The party continues

 
 
 
 

There's a song ringing in my head..I am so blessed, so blessed, so blessed...first my own fleshnblood family started the ball rolling on my b-day , then 4 days later on Sunday (which coincidentally was mother's day ) , my Christ-family joined in and continued the celebration. My eldest princess and boyfren slaved over their speciality cored apple dessert, my 'kaki-kaki' all came to bless with pots of food...my brother got the cake... and i made the only dish i know to do well (jiu hoo char )... and tra la... wat a spread it was for the dinner table. What better way to grow old than being surrounded by people whom i love and who loves me! And all this is possible only becoz the God who is Himself love taught me all about love..

I remember how i used to be, all caught up, wrapped up in my own family. After i married, it was basically just me, the hubby and the kids.I lived my life secure in this little cocoon i had created around us. Sure i had frens, but they were not family. Heck, back then, i didn't even visit my own bros n sis back in Alor Star during Chinese New Year. And it wasnt bad, not an unhappy life for i told myself that's all that mattered;so there was a measure of selfcontentment that came out of a self-contained, self centered lifestyle. It kept me going 20 odd years after all.

And if not for my husband's cancer, i guess i wld hv continued living like that to the end of my days ; unaware that life is meant to be more than a self drawn circle. It is meant to be so much much more; I found the meaning of a full, abundant life only at age 40, when my world was turned upside-down literally... then only could my eyes see right-side up. What an irony. How i thank God each day, He pulled the comfy rug from under my feet and opened up a wonderful fabulous world that i never knew existed, becoz i was too busy caught up in one that was my own creation.

I hv bn asked if my God is so good, why didn't He let my husband live. Hey, i asked the same question myself then, but how true it is that God is not here to grant our wants;we didn't create God, we are created by Him for Him. His aim is to make saints out of sinners; to bring us back to Him, for He is the greatest blessing. So just becoz bad things happen doesn't mean God is bad. If not for the bad things that happened in my life, I wouldn't know my God is so really really good. If there was no agony, we wouldn't know the meaning of ecstasy. If there was no darkness, we wouldn't appreciate light.

8 years ago, God called me out of my darkness into His light. He took my husband home, but gave me another much extended family to love and be loved by. He took my job, and gave me a calling. He took my money and gave me treasure that can't be bought. He broke me, and then He healed me, restored me and gave me a meaning to live beyond myself, beyond my kids, beyond causes and things. He has put songs in my heart i never knew to sing, and now 8 years down the line, as i celebrate another b-day, another mother's day, i am so thankful to be so so so blessed...

We love because He first loved us... 1 John 4:19
This is love; not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.. I John 4:10

My cup overflows

 
 
 
 

I turned 49 yesterday. Wow, that's just 1 year short of half a century old. Its...mind boggling to say the least. How did the 49 years pass so fast, can it be my eldest is already a 23 year old woman herself ? Gee, what happened to all my 'babies'?
Ya, ya, i know, they grew up and i grew... old? Where got. I grew, yes, in terms of years older, but in terms of heart, i grew up too. Thanks to a God who opened up my eyes to the Truth of life and love - was it just 8 years ago...

When i came down on the morning of my b-day, i found such a beautiful surprise waiting for me. The kids had taken the trouble to do up the chairs with cutesy balloons, there were 2 stalks of roses beside the greeting card and the gift voucher for spa treatment on the table. Bearing in mind i only got back abt 10.30 pm after a prayer meeting the nite before, they must have 'pa-kat' and waited till after i had gone to bed to do up the tingy together... how sweet, but wat brot tears to my eyes were the words in the card; which i m so proud to reproduce here:
From my no 1: Dear Mama, happy b-day. Thank you so much for loving us (despite how difficult it can be sometimes) and sticking it thru the years. You really are the best, no 1 mom in the world! Hugs. I pray that God will grant you ALL the desires of your heart and overflow you with blessings!
From my no 2: an unexpected poem - Happy B'day.. a million apologies, a thousand hugs, a hundred praises, tens of gratitude, one heart, unlimited love. A mother knows best, a mother wants the best, you know God knows best, you know God wants the best; that's what makes you different, that's what makes you special.. May God honor your sacrifices and grant you your hearts desires. Amen.
From my no 3: Dear mama, Happy 50th b-day (Trust a guy to get the age wrong, duh!i warned him he better not do this to his wife!) thanks for everything you did for us. I really appreciate it alot. i hope God will bless you mightyly (ya, still need to work on his spelling!) for all your good works on earth here! Have a blessed b-day.

Wow, reading this was all the present i needed. It made all the tears, all the sweat, all the prayers , all the heartaches, and yes all the white hairs worthwhile... i am assured if they can write these things, it means they know how to appreciate love, they know how to pray blessing for others, and their hearts are in the right place - with God.

What more can i ask ? So all i do is whisper thank You, Lord, for blessing me with these kids, thank You for helping me train them up in the way that they should go, so that they may remain in the ways of Your righteousness and never depart from them. Thank You, Lord for filling my cup so much it overflows..