Celebrate!

Praise in Cantonese


《愛是不保留》作曲：盧永亨‧編曲：Aubrey Suwito‧作詞：盧永亨

常聽說世界愛沒長久，
哪裡會有愛無盡頭？
塵俗的愛只在乎曾擁有，
一刻燦爛便要走！

而我卻確信愛是恆久，
碰到了你已無別求；
無從解釋、不可說明的愛，
千秋過後仍長存不朽！！

誰人受痛苦被懸掛在木頭？
至高的愛盡見於刺穿的手；
看，血在流反映愛沒保留，
持續不死的愛到萬世不休！
惟求奉上生命全歸主所有，
要將一切盡獻於我主的手；
**我已決定今生再沒所求，
惟望得主稱讚已足夠！


Praise in Hokkien


牽我的手

詞曲: 林義忠

牽我的手，我的主啊，請祢麥離開我，
這條路我擱要行，我需要祢來作伴。
牽我的手，我的主啊，請祢麥離開我，
有時我會驚，有時不知按怎行，
有時敢若聽不著祢的聲。
牽我的手，我的主啊，請祢麥離開我，
這條路我擱要行，我需要祢來作伴。
牽我的手，我的主啊，請祢麥離開我，
有時我會驚，有時不知按怎行，
有時敢若聽不著祢的聲。

牽我的手，請祢與我作伴，
互我的腳步又穩又定，
走到祢的門前，聽到祢的聲，
與我說：「入來我的囝！」
牽我的手，請祢與我作伴，
互我的腳步又穩又定，
走到祢的門前，聽到祢的聲，
與我說：「入來我的囝！」
牽我的手，請祢與我作伴，
互我的腳步又穩又定，
走到祢的門前，聽到祢的聲，
與我說：「入來我的囝！」
走到祢的門前，聽到祢的聲，
與我說：「入來我的囝！」

Lest you think i've been moping for the past 2 weeks because of my foot, i did have many other blessed moments :)

First it was a breeze to renew our passports via the internet. The Significant Other and i collected our passports within 5 minutes of scanning our IC at the ICA building. i was so impressed that i wrote a thank-you letter to ICA and surprisingly they replied, appreciating my er.. appreciation, lol

i also tried for the first time to use the reservation service at our library's website. It costs $1.55 to reserve a book. i actually got the thrill of checking the status (i was no. 3 in the queue) and was sooooo happy to see the status "In Transit" (my reserved book is on the way to the library i chose to pick up the item). i was asked at the counter to rate the service. Excellent lah, i think it made my day more than it made theirs, lol

In my study room, the Significant Other's and my computer sit side by side. Sometimes we watch shows together at his computer. We don't usually share the same tastes for shows but thanks to people who er share in the cyberspace, we have enjoyed a number of foreign serials. Lately, we found out that a show we watched (in this manner) last year is doing a re-run at our local TV station. It had brought back such nice memories that we watched those episodes that we like all in one night, skipping here, fast-forwarding there, remembering the exact dialogues, LOL

2 nights back, we enjoyed ice-cream moon cake. But father and sons enjoyed the dry ice experiment more i think. The dry ice that was used to keep the moon cake cold was broken into smaller pieces and put into a mineral bottle (with water) capped tightly for explosion to occur, hahahaha It was so funny watching them run out of the bathroom leaving the bottle in there. They even wore safety goggles in anticipation of the explosion. But alas, the one and only mineral bottle we found in the house was so darn tough that it didn't explode and expanded into the shape of a huge round ball.

Last night was Mid-Autumn Festival. We had a steamboat dinner and a lovely time.

This morning, we had cell meeting at my place and yes, it was yet another wonderful reminder from God that my wonderful sisters in Christ are a huge blessing to me.

Hey, i could actually go on and on. My point is, yes, i can't run now and it had been (and probably will be) a source of nagging frustration but i am otherwise incredibly blessed :)

Shalom :)

Some days back, i was at a talk that my colleague gave to a group of teachers on stress management. A tough assignment given the audience :) Anyway, i thought he did pretty well in giving something different from what we usually hear. One thing that stood out for me was that he observed that people working in this sunny island lacked the time and/or motivation to dialogue (i.e. share problems, especially men, heh heh) and self-reflect (which requires the discipline to shut out distractions). Both are crucial in helping people to become un-stuck in the current stress-inducing situation. When we share our problems or we quiet ourselves (mind), options and possibilities become (suddenly) available and we begin to see hope in the situation.

This morning, one of my mummy friends was sharing how stressed she is feeling now that her husband is outstation and her only son is taking the PSLE soon. i asked her how she is coping. She shared that her husband told her to sleep early and stop worrying. She tried but couldn't and guessed what she did? She FB :( Needless to say, it doesn't help in her situation.

Then there is another friend whose children just recently gone through the flu bug one by one (with the youngest admitted to hospital). When i asked how she is coping, she said ok lah and then talked about another friend whom she had bumped into at the hospital. i think i found out more about her friend's situation then hers :) Granted, there is a time and place for sharing and reflection. Let's just hope she has other means to relieve her stress.... please, not FB :(

Recently, our elderly statesman talked about meditation and how it helps him to have the peace of mind.

The problem is to keep the monkey mind from running off into all kinds of thoughts............You must be disciplined.  I find it helps me go to sleep after that.  A certain tranquility settles over you.  The day’s pressures and worries are pushed out.  Then there’s less problem sleeping.

What gives me the peace of mind is when i'm running. A few years ago when i was doing the church magazine, most of the ideas came when i'm running, not when i'm trying to get ideas out. And some things become unstuck after a run.

But sad to share i haven't been running :( My left foot hurts. No, i'm not even thinking of marathon. i can live with it if i don't get to run that this December. i'm just missing running badly. Running for me falls into the category of reflection i guess. There's no other distraction. me, myself, i. and ah, when the endorphins flow...

There you go, i've shared my frustration. (And to one non-running friend, thank YOU for making me laugh).

If it takes any longer for my foot to recover, i think i may just give meditation a try, lol.

Not long ago, an ang mo i met in the course of my work told me i possess the rare gift of American sarcasm (yep, his exact words). i don't exactly know what he meant. i will just take it as a compliment, LOL

Of my 2 boys, Ewan definitely has signs of the "gift"...

My boys playing wii. Ewan's avatar died early in the game and was sulking as his gor gor was going on and on. Finally, Ethan's avatar died too.

Ewan: That's TRAGIC.

Ethan (as with anyone else who doesn't appreciate sarcasm): Shuddup

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Finally.

Booked a package tour.

The Significant Other and i only had the time AND patience for the presentation of 3 different tour operators. We missed the recent travel fair and made our way to Chinatown last Friday where many tour agencies are based.

This will be the first time our family is going on a full package tour. We usually DIY our travel which is more fun and less hectic. But sadly we no longer enjoy free air travel, so going on package tour during the year-end hols makes more economic sense.

We are very sure of what we wanted to experience from this holiday destination and when this very knowledgeable and pleasant PRC lady recommended a package which both adult and children will enjoy (read: no temples, no historical sites but farms, hot springs, ancient streets, night markets), we were immediately sold.

We didn't expect to receive a free 5 or 8-day land tour to China. If we take up the offer which is valid till the end of next year, we only need to pay for the air-fare. We've been to 2 out of the 4 cities on offer so we are not too sure yet at this point of time whether to go. But i guess it's good to have this option which would be kind to our pockets.

i really can't wait for Dec to come. i've already choped my bro's DSLR for the trip =)

marathon then vacation = WOW

i can't wait :)

Me: Are you having a sore throat?

Ethan: Nope

Me: Why have you been sounding different?

My gosh, Ethan's voice is b-r-e-a-k-i-n-g !!!

Ethan: Mum, I can't sing the high notes in the school song. I s-q-u-e-a-k instead!

LOL

Oh well, i think i can handle that.

If i had a daughter instead, it would have been a different story..... think physical (and visible) changes.... LOL

Changes.

i'm sleeping earlier and eating more :)

bo pian, a body my age needs to make that kind of adjustment to continue my training :)

This is what my typical training week consists of:

1) short jogs 30 to 40 mins
2) repeated sprints of 400 metres at 2:15 to 2:25 pace (i.e. 2.15 to 2:25 min per 400 metres) - this week was 12 of those
3) cross training - i usually do an hour of yoga
4) long run at 11:50 to 12:20 pace (i.e 11:50 to 12:20 minutes per mile) - this week was 24km (my timing was 3:05hr)
5) and of course rest days

i'm still learning to keep to the pace which is not easy cos when you start your run, you have more energy and tend to go faster. But of course i've learnt from my own experience and from reading, that running faster in the earlier part of the distance does NOT help in finishing the run at a better time - it only tires you out and ruin the last part of the run.

i've also started my long runs in the early morning - like today, i started at 6am (which means i have to get up at 5am to eat). The marathon in Dec will start at 5am - imagine. Anyway, it's actually very pleasant to run early in the morning. But when it gets hot later in the day, it's really a killer. i tried once to do a long run in the evening thinking of avoiding the sun - somehow it didn't work out well for me. Psychologically, towards 8pm-ish, i started to associate that time with dinner and relaxation, so it was so darn trying that evening, lol

Okie, counting down, 3 more months to D-day!