Zach's 1st birthday

First. Updates:

• It's the 'peakest' of my year end peak season at work now. Worked thru the weekends so that means two weeks of continuous work. It's taking a toll on me..
• We've been miraculously blessed by a recent job offer for Kevin that literally fell from the heavens (most definitely spilt from God's cup and off His lap!) and that's helped us make one big step toward my being SAHM
  
• Zachary decided today that he's pretty much done with crawling and decided walking is THE mode of transport - that's kept K and I pretty much on our toes and feet the whole day as you can imagine
  
• Mum and Dad will be in Darwin, Melbourne and Tasmania over the next three weeks - miss them. Plus it stirs my wanderlust!
• We (seriously) prayed for Baby No.2 to come our way next year
  

And now an excerpt from Zach's birthday pic collection:


We did a collage of his pics from birth. I love this!


Our li't charmer. We love his smile :-D


He was obviously awed by the sight of sooo many adults smiling and singing to him :-)


Just before his test drive...

His birthday meal at Globetrotters, United Sq.

Zachary was having such fun in their playroom


















(pics below) Testing his agility...

I'm still here!

It's been a month since I last posted anything. It's been a mad month at work and so much has happened around me, and in my head.

The only thing that I'm looking forward to is Zachary's 1st birthday party next Sat!!

Will def come back with pics (esp for Fio! :-D)

Maturing in the Lord

Following last Sunday's sermon on keeping covenants, God's reminding me of little promises I've made to Him and others that I've forgotten! God is good. He puts His Spirit of truth in us to help us obey Him.

Just wanna share this thought on maturity and maturing in the Lord:
"The marks of maturity? Self-sustaining in spiritual devotions. Wise in human relationships. Humble and serving. Comfortable and functional in the everyday world where people of faith can be in short supply. Substantial in conversation; prudent in acquisition; respectful in conflict; faithful in commitments."

These marks of maturity are so lacking in me at times. I yearn to see spiritual fruit. Yet I'm reminded in John 15 that it's back to the basics, to the Cross.

"I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing." John 15:5

It's horrible to be hated without reason. My pride and self-righteousness probably justifies the anger within me. But Christ suffered the same, and He pleaded they be forgiven 'cos they do not know what they are doing. I would've turned my face away from opposition, let alone hatred. The grace of the Lord is amazing. And He's extended it to me that I may extend it to others.

Finally!

Zach's finally learnt to hold up his bottle of milk!
This's one of the fews things we're working at together now.

Soccer Time!

Time with Mum

The joy of spending time with Mum doing simple things - have breakfast at the coffeeshop, shopping at the wet market, afternoons at my place. These are the things I miss doing with her. Now there's one left that we haven't done. Baking! So little time to spend with her nowadays...work, our own family, housework, etc...but must make it a point. Esp when she's in Singapore. I'd wanted to go back to work yesterday (though MC covers till today) but K's urged me not to, and I'm thankful for listening.

We bought a Citronella plant yesterday. Quite thrilled to find it in the market. Promptly bought it and it's now seated by the kitchen window to keep the mosquitoes at bay! Apparently, it's scent has got that effect. The mosquito patches we bought for Zachary has exactly the same scent!

Random Thought (#8) - Marriage and Weddings

Mum and Dad celebrated their wedding anniversary yesterday.
Years down, I wanna be like them. Serving the Lord and active. Loving and committed to each other. They're not perfect - they still have tiffs, idiosyncracies that sometimes drive each other up the wall - but they remain committed and faithful to each other.

They have no idea how important it is to me (and for the world) to see them this way.
Faithfulness is not a hallmark of marriages nowadays.

"To have and to hold...till death parts us"
...means choosing to remain faithful in the most difficult of times
...means choosing to love even when I don't feel like it
...means choosing to hope in God together

Submission

Attended weddings over three consecutive weekends. Oh how I love weddings! The atmosphere, the excitement, the joy, the gown...aaahh *dewy-eyed*...all's sweet till....the vows :-)
There will be giggles and darting of eyes when the bride says, "...to submit to you and honour you...."

And these are the very two areas that I'm being further refined. Too many occasions to recount one-by-one but something happened at the wedding we attended last Saturday that (in retrospect) was a simple lesson on submission for me.

Emcee: And now we'll invite...Michelle to do the interpretation for the message...
Me: Me? (stares blank-face at K who is struggling with Z) but I wasn't informed...
K: If that's the case, then don't go up. Z needs you too.
Me: But I'm able to do this, why don't I just step up to this since they've planned for this. They may really want this done; I shouldn't spoil their plans, right?
Minutes of debate later
K (impatient): Will you please sit down? Why do you insist on doing it?
Me, seated and now struggling with Z - obviously unhappy and tells K he's being selfish

At photo-taking session with bride and groom
Bride: Hey Michelle, since when were you doing interpretation for us? We didn't know that...?
Me: Oh really, that's strange. I thought you guys had forgotten to inform me
Bride: Nope, we were just as surprised!
Me, very thankful I didn't 'step up to it'.

The Fulfilled Family

We'll have topical study sessions after service two Sundays from now. We'll use this book by John F MacArthur. I'm glad we're starting this study as I hope it'll give room for deeper discussion and sharing of thoughts on SAHMs and roles in the family. Topics we'll cover in the coming weeks:

• Divine Pattern for Marriage - The Necessary Foundation
• The role of the wife/husband and her/his priorities
• Divine Pattern for the Family - Understanding the Issues
• The role of the child/parents

Will share more as we go along....

Memories from Melbourne

Honeymoon in Melbourne (May 2005)

Been attending too many weddings so decided to dig out my honeymoon pics for reminiscence

Pearls of Wisdom

Had my wisdom pearlies removed today. I'll spare you the details but suffice to say it took 1'1/4 hrs of drilling. A week's rest (read: I finally have time to unpack more stuff!)

It also means I have more time with Zachary which I dearly miss. We will wake up in each other's smiling faces (well, it's usually mine, his is more a scowl cos he's first instinct is to look for mummy!), have breakfast together and have play time! I look forward to this sooo much!

I Can, I Must, I Will

Three imperatives that sum up the attitude of the Christian life.

Nowhere in our spirits should be found: I wish, I hope, I try

(reflections from prayer meeting)

Faith vs Common Sense

Continuing the topic of SAHM. I asked my pastor this question during a wedding on Saturday "Where do we draw the line between faith and common sense?" It's an honest question that I'm debating within myself, not a prelude to an intellectual debate on Faith vs Reason. It's a reality check of will there be enough if we live on one income when common sense tells me it probably takes two to get things going.

Someone once said: Faith is believing when common sense tells you not to.

But the Bible says: Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

I have my reservations about the first statement. What's your view?

Back to the question. My pastor's reply (in context of SAHM) was this: You will know the answer when you know what your role is. In short, God is a God of order and he has ordained specific roles and responsibilities for both husbands/fathers and wives/mothers. And if we choose to align ourselves with God's design, then there won't be confusion. At the end of the day, it's a personal choice. God has given each of us a measure of faith.

To me, the operative word is 'choose'.

The Scriptures describe wives as keepers of the household (Proverbs 31) -- IMHO, not to be interpreted as merely 'housewives' -- but guardians of the heart of the home. Their role is to nurture, and the husband's role is to provide, and as wives we can ask God to provide for us through our husbands.

I suppose for one's who's been earning her own keep for the last 10 years, that's quite a dreadful thought. Will there be enough to go around?

My Little Recruit

Zach's had a haircut!!

Not very exciting news unless it's the first of his life! Yes, the first!

He looks like a little recruit :-) let me get a pic up before the hair grows! The nanny's cut it soooo short I hope they grow back in time for his first birthday *fingers crossed*

You are always on my mind

It was an extraordinarily long day at work today. In a literal sense too cos I knocked off past 10pm. That only made me feel worse than I already do about juggling family and work. Kinda relates to some of the topics that've been weighing my mind down.

How does one measure 'success'?

Someone once said, "Success is measured by significance, not importance. "

What makes me a "successful mummy"?
And what makes me "successful" at work?

I can probably measure the latter. I can read it off my boss's face, my payslip, my namecard, and my bonus!

And I probably measure my success at motherhood in likened terms. I read it off my two bosses' faces (with whom I share life and dreams), my count of Zachary's smiles, a proud name called "mummy", and bonus moments watching Zachary move from one milestone to another.

Always on my mind #1: Zachary
Always on my mind #2: Have I been a good enough mummy?

When is 'good enough' enough? Is there an end? We all know the answer and a living reply would be our own mums.

The tussle between wanting to be a SAHM to nurture and a working-mum to provide. Can these two reconcile? For most times, I think not. Most interested to hear your views on this.

Random Thoughts

Been thinking about a couple of things over the last month or so. Hadn't had time to flesh them out on the blog. But here they are so I can revisit them:

1. Sacrifices vs Work
2. The Lord's Provision
3. Am I a good enough mummy?
4. SAHMs
5. Maturing in the Lord
6. Kids with disabilities and social stigma
7. Yellow Ribbon Project
8. Marriage and weddings
9. Are we ready for no.2?

Share your thoughts if you've been pondering on these too?

10 months!

Zachary's 10 months today!

His accomplishments to-date:

1. cut 8 teeth! (no more li'l drac...it's more li'l hippo!) :-D
2. waves good-bye
3. articulates "ma ma" but still in oblivion who that refers to
4. thinks he can "catch water" with five fingers
5. spends 1 hour in the playpen (when he fancies!)
6. stands unaided for 6 seconds
7. mastered the art of melting hearts (don't they all do from Day 1?) :P
8. climbs stairs on all fours
9. knows a light from a fan

and the best-est of all
10. finally sleeps through the night!

Ten of the many reasons I love him and am so proud of him

Little Drac and others

Zach's in a teething spurt. Four incisors (top and bottom) and two front teeth! He looks like a "mini dracula" with the top ones emerging. Absolutely adorable. Needless to say, he's also more fussy and we have to keep up with cleaning his drool.

12 Korean hostages were released today. I heard it over Reuters while riding the lift up to our new office at One Raffles Quay. I think my joyful exclamation woke up a view sleepy executives. Praise God!

But, on the other hand, my heart's weighed down by my parents' safety in Myanmar. The township authorities raided the school where dad was teaching, and demanded payment for "proper registration" before any more activities can continue. They also took mugshots of them and took their particulars down.

Please pray for their safe return this Saturday.

What price, eternity?

What's the price tag for eternity? It cost someone His life so I can have it. Will it cost me that that someone else may too?

Two female Korean hostages have been released by the Taliban "as a gesture of goodwill". The footage of their emotional interview on a hospital bed touched my heart deeply. My heart skipped a beat when one of them disclosed the fact that a particular female hostage volunteered to remain behind so that the two of them can be released. She only had one request - that she may write a letter to her family c/o the two going home. Did she know what she was doing?? She obviously did. She purchased freedom with her life. There's no certainty she'll get to see her family again.

The next footage was heart wrenching. Her mother read her letter, her first and only contact with her daughter. She said it felt like she was "seeing her". Did she blame her daughter for her 'foolishness'? Did she graciously welcome the two who were sent home in exchange for her own?

I broke down when I watched the news footage weeks ago of the second victim's body being recovered from where he was shot. 11 shots. I could only see his soles. The body was wrapped. My mind knows where his soul rests, but my heart was aching for his family. Both his physical and spiritual ones. And in that moment, I experienced a new connection to the Body of Christ.

They went on a mission of mercy and love. But their reception was merciless. Like the Saviour's journey.

De-Light

How do I know Zach's settled in our new home?

1. He doesn't scrutinize the flat for 10mins whenever he comes home
2. He crawls ALL OVER the flat! And at a quick pace too!
3. He now has a favourite lamp which we all call "the light". He turns and points to it with his fist when we ask him "Where's THE LIGHT?"

And today, he got acquainted with "the fan" which he promptly points to when we ask!

Growing Joys, not Pains

Growing up with Zachary. Yes, not 'watching Zachary grow' but growing with him. It starts for parents the day we realise that WE ARE! It's easier to watch Zachary grow than grow with him. For the most part, I think he needs the growing, not me *wink* But God has taught me in so many ways, that I need Zachary as much as he needs me. And through Zachary, God has shown me His heart in a deeper way.

Growing Joys, not Pains.

How often have I complained of the frustration when he's not co-operative (too much to expect of a 9-month old huh?) and when he's not like this, nor that, .... but I have often been the same to the Father. Too much to expect of a 31-year old? :-D