For the first time in some 10 years, we didn't balik kampung during CNY. We couldn't, as most of my folks in Alor Star were 'keluar-ing kampung' instead. One family was off to Penang, another ventured south into JB. So we were stuck in KL, and i was grouching hai, no one to cook yummy steam boat spread or tom yam prawns and this and that and the other dish for us to slurp slarp our tongues over....
A week earlier my eldest princess got it into her head to go Cameron Highlands for a break since she was on long leave. My no.2 and 3 actually preferred to stay home, so i was kinda hoping for some quiet 1-to-1 mother-daughter time with her, esp since she would be disappearing into Indonesia after CNY for the next 2 months on work assignment. But it wasn't to be, as all accommodation in Camerons was fully booked over the festive period (duh, what else to expect when its 11th hour scrambling around!!) So, there we were, stuck at home.
But it turned out not so bad as it sounds really. I mean, well, I did manage to cook up some decent edible stuff, tho not exactly a buffet spread like other big family reunions... look, how much can 4 fellas eat? In fact, i even learnt a new dish... so now i can add sweet sour prawns to my somewhat limited repertoire of jiu hoo char the next time a pot-bless event comes around!!
And we still did the normal 'pai nian' to all the KL relatives from my husband's side; the kids still got to eat CNY goodies in other people's houses and pocketed some angpows. And they still got lotsa time to do whatever kids their age do these days. We even got time to catch a movie together - Chinese no less - very handsome Nicholas Tze and Jay Chou .
Plus we maintained our regular 2 nites of Bible reading as well. I have been doing a long series on the famous faith chapter (Hebrews 11) with them. We were at Moses, and talking about how his mother in faith and no doubt in fear, still floated him off at 3 months old down the Nile river, practically surrendering and trusting in God to take care of the special baby He had given her. I rounded up with my own reflection on this - that there will come a time when we all will have to give up, let go of people/situations/things we wanna hang onto, when we realise our limitations or our weaknesses, we just have to trust that God knows how to handle it, and totally surrender to Him, even when its scary or doesn't make logical sense . As usual when the session came to an end, I asked for either prayer request or praise report from them. And it was the youngest boy who piped up "Thank God for our family" And i think it struck all of us then, at the same moment, how true that was.
Thank God for our family. Thank God He kept us together. I have no husband, the kids have no father for the past 10 years, but we are together as a family. At my lowest 10 years ago, I had been reduced from the heights of worldly success to coping with 3 young kids, a mountain of debt and a pittance salary as a church kindy teacher. But I didn't have to 'bump' the kids off on rich relatives , I never had to beg to put 3 meals (and more) on their plates everyday for the past 10 years. They may not be able to afford the smallest item from the classiest joints, our groceries are from the local (read cheapest deals) hypermart, not up-market imported stuff, but so what. Our house is no palace, the roof and toilets leak, the parquet is coming off, but its home - and its fully paid for (and it's smack in one of the most expensive neighborhoods in KL, so I am told). And hey, we are so blessed we are even able to go overseas holiday , thanks to a very generous and loving 'sponsor'.
My youngest is now 18, such a handsome young man - Korean film-star looks, everyone says. My princesses - oh, they have blossomed into beautiful young women (of coz I am biased, which parent isn't!) My eldest found a niche in an international NGO that finally gives her a chance to live out her heart's compassion for the marginalised and down-trodden of society. I thank God He put that desire into her , for surely it is His heart-beat as well. Surprisingly its my no. 2 who opted for law, following mummy's footsteps; never imagined it would be her, but well, let's see where God leads her with this... my no. 3 just managed (on practically the last day) to enrol himself into college, matriculation. How they have all grown up...Not to say they are perfect angels; hardly.
Indeed there is so much to thank God for..... most of all, for keeping us together as a family, thru all the new years that have come and gone. Not just a family bound by blood, but bound and kept in God's own hands of love, uniting us together in faith thru Jesus Christ. I am so so thankful each one of my kids know the God of their father and mother for themselves; that I didn't pass on to them a religion, that they know Whom they believe and why they believe. I am so thankful they know its not about being good or doing good, its not about a well-paying job, success, or nice things this world has to offer. They know its beyond all that, becoz they already know the Way, the Truth and the Life is only in Jesus Christ. They themselves have experienced the reality of a God who loves, forgives, saves, cares, provides and guides them into the best that He has prepared for them, now and in the hereafter, even if things may actually look quite the opposite, despite whatever else they don't have. They know their lives are held by and in divine Hands, grounded in a divine purpose and meaning beyond the ordinary. I didn't teach them that, God did...
A CNY message from one of my kindy teachers beeped into my phone as i was sipping coffee in the early morning; it read, "May God make our new year 2012 a happy one...Not by shielding us from all sorrows and pain, but by strengthening us to bear it, as it comes... Not by making our paths easy, but by making us sturdy to travel any path, Not by taking hardships from us, but by taking fear from our heart, Not by granting us unbroken sunshine, but by keeping our face bright even in the shadows....
It's the most meaningful message I have received for this CNY, and so apt becoz that's what God has done for my family over the past 10 years together. We are so blessed, God be praised.
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future"... Jeremiah 29:11
Click here for CNY shots
A week earlier my eldest princess got it into her head to go Cameron Highlands for a break since she was on long leave. My no.2 and 3 actually preferred to stay home, so i was kinda hoping for some quiet 1-to-1 mother-daughter time with her, esp since she would be disappearing into Indonesia after CNY for the next 2 months on work assignment. But it wasn't to be, as all accommodation in Camerons was fully booked over the festive period (duh, what else to expect when its 11th hour scrambling around!!) So, there we were, stuck at home.
But it turned out not so bad as it sounds really. I mean, well, I did manage to cook up some decent edible stuff, tho not exactly a buffet spread like other big family reunions... look, how much can 4 fellas eat? In fact, i even learnt a new dish... so now i can add sweet sour prawns to my somewhat limited repertoire of jiu hoo char the next time a pot-bless event comes around!!
And we still did the normal 'pai nian' to all the KL relatives from my husband's side; the kids still got to eat CNY goodies in other people's houses and pocketed some angpows. And they still got lotsa time to do whatever kids their age do these days. We even got time to catch a movie together - Chinese no less - very handsome Nicholas Tze and Jay Chou .
Plus we maintained our regular 2 nites of Bible reading as well. I have been doing a long series on the famous faith chapter (Hebrews 11) with them. We were at Moses, and talking about how his mother in faith and no doubt in fear, still floated him off at 3 months old down the Nile river, practically surrendering and trusting in God to take care of the special baby He had given her. I rounded up with my own reflection on this - that there will come a time when we all will have to give up, let go of people/situations/things we wanna hang onto, when we realise our limitations or our weaknesses, we just have to trust that God knows how to handle it, and totally surrender to Him, even when its scary or doesn't make logical sense . As usual when the session came to an end, I asked for either prayer request or praise report from them. And it was the youngest boy who piped up "Thank God for our family" And i think it struck all of us then, at the same moment, how true that was.
Thank God for our family. Thank God He kept us together. I have no husband, the kids have no father for the past 10 years, but we are together as a family. At my lowest 10 years ago, I had been reduced from the heights of worldly success to coping with 3 young kids, a mountain of debt and a pittance salary as a church kindy teacher. But I didn't have to 'bump' the kids off on rich relatives , I never had to beg to put 3 meals (and more) on their plates everyday for the past 10 years. They may not be able to afford the smallest item from the classiest joints, our groceries are from the local (read cheapest deals) hypermart, not up-market imported stuff, but so what. Our house is no palace, the roof and toilets leak, the parquet is coming off, but its home - and its fully paid for (and it's smack in one of the most expensive neighborhoods in KL, so I am told). And hey, we are so blessed we are even able to go overseas holiday , thanks to a very generous and loving 'sponsor'.
My youngest is now 18, such a handsome young man - Korean film-star looks, everyone says. My princesses - oh, they have blossomed into beautiful young women (of coz I am biased, which parent isn't!) My eldest found a niche in an international NGO that finally gives her a chance to live out her heart's compassion for the marginalised and down-trodden of society. I thank God He put that desire into her , for surely it is His heart-beat as well. Surprisingly its my no. 2 who opted for law, following mummy's footsteps; never imagined it would be her, but well, let's see where God leads her with this... my no. 3 just managed (on practically the last day) to enrol himself into college, matriculation. How they have all grown up...Not to say they are perfect angels; hardly.
Indeed there is so much to thank God for..... most of all, for keeping us together as a family, thru all the new years that have come and gone. Not just a family bound by blood, but bound and kept in God's own hands of love, uniting us together in faith thru Jesus Christ. I am so so thankful each one of my kids know the God of their father and mother for themselves; that I didn't pass on to them a religion, that they know Whom they believe and why they believe. I am so thankful they know its not about being good or doing good, its not about a well-paying job, success, or nice things this world has to offer. They know its beyond all that, becoz they already know the Way, the Truth and the Life is only in Jesus Christ. They themselves have experienced the reality of a God who loves, forgives, saves, cares, provides and guides them into the best that He has prepared for them, now and in the hereafter, even if things may actually look quite the opposite, despite whatever else they don't have. They know their lives are held by and in divine Hands, grounded in a divine purpose and meaning beyond the ordinary. I didn't teach them that, God did...
A CNY message from one of my kindy teachers beeped into my phone as i was sipping coffee in the early morning; it read, "May God make our new year 2012 a happy one...Not by shielding us from all sorrows and pain, but by strengthening us to bear it, as it comes... Not by making our paths easy, but by making us sturdy to travel any path, Not by taking hardships from us, but by taking fear from our heart, Not by granting us unbroken sunshine, but by keeping our face bright even in the shadows....
It's the most meaningful message I have received for this CNY, and so apt becoz that's what God has done for my family over the past 10 years together. We are so blessed, God be praised.
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future"... Jeremiah 29:11
Click here for CNY shots
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