Charlotte's Web

Friday, July 31, 2009

Mummies' Therapy...

Yes, our TTF has moved to the next level. This time round, we had high tea at Marriott Hotel! Somemore w/o our kids! Alright, it's really very tai-tai of us to arrange a meet-up like that, but not because we didn't have anything better to do. All 4 of us, Eve, Serena, Shuying & me had to really put aside all other agenda to meet-up for fellowship so that we can find the moral support and strength to continue our hectic mothering duties for the following weeks to come. (Ok lah, that was an excuse and I sounded too serious and exaggerated, hee)

It was super enjoyable but the most fun part was when we talked about our ex-romance stories.. Ha ha, I shall leave out the details because some of our hubbies are bloggers now as well (Esp.. Mr Tan....ahem) Anyway, that's not the point. Talking about our ex-romance reminds us how good God is to give us such a great hubby now. :p

It was amazing. The time was well-spent. You know, I just felt that many times, we meet our friends in church once a week, but didn't really get to understand them better and really be interested in their lives. So I'm really looking forward for more sessions like this in the coming months.

Not able to post up any photos because there weren't any. We were too busy enjoying the buffet!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

What Am I Up To Lately?

Basically, I'm just going thru the normal routine of working and mothering. Hee hee, just wanted to put up a blog title that draws your attention... or did it not??

Anyway, my mum took Georgie to the PD today coz he had been having runny nose for almost 1 wk plus, been to a neighbourhood PD last 1 wk, since was thinking to save some money (anyway, realized that it wasn't that cheap either), went back the 2nd time, and still his flu still didn't go away. Not wanting to take chances, I decided that he should go back to his PD @ TMC.

Went to find my mum and kid @ the PD during lunch time. Boy! was I surprised to see him playing at the see-saw (of coz, with my mum supporting him) at the clinic. You must understand, it had been sometime since we went back. The last few visits were when Georgie was still quite young and didn't know how to play alongside other babies. Suddenly realized that Georgie was no longer in the little baby stage.. He's a 'big' boy now. Anyway, he's turning 11 mths in another 2 wks time.. :)

Went back home after work today for dinner. Was eating and chatting with my mum. She was sharing with me the persecutions she faced these few days, just b'coz her kids were city harvesters. Ha ha... didn't know she went thru 'so much'!

She was saying that 1 of the aunties who owned a 'pots and pans' shop at the opposite market had a daughter who attended CHC and who was an 'on fire' believer. To her, 'fanatic' would be a more suitable description. Somehow another, whenever my mum went to buy some stuff @ her shop, she would complain and complain about how silly her daughter is, how religious the church is... and so on and so forth. Sometimes, she would also make general accusations and ugly remarks indirectly about us. Then recently, the auntie who delivered 'Yakult' regularly to my house stopped calling her, or stopped chit-chatting with her when she came by. My mum then added saying she saw this Yakult auntie at the 'pots and pans' shop one day 'gossipping' with the lady boss. So, therefore, my mum concluded by saying that the 2 aunties must be talking against CHC... or gossipping about her.

Haha... alright, I guess that this was just another 'market politics' story among the housewives aka aunties. Whatever it is, what's heartening to know is that in the midst of all this, my mum has been standing up for us and our church. Hmm... God bless her soul! Haha! Prayed that 1 of these days, she would be a part of God's family.

Anyway, the following pic I downloaded is for Georgie's Auntie Audrey:

Thanks for giving him these wacky shades, we had some real fun time together!

Monday, July 6, 2009

'O You of Little Faith, Why Do You Doubt?'

Yohandi was sharing with me with much excitement and conviction one of the sermons he heard on Youtube by Rob Bell earlier on. I didn't fully understand how impactful the Word was to him (as I was busy looking forward to watch Ice Age 3, which was starting in 5-10 min time at the theaters). Came back home to check out the sermon video and felt that I HAD TO SHARE THIS!

Rob Bell gave a little background of the education system that the Jewish kids had to go thru:

1) Bet Sefer
A school for children aged 6-10 yrs. At this stage, the Word was being introduced as honey to their lips. They had to memorise all the books of the Torah.

2) Bet Talmud
For children aged 11-13 yrs. At this stage, students were being taught deeper truth and were developed to be well-versed in the scriptures. There was a culture of questioning the teachers ('rabbi') the Word of God and challenging the deeper things of the Word. This also explains why Mary and Joseph found Jesus in the synagogue asking questions at the age of 12.

3) Bet Midrash
At this stage, children aged 14-15 would be looking to follow a rabbi and they would have to pass an intensive scripture knowledge test of the Torah. In addition, the rabbi would have to decide whether the candidates have what it takes to be their disciple, to live a lifestyle of the rabbi - to put it plainly, whether will they be able TO BE LIKE HIM, before being accepted as a disciple. On the other hand, should the rabbi feels that the candidates do not have what it takes, they would be asked to go back home to do their family business instead.

In Matt 4:18, Jesus came to Andrew and Simon Peter and said '...Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men. They immediately left their nets and followed Him'. Many times, when we came across this verse, most of us would feel that the 2 fishermen were willing to cast away their nets to follow Jesus because probably a light from heaven came upon them, 'brainwashed' them, and they began to make a great sacrifice and followed Jesus by forsaking their livelihood (if you know what I mean..) After learning about the education system that these young men received during then, I realised that they followed after Jesus because they were privileged that finally some rabbi wanted to accept them as disciples! That finally there was a rabbi who felt that they have what it takes to be a disciple! Keeping in mind of the fact, that they would most probably be rejects by some other rabbi earlier on, because if not, they would have not been doing their family business (the fishing business), when Jesus first found them.

That also explains why Mrs Zebedee was so insistent to ask Jesus to be the rabbi of her 2 sons. It was an honour for a parent whose children were under the cover and teachings of a rabbi.

In Matt 14:29, Jesus spoke to Peter to walk on the water. Peter started walking on water because he knew that if his Rabbi could do it, he could do it as well. However, while he was walking midway, he doubted in the presence of boisterous waves and started sinking. Jesus said, 'O you of little faith, why do you doubt?' The question over here is what exactly did Jesus meant, Whom did Peter have little faith in? Is it having little faith in Jesus (God), or having little faith in Peter, himself?

The reason why Peter started sinking is because he started having little faith in himself, that he started doubting if he could BE LIKE HIS RABBI, BE LIKE JESUS.

In John 15:16, Jesus says, 'You did not choose me, but I chose you...'

Jesus had chosen us to be his disciples, to be like Him and the reason why He chose us is because He believed that we have what it takes to do the great and mighty exploits that he has done.

Last Sun was our 1st decentralised SVC. As a zone that has barely 300 members, we were facing a challenge of having inadequate resources. Our service did not have performances from SuperBand. Neither did we have seasoned P&W leaders. Our P&W team has to meet up several times over the week just to practise 4 songs. For some of the singers, it was their 1st time being backup vocalists. It was my 1st time co-ordinating the practices. It was some of our CGL's 1st time leading announcement and giving an offering message in a service. Many of our members had to rise up to the occasion to prepare for a great service. Nonetheless, just like the message I heard from Rob Bell, many one of us may not be the A team, however, it's heartening to know that Jesus also chooses the ones in Team B and C.

Hope the above pointers has blessed you in some way or another. For the full sermon, you can source out on YouTube Rob Bell's message on 'Covered in the dust of your Rabbi'.