What Do You really Want?

We had switched over to buying cars on cash for some year now, having realized how expensive the interest payments and depreciation was on a newer car purchased on loan. We had purchased a 20 year old Lexus ES300 from a friend for US$2,000 and sold for just a bit more, and was now on a Honda Civic that was 10 years old.

I had been watching the market and was particularly eager on purchasing a Toyota Sienna for about US$5,000 and watched many come and go that was barely on the edge of my budget--very tempting but risky since I would not be able to afford any immediate repairs or necessary preventative maintenance after purchase.

Finally, I noticed an obscure advertisement on the Autotrader and skipped it several times since it did not have interior pictures. Nevertheless, the attractive price and recent price drop indicated that the dealer was eager to do business. So I contacted him and asked for pictures of the van. He obliged within hours and I got the VIN number to run a Carfax to discover that the van came from Canada--the indicated mileage was actually kilometers!

This discovery sweetened the deal significantly because what was advertised as 130,000 miles was actually 130,000 kilometers as per Carfax (about 80,000 miles). Be that the value of the van drops about $500 for every 10,000 miles, I was already ahead another US$2,500, and because of the lack of posted pictures, and a very eager dealer, I was likely to bargain the already reduced price.

That afternoon, I arranged for the money from the bank and told Monica about it. She was comfortable with the numbers, but asked me if this was the van I wanted. The question perplexed me since it was the kind of van I wanted, and how often do you spot a legitimate deal as this? She pressed me again, and I admitted that I actually wanted a Sienna with leather and captain chairs in the middle. This van was cloth interior with bench 2nd row.

I had a hard time letting this go, since I was sure I was not going to see a better deal. The dealer followed up with me twice, and I declined. 2 months pass, and then a white Toyota Sienna XLE year model 2000 with leather captain chairs in the 2nd row appeared on the Autotrader at the right price and right mileage. But again, there was no interior pictures. However, I made an appointment to view it and it was certainly our van.

We enjoyed it for almost 5 years before selling it to our friends just as vehicle prices jumped due to Obama's Cash for Cars program. At that point, we traded in a 1989 Chevy G20 that was worth about US$500 on the open market for US$3,000 government rebate, and another US$2,000 dealer incentives on a very attractively priced Black Chevy HHR.

~ Shien Yahweh Jireh "The Lord Provides"

Pregnancy, Texas Heat and Broken Air-cons

One afternoon during the hot Texas Summer, I heard an awful screeching noise outside our home. I went out to investigate and realized it was coming from the air-conditioner compressor. I immediately shut down the air-conditioning to the house to save the unit, but was now concerned about my very pregnant wife. We retreated to a mall and took stock of our situation.

We called a local repairman who came recommended by one of our friends. He confirmed that indeed it was a failing bearing, and could be fixed for US$200. He was quite surprised that we noticed the issue and commended us for addressing it early since it saved the compressor from failure.

That night, we turned the air-con back on to sleep and prayed that God would provide. The next day, we attended church and during the smaller Lifegroup meeting, the leaders approached us and said that we had been on their hearts and they were praying for us. We shared our need and they graciously gifted us what we needed for the repair!

~ Shien Yahweh Jireh "The Lord provides"

Sick of Home Cooking and Leftovers

In the effort to conserve money and stay within our budget, we had been cooking most of our meals and eating leftovers for the rest. And I was frankly getting tired of home cooking. So I took my complaint to God and told him that while I was grateful for the food in our home, it would be totally awesome to get a change.

That next week, a flurry of friends called and wanted to have lunch with me... I told them I had little to spend and every one of them told me that they were happy to give me a treat. Each time I ate out, there were leftovers to bring home to share with Monica. There was even an acquaintance who wanted to present a "business opportunity" to me. I was not interested, but lunch was great!

I was eating out so often, that I was getting tired of eating out! Then, God smiled and reminded me of my request! How quickly things had changed for me, and how quickly I forgot about eating home cooking and tired of eating out! And how quickly I forgot God had answered my prayer.

~ Shien Yahweh Jireh "The Lord my provider"

Grace from a United State Immigration Officer

"If you tell me that you are here to marry, I have to send you home..." the immigration officer said this the third time, still patient, still smiling... knowingly. Then, joy slowly rose in me when I understood what this man was finally trying to communicate to me!

A week earlier, I had endured the humiliating and terrifying interrogation by his peers at the Minneapolis port of entry. Then, I had naively told the immigration officer I was here to marry my fiance. It never occurred to me that I had done something wrong. My fiance Monica waited and watched me from outside the holding area, concerned and puzzled.

We were returning to the US to be married, thinking that one could spontaneously marry according to the law. However, we did not realize that one had to be within the US already and then consider the idea. But it was too late, and I did not lie well, so I blurted out the truth foolishly.

The prying questions stripped me and I felt vulnerable. By now, Monica could see that something was very wrong. Eventually, after Monica was brought in for questioning, they realized that we were sincere and had mis-interpreted the law. Apparently, we weren't the first, and the officers had grace for us and would have been willing to let us proceed. But since we were travelling on to Texas, they did not have jurisdiction there, and told us that they would have to decide our fate, but they would call ahead and put in a good word for us in our case notes.

With out wedding just days away, and my brief window of opportunity to exonerate  decimated by limited days in the week to appeal our case, the fourth of July holiday, we reached out to every avenue of help we could muster, including our pastor who asked our congress woman Kay Bailey Hutchison to intervene.

Weary, we made our way to San Antonio with Monica's mom who was here for the wedding. She stayed in the hotel room to pray while we attended our appointment. When it came time to hear our case, the immigration officer was particularly stern, and there was a bold notice tacked on his notice board stating there was to be no more leniency and grace in 'spontaneous marriages'. The law had been changed! Now ALL marriages had to be initiated with a fiance or marriage visa. Now I was really panicked and reluctantly told Monica about the news.

I was so distressed that I was a bit shell shocked as I related our story to the immigration officer, still stern. Suddenly, he stepped out of his seat, went behind for a few minutes and returned with a statement: "If you tell me that you are here to marry, I have to send you home..."

I could not believe it. I only saw myself having to fly home--they had already confiscated my passport and return ticket. But after the third time he repeated himself, I found the courage to look into his kind eyes, and my heart skipped a beat... "You mean..." he continued smiling "...if I don't get married, I can stay in country?!! No legal papers but I can have a party with my relatives, right!" Now he was ecstatic and I was incredulous! Monica, who is normally quicker than I am with such matters, was so stunned by the sudden turn in events that she too did not understand when I called her over to confirm the news with the officer!

Floored by God's Grace on us, we called Monica's mom at the hotel on the ride home, I could here her laughing and shouting for joy through the phone as Monica told her the news, tearing up in gratefulness.

That was Thursday. Couple of days later, we had our grand party on Saturday Afternoon, and celebrated God's goodness. We were not legally married until we had our fabulous honeymoon in Alaska and returned a couple of months later. There is grace in the United States Federal Government because gracious people also work there.

~ Shien, Yahweh Shalom "The Lord our Peace"

Child of the Most High God

Raj and I had been pretty good friends for some time. Having trained together on the master skipper boating course and gone on long boat trips, he trusted me so much, and I in him, that he allowed me to drag him into situations that I know he would avoid otherwise.

On this occasion, he somehow agreed to go to Mt Faber with Nic, the other master skipper of our trio,  during the notorious hungry ghost month. Nic was curious to know if demons were real or just a bunch of hype. having heard that Raj and I could sense nd sometimes see them, she was curious and came along.

After spending several late night hours hanging around the deserted hilltop tourist attraction, we finally descended. Nic had not seen a thing, and Raj and I were getting discouraged since we did not want to add to her skepticism, We were certain we could see demonic entities cruising about.

As we descended the escalator to the parking lot, Raj went ahead of me while I paused and stared in the direction where I thought I saw a few demons cruising by. Raj noticed them too and began to ask if I saw what he saw when he suddenly doubled over in excruciating pain. As I asked if he was alright, he yelped for help and I saw what appeared to be a mean looking demon digging 3 claws into his shoulder.

I asked if Raj was alright, and he was clearly in pain and frightened. I sensed the Holy Spirit in me rise up and in uncanny boldness, I declared Raj a child of the living, true God and that he was already spoken for. I commanded the demon to leave in the name of Jesus and it did, reluctantly.

Shaken, Raj slumped over and panted heavily. Nic was stunned, and I was relieved but weary. We drove silently to a coffeeshop that was still open now that it was past midnight. We sat and ordered hot drinks, but said little. It was clear that Raj was grateful that I was there and survived the episode, and Nic seemed to be very disturbed by the entire incident.

Nevertheless, from that day on, Raj and I shared a special bond, and I could speak to him about spiritual matters without using 'Christianese'. Nic would never mention the incident again, refusing to talk about it.

~ Shien, Yahweh Sabaoth "The Lord of Angelic Hosts"

Green Fog and the Hungry Ghosts

I met my best mate Raj through our common interest in boating. Over the years, as we trained and spent time together through numerous outings, I learned to trust his caution.

However, I somehow managed to bully Raj into some really hare-brained activities. One of which was to persuade him to crew with me for a boat trip to celebrate a friend's birthday party during the hungry ghost month.

I grew up oblivious to superstitions, and thought nothing of going out to sea when a supposed horde of ghosts or demons were roaming, but Raj was particularly nervous. There was little to be concerned about as we motored our way to our favorite anchorage. Yes, the sky was overcast, but there were gentle breezes and calm sea.

As sun-down approached both Raj and I became jittery, so we distracted ourselves by being part of the noisy party of giggling girls. Suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew through, followed by an eerie calm. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up even as Raj and I exchanged nervous glances. Even the flighty girls were spooked and were now talking in subdued tones.

Then, as the light waned, the sky took on an odd metallic green hue as a thick, fog-like mist rolled in with the same strange green color. "Shien, I think it is time to..." before Raj could say 'go', I had started the boat engine and he was on the anchor winch. But the anchor would not raise. We never had trouble at this site before.

The fog thickened and visibility dropped to just slightly beyond the boat. We were getting tense as I tried every trick in my playbook to raise the stuck anchor. Then I started praying and declaring God's authority over us, and invited His presence in our midst. In a few more seconds, the anchor freed, we motored out of the haze and returned to the marina. None of us spoke until we had tied off at the dock.

I told my Hindu friend that I had prayed. "I know", I could tell.

~ Shien, Yahweh-raah "The Lord my shepherd".

Why Should I Have to Listen to Him?!!

Some time had passed after arriving at College, and I was feeling very at home and accepted at the College Department and Church, so I got complacent and rather big in the head.

One day, the University brought in a speaker that they really hyped up. They made such a big deal promoting him that they made it almost mandatory to go listen to his messages. As we packed the indoor stadium of the University, I thought I had open mind... until I saw him.

When he stepped onto the stage, he had a plodding gate, wore an odd looking shirt with crazy southwestern colors, spoke hesitantly in a manner that I found difficult to assimilate. I was distracted by his hair, and overall I had a bad attitude about this guy. Soon, I found myself asking: "God, why should I have to listen to him anyway?!!"

Now that I was perfectly set up, God took me out with an understated reply: "You might want to take a look at the Angel I sent to Guard Him..."

With that, my eyes were opened to see 2 massive feet planted on either side of the stage. As I gawked, I saw the waist of the angel just below the dome ceiling of the indoor stadium, and the rest of it outside. Dumbstruck, I asked Him to forgive me for my pride and being judgmental. Later, I found out the speaker was none other than Max Lucado--duh.

I have since learned to ask Him how HE sees things lest I get a bad attitude and make an ass of myself from assuming.

~ Shien, Yahweh Sabaoth--"The Lord of hosts (angels)"