September 2, 2025, marks the 30th anniversary of my mom’s Homegoing (eternal home). I would like to take this opportunity to count my blessings and give thanks to the LORD God.
I was born into a Christian family. My Sunday School teachers often told us that we needed to “experience God,” but I never truly understood what that meant. I used to wonder: Must one go through trials in order for faith to be real? This question lingered in my heart—until a small wave suddenly rose on the calm and peaceful sea of my life.
On Saturday, September 2, 1995, in Toronto—the evening before I was to leave for university out of town—my mom, who had been battling breast cancer, was rushed to the emergency room. Shortly after, God brought her back to her Heavenly home. That moment was one of deep sorrow for our family. Tears flowed unceasingly, even with the comfort of friends and relatives.
The next day was Sunday. I was surprised that my family wanted to go to church, since I was still unsettled from the night before. But as compliant as I was, we all went. The drive from Scarborough to Downtown took about 30 minutes, and tears would not stop the entire way. When we arrived, we sat in the last row of the balcony—my dad between my brother and me.
During worship, I could neither sing nor pray. My heart was weighed with confusion and even anger toward God. Why hadn’t He healed my mom, despite the countless prayers lifted on her behalf from around the world? That morning, instead of the church’s senior pastor, Dr. Philemon Choi—co-founder of Breakthrough Limited in Hong Kong (突破機構)—was preaching. He had only just learned of my mom’s passing when the senior pastor announced it earlier in the service. Yet the Scripture he had chosen was exactly what my grieving heart needed:
Ecclesiastes 3:1-4 NIV
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance…”
Who is the One in authority and control? Is it not the LORD God, who created the heavens and the earth and rules over all things? Was this not exactly what God was speaking to our whole family—and to me personally? Surely God knew what He was doing. He had a plan for us.
In that moment, I felt a sudden release in my heart. It was as though a chest bound tightly with thorns and bleeding had finally been set free. Immense comfort and peace flooded in. I felt as if great arms were wrapping around me—not my father’s, who sat beside me, but my Heavenly Father’s. In the depths of my soul, I heard Him whisper: “My daughter, you don’t need to be sad anymore. You don’t need to cry anymore. Your mom is out of suffering and has come Home to be with Me. She will rest in Me forever, and you will see her again one day.”
That experience was so real, so precious. When the tears dried, what remained was peace. Truly, God is good—all the time. In my helplessness, I experienced His presence more deeply than ever before. It drew me closer to Him and strengthened my faith. My true transformation began there.
If “for everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven,” then there is also a reason and a greater plan behind all that we go through. “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” (2 Corinthians 1:3–4)
So let us “rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16–18)
