Surrender - Part 2

Currently listening: Laura Story - I think of You

Verse 1
When I think of sunlight piercing through the clouds to paint the perfect sky
I think of the silver lining of Your love, and I think of You

Verse 2
When I think of streams that weave through desert lands as beauty comes alive
I think of the healing fountain of Your grace in my life, in my life

Chorus
And I think of You who shines with endless light through broken jars of clay
And I think of You redeeming every part of each day that You've made
And I think of You

Verse 3
When I think of children laughing full of wonder and families reconciled
I think of the joy that's found in answered prayer, and it makes me smile
Makes me smile!

Bridge
For redemption's now the story of my soul
'Cause it was You who paid the highest price for broken jars of clay
And you still choose to use my life for Your glory displayed

This week was better (thanks guys for the prayers) - tired from various site visits.
1 of which was Meals on Wheels, where we drove from door to door delivering food to elderly people in the community who have trouble with meal preparation. Took photo with the staff and team leader - actually quite 'paiseh', but what to do, I did a half-day's work for the MONASH CITY COUNCIL :p so might as well.. Got a few modules done and my ward registrar sent me home early (12.30pm - never been let off so early before :p lolz)

This week has been a week of countless reminders:
- to focus on His strength, instead of my failures
- to love unconditionally and not sledgehammer people ("If we judge, we have no time to love people." - Mother Teresa)
- that He desires obedience, not sacrifice

A few reminders from my shepherd and a fellow friend on what am I to do here with whatever time left, whether am I actually trying too hard from the way things are going.. and it brings reminder of something from Dr Alex's site last year..

A legend has it that there was a temple built on an island and it held a thousand bells. Bells, big and small, fashioned by the finest craftsman in the world. When the wind blew or a storm raged, all the bells would peal out in a symphony that would send the heart of the hearer into raptures.
But over the centuries, the island sank into the sea and, with it, the temple bells. It is said that the bells continued to peel out, ceaselessly, and could be heard by anyone who would listened. Inspired by this legend, a young man traveled thousands of miles, determined to hear those bells. He sat for days on the shore, facing the vanished island, and listened with all his might. But all he could hear was the sound of the sea. He made every effort to block it out. But to no avail; the sound of the sea seemed to flood the world.
He kept at his tasks for weeks. Each time he got disheartened he would listen to the village elders who spoke with passion of the mysterious legend. Then his heart will be aflame…only to be discouraged again when weeks of further effort yielded no results.

Finally he decided to give up the attempt. Perhaps he was not destined to hear the bells. Perhaps the legend was not true. It was his final day, and he went to the shore to say goodbye to the sea and the sky and the wind and the coconut trees. He lay on the sand, and for the first time listened to the sound of the sea. Soon he was so lost in the sound that he was barely conscious of himself, so deep was the silence the sound produced.

In the depth of that silence, he heard it! The twinkle of a tiny bell followed by another, and another, and another…and soon every one of the thousand temple bells was peeling out in harmony, and his heart was rapt in joyous ecstasy.

Went to Mount Dandenong for jogging with a few friends, and we hiked up this trail called the '1000 steps' in Kokoda track, which was a World War 2 memorial.. Man, from my fitness levels, almost felt like can die leh (damn tiring).. but we all made it to the top, some slower than the others.. but like what John Maxwell shared, "The journey with others is slower than the journey alone." So do we only want to go fast? Or go far?



I do admit that patience is a virtue which I am still learning, and many times I cling on to what I want to see come to past in my own terms. Help me to learn it well, and to see that just as in the past, You are never late.