Man, She's Hot!

That's what I thought about my wife when I first saw her. Granted I was hormone-charged at just 17 years old, and I was new in a big school, but I could not shake my first impression of her.

I was invited to a double birthday party, and there were a lot of people already there in their apartment. I hardly recognized anybody there being new, but they were making a big deal at how hot one of the birthday girls were even when she was much younger--even model like! Then, they passed a couple of pictures of her around in jest, and I saw their point! Yowza--this girl had a "thousand faces" as a model would.

Her personality was certainly bold and loud. And tomboy-ish. I was intimidated. She was after-all, an upperclassman. Nevertheless, she was not "weirded-out" by all the Asian Food things I liked to eat. A rare thing in a small Texas Town--awesome!

The best part was that she had a reputation for being a Godly-woman. My small circle spoke reverently of her devotion to Christ, and how she was faithful to Christ and a dependable leader. Wow. So, clearly she was out of my league, but she became the gold-standard for a woman to have.

It took me 8 years of knowing Monica, and watching her would-be suitors during that time crash and burn trying to court her, to find the nerve to ask her out for myself. It might have happened earlier if not for the fact that each time I spent time with her, her penchant for wrestling and tickling freaked me out!

Finally, I got to date my best friend, and marry her. We realized at some point that it was quite amazing of God to send me to Baylor at 16, and meet Monica during her senior year at Baylor. Monica had an offer for a paid-College education closer to her relatives, but opted instead to pay her way through her Baylor experience.

And that's why we think I was sent to Baylor at 16--to see about a Godly woman.

~ Shien, Ezer-Kenegdo "the servant function of provider of life, growth and development" 1 Cor 11:3

Come with Your Tank Full

When I was in College, I attended a Prayer and Praise Group on Friday Nights. There was a lot of earnest God-Seeking there, and much compassion to share. There was a lot of freedom to explore and emulate what Christ did and become his priesthood.

However, after a few months, it was clear that the group as a whole was not making much head way with some of these issues, as we seemed to revisit them week after week. So our leader taught us something I find valuable to this day: "As you follow Christ and are transformed by His Holy Spirit, exercise the disciplines of holiness so that you arrive on Friday Night with your spiritual tank full or fuller, ready to serve. then see what happens!"

I took the teaching to heart, and began asking God to make me more useful. At first, I just arrived at the meetings feeling less needy. Next, I began to pray for some people by name who came to the meeting. Then, I began to ask God if there was something I could do for him before, during and after the meeting.

Then one evening, as I left the restroom and strolled happily back towards the rocking praise booming out of the meeting room, God asked me if I was ready to be utilized by Him. "Uh... okay!", I replied naively. Nothing noteworthy occurred for a while, so I settled back down until the worship leader called for a spontaneous prayer time, and in particular, healing for chronic or long standing issues. Now my heart skipped a beat even as my spirit raced. His Spirit already began the infilling.

One of the leaders had come forward, he suffered from chronic back pain following a wrestling injury during his college days. As others gathered round to continue praying faithfully for him, I was given words to say to him, words that I didn't want to offer as it went something along the lines of: "Tonight, the Lord will demonstrate His Faithfulness and bring you a measure of healing." Yikes!

I waffled on obeying for a bit, but then took the plunge. I approached him and whispered in his ear. And he said he embraced the word, and was experiencing faith to believe. So he told the other leaders what was said to him, and they invited me to pray. I was not expecting that part. So I stammered out a really polished: "Uh, okay Lord--Your turn now, do as You said..." Nothing happened... for a while. The other leaders were very respectful and did not look at me, it was likely obvious that I was feeling intimidated.

Then Brett got on all fours and began to twist. He reported that he felt some relief that wasn't there before. As he continued to move, he reported a range of motion. "Yes, yes... I haven't been able to this for a while now." After a few tantalizing minutes, it became clear that he "...experienced a measure of healing." that was unprecedented. Glory to God!

I was so surprised that I did not know how to feel and behave, so I hid myself back in the crowd.

~ Shien, Yahweh-rapha--"The Lord who heals"

University at 16

"Do I get to experience a miraculous life firsthand, or do I have to settle with hearing about You secondhand?"

I was 15 at the time when I posed that question to God. At the time, I was depressed and concerned about the upcoming 'O' Levels Examinations. I was failing my Mandarin courses having been out of country for two and a half years, and even with tutoring, could not resume well. Furthermore, the Mandarin Teacher at school had humiliated me having assumed that I was being lazy or intentionally mocking her since I was getting A's in every other subject. So I was searching and wanting to know if there was more to following God than my rule-driven life.

At some point during that year, it dawned on me that I was particular close to God when I was desperate, so I 'gave permission' to God to 'yank the rug from under me' so that I can experience an intimate, miraculous life as I depended on Him. Soon, I got an answer, and He sent me to University at 16.

Instead of taking my Mandarin 'O' Level, my dad gave me permission to study for the SATs along with my other subjects, and with God's Grace, I ended with 6 distinctions, and enrolment at Baylor University.

God kept His part of the bargain--I joined a vibrant College Group the same week I arrived, and began my journey that soon became my spiritual awakening. Indeed, when you are desperate, and dependent on God, you begin to experience daily miracles and see evidence of His frequent direction and intervention in your life.

~ Shien, Yahweh-mekoddishkem--"The Lord who sanctifies you"