JOY was the word that was given to me by the Holy Spirit for my word in the past academic year; and Zephaniah 3:17 was the Bible verse for my word. I wasn’t really sure what it meant since I was looking at the word from my perspective and thought I’ll have more joy – perhaps that my circumstances will change and I’ll be happy about the changes. I was a little perplexed why this Bible verse was given for my word of the year. Now that the academic year is over, I think I understand why.

I have been listening to the message series on the Book of Ezekiel from Cornerstone Chapel and I just finished it all yesterday in my day of house cleaning. During the pandemic lockdown, the Holy Spirit led me to do a bible study on the Book of Revelation. Since I wanted to make sure that the pastors that I was learning from were not only from one source; I learned from five different pastor-teachers who taught this book. Other than minor differences in what they emphasized and future timeline thoughts, I thought they were very consistent in their teachings. One of the teachers that I learned from was Pastor Gary of Cornerstone Chapel.

Ever since my activism began in March with a big let down at the end, I have been deeply grieved. It also didn’t help that my daughter came home from college and she has been retreating back to her former ways of being reclusive, rude and showing destructive eating habits. Moreover, the PTO board president was very difficult with me as I was trying to end my school events for the year. If it wasn’t for my sense of duty and responsibility to the students and school, I probably would have quit my volunteering services midstream. Thank goodness the school year is over and I did all my events well. However, I thought and prayed about it and I told the other new co-president that I’m not returning back in the new academic year. I was going to return for another year just to bless the students and staff; and to find new parent replacements for all the events that I handle. But after all that I went through with her, I felt permission and release from the Lord to let it go. I’m relieved.

Monday was my Bible study group’s last meeting for the semester and in our meeting we all take turns to praise and pray after our Bible study discussion. While the other ladies were praying I saw this vision in my mind that I’d like to share with you. Please read my vision and ponder it.

I’m so sad to tell you that our principal was not reinstated as principal of the high school after his public hearing on Monday night. He and his lawyers fought a good fight and defended very well.

Whenever I get severely disappointed after much efforts and prayers, I go to the chapters in the Old and New Testament of Habakkuk 3 and John 6. I question God on why did you even bother and ask me to work and pray so hard. It’s okay to pour out your heart, be honest about your disappointments and even ask “why” questions to God. What’s not okay is to walk away from your faith or deliberately sin in that moment of anger and despair.

The last two months have been really, really busy for me as I have been called by the Holy Spirit to assist with the principal situation in our high school. The public hearing is scheduled for this coming Monday, 5/15 evening. There has been much media coverage on this situation. I ask for your continued prayers and for favorable outcome for our high school community.

Once I discovered Dr Charles Stanley, he sort of became my grandfather in the faith, though I have never met him. He taught me a lot about bible-honoring life principles as a child of God. He passed away last week at the age of 90. Let us remember him and his family in our prayers, and continue to learn from his teachings and Bible commentaries.

If you have been wondering why I’ve been inactive for a while writing, it’s because I’ve been super busy. I can’t believe this but I’ve become a political activist! Standing up and defending a good and honorable school leader made this cause very political in our school district.

Since our ladies prayer group is called the Esther prayer group, I want to share that this past Tuesday was the Jewish Purim day. It’s a religious holiday to celebrate and remember the time when Esther saved her Jewish people through her bravery and courage. Here’s a short devotional about Esther. The main takeaway is that we must fear God more than we fear people. https://www.ifcj.org/learn/holy-land-moments/daily-devotionals/fear-god-more-than-people