19/01/2018

Psalms 139:8 a

‘If I ascend into heaven, You (are) there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, you (are there). 

Today is my late sister, Rosaline’s birthday (19/Jan). It was like yesterday when Beatrice, my youngest sister called from Taipei saying that Rosaline passed away at 2 AM in the hospital, on 20/07/2008. She was bravely fighting her cancer for years, and she was in and out of the hospital for months prior her passing, but I was not prepared for it. Today I want to pour my heart to give thanks to Jesus, for her life and for knowing where she is right now.

I was in much despair and sobbing for hours. Because I fractured my left Patella bone just a few days before she passed away, which meant that I wouldn’t be able to travel to attend her funeral; and Rosaline had been a practicing Buddhist for years so that I was not going to see her for eternity. In tears, I went for my devotion. On that morning, the title was ‘‘Expiration Date‘ on ‘Our Daily Bread (1)‘ dated 20/July/2008, scripture readings were from Psalm 139:7-8. 

Literally, the scripture promised that even if Rosaline made her bed in hell, my dear Lord would be there for her. But I refused to be comforted. I cried whenever I had her on my mind. She was never married, stayed on to the same job for over 30-years, and she was fighting for her cancer for 5-years. Yet among us, she was the first to obtain a university degree, the first to get her drivers’ license, she was a gifted artist in Chinese painting and super level-headed. What really cut into my heart was when I found out that in her remaining hours, in the hospital, she grabbed hold of Beatrice’ hands in tears.

We had 4 girls and one brother, Tony in the family when our mother passed away, nothing was the same. I was the first to leave home, in early 70’s for Hong Kong. Our father was the trying single parent for 6-years. But when he remarried, all of my siblings were scattered, and Beatrice had to be in the boarding school. Rosaline had been my only link to the family. Suddenly I remembered that I was told that she used to be on fire and worshipped at the local Seventh Day Adventist Church, and she was often ridiculed for keeping the religious dietary(2) in the family. Later, she had a sharp turn in her faith.

What I didn’t know was it a coincidence or not that our mother died at the Taipei Seventh Day Adventist Hospital?  So I called and cried bitterly on the long distance call, talking to her former classmate, Hsu Ze Fu, a devoured  Christian. And she comforted me saying that she believed that Rosaline might have been saved. And a few weeks before I was fit to travel, the beautiful Hsu Ze Fu called and told me that she went to the church and managed to locate Rosaline’s baptism record. She was baptized in August 1978. Unfortunately, my despair went more in-depth, as she turned away from her first love for Jesus.

The following Sunday, I met our Chinese pastor, Rev. Cheng near the fellowship hall, in the church.  Before I could utter a word,  I felt so broken and crying beyond consoling. And he gently pads on my shoulder saying that ‘ yes, you told me that your sister may have left the Lord to another god. But your Lord of God, Jesus had never left your sister.…’ Immediately, I felt so ashamed of being weak and shallow, and I was entirely in awe of HIS steadfast faithfulness and telling myself that even if I couldn’t make it to the funeral that’s fine.

As for the funeral, from either the late July or early August onward usually fall into the ‘hungry ghost ‘ month in line with the Chinese calendar. For all sorts of reasons, some people would defer having the funeral. So the siblings had decided to take heed of what the local funeral planner had proposed to postpone the funeral till the ‘Ghosts’ month was over. And the scheduled date was exactly the date that my doctor gave me the green light to travel, but I have to go in a wheelchair. I got all the preferential treatments in a wheelchair in and out the airport.

I made it on time to Rosaline’s funeral, gave a eulogy, I was not bothered by the format of the funeral but most importantly, I knew where would Rosaline, my most beloved sister be. I read out the same scriptures in the gospel of  (John 14:1-3) (3) that I used for our own father’s funeral, 9-months ago, when he was called to be with Jesus, that same year. I was moved to see buses load of her business associates turned up for her, a few young people also came to bid her farewell. In my emotion, I always thought that Rosaline had an unfulfilled life on earth, maybe because she was never married, but she was given opportunities to impact many people;  had had a few good friends; was respected at her workplace, and she would always be deeply missed among her siblings.

In the light of faith, I was pointed to the following that helps me in remembrance of Rosaline’s 3rd anniversary of her passing, and I am confident that it would bring comfort to many who are in the grief of the loss of their loved ones.

‘From Him, who loves me now so well. What power my soul can sever? Shall life or death, or earth or hell? No..I am His forever,’ Stebbins

Our Daily Bread date 20/07/2011

1. http://www.christ.com/devotionals/devotional-ourdailybread.html
2. https://www.consultant360.com/n411/articles/seventh-day-adventist-diet-0
3. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+14%3A1-3

17/01/2018

The first Sunday of the year is the ‘Vision Sunday (07/01/2018)’ for our church. Pastor Prince usually, would give us Bible verses as the vision, and we would bring three of our requests to God in prayer to kick off the new year. This year Pastor Prince gave us the theme that is ‘Hesed (Hebrew word of Grace) and Wisdom’ for 2018 (1). He urged us to redeem our time and gain wisdom, and the best place to start is to read the book of Proverbs which has 31 chapters in it that means to read one chapter a day.

Regrettably, ‘ the temptation is only common to man.’ Immediately I watched the Golden Globes 2018 the next day.  Thankfully, with the pre-recording and fast forward, I didn’t waste time watching the entire event, but it led me to work on what I was intended to do that’s to write about the movie, ‘Churchill (2),’ which I watched it on a big screen last year. It says that both the point and ploy of the movie were based on an untold story about a few days before the invasion of the Normandy beach in France, 06/06 1944.

I almost knew none of the entire cast crew including Mr. Brian Cox for his leading role to play Churchill in the movie. It was a long movie with little actual war scenes, but I enjoyed my World War II history revisits – After went through years of war, Mr. Churchill the Prime Minister, adamantly believed that the landings were to be a disaster and would sacrifice many young lives. Even with his record of ‘Miracuouls Dunkirk’ in 1940 (3)  scenes are showing that almost no one in the strategy room Amen to Churchill’s negative with the Operation, and his role in war efforts was being discounted.

As result, General Eisenhower and General Montgomery were remembered as the World War II heroes to end the war. I was intrigued by the scene when Mr. Churchill kneeled down and prayed, the night before the invasion, pleading God to use HIS Weather to stop the Operation. And it was HIS Weather that paved the landing for the miraculous conquest. The movie taught me to examine my prayer life anew. It was noble and admirable for Churchill to have the heart for those  young soldiers. It seemed that in the movie,  Mr. Churchill was in his desperation, thus he forgot that his God was the God who protects.

Furthermore, I wonder how factual of those scenes of marital strife with the couple in the film? But it warms my heart to see him holding his wife’s hand and giving thanks to her. In response, the wife say that ‘do you know that  I have lived at the edge of your life….? After seeing the movie ‘Churchill,’ my heart was burning and wanting to watch the film again but in vain, and it was disappointed that the movie didn’t make available on in-flight movie selections.

It must be disheartening for the movie producer when the box office of the movie was not doing great. But my Daddy God was being exalted in the film, not only HE personified the God of all weathers, and HE demonstrated that HIS time was made perfect in the World War II history. I was taught personally, to be mindful again what to ask God in my prayer especially for 2018. Would I stand by the conviction that ‘ Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven?‘(4)

I knew it, when I was promised to be married, that marriage is the beginning of the refining process for being a Christian wife. And by HIS divine appointment, one Christmas, in those were the early years of my marriage, I received the book of ‘The Power of A Praying Wife’ by Stormie Omartian (4), from a single sister in Christ. There are 31-days focuses on specific areas for any wife who wants to pray for’ the mind and life’ of her husband. For years, I was religiously following the book to pray for my husband hoping to see changes in him.

I didn’t know, in fact, that I should have prayed more for the focus on the area of ‘ his wife’  till a few years later. Then I have moved to have my shares of feeding on HIS word, to serve in a number of capacities in my church. Apart from being imperfect both in the eyes of God and in the eyes of men, I was an average, below par  God-fearing and God-serving Christian, yet so much off  the mark as a submissive wife.

I told Linda Lai, my dear BFF who lives in Taipei saying that ‘I think my husband needs a new wife for 2018, and it must have been me,’ and especially, after he has taken a semi-retirement from the office. Therefore, I ask myself that what would come out of me, to be like Mrs. Churchill, in the film who lived at the edge of the life of her husband? or to be like Sarah’s daughter in the Bible who obeyed her husband, with a quiet and gentle spirit,,,(5)? It must be the vision for me to ask for His extra dosage of ‘Hesed and Wisdom’ for 2018.

I still like movies/TVs dramas and curious to find out winners of a few categories in the award-winning nights and love to look at the high fashion on the red carpet. I don’t know whether or not that HE is dealing with this little worldliness in me, this year? Strangely, among all nominations, I only knew one film and one TV drama. But HE always works in mysterious ways, how would I know that there’s another movie on Churchill (Darkest Hour) for Golden Globe,  and Mr. Gary Oldman, a totally unknown-to-me actor, was the winner of the best performing for his role of Churchill in the Darkest Hour?

p.s.

There is another God glorifying war time movie, ‘Dunkirk’ is highly recommended

1. josephprinceonline
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Churchill_(film)
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunkirk_evacuation
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord%27s_Prayer
5. Stormin Omartian – The Power of a Praying Wife – 5.

6. biblehub.com/1_peter/3-6.ht