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"Good morning, my love :x Still remember this exciting day 13 years ago? The day when you officially belong to me :D The day when you looked the most beautiful and became the center of attraction. The day we counted ang-pow until our hands went wobbly. Thank God that He gave me my heart's desire and grace for the past 13 years. May He give us more grace and may our love grow from strength to strength. Finally, if given the chance to choose all over, I will still say "I do!" Reading MM Lee's interview, reminded us to be grateful for each other. May we continue to love Jesus and each other until He comes again. Maranatha!"

Received this SMS when I was in the office... Thank you, Philip, for your lovely short message~ Yes, may we continue to love our Lord, the Saviour of our souls and each other until He comes again for us. Maran-atha!!

I find it significant that on the eve of our 13th WA, Sunday Times published an interview of our Minister Mentor Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, by Seth Mydans of The New York Times. You can read it in the New York Times’ Saturday Profile. In the interview, MM Lee spoke of his wife, Kwa Geok Choo, 89...

“I’m reaching 87, trying to keep fit, presenting a vigorous figure, and it’s an effort, and is it worth the effort?” he said. “I laugh at myself trying to keep a bold front. It’s become my habit. I just carry on.”

His most difficult moments come at the end of each day, he said, as he sits by the bedside of his wife, Kwa Geok Choo, 89, who has been unable to move or speak for more than two years. She had been by his side, a confidante and counselor, since they were law students in London.

“She understands when I talk to her, which I do every night,” he said. “She keeps awake for me; I tell her about my day’s work, read her favorite poems.” He opened a big spreadsheet to show his reading list, books by Jane Austen, Rudyard Kipling and Lewis Carroll as well as the sonnets of Shakespeare.

Lately, he said, he had been looking at Christian marriage vows and was drawn to the words: “To love, to hold and to cherish, in sickness and in health, for better or for worse till death do us part.”

“I told her, ‘I would try and keep you company for as long as I can.’ That’s life. She understood.” But he also said: “I’m not sure who’s going first, whether she or me.”

I fight back my tears reading this... the stress of his wife’s illness is constant and harder on him than stresses he faced for years in the political arena, my heart went out to our dear MM Lee. It is really hard when someone so dear to you is fighting to live on. I wonder if I ever could take it if Philip were to leave this world before I do... I used to tell him that he is not allow to go before me!

MM Lee was drawn to the words of the Christian marriage vows lately, I have plans to review the marriage vows on our WA as a yearly practice, on top of the celebration. :)

I, Lydia,

take you Philip,

to be my wedded husband,

to have and to hold from this day forward,

for better for worse,

for richer for poorer,

in sickness and in health,

to love and to cherish,

'til death do us part:

according to God's holy ordinance,

and thereto I pledge you my love and faithfulness.

Lydia ♥ Philip

"Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate." - Matthew 19:6

Dear Philip, I think of us growing old gracefully together and enjoy watching our children graduate from school; start working; get married and bringing forth godly offspring. I think of us being rapture together, haha! A cord of three strands is not quickly broken, God has united us together in a covenant relationship with Him as one, how wonderful this is! With God in our marriage, we would be fine. Let nothing separates us, not health or sickness, wealth or poverty, better or worst, and hey, not even death if Rapture comes first~ Maranatha! Maran-atha!!

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"Maranatha" is an Aramaic phrase which means "O Lord, come!" It is a prayer for the early return of Jesus Christ. If divided differently as in "Maran-atha", it becomes a declaration: "Our Lord has come!"

As these phrases may have been used as a greeting between Early Christians, Pastor taught us to greet each other too using them. So, when one greets "Maranatha"(O Lord, come!), the other replies with "Maran-atha"(Our Lord has come!). I SO love this greeting! To me, it is a great reminder of the Imminent Return of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Saviour! :)

Interestingly, this Aramaic phrase is being mentioned by MM Lee and more on the fleeting of life... :

“I try to busy myself,” he said, “but from time to time in idle moments, my mind goes back to the happy days we were up and about together.” Agnostic and pragmatic in his approach to life, he spoke with something like envy of people who find strength and solace in religion. “How do I comfort myself?” he asked. “Well, I say, ‘Life is just like that.’ ”

“What is next, I do not know,” he said. “Nobody has ever come back.”

But in these final years, he said, his life has been darkened by the illness of his wife and companion of 61 years, bedridden and mute after a series of strokes.

At night, hearing the sounds of his wife’s discomfort in the next room, he said, he calms himself with 20 minutes of meditation, reciting a mantra he was taught by a Christian friend: “Ma-Ra-Na-Tha.”

The phrase, which is Aramaic, comes at the end of St. Paul’s First Epistle to the Corinthians, and can be translated in several ways. Mr. Lee said that he was told it means “Come to me, O Lord Jesus,” and that although he is not a believer, he finds the sounds soothing.

Oh, how I pray that it is more than just meditation, but a sincere cry out to Jesus Christ, God's Only Son; Who was and is and is to come!

Jesus came 2000 years ago. He took the punishment of our sins upon Himself and paid the price by dying on the cross. He didn't remain dead, He came back to life! History recorded that Jesus rose again on the 3rd day and showed Himself to His disciples for 40 days. Then He was ascended into Heaven, seated now at the right hand of God. Angels appeared proclaiming that Jesus is coming back again in the same way He's been ascended.

Jesus Christ did come back. He conquer death. You can too, Mr MM Lee. And my sincere prayer to God is that you may find Eternal Life in Christ Jesus. :)

Romans 10:9
That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.