Parable of the Pencil

I heard this story today at an assembly.  I don't quite remember, but I think that she amended some parts of the story to make it more inclusive. *sigh*

The Pencil Maker took the pencil aside, just before putting him into the box. 

"There are 5 things you need to know," he told the pencil, "Before I send you out into the world. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best pencil you can be."
"One: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in Someone's hand."
"Two: You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, but you'll need it to become a better pencil."
"Three: You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make."
"Four: The most important part of you will always be what's inside."
"And Five: On every surface you are used on, you must leave your mark. No matter what the condition, you must continue to write."
The pencil understood and promised to remember, and went into the box with purpose in its heart.

Now replacing the place of the pencil with you.  Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best person you can be. 
One: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in God's hand. And allow other human beings to access you for the many gifts you possess.
Two: You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, by going through various problems in life, but you'll need it to become a stronger person. 
Three: You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make. 
Four: The most important part of you will always be what's on the inside.
And Five: On every surface you walk through, you must leave your mark. No matter what the situation, you must continue to do your duties.

Allow this parable on the pencil to encourage you to know that you are a special person and only you can fulfill the purpose to which you were born to accomplish.
Never allow yourself to get discouraged and think that your life is insignificant and cannot make a change.

I really liked this story.  I actually like this one I found online even better because while the principal was reading it, I was actually thinking about how it parallels our Christian walks (I think she omitted the part about God in her explanation of point 1).  

But yes, when she was reading about point 1, I was thinking about how God holds me in the palm of His hand and how I can accomplish so much with Him in my life, by his power doing all the work!  Point 2 probably resonated more powerfully than some of the other points as I feel that I have gone through so much sharpening in the last 6 months, from family, work, and ministry.  But God has definitely made me a much stronger person for it.  It has also allowed me to rely on him evermore so!  And with God I can definitely correct any mistakes, or sins, that I have made.  It is through the daily renewal and washing only given by the blood of Jesus Christ!  Hallelujah!  Point 4 is quite the cliche, but still very true.  Too often we get sucked into the consumeristic antics of the North American society, but at the end of the day none of that matters if you are a sucky person on the inside.  God doesn't care for the outside, but really looks at our hearts.  I have to continually search my heart and ensure I am living my life for Him, and Him alone!  Point 5 spoke to me as well, with all the stuff that God has been putting me through.  It is true that whatever situation God puts me in, I have to respond in a way that is holy and pleasing to him.

I love how God speaks to me, regardless of the medium.  Love, love, love!

Teachings

Obedience.

Self-Sacrifice.

Patience.

Trust.

This is what God has been teaching me recently through sermons, Sunday school, devotions, fellowship and all that good stuff! =)

Parents

I love my parents, I really do, even if they do get on my nerves sometimes, but that is what parents do.  They are doing it because they love me, because they care, because they have invested 20+ years into me, and really they do it because they really, really love me.  Yet, I forget how much they have actually done for me in my life.

When I look back on my relationship with my parents it has definitely been a rollercoaster ride.  The early years when they were working extremely hard, dad with the restaurant and mom working crazy hours because she worked at a Chinese restaurant.  Their jobs weren't glamourous, but they did it because they loved me and my brother.  I know that this is only human nature, but sometimes I do wonder what others think of my family and the work that they do.  I am not saying that I am ashamed of my parents, of course I am not, they had to do what they had to do to support our family.  This meant sacrifices, which usually meant time in my household.  However, I look back on it now and the dividends have paid off, we own our house, we have 2 cars, we have been on a number of family vacations, and my dad has fixed up every room in the house to the best of his abilities because it is one of his hobbies.  Further, even though we are Chinese and there is a lack of physical affection, I know that my parents love each other.  They now watch Chinese dramas together and go fishing every week from the time the walleye season opens to when the bass season closes.  And after 25 years of marriage, they are also going on vacation together for two months by themselves in the coming months!

Some news I heard this past weekend really made me realize how lucky I am to have two parents who are relatively healthy (the aches and pains of getting older...) who love me and my brother so much.  My parents told me about a neighbour down the street who had just passed away, she was only 55 years old, younger than my dad.  She has two daughters who are a few years younger than me.  My parents told me that she had died from cancer.  What makes this story even more heartwrenching is that only 8 short years ago, these two girls lost their dad suddenly from a heart attack.  I can not even start to imagine the pain and sorrow they are going through.  The questions that are racing through their head.  And their thoughts on the future.  This situation makes me cherish my parents even more.  It is so sad that in order for me to realize this, something so tragic has to happen.

Even though they may annoy me at times and bug me about little things, I have to hold steadfast onto the fact that they are doing it out of love.  And for me to really demonstrate to them the love of Christ in my life, to serve them and honour them, because it would really suck if I could not spend eternity with them in heaven.

Patience

This is one lesson that God has been teaching me over and over and over again this past week.  It seems like in the past week, I have been put into situations or placed myself in situations where my patience has been tested and more often than not, I have had to draw on the power of the Holy Spirit to hold my tongue or to guide my actions, because I know that if I relied on myself the results would have been disasterous, they would not have been edifying at all, and God would not have been glorified.  But man, does it get exhausting or what?!  However, I will continue running the race for God!

More Sister Lovin'

I am truly blessed to have sisters that love me so much.  They know when to push for more information and to refrain when necessary.  When I say pray for me, I know that they are praying for me, even when I do not give details.

Tonight at prayer meeting, we were grouped off by sexes.  We have been doing the numbering off, and that has been working great as well, but I'm glad that we split off the way we did tonight.  I definitely could not have talked about some things if there were boys in my group.  God made us different for a reason! ;)  But yes, I'm glad I was able to have some time to talk with my sisters and to really pray with them.  The popcorn prayer was awesome, being able to so freely converse with God was great!  And to have the honour to pray for my sisters was humbling as well.  God has revealed so much to me and my relationship with each sister there tonight that I know he brought me there tonight for a reason.  'Tis was a great night of prayer and sisterly bonding.

Sisterly Love

Today I had the opportunity to pray with a dear sister in Christ.  It is so great to see how God is working in her life and the passions and burdens he has put on her heart.  It also reminds me of my time at CCF and my spiritual journey during those four years.  My journey was definitely tumultous at times, non-existent at times, fruitful at times, and joyful at other times.  It is too bad when we don't realize how powerful and helpful God is until we look back in retrospect, well for me at least.  Talking with her really brought back some things, it made me think about my whole time at CCF and how God used me.  It is so awesome to see how God is going to use her as well.  I am also honoured that God used me to help her through this "stressful" time in her life.  I love praying for my fellow brethren, helping them carry their burdens, and calling out to God to sustain, renew, and empower us!

However, I think after lunch today I missed an opportunity to minister to another sister.  It makes me sad and breaks my heart when I know that something is wrong, but I do not have to opportunity to address it.  I pray that she is doing alright, and like I've always said, sometimes all I can do it pray.

Decisions

Teaching is definitely one of my passions in my life.  God has definitely instilled this in me.  However, I am now at a crossroads in my very green teaching career.  At the moment I am qualified to teach grades 4-10.  It is quite a large range, and seriously, with only two placements in teacher's college and the limited number of placement options, I got placed in grade 6 and 8--not that much a difference in terms of teaching styles and students' needs.  However, I have placed myself in a situation where I have been able to expose myself to the younger kids and hopefully to high school students as well.  And now I am pondering about my next ABQ course, whether to take the Primary ABQ or the Senior ABQ.  I know I have not prayed enough about it, and I know that God will tell me something.  I am just confused right now.