Goodbye Singapore - We Love You

Hi everybody! This is our last night in Singapore. We had such an awesome time that we are sad to leave. By far, the best thing was spending one whole month with little Mikaela. She's the sweetest little girl in the world. We will miss her. Carm and Jeju made us feel so welcome. Thanks so much you guys. We love you.

The weather here was great. It was a bit hot, but I won't complain, knowing what just hit Calgary!

Last night was Christmas for us! Judy (the best nanny in the world) made a turkey with stuffing and mashed potatoes and corn...mmmmmmm. Of course we are fasting, so we only had a few pieces of turkey. With gravy. After dinner we opened presents by the plant. Our friend Teresa came and spent the evening with us. We had the Christmas tablecloth out and the carols playing. It actually felt like Christmas! We had a great night. Happy early birthday Jesus! I am glad that we get to celebrate 3 Christmases this time: yesterday's, the one on December 25th (which I still think is the real one), and the one on January 7th. Pretty sweet!

These boots were made for walking. Everyday we walked about 5-8 hours around Singapore. We got pretty good at finding our way around town. We took lots of photos, which I will post on Facebook after doing a slideshow for the mission. Everyone in the mission is on Facebook, so if I post the pics now, my slideshow will be "so yesterday".

Dad and Mike Lee, I miss you guys. I've told some knee-slapping jokes here, but no one laughs. For example, yesterday at dinner, Judy was saying that she ships a lot the Spam meat back to her family in the Philippines because they love it and it isn't available there. So I says, "So I guess your family will have a lot of spam in their mailbox." HHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHA HAHAHAH AHHAHAHAHAHA HHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAHAHAHAHAHA WOOOOOO HOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOO HOOOOO!!!! That's GOLD!

Anyhoozers, it's time to go back to the mission for the second part of our journey. We fly out tomorrow morning. We have done our quiet time almost everyday here in Singapore, though it has been tougher because of all the distractions. I am glad that quiet time no longer feels like a duty to me. It feels like a necessity. I truly believe God is waiting for me everyday. He wants to spend time with me and He waits patiently for me. When I don't show up, He is sad, but comes again the next day, hoping to see me. What a mystery - that the most High waits for the most low.

I learned more about fasting during my time here. I always used to say that fasting without praying is useless and even dangerous because it is only a physical thing, not a spiritual thing. I have learned that that is true in the theological sense, as in, that's what you would read in a textbook. In reality, I have learned that true fasting REQUIRES praying. As in, you NEED to pray because you are actually hurting and nothing else can help you. I have begun to shy away from the "substitution fast", where you just substitute meat and dairy with fish and soy. I used to think that was fasting, but now I realize that it was just annoying. I never hurt. I never suffered. I never prayed.

I thought about Jesus' 40-day fast in the desert before he started His ministry. He could have helped Himself but He didn't. He could have delivered Himself from the pain, but He didn't. He prayed. Why? Because since He had chosen to give up food and drink, what else on this Earth could possibly help Him? NOTHING! NOT ONE THING. Only His Heavenly Father could sustain Him. I mean seriously, 40 days with no food or water? I considered what would have happened if Jesus had delivered Himself instead, as in, if He used His own power to quench His thirst and satisfy His hunger and restore His strength. At the end of the 40 days, His Father would have looked at Him and said, sarcastically, "Way to go son, I'm really proud of you." Why? Because Jesus didn't do anything! He was hungry and He took care of it. He was tired and He took care of it. He didn't suffer and He didn't rely on His Father for anything. He just spent 40 annoying days in the desert doing nothing extraordinary. He might as well have materialized an oasis with palm trees and a buffet table! If that sounds weird to you, consider this. Let's say I'm doing the substitution fast. When I get hungry or tired, I go eat some fish or koshari or beans or tamaya or whatever. After 40 days of doing that, guess what God will say to me? Yep, you guessed it! Why? Because when I was hungry, I took care of it. When I was tired, I took care of it. I delivered myself from "suffering".

The fast is not intended to be an annoyance. It is a tool to allow us to hurt a little bit to remind us how vulnerable we really are. Take away food and drink for a few extra hours and we get weak and cranky and we feel like calling for an ambulance. You want to eat, but there is still 1 more hour left until eating time. What do you do? You will realize that no material thing, no person, nothing on this Earth can help you. It is at this moment that you will remember Him. And that, my friends, is the point.

It wasn't until I changed my attitude toward fasting that I found it spiritually rewarding. For years I have done the substitution fast and have gotten nothing out of it. It felt like an old-school tradition that I was upholding because the Church recommended it. But doing something just to uphold a tradition is meaningless. There is a spirit behind the tradition that you must embrace. Otherwise you will become bitter. Trust me, I know.

What it my point? I really urge you to fast with a purpose. To want to know God through your fast. To want to see Him. To know Him. Fast because you want a deeper relationship with Him. Because you want Him to change you to be like Christ. Because you want the love of Jesus poured into your heart so that you become the person God wants you to be. Fast Because You Love Him.

Try going without food or drink until a certain time of the day, say 10:00am. Every subsequent week, go one more hour. The Church does not recommend you fast past 3:00pm and I think that's a fine recommendation, not that my opinion matters. When you start to feel the pain, remember Him. Tell Him you Love Him. Tell Him you are weak. Tell Him you know He can and will sustain you. And He will. At the end, you will be different. He will smile upon you and you will shine.

God Bless,
JC