???????so blessed?
good day to all!been feeling this way since my 2nd day in Chongqing - the feeling of being blessed to overflowing! Met my new step-family here over this Christmas season.. which consists of a very adorable high “i” step-aunt and a pair of very loving doting stepgrandparents who also happen to be great cooks :)
just had a great time with our new family and im just super grateful for this family! We had the opportunity to share our testimonies and the gospel on Saturday morning,24th Dec around the breakfast table with grandma and the aunt and it was also such a great time of bonding. No definite decisions made yet for Jesus but i do hope it won't be long! It was howvever, a big step forward for this new family we have. Part of me wished we could be here longer and guide them towards a relationship with Christ .. i really hope they come to know God!
Also, i had one of the most interesting and happening Xmas eve so far! this was the first time i've experienced a family based karaoke! haah we went to this teenybopperish Karaoke place called haoledi - i'm quite sure we were the oldest group there. .. but imagine this! all of us had a turn at the mike.. from the grandparents to grandchildren.. our gamut of songs ranged from Deng Lijun to Boyzone to Jolin Tsai and Jay Chou.. and it was so cool and fun because of our super high I auntie! Just watching everyone in action.. i really feel so blessed. I honestly do think i have the coolest family ever.
Not only so, that very nite as we returned home, Amanda's auntie, Beibei (who's actually 2 years younger than her) started to tske an interest in the bible that amanda and i were reading. Thank GOd for Chinese version of One to One!.. Amanda was able to share with Beibei part of the first chapter on Salvation and she asked to be a Christian. Meanwhile, as i was watching this 15 year old share the word of God with 13 year old, my heart again was filled with hope and joy, that truly God has orchestrated and knitted this family for the furtherance of His kingdom. I know there is so much more He can do!
How do i balance this new found 'coolness' of my new family with the memories of the past family life? honestly, i don't know but i haven't actually really felt the need to balance anything.. my past remains the past with memories of my mum and my childhood and the fun we had.. but the verse that consistently comes to mind is
" From the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after another." (John 1:16)
and i can only say, that so much of life is the grace of God at work.. and today is that same grace that is continuing its work in our lives. There is something about God and knowing Him, that enlarges your vision and your heart in life. I am currently in a place in my life where i can stand and say that i (as if i were a third person now) can fully understand if i had chosen to reject my current life but yet, because in His graciousness, He has given me a bigger heart to hold reality, to see things, perhaps abit more the way He does, i have walked the way i've walked. And I've also seen that He truly desires none to perish but His love is for all and He would use all means that He would at least save some.
THough life situations could potentially and naturally be cruel to human soul, yet He is able to redeem, if only we let Him. I've been refelcting at how God has added this new family to mine, and even though my step-family thinks my brother and i are 'kind' to have welcomed them in the way we have, it is so clear to me that it is the truly the kindness of God at work in this entire family. Scripture tells us
It is the kindness of God which leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4). and how true it has become for me!
Is God cruel, to use our family situation in order that my step family may come to know Him? Is He also being unjust/ unfair then, to allow us to go through the sorrow that more may be reconciled to Him? (think: plagues in Egypt.. deja vu) At first glance, i think it is easy for a person to jump into defense mode to say that God is just making use of us and doesn't care about the pain of how we feel, but yet, to step into the larger picture, it is a matter for rejoicing.. the parable of the lost coin.. the parable of the 1 sheep that was lost but was found. Such is the heart of God.. such is His heart for man. and in all fairness, it hasn't been all 'suffering' for my first family... truly He has added one blessing after another.. i cannot even count the joy that Amanda has brought to my life and now the other extension of the family, from her mum, to her auntie and to her grandparents. I am not discounting the pain and the hurt that we've gone through and im not saying that God purposely made us go through it that way so His plans can be fulfilled. I'm sure there could have been a better way of fulfilling His purposes with alot less pain if human sin hadn't been involved, but again, God is in the business of turning around what the Enemy meant for evil, for the good of those who love Him and I believe that that is what He has done. Praise God for His everlasting love and kindness! :p
I continue to be so fascinated by how God has joined this 2 families together.. from a little town in Singapore.. to another little town within Chongqing. I mean, i just wonder how He handpicked these 2 families and orchestrated this whole thing. Somehow, i feel this joining of these 2 families is somewhat unique and significant.. how or what, i don't know but i only ask that it will bring great glory and advancement to the kingdom of God! My heart is filled with the joy of feeling blessed of God.. Thank you LORD, for this amazing family!
posted by Ivy @ 11:02 PM
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