Father's Love

Seminggu terakhir saya merasa kewalahan menghadapi beberapa siswa yang tidak fokus dan tidak taat di kelas. Jadi saya membawa mereka ke dalam doa. Bukan hanya mereka, melainkan juga diri saya sendiri. Rasanya sulit untuk bersabar, bahkan sudah habis akal untuk membuat mereka fokus mengikuti kegiatan pembelajaran di kelas. Saya tidak menyangka, Tuhan memakai tantangan ini untuk menegur kehidupan rohani saya secara pribadi. Belakangan ini begitu sering saya menjadi tidak fokus kepada Tuhan dan apa yang Dia ingin untuk saya lakukan. Ada banyak hal yang saya pikirkan dan kerjakan, yang lebih menyita perhatian. Namun Tuhan sangat sabar dan tetap menuntun saya untuk mengarahkan diri kepada-Nya. Dia menegur saya dengan lembut, tapi tegas. Saya merasa bersyukur dan dengan rela hati mau belajar untuk fokus, karena saya tahu bahwa Dia mengasihi saya. Demikian juga dengan beberapa anak-anak balita di kelas saya. Seringkali mereka lebih suka sibuk sendiri dan melakukan hal-hal yang mereka sukai ...

Pagi ini saya membaca kisah Daud dalam 1 Samuel 29-30. Sekalipun Saul sudah berjanji tidak akan memburunya lagi, Daud tetap berpikir bahwa suatu hari nanti Saul akan membinasakannya. Jadi Daud pergi ke negeri orang Filistin dan tinggal bersama Akhis, raja Gat. Suatu hari Daud dan pasukannya pergi bersama-sama dengan tentara orang Filistin untuk melawan bangsa Israel. Namun panglima Filistin menolaknya. Ketika Daud dan pasukannya pulang, mereka mendapati bahwa tempat tinggal mereka, Ziklag, terbakar. Bahkan semua perempuan dan orang-orang yang di sana telah ditawan mereka, dengan tidak membunuh seorang pun (1 Samuel 30:2). Saat saya membaca bagian itu, saya merasa seakan-akan Roh Kudus memberikan highlight pada kalimat terakhir itu. Sekalipun sebuah penawanan terjadi, tak satu nyawa pun tercabut. Mengherankan. Seakan Tuhan hendak menunjukkan bahwa Ia yang empunya kehidupan, Dialah yang melindungi hidup setiap orang. Singkat cerita, Daud pergi bersama pasukannya mengejar orang-orang A...

This past week I read the first chapters of Exodus. As we know, Moses was called to lead the Israelites go out from Egypt. It was hard to do. Even Moses asked The Lord to send someone else. However, if The Lord calls, nobody can escape. Moses could not run, we too. When God calls us to do something that He is concern to, we know exactly that it requires us to do a hard work. Often, we only have one choice: to obey Him.

Hidup itu seperti uap, yang sebentar ada, kemudian tiada. Tepat sekali apa yang Firman Tuhan gambarkan mengenai hidup manusia yang singkat. Beberapa minggu yang lalu, Mama mengirim BBM, mengabarkan bahwa Tante saya, kakak yang tertua dari almarhum Papa saya sudah berpulang dini hari tadi. Saya sempat menjenguknya saat liburan Natal lalu. Sekalipun duduk di kursi roda, ia cukup sehat. Tapi kini sudah tiada, menyusul kepergian adiknya, Papa saya. Rasanya baru kemarin Papa meninggalkan kami. Sekarang menyusul saudaranya. Saya menahan napas sesaat setelah membaca BBM Mama dan terpikir, "Saya harus siap mengalami kehilangan demi kehilangan."

"I wish I could play in the playground..." Saya mendongak ketika seorang gadis kecil, salah seorang siswa saya yang paling pendiam, mengatakan kalimat tersebut. Sudah sebulan lebih, sekitar 5 minggu ini saya tidak mengajak anak-anak bermain di luar karena tebalnya asap di kota Palembang. Saya melihat keluar jendela sekilas sebelum menyahut, "Me too." Tahun ini intensitas asap memang jauh lebih tebal. Sudah termasuk kategori yang sangat berbahaya. Batas normal konsentrasi partikular (PM10) adalah 150 ugram/m3. Sementara siang tadi peningkatannya sudah mendekati angka 800. Menggelisahkan. Sudah hampir 6 minggu ini saya sakit batuk-batuk juga, sampai sesak napas, bahkan nyeri dada. Amandel meradang, bahkan masih tetap bengkak walaupun sudah tidak sakit lagi. Antibiotik, obat batuk, jeruk nipis, madu, sampai kumur-kumur air garam juga tidak mempan. "Nggak papa," kata dokter. "Cuma alergi asap. Nanti kalau obat sudah habis masih belum sembuh, balik lagi...

" Baliklah dan katakanlah kepada Hizkia , raja umat -Ku: Beginilah firman TUHAN , Allah Daud , bapa leluhurmu : Telah Kudengar doamu dan telah Kulihat air matamu ; sesungguhnya Aku akan menyembuhkan engkau ; pada hari yang ketiga engkau akan pergi ke rumah TUHAN . (2 Raja-raja 20:5) Ayat ini adalah salah satu favorit saya. Firman Tuhan begitu indah menyentuh hati Raja Hizkia yang saat itu sedang sakit keras bahkan sebelumnya Tuhan berkata bahwa ia tidak akan sembuh, melainkan mati. Saya membayangkan apa yang mungkin dirasakan oleh Raja Hizkia.

A fatherless, an ordinary official was chosen as a king over ten tribes of Israel. The LORD God Himself promised to Jeroboam. The Lord would like to build him a dynasty as enduring as the one He built for David and would give Israel to him. Even He would humble David's descendants because of this, but not forever. It was a great honor and grace, what a perfect promised blessing that Jeroboam got from the Lord! "However, as for you, I will take you, and you will rule over all that your heart desires; you will be king over Israel. If you do whatever I command you and walk in my ways and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and commands, as David my servant did, I will be with you. I will build you a dynasty as enduring as the one I built for David and will give Israel to you. I will humble David's descendants because of this, but not forever." (1 Kings 11:37-39) Although the Lord had fulfilled His promises when Israel made him king over all Israe...

Psalm 130 A song of ascents. 1 Out of the depths I cry to you, LORD; 2 Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. The psalmist cried for mercy. When I read these two verses, I felt a strong conviction that it is very important for us to cry for mercy. Why should we cry for mercy? 3 If you, LORD, kept a record of sins , Lord, who could stand? 4 But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you. W e all have sinned and we are sinners. Who could stand before the Lord? Who could serve Him? But there is forgiveness! If the LORD forgives us, we can, with reverence, serve Him! We ? Yes. We! The Lord wants us to not be selfish by praying for ourselves. He wants us to pray for others too. Pray and cry for mercy for there is forgiveness with the Lord, so that we (our family, friends, even the whole nation) with reverence, serve the Lord. How long should we pray? How many days? The psalmist wait for the Lord and put his hope in ...

Pagi ini saya membaca Ulangan 24:6-22 sebagai bahan saat teduh. LAI memberi judul perikop ini, "Tentang melindungi sesama manusia." Dalam perikop ini Firman Tuhan mengajarkan bagaimana kita harus melindungi orang-orang di sekeliling kita, termasuk mereka yang merupakan orang asing dan orang yang berhutang kepada kita. Menurut saya ini suatu detil mengenai hal-hal konkret yang Tuhan ingin kita lakukan sebagai suatu cara melakukan isi hukum Taurat, yaitu mengasihi sesama manusia. Bagian yang paling menarik hati saya ada dalam Ulangan 24:19-21. Tuhan mengatur apa yang menjadi bagian orang asing, anak yatim, dan janda. Apabila engkau menuai di ladangmu, lalu terlupa seberkas di ladang, maka janganlah engkau kembali untuk mengambilnya; itulah bagian orang asing, anak yatim dan janda - -supaya TUHAN, Allahmu, memberkati engkau dalam segala pekerjaanmu. Apabila engkau memetik hasil pohon zaitunmu dengan memukul-mukulnya, janganlah engkau memeriksa dahan-dahannya sekali lagi; ...

Jadi guru TK itu rasanya asem-asem manis atau manis-manis asem. Ada kalanya anak-anak di kelas terlihat begitu manis, lucu, dan menggemaskan. Namun sering juga ulah mereka bikin geregetan gurunya. Geregetannya itu aduuuuhhhh, pusing lah... >.< Anak-anak TK itu cukup pelupa. Setelah ditegur dan diberi konsekuensi, mereka bisa melakukan lagi kesalahan yang sama. Kalau ditanya, kenapa diulangi lagi? Jawabannya sederhana dengan ekspresi lucu, "Lupa, miss." Bagian yang tersulit adalah mendidik mereka untuk bertumbuh dalam karakter. Kadang-kadang saya terlalu sibuk mengoreksi kesalahan perilaku dan tata krama mereka, lalu lupa bahwa pelajaran mereka juga penting. Ada kalanya saya mengorbankan jam belajar hanya demi mengajarkan mereka bagaimana mengucapkan terima kasih, meminta maaf, meminta tolong, dll. Itu semua jelas sangat penting, namun pengajaran akademis juga penting. Kemarin sore, seorang rekan guru bercerita tentang kritik yang diterimanya mengenai pengucapan ...

Few days ago, I read a story of King Rehoboam in the book of 2 Chronicles. Usually, King Rehoboam is not interesting for me, but this time I found something important that Christians usually forget.

Often, I think I know God. Do I really know Him? I could say that I know my roommate. We talk everyday. She shares her feelings and thoughts; I listen to her. She tells me what she likes and dislikes; I listen to her. Often I asks her questions. "Have you eat?" "How is your day?" "Are you tired?" "Do you know about this and that.....?" "What do you think of....." I could say that I know her quite well. I know that she likes to wake up early in the morning. She likes to be the first person to take a shower because she does not one to queue and then be late. She likes to cook her own food. But she dislikes when a lot of people comes to cook in the kitchen. She prefers to get out from the kitchen and cook later. And what can I say about God? Can I say what God likes or dislikes?

Sejak zaman dahulu kala, manusia suka bertanya-tanya mengenai hari esok. Kita selalu ingin tahu apa yang kira-kira akan terjadi besok dan bagaimana kita akan menghadapinya. Kita selalu penasaran apakah keberhasilan dan kebahagiaan menunggu di hari esok? Seperti apakah keberhasilan dan kebahagiaan yang kelak kita peroleh?

Early this year, I got information that the lent season starts today, March 5, 2014. But as the time went by, I totally forgot it. Thanks God, my roommate said about Ash Wednesday. That's enough to remind me.

My God is so big, so strong and so mighty There's nothing my God cannot do for you My God is so big, so strong and so mighty There's nothing my God cannot do for you The mountains are His The valleys are His The stars are His Handiwork too O..o... My God is so big, so strong and so mighty There's nothing my God cannot do for you

My K3 students have been leading prayers independently this semester. We usually start our prayers by saying, "Dear Lord....". But one of my students is different. Every time he leads the class in prayer, I always hear him says, "Near Lord....". I don't know which one is mistaken: the teacher or the student. But I felt the time was stopped for a while when my ears caught those phrase. "Near Lord...." My student's misspelling or my mishearing (I don't know) has strongly reminds me that to pray is to get closer to the Lord. It was and is like a dew in the midst of a desert. These past two months, I don't really feel close to the Lord. Somehow, he seems too far. Especially when a lot of jobs are waiting and my life struggles are getting bigger. Now I feel amazed, knowing that the Lord spoke to me directly and clearly through my student's misspelling (or maybe it just my mishearing?). The Lord is never far away from me. He is near...

Here is my list of what I am thankful for, especially for this past year (December 2012-November 2013). So, I am thankful for.... Although finance has been my life issue, I know that I do not need to worry anymore about tomorrow for I know whom I have believed is faithful in providing my needs according to His richness in Christ Jesus. I become a greater sinner this year but God has His own purpose in my life, through my life, for the glory of Christ. Jesus Christ came to earth so that a sinner like me could be restored in a relationship with God of the universe. The reconciliation He brought has opened many chances for us to worship the King of kings. The Lord teaches me to start well, be faithful during the progress, and finishing well. Although there are hardships for me in this year, the Lord asks me to enjoy life and see good days. And I am thankful for a grateful heart to enjoy my life and see good days in the midst of sorrow. Being free from a bondage of sin in an unhea...

It has been four months becoming a fatherless. Somehow it just hard to accept this reality. If you read my previous posts about this lost, you might think of how strong I am. I tell you that I am not. Instead, I still cannot accept this reality. Even I have been asking to God, "Why?" Why should Papa passed away, God? Do you not know that I still need him?  But God does not explain. And it hurts me when I read in the Bible that those who respect and love their parents would live longer on earth. I saw how was my father respected and loved my grandmother. I also heard that my father was the one who faithfully take care of my grandfather before he passed away (at that time, Papa was 18 years old). Papa was so obedient to God's command in honoring his parents. But he did not live long. He passed away a month before I graduated.

Ketika hari-hari menjelang sidang semakin dekat, Tuhan mengingatkan aku sebuah ayat dari Filipi 4:7. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Bisa keinget lagu ini gara-gara inget satu lagu yang beberapa kali dinyanyikan di gereja. Ini lagunya:

Here is the last part of the Foundations Class. Hope you'll be blessed. To read it clearly, give a right-click on the picture, select "Open Link in New Tab". In new tab, you can zoom in the picture.