What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up? Part 1

I love to ask Caleb and Naomi what they want to be when they grow up and I ask them very frequently. Caleb's dream career has changed over the years since he was a pre-schooler. At one stage of his life, he had wanted to be a train driver when he was very obsessed with trains. He also aspires to be an astronaut when his keen interest in space developed. He is not satisfied with merely reading about space and looking at the pictures of it in the Grolier encyclopedia. He desires the real stuff! Caleb also dreams of being a pilot and a doctor, specifically a gynaecologist.

However, in the last term of Primary 2, Caleb was found to be myopic. His Mother Tongue teacher had observed that he borrowed his friend's spectacles while copying some notes from the board. I should have suspected something amiss when he failed to copy the extra spelling words/phrases/sentences, which were usually given the day before the Chinese spelling test, in Term 4! Anyway, we brought Caleb to an optometrist for an eye assessment and had a pair of glasses made. He is disappointed that he can no longer be an astronaut or a pilot as these professions require one to be perfect sighted.

Hence, when I ask Caleb the same question nowadays, he will say that he wants to be a gynaecologist. He loves babies and wants to be the first person that the newborns see when he delivers them. I teased him that he should help his future wife to deliver their very own babies! Besides, I told him that a gynaecologist is a happy doctor as seeing babies is truly a joyful experience. And the patients that a gynaecologist sees are usually healthy expectant mothers and not sickly patients.

Occasionally, Caleb will still ask me about what he should eat to 'perfect' his vision as his first ambition is to be an astronaut! I just keep reminding him to trust God for a miracle. Well, with his manner of reading, i.e. lying down on the bed, and the number of books that he reads, I sometimes wonder when his miracle will manifest.

You may be wondering why I love to ask my young children this same old and 'annoying' question so often. The reason is I want them to have a goal in life and work towards it. By making them confess with their lips what they want to be when they grow up, it enables them to be more and more convicted (I hope) about what they want in life and their learning becomes more purposeful. Now that I know what my children want to be when they grow up, I can better guide and nurture them or provide them with the resources accordingly.

Little children, what do you want to be when you grow up? ;D

God's Beloved

The Saliva of God

On Saturday, I was feeling a little tired and feverish as James has not been nursing from the left breast since Wednesday. So, I casually told Daniel and Naomi (who happened to be at the dining table taking her tea-break of milo and bread) about my condition. Daniel straightaway suggested that we partook of the Holy Communion. In fact, father and daughter had just taken the Holy Communion using milo and bread.

So, very naturally, we partook of the Holy Communion with whatever that were before us, i.e. just milo and bread! Later, I told Naomi that I actually had one set of the Holy Communion elements (the set that is used in church on every Sunday) in my handbag. She retrieved the elements from my bag and retook the Holy Communion the third time! Then she disappeared into the kitchen.

A short while later, she returned to the dining table with the little plastic cup filled with water. She asked Daniel and me to partake of the Holy Communion again, and because the 'blood' of Jesus was now colourless, she innocently and wittily said that that was the saliva of God.! Both Daniel and I had a good laugh. For a moment, my weariness seemed to have drifted away and I was refreshed. The Bible says, "Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones." Proverbs 16:24.

More importantly, it is not using the same elements (bread and wine) as those in church that matters, but our faith in Jesus and His finished work on the cross. My pastor, and my dear husband, always stress that we can replace the 'bread' (usually in biscuit form) with normal bread (or, I think, even cake) and the 'blood' (usually Ribena or red wine) with any other beverage if we do not have the usual elements at hand.

At home, we had used fruit juices, green tea, coffee, milo, milk and even plain water to replace the usual element (Ribena) for the blood of Jesus. We realised that Caleb and Naomi love Ribena very much and the tumbler of Ribena that I frequently prepared (more for the Holy Communion) was secretly and quickly consumed.!

As often and timely as we would take our medication, prescribed by the doctor, when we were sick, that is how often we should take our heavenly divine medication. God's medication is the best as it will surely yield results (healing and wholeness) and, the most wonderful of all, it does not produce any side effects even when it is taken in excess!

I encourage you and your family to start partaking of the Lord's Supper on a regular basis in this new year. If you are sick, believe God for a miracle and breakthrough as you eat and drink of the very life of Jesus (the zoe life of God) into your entire being. If you are strong and healthy (thank God!), you can still partake of the Holy Communion to continue to remain in divine health and wholeness. Well, it is something like taking your health supplements (when you are well) to maintain your physical health.

Daniel and I always take the Lord's Supper as a time of celebration for what Jesus' death has done for us. It is a time we remember that the divine exchange has taken place and we have all of God's blessings and Jesus has taken upon Himself all our curses. A toast to you for your health and wholeness in 2011! Cheers!

By the way, the discomfort did not stay for long. It went away within the same hour when we had the Holy Communion.

In Bikini For Swimming Lesson?

Last Tuesday, Caleb's class had their first school swimming lesson. As the children would proceed to the Clementi swimming complex immediately after Science lessons, they were instructed to change into their swimwear during their lunch break and return to the classroom for Science.

When Caleb's form teacher entered the classroom, he spotted a girl clad in her bikini. Probably surprised or feeling awkward, he asked her whether she would like to put on her T-shirt. And she replied that it was not necessary.

Fortunately, the girl is only in Primary 3 and not older. Otherwise, the form teacher would have felt embarrassed (or distracted) while he was teaching! And not forgetting that there are many boys in the class too. Their male hormones would be raging and jumping all over.

I think the school should specify the types of acceptable swimwear that students can wear for their swimming lessons as a swimwear which may be acceptable to one may be totally unacceptable or inappropriate to another. Besides, we, parents, should always teach and encourage our children (especially our daughters) to dress modestly and appropriately.

Celebration Mooncakes

Dear Friends

The Amway Celebration Mooncakes are here again! To order, please email or sms me your orders. Delivery (west area only) is FREE for orders of a minimum of 3 boxes of mooncakes. Please order early to avoid disappointment as Amway mooncakes are sold out fast every year! Payment : Cash on Delivery. ;D

Regards

Ariana Tan

Amway Distributor

Email : arianatan@yahoo.com

Mobile : 9720 7985 / 9172 8817

How To Attain Honour?

"A gracious (kind, polite) woman attains honour (respect)." Proverbs 11:16a

Being a homemaker, my children, Caleb and Naomi, are usually the ones who help me to see the unpleasant side of me most of the time. Yesterday, while I was preparing to bathe Naomi, I got quite annoyed with her when she refused to step into the shower room in the common bathroom. She told me that she had urinated on the floor in the shower room and had used water to gush the urine away.

As Naomi is still not tall enough to reach for the shower head, I suspected that she had used her mouth rinsing cup to collect some water and rinse the floor as I saw that the floor outside the shower room was wet. Getting a little impatient (as I had already mopped the floor earlier), I asked her to go inside the shower room first so that I could use the mat that she was stepping on to wipe away the water. She refused to move!

Getting more annoyed, I raised my voice at Naomi to get her to move. And she did. However, I could see from her facial expression that she was hurt and about to cry. She 'warned' me that she would tell Daddy that I had used harsh words on her. She was indeed very upset with me. And I was equally cross with her (still even after we had come out of the common bathroom).

As I was reading Proverbs 11 today, this particular, simple verse just stood out from the Bible. It was so relevant for me. I failed to realise from the episode the day before that what Naomi did was actually right and appropriate according to her age and level of understanding. I had reminded the children umpteen times (after the maid had left on 12 January) that they were not supposed to use the toilet bowl in the common bathroom as I did not want to wash so many toilet bowls (3 altogether) while waiting for our new maid to arrive after Chinese New Year. I had also instructed Naomi before that she was not allowed to turn on the shower head herself as she had not learnt how to adjust the temperature of the water yet. All these, she faithfully adhered to! So, when Naomi urinated on the shower room floor (maybe she was very urgent and could not get to the yard toilet on time), she just wanted to rinse the urine away so that I would not step on it. It was normal for (and common sense to) her to get water from the basin using her cup! Yet, I had allowed myself to lose my peace (and cool) by sweating over this small stuff (wet floor) with her!

I was too quick to catch her wrong than her right. I should listen to my senior pastor's advice that we, parents, should make a point to catch our children doing right than catch them doing wrong. Give them praise where and when it is due. How to attain honour (respect)? Be gracious (kind, polite and even forgiving)! This is true and relevant even outside home.

God's Beloved

15 Blessings Of The Righteous (Proverbs 10)

As I was reading Proverbs 10 (NASB) this morning, I discovered that there were 15 precious blessings that I, the righteousness of God, could claim from my loving Father.

(1)I am delivered from death. (v2)
(2)I will not hunger. (v3)
(3)Blessings are on my head. (v6)
(4)The memory of me is blessed/a blessing. (v7)
(5)My mouth is a fountain of life. (v11)
(6)My wages is life/brings life. (v16)
(7)My tongue is as choice silver. (v20)
(8)My lips feed/nourish many. (v21)
(9)My desire will be granted. (v24)
(10)I have an everlasting foundation (stand firm forever). (v25)
(11)My hope is gladness/joy. (v28)
(12)The way of the LORD is a stronghold/refuge to me. (v29)
(13)I will never be shaken/uprooted. (v30)
(14)My mouth flows with wisdom. (v31)
(15)My lips bring forth what is acceptable (know what is fitting). (v32)

I realised that 5 of these blessings (that's 1/3 of the list!) had to do with the mouth/tongue/lips, the one little part of the body which James said in James 3:8 that no one could tame! That really requires our LORD's superabounding grace! I believe that with my Father's undeserved, unmerited and unearned favour, I will be able to restrain this little member from speaking negative and hurtful words, especially so when Chinese New Year is just around the corner.

Last but not least, I wish that all the desires of your heart (health and wholeness, prosperity, success, etc.) will be granted in 2010! Blessed Lunar New Year!

God's Beloved

Small Group Mathematics Tuition For 2009

Available @ Tower 46 The Quintet!
December 2008 - November 2009

Dear Parents

We are pleased to announce that the head start Mathematics programme for the academic year 2009 will commence in December 2008. We conduct Mathematics tutorials for students from Primary 1 to Secondary 4. Our groups are kept small (maximum of 5 students) so that every student can benefit from the lessons in terms of adequate attention given to each student. Within a smaller group, each child is likely to participate more readily.

Our teachers, Mr & Mrs Go, graduated from the National University of Singapore and are former NIE-trained teachers. Mr Go has 12 years of teaching experience and was a Head of Department in a secondary school. Mrs Go has more than 10 years of teaching and tutoring experience (in government school, tuition centres and private tuition).

We believe that every child is unique and can achieve given the right guidance and support. We strive to work closely with our students’ parents in order to bring about a successful outcome for our students. We desire to provide quality tuition at affordable fees to the students residing in Yew Tee.

Please call or email us to enquire about the fess and the available timeslots for the various levels and register with us as soon as possible! Thank you and may God bless you!

Faithfulness & Integrity In Service
Mr & Mrs Daniel Go
9172 8817, danarical@yahoo.com.sg
9720 7985, ariantan@yahoo.com

Fees for 4 lessons (Payable by cash/cheque on the first lesson of every month)
Lower Primary - $120 per student
Upper Primary - $130 per student
Primary 6 - $140 per student

Lower Secondary - $150 per student
Secondary 3 - $160 per student
Secondary 4 - $170 per student

There will be no lessons in the 5th week.
Confirmed classes

Rates for clinic sessions (Strictly by appointment)
Lower Primary - $40 per hour
Upper Primary - $45 per hour

Lower Secondary - $55 per hour
Upper Secondary - $60 per hour