His Arms and Legs

Nick Vijucic as he was cheered by the crowd.

Today was the first time I actually couldn’t pray what I normally prayed for someone. Often, I would ask the Lord to use me (or whoever I was praying for) to be His arms and legs, and mouthpiece. When I started to pray that, I realized that Nick Vujicic had no limbs. He couldn’t literally be the Lord’s arms and legs because He is completely limbless. Because that is so, I prayed even harder that the Lord would use Nick as His mouthpiece. I wasn’t disappointed. Tonight, Ethan, his friend, and I, listened as Nick shared his life story to a packed convention center full of 10,000 (mostly Thai) people. By the time we headed home, it was almost 10:00 p.m. but as Ethan said, it unfortunately started late but it was surely worth going to hear him. Nick only spoke for about an hour but he was powerfully used by God.

Born with a rare disorder, Nick grew up without any of his limbs. Yet, overcoming his disability and depression at a young age, he’d grown up full of faith and joy. He’s lived his life doing what normal people did, play sports, go to school, and enjoy life as best he can. He shared that he believed he could do all things because of Christ who strengthened him. At 19, he discovered that his purpose in life was to encourage so he decided to be a motivational speaker. He shamelessly talked about where his hope came from and whom He believed in. He encouraged people to never give up. He pleaded with us not to allow our limitations to stop us from trying. He reasoned with us that just because we fail doesn’t mean we’re failures. He taught us that each failed attempt in selling himself as a speaker taught him to learn how to speak better. He encouraged us to learn from our mistakes.

Nick at different stages of his life.
He never stopped trying.

He shared a whole LOT more but as I listened to him, I knew that what I was witnessing, Nick himself, was God’s miracle. That Nick today is full of joy, peace, and love, in spite what he doesn’t physically have, is a testimony of what our Lord is capable of doing. Papa God had transformed Nick into a contented and joyous man who loves Him and who knows that his purpose in life is to encourage others and to share about our destiny if we believe in Jesus. Nick is now happily married and has a healthy boy. All the more, joy wells up from within him. As he shared about that joy, his love for all of us, and his God who loves, he asked if he could pray for us. Then, he prayed an earnest and heartfelt prayer of blessing for everyone. He implored that we would all know the love and the joy that comes from the Lord. Truly, nothing is impossible for our God. In the absence of arms and legs, the Lord used Nick Vijucic to speak into the hearts of all of us there. Judging from the many teary eyes I saw, many were moved. And I know that a LOT of that movement is towards God. May the Lord be praised for His goodness and love and for His amazing wisdom in using the limbless to bring people to Himself.

New Steps

In their hearts humans plan their course,

but the Lord establishes their steps.

Proverbs 16:9 NIV

Last week, I was a chaperone at Ethan's class field trip.
We stayed at Horizon Village where this shot was taken.

Exactly a month ago on the 20^th, I wrestled with what I thought the Lord was asking me to do. You can read about it on April 28^th’s posting called “God’s Suddenly”. When I found out then what I felt God wanted me to do: take on a new role in the school I taught in; I moved from arguing with the Lord that it wasn’t a good idea, to giving in with constraints, to finally going through the motions of obeying. I talked to friends and attempted to find one who saw the whole process as a big mistake. Surprisingly, no one did! The Lord knew that I needed all the encouragement that I could get and He made sure I got it. In the end, still with my head shaking in puzzlement, I had wondered about where everyone was and why they saw me a certain way and at what they saw. It’s a new concept for me to be seen and affirmed even by those who don’t directly have dealings with me. I don’t understand it. The only way it makes sense to me is because of the Holy Spirit. He’s been telling on me and prompting others to affirm and build me up! It’s the only way to explain what feels like a conspiracy, in a good way.

The field trip involved sleeping overnight in a dorm full
of 6th graders. In spite their squeals, giggles, whispers, and
the occasional loud voice, I fell asleep. It was the
longest, needed sleep I'd had in weeks! 

So exactly a month later at the exact day when He impressed to those two friends to talk to me about taking on the role, just because nothing is impossible with Him, I had my job interview and was offered the job hours later. It’s only been a month so my whole being is still adjusting to the newness of it all. It took me awhile to believe the Lord was serious. It shouldn’t have surprised me that I was offered the job because I knew the Lord wanted me to do it, BUT, I was surprised, anyway!

If you'd like to see hedges of all shapes (dinosaurs,
dolphins, dragons, birds, etc.), you'd want
to go to Horizon Village. You'd be fascinated!  =)

So the Lord’s suddenly is now a reality. I’ll start my new job on August 1^st. I’m so glad because it’ll give me the summer to convince myself that the Lord knows what He’s doing. In spite myself, He will use me and together, we’ll do amazing things! I choose to believe in His ability to use my weaknesses. He will be made strong. YES!

Staff at school hasn’t been told about my new post so I can’t identify it here but I will surely like doing the job. Once I get over my shock, I will probably even love it. =) Thank you, Lord, for this wild ride. Praise You!

Fully Healed

“i stand IN AWE. today i find myself healed. fully healed.”

Facebook status posted by Melanie Sanford on Thursday, March 14, 2013

It isn't very often that I get to play a part in a healing miracle where the whole elementary student body and staff are involved so it is what this post will be about. Melanie (Mel) Sanford is a bubbly, energetic, full of life 6^th grade teacher at our school. I once remarked to her that she was like a breath of fresh air whenever I saw her at the halls or walkways of the school. Her spirit affected those around her and she just exuded joy and warmth.

It was disconcerting and alarming then when she became ill six weeks ago. Her disease just quietly came upon her, unannounced. Mel and her husband were then shopping at Warorot Market during the week-end of the Chinese New Year. She said they had just left one of the stores when she started to feel dizzy. It was the first time she ever felt like that so she didn’t know what to make of it. She began to feel steadily unwell but still made it to school to teach by Monday. It was then that she noticed that in addition to the dizziness, she also started to feel exhausted. She told her students that she needed to sit while teaching; something she’d never ordinarily do. In spite the adjustment, she felt worse and ended up going to the emergency room – but no diagnosis was made at that time.

For the next few weeks she was constantly exhausted, dizzy, or both. She couldn’t do much due to the exhaustion. Much of her days were spent resting on their living room couch. When she saw the doctor, she was told that it was Meniere`s disease: a chronic lifetime ear disease that would affect the quality of her life. She may eventually go deaf. This information was such a big blow to the Sanfords but for Mel, she couldn’t even deal with the implications due to the exhaustion she felt. She contemplated her future and thought that she may not be able to teach again. It wasn’t looking good.

Mel with Pilar Prus, the other 6th grade teacher

Thankfully, God had other plans for her. She was obviously laid on not just my heart because colleagues Sue and Susan went to visit her on Sunday. While I prayed for her on my own, they went to see her and prayed for her. Mel said the past week-end was hard and the symptoms, more pronounced. Yet, through the visit, a glimmer of hope arose. Sue talked about bringing more people to pray and Mel looked forward to the support of our community.

On Monday, I couldn’t shake the thought that I should go over and not just pray for her, but also anoint her with oil. I connected with her and she said it was all right for me to go over.  That same day, Sue sent out a message that on Thursday she wanted to have as many people as possible go over to Mel to pray and anoint her with oil. I had another commitment then so I just went ahead and visited Mel, bringing them drinking water. Later, I thought it symbolic that I literally brought them water but it also felt like the living water from deep within her was called forth to surface during our prayer time. I also prayed for her healing and deliverance. She later said that Monday’s prayer time encouraged her and got her excited that God was about to do something HUGE. Her symptoms lessened and she physically felt better. She had more energy and no dizziness. Spiritually though, she was still up and down.

Monday morning's greetings from very
excited and happy students.

 At Tuesday’s chapel, the teaching was on Psalm 23 and when people anointed with oil. There was also discussion on anointing the sick with oil as described in James 5:14-15. To end the time, prayers were said for Mrs. Sanford’s healing. All the students signed a poster that was going to be sent to her and they were all asked to pray while doing so. The teachers were encouraged to write messages of hope.

On Wednesday, Mel and her husband prayed for the folks coming on Thursday. She said she felt God say, “Get ready because I’m working and tomorrow my work will be done.”

Victorious Mel back at school
by the grace of God.

Meanwhile, I sent her an email saying Grace was coming. She described Thursday’s prayer time as grace indeed poured out. LOTS of teachers rallied and went. There was an intense hour of powerful praying. Past and present issues were prayed for. Mel said, “The darkness lifted and the light started pouring in!” She felt emotionally and spiritually free! She also apparently cried almost the whole time. =)

When they left, Mel spent some more time on the floor praying. She said God was speaking to her. She kept writing without even realizing what she was writing. When she then looked down at her paper, she saw that it said, “I am fully healed.”

As of this writing, Saturday night, she is still euphoric, ecstatic, and excited about her whole experience. Thank you, Papa God. We praise you.

I’d like to end with how she preceded her post, above. She was hardly capable of doing anything and was miserable for most of the past six weeks but she stated:

my heart is so full. i will never be able to say thank you enough for all 

the love and kindness and beauty of these last 6 weeks.

Sure, she was physically healed, but, her emotions and spirit were even more so.

A Tap Away

Now my soul sings
Your love it knows no end
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tu258qXd4js

Flowers like these bloom only
twice, both during the
month of February.

 I haven't been able to shake the feeling that provision will soon come our way and that the Lord will do so abundantly. As I thought of that this morning, I remembered the story I narrated to a friend during Thursday’s lunch. I can’t even remember what we were talking about, only that I told her ‘the story’. I refer to it as that because it’s been told and re-told many times. If you are a long-time friend, it may not be new to you, as a reader, for that reason. It’s still a great story so one I’ll write about, today.

One Sunday, I was at a church service while we were then living in the Philippines as missionaries. I just heard and saw what God was doing in that church so I wanted to bless it. Looking in my wallet, I saw that I only had two peso bills: a P500 and a P100. Times were tough then so the two bills represented my total cash wealth. =) I slightly debated in my head about whether I really wanted to get rid of one of them but my better sense made me pull out the P100 and while holding the offering bag, I quickly dropped it in. (Sometimes, when I tell this story, I would joke that I should have pulled out the P500!) At that point, I felt a tap on my right shoulder. Surprised, I turned to see what it was for without letting go of the bag. The lady behind me handed me a folded bill. I gestured my question of whether she wanted me to put it in the bag for her. I was a little puzzled as to why she didn’t wait for the bag to get to her so she could do it herself. She shook her head “no” and pointed with her index finger that it was for me. Completely taken aback, I let go of the offering bag and looked more closely at what I received. It was a folded P1000 bill! I was dumbfounded! How could that happen? I gave away a hundred and before it even landed on the bag, a thousand found its way to me? I felt so awed! Would the enemy (devil) do that? I realized how ridiculous that thought was so I praised God instead and thanked Him. Of course, I also thanked the lady. =) What an amazing truth it is, that if we give to God, He blesses us right back!

Beautiful trees like these can only be seen in Chiang Mai
at this time of year.

Further to that, years later, we visited that same church. During the service, I remembered the story above and in my mind, I thanked God again for that special blessing. Our lives had changed since then and we were no longer financially challenged. Looking in my wallet, I saw that it had more pesos than the P600 that time. Then, I put in a P1000 in the offering and told God that it was my way of thanking Him (How absurd! Like, why would He need a P1000?); I said I wanted Him to have it. When the service was over, I saw the very same lady mentioned in the story above, the one who gave me a P1000 with a tap on my shoulder. After our greetings, she shook my hand and gave me another folded P1000. Surprised again, I told her how awed I was the first time she gave me a thousand and how I shared that story A LOT! I told her it effectively changed my thinking about how God blesses our generosity. I think it was also the first time I told her that I just gave a P100 and how because of what she did, it immediately changed to a P1000. When she later left, the thought occurred to me that I really wanted to give the P1000 back to God (silly me!). I went over to the Missions Box and dropped the P1000 that she just gave. We were then asked to return so we could also share at the second service. We were just visiting that church that Sunday. We were on our way to Davao City where we then lived and worked. Impromptu, when the church's leadership saw us, they allowed us to share a bit about the work we did. When the second service was over, an envelope was given to us to thank us for sharing. In it was a third P1000 in the last 2 hours! =) I thought, "Wow, Lord, you really wanted us to have that!" We kept it! =D

The Lord does amazing and wonderful things as He love and provides. He does so sometimes with such creativity! =) My story is just one of many more. He is so generous and good, and, His ways are truly higher than ours. I don’t know how our current provision will come but it wouldn’t surprise me if it’s just a tap away.