We've had more than the usual share of life challenges coming up with the normal stress of moving and settling in a new neighborhood. Little and not so little. Numerous "this-shouldn't-be-this-hard" types of things come up each week. Breaking small and major appliances, physical injuries, a few things lost or stolen. Oh how the enemy has tried to discourage us and make us give up on being here, but we know we are in a spiritual battle so that helps me keep my chin up to know I'm on the winning side and not just "cursed with bad luck!"
The other day, walking back from the market (I'd had to walk to 4 markets last week to get one important item needed for school), I walked by a store just next to our home that sells Buddhist worship items. I started to feel dizzy! Okay, maybe some would say it's the heat and humidity and ALL THAT WALKING. But I do believe it's also Spiritual. Back in Singapore once again, I have thoughts of my being worthless, life being hopeless, suicide is an option, angry and short tempered... It's not pretty.
It's serious business!
It could be worse. At least it's only the weather and the Devil that's getting me down. A missionary we know in Indonesia was just emergency medivac'd to Singapore -- strange symptoms they couldn't figure out. After running tests here, they found a specific diabetic medicine in his blood stream. HE'D NOT KNOWINGLY INGESTED IT. Someone tried to poison him! He's back to Indonesia now...with his family...carrying on in their ministry. That's more than a broken dryer or smashed in the door finger.
The amazing gift from God is that no matter how chaotic, angry, buried or hopeless the thoughts are in my head, I'm trying to stay POSITIVE. And it's easy to get encouragement. My students in the 3 classes I'm teaching are thrilled (even last night when I left for class and don't realize 'till I'm on the hour bus ride that I left my lesson plans and demo dvds at home!). And my unflappable Jim handles the move, family responsibility and growing ministry with grace.
This past week I met an agnostic South African white woman in her 80's. She's visiting the family of a fairly new Christian woman in my weekly Bible study. God's hand was in it. Over lunch we had a nice chat about her perspective on life, and the Christian worldview that God is good even if the world is full of evil. Her son is not a believer yet, but the whole family attends church. My friend wasn't sure at first to invite her to the Bible Study. I told her, "Just give her the opportunity to say NO." But she said yes, and the study that morning was a disucssion of Romans ch 5...basic Christian theology - what we believe and why. I brought up how much I've enjoyed EPIC by John Eldredge.
Over our first lunch, mother-in-law said her bridge partners back in South Africa are all Christians but she thinks they've given up trying to convert her! I told her I wouldn't think of trying to convert her! "If God and the Holy Spirit are real, and if you are open about that possibility and WANT to know, then GOD will reveal it to you. It's not up to ME! It's just so wonderful to know him, that we want everyone to have what we have and sometimes we Christians get a little too pushy!" The next day I was in a meeting where they had extra copies of EPIC on the table. I called my friend who said, "Mom just mentioned she's looking for something to read while she's here." So I went to her house to have lunch with them 2 days in a row, and passed the book on. We shall see what becomes of it.
Back to building my new IKEA bookshelves (did I write that our former bookshelves are on a shipping boat headed to Dallas Texas? Ha! That's one thing I didn't expect in loaning things out last year.)
No comments:
Post a Comment