Embrace the season

Buat first timer parents, pasti pernah merasa penat dan jenuh, overwhelmed, dan tidak jarang merasa putus asa kalau melihat tangisan dan kebutuhan bayi yang tak kunjung henti.

Di satu sisi, tentu saja kehadiran si kecil membawa sukacita dan keriaan dalam keluarga, tapi tak ayal hal tersebut juga diiringi dengan tanggung jawab baru.

Kelelahan, malam-malam yang membuat para orangtua baru kurang istirahat, kebutuhan si kecil yang seakan tiada habisnya, membuat kita kadang ingin menjerit “aku juga butuh istirahat!!!”

Tapi tahukah kita bahwa hari2 melelahkan itu takkan selamanya? Endure for a little while, because this too shall pass

Suatu postingan dari akun instagram @meganandellymae (link: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CFIX4qQlAQK/?igshid=tm7r29j2un89) membuat saya tersadar, bahwa suatu hari akan menjadi hari terakhir si kecil tidur dalam gendongan kita, akan tiba saatnya dia beranjak dewasa dan lebih suka bermain dengan teman2nya, akan tiba saatnya kita justru merindukan tangan-tangan kecilnya melingkari leher kita , aroma tubuhnya yang selalu membawa kesukaan bagi kita suatu hari terasa jauh….

For full video pls head straight to my story @lucyanaalim in instagram
I’m already feelin’ blue looking at this pict

Maka dari itu marilah kita menikmati dan mensyukuri setiap momen dalam perjalanan parenting kita, jangan sia siakan waktu untuk menanamkan nilai nilai kehidupan yang sejalan dengan FirmanNya, nilai2 keluarga, yang akan membuat anak kita kokoh dalam menjalani hidup dengan mandiri suatu saat nanti

Seperti ayat berikut dari versi The Passion

“Dedicate your children to God and point them in the way that they should go, and the values they’ve learned from you will be with them for life.”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭22:6‬ ‭TPT‬‬

saya sangat suka bagaimana versi ini membahasakannya….

Embrace every parenting moments, coz it won’t last forever

Finding yourself through losing it (FYTLI) part 2

First day revelation

Waktu saya ngobrol dengan Tuhan dalam perjalanan ke RS, saya terus bertanya2 dan akhirnya saya menemukan bahwa sebetulnya saat ini saya sedang menghidupi kehidupan yang saya inginkan…. (dan menulis membuat saya bisa lebih jujur dan melihat lebih jelas akan isi hati saya)

Continue reading “Finding yourself through losing it (FYTLI) part 2”

Not a life of mediocrity

I told God that I fear I will live a life of average, of mediocrity

I saw one of my senior consultant being referred by all his colleagues for some field that He is an expert of
Then this thought came to my mind: that I want to be like that as well
I want to be known for one ability I’m excel at, not to the point of being proud, but it’s more like an internal validation for me
It’s a prove that I do have things I do best, and enjoy doing so..
But what ifs came to my mind:
What if I never find that ability?
What if I miss my God’s given destiny and living an average life, just go with the flow, being a mediocre, spend everyday just to get by and repeated those cycle on and on…
Then He remind me His promises
Yer 29:11 He has a peaceful plan for me
Eph 2:10 He has created me to do the good work which He has planned beforehand
Actually, I thought I just wanna live like Mother Theresa. She did not have all those glitz, glam but she was content by knowing she was right at the heart of God’s purpose for her
She was loved by the people she served, and she loved… oh how she loved
What should I do to find His purpose then?
Be faithful in small matters (Luke 16:10)
Be a person with integrity
Ask God for His guidance, and don’t second guess God (James 1:8)
And before you know it, you will arrive at your destiny
Phil1:6
Joshua1:8-9

Continue reading “Not a life of mediocrity”

A leap of faith

One lesson God taught me
To keep pushing through challenges
That seemed giant and overwhelming
I just want to share this story for anyone who needs it
Just in case you’re in a position where you’re not sure whether to take the steps or not to take
This happened when I was facing my national evaluation exam to be a pediatrician
I was the earliest in my class to finished my thesis and the earliest in my class to get the opportunity for joining national exam (it’s such a privilege, really… pure God’s grace)
Yet I was very unprepared, I didn’t think my ability was enough to pass the standard
If being a pediatric resident could be analogized as a marathon, then my past 2 months are my sprint towards the finish line.
Many thoughts came to my mind:
– what if I can’t pass the test and I need to repeat for the next batch
– what if I failed hence being an embarassment for my institution? (The institution I studied to be a pediatrician is one of the best in Indonesia, soooo… failed at national exam is very embarassing)
– if I failed I need to take another batch exam and spending a whole amount of money needed as a registration fee (which is not a small amount) twice, at that…
And then I thought of my situation
– God gave me the grace to push through my “sprint” to finish my thesis on time, and several others academic liabilities should we finished before being an eligible candidate for national examination… whereas I could see that many of my seniors having had a hardtime to finish their study “ontime”
I remembered most of those times I prayed: Lord, is it in Your will for me to take this batch? Or should I postpone 3 more months, so I could prepare better?
Yet, like most of the times when we didn’t get the “exact” or “audible” answer from Him, should we wait for “the perfect time?” Or should we “step on the water?”
What can be done then? Well in my position, I felt the nudge inside, just like the verse I keep hearing: “Let peace be the umpire”
Meaning: if you felt peace about it, then keep on going, do your part, and watch God to fulfill His promises
Funny as it seemed, God spoke to me through the spiderman movie, “into the spider verse”… If you notice, this article has “a leap of faith” title above… because God knows those words were the push I need to keep pushing through my decision…
For those of you who didn’t get to watch the movie, you should… and If you watched it, I’m sure you remember the part when Miles doubted whether he’s fit to be spiderman, when He wondered whether he got what it takes… he asked: how do I know if I’m ready?
And then another Peter Parker from another dimension told him: You’ll never know Miles, what you need is to believe, that’s why it’s called A LEAP OF FAITH
long story short, Miles took that leap, and yeah… you know it.. He became the spiderman in his dimension
Does it sound familiar? Have you take those step/ leap of faith to fulfill your calling? To be right in the heart of your destiny?
If not, I encourage you to listen to the peace in your heart, keep doing what you can do, and watch God does what you can not do
Well, in my story, a day before test, I felt empowered by Isaiah 41:10, and you know, God never fails to do what He has promised…
I was enabled to pass my national exam and be inaugurated as a pediatrician, finish my study on time, and not only that, I was being one of the best candidate in my batch… How  amazing is that? (By writing this, I still in awe of His goodness and faithfulness)
May this post bless those who are in need
Amen
Much love
-luz-

Semua serba sedikit

Pernah ngalamin “semua serba sedikit”?

nilai ga naik2

prestasi nihil

usaha ga untung2 malah buntung?

 

pernah kepikir? kenapa gitu ya? apa yang salah dengan gue? apa yang harusnya gue lakuin ternyata gak gue lakuin?

Terus pasti kita mulai introspeksi, cari info dan tips sana sini, nanya sini sono, “eh apa sih rahasia sukses?” atau ke gramed, langsung cari buku prinsip kekayaan, prinsip kesuksesan, marketing yang sukses dll

Tapi pernahkah kita mikir

“eh jangan2 semuayang gue kerjain ini, Tuhan ga suka ya?”

“eh jangan2 temen2 gue sekarang ini sebenernya Tuhan ga suka?”

“eh jangan2 keputusan gue memulai bisnis ini sebenernya gak nanya/ doa dulu, tapi karena keliatannya prospek, langsung gw ambil aja ya?”

 

Terus gimana dong? masa idup gue gini2 aja? masa idup gw melarat terus, pas2an terus. Mau dong idup enak, idup sejahtera…

Caranya gimana? tertarik buat tau lebih jauh? pengen sukses yang “aman”, sukses yang bukan dengan kekuatan kita sendiri tapi dengan anugrah?

30:1 Celakalah j  anak-anak k  pemberontak, demikianlah firman TUHAN, yang melaksanakan suatu rancangan yang bukan dari pada-Ku 1 , yang memasuki suatu persekutuan, l  yang bukan oleh dorongan Roh-Ku, sehingga dosa mereka bertambah-tambah, 30:2 yang berangkat ke Mesir m  dengan tidak meminta keputusan-Ku, n untuk berlindung o  pada Firaun dan untuk berteduh p  di bawah naungan Mesir.

30:12 Sebab itu beginilah firman Yang Mahakudus, t  Allah Israel: “Oleh karena kamu menolak firman u  ini, dan mempercayakan diri kepada orang-orang pemeras v  dan yang berlaku serong dan bersandar kepadanya, 30:13 maka sebab itu bagimu dosa ini akan seperti pecahan tembok yang mau jatuh, tersembul ke luar pada tembok w  yang tinggi, yang kehancurannya x  datang dengan tiba-tiba, y  dalam sekejap mata, 30:14seperti kehancuran tempayan z  tukang periuk yang diremukkan dengan tidak kenal sayang, sehingga di antara remukannya tiada terdapat satu kepingpun yang dapat dipakai untuk mengambil api dari dalam tungku atau mencedok air dari dalam bak.”

Panjang ya? intinya apa? intinya, Tuhan bilang celakalah kalau kamu melaksanakan suatu rancangan yang bukan dari pada-Ku 1 , yang memasuki suatu persekutuan, l  yang bukan oleh dorongan Roh-Ku, sehingga dosa mereka bertambah-tambah

pasti pernah dong ngerasa sebenernya apa yang kamu lakuin ga bener, tapi karena “gak enak sama temen”, atau “kepalang tanggung”, atau “nanti gue dijauhin dan ga dipromosiin di kantor” –> jadinya kita excuse, jadinya kita bikin alesan, ya gapapalah

misal: nyontek –> tau ga bener, tapiiiii ah semua juga nyontek, dlsb

so langkah pertama: IDENTIFIKASI MASALAH KAMU APA, salahnya dimana? mungkin kerja asal ambil, gak doain dulu?

next setelah tahu masalahnya papa makaaaaa….

30:15 Sebab beginilah firman Tuhan ALLAH, a  Yang Mahakudus, b  Allah Israel: “Dengan bertobat dan tinggal diamc  kamu akan diselamatkan 4 , dalam tinggal tenang dan percaya d  terletak kekuatanmu.” Tetapi kamu enggan, e 30:16 kamu berkata: “Bukan, kami mau naik kuda f  dan lari g  cepat,” maka kamu akan lari dan lenyap. Katamu pula: “Kami mau mengendarai kuda tangkas,” maka para pengejarmu akan lebih tangkas lagi. 30:17 Seribu orang akan lari melihat ancaman satu orang, terhadap ancaman lima h  orang kamu akan lari, i  sampai kamu ditinggalkan j seperti tonggak isyarat di atas puncak gunung dan seperti panji-panji k  di atas bukit.

intinya apa? BERTOBAT, dalam tinggal tenang dan percaya disitulah terletak kekuatanmu. Jangan mangkir saat diingetin sama Roh Kudus, jangan excuse kalo Tuhan ingetin kamu salahnya dimana, jangan berusaha cari alesan.

Kamu mau sukses dengan cara Tuhan atau dengan caramu sendiri? Jawab masing2 ya

Ngaku sama Tuhan: “Tuhan aku salah, dulu aku macarin orang ini karena aku suka aja, tapi aku ga peduli sama suaraMu… sekarang udah gini, gimana dong Tuhan, tolongin aku keluar dari masalah ini”

dan ketika Tuhan ingatkan, mari nurut, mari ikut, mari “mau dituntun keluar”

ketiga, setelah bertobat, mari tinggal tenang dan percaya, terus denger suara Tuhan

Mengapa harus begitu? karena

Janji keselamatan bagi Sion

30:18 Sebab itu TUHAN menanti-nantikan l  saatnya hendak menunjukkan kasih-Nya 5  kepada kamu; sebab itu Ia bangkit hendak menyayangi m  kamu. Sebab TUHAN adalah Allah yang adil; n  berbahagialah semua orang yang menanti-nantikan Dia! o 

Tuhan tuh ga sabar mau memberkati kita, Tuhan ga sabar mau buat breakthrough dalam hidup kita, tapi kitanya mau ikut caraNya gak?

30:19 Sungguh, hai bangsa di Sion yang diam di Yerusalem, engkau tidak akan terus menangis. p  Tentulah Tuhan akan mengasihani engkau, apabila engkau berseru-seru; q  pada saat Ia mendengar teriakmu, Ia akan menjawab. r  30:20 Dan walaupun Tuhan memberi kamu roti s  dan air serba sedikit, namun Pengajarmu t  tidak akan menyembunyikan diri u  lagi, tetapi matamu akan terus melihat Dia, 30:21 dan telingamu akan mendengar perkataan v  ini dari belakangmu: “Inilah jalan, w  berjalanlah mengikutinya,” entah kamu menganan atau mengiri.

Ketika kita mendapat roti dan air serba sedikit, percaya gak bahwa itu adalah Tuhan mulai jawab doamu? why? karena ketika roti dan air serba sedikit, Tuhan bilang bahwa Pengajarmu akan menuntun kamu ke kanan atau ke kiri, tidak akan menyembunyikan diri lagi.

apa konkritnya? ketika kamu serba kepepet, terus pepet Tuhan, mendekat ke Tuhan, buat segala keputusan dengan tanya Tuhan dulu.

Emang bisa denger oom? Bisa! kita nih dombaNya kan? Tuhan bilang apa tentang domba2Nya? Domba2Ku mendengarkan suaraKu dan mereka mengikuti AKU

so, jangan mau ditipu iblis yang bilang: ah kamu kan uda najis, mana bisa denger suara Tuhan, mana mau Tuhan ngomong sama kamu –> jangan percaya, iblis tuh bapa segala dusta, sumbernya tipu2, ambil keputusan untuk percaya firmanNya lebih daripada perasaanmu sendiri. OKE?

Jadi, apa yang harus kamu lakukan ketika kamu sudah ngaku dosa, sudah bertobat, tapi kok tetep serba sedikit? jawabannya tetap tinggal tenang dan percaya, nungguin apa?

30:22 Engkau akan menganggap najis patung-patungmu x  yang disalut dengan perak atau yang dilapis dengan emas; y  engkau akan membuangnya seperti kain cemar z  sambil berkata kepadanya: “Keluar! a ” –> buang juga semua yang kamu tau Tuhan ga suka dalam hidupmu, say byeeeee

30:23 Lalu TUHAN akan memberi hujan b  bagi benih yang baru kamu taburkan di ladangmu, dan dari hasil tanah itu kamu akan makan roti yang lezat c  dan berlimpah-limpah. d  Pada waktu itu e  ternakmu akan makan rumput di padang f  rumput yang luas; 30:24 sapi-sapi g  dan keledai-keledai yang mengerjakan tanah akan memakan makanan campuran h  yang sedap, yang sudah ditampi i  dan diayak. 30:25 Dari setiap gunung yang tinggi dan dari setiap bukit yang menjulang akan memancar j  sungai-sungai pada hari pembunuhan k  yang besar 6 , apabila menara-menara l  runtuh. 30:26 Maka terang bulan purnama akan seperti terang matahari m  terik dan terang matahari terik akan tujuh kali ganda, yaitu seperti terangnya tujuh hari, pada waktu TUHAN membalut luka umat-Nya dan menyembuhkan n  bekas pukulan.

Kalo paragraf yang ini gausah diterjemahin lagi ya, jelas bahwa TUHAN ingin memberi kita hidup berkelimpahan, Tuhan ingin kita ngalamin breakthrough, Tuhan ingin kita ngalamin namaNYA sebagai MASTER OF BREAKTHROUGH!

Soon, and real soon, In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength

AMEN

 

Place Your Life Before God

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.”

When I read these translations of Romans 12:1-2 I was so amazed at how down to earth and practical these verses are. 

Continue reading “Place Your Life Before God”

Your cross = BRIDGE to GLORY

One day, a man said to his two servants, “I have stored all wealth, uncountable gems, gold up there in the peak of the mountain, but you must climb up this mountain first so you can reach the peak. But you must carry this cross to the peak, I have given you the same sized, same weighted cross. It won’t be easy, it will be tough, but if you make it, then you will receive those rewards.”

Both of the servants agreed to take the cross with them to climb up the mountain. the first one said “this cross is very heavy, I need to rest a bit, eat, and then I will regain my strength to continue with my journey”, the secon one said to himself “why must I carry this heavy thing. Ah I know, I’m gonna cut this cross down a bit. besides, no one will notice, and our master told nothing about we’re not able to cut down this load a bit.” then the first one take a rest, and the second one cut it down, and they continue the journey.
the journey was getting harder and harder, the climb gets more steep, the road gets more rocky, the the second time the first one said to himself, “this is getting too hard for me, I need to rest down to regain my power to continue”, meanwhile the second one said “I don’t think the first cut is enough to lighten my load, I’m going to cut a little bit more”… then they continue walking
The wind was so strong and hot, the sun is sitting on top of their head, they got thirsty, tired, and think this was too much to bear, they just want to stop, but somehow the second one looked more cheerful than the first, he was not as tired as the first one. the first one said to himself “This is too hard, I’m so tired, I need to stop here for a while, yet I don’t know why my friend looked as he is not as tired as I am.” and so he asked the second “why do you look stronger than I am? we’re both on the same journey, facing same obstacles, carrying same load, but somehow you just not as exhausted as I am?” The second said to himself “That’s because I’m smart and you’re dumb, you never think of cutting off the cross. I know, I’m going to cut it even more, so things will get easier for me to finish this journey”, but he said to the first “no, i’m just as tired as you”. then they continues until at last they reach the peak of the mountain.
to their surprise, there was no gold, jewels, not such things at all, only a very steep cliff between them and the opposite side of the mountain. But wait, they see something. On top of the opposite mountain, they saw their master, with all the moeny, gold, gems, wealth, anything they could ask for…..
But, how can they cross the cliff to go to the other part of the mountain whew their master waited for them?
The first one said, “ah I know, I’m gonna use this cross as a bridge to cross this cliff so I can get where my master is”, and so he did. the master said to the second one, “come my servant, use your cross just as your friend use it to cross from there to here, I have all you can ever need and ask for here!” Yet when the second one  tried to lay the cross down, turned out that it was too short to cross. The end cannot reach the other part of the mountain…
When we are faced with troubles, burdens, don’t ask God to make your burden easier, to cut down your cross. Instead ask Him to give you more strength, more wisdom, more patience, to help you finish your journey. When He gives you “cross”, He meant it for your glory, He wants us to pass our test and give us the glory and rewards He already stored. Yet, when we keep trying to cut down our cross, we can ended up being not able to cross and enjoy all the good things He already prepared. Remember, every time we’re tempted to pray “God take this load off of me, this is too much for me, I can’t bear it, make it easier please”, change it to “God I know this is not easy, but this cross I must bear is the bridge to all the glory You have prepared, so help me God, give me more strength to endure it, and to finish it with joy, to please You all the way. I can’t do it on my own, but I know You are with me, helping me all the way.”
Finish strong
God bless
-luz-

FOCUS! We’re off running and no turning back!

John 17:4-5 (NIV)

I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

Continue reading “FOCUS! We’re off running and no turning back!”

Words of encouragement

Do you feel so overwhelmed by your limitations? by what other people can do? by others “upper hand” compared to yours?
You may feel you don’t have the connections you really need, or the money, friends, family, anything you can named of.

But hey, don’t just look at your problems, they may be great, they may seem so huge and never ending, but switch your focus on your blessings. I’m not trying to be cliche, but wait a minute. let’s think about these things with me

Do you still have complete set of eyes? If Yes, then give thanks and use those pair of eyes to pay attention to what will benefit your life the most
Instead of sulking of not having the latest trend of make up palettes, or the newest iphone 6, or any other things that held most prominent places in your life, why not be grateful for those pair of eyes? if they aren’t there, you won’t be able to enjoy your phone, your hobby, your makeup, etc etc right?
Do you still be able to enjoy meals 3 times a day? (unless you are on a diet!) then give thanks! and try to find something you can do to share your blessing with the one who is terribly hungry right now? why not buying some snacks or a set of Mc donalds and give to someone who has to trimmed down his meal as his wages used for buying milk for his baby or for paying his child’s school fee?

Remember it’s happier to give than to receive, and you’ll be happier as you give and bless people who need your help, in comparison as having all the stuffs that you want, coz no matter how many stuffs we own, they don’t even seem to be enough. there will always be new trends, new “needs” that is not really a need actually, and our wish list will be never ending.

Matthew 25:40 New International Version (NIV)

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

Luke 6:38 New Living Translation (NLT)

38 Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.[a]”

so what kind of blessing are you going to be today?

Have a blessed day everyone
-luz-