:: Wisdom Wednesday - Communicating with my Heavenly Father ::

I know I've been unable to keep up with this one for awhile. I'm not even sure if this post is appropriate to its original intentions for Wisdom Wednesday. Nevertheless, I hope to strive to do this weekly and faithfully so I can challenge myself and be changed by God's Word as I fulfil my ministry as a mother at home.

Hannah has recently been able to communicate with us by saying words like 'please', 'drop', 'no more', 'no' (this is a frequent one), 'ummm' (meaning to eat), 'kick' and some others I can't recall for now. She is also trying to imitate the words that we speak to her. It is certainly delightful to hear my child communicating with me. Of course, there are times when she utters a whole string of gibberish which I do not understand, but I know she is trying to tell me something. Then I have to play the guessing game. It is frustrating both for her and me when this happens.

Psalm 139
1 O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
2 You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off.
3 You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.
4 For there is not a word on my tongue,
But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.
5 You have hedged me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is high, I cannot attain it.

I'm so glad my relationship with my Heavenly Father is nothing like that. He know my needs even before I ask Him. He understands my thoughts. In other words, He knows my every move! I can either tremble at that thought in fear when I am sneaky about my doings, or I can find comfort in the fact that God knows me so well I can always depend on Him. I can ask Him for my needs because I know He'll always give me something good, just as I love to give Hannah good things too.

Matthew 7:7-11
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

I am glad that being a mother has taught me many things about my own relationship with God my Heavenly Father. Our human relationships seems so insignificant when I compare it to the relationship that I have as a child of God.

:: Widsom Wednesday - A Great Ministry ::

Deuteronomy 4:9
"Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren"

It was a great few days away from the usual routine. As Hannah took her usual naps while we were on vacation, I was able to devote much time to reading.

There are still many times when I wonder how all these mundane activities like feeding, bathing and playing with my daughter is of any eternal value. Sometimes I think I can do 'greater' things for God, like do more in a ministry in church, spend more time ministering to others outside the home, and so on. Or take it easy and let someone else help me with all this. After all, it's really just the small things that someone else can do just as well, if not better, than me.

It dawned on me during my reading and meditation that although I will be 'putting off' a full-time teaching job really soon, I am really 'putting on' a mothering job that will, by God's grace, last through generations. It is certainly a high calling. This ministry of motherhood is important because it will impact future generations, and not just my daughter.

Here's an excerpt I read from 'A Mother's Heart' by Jean Fleming:

Mothering can seem an isolated occupation unrelated to anything beyond the immediate needs of the family, but there is no more natural way for a mother to influence her world for Christ than through her own children. We will touch few lives with more intensity than the children God has placed in our homes. The implications of this are awesome. Time devoted to our children should not be spent marking time, but as an investment in one of our greatest minsitry opportunities. Although our children should not be the total focus of our ministry, if we neglect them to pursue other ministries we may one day find we lacked a biblical vision of mothering.

May God help me to look beyond all the little mundane things I do everyday and realise that it is a minsitry in itself, and when I am faithful in doing so, the Lord will bless not only my children, but future generations to come. Just that thought alone spurs me on in fulfiling my minstry as a mother for now :)

Psalm 78
1 Give ear, O my people, to my law;
Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings of old,
3 Which we have heard and known,
And our fathers have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their children,
Telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD,
And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.

I know all these thoughts are still big picture thoughts. I would like to think about how God's Word can help me in more specific issues too. That will be my challenge for next week's Wisdom Wednesday's post!

:: Wisdom Wednesday - Remember ::

December is always a good time to look back at the year and thank the Lord for bringing us through the days, weeks and months that have past. For one, this year is quite different from the rest with little Hannah around, and many many difficult circumstances that have happened as well.

remember [zakar zaw-kar']

a primitive root; properly, to mark (so as to be recognized), i.e. to remember; by implication, to mention; (make) mention (of), be mindful, recount, record(-er), remember, make to be remembered, bring (call, come, keep, put) to (in) remembrance, X still, think on, X well.

As Hannah's 1st birthday approaches, I've also taken some time to remember the little milestones of her development to this day, even as she learns to walk. I want to remember all these not because I'm beaming with pride that my daughter is growing well. I can only be thankful that from the day she was born and even the days when she was still in the womb, God was so faithful so sustain and keep her. She is healthy and strong not because of the food I give her, but because God is good. I still marvel at how uneventful (in the negative sense) my pregnancy and her development has been to this day.

And so, today's post is about remembering the goodness of God in all of our lives. You might be thinking, my life hasn't been very smooth sailing. Well, mine hasn't really been either. But when we look at an unchanging God, He is eternally good, whether or not we deem it as so. And every situation is an opportunity to glorify God. Yes, it is!

I'm beginning to love the book of Deuteronomy because it is a constant reminder to me that God was good and faithful to His people as He led them out of Egypt, into tthe wilderness and finally the promised land. Moses repeatedly reminds the Israelites to remember all these things.

Deuteronomy 8:2 And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.

Deuteronomy 8:18 “And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

Deuteronomy 32:7 “ Remember the days of old,
Consider the years of many generations.
Ask your father, and he will show you;
Your elders, and they will tell you:

Everything we are and have is from God, and we need to point it back to Him and give Him thanks as we approach the end of the year. When Hannah is older and begins to ask me questions, I want to be ready with all my memories of the past, to show her, to tell her, to recount all the great things God has done for our family. Right now, I just need to keep these things in my heart and perhaps be ready to share these things at her 1st birthday party!

:: Wisdom Wednesday - Not Able to Choose ::

My first thought was 'Oh no, it's Wednesday already?' I was just wondering how to keep up with this. I would have a tendency to find something to write about, but no, this is not the purpose of the weekly posts. I would rather share about what I've been learning in the course of the week. It is not always entirely related to my role as a mother, but God has so many lessons to teach us day by day, and one role is life is usually very closely related to another.

In preparation for Children's Camp, I have been studying the life of Joseph, reading from the Bible about him, listening to sermons, and just digging deeper into the story and how God was glorified through his very eventful life. There is so much to learn from this.

One of the lessons that struck me during this period of time was that from the time Joseph's brothers caught him and threw him into the pit, to the time he was in sold into slavery, brought to Egypt and managing either Potipher's household or Pharoah's land, he was not able to make many decisions of his own. He was only about 17 years old when it all started. He could not choose his clothes, his food, his master, his duties, his schedule etc. Yet never once did we see God recording in the Bible that Joseph was angry with his situation. In fact, we only see these verses:

Genesis 39

2 The LORD was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. 3 And his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD made all he did to prosper in his hand. 4 So Joseph found favor in his sight, and served him. Then he made him overseer of his house, and all that he had he put under his authority. 5 So it was, from the time that he had made him overseer of his house and all that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the LORD was on all that he had in the house and in the field.

It is amazing to me that Joseph was able to respond in a God-glorifying manner to all of his situations. God chose these situations for him, and the only thing he had to do was to trust and obey the Lord God Jehovah. Would I do the same if I were him? Already there are some things in life I did not choose. Am I content with where God has placed me - here and now? Personally, I usually struggle with wanting my own home so we have more space and I don't have to travel so much between my parents' place and my home now where I stay with my in-laws. I also get uptight when David has many night calls in a row or in the weekends, or we are so caught up with other things that time with each other is usually the first thing that goes. These are issues I need to commit to the Lord, and constantly ask for His grace to be content where I am.

It also made me think about God who chooses certain paths for us. He is our heavenly Father and I only need to trust Him to do what's best for my life. As a mother, I make almost every decision for Hannah now - what she eats and wears, where she goes, what time she goes to bed and who she plays with. Hannah is not currently accountable for all these decisions that I make for her - she simply doesn't have the ability to make decisions on these issues as yet. And so, I link it back to our relationship with God. If there are certain decisions that God makes for me in my life, then I am not accountable for them. I am only accountable for my response in those situations. Am I honouring Him in my response? Or am I showing my displeasure and complaining about my circumstances?

Lastly, it is recorded that God blessed Potipher's house for Joseph's sake. That is another wonderful statement. God can use us to bless others around, even if they don't believe in Him. Do our thoughts, words, actions reflect that to the people around us?

Whew that has been a mouthful. So much to think about. I just hope it is understandable. I am just thankful for these oppotunities to pen these things down.