Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Back to my stay home days!

My contract with the church office ended on 11 Nov. Since then I have been enjoying my free time at home with Joshua, as his school holidays had started. It was really a good break for me, a well-deserved break after the intense 4.5 months of part-time work. The part time assignment was rather overwhelming for me as I was covering a full time job. But once I started, there was no turning back, I had to press on till the lady who was on maternity leave comes back. I enjoyed working there with the interaction with my colleagues but I just find that it was too rushed for me everyday. I had to rush back home to pick Joshua up from the school bus.

But I guess more importantly I didn't have enough time to spend with The Lord and I felt that I really missed Him a lot. I was in a dilemma because the pastors really hoped that I could continue with my part-time work with them next year but I didn't feel the peace nor the desire to work. I just felt like I needed a break because it had been a hectic time for me, rushing here and there. Although God gave me the grace to see me through the entire assignment, I still felt like fish out of water during the assignment. I was tired and thirsty for more of the living waters. During my part-time work, I so yearned to go back to my stay home days, of leisurely time spent with The Lord.

I do believe that I will be back to full-time work in the church office in future but for now, I just want to do the one thing needful, like Mary, that is to sit at the feet of Jesus and feed from Him. I know that the way I receive manna from The Lord will change in future, for I will not always have the luxury of time spent with Him if I work full-time. But anyway, right now, in this season, I shall not worry about that. I am sure He will cause me to adjust well when the time comes. And my desire to work will be there for it is God who works in us, to will and to work for His good pleasure (Phil 2:13). As always, the desire has to be there before the working out. This is how I know that it is the correct decision as the presence of peace is evident in my heart.

For this past month of staying home, I thank God that I re-gained my equilibrium and came to the place of peace and rest. I was refreshed and recharged by His word. I often made myself happy in The Lord because there is always joy in His presence. I am enjoying this time of staying home and I tell myself I will not grumble or complain that I am too bored because everything comes in seasons. The key is really to enjoy every season for they are unique and once it has passed, it will never come back again. I also enjoy spending time with Joshua, bringing him to various places like playgrounds, library, museums during the school holidays. It is a good bonding time for mummy and Joshua. I really thank God for His goodness in our lives.

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Praise God for Heng's promotion!

I just like to give thanks to God for Heng told me this piece of good news last week. He had just crossed his probation period of six months and was confirmed in his employment. His bosses were happy with his performance. He had also just moved into a bigger cubicle after 'camping' with the HR department for the past six months. With this move, we know that God is enlarging his territory. What he didn't expect was that the senior management had unanimously decided to promote him to Director. With that promotion effective from 1 Jan 2014, his pay will also be adjusted accordingly. Wow! God is so good to Heng. God had accelerated Heng's progress in the company because according to his boss, it would usually take at least a year for someone to be promoted to Director. But God did it for him in half the time, what favor! It can only be God.

God is really so good. Earlier this year Heng was rather disappointed that he missed his promotion in the previous company and his career prospects did not seem too good. There was some overt favoritism in the department and Heng was overlooked in the promotion. We knew it was God causing the nest to be pricky and uncomfortable for He was preparing to move Heng out. Heng also started to have the desire to look for another job. And God eventually opened the door for Heng to work in this company. Now as we looked back, we saw that all things work together for our good. If Heng was promoted early this year, he might not even think about leaving. And if he stayed on in that company, he will never know how much more God has in store for him in this new position. This new position is not just a job but a position of influence, where Heng not only gets to decide on his staff's increment, he also participate in the decision making of who to hire or to fire. Sometimes this new position can be a stretch but Heng just continued to rely on God's wisdom to do his work. After all, God was the One who put him there, so His grace will be available.

As for me, I am really happy for Heng, more so than if I was the one being promoted. If it were me, I might have some control over my performance but definitely not if it was Heng. This is purely His grace. Besides, I am so proud of my hubby. When we first started working, he was not yet a degree holder but I was already a degree holder. But along the way Heng studied part time and finally got his degree in accountancy. For many years his pay was below mine but it didn't affect him a single bit. But in my heart, I secretly hoped that one day God would cause him to excel in his career, more so than mine. Even when we made the decision for me to stay home, I was still earning more than him. Thank God that now he has far surpassed my last drawn pay and this is just the beginning. I also saw how my staying home helped in his career progress. Heng said that my staying home to take care of household matters gave him the peace to progress in his career.

God is so good. He will never shortchange us when we take a step of faith to do His will. He not only made sure we are never in lack financially, now He is causing us to be in abundance. I used to hear people say that if you choose to stay home then be prepared to cut back on your standard of living. Because now there is only one income as compared to two incomes previously. Yet God's ways are not our ways. He has a thousand ways to cause the wealth to come to us. After three years of staying home, I can testify that we are never in lack and we didn't have to cut back on our expenses. We continued to eat in restaurants as and when we desire. We bought the things we wanted and we went on nice holidays as usual. Yes I am boasting but I am boasting in the goodness and the riches of our God. For we know that it can never be due to our smarts or our hard work. It has to be the hand of God in our lives.

In short, I just want to exhort you, my beloved friends, to believe that God can do exceedingly and abundantly more than what you imagine. We serve a big God, so we can afford to have big dreams and desires because ultimately all these blessings had been paid for by Jesus. God is no respecter of man, what He did for us, He will do for you too! All we have to do is to believe and receive! And when the blessings come, give Jesus all the glory!