A Letter To My Sister and All Mothers.

*The elder sister, that is Sen, not Ling, whom you guys know.
*Matthew is my sister's son aka my nephew.

Hello Big Sister!

I feel compelled to write you a letter because Matthew just called me and said that he couldn't sleep the whole night because of his upcoming exams. I prayed with him over the phone.

I love your family and I love you and so I feel I must speak out against the direction which you are all headed.

I know I am not qualified to give any parenting tips for obvious reasons. But as a sister in Christ, I want to tell you that God is. He loves you and your family more than anyone else and wants to free you from all your burdens.

"31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matthew 6:31-33)

You love Matthew and worry for his future. Does God not love him more than you? Will He abandon your child because he is not achieving school expectations? Will He not provide for his needs because he does not do well enough in school? God knows what he needs and He will provide them. The burden is not yours alone.

"28 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28)

God is in control of all things - how well your son learns, how well he expresses, how well he does in school. Your friends who do not know God do not know this, and so they run around anxiously, looking for answers at the wrong places - tuition centres, assessment books, motivational seminars etc. You don't have to follow their lead. Commit everything that is out of your control to God and rest in Him. Then you can have peace and sit back and watch Him work in your family. I assure you that no tuition centre can bring such peace. They only add to your burden and anxiety.

God is the best person to go for parenting tips. Have you asked Him how He wants you to bring up your children? Just as He loves your children, He loves you. Will He not provide you the strength and wisdom to lead the family if you ask Him? He will gladly use you to do great things in the lives of your husband and children.

Lastly, "Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?" (Matthew 6:25b) Are Matthew's results the most important thing that determines his life? Is your children's success the most important ting that determines yours?

This is a prophecy yet to be fulfilled in the Bible -

" 1 See, the LORD is going to lay waste the earth
and devastate it;
he will ruin its face
and scatter its inhabitants—
2 it will be the same
for priest as for people,
for the master as for his servant,
for the mistress as for her servant,
for seller as for buyer,
for borrower as for lender,
for debtor as for creditor.
3 The earth will be completely laid waste
and totally plundered.
The LORD has spoken this word." (Isaiah 24:1-3)

Smart or not, successful or not, we must all face and be accountable to God at the end of time. Is your family's faith not more important than worldly success? Ask God what He wants for your life and your family's. He will answer you with love.

I have been praying unceasingly for your family. Join me in prayer! God is good and He listens.

Lots of love,
Your Little Sis.

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To all other mummies out there:

I don't mean to offend anyone with my letter. I do not want to trivialize the stress of being a Singaporean mother, whose children has to compete hard in the flawed education system. I acknowledge the difficulties and pains of motherhood. I long for the joy of it as well. It is a noble and beautiful task. And for that, I pray that this letter would bring you to God, for He is love and the only source of peace. May He bless you and your family abundantly.

Love,
Shu.

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Pain and Politics.

I am here to eat my words. My new shoes from Aldo are too high. My swollen right heel is proof. *glum*

For those who missed my post on my problem with heels, here it is.

I must admit I'm very lousy at getting comfy shoes. Why do they always make your feet feel good in the stores?!

Anyone who thinks yourself as a shoe shopping guru, please enlighten me. :(

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Anyways, its been a very busy, yet very enjoyable weekend. First off, I must say -

Happy Mum's Day to all mummies! You have the noblest job in the world. You deserve to celebrate.

(That brownie cake was totally yummy by the way. One of the rare cakes that both looks and tastes good!)

Besides the Mother's Day celebrations, Singaporeans have also sat through a nail-biting experience on Saturday night through dusk - the results of our General Elections 2011. Some celebrate the outcome and others cry. But through it all, I believe we have all grown as a country in political literacy. We have come to understand how our government truly governs life of all citizens, and how our one vote weighs a ton.

As we all participated in the political debate, both offline and online, I was inspired by many and very upset by some. It wasn't those who supported the other party who traumatized me, but rather, those who 1) made loud and totally skewed arguments based on ignorance and lack of knowledge (for example, in my humble opinion: Xiaxue), 2) casted their votes flippantly (aka was too lazy to read up on news and thus flipped a coin to decide the future of Singapore. Don't laugh at this ridiculous proposition, because I DO HAVE A FRIEND WHO DID JUST THIS.)

Your vote impacts the lives of everyone in the nation. Please (please!) do your homework on all parties before making your decision. You have the next 5 years to do that, so do it well!

I shall end off with a tribute to The man who loves Singapore, Mr. Chaim See Tong of SPP.

Sir, your battle was well fought. While the others earned votes, you earned respect, love and trust. Thank you for dedicating your life and energy to our country and all who live in it. Singapore loves you too.

Onward Singapore,
Shu.

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Romance in the Hands of God.

Feeling sort of bummed out and poetic today, so this shall be more of a thoughtful post than the usual noisy ones with all the exclamations marks haha. :)

"No man is an island!" was my primary school teacher's response to my journal entry about feeling left out among my friends.

It remained just a fancy phrase to me until I read that this was how God intended things to be, right at the beginning.

The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." - Genesis, 2:18

Then, God went on to create animals and more people. :)

Deep inside we all yearn for attention, for recognition, and for love. That's how we are created to be.

(Of course, God's love is sufficient to fill all emptiness in us, as we are ultimately created to worship. There's a long explanation of how these work out in God's plan but that'll take up a whole other post!)

In my life, I've always been dependent (in varying degrees) on different people, at different times of my life.

When I was young, it was my mother. I remember how terribly sad I felt when the time came for me to walk myself to school, without her holding my hand. I would set out into the dark, barely-breaking dawn with my unreasonably heavy school bag and feel so bad for myself.

A little later, my attention turned to friends. Suddenly, I didn't feel like staying at home all the time anymore. I want to be out with my peers, my confidants who could relate to my every problem.

That lasted till the first taste of betrayal came. Back to family I go! These are the people who would love me to end.

That still remains :), only now there's a new person involved.

He's sort of family, yet not really there yet. He relates with the understanding of a friend and the love of a family. How wonderful the feeling, to have found someone who would hold my hand again, as I brave the darkness of everyday life in this world of weaknesses and temptations.

I bet Adam felt just as great the moment he woke up to see Eve by his side. :)

Who is this special person for you? What have you done to show that he's (or she's) special to you?

It was God who placed him (or her) right there beside you. Have you given thanks for such a lovely gift?

You are loved. Rejoice. :)

Peace,
Shu.

P.S. In case you're in the mood for some music, here's a lovely song that makes me cry on such days. A perfect song for weddings.

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PMS, Boyfriend and Song Recordings.

I've been eating like a pig (cleaning the plate with space for dessert) and feeling ultra sensitive lately. That can only mean one thing - PMS!

I get the worst mood swings when it hits. Ask my boyfriend, he suffered enough to know. Every little thing has the potential to make me sad or/and angry or/and frustrated. He complains about it every 2 days but guys just don't get it that women are victims of the emotional changes as well. :( You try going :( :) :( :) :D :S :( :( :( in just 1 day! It's not fun, I can tell you that much.

This current bout of hormonal change is making me very sensitive about the amount of quality time I have with the above-mentioned guy of my life. Since our last dinner together on Thursday, I've been seeing him in church last evening, group dinner cum supper with many other church mates on last night (first time at Domino's Pizza - it ain't that big in Singapore! - and it was awesome), and group steamboat dinner with (again) many other church mates tonight. In all three occasions, we hung out with different groups and barely had time to actually talk much to each other! :(

On any other day, I would be perfectly fine with it, as I do love hanging out with the church community. But we're talking about PMS here. I was very much craving for some affection!

He left the steamboat dinner while I was in the middle of a game of Bridge, because some of them went for paintball this afternoon and were already half dead by 10pm. My insides sort of shriveled when he announced that he was going home. The conversation with myself went like this:

"I suppose he isn't very bothered by the fact that we haven't spent much time together."

"He must be tired. That's a valid reason!"

"He doesn't care about spending time with me."

"No no he's tired!!"

Back and forth I argued with myself, until he sent a message over while I was on my way home, which said, "Feels like a long time since I talked to my girlfriend properly! Would you be freeee for breakfast tomorrow? :D"

That pretty much ended the argument between me and myself. :)

Thank God that he feels the same way. Thank God that he messaged! :)

Looking forward to breakfast tomorrow. :)

Thank God for him!

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I didn't join them in paintball today because Ling and I spent 5 hours at John's place for the song recordings! It was great fun. Thank God for good voices today, John's generosity to do this for free and a smooth time of recording!

I'll put up the songs up here soon, so stay tuned! :)

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