Child of God

3 days ago Tuu and I heard a squeaky little "meow". After following the calls, we saw the head of a little scrawny kitten poking out from under the door of the upstairs storage area (Its like an attic). A little bit later I went up and found it hiding away up there in another room. It was so shaky on its feet, and extremely scared of me.  It was so small maybe a little malnourished, we figured its mum would be back to get it soon though. Later on that night we heard the repetitive squeaking noises again. There were no lights up there so I used my phone light, all I could was its little head peering out to see who these strangers were. We opened the door incase the mum had been trapped out and hoped by morning that its mum would have rescued it. The next morning however it was still there by itself. It looked so hungry we got it some milk, I had to put some milk on my finger to get it to try it. He was still quite scared of us, but eventually hunger got the better of her and she started to lick it up. It  had enough milk to last it till yesterday, but today with no milk left it ventured down the huge steps. So we made her a little place to stay with a comfortable bed. She was so funny though. She looked kind of weak and dirty, and she couldn't go very far from her little spot she stayed. but with no mum we couldn't help but care for her. By the end of today she had grown quite attached of us, as we had of her. Whenever we'd go over to where she was she would wobble towards us to get some attention, then as we walked away she walk give us those sad eyes, as well as whining meows, which made me feel bad about leaving her, I must have checked up on her 15 times today. She was small, she was helpless, she was weak, she was lonely, she was cute.

And then something happened that rocked both Tuu and myself. Tuu's dog which is a rather large dog, crushed this little things head, it wasn't a pretty site, in fact it was really disgusting. But even more than that it was sad was because it was so helpless and hopeless, it had no mother to rescue it, we  were the only ones that could have, had we known. It hit us hard, we felt intense emotions such as sorrow and pain, seems kind of silly for a little kitten we'd known for 3 days. As Tuu and I cried we saw God soften our hard selfish hearts. In the midst of the sorrow we asked God to teach us something. We realized that this kitten was God's little baby, He had created it, it wasn't an accident, even though it had been abandoned and it looked funny, God still loved it. And if this is how special a kitten was to God, then how much more is each individual human life He created. If the death of a kitten made us feel this way, then what huge sorrow God must feel every time someone dies without knowing him. He loves them so much!

God doesn't want to helpless to die. It is not his plan that the weak be crushed, It is His will that they would have a Father. And I realized tonight that unless I wake up from my current state, I might be the reason why one helpless soul dies without having a rescuer. Because He wants to use US to rescue weak, to care for those that have no one to take care of them. We've been too busy doing our own things worrying about our own problems, which I'm too embarrassed to even call problems now. He wants us to intercede on behalf of those that the enemy wants to crush, but I've been too busy conquering the world in a computer game. Lives are too important, in fact all of sudden these lives seem like the only thing that is important.

I believe one way or another God sent that little kitten to us, and this was the wake-up call we needed. To realize how precious the children of God are, to realize that there's no time to waste because the enemy is prowling ready to snatch those that are helpless. For the kitten that was once without a name, we have called her "luuk khong prajaw"  which is Thai for "child of God". We're sorry that this poor defenseless "child of God" had to die, for us to learn these things, but I don't want to see a helpless human "child of God" die without help, before I realize what this life is all about.

LIFE WORK

I've been thinking a bit lately about where God is taking Tuu and I, and the plans that he has for us. When I look at what he has told us so far, I feel like that we're not very missionary like. I mean we don't have a specific ministry, we don't have a specific target group such as orphans or prostitutes, "working" whether paid or unpaid will make-up most of our efforts for the next year or two. I have even been wondering whether we deserve the titles of missionaries ... we might not be doing that much in Korat except for spending time with Tuu's family and teaching English. 

I realized though that YES what we are doing really does make us missionaries, in fact its the type of missionary that God has called us ALL to be. When we hear that we're ALL missionaries we know its true, yet it is something that is hard for us to really believe and live out. The problem is that we've made the equation and qualifications for being a missionary way too complicated.  MINISTRY + TARGET GROUP + MONETARY SUPPORT = MISSIONARY. God's equation though is LIFE = MISSIONARY. The truth is that God's presence and glory are with us wherever we are. That is all we need to be missionaries. 

Rob Bell puts it this way in his book

"This is why it is impossible for a Christian to have a secular job. If you follow Jesus and you are doing what you do in his name, then it is no longer secular work; it's sacred. You are there; God is there. The difference is our awareness"

Tuu and I really believe that God has a specific ministry for us, and one day we will have a target group. We may or may not have a regular support commitment from multiple churches, but these things don't make us missionaries, having God in our lives and being aware of it is what makes us missionaries. It is our hope to live as Paul encourages us "Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus."

In whatever we do here in Korat or Ratchaburri or wherever we are, our mission is to LIVE LIFE in the name of Jesus, so that all may see His glory.
It's all about His GLORY

wonderous mysteries

God is awesomely mysterious ... and mysteriously awesome.

The things I thought as going forwards really were going nowhere, and the things I thought of as going backwards really are going forwards.

I'm realizing that being safe in my faith is actually a very dangerous place to be.

Its been a long while since I've desired to be challenged in the way I think, to have my world shaken up a little bit.

Normally I really enjoy hearing a sermon that fits my ideas and doctrines, it makes me feel good ... well I can't be that far off the mark if other people think the same way I do. Its been nice to read books where I feel like "they're right on the money". Mysteriously being comfortable has lost its appeal again. Just knodding my head and "Amen'ing" everything a pastor says without having my boat rocked doesn't get me anywhere except maybe build my pride.

What good will it be if I keep reading books that are "safe and easy"
I had forgotten what it felt like to be hungry for understanding, but I'm getting a glimpse of that again. Its strange but I actually desire to find out that some things I accepted as correct are in fact not. Its better to find out than to be ignorant and wrong all my life.

I long for more mysterious, so I can wrestle with them and be stretched as I attempt to grasp the ungraspable. Its like for a while I've been trying to flex my faith muscles and then I see just a fingerprint of the Almighty One and I'm put back in my place. But its the scare I needed to realize there is an infinity amount of mysteries that I'm yet to grasp about God, about his greatness, about his love.

Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell is the book that God has used to bump me out of my rut a little, and to give me a passion to wrestle again, even to lose in order that I might win.
God's mysteries are worth the chasing even if my uderstandings of Him get battered and bruised.

The rabbis even say a specific blessing when they don't understand a portion of the text. When it eludes them, when it makes no sense, they say a word of thanks to God because of the blessing that will be theirs someday. "Thank you, God that at some point in the future, the lights are going to come on for me"

The rabbis have a metaphor for this wrestling with the test: The story of Jacob wrestling the angel in Genesis 32. He struggles, and it is exhausting and tiring, and in the end his hip is injured. It hurts. And he walks away limping.

Because when you wrestle with the text, you walk away limping.

And some people have no limp, because they haven't wrestled. But the ones limping have an experience with the living God.

pp. 68-69 Velvet Elvis

I don't need the instructions...

Tonight in our discussion at small group, our focus was on faith, which also led to talking about controlling our lives. Derek made an interesting point that for Aussie blokes it is quite tough for them to give up control of their lives to another, because we love to be in control and to be right.

At first I thought he might of made a bit of a generalisation, but actually it is very true... us guys, especially us Aussie guys just love to think we can do everything ourselves, we don't need any help. When it comes to building something we don't need to read the instructions, we know how it goes together. When it comes to directions we don't need the map, we've got it all sorted out. When it comes to how we should live our lives, we don't want to be told by anyone that we're doing something wrong, whether it be by our wives or by somebody else...
Our pride says that we can do it...

I pray that we don't let that pride stopping us from letting God control our lives,
I pray that we don't neglect to seek God for instruction, because we think we know best how our lives should be put together.
I pray that we don't forget to consult God for directions, because we already know where we should be going and the way to get there.
I pray that God turns our Aussie male stubborness into determination, grit, and stickability that he will use for his Kingdom when give him the reigns to our lives.

Full of Excuses

Sermon preached on 30 March 2008

FULL OF EXCUSES


Like the guy in the commercial, we're all full of excuses. When God calls us we have excuses why we can't, why we shouldn't, why we won't do what he's called us to do. Jonah ran away, his excuse being God would ruin his reputation. When Jesus called a couple men to follow him their excuses were, they had stuff to do, family commitments etc. There's 1000's of excuses and God's heard them all. However, when Jesus was called by God to do the biggest, toughest, greatest thing in all of history, he did not make an excuse. His response was "not my will but yours be done" Surely we can learn from him. When will we stop making excuses?

INSPIRATION
Leeland - Opposite Way Click to Listen

TEXTS
Jonah, Luke 9:57-62, Luke 14:15-20, Mat 26:36-44

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Trash or Treasure

Sermon preached on March 3, 2008

TRASH OR TREASURE


We all are after treasure, all you need to do is look at Antiques Roadshow to see that - the joy and excitement of those that are told by the evaluator that they own treasure. However there are many pieces that dont make it to air on TV, because they're trash. There will be a day when we too meet an evaluator, and we will be told whether we have trash or treasure. Thankfully Jesus is pretty clear about where real treasure is. Why would be have trash we can have real treasure?

MAIN TEXT
Matthew 6:19-33

ADDITIONAL TEXTS
Hebrews 12:1, Philippians 3:13-14, James 5:3, Ezekiel 7:19, Matthew 13:45

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THE WEDDING VIDEO (Part 2)

THE WESTERN CEREMONY

THE WEDDING VIDEO (Part 1)

THE THAI CEREMONY

THE WEDDING STORY (Part 2)

Sorry to everyone that was waiting for the rest of the wedding story, I guess the day-to-day rush got the better of me.

EVENING GATHERING
The party at night was a little tiring as it had already been a long day, but it was still was an awesome time. Its quite different to what a "western reception" is like. There were seats and tables behind Tuu's house for 300-400 people. Tuu and I spent the first 2 hours of the night standing at the front of Tuu's house welcoming everybody that came. Being on our feet that long after already being on our feet for most of the day was quite a challenge. We just kept smiling though as we greeted everyone, it was good to see so many people coming to enjoy themselves. Some fo them would sit down, eat and leave before others would even get there. People come and go, not like a western wedding where everyone is expected to be there at a certain time. After we had finished out the front we were called straight up on stage to answer questions and do speeches. We had our friends P'Noiy and Bronwyn help us by doing interviews/game/translation. It was especially an amazing effort from them as Bronwyn was 7 months pregnant and they had only a couple hours of sleep the night before because of the long distance they had to travel.


I think it was about 9:30 by the time things started wrapping up, which felt like 12:30 to us. Tuu and I were happy as we could finally get off our feet and eat the yummy food that everyone else had been eating. Normally a wedding party would've run for another 2 hours or so, but as the King's sister had recently passed away, the country was in a period of mourning and there was a ban on having louds music / parties, so this meant that there was no entertainment for the Thais to party-on into the night.

It was an awesome day it really was, we have to thank God for his goodness, in helping us firstly get to the day. Some things we just couldn't see how it would work out, but God knew! and a big thanks to everyone else that was involved in our wedding...those that came so far to support us simply by being there, and those that were at home praying for us. It really gave us so much encouragement and joy!

HONEYMOON
Tuu and I decided to go somewhere other than Thailand for our honeymoon, even though the south of Thailand does have some of the nicest beaches in the world, we wanted to go somewhere outside of Thailand, so we decided to go to Penang and Langkawi. I had already lived in Penang for 3 months so I knew my way around, especially the great places to eat and shop. So we flew from Bkk to Penang and had one night in the luxurious E & O (thanks to Jared, who gave it to us as a wedding gift). Its a very flash hotel with an a long history. It was very cool, but almost too much, I felt rather weird having our own personal butler.

After that we went across on the ferry to Langkawi, and spent a few days there in a pleasant resort called Mutiara Burau. This resort was on a nice beach where there weren't lots of other hotels, so we were quite happy about that. it was a big difference from coming from a 5star hotel to this, but we both liked the atmosphere and the surroundings. It had everything we needed... oh and it fitted into our budget ;) But honestly we'd recommend it to anyone. The pool was nice, and the service was excellent, so definitely worth a look. One day we hired a car and went for a drive around the island, that was interesting but still there isn't a whole lot on the island. The highlight though was going on the cable car up to the top of the mountain, the photo just doesn't do the view justice.

THE WEDDING STORY (Part 1)

Its now been 3 weeks since that wonderful day, and we've both had time to think and reflect about how good God was to us. I will try to fill you in on as much as possible. It was a day that didn't necessarily follow our plans exactly, but better than that it followed God's plan.

Just getting to the wedding day itself was a real challenge, there were many things, such as not being able to find someone to do the Western Ceremony, but God had the perfect person in mind, we asked the people we thought might be able to help but no one could. Even when had given up looking, God still had someone specifically in mind, the father of a very good friend just happens to work in Thailand and I had met him a few times before. I felt like I should ask him, after him and his wife praying about it they agreed to come. I'm so glad they did, I couldn't have thought of it turning out better than it did. Other people that we needed such as translators / MC's, we struggled to find in our own strength but God had it all in control. Once the day arrived we had everything we needed, all we had to do was enjoy the day.

11-Jan-2008  
3:00am - Tuu woke up nice and early, to begin getting ready and to go get her makeup done. She only slept 2 hours because of all the excitement. I, Tom, woke up at around 5:00, I really could have slept longer except I was just too excited so I just got up and got myself ready. Proceedings were set to start at 7:39 (not a typo, but that was the time is auspicious). I was ready long before then, and had to do something to stop me from worrying so I played a couple games of Winning Eleven soccer with some mates.

THAI CEREMONY
7:30am - all my family and friends rocked up at the house where I was staying, we waited for the Khan Mark (different items given as gifts) to be prepared, then when everything was ready we proceeded to make a loud noise as we walked to Tuu's house. It wasn't a long walk as the two houses were next door to each other. There were three gates that I had to pass through before reaching Tuu, each gate was a thin chain or necklace held by a few of Tuu's relatives, who I had to give money to before being allowed to continue. After the 3rd and last gate, then I finally got to see Tuu, she washed my feet and then we entered the house. We sat down while the elders counted the sinsot (dowry).

What happened next was a little unexpected for both Tuu and I. We had already talked over how the wedding would go with Tuu's parents. Praise God there were many things that they agreed we would not have to have, even though a traditional Thai wedding would have them, such as monks present at the wedding. They had also agreed that when they did the ceremony of offering gifts to the ancestors and telling them of our marriage, that we would not have to be present. However on the day someone else made sure that it happened while we were all sitting there along with my family and friends. At first Tuu and I were not really happy with what was going on, but we knew that we should just trust God that he was in control. Then what happened next was what I would class as one of the highlights of the whole wedding ... all of my family and our Christian friends started to pray for us, our marriage, and the household. It was AWESOME, God was right there with us. I don't know how long it will before that many Christians gather in that house and pray together again, its something that was really special. If it had gone according to our plans, the wai phii (praying to the ancestors) would have happened secretly while everyone was eating breakfast. I believe the enemy thought he could disrupt our wedding by throwing this at us, but instead God totally used it to bring about his plans, and his plans were PERFECT.

Next we both were lead upstairs to Tuu's room where we sat on our new bed, and we had to eat some plain rice with banana, We didn't necessarily understand much about that part of the Thai ceremony, but we just followed instructions and knew God was with us. After returning downstairs everyone ate lunch.

When we came back from lunch it was time for the rest of the morning ceremony. First we had this string placed around our heads, which symbolised the connection we have a married couple. Then came the water blessing, where everyone came one-by-one and poured water on our hands as they gave an encouragement or blessing. This was the longest part of the thai ceremony, so I was really glad that we were sitting down for this. Our hands ended up looking like raisins by the end of it. Then there was gift giving where Tuu and I gave presents to our parents and grandparents, and they in return gave us an envelope with money in it. Still after this there were a few other things that stopped is from finishing the ceremony, such as waiting for one lady to tie our wrists with "special string". At first it was frustrating because we just wanted to be able to leave and get ready for the Western ceremony, but we just had to stop being impatient and trust God again that he was still in control. The ceremony finished at about 11:30, and then Tuu  rushed off to get her makeup done and her changed ready for the Western Ceremony.

WESTERN CEREMONY
1:00 - Everyone, including me, was at the hotel ready for the Western Ceremony ... we waited and waited, and wondered if the bride was ever going to arrive ;) But Tuu had about an hour less to prepare than we originally accounted for so we knew she would be there eventually.

1:30 - The wedding began, started by the lovely bridesmaids walking down the aisle, followed by the even lovelier bride with her parents next to her. There was a Bible reading, and 2 worships songs. The English song we chose was "You are my strength" by Reuben Morgan (My favorite Hillsong songwriter). Through the whole of the wedding process God really was our strength. There were many trying and testing times that we couldn't have got through with him. As we sang that song while we were up on stage, the truth of the song hit me again, God's goodness was undeniable. His greatness was untouchable. His strength was unbeatable. His love had reached us.

It was the first time that Tuu's family had heard anyone worshipping God, so I praise God for that opportunity. Then we had a slideshow, and I also washed Tuu's feet. God had spoken to me about doing this a few months back, I really felt that I should do it following Christ's example. I wanted it to be clear to everyone that I wanted to not only lead Tuu, but to also serve her - quite opposite to the way of the world.

Finally there was the vows, pledges, ring giving, and the charge. During the vows many of Tuu's family and friends were brought to tears, not because we had come up with some really special words, but because they saw the love we had for each other, the love God had given us. Above anything else, Tuu and I wanted God to be given the glory in "our day" because really it was His day, we know that if it wasn't for his goodness we wouldn't have each other, nor would have been able to get married. Though we haven't been able to talk to everyone,  we have heard reports from many how they were really impacted by the wedding, we PRAISE GOD for that. We pray that God will keep using our lives to impact people, keep using the love he has given us to touch others. And we will always need Him to be our strength as we go through every new challenge

Next post:  Evening gathering & Honeymoon

The Wedding Pics

Here are a selection of pictures from our wedding, be sure to hover over the "notes" to find out what was going on at the time. You can also browse those pictures here if you find that easier.

The Memories

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This is the slideshow we made to show at our wedding with some memories of our childhood and also some pics of when we were getting to know each other =)

Married

Praise God we're married ... in a week after I'm home hopefully I'll have all the pics up as well as all the details

Thanks everyone for their prayers and best wishes and everyone that was there to make it so special.

Its beautiful

Its beautiful, you can turn mistakes to miracles. The way that you still love me after all, Its beautiful.
So help me God forbid I never take for granted this endless love you give.

This song from eleventyseven encouraged me when i made a mistake that hurt someone else, but i God is bigger than my mistakes.

On a bus

Just riding on a bus. Across Thailand, its been more than 7 hours i think there is another 6 to go. Its good though, its the first time i've felt like i've had time to just stop and reflect. Things have been hard preparing for the wedding, but God has got us through so much of it. Yet it seems there are still a couple big road blocks seem to be present. Our bus today had to creep through on coming traffic, as the road had been blocked off. But eventually we got through with several near misses. Feels a bit like the current situation. But i know God will get us through even if its not the route we had expected. Praying for some miracles.