Thoughtful New Year’s Eve

As many of my friends and the people around my block ring in the New Year at some exciting nightspot or party with friends I sit by Littlelam’s bed still waiting for her to fall asleep. I’m feeling rather pensive & a little melancholic even as I am still humming a lullaby by auto-memory and type this on my iPod touch.

Everyone has blogged about the year gone past and most of my pals have had a good year. I must say that my year improved a little towards the end, but I would consider 2011 to be my year of upheaval, trial and testing. But I am thankful that God is putting me through the refiners fire now, rather than later when it is too late.

When I think of 2011, I think of 3 keywords: Brokenness, Helplessness, wordlessness.

1) I’m learning a lot about Brokenness this year and it’s still an ongoing lesson and aspiration of mine. Brokenness to me is the realisation of one’s utter wretchedness and inability to cope without God, and then sinking in utter surrender into the arms of Jesus the Saviour. For me, it was the culmination of a critical mass of trials that hit me together and in rapid succession that broke the camel’s back. And this very stubborn camel still attempts to walk on her own! I pray that in 2012, I will continue to walk in brokenness yet in joy and wholeness in Christ.

2) Helplessness isn’t a state that most people would want to be in. But I felt for about 85% of 2011, that I was so helpless and not in control of so many things. My daily schedule was dictated by kids’ needs, I hardly had any me time and so many decisions I would like to have made on my own, quickly, couldn’t be done. Instead, I had to wait for months for the issues to be mulled over, discussed and re- discussed and mulled again. And our family was buffeted by many bouts of flu, stomach flu, bacterial infections etc. So once again, I felt helpless against these sicknesses. I pray that in 2012, we will have better health, eat healthier & sleep earlier. More importantly, that I will not feel helpless but that I am WILLINGLY giving up my will and control to God. That I will trust that He has the best in plan for me, if only I listen to Him.

3) Wordlessness- this mainly refers to the fact that I stopped all my freelance writing, and have become a real full-time mom with no other day job other than poop-cleaner, crumb-picker, nose-blower, butt-patter, chef, banker, designer, teacher, driver, janitor and police at home! I have also been left speechless several times at the rudeness and audacity of Littlelam’s replies to me when she is in a rebellious mood/ situation. She can truly argue her way so well that sometime I am either too shocked to reply and have to just tend to the task at hand and deal with it later, or I am too hurt and angry that I have to walk away, and get her Daddy to talk to her. Words also have been the bane of my life this year (ok, not counting sleep issues- that’s probably the top bane): I either speak the wrong ones at the wrong time or interpret others words wrongly and become too sensitive and defensive. I must learn to reign in my tongue and also learn to listen better in 2012!

On this last day of 2011, I also realized again how much I’m actually with my kids. I don’t know if it is a good thing because my stress level has been very high having to cope with the constant, never-ending cooking, feeding, cleaning and meeting everyone’s demands. I feel like everybody wants a piece of me and I don’t ever get to just be ME. alone. I so crave and want that for 2012.

I also have a question to anyone who is a kid and reading this (or whoever wants to reply, pls do!!): Do you think you prefer your own mum and dad to look after you most of the time, or someone else? I’m just not sure anymore that it is better for me to continue to be a stay-home-mum, since almost everyone I know has so much alternative caregiving help and they all seem to be enjoying life. And more importantly their kids seem to be doing so well. So maybe it’s better rather than having a perpetually stressed out and yelling mum! Haha!

For 2012, I’m still working on my resolutions, but I reckon it’ll be much like what I just wrote.

Looking forward to several new things happening though. I do feel a change in the wind.
- I’m going to be moving to a different part of Singapore
- Littlelam will be changing to a new Kindergarten and leaving her close friends
- on the spiritual front I also feel there is change afoot… Exciting times of battle and growth I hope!

Here’s to a fabulous 2012, everyone!

Christmas Activities at Sentosa

Littlelam really had an activity-filled December, which was both tiring and fun for me. We were glad to meet up with some of her previous playgroup friends — the girls she’s grown up with since she was about 18 months old – and we decided to head to Sentosa to participate in their Year End Holiday Activities, or rather, called ‘PLAY!

Chatting on the skytrain to Sentosa

We took a Skytrain from Vivocity to the Imbiah Lookout station, where we rushed up 4 flights of escalators to catch the starting of the ‘Storytelling Comes Alive’! show, which was hosted by Mervyn from Okto channel, and was a very ingenious interactive play. The first story was Little Red Riding Hood and the girls munched on KFC popcorn chicken while watching the show, which was free admission:

Watching 'Red Riding Hood' - or rather the Big Bad Wolf and the Narrator!

Next up, we signed the girls up for the Creative Kids Arts and Crafts Workshop, which had a 1 for 1 deal for Passion card holders, so we ended up with a Craft session AND a Baking session! All this for $8.

Workshop supplies

Kneading the cookie dough that they made

Cutting out a heart-shaped cookie

The cookies the girls made - ready to be baked!

Making a Christmas Apron: They traced out the outline of the tree, then stuck on sequins, fabric etc.. in their own chosen design to decorate the felt tree.

Littlelam's tree design

Just as I was packing up to leave at 5pm (because I really wanted to avoid the ECP jam), I suddenly realised that instead of helping me to pack, Littlelam had joined her friends and sat in the front row to watch the NEXT show which was Pinocchio. Next thing I knew, she had raised her hand when they asked for volunteers and was chosen to ‘play’ the part of the Blue Fairy. Obviously, I couldn’t possibly drag her off at that point! Haha! So we stayed till the end of the show, and I’m glad we did because the girls really enjoyed themselves.  The programme ran from 26 Nov to 26 Dec so unfortunately they’ve packed up the entire marquee and left. But if they do this again the next school holidays, I’ll definitely recommend it!

Christmas Humility

I was rather struck by this devotion just just came in my email, from AboveRubies.

As we all celebrate Christmas with partying, presents and food, may we remember the true meaning of Christmas.

Blessed Christmas everyone!

———————————–
THE HUMILITY OF GOD

“Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedience unto death, even the death of the cross.”
(Philippians 2:6-8).

What is Christmas today? Christmas trees, decorations, lights, tinsel, parties, Santa Claus, and an over abundance of food. Total antipathy to the very first Christmas!

The first Christmas was celebrated in poverty. Today, if a couple were so poor that they had to have their baby in a dirty animal stable, the Social Services would take their baby away from them. But 2000 years down the line, it seems that the humility of Christmas has been forgotten.

I think it would be good to remind ourselves of the true reality of Christmas, don’t you?
1. The humility of Mary

Mary was a humble maiden with a humble lineage. She was not a royal princess. She was not a High Priest’s daughter. She was not rich. Mary herself confesses in her song, “He hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden… He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree…”(Luke 1:48-49). But God chose this unknown virgin to bring forth His precious Son. He chose her because she was a willing vessel. Often those who have everything materially, are not willing vessels.

God is not looking for riches and material possessions. He is looking for women with obedient hearts–mothers who will welcome to their hearts the children whom God has planned to send them. He is looking for those who have the same spirit Mary had when she said, “Be it unto me according to thy Word” (Luke 1:38). She was totally surrendered to the will of the Lord. In the face of poverty, ridicule, rejection and estrangement, she embraced this child who would be the Savior of the world.

I will never forget going to the famous art gallery in London and seeing a painting of Mary. It was such an anointed picture. The artist captured the look of total submission and abandonment to the will of God upon her face. It was amazing. I looked and looked at it for hours. The caption was, “Be it unto me according to thy Word.”
2. The humility of Joseph

Joseph was a humble carpenter from a humble village. Do you remember that Nathanael said of Jesus, “Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46). Jesus was spurned by his fellow residents of Nazareth who asked, “Is not this the carpenter’s son?” (Matthew 13:55).
3. The humility of His birthplace

Jesus was born in a stable, most probably a cave, with the dirt, the smells and messes of the animals all around. He was then laid in a stone feeding trough, fit only for the animals. Jesus was born to be King, but God didn’t provide a palace for His Son in which to be born. He didn’t provide a doctor, nurses and hospital. There was no cradle, beautifully draped with lace and frills. Only straw! Was there even that? No Christmas card paints the true reality of the scene.

If this was the beginning of the Son of God, why do we, the sons and daughters of God, expect that we should have all the niceties of life? Of course, if God blesses us with them, we will receive them with joy, but should we expect them?

Everything surrounding the birth of Jesus was humble. It is interesting that in the body of Christ we have the “Faith movement” and the “Discipleship movement” and so on. But has anyone ever heard of the “Humility movement”? We don’t take to this so well, do we? And yet this is how God planned for His beloved Son to be born. And this is how he lived His life. Shouldn’t humility also be the hallmark of our Christian experience?

I think that God revealed His heart in the place He chose for His son to be born-the lowliest and humblest place possible. God loves the poor. He promises to raise up the poor. He watches over them. Even in the birth of His son, He related to the poorest of the poor.

It is also amazing to think that God chose to bring forth His beloved Son through the process of birth. He could have sent him down from Heaven on a chariot of fire! He could have sent a legion of angels to escort Him from the majesty of heaven. But no! He chose for His Son to be conceived and nurtured in a womb, to be born of a woman, the way that God planned for all human life to come into this world.

Surely this raises birth to a high estate. What a privilege to give birth and give life to children, the very same way that Jesus came into the world? How blessed we are as women.
4. The humility of Jesus’ dedication

After the days of a mother’s purification, the parents took the baby to the temple to be dedicated. They had to bring a lamb to be sacrificed for the dedication.
However, if they could not afford a lamb, they brought two turtle doves or young pigeons (Leviticus 12:6-8).

The account in Luke 2:23-24 tells us that Joseph and Mary brought doves or pigeons. They belonged to the poor class. They couldn’t afford to bring a lamb. And yet God chose from the poorer class to bring forth the King of kings and Lord of lords.

We don’t have to own our own home and have all the modern conveniences before we are ready to have a baby. All we have to have is willing and welcome hearts. God will always provide for the children He sends. The poor who have children are richer than the wealthy who reject children.

May God pour out His Spirit upon you at this very special season as you celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah together as a family. May God keep all our hearts focused on the humility of His birth, rather than tinsel and toys.

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL
www.aboverubies.org

PRAYER:

“Dear Lord Jesus, Thank you for leaving the glory of heaven to come to this earth. Thank you for humbling yourself to become a little baby. Thank you for being humiliated for me. Thank you that you came to die for my sin. How can I ever thank you adequately? With all my being I worship and love you. Amen.”

QUOTE:

Zechariah 9:9 NAS, “Behold your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, humble, and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey”

Christmas crafts

Ok, two days to Christmas and I realize I still have so many photos in my iPod touch of Littlelam’s Christmas crafts! So I shall attempt to upload everything here in a Christmas Craft bonanza post heh!

1) Christmas Clay ornaments

Littlelam has never played with white clay before, so we decided to let her have a stab at it. This kind of clay must be softened and worked with water, but after it dries it hardens into a porcelain- like item. Then the paint can go on, and if you have time, lacquer for a shiny finish. Littlelam was a bit apprehensive about the feeling of semi- dried clay on her hands, but after a while she got used to it and had fun creating all sorts of shapes.

Moulding the clay

Creating a heart-shape

The finished and dried ornaments

Painting a blue star

Fully coloured! (Don't ask me what a fish and brocolli has got to do with Christmas?!)

2) Christmas Star

This craft was done more out of necessity! We didn’t have a star for our mini tree so I decided to make a simple one instead of spending money to buy another overpriced ornament!

Draw outline of star on a piece of firm paper

Roll a piece of card paper into a cone shape

Paint the cone and star

Once dry, place atop tree

You can add glitter if you have time!

Little foodies

Never underestimate small girls. This time I’m referring to myself (ok I’m not exactly a girl anymore) and a friend of mine. Both of us are below 5′ 3″ and our combined weight is probably less than 90kg. But, we managed to polish off a scary amount of carbs today at P.S Cafe Palais Renaissance. Much to the horror of some tai-tais who left an ENTIRE plate of fries untouched.

Despite the rain, which meant that the roller blinds had to be drawn because, in the words of our Indian waiter, “the drizzle is coming in”, we sat outside in the balcony. It was still pleasant and because of the rain, even more pleasantly cool. With the light jazz music playing in the background and Christmas decorations, it really didn’t feel like we were still in Singapore.

So anyways, here’s what we ate:
- a big serving of a soft shell crab sandwich with avocado and rocket salad
- a bruschetta platter with tomato & feta cheese, and eggplant toppings ( and extra butter)
- a giant wedge of cake called a Crunchy chocolate doorstop, with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream
- and copious amounts of ice-water ( which had carrot, lemon and mint in it)

Art by a 5 year old

I was very amused yet impressed by this picture Littlelam presented to me. Much as I like the colours and drawing she did all by herself, I’m even gladder that she said, “this is you and Daddy!”

Homemade Christmas cards

Since Littlelam is already into the origami thing, I figured why not put it to good use? So I had an idea to use the paper hearts she can fold and incorporate it as a Christmas card.

Here’s a simple step by step guide to a simple but pretty Christmas card you and your child can make:

Girly afternoons

Last week I brought Littlelam with me to trim her hair while I got a haircut at the hair salon. My hairstylist was so nice she waived the charge for Littlelam since it was only a trim of the fringe.

LittlerLam also got her very first haircut EVER last week. At exactly 14 months, she finally has enough hair to cover her ears a little and her fringe was sporadically long enough to poke her eyes. So I got grandma (who has cut all our hair before) to do the honors! Thankfully, it all turned out pretty nicely!

Littlelam having her hair cut by a senior hairstylist,

 

While LittlerLam gets to play dress-up (Which she isn’t fond of at all!)

Mall adventures & Kublai Khan

Today was yet another busy day but I’m glad we managed to keep to schedule (somewhat) and keep the kids happy! The adults also got to enjoy ourselves, which is a big plus when you are used to having to eat in installments and take turns to eat because any one time, one child needs your attention!

We popped by Marina Square for a quick lunch with Littlelam’s best friend’s family and managed to catch a bit of a Chuggington live show. The mechanics of it was quite cute – the trains were on a track on stage and kind of bobbed around from side to side. Well done to the set-up crew!

In the evening, we headed to Park Mall for more eating at this Mongolian buffet place called Kublai Khan. I would never have set foot in the place on my own because I generally don’t like those teppanyaki/ Korean buffet places cos the smell of the cooking meat on the BBQ in the air-conditioned restaurant just gets too much for me. Not to mention the oily stench permeates your clothes and hair (and bag!) and stays for days! So I had my reservations when I was invited to the place tonight for a dinner treat.

Thankfully, the way the ‘frying meat’ area was set up, there was no overpowering smell in the restaurant at all and the buffet even included far-flung, non-Mongolian varieties like Japanese sashimi, baked oysters, har-cheong-kai (Chinese prawn-paste chicken), chilli crab with fried mantou, Western mushroom soup with Filo pastry, and a chocolate fountain. I little bit bizarre and confusing for my tummy, but I think a lot of Singaporeans like these local spreads. Better yet, the restaurant is Halal certified so it is very popular with the Malay community since it is such a good buffet spread.

We didn’t have to pay for Littlelam as she just made the height limit, which is 1.1m haha! And true to form, she enjoyed the chocolate fountain and ice-cream the best! In all, an interesting experience, but I don’t think I’ll intentionally go back there cos the hygiene level was rather wanting and the ambience wasn’t that great- but I’m just a stickler for hygiene & lighting! Also, the quality of the ingredients was quite low, but i guess for the price of $29.80++ for adults on weekends, it is pretty value-for-money. Especially for those who can eat large quantities! Heh

Here are some pics of the day, and of the giant hot-plate-like Mongolian BBQ area:

Littlelam & best friend watching Chuggington at Marina Square

Pick what you want: The spread of meat and veges for the Mongolian BBQ

The giant hot plates!

Enjoying sweetcorn ice-cream with chocolate sauce, & hot chocolate!

Baby reindeer

I don’t have many great pictures of LittlerLam cos she really hates dressing up. This is in stark contrast to her older sister who can go overboard with the accessories. But I did manage to get her to wear this for a precious few seconds, in time for me to snap a photo!

“Oh deer!”