Counting Down Towards the Cross of Christ: An Advent

I just did a google on the date that Good Friday is scheduled for, and realized that it is 2nd April 2010. Hmmm....I never knew that. Though the date is arbitrary [in a way], it serves as a gauge for my countdown towards the Cross. For this advent, apart from leading Sarah and Samuel towards the cross of Christ, would be for me to understand for myself why Jesus became flesh and died for us. I am excited to have found a resource that I would use as my reading for the month of March - 50 Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die by John Piper. May I encourage you to read this along with me, read 2 reasons a day [one for morning and one for  night] and may you know for yourself Why Jesus Came to Die and come to cherish the Old Rugged Cross and trust in the Christ of the Cross.

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/OnlineBooks/ByTitle/2289_Fifty_Reasons_Why_Jesus_Came_to_Die/ 

Homemade Playdough

Homemade stuff is really great because a mother decides what goes into it and we can make it free of harmful additives. Not to forget, it is easier on the pocket in the long run. This week, I finally attempted to make playdough for the kids. Inspired by my mother-in-law's successful attempt and how simple it was to make it, I finally tried it out for my own. It turned out great:)

With all the measuring and stirring, it is a half an hour job or faster. In a cooking pot, put the following:

1. 1 cup flour
2. 1 cup water
3. 1 tbsp cooking oil [I used my expired organic olive oil]
4. 1 tbsp cream of tartar
5. 1/2 cup salt

Stir all the ingredients well into a paste and place pot over small heat. Stir continuously till it becames a rather stiff paste [this can give a pretty good arm workout]. The key in having a good consistency is allowing the paste to cool before adding the food coloring. When cooled, take it and press it into a smooth dough. Add in food coloring as desired and presto! your very own playdough. Remember, add 3-4 drops of coloring would suffice because the color sets in over time. Extra tip: Put them in transparent containers and you will always know what color it is. So good, you can even eat it on its own:)

Grace Upon Grace

"And from His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace". John 1:16 [ESV]

These words from the Book of John are so beautiful to read, to ponder and just to meditate ...and so living and real. It is from the fullness of God's wisdom, love, power, holiness and excellence that we have received much as children of God.  And if we stop and pause to think, we would see that everyone of our lives as children of God is a testimony of God's grace upon grace upon grace upon grace.... that is the blessed hope for us:) 

What grace is mine that He who dwells in endless light
Called through the night to find my distant soul

And from his scars poured mercy that would plead for me

That I might live and in his name be known

So I will go wherever He is calling me

I lose my life to find my life in Him

I give my all to gain the hope that never dies

I bow my heart, take up my cross and follow Him

What grace is mine to know His breath alive in me

Beneath his wings my wakened soul may soar

All fear can flee for death's dark night is overcome

My Saviour lives and reigns forevermore

The Reason for Christmas is Only Beginning to Unfold

A thought has been on my mind these couple of weeks - Christ's death on the cross. I thank God for much opportunities to study the book of John in BSF as well as in Sunday School. Even so, I feel that there so much that I am only beginning to realize for the very first time. "The Word was God, the Word was with God, the Word was made flesh". Powerful and profound doctrines in just that verse alone. I pray God would make these truths a living reality in my life - a reality that will cause me to rejoice and praise Him in abandonment of men's approval all the days of my life. 

Sadly, in my religious past, the remembrance of Christ's death on the cross is often passed over, or it receives very little priority in the yearly schedule, minus a song or two. A pity and a real shame. I think as hard as I might to excuse this neglect, but to be honest, I can find no reasonable excuse for this tardiness. Perhaps, the only reasonable explanation is an incomplete understanding of the true message of the gospel. This neglect could be further compounded with the extensive period of celebration for the Chinese New Year and the ever important tests and examination stress that Singaporean students go through during that part of the year. But, if only we all understood the full message of the gospel of Christ , then we would understand how little value are the things we value about. I hope to demolish this tardiness and rebuild this emphasis in my children through a purposeful advent of Christ's death. Sarah and Samuel WILL know the importance of Christ and His Cross. And I pray that God would draw them to Himself through the knowledge given to them. 

To you my dear readers, what does Good Friday mean to you?

• A public holiday?
• Another occasion for more drinking, more merrying and more laughter?
• A resuscitation from the celebrations of Chinese New Year?
• Another day of recreation?
• Another breather from work?
• A day to catch up on homework undone?

Oh, let us not forget Good Friday, because that is the reason for Christmas. Let us not forget Christ's death on the Cross, because that is the reason why He was made flesh and came to dwell amongst men. 

Alas! and did my Savior bleed
And did my Sovereign die?
Would He devote that sacred head
For sinners such as I?
Refrain
At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light,
And the burden of my heart rolled away,
It was there by faith I received my sight,
And now I am happy all the day!

Thy body slain, sweet Jesus, Thine—
And bathed in its own blood—
While the firm mark of wrath divine,
His Soul in anguish stood.

Was it for crimes that I had done
He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! grace unknown!
And love beyond degree!

Well might the sun in darkness hide
And shut his glories in,
When Christ, the mighty Maker died,
For man the creature’s sin.

Thus might I hide my blushing face
While His dear cross appears,
Dissolve my heart in thankfulness,
And melt my eyes to tears.

But drops of grief can ne’er repay
The debt of love I owe:
Here, Lord, I give my self away
’Tis all that I can do.

Words: Isaac Watts (1707)

It's never too late nor too early to remember and 
ponder Christ's death on the cross for us.

I am Here!

My little nephew, Josiah and Sarah and Samuel's new playmate is finally out after a wonderfully smooth delivery. Praise God for His protection and grace and we marvel at the work of the Lord:)

Lessons Learnt from the Lime Plant

[can you spot our fat green caterpillar?] I think this is the 5th we have seen

A rather strange post in the middle of CNY. But our routine for this Chinese New Year which we have chosen to make it as close to "normalcy" as possible has enabled me to post those entries that I have always wanted to post. First of such, is the lessons learnt from the lime plant. Daniel bought this lime plant at the end of last year. His plan was to create a corridor where the children could observe creation and it's natural cycle. And I have to say that the $15 spent was worth every cent and infinitely more. 

It never fails to amaze me how much one can learn [old or young] just by observing and questioning the things around us. And it never fails to amaze me how much of true learning happens along-the-way and that such facts remains in our recesses for life as compared to the many facts which we have memorized through rote learning and find much pains to recall, especially when there is no need for such facts. I was secretly pleased during one of Sarah's night routine. As usual, she would line her stuff toys and my pillows and bolster around her to create a little house. That night, she created a little garden. And she was happily talking to her toys and I heard her saying, "This is my garden...Butterflies lay eggs." It was a pretty simple sentence but I was floored by the ease with which she said it. We have never made her memorized facts about butterflies. But as she observed her lime plant, and noticed black little round things on the leaves of the lime plant, she asked Daddy what it was. It was a simple answer to her question that lodged in her mind and it became a learning point that was never labored upon. Learning about butterflies for Sarah was so easy and comfortable. As the eggs grew into caterpillars, Sarah would go out to the garden everyday and see the caterpillar grow as it chomps on the leaves. She was amazed at how fast and fat it grew. But Sarah also saw many caterpillars come and go. Some were destroyed, others whose fate we never knew. 

All I can say is that it is truly an amazing plant which yields amazing caterpillars and teaches amazing lessons.  Well, the learning was not reserved for her alone, but Daddy, Mommy all learnt something new about butterflies.

Some facts about lime butterflies and lime plant we learnt from observation:

1. They can smell a lime plant from faraway. Our plant on the 16th floor attracts butterflies from the greens downstairs.
2. Butterflies lay eggs.
3. Eggs grow into caterpillars.
4. Caterpillars really eat a lot of leaves.
5. New leaves sprout out quickly from the lime plant.
6. Most caterpillars never make it to butterflies.
7. Caterpillars are often eaten by passing birds. How the birds spot them, I do not know.
8. Some caterpillars are caught by wasps because wasp need caterpillar's body to lay eggs in. [this was a lesson culled from the boat too]. 
9. Caterpillars turn into butterflies [but we observe that this is a rarity rather than a norm because most caterpillars do not survive the attacks from their predators]

Our latest fat, green caterpillar [Pika, named by Sarah] disappeared again much to our disappointment. We are resolved to helping it morph into a butterfly the next time we spot new caterpillars. Guess what? This morning, Sarah shouted, "Caterpillar!" As we peered at what she was pointing at, we all rejoiced to find a new brown caterpillar on the leaf. New life - New Hope. 

The Beauty of God's Creation!

We Are Ready for our HongBaos

The Week

It was a week to tie up the final clean up of our house. Clearing old furniture and making way for the new. I always like design - art, paper, colors and house, so...even with all the moving and clearing, it was enjoyable but exhausting. We created more corners and nooks for reading and fellowship. We have a wonderful corner in our bedroom, with our wing chair [a deal that I bought from craiglist], our big bookcase, a sheepskin and a lamp. Our dining room has finally regained its glory after standing in as a makeshift storeroom. And our balcony has gotten a new facelift with new tables, seats and I think we are going to add in some bamboo plants just to complete the look. So, with the many areas in our house for sitting, reading and sipping tea, we are ready to open the doors of our humble house not just to our Chinese New Year visitors, but to wonderful time of fellowship over God's word and organic tea:) and biscuits. I am really looking forward to that. It has been a week of blessings.

Tues & Thurs - Teaching this series in school of Tots has again taught me much and I will share this in a later entry. This week, I taught about the water. We dabbled with objects that floated and sinked, we looked at the uses of water and how it is so important to life. We had fun with water - ice cubes and blue berries, bubbles, ice lollies and swimming pool:) And I am glad that the tots could hide God's word in their hearts and thank Him for making water.

Wed - BSF has commenced again. And this time, our group members [CC and I are in the same group] are all young mothers or wives just like us. And they are a nice lot. I look forward again to lying down on the green pastures and sitting beside the still waters. 

Fri - Audrey and Hian Leng popped by for a visit. They are god-given friends who delight to spend time together with us, discussing about God, the Bible and His work. We praise and thank God that He is at work, awakening souls to question the fallacies and trappings of man-made traditions, moralism and legalism and pointing them towards the truth of His word.

Sat - The most exciting event of the week for the kids has got to be Darrell's birthday. Little Sarah told her ballet teacher about the party and was greeted by a puzzled stare. Well...the kids were excited anyway. So here we are at our usual Sat breakfast hangout, Sarah sticking stickers onto the homemade card and Samuel coloring it. 

The prata man right inside our house. And it was good!

Sun - Daddy's 66th Birthday cum Family Reunion

This probably kick started the eating festivity for the CNY. I was glad for the dinner at home. It has been 2 years since my mother whipped up a storm. 2008 being my illness and 2009 being my daddy's. For both years running, my family celebrated reunion dinner at the hospital. As my daddy prayed before our reunion dinner, I could hear the overwhelming gratitude in his heart as he thanked God for health of his children and his grandchildren. And I am filled with gratitude too...

How to Do

Mandarin Orange Popsicles
As we learnt about "God making Water" for the week, there was lots to introduce to the tots. Here is our snack time, when water turns fun and yummy.

A great idea for those leftover mandarin oranges.

• Blend your oranges in a blender
• Strain the pulp and seeds away, leaving only the juice. Don't add water or sugar. Keep it as natural as possible.
• Pour juice into the popsicles [Daiso again!] and freeze.
• There you have it, Mandarin Orange Popsicles!
• Absolutely yummy on a Sunny day. 

The homogenous viscosity of the orange juice, with no added water, seems to make it a great lolly that doesn't break up easily. 

Our tots eagerly anticipating their icy treat

Homemade Bubble Solution

A recipe that I improvised from the net. This is no rocket science. But safe enough for our curious tots who are always tempted to eat up those delicious looking bubbles. Samuel eventually did.

• Vegetable liquid cleanser
• Water
• 2 teaspoon of sugar

Make bubble wands from pipe cleaners. We wound up the tip and make a little circle. They were great and we managed some huge bubbles with this concoction. 

Dear Little J-----

To my little 9 month old [in the womb] nephew. Auntie Joann just want to tell you that she can't wait for you to pop out of your mommy's big tummy. I think you are going to be a real cute fella...it's the gut feeling kinda thing. Just to prepare you a little...or maybe you have already heard us as we play and eat at the dinner table...You have 2 rather loud cousins, Sarah and Samuel. They are messy, rowdy and loud. But they have hearts of gold and I think they can't wait to play with you. Samuel can't wait to have a guy around, lest he thinks his world is only made up of dolls, tutus and pink stuff. You would do him some good. You hang in there...but not too long. When you are ready to come out, just give your mommy a good kick, so we can all get frantic and make our way to the hospital together. 

We love you little J-----!

Another Week - more thoughts

1 Feb - We are one month into the new year and I have to say, I am still sorting things out in my life. In reality, this week was actually a very busy but happy one for many reasons. Firstly, is the consideration of my physical well being. The reality of my health is that with age and my condition, I would need to be active in my exercise [in particular, resistance exercises] and very careful in my food. I am thankful that Daniel took the lead and prodded me along this path. So the first step, was to reduce the carbo and fat in my diet. That means, loading and filling myself with vegetables. That wasn't too difficult, but it is clearly a demolishing of the adage teachings I was brought up with - "finish everything on your plate". Hahaha...I can't believe how much of this teaching I really held on to. I.e - Leaving food on the plate is wasting food and wasting food is ungratefulness, consider the people in Africa. Sounds familiar? I think I literally ate everything on my plate...all the time, thinking that this is the right thing to do. Don't get me wrong, all food is good as Christ as said in the Bible. But instead of letting the food laid on the plate dictate us, we can make simple decisions to choose our food and discipline our bodies such that food, or anything else does not control us. Secondly, was to slowly incorporate a consistent exercise regime, and one that includes weights training. Resistance training is particular important for me in order to build my muscles and ensure that my bones stay healthy and that they do not deteriorate as fast. Darrell and Dr Chua turned my fitness instructors for a day as they showed me the ropes around the gym. It was fun until 2 days later when the aches started to set in. Hahah...

Of course, did I mention that we also undertook a major cleanout in our house - disposing the unwanted and organizing the rest of the house. The event that kicked off our renovation was not the approaching CNY but the purchase of a king size bed to accommodate our Goldilocks. Well, you see, every night, Sarah would wake up in the middle of the night, eyes closed and arms outstretched and ask to come onto our bed. So, 3 of us would be squashed up in bed and at strange angles, often waking up to aches and pains in the morning. So we had to clear our old bed, move our furniture to fit the new bed into the room and lay our new sheets and start our new night regime. Now, Samuel and Sarah rolls around on our bed till exhaustion. And exhaustion, I mean Daniel and my exhaustion:)

So for all the activity of the week, I am glad the days went on as they should:)

Mon - Little Sarah turns 2 years and 9 months. We remembered to celebrate Sarah's birthday this month, after missing it during the festive months of Nov and Dec. Little Sarah is indeed becoming a big girl. She decides when she wants to be a big girl and when she wants to be a small girl. She becomes a big girl when she wants to sit on a chair and not in her high chair. She becomes a big girl when she wants to play with her scissors. She becomes a big girl when she wants to take care of her little brother. She becomes a little girl when she wants mommy to carry her. She becomes a little girl when she is not well. She becomes a little girl when she becomes upset. As Sarah grows, mommy has had her fair share of struggles, frustrations, joys and delights with Sarah. Mommy is still learning everyday...how to love and care and train the growing Sarah in a way that pleases God.  Big girl or little girl....we love you very much Sarah. 

Mon - An Apple a Day...I tried my best to continue with the Apples theme this week. This time, was the introduction of colors and categorization. She is still confused about the names of the colors but she can categorize them with much ease. 

Daddy managed to buy a whole range of apples from GIANT

Sarah learning the parts of the apple and cutting it herself.

Our little Samuel, enjoying the fruits of Sarah's labour.

Tues - Evening at the Beach

We like to go off to the beach when Daddy comes home from work. 

=

Sarah not looking at the camera and Samuel with sand in his eyes:)

Tues and Thurs - School of Tots.
Yay! We made it through another week of School of Tots. And it has been a great time of learning. This week, they learn about the Sky.

Sarah, obviously enjoying her time in class.

Sun Evening - Sent Rachel off at the airport as she flies off to UK for her attachment. Dear Rachel, may the Lord grant you enlightenment and wisdom to see and taste the true joy of the Lord. If things work out and I am brave enough, I will be seeing you in April. And yes, with the kiddos too:)