The Craftsman’s Forge

Wahh… very seldom see such red ink! courtesy of a 360 point drop in the Dow Jones last night.

Some Pictures from Palawan Beach at Sentosa. We were there with the kids just a couple of weeks ago. I like in particular the freeze capture of the water in the air. Nice…

We were away in Putrajaya for the last couple of days for church camp. And BOY….. was it a wonderful wonderful wonderful time we had. The lord showed up (as expected), and really dealt with us as a family (unexpected).

I think this is the best thing that has happened to us as a family for a long long long long time. This is a real milestone for us, and I’ll explain shortly. We came not really expecting much, and the sessions started out pretty much that way. But by the time it got to the last session on Thursday, God had our attention. By Friday, we were crying our eyes out.

You see, God has been speaking to me for a number of weeks and months now prior to church camp. He had been leading me to a point where I had to acknowledge that there were a number of things that I needed to redo and reset right again in my life. One of the most important thing was to allow God to be the Lord of my life again. This was played out after I watch Flywheel and Facing the Giants.

He reaffirmed major themes in my life, in our journey together as a family, and this was a common occurrence over the last 2 months. I then began a regular regime of waking up early at 5 am every morning, going on my elliptical machine, and listening to my daily audio bible (To the one year bible) as I exercise. Of course, being excited about learning more and getting ready for the stock market helped getting me up in the mornings. I found these activities to gel very well together.

So, when we went for chruch camp last week, the idea that God still had lots to deal with me was very very far from my mind. I had merely wanted to get the family of on a retreat, enjoy ourselves at the pool, enjoy company of good friends, meeting with God for wonderful worship and listen to good sermons. Having God sweep us off our feet, digging deep, uncovering our vulnerabilities and meeting us face to face wasn’t on our agenda.

But, He loved us too much to let us get away. I realise now that my success depends not only on God, but how far I am able to move as an anointed child of God, depends heavily on Christine as well. Did anyone tell me this? No. But I sure experienced it. The topical study we did at church camp was on Exodus 1, the simple story of Moses, and the speaker, Pastor Tan Soo Iin illustrated the few chapters to show us how God dealt with Moses. From being an upstart, to a failure (relegated to the desert for 40 years) before being called by God to redeem His people from Egypt.

When I heard the first sermon, I thought it had to do with me being an upstart at my career. Being good at what I do, etc. Boy.. was I wrong. God channeled me towards my family instead. I was an upstart in my family. I thought I did so well as a father, as a husband… boy.. Did God pull the rug from underneath my feet! I realised that I had failed as a father and as a husband. I didn’t spend enough time with them.

Then… when I thought things were already completed, God also dealt with Christine, and on Friday, we realised that there was so much pent up frustrations. Mainly because I wasn’t doing my job as a husband and as a father. Christine being the wonderful long suffering wife, kept silent throughout, deciding to keep the peace instead of inciting any quarrels. The problem with that was.. when the bubble bursts, all hell broke loose. And on Friday, it did.

When that happened, God began working through both of us, and dealing with our emotions, and hurts, frustrations, and He picked up the pieces and put them all together again.

Today, Christine and I feel like we are complete newly weds. There is a bounce again in our stride. No more cynicism. No more sarcasm. A lot more encouragement, a lot more partnership. I now am beginning to discover my children once more. What a wonderful privilege fatherhood is.

Finally, when we got back on Friday evening, I thought God had dealt with everything. Not so…. On Saturday morning, God dealt again with something close to my heart. My career. I knew that God wanted my job. By that, I mean that He wanted full control. I had for some time felt that I needed more challenge, and a new job, and had begun to look around. There were some opportunities floating around, but on Saturday, one of them closed decisively, and I knew God had done that.

Instead of feeling upset or depressed, I knew God was challenging me to finally bury my career and job. I’m going to symbolically do that soon, but I have already surrendered my career to Him. No more looking around for a job. If something comes up, and a window or door opens, it opens. Otherwise, this place is where God has called me to be, and this is where I would continue to stay.

Until the next time God pulls a fast one….