Except the Lord build the house,

i was just discussing with PP whether the home building process ought to be discussed on the blog. firstly, it involves our privacy and secondly, the last thing i want is to end up flaunting a showroom. oh, how i always struggle with pride. nonetheless, on reflection, God has been INCREDIBLY good to us. i need to record all these blessings down and to share them as a testimony of God's goodness to us! i definitely hope our experience can be a testimony of how moving house is not THAT daunting, and yes, you can have a baby while doing so ;) all because we have a heavenly Father who takes care of us and watches over our every need :)

before we got our keys, i was scared to bits, yet thrilled at the same time. the date of completion appears to be so near (too near!) the arrival of baby Ezra. Psalm 127 offered special comfort. It seems to address every single worry i had, whether it be the house, my difficulty in sleeping, even the growth of Ezra. 

Except the LORD build the house,they labour in vain that build it:

except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late,

to eat the bread of sorrows: forso he giveth his beloved sleep.

Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.

Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed,

but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

 

Except the LORD build the house.....

How true! If God was not in this home-building process, everything would just crumble.  

the first blessing God sent our way was a wonderful contractor. after comparing quotes, we realised that engaging an ID would definitely ease the process, but was so much more costly. it also seemed like more often than not, we were telling the ID what we wanted. hence, with some fear and trembling, we started scouring around for contractors, looking for contacts from friends and even online. amazingly, God led us to a contact (gotten online!). we saw his handiwork, liked it, studied his quote, found him fatherly and experienced, and decided that he was the one! he was not the cheapest option, but in construction, what you pay is more often than not, what you get :) 

Mr L (the contractor) and Mr A (the carpenter) are very very amicable and easy to work with. they speak mandarin, but are clearly savvy with what needs to be done, offering suggestions for improvement on the way. can you believe they were more efficient than us? they started work even before we expected them too! 

on hindsight, if you were to ask me whether a contractor or ID is better, I would say, go for a contractor if you already know what you want. If you have in mind the colours you like and how you would like to plan your space, a contractor can easily fulfill your expectations as long as you are clear, you show him pictures, and constantly double check if he has understood your concept. PP and i use pinterest alot and we pin all our favourite ideas and designs so they are easily accessible when we try to explain what we have in mind. An ID would help you conceptualise and create a mood for your house, show you 3D drawings, add some design-y touches, bring you furniture shopping, but the hidden cost would mean forfeiting a full-length cabinet, or a nice platform ;) we decided to go for the more prudent option, and definitely have no regrets! thank God for His providence :) Here's the start of our journey!

we entered the house and were surprised that aircon piping had proceeded, followed by hacking of walls. yes, these are probably the ugliest photos ever on this blog, but they are heart-warming sights. the mess proved to us that work had started, in God's good timing, way earlier than we expected! :) 

I'd love to share Mr L's contact with you. email me if you're interested :)

and his name is...

it has been an amazing journey so far, and i believe what we have experienced till today is but a foretaste of what is to come. God's timing is always perfect, and we tightly cling on to this fact. by faith, all will fall in place! 

planning for a new home, and preparing for a new member of the family, can be more than overwhelming at times. how true it is, that "It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not." Lamentations 3: 22.

With the edd being 1st of January (this can only be planned by God!) we are constantly reminded by the promise that ATWOSLU - All the Way Our Saviour Leads Us! and He doeth all things well. progress is well for our new home, by God's grace. oh, such exciting stuff! i was telling my sister that day that this feels like a gigantic craft project, hehe! more importantly, i do look forward to moving in with PP and baby E, to build a new home, our own family :) 

thank God especially, for people who support us so much, in acts of love, prayer and sincere questions of concern. these blessings are another reminder that God is with us, through you :) 

and so, as the countdown gets lower, thank God we have decided on the name of our son. (feels surreal, saying the word, our son)

Ezra. /ˈezrə/

name of hebrew origin, meaning "helped", or "helper"

How we pray that our dear son will find his help in God, and be a helper greatly used by God! more importantly, that he will love God and His word. "For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments." Ezra 7:10

Surely, our role in achieving this is crucial. may God help us! we covet your prayers! 

side note: amidst our busyness, we found time for a little photoshoot for memorial's sake :) the lovely photos in this blog post are by Blocmemoire Photography, an amazing couple whom we really enjoyed working with!

Saviour, more than life to me

 

Savior, more than life to me,

I am clinging, clinging, close to Thee;

Let Thy precious blood applied,

Keep me ever, ever near Thy side.

 

Every day, every hour,

Let me feel Thy cleansing power;

May Thy tender love to me

Bind me closer, closer, Lord to Thee.

 

Through this changing world below,

Lead me gently, gently as I go;

Trusting Thee, I cannot stray,

I can never, never lose my way.

 

Let me love Thee more and more,

Till this fleeting, fleeting life is o’er;

Till my soul is lost in love,

In a brighter, brighter world above.

 

blessings from cambodia

seeing this warms my heart. 

i realised i do enjoy working on projects like this :) thank God for the opportunity and for blessing each step of the process!

packaging

i do enjoy packaging items and have slowly learnt that it does not have to be too complicated or involve too much :) while PP and i lack a colour printer, thank God for a simple provision of washi tape to add colour to little tags. we wanted to wrap some gifts we got from bangkok (such a wonderful wonderful time), and the children's day gifts as well. here's how they turned out :) 

first, we printed the text on thick white paper (got 250 pieces of 200gsm paper at a steal of $23 at art friend). we intentionally aligned the text more to the right to allow space for washi tape later :)

then, we cut them up.

stuck washi tape at the sides.. this part makes me wish i have a greater variety of washi tape haha!

 

then, we used a single-hole puncher to punch holes and tied the gifts up.

 

 

alternatively, you can punch holes and add washi tape on both ends :) rounding the corners of the tag creates a different look as well!

can't get enough of this baker's twine which i got for a STEAL at a random bookshop in bangkok! it was a gigantic roll, for only sgd$2! i was so thrilled and i grabbed all that was there :)

all these took less than an hour to complete :) children's day is a little more simple this year, considering the amount of things we have in our hands (house, baby...). we got some stationery from bangkok and packed them in the paper bags you see above. while the gifts are not hand-made, we hope they will find them useful and like them still :)

suan phung - part 2

blogging about suan phung brings back beautiful memories of the blessed time we had. oh, how i love travelling! while im not a particularly adventurous explorer at heart, i do enjoy stumbling upon places and unexpected things, especially those not within the itinerary :) i guess blogging is a little way of mine to recall all these wonderful memories and count my blessings over again :)

thank God for a safe place at Suan Phung that we can retreat to at the end of the day. While it is largely a quiet town, you'll be surprised at the little elements of modern, vintage and craft scattered across this place. one of the places that is a must-go, is a candle haven. i have no idea what is its actual name, but i'll let the photos speak for themselves :)

There is a small eatery right at the entrance of the place which serves yummy thai cuisine, ideal for lunch :) we ate our lunch out of tingkats. so old-school! :)

drinks were served in bamboo cups which we got to take home as souvenirs :)

near the entrance, there is also a small shop scattered with countless hand-drawn tshirts for sale :) after much gesturing and hand signals, we finally managed to communicate what we wanted to the lady, who drew 5 customised tshirts for us with the design we wanted, and our names :) this lady is very talented indeed!

in this place, candle wax is like the canvas on which the artist works on. everywhere you turn, you will find yourself intrigued by amazing wax sculptures :) apparently they have a place set up to conduct workshops or classes :) i do wonder if it's possible to sign up for one!

kettles of different-coloured wax!

 

 

an artist at work :) it was intriguing to watch him. the wax, and his hands, had to be kept at a certain temperature so the wax would be mouldable. it is definitely a skill that takes effort to pick up!

 

as we continued to walk on, we found ourselves in the most AMAZING candle shop ever! 

 

this marks the entrance of the shop. i probably spent a good 5 minutes just outside, snapping pictures :p

 

 

 

here, you will find a huge array of assorted candles, all very intricate and unique. definitely one of a kind :) there are alphabets, hearts, and the list goes on and on. they also sell a variety of other souvenirs :)

 

 

 

 

i have countless photos but these are just a few to give you a glimpse of the place. my favourite feature? a little section that allows you to buy a postcard, write on it and mail it on the spot after purchasing a stamp from them :)

im not a big fan of candles but i thoroughly enjoyed myself. i was very impressed by how they integrated the vintage theme interior with their candles, and at the same time, the place was surrounded with greenery, giving the place a very unique "suan phung vibe" :)  if you are there with a group of loved ones, you will plenty of photo-taking opportunities! there are swings, vintage vehicles and nice benches all over the area :) bring a tripod! it will come in handy :)

fitw is going to a bazaar again :)

this will probably be the last in a long while :)

a birthday party with ♥

what makes a fantastic birthday party? is it the theme, where people will find ways to means to dress up, get props, and bring out the theme as best as they can? perhaps it's the games, and the amount of uproarious laughter that emits from it? well, my nephew's birthday party was a memorable, lovely and precious time. not the theme, not the games, nor the children. it was a time of fellowship, and thanksgiving, and plenty of ♥ as we pondered on the blessings we had received and hoped for, for the cute little boy. quality time was spent as a family, as we shared and recounted God's blessings!

the thanksgiving time started with a gorgeous sunset, a testimony of God's providence and goodness. 

im sure you will be able to guess the theme from the photos that are to follow :) here's our invitation :)

the little boy, wearing the hand-drawn polo, also don by his parents :)

a little note from us, to the little boy... of our hopes and prayers for him when he grows up!

we got rainbow-coloured brollies as door gifts! yippee! a note with a meaningful song on it (which we sang together) was attached to them :)

the boy LOVES balloons! animal balloons :)

look how happy he is with them!

can a noah's ark theme do without a rainbow? :)

his AMAZING birthday cake! made by Room for Dessert :)

he was SO enamoured by it :)

are you looking for someone to give you a hand in planning a party? as you can see, my very talented can-do-anything-u-can-think-of superwoman of a sister has done a brilliant job heehee ;)