F&S Day Part 3

Today, we had our F&S Day at Jurong Bird Park.

This is the furthest I have ever traveled with Jeshua by public transport. It takes two hours to reach Jurong Bird Park from our home and vice versa. This is an achievement unlocked haha!

Arrived at Jurong Bird Park

 Watching the Pelicans

 Ready to ignite the engine

 Having fun with the swing

Enjoying the playground

Excited about the penguins

K.O.

Look forward to having more F&S Day with my precious boy!

Hilarious Episode 2

Another interesting episode:

J: Papa, I want to buy Bob the builder red truck.

Papa: Alright. You pray to Jesus. He always hears your prayer.

J: In Jesus' name, I want Bob the builder red truck. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Papa: Jesus will buy for you.

J: Papa, I don't want red truck now.

Papa: Huh? You just prayed to Jesus.

J: I want the yellow truck. I want Papa and Mama to buy the yellow one for J.

Papa: Why???

J: Becos Jesus will buy the red one.

Oh my God...

Hilarious Episode

This was what happened yesterday...

Part 1

J: Papa, I want to use the bath tub. (Referring to the portable baby bathtub)

Papa: That is for baby. Are you a baby now?

J: Yes. I'm a baby for now. (And he made baby sound)

Papa: -_-"

Part 2

J: Where is Jesus?

Papa: He is in you.

J: Wah! Jesus flies into my stomach.

Papa: -_-"

Part 3

He sat beside a 3-year old girl. While he was talking continually on the bus, he looked at the girl.

J: Papa, why is Mei Mei not talking?

Papa: -_-"

#thingshesay #hilarious

Customised Parenting

For the past few days, I was troubled by the fact that I couldn't manage Jeshua's disobedience and tantrum. For usual parenting, the rod will do the job. However, I am convinced that just as God the Father doesn't discipline us using physical pain, I am not supposed to misrepresent Him to my son when it comes to fathering.

Jeshua would cry loudly and disobey when he didn't get what he wanted. It is our responsibility as parents to say "No" at times, for the child's sake. If we only say "Yes" to all his wants, it will harm him in the long run. True love includes healthy boundaries.

Last morning, I was pondering over his behaviour and asking God how I should father him in this area.

God said, "Jeshua's love language is touch. When he is disobedient or throws tantrum, hug him and tell him that you love him. When he cools down, reason with him."

That was a powerful revelation! I recalled the incidents (very few) where I hugged him and loved him. He would respond and listen to what I said afterwards.

God knows our child more than us. He is Jeshua's Father.

Thank You Father!

Teaching Jesus Intentionally

Jeshua was happily looking at the fishes at the basement of Fullerton hotel. There were many orange fishes and a few white fishes. A thought came to my mind: I should use every opportunity to teach him about Jesus.

I said, "Jeshua, let's pray for the white fish to come in your direction. When you pray, it will come."

He closed his eyes and said, "In Jesus' name, white fish, come. Amen."

Immediately, the white fish swam towards his direction. He was elated. I exclaimed, "Oh Jeshua prayed for that! Jesus heard your prayer!" He replied excitedly, "Yah!"

He then said, "Let's pray again!" He prayed for many times. Each time when he prayed, the white fish would move towards his direction.

It's a beautiful moment of how the Father answered Jeshua's prayer. At the same time, I desire that Jeshua builds confidence in the Father who hears his prayers.

F&S Day

We had another Father & Son's Day yesterday. I have told my wife that I will have F&S Day with Jeshua twice in a month. Though each outing costs more than my daily budget, which doesn't seem wise as I just started out in my part-time work in real estate, I know that God will provide abundantly. That's my main purpose of coming out of church ministry in this season to father Jeshua and build his foundations.

My wife texted me in the morning before our F&S outing, "Today's weather forecast isn't good. But you can pray that there won't be any rain. I have placed an umbrella and two rain coats in the bag - one for Jeshua and one for you."

Before Jeshua and I went out, we prayed together. From 10plus am to 4plus pm, there was NO rain despite the weather forecast! It was simply cloudy and windy, which made the weather perfect without the heat of the sun. When we reached home, it started to rain. Praise God! He is such a good Father! He held the rain back so that Jeshua and I could enjoy F&S Day!

 Sitting on the Duck Tour!

Duck vehicle enters Singapore River

Next: Hippo bus

Sitting on the Hippo bus

This morning, I asked Jeshua, "Do you like to go out with Papa?

He responded, "I am happy to go out with Papa. I am happy I can go out with Papa."

This speaks for itself. It is worth everything I laid down for in this season.

P.S: I applied for Hippo+Duck Tour club membership for children between 3 and 12 years old. It costs $33 per year with unlimited Hippo and Duck rides. The child can bring along four guests at an extremely discounted rate, i.e. I paid $5 for Hippo bus ride instead of $37 for adult fare. This is so worth it! Thank God for such providence!

Affirmation?

Some time ago, God spoke to me about affirmation towards Jeshua.

He said, "Do not simply affirm what Jeshua does well. Affirm him when he has tried his best. Affirm him even when he is simply doing nothing to deserve affirmation."

I got it.

If I focus on affirming him ONLY when he does well, it will be damaging in the long run. It will ruin his self-esteem and identity in Christ. He will strive to perform well in order to earn affirmation.

God the Father affirms us even when we do NOTHING. He is pleased with us for WHO we are. In the same way, we should affirm our children for WHO they are, instead of simply affirming them on what they do well.

There is power in proper affirmation. It gives a child a strong foundation of self-esteem and right identity in Christ.

Train Him To Be Resilient

Today, God spoke to me, "Train Jeshua up to be adventurous and take up challenges. That will build his resilience."

Father & Son's Day

We had our F & S day today at Longkang Fishing.

Jeshua enjoyed it very much as we tried our best to catch as many fishes as possible. It was too difficult for him to catch any. Hence, I did the fishing instead. As much as he desired all the various colours of the fishes, I didn't manage to catch the white ones. They were simply too swift for me.

After the longkang session, I asked him, "Do you want to bring the fishes home or let them go?" He chose the former. I answered, "If you bring them home, they will die very quickly. But if you let them go, they will live." He insisted on the former.

We brought them home and they died within a day. I guess this is a good learning moment for him.

Lunch at Bugis Plus. We had Churro too and he loves it!

Each Breakthrough

For safety reason, I have always carried Jeshua when we board the bus. Today, I decided to let him board while holding his hand firmly.

When we sat, he was so exhilarated that he kept smiling and declaring, "I climb the bus on my own!"

Instead of correcting him and say, "No, Jeshua. Papa was the one who helped you", I said, "I'm so proud of you!"

This paints a picture of how the Father sees us. Each time when we experience a breakthrough in an area, we exclaim, "Come on, I did it! Awesome! I have taken the step of faith and seen result!" The Father looks at us and says, "I'm so proud of you!" But the reality is that God the Father is the One who helps and empowers us to experience the breakthrough. Faith is never from us. Faith is from God, who imparts to us by His grace as we receive and experience His love.

Each time we partner with Him to step out in faith, He rejoices over what we do.

The Kingdom of God

My sister-in-law graciously let us use her domestic helper for two weeks.

Jeshua didn't treat her as a stranger or a helper. On the third day, he told her, "I love you, Auntie Lynn."

As I observed how he viewed her and treated her, I realised something powerful about little children.

A little child treats everyone with equal dignity, regardless of the title and position. No wonder the kingdom of God belongs to the little children.

Psalm 91

I have been reading the Scriptures to Jeshua every night before he sleeps. It started when he was in my wife's womb. John 6:63 says that "the word that I have spoken are spirit and life."

I believe that the Word of God, when spoken, are spirit and life. Though a foetus may not understand the Word of God intellectually, it can receive in spirit. Life begins in the womb, not when the baby comes out.

As Jeshua grows older, he doesn't seem to be able to stay focused as I read the Scriptures. He looks around, jumps around, talks, etc. Nevertheless, I continue to read the Scriptures, believing that life is released each time when I speak over him.

I have read Psalm 91 to him a couple of times. One day, as I read it to him before he slept, I was surprised! He could actually follow me through! I must say that I'm pretty impressed.

Let's not underestimate the capability of our child.

P.S: He was actually pronouncing "pinions". He is still learning to pronounce more words accurately.  

Complete Forgiveness

"The reason why people in church hurt you is because they don't know who they were. The reason why you get hurt by them is because you don't know who you were." - Todd White

"...forgiving one another, ...even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do." - Col 3:13

Some say that forgiveness is not about feeling. It is a choice. In actual fact, we have NO choice. The Bible says, "you MUST do."

When Christ died on the Cross, He forgave all of us once and for all. Now we are supposed to live like Him.

As a father, I will always forgive my son no matter what he says or does. Between us, the word "forgiveness" is a past tense. I have forgiven him even before he apologises to me.

Yet it is interesting how we see forgiveness when we relate to other relationships apart from parent-child relationship. We need to hear "Sorry" before we can forgive.

God in Christ forgave us while we were still sinners. If we can see this, we will walk in complete forgiveness towards any human relationship WITHOUT the need for the one who hurt us to apologise to us.

I love what Todd White often says, "I refuse to let people's sin against me to be sin IN me by taking offense."

His Gifts

Jeshua has a few gifts that God has given him.

1) Gift of discernment through smell

- Yet to be tested

2) Joy Releaser

- He releases joy into any atmosphere that he walks in

3) Gift of emotional healing

- He is drawn to anyone who is broken-hearted and who requires emotional healing. He will cling to the person closely

4) Gift of prophetic word

- Not long ago, we discovered this when a friend came to our place. Jeshua suddenly said, "Uncle, you want to wipe the aircon?" He said it many times at different points in time. Initially, we were all puzzled. But on the following day, this friend texted me.

Recently, we wanted to bring Jeshua to a huge indoor playground at Downtown East. In the morning, I told him, "Jeshua, we are going to BIG playground today." Usually, he would respond with exhilaration. Instead, he replied, "No. Small playground." He repeated a few times. Man, I was really puzzled. This was the first time he said 'small playground.'

When we arrived at Downtown East, we found out that the huge indoor playground was undergoing renovation, but there was a temporarily playground set up for this duration. Guess what?! It was an extremely small playing space - the size of a retail shop. 

I began to understand that when Jeshua starts saying something baffling, it could be a prophetic word. This is amazing! Jeshua is blessed by the FATHER!

Our Father Is ALWAYS For Us

Then it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, “Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.” So God led the people around by way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. - Exodus 13:17-18

Every promise of God in our lives will be challenged by the enemy. Affliction arises BECAUSE of the Word (Mark 4:17). 

Opposition either pushes us back into our past OR propels us forward into our destiny. There is no status quo. When opposition comes, we either move backward or go forward. For the Israelites, God used the attack of the enemy (Pharaoh and his army) to propel them forward into their destiny (crossing the Red Sea).

Yet God knew that the Israelites were not ready to enter the Promised Land. To enter the Promised Land, there would be opposition that they had to face. God, in His sovereignty, led Israel by the longer route so that they could encounter His love and power deeper (through the miracles), resulting in the growth of their faith. In other words, God was preparing them FOR victory. God desired that when they enter the Promised Land and face opposition, the opposition will always PROPEL them FORWARD to their destiny.

When I bring my son to huge indoor playground, there are many different stations in which he can play. Each station has its own challenge. For some stations, he is still too young to play. Sometimes, if he insists, I will assist him through the challenge. At other times, I will tell him not to go for it. Because I want him to successfully conquer the challenge when he is ready to handle it. I'm preparing him for victory so that he will learn to propel forward when he faces a challenge in future. This is similar to what God does for us.

What a loving God we have! We can be fully assured that whenever opposition comes BECAUSE of the promise of God, God has ALREADY prepared us FOR victory. We stand on victory ground. We are born again in Christ from the victorious position. As we wait for the promise of God to manifest, God is strengthening our faith. He has set us up for deeper encounters of His love and power. Like someone said, "The enemy can throw lemons at us, but God turns them into lemon juice for us to enjoy!"

May 2016 be a year where we propel forward to our destiny with absolute confidence in the love of our Father! He is always FOR us!

You Are For Me
By Kari Jobe