Lydia: Oh yes, our pastor! He is our spiritual Papa who prays daily for us. I feel much better now, knowing that at least I have a father who is praying for me everyday.
Sarah: 经你这么说，我也感到很安慰！
Lydia & Sarah (together) : 诶... We have another Father! / 我们还有一位爸爸！
Lydia : Our Heavenly Father!
Sarah: 我们的天父！
Lydia: The greatest Father of all! Who loves not only us, but also our unsaved fathers, because "He so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son!"
Lydia: Yes. Today we would like to dedicate this song "A loving Father" to our Heavenly Father who loves us, and our spiritual papa - Pastor, and to all the Daddies. Especially for our yet-to-be-saved daddies, that they may know how great is the love the Father has lavished on them.
~A Loving Father 愛我的天父~
I have a loving Father who never gives up on me, His love's always there to restore me. Yes, I know He will care for me. I know He will care for me.
In times of many trials. In times of many fears. And You never leave nor forsake me. Yes, I know You will care for me. I know You will care for me.
Draw me closer to Your heart. Embrace me in Your arms. I will love You my Father. You are my everything.
有位愛我的天父，祂永遠不放棄我， 祂愛的同在使我完全，我深知祂顧念著我，我知祂顧念著我。
在許多危難時刻，在流淚的過程，祢永不離開或丟棄我， 我深知祢顧念著我，我知祢顧念著我。
吸引我貼近祢心，擁抱在祢懷裡， 我愛祢我的天父，祢是我的一切。
Me and my dear sister, Sarah, presented this song on Father's Day. The dialogue you read was our introduction, an idea from my sister who is loaded with "drama cells"（戏剧细胞）。 Thank God that I managed to memorize the whole dialogue, it was no easy-peasy task ok, 死了很多细胞才把它给背熟的！ :P
My 2 year-old girl, Thaddea, could sing this song too! When I was practicing the song with the guitar, she would take up her toy microphone and sing along, "I have a loving father~ who never gives up on me~~~" haha, too cute! My three girls are truly blessed to have a daddy who prays for them right from the moment they were conceived. Thank God for answering those prayers. Hallelujah!
1 John 3：1a Behold, how great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!
两个星期前， 我的一位网友, Clement, 获得两张 Eric Moo 'Moments' 2010 Asia Tour 巫启贤《最初的感动》2010 亚洲巡回演唱会的入门票， 过后写了一篇观后感@KiNiGu，从那得知巫启贤的一头白发竟是自然色， 觉得好惊讶哦！这二十多年来他都必须把头发染黑？ 太不可思议了！
We were at CompassPoint last week and there was a made-aware promotion on Youth Olympic Games. Counters were set up for children to try their hands on different games like Table Tennis, Soccer, Basketball, Fencing and Handball.
Theophila was so brave to try out Fencing. Tiffany and my 2YO toddler, Thaddea, tried playing Handball!
Watch them in actions:
Look what I found on the internet when I searched for Handball games:
A super-cool picture of women-handball games in real action!
The TV, you can see it in the Video I took of my girls playing handball, was constantly playing the YOG Cheer - You Are The One Singapore, which I think is quite catchy for a cheer... OH YEAH, OH YEAH, OH YEAH, HEY! :D
1 Corinthians 9:25-27 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
Received these pictures of cat via MSM from my dear sister(大姐), Sarah, and that was in August last year!
I still remembered that I've got to retrieve them from M1 website as my mobile was not able to view. Altogether 6 beautiful pictures of mostly tabby cats.
A tabby is a cat with a distinctive coat that features stripes, dots, or swirling patterns, usually together with an "M" mark on its forehead.
I renamed each picture as sarah-cat1 to sarah-cat6.jpg... I know she definitely love to own one. You see, the place where we spend our childhood has many such cats and we love playing with them. I still remembered once we found two cute kittens at our void deck and begged our parents to let us keep the kittens as pets, but they cruelly said no. We then secretly kept the kitten at a small power-station(!) near our home, we put them in a cardboard box placed side-way as their home, put in some rags to keep them warm at night, and a bowl of water to quench their thirst... we even sneaked out in the evening with some rice and fish secretly saved from our dinner for the kittens to eat... but by the next day, those two kittens had wondered away and were nowhere to be found! :(
Thinking about this remind me of what Jesus said in John 14 that He had gone to prepare a place for us, and that He is coming back to bring us Home... I pray that before Christ's Return, I would not wonder away from this Blessed Hope. God helps me! :)
John 14:1-6 Jesus Comforts His Disciples "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going."
Jesus the Way to the Father Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."
Have been wanting to do this for the longest time... so happy that it's finally done. This sure gives me motivation to carry on blogging! :)
On... to the next project: New blog skin for Savouring the Girls!
Revelation 21:5 He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."
I've had this awesome thought of how my heart would beat without any assistance, no power supply or battery operating, but it beats alright. And because it beats, blood carrying oxygen is being pump into all my organs so I am still kicking(alive). Now, who keeps my heart beating??? None other than my Creator God, for in Him I live and move and have my being! Praise God!! :)
Tell me who make these teeny weenie hearts pump....
No clue?
Our Creator God, of course~ ：）*Philip took these pics at our rooftop garden
The children from the upper primary of the Children's Church Sunday School presented a very lively worship song: Every Move I Make.
At the start of the music, everyone was like "Wow... so hot!". Okay, maybe that's just me, haha! It has been a long, long time since there's such a lively, fast beat song being presented in our church. Even my little 2-year-old couldn't resist joining in the dance moves! The dance choreographer, Sarah Tan, had to literally drag Thaddea out, and of course, she cried so loud in protest! I was like, "OH NO! Please don't ruin the presentation!" I held her so tight in my arms and "dance" to the music on the spot at a corner trying to distract her, hehehe... We all enjoyed the presentation~
I'd like to think that the children did very well, remembering the steps and all. And thank you, Sarah Tan, for getting them to do this. May God continue to make you an inspiration!
Look out for my 2-year-old barging in at 0:14 and then cried the loudest, haha! :P
I went home singing "na-na, na-na-na-na-na..." in my head for many days! Then I went on Youtube to look for this song, there are so many clips of people dancing to this song! I found one which I like the best, watch the lady dancing with such gusto! And watch again the uncle dancing next to her, very cute!
I like the part which looks like they were "brushing off bugs from their heads" at 0:15, so cute! haha!! :)
Lyrics: Every move I make I make in You, (You make me move Jesus) Every Breath I take I Breath in You Every step I take I take in You, (You are my way Jesus) Every Breath I take I Breath in You Chorus: Waves of Mercy Waves of Grace Everywhere I Look, I See Your Face Your Love has captured Me Oh My God this Love, How can it Be!
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na (x4)
Acts 17:24-29 "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'
"Therefore since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by man's design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man(Jesus Christ) he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead."
Ezra, by now is a charming 9-year-old(8+, to be exact), has victoriously gone through a year of chemotherapy, and now onto his maintenance phase. I wrote about how Ezra was diagnosed with first stage Leukemia in one of my post Not for Us Only... back in October last year.
When Make*A*Wish people came to Ezra and asked him what did he wish for, these were what he wished for:
1. To be a (successful) businessman. 2. To ride in a Lamborghini. 3. To play lots of games and win many prizes. 4. To be a Pilot.
Hey hey, that's more than a wish, haha! 5 wishes to be exact because Ezra wanted to open his own shop and sell things too as a businessman.
WOW! WOW! WOW! We were very impressed how Make*A*Wish people fulfilled every-single-wish of Ezra... to the point of flying a plane!
First, they tailor-made for him a business suit. Then on Wish Day, he went to "his" newly open Roti-Prata shop and then to "his" Car Showroom where he "closed" a deal worth US$1 million dollars... then, Ezra was given a ride in a Lamborghini before being sent to Suntec City Convention hall for his party... cool!! See the following video clip for the full story:
Can you see Ezra in "his" Lamborghini??
Ahh... that's better!
*Waves*
The youngest successful businessman & his Lamborghini~(Wish #1 & 2)
See Uncle Chris buzzing off...
Make*A*Wish flags
Poster outside the Party Room
Ezra's Wish Party!
Happy Wish Day, Ezra!
Interviewed by the "press" and giving out his "name cards"
Ezra's collections!
There were Wii and racing cars games.(Wish #3)
The party ended with Ezra winning many BIG prizes from the racing games, his little friends were in total awe as they kept hearing the announcement that "Ezra has won again!"
Ezra's thankyou speech and a song special；
Wish #4 was fulfilled on the following weekend when Ezra would fly a stimulated airplane! How cool~
I am very thankful to God for blessing Ezra with this Wish Party. What a memorable day Ezra's Wish Day was!
Thank God for Make*A*Wish Singapore! The fact that they didn't just fulfilled one of the 5 wishes that Ezra made even though it was suppose to be "Make A wish".
Thank God for all the sponsors(Temasek Holdings and some other which I didn't get it, but am truly grateful!) who made this event possible!
Thank God for all the wonderful volunteers! Their dedication is amazing!
The following Sunday after his maiden flight(as a pilot), Ezra, dressed in his business suit(which was given to him FOC), gave glory to God during Sunday Service in church.
We prayed through that one whole year of Ezra receiving treatments for his ALL condition. We have a Prayer Band in our church where we would receive SMS on prayer requests of members who need emergency prayer support. I have lost track of how many times the Prayer Band was activated to pray for Ezra, but I do remember some of the requests were quite frightening at times if not heart-breaking... beside the usual side effects of being nausea, vomiting, having poor appetite, there were occasions when Ezra had high fever(increased risk of infection caused by white cell abnormalities) and he cannot be given paracetamol(Panadol) because he has an allergy to it. So, imagine you having high fever and nothing you could take to lower the fever, nothing to relief your pain and nothing to ease your aches!
There were life-threatening occasions too when Ezra's blood platelets count drop to the lowest of the lowest... But, PRAISE BE TO GOD who heard and answered our earnest prayer for this little boy and preserved his precious life!
The most heart breaking to me was when we were called to pray for a procedure where a chest tube is inserted into Ezra's pleural space permanently for the administration of chemo treatments.... What can I say, thank God for seeing Ezra through every-single-day for the past year!
God will definitely carry Ezra in His Mighty Arms and bring him through this year - the last phase of his treatment. We are praying for a complete deliverance from blood cancer for Ezra. We are believing God for His complete healing touch upon Ezra Lim! Amen! And Amen!!
An extract from Tong Hak's(Ezra's mummy) testimony - Forever Grateful:
"Though this journey was tough, with much pain and tears, but with Christ in the vessel, we can sail and smile at the storm. With much loss, too, (financially, emotionally, socially, mentally and physically) - but nothing compared to the gain that we have achieved.
He increases our faith in Him. He brings us to a greater height in our trusting Him. He strengthens us emotionally and mentally. He provides our finance. His continual shower of grace and mercy has taught us how to praise and thank Him even more. He enriches our life experiences.
Once again, "Forever grateful, forever thankful to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit!" "
Psalm 103:1-6 Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits-who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.
I Will Carry You: The Sacred Dance of Grief and Joy
If you have been reading my blog from the beginning, you may have read this post "I Will Carry You".
Angie Smith, a mother who discovered at 20 weeks that her baby Audrey would not survive, chose to carry her to full term and gave birth to her, only to lose her shortly after 2 1/2 hours....
Angie, her husband, Todd and baby Audrey
She wrote a book on her grief, and most unbelievably, her joy too. You can get her book now @ amazon.com!
Ever since I found her blog Bring the Rain, I have been checking back and to my pleasant surprise, she is DUE for another child!
What actually makes me write this post is her recent entry: PERMISSION TO HOPE. Please click on that to read and do look out for the picture at the end of her post!! ;)
An amazing piece of sharing, God gave her courage and permission to hope that the little life in her right now at 10 weeks, is going to make it! Amen!!
Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may Overflow With Hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
I have always love this song written by Angie Smith for her baby, Audrey Caroline. And the video featuring memories of the life of baby Audrey:
I Will Carry You
There were photographs I wanted to take Things I wanted to show you Sing sweet lullabies, wipe your teary eyes Who could love you like this?
People say that I am brave but I'm not Truth is I'm barely hanging on But there's a greater story Written long before me Because He loves you like this
So I will carry you While your heart beats here Long beyond the empty cradle Through the coming years I will carry you All my life And I will praise the One Who's chosen me To carry you
Such a short time Such a long road All this madness But I know That the silence Has brought me to His voice And He says...
I've shown her photographs of time beginning Walked her through the parted seas Angel lullabies, no more teary eyes Who could love her like this?
I will carry you While your heart beats here Long beyond the empty cradle Through the coming years I will carry you All your life And I will praise the One Who's chosen Me To carry you
Job 1:21 "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I shall depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised."
And I will praise the One Who's chosen me... to carry you...
"God made the cat to give man the pleasure of petting the tiger." ~~Fernand Mery
If you haven't know me yet: I LOVE CATS!
Sorry for shouting, hehe! I really, really think cats are the coolest animal God ever created! Since I was a little girl, I like to play with the strayed cats in our void deck, pet their heads and tickle the chins, play "catching" with their tails while they sleep!
I don't understand how some of you are afraid of cats, haha!
Now that I'm a grown-up, and know that strayed cats are actually dirty as they sleep everywhere they go, I seldom pet them anymore... I even stop my girls from touching them :P
I do hope to meet someone who keep cats as pets... so I can always visit them and play with their cats!
I have been visiting this blog created by a Japanese girl who has a pet cat named Maru. He is a Scottish Fold and he is so, so cute! He likes to play, sleep and play some more! And just like my friend, ANgie, he has just published his very First Book, Title: "I am Maru."
He is so COOL~
I found this blog in early April and was glued to it! There is update almost everyday which I totally enjoy! The owner has also started to put in English subtitles for the readers. The little dialogue which she posted with all the fun pictures of Maru has always made my day! Just like this one:
ぴったりですよ。 This is fit for me!
Also, you get to see videos of Maru in actions! And my favourite of them all is this:
"I like Maru's folded forefoot before jumping."
Too cute!!! Oooooooh, he is quite a popular guy and got himself a trophy of YouTube Video Awards Japan 2008!
The trophy~
I shan't write any further... just go check him out: MARU
"Umm.. why not?"
Genesis 1:24-25 And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
Philip, remember this song "I Will Be Here" by Steven Curtis Chapman?
12 years ago, today, you told me that you actually secretly practiced this song and wanted to sing for me on our wedding day... but you were not confident enough and instead, played the song on CD when we marched in for our dinner reception... Thank you, Philip, I was touched and still am... the fact that you had this thought of doing something for me and the fact that you had tried, I'm touched!
This song just melt my heart, I know that you mean ever word of this song, even till now.
12 years of marriage, you have always been here for me, even when the laughter turns to crying during my darkest moments; through the winning, losing, and trying, we have been together, you have always been here for me, thank you for loving me(it's not so easy, I know... :P) and I love you too :)
As sure as seasons are made for change, our lifetimes are made for years. Give us another 12 years, and I know that we'll still be together... 'cause you will be here.
I thank God for you, Philip - my dear, dear husband :)
Found this video uploaded by a mom dedicating the song to her children, the pictures are so beautiful! Except that it ended abruptly which might be a little distasteful to you who dislike abrupt ending of any song, hehe :P Anyway, it's still very nice~ enjoy!
Tomorrow morning if you wake up And the sun does not appear, I will be here.
If in the dark we lose sight of love, Hold my hand and have no fear, 'Cause I will be here.
CHORUS I will be here when you feel like being quiet; When you need to speak your mind, I will listen. And I will be here when the laughter turns to crying; Through the winning, losing, and trying, we'll be together, 'Cause I will be here.
Tomorrow morning if you wake up And the future is unclear, I will be here.
As sure as seasons are made for change, Our lifetimes are made for years, So I will be here.
CHORUS I will be here, so you can cry on my shoulder; When the mirror tells us we're older, I will hold you. And I will be here to watch you grow in beauty, And tell you all the things you are to me; I will be here.
I will be true to the promise I have made, To you and to the One who gave you to me.
As sure as seasons are made for change, Our lifetimes are made for years, So I, I will be here.
We'll be together and I will be here.
I found another clip which embedding was disabled by the user, he dedicated this song to God. The interesting thing is, he uploaded pictures of benches, read BENCHES, many-different-types-of-benches, for the entire song!
Reminds me of the benches I placed in my FarmTown Maze Garden, haha!
I have always wanted to walk with you in the park, sitting on the benches, basking in the sun, listening to the bird singing, watching the ducks in the pond, and talking till the sun sets! Maybe we can do that when "the mirror tells us we're older" and when Mrs. Empty-Nest-Syndrome comes knocking on our door, haha!
Our wedding verse: Song of songs 8:7 "Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away. If one were to give all the wealth of his house for love, it would be utterly scorned."
Ephesians 6:1-3 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. "Honor your father and mother"—which is the first commandment with a promise— "that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth."
Gain IQ Stage 3 Growing Up Milk Powder 1.8kg – Checked
Abbott 3+ Grow Up Milk Powder 1.8kg (Vanilla) – Checked
SMOO Packet Milk (Vanilla and Strawberry Flavor) - Checked
St Dalfour Spread – Pineapple & Mango – Checked
Kellogg’s Cornflakes – Checked
Nestle Baby Brown Rice Cereal Tin – Checked
Samba Chili Lemon Tapioca Chip – CHECKED!
ALMOND GOLD Milk Chocolate Bar by Whittaker's – CHECKED!
I LOVE groceries shopping!
I dislike the fact that I have less than an hour to get it done, plus carrying heavy FairPrice plastic bags in both hand, though.
98% of the stuff I get are all for my lovely girls, and I guess you know which 2% is for Daddy and Mommy – me.
Once a week I’ll have to make a trip to NTUC FairPrice which is about 5 minutes walk from my office, rain or shine, hot or cold, without fail. Sometimes I may need to make 2 or 3 trips there!
No complaint. I'm SO loving it! Ooooooooooh, the purpose of this post are these:
Check out the plane! Love the clouds!
Aren't they awesome?? I saw those beautiful sun rays while walking back to the office after my grocery shopping. I had to put down the bags of groceries on the pavement in order to take these pictures... so glad I captured it! :)
I love looking up into the sky. I got really excited when I see the sun bursting through the clouds! I've forgotten how many pictures I took of such sighting.. and it always ring a "song" in my mind :)
I was so glad to find this on YouTube, it has sooooooooo many nice pictures of the sun behind the clouds with rays shining forth.. awesome!
Even when you feel dark and gloomy, the sun above the clouds is always shinning. It never changes.
God never changes! He is Faithful and True! God's love for us is great, higher than the heavens and deeper than the ocean! Praise the awesome God!
Psalm 108:4 For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
And this Truth never changes and it happened some thousands of years ago, when the Son of the Living God, suffered and died and shed His blood and satisfied God that sins got its right punishment!
My sister used to have a T-shirt that she likes for the longest time! It has a print on it that read:
I asked Jesus how much He loved me He answered, "This much" Then He stretched out His arms and died for me.
Whatever trials you might have gone through, persecutions, tragedies, whatever difficulties or anxieties, Jesus understands and He is waiting for you to run into His arms of LOVE~
My deepest desire is that e-v-e-r-y-o-n-e, from the youngest child to the oldest man/woman, embraces this Truth~
Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Me(the one floating in the air, haha) and my 大姐，Sarah~
ぴったりですよ。
"Umm.. why not?"
Luv you~
哈！哈！
聚餐照片：老爸，老妈，和阿boy
