tots on parenting #1

"...it is important to look at the big picture. Anytime we take on an important job, it is helpful if we have a vision for the end result. If you are building a home, you may not be able to see with your eyes what the final product will be, but you can, by faith so to speak, know what you are shooting for. The house plans lay out the complete design, and as each wall goes up, it should follow this master plan. Because mothering is very similar, a mother needs to see her daily tasks in the light of the whole design. Each day's work is significant, for it is contributing toward the long-term plan.....Though it may not seem like much got accomplished in a single day, all those nails in the walls do add up. " - (Praise Her in the Gates, Nancy Wilson)

"Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands." Prov 14: 1

It has been on my mind to record all these lessons learnt from books/thoughts/sharings from others... to remind myself, as well as to share them with others :) 

The daily routines of mothering can become mundane indeed... and for me personally, i do dread mundane. While I do not like changes and find comfort in routines, sometimes I do dread going through the same thing and doing it over and over again. yes, it can be wonderful, amazing to witness the development of Baby E, his smiles, his funny gestures. however, there comes certain days where I do wonder where I am headed and if there is any end state in what I am doing. 

I pray that the end state will be of Ezra, being presented to God, as a faithful servant of Him, loving God and doing the law of God as shared here. May everything I do as a mother, whether big or small, be used by God to lead this little one to this end state. While Ezra may be still young, he is indeed picking up every word and response we give. Yesterday as I was griping to PP about something, I realised his eyes focused on me, picking up every word, every murmuring tone that came out. oh, if he was more sensible, what a terrible influence I would have been! 

sometimes I wonder what I can DO exactly to teach him. must I preach? recite verses? nag and repeat? It has dawned on me while reflecting (as I type), that perhaps the best way to teach is by example. May our examples as fathers and mothers be pleasing in the eyes of God!

christmas 2012 - part 2

many others, in return, blessed us with their gestures of love! it was heart-warming to see the effort put in by others to show they love us very much indeed :) these are just a FEW snippets of what we received :)

   

sweet and meaningful hand-made gifts... 

hand-written and heart-felt notes :)

books, which we can never have enough of, and can never finish reading!

a personal poem, composed just for us!

and a cryptic acronym which we took eons to figure out! *face-palm* 

SGNA - Super Good Neighbour Award?!

hahaha!

christmas 2012 - part 1

sometime has passed since christmas last year, but we would still like to record this down since our christmas projects are pretty much a tradition. see here and here.

when working on these projects, PP and i are forced to reflect on our relationships (with those we give gifts to), write a note of thanks and encouragement to them (while saying a simple prayer), and work on something together! It is always a very blessed process. here is what we did last year :) a set of 4 postcards for various occasions, so our friends can use them to bless others in the coming year..

after drawing the illustrations, we scanned them in and editted them by adding the relevant verses.

"congratulations!" - for happy occasions such as weddings or good news

"thank you!" - to thank anyone who has been a blessing

"keep growing" - to encourage a fellow brethren to keep persevering in our walk with God

"praying for you" - for anyone who is struggling or going through a trial

 We believed that in the coming 365 days, there would surely be an opportunity to write each card to anyone who needed a word of encouragement. 

Our inspiration actually came when we were packing for the moving of house. I was going through (and smiling endlessly) the little notes written by many many people to us. some people, we have already forgotten. reading what they have written reminded me of them! some notes, were heart-felt and reading them once more warmed our hearts. i am so glad we kept all these! when i feel down, I am very sure going through the many boxes of letters and notes will surely lift my spirits because all these people were once used by God...to make the effort to pick up a pen and thoughtfully pen down something for us!

we used washi tape to attach the postcards to the envelopes before sealing them by wrapping a slip of kraft paper around them. 

after writing our messages to them at the back, we bound everything with twine.

we really enjoyed working on these. While we cant buy expensive gifts or work on specific gifts for specific people, this is the next best option. doing these also teaches us how to cooperate with one another and brainstorm on what is the best way to do certain things. I strongly believe that it is through these projects that PP and i learn how to work with one another and build on each others' strengths and weaknesses. next time, baby E will be part of these projects! that would be excellent family time! exciting :)

p.s. (edit) since there are a few enquiries, the postcards are available for sale if you are interested :) all designs, concepts and illustrations are original. more details here.

a new day

how often do we wake up each day feeling joyful, purposing in our hearts to rejoice because God has given us a new day? 

i confess, being nothing like a morning person, i wake up each morning probably "mournfully" and groggy as i drag my feet to wash up and begin a new day. 

with the coming of baby E, i have been forced to become otherwise! it seems like my boy is a morning early-bird, who blabbers and chatters away as he lies next to his sleepy mama. this morning, as i talked to him, i was thinking of what song i should sing to him and this song came to mind. every day that the Lord gives to us is precious and we ought to rejoice in it, and strive to live abundantly :) i am also especially thankful for each new day that God gives to Ezra, but it is not of our own efforts that he is sustained. 

God does not just give us a new day for us to trudge through, or barely survive it. neither does he give it to us to wear us out. With every new day He provides, He also gives the strength and grace, just sufficient and enough for what we need. may we press on, to live each day for him, rejoicing and being glad in it!