Lazy Thursday

Mama duties today after a hectic morning. Took uncle choo's first "bus" with the girls and reach office by 7am. Printed some documents and collected a chq from client at yishun at 8ish before heading to another review appt at 930 at potong pasir. By the time it was done, went to office again to submit all the paperwork. Headed home to take a catnap before fetching the girls from school. 

Papa choo took the car to bring his mama to the doc so today was my first time taking public with the twins from school. Thankfully we manage to squeeze into the first bus... hahaha..

Moments when they are sisters and not sworn enemies..

To be honest, I'm exhausted bcoz I only manage to zzz at 4am (intoxicated by coffee) and what better way to exhaust their energy than to swim! 

Probably becoz the other kids are still in school so we have the whole pool by ourselves..

Thankfully I'm done with work for today. I told them that they can swim for as long as they want till it rains or when they quarrel big time. Going to miss this place when we move out end of the year.. 

Thankful for the time to enjoy my kids, breathe and the happy moments. Now that I'm going to scale down this yr, I wanna bring them for swimming more frequently and to also make use of our zoo passes next week! Yeah!

Something new

Tried something very interesting today at Hoshino, one of my fav Jap cafe..

We went for coffee appreciation! Hahaha.. thanks to Jiamin who found this lobang.. I didnt mind attending coz the workshop came along with my fav pancakes ! Hahahaha

The trainer explaining the technique of making drip coffee

Us trying the technique..  honestly I still dont quite understand how to make..but never mind. Hahahah.. at least I tried!

My coffee drip at the end! It must look like a well to b considered good..

Trying my coffee.. not bad..hahaha

And the highlight of it all! Hahaha.. v nice pancake..

The session started off quite boring as the trainer gave some history of coffee beans, Hoshino etc.. but it soon got more exciting when we could try the different blends of coffee..

I probably had too much of it, thus being awake now at 140am 😫 seems like only I have this effect coz the trainers said they could drink even at night etc.. so can jiamin.

Only 3 attendees.. Haha.. the rest are staff

Overall quite nice experience, dont mind trying latte art or if they have the pancake workshop even better.  Hahaha

Hopefully I can zzz soon coz tomorrow is hectic workday before picking up the girls from school..

I will say of the Lord , “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
Psalm 91:2 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/psa.91.2.NIV

Overcoming Limitations

"Dear God, I don't know what I've gotten myself into. I hadn't intend to attend the class, bcoz I felt that I wasn't ready (but one would never be ready ya?). But God, time and time again, You have pointed and directed. I'm still tempted to skip the coming sat class for various reasons. Lord, strengthen me. Help me, give me strength to overcome my weaknesses. In Jesus name I pray, Amen!"

This was what I penned in my journal last week while waiting for my appt. I was afraid, not of the appt but of the classes I signed up at church. I had signed up for some bible classes in church and only attending part 1 of it did I realize that part 2 encompass street evangelism! Omg!! I contemplated skipping it entirely and doing it another time. But I know I shouldnt whine like a baby. Joy and william had attended the classes on their own and Joy has done street evangelism so many times before. I felt ashamed that I wasnt a great role model for her. Thankfully she has our Abba Father to look up to.

                         *********

“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”  At once they left their nets and followed him.
Mark 1:17‭-‬18 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/mrk.1.17-18.NIV

Then I read this and thought of my inertia to move forward in my spiritual walk. The procrastination/inertia is real and I admit that it is often easy to just switch off God's voice and look at earthly demands. But a conversation with a client reminded me that one day, when I meet God, He's going to look at my "basket" and would He still he pleased with what I have/have not achieved on earth?

"If you focus on yrself, you will never step out. If you focus on Jesus and His love for the unreached, then actually it is never about you. It is all about Him."

"See the bigger picture. When u think about His love for you and the other people, His love will compel you to do beyond yr limitations"

And that was what she said, which I thought made perfect sense and logic.

And thus I went. I had peace. Of coz, I prayed very hard too. Lol.. after all I'm just human. J was surprised when I told her that I'm doing street evangelism on Friday. I think my friends would all b, knowing how "sheltered" I am usually.

But I did it. And I had no regrets. It was a small breakthrough for me in my world. Hahaha.. I paired with another auntie (stranger) who was also an introvert, but we both agreed that since we are going to do it, we should make the best of it. And before long, the 1 hr activity ended. We had approached 12 people, shared the gospel to 3 people and 1 would b coming to church! Yeah ! I felt so proud of myself after that. It wasnt as difficult as I thought it would b. My church friends said it should b similar to my line of work, but I told them I've never prospecting on the streets before! Hahaha.. but yes I'm grateful for the chance to do this, a chance to share with others about my God.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28‭-‬30 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/mat.11.28-30.NIV

Lesson to learn

Woke up by the man stomping into the bedroom and changing back to his home clothes. Time: 830am. He had intended to bring the twins out on an excursion since we had a whole Sunday to ourselves. Gave them instructions to change and get ready but when the man was ready, the twins were still in their own world; grace reading and vera drawing. That was it. The man told them they are not going out anymore and came back to the bedroom.

Thus began the long episode of crying and crying. Haiz.. there was an interval for bf at home and the twins (and me also) probably thought that they could go after bf. After all, it's rare we have a whole Sunday on our own. But the man wanted to imprint this lesson in their minds. After all, this was getting too frequently.

The twins realized that they r not going after all, cried even louder and longer.. at this point, I was tired. I was tempted to use my "priority pass" to ask the king for a pardon. But I too realise that I shouldn't.

Peace has resumed. We are all back to our home clothes. Crying has stopped. Episode ended faster than I thought. It seems a long day though its only 1030am.

God, I pray u grant me the stamina t0 last thru today. I pray for wisdom as I figure this topic of parenting. I pray for strength, in jesus name I pray, Amen!

P/s: as I draft this entry, episode 2 has started..  God pls save me.. 😣

Bible verse

I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord , the Maker of heaven and earth. Psalm 121:1‭-‬2 NIV 

https://bible.com/bible/111/psa.121.1-2.NIV

Couldn't go back to zzz after Joy left for her PSLE orals this morning. It has finally started.

Even though we r chillax parents, the beginning does seem a little jittery. Well, I hope we will walk thru the tunnel together..  she has her battles to overcome and I pray that she will always seek God and come to us when it becomes too overwhelming for her..

Praying for strength as I go thru my hectic work today.. praying God grant me wisdom, amen ! So looking forward to bringing the kids to circus tomorrow! Yeah!

Lena @ work

Have been trying so desperately to nap for the past hr but the brain is so active while the body is half dead..lol..

Today has been a purposeful day coz I did the dishes voluntarily when I came home..haha..its nothing big to announce, but in my world, it is an achievement unlocked (coz dishes is one of my hated chores). Have been making a deliberate attempt to do the dishes this week just bcoz. No expectations. Just doing it so that the man has 1 less task to do in his mountain of chores. It's part of my own self improvement list that I hope to achieve, and it does help make me feel better when I think in this perspective.

Went for 3 appts at 830am; 1030 and 1230. Going for another 2 tonight at 7pm and 830. Thus both J and my man has been pushing me home to catch a nap before my evening appts. I enjoy having appts in the morning not bcoz I'm a morning person but bcoz I prefer to keep my evenings free for family or other client appts that cant make it otherwise.

Thankful that this week has been a packed week. I still very much enjoy the work I do, thankfully. Went for the mdrt conference that day and one of the speakers said this which I find v meaningful.

"The purpose of what you are doing must be bigger than yr pain. If you see no purpose, then it is meaningless"

Indeed, it made me remember of my initial purpose of being an adviser, Why I join and why I still feel necessary for everyone (rich or poor) to look at financial planning.

Gotten crawl out of bed to prepare for my evening appts. May God grant me the wisdom and energy to go thru the evening appts.. amen!

Time (with them) matters

Sitting opposite my Joy, not bcoz I needed to supervise her doing homework but bcoz I wanted to support her in spirit. I asked her if she would prefer that I just go to the living room and read my papers so that she could concentrate 101%, of which she said nope. She preferred me to be around so that we could chit chat while she does her corrections. It's the final sprint towards the major/dreaded/overhyped exam - PSLE.

Honestly it doesn't matter to us what score she gets. Just that day I was telling my other mummy kakis that we are going to have a whole week of feasting and partying coming NDP, not forgetting watching the NDP show on tv (coz we haven't been successful in ticket balloting), they look at me as though I was from a different planet.

"No TV / outing for the entire long hols bcoz its PSLE!" - exclaimed my kakis

I was shocked. How could anyone not watch the NDP show since it's only once a yr!?? I know my kids are looking forward to watching it and being couch potatoes and chilling together.. hahaha..

I'm glad I'm not in the "exam rat race". Their reply was their kid is not Joy. But trust me, even if it's the twins, I would adopt the same parenting style. 

Anyway I've digressed coz the tween has been distracting me with her school gossips that I find it hard to concentrate in my entry.

I spend the entire fri night with her, our phones switched off and we chatted the night away. Eventually she slept together with me bcoz she misses the 1-to-1 attention. I obliged. It was nice to just catch up on her "world news" and concentrate on her alone. Hopefully this would top up her love tank so that when she finds the revision gruelling, she will always come back to us and confide in us. It's important to talk to our kids n look them in the eye and just let all other things pause. Becoz nothing else matters more right.

I've also started the habit of not looking at my phone while in the car. It definitely was a habit hard to keep but it was for the bigger good. Either I could participate in the little chats or I could just recharge. 

Spoke to uncle choo last night. We both agreed that I cut down on my work in the coming weeks just so that I could provide the emotional support to her/girls. Girls are a complicated creature. They think too much especially when their school is a girls school..too much bitching and emo emo stuff. Better do regular checks/reviews so that we are kept up to date with their growing.

"No one cares how much you know, unless they know how much you care." Its what I firmly believe and hope to practise, be it in my family, my work or circle of influence.