Nic's Passing & Other Things

The day after I wrote about JF's heart attack, I received news of Nic's passing - Amy's husband in Adelaide. Amy sent me a text on FB messenger in Chinese describing him being found already unconscious in the church toilet - in fact dead, likely passed on due to a heart attack. That happened last Tuesday. Amy is coping with suddenly being a young widow and single mum of two young boys aged 5 (Josiah) and 2 (Joshua). Last Friday, I had written a post about Nic but YK had told me to pull out the post and reschedule it two weeks later. She also informed me to get Amy's permission before posting. In the end, with Joshua's added advice to really wait for Amy's reply, I got a negative to post from her. The post was totally dumped.  I guess even though I had worked at it, I was glad not to publish it as it would have gone against Amy's wishes at this juncture where she is already at immense shock, sorrow and suffering. 

Lord, why do you give each of us such different trials and tribulations to go through in life? Ultimately, to test the genuineness of our faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and bring all glory back to You when all's well that ends well? If not here on earth, then till we meet You face to face in heaven? Most of all, to show us that Your love is unfailing even when life fails us? We have a living Hope in a risen Saviour. That our faith when tested will come forth purer than gold.

Today, I connected with Tomo O on FB Messenger and she informed me her mum passed away last May, a Buddhist, while her dad has passed away a few years ago. I pray for this dear sister to stand strong in her faith in You, Lord. My dad too has passed away a few years ago. My mum is nearly 80 years old. I could very much in a similar state as her at anytime, except that she is an only child, while I still have two siblings who care for me very much, and I have close relatives too. But actually I am thinking, perhaps Tomo does have strong faith in You, O Lord. She totally relies on You now - You are her everything. Perhaps, while I think she may be in a pitiful state or condition, she may not be because she has You - You are all she needs. She is a much stronger lady than I. It is either that or I should connect with her more and show her God's unconditional love more. Pray for God's guidance. 

Kinkin has posted the Podcast which I recorded last week. It apparently went on 6 different platforms. Happy to be part of the podcast. :)

Come 19 July, I will be taking Casey and Roy's Shepherd Care class. I hope J will sign up for it too. Lol. But I really dunno if he will. He is like so non-committal to stuff... I get the feeling he probably will not. Just my gut I guess so I don't want to get too much of my hopes up. Ah wells... will update in due time.

Sally, Meirong and I caught up on a Zoom call on Tuesday night, just two nights ago. That was a really good catch-up session for us three. 

Cousin Andrew's 61st

Yesterday was cousin Andrew's 61st birthday, 1 July 2021, and I just got to send him his birthday greetings right before midnight, reminded by EH's greetings to him round about half past eleven. 

The second half of 2021 started rather unceremoniously with yet another Advancement Team meeting via Zoom in the morning at 9:30am.

Can't quite believe that I am into the second half of 2021 already. Did a podcast recording for Kin Kin last night. Looking forward to the completed podcast by this weekend. :)

JF had Heart Attack!

Update: JF had a heart attack two weeks ago! Shocking news to me! But the good news is that he has no clogged artery and hopefully the MRI that he goes for next month will reveal some underlying cause. Most of all, all our NIECF friends and I prayed for his complete recovery. 

Today, what prompted me to contact JF was because JW had lunch with CT. Somehow, whether that was a spontaneous lunch outing or a pre-planned one did not matter. I was just jealous of them spending one on one time together. I reckon I am always jealous when I am not getting JW's attention as and when he is or should be available.  Seriously, why am I behaving in such a weird, selfish, inconsiderate, manner when he is a junior staff working with a senior staff like me? I really need to give him more space to get to know other EAST staff, whether they are of the opposite gender, or younger and prettier than me! haha! He is simply a junior, a younger brother who is 20 yrs younger than me! There is simply no line that we can, should ever cross with each other other than that we are siblings in Christ. 

It also prompted me to text JR and A. Have yet to receive any responses from them both. I asked if they have taken their vaccine jabs. But, oh well, just out of curiosity and concern. Taking my jealousy to the Lord, and asking Him to purify me. Make me more like Jesus.  Jesus, were you ever jealous? Jealous of me spending time frivolously with others when You wanted me to spend more time with You? Maybe, this is the lesson of the day for me. 

When I am jealous of my beloved spending time away from me, I am reminded of myself (as my Lord's beloved) spending time away from my Lord with frivolous activities or people I should have no business with. In the meantime, I need to guard my heart and be very careful whom I call as my beloved. If it is not the right person whom the Lord desires, it will only lead to yet another heartbreak in due time. So, guard my heart, for out of it springs the issues of life.  

Joyous June

June is normally a joyous month as it is a break from the usual routine of the academic calendar at EAST.  I remember having gone on holidays with papa, mummy and sis in May/June right after the Commencement, many years back, to Hokkaido, Japan. It was a tour package type of holidays but still it was a memorable family holidays for us four. The only downside was that Kor and B were not with us, thus we never actually went on a full family holiday together as far as I can recall. That is perhaps my sole regret while Papa was still alive but it was never up to me to decide or control. Even for Taiyiyi's 80th birthday cruise to Redang Island, Kor and B could not join us as it was too near to B's expected date of delivery by then. The cruise was in September and she was due to deliver in early October 2013. In another two years, we will be celebrating Taiyiyi's 90th birthday, Lord willing, on 16 October. Hopefully, we can make it yet another grand celebration by then. 

June was also the month I visited Mongolia back in 2010. That was more than 11 years ago by now! Incredible! Time just goes by so quickly. That amazing Mongolian trip was a highlight of trusting God for funds, for fun, for friendships made. Actually June/July has also always been a time for those ACTC conferences to happen. We shelved last year's conference and I am not quite sure what is happening for this year as yet. Things are kinda a blur for me these days to be honest. The Covid-19 pandemic has kinda messed up my head a little. 

But June turned somewhat less joyous since five years ago, since papa departed the dawn of 17 June 2016. That morning, I was still sound asleep in Kandy, Sri Lanka, having celebrated Uda & D's wedding the night before. Hwei Wah was with me when I received the phone call from sis about dad passing on. She helped me book an air ticket home. I was kinda in a panic mode then. Grief has not truly set in. Perhaps guilt set in first, guilt for not being by papa's side when he departed. Still, five years on, and the guilt has dissipated. The grief lingers, somewhat, in the quieter moments of life. Still, I can look towards my Heavenly Papa who loves me perfectly and knows what is best for me. I still have my mummy dearest with me and I definitely should not take her for granted for I do not know for how long more I will have her with me, or me with her.  One thing I know, life is unpredictable, even as God is fully in control. Trust Him, I must. 

In Loving Memory of FF

My dear cousin died a shocking death on 7 May 2021, due to cardiac arrest. Definitely none of us were prepared for her passing. Mum and I last tried contacting her on 23 April on her birthday. Unbeknownst to us, that was the day that she found out she was Covid-19 positive. She did not want many people to know about the news, so she had kept it from us. Even though eventually she recovered from Covid-19 and was discharged from the hospital, her body has probably been weakened by it. So when she was readmitted to the hospital again, her heart gave way a few days later and she passed on. 

That was the most shocking, and devastating news in May of 2021. It wasn't that long ago that TF has left us, and now FF.

KH's 52nd Birthday

Today is KH's 52nd Birthday and we had an advanced birthday celebration for him on Sunday (mum, me, B, J and KH). EH could not join us due to the 2 visitors max restrictions during this Heightened Alert measures period which should end by 13 June. 

May went by so quickly that I did not even managed to put in a blog post! Elsa celebrated her 13th birthday on 19 May and Alice and I sent her macarons and a cake. Can't quite believe that she's already a teenager. Too fast. Also, Lu had a milestone 50th birthday bash on 15 May. I sent a delivery of fresh bouquet with some sweet pastels florals and also picked out a necklace with pressed flowers covered in a glass casing. As for BY, on her 47th birthday, I had a bundle of pink baby's breath and a cake for her. I just sent the same bundle to PC on 8 June. It was a visual feast but I heard that the cake was not yummy at all. :P

Aside from all the birthday celebrations, EAST had Thanksgiving and Envisioning Events on 5 June which went quite well. We managed to raise close to 50k. Still a bit off the mark of $2.5mil but some way there, so definitely a cause for thanksgiving!

2nd Post in April

It is Good Friday today. A day of remembrance of Jesus' death on the cross for Christians worldwide. A day to remember my Saviour's sacrifice for me. It was also a good day where I got to catch up with Sheela, a prayer buddy from my youth. Good to have seen her, her 18 yr old son Jairus, her hubby Xavier, her 20 yr old daughter Evangeline. Her daughter led worship in church this morning. Bless her heart. Her youngest daughter Raphael was still napping when I visited. She also had 1+ yr old German Shepherd who currently has some kind of skin problems. The dog was borned in Slovakia. Quite a character. 

It was good to keep in touch with Sheela and just to pray with her. :) 

1st Post in April

Today is the 1st of April, it is Maundy Thursday, the day before Good Friday and it is also April's Fool Day. This morning at 9am-11+am, we had our A.Team mtg with J, EK, A and me. J showed us a clip about work from his church. The pastor talked about not being idle and not making an idol out of work. Basically J wanted us to monitor the number of hours we clock into our work per week, so as to evaluate our work health. 

I talked about my felt need to have a change of title but J and I are still exploring the options. I pray that God will make a way for an appropriate title to be assigned to my current position at EAST.  I brought up Digital Content Specialist or Creator to J to consider as I felt that was closest to the work I do. May God give him the wisdom to decide. 

Yesterday was the WWDP and I have an article to complete. Pray that I will complete it soon. 

 

Elsa wanted macarons

Because Illary took the coffee macaron that came with the salted caramel ice-cream waffle, Elsa kept wanting macarons for the rest of the evening. Sadly, we could not find her any at J8, so I told her I will get her some for her birthday - I'll have to remember that for May 19 this year. ^____^

Oh, and I learnt that Illary is categorised under Gen Alpha, after Gen X. How cool is that?

April Birthdays

Trying to keep track of the special people having birthdays in April - 1st - Daniel, 9th - Shun, 14th - mum, 15th - Josh, 16th - Mei Ling, 20th - Pei Pei, 21st - Susanna, 24th - Evelyn & Aitee, 30th - Binny.  ^___^

Don's Baptism

Don got baptised on 11 Mar 2021 at the swimming pool of River Trees condo by his friend, Ps George, from Sonship Church and I was there to witness it along with Uncle Anthony, Auntie Jessie and Amos. Happy to have been there along with many angels rejoicing with him!