JennPunzalan.com

Posts Tagged ‘faith’

Sometimes it seems the easiest thing to do is to give our child what he wants and make him happy. It is such a temptation to be the answer to our child’s wants and needs rather than teaching him to believe God for it or to work for it.

When our daughter, Janina, got her new puppy, Briggie, it wasn’t without faith, hardwork and tears.  When she first brought up the idea of getting a Maltese, we told her that she will have to use her own savings. Not only that, we wanted her to be the one to look for one that is affordably priced. Paolo and I thought that this would be good training for her. We would pray with her for the puppy but we expected her to do all the legwork necessary.

We saw Janina spending hours online and on the phone looking for a Maltese and comparing prices.  She learned what questions to ask the sellers and how to haggle for a lower price. There were nice, accommodating people and rude to very rude people, and she learned to deal with all kinds. One night, after weeks of doing that, she was in tears because she couldn’t find one that fit her budget. It was at this point when Paolo and I almost gave in, and thought of just raising the money ourselves to help out our little girl. But somehow a voice inside us told us to step out of the way and teach Janina to wait on God and believe Him for His provision. Janina was already getting impatient and desperate, yet God commanded us to stay away from the situation. That is not always easy for us parents especially when we see our child distraught and discouraged.  We realized that this was as much a lesson for us as parents as it was for Janina.

A few days after that incident, Janina auditioned for the musical “Sound of Music.” Thank God for His favor, Janina made it! With the money that she will earn, she could finally buy the Maltese she’s been wanting and be able to pay even for the dog’s food for life . No wonder God told us to step out of the way–He has already set His plan in motion!

I think about that and wonder what would have happened if we took matters into our hands and made things happen for Janina. Then Janina would have missed out on experiencing first hand the faithfulness of her Heavenly Father as her provider. And we as parents would have missed God’s assurance for us that He will take care of our children.

I realize that sometimes our goal for our children is so short-term. They want something, we give it to them. They’re happy. End of story. But God is not just concerned about our children getting what they want and making them happy.  He wants our children to get to know Him better and to grow in their faith as they wait upon Him. He wants a relationship with our children.

“Oh how great is the love the Father has lavished on us!”

The last thing the party host said was “Goodbye everyone! And you can take all the balloons you want!”. Ryan immediately ran to the front and grabbed one of the 2 big balloon arrangements decorating the stage. The first thing that entered my mind was “Why in the world would you want to bring that home?” He got different kinds of stares from people as he walked across the party hall carrying that big balloon tower, that was at the very least twice his size. Some looked amused, some looked puzzled, but he couldn’t care less. All he thought was “I’m bringing these balloons home!” The balloons wouldn’t even fit in our car. Luckily, the party was just in our village so he actually walked home with it. And then as if that wasn’t enough, he came back to get the other balloon tower! Now his room is filled with balloons!

I actually admire Ryan’s boldness! He was told he can have the balloons, so he charged and took what he wanted! Without hesitation, no if’s, no but’s. Something we can all learn from.

Josh 18:3 So Joshua said to the Israelites: “How long will you wait before you begin to take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your ancestors, has given you?

Since late last year, our whole family has been praying to go for another vacation to the US. We cut down on trips and some expenses to start saving up. At the start of this year, I’ve been calling Delta Airlines to book our award flights from our mileage. I was hoping to get 3 free tickets from them so we would have to pay for just 3 tickets instead of 6. After 2 weeks of trying, there haven’t been any slots available. I started to feel discouraged and talked with the kids and proposed if we could just go to Hong Kong this year, and to the States next year to give us more time to save. Our kids reacted by saying “Where is your faith mom? God will provide for everything we need!” That was enough to shut me up.

Two days after, as I was on the phone again with the Delta Airlines Customer Representative, I was informed that there were 3 available award tickets for a flight to San Francisco. When I told the kids this great news, Nathan said “And you would have settled for Hong Kong.” True. Right then and there, I was convicted. I limited myself to my own resources.

We are always encouraged to have a childlike faith. Grown-ups calculate too much. We evaluate, analyze, criticize. We always think of the limitations, instead of thinking of the possibilities. Children just believe! They’re very confident and enthusiastic! And they hang on to every word that is spoken to them!

I thank God for reminding me how to have faith like a child. Had i given in to my doubts, I would have missed out on God’s blessings.

“I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it” (Mark 10:15)

This week was sobering. It made a lot of people stop and think about life. And about death. My dear friend, Maileen Hern, passed away at 38 years of age because of breast cancer. I have believed God for her complete healing since day 1 but God had another plan. And His will is always good, pleasing and perfect.

So many people had so many nice things to say about Maileen. She inspired a lot of us to hold on in faith to God’s promises, to persevere in the midst of difficulty, to always focus our eyes on God. Her last words to her daughters were “Always be grateful” and “Always trust God.” Amidst her pain, she was still able to point her kids to God.

The death of a close friend reminded me once again of the brevity of life. My time will come. (Hopefully later than sooner.) And when my time comes I wonder, “What will people say about me?” And even more important is “What will my kids say about me? What legacy will I leave behind?”

Difficult questions. But I hope we will all take time to think about it. Death is sure. Let us make our lives count.