“Be Mary.”

My schedule has been doubly hectic these past two weeks. Jockeying for prime position in my weekly planner are my work and my service.

My brain has been getting fried with the kind of work I do – not my core gift, not enjoyable but definitely necessary in the bills department.

In my community service, there’s that same jostling going on. The bulletin, requests from other ministries, choir practice, stage décor look like hungry quadruplets crying for milk all at the same time. And silly me, I opened my big mouth that led to another ministry. Even if this will use my core gift and work experience, it still feels like my quads morphed into quints. Just like gremlins that got wet.

At the South Feast last Sunday, our worship leader, Jan Silan, asked us to pause and allow the Lord to speak to us. In the silence, God gently said to me, “Be Mary.”

That was an invitation that called the Martha in me to sit at His feet. And I did. I didn’t sing with the choir even in the afternoon session. I just focused on worshiping the Lord. That was the operative word for the day, FOCUS. The call to be Mary helped me to assess my service. At the May 16 talk, No Fears, Bro Arun said eventually our Courage Zone becomes a Comfort Zone. When that happens, it’s time to move out again. The Secretariat has become my comfort zone – well, to be more precise, it has become a discomfort zone.

It’s time to focus, to delegate, to move. I pray I’ll find someone who will see the Secretariat as her courage zone. It’s time for me to take risks in my core zone.


On the same vein, this reminds me of the original Martha in my family – my Mama. That’s obviously where my Martha genes come from. She celebrated her 80th birthday two weeks ago. At that age, she is still the epitome of Martha – managing our home to make sure our lives are comfortable. But she also takes the time to be Mary, for she sits at the Lord’s feet at mass every single day.

Encountering Jesus in My Service

Jesus Encounter participants with South Feast builder,
Bro Arun Gogna & LOJ-South Feast servants

May 8, 2010! There was a conflict when this was scheduled. I had a previous commitment. But this will be the first ever Jesus Encounter for the South Feast – a rite of passage for faithful attendees into the Light of Jesus Family. I wanted so much to serve. I did the next best thing. I promised to follow right after my other event. I was torn. As Secretariat head, it was my duty to man the registration table early in the morning. Good thing there were people who can cover for me.

The night before the JE, I learned some disturbing news about my other event. I had been praying for this. It was important to me too. But from the very start there was some heaviness in my heart every time I prayed for it. With that news and my family’s warning not to go, I decided to serve in the JE instead.

Funny how the Lord arranges things. He prevented me from going to my event because there were things He needed me for in the JE.

I found out in the morning that the one assigned to the registration had to work overtime and couldn’t make it. The person in charge of the Secretariat in my supposed absence was multi-tasking as emcee. He was already loaded with emcee-related work. The Music Ministry head had an important commitment and couldn’t be there. Our Events Ministry head asked me to coordinate the singers and the lyrics. And then there were other things: singing at the worship, serving food, praying over the participants at the baptism, etc. etc.

(Note to self: never volunteer to pray over at the baptism ever again. My tear ducts are too loose. I cry ahead of the participants especially when they’re people I care for. Embarrassing!)

I’m glad the Lord arranged things the way He did. He allowed me to serve at this historic encounter with such a loving, committed and hard-working team. That’s what’s so great about serving at the South Feast. There are glitches true, as in any event, but we learn our lessons, learn to be more patient and continue loving each other.