Jesus Loves You!

MY PARENTS ACCEPTED CHRIST!

I pushed aside all ministry this evening just to accompany Daddy, Mommy, Uncle and my 20months old Nephew (Daryl) to attend the event Auntie Annie had invited us just last month.

Auntie Annie opened her house (there were about 40+ visitors) to invite a quite well known speaker to share his testimony. His name is Kelvin and he was once a drug addict, went in and out of jail and thus, kinda wasted 20years of his life. He got really bored in jail and requested comics from the officer. However, he was given a Bible. When he flipped open the Bible, a verse spoke straight to him and he acknowledged Jesus just there and then. From then, his life changed. With no music background, one who can't even read the music scores, he actually composed songs, much from the inspiration of God. There were some songs composed when he was in jail too. Because of his life transformation, his grandma also came to know Christ at the age of 80+. She's now 90+ and healthy. God used Kelvin to speak to the people in jail and rehabilitation centres and had thus since, impacted much lives. He's invited from churches all over the world just to share this powerful testimony of His. He was in the papers and news in Singapore as well. His life testimony was shared through a DVD and naturally, all of us were very shocked when he actually turned up, together with his wife, to present us songs (he has 6 albums by the way) and share even more testimonies.

After the whole sharing, I saw Mommy and Daddy looking at each other. I knew right there and then, that God had touched their hearts. Kelvin later came and talked to Dad, and in a short while, I saw Kelvin holding Daddy's hands to lead him to the salvation prayer. Mommy, being the mommy, followed suit. Kelvin's wife led her to the salvation prayer with Daryl still asleep in her arms. When the prayer was done, I saw tears streaming down her cheeks. A moment later, they all got up, gathered around my family and prayed for us(:

During the third night in Camp, when Sharlene was meeting the CLs, I shared the vision that God gave me. One has got to do with CG08, and another has to do with my family. In that vision, I saw my whole family, including my uncle and grandparents, standing together with me on the stage of our Church, proudly proclaim of how God had been so so so good to our family. During that night, I sent them 12 messages long about this vision and how God wants me to be a salt and light in the family.

Therefore, when Mommy made the decision to accept Jesus as her Lord and Savior, she and Auntie Annie was reminded of the vision which I'd shared to them. God is good, He answered my prayers(: I witnessed my parents saying the salvation's prayer. I'd be waiting for my uncle, grandparents, sister and nephew's turn(:

And great, Auntie Annie suggested me to take the lead to get my Mom and Dad to pray each morning without fail. It's gonna be awkward. But Im gonna do it(: I'd promised God. Goodness. He already made my parents accept Him, what more can I not do? Ask me slam my head against the wall 12 times, I'd be more than willing. (Just kiddin!)

This is the best Christmas Gift ever!
P.s My mom's Birthday's on Christmas Day!

All the hard work and effort had paid off (:
No matter how ''suan'' my feet are from the not-so-comfy pair of shoes that I'd been wearing for these two services, I can't help but to smile to myself when I remember so vividly how I saw the people streaming down the aisle, makin' the same best decision that I'd made two years ago. My heart never fails to melt whenver I see such sight. We really do play a part, dont we? Like as simple as taking the time out to outreach, taking the step of faith to invite our friends/contacts down for service, praying that their hearts would be softened, to taking yet another step of courage to share to them how great this God we know is and finally, to their nod of their heads, deciding to acknowlede Jesus as their Lord & Saviour. And when we hold their hands and lead them down the aisle, man, that joy is totally/ridiculously/absurdly indescribable!

Similarly, I saw how hard the choir had been practicing, with the guide of Louis, Yushan & Daixuan and how many 28445184816 times they'd rehearsed with Yushan and Winstar, just to smoothly and succesfully present that song. I got to see the whole band working together with Daniel Leow's leading. How tired Debbie was, but still came punctually. How Jon quek had been sneezing but still chose to sing. How Kim and her image team had been going around, helping people to put make up on and even though my make up was done, Kim would often come up to me and ask if the make up's okay and if she could do my hair and stuff like that.

Simply put, there was completely no complaining spirit at all. In fact, I saw evidently how people had went that bit of extra mile, which somehow made quite a big difference. All these were done, just for one service. All these were done, in a hope that the audience who are viewing out there would be touched and somehow, feel a connection with God. All these were done, just to see people who were aimless, empty and purposeless to get their God-shaped hole be filled by the Only One.

Seriously, if what these people are doing aren't for Jesus,
then tell me, what is?

I am back from Heroes Camp!

I'm not gonna go through or list down all my convictions etc.. The point and the essential key is the will to carry out my convictions even though Camp's over. Camp wasn't the beginning. The end of Camp is the beginning. I'd share when all that I desire to do is done/accomplished and come to pass. Pointless for all the talk yea? (:

I seriously think that my blog’s url is absurdly silly and stupid.
I always feel very paiseh when people ask if I happen to have a blog.
Disgusted. HAHA!
What to expect, I was just sec two then.
Lazy to change anyway. So troublesome.
Okay, just being random (again)..

CANDACE. says:
your life is different from many ppl : )
Ariella Joan says:
haha i thought all are different?
CANDACE. says:
everyone's diff you mean?
Ariella Joan says:
yea
CANDACE. says:
i mean yours is really diff.
CANDACE. says:
like a 17 year old girl gg thru all that.
CANDACE. says:
haha. (:
Ariella Joan says:
oh.. well .. yeah. hahaha..
Ariella Joan says:
given a choice, i wouldnt want it this way too, to be frank
Ariella Joan says:
lol
CANDACE. says:
you are v.strong, i must admit((:
Ariella Joan says:
haha thats just cuz you havent seen me breaking down (:

Im definitely not very proud of some areas in my life, honestly. It's not something which I like to gain attention or show off about. Not that I'm totally ashamed of it, but neither do I take much pride in it either. The reason why I share it here on blog, is because I want people to witness what I am going through now, so that when God moves and works, they'll naturally know that it is definitely God. I am so so so sure that God'll make a difference not only in my life, but also in my family's and the people around me. Like I told candace, given a choice, I wouldn't want to be facing what I am / had been facing. It doesn't feel at all good. But I know God planted me here for a reason and a purpose. He's gonna use me, and I'm gonna bring Change. I am aware that my posts are sometimes more sadistic, but really, my life's not that bad lah. I love my family alot, they love me even more, and I have dear friends who stood by me all these while (:

Great.
Y'know, it feels so shiok-ingly good that when your rainbows are here after the great storms, you are able to loudly and boldly proclaim that you'd stood tall/strong/firm. I wouldn't have had done it alone. Thank God for God himself. He simply rock my stockings (not that I have one, Haha!)

Navel Base and Yishun Town secondary had just completed CG08 last Saturday. Each and every individual contributed to this completion. I really can't thank them enough for their heart/hard work , effort, sweat, energy, time and sometimes even finance invested just to see this coming to pass. God is Good (:

On the 27th of November, just the day after his Birthday, Daddy fell and complained that he could not see the flats opposite from the kitchen’s view. I got him to the chair and he started trembling and as I held his hands, they were cold and icy. I called for him and he didn’t respond. I then rushed to my uncle’s room to seek help. By then, my Dad had already regained his consciousness and insisted on cooking lunch for my nephew. As he walked towards the boiling pot, white liquid flowed from his mouth and he fell forward, scalded his neck really badly and fainted. All in all, he regained and lost consciousness for about three times. For a moment, I thought I’d lost him.

At the very first day when he was admitted to the hospital, the Doctor, at the presence of my Dad, told my uncle that there might be a serious liver problem due to his drinking habits and he too, was constantly vomiting. Whatsmore, on the second day, when the Doctors tried to draw out the ‘water’ that causes the swell in Daddy’s left knee, what shocked him was the fact that it was not water at all. It was the colour of the alcohol that he had been drinking.

(The thing is this. Two years ago, my Dad was admitted to hospital due to his drinking problems which caused his knee and ankle to be swollen and pain. He’d been drinking since he was reeaalllyyy young and thus, it was no surprise that the Doctor told him then that his internal organs are not functioning as well as they should be and his liver’s starting to hardened.)

So yeah, I got myself prepared for the worse.

Just when I thought this was the worse, I was wrong. I was woken up by an unpleasant news the next morning. Was informed that my One year and 7 months old Nephew, Daryl, actually had a really bad fall at the void deck. Apparently, there was a small but deep ‘’hole’’ on his nose bridge, just between his eyes. No joke, I have the photo. Rushed to the clinic with my family and fortunately, no stitches were necessary.

I broke down. My faith was definitely tested.
When Dad was hospitalized, I asked God, ‘’Why my dad? Why this time? Is this some kinda prank?’’
After Daryl’s incident, I told God, ‘’Alright God, what next?’’
-God never answered me-

I prayed every night for God to watch over my family. I did not pray to have the understanding as to why God has to allow such thing to happen in my life. Instead, I prayed for strength. I could still remember my exact prayer that I wrote in my prayer book:

‘Jesus, if You can heal the sick, make the blind see, the lame to walk, the deaf to hear and resurrect the dead, then SHOW ME that you can do that to my family as well.’

In addition, my unit prayed for me. My shepherd Joyce, prayed for me. And I was informed that you guys prayed for me too.

Two days ago, when I was accompanying my Dad at the hospital, he told me that the doctors told him ‘bout his condition: Surprisingly, his internal organs had no problem at all. In other words, his liver is in PRISTINE condition! They explained through medical terms that my Dad actually did not had ‘fits’ , but rather, it was a seizure. However, he was given the medicines that were meant for people who threw fits. Thus, it’s some kinda ‘positive’ side effects from the medicines that he’d consumed. They also mentioned that such cases are extremely rare. He was also able to bend his left knee slightly more than 90degrees. (He was unable to do that for years!). All this can be explained by science. But I know, that deep down, my God is moving. My God is definitely beyond science. I too, told dad that my church friends and myself had been praying really fervently for him. He simply nodded.

At the same day, the ‘hole’ on Daryl’s nose bridge was ‘closed up’ too (:

-This is not all-

I reached Tan Tock Seng hospital at 10am sharp this morning. Daddy was sent to do some scanning an hour later. Thereafter, Auntie Annie, my parent’s good friend came to visit. She’s a Chrisitian too(:She settled down and we had about an hour’s chat about my faith in Christ and she too assured me that God’s using me to influence the whole family and encouraged me to be the salt and light at home. When Daddy came back from the scanning, Auntie Annie told him that this is definitely God’s work. It isn’t much of the medicines that cured him. It was Jesus who healed! She also invited my Mom to this evangelistic event in her church on the 23rd but my mom, who by the way is very opened to Christianity since the start of this year, would only go if my Dad followed suit. My dad not only agreed, he PROMISED Auntie Annie that he’d turn up. They had an hour’s conversation and Daddy was listening attentively ‘bout how good this God we know are. Auntie Annie ended the conversation by praying for my Dad. As I drew out my hands and laid it on Daddy’s lap, shut my eyes and agreed in Auntie Annie’s prayers, I felt a rich sense of joy and fulfillment.

True, I did not know why God placed such incidents in my family at the beginning. Worse still, I even doubt God. Each time I question Him, He did not answer. Though His ways are higher than mine, I can now finally realize and understand why He allowed these storms to disrupt the peaceful waters within me and also used Auntie Annie to speak into not only Daddy’s life, but mine also. God is not only real, God is good! Through all this, I got to see the power of prayers. Yes, I relied on God and drew strength from Him. But more than that, it was YOUR prayers that worked too. It’s said in the bible that when one prays and another agree, it’s powerful. I can boldly say that it was your prayers that saved my Dad’s life(: Thankyou, and thank God, whom I can never thank enough.