May 8, 2011. “p.s. Isn’t it funny? I came here to ask for a job, and I left giving thanks with a feeling of peace and security. Time to write that application and leave it to God.”

May 27, 2011. “I have a phone interview tomorrow and an assessment centre for a different job app next Thursday. Thank you for praying!!”

 

That phone interview progressed into an assessment centre appointment, which in turn became a job offer! GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD FOR HE IS GOOD!

(p.s. I’ve been using my Tumblr account a bit recently: chanyamana.tumblr.com)

It’s 8pm. Tonight, I will:

– use my diary

– spend some time praying

– read Mum’s commentary on the prophecy bit of Daniel that I do not understand

– hang out with Nancy

I went to Sydney on the weekend with two of my oldest friends in the world. It’s coming up on 13 years since I arrived in this country and met them. I am amazingly blessed.

It was an epic weekend and if I wrote everything down, this would take forever, so just some highlights:

– Seeing friends again: Debbie, Andrew & Cherry, Meera, my Japanese host mum, Nay…

– the GPS never failing to run out of battery after 10 mins of usage… and killing James’ phone using it for its GPS.

– Asian buns in Hurstville, the Yungs’ second home. ChaTime in Eastwood and World Tower.

– Lynn and I thinking that it’d take 20 mins to get to Eastwood and getting there an hour later. But then mango and king prawn pizza at Homer’s Café. Awesome.

– sleepover at Meera’s house!

– NNPB time with Nay and Lynn: crumbed mushrooms and wedges for lunch, sharing in the beautiful grounds of USyd and San Churro for afternoon tea!

– serenading George for his birthday from George St

– sushi train in the Galleries Victoria with Meera

– the car breaking down just as we were about to go home and having to call NRMA from the carpark at Macca’s in Rosedale and use Uncle Jason’s membership because Dad’s so awesome with cars that he doesn’t need roadside assistance.

"A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity." (Proverbs 17:17, ESV)

The plan for tomorrow:

• exercise of some description
• girl time with Jovena
• lunch with Wye Li
• BSF!

From: http://unkaglen.tumblr.com/post/6135571231

jedbrewer from my ministry staff wrote the following:

One of the most common – and most beautiful – attributes amongst Christian ladies is a desire to nurture. A desire to comfort, and encourage, and serve.

In the right context, this is an amazing, Godly aim. In the wrong context, it will really mess you up.

What tends to happen for a lot of Christian gals is that they see a guy who is – and this is a theological phrase – a wounded puppy. He’s sad and discouraged and probably wants something spiritual in his life but isn’t sure how that would work for him and aw shucks and who’s-to-say. And, for these Christian gals, that desire to nurture kicks in. Problem is, it quickly transitions to a desire to date said wounded puppy. And this will not work.

There’s a line from an old poem that says, “None but the brave deserve the fair.” Ladies, I want you to emblazon this on your subconscious minds. None but the brave deserve the fair.

Why do I say this? Because a Christian woman deserves to be with a Godly man. Not a boy, not a teenager, not an adolescent. A man.

And, make no mistake, being a man isn’t about chronological age. It’s about personal and spiritual maturity. Here are some benchmarks to consider:

– A man is not looking for and does not need you to fix him. He’s already working things out with the Lord – just the two of them.

– A man knows where he stands spiritually.

– A man is confident in who he is and what he brings to the table.

– A man has the humility to know what his weaknesses, limitations, and growing-edges are, and is addressing them.

– A man knows where he’s going in life – following the Lord – and isn’t willing to get off course for you or anyone else.

So, then, what does that look like lived out?

– A man will meet you and spend some time getting to know you. He will pray for you and about you, and seek counsel from people farther along in the Lord than himself. He will not rush into anything. When he has a firm word from the Lord that this is a relationship from the Lord – and not before – he will move forward.

– He will summon the courage to ask you out on a date. He will not hem and haw, he will not say, “hey, maybe we should hang out, you know, sometime.” He will say, “I’d like to take you out for dinner. On a date. What do you say?”

– He will tell you how he feels about you. And I’m not talking, “So, you seem cool, and, yeah, it’s cool to hang out.” I’m talking, “You need to know that I’m crazy about you. I admire the heart you have for the Lord and the lost. I respect your walk. I value your authenticity. And I think you’re hot as all get out. If that doesn’t work for you, I understand, but you should know where I’m coming from.”

– A man will insist that both of you go to the Lord and ask for wisdom on what the Lord wants the physical boundaries to be for this relationship.

– A man will then insist that those boundaries are followed whether you like it or not. And if you start to get out of pocket, he will say, “Darling, don’t try and start something I won’t let you finish.” And he will mean it.

Everything I’ve just described requires courage. It requires bravery. It takes a man to pull it off.

And if there’s a dude out there that can’t man up, then he doesn’t deserve you. God does not want you to settle, and trust me, you don’t need to.

Remember, sisters: None but the brave deserve the fair.

 

The scary thing is when you think you’ve found him but realise that you aren’t ready to be Mrs. Right.

May 8, 2011. “p.s. Isn’t it funny? I came here to ask for a job, and I left giving thanks with a feeling of peace and security. Time to write that application and leave it to God.”

I have a phone interview tomorrow and an assessment centre for a different job app next Thursday. Thank you for praying!!

Two of my sisters like to count their blessings. I think hopping on their bandwagon is a fantastic idea. That, and I’m procrastinating. Humour me.

• 8am. Still eating my breakfast because Mum got Danny ready for school today!
• 8.15am. Not having to eat the ham in my stir-fry because we ran out of ham for Dan’s crepes, so I got to pick them out and give it to him.
• 9.20am. Lots of time to pray in my car this morning!
• 10am. Being told that the 25% phonology report does not strictly have to be 4000 words.
• 11.30am. Being told about Vivaldi and their hot chocolates on soy. Now to find someone to enjoy it with!
• 12.50pm. No queue for the microwave!
• 1.20pm. God’s word being taught faithfully, not to make our heads big but to remind us who God is and how much we’ve been blessed! I was challenged with the idea that my faith is as strong as the thing I put my faith in – tiny faith = weak God. Is my God weak or strong???
• 2pm. Lovely chat with a best friend while nomming on a square of black forest cake-flavoured chocolate.
• 2.30pm. Calligraphy practice in the sunshine.
• 5.30pm. Extended time in the car to listen to praise and worship music. And time to reflect on how I think crawling at 5km/h is “so much traffic, we must all be on the road” in Canberra when it would be “thank the Lord we’re actually moving” in Beijing
• 6pm. Reading the Bible in Chinese! Getting to share God’s word with someone to whom this is all new!
• 7.30pm. Daddy’s fried pasta – Chinese-italian fusion.
• 8pm. Epic phone call with another best friend. Getting excited about Requip Sunday School training and Sydney trip in June!

And I thought today was a bit mediocre. I guess I was wrong.

This was due today. God is so good to me.

People are starting to get up there and post stuff. Interesting commenst
so far. I will keep them open for one more week until May 27.

Regards,

Peter Hendriks

Also today:

Read Romans 1:1-17. I was challenged to think about how selfish my prayers are. I always think about how I don’t pray enough for other people, but maybe if I stopped praying about my petty problems and substituted them with praying for others, I’d start to pray more!

Went to lunch with Daddy and Mummy and ate too much. The food was mama-huhu but it was nice spending time with my parents.

Read Colossians 1:1-14. My head hurt afterwards. But I found it really useful to be able to read it out loud and then discuss it with a sister! So blessed to be able to do that! I’m really excited to get into Colossians and really understand it about. We learnt that one should take deep breaths before starting to read out loud because some sentences go on for ages! But more importantly, we learnt about what sort of life we should be living now, which helps us pray for others! We spent some time praying for our little sisters afterwards too. :)

Cleaned the church. That was fun. Kind of. Then tried to figure out how the photocopier works with James. To no avail.

And now I should make use of my extra time to write something substantial and thoughtful.

Looking forward to:

• wayang kulit performance at the NGA tomorrow (and hanging out with Wye Li and Ann!)
• theatre sports! (I’m gonna bring a change of shoes)

Things to do:

• prepare for Sunday School. Due Sunday, 22 May.
• testing for grad positions. Due Sunday, 22 May.
• prepare Bible study. Due Tuesday, 24 May.
• linguistics assignment. Due Tuesday, 31 May.
• practice for calligraphy exhibition. Due Thursday, 2 June.
• prepare for exam. Thursday, 9 June.

Every second Monday, I meet up with a group of sisters to read a book called ‘Disciplines of a Godly Woman’. The title makes it sound like a cult book for women who are only allowed to wear skirts and have to put doilies on their head in church. It’s so not. I’ve been learning so much.

The chapter for tomorrow is titled "Submission: the posture of godliness", which was really useful because our society’s made submission a bad word. But the Biblical use of submission doesn’t imply inequality and dictatorship. It’s not about the man steamrolling over the household without a care for anyone else’s feelings. The Bible says that Jesus was submisssive to God the Father! No implication that he’s inferior.

I don’t think the chapter mentioned the word ‘husband’ once but it said ‘Jesus Christ is Lord’ a lot. Submission’s about recognising who God is and that He is Sovereign and has a loving plan for good in each of our lives. Submission’s about being comfortable and confident that I am a dearly loved daughter of God, recognising that I don’t need to fight for power to prove my worth and empowered in this confidence to love others sacrificially.

"… All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."

– Psalm 139:16

I graduate at the end of the year. That means that I’m putting job applications in now. There’s this danger to just get caught up in what everyone else is doing and fret over whether or not I get a job. But if I’ve learnt anything in the past two years, it’s that the Lord is abundantly gracious and He provides everything that I need. With this knowledge, I can face the future with great calm and peace.

Dear God,

You are Jehovah Jireh, my Provider. Thank you for having already provided me with what I need, more than I could ever hope for and more than I deserve. Thank you for loving me, forgiving me, saving me, renewing me… You make me something worthwhile when I was dead in my sins before. THANK YOU.

In Jesus’ name, I have the privilege of coming to talk to you. Thank you again.

" His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness."

– 2 Peter 1:3

p.s. Isn’t it funny? I came here to ask for a job, and I left giving thanks with a feeling of peace and security. Time to write that application and leave it to God. :)