SO MANY CHANGES

It had been four months since I last blogged. So many things happened since then. Good things. Thank God that Joshua did well in his primary school leaving exams (PSLE) and got into a school of his choice! Initially we hoped that he would choose Catholic High School but in the end he chose Hwa Chong Institution (HCI) instead. We prayed about it and sensed that God was leading him to HCI so we supported his decision. The only thing was the school was in Bukit Timah Road, which was very far from our home in Hougang.

In fact before his secondary school posting was confirmed, we already went about our house hunting. We felt that our season at Rio Vista was ending soon and a new season was beginning. God seemed to be leading us out of our home after staying for eight years. It wasn’t a coincidence that we also stayed in our first matrimonial flat for eight years before moving to Rio Vista. I sensed the Lord telling me to start preparing for the house moving even though Joshua had not confirmed his secondary school.

In fact, after the PSLE was over, I felt prompted to start clearing out some old stuff to make way for the new. After all I had to clear away all the worksheets and old textbooks after Joshua graduated from primary school. So I went on to clear some old clothes and stuff from our store room. The recurring message I received last Oct was to let go of old baggage to make room for the new things coming. So I happily went about doing that without knowing what God had in store for us.

It was amazing how God accelerated the entire house hunting process. Within ten days of our first viewing, we managed to rent a unit in Bukit Timah that we all liked. It wasn’t easy to get a consensus on a place that all of us liked but God’s handiwork was in the entire process. And so on the last day of 2018, we signed the tenancy agreement and took over the unit on 6 Jan. And we started staying in the new place so as to make it convenient for Joshua to go to school. He only needed 10 min to travel to and from school as compared to 50 min if we stayed in Rio Vista.

We officially shifted over all our stuff on 15 Jan. Initially I was worried about how long it would take to the rent out our Rio Vista unit but God also expedited the process. On the same day that we took over the unit at Bukit Timah, God confirmed the tenants for our old home. Things fell into place very fast. It had been a busy month packing up, clearing away old stuff and moving to this new place. After we moved over, we focused on cleaning up our old home to be handed over on 1 Feb. After our Rio Vista unit was handed over, we could finally catch a breather.

Not long after the Chinese New Year came and we were again busy with the festivities. At the same time we were settling into this new neighbourhood. Joshua was also settling into his new school. Although there were many changes and we were in transition, thank God that we are more or less settled in now. We are still exploring this new neighbourhood but beginning to like it because of the abundance of good hawker fares and nice eateries. We really love this new home because it is newer,  brighter and windier even though it is smaller. The condo environment is also very elegant and stylish.

Really thank God for giving our family this beautiful place to live in! And it wasn’t that our old home wasn’t beautiful or good anymore. It was just that the season had changed and we had to move on. The changes were massive and inconvenient but when God called, we had to move. It was definitely an out of comfort zone experience but I welcomed it because I had been waiting for changes in my life for a very long time. God has also prepared my heart so I could embrace the change and move swiftly. Honestly if I hadn’t responded by clearing my old place and sourcing for furniture, we would be ill prepared to move so quickly. God is really good.

MY BLOG'S EIGHTH ANNIVERSARY

For the past few months I had been busy preparing Joshua for his primary school leaving exams (PSLE) in end Sep and early Oct. What a great relief it was when his exams finally were over on 3 Oct! It had been so intense for the past few months, especially the few weeks leading up to the exams. Once the written papers started, things moved even faster. But towards the end of the written exams, we were out of steam and could not wait for the exams to end. Thank God that it had been a relatively stress free year preparing for PSLE. If not for the grace of God, it would have been so much worse and stressful.

After the exams, we went on a cruise holiday last week. It was a busy but fun-filled trip. So it was only today that I was reminded by a dear sister that my blog turned eight today. I haven't even been tracking it for the past few years. The last time she reminded me was when my blog turned five in 2015. How time flies! I had not been active blogging especially this year. I was busy internalizing what the Lord had taught me for the past year. So much revelation that He has poured into me. Maybe it is about time that God wants me to start blogging about these revelation. 

In fact, some time ago I read Doug Addison's book on dream interpretations and I started getting understanding about my dreams. I always had dreams since I was young but I didn't understand what they meant. Last year I began having dreams more frequently and some of them were warning dreams. As I received revelation from the Lord about my dreams, I became more in the flow. I learnt that God also speaks to us in our dreams, though not all of them symbolised something. But if a dream was recurring, then most likely God is trying to get a message across to you.

And so for the past few months, I had been practicing dream interpretation for people around me. I believe that their dreams hold the key to their breakthrough. The interpretation from God about their dreams bore witness with their spirits. Some of their dreams pointed to a deeper root cause of bitterness or unforgiveness. It was always so exciting to hear of dreams and receive the understanding of it. As such, I was prompted by the Spirit to share this gift with my viewers. If you have a dream that you cannot understand yet you feel it is important, you can email me and I will ask God for the interpretation. Remember I am here to help you. My email is avinlee77@gmail.com

KOREAN DRAMA: CHIEF KIM

I thought about the Korean drama titled 'Chief Kim' that we just finished watching. It was such a good drama of justice and repayment. As I was going through the plot, I felt there was such a similarity to the spiritual warfare that we had fought. Initially the evil forces seemed all too formidable to oppose as this guy Chief Lee tried to expose their evil deeds and got framed instead. He nearly lost his life and ended up in a coma.

Then this crazy guy named Chief Kim came on the scene. He was not righteous in the beginning as he had been helping thugs evade taxes by manipulating the books. He was engaged by this guy named Seo Yul to help cover up the crimes in a company named TQ Group. Later through a series of accidental twists, Chief Kim ended up as the good guy. The righteous streak in his DNA was awakened as his dad was a poor but righteous guy.

Initially the fight was between Seo Yul and Chief Kim. Seo Yul tried to get rid of him under the orders of the Chairman. But Seo Yul was not totally evil at heart. He just didn't like to lose so he would use underhanded means to deal with Chief Kim. In the first round Chief Kim lost because he tried to fight using the orthodox way. After that failure, he decided to revert to his 'thug' ways to deal with Seo Yul.

Seo Yul used the people whom Chief Kim cared about, his colleagues to get at him. Chief Kim initially felt guilty that his colleagues were implicated because of him but after they supported him, he got back on his feet. It was quite a low blow which he nearly gave up doing the right things. After this rebound, Chief Kim became stronger and more resolved to see that justice was served to the weak and powerless.

The very first breakthrough they obtained was that of the payment of wages to the part-timers in mini marts. The Chairman had to apologise to them in public in addition to making restitution. The key to this victory was they had alliances and access to important evidence of fraud that allowed the part-timers to sue the company. But this victory pissed the Chairman off who then ordered Chief Kim to be killed.

It was a good thing that Seo Yul overheard the conversation and saved Chief Kim's life. He was despicable but not to the extent of evil. He could not watch while a man dies. Even though they were still on opposing sides, this event marked the beginning of Seo Yul's turning point. Later on Chief Kim obtained strategic evidence from the cues that Chief Lee left behind on how the previous audits were fraudulent. This was a big blow to the enemy.

Yet the battle to defeat the enemy was far from over. They had made much progress, gained much grounds but now they were going on the offensive. They were trying to nail down the Chairman with decisive evidence. However the Chairman sought help from an influential political figure who was able to stop the prosecution. He tasked his manager to cover up the fraud. So Chief Kim and his team were dealt with another blow when their efforts seemed to be in vain.

Yet they didn't give up and sought to find out the person behind all these opposition. They had to break the evil alliance. Once they did that, they could render the Chairman without a strong backbone. So the Chairman had no other way out but to flee. Seo Yul and Chief Kim managed to catch him at the nick of time. Even in jail, the Chairman was still trying to wash himself off the crimes by threatening and cutting deals with others. He wanted to make them scapegoats.

The prosecution still could not convict him because they needed evidence of his slush funds. The Chairman gave the secret bank account in Switzerland to his son who then provided the information to Chief Kim. Not only that he transferred $100m from the slush fund to help the company which was facing a crisis. That helped to turn the situation around and prevented hundreds from losing their jobs. And the Chairman was sentenced to 22 years in jail. The team could finally celebrate their success.

So what did I learn from this drama? Firstly never give up. Even when you made a mistake and there was some negative consequence, don't condemn yourself. Just dust it off and move on. Get back on your feet. It is not the end. It is not over until you have the victory. Secondly, be wise as a serpent when dealing with the enemy. Don't be naïve and don't show mercy for the enemy will never show you any mercy. Give the enemy a taste of his own medicine.

Thirdly you need to have divine alliances. Chief Kim could never have been able to do it all by himself. The enemy is too formidable for one person and requires us to form alliances to defeat him. It is a teamwork. Fourthly you have to obtain strategies and key information about the enemy's next move. I have observed in this drama and Empress Ki that success lies in anticipating and counteracting the enemy's next move. Usually there are precedents to how the enemy would react so it won't be a surprise.

Fifth, there is always a fight of faith. Don't expect the enemy to sit around and do nothing after your first few victories. Always be on the alert and pray even after victory. The enemy likes to counter attack especially after your first breakthrough. In fact at some point the enemy will try to take you down. But if he can't, he will try to cut deals with you. Don't fall for his trick. He will not make good on his promise.

When you begin to gain momentum on your advances, go on the offensive. Continue to attack the enemy with your spiritual weapons and don't relent. Go all out, cooperate with God and totally annihilate the enemy if possible. Don't show him any mercy. He never did when he tried to take your life remember? It is important to seek the Lord for strategies to deal with the enemy. Such strategic information will help you preempt and prepare for the enemy's next move and your counterattack.

In the past you might be often caught off guard and left confused by his attacks. But no more in this season! The Lord cleared the fog so you could see more clearly and He is downloading heavenly strategies to you so you can be always one step ahead of the enemy. You will no longer be caught unaware. Go forth in the power of the Lord!