putting GOD first...

some days ago, joy told me about her dance friend, m, now 16 yrs, was seriously taken ill. another suspect of dengue case with high fever.

then, the news of her hospitalisation came.

last night, when i got home, she told me,"mom, m's condition seems bad. she's in emerrgency with pneumonia (aka lung infection) and the doc said that her body has radiation.'

i was just thinking, m is a christian girl who faithfully prays before she goes up the competition stage. she's a pleasant girl who's actively involved in sports, besides dance. to top it all, she's in top-notch sch and is well-liked by many, given that she exudes such great confidence at young age.

how would she feel about her condition? indeed, joy said,"she mentioned that her faith is wavering!"

at that moment, the first thot that came to my mind was 'god has his plans. among other things, HE is probably trying using m to show my daughter the importance of putting HIM first in her life'

it was such coincidence that a discussion broke out just half an hour ago in the cell meeting about how parents would feel about their kids skipping church sessions, when the exam fever is on......

i was the first to offer my view (just felt that the question was 'targeted' at me). i told the members that my approach is not to FORCE, but discuss with the child about 'GOOD TIME MGT' and 'PRIORITIES'. frankly, if u put everything else above GOD and still says that u have HIM in ur heart, things might just frall apart!

another church member, leong requested that the cell group pray for his friend (40 yrs), who just got into an accident and had fortunately woken up from a comatose situation after some days. but, it seemed that his left brain has a blood clot and there's pain in his body....and he's due for a thorough examination in days to come. this friend, who's father is a christian, has requested that leong pray for him.

another thot crossed my mind. humans are such that we often take so much delight in our comfort zones, in denial of many relationships and priorities that are impt in lives, until things turn awry and situations get desperate.

i went home to share with joy about such thots and reminded her that in her midst of bz schedule, she got to learn about weighing her priorities right. she promised,'mom, i understand what u mean. i will go to church after my exams and competiton. u t hink i dun want to go, huh? i also pray every night before i sleep, what!'

in a nutshell, i did feel GOD talking to me last night through the cell members and joy's friend's health condition. at least, it opened up the way for me to think about joy's life and reminding about her priorities.....he surely has his plans carried out at the appropriate time!