The ragged pieces of ideas and thoughts of my attempt to live a life as a contemporary monastic in the urban city of Singapore..
Where birds can perch
We moved to a new home we had spent months selecting. We liked this one because i'm a sucker for nature. Next to the dinning hall is a big tree 6 storey tall (which is the level our home is). I like it also because it reminds me of Mark 4:31-32 which describes what the Kingdom of God is like....
"It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”
To complement that, in our recent trip to Vietnam we bought an oil painting of 3 nice houses beneath the shade of a big tree to be displayed in middle of our living room.
We are very proud and happy of the real tree and the fake one we own in our home.
Last month, 3 days before our Marriage Enrichment Redline Conference I was completely stressed out. It was the very first time running a conference with the team and I couldn't sleep 2 nights in a row having butterflies, pins and doubts if the conference will serve our people.
On the 2nd morning of that sleepless nights, I woke up feeling like drowsy and tired. During breakfast, I sat down on my dinning table with coffee and toast, when my son sitting next to me shouted excitedly "Daddy, look!". He pointed towards the tree outside the window. For the 6 months we have been living in this new home, we have never seen birds. When I looked out I saw, a kind of yellow bird flying around and landing on a branch. Next to it was another one. Couples perhaps. Wow! It wasn't one but two perching n the branches, happy and joyful like enriched couples enjoying the shade and providence of the tree.
I knew instantly it was God encouraging me. I left home for work that day with great inspiration and I believe if we build right in Family Life Ministry, we will provide shade and help for countless couples and families to come. We need to thank God for signs and rainbows, sadness and joy, and many other countless things that he uses to show us along the way.
In the journey with God, see carefully and enjoy the ride!
"It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”
To complement that, in our recent trip to Vietnam we bought an oil painting of 3 nice houses beneath the shade of a big tree to be displayed in middle of our living room.
We are very proud and happy of the real tree and the fake one we own in our home.
Last month, 3 days before our Marriage Enrichment Redline Conference I was completely stressed out. It was the very first time running a conference with the team and I couldn't sleep 2 nights in a row having butterflies, pins and doubts if the conference will serve our people.
On the 2nd morning of that sleepless nights, I woke up feeling like drowsy and tired. During breakfast, I sat down on my dinning table with coffee and toast, when my son sitting next to me shouted excitedly "Daddy, look!". He pointed towards the tree outside the window. For the 6 months we have been living in this new home, we have never seen birds. When I looked out I saw, a kind of yellow bird flying around and landing on a branch. Next to it was another one. Couples perhaps. Wow! It wasn't one but two perching n the branches, happy and joyful like enriched couples enjoying the shade and providence of the tree.
I knew instantly it was God encouraging me. I left home for work that day with great inspiration and I believe if we build right in Family Life Ministry, we will provide shade and help for countless couples and families to come. We need to thank God for signs and rainbows, sadness and joy, and many other countless things that he uses to show us along the way.
In the journey with God, see carefully and enjoy the ride!
posted by Hiew Hong Teck # 6:07 PM
Saturday, December 18, 2010
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