A little prayer

Always like the empty pockets of time when I could pray to the Lord , reflect upon the past week and enjoy a little of "me" time..

While waiting for my appt today, I penned a little prayer always reminded of what God has done in me and my household..

"Dear God, I pray for patience and strength as I carry on with the work. I pray for the right mindset in approaching my appts and I pray for the right attitude. No fear, no self doubt; with a willing heart to help all that comes my path; a humble heart to treat all with dignity and respect. Lord, it always seem arduous to begin a fresh week, with nothing. But many times, You have shown me the miracles and Yr ways; and many times, I stand in AWE of yr presence.  I pray that as the yr comes to an end, that You help me help all that comes my path, I pray that You encourage those who are struggling, that they b reminded of Yr presence and great love, that You are the answer to all questions and doubts. LORD, I pray that as I collect the keys to the new place, that You help me make things right. If this is the place for us to stay, I pray that You walk ahead and pave the way for us. Lord, if the plan is to sell, I pray that you bring the buyer to our doorstep; that we all will KNOW, it is from You. Lord, yday while talking to a colleague, he ask if I'm running for banding; which I wasn't. Nor was I running for any deadlines and he commented that life muz be good to be so stress free. It only daunt on me when he said that. Lord , I want to continue to believe that my purpose is You and I wan to look up to You. Wherever You point, I follow. Thankful for being in an environment where I don't need to chase after targets or any material possession, bcoz You are all I need. Thankful for Yr providence. In Jesus name I pray, amen."

I will say of the Lord, " He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust." Psalms 91

Travel blues..

Will b going to Dubai/ Vienna next week and right now, my heart isn't as settled I guess.. emo + everything.. argh.. worried about taking such a long break and having a haywire work cycle when I come back. I pray that God give me peace & let me enjoy this when I bring my mama along.. it's one of the reasons why I'm going.. coz she would like to.. and one of my intentions of bring my parents overseas once every yr.. as much as I no longer enjoy travelling.. Haha..

I pray for peace for going away; I pray for openings.  My appts are few and the week is empty; I'm not sure how the bills can be paid but I know that God's with me and that's all it matters.

I pray for a friend who's pregnancy isn't that stable; I pray that God you protect her and her baby; I pray that you give her peace so that the mind will not wander; I pray that the pregnancy will be smooth and in a few months time , she will deliver a healthy baby.

I also pray for the salvation of the unchurched; that they come to know You; that indeed life with God is more assuring. I pray that they see Your works in me. Indeed, in all, I give thanks to the Lord for all He has provided. In Jesus name I pray, amen !

10-5-0?

- Posted on 29th Jul 2016-

Something happened that day & I might be pregnant. The initial feelings were " Yeah! #4!"; followed by " How are we going to cope?"; "Can we really handle another one? Diaper bag again! ???"

Of coz, all these were just wild thoughts and nothing has been finalized yet. Will know by Joy's birthday if it happens. (Muz be crazy). The inital hopes quickly turned to fears within a day. Even when a colleague brought her baby to office, it did lift my spirits up for a while, but only for a while.

Right now, I pray Lord that God, You know the shortfalls, the situation, I pray that You know best for me & whateven happens, I will obey. I pray that Your Will be done; and may all things be right in yr eyes! In Jesus name I pray, Amen!

* By today, I'm glad to inform that it's just a false alarm. :)

Birthday celebration

I decided to pen how I celebrated my bday this yr.. actually wanted to do it last yr too..but in the end kept dragging it, n finally forgotten abt it.. eventually when my bday came this yr, i couldn't recall what I did for last yr.. so in order to remind myself, I shall pen it every yr.

This yr, the celebration started early coz my bday falls on a Sunday so Mr choo wanted to pre-celebrate with me, as well as a date for us to spend time together.

28.06.16

He brought me to Wheelers Yard for lunch, as I had casually mentioned to him a few weeks ago that it has been some time since we went to that place. As it was too early for the lunch set, he suggested that we wait it out...

See the nice pic.. but deep down I was craving for bak kut teh.. super unromantic wife.. but I managed not to tell him.. lol.. it's not easy, trust me.

We then proceeded to espa at rws for a spa. Didn't take too many pics there since it was v troublesome to take care of the phone while enjoying the nice steam baths..

Went to chomp chomp for hawker food ! Ya, my comfort food..before going home to make the kids zz.. that ends the couple date!

01.07.16
Incidentally my appts flew for this day and Mr choo suggested that we do a proper bday celebration today.. like a date again..coz the place he wanted to bring me for lunch was closed on 28th jun. So I agreed. We went back to sentosa again.. Haha.. to the lunch buffet at W hotel.. nice ambience with nice scenery.. and v quiet place.. well, i think the logical Singaporean won't drive in just to eat ba..since the food wasn't something to wow about.. okie i shall be gratefull that my huby makes the effort to bring the wife to nice places la..much as the wife is trying to be the stingy auntie and trying to make every cent count.

He also got me a present, which I was quite happy with it. Coz it was a practical gift and since the old one is quite worn out. 

After which we headed to vivo for some window shopping before going home to be with the kids.

03.07.16 (Actual Day)

As we needed to go to church today, Mr choo suggested that we do a simple lunch after church before we head home. Celebration this yr would be dinner at home.. yeah!! Honestly, to me , that was great! Coz i really prefer home cooked meals nowadays.. hahaha...and now that I'm older, bday is just another day.. at least to me la..

The kids were especially nice to me too.. haha.. I won't mind having bday everyday if i get to see them in their best behaviour... hahaha..

Simple meal by him.. 

After dinner, the kids kept asking where's the cake.. actually I, too, am curious.. as I didn't smell any baking smells these few days.. so would there be any cake? 

The creative baker thought he give a surprise to his Queen by making a strawberry strudel this yr.. when I saw him scrambling to complete his "project", tears streamed down.. although I tried to hide it la.. but when the kids started to sing the bday song, I couldn't control and the tears just kept flowing.. the kids were concerned but Mr choo says " mama is too happy, so she cried.." ya right.. as though he knows like tt.. blah blah...

 My bday pic.. not too nice coz sad face.. but strudel looks decent... haha..

After the kids zz, and I really can't tahan and tahan liaoz, I started crying and man, did I cry v jialat.. asked him why didn't he make or buy a normal cake? Told him I was disappointed that there was no proper cake.. haiz.. honestly, I also dont know what got into me.. the usual me don't usually fuss over such things. But this yr, especially this yr, I really hope to have a cake, with the many candles and everyone celebrating together as a family.. hahaha.. but Mr choo surprised me in a way that I wasn't expecting.. in fact, I cried so hard that he asked if he should get one now.. which I told him there was no need to, since the kids have zz, and even so it would have passed midnight. 

Even when I was telling my colleagues over lunch  the next day, I was kinda emotional still.. haiz.. muz be the hormones.. nevertheless, I'm thankful for them, to be able to relate to them, and be sane.. what an eventful 35!

Despite all the drama, I did see a cake 2 days later..yeah! so happy!

We sang so many times of the birthday song and blow the candle again and again coz the twins insisted that my bday was over and it was theirs! hahahaha.. but it was fun doing it 4 times.. all the girls are happy and the man is happy when his girls are happy.. happy ending!

Happy 10th !

10.06.2016 

Lord I want to thank  you for today. 1 more day and it will b 10 yrs of married life! I never would have imagine that I would be so blessed to have found Mr. Choo, who is my soul mate & perfect puzzle to complete me. Never would I know that 10 yrs later, I would still be married to the same guy (Haha!) & with 3 beautiful children. I too have changed so much since then.

I rem being the avid traveller where the purpose of living was solely for travelling, good food & enjoyment. I rem being the emo adviser where every other week is like a roller coaster, always contemplating quitting and moving on to other things in life. I rem being the spendthrift where I take cabs every time I closed a case, or strictly bringing Joy to restaurants only for meals coz i felt that food courts were too crowded or chaotic.

I rem things start to change when I got married. I rem things start to change when I allowed God to take control. I rem attending church and coming back to God when I was heavily pregnant. Slowly slowly God changed me. Now, I no longer feel the need to travel. I still have the roller coasters but not as often. Weekend meals with the kids are usually at food courts coz we want to teach the kids to live within out means, living simply. I take trains and buses nowadays, and drive only occasionally. The me now no longer wears fancy watches or spend  $$ on clothes/shoes/bags. The me now is not lacking in anything, filled with God's love and not requiring anything.

As I look back I won't be able to believe that all these would be possible. How amazing it is, to feel full and not lacking in anything. Thank God for making my life complete, that I no longer need to chase after material possessions in order to make myself happy. I'm complete bcoz of You. Thank God for bringing me back home. 

10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:10-13 

We did a pre celebration on 8th jun coz 11th jun was a Saturday, where we would be busy shuttling the kids with their enrichment classes and activities. Had a simple buffet lunch, before going to Gardens by the Bay for some jalan jalan.

* While waiting to enter the lunch premises

* What he got for us.. i was the unromantic one who paid for lunch, since I didn't get him anything. 

* At gardens by the Bay, just the 2 of us. Really love how my hp camera which made me look so pretty..hahaha...

11.06.16 came and things were the same as usual. There was no elaborate celebration coz it was a Saturday and Saturdays r usually a hectic day driving the kids everywhere for their classes. I rem that I wanted a banquet for our 10th anniversary, to be able to wear the gown again. But we didn't la.. coz i didn't felt that it was necessary. I did however went to look back at our wedding photos.. haha.. the time when I felt so slim and young..haha....

 * Us laying down at the beach in Sentosa, and trying to look cute..haha...

*Us now, while waiting for the kids to finish their enrichment classes; having char kway teow for snack.. haha... Mr choo trying to look uncle while I'm trying to act as pretty as possible..haha.. love how he dotes on me and ever so grateful for him in my life. 

On Friends & Meet Ups

               Recently a friend whom I haven't seen for > 8 yrs, contacted me again. She suggested doing lunch around my office area, just to catch up. It sounded very strange to me; for someone whom I haven't met for so long, to not only re-establish contact, but also offered a meet up at a place of my convenience. The skeptical me immediately rise all alerts, but agreed nonetheless coz she was a pretty close friend from the old days. The initial thoughts were either:

1. She's going to sell me something
2. She has an incurable disease and simply want to touch base with everyone before she leaves this world
3. She wanna know more about my work

It was none of the above. She simply wholeheartedly wanted to reconnect! I felt so bad with all my evil thoughts!

The last time I saw her during Joy's babyshower. And that was also after not seeing her for several years and when I gave birth, she texted me, just to offer some helpful tips on parenting & words of encouragement. But I didn't manage to see her after that gathering. Why not? I'm not sure either. Probably I was too engrossed with parenting and my work that I forgot? But I was thankful that she took the 1st step; to reconnect back. The lunch was good, simply reminiscing on old days and catching up on who's with who etc. It felt like we didn't part. And I guess friends from school are always special, coz they represent the times when we were still innocent, unpolluted by the desires of the world.

In fact, I was overwhelmed by her love for me. :) I mean, as one ages, friends' worthy ones, become lesser. Everyone's busy with their own stuff, and being nice with no hidden agenda seem rare. There always seem to have some strings attached. But today, I met someone from the past, someone who was pure and innocent, someone who simply wanted to catch up, as we try to recall bits & pieces of memories. Things that we did in the past seem so childish now, even though it meant the world to us back then.

Thankful for finding a gem today. THankful that she chose to take that 1st step (coz i wouldn't dare). She told me also that she contacted another friend (whom I'm still meeting up regularly), and that friend says to meet her only after july! Wow! I wouldn't have the courage to accept such replies!

Here's a pic of us then, and now. Can't rem when was the then, but I believe it was a school trip to M'sia.

Our daily bread

As I was waiting this morning for an appt to arrive, I looked thru the week's schedule and started to panic. This week is a very relaxing week and next week is an empty week. Before I start over reacting and go to a full panic mode, I decided to look thru our daily bread, which is something I try to do regularly.

The verse today is on 2 Chronicles 20:12, where the King, even though he is facing his enemies, choose to look at the Lord, and have trust in Him. The story unfolds and shows God unfailing reliability and how the war is won even without a fight.

How sweet the story is and how suitable it is for me. I've always wondered why God placed me here , for an introvert to be in the sales line, for someone who doesn't even enjoy being in the limelight , or even in crowds. But He chose me, to do what He has planned, so that plain Jane can do well in the sales job, so that others know that it is only possible because of Him.

I've always wanted to share with others my testimony but always I find it a struggle, to strike a balance between hard selling God and sounding insane, vs giving God his due credits. So in the end, I didn't. Which isn't what it should b. God I pray to you, that you give me the words to touch the lives of others so that they come to know you Lord. God I pray that you give me the wisdom to speak the right words to my clients, to share with them about You and also how important it is to start planning on earth and also for the future (Heaven). Lord, everything when i feel lost, I pray that you strengthen my faith and guide me in yr ways, that when people see my struggles, they see your works in me too. Lord, I pray for my friends who are nursing a broken heart that you mend their hurts and you made them complete again.  I pray that they will get to know you Lord, in Jesus name I pray, amen!

Our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you. - 2 Chronicles 20:12