Tag: tiny miracles

Kabod through Covid

Strap yourself in. I’m taking you for a ride.

Not to the next beautiful destination, friend. But to the beauty of what has been thus far in 2022.

And trust me. Though it wasn’t  perfect,  there sure were some incredibly beautiful spots along the way.

So let’s hone in for a bit.

Shall we?

“The best is yet to come.”

The anthem of hope firmly fastened to my heart was how I entered into this new year.

God had been speaking to me throughout the previous season, and I knew my expectations from life moving forward were good & glorious.

Looking back to reflect & learn all that 2021 had packed within itself, and reaching forward to lay a hold of what 2022 promised was the delicate beam I found myself balancing on as I made my way into Jan ’22.

Ok.

Now brace for impact.

A day into the new year and I was tested positive with Covid.

Really now?

Friends, over the course of 2021, the Lord had taught me not only the power of his Word, but also the power of standing on his Word. Once he speaks, it is finished. The matter is settled.

So though I had begun this year with an unexpected diagnosis, I knew what the Lord had promised. I knew he would see me through yet another valley and that I would come out not only unscathed and unharmed, but seven times stronger than I was going in.

Because that’s how the Lord works. The restoration he brings about is always to a place better than before. As it is says in the Passion Translation,

“And then, after your brief suffering, the God of all loving grace, who has called you to share in his eternal glory in Christ, will personally and powerfully restore you and make you stronger than ever. Yes, he will set you firmly in place and build you up. And he has all the power needed to do this—forever! Amen.”

(1 Peter 5:10)

Friends, the Hebrew word for glory is – kabod. Experience with the Lord has taught me that whatever the enemy means for evil will not only be overturned by the hand of the Living God, but also used by him to bring about the manifestation of something good that releases his kabod, his glory into my life.

Please, Lord. Show me how.

God uses All Things

So though I got down with Covid, I found myself involved with two amazing challenges online – a 31-day Wisdom Challenge hosted by Pedro Adao as well as a 5-day Prophetic Planning Challenge by Roma Waterman.

Honing into the voice of the Lord was the number one thing that I needed spiritually,  because where the enemy brings chaos, God brings clarity. So I learnt to lean in closer and hear what the Lord was saying and what I heard back from him, friends has given me much hope moving on, not only for a promised future, but for life as it happens – right here, right now.

Let me try and break down the fruit I have received thus far,  from this rather uncommon time here:

1. Facebook Lives:

Watching a dazzling array of powerful speakers like Bill Johnson, Lisa Bevere and Heidi Baker across a time span of 31 days in Pedro Adao’s Wisdom Challenge during this time was the very thing that gave me the unction to go ahead with my first set of FB lives!

Though I was physically battling weakness, I experienced the Lord’s anointing work dynamically to create beauty within and bring meaning to an otherwise bleak landscape. I was truly reminded of what they say,

Every dark cloud has a silver lining.

2. The Book of Proverbs:

It was Dr Brian Simmons who in Jan beginning kicked off not only the Wisdom Challenge, but also my own personal time in the Book of Proverbs. Not only have I been enjoying my time in this book, but it has produced much fruit – challenging me, exhorting me, calling me higher.

Lady Wisdom, it seems, must be pursued. And this past season, I have found myself running.

3. Divine Rhythms of Grace, Rest & Play:

Learning to lay down creative projects for a bit and to prioritize instead my personal healing and recovery has been a huge part of my process thus far, but also a kind of eye-opener concerning the true heart of the Father towards me.

I’m learning, friend, that He isn’t after my works. He is after my wholeness – body, spirit and soul.

Author, Hannah Brencher encapsulates this sentiment beautifully as a part of her own personal journey with Jesus this season as she affirms,

I AM IMPORTANT + I MATTER

So with the right order of priorities, I now am learning to create in a grace-filled, restful and playful way through the Lord’s unforced rhythms that keep me whole, and don’t leave me broken.

Because the truth is works don’t validate me. Love does.

4. Soak-Sprout-Sautè:

I have also been learning from Jesus the art of soaking + sprouting lentils and whole grains. Finding myself in the kitchen – chopping and sautèing – a mixed bag of carrots, beans, cauliflower, capsicum and broccoli has been symbolic of a subtle, but sure shift from my tendency to have processed foods to a much more healthy intake.

Nope, I am not giving a class on cooking, but rather offering on a plate the perspective that my body (and yours) is not a dumpyard, it is a temple of the Holy Spirit – the very house of God.

And what he calls holy ground, I’m learning to too.

5. Switch the Lights:

I also learnt this season a very interesting fact – the white lights that we use in our rooms & homes after sunset deceive our senses into believing that its still day time, which causes us to remain subconsciously alert even after the sun goes down.

This increased brain activity at a time that God designed for our bodies to rest & renew, results in prolonged evenings/nights and crabby mornings.

So what’s the antidote?

A very small change has made a big impact for me, friend.

I decided to ditch the idea of using white lights after sunset, and stick to a yellow table lamp instead. One could actually try candles too. The idea is to create an environment that helps reduce activity and promote rest instead.

Switching the lights can most definitely switch the script.

The God of All Things

Candid confession time now.

Until recently, I believed that God was only interested in moving the big mountains that stood in my way, and didn’t really care that much about my day-to-day life.

But looking back on my experience as I write this today, I am so amazed, friend, at how wonderfully He has revealed himself to me to be both,

The God of the Practical + The God of the Miraculous

My experience in these times testifies that God is a hands-on Father. He is so crazy about His kids that He insists on being involved in the details of our lives.

From hiding tiny surprises for us as He meets our everyday needs to manifesting divine interventions that part the proverbial Red Sea, He is invested in it all as the God of the mundane, but also as the God of the mighty.

So as I wait upon Him to perform the signs, wonders & miracles that I know He has promised me, I am also deeply content in knowing Him as an intimately connected Father who walks with me in the cool of the day, and is hugely interested in revealing His kabod to me – not only one day when, but also right here, right now.

OK.

Enough said.

I’m taking my foot off the gas, friend. We’re almost there!

The ride may have been bumpy at times, I admit. But you chose to stick it out with me, and I commend you for it.

You’ve been brave.

So as I get ready to roll up the windows, I thank you for the priviledge of your company.

I do need you to know that I am proud of journeying alongside a worthy fellow traveller like you. The roadblocks and humps we have needed to manouver were very real, but so was the beauty and the glory that came with the trip.

All because of the reality of a God, who despite my taking leave right now, promises to be by your side forever – without a shadow of turning. So remember to let him in, friend and let him take over.

For its this kind of genius love that gets in the driver’s seat for us, and taking a hold of the steering wheel of our lives; leans over waiting patiently as we settle into the passenger seat, to hand us a steaming cup of mocha with a glint in his eye that lovingly says,

“Buckle up, babycakes. Its your Father who has the wheel.”

Get ready for some kabod.

Happy Thanksgiving, Friend!

I can hardly believe that we made it, friends!

🎉🎃☃️

I confess the past year has seen me traverse much, but the reason for thanksgiving is that I didn’t do it alone, but rather hand-in-hand with Jesus.

The constancy and consistency of the Lord has been so astonishing to me and I am so very thankful that He has brought me out wiser, softer and stronger than I was before.

And somewhere I suspect that the fact that you are reading this is evidence of the same too, beloved.

So today on Thanksgiving 🦃, I want to encourage you to find the golden threads that are running through your own miracle story. Make the highlight reel of your year in your journal, voice notes or whilst talking-it-out with Him.

Take time to slow down and enjoy seeing the faithfulness of God in your own life. It hasn’t been easy for any of us, but God makes all things possible.

Celebrate the times when He sustained you, delivered you, healed you, encouraged you, matured you. Take to heart that you are never alone, and the same God who brought you this far is the same God who will take you further still.

My prayer is that as we sow seeds of thanks & praise unto the Lord this day, He will multiply and enlarge our harvest of righteousness – inside and out.

So let us lift our hearts & hands in thanks to the One who has seen us through, goes before, stands beside and pointing the way forward, gently whispers –

“The best is yet to come.”

Happy Thanksgiving!

🍁🍽🌲

Happy Fall 🍎🎃

Friends, this was my desire since the beginning of 2020. I kid you not.

Ever since I discovered it right next to my home, I really wanted to hop across and sip some coffee with Jesus here, but somehow or the other, I couldn’t.

Today however, was different.

I know that we have hit that time of the year – apples 🍎 or pumpkin 🎃 ?

I personally really love apples. So that was my intent as I made my way to Starbucks today – a slice of apple pie.

Yup, I didn’t know it. But I guess you figured!

Starbucks doesn’t offer apple pie, but what it does offer is a drink of ‘Pumpkin Spice Latte.’

☕ slurp..

Jesus trains us to make the best of every opportunity. So what was going to stop me now?

You guessed it – nothing.

Though I am an apple person, I like pumpkin too and especially when I get to inaugurate Fall with Jesus through it!

‘Pumpkin Spice Latte,’ I am happy to report, was simply super! I realised that I could be equally happy with both – 🍎🎃 After all, the girl in the story delighted in both too. She picked both – the reddest of apples and also, the perfect pumpkin.

So why do we get to choose?

Not sure .. for I love ’em both and as I go into Fall, I am entering with both, a whiff of pumpkin 🎃 but also with the hope of some delicious apple pie 🍎

Sometimes, it’s not either-or.

Sometimes, it’s both-and.

Happy Fall, friends!

🧶

2 Fish & 5 Loaves 🍞

This is the Will of God for my life –
2 fish & 5 loaves of bread.

Maybe its true spiritually, but God doesn’t demarcate between the natural and spiritual like we do. It’s all one realm for He permeates all things, and uses the natural only to testify to the things of the Spirit.

So as I hobbled into the kitchen for my dinner, Mom had kept such a beautiful tray on display, friends.

2 fish & 5 loaves of bread.

(+ some excellently rich chocolate pastry, egg and mushroom soup 🍰🍞🍳🍜)

Sooo good!

This is where I discern Truth – for this must be the Will of God for my life!

😉😄

I had a gorgeous meal. For I not only relished what God had laid out in front of me, but also the Who it was that did.

I took many small bites as I ate today. I savoured the taste and took in the smell of this sumptuous meal. I looked up and thanked God. I saw Jesus face-to-face, smiled and then broke bread. We had communion.

Blessed, broken and given.

2 fish & 5 loaves of bread served to take  me straight into the Heart of God.

And I kid you not. As I took time to commune with Jesus, the already sweet bread became that much sweeter and softer, and I knew that Heaven had just touched earth.

I learnt something more too.

I realised that sometimes all we have to do is be willing to open up our eyes to the miracle of the 2 fish & 5 loaves of bread that are right out in front of us. The tiny blessings, the slivers of grace ..

.. where we know He didn’t have to do it, but He did.

And that changed everything.

❤

Tiny miracles!

I read a blog post by Ann Voskamp earlier this month, friends. And it has easily been one of the most heartfelt and impactful messages to me, this season.

September to me marks what I call a ‘bridge-building’ month. It is a point of convergence between the last few weeks of Summer this year and the ushering in of the Fall. It is that surreal season where the feel of warm cakes and the sensation of  ice-cream dripping down my forearm, all seem to beautifully collide and peacefully co-exist.

This is where cup cakes, cookies and coffee beckon me and warm me up toward Fall, yet the precious scent of Summer continues to linger and entice.

Ok. Enough said.

Now back to the post.

Ann here gently encourages us to seize the last few weeks of Summer with passion and zeal. Needless to say, I was deeply moved and made up my heart to do just that. She also attaches a list in her post of some things that we can do in this special season to seize the flavour of Summer in what the year-end still has to  offer, and squeeze the delight of childlike wonder as we commit to what I feel can best be described as – tiny miracles.

☆ the feel of cool, running water over my tippy toes

☆ having drippy butterscotch ice-cream

☆ applying pink guava shine lip balm with its fruity scent washing over me

☆ standing in my open balcony under the night sky, listening to the sound of water cascading down a stone wall at the entrance of our building

☆ listening to the sound of the world go by as I slow down and pray

☆ watching the sun set with Jesus and praising Him for painting the sky a different hue each time

☆ hearing the pitter-patter of gentle rain falling in the wee hours of the night

☆ eating fresh kiwi fruit from the market, and letting Jesus teach me to peel & cut it myself for the first time in my life!

Tiny miracles.

Getting myself ready for year-end thus, friends.

Though the thought of woollen socks and  hot tea seem to soften me up for Fall, yet there remains honor to be paid to the last few weeks of Summer. And as September builds the bridge in between the seasons, I can’t help but ask,

Care to join me?

🥝

Heaven come

Hey you!

The Good News is that there is change in the air. I know you are probably tired, so am I. But our joy is not of this world.

Our joy, our peace, our hope is tethered to the reality of another world.

And guess what the other piece of the Good News is?

You get to receive and release that reality into the tiny corner of the world that you call your turf.

God created you, chose you and said,
“It is good.”

So shall we do this thing together, friend?

As the rains come down, let us roll up our
sleeves and get to work.

Let us pray, love and serve well this season.

Let us manifest a slice of Heaven in the earth.

Let us walk in the Truth of our identity as much loved children of God.

Let us flow in the power of His Spirit and in our authority as co-heirs with Christ.

Let us make a list of things we are grateful for.

Let us look back on our trauma and tell it that it does not get to define us.

Let us receive the Lord’s perspective and partner with the King of glory.

Let us bring to rememberance the testimonies of His faithfulness and rejoice.

Let us live fully, freely and abundantly.

And should it look like a selfie or two, know that you deserve it.

You are worthy, you are valued, you are loved.

Hey you!

That would be you.

💚🌈☔