My 22 month old Little Chicken has a good friend at church. He is a 2 year old boy who has special needs. Last Friday, Little Chicken offered her friend a package of snacks. However, the little boy’s father said, “He cannot eat that.” At that time, I did not quite understand why the father would refuse snacks for his little boy. On Sunday, we met again and I found out why. The little boy was drinking his milk through his stomach!
The little boy’s father translates for the pastor at church. His father’s demeanor is always humble and his face is full of expression. His father can play the piano, even though he cannot read musical notes and when he plays, his head faces upward. When his father is not translating, his favorite word is “Hal-lelujah”. (I include a hyphen because he says this word with real praises, like singing a song.)
After church, I told my husband the reason why I was crying during sermon. My husband said, “The little boy’s father is happy, you silly girl!” My husband is a man of few words. Since he did not elaborate further, I went looking for answers.
This morning’s Stream In The Desert talked about God’s Secret. This little boy’s father had received a gift from God. This particular gift is wrapped in an unattractive paper. However, this little boy’s father was able to look beyond the wrapping paper and saw God’s hidden treasure of love, kindness and wisdom.
This is God’s secret. You are looking only on the outside, but I look deeper and see the hidden meaning.
If we simply take what He sends and trust Him for the blessings inside, we will learn the meaning of the secret of His providence (divine direction), even in times of darkness.
Soft Boiled Egg
When Mom was visiting me last year, I tried making soft boiled egg for her because she did not have appetite to anything else. Growing up in Malaysia, she used to make that for us almost every morning.
After a few failures, I have mastered the art of making soft boiled eggs. Take the egg out from refrigerator and slowly put it into a pot of water. Make sure water level is a little above the egg. Boil the water. The minute you see the water boiling, turn the heat off and put a lid on the pot. After 4 minutes, take out the egg. It should look something like the following. Imagine having this with a slice of toast spread with butter and kaya. Yum!
9 Comments
May 7, 2007 at 7:46 pm
Your story touched my heart. Sometimes we fail to see God’s blessings and instead focus on the adversities that befall us.
When I was very young…probably 11, I was lying in a hospital and my aunt gave me a book – Pollyanna. Little did my aunt know that a simple gesture like that would form the backbone of my principles today. Some days, it is hard to play the Glad Game, other days it is easier.
May 7, 2007 at 8:16 pm
Dear Lyrical Lemongrass,
Why were you in the hospital at such a young age? How is your Aunt doing?
Often, it is hard to have blind faith. Tonight, my husband was helping my 8 year old daughter with her math homework. Suddenly, my 8 year old daughter came into my room crying. Daddy had gotten upset with her. I suggested that she pray to God. Still crying, she said, “I did, but God didn’t answer my prayer.” Not long after, Dad came in and tried to comfort her by reading to her a story.
She may have prayed for wisdom to solve the math problem but to me, God had answered her prayers because Daddy’s anger had subsided. God may not give us exactly what we ask for but it is all for our own good.
May 7, 2007 at 10:00 pm
[...] with Kaya and butter (imagine eating this with soft boil egg post for [...]
May 8, 2007 at 12:52 am
mrshbt, I’ve been in and out of the hospital for several things in my younger days and had syringes inserted into my skin so often I couldn’t feel my hand anymore, but at that time, it was a simple appendicitis scare. hehe.
Faith…it is hard to comprehend if you don’t practise it, isn’t it?
May 8, 2007 at 5:49 am
lee ping,
Glad to hear that you’ve recovered from your flu. Sorry, so many things happened and I haven’t got time to visit you for a few days. I am touched by the faith of the father. Amen!
May 8, 2007 at 2:27 pm
Lyrical Lemongrass,
You poor thing! Hope that you are all better now.
Wonda,
Take care of yourself. Health come first! If there is one thing I learned from my recent flu attack is that I need to better take care of myself.
May 9, 2007 at 12:13 pm
Thanks for the sharing… It touched my heart, remind me to count God’s blessing every day…
September 18, 2007 at 11:05 am
In England the soft boiled egg is referred to as a “chucky egg” and we eat them with pieces of toast sliced into thin fingers. You can then dunk the fingers of fresh toast into the soft boiled egg, YUMMY!
Thanks for the post, it reminded me of home.
June 27, 2008 at 11:19 am
[...] The photo above was taken at our recent gathering to bid farewell to a family moving to a different city. We have foods from different parts of China. I had a strong urge to post this photo this morning and I figured out why later, after I saw who was in the photo! The little boy is God’s secret. [...]