Above all else

There are 2 songs from my hubby and my Varsity Christian Fellowship days that touch my heart. "Trust His heart" and "Find us faithful". I had forgotten the lyrics and had to hunt the internet to obtain them. I have not been able to get a download of the songs yet. In the course of my hunting, I found the lyrics and downloaded another song, "Who am I". It reminded me that God is faithful still. Trust His Heart All things work for our good Though sometimes we can't see how they could Struggles that break our hearts in two Sometimes blind us to the truth Our Father knows what's best for us His ways are not our own So when your pathway grows dim And you just don't see HimR emember you're never alone *God is too wise to be mistaken God is too good to be unkind So when you don't understand When you don't see His plan When you can't trace His hand Trust His heart He sees the master plan And He holds the future in His hand Don't liv...

It's been a very rough month or two. With all the major upheavals of the recent past, there are so many worries and concerns and dissatisfactions, that even just a little more trouble can sometimes be enough to make me feel overwhelmed. But God is faithful - He always provides grace and strength to supply all my needs. And last Sunday's message was soberingly encouraging (is there such a thing?). Let me share. How am I really doing in the race that God has mapped out for me? When we have lots of other things to concentrate on, I think it's very tempting to say to God "God, I'm going to be faithful. I'll keep attending church (as often as I can). I'll read the Bible (now and then). I'll keep praying (when I'm in trouble). I'll be a nice person (as much as it's possible). I'm quite happy to run the race. BUT LET ME RUN AT MY OWN PACE." I just realized that the above kind of rhymes (badly). Weird. Let's step out of our comfort zone...

Just reading my own posts about the kids makes me try to remember some of the other funny things that have happened. Natalie often comes out of her room after she's put to bed. She has all sorts of funny excuses for this. Last night, she came over and complained that Daniel was tickling her. We sent her back. Ten minutes later she came back and complained that Daniel bit her butt. Unfortunately, these allegations are sometimes true. Daniel is pretty wonky when he's sleepy, especially if he's just had his computer games (he really likes Super Mario - he can't actually play but enjoys seeing us play "for him" haha). Anyway, when we're too tired to put Natalie back in the kids room, sometimes we just tell her to go back on her own. I remember once she came out of her room and complained that the room smelled of muffins. "Huh??" Anyway, we sent her back without getting out of bed ourselves. But two minutes later I thought her excuse was so bizarre, i...

In the rush of the day, I find myself pulling up suddenly when I encounter potholes. What potholes? Well, the absence of the expected. I was just reading an article the other day about stupid football quotes, like: Reporter: So Roy, do you think you'll have to finish above Manchester United to win the league this year? Roy: you have to finish above everyone to win the league Richard. or Reporter: So Gordon, in what areas do you think Middlesbrough outplayed you today? Gordon: What areas? That big green one out there... As I read the article, I instinctively reached for my handphone to call my brother and tell him to read it, and then I suddenly realised he wouldn't be there. The permanence of the loss is QUITE SHOCKING. I just got the 2006-07 Liverpool FC DVD in the mail and as I was watching a fantastic goal by Riise in the Community Shield again I half thought about calling him to crow about it. I also bought a set of old cartoons for my kids to watch (He-man and the Masters ...

Kids say the weirdest things. Don't know how many of you remember the old show hosted by Bill Cosby "Kids say the darndest things". But I'm living the show :) A couple of days ago my 3-year old son was trying to get his T-shirt off. Usually he struggles for a while and then collapses in a heap wailing that he can't get it off. This time he was in a rather more amiable mood. My wife came over and helped him to get it off, upon which he commented "Jesus gave me a big head." Hilarious. Just a couple of minutes ago, we were putting the kids to sleep. Again, Daniel (who's getting rather garrulous these days) prompted a surreal conversation. Daniel: Daddy, can you squash me like the round round thing? Daddy: Huh? Daniel: Squash like a round round thing Daddy: Huh? Natalie (never one to miss out on a surreal conversation): Daddy can you squash me like a pancake? Daddy: Oh... round round thing... Know something else weird? The more time we spend with the kid...

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” Heb 12:1 Until an ongoing series of messages on Hebrew 11-12 recently, I always thought that this verse referred to the fact that since we are surrounded by so many people who can see our actions, we should ensure that we testify to them through consistent application of biblical principles in our lives. But upon reading Heb 12:1 in context with Heb 11, I realize that the “cloud of witnesses” that the writer of Hebrews refers to is not people to whom we need to testify, but rather, people who have already testified TO US, and have run the race before us. This is not to say that we should not testify to others through consistent Christian living – there are plenty of other directions in God’s word for us to do this. Anyway, this brings me to the sharing on what we can learn from...

Went for the Touch Community Services Amazing Family Trail. We ran (OK OK only walk lah - how to run with two distracted children wandering around) through the whole thing without stopping for lunch - bought bread/pizza etc and ate along the way hahaha. My 5-yr old daughter was really good at the jigsaw puzzle at Kranji - she was better than any of us (especially me - hopeless at jigsaw), which was quite funny. And my 3-yr old son had a good time picking up the red seeds out of the grass at St Andrew's - he is so close to the ground he can see the best. My Dad couldn't even find a single seed out of the 50 we had to pick up! It was a very enjoyable outing - I think my parents and kids thought it was great too. Activities were fun, got some exercise, saw some interesting things, like the Civil Defence Museum (anybody know what is the park that is just outside Kranji MRT?). We used our prize to eat at Delifrance that very day too :) Kudos to TCS for a job well done again. And wel...

My brother. Adjusting to life after my brother's passing is tough. There are a lot of practical things to be done of course. But for me, the hard part is dealing with memories. Endless discussions on Liverpool FC (because he is only one I know who is prepared to be as nutty as me); the last thing I bought for him (football boots which we never got to use because it rained on the day we were supposed to go and play); the last game we watched together (Liverpool 3-1 Everton, Steven Gerrard got sent off and Phil Neville scored an own goal); the messes we made in the house growing up (smashed our hanging light while kicking a pillow. OK OK it was me); sharing our toys (Mask, transformers, He-man!!); staying up all night watching him play computer games like Superstar soccer, sensible soccer, Lakers v Celtics etc (because I'm terrible at computer games and can only enjoy them vicariously); patting him to sleep on our mattress on the floor when we were small etc. Even writing about t...