God Chooses to Give Life

I waited patiently for the Lord;

he inclined to me and heard my cry.
He drew me up from the pit of destruction,
out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,

making my steps secure.
He put a new song in my mouth,

a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,

and put their trust in the Lord.

Blessed is the man who make

the Lord his trust,
who does not turn to the proud,

to those who go astray after a lie!
You have multiplied, O Lord my God,

your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;
none can compare with you!

I will proclaim and tell of them,

yet they are more than can be told.

In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted,

but you have given me an open ear. [1]
Burnt offering and sin offering

you have not required.
Then I said, “Behold, I have come;

in the scroll of the book it is written of me:
I delight to do your will, O my God;

your law is within my heart.”

I have told the glad news of deliverance 

in the great congregation;
behold, I have not restrained my lips,
as you know, O Lord.
I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart;
I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness
from the great congregation.

As for you, O Lord, you will not restrain
your mercy from me;
your steadfast love and your faithfulness will
ever preserve me!
For evils have encompassed me
beyond number;
my iniquities have overtaken me,
and I cannot see;
they are more than the hairs of my head;
my heart fails me.

Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me!
O Lord, make haste to help me!
Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether
who seek to snatch away my life;
let those be turned back and brought to dishonor
who delight in my hurt!
Let those be appalled because of their shame
who say to me, “Aha, Aha!”

But may all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who love your salvation
say continually, “Great is the Lord!”
As for me, I am poor and needy,
but the Lord takes thought for me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
do not delay, O my God!

Thank you God...

Christ our Only Hope

This past week - I have gone for my three monthly blood test and physical examination and I am very grateful for the results - CA125 6.3. Daniel has received the Part A of his examination results and he has passed. In the midst of so much going on, and even when we have paid due diligence in my physical exercise, my diet and his studying, we are acutely acutely aware that all this is not of ourselves but by the grace of God. 

Yesterday in church, I was blessed by the simplicity of coming together to worship God - in songs of adoration, in the feeding of God's word and in our prayers together as a people. Our church is less than perfect but I have in the past couple years been at peace in coming together in a midst of a people who speaks without presumption, without bragging, without taunting, without comparison, without antagonizing  - but who have in speech and demeanor ministered to me in their simple, quiet ways.  There are much religious strongholds accumulated from the past to demolish but we trust that God will do his work of blossoming His fruit through the faithful and accurate teaching of His word. 

Perhaps one thing that binds our church together is the presence of much illnesses within our midst. The consistent reminder that life is mortal as a result of the sin-cursed world we live in is very real and very sobering. Since two church camps ago, we have come to the 'alarming' realization, that God meant for suffering and affliction for the good of His own. That is God's way of removing our dependence upon ourselves and allowing us to seek and see His face. Sure, we have been given all spiritual blessings from above [Ephesians] but suffering and affliction is a blessing when we see where God is leading us eventually - towards the likeness of Christ and Himself. It's a tough truth to swallow especially since we have been taught that blessings are a measurement of our obedience to Christ. But strange that we have never once considered that Christ who was perfectly obedient to God, even to the death of the cross - was given a humble title of a man of sorrow and suffering.

Our church unites in thanksgiving and in these times, prayers for our brother in Christ and his family as they go through one of the most difficult times of their lives. Sometimes, I really wish [being disney indoctrinated] that it will all go away and we all live happily ever after. But sadly no, God wants us to know that All things work together for good to those who love Him and God wants us to cast all our hopes on Christ, our only Hope. Help us God...

He's Got the Whole World in his Hands

This kids have been bugging me to start lapbook time but I still need more time to sort things out, the reno, their meals, and preparation for their education. Well, in the meantime, they have been playing with their world map. This is my Christmas present to my kids and partly for myself:) I realize how deficient I was in my understanding of the world around me - Geographically, economically, socially etc. This deficiency has made me myopic in my understanding of God and how He has worked in our world and continues to work in our world. So as part of the reformation of my mind and the training of my kids, I went on a search for a big visual world map to put in their nursery. I stumbled up this felt map from Geosafari. I thought it was great for the kids to have one which they can place felt pieces on. 

We have started learning continents.  The felt pieces are well organized: the names of continents are color coded in brown, countries in yellow. The kids enjoyed it very much...but I think we still need many sessions for them to really remember. For one, they do not know the difference between continents and countries:). 

We consciously allude back to the continents whenever countries crop up in our conversations as well as watching the news. Asia is very relevant for them as we talked about Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam etc. It will still take a while but we are all learning much, and that includes me:)

Finally Seriously Cooking

It took a long time but...nevertheless it happened - I am seriously cooking. And I realize that it's massive - not just the cooking part. But in organizing the kitchen, having the necessary utensils, separating the crockery for handling of raw food from cooked food, buying glass containers which are not harmful for storage, reading and understanding the basics of how spices work and slowly stocking up my pantry making it ready for whipping a quick meal and recording down the recipes onto stock cards so that I can free my mental ram from a mental clog. So this is my next project and as Dan advised me wisely- Not just learn how to cook surefire recipes but to understand and master the basics of cooking and thus develop for myself, the art of cooking. And in doing so, to enjoy the full liberties of creativity and bringing joy to my 'gobblers'.

So in the midst of hitting the books and experimenting, these are some surefire meals:) Still waiting for my oven to be installed. So in the meantime, it's crockpot and stove cooked food. 

Chicken Kway Teow Soup

Kiddo's Version: Chicken Kway Teow Soup

Teochew Porridge and Sweet Potato

 Steam Chicken, Steam Salmon, Kailan, Cabbage, 

Egg and Pork Omelette and Fishcake and Cheese Toufou. 

Spaghetti with Salmon

Poached egg and Cheese

Cauliflower Puree Soup

Fish Congee with Wolf Berries 

Organic Soba tossed in Organic Tahini and Miso

 Pan Fried Salmon

 Cauliflower Puree Soup

Precious Moments

It is still tiring around here as we are in the midst of cleaning reno dust and settling in...but there are those moments which assures us that it is all worth it.

A typical evening - I would prepare dinner about 6 and get everything ready in an hour's time. Then we would head out for our evening exercise. I would jog around the neighbourhood. The kids would play around with their bikes or run around and Dan will bring the kids out to their favorite playground just behind our place. They never get tired of going up and down the slopes of this playground. When we are all exercised and the sun has truly set, we would head home for our dinner. 

[had no idea that Dan caught a pic of me jogging in the distance:)]

Kids running around driveway

Heading home for dinner

Check This Out - WaterProof Bible ESV

Pardon my unusually trivial post. Just a year ago I was just wondering when will they produce waterproof bibles and my search last year only yielded KJV...now they have it in ESV. Haha...its really quite cool. I can't believe that it floats!! Well, at the moment, I can imagine that they are Sarah and Sammy proof. Very useful for mommies with active kids and mommies who have their hands wet most of the time from washing, cooking or cleaning up after the kids. I must say, it makes a good present and I would love to receive one too:)

Check out the people and their story behind the business of making waterproof bibles. 

http://www.bardinmarsee.com/

disclaimer: I'm not getting advertising fees for this but it will be cool to know that you got your waterproof bible from this post:)

Their Nightly Pilgrimage

Lovely white beds, newly upholstered tiny sofa and armchair, and a shelf of books, toys and a picture of Postman Pat adorns the room of Sarah and Samuel. Haha...but it seems that nothing would prevent them from their nightly pilgrimage to Dan and my room. I laugh at it now...but I admit, initially I was determine to put them back into their room. I would pat them endlessly and tuck them in. But to no avail.

So these days, I just let it happen. And I find them so amusing and cute. Sarah would always make the pilgrimage first at about 1 or 2 am. She would stare into my face with tears in her eyes. I will scoop her up and place her in the middle of the bed. Then Little Sammy would come in about 5 am. The first time he did was very hilariously cute. I felt a slight weight at my foot and opened my tired eyes to see his favorite bolster and pillow [the very smelly one] at the foot of my bed. But when he is not in sight, I jumped up quickly, fearing that he had ventured to other parts of the house without my knowing. But then, I would hear the pattering of his feet. Sammy would go in and out of his room and enter my room to unload his 3 bolsters, 2 pillows, 1 puppy beanie, 1 Bob the Builder and his blanket onto our beds. Yup, he is a boy with many security blankets. His would make 4 trips to bring in his belongings before trying to haul his tiny body up into our king size bed. Then, he would just place himself between me and Sarah and close his eyes. Yup, so these are my nights and these are their nightly pilgrimages. 

Thankfully, they still enjoy their naps in their room:)

Norman Rockwell with Sarah and Samuel

Learning has been pretty informal with the kids. But perhaps, they learn best this way. For the best few nights, Dan and I talked about pictures at different sittings from our humongous Norman Rockwell Book with the kids. I love the narrative scenes of Norman Rockwell, an American Illustrator. I was exposed Rockwell's work in my late teens when I picked up a mini book from a book sale. Well, my sister knew I liked Norman Rockwell. And she managed to snag me a huge Norman Rockwell Book for 99cts. If you see how huge the book is, you will be amazed too. Since then, I have introduced Norman Rockwell to my students whenever I could.

But looking through Norman Rockwell with Sarah and Samuel brought many pleasant surprises. Firstly, it really trains and hones the kids observation skills and it also their challenges and expand their mental capacity. Its just the nature of Norman Rockwell work because each of his picture really paints a thousand words. It also encourages them to question things they see portrayed in the pictures.

And above all, I hope for my children to develop a taste for things which are good and beautiful. 

After asking Sarah some simple observational questions, I thought I test her on her logical skills.

A: Do you think the men took a long time trying to move the dog out of the way?

Q: Yes...

A: Why do you say so?

Q: Because there are alot of people...waiting

A: You are right. It probably took a while for the people to gather around to see what was the commotion about. 

With that, I happily closed the book:)

Fulfilling my Childhood Ambition: Interior Designing

Doing up our new place allowed me to fulfill my childhood ambition of being an interior designer. Haha...Apart from my other childhood ambition of being a broadcast journalist:) It was tiring and mind taxing but it seeing how it all came together - is really very satisfying for me. 

To be honest, our new house is hardly filled with new furniture, much to the disapproval of the older folks. It is filled with rag and bone stuff [of course specially selected] and refurbished items. For the past few months, I would sketch my impressions and scoured craigslist, and other local sites hoping to find the furniture that would best fit my idea of a home I would love to live in. I have to admit, it was time consuming but I realize that I really enjoyed doing stuff like this.

I got my inspiration from http://www.houseofturquoise.com/. That coupled with my inclination towards clean scandinavian design and retro furniture basically summed up my design direction. And a philosophy of design I adopted was, Do not be afraid to break rules. Furniture don't necessarily have to match, neither fabric, neither era. But in its eclectic-ness, to maintain a subtle form of symmetry. 

Here are some of my furniture finds, before and after refurbishment.

My major sofa piece. I like white french furniture but really didn't intend to buy one for the house until I saw a posting of a lady giving away an old antique piece for free. Before I could agree to take it, I had to make sure I found a good upholsterer to do it. It was an hour of intense googling and calling and connecting before I took the free sofa. 

Before: Free Antique Sofa

After: My White French Antique Sofa

My upholsterer [I would highly recommend Kailun from In-Expat] did everything according to instructions. I had the material redone in off-white suede, cushions were replaced and the wood was sanded downed, primed and repainted in stark white. The cushions were bought from Spotlight during their sale. 

This white sofa is flanked by two wing chairs - one in off white and the other in turquoise. This spanking new white wingchair was bought from someone off gumtree. 

The other wingchair which flanks the right of the sofa is my next refurbished project. A couple of years back, I had bought a chequered wingchair from a lady who had the chair custom made in Hong Kong. But after having it for 8 years, she decided not to take it home with her. Took a bit of bargaining and bought her well made wing chair for $80. It was only in the last month of before I shifted that I thought, why not have it reupholstered and pair it up with the white wingchair. So, I went for my favorite decor color - turquoise.

Before: Chequered Wing Chair

This is not the actual wingchair but the closest I can find as I didn't snap a pic of my old one. 

After: Turquoise with White Piping Wing Chair

Before: Brown Ottomans from Barang Barang

I had these ottomans for the longest time and they were certainly well used. Since Sammy was around, the ottomans had also suffered some attacks as he poked pens into it. It was indeed time for some refurbishment. 

After: Ottomans with White and Turquoise Piping

I have to admit, I tossed to and fro about the color of these ottomans - wondering if the colors would create a willy wonker house. Haha...but they turned out very unobtrusive to my relief and the latest update is: they have become Sarah and Samuel's temporary trampoline, sigh...

Before: Retro PVC chairs

There is a story behind my dining chairs. It all started as I was parking my car along the lanes of Joo Chiat during BSF. These chairs caught my eye as I crossed the streets. I liked them very much tho they really looked old and dirty. So I approached the uncle who owned these chairs. It was apparently a renovation company and these chairs were placed outside for them to take a breather and relax. Initially, they were puzzled why I would be interested in the chairs and they refused to sell them to me. Well. I left my number just in case they would change their mind and they did. I bought 4 of these chairs for $80. 

After: White refurbished retro chairs

For these chairs, I engaged Gharlib to restore these chairs to its former beauty. I chose white PVC and had him sand down the revarnish the wood. I like them very much. The other [thonet looking] chairs behind as seen in the photo was a retro set [dining table and 4 chairs] that I bought off someone from the internet. 

That's Sarah and Sammy having breakfast in our retro dining area:) I am still thinking that my bare turquoise walls badly needs a masterpiece or two. 

Other Finds: Side Table

This unique pair of side tables that I bought for $50 off craigslist. The family from Israel had it custom made in the Philippines. It fitted in the living room perfectly as I decided not to have coffee tables. 

Antique Roll Top Writing Desk from Hock Siong

Believe it or not, this was my birthday present to Daniel. A writing desk that has many compartments so that it can store many of his stationery and books and still look neat after use, thanks to its roll top. I got this from Hock Siong - a garang guni store made good. Hock Siong buys furniture by bulk from hotels which are refurbishing and resells to people like me:)

Armchairs from Rtiz Carlton Suites

Chiao Chyi alerted me to this batch of hotel furniture from Hock Siong. Haha...it seems like I never get enough of armchairs. But I think chairs are great - for reading and talking over a nice hot cup of tea.

A close up of this corner also reveals an old colonial side table. I got two of these from a man who had colonial furniture inherited from his parents. But I was thrilled that he sold these tables at $60 for both. A real good deal for a piece of history.

Our last item that sealed our two living rooms were the turquoise curtains that lined our entire house. I like them very much and was glad that the shop we went to had the color. 

Ok...that's our house tour for now. There's still our kids' room and our other rooms. But that's other posting at a much later time. 

Yup...We Have Moved.

Pardon my non existence since the start of the 2011. We have moved and no I don't mean I got myself a new blog. But yup...our Big Move took place just before CNY. Our move was really a feat I must say. FEAT because we had so much furniture that we couldn't load it all up into a 24 foot truck [haha...the furniture was my doing but the 20 over boxes of books were entirely Dan's doing] and we needed the truck the come back on another day. FEAT because we were moving into an unfinished house that is filled with renovation debris. Amazing and crazy all at the same time. But we are very thankful to God for allowing this entire endeavor to come to pass. 

Today is Monday 7th Feb. About 98% of our boxes are unpacked - we have to thank Rubi for slogging it out with Dan and I. And our families for babysitting our ever active Sarah and Sammy. I have just cooked a simple lunch [of noodle soup] for the kids and I. Now, as they sleep, I am sitting in my new room, overlooking the balcony with my powerful internet connection and I am blogging. I think it is amazing...haha. We are thankful.