Hi all,
Really appreciate all of you for praying for us. We had a wonderful trip, although Josh has a taste of cultural shock in this beautiful island known as the'land of the gods'.
Bali is very deep steep in idolatory. You see people praying and offering incense everywhere and almost anytime of the day. There are so many figurines everywhere, practically in every household and shop. They look very scary to Josh and he became so afraid that he cried so badly on the first night when we had our family devotion. And he missed all his cousins and friends!
One of the things we observed was that they are very superstitious-believing a lot in luck. I realized that the primary motivation for their worship is to have wealth and health-which reminds me to come before God not just for His blessings, but to bless the Lord for being my maker, regardless of blessings.Whee Ling and I were glad that we were given God's wisdom to teach Josh to pray and bless the people in Bali to seek the true and living God.
We also had a great family time; great food and great shopping as well! We've not have had a trip like this eversince I stopped work.
Nevertheless, what delights me a lot was to see Josh's heart-he is so thoughtful that he wanted to buy little cute, nice souvenirs for his classmates. He even selected a nice, colorful necklace for his form teacher in which he ensures that he puts it in his bag this morning before he went to school.Josh also had a new spritual breakthrough - he has begun journalling what God is saying to him during his daily devotions as well as whatever the Lord may impress upon his heart during the day. I think it's wonderful to have a compilation of all the words and revelations of God to understand God's heart and to learn to live our lives wisely in this 'evil age', understanding clearly what the will of the Lord is. I guess, to Whee Ling and I, beyond all the 'best things' we want to give to Josh like any typical Singaporean parent would, the best thing we can give him is to teach Josh to hear God's voice and do the will of God in his life as he grows. Thus, please pray for us to be godly parents - to be so we need to be godly to exercise the Lordship and godliness in our own daily lives as well.
Thank you for sharing our lives in this journey!
"God speaks in the silence of the heart.
Listening is the beginning of prayer."
david
