Over the weekend, we were on our way to celebrate Mid-Autumn or Mooncake Festival with my parents’ church, when a group of Aussie onlookers stopped us mid-track to ask what all the food and fuss was about. “It’s a celebration that happens once a year where families gather together to eat mooncakes.” As I hurried away carrying giant plates of food my mother had prepared, I wish I had invited them along to the festivities. But because they were not Chinese, and it wasn’t my call, I hesitated about inviting them to a Mandarin speaking pot-luck dinner. Thinking back, isn’t food the universal language? For our family, Mid-autumn (ie 15th of August on the lunar calendar) Festival is not just about reuniting with loved ones to eat, although every Chinese celebration revolves around food. The fullness and brightness of the moon is also a reminder of the new and full life I have in Christ Jesus. He promised that “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Previously, my life was full of pride, selfishness, disobedience and lack of self control, but thankfully, God has been helping me remove these ‘broken pieces’ to make me whole. Although I am very much still a work-in-progress, I feel privileged to enjoy fullness in all areas of my life, not just in my belly.

So when we gaze at the moon and nibble on moon-cakes this week, I hope that you know that in Christ, you can “have life, and have it to the full“.