The Vulcaniser

The kids and I were on a mission to find someone who could fix Dad’s bike. He’d walked to class through the busy Manila traffic this day and we were keen to get him back riding again. After stopping by a Sari-Sari store for a quick drink, we found the Vulcaniser. He whipped off the flat tyre, patched it, pumped it and replaced it, all within moments. While we waited, my kids played with his sons.

I keep thinking of this guy and his life of rubber. I wonder what made him decide to stay in Manila and work there instead of heading overseas like so many other fathers I’ve heard about. Just before Christmas, a young friend told me her Dad was returning from his job overseas to celebrate with them. The family was waiting with eager anticipation...and a little trepidation. What would it be like to have Dad back? It had been so long. My heart broke for her.

I can understand why so many head overseas for work and this is not a post that digs at that decision. This post is just a nod to the Vulcaniser, who’s working hard with his sons at his side. Your money may be meagre, sir, but your investment in those boys will reach on into future generations. Don’t discount the influence you’re having on them each day. You are moulding and shaping more than just rubber.

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This Trouble of Mine

I was feeling really generous yesterday. I pulled the kids away from the TV and out of their pyjamas, filled their water bottles and piled them into a taxi heading to the mall.

When we arrived, we went to buy movie tickets and while we waited I bought them icecreams. 10mins later one child said she didn't want hers so I took a few bites. The next child said she wanted it so I said "How about you take this one that's still covered in chocolate and I finish yours?" Then the meltdown happened. She wanted both.

The day before I had gone running past a little shack near our apartment. I had actually peeked inside to see if someone was home. It looked more like planks of wood piled at various angles than a house and I only saw one piece of furniture - a crate that doubled as a table.

That picture flashed through my mind as I stared at my furious child who has everything. I don't know how you teach children contentment, when adults don't even understand it. But I hope that one day as they encounter set-backs in their lives, they will remember the kids in grubby t-shirts who ask them for money. And they will shrug and say "This trouble of mine? This is not so bad."

While Watching Them

When I was 16 I joined a team of young adults who ran a program for kids on holiday at the beach. The team were mostly in their 20s, giving up their own vacation to share their faith, their love and their lives with the kids.

I came away from that experience with a new set of heroes and a resolve to live my life like those leaders. It was an experience that shaped my character profoundly from that moment forward. I was inspired to go back again and again to volunteer myself for that program and many more since.

Last night we spent time with Ken's Campus Ministry classmates and I saw the same character transaction taking place in my kids. They began forming heroes that will forever be impressed on their hearts. Heroes that sacrifice their time, their money, their comforts...and so much more...to invest in young people. And my kids are beginning to form their own futures, while watching them. If I came to this country for that moment, it was worth it.

Winning isn't Everything

When I was younger I had a state ranking in junior tennis. Mum and I would travel around to the different tournaments as I accumulated a nice collection of golden trophies. It was fun. It was exciting. But it was lonely.

You see, when you’re at the top, everyone else wants to be in your place, not with you. I remember the jealous glares and the cutting remarks, the feisty parents and the coaches who taught us how to cheat.

When our family moved away from my tennis epicentre of Warrnambool it was time for a change. I didn’t join the local club and I didn’t practise day in, day out anymore. I still enjoyed playing but to be at the top, you need to put in the time and money. And the motivation for that was gone.

I don’t regret the time we put into tennis as I grew up. Not at all. It was filled with many great memories. And if any of my children wanted to take their interests to the top level then I would gladly help them pursue that. But I would also make sure they knew that winning isn’t everything and if their goal was in searching for some kind of satisfaction, there’s better places to find it.

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Heavenly Hide and Seek

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth… Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made… All things have been created through Him and for Him.” Genesis 1:1; John 1:3; Colossians 1:16, TNIV

My 4-year-old daughter loves playing “Hide and Seek”. She’ll often wrap herself in a curtain or put a blanket over her head and say, “Mum, where am I?” She loves the fun of me searching for her in the oddest of places. “Are you in the fridge Em? Maybe under the carpet?” She also loves the thrill of me finding her and giving her a cuddle.

Did you know that the very reason you exist is for God’s pleasure? Colossians 1:16 says we were made for Him. When he set the Earth in motion and inhabited it with vegetation and creatures, the pinnacle of His creation was human-beings that He would have a fulfilling and intimate relationship with! When Adam and Eve chose to act against God and tried to hide from Him, His response was not to throw His hands up in frustration - it was to seek them out (Genesis 3:8, 9). Even as they were at their lowest, God unfolded His plan to them. One day their descendant would be responsible for conquering the very force that pushed them away from Him! Sin and shame would no longer have the upper hand.

Only a week ago we were celebrating Christmas, which marks the event of Jesus birth on Earth. He was the one spoken about in the very beginning. Throughout history humanity has continued the pattern of acting contrary to God and His character, turning away from Him and holding onto our ignorance and shame. Yet, God has already provided the solution through Jesus and He continues to pursue the very relationship He created us for! He has sought you out and will continue to. There’s no need to hide.

Blame it on the Shoe

The other morning I was surviving the chaos of getting my kids ready for school. Hubby was sick so we were one man down and the kids were not co-operating. “Go and put your shoes on!” I found myself yelling for the second time (and they were just the ear-piercing times).

Unfortunately it became clear that one shoe was missing and none of the other pairs would do. My poor little 5yo actually couldn’t respond to Mum’s incessant yelling...there were no “shoes”.

Since then I have kept catching a glimpse of the single shoe as it waits for its partner to resurface. I am reminded each time of my desperate desire to see an outcome that was missing a vital piece. How often do I do that everyday? Frustrations are directed towards people when actually there are pieces of the puzzle missing. Things outside my control. Things outside their control. Find the missing pieces; solve the puzzle; frustration quelled. Sometimes just realising a piece is missing can be enough.

What are the missing pieces in your day? What makes you rage like I did? And who’s on the end of it? Today I wrote my son an apology note, “Sorry for yelling at you when you were getting ready for school. Please forgive me. I love you! Mummy.” I plan to put it in his school lunchbox on Monday. I’ve never done that before, but for some reason I feel like this is an important moment for him. For me too.

Truth in the Tangles

This morning my 8 year old and I had our usual routine of me trying to brush her hair while she jumped and twitched and let out an occasional scream. Those tiny little tangles are a constant source of grief in our house and it got me thinking of how easily we can become unstuck from small set-backs.

We were overseas last week, being inspired and encouraged by international pastors and leaders from all over Asia; encountering powerful moves of God; being equipped with new mindsets, attitudes, principles and strategies for impacting our culture...and today I’m staring at a floor that needs serious mopping, while fighting with my daughter…

I said to God this morning, I need help navigating these extremes and He said to me “My joy is always here - those negative voices and emotions you hear and feel are not from me and you don’t need to listen or take them as your own.” And then I remembered - overcoming isn’t about walking constantly in grand displays of cultural impact; it’s about winning one small victory at a time.

So I will tap into the Holy Spirit’s fruit of self-discipline to pull out that mop and clean my floor, I will find peace and patience as I interact with my 8 year old, and I will definitely find joy as I travel one step at a time through this day...then cultural transformation will follow.

”You are of God, little children, and have overcome them [spirits that don’t resonate with Jesus], because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them.” 1 John 4:4,5 NKJV

Loving the Unseen

Yesterday my 3-year-old was asking how the wind can move the trees. I couldn't really think of a simple answer to this question so we both just marvelled at how something invisible to us can make such an impact. "That's like Jesus, Mum," she said. Wow. Absolutely. I actually can't remember a time in my life when Jesus hasn't impacted my day. Don't get me wrong - I have been through times of wilderness where I couldn't perceive what He was saying, but those times were marked by a hunger for more of Him. The times when pain was so strong I could feel it deep in my stomach were also the times when only reading the Bible, and letting the Holy Spirit move, could take it away. On one hand it's unexplainable how I can have such a passionate love for someone that's unseen, but on the other hand, it makes complete sense.

"You love Him even though you have never seen Him. Though you do not see him now, you trust Him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy." 1 Peter 1:8 NLT

Relentless Love

A few weeks ago my son ran away from home. It was a strange thing to do because I had just taken him out on a date and we'd had a fantastic time together. But something upset him - an injustice he had felt, and he was off down the road intent on leaving this horrible family behind. We brought him home and all turned out fine in the end but it reminded me of the way we often respond to our own heavenly Dad. Yet His love is so persistent. So, so relentless.

My Love For You

I chose to bring you to this world
To hold in my embrace
I chose to share my life with you
And never turn away

How could I deny a part of me
How could I reject you child or what you have become
Even if you turn your face and run the other way
My love for you will never be undone

Each time you run, each time you hide
I promise to pursue
There’s nothing that will change this truth
My heart is set on you

How could I deny a part of me
How could I reject you, child, or what you have become
Even if you turn your face and run the other way
My love for you will never be undone

“Oh, how can I give you up, Israel?
How can I let you go?
How can I destroy you like Admah
or demolish you like Zeboiim?
My heart is torn within me,
and my compassion overflows.
No, I will not unleash my fierce anger.
I will not completely destroy Israel,
for I am God and not a mere mortal.
I am the Holy One living among you,
and I will not come to destroy.
For someday the people will follow me.
I, the Lord, will roar like a lion.
And when I roar,
my people will return trembling from the west.
Like a flock of birds, they will come from Egypt.
Trembling like doves, they will return from Assyria.
And I will bring them home again,”
says the Lord. Hosea 11:8-11 NLT