Stuff That Matters in Life

I struggled in preparing for the message for Awana tonight. The theme is courage, Joshua 1:9. I didn’t want to teach the usual that the children have heard many times. Praise God He gave me a message about Paul’s courage. After thinking about it since last week, I made the final revision this afternoon and gave the message tonight. The children were all engaged, it went well. A leader told me that the message spoke to her, she needs courage in serving more. That was a big blessing.

When my teaching goes well, I know it is God’s work through me. I would like to think I am naturally talented, but I know I’m not. Whenever I start to pat myself on the back, I remember Deuteronomy 8, it is God who gives us the ability to produce. Thank you God, for affirming the leadership position I’m in. You put me in this position, and you help me do what you’ve called me to do. Apart from you, I can do nothing.

Stayed around church talking to people till almost 10:30pm. I like it when no one wants to leave. My old church was like that too. I’ll have a day of rest tomorrow to prepare for Sunday.

Since my daughter is in Orlando for the Ligonier Conference, I decided to listen to some of it on FB Live. The theme is Holiness.  This stood out:

God does not bless great talent so much as Christlikeness.

A holy believer is an awesome weapon in the hand of God. Regardless of your IQ.

God chooses to use holy vessels.

We SAY we believe in this, but we don’t really make leadership decisions based on this. We follow the ways of the world.

We look for talent, abilities, charisma. I am impatient with incompetent people. I am angry at my own incompetence. I wish I was more talented and smarter.

I should instead work on my holiness, not only my effectiveness.

Finished all my Perspectives reading today. And finished preparing for Awana message for tomorrow. Urgent tasks done, now I can work on ongoing projects.

I love to listen to podcasts. I can multi-task: listen to a sermon while cleaning the bathroom, learn about apologetics while stretching.

Today PT and I recorded a podcast. It’s harder than it sounds. Found so many ways to improve when we listen to ourselves. But I wanted to do this, and got PT into it, because I think it’s a good way to communicate a message. We want to forward the vision of our church so listeners can join in God’s mission for our church. They only hear the vision once a week, how can they really understand it? I’m excited about what God is doing at our church and hope the podcast can help people see that too. And I hope our future podcasts will be better!

So much rain recently, bad for my bones. I have aches and pains, another sign of aging. That’s life; thank God I have hope that one day in heaven all pain and suffering will cease. I’m that much closer to heaven.

In Children’s Worship today:
Me: Jesus knew he would one day go back to heaven. He needed to choose disciples who would continue to do his work. What kind of person should he choose?
3rd grade boy: Me!

Perspectives class was great. The speaker did a first person of Hudson Taylor, my hero. Went out to dinner with the group afterwards. I went strictly for the company and definitely not for the food because I would never choose to go to Souplantation. I eat keto and there’s nothing I can eat there. I will probably suffer some digestive symptoms tomorrow. Fortunately I had a big shabu shabu lunch with a good amount of meat.

A parent asked me to have lunch with her today to give her advice for her teenage daughter. Throughout the lunch I was praying for wisdom. I don’t want to give my own opinions and I don’t want to give bad advice. I thank God that more than once in our conversation, I felt God gave me the words to say.

Just got an email from a Sunday School teacher with a problem I need to solve before next Sunday! I’m not going to think about it and get rest tomorrow my day off.

A well-meaning young lady at church asked me with all sincerity, “Do you work everyday? What do you do all day?”

Before I started working full time in ministry, I had the same thought about what pastors do. Yes, I know it takes a long time to prepare a sermon, and then what?

Now I know, there’s so much to do I don’t have enough time. And often it’s not the amount of time, it’s the thinking and that takes endless amount of time. And my mind doesn’t stop when I leave the church.

This week, I hardly had time to prepare my sermon for the children. It’s not something I can just sit and whip up. It takes thought and care. Phone calls and texting, visits to people, meetings, talking to people to work out schedules, planning for next steps, coordinating, developing and implementing ways to be more effective in children’s ministry. It’s the kind of work that you can’t just finish. There’s always more to do. It’s a creative process that is ongoing. Everything is based on relationships and connections. I suppose there are people who are more efficient doing what I do. I’m not that person.

Yeah, I don’t even know how to explain what I do all day. Preparing for the sermon is only a small part.

I left Awana early because I have an early meeting tomorrow. And I want to do my Perspectives reading.

An ultrasound did not detect the heartbeat of the baby.

This is the second time this year I accompanied a mom to an ultrasound. The first one was joyous with results we hoped for. This one was not what we hoped for. We cried, yet, there’s hope. I sensed the parent’s peace. We know our babies are in heaven with Jesus, right now, praising God.

Read Psalm 139 as a baby singing this psalm –

For You formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are Your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in Your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand, I awake, and I am still with You.

God’s Word brought peace, and even a bit of joy with the assurance that we will be praising God together with our babies in heaven.