miracle #2
so on Good Friday we had huge plans to gather all the teens, and play touch rugby.
grand plans! yes, coz it was a large turn out. our teens brought a total of 30 friends (inclusive of an entire contact rugby team).
what kinda botched up our plans were:
- the field was incredibly muddy though it had not rained at all
- i could not reach jonathan and 15 of his friends because his phone died... and he didn't show up at the predetermined meeting point (the muddy field)
- the remaining half of us were girls and out of that, half of the girls refused to play and walked off to the nearby mall, and kinda never came back until we were done.
the control freak in me totally busted out.
"omg where are they going how can they bond with us if they don't join us in games SHOOTS DID THAT GIRL JUST FALL IN MUD her entire cardigan is brown omg where is that jonathan where i need more players THERE IS TOO MUCH SUN am i killing the girls with all this running omgomg i am dying so much mudddd..."
i always can feel it when tension builds up coz i get wound up so tightly i'd almost snap in two. normally once i reach that point i force myself to let go.
'seriously, this game is merely a gathering point for the movie later. as long as everyone's here and doing their own kinda fun, it should be good enough, right? let it go, let it go. leave it to God.'
relaxxxx. ahhhh.
so the game ended and we all split up to clean up for dinner. jonathan also finally managed to contact us - they had been playing their own game at our backup place which was surprisingly empty.
at 630pm we got to natalie's place which was the meeting point for dinner... but nat was not home. how can it be? she's the host!
i got really mad coz she was the one who'd led her friends to the mall and took ages to get back, and now when the whole world is ready and waiting outside her house, SHE'S NOT THERE. and the maid is new, so she didn't allow us to go in first.
nat finally showed up with her friends and let us in. we settled everyone down and started some board games and had a vcd playing A Cinderella Story. it's ok, jonathan's not here yet...
7pm - ok, jon should be here by now. but he's not. the pizza is getting cold.
730pm - he's still not here.
by 750pm alvin was concerned that all the girls were getting bored waiting. also, the bunch watching the vcd refused to stop... and it was natalie who refused to stop the movie. i was so angry with her! because she was totally not helping! GAH!!
i started praying again because the night was close to disaster. i promised myself that if jonathan didn't come by 8pm, i'd just start the show. and natalie was going to have a long talk with me.
5 more minutes.
Amen.
at precisely 8pm a throng of rugby boys burst through the door with a clearly tired-out jonathan apologizing over and over. my phone was dead! i'm so sorry!
i looked at my watch and wanted to hug him. they made it in good time! the video also ended right after the boys had eaten. it was time to start the show.
it was a really really well produced biography of a lady who fell into a gambling addiction which led to her worshiping spirits and possessing supernatural 'gifts', inheriting paranoia and then falling into depression. it was so good and i knew, by the silence, that everyone was open to the message.
i thanked God silently, and while the rest were watching i started to pray for my section where i was going to give the altar call. i don't really prepare for them... i prefer risking everything on whatever God wanted me to say. everything depended on the situation, and listening in to Him. i prefer it like that.
and that night, God told me to bless them. the altar call was not to call people to believe in Him. the call was to those who have been hurting and need healing and love, and encouragement from Him.
it was the most amazing altar call i've ever been part of. everyone was quiet, the voice and words that came out of my mouth was commanding and gentle at the same time. i felt love pouring out of every pore and at that moment i really felt what it was like to GIVE LOVE.
gone was the notion and dread of bringing pre-believers to Christ. we don't do that... we're simply called to be a blessing in their lives. if they receive Jesus that's wonderful, but so what if they don't? i've never really felt the pressure to convert people, but now i had a legitimate reason not to - i just really, really want to replace that with blessings.
many hands were risen, a few tears shed. there was healing that night and it showed in the weeks after. even with adrean - my relationship with him strengthened when the night ended and we had a talk on religion and goals in life.
this whole TGIF experience was miracle number 2, and this was also the best TGIF party i've organized. because i had God... and alvin!
i also forgave nat, and somehow understood that she was under pressure to be a good host to her friends while hosting us. i told myself: she's only sec 2, come on, it's not easy to balance everything that's going on.
i love natalie very much, actually. in fact, i think my cell group is made of amazing kids who are lined up for great things. i am so tremendously blessed by them and their smses of love. :)
grand plans! yes, coz it was a large turn out. our teens brought a total of 30 friends (inclusive of an entire contact rugby team).
what kinda botched up our plans were:
- the field was incredibly muddy though it had not rained at all
- i could not reach jonathan and 15 of his friends because his phone died... and he didn't show up at the predetermined meeting point (the muddy field)
- the remaining half of us were girls and out of that, half of the girls refused to play and walked off to the nearby mall, and kinda never came back until we were done.
the control freak in me totally busted out.
"omg where are they going how can they bond with us if they don't join us in games SHOOTS DID THAT GIRL JUST FALL IN MUD her entire cardigan is brown omg where is that jonathan where i need more players THERE IS TOO MUCH SUN am i killing the girls with all this running omgomg i am dying so much mudddd..."
i always can feel it when tension builds up coz i get wound up so tightly i'd almost snap in two. normally once i reach that point i force myself to let go.
'seriously, this game is merely a gathering point for the movie later. as long as everyone's here and doing their own kinda fun, it should be good enough, right? let it go, let it go. leave it to God.'
relaxxxx. ahhhh.
so the game ended and we all split up to clean up for dinner. jonathan also finally managed to contact us - they had been playing their own game at our backup place which was surprisingly empty.
at 630pm we got to natalie's place which was the meeting point for dinner... but nat was not home. how can it be? she's the host!
i got really mad coz she was the one who'd led her friends to the mall and took ages to get back, and now when the whole world is ready and waiting outside her house, SHE'S NOT THERE. and the maid is new, so she didn't allow us to go in first.
nat finally showed up with her friends and let us in. we settled everyone down and started some board games and had a vcd playing A Cinderella Story. it's ok, jonathan's not here yet...
7pm - ok, jon should be here by now. but he's not. the pizza is getting cold.
730pm - he's still not here.
by 750pm alvin was concerned that all the girls were getting bored waiting. also, the bunch watching the vcd refused to stop... and it was natalie who refused to stop the movie. i was so angry with her! because she was totally not helping! GAH!!
i started praying again because the night was close to disaster. i promised myself that if jonathan didn't come by 8pm, i'd just start the show. and natalie was going to have a long talk with me.
5 more minutes.
Amen.
at precisely 8pm a throng of rugby boys burst through the door with a clearly tired-out jonathan apologizing over and over. my phone was dead! i'm so sorry!
i looked at my watch and wanted to hug him. they made it in good time! the video also ended right after the boys had eaten. it was time to start the show.
it was a really really well produced biography of a lady who fell into a gambling addiction which led to her worshiping spirits and possessing supernatural 'gifts', inheriting paranoia and then falling into depression. it was so good and i knew, by the silence, that everyone was open to the message.
i thanked God silently, and while the rest were watching i started to pray for my section where i was going to give the altar call. i don't really prepare for them... i prefer risking everything on whatever God wanted me to say. everything depended on the situation, and listening in to Him. i prefer it like that.
and that night, God told me to bless them. the altar call was not to call people to believe in Him. the call was to those who have been hurting and need healing and love, and encouragement from Him.
it was the most amazing altar call i've ever been part of. everyone was quiet, the voice and words that came out of my mouth was commanding and gentle at the same time. i felt love pouring out of every pore and at that moment i really felt what it was like to GIVE LOVE.
gone was the notion and dread of bringing pre-believers to Christ. we don't do that... we're simply called to be a blessing in their lives. if they receive Jesus that's wonderful, but so what if they don't? i've never really felt the pressure to convert people, but now i had a legitimate reason not to - i just really, really want to replace that with blessings.
many hands were risen, a few tears shed. there was healing that night and it showed in the weeks after. even with adrean - my relationship with him strengthened when the night ended and we had a talk on religion and goals in life.
this whole TGIF experience was miracle number 2, and this was also the best TGIF party i've organized. because i had God... and alvin!
i also forgave nat, and somehow understood that she was under pressure to be a good host to her friends while hosting us. i told myself: she's only sec 2, come on, it's not easy to balance everything that's going on.
i love natalie very much, actually. in fact, i think my cell group is made of amazing kids who are lined up for great things. i am so tremendously blessed by them and their smses of love. :)
posted by feline @ 10:46 PM
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