Celebrating 70 Years

My mother-in-law turned 70 this year and we took her to Safari West to celebrate as a family.

Little did she know that we also planned a surprise party for her with her siblings (she is #3 out of 10), their spouses and her many friends. The relatives surprised her at her home and gave her thirty minutes to get ready for her big luncheon in her honor. She was very surprised and thrilled that so many familiar faces were in attendance. Many of her siblings flew from SoCal just for the day to attend this celebration.

The BIG surprise!

Mom's BIG extended family

We reserved the back room at a local Chinese restaurant where we were able to have a delicious buffet lunch. We gifted her a digital album filled with pictures and encouraging words from her family and friends. We took all the pictures from this album and presented a slide show for all to see.  We also gave the opportunity for everyone to share about how special Mom is in their lives and what an influence she has been to them.

Mom was definitely a 'celebrity' that day!

My mother-in-law said that the sharing was the best gift anyone could give her. You see, my mother-in-law loves to share about how God changed her life and how He can change and will change your life for the better.  She also never tires of hearing how God has changed the lives of others. It is those personal testimonies that we share that help others know God. It is through our God-experiences that prove that God exists, loves us and has a great plan for our future with Him.

My mother-in-law is one very special lady. She is special not only because she is an extremely devoted mother, a loving and very accepting mother-in-law, and a very generous grandmother but she is also one of the most devoted followers of Christ I have ever met. Her spiritual gift is evangelism and she does not hesitate for one moment to share the Good News to anyone and everyone she meets.

I call her 'one who reaps' because God always places people, many whom are strangers and whom she will only meet in passing, in her midst to not only share the gospel but to lead them to Christ. Many times they accept Jesus as their personal Savior. Thus they were ripe and ready for the invitation. I feel that God has placed her to do that job that many Christians are very hesitant to do.

Many of you could probably count on your fingers how many you personally led to Christ. She, on the other hand, will need many many hands to count hers. Whether it's the waitress at a dim sum restaurant or an elderly Chinese couple at the airport, she sees the opportunity and obeys God's commands. She does not do this because she has to but because she wants to. If you've received a special gift from someone that made you truly happy, don't you want others to have that special gift too? Jesus commanded in Matthew 28:19,  "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations.." And Mom does.

I always say that that when I married my husband, I got a special bonus with special in-laws: my father-in-law, a wonderful Christian resource because he writes many biblical Chinese books and my mother-in-law, who plants, sows and reaps the seed of salvation in my unbelieving family members. I know that God has placed her in my life in order for my family to hear the gospel in Chinese and I thank God that He gifted me with such a special person as she.

All the 'party planners' with Mom (my father-in-law was working in HK)