank God in Faith

Two years ago, Dens and I have decided that since we're spending a lot of time studying the Bible with our friends, why not schedule a weekly Bible study with our kids too. (Check out this old post about our Bible study routine here).  We are not so rigid with our routine and usually forego the opening prayer and just do a closing prayer before we sleep. But what we try to always incorporate is our thanksgiving time.

 

During our recent Bible studies, I have seen some improvement in how the kids share their praises.  Up until last year, it was almost always 'I thank God for my family' or 'I thank God for papa/mommy' which are not bad things to thank God for, but they were very general praises. We have been encouraging them to be more specific with their thanksgiving by also being specific with ours. For example I would say 'I thank God I was able to spend time watching Peppa Pig with Troy this morning on our way to school. I super enjoyed laughing so hard together on the funny parts'. And these days they would also share more specific things like 'I thank God I was able to score a goal during soccer practice today' or 'I thank God I was able to eat ice cream with sprinkles yesterday. 

 

Last Wednesday, during our Bible study, Dens shared how happy he was that he was able to have a half-day date with Dawn that day. They went to the grocery together, ate ice cream, and checked out some new cars in a showroom. Then during Dawn's time to share, she said "I thank God for my super fun date with papa and I also thank God for the super fun date I will have with mommy" When I heard this, I reiterated my promise to schedule a date with her and we started talking about what we wanted to do on our date. But more importantly, I realized how Dawn thanked the Lord for something that has yet to happen.

 

Isn't that what faith is all about? Trusting the Lord means thanking God in faith for things that have yet to happen.  So long as we are praying in line with God's promises in the Bible, then we can already thank God in advance. God never breaks his promises and we can rest in the assurance that when He says He has a great plan for our life, He really does! When He asks us to trust Him, it means that we can REALLY trust Him. He will not fail us.

 

Matthew 18:3 says "And he said: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." The truth is, we almost always overthink God's promises. Logic tells us that miracles are impossible in this day and age, but God says BELIEVE. How about we try having childlike faith instead and see where that faith brings us? I challenge you to study God's word and claim His promises. Then thank Him in faith for the wonderful future that He has in store for you.

 

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One Day with God

My friend Eli shared this video on her Facebook timeline that really struck a chord within me. It is about a Christian organization's prison ministry called 'One Day with God'.

The “One Day with God” Camps began with a vision of one day inside prison walls where parent and child could reconcile with one another and spend time together with God-anointed mentors working beside them. The day includes games, crafts, lunch, music, clowns, an illusionist, face painting, and a parent and child quiet time.  It is a divinely appointed time for both child and inmate where both can experience the love of God and find forgiveness and reconciliation.  If one child could have a Christ-centered Mom or Dad return home from prison, there would be a joyous change in that home forever, and it could change the path that child takes in life.

 

As much as these people did something that made them deserve to be behind bars, we also know that every person deserves a chance to change. Watch this video and maybe you will also be moved to forgive.

 



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What You Need This Holiday Season

The Christmas season brings a roller coaster of emotions. One day you feel excited about all the upcoming reunions, the next day you are stressing about not finishing your Christmas shopping amidst the horrendous traffic in the city. God spoke to me today through my devotion and I hope it touches your heart the way it did mine.

 

Exodus 33:15 says "My presence will go with you and I will give you rest"

 

Joshua 1:9 "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go"

 

It is not the first time I am reading these verses. But today they spoke to me in a way they have never done before. The Lord is with me with me. And He is with you too.

 

When you are stuck in traffic, the Lord is with you.  When you are feeling discouraged and unappreciated, the Lord is with you. When you are stressing about preparing that next get together, the Lord is with you. You see, He promises to go with us wherever we go. Furthermore, know that our rest will come from Him.

 

The Christmas season certainly brings a lot of mixed emotions. In all our busyness, we often forget to stop and enjoy the season until it's already December 26.  Feelings of loneliness may sometimes even creep in as you scroll through the countless Christmas posts on social media only to realize how anti-climactic your Christmas day has been. 

 

For this year, I pray that you experience the overflowing love of Christ. Something that will never leave you feeling lonely or empty this season.

 

Ephesians 3:18-19  "And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is.  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God"

 

May your hearts be full this season with the kind of love that is 'too great to understand fully'. May you feel His presence and warm embrace wherever you go.

 

Have a wonderful Christmas and may we never forget the reason for this season.

 

 

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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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Circle Maker Series: Think Long

As we end our Circle Maker series, I want us to learn one last concept:  Thinking long. We have already learned how to dream big and pray hard, now we need to practice thinking long.

 

We live in an instant-reward, instant-gratification world these days. We microwave frozen meals for dinner and eat instant noodles for lunch.  Even information is now easily at our fingertips via internet through our smart phones. Gone are the days when we had to trek to the library to get the information that we need or find a dictionary to get the meaning of a word.  Although the advancement of technology has its perks, it is also training us to be more impatient.

 

There is this pedestrian traffic light near our office that takes 99 seconds of waiting time before it turns green. The pedestrians usually start out by staring at the countdown.  99, 98, 97, 96, ...and then they start to get restless.  Little by little, the pedestrians would attempt to cross the street. Some will do a little back and forth marching, akin to playing patintero with the cars. The braver ones will just run for their dear lives, wishing and hoping that the cars would stop just in time. The fearful minority, which if often just me, would be left on the other side, continually staring at the countdown...36, 35, 34, 33...

 

Then one day, as I was left all alone waiting for the light to turn green, i realized something. 99 seconds is just a minute and a half. That's not a long wait, to be honest. Why do people risk their lives just to avoid waiting a minute and a half? Our quick-fix mindset teaches us that 99 seconds feel like an eternity and so we try to escape it if we could.

 

Don't we also have the same attitude towards prayer sometimes? We pray and we expect God to answer us immediately. We want quick answers and solutions to our problems. And after waiting with no word from the Lord, we get impatient and question the Lord. 

 

But you see, God answer our prayers at different times. Sometimes it takes a day but sometimes it can also take years. Other times, it can take even longer than our lifetime.

Towards the end of his life, Honi (the Circle Maker) was walking down a dirt road when he saw a man planting a carob tree. Always the inquisitive sage, Honi questioned him.  “How long will it take this tree to bear fruit?” The man replied, “Seventy years.”  Honi said, “Are you quite sure you will live another seventy years to eat its fruit?” The man replied, “Perhaps not.  However, when I was born into the world, I found many carob trees planted by my father and grandfather.  Just as they planted trees for me, I am planting trees for my children and grandchildren so they will be able to eat the fruit of these trees”

Prayer is the inheritance that we receive, and the legacy that we leave.

 

Praying is very much like planting. Some plants grow fast while others may take a while. Those prayer that seemingly never gets answered in this lifetime are just like Carob trees. You may not see the fruit now but the generations after you will reap the rewards of your prayer.

 

While I was reading the book about ‘Thinking Long’, I remembered my maternal Grandmother. She is one of the most prayerful women I have ever known. My cousins and I would always ask her to pray for important things in our lives because we often say “When Amah prays, God answers!”.  And as I read about prayer being an inheritance, I started to wonder how much of the blessings that our family is reaping now is due to my Amah’s prayer some 50 years ago. 

 

What legacy do you want to leave your children? More importantly, what lives do you want your future generation to live? We need to start praying now for our children and the generations after them. Prayer is the best legacy we can leave our family.

 

I want to share a story with you that the Mark Batterson, the author of the Circle Maker, shared in his book. When he was 13 years old, Mark got very sick and was taken to the ICU. At that time, their family just started attending Calvary Church – a church with thousands of members. One Sunday prior to the day Mark was admitted to the ICU, their family met Mr. Shmidgall. Mark's parents remembered how hospitable he was and decided to give him a call at 2am to request for prayers for Mark. In less than 10 minutes, Mr. Smidgall was already in the ICU praying over Mark.

 

And this is what Mark said “When he laid his hands on my head, I remember thinking there is no way God won’t answer his prayer.  He had a familiarity with God that was disarming.  He had a faith in God that was reassuring.  He could have called a staff member to make the visit. He didn’t. he could have waited until morning. He didn’t. He settled for a short night’s sleep on a short notice to pray for a thirteen-year old kid who was fighting for his life. Little did he know that this thirteen-year old kid would one day marry his daughter. Little did he know that this thirteen-year old kid would one day give him his first grandchild. There is no way he could have ever known. But that is the glorious mystery of prayer”

 

Little steps of obedience will give big pay-offs in the future

 

I want to believe that Mr. Smidgall was already praying for his daughter’s lifetime partner even when she was young. Little did he know that when he prayed over Mark that day out of obedience for the Lord, God was already at work in answering his prayers for his daughter’s lifetime partner. The act of obedience may totally be unrelated to the answer that you will get in the future, but that’s how God works. He loves surprising us. We just need to be sensitive to His leading and obey.

We can never tell how the prayers that we offer today, will be used by God greatly to mold our lives and those of our future generations in the years to come.

Think Long.

 



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Circle Maker Series: Step Into Your Next Miracle

 Are you still waiting for that miracle you have been praying for? Let me fill you in on a little secret I discovered recently. Some miracles require a step of faith. 

 

Allow me to explain. Remember the Israelites? They have been walking around for 40 years and have not reached their destination. When they finally reached the land that the Lord has promised them, there was a problem. A huge wall protected it. God tasked them to take a step of faith. Circle the wall for seven days. After they obeyed, the miracle happened. The wall fell and they were able to conquer the land. But you know what? They already had some practice as far as stepping into a miracle is concerned.

 

Joshua 3:11-16

 

Look, the Ark of the Covenant, which belongs to the Lord of the whole earth, will lead across the Jordan River. Now choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe.  The priests will carry the Ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth. As soon as their feet touch the water, the flow of water will be cut off upstream, and the river will stand up like a wall."

 

So the people left their camp to cross the Jordan, and the priests who were carrying the Ark of the Covenent went ahead of them.  It was the harvest season, and the Jordan was overflowing its banks. But as soon as the feet of the priests who were carrying the Ark touched the water at the river's edge, the water above that point began backing up a great distance away at a town called Adam, which is near Zarethan.  And the water below that point flowed on to the Dead Sea until the riverbed was dry.  Then all the people crossed over near the town of Jericho.

 

Now let's focus on the Lord's instruction in verse 13. He asked that the priests get their feet wet in order for the water to part. Don't we often want it to happen the other way around? "Lord, part the waters first before I will step in!" We lack the courage to obey before the Lord shows us a clear way.

 

God required a step of faith from the priests. A lot of times, He also requires the same from us before our miracle happens. Have you been asking for a friend's healing? Well, pray over that person. Take a step of faith. What has the Lord been prompting you to do lately? Listen carefully and obey. It is often our unwillingness to take a step of faith that prevents us from reaching the miracle we have been asking for.

 

The Israelites were just a river away from the promised land. Had the priests not taken that step of faith, they will not have been able to conquer God's blessing.

 

Here's something from the book that I want to share with you. "Some people spend their entire lives on the eastern shore of the Jordan waiting for God to part the river while God waits for them to get their feet wet. We're so close to the dream, so close to the promise, so close to the miracle. But we aren't willing to get our feet wet"

 

Think about it. What has God been asking you to do? Are you willing to get your feet wet? Are you willing to take that step of faith? Obey.  You may only be a step away into your next miracle.

 

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Circle Maker Series: When God Says No

Do you remember a time in your life when God said No? I do. Most of you who have been following this blog knows our journey with Tyler back in 2006. We prayed hard for his healing for over two months. We fasted and prayed, prayed and fasted. But God said no.

Receiving a No answer can be a test of trust. Do you still trust the Lord even when you did not get what you want? Do you still trust the Lord even when He does not reveal His reasons to you? Do you still trust that His plans are better than yours? The hardest part about receiving a No answer is enduring all the unresolved questions that we have in our hearts. Sometimes, we may not admit it, but deep inside we may even feel betrayed and hurt by the Lord.

But you know what? Someday, when we finally understand God's reasons for saying No, we will start thanking Him for those seemingly unanswered prayers. Maybe the reason will not be clear at first or even a few years later. In fact, maybe it will never be clear in this lifetime! But here's what we need to remember.

Our Heavenly Father is far too wise and loves us far too much to give us everything we ask for

Do you know the story of Balaam and the talking donkey found in the book of Numbers chapter 22? Balaam was tasked by the King of Moab to curse the Israelites. The Lord already told him not to do it. But he was persistent and he went anyway. While on his journey, his donkey saw an angel of the Lord with a sword on his hand.  The donkey suddenly stopped and turned off the road. Balaam started to beat the donkey several times for he did not see what the donkey was seeing. He did not see the angel in front of them. After several beatings to get the donkey back to the right path, the donkey started to talk. Yes, seriously! The donkey said to Balaam "Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?" Then the Lord opened Balaam's eyes and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in front of them with his sword. And this was what the angel told him "Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me.  The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If it had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by  now, but I would have spared it"

Isn't this a funny story? I can easily see it as a Disney cartoon show. A talking donkey!  But you know what the real miracle is in this story? It wasn't the talking donkey. The real miracle is a God who loves us so much that He will get in the way when we are already going the wrong way.  The angel of the Lord would have killed Balaam had the donkey continued walking. 

Divine Detours often get us to where God wants us to go

Many times, what may seem like a No answer to us only means that God has a better answer for us. He gets in the way to show us the way.

Remember the time when the Egyptian army was chasing the Israelites? They were already at the border of the Red Sea and they can see an angry army charging after them. They cried out to Moses, their leader. But the Lord's instruction to them was to just stand still and stay calm. When you're at a dead end in the midst of charging army, probably the most difficult thing to do is to stand still and stay calm. But that's what the Lord asked of them. And as most of us know, a few minutes before the Egyptians got to them, the Lord parted the Red Sea.

A lot of times we want the Lord to part the Red Sea while the army is still far far away. But sometimes the Lord waits. And then He waits longer. But once again, the God who provided the Israelites with just enough (meat to eat), parts the Red Sea just in time. Yes, God's timing is perfect.

Keep Calm and Be Still

There is no need to panic. Praying hard is trusting that the Lord's got our back. I will end this post with a statement from the author of the Circle Maker. If the Red Sea is a scene from the movie, this can very well be Moses' line to the Israelites as they feared the charging Egyptian army.

"I don't know what we're going to do, but I do know what we are not going to do.  We're not going to be afraid. We're going to stand still.  And we're going to see the deliverance of the Lord"

Wait for it. His deliverance is coming. 

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Circle Maker Series: Praying Through

Every night before going to bed, I would pray and lift up my concerns to the Lord. I have a number of prayer items that have been there for as long as I can remember.  Do you also experience drought in your prayer life sometimes? When it feels like you are just going around in circles and nothing is happening? Well, you need to read this.

I will start this post by sharing two stories. One from the Bible and one from the Circle Maker book.

Story 1: Luke 18: 1-5    

The Parable of the Persistent Widow

One day Jesus told his disciples of a story to show that they should always pray and not give up.  "There was a judge in a certain city," he said, "who neither feared God nor cared about people. A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, 'Give me justice in this dispute with the enemy.'  The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, 'I don't fear God or care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy. I'm going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!'"

Story 2:  In standardized math tests, Japanese children consistently score higher than their American counterparts. While some assume that a natural proclivity toward mathematics is the primary difference, researchers have discovered that it may have more to do with effort than ability. In one study involving first-graders, students were given a difficult puzzle to solve. The researchers weren’t interested in whether or not the children could solve the puzzle; they simply wanted to see how long they would try before giving up. The American children lasted, on average, 9.47 minutes. The Japanese children lasted 13.93 minutes. In other words, the Japanese children tried 47 percent longer. Is it any wonder why they score higher on math exams? Researchers concluded that the difference in math scores might have less to do with intelligence quotient and more to do with persistence quotient. The Japanese first-graders simply tried harder.
 

Now do these stories tell us? Success is, more often than not, a product of persistence.  In the story of the persistent widow, the Bible was silent on what sort of injustice took place. Maybe her son was falsely imprisoned or maybe a man who molested her daughter was still walking free. Whatever injustice she was facing, it is apparent that the widow will not stop until the judge grants her the justice she is looking for. That is what makes her a circle maker.

In my previous post, i talked about dreaming big and praying bold prayers. Now here's the question we need to answer. How desperate are we for God to fulfill those dreams? How many times are you willing to lift that request up in prayer? How long are you willing to wait?

We all know that God is sovereign and the answers to our prayers do not depend on us. Ultimately, the answer will still be God's decision. But it is also up to us to show the Lord how serious we are with our request.

Pray like it depends on God (because it really does!)

 

If I tell you now that I know a person who can grant your deepest request, wouldn’t you be curious and immediately schedule an appointment with him?  Stop for a moment and consider this.  God CAN answer that desperate dream that we have.  Why aren't we constantly seeking the Lord for the answer?   If we do not pray and seek God like the miracle depends on Him, then our answers will always be out of our prayer reach.

In 1 Kings 18: 41-46, the Bible talked about a story of drought. Very similar to Honi's story.  Elijah went up to Mount Carmel to pray for rain. After each prayer, he would ask his servant to go and look out toward the sea and check for rain. When there was still no sign of rain, Elijah would pray again. He did this for seven times before God sent a terrific rainstorm.

This story reminded me of a story I previously shared about the Jericho Wall. The Israelites had to circle the wall of Jericho for seven days before they were able to break through the wall conquer the promised land. Similarly, there was no tangible difference after Elijah prayed for the first, second, third, until the sixth time. But he persisted until the Lord answered his request for rain after his seventh prayer.  Just like the Israelites, Elijah would have forfeited the miracle had he stopped praying on the sixth time.

Now in my prayer list, there are big and small items. I have a few friends who tell me that they only pray the big-ticket items so that God is no longer bothered by the smaller ones. Here's the next point that i want to share with you.

 

God is great not only because nothing is too big for Him.  He is also great because nothing is too small for Him.

The bible said that there is no sparrow that falls to the ground that the Lord does not know about. I recently found out that the maya bird is a type of sparrow. I guess the reason why the Lord used a sparrow to explain this point is because there are just a lot of sparrows in the world. With all the seemingly more important world events, can you imagine why God would even bother knowing each one of the sparrow?

A few weeks ago, our Pastor shared something with us that made me understand God's heart more.  The Bible says that the hairs on our head are numbered. The Lord did not say they are counted, but that they are numbered.  This means that when a hair falls, the Lord does not say "Minus 1 hair from Fan's head", the Lord will say "Hair #2546 has just fallen". Our hairs are numbered.

Isn't it amazing how God is into the details of our lives? There is nothing too big for him and yet there is also nothing too small for Him.  The Lord listens to all our concerns. May it be our parenting struggles, healing from a serious illness, career choice, or finding the love of our life.  The Lord is interested in all of them.

I urge all of you to pray through the tough times and not give up.  Because, who knows? You may just be a prayer away from the miracle you have been waiting for.

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I Will See You in Heaven

Have you ever encountered God in a movie theater?

Last Easter Sunday, our family decided to watch Heaven is For Real. I am familiar with the book and was excited to watch the movie the first time i saw the trailer. This is a true story about a 4-year old boy who talks about how he has visited heaven while he was being operated on for raptured appendicitis. Although i have yet to verify how Biblical his experience truly is, in my heart i believe that his encounter is real. And more importantly, that it is from the Lord.

Having lost Tyler back in 2006, i have always wondered about Heaven. I often tell Dens that when the time comes for God to call me back to Him, i will look for Tyler. But until last Sunday, i don't think i was really brave enough to ask the questions that have been in my heart for so long.  I have always silently wondered if Tyler would remain a baby forever. I questioned how we could ever really communicate if that was the case. Furthermore, i know from the Bible that our earthly relationships are no longer the same in heaven. That thought hurts me somehow because that meant that Tyler would never know me as his mom.  I would always try to comfort myself with the idea that there is no more sorrow in heaven. But thinking about it never fails give me that lump in my throat that i cannot get over.

As soon as i got home from watching the movie, i immediately started reading the book of the same title that my dad gave me over a year ago. It has an excerpt of the time the 4-year old boy, Colton, visited heaven and met his unborn sister.  She passed away when his mom miscarried the baby during the first/second trimester.

"Mommy, I have two sisters," Colton said.

I put down my pen. Sonja didn't. She kept on working. 

Colton repeated himself.  "Mommy, I have two sisters."

Sonja looked up from her paperwork and shook her head slightly.  "No, you have your sister, Cassie, and...do you mean your cousin, Traci?"

"No." Colton clipped off the word adamantly.  "I have two sisters. You had a baby die in your tummy, didn't you?"

At that moment, time stopped in the Burpo household, and Sonja's eyes grew wide.  Just a few seconds before, Colton had been trying unsuccessfully to get his mom to listen to him. Now, even from the kitchen table, I could see that he had her undivided attention.

"Who told you I had a baby die in my tummy?" Sonja said, her tone serious.

"She did, Mommy. She said she died in your tummy."

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"In heaven, this little girl ran up to me, and she wouldn't stop hugging me," he said in a tone that clearly indicated he didn't enjoy all this hugging from a girl.

"Maybe she was just happy that someone from her family was there," Sonja offered.  "Girls hug. When we're happy, we hug"

Colton didn't seem convinced.

Sonja's eyes lit up and she asked, "What was her name? What was the little girl's name?"

Colton seemed to forget all about the yucky girl hugs for a moment.  "She doesn't have a name.  You guys didn't name her."

How did he know that?

"Your're right, Colton," Sonja said.  "We didn't even know she was a she"

Then Colton said something that still rings in my ears: "Yeah, she said she just can't wait for you and Daddy to get to heaven."

From the kitchen table, I could see that Sonja was barely holding it together.  She gave Colton a kiss and told him he could go play.  And when he left the room, tears spilled over her cheeks.

"Our baby is okay," she whispered.  "Our baby is okay."

From that moment on, the wound from one of the most painful episodes in our lives, losing a child we had wanted very much, began to heal.


Isn't that amazing? I've read this part of the book so many times and it still overflows my heart with so much joy. Our little Tyler is truly well now. I want to believe the Lord allowed Colton to experience this to give healing to his parents and to every parent who has experienced the loss of a child. 

Thank you, Lord, for this revelation.  We will see Tyler again when we get to heaven and he will know that we are his parents. I will meet him and tell him of how much the Lord has used him to change our lives. He will know how much we love him and we will tell him all about his siblings, Troy & Dawn.  We may have lost him for several years on earth, but it looks like we will be enjoying eternity together with the Lord in heaven. How wonderful is that?

The idea of eternity in heaven has never felt more real. This is truly a beautiful movie. Pray, as you watch it, that God will reveal His heart to you. Be ready - you will find yourself seeking more of Him after watching this film.  May the Lord use this film to touch the hearts of people and draw them closer to Him. Heaven is indeed for real. Jesus is for real.

Jeremiah 29:13 says "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

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Sacrificial Love

I have been sick the past week. I stayed in bed for four whole days and it was just awful most of the time. I say most of the time because I have to admit - this forced rest can be good for me sometimes. I slept for hours guilt-free and spent my waking hours watching the kids play on one side of the room, catching up on the telenovelas that i've missed and reading my Bible. But the stomach cramps and the endless throwing up was just a pain (literally and figuratively).

During those 4 days, I saw how my two little kids went out of their way to take care of me. My 5-year old diligently got me water, answered phone calls, and fetched things for me from all over the house since i can barely stand most of the time. My 2-year old is a little too small for chores but she did something that also melted my heart. If you have been reading this blog the past week, you would have read about my clingy little girl whose daily plea was to stick with me. On Day 3 of my house arrest, my daughter contacted fever. Since we knew my immune system was down, we didn't want to risk contaminating each other with whatever virus each of us had.  After waking up from her nap and discovering her high temperature, my daughter called me from her brother's room. This was how our conversation went.

Me: Hello?
Dawn: Hello, Mom?
Me: Hi Dawnie!
Dawn: Mom, i have fever so i can't go to your room.
Me: Aww...okay anak.
Dawn:  I'll just drink medicine so that i will feel better, okay?
Me: Okay
Dawn (almost in tears): I miss you, Mommy!

If you know my daughter, you will know how much of a sacrifice this was for her. When she woke up middle of that night (usually to breastfeed), i went to her bed. Then i told her i cannot feed her tonight. She just said 'Embrace only, Mommy'.  And embrace her i did. In tears.

Looking at all the things my two kids did for me during my 4-day confinement made all those days sacrificing my own enjoyment for them oh-so-worth it.  As young as they are, they understood the meaning of sacrificial love.

This made me think of a lot of Christians these days. A lot of us go through life without appreciating the sacrifice that Jesus Christ did on the cross for us. We know it happened. We know what it was for. But the level of appreciation it commands just isn't there.  I have been reading the book of Matthew the past weeks and it was just a wonderful eye opener for me. I cannot imagine how God would sacrifice His own son to die a harsh death just so people who have yet to know and love Him will be saved. Such unconditional, extravagant, sacrificial love.

Think about it. For what the Lord has done for us, how much have we been willing to sacrifice for Him? That 10 minutes of your day to read your Bible and morning devotion? That 5 minutes of prayer time before going to bed? Skipping that telenovela once a week for prayer meeting? Or even the 'humiliation' of raising our hands when we worship Him in church. Remember, the humiliation that Jesus went through for us goes way beyond just raising those hands up.

John 3:16 says "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. That whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life"

On this day of love, i pray that our appreciation of God's sacrifice goes beyond words. May our actions reflect the gratitude in our hearts. He deserves all honor, glory and praise. Thank you, Lord. We love you!

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The Gift of Heaven

Troy and I had a pretty unusual conversation the other day.

We were watching TV in our bedroom when he suddenly asked me what hell is like. So I told him it's not a nice place. I went on to describe it based on what I know from the Bible but not in so much detail. I told him the worst part about being in hell is that you are not with the Lord. Then he said "I don't want to go to hell, mommy"  I told him he doesn't have to be afraid. I quickly reminded him of how he has already accepted Jesus into his heart (read about that here).  Then he asked  "Am I going to heaven when I'm really really really old already?"  I felt that he is too young to fully grasp the concept of mortality so I didn't want to complicate things. I just said yes.

After that, he went back to watching TV but I saw that he was tearing up. I asked if he was crying. Then he looked at me and said "mommy, i don't want to go to heaven."  This caught me offguard so I asked him what's wrong. He started to cry some more and said "I only want to stay here in the yellow house (that's what we call our house) with you and papa!" Then i started to cry. I told him not to worry about that since we will all be together in heaven when the day comes. That's the gift of eternal life.

I've always heard of 'eternal life' but I honestly didn't really appreciate the concept of living forever.  When I was young, I remember I accepted the Lord just because I didn't want to go to hell. Now that I think about it, heaven is truly a gift, isn't it? It's God's gift for us to live forever in a beautiful place with Him and our saved loved ones.

The more I think about it, the more I am amazed at God's thoughtfulness. He thought of me and all other mothers out there who dread the earthly separation that this life eventually brings. He gave us the option to have our children in heaven with us forever - we just need to share God's wonderful love with them.

Thank you, Lord, for thinking of me and my family. You continue to amaze me! I love you!

Pray with your kids and ask Jesus to come into your hearts and be the Lord of your lives. It's very simple.

Here are some FAQs about salvation http://www.kidsbibleinfo.com/article/131/topics/s/salvation.

Please feel free to leave me a note in the comments section if you have any question. You can include your mobile number or email address and I will be in touch. This is the best gift you can share with your family.

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