I’d like to jot down the Cinderella impression that I received when I was at my friend’s women conference two weeks ago. The guest speaker asked those who want to receive more to come up front. I hesitated about going up for more since I felt that I already received so much. But I’m so happy that I changed my mind and went up. As she was praying for all of us, I received an impression or a knowing.
In this impression, I knew that I was like Cinderella in a royal ball. I had to be mindful about getting back home before midnight. I also received a knowing that just like Cinderella’s fairy tale story, that one day I will no longer have to rush back home. I can enjoy the royal ball to the very end. 🙂 It was a very nice knowing to receive. Praise the Lord!
(I did end up leaving the conference around 3pm being mindful of my husband waiting at home for me and the longer drive home.)
Whenever there are special conferences or retreats hosted by your church or other area churches, I highly encourage you to attend. You never know what blessing or special vision or word of knowledge that you might receive. And don’t be shy about asking for more. Go up for prayer. Perhaps I wouldn’t have received this special impression or knowledge if I was sitting back.
“Freely you have received, freely give.” – Matthew 10:8b
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2010&version=NKJV
I’ve been thinking a lot about this statement that Jesus said. It is to the benefit of everyone that we become better receivers. Generally, Gen X immigrant women are not good receivers…we are good at giving and serving. I often felt like a protector for my mom because of her poor relationship with my father. She has a victim complex too. It was a very difficult situation to be in as a teenager. Please do not grumble and complain to your children and grandchildren about a family member. Keep it to yourself and talk about it only to God and close, mature church friends or pastors who can handle it and also pray for you. If you have money to spend, then it helps to hire a Christian therapist too. Make sure that they have a good track record for healthy relationships in their own life too. Don’t forget that you are the paying customer so it’s okay to ask. I also like to read books written by Christian therapists. I research their personal lives to see if they are worthy of my time reading their advice.
Anyway, let’s pray for change in our mindset when it comes to receiving from God. He has so much more for his children. If you are not a good receiver then pray about that. As I’ve been praying about it, I am seeing that it’ll actually benefit many more people because I will be a better spokesperson or evangelist for Jesus Christ. That’s what I’ve been praying about lately. I thought I would somehow get a supernatural courage or supernatural ability to shake off rejections. Perhaps I am wrong about this. Perhaps it starts with receiving more from God…?
Since I’ve been trying to become a better evangelist or spokesperson for Jesus Christ, I’ve been trying to understand how to do evangelism better. Please read this short article by the late pastor Tim Keller about evangelism. It was excellent.
Pascal’s Method for Presenting the Christian Faith
(I didn’t realize how young Blaise Pascal was when he died. He was only age 39. The only thing I knew about him was his famous Pascal’s theorem that we learned in math class.)
Voddie Baucham passed away about a week ago at age 56. It sounds like his passing was sudden… I’m pretty sure he had a heart surgery few years ago. When the topic of “Critical Race Theory” kept coming up in the news and by the prayer moms in our area schools, I asked around to understand. A friend recommended that I listen to pastor Voddie Baucham. He explained the origin of CRT and its contents well. My son’s year was the first year where it was required to take the racial literacy class (based on CRT) for high school graduation. I just told him to not take this class seriously since the coursework is very controversial and divisive. The more I learned about CRT from others who reviewed the content and coursework, the more I realized how flawed and divisive it was. If your children’s schools require racial literacy class, I recommend that you reach out to the teacher and school administrators. Ask for the course content and review it for yourself. That’s what my friends did. I think if enough parents review it then the teacher will take away some content that is negative and divisive. I emailed the teachers who were teaching my son’s class and shared my concerns in a kind tone and nonjudgmental way. They were very supportive. Even if they gave me lip-service, at least they knew that I’ll be watching. Teachers have a tough job already. Let’s try to work together. They all seem to want the best for their students. Pray for them. They sure need it.
I’m so glad that my daughter didn’t have to take this class. She went through an intense anger phrase as a teenager and it would’ve added fuel to the great fire within her at that time. I was a very angry teenager too. Definitely a class like that would’ve made a terrible impact on me. Thankful for my USA public education in the 1980s! It was just academics and the extracurricular classes were art, music, health and gym. I remember type-writing class in middle school. 🙂
By the way, if anyone has an anger issue in yourself or in your family lineage, please read this book by Christian therapist, Dr Gary Chapman. It was excellent. I should read the book again. Perhaps you could read it with your children before they become teenagers. Powerful hormones can cause their emotions to be very intense. So read it together before age 12 so that they have the tools to understand and tame the powerful emotions like anger.
https://www.amazon.com/Anger-Powerful-Emotion-Gary-Chapman/dp/0802413145
I discovered this good parenting resource about two years ago and have been reading their free newsletters. I think their advice is very good. It’s secular so it’s easier to share with non-Christians. Check out this one about teens and anger. If you like it then subscribe to their newsletter.
https://parentingteensandtweens.com/how-to-help-teens-better-manage-their-anger/
Going back to Voddie Baucham, his ministry had a revival conference past summer if anyone wants to hear his message and other guest speakers. I only heard this one so far and it was excellent. I’m hoping to hear the rest over time.
https://founders.org/sermons/the-kind-of-men-god-uses-in-revival/
If you have more time than please listen to this interview with a high school principal about his job. It will give you a tiny insight into their daily work. It is so challenging.
“Managing complaints from parents, handling the horrors of teenage social media, and serving as an emergency substitute teacher with Marcus Belin, a high school principal in Illinois. How does it feel for everyone in town to know him as The Principal? And what exactly is a “sandwich email”?”
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/what-its-like-to-be/id1707204412?i=1000638292603
This interview was excellent too. It’s about a strict headmistress in Britain. 🇬🇧 Her way is working and her students are thriving. Other teachers and school administrators are visiting her school to observe and learn from them.
“At Michaela School, Katharine Birbalsingh uses discipline and tradition to reshape inner-city education.”
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-world-and-everything-in-it/id454755642?i=1000730057751
I was catching up with a friend of mine who is a math teacher at a public high school. I told her about my high school teacher, Mrs. Larson. She was a Latin teacher. She was a fine teacher who expected a lot from her students, taught firmly, was well dressed in her simple, conservative outfits, always wore her cross necklace, and most importantly showed great concern and care for me as a student. She was probably worried about me. She had me for Latin for four years and I was not well in my head especially in my junior year. She is the only teacher that I remember from high school. She was a good ambassador for Jesus Christ.
I encouraged my friend to wear a cross necklace since it’s not possible to share about her faith to her students, and to show care and compassion. Her students will remember that and associate her with Jesus and Christianity. ✝️
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou
Journal of Faith 