More Than Eyes Can See
"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." Jim ElliotPrayer For My Sponsored Children
never once in my life i wished to be a mom until that day…when i met my two sponsored children and their older brother. their bright brown eyes turned my whole world upside down. their beautiful innocent smile melted my heart. and all i wanted to do was to be with them there. i never thought i would fall in love with someone this much.
so here is my humble tribute…and a gift…to my beloved.
“My child, I love you. I wish I could take a better care of you. To know how to comfort you when you cry, to be more confident in caring for you when you are sick, to be able to feed you every meal when you are hungry, to have the authority to teach you as you journey along this life and to introduce you to our loving Father who will never fail you even though I may depart from you. I long to protect you from harm and shield you from the harshness of injustice. You are gifts from God. I never imagined I could love someone this much…to break for you and to be this willing to intervene so you can live a better life. Yet I know that God put you there for a reason. You are in good hands. The church, the teachers and the project staff are there to protect and look after you. Though I wish I could take you to be my adopted children, I would never ever take you away from your father, the one who loves you most.
Maw Too Nae, Majeetuay, Mana-A… I love you from the deepest part of my heart. Many times in the past, I foolishly said this without understanding much of its meaning, but I do now. I love you so much that my heart breaks to thousand pieces when I see you suffer. But you piece it all back together with your smile and naïve eyes. You give me hope and fuel my passion to serve our Father better so that children like you will be safe from harm and live life to the fullest as God intended for you to do.
Maw Too Nae, when I first saw you, I fell in love with you. I asked you what you want to be and you said that you want to be a soldier because you want to be great among men. My prayer for you is that you will seek to be great in the eye of God and not men. May your desire to be powerful does not corrupt your kind heart but that it will lead you to serve great causes for our Father’s children in the future. May you never abuse the power God will have given you. I pray for a strong male role model in your life so that you will be able to learn from him and imitate him. May Jesus Christ be your first role model. May your kindness and courage bless those around you, especially the needy.
Majeetuay, you are a beloved child of God. This, no one can take away. You are beautiful inside and out. You have a humble spirit and a heart to serve. Your honesty and faithfulness are your strong traits. May you never lose them. Even though others may see them as foolishness, do not trade these characters with anything less. God has given you these gifts to bring transformation in your nation in the future. May the Lord’s face shine upon you and may His favor be your guidance. I do not know how He will use you. But hold on to Him and His word. He will never let you down. You will make a great doctor, my dear.
Mana-A, you are free-spirited as a butterfly, beautiful as a dove and yet bold as a lion. May you fear our Father, who created all the beautiful things in this world. Today and forever. You want to be a teacher. I believe that you will use your creativity in making this world more beautiful through teaching and mentoring your future students. May your determination and strong will bring transformation in this crooked society. I pray that the Lord would guard your steps as you roam freely in His world. May you find freedom and liberation in Jesus Christ. May you be an agent of change.
Dear child, I will do everything I can, in my power, to help, to serve and to love you. Thank you for inspiring me. You make me a better woman.”
More of God…Less of Me…
oh child, when you behold the creations of this world — wiggling earth worms to graceful dolphins streaming the ocean to majestic eagles soaring high in the sky to the milky way in the shivering dark night to the explosive volcano — do you not feel something stirred deep inside your heart? do you ever yearn for Me?
the marvelous light, the peculiar happenings, the change of behaviors and courses of animals, the supernatural power manifested in the global events – do you not see the imprints of My hands?
I am the God of love and peace. Despite the destitute destruction I have allowed to happen, do you not know that My heart is broken within Me? My tears have overflown. I weep for My children.
how long shall you go astrayed from Me? how long shall you sojourn this life as strangers in My land? I long for you to come to Me….because, you know what, your home is here. with Me. and there is nothing better than for Me to hold you close to My heart. and you shall experience pain no more.
I am your God. and I don’t share My glory with others.
the passage above came through as i worshipped the Lord. i tend to belittle God in my ways of life. but during the time of worship, He spoke to me — “I am your God. and I don’t share My glory with others”. and i am so humbled…every good and bad things that happen here are all parts of His plan. at this moment, i am speechless. the words are overwhelming within my soul. i cannot weave a description that portrays His beauty. and i am afraid that when i utter a sound, i might lose it all — this holy ground…where i stand with Jesus so clear and fixed on my focus. that “home” is within my sight…so close to my grasp…arouses in me the yearning for a life eternal with full knowledge of Jesus Christ, the Man who impersonated God’s “unconditional love” and made it tangible for all human to be able to grasp. this Man i have fallen in love with.
…to scale to the summit of Your word…
…to dive deep into the richness of Your love…
…to fathom the unmeasurable wisdom…
…to simply be still in the embrace of my Father…
this is the hope every Christian lives for…and many more.
“I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth.And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes —I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!” Job 19:25-27
Why Is Christ So Good to Me?
“God’s kindness brings true repentance” — this has been something on my mind recently.
i have never met a man or known of a God so genuinely in love with an ugly person…a sinner like me. undeniably, we have two sides of us; one respectable and enviable among our circles of friends and another, the spiteful, unpleasant us. so much that we, ourselves, cannot believe we possess such traits…ones that are revealed when selfishness is at its best.
but God has a way to come through our thick heart.
have you ever been pressed into the raw reality of your own self — to feel every millimeter of your ugliness…to remember all the disgusting sins you have committed and wonder how you can still live with them? then the memory of a Man who is always by your side came back to you? the Man who loves you despite your lot of sins. the time we lie to our parents, murder our friends with jealousy or commit adultery as we surf internet, He is there…His love, unchanging.
how can He remain loving and so good to us?
this love breaks me. when i cannot live myself anymore, God reminds me that i am His beloved…that when He formed me, i was made “good”…and that His plan for my life is full of good things. and this love wants me to be better for Him. not for myself nor my reputation…for God who loves me…nonetheless.
“You didn’t think, did you, that just by pointing your finger at others you would distract God from seeing all your misdoings and from coming down on you hard? Or did you think that because he’s such a nice God, he’d let you off the hook? Better think this one through from the beginning. God is kind, but he’s not soft. In kindness he takes us firmly by the hand and leads us into a radical life-change.”
Romans 2:3-4 (The Message)
The Geometry Lesson
i am a free-spirited and romantic person. i don’t mind people giving advices because that helps me grow as a person. but i hate when i am told of what to do. when someone orders me, without asking if it is something i want to do, i am offended. stress kicks in. and i start to draw away from that person.
when i was in grade 6, my parents hired a personal tutor to teach me homework every evening. i usually enjoyed our time because my tutor, a middle-aged female teacher, was very kind and understanding, except for that one fateful night when i was obliged to sit for 2 hours to finish the geometry assignment.
geometry was and still is a mystery to me. i could never get a hold of its concept and how to work the math with the shapes and angles. i don’t remember what we were talking about. but i remember the scene very well. my teacher and i hunched over a pile of paper and my opened math book. she was explaining something far too foreign {and note that i cannot articulate it on here because i am still as dumb as an ass when it comes to geometry today}. i was frustrated that the lesson was far into the 2nd hour when i was supposed to eat supper by that time. i was pissed at myself because geometry made me realize that i wasn’t as smart as i thought. and i was on the verge of tears because i wanted to give it up.
as discretely as possible, i wiped my tears away before it dropped onto the thin brown page.
who would cry for a geometry lesson, you may think. i did. because i didn’t enjoy it for a bit. and because i was forced to do something i didn’t like.
as i have matured, this geometry lesson follows me. not in a torturing tutorial class {that kinda rolled off your tongue, eh?}but more in a life’s responsibility. i am turning 28 this march. but i barely have anything set up for my future. my saving remains in the 4-digits numbers. i make no plans in leaving this work i love so much any time soon. and i enjoy traveling a lot, which means, i would need someone who enjoys the same thing to settle down with.
this geometry-class feeling kicks in as my mom and a man i care about start ordering me around. i wish i was humbled enough to listen and obey them, because i know that it came out of the good will. but all i heard was that…i wasn’t measuring up to their standards. that i wasn’t good enough to be who i was for them.
“lose your weight, mink.”
“save some money. don’t spend it on movies and food too much. limit yourself to 100 Baht a day, can you?”
“what is your plan for the next year?”
“you should study master degree so you can find a teaching job.”
“you are already 28. you can’t just live like you were 18. future is awaiting you. what about marriage? husband? children?”
these words didn’t only get through my thick head as accusation of my immaturity but also pierce through my heart. these words were double-edged swords, intended to put my senses back to reality. yet they stung.
perhaps i am in a mid-life crisis. people have to watch you closely like they would to vulnerable teenagers as if i was ill. as if i would run away if problems were too unbearable {although the idea is tempting, and although i have considered “solitude retreat”, i won’t do it for the sake of causing troubles}.
many people have their own ways to cure their pressure. some choose healthy ways to deal with it such as running, boxing or playing squash to release the stress. but, sadly, some pour their frustration and anger into a bottle, a box of cigerattes or a tray of drugs. for me, with exercising to divert my attention on confusion, i have to come back to the origin - where the stress begins.
i have struggled with this issue of self-insufficiency, which reflects my insecured identity even though i believe that God values me. this issue has been my soft spot. if someone points out any wrongs in me, i instinctively fire back, “why can’t you accept me the way i am? what is wrong with me?” i have hurt far too many loved ones with these questions.
why do i feel belittled? why am i easily offended? i try not to expect others to change themselves for me. why are they trying to change me then? —- low expectation — i learned a hard lesson not to expect much from people around me so that i wouldn’t be disappointed at the end.
thus, i please my way through life.
a geometry lesson. resurrected to bring revelation – that i have some serious issues i need to deal with before i move on to the next stage of life.
one thing i know is this — the only person i need to please for the rest of my life is the Lord.
God’s kingdom and the 6 billion tiny little kingdoms where God has granted a small and temporary exemption for His sovereignty. these are “ruled” by us individually in the form of our will. the kingdom of God advances everytime one of us chooses to align our will with the will of the King – when His will is done in and through us.
- Compassion’s Philosophy on Church
Jesus, as You bring my problems to the surface, give me wisdom to deal with each one as You would want to accomplish. give me the courage to make the right decision, even though it means abandoning my hopes and dreams. reconcile me to Your love…to the first love i had when i first met You. reign in my heart and head. cleanse me from the sins that have long trapped me. and i pray that you would give me Your power to love even those who have hurt me. i bring my friend i dearly love to you too. if it was your will for us to share life together, then please work in our relationship. but if we are walking off Your path, then direct our hearts and minds to follow You back to where we belong.
A Shoes Story
story — the word has been on my mind recently. my job at compassion is to convey all kinds of stories to people, ocean apart, who give us money every month. i tell stories through articles, photos and sometimes prayer requests. but i thought, “hmm, i haven’t been telling a lot of my stories lately…it’s about time i start doing that!”
so, this year, my theme on this blog will be “story”. it will be stories i will have encountered with — maybe about me, someone else or random experiences. i hope to fill this online corner with adventures and emotions. i will probably not be as disciplined to write every day…and sometimes i will forget to tell stories and just rant or complain…but i invite you {whoever stops by here today} to join me and pray that you will bear with me.
i don’t have any aggressive objectives, except that i will be a better story teller through practicing and, most importantly, that i and you will see God’s grace through thick and thin and be able to give Him thanks.
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i love shoes. i may not be as obsessed as carrie bradshaw from “sex and the city” or rebecca bloomwood from “the confessions of a shopacholic”, who can’t resist to buy a new pair of shoes despite the fact that their closets are bursting at its seams. i never smell new shiny shoes too. 
{i do that with books} but i enjoy wandering in the shoes department, appreciating the art of shapes and forms, patterns and colors. i don’t usually buy a lot of them all at once. and i never buy a pair of shoes that cost more than a thousand baht. but i love shoes.
right now, i have about 5 practical pairs for different occasions: an already-worn white flip-flops {that i sometimes wear when i trek. stupid, i know, but very convenient. you should try}, a pair of brown leather sandals for work and other formal business, a vintage white dress shoes with pastel orange flowers for weddings and banquets {white holds a special place in my heart}, a pair of sneakers for when i don’t feel like wearing flip-flops when i trek and a pair of used running shoes {that my american friend passed on to me 5 years ago. surprisingly, they still fit. i have hobbit feet. they never grow bigger.}
as you can see, i am quite practical when it comes to personal items. i think i have done pretty good at resisting temptation.
yesterday, i went to central plaza airport, a big shopping mall in chiang mai, to pay bills. every time i go there, i tend to lose my self-esteem…not much…but enough to be very self-conscious about my look. see, it seems like 75% of the shoppers dress like they are on a paris fashion week’s catwalk! and this is just chiang mai! if you have been to the paragon mall in bangkok, you will understand me when i say i would rather stay home and shop online than come out with my way-too-laid-back outfit.
anyway, while i was window shopping, i thought i would stop by a shoes shop…”just to look”. then just a few feet away from the shop, i decided to simply walk past because it was unnecessary. i don’t need a new pair right now because i have enough and because i have too much to commit to financially already. i was a bit sad and quietly blamed the fate {rolled eyes here} for too many expenses i have to be responsible for. so i thought i would watch a movie as a replacement for my disappointment.
i bought a ticket to watch “the Lady”, a movie about Aung San Sukyi, and bought a box of popcorn and a bottle of water. then i proceeded to the quiet, red-carpeted lounge to wait and was settled quite comfortably in my high-back victorian chair {yah, theaters in thailand are quite fancy} as i read dr. scott todd’s 58: fast living book. { by the way, i haven’t been able to finish any compassion books in my 3 and a half years before because of the heavy content…and if you are like me, you have already lived “compassion” for 5 days, then you would rather read a chick-flick or a horror story than a book on holistic development. no offense, of course}
i came across this passage that brought such conviction to my desires:
dr. todd was talking about the earthquake in haiti and the blame people posed on the Divine as “an act of God”. he said that in comparison to the earthquake with similar magnitude in greater los angeles area in 1994, where only 63 people were dead {and the population in LA was 12 times greater than in port-au-prince}, “the difference between sixty-three deaths and 230,000 is poverty.” i was blown away by his challenging perspective because, like most people, i don’t think we can control nature. his view was that the devastation in haiti was not because of the “act of God” alone but also poverty born out of corruption.
“but what is an ‘act of God’ really?…should we limit God’s actions to things like earthquakes and infections? we tend to credit humans with interventions like rebars and vaccines, but they are acts of God too. all good things come from Him (see james 1″17). would anyone say, ‘because human invented shoes, i won’t wear them’? no, of course we wear them, and if we are in a right state of mind, we thank God for providing them. (bold added)”
dr. scott todd from the 58: fast living book
the bold sentences were what struck me. it may be a bit irrelevant to what dr. todd was saying but it pierced my heart because i was secretly jealous of people who wore more fancy shoes than i. i was convicted, at that moment, that i hadn’t thanked God enough for providing me shoes to wear and money to buy them. i often looked at my rugged sandals and compared them with those red shiny shoes…and i wish i had those too.
but the fact that i don’t have to walk barefeet and burn my skin on a sun-scorched street is enough to celebrate.
"enough"
the greatest love is this…
following the post from yesterday, i am compelled to share these quotes that have encouraged me during the times of spiritual drought or doubts.
“we can do no great things, just small things with great love. it is not how much you do, but how much love you put into doing it.” – mother teresa
“Jesus raised His friend lazarus from the dead, and a few years later, lazarus died again. Jesus healed the sick, but they eventually caught some other disease. He fed the thousands, and the next day they were hungry again. but we remember His love. it wasn’t that Jesus healed a leper but he touched a leper, because no one touched lepers. and the incredible thing about that love is that it now lives inside of us.” – shane claireborne
“i think God wants us to let go of the things we love the most so that we can experience true love.” j.glass
love is a choice. to find true love, we have to risk going on a big adventure where there will be monsters and mount doom.
it all starts with your heart. is your heart reflecting God’s heart today? passionate for the poor. courageous. willing to take a step of faith out of comfort zone.
as you share God’s table, what do you hear? when you break the bread and drink the wine, do you hear Him?
“i am partaking in the suffering of sin with you and for you. i am doing this because i love you.”
compassion means “suffering with“. jesus’ flesh was torn and his blood dripped on the cross because He chose to suffer with us and for us. God loves us.
if we are His sons and daughters, will we not do the same thing for our brothers and sisters across the globe?
“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?” – isaiah 58: 6-7
“how very true – if our hearts break at the plight of the world’s children, what is a mere million among the literally billions that suffer in our world today? it will be wonderful to be able to impact the lives of a million children, but it still will be just a drop in the ocean!…God hurts for children in countries where Compassion’s ministry might never reach…
but I have come to believe that God expects Compassion to minister to children beyond those we can sponsor…He wants to bless the children of the world by using Compassion beyond our wildest imagination.”
- wess stafford
ways to change the world: fast. pray. give.
i have been gone — for a long time. wordpress wouldn’t let me in unless i signed in again.
the reason that brought me back to this space tonight is not about myself. but it is about children. in poverty. after all, i am working in a holistic child development organization.
words. questions. pictures. they can’t describe enough. but that pair of dark eyes still taunts me. hopelessness. hunger. humiliation. even as i close my eyes, i see his — and my stomach drops. my insides turn. and my eyes well up. this little boy of ten has come to a conclusion of life that he can be nothing more than an enslaved quarry worker in the sun-scorched land.
“i want everyone to be happy. i do have desires. but my dreams will never come true so let me not have dreams at all”, said he.
my heart crumbles. faced with the harsh reality of poverty, this indian boy legitimately shoved aside any desires so he wouldn’t be disappointed by the impossible.
yet he deserves better, doesn’t he? to dream. to hope. to live to the fullest.
the story above comes from a scene in 58: the film, a movie based out of dr. scott todd’s “58: fast living – how the church will end extreme poverty”. the bottom line is, according to dr. todd, “Jesus is decidedly optimistic that His people can end extreme poverty.” we are to not only be hopeful but to expect the eradication of poverty to happen in our lifetime.
pause for a second. what was your reaction when you read that last paragraph? did you just cringe inside? or were you filled with enthusiasm?
i know that for many of us, poverty is an issue a million miles away. we just don’t care. i was one. but the good news is – it’s not because we are indifferent. we just don’t know. but now that i have raised that up, will you consider read this post more slowly and visit this site?
you will be changed.
habakkuk 1:5 says,
“Look at the nations and watch—
and be utterly amazed.
For I am going to do something in your days
that you would not believe,
even if you were told.”
it is okay to doubt but don’t let doubt eat up our passion for the cause God has put into your hearts. we can make a difference now.
on this upcoming january 25, i, along with others from around the globe, will be committed to praying for children and people who are exposed to or suffering from malaria in thailand. this marks the 1st month of the 58: global impact tour, which will take you online to 12 countries and 12 issues. we will fast together, pray together and give together. visit here if you want to know more of this.
i invite you, my friends, to take on this journey with me. we are hopeful because we know that the Lord is faithful. we are not worriers but warriors. thus, we pray and follow our Captain.
“hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing,
the dawn will come. you wait and watch and work: you don’t give up.”
- anne lamot
Defining My Voice Personality And My First Published Story Ever
my bum hurts…from having sat up in my most uncomfortable chair for 9 hours straight. i usually sneak out to chat with friends at other desks or spend time reading magazines in the toilet…maybe 7-10 times a day (i know it’s a waste of working time. and my boss would probably give me that frowned eyebrows). but today i have been planted in this chair for so long that i started to believe i have grown roots!
it’s a long weekend and i try to get as much work done as possible so that i can travel up the mountain to a “coffee tasting festival” (ooh-la-la) worry-free. but as germs spread wider when we try to scrub and clean them off, such is my work. from my experiences, though, eventually all get done. on time. by God’s grace.
i have been on a quest searching for my writing identity. everyone has distinguished writing style. some are formal and uptight; some, smooth and poetic and some, sarcastic and funny. i enjoy reading blogs. so. much. i usually have this 30-minute interval between working on my assignment and then switching to read about my friend’s recent trip to europe or the inspirational daily living of a canadian family or a used-to-be-ironic writer-colleague’s motherhood journey or the funny but insightful stories of the worst missionary ever or my american fellow’s dadabase (oops, i didn’t mean to make this public. crossed-fingers, hoping my boss doesn’t come across this post!) throughout the day.
there are many more people i follow. but my point is – i learn from them. these writers possess strong writing characters and express clear sense of their own identities. and i envy admire them.
the challenges are 1) i am not a native speaker so i have to work my butt off and constantly correct myself to improve my writing skills. 2) i don’t know what type of a writer i want to be. i started writing diary when i was 12 years old (puppy-love stuff). now, instead of “writing diary”, i journal. and i write for compassion international. still, i am on the verge of deciding what kind of personality i want to give to my stringed letters. and 3) well, i can’t think of anything anymore but a writing guide-book says that three is a good number to make points on one’s writing. clearly, i need to have it.
it is very important, as we all know, that to be excellent at something, we must practice, practice, practice. if i want to be better at what i do, i have to pick up a pen {or in this case, press the power on} and let my mind roam free. i used to limit myself to writing only spiritual stuff {more of reflection on life} because that is what i have been doing. but in order to define my voice’s personality, i need a collection of voices first. i don’t know how well this approach will turn out but it’s worth a try.
ending this post is my first-EVER published story on US compassion magazine - ”a just cause“, a story of two thai children who were sexually abused and found a legal lifeline.
{may i just brag a little…i am so proud!} this story, like many other productions, came with sweat, tears and sacrifices of faithful workers and the children themselves, who were willing to let me publicize their story. my boss. my colleagues. my editors. they squeezed until all the essence of the story came out and smoothed it until it is not only readable but catches attention.
ok, the ending’s ending - a bonus vdo clip that i had been listening to all day “when the saints” by sara groves, covered by “thecoveringband”.
:: what is your writing personality? how did you find your “voice”? and how do you get inspired when even thinking of writing is so dire?::
Be Present – a Lesson From Badminton
i should be in bed by now. instead, i am wide awake, listening to the clicking sound of my own keyboard typing. it is in the quiet of night i get to explore the inner part of me, the part that was hidden and cast aside during the rushed hours of the day.
have you ever woke out of bed and started doing things instinctively? we jump out of bed, brush our teeth, take a bath, pull out our outfit from the closet, get dressed, eat breakfast, drive to work, go about our day, drive home, eat dinner, read briefly, yawn, slip under the blanket and go to sleep. is it the same with you? most days, i do exactly like that.
one of my dad’s favorite childhood teaching was – be present. be there with yourself when your brain thinks, your mind plans, your hands touch, your heart feels and your lips speak. know what is being done at the moment and aim at the results. picture what you want for the final outcome.
dad and i loved playing badminton together. he taught me how to hold a racket, where to position myself in a court and how to serve burdies. he was an athlete. it was no doubt he was far more advanced than i was. but i dared myself to beat him. we were both competitive when it came to badminton. one evening, in the heat of my losing battle, when the sweat and tears blurred my eyes and my hands were shaking, dad shouted from the other side of the court,
“mink! don’t just hit burdies aimlessly! look at me, be present and serve!”
though i was young and didn’t even consider badminton as a career, i took the advice. i watched dad intensely, then looked at the burdie in my hand, threw it up and hit it with all my might…
if it were tennis, i scored an ace.
from that day on, i have tried to live by dad’s teaching – to be present in whatever circumstances, wherever i find myself in and whoever i am with. the moment is there for us to catch but, if we blink, if we don’t pay attention, it will slip away. and we might never get it back.
i am practicing being present every day. it is never easy, especially for us, women, who are multi-taskers. but it’s worthwhile. i literally instruct myself to brush my teeth, comb my hair, wash my hands, plan my work and do one thing at a time, as almost impossible as it might be. i also try to drop everything i am doing at the moment to be there for my family members or friends. sometimes the voices you listen to aren’t heard until you turn and look into their eyes.
working on being present is, to me, another form of meditation. it slows down my living pace, raises a sense of awareness of those around me and also directs my path. when your heart and head are clear, you hear the voice of the Lord even clearer.
the Bible scriptures show us how God is always present to us:
God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble. (psalm 46:1)“Am I only a God nearby,”
declares the LORD,
“and not a God far away?
Who can hide in secret places
so that I cannot see them?”
declares the LORD.“Do not I fill heaven and earth?”
declares the LORD. (jeremiah 23:23-24)
yes, i know that, though we were made in His image, we are not God. and we can’t fill the whole heaven and earth the way He does. BUT we can make impact in someone’s world by being present in their lives. your mom and dad. your siblings. your spouses. your children. your friends. your lovers. your colleagues. your neighbors. how can we influence these people if we are distracted and drawn away all the time?
what are getting your attention now? your facebook friends or someone sitting next to you asking when we can go out for lunch? your unfinished marketing plan or your children’s plea for you to just take a look at their drawing? the corrupted influence over 100 people at work or the honest life-changing impact in a sunday-school child’s life?
living is making choices. even though i am still young and foolish, believe me, i have been to the moment of complete absence. i never realized i missed so much until everything passed away.
::time is of the essence. when it flows, it doesn’t return. be wise::
