Sharing at Ang Mo Kio Gospel Hall
Happy Mother's Day to all mothers, esp foster parents! Today, Vivienne Ng shared at Ang Mo Kio Gospel Hall, with Choa-Tan Ai Cheng translating into Mandarin:
1. Why stable attachment with an adult is so important in the formative years of a child.
2. God’s desire to bring healing into our lives and to use us to heal those around us
3. Her own journey in answering God’s call to become a foster mother to kids who are not her own flesh and blood
The text for today was Ps 68:5-6, "He sets the lonely in families". Vi started by contrasting God's awesome power from v1-2 to his incredible tenderness in v5-6. Why is God, the defender of the defenceless, so concerned about putting the lonely into families? It is for their care and protection. Sharing on the psychology of attachment, she stressed how crucial parent-child attachment is for all forms of child development - emotional, cognitive, social and even physical!! We have a relational God who desires a relationship with us, & who created us as relational beings, within a family. Sin has corrupted all this, with resultant brokenness and hurts.
Vi addressed 2 groups of people in v5.
1) Lonely people - with deep longing for love
2) Families - with deep love to give
For those with deep loneliness, esp those who have been hurt by their families, remember how much God loves u and how precious u are in His eyes. "Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me" (Ps 27:10). God also "heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds" (Ps 147:3). She shared some of her own childhood hurts and a difficult relationship with her mom which God healed her from.
For the families with deep love (either the church family or those with stable and loving families), can we open up our hearts and homes for the lonely, vulnerable, fatherless, homeless?Can we practice biblical hospitality? "For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me." (Matt 25: 35-36). Can we bless others with the blessings we have received from God?
Research shows that kids who are resilient in the face of adversity hv the following characteristics:
1) At least one stable, caring and committed relationship with a supportive & trusted adult
2) Access to sources of faith, hope and spiritual and cultural traditions
3) Close friends (prosocial peers)
4) Being part of a community – sense of purpose, part of something bigger than yourself.
And who is in a good position to do all that? Well, Churches and Christian families!! Cos we r well placed to provide love, community, family, faith, mentoring and prosocial friendships!
Yes, it's scary, inconvenient and we are afraid of failure. When Vi was considering fostering, she struggled with questions like, "Which is more important - personal comfort or obeying God?" & "Am I willing to fail for God?" She quoted Ps Francis Chan (author of Crazy Love), "Our greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter."
"In this life we cannot do great things.We can only do small things with great love.” (Mother Theresa). This Mother's Day, let's show God's love to those who are vulnerable and lonely.
