Thanksgiving « Garden of Delight

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Anonymous Blessings

Lovely card from Anonymous Well Wisher

Today as I walked into church office, I was given a small envelop which contained this card & a love gift. The Lord’s Prayer on the card reminded me of our Father’s love for me as He continually sends angels to bless me, to comfort me, to encourage me.

Every act of kindness reflects God’s love & presence with me, no matter what circumstance I am in, He is always with me. I am grateful for all the blessings bestowed upon me, especially those done anonymously.

I am not able to thank this generous well-wisher in person, I hope you are reading this post & I want you to know your prayer & gifts are very much appreciated by me. I pray that God will bless you abundantly & like to thank YOU with this prayer:

so that your giving may be in secret.

Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

- Matthew 6:4 (NIV)

In Him,

Lydia

Categories OneLife.OneYear
Author Lydia W

Blessing of Tools

18 Jan

: Bible Stories, Craft, Group Play books for Kids

Every carpenter needs sharp tools to do a good job at his trade. Not sure what Jesus had during His time but I would need books, games, crafts, songs to stimulate & motivate kids to learn English.

And God provides abundantly where I could sit comfortably in a air-conditioned warehouse to browse through many, many books to select those appropriate for kids at Timor-Leste.

Not only have I been reminded by the donor on several occassions what do I need for the ministry in Timor, the donor ensures I am fed well with a smoky lunch before sitting down for a few hours to select the books & ”transported” (myself & the books) safely in consideration of my recovering foot.

I like to bless the generous donor with this prayer,

A generous man will prosper;
he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.

– Proverbs 11:25 (NIV)

In His Grace,

Lydia

Categories OneLife.OneYear
Author Lydia W

Latreia Ristorante

10 Dec

It has been a while since I cook for friends. This evening, I am really glad to have the company of 5 amazing ladies & 2 wonderful boys.

The oven did not let me down, serving us faithfully crisp & hot bread rolls; baked noodle quiche and lemon grass roast chicken drumlets …… our fellowship is further “sweetened” by Cabernet Merlot flowing …… and most important of all, a time to celebrate God’s power in the healing of my foot and thanksgiving for Latreia’s faithful prayers for the work at Timor-Leste!

While we are enjoying our dessert of fruit jelly & longan, we are already planning our next gathering … Christmas celebration! Indeed, it is only because He came that we have hope.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. …

- John 1:1-2, 14

As we are bombarded by the media in buying presents for our loved ones during this time of the year, let’s not forget we already have the best gift and let us all remember to walk close to Him in the midst of all the busyness!

In His Grace,

Lydia

Categories Latreia
Author Lydia W

On my feet again!

8 Dec

My God is working out my life for me!

Visit to NUH Dept of Orthopaedic Surgery today is yet another amazing experience of God’s omnipotence. The things which are impossible with men are possible with God. In a span of just 3 weeks, my fracture has almost healed, without any plaster cast or bandage, just daily supplements & loads of rest.

The fracture line is almost invisbile on the X-ray and I am able to stand on my feet again ………. and walk!

It is a great feeling to regain my mobility but it is awesome to know my God is mighty to heal!

But I am not ready for prolonged walking so I will still have to rest more, elevate my foot (swelling & pain will continue for a while) & not exert myself …. do not walk for more than 15 minutes at any time.

Next review will be in Jan 2010 …. will continue to rest & trust in my God who is working out my life for me

In His Love.

Lydia

Categories OneLife.OneYear, Rest
Author Lydia W

Galler

21 Nov

Galler Chocolatiers S.A was founded in 1976 by Jean Galler, a graduate of the Hotel Business School of Liège and trainee at Gaston Lenôtre in Paris.

Although the business has grown considerably since 1976, the foundations on which it was built remain the same:

· A Passion for chocolate
· A Love of perfection
· Continual creativity

Why am I talking so much about chocolate when this journal is about God? Well, this box of Galler fine dark chocolate has indeed been presented to me by God’s angels!

I have been invited to the post-Alpha social night by the committee chairman. Which actually means good food, fine wine & great company. And everyone at the dinner party tonight was given a thank-you gift for their contribution at the Alpha course. Even though I was the only invited ”guest”, I was also presented with this box of beautifully wrapped Galler chocolate, complete with a pretty ribbon!

Much has happened in the last few weeks including shock & trauma, I did not think anything else will surprise me anymore. But I was stunned. My facial expression probably said it all and I was silent. I did not know what to say. The person said quietly “I do not want you to feel left out”.

These may be simple words to many but this act of kindness made me feel so much of God’s presence. I felt that He has just sent His angel to comfort me, to make me feel loved. And to know that many people care for me, not because of what I did but because they are God’s children, filled with love & compassion. I ask that God will also fill my heart with the fruits of the Spirit so I can comfort others in need.

[God] comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.

- 2 Corinthians 1:4-5

Blessed by His Love,

Lydia

Categories Latreia, Rest
Author Lydia W

God’s timing is PERFECT!

20 Sep

A beaming Mui Liang!

Today is Mui Liang’s birthday; we had planned to celebrate over dinner at the Pousada. But to get to the Portuguese guesthouse at the hill top, I would need crutches to move up the steps in front of the house. The plastic chair that I have been using to move around in the house will be too large for the steps. Crutches will again be needed when we get to the Pousada as there are more steps and a courtyard before reaching the restaurant.

I did not lose hope when the landlord’s nephew informed that our landlord will

God's Wings For Me

only return from Dili on Monday. I trust that our Almighty Lord will provide for our need. We have been waiting and praying for the crutches since its arrival in Dili on Tuesday (15.9.09).

Scooting around with the plastic chair has made me faintish and tired. God has provided for the landlord to return this morning with the crutches to our greatest delight & thankful hearts!

I am grateful to Ps Ivan and Adrian (in Singapore) who made arrangements for the crutches to be brought over to Dili within 5 days of my injury. I do not know the person, Raj, who kindly agreed to fly with the crutches & delivered them to TA office. I hope to meet Raj one day and thank him personally.

As we made our way to the Pousada this evening, neighbours came to carry me up the flights of steps to get into the car. When we reached the Pousada, Brazilian visitors and even UNPOL helped to carry me up more stairs to get into the restaurant.

As we finished our celebration dinner, the Brazilian visitor came forward to help carry me without any of us asking! Praise God for the timely aid as the floor was slippery from the drizzle (we saw rain for the very first time in Timor Leste).

When we got to our temporary home, I was speechless when Litu, the 10 year old boy of our neighbor Mr. Carlos, together with his father lifted me from the ground and carried me into the house! As they realized the importance of the occasion that warranted me getting out of the house even in this rainy weather, the entire household came up to Mui Liang and congratulated her.

ML's Birthday celebration at Pousada

Indeed God’s angels are all around and I am thankful that God sees to my need and helps me through this immobile period!!!

With love from Timor,

- Lydia.

Categories OneLife.OneYear, WEFC
Author Lydia W

My Foot – Part Deux

11 Sep

: X-Ray of my beautiful but injured foot

When I woke up in the morning, I noticed that the swelling had moved up towards the 3 small toes and the bruising had spread to a much larger area.

When we returned to Maubisse hospital, Migi was at training. Praise God for the Cuban radiologist, Dr Ramon Acevedo, who took a very clear X-ray of my right foot that showed the metatarsal was fractured and required immediate plaster casting at Dili General Hospital because there is no orthopedic available at Maubisse!

Thank God for my team mates who swung into action by packing lunch, an overnight bag, calling Sau Kit at Dili for advice on documentation required for hospital admission and droving down to Dili, all in the span of one hour!

Praise God that Rachel, driving for the very first time from Maubisse to Dili, did a wonderful job in minimizing my discomfort throughout the 3-hour drive. When we got into Dili, Sau Kit took over the wheels & took us to the hospital in the shortest possible time.

X-Ray of My Foot

Thank God that the orthopedic at Dili General Hospital is from Sichuan, China and so we were able to understand each other clearly. Initially, Dr Ho thought it was only a sprain but after taking a look at the x-ray at my request, he immediately stopped twisting my foot & requested for a nurse to help me with putting on the plaster cast.

The nurse even chose a nice coral colored bandage to hold up the half cast, my favourite color! The cast will be removed in 6 weeks and I should be as good as new ☺

We rested in the TA guest house for the night before returning to Maubisse the next day. There are more than 10 flights of steps in front of our temporary home (guest house: Bensa Au Ama) in Maubisse. The excruciating pain by leaning on the left side of my body while dragging my right foot up and down those steps drove me to tears on previous days.

I have sent prayer requests to Jill (our OLOY ET prayer coordinator) that someone will help me down those steps. Thank God that neighbours from the community came to my aid by carrying me down the flights of steps into the house.

Ps Ivan’s prayer that I will be able to enter the community through the Sports Carnival has indeed been answered, though not in the way any one of us had anticipated!!

With love from Timor,

- Lydia