The Sunday that almost wasn’t blessed.

The viral bug found a way in me. Scratchy throat. Flu-y symptoms. Headache. Tiredness. Drink more water. Rest more. I would be able to quench these budding symptoms and be fully recovered. I was getting better and then not. And when I started to feel down again, my fuse became shorter.

At a moment of anger, I raised my voice and hollered at Baby E. That night, I lost my voice. Worst ever. Words came out in muffled squeaks.

The next day, I hardly could speak. I shouldn’t too, to protect voice. This was also God’s protection over Baby E, because I couldn’t raise my voice at her. Lessen her childhood trauma.

While I was on my road to recovery, Baby E caught my bug and fell sick. That came along the additonal emotional and mental toll from taking care of a sick child. Moreover, for a few nights, the sick her would wake up in the night howling. Or early in the morning at 5+am. A sick and sleep deprived me was so tired, but I had insomnia on that Saturday night. And then I had weird and bad dreams. I felt like I didn’t sleep or at best, gotten patchy sleep.

I was contemplating on cancelling the meet up with a friend who was visiting from Hong Kong. I was physically exhausted. Moreover, hubby would be staying home to take care of Baby E, and so it would only be me heading out early in the morning for 8:30AM church service.

All the bad events leading up to that particular Sunday made me think that the enemy was working overtime to stop me from going out then.

So I forced myself to go out and indeed, I received loads of blessings that Sunday.

Sermon

The sermon spoke right to my heart, from the beginning to the end. Hardly has pastor’s sermon been so laden with specific encouraging points for me. Usually pastor expounds on the Word and more of a bible study style, more to feed my spiritual mind and not heart.

Moreover he seldom preaches on these controversial points, but felt led that Sunday, even though he expected “wrath”. Come to think of it, I’ve never heard him preach about these.

Key points:

  • Evangelism
  • Transfer of wealth

Fellowship

And it was a fruitful time of fellowship. I felt blessed to be able to share my wisdom with her, and vice versa, to receive her promptings by the Holy Spirit. Shared with her my turbulent journey in 2019 and got two words from her:

  • To have Shalom Peace
  • To keep writing, like Paul’s letters of blessings. That’s a big hat, but a mere analogy. And this gave me a new perspective of Paul’s letters. I never saw his writings in modern context. Not the content per se, but the stylistic manner or act of writing.

A little note about his letters (Extracted from the product description of a book by Big Dream Ministries):

Paul’s Letters to the Churches (Romans, First Corinthians, Second Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, First Thessalonians, and Second Thessalonians) were written by Paul over a period of fourteen years to seven churches scattered throughout Asia Minor, Greece, and Rome.

Because of the different circumstances into which Paul sent these letters, each has its own flavor and emphasis.

As we will see, these letters contain both doctrine and practical explanation. The apostle took the great truths of the life, death, resurrection, and return of Jesus Christ and explained and applied them for the members of these newly established centers of Christian worship and witness.

Blessed Sunday!

I was at the valley of crossroads and point of giving up. So God knows I need a some cheer to keep going. I am truly and deeply encouraged both by the pastor and sister-in-Christ.

And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
— Hebrews 10:24‭-‬25