The cost of following Jesus

⁵⁷ As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”

⁵⁸ Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

⁵⁹ He said to another man, “Follow me.”
But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

⁶⁰ Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

⁶¹ Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family.”

⁶² Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

– Luke 9:57-62

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose”

Shine jesus shine
Fill this land with the fathers glory
Blaze, spirit blaze,
Set our hearts on fire
Flow, river flow
Flood the nations with grace and mercy
Send forth your word
Lord and let there be light.

I woke up feeling draggy and did not want to work at all. for the first hour and a half or so after I woke up, I was complaining and complaining. A few hours later, I am feeling better, whether its the coffee kicking in I don’t know but i’m glad and thinking about everything I am thankful for! (these are not in order.. except for the first one)

1. God, His grace and the strength He provides me

2. Coffee and breakfast with Karie and Polly

3. Good kindergarten teacher.. makes me happy and feel at peace whenever I step in her classroom (though the class is not always peaceful!!) but it is a classroom without tension, fear and intimidation which is all I can ask for

4. Megan & her office where I can speak my mind, complain, refresh myself for the day, read the news online, laugh and take a break

5. a little bit of rain this morning.. though it is very humid now 😦

6. internet, email and skype where i can connect with my parents, friends, home

8.  friends here in cambodia.. mette, len, polly, megan, volleyball bunch…

7. a one week holiday in less than two weeks!! home!!

… will add more as the day goes on

Worry is like a rocking chair. You sit on the rocking chair, you are doing something.. rocking back and forth but in the end, you don’t get anywhere. Worrying is looking in the wrong direction for answers. Sometimes the way God leads us is not the way we had thought it would be and sometimes it doesn’t even seem practical!! … But even when we don’t understand anything, simply trust and walk through it.

Matthew 6:25-34

25″Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[a]?

28″And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Another week has come and gone, Praise God for weekends.

I woke up one day earlier this week feeling very weak and unmotivated to work. All I wanted to do was sit at home and listen to music all day long. Nonetheless, I got my butt off the bed and dragged myself to work.
I was doing my usual thing at work, photocopying, walking around campus sweating up a river and all in all, not doing much. I walked into the library and a wave of music came rushing through from the computer lab upstairs. I didn’t think much of it, I thought it was another teacher playing music while the kids worked. A few minutes later, I made my way upstairs to visit a colleague… peeped into the computer lab and saw a class of six graders messing around. When I say messing around, I mean, they really were not doing anything. Some was on the floor, some were on the computers, some were standing in front of the air conditioner talking to each other, and one was even holding a basketball.

I decided to go in and check out what they were really up to, I walked in and the speakers were blasting “Mighty to Save” by Hillsong. I love that song! I asked the teacher what they were doing and to my surprise, they were just listening to worship songs.

As I stood there for the next fifteen minutes or so, I was amazed at the faith and the energy these six graders have for God. As they sang, danced, and laughed, it was as though they were constantly on a “spiritual high”.  I didn’t talk to any of them, and watching and listening to them sing Praises to God was enough to give me buckets of energy for the rest of the day.

I walked out of the computer lab unsure of where that sudden rush of energy came from. I’m sure they had no idea their entertainment had given me such an impact, but that’s not important. What is important is, for the rest of the day, I was in awe of the powerfulness of God, in awe of these young Middle School students who want to dedicate their life to living for God.