Date: Sat, Jul 18, 2009 at 1:28 PM
Subject: Email from London - Real Relationship
Dearly loved by God,
How are all of you? I hope all of you are well and in good health. One month has passed and it’s time for a fresh new email that I hope will bless all of you.
When I was five years old, I longed for a best friend. Someone to play and talk with, and who understands. I found none at the time but found Jesus as my best friend that I could pour all my tiny little heart’s contents to. I was introduced to Jesus by my Sunday School teacher and grateful towards my Christian grandparents and parents who brought me there. So, ever since then Jesus has always been my best of best friends.
When I was twelve, frustrated not being able to speak English fluently although it was my favourite subject in school that I told the Lord, “You’ve got to help me! I don’t want to be looked down anymore! I am going to start speaking (practicing) English with you as I know you are not going to laugh at me”. So, this began an exciting journey for me. I started reading the Bible and at thirteen, I got baptised.
At twelve years old, I found a very good friend, Wendy my classmate. Because she wanted me to be her roommate on our school trip, she was brave to convince my strict and protective grandmother allowing me to go on the trip with her. Her action melted my grandmother’s heart that she in-turn convinced my parents to let me go on this trip. I was so happy and grateful to Wendy as she also knew I wanted to go on this trip and being a good friend, she “fought” for me. I enjoyed the trip. It was my first independent holiday with friends.
At thirteen, I became quite popular in school. I remember being very scared of jab. We had this “Rubella Drive” in school, all girls got to have it. After the jab, I walked out from the room and fainted. The news spread to the whole school and I was escorted back to class by my six or more female classmates. I was embarrassed but felt privileged of how my teachers and fellow schoolmates cared for me so much. That same year, I was one of the top students in school and the following year became a school prefect.
Since then I was blessed with friends and made very good friends too. Please bear in mind that I share my story not to boast of myself but to share with all of you that when we make Christ our first true and very best friend, He is faithful and able to multiply whatever little (small beginning) we have and increase it beyond our expectation (Matthew 14, Mark 6, Luke 9, and John 6). 2 Corinthians 12:9 And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness.
I am grateful to God that over the years He has been so faithful to me and blessed me with wonderful family and friends. My mother is not only my mum but over the years she has become my best friend too who understands and we share many common interests. My brother, Joseph is not only my adviser but also my great fantastic travelling companion. He is also my personal stylist and I still remember the time when I started learning make-up when I was the bridesmaid for one sister in church, I did not even know how to apply nail polish that my brother who was nineteen at the time took the nail polish bottle from me, sat down in front of me, asked me to put my hands forward and started applying the nail polish coat by coat on all my fingers. He is such a natural talent. He is also my very respected and responsible Music Director in church who always made me feel confident when He was in the team while I led in worship. I still remember when I told my brother I wanted to go to London and at that time he was having a good job as a Senior Computer Engineer in a public listed company, without much thought he said, “I am coming with you!” He sacrificed his stable career to join me in the unknown of London all because he wanted to make sure I am being cared for. I am so grateful and blessed to have such a wonderful caring brother. My father will always be there for me and remain a wonderful support to me. He is a caring, fun-loving, humorous and responsible father. By the way, if you have been touched by my writing thus far, I inherited the passion for writing from my father for sure but definitely it is by the grace of God that it touches your heart.
Let me share with all of you something that happened quite recently. Coming to London is a bold step forward for me. I did not know anyone from London at that time. All I knew was when one of my friends talked about London, in my heart just leaped and said, “This is the place I’m heading!” I told my friends of my intention and one ex-colleague of mine, Wee Yee introduced me to her friend, Airene. The whole process from the point of meeting Airene who coincidentally was back for a short visit from London in January 2007 and to our application process till we arrived into London, we could see God’s faithful guidance and provision.
My brother and I are blessed to have known Airene and Chris. They are God-sent angels. Even though we were not close friends at that time but merely a friend introduced to us but Airene frequently followed up on us on our visa application status, called us all the way from London wanted to know our developments. She even tried to look for a flat for us even we were still two or three months away from our arrival. Once we arrived at Heathrow Airport even though it was delayed but she and her husband were already waiting for us at the airport to receive us, earnestly looked out for us and waved joyfully at us when she saw us coming out from the arrival hall and her husband helped us with our heavy luggage. The sky already dark when we arrived, once we were in the tube, both of them fed us with all the must-know information about London and brought us to their flat and cooked delicious dinner for us. We were treated so honourably by this amazing couple and even in the midst of preparing for a tough accounting exam, Airene still joined her husband and us for our flat-hunting and entertained us hospitably until we found our flat one week later.
When Airene and Chris heard about the tragedy involving my Chairman’s son, they called me out and we spent the whole day together with their one year old son. They were there for me when I needed comfort and support the most. Yesterday night, I received a call from Airene. She broke the news, “I have finally passed my exam! After all these years!” She is one determined lady. Hats-off to her. Not only that, there was one thing she said that meant so much to me, “You are the first person I wanted to tell this good news to!”
I can go on and on sharing to you about all the great wonderful beautiful friends I have met all these years but I have to make sure I am not drifted too far away. If our earthly family and friends who are not perfect but wonderfully created in God’s image know how to care for us, how much more our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ Himself who died and gave us eternal life would love, care, provide, comfort, and always long to talk to us, advise us and bless us even more than we could ever imagined.
I am also privileged to have known Em among all my great wonderful friends in London. She knows me although not as much and thorough as God. She is also like my Personal Assistant keeping me occupied with activities, updates, lent me books that she wanted me to read even though I already have tonnes of my own. All the good things she knows about, she wants me to know and have as well. She is also my sincere critic and honest about what she thinks.
From all these wonderful relationships I have been blessed with, I could see God’s heart in each one of them. He loves us unconditionally and sacrificially to the extent of laying down His life for us so that we can now claim all the wonderful blessings that we don’t deserve that by His grace we have become co-heir with Christ. To God, the prayer from a five year old child was not forgotten (she prayed for “a” best friend but God blessed her more than one) and as important as a 100 year old man or a 90 year old woman whose bodies were impossible to produce an heir but with God nothing is impossible, that a child named Isaac was born (Genesis 21) and their descendants became like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore (Genesis 22:15-18). What He has promised in His word, He shall bring it to pass. We don’t have to fight our hearts-out but just trust and be led by the Holy Spirit, giving thanks all the time in all circumstances, and enjoy His grace that is sufficient for all of us (2 Corinthians 12:9).
My prayer is that all of us will have a real relationship with the Lord. We will no longer pray mere prayers (either to impress or doing it dutifully) but we will pray what we mean so that we will have a real relationship with the Lord that grows stronger each day.
(Jesus said) “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” – John 15:15
“Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name."- Psalm 91:14
Love & Blessings,
Josephine
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