Waiting in expectation

As I alighted the bus this evening, there was a young girls with her arms outstretched. She exclaimed "mommy!" as the lady behind me got off the bus. I looked up and saw the father waiting with a joyful smile on his face. As I walked away, I looked back and watched the whole family embrace.

What a beautiful picture of the expectation with which our lives should be lived. As I walked away, I thought about how Christ is returning. It has seemed like an incredibly long time since he was here before, just like for a child, it seems like forever when a parent is gone. However, the father knows that in the light of reality, it is only a blink of an eye. Like a child waiting for their parents to return home, we are called to wait patiently with excitement and joy for the grand reunion.

I think about those days as a child when my parents were gone, and I would want to surprise them when they got home. I would do extra things around the house just to make them happy when they got home. I knew they loved me, so I wasn't trying to earn their approval, just bring them joy. In the same way, we can find joy in doing things that will please the Lord, without feeling that we need to gain his approval.

One of my biggest frustrations...

One of my biggest frustrations in the church is the fact that we categorize certain struggles. This especially relates to sexuality. The church stereotypes women with struggling with a need for emotional intimacy and men with a struggle of pornography and masturbation and the church is completely oblivious to the idea that children might struggle with these issues at all.  Books are written about "Every man's battle." I go to church and hear about a meeting for men talking about "the struggles men deal with," as though no woman would ever struggle with the same issues.

From my experience, I have met and heard of HUGE numbers of women who struggle with pornography and masturbation. The biggest problem is they think they are alone, because the church is blind to it. They cannot seek help because the church offers no help for them. In their loneliness, they only fall into the trap of Satan's lies even deeper, causing them to feel abandoned and helpless.
 Not only this, but many of these woman have shared that their struggle began during their childhood or early teen years.

We, as a church don't want our children to hear about these issues in hopes to protect them, but in reality all we are doing is hurting them. They hear about these things at school, or find things on the internet, or even in the garbage. This is NOT where children should hear about the things of this world. We need to be addressing these issues from the beginning with our children so that they feel confident to share openly with us and so that we can point our children to God. So many children are curious and try to find answers. If we as adults are not willing or don't have the time to discuss their sexuality with them, they will turn to other places to find these answers.

A heart bursting with gratefulness

This morning as I sang in the shower, the song that came out of was one in which I just kept thanking God for what he has done for me. As I named one thing, two more would pop to mind. How great is our God! I was talking with my sister this morning on skype and we kept naming things we have seen God do in our lives lately. The past season in both our lives has been very challenging and God has been bringing us both to a place of rest and delight in him. We couldn't hang up, because we kept thinking of ways God has blessed us recently. So, in light of all this, I want to name some of those things so that you can join me in praising Him. Here goes:

- This semester I have just been constantly given the opportunity to fellowship with families. I find that being around families is so refreshing.

- I have had the opportunity to start going through the Truth project- a video series intended to be watched with a group of people and then discussed. This has been really encouraging to me.

-I have been more structured and prepared in my classroom, which has given me more time and enthusiasm to fellowship with others, and to spend dwelling in the presence of the Lord.

-This time in which I can be refreshed through my fellowship with others and the Lord has in turn allowed me to be more productive with my work. 

-I have had the awesome opportunity to build friendships that I know are going to strengthen me,  stretch me, and build me up in the next season of my life.

-I have been blessed financially and since coming to Singapore have been able to start paying off my loans, being a part of the expanding of God's kingdom by giving generously to friends serving the Lord in ministry, and putting some money in savings.

-Since May, when I broke my foot, I have been in quite a bit of pain and thought that it would remain that way the rest of my life. However, over Christmas break, my foot had the opportunity to rest and in the two weeks since I have been back it has not been hurting. 

-More and more, I am learning how great a foundation my parents set for me through their teaching and counsel in the word of God.

-I have been blessed by so many friends that were placed in my life at the exact right time, and each for a unique and special purpose.

These and so many more are the praises that cause my heart to be filled with praises to my heavenly Father.

Testimony

I am being asked to share my testimony tomorrow, so I wrote it out and thought I would share it...

Both of my parents grew up in economically poor, but spiritually rich families. My mother’s father was discriminated against for holding on to the belief that we should live in peace and deciding not to fight during World War 2. My father’s family was persecuted for their protestant faith in Colombia where it was the norm to be catholic. These stories of faith are part of my heritage that I aspire to. 

When my parents were married, the Lord provided just what they needed. My dad studied at the university while teaching at a local high school. This job provided just enough money to pay the rent. My mother baked 600 brownies a day and sold them to two women who sold them on the street. This provided money for the families of the two women as well as just enough money for groceries for our family. Around the same time that my mother was thinking of expanding her business, someone stole her brownie recipe, but couldn’t make the brownies correctly, so people stopped buying the brownies altogether. God had a plan in this and provided my father with an opportunity to work with the government in foreign ministries. These stories of God’s faithfulness are what I cling to in times of need.

My brother was seven years old and my mother had had two miscarriages since his birth, so God again blessed my family through another child. I was born just three months before our family moved to Australia for my father’s first overseas posting as a diplomat. We lived there three years before moving back to Colombia and just before leaving Australia, my younger sister was born. 

Throughout the years, our lives kept shifting from one country to another. We lost friends, we gained others. We left homes, we found new ones. Through all this transition, my family became very close. My sister and I were the closest of friends, my brother- our hero. 

I came to know the Lord at a very young age and yearned to see others come to Christ. As a person moving from country to country and seeing so much pain in the world, I yearned to help the world become a better place- for the poor, for the oppressed, for the marginalized. I decided that I was going to do both these things by teaching children about the Lord. In High school this turned into a dream of starting an orphanage in either Sudan or Uganda. However, God had different plans for me. 

During my final year of university, I told the Lord that I was willing to go anywhere in the world, which really meant I wanted to go to a developing country and help those who really needed me. In that year, the Lord challenged me until I actually became ready to go anywhere that he would lead. That is when, through a series of different events, he led me to Singapore to work at the International Community School. He brought me to a place where there is not much economic need, but great spiritual need. While I am not at all in a place I expected to be, the Lord has given me the great opportunity to work with other children who move from one country to another, to teach other TCK’s about the Lord’s love, and about the home that he offers in heaven.

Call for prayer

One of my biggest frustrations in my Christian faith is my lack of courage in sharing the gospel. Yesterday, I was listening to Francis Chan and David Platt as they talked about being a disciple and the importance of being a fisher of men and making disciples. I was reminded of the importance of asking others for prayer. How easy it is to think that others have so many more worthy things to pray for, but how can we do any work for the Lord without the body of Christ lifting us up to Him? If we are to search scriptures, we see Paul consistently seek prayer from the church. Paul, the one who had courage to stand up against ruling authorities, to speak to thousands upon thousands of people, could only do so because He consistently asked the church to pray for Him to have the courage. Even Christ, who was fully God, asked His disciples to pray for Him. So here I am seeking your prayers for my life. 

This school year has been rough, but I know that while I wish my students' behavior, the amount of paperwork I have, and other people around me would change, the biggest change that needs to happen is in me. I've known all year that my heart attitude needs to be adjusted, but not known how to go about that.

Yesterday morning I was thinking about my schedule for the day when God asked why he wasn't first on my list. My response was that while He is a great priority in my life, he is not as urgent as other things, since He is always there. God was quick to confront me by reminding me that that attitude is exactly how marriages and relationships fall apart. If you don't put something above your work and other desires, that love will quickly drift away. Wow! How did I get to a place where God was not the focus, the epicenter of my entire life?
 

It is only by dwelling in Christ's presence that my attitude can change, by abiding in His peace that I can have peace through every stress-filled day, by resting in His love that I can pour out my love on my students, coworkers, flatmates, and others, by clinging to His word and His power that I can have the courage to share His gospel message that so many are desperately searching for. Please pray that I would be filled with the Lord's presence, peace, love, word, and power each day. Please pray that I would have the discipline to make God the most urgent priority of my every day. Please pray for opportunities that I can have to touch the hearts of my students, and to share the gospel of Christ with those who do not know Jesus. Finally, while this may seem trivial, please pray that my body would be healed of the cold I am fighting before I start teaching the new semester on Monday.

Please let me know if there are ways that I can be lifting you up in prayer as well.

The armor of God

So, I have always loved the passage describing the armor of God, but have wondered what each piece means practically. Why does each piece represent the quality that it represents? Finally, I sat down and thought through it and the gained insight into each piece. I don't know if this will make sense to anyone else, but I'll try to explain the best I can...
The Belt of Truth- The belt is what holds the outfit together. Without a belt, your pants fall off and you are exposed. It is truth that holds everything else together, because if what we do and say is full of lies, then everything we stand for is a scam. The truth that God brings us through his word protects us from shame, because it reminds us of the fact that in Christ we are no longer sinners, but can live without shame.
The breastplate of righteousness-  The breastplate protects the heart; who we are at the core. If we are living in righteousness, we are protecting the person that God created us to be. When we live in righteousness, we are living the life that God has called us to. Without a breastplate, a soldier's heart is easily pierced and the soldier dies. In the same way, without the righteousness of Christ that he gave us freely, we are condemned to die.
The shoes of the gospel of peace-  Shoes allow us to walk or run without our feet being in pain. Each day that we come to, whether it is full of chaos or frustration, we can hold on the good news that Christ has redeemed us. Because of this good news, we can have peace: An incredible peace that allows us to walk through all sorts of tribulation in joy and freedom. This peace brings freedom from fear that Satan tries to instill in our hearts. These shoes of peace allow us to "run with perseverance the race marked out for us." (Hebrews 12:1)
The helmet of Salvation- Satan loves to attack our minds, causing us to doubt the truth of God's salvation. Am I really saved? Is God really real? Does Christ's salvation really apply to me? Assurance of the salvation of God, and reminding ourselves over and over again of this wonderful truth is the best way we can protect ourselves from doubting God and His goodness towards us. When we doubt, we begin to enslave ourselves, either to try to gain salvation by works, or to give up and relent to sin in our lives. It is important for us to guard our minds with the knowledge of God's salvation.
The shield of faith- It is when we stop trusting in God and his promises that the devil has a foothold in our lives and can strike us with his lies, with his deception, and his destruction. It is only through faith in God that we can have life and freedom. It is our faith that frees us from the devil's schemes that lead to death. 
The sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God- It is through God's word that we can overcome the devil. This is our one offensive piece of armor. Every other piece is to protect us. The word of God and His Spirit is what we can use to fight and destroy the devil's schemes. The Spirit gives us wisdom to understand God's word and use it to speak into our hearts and the hearts of others, so that the devil's lies will not take hold of our lives. As Christ fought off temptation with the word of God, so we also can use God's word to fight off every doubt, every deception, every temptation that the devil tries to use to win us over and enslave us to him.

An adventurous start to the day

So, it is only 7:40 in the morning and I have already started my day off with an adventure. This morning, I walked to the bus stop and was waiting for the bus and apparently was really tired, because I just got on the next bus that came my way. It happened to be a bus that would take me to school, but not the usual way that I take, so when it took a strange turn, I got off of it. I thought about getting back on when I saw which bus it was, but then realized that the bus that I generally take was right behind it. What I forgot to take into account was that I had turned in the wrong direction. So, I got on this bus and started riding it and was wondering if I was going the right way, when it finally got to the bus interchange and confirmed my fears. I had taken the right bus in the wrong direction. Thankfully, I leave early enough for school that I was able to get on the right bus in the right direction and still be here on time, but I don't have much time to get work done before 17 small bodies flood my classroom. As I write this, I am reminded of what we talked about in bible study yesterday relating to Hebrews 12:1. We discussed the phrase "let us throw off everything that hinders." We talked about how it is often good things that hinder us and make us focus on those things, rather than the goal, which is Christ. Often we are on the right bus heading in the wrong direction. We do the right things, but for the wrong reasons. It makes me ponder where my goal is? What direction am I heading? Why am I doing the things that I do? Is it to glorify God, or seek approval from others?