To my writer friends, this is for you. I was at Bethel's Writer's Conference this last week and we prayed this prayer aloud to God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
Take this prayer with you and pray for God's blessings over your writing.
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Lord, as we offer our writing gift to You, we are believing You for:
Ideas and better ideas
Royalties and remuneration
Sales and best selling lists
Favor with publishers and agents
Awesome style and organization
Originality in metaphor creation
Clarity in communication
Grammar, usage and punctuation
Brilliance in word choice
Grace to finish
Writer's block dispelled
Procrastination diminished
Thank You, Lord, for being the Author and the Finisher of my writing
projects so I may tell of Your greatness and publish with the voice of thanksgiving that all may know You are good!
Hallelujah!!!!!
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Thursday, May 21, 2009
Monday, April 13, 2009
Dream on
Last night, I dreamt of a world colored in grayish brown. There were no other colors, no life. Everyone seemed content with mediocrity. Their situation, relations among each other had no subsistence. The sky was tinted tan and the walls, people, clothes, cars, buildings- all bland.
There was a gathering of the minds and spirits- the one event that matters. People congregated to study and discuss theology. A girl in the driver seat escorted a new comer to the gathering. She felt nothing throughout the whole drive. Her life was just there, nothing to look forward to. Life equals the transitory of time. The new comer, whom she was with, never said a word. She parked her car and they both walked into a room full of lethargic people- all prepared for the pretentious intellectual debate. Everyone had his or her pristine façade on- everyone, but you.
You walked in. Your face is different- more serious, full of gloom. You stopped to look at the girl. The girl looked at you. She looked away trying to hold back the tears, the urge to hold you, to tell you that she is sorry.
I woke up with tears in my eyes and heaviness on my heart.
As the sun will always set, Jesus will heal all wounds. It was just a dream. I am happy again.
There was a gathering of the minds and spirits- the one event that matters. People congregated to study and discuss theology. A girl in the driver seat escorted a new comer to the gathering. She felt nothing throughout the whole drive. Her life was just there, nothing to look forward to. Life equals the transitory of time. The new comer, whom she was with, never said a word. She parked her car and they both walked into a room full of lethargic people- all prepared for the pretentious intellectual debate. Everyone had his or her pristine façade on- everyone, but you.
You walked in. Your face is different- more serious, full of gloom. You stopped to look at the girl. The girl looked at you. She looked away trying to hold back the tears, the urge to hold you, to tell you that she is sorry.
I woke up with tears in my eyes and heaviness on my heart.
As the sun will always set, Jesus will heal all wounds. It was just a dream. I am happy again.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Hearing God
These past few weeks, my heart has been aching to know more of God, to sense Him and to hear Him. There are four keys to hearing God: 1. Be still and quiet your mind, 2. Look for a vision, 3. Allow spontaneous thoughts that uplifts you, 4. Write it down as God speaks to you.
I have a hard time sitting still and allowing the Presence of God to guide me sometimes, but tonight, I read a profound poem by Helen Mallicoat. It helps me to sense God in a tangible way.
------
I was regretting the past
And fearing the future.
Suddenly, my Lord was speaking:
"My name is I Am." He paused.
I waited. He continued,
"When you live in the past,
With its mistakes and regrets,
It is hard. I am not there.
My name is not I Was.
"When you live in the future,
With its problems and fears,
It is hard. I am not there.
My name is not I Will Be.
"When you live in this moment,
It is not hard. I am here.
My name is I Am."
------
Take a moment and drink it in. I am.
I have a hard time sitting still and allowing the Presence of God to guide me sometimes, but tonight, I read a profound poem by Helen Mallicoat. It helps me to sense God in a tangible way.
------
I was regretting the past
And fearing the future.
Suddenly, my Lord was speaking:
"My name is I Am." He paused.
I waited. He continued,
"When you live in the past,
With its mistakes and regrets,
It is hard. I am not there.
My name is not I Was.
"When you live in the future,
With its problems and fears,
It is hard. I am not there.
My name is not I Will Be.
"When you live in this moment,
It is not hard. I am here.
My name is I Am."
------
Take a moment and drink it in. I am.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Jim Caviezel
Last Sunday morning, the Cathedral of Faith in San Jose, had a special guest speaker, Jim Caviezel. Jim is the actor who played Jesus in The Passion. He brought up the profound message that we all need to pray from our heart and not from our head or soul. “Be honest with God. Tell Him that you are hurting, that you are struggling, that you can’t do it on your own.”
These past two weeks I have been struggling and Satan is the great deceiver. He has been tempting me to keep my schedule busy. Underneath every temptation is a lie. The hard part is discerning the lies when pain and confusion have already invaded your soul. “Underneath every temptation is a lie. Underneath every temptation is a lie.” I tell myself this trying to have that truth soak into my blood, the memory of my cells.
My struggle is trying to stay still and know that He is God, trusting that He wants only the best for me. It is so hard for me to be like Mary. I have always been more like Martha. I can never sit still. I have to be on the go, go, go; do, do, do. I have small group, night class, workout at the gym three times a week, go out on three dates in one week, hang out all day at the de Young, usher at church; plus read the Bible every night. My week flies by as if my days perpetually go black.
At first, for Lent I was thinking of giving up eating out for 40 days, but God brought back to my attention that I was being Martha again, trying to serve and sacrifice my time and energy. Yes, it is good to be Martha, but Mary chose the better part. She chose to sit at Jesus’ feet and soaked in His presence. God said to me, “Come back to Me. Be at my feet. Bathe in My Grace and My Glory.”
After a few more conversations with God, for Lent, I am to soak in worship music, pray and read the Word for two hours each night. I have done this three nights in a row already. And you know what I have discovered? It is still not enough time with Him! When you love someone, you want to be with him always. I want to have God with me 24/7. He is the best EVER!
These past two weeks I have been struggling and Satan is the great deceiver. He has been tempting me to keep my schedule busy. Underneath every temptation is a lie. The hard part is discerning the lies when pain and confusion have already invaded your soul. “Underneath every temptation is a lie. Underneath every temptation is a lie.” I tell myself this trying to have that truth soak into my blood, the memory of my cells.
My struggle is trying to stay still and know that He is God, trusting that He wants only the best for me. It is so hard for me to be like Mary. I have always been more like Martha. I can never sit still. I have to be on the go, go, go; do, do, do. I have small group, night class, workout at the gym three times a week, go out on three dates in one week, hang out all day at the de Young, usher at church; plus read the Bible every night. My week flies by as if my days perpetually go black.
At first, for Lent I was thinking of giving up eating out for 40 days, but God brought back to my attention that I was being Martha again, trying to serve and sacrifice my time and energy. Yes, it is good to be Martha, but Mary chose the better part. She chose to sit at Jesus’ feet and soaked in His presence. God said to me, “Come back to Me. Be at my feet. Bathe in My Grace and My Glory.”
After a few more conversations with God, for Lent, I am to soak in worship music, pray and read the Word for two hours each night. I have done this three nights in a row already. And you know what I have discovered? It is still not enough time with Him! When you love someone, you want to be with him always. I want to have God with me 24/7. He is the best EVER!
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Singles Awareness Day
For Valentine’s Day, the day of love, a group of us went to the Tenderloin in San Francisco and imparted God’s love and grace over homeless women. The group started early that morning by ironing the sheets and decorating the inside of SF Rescue Mission. Stations for foot massages, manicures, massage chairs and full facials were set up to offer free services to these women on Valentine’s Day.
I gave full facials to some of these women who, for a transitory moment, felt strangely familiar to me –a momentary connection between two strangers who have never met before until that very second. God is so good how He brings certain people into our lives. Though these women’s skins were not at their best, I was not too repulsed when I touched them. There was something peaceful about serving God through these women. Serving the homeless unleashed a flood of adoration for Jesus and His children. I even dove in and extracted some deep old blackheads! “Now, if that ain’t love, I don’t know what is!” There were a few times when my stomach churned as I watched the dried-up zit crawling out of the skin as if a worm is eating its way out of an apple. Ugghh… BUT OH! How much more beautiful they looked without the big blackheads screaming for attention. Each woman received a blessing from me while I massaged their heads, hands and feet. I prayed for God to clear their minds, allow their hands to make a living and their feet to run to Jesus.
At the end of each session, the women were so grateful; you could see Jesus’ love invade their souls. As much as I would have loved to help sheltered them, I would not be able add to their lives. At least, I was able to help give them a sense of beauty for 30 minutes and a sense of love when they were in my hands.
Later that evening, I found out that some, if not most, of the women were prostitutes. We served prostitutes! How amazing to know that these women who have been battered and used were actually being served and nurtured. God is so good. There is no other God like my God. No other God who deserves total adoration and commitment. My favorite passage from the Bible (and the wedding vow God gave me) is from the book of Ruth.
Ruth 1:16-17
“Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.”
Lord, I declare that I will go where You go. Your people are my people. I will serve them well as long as You are at my side. Remove everything and every person who will try and tempt me into leaving You. Amen.
I gave full facials to some of these women who, for a transitory moment, felt strangely familiar to me –a momentary connection between two strangers who have never met before until that very second. God is so good how He brings certain people into our lives. Though these women’s skins were not at their best, I was not too repulsed when I touched them. There was something peaceful about serving God through these women. Serving the homeless unleashed a flood of adoration for Jesus and His children. I even dove in and extracted some deep old blackheads! “Now, if that ain’t love, I don’t know what is!” There were a few times when my stomach churned as I watched the dried-up zit crawling out of the skin as if a worm is eating its way out of an apple. Ugghh… BUT OH! How much more beautiful they looked without the big blackheads screaming for attention. Each woman received a blessing from me while I massaged their heads, hands and feet. I prayed for God to clear their minds, allow their hands to make a living and their feet to run to Jesus.
At the end of each session, the women were so grateful; you could see Jesus’ love invade their souls. As much as I would have loved to help sheltered them, I would not be able add to their lives. At least, I was able to help give them a sense of beauty for 30 minutes and a sense of love when they were in my hands.
Later that evening, I found out that some, if not most, of the women were prostitutes. We served prostitutes! How amazing to know that these women who have been battered and used were actually being served and nurtured. God is so good. There is no other God like my God. No other God who deserves total adoration and commitment. My favorite passage from the Bible (and the wedding vow God gave me) is from the book of Ruth.
Ruth 1:16-17
“Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.”
Lord, I declare that I will go where You go. Your people are my people. I will serve them well as long as You are at my side. Remove everything and every person who will try and tempt me into leaving You. Amen.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Nadia
“She is not like an average four-year-old,” said the neighbor’s 12-year-old daughter when her mother asked if Nadia would like a Barbie doll for her birthday.
Nadia, my niece who looks just like me when I was little. Her mother is Argentine and her father, Vietnamese. Nadia –I love saying her name – has always been very mature for her age. She has to deal with the lack of love between her parents, watch her father walk off with another woman in his arms. She speaks Spanish, Vietnamese and English. Nadia watches Indy Foreign Movies with her mother, acts out funny characters from the movies, was taught by her mother to call her father “dork”.
Nadia, I love that little girl. I especially adore her. Not because she is the prettiest little thing, but more because her future will be so tough, because she has a father who cares more about his urges than about his four-year-old girl. Her face is of a sweet round innocent shape, but her eyes, they are so dark you can see the end of the world through them.
Nadia laughs and jokes like a little girl, but there are times when she speaks like an old woman. My poor, poor Nadia. So beautiful, yet destine to see ugliness around her. She sees me and she is happy. She sees her other cousins, aunts and uncles and she gets excited. She talks non-stop and plays games with her cousins. She gets lots of hugs and kisses from me – her auntie who tries to pour love in order to drown out the thought of her own father not loving her, to drown out the neediness of the assurance from a father’s love. She is beautiful how she radiates every time she smiles. She is beautiful how strands of her hair covers her face. She is beautiful how she is so small and thin that hugging her makes you want to hold her forever. “Nadia”, everyone loves calling her name.
Nadia, my niece who looks just like me when I was little. Her mother is Argentine and her father, Vietnamese. Nadia –I love saying her name – has always been very mature for her age. She has to deal with the lack of love between her parents, watch her father walk off with another woman in his arms. She speaks Spanish, Vietnamese and English. Nadia watches Indy Foreign Movies with her mother, acts out funny characters from the movies, was taught by her mother to call her father “dork”.
Nadia, I love that little girl. I especially adore her. Not because she is the prettiest little thing, but more because her future will be so tough, because she has a father who cares more about his urges than about his four-year-old girl. Her face is of a sweet round innocent shape, but her eyes, they are so dark you can see the end of the world through them.
Nadia laughs and jokes like a little girl, but there are times when she speaks like an old woman. My poor, poor Nadia. So beautiful, yet destine to see ugliness around her. She sees me and she is happy. She sees her other cousins, aunts and uncles and she gets excited. She talks non-stop and plays games with her cousins. She gets lots of hugs and kisses from me – her auntie who tries to pour love in order to drown out the thought of her own father not loving her, to drown out the neediness of the assurance from a father’s love. She is beautiful how she radiates every time she smiles. She is beautiful how strands of her hair covers her face. She is beautiful how she is so small and thin that hugging her makes you want to hold her forever. “Nadia”, everyone loves calling her name.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Waste it on Jesus
A torrent of questions got unleashed when I realized how inexorably mesmerized I was with the statement the co-star in a movie said to the heroine, “I don’t want you to change. I like you the way you are.” I have learned that men marry women hoping that they won’t change, while the women marry the men hoping that they do change. I believe it is important to change for the better, to grow into our best self.
We all have wrestled with our checklist of what we want in a perfect mate, but what kind of list are we? I mean, if someone were to put us on a checklist, what characteristics do we have that would merit us to be on the checklist in the first place?
This got me thinking. What does it mean to be my best for my future husband? What skills, talents, and qualities would I like to bring to the table? What is the best version of me? What do I need to do to be that person?
I realize that I am not good when it comes to dating, but I do know that if the relationship does not push me forward, if it does not push me to be better -to be my best- then it is not worth a relationship at all.
So… I guess… I rather be single than to be in a stale relationship wasting my time spiritually dying instead of wasting my time on Jesus.
We all have wrestled with our checklist of what we want in a perfect mate, but what kind of list are we? I mean, if someone were to put us on a checklist, what characteristics do we have that would merit us to be on the checklist in the first place?
This got me thinking. What does it mean to be my best for my future husband? What skills, talents, and qualities would I like to bring to the table? What is the best version of me? What do I need to do to be that person?
I realize that I am not good when it comes to dating, but I do know that if the relationship does not push me forward, if it does not push me to be better -to be my best- then it is not worth a relationship at all.
So… I guess… I rather be single than to be in a stale relationship wasting my time spiritually dying instead of wasting my time on Jesus.
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