SPENDING TIME WITH GOD

'Let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me...' Jeremiah 9:24

The other day we were taking turns asking each other IQ questions and answering them. When Heng asked a question that I already knew, I kept quiet to see if Joshua knew the answer. Actually I believed he knew the answer but because he missed out the first sentence of the question, he didn't know how to solve it. So I highlighted that statement again and immediately he got the answer. I was quite amazed that I actually understand Joshua very well. When I asked Joshua whether my understanding of him could be achieved without spending time with him, he said no.

I pondered upon what he said. At times I wondered if my staying home helped to build the bond with my son. Now even Joshua was saying if I didn't spend the time at home with him, I might not know him as much if I had been working. I know that not all mums are able to stay home, so they had to spend quality time with their kids. But really, quality isn't the same as quantity when it comes to parenting. It was in those day to day moments that a mother took time with her kids that mattered to them. Not just the big moments. It was in those mundane, seemingly insignificant moments that a mother could impart important lessons about life to her kids.

In the same way, I thought about our relationship with our Abba God. One could only get to know our Daddy God more when he spends more time with Him. Now I know that not everyone could have extended times of fellowship but God understands our hearts. As long as we desire to spend time with Him and make it a priority, we will get to know Him over time and be blessed. For me, I count myself really fortunate to be able to spend a lot of time with God. My greatest blessing is a much better relationship with God. The result of this time spent with Him is that I know Him better. I know His heart, His thoughts. And that's what I can boast about too. That I understand and know the Lord.

Our culture seeks success and boasts in these things: intellect, power, status and riches. As a mother, I also wonder how my son measure up intellectually and how I can help him to achieve more in this area. There's nothing wrong with wanting them to live up to their intellectual potential, learn manners or social skills. However, if I become too stressed over his academic learning or I start comparing him to his classmates, then it has become unhealthy. God showed me that good as these things are, they are not the determining factors for success in life.

I began to see that just as I should be proud of myself and boast of my understanding of the Lord, this should be the key thing to impart to my son. Above all else, I hope my son would grow up to be someone who knows the Lord and like King David, to have a heart after God's heart. I could teach him many things and wish for him many things but one thing I desire is that he learns how to make himself happy in the Lord. I think that would be the best thing a person could ever have in life. I have been a great beneficiary of this close relationship with God and I hope my son would have it too.

MOTHER'S DAY SURPRISE

It was an early Mother's Day surprise for me. I didn't expect that Heng would be getting anything for me this Mother's Day. Every year we would bring our mums out to have a good meal in celebration of Mother's Day. But this year Heng actually ordered a bouquet of sunflowers and it arrived today at our doorstep while we were out doing grocery shopping. Heng told Joshua about it and asked him to keep it a secret. When we reached home, Heng would hold me back at the lift while Joshua brought the flowers to me.

Actually I would have been totally kept in the dark if not for the fact that I was looking at Heng's hand phone email alert, which I then accidentally saw that he ordered something online. He quickly snatched the hand phone from me and I was left guessing what it could be. I really didn't want him to spend too much money on buying things I don't need...but I had a pleasant surprise when we reached home. It was a very beautiful bouquet of sunflowers! I really loved it! Joshua also made a pop-up Mother's Day card for me...so sweet of him!

I felt so loved by Heng and Joshua. But more importantly I felt so loved by my Abba God. He was the One who arranged all these surprises for me. I am so blessed. This Mother's Day is so special to me...for I know God has other surprises in store for me. I am so excited and expectant of good things coming my way. Bible hope is a confident expectation of good because of what Christ has done for us at the cross. He has come that we may have life to the fullest. God is so good to us.

To all the beautiful mummies on earth, here's wishing you a most blessed Mother's Day too!

GOD'S PLAN FOR YOU

'For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.' Jeremiah 29:11

This verse is very special to me. God has been showing me this verse since July last year. I was going through a transition in seasons back then, so God wanted to assure me that He has good plans for me. He knew I was scared but yet I chose to trust Him. I had to close the door behind me first without knowing when the door in front will open. I was pioneering into new grounds yet I still didn't have a single clue what He wanted me to do then.

Pastor Prince declared this year as the year of His restoration. Ever since then, I have witnessed how God has restored things I lost or gave up, even things I have forgotten. Actually God has begun the work of restoring my soul last year and I found that joy has come to abide in places where I once mourned. He was slowly turning my sorrows into joy, my mourning into dancing. God was healing me of my heartaches and disappointments. Before He moves me onto a new season, He always does a work of restoration first.

Many of us know this verse very well but do you know that the context of this verse is Jeremiah's Letter to the Captives? The verse preceding this talks about how the Lord promised after the 70 years of captivity were completed at Babylon, He would visit the Israelites and perform His good word towards them and cause them to return to Jerusalem. This sounded like restoration to me. God was restoring the Israelites back to their home land.

Other than assuring me of His good plans for my future through this verse, God was also telling me He is doing a work of restoration. When I realised the other meaning of this verse recently, I was really very touched. It was so in line with this year's theme. Pastor also mentioned that the broken pieces will come together to form a picture this year. He was referring to those senseless things, those unfair stuff that happened to you.

He said when God reveals His restoration work in your life, whatever senseless things you have been through will all make sense. You will see how God turned all things around for our good. Oh, how my heart swells when I see those broken pieces of my life coming! God is truly working all things, the good, bad and ugly things, together for my good! No words can express how grateful I am to God! I see He has really been working behind the scenes for the past few years but only now this marvellous work has been revealed!

Dear friends, don't be discouraged if you haven't been seeing anything happening on the surface. God's word has already been given about this year. You just have to agree with Him and cry out 'God, restore!' Then rest and watch how He turns things around for your good and restores your soul, all the years the locusts have eaten and your health! Then give Him all the praise and glory!