Tag Archives: Thoughts

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Writing In Action #4: Us

“Who do I write for?”

That’s a good question. I asked myself many times. Who do I write my posts for? Who is my audience? The answer is you and I.

I write for you, as an encouragement. I pray for this all the time. Also, I would like to share what God has put in my heart to motivate you and share with you about the mission works and the needs in Southeast Asia specifically.

I write for you because I need your help, suggestions, critiques and even whatever God put in your heart to share with me, please do leave any comments you want on every post I wrote.

I write for myself, too. Why? Because as I write, I remind myself again whatever God put in my heart. I remember better when I write it down over and over again. It kindda stick in better in my mind 🙂

And I write for the next generation who will find my blog in 5 years, or 10 years, or 20 years later. I don’t know when.

So…. who do you write for today?

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Screen Shot 2013-07-22 at 6.46.25 AMI am learning how to write using the book from Denise J. Hughes. This is an amazing resources for you if you are a new blogger like me, or thinking that writing is not my thingy. She shares practical ways of getting to start a blog and to write. You can read her blog here and get her book here.

THANK YOU!

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Refreshed, Renewed, Inspired

I am refreshed, renewed, and inspired when I came back from Declare Conference (8/9 – 8/10), in Dallas, TX.

I am refreshed because it was a great weekend to spend with a bunch of amazing and wonderful friends I have met online and now in REAL LIFE! It was because God has given me a time to just hang out with them, enjoy each other presence, laughed with them, sang worship to God and prayed with them.

I am renewed because God used the speakers to teach me and to renew my world view about blogging and writing and to give me encouragement I need to go on in this journey.

Jeff Goins shared about how to build a platform with words, passion and people. He says that writing is not all about finding a topic, but it is about finding your voice. Do you write? Then you are a writer. Do you blog? Then you are a blogger. For a long time I didn’t wanna call myself a blogger (a writer, maybe not yet). But from his session, I realized that I am a blogger because I blog, I write blog post. What do you call yourself? Jeff also said that our platform is about our readers, not us (the writers).

“If you are not gonna believe who you are, who would be?”

Mary DeMuth has so much wisdom sharing with all of us how God has led her step by step through all her darkest hours and use them to glorifying His name through her books and testimonies. Finding our voice is not only just write what you know for the readers/audience, but it is about knowing well what God calls you to write and to share to the right audience. Writing takes time and practice and practice and practice. Have you spent your 10,000 hours in writing? Have you read books widely?

Kat Lee (The Blogging Ninja!) shared with us blogging tips and she said that we are overwhelmed is because we are wearing too many hats (CEO, Manager and Writer) at the same time. Be an effective and efficient blogger!

Lara Williams says, “The Gospel is not only to be preached it, but to live it.” Everything begins in our prayer closet. She shared her life testimony that God is care more about changing us rather than the circumstances, but he will use the circumstances to chance us and to bless us. She also said that ask God always to fill us up every day, we need to spill it up to others and keep on being filled when we want to serve others.

Abbie Haberstadt, at the DIY Blog session, shared the importance in blogging about DIY is Clarity. What is the purpose of the blog? Why am I writing this post? Are my directions easy to follow by the readers? Are my pictures and visual aids clear and helpful? She gave us some good examples of each point. She said, “Tell a story, just talk about it, make it personal and BE REAL!” And oh briefly she showed us how to use PicMonkey, online and free photo editor. Quick and easy!

I wish I could go to every session and can give you more detail on what I’ve learned there. I am still processing every note I took at the conference. It will take sometimes for me to process as I learn to apply them.

I am inspired because of all of these women have one desire: TO DECLARE GOD’S GLORY through their writing and blog! I am encouraged to take the leap of faith to write more of what God has put in my heart, to continue writing blog with confidence knowing God is with me and surround me with all supports I will need. Looking up to these women of God, I see God and His faithfulness in their lives.

I am thankful I was there. I wanna thank every friend who prayed for me and my family. God made it happened!

And Yancy Not Nancy was there! She is my daughter’s most favorite ever! Yancy writes praise and worship songs for family and kids. If you have kids and love worship, you should get her CD/DVD! (I will have a special blog about it and a giveaway… stay tune!)

Most of all, my favorite thing from the Declare Conference is the Selah Room, sponsored by The Seed Company. It is the room where we could pause ourselves from whatever we were doing and spend time with God in prayer.

So, people says that picture worth of 1000 words… then… here are some of the pictures I took at the conference. I wish I could take a picture with everyone I met there.

declare2013_1 declare2013_2

I link this post at Declare link up. Over there, you can read all the stories shared by those who attended the conference. I am blessed when I read their posts and I know you will be, too!

Make sure that you visit Declare website, Twitter and Facebook to get their update on next year conference. Pray and God will make the way for you to be there!

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What I Learned From Joseph

IMG_9211For the whole week, I read the story of Joseph as part of my HelloMornings devotional, Abounding Hope. This week I learned a lot from Joseph. How he became the favorite son of Jacob until he found favor before Pharaoh. It is all God and His plan alone since the beginning of his life that gave a huge impact to the life of Israelites and Egyptians at the end.

God gave him dreams that he couldn’t understand the meaning, the dreams that caused his brothers hated him so much. Even they planned to kill him because of their hatred. But God who had planned everything, worked in and through his brothers to bless his chosen people.

There are several things I learned from the story of Joseph:

  • God is the one who gives dreams.
  • God is the one who will give the wisdom to understand the dream he gave.
  • God is the one who will be with us faithfully, to walk it through.
  • God’s dream = God’s way to solve it.
  • God who makes the plan, he will reveals it to us and give us the strategies to do it.
  • God gives favor in our lives and bless whatever we do for He is with us.
  • God is the one who gets the credit at the end. He is the one who gets the glory and praise.

Jesus said that we do nothing without Him. It is only in Him and his Word lives in us that we can do His will in our lives (John 15:1-8). It is only by the power of the Holy Spirit works in us, we can live glorifying and serving God.

The story of Joseph: end of everything is God’s rescue plan for his people is never ever fail.

God can used Joseph’s difficult times to bring freedom for the whole nation. He used Joseph to bless his people. God also can use your hardship to bless you, your family, your friends, and even your country. His plan will never fail in your life. Though now it seems that it is impossible, but our God is the God of possible.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. ~ Romans 8:28

I pray today for you that God will give you wisdom to understand His dreams given to you, to understand what He wants you to do and to live your calling. I pray for you that God’s favor and blessings in your life.

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Have Faith

Soputan Mt., North Sulawesi, Indonesia (06:00 AM local time, 2008/08/16)

Soputan Mt., North Sulawesi, Indonesia (by Dave Gullett, 06:00 AM local time, 2008/08/16)

Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God. I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart. I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours. But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.” (Mark 11:22-25 NLT)

This is Day 36 of 48 Days Seeking God, a Bible Reading Plan from YouVersion. I have been reading Scriptures on seeking God, prayer and faith. Today verse from Gospel of Mark gave me a different understanding. These questions got me to think the attitude of my heart when I come to God in prayer asking for miracles or whatever I need.

Jesus made some amazing statements about faith and prayer. Is there anything too difficult for God, the One who created everything? Why do so many Christians rarely experience the miraculous power of God? Could it be that we have too much unbelief? Does our lack of faith put limits on God? What mountains are in your life? Are you pleasing God by actively asking and believing in Him to bring about His glory in each situation?

When Jesus says, “I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours,” He really means it. But do I really believe it because of the situation we are in now? I am learning to trust in God. I am learning to lean on Him and His grace. I am learning to have faith in Him and His promises he gives to me. Every single moment, I am learning.

My husband often tells me this, “We don’t know what the future holds. So why worry so much?” That’s the point. We do not control the future, God does. We do not see the days to come, but God does. We are not perfect, but God is. His plan is way better then our plans. Honestly, I worry a lot. When I worry, I cannot think, much more pray. I need to have faith. MORE FAITH in God.

Today I ask God to give me (once more) the faith of moving the mountain. I pray that God will be glorified and pleased because of my faith in Him. I do not want to stop trusting him. And the same prayer I pray for you, too, today.

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7 Questions

Tonight, I was going through my old blog posts and I found this post. I posted it back in 2010.  Francis Chan was at the National Conference, highlighted that when we teach the Word of God we need to ask these 7 questions to ourselves. And I think that we also need to ask these 7 questions before we write a blog post sharing with others of what God has taught us or spoken to us.

The 7 questions are:

1. Fear
Am I worry about what people think of my message or what God thinks?

2. Love
Do I genuinely love these people?

3. Accuracy
Am I accurately presenting this passage?

4. Power
Am I depending on the power of the Holy Spirit or my own cleverness?

5. Integrity
Have I applied this message to my own life?

6. Humility
Will this message draw attention to me or to God?

7. Urgency
Do the people really need this message?

(via the Desiring God blog post Seven Questions to Ask Before You Preach)

I pray that God will give you wisdom and understanding of how deep and wide and high His love and truth. Blessings to you!