It's A Joy

It has become a great joy to bring Jeshua to his nanny every morning.

I would consistently sing simple Christian songs to him every time after we alighted from the bus.

Today, the moment we alighted, he started singing, "Jesus loves me, this I know. For the bible tells me so..." Yes, he sang the whole song. When he was done, he immediately continued, "Give thanks, with a grateful heart. Give thanks to the holy One..." Of course, he is still learning to get the pronunciation right.

Nevertheless, I'm grateful that every seed I have sown is bearing fruit. I look forward to having more quality and fun time with him!

Consciousness

Nowadays, even if I accidentally dropped a grain of rice or a tiny piece of paper on the floor in the public, I have to make sure that I pick it up. 

Why?

We have been teaching our son to be responsible by picking up what he has dropped and throwing it into the rubbish bin.

He is observing our lives and if I don't model what I teach, he will model what I do.

Healing

He has learnt to pray for healing whenever my wife has any pain. The beauty of this is that we never taught him to do it. He simply saw what I did regularly. Look forward to bringing him to hit the streets. There are things in life where they can only be caught and not taught. Proud of him!

No More Thinking Corner

I felt unrest last week when I used the thinking corner to discipline Jeshua.

I put him there because he refused to finish his meal. But the moment he sat at the thinking corner, he said, "Papa, I want to eat."

Well, he has learnt to behave well in order to quickly get out of the thinking corner.

This, to me, is not ideal. Because the thinking corner has become a punishment corner to Jeshua. Thus, the moment he is placed there, he will cry. At the same time, he will quickly obey in order to get out.

Outward obedience may seem good. Yet it is not the main thing. The main thing is the heart - inward attitude.

I want him to respond and act because of his inward attitude. A conformed behaviour is useless.

As I spent time praying, God showed me what to do in replacement of the thinking corner.

I have tried it for three times - carrying him to a corner (not the thinking corner) and speak with him. Praise Jesus! It has been successful!

Spare The Rod

Last week, I used the spatula to discipline Jeshua. 

I didn't have peace within me all these while whenever I used the spatula. Last week, it was the final straw.

I felt unrest. The reason is that "spanking" or using the rod to inflict pain for wrong behaviour is inconsistent with the nature of God our Father.

I decided to seek the Lord in prayer. God prompted me to study on Proverbs where most Christian parents draw the spanking principle from. They quote from Proverbs 13:24 - "Spare the rod and spoil the child." If you don't spank/cane your child, he will be spoilt.

That's what most parents and Christian parents would say.

However, God the Father does not inflict pain for our wrong behaviours. He always corrects with His words (in love and gentleness). John 15:3; 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

Having this tension in my heart, I decided to study deeper about the passage in Proverbs, since God told me to do so. I discovered two things.

1) Proverbs was written under the Law. We are in the New Covenant. We are no longer under the Law. Thus, we should live and parent our child under the New Covenant.

2) Even if people argue that Proverbs should still have timeless truths which we can apply (and I agree to a certain extent), we have to understand what the Hebrews understood about the word "rod". In the Hebrew mind, the rod is "shebet" - that used by a shepherd to lead and guide his sheep. A shepherd doesn't use his rod to beat his sheep. He uses it to lead and guide them. The clearest representation can be found in Psalm 23. "Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me."

This rod, in the mind of the Hebrews, is a sign of authority. Try replacing the word "rod" with "authority" and it will make sense.

"Spare the rod and spoil the child."

"Spare using authority and spoil the child."

When a child doesn't learn to respect authority, he will be in trouble. We have to train them to understand that by discipling them.

When God disciplines, He doesn't inflict pain or beat us. He disciplines by His word. If I want to represent the Father, I have to be consistent in the way I do parenting. I have to represent the Father to Jeshua.

If I use the spatula to discipline Jeshua into obedience, he will grow up thinking that God inflicts pain on him for his wrong behaviours.

This is a tough revelation. It is so easy to spank Jeshua unto obedience. It can just take me a minute to spank and create the result I want to see in him. However, he will only learn outward obedience and not grow in an attitude of trust towards me. He will fear me instead of respecting me.

I want him to trust me and respect me, because he will, in turn, trust and respect God instead of fearing Him (unhealthy way).

Last night, it took me one hour to discipline Jeshua without using the spatula. Yes, it takes patience and time to slowly discipline. If I use the spatula, it will just take one minute. But I have decided and I am determined to stop using spatula or any other form of punishment that inflicts pain on him. This makes parenting a much tougher job but I am willing as long as I represent the Father to him.

Now I have to learn alternative ways of parenting and seek the Lord for wisdom and ways to father Jeshua. Teach me, Lord.

Greater Works

My 2 years old son automatically prayed for healing for my wifey when she complained to him about pain.

I am convinced that seeds should be sown early in a child's life, especially during his foundation years (0-5 years old). We may think that he doesn't know and understand many things we say or do. But the truth is... he does!

He learns from us though he can't express himself at a young age. He can't speak what we speak as he is developing his speech ability. But the moment he can speak, we will be surprised by the words he uses. They resemble what we have spoken before!

Father, use Jeshua greatly. He shall do greater works than me. Thank You for growing him in wisdom and stature.

Ask Him For What He Already Knows

Though I already know what Jeshua needs when he is looking for his snack, I always tell him to ask me first.

This is, in fact, what the Father does.

Matthew 6:8 - for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

The Father already knows what we need even before we ask. Yet He wants us to ask.

John 16:24 - Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

James 4:2 - You do not have, because you do not ask.

It seems contradicting but it is not. If the Father simply gives us what we need without us even asking, we will not develop an intimate relationship and dependence upon Him.

Each time when we ask Him, we are actually relating and communing with Him. When He answers us and gives us what we asked for, we will also learn gratefulness.

We Are More Than Conquerors

Brought son to indoor playground at Suntec.

He didn't dare to cross the moving bridge. But I had to help him overcome his fear. Thus, I insisted that he tried to cross. After he crossed it successfully (with my support, of course), he was bold enough to try it again by himself (but I still had to support him because I know that he is not able to do it yet).

When God said, "You are more than conquerors through Him who loved us", He didn't expect us to do it by ourselves. We can be more than conquerors only because of His loving presence and support. He is literally there to MAKE SURE that we overcome. What a great God we have!

Balloon

After two months of labouring every night, I finally had time for family. We had a great family time today.

As we were at Plaza Sing, Jeshua saw balloons at the atrium where Challenger was having an exhibition. The balloons were part of their decorative items.

We went to ask the salesperson if we could take one. Jeshua chose the blue one. He was overjoyed.

Later, he felt asleep on my shoulder as I was carrying him. Little did I realise that he dropped his balloon as he went into a deep sleep.

When I came to the realisation, it was too late. We were already at Orchard and I didn't know where he lost it.

An hour later, he woke up from his nap. The first thing he asked for was the balloon. I promised him that when we are back at Dhoby Ghaut to take North-East line, I would go to Plaza Sing to get a balloon for him.

Took one orange balloon and hurried to find Jeshua and wifey, with excitement. I was imagining how delighted Jeshua would be when I show him the balloon.

From a distance away, he saw me with the orange balloon. He was unhappy. Feeling sulky, he kept saying, "I don't want orange. I don't want orange..."

At this point, I had to teach him about being grateful. I decided not go back to take a blue balloon, though that would solve the whole issue.

Sometimes, God answers our prayers but in a different way from what we are expecting. Instead of being thankful, we grumble that God is not answering us specifically, when He actually did. Just because the balloon is not blue doesn't mean that it is not a balloon.

I told him that he could choose, either to take it or leave it. In the end, he chose to take :)

More Lord More!

My wife felt some pain at her right wrist.

I laid my hand on her right wrist and prayed for her.

To my surprise, my son laid his hand on her left wrist and did the same thing.

I commanded, "In Jesus' name..."

My son commanded, "In Jesus' name..."

I said, "More, Lord. More, Lord!"

He said, "More, Lord. More, Lord!"

There was an inexplicable burst of joy in my heart.

I am looking forward to bringing him to the streets where a 3 year old child (he is now 2 years and 4 months) starts praying for the sick and seeing healing everywhere. He has to encounter God at the earliest age possible... and consistently.

Precious... Precious...

Jeshua was suddenly down with high fever yesterday. There was no other symptom. But he was totally fine this morning.

In the evening, his fever came back. About twenty minutes past midnight, he went into a seizure as his temperature reached 40.6 degrees Celsius. This was his second time having a fit. Last year, it happened and he was hospitalised for three days.

After praying and doing the necessary procedures, he was still unconscious for quite a while. Thus, we called a cab and rushed to KK hospital. He was unconscious for close to thirty minutes. Throughout the journey, we kept praying for him. I told my wife that we got to pray from the position of rest - Jesus already completed His work on the Cross. We just needed to rest from that place of victory and declared to Jeshua's body.

As we got out of the cab, he finally regained his consciousness. It was a moment of relief. Thank God for protection!

He is such a precious boy. He has unusual and extraordinary favour of God upon his life. He will be a mighty warrior of God. Nothing shall by any means harm him. God has marked out his life for His kingdom.

I'm glad that I have made the decision to follow what God is saying and focus on fathering him in his foundation years.

Helping God?

My son tried to help me push the stroller even though I was doing it effortlessly.

Without his help, the process would be much faster. By allowing him to partner with me, the journey became slower. Nevertheless, our communication enhanced during that moment of partnership.

More often than not, God allows us to partner with Him for the work of the kingdom. He doesn't have to. But He chooses to. We are not helping Him to make the process faster. But the King of the Universe chose to give His complete attention on an individual, celebrating the partnership and effort of that individual so that the whole focus is placed on building a loving relationship with each other, rather than the work itself.

We can see this in the example of Uzzah and David in 2 Samuel 6. In trying to hasten the process of getting a task done, Uzzah died as a result. David learnt a tough lesson on this. Eventually, he cultivated a process of completing the task with the main focus on relationship with God through worship. He sacrificed an ox for every six steps he took. That was radical and slow. But I'm pretty sure that God was pleased with the act.

Partnership is always God's intention and desire, because the essence of partnership is relationship.

Exhilaration

Carol bought Jeshua a new pair of shoes as his feet have outgrown his old pair again.

Today, when I brought him to his nanny, he was exhilarated. He kept walking with great joy.

As we reached his nanny's place, he asked her hubby, "Nice shoes?"

I am excited when he is excited! When he enjoys the gift, the giver is delighted. This is what God the Father feels. Awesome!

Lovely!

My son came to my room. He opened the door, smiled and passed me a piece of rock melon.

He said, "Papa, eat."

This is so rewarding!

What I give to my son is a gift. What he responds towards me is a bonus!

God the Father freely gives us all things without expecting any return. But when we respond in worship, He is overjoyed!

Paying Last Respect To Mr Lee Kuan Yew

We queued for 4 hours to pay our last respect to Mr Lee Kuan Yew at the Parliament House. We went under priority queue as Jeshua was under 6 years old. I was amazed that Jeshua was so cooperative throughout the wait. My wife and I kept praising him.

What caught us with surprise is that the moment when we were near his coffin at the main hall, Jeshua suddenly started crying with no reason.

The whole hall was totally quiet (before he cried) as everybody was paying their last respect to Mr Lee. Panicked, I tried to calm him down but to no avail. It was only after we went past the late Mr Lee did he stop crying and started smiling.

It took a while before it dawned on me that Jeshua has always been sensitive to the spirit realm. He is able to discern those who are broken-hearted, those who have gone through depression and/or deep emotional issues.

Before he was a year old, there were three instances with three different people which caught our attention on this gift that God has graciously blessed him with. 

He would be drawn to these people even though he doesn't know and hasn't seen them before.

He must have sensed something when we entered the main hall where Mr Lee's body was lying.

Help me, Lord, to help him steward this precious gift.