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Mom's Group

I have the privilege of being part of "Mom's Group" at our church. We meet every Thursday mornings for a time of fellowship, prayer, book study, and hearing from older women from our church. We have different focuses throughout the month:

Week 1: PB&J (Prayer/Praise, Blessing, and "jelling" day)
Week 2: Titus 2 Day. We are trying to follow the biblical model of older women mentoring the younger women. We have such a rich pool of resources in our own midst, so it hasn't been difficult to ask the older women to come and share their lives with us.
Week 3: F.U.N. day - This is a time when moms have our own outing or we go together with our children.
Week 4: Book Study. We're studying "A Mother's Heart" by Jean Fleming. I read this book about a year ago and learned so much from the author's experience as a mother. The moms are also reaping a lot of wisdom from her also.

This past Thursday, it was wonderful to leave the kids at church to attend their Kids' Club and Infant Club and hang out at a café for one hour together. The time was short, but it was sufficient, especially because we didn't have little kids to take care of. Here's a picture of some of us that went...I'm very thankful for sister friendships in the church. These sisters are so beautiful and strive to be such godly women and mothers after God's heart. I am so blessed by God's rich blessings of people in my life.

November 19, 2005

Discipline: God as perfect model

We were meditating on Hebrews 12:1-12 yesterday. This passage speaks of how God disciplines His sons. There are two main purposes of God's discipline:
1. "in your struggle against sin" (v. 4)
2. to produce a harvest of righteousness and peace (v. 11); also, that we may share in his holiness (v. 10)

God disciplines us out of His love for our good. His discipline is not originated from His anger or frustration...which is often why we "discipline" our children. If our human discipline is truly from love, we should discipline when we see our children struggline against sin, not when they bother us when we're busy or tired. Not when they throw normal tantrums because they can't explain things with their words. Not when they can't sleep because we've allowed them to have irregular sleep patterns. And the list goes on...at least in the Kang household.

Our discipline should make them aware of their sin AND it has to be followed up with training them to walk in holiness, righteousness and peace. Our home is a training ground for our children, to become holy lovers of Jesus. We have been reminded to once again see God's perfect model and follow in His ways. We pray God would fill us with His love and Spirit, to train our children in the ways of the Lord. It's our desire to see Abigail and Isabel walk in holiness, righteousness and peace, fleeing from sins and temptations and disobedience.

November 16, 2005

Martyred missionaries in China - John and Beth Stam, 1934

Recently, we discovered a young missionary couple who were beheaded by Communists in the early 1930's. Martyred in their early 20's, they orphaned a 3-month old baby girl. Being in China for just a year or so, their lives ended just like that. Sometimes we wonder why God takes away people's lives so quickly, especially those who have dedicated their lives for the Gospel. To us, it seems logical that God keep such fervent, passionate, kingdom-driven people to reach out to the unreached of this world...but sometimes, these are the type of people God does take home at an early age. One blessing of this provision of God is the inspiring life stories these martyrs leave behind for us modern day Christians. It is true that the blood of the martyrs are the seed of the Church.

Beth Stam was such a lady. As a child growing up in China with missionary parents, she wrote a lot of poetry. One in particular seems to be well known. She wrote this at the age of 18, just years before her death. When being chased by Communists in China, she snuggled up her infant and lay her under a pile of pillows and blankets, tucking two $5 bills in the blanket. When a poor Chinese national heard of the Stam's execution, he quickly searched for this orphaned babe. Can you imagine after 3 days of no sleep, no comfort of the mother's breast, no food, this little girl survived! And those two $5 bills allowed this poor man and his family to flee and find refuge for the babe. She was later adopted by her aunt, but wanted to be kept anonymous.

We want to share Beth Stam's poetic prayer. I had the privilege of sharing this with our women in the church. And now, each woman has a nicely crafted bookmark with this prayer. We pray this would be the cry of our hearts...

Lord, I give up all my own plans and purposes
All my own desires and hopes
And accept Thy will for my life.
I give myself, my life, my all
Utterly to Thee to be Thine forever.
Fill me and seal me with Thy Holy Spirit
Use me as Thou wilt, send me where Thou wilt
And work out Thy whole will in my life at any cost now and forever.

"At any cost" meant a bloody death for John and Beth Stam. What cost are you willing to pay for God to fulfill His purposes and will in your life?

November 16, 2005

Extravagant Worship

We highly recommend "Extravagant Worship" by Darlene Zschech.
One of the chapters is entitled "Energetic Commitment". In this chapter, Darlene defines "obedience" and "submission".

Obedience is: submission, which is habitual yielding to authority. Submission only happens when we obey even though we don't agree with what we have been asked to do.

She speaks of these terms in reference to our energetic commitment to worship God in any and all situations God places in our lives. Just as Abraham obeyed in surrendering his very own son Isaac on the altar, we are called to such simple obedience and submission. This act of faith cannot be conjured up or just come naturally. It needs to be nurtured by our ongoing, daily intimacy and worship of God. We need to build in ourselves a strong foundation of who God is, what His word says, so that when trying times come into our lives, we would not be shaken, but in faith respond, "Yes Lord, do as you wish."

This chapter led us to think about the many months our brother Keith was in the hospital for Stevens-Johnson Syndrome. During the first 2 months, when he was unconscious, not able to open his eyes, not able to talk nor eat, there was never a time our immediate family complained or blamed God for such suffering. Why? We truly believe it's because God built a strong foundation of His unchanging character and faith in His promises before such a crisis entered our lives. Although our hearts ached and shed many tears, our faith in God and His promises was not shaken because He is faithful and will never leave nor forsake us. We clung to that promise.

In this Christian journey, the daily seeking of the Lord is crucial. "God has plans for you that are WAY beyond anything you could ever ask or think" (p. 77) Are we able to receive all things with obedience and submission? This would be very difficult if we do not allow God to feed us continuously as we seek and worship Him. Are we found to have energetic commitment to the things and ways of God in our lives? We hope our family would be found faithful to that end.

November 08, 2005

The business of "wedding coordination"

Did you know that we are wedding coordinators? No, we are not leaving the ministry nor are we taking on another wedding project...but this morning, I came across someone's response to her life calling, and she said "to serve as a 'wedding coordinator' - helping the Bride (of Christ) to get ready for the Wedding!" Wow! Although our family has been in the life business of preparing the Church for our great, heavenly, eternal wedding banquet, we are officially going to call ourselves "wedding coordinators" from this day on. So, when people ask me what my vocation is, I will no longer say "homemaker", but "wedding coordinator". Ted can call himself the "wedding photographer" - one who captures the beauty of the Church preparing, walking down the aisle to await the Bridegroom.

How are you preparing yourself and others to meet our beloved Bridegroom? Is our wedding day consuming our lives so that we are actively pursuing to be the excellent and pure bride of Christ?

"Hallelujah! For our Lord Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear...Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!" -Revelation 19:6-9

November 04, 2005

No Excuses

Last week, my dear hubby shared from a passage in Proverbs 26:13-17. This passage reflects a growing theme in our household these days - Do not be lazy. No excuses!
A few weeks ago, I learned of a college student named Kyle Maynard. After hearing his story, I quickly purchased his autobiography and it's been truly inspiring ("No Excuses", by Kyle Maynard). He was born without limbs in his arms and legs. He was the firstborn child to his parents. Two amazing things about this man's life challenged me:

1) He is one of the best wrestlers in the state of Georgia (among high school and college students)
2) His parents raised him as a "normal" child and allowed him to struggle to figure out how to use his body to do "normal activities".
For both Kyle and his parents, they lived a life of "no excuses."

There are two quotes I want to share:
"Even though I was born with much shorter limbs than the average person, I know that I was not born to be an inferior individual. I was born to succeed, not to allow physical limitations to stand in the way of my dreams."
"I know there are many people who, whether they admit it or not, view disabled people as inferior. We are 'broken' in their eyes - we are of no use, no value, and we are just running out the string on life. But I believe that we are all disabled in one way or another - including disabilities of character and personality. My disability just happens to be more visual than some."

The challenge for us is, "What kind of excuses do we make that hinders God from fulfilling His wonderful purposes in our lives?"
In Proverbs 26:13, it says, "the sluggard says, 'There is a lion in the road, a fierce lion roaming the streets!" The wild animals on the streets were the excuses the sluggard used not to get out of his home. How ridiculous does that sound, but too often, that's exactly how we sound to God! I am truly inspired by Kyle Maynard, because despite his obvious limitations, he had absolutely no excuse to live to his fullest potential. And the great thing is that he is a fellow believer. His strength, purpose, and significance come from Jesus Christ Himself. And Kyle writes about his faith in his autobiography. So, my commitment is:
1) I will not use "children" as an excuse.
2) I will not use "being a woman" as an excuse
3) I will not use "we're too busy" as an excuse

November 03, 2005

Parenting 101 - Boundaries

One of the greatest challenges as parents is to train our children to become responsible and appreciative. As Abigail is growing, we are facing such a challenge on a daily basis. People may ask, why start so early? Does Abigail even understand??? YES. And that's a resounding yes. We're amazed how clever a little toddler can be, the things they can process in their little minds. They are indeed smarter than what we can imagine.

Lately, the challenge for us has been to train Abigail to appreciate things given to her. And the greatest challenge comes during meal times. "Abigail, please eat everything on your plate b/c mommy has spent time and energy preparing food for you. And you will grow strong and healthy if you eat." Abigail understands these words, but she simply refuses to put food into her mouth, but would rather stare out into space or make food her daily craft project. What's been happening as a consequence? She cannot get her daily yummy snack or watch her favorite video or some other things that are a privilege for her. It's been emotionally difficult seeing Abigail with such a sad look, watching her younger sister Isabel enjoying her snacks after nap time. We can't yet discipline Isabel especially because she absolutely loves food and has no problem eating everything on her plate. Maybe that's a problem in itself. It's been emotionally challenging b/c we don't like to see Abigail sad or growing hungry, but facing these consequences are slowly bearing fruit. When dinner time comes, Abigail literally hoards her food. After a few days, we hope to see change in Abigail's pattern of eating, ultimately to know that she should appreicate what mommy makes for her, and to know she cannot live life on junk food, but real hearty meals. And she's finally learned to ask "May I be excused?" When we turn to her, she would show us her empty plate/bowl and open her mouth to confirm she's literally eaten everything.

The lesson for us is that we need to provide boundaries for Abigail so she can learn. We cannot determine our course of action because she's sad she can't get her way. Even in times of discipline, we would embrace her and kiss her...and she shyly asks, "Can I have my snack now?" The answer is still "no", but that doesn't hinder us from expressing love to her. She's slowly understanding that she can get all the lovin from us, but a "no" will stay a "no" until she has "earned" her favorite snack or other privileges.

November 01, 2005 | Comments (2)