|
My daughter and I became new members of Incarnation last June. We are blessed to have found a good church home in New York City. It is a wonderful anchor for our lives now. We appreciate the beautiful liturgy and music, Sunday and weekday worship services, and various opportunities to connect with others, like the coffee hour, Bible Study, small book groups, supper/brunch groups, and many different ministries you can contribute to with your talents and passion, all the while developing life-time friendships. My daughter loves the 20s/30s Group, and is very active in it. I have been serving on the hospitality committee for over a year now.
When I sent my friend on the West coast Reverend Adrian’s book, Ask Me for a Blessing, she wrote back: “These are very challenging times, and one needs the support and clarity of a strong community.”
We truly value the wisdom and support of this nurturing and strong community.
Last year at this time, I came out of the newcomers program with three words engraved in my mind:
Pray. Work. Give.
I extended their applications in my daily life like this:
When I worry, I pray.
When I fear, I work.
When I achieve, I give!
It works!
I still worry, but it’s no longer a problem. Over time, I learned to pray, and pray frequently. When I face adversity, or choices, I invite God for guidance and wisdom. I sit quietly alone with God, talk to Him, listen to Him with full attention. Because I know how to discuss my worries with God, my prayers now are intentional. Those quiet moments I spend with God help me think beyond myself. Once you anchor your thoughts and actions in sync with the true purpose of your life, when your heart is after God’s heart, your worries all of a sudden seem trivial. Think about this: If the purpose of your life is to use your God given talents to serve the world, what’s left for you to worry about if you know you are giving your best, and God has your best interest in His heart?
I still fear, and am anxious and stressed about quite a few things from time to time, like fears of illness, losing income, or being dependent on others when I am really old and cannot take care of myself. And, this is true - I feared not being able to do a good job today. What if this… what if that… my imagination just started wandering with fear.
So what did I do? When I worry, I pray. When I fear, I just get to work! I thanked God for being a member here, for my spiritual growth, the new fellowship and friendship, the list of blessings went on and on… My mind started to urge me to put some of the reflections in writing! “Just speak from your heart!” I told myself. I am simply sharing my experience of growth here. Plus, God’s love is unconditional. It’s okay to be imperfect, to try and fail sometimes. God will always let us improve, or start anew. God delights in what is genuine, pure and good.
When you’ve overcome worry and conquered fear, you are able to focus on doing the work with a clear vision and the right spirit. You can achieve in a big way, even though the journey may not be a straight path. This we all know from our personal experiences. But, we sometimes get carried away by the business of life, and we get lost again, and again. Thanks to the nurturing environment of this church community, I have developed a habit to communicate with God all the time. God continually helps me discover my spiritual gifts, unique abilities, and relevant skills to serve and live a full life.
When it comes to giving money, we cannot help assessing its worth. Is it worth the money?
When it comes to budgeting, especially facing adversity, we have to prioritize.
When facing an unpredictable world nowadays, we are forced to save for security.
Think about all the options out there as your answers. The final answers will emerge with clarity.
Think about it that each of us was given a bunch of unique gifts, before we even did one thing to deserve them. 0! The generous capital was given to us at birth without the pressure of Return On Investment! I also want to emphasize the word UNIQUE. What’s unique is valuable. Look at yourself, and look around you, God has created each of us as a unique talent, there is no other.
As we put our gifts in doing what we want to do, following God’s calling, we develop abilities to excel in the field that fits our personality, talents, and passion; we gain exceeding knowledge and experience to carve out our niche of expertise in serving the world.
Even though God puts us to tests, the trials are meant to teach us and prepare us for a better and even more fulfilling life ahead. For those who have been there and done that, you know how true that is.
We give because we want to thank God. We give because we value the wisdom and support of this caring and strong community. We give because we want to support and strengthen God’s family!
Isaiah 58:11 "The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail."
We are Rooted in Abundance.
| 
