God Has a Plan for Each One of Us, Including Our Grown Children!

Dec. 19, 2016

I am grateful for being a Canadian and residing in this peaceful country!  We may not be able to escape the constant bombardment of chaos and violence going on in the world and their reporting in the media daily. However, I am learning to seek refuge and take a break from all these horrible news by retreating to my silence/ solitude corner and trying to seek peace and God's presence.

My silence & solitude  corner

I am thankful for my quiet time each day when I can be sitting comfortably and peacefully in my family room, reading the bible and spending time to pray.  The more I read the bible, the more I find strength and comfort in God's word.

As parents, we are always concerned with our children's welfare and their lives.  My spouse and I are very independent people living an active live in Canada. I never thought that I would miss our children too much when they are grown, move away living their own lives. How wrong was I ! I miss them a lot, daily, much more than I have expected. I pray for them everyday, for their physical health and safety, emotional health as well as for their spiritual life. A mother's concern and worry for her children never ends regardless of their age.

This morning, as I sat in my favourite spot and read the scripture of the day, God's wonderful promises lifted me up and comforted me greatly:

" For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, " plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:11-13

God's word gives me the assurance that He has a plan for each one of us and that He will look after our children no matter where they are.

I thank God for His promises and for revealing this particular promise to me this morning!

R.T.
Toronto


"

Learning How to Pray from My Study at the Seminary

I have learned a lot from my first course in seminary study which has a tremendous impact on my prayer life !

Tyndale University & Seminary, Toronto 

 My attitude towards prayers and the way I pray have changed drastically. I thoroughly enjoyed the lectures and readings which I read from cover to cover learning the different forms and types of prayers. Among the various prayers, “Praying the Ordinary Prayer” has had a great impact on me.

I used to think that praying needs to be concerned with big world events, developments and catastrophes. I would feel guilty if I had not included these events in my prayers. However, my mind was opened when I read that “the discovery of God lies in the daily and the ordinary, not in the spectacular and the heroic. If we cannot find God in the routines of home and shop, then we will not find him at all”  ( Prayer by Richard Foster, 1992 ).

Right after reading “Praying the Ordinary,” I practiced what I learned. As I was walking towards our local community fitness centre, I started praying for every building and everybody I was passing by on my way. I prayed for the salvation of those people living in the houses and apartments in the neighbourhood, for the souls of those employees working in the grocery store and customers shopping there, as well as for the safety of the road construction crews pouring asphalt on the street corners.

 While I prayed for people in my immediate community, my love for them grew inside me and tears welled up in my eyes. I felt the power of prayer enabling me to love and care for total strangers, with whom I did not have a shred of connection. God’s presence could not have been closer to me at that point!

Another thing I learned was the famous Jesus Prayer, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner”. I used to think that my prayers have to be a certain length and that it could not be too short. Learning this Jesus prayer has let me say this prayer anytime of the day when I need to pray to God but not sure of what to say. From time to time, I may experience insomnia. After tossing in bed for hours and filling my mind with all sorts of unpleasant images from the day, I would become restless and anxious. I would pray this simple Jesus prayer over and over in my head.  Slowly and calmly, I let this prayer take over my mind and drift into a peaceful slumber.

Taking my first course at the seminary turned out to be the most practical thing I have done in my life. I have learned so much from it that it would take many blogs to write about them all. I may not be able to implement everything at once but I have already started to follow some of what I have learned. I know, overtime, I would learn to grow spiritually and have a richer prayer life. However, there is one thing that delights me the most and I would like to share with my blog readers what has touched me to my core:

 “I urge you: carry on an ongoing conversation with God about the daily stuff of life.. prayer is nothing more than an ongoing and growing loving relationship with God the father, Son, and Holy Spirit” (  Prayer, Richard Foster, 1992).


R.T.
Toronto
Ontario

"Has God Abandoned Me?" A Frequently Asked Question

Tyndale Seminary, Toronto - Where I currently am enrolled n a course

 One of my goals of studying at the seminary is learning to be close to God and developing my spiritual growth.  I was delighted to have been assigned a spiritual director last term. I never talked to a counselor or a spiritual director before in my life prior to meeting my spiritual director.

One of the rooms where our meetings tool place

The very first time I met and talked to my spiritual director was on the Tyndale Seminary campus, and I cried my eyes out throughout our entire first two meetings.  I found the meetings with my spiritual director helpful and looked forward to them with much anticipation each time. My spiritual director and I discussed many things and dealt with a number of issues over the past few months.

The items on the book shelf create a calming effect in the meeting room 

The first big burden I shared with my spiritual director was regarding my loved ones’ salvation. I have been praying for some special needs for my family and my non-believing family members and those who have strayed away from believing in Jesus for years. However, God does not seem to answer me, nor seems to help bring my prodigal sons and other family members back into His kingdom. Not only did my spiritual director and I pray for my family members’ eternal salvation, but she also shared her own personal experience with me.

Some questions I have asked myself are, “Has God abandoned me? Should I continue to pray and bother Him with my requests?”  From time to time, I would consider the thought of not praying for the same thing. However, I was comforted and encouraged by my spiritual director’s personal sharing, as well as what Richard Foster said in his book:

When we are buffeted by the silence of God is to beat upon the cloud of unknowing…. We pray, we listen, we worship, we carry out the duty of the present moment. What we learned to do in the light of God’s love, we also do in the dark of God’s absence. We ask and continue to ask even though there is no answer. We seek and continue to seek even though we do not find. We knock and continue to knock even though the door remains shut (Foster, 1992, 23).

What a great confirmation that was! That is exactly what I have been doing for the past twenty years!  I will not give up and I will continue to pray, seek and knock because “it is this constant, longing love that produces a firmness of life orientation in us. We love God more than the gifts God brings” (Foster, 1992, 24).

 Alleluia! I will serve God in good or bad times!

R.T.
Toronto

      

Having a Great time at a Company Christmas Party Without the Influence of Alcohol!

I love going to my husband's company's Christmas party!

Lobby of Richmond Hill country club

We have been attending the Christmas party for over a decade at around the same time each year.

Eric & his wife

 I get to meet those nice professional people with whom my husband has worked for many years. They are very friendly, kind and professional.

Guests were enjoying themselves at the dinner

The best thing of all - though the company provides a free bar for the entire duration of the dinner party every year, no one ever takes advantage of this generous offer of hospitality, gets drunk and do silly things.






When I was a young teacher attending our staff Christmas party, I remember clearly how one fellow male teacher, having too much to drink, tried to do some inappropriate things to a young female colleague. It wasn't pleasant for other party goers at all.

Delicious meat entrees

Last weekend, we were at this year's company Christmas party held at the Richmond Hill Country Club, a lovely venue for this seasonal event.

 As always, there was a nice spread of appetizers with cold cuts, shrimps, and salads followed by an array of delicious hot food.

We enjoyed the food and games prepared by a member of the young staff. One game which I particularly enjoyed was the game that brought the people together at the party.

There were a number of questions written on a piece of paper about the various staff members. Participants of this game read the statement and tried to figure out which staff member matched the particular description.

A great game to encourage guests to mingle and get to know one another

They would go over to the person(s) and had them initial on the box. Instead of people just sitting at their table taking to a few people they knew, this was a nice game as it got people walking around talking and getting to know their colleagues in the company.

Everyone behaved well and had a great time at the party!

Another different game played at the party was a reverse draw which I saw for the first time.

Instead of winning a prize when your name was drawn, the winning numbers were predetermined and written on a board. The person whose name was drawn did not get the prize but to draw the next name until the winning number was drawn.



No alcohol was needed to get people going in these games. It was a couple of clean fun games for everyone to have a good time at the party!

However, the same good behaviour was not exhibited by some of our Canadian government officials.  A Swedish official from its embassy was interviewed on CBC yesterday morning explaining that Canadians were not invited to this year's Swedish Embassy's Christmas party in Ottawa, due to their unruly behaviour at last year's event. The Canadians at the party were drunk and behaving badly. Below is a link to the report:

http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thisisthat/claiming-they-party-too-hard-swedish-embassy-refuses-to-invite-any-canadians-to-their-holiday-party-satire-1.3897285

What a shame it was when the high level government officials representing our country behaved inappropriately in an official government party!

They have a few things to learn from my husband's  company.

Well done! Guys!

R.T.
Toronto

Giving Back to Young People in My Community

It was quite a busy and eventful last few months. Much did take place but I was so busy studying that I dd not have time to write about these events. I am trying to catch up with my blog writing so that I would not forget them.

In October, I did a series of workshops in the Kitchener/ Waterloo area, trying to help young people and university students there in their job search and interview skills. The response was very good. In fact, After I did three workshops in the fall, some people are asking for me to return and do more.

M. shared her successful job searching experience with the young people in Waterloo

In one of the workshops, I invited an employer from the local community and a new graduate, who received a few job offers and chose one which she liked the best, to come and share her experience with the group.

In the third, also the last workshop, I incorporated a business culture element in the workshop helping participants to learn about some of the corporate practices and expectations of their employees.

More than forty people attended this workshop. It made me very happy when the participants told me that they learned and benefit from these workshops. 

It was a busy time for me in the autumn of 2016 when I had to juggle studying, teaching part time and doing community presentations. But I loved it!

I thank God for giving me opportunities working with the young people and sharing with other educators my experiences in education. There's nothing more fulfilling in my retirement life than giving back to society and to Canada, the country I love and call home for the past many decades!

R.T.

Kitchener/ Waterloo

Toronto area

Attending Henry's Moon Yuet Celebration

A Moon Yet celebration dinner held at a restaurant in Markham

Being a part of a big family, we are fortunate enough to be invited to share with my siblings' happiness and celebrate with them in their milestones and happy events.

The proud new grandma with her guest.

Both of my sisters have become grandmothers recently, one of whom for the first time. Last fall, we were invited to celebrate in their grandchildren's Moon Yuet celebrations.

Little Theodore and his proud parents!

First it was Theodore's Moon Yet in September.

Little Henry all dressed in  his red outfit at his Moon Yet dinner party

More recently, it was Henry's Moon Yet party!

Moon Yet - means a full month, referring to the new born baby being one month old.

The new parents showing off their new baby to the guests

 In the Chinese tradition, both the new mother and baby are supposed to be resting at home for the entire month without receiving any visitors (except for the grandparents).

This post birth one month period allows the mother ample time to rest and recover from the delivery while giving the baby time to grow strong.and gain immunity without contracting potential germs from visitors.

 After the one month both the new mother and baby are stronger and doing better.

Family and relatives come together to share the joy of the new family

The new family will hold a Moon Yuet dinner where the proud parents will present their new born baby to the relatives and friends.

Theodore\s proud parents and grandma

Though born in Canada, many Canadian born Chinese still carry on this century old Chinese tradition.

Moon Yuet is a happy event to share with friends and family.

Our niece and nephews were no exceptions and held their baby Moon Yuet dinners for their extended families.

But instead of holding the dinner a month after the birth, it has now been modified as a hundred day celebration.

The coloured eggs - a must at the Moon Yuet dinner celebration

We enjoyed attending the celebrations and going to the dinners.

Luke and his parents!

With all the negative reporting and news of violence being reported daily on TV, it was nice to have a break from all the bad news and be among family and loved ones to celebrate a new baby's arrival.

Harper and her dad at the dinner

Children are gifts and blessings from God;
they are precious!

Great grandma with some of her daughters and grand daughter

We had a wonderful time sharing the new parents' and the grandparents' joy and happiness with them!

We were glad we were there to share with my sisters' bundle of joy!

R.T.
Markham, Ontario

God Sends Angels to Help Me in Times of Needs!

Finally, I could breathe a sign of relief after handing in my final major paper for my first course in seminary study. I could not believe how fast time flew by since September. It seemed like yesterday when I was starting my study. I attended every one of the lectures faithfully, did all the required readings, completed all my essays on time and got to know some great Christian folks! 

I enjoyed my student life last fall on campus

I still remember the nervous experience I had when submitting my paper online for the first time last fall.  The last time I took a university credit course was over fifteen years ago well before the internet age.



I enjoyed every one of my professor’s lectures and worked hard at completing all my assignments.  I was very excited after finishing my first paper on time. However, not being computer savvy and with a techno phobia, I had difficulty navigating my way around the college website and  locating moodle to which students were supposed to submit their assignments online.

My favourite spot for enjoying my meals at the Tyndale Seminary

 I was not prepared to miss the assignment deadline due to my poor online skills. I packed up my computer and rushed to the college heading straight to the library. I was sure the librarian there would be able to help me. But she could not! We tried different ways yet we were unsuccessful. I was getting discouraged. Was I going to miss the deadline for my first assignment?

Just then, a lady who had been standing at the counter for a little while but I had not noticed until then asked.” Are you taking Professor D’s course? You are trying to submit the paper via moodle?”

“ Yes, I replied, “ Do you know how to do it?” Crossing my fingers, I was hoping for a postive answer..

“Yes!” she replied cheerfully with an angelic smile. ” I can help you with it. I am also taking the same course in the afternoon session and I just handed in the same paper today.”

The Chapet at Tyndale Seminary, Toronto

“ Thank you so much! That would really help me.” I was filled with gratitude.

This kind lady took me to a computer station and in no time at all she assisted me in submitting my paper. I was relieved, and elated. There were springs in my steps as I handed towards my class afterwards.

After a couple times of handing in my writing assignments, I have finally learned the skills needed for online submission for my seminary courses.

I know there are many people who don’t believe in God and His mighty power.  I do! Looking back the many decades I have been trusting God with my life, I truly believe that God cares for me in everything I do. I could feel His presence in my everyday living as He sends angels to help me in times of needs.

I just wish that many more in the world could find God, trust and follow His way. If we do, then there will be true peace in the world!

R.T.

Toronto