Wait on God's Perfect Timing

I just started my first ever Skypleship meeting last Friday. This is an online discipleship group (or DGroup) meeting via a Skype conference for the purpose of studying God's word, fellowship, prayer, mutual support and accountability. The people we connect with around the globe regardless of religious background are those who want to study God's word where it's impossible in the country or area they are in, or they have limited access to churches.

God gave me the best birthday present last June when he gave me my first ever member after months of waiting. God made me wait. I applied to be a Skypleship leader November last year. My application was processed January this year, application approved last May and my first ever member seek me on the day of my birthday. His timing is indeed very perfect. He didn't allow me to start leading my own group until he found my heart ready to do so, not until I was equipped as I only finished my training under Global Leadership Center last May and not until it was already God's timing. But this will not happen have I not heeded God's call and obeyed to his leading through my daily quiet times studying his word and through God's grace.

This verse from the bible reminded me to wait upon God's perfect time. For the vision is yet for an appointed time and it hastens to the end [fulfillment]; it will not deceive or disappoint. Though it tarry, wait [earnestly] for it, because it will surely come; it will not be behindhand on its appointed day. (Habakkuk 2:3)

Another perfectly timed moment God endowed us with is being part of the Family Ministry. My husband and I had this desire to attend the Family and Finance seminar but we made a list of confirmations from the Lord before finalizing our decision to do so. I almost bought a ticket in haste after a church service just to grab the early bird rate. But ended up submitting to my husband's request to wait a little bit more. To our delight, I received an SMS after three days inviting us to facilitate the Family and Finance big event. Of course I got so thrilled and excited since this kind of confirmation was clearly given to us. And to top it all, our ticket for the event was sponsored by a very kind and generous couple. The reward of obeying God to submit to our husbands. God is not just amazing but also full of pleasant surprises.

After the event, we will also have the chance to minister our own couple's dgroup which they called "SaturDATES" where we will meet every Saturdays. Little did I know that my husband has been praying for this kind of ministry because he was unable to join me in my Skypleship ministry due to time constraints at work. Why God lead us to the Family and Finance branch of the Family Ministry is for us to know soon. But I have a strong inkling that God will use our not so good and good experiences we previously had on handling finances as a couple.

So if we sometimes feel impatient about God not answering our prayers nor is experiencing a seemingly dead end at our circumstances, let's always be reminded that God is a loving God and is faithful to his promises. As the song goes, "Trust and obey, for there's no other way." So let us wait patiently for the Lord.

Wait patiently for the LORD. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the LORD. (Psalm 27:14 )

Visit http://www.familyandfinance.org/ to know more and
register in the event

See you at the Family and Finance seminar!

Thank God, It's Monday! - TGIM

Inspired by my sister in Christ who started a blogging event which she termed "Thank God, It's Monday!", I'm also writing my own TGIM post to replace all the negative vibes during Mondays until this becomes a bandwagon and a phenomenon.

Today is a rainy Monday and for most in the north, a stormy one. When I was working in the corporate world, the fact that I hate going back to work on Mondays coz it's hard to let go of the weekend bliss made me hate it more when the weather is bad. To think I go to work by car so how much more for those who take the public transportation? Another self-discovery; how ungrateful and so discontent I was before.

What makes me love Mondays, by the way? A lot of things. But I have to tackle only the things I have in store for me today and this week.

I Thank God It's Monday because....

... we're on our fourth week of homeschooling! The kids are enjoying and loving it and so am I. Yay, we are thriving!

... I will again be preparing exciting and engaging activities for our kids to supplement their bookish type of learning and I also learn a lot of things in the process.

... it's raining hard and we homeschool, I'll not be bothered with monitoring the news on status of class suspensions due to bad weather, or worry on my kids' condition away from me, instead I'll use that time doing more productive work. This is so thumbs up! :)

... I sent NXTGen devotional material to one of my Friday Skypleship mommies last night and she sent me a very affirmative reply just now. She said she couldn't wait for our meeting this Friday. This painted a big smile on my face.

... I'm also very excited to meet my Tuesday Skypleship online droup tomorrow for the first time so today I'll be preparing the topics for the meeting.

... even if it's a stormy weather, I was still able to visit my garden and give my greens their nitrogen boost from the coffee grounds the kids got from Starbucks yesterday. Instead of buying chemical fertilizers, we thought of a better idea staying at Starbucks once in a while, buying a couple of drinks while the kids are engaged with their activities and I work on my stuffs. Free AC office space, classroom, unique experience of the kids and of course my free coffee grounds.

... it's one day less to our final assessment day in TESDA which means putting an end to our tedious travel in the south to attend classes and sleepless nights studying and preparing for our portfolio. We are training to become certified assessors and trainors at a national level in our chosen field which is IT. Just adding another hat.

O my, I still got a lot of "to-thank-for-items" in my list which I opt not to write anymore coz I might be divulging too much information. I never thought there actually are a lot of things to be grateful for. Our lives will truly become better if our hearts are always thankful. It's actually God's will for us as stated by the source: "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." (1 Thessalonians 5:18 ESV). I don't need to look further and wait for signs to know what God's will for me is, it's so crystal clear. I'm already doing God's will in my life by just being thankful.

And the ultimate reward for being thankful is a heart full of peace which comes from the author of peace alone which is Jesus.

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:15-17 ESV)

It's never too late to start a bucket list of gratefulness. I can attest how life changing this small act is.

It's now your turn to publish your own TGIM post, may it be on any social media or blog sites you own and see how it could change your perspective on things and life per se.

Navigating the Star of Bethlehem in Modern Time

Our daughters saw two bright stars on our way home. It reminded us of the news about the "Star of Bethlehem " phenomenon which can be seen for the first time in 2,000 years on June 30, 2015 (July 1 in PH). We're still lucky to have a glimpse though not as bright due to cloudy skies but we thank God for the opportunity and reminding us through our kids.

Good thing, we recalled the astronomy apps downloaded by our ever diligent principal (my husband, Marvin) so we have an instant astronomy class inside the car. We rushed to get home since viewing it inside a moving vehicle wouldn't provide us accurate results as the app needs re-calibration most of the time.

Following The Star of Bethlehem on our way home.

So after taking a swift dinner, everyone went out of the house and explored the sky using the apps like little astronomers.

Homeschooling at night

Since today is Pasig Day (hubby's work holiday), we met with our discipleship group (DGroup) for early breakfast and got the chance to stroll around after, the kids' schedule of homeschool lessons and activities were put on hold. I'm actually still adjusting to unlearn the conventional way of schooling because I still somehow bring the conventional school system in our homeschool which should not be the case. Anyway, by God's grace, the timeframe to learn to unlearn it has begun because we're able to promptly shove away frustrations and allowed adjustments. In short, we embraced flexibility in our homeschooling. The result? We homeschooled at night for the first time! :)

We loved to see the awe in our kids faces as they pointed the smartphones in the sky while the app concurrently displays the images of the stars, planets and space stations.

Spotted Saturn!

The moon's location (though not exact when this
photo was taken due to calibration issue)

The kids also experienced the perspective of the earth's roundness (or spherical as what Bree told me) as they pointed the smartphones up to see the moon and pointed it down the opposite direction to see the sun together with Mars and Mercury. All the while we felt like the sun just moved to the West at dusk to set to give way to the moon at night.

The Star of Bethlehem aka Jupiter and Venus

Planet Mercury when we pointed the app downward.

Bree found the location of the Hubble Space Telescope

As well the the International Space Station

The sun at the opposite side of the moon along
with other planets close to it, Mercury and Mars.

Supplementing technology in our homeschool curriculum gives us the flexibility we need and an unlimited stream of information. This is one of the reasons we chose to take the homeschooling journey and we've been enjoying it so far.