Little wonders

The Lord works in mysterious ways.

Last Sunday (21 September 2008), when Da and I were getting ready to go out for brunch, Da's mobile phone rang. It was ET on the line. He said that 花 had a prayer need and he suggested that she attend church service with us that day. In fact, his whole family decided to join us for church service.

We met the entire family at Suntec Tower 4 at about 4.45 pm, just in time for the 5 pm service at New Creation Church ("NCC"). ET's vehicle was too high to enter the carpark and as such, he had no choice but to forego the church service as he was unable to obtain parking near the Padang (due to the coming F1).

Level 3 (where the main auditorium is located) was full, so we brought the family to the overflow room at Level 4. The church also has another overflow room at Level 6. When we arrived, we were stopped at the entrance because Nining is very young and the usher wanted to redirect us to the foyer area at Level 3 where parents with young children were seated. I requested that the family be allowed to attend the service at Level 4 because the foyer area tends to be noisy (due to the young children) and since this was the family's 1st visit to the church, I wanted them to have an enjoyable experience.

The usher looked undecided. Just then, a Pastor walked towards us. After I explained the situation, he agreed to let us attend the service at Level 4 on condition that we seat ourselves at the last row and if Nining started making noise, she would have to leave the service as it would be disruptive to other churchgoers. That was a fair request and we agreed. However, when we entered the overflow room, another usher showed us seats near the front row. Praise the Lord!

As we were early, I explained to the family what happens during the service. I also mentioned that there is a Prayer & Healing room nearby where anyone who has a prayer need can go there and there will be a Leader to pray in faith with that person. SY asked whether 花 can go to the Prayer & Healing room before the service (as there was still time). I was not sure and I checked with the usher. We were given the green light to proceed. I showed 花 where the Prayer & Healing room was and a Leader brought her in. I did not follow them but I noticed that when 花 rejoined us, there were tears in her eyes.

My dear 花, our Abba Father hears us and He knows the challenges that we are going through. Do not be afraid to talk to Him and share with Him your problems and your needs. He loves you and He will always carry you on His shoulders.

The service started with Praise & Worship. Supercute asked me how many worship songs are sung during the Praise & Worship segment. I told him that usually 3 or 4 songs would be sung. I kept glancing at Supercute and Blackninja during the Praise & Worship segment. I noticed that they were able to follow the songs and sing along, despite their being unfamiliar with the songs. Even Nining joined in to raise her hands in worship during this segment. When the worship leader asked the congregation to raise both their hands and offer up their challenges to the Lord, we all did. Supercute asked me what kind of challenges he can offer up. I told him "anything - your examinations, your volleyball, etc".

The Lord hears our prayers. When the Pastor started her sermon, of all the topics that she could have preached, she preached that the power is in His Word. She also mentioned that when we are facing challenges in our life, we should take hold of His Word and believe. As it is written, so it shall be done. 花, the Lord has heard you. Why else would such a message have been preached that day? It was no coincidence that ET (who is not a Christian) suggested that you attend church with Da and me that day when you actually had in mind to attend mass at another church to pray. Our Abba Father led you (through ET) to NCC that day so that you could hear His Word for you. Do not fear and let not your heart be troubled.

I am thankful that Supercute and Blackninja kept an open mind when they attended the service. The fact that they understood the message that day is evident in what they have posted in their respective blogs on 21 September 2008. Do check out their blogs - the link to their blogs is in the main page of my blog.

When the church service was over, SY informed us that ET contacted her during the service to inform her that he had driven to the National Stadium to wait for us but he decided to buy dinner in the meantime. So, we all got into our car and made our way to their home. Along the way, we drove past some trees (near Esplanade) that are labelled. The tree in the photograph below is labelled "Tree Number 20". We wondered why the trees are labelled.

As we continued along the journey, we realised that we were driving along part of the F1 route! Da started pretending that he was driving an F1 car (minus the dangerous driving, of course) while Blackninja gave a running commentary (from the back seat)! It was very amusing.

When we arrived at the home of the Three Musketeers, dinner was ready! Not only did ET takeaway fried horfun, fried rice and fried Hong Kong mee, he also bought some achar and cooked some vegetables and fried some ikan bilis. It was certainly a feast!

Hey guys.... this coming sunday (28 September 2008) will be a combined service at the Singapore Indoor Stadium ("SIR") at 10 am. The service will not be held at Suntec Tower 4 due to the F1 race. The SIR doors will open at 9 am, so be sure to get there early so as to get a good seat. We look forward to attending church with you this coming sunday!