A Very Fine Line

My recent visit to Joseph’s school administrative office was out of desperation. “Ms Teoh, I am at wit’s ends! I don’t think I could do it!” I exclaimed. As usual, the calm and reassuring Ms Teoh would tell me that there is still one more week to go and, by then, Joseph would be fully ready for the concert and his speech would be fine. “Exactly, one week is inadequate!” I whispered to myself. “Can’t you take him out for the speech or give him something simple with just a couple of words?” I asked earnestly. “No, when a child volunteered for giving a speech, we will not turn him down and the speech given to Joseph was one of the simplest!” she replied with a smile.

I stood there with my full 4 years of Joseph’s CVs to convince Ms Teoh but somehow, I know that I would get no where. There is a fine line between reality and miracle. Being a parent, I believe that being realistic is good for both the parent and the child. This way, I don’t have to stress myself out in getting Joseph to do something that cannot be achieved, realistically. Here is Joseph’s speech for my challenge:-

“Good evening dear parents and friends. My name is Joseph Wong and I am from 4 year’s old class. Today, my character building is Sincerity:-

1. I will be all that I can be;
2. I will respect other’s opinions;
3. I will not take advantage of others;
4. I will always mean what I say;
5. I will take responsibility for my own actions.

Thank you”

My legs turn into jelly when I first saw the speech! However, since there is no way I could convince him to back out (as he seems very determined), I have decided to have faith and pray for a miracle, specifically, I am now trusting God to work in Joseph. Afterall, God is supposed to be a better parent than me.

There were days that Joseph would come back from school and tell me that his friends laughed at him. “Well, Joe, you have to pray and ask God to give you courage and strength. When friends laugh at you, you will not be upset or be afraid.” On other times, he confessed that he still could not remember his speech. “Joe, from tonight onwards, we will both pray to Jesus and ask Him to help you to remember, ok?”

Two days ago, Joseph finally did it! He managed to rehearse his speech without any hiccup! Through this, God taught me a valuable lesson: Miracle is God at work. There is no co-incidents, no ad hoc event or “it just happened!”.  The fine line between reality and miracle is where our eyes are laid: either on our circumstances or on His ability.