2016 Epiphany, Vision and Mission

Image from NCC website

Three days into the new year and already so much has happened. 

2015 ended so well and we are still reeling from all the eating and merry-making.  Now to walk off and work out a bit to stay in shape.  Our aim is to remain healthy so we'll take it slow with our food until Chinese New Year and then really get down to better habits after that. No point to set goals which would go flying out the window when the next festivity hits us.

Today's church service was about Possessing our Possesions. Very apt for me and my family. I loved the message and found that I had similar thoughts without realising it.  Now everything ties in so beautifully.  

Last week we had written our three prayer requests and the entire church prayed together.  There's something so awesome about this. I like the idea that we are praying with and for each other. 

The last few months of 2015 turned out to be such a revelation of God's love for us.  Everything we did flowed smoothly without hitches.  Healthwise, it was also my best year since arriving to Singapore.  All the earlier quirky viruses I caught have been put to rest.  

I've taken down all the Christmas stuff except for the curtains.  No, I didn't wait for the Epiphany as I used to do.  That's what an epiphany is about, isn't it: that moment of sudden and great revelation or realization that we don't need to be bound by any tradition that doesn't suit us.  

For us, it's full steam ahead for the wedding of the year in late November.  This will keep us focussed on how we will spend this year.  

It's going to be an exciting and probably a very eventful 2016 so I remind myself to take just one day at a time.  

Thank you, Jesus, for everything.

Singapore celebrates the big 50!

Image received via whatsapp

My day started with coffee made by my husband (Hebrews: get it!).

First thing on our agenda was to attend the 8.30 am service at NCC because we enjoy everything, everytime we are there.

We were early and while waiting, Stephen turned to me and said, "It's Singapore's celebration today and I want you to know how blessed and grateful I am that you're here with me.  I appreciate everything you do for me.  I'm so glad you're my wife". 

I found it very hard to concentrate after that.  His words touched me so deeply.  I'm writing this because I want to remember this moment and some others that really makes me feel so glad to be alive.

Yesterday, I had my Long Term Visit Pass extended for another five years and just like three years ago, it was done on the eve of the National Day.

The excitement began to grow when I saw this goodie bag with some cute stuff inside.  There are dozens of designs but I love this particular one because it depicts Singapore in so many ways.  Each household gets only one and Stephen gave it to me!!!

I took this picture!

AND we had free transport to and fro this morning.  Everyone was smiling and happy.  It seemed, to me, like a rather nice way to give back to the millions of commuters.

I took this picture

Today's church service touched on the jubilee year (Leviticus 25: 8-10) which is a nice and blessed co-incidence.  One of three already but the day is still young, I expect more and maybe a miracle too!

Image received via whatsapp

The best thing for me is that I get to celebrate it with a very patriotic Singaporean. We're ready for the National Day Parade which will start at 5.45 pm.  

As I reflect on what Stephen said to me, this morning, I cannot help but feel extremely blessed today. 

These two images received via whatsapp

His opinion!

Image from WWW

"Everyone knows best" is becoming more common than "Mother knows best".  It took me a while to realise that not everyone who ventures an opinion really cares about the outcome.

While it may have taken me a longer time to leave the opinions of others behind, I've also had the benefit to gauge who really meant well for me.  

Ultimately it is God's opinion of me that changed my life.  There is nothing I can do to make Him love me more than he already does and certainly nothing I can do to make Him love me less.

That's pure love whichever way you look at it.

He will bring me through it.

I have said this to myself countless times and I have also said it to many others who needed to hear this. Whether it helped them or not, I don't really know.

However, when I say this to myself, I get a sense of comfort from the knowledge that I am not alone.  

But even if I lose sight of God's Grace for me, I'm blessed with a husband, my partner-in-Christ, who doesn't fail to remind me. 

It's always a win-win kind of situation.

Counting what counts

Image from WWW

How fast the days are going by!!!!  I have hardly been on the laptop since I opted out of Facebook.  Before it was a "must-do-first-thing-in-the-morning" so I could have my coffee and browse through all the notifications and go through the timeline.  It's almost six months since I left and it has turned out to be a blessing in disguise.  I have accomplished much more than I expected to and was out of the house less grudgingly.  

Before, leaving my online friends at home made me worry that I was neglecting them.  So silly of me to think that I should live more in the virtual world than in the real.  I look back and analyse this behaviour and see that it was related to my retirement.  The freedom to do whatever and whenever got the better of me and I found myself enjoying the virtual life.  It was fun while it lasted but now I am living in the real world.  It could be likened to taking a long vacation but now it's over and I'm back on terra firma.  

Now, I have had more time to think about me and how I spend my days.  I don't have to worry about responding to comments or seeing how people inadvertently show their true selves.  While it did take a while for me to get over some of the online toxic stuff, there is always enough goodness to replace those things.  

We are like sponges and we absorb whatever we are exposed to.  Thankfully if we listen to enough blessings and good news, the negativity can be reversed.  That's God's Grace in Action.

We can count on God.  For me that's counting on what really counts.

Image from WWW

I can...

Image from WWW

It's already the twentieth day of January and yet so much has happened but everything has worked out wonderfully.

I used to recite this bible verse, in my head, during my working days because sometimes things were so hectic that I hardly had time to breathe.  Perhaps it sounds like an exaggeration but that's how I felt too many times.  

I thought that when I retired I would find myself bored to tears after six months.  Maybe this is because many people suggested that I would not be able to do nothing after having worked for so many years. Some even suggested that it was a dangerous thing to retire so early.  "Be careful" was what I heard.  I know they all meant well but thankfully, I didn't allow those negative vibes to get to me.

The truth, for me, is that I really can do anything as long as I keep my focus on Jesus.  I don't need to be time-conscious, health-conscious etc as long as I am Christ-conscious.  

In the nearly three years since I retired, I have done a lot, both inside and outside the home.  What matters is that, at the end of the day, I feel a sense of satisfaction with all that I have done.

I am going to face the remaining days of 2015 with this same thought that I really can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

Countdown: 11 days to Christmas

Image from Pinterest

It's just two Sundays before Christmas and I'm looking back over my own spiritual growth this year. The one thing that I shall remember most is making Christ the centre of my life.  

Stephen, in his own way, has found all the ways and means to deepen his faith.  There isn't a day that goes by without us talking about God.  It's the glue that holds us together.

Dear God

image picked from FB

I hardly ever feel down these days.  Maybe I've already used up my quota of feeling lousy.  Now isn't that a nice thought!

I did have days when I really felt so awful that I didn't know what to do or how to carry on.  Yet, as I was living those difficult days, I didn't stop hoping that one day I'd move pass it all.

And here I am!  Passed all those dark times and always feeling on top of the world.  It helps to have a mate who provides a place of peace and love.

Our new craze is cycling and it has provided us with a new avenue to channel our energies out in the open space.  It is like food for the soul and we're not even looking at the benefits yet!

image picked from FB

I started with 6 km.  Then improved by doing 8 km then 10 km and yesterday we managed 12 km.  Of course, Stephen is able to do 20 km or more, without me.  But he's slowing down so I can build up my stamina.  

Somewhere in the bible (1 Cor 13:4), it says, "Love is patient, love is kind".  It's true.  

Always mindful that Jesus is the centre of our lives!