Counting the days...

At 4 am this morning I woke up and it hit me .. my Jeff is going to fly off in 2 hours and be away for a month !!.. A month is a long time for me .. we have never been apart willfully. The last time this happened was in 2006 when my dad passed away and that was agony as I sorted out all the funeral details plus the details of bringing him back to Singapore alone in Australia !! But this time.. we chose to be apart.. One month.

So.. it's now 8.18pm.. and I have spent the day waiting to hear the gate creak open and expecting to hear the car crawl in.. then I realise.. he's away for a month. I guess I'll get use to this.. but I am sure hearing weird things cos I think I can hear his key in the door! But I check my handphone and it's 5.18am in LA.. he has still a ways to go.. he's supposed to arrive at 12.30pm LA time. Well.. one day down.. 29 days to go :)

Tiffany rings and romantic things

Last year I met a young man at a Tiffany store. He was buying a diamond ring for his girlfriend and hoping to propose to her. We had struck up a friendly conversation and when the sales lady left I told him , " For that kind of money you could easily buy a bigger diamond at the store down Orchard Rd." He gave me a tired grin and said, " Aunty I know. But the rings down the road dont come in a blue Tiffany box and silver ribbon which is what she wants."

Then a few weeks ago my friend tells me about her daughter's fantasy dream wedding and dream engagement ring..Another friend just flew to Perth to have their wedding pictures taken and another had his wedding in Bali with 100 so friends and family..

I want to tell them that long after the dress is put away and the gold round the diamond looks buffed the loans start to pile up and the baby bills start to grow. There are less romantic moments and gift giving becomes a question of simply choosing to go out for a meal.There will be moments you wondered why you ever married your partner and moments you wish you'd remained single. Nothing is private and soon the burps you thought were cute and funny become embarassingly loud and frequent . Times when you feel like shouting but you know the moment will pass. When you give up a dream so that your partner can live his or when he remains still so you can enjoy yours. The wedding ceremony loses its lustre and romance is the stuff of movies.

But...That's when "I love you "is seldom said but deeply felt. When a hand gesture is all you need to know that you're a team. New Year comes around and you want to fall asleep at 10pm cos you know tomorrow is just another day and you dont have to wait up together at some insane party to greet the morn. When the slight crease of his brow tells you the conversation will go no where and if you wait he'll come around. No need to shout, no need to stand on what's fair or not fair. You remember the small things that make you laugh and there is less and less effort to remember what made you cry. In your sleep you know if your partner is awake and when you awake it's ok if he's still asleep. When the day ends you forget the argument you had. This is the marriage , wedding rings and all.. it lasts for more than one glorious romantic day .If you're fortunate, you get to spend the rest of your life with just that one partner and no, it never gets boring. ... . And if you're patient ... he can finally afford a ring and by then you'd have learnt that it means so much more..

Good Friday

We spent Good Friday ministering at Kampung Karu. The Youth Leaders, John Yii and his family, Ooi and Evangeline and James with Min Hui.. we all decended on Karu and had a wonderful time fellowshipping with our brothers and sisters at Karu.

The Youth made lots of new friends and found that perhaps some of them like Rachel has the potential to be good Sunday school teachers !

It was a great time of feasting too! The Karu folk serve up only the best. Over a meal new friendships were made .

Jeff bonds with Pastor Sut. He 's pobably asking for a good camp site or the next durian harvest!

The Charis team led by John Yii and Margret blessed us with their fellowship !

An early morning + an hour's drive + a time of worship +a time of fellowship over the makan table = New friends and endless possibilities to serve the Lord together !

Wishes and Dreams that come true

My husband married the princess who knows when there is a mashed pea under the mattresses ! I don't know how many of you are old enough to remember a tv series called Green Acres bout this farm loving fellow and his city bred wife.. well I am not as bad as that ,but I do like a comfortable room with it's simple amenities.. while Jeff prefers the outdoors; the rougher the better! When I told him we were going to Lundu he was determined to make the best of it !

Simple yet effective accomodation not too far from the maddening crowd. Close to toilets and yet under the stars.. could'nt have found a better room at Westin he says!

Wireless included.. would have had to pay extra for that at the hotel ! Notice the open feng shui concept of his abode!

No pitched tent is complete without a guitar and a campfire! The kids were lured onto the dark field by the awesome stars that night and Uncle Jeff's campfire... did I sleep well that night? Well a pea under my mattress was better than this hard ground ! So the answer is NO I DID NOT !!

Lundu Youth Retreat

It has been AGES since I have written anything. However it has been an amazing few months and I dont want to forget them so I will instead let pictures speak for themselves. We had a Youth retreat in Lundu in March. It was the first activity in which the Youth Leaders completely handled the entire event!

Our Lundu retreat was in March and it was amazing. We were visited by large spiders, centipedes .. one which crawled up Ivory's blouse during worship but was later flicked off her throat! A nasty car crash out of which Dennis crawled out of the vehicle totally unscathed! Youth leaders taking charge.. and me feeling like a guest speaker at my own event! But it was a good feeling to take a back seat and see the young leaders lead, teach and worship.. I was so proud of them that if I had been a peacock I would have strutted all over Lundu !

Their creativity was inspired! Here we have the Orange Team.. a verrrry original name!

The White and Blue Team.... well at least the Blue Team is hmmm flexible.. the Whites are missing something.. girls I think!

What is a Youth Retreat without a little fun and games to build team work and camraderie?

Old relationships strengthened and new friendships were forged and shyness melted away as the day wore on. ............

No Fellowship is complete without the Makan Makan!!!!


But ultimately we came so that we could have the time to worship Him and get to know Him more. Below are some testimonies about our Retreat.. Read on...

I was so scared when I saw the centipede. I had felt something crawling inside my t shirt but I thought it was just a mossie. It was so scary to see that it was a centipede. After Aunty Su prayd for me . I realised that Jesus had really protected me . I really felt the peace of God . Even when my mother called me later that evening I forgot to tell her about the centipede because God had given me such peace in my heart... Ivory 14

After I heard about what happened to Dennis and his car accident I couldnt help but remember that as Youth Leaders we had prayed that at this Retreat God would make Himself so real.. I believe what happened to Ivory and Dennis really showed us how much God really loves us and how real He is.. Linus Chin 15

When we had our worship I felt the peace of God. Nothing else was on my mind ; not the bug bites, sore legs or worries mattered. I just had nothing else on my mind except worship and God in this place.. Dylan Chen. 14

" Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Lord... He alone is my refuge , my place of safety, He is my God and I am trusting in Him." Psalm 91