Friday, November 11, 2011

To the Moon

Every trip I make I would like to make it count. This particular offer was too good to just resist.. I was offered a place on a space shuttle to go to the moon. Speaking about over the moon, I think I was over Jupiter! I made it!! I never thought I would be even asked to go on this epic trip. Oh wow... then I remembered I was pregnant and I was unable to participate in the expedition... then I awoke and it was 3.30am. Damn the tea I drank at 6pm.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

The Change

Talking about changes. Wow.. where can I begin.
After feeling weird for a couple of weeks, I finally used a home kit which informed me that I was 99% pregnant. This was on the 8 Oct 2011. I finally confirmed the 1% with a gynae on 15 Oct 2011 that I was indeed 10 weeks pregnant.

Awesome. I thank God that I did India and had super fun despite being pregnant. It is only God's grace that He enabled me to do a bucket list item. No symptoms of any pregnancy except for my inkling for it.

Honestly, I am still in the 'are you sure?' zone and am not sure how to react, respond and understand my impending role. This is HUGE.

Funny that God would enable us to get the new property closer to home. At that time, I suppose we did not know I was pregnant. Yet I believe God led us to find a house which we love. It is just amazing when we speak of God's timing. This means that all our plans to go home is accelerated. No more procrastinating but the time to go home and to grow roots is finally here.

Again, I don't know where to start, what to pack, what to expect. Throw in Rfs and that is another unknown...

I pray that baby is well, healthy and grows up fearing the Lord. I pray that Rfs is able to love baby as well. I pray that I will be able to cope with all these changes. I also pray that somehow my bucket list will not be so much at the back burner. So HoMe, here I come. God, here we go.

Amen.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Protracted Neurosis

The past 3 days have been really blahh for me. It is the end of my 1 week break and I am definitely not in the mood to return to work. Just as I go through this and feeling the need to get inspired all over again, I make a remarkable discovery.

I was cleaning out 1/8th of my cupboard yesterday only to realise that some of the pages in my journal was being dog-eared by some t-shirts. Upon pulling everything out, I could not help my self but to look into my journal from a hundred years ago and take a skip down memory lane. Well, flipped through all my adolescent struggles and re-lived my mission trips to Burma-Thai border and all.

Later in the afternoon, on the way to get Rufus for the dawgie hotel, we stopped by Canaan Land. Usually disinterested in all the books which I could gain knowledge if only I loved to read a tad more, I came across one of those social justice books. I could not believe my eyes when I flipped through the pages, and saw a very familiar face - it was R whom I met in Chiangmai way back in 1995.

Wow! God has a real sense of humour. Imagine seeing a familiar face in such a random book, in a little less random bookstore on a really random day. Wow.

R was with Ps. Timothy Laklem in the Asian Tribal Ministries and they were the ones who took us oblivious youth up to the refugee schools in the mountains at the border. - And R, our interpreter and guide with Mr. Snuffleupagus eye lashes, developed a liking to me. Anyway, after that trip, it took 3 3-hour letters to convince him that I was too young to run away with him (he was about 10 years older).

Anyhow, due to the postal systems and all we lost contact and that was it. The last I met him he had a girlfriend and was doing ministry with the other Karen refugees.

When I flipped the page of the book, I was delighted to hear that he is the president of the Karen community in Nebraska and doing so much for his community and a father to 3 children. Wow :)

I will try to get in touch with him. Just as how God enabled Jester and I to contact each other again, I believe this is God's way of telling me to not give up and to hold on tight for the journey up ahead.

Thank you God for reminding my soul that You are in control and You have placed me in the right place at the right time for the right reasons.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Bucket List matters

Time and time again I hear myself saying -"yeah, need to do own business, no more slaving for someone else's kingdom."

The issue is when, what, where and how.

There are so many questions to ask and reconcile first before letting everything go. Anyway, recently a friend of mine and I finally put our money where our mouth is and bought some pieces of clothing that we could sell to friends we meet or on FB. I have made 4 sales and it has made me think that we can do it and should do it and will make it.

Well, 'making it' is relative - but I am quite proud to say that I finally went on to start something rather than just talk about it.

So - we are still bobbing about managing it as we go along, at out own pace. It feels good.

Looking down at the blog, there are still things to do before I hit 40. I thank God for taking me this far and giving me all that I need. I am contented with what I have and all the experiences He has allowed be to go through.

As for a birthday entry - turning 35 did not happen with any fire works or a big great bang. (Thank God). All I know is, partying with char koay teow and umbra peng is bliss.

:)

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Indifference

Spiralling Sunday neurosis is not advisable. So what better else to do on a Sunday afternoon but to blog my blues away. We should all stop awhile and smell the roses. I feel that the prime of my life is being eaten away by the hustle and bustle of work and things I HAVE to do. Anyway, for now a good cup of tea and some cheesecake would have to do as my coping mechanisms. I feel a bit irratable today. Its the house mess, the things not done, the dishes not washed and I cannot be bothered. Sometimes I want to be the carefree one. I want to be the one to be picked up after. I want to be the one who expects things to be done. I want to be the one who is pampered. I want to be the one who can just leave things unfinished and know that no one will nag. I guess I am tired of being the 'bigger' person, the person to rely on, the person one would go to for anything. I want to crawl into my cave with my cake and tea and not come out till things are done, the mess if cleared, the dishes washed, the world perfect.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Living

Just 2 minutes ago I got to know that my friend had gone to a better place after battling with cancer for a few years. She was strong throughout. She took cancer by its horns and stared it in the face. She achieved much and inspired many.

This is a reminder that we have to live life to the fullest and make it count. Mel B, you rock forever.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Fat

I suppose I never came to terms with my fat till now. When I thought I was obese, I actually looked like I could be blown out the room with a fan. Now when I thought all in fine in my world, my MIL insinuates I am not good enough to roam the land of planet Earth because I do not have a figure to grace a centrefold and do not have kids so that other people will not look down on her. Ok. Back up a bit. My world is fine and I am very happy with all that the good Lord has blessed me.

Granted, I love my food. I proudly declare that I live to eat. I would insist on euthanasia if I could not taste food any longer. However, I surely do not think I am THAT fat for her to compile a scrap book of ads and products for me. FYI, amongst the ads are some other ads about fertility and yada yada yada.

So, the issue at hand is not about her. It's about me.

Am I really so fat? Do I look disgraceful to you and your family? Do you really need a granchild to be validated? Am I going to have kids someday? Do I know my husband's sperm count?

I already know the answers to all those questions but just needed to get it out of my system. It was a flashback to my insecure self when I was very much younger and would strive and wish I was someone I was not. Those days are over baby, I am all me and here to stay.

As I sip my tea and have a foodgasm with my butter cookie, I thank God that I am wonderfully made - warts and all :)

35 going on 105?

What hits the snag is a bunch of 35 year olds, all pretty and dainty talking about pains and aches for 2 hours. I did not know what to do... to scream or to scream some more. Of course when I say pretty and dainty, I am not speaking about myself. They were my ex school mates who met up for dinner during the holidays.

Well, I came away from the dinner feeling all tired and sapped. No one shared any significant issues in their lives, no one edified another person (apart from dishing out advice on which doctor to go to and what how much time it took to recover from some leg pains), no one listened.

As I sat munching on my salad and nibbling some pizza, I developed an ear ache and a stiff neck with all that listening and pretending to be interested in 2 hours worth of pain.

Pain begets pain.

Thank God it was over if not I may have developed some terminal illness. :p

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Full Circle

When I was 17 I went to this obscure village in another country. It was a life-changing experience and the seed to fight for the voiceless and to eleviate poverty flourished. I met my peers who did not have a fraction of all that I took for granted - such as parents, school, pocket money, a home, a fridge, a tv, police, hospital, clinics and a country which I could go out any time of the day and not be shot dead.

Seeing how my peers survived even with the lack of basic amenities just made me wonder the fragility of one's securities.

When I left the village and bid farewell to newfound friends, we sobbed like someone had died. They knew and I knew that the next time we ever met again was in heaven or some other place not in this lifetime. As months went by, correspondences via snail mail dwindled, postal services were unreliable and the last we heard that village was burnt down after an attack.

It has been years ... but 1 month ago, I got in contact with one of them whom I met there when he was 11. He is now in another country living out his passion as an artiste.

I thank God for His hand on my life all these years. More so, I realise God never abandoned me in my times of despair and when I thought I wasted my time not pursuing my passion. In fact, it was within His plans to mould me to who I am today.

By God enabling me to get in touch with my dear friend whom I never thought I would meet again reminds me of His faithfulness in times of my faithlessness. It reminds me of never giving up on God because He is God. It reminds me that my big picture is just a tiny speck in God's BIG Picture. It reminds me that I should clear out my cupboard more often as the younger me may have left some surprises for the older me :)

Friday, January 14, 2011

Sporadic Emergence

Being the Lockness monster that I am, this blog has just been sitting in the back of my mind.

This 2 years have been me living life and having adventures which I never thought was possible for me. God has a funny way of taking you through the unbeaten path if you ask for it. It has been a wonderful ride, with the good and the bad.

As I take stock of my life, I will not exchange it for anything in the world. I am not rich, I am not powerful, I am not drop dead gorgeous, I am not a genious, I am not famous, I am not a rock star (yet), my teeth aren't white enough, my hair is thinning, my eyebags are have their own postal address, my neck feels like a old railway track... (ok I shall stop here lest I get depressed)

BUT I am contented, I am happy, I have my family, I have good friends, I know why I am here now, I love what I do, I have food, I can come home and hug my dog, I am at peace with myself, I can always do more, I know that God is with me.

Having a fulfilled life is appreciating the untangible, taking the chances and laughing till you vomit.

Amen.