Movement

God is moving here. Not in the sense that he is packing up heaven into His U-Haul van and coming down to NJ- He is already omnipresent- but in the sense that God's work is being done and I am seeing it before my very privileged eyes. A number of weeks ago I was filling a reference for a friend of mine, and one of the questions was asking for evidence of God's work happening in the friend's life. It's a typical question to ask someone applying to any sort of Christian program. When do I see God moving in my life? If you ask me, I'd say it's kind of hard, if you're prone to looking at life like a movie as most of us are. What does that mean? Well, I will say simply this: My 'movie' is the story of my life, I wake up, eat, sleep, and do all of these ordinary run-of-the-mill activities. Not surprisingly, every one of those activities is focused on myself. It is not until I remove the hood over my eyes and see outside of this self-centered grind that I am able to see God moving. Here we go.

About a month ago I wrote an email to one of the church session members regarding my acceptance into the DTS and to requisition any sort of support from the church. I waited patiently for a response, which came after the session had a meeting. It was joyous for me to find that, unanimously, the session had wanted to support me financially and would be supplying a scholarship. Contrary to popular belief, it was not about the money. It was the feeling that the church had decided to support my ministry, God's ministry. That alone was a huge blessing, and to compound it, I did receive the much-needed financial support as well! God was moving in the Session members and with the reverend.

So I sent out my support letters to friends and family, and the weeks have been passing. This past Sunday was the 2-week mark before my flight to Japan! I keep reminding myself that it is His provision that has provided for these very generous friends of mine. God IS moving in them and through their encouragement to me. I cannot fathom the culmination of all God has been providing for me up to this point, AND what He will be revealing over these next 5 months.

On Sunday I was able to attend a portion of the Taiwanese service at church and receive a charge/prayer to do missions in Japan. I was extremely blessed, as the head pastor prayed over me with the current Elders standing beside me, and the congregation in prayer at the same time. After that, Rev. Tung called up all Elders, past and present, to bring well wishes for my trip and shake my hand. I was overwhelmed by the amount of smiling faces and warm handshakes from these people whom I've known since childhood and greatly respect. God was moving there, in those interactions. Walking back to my seat I praised God for it all! Probably bit back a tear or two, but who's to know? ;D

As I said before, it is when we take that hood off of self-centered, selfish ambitions, that we can truly see God moving: in our hearts, in our brothers and sisters, in our church, and in the world. Amen.