Philip's Dream Team

Jesus It's Your Embrace
When the dark clouds gather,
And the winds are howling,
When the waves are crashing around me
And when I can't hear Your voice

Jesus , it's Your embrace
That comforts me
Jesus , your embrace
Keeps me safe and sound
Drives my fears away
Jesus , it's Your embrace

When the world seems unkind,
And the smiles are gone
When hopes are shattered and splintered
And when doubts come, doubts assail me

I will trust You in the valley
I will lean into Your promises
Jesus all I have is You
Jesus all I have is You


Recently , at the start of the new year, I came across many tales of difficulties and sadness. It pains me to hear of them. Many of us, long to start the new year on a bright note but occasionally such happiness eludes us because of circumstances.

In moments like these , we have to lean into Jesus who is our refuge and our mighty tower. We have to trust Him to deliver us. I remember the times of darkness in my life when I clung to Him . But there were times when I was angry with Him and ran from Him.... yet He never let me go. He embraced me even in my anger and He soothed me with His presence.

The words for this song came tumbling through my mind and I pray it may minister to you.

CNY is officially over with a round of dinner & a blast of firecrackers . Alie came back again from Bintulu to celebrate with us and we had a combination dinner of sorts as both Alie and dad's birthdays fall somewhere near Chap Goh Meh.

Of course hubby took the opportunity to play with his new toy again. (I think the CG guys should have a day outing with their cameras and go on a shooting spree). That would make hubby very happy indeed.

So here are more photos of the celebrations.
Birthday blessings to dad & Alie. May all your wishes come true.

Jac & my birthday will be next. Carol & Alie.... DON'T FORGET BIG PRESENTS YA . We don't mind more clothes, heels, handbags,bling-blings etc :-D

I love this photo of my son. It says soo much about him!!!!

Last chance to take photo with CNY deco before all gets taken down.

Now that CNY is officially over, I have to kickstart all the things which I have been putting off. They will have to come out of storage and all the little post -it notes which read “ action: after CNY” will have to go. My fundraising drive for the children with special needs will be in full swing and the phone will be hanging from my ear like part of my limbs!!! I have to put on my thick skin to ask for $$$$ again. ( By the way, Fiona, if the tycoon Steven wants to give BIG ANGPOW please do not hesitate to give me a ring as I would be very happy to pose for photo with him using the Nikon 3100 ). HA HA HA ha ha ha. :-D

To our readers, I hope you all had a good 14 days of non-stop celebration. If not, you better start planning to do so as the next CNY is on 23rd January 2012.

See His Glory
The Heavens proclaims His Righteousness
And all the people see His Glory
Thge Lord Our God
The King who reign over all the earth
He's exalted, far above everything

See His Glory
And praise His holy Name
See His Splendor
And marvel at His Righteousness
The Lord Reigns
Let the earth be glad
Let us rejoice For the Lord is on our side.




It is my joy to share this song with you today after reading Psalm 97. Let's be reminded that we have a glorious God who created Heavens and earth. We, as His people are to live a life of worship, and be holy to glorify His Name !

Lately I heard and read some stupid comments and I just want to quote the Bible (paraphrase) : If you don't open your mouth, nobody would know you are a fool.

Sometimes it's more than a case of putting one's foot in the mouth. All of us at some time or rather have said something which we wish we hadn't... but there are some stupid things said recently which really boggles the intellect!!!

I can't for the life of me see how celebrating Valentine's Day can result in our country's spike in teenage pregnancies and the dumping of babies ? Are all babies born to teens conceived on Valentine's Day ? And are the babies dumped conceived on Valentine's Day ? So I gather from what I learn in Biology decades ago , that November must be a horrific month where babies are found in toilets, garbage bins etc ???? Blaming Valentine's Day as a cause of various social ills is just an easy way out to solve the moral disintegration of the society. We are not getting to the root of the matter if we accuse Valentine's Day as the cause of this tear in the moral values. You can ban or wipe out Valentine's Day off planet earth but teenage pregnancies and dumping babies won't go away. So get real...

And since when have Christians use Valentine's Day as an occasion to indulge in our tradition of immorality, discoing and couples meeting in private ? What an insult !!! Just for the record, as a Christian for well over many decades, I have never engaged in immoral acts during Valentine's Day. By the way, please wake up …..disco is out of fashion now and just to highlight, discoing was never our Christian tradition as I never heard of the 12 apostles doing it. I am very sure John Travolta was not mentioned in our Bible. Lastly, in true Christian tradition, couples (married or unmarried ) are required to accord the deepest respect for each other whether in public or private.
I rest my case !

I also read a comment on the internet that Chinese should stop giving angpow during Chinese New Year coz this practice is the root of bribery/corruption. On top of that this fella has the nerve to say that giving angpow is teaching our kids bribery from a young age. AARGH. God help us. Whatever is happening to human reasoning ? Is the fella's mind so shallow ? Does he not know that throughout history man has a way of perverting good things ? Does he not know that there is nothing inherently wrong with giving angpow ? For eg. I give angpow to my parents to show I love them and appreciate them. So if other people pervert the practice for their own selfish gain, it does not mean that we have to ban this practice altogether. Have we forgotten the good of the practice ?


If Malaysians have such narrow and shallow mindsets , how are we going to develop the nation ? I hope this is just the minority. We all need to look deeper if we are sincere in wanting to solve the social ills of this nation. Saying stupid things does not help. It aggravates the situation and creates rifts in the society which invariably become hard to mend as feelings are hurt. May God forgive us for our foolishness and may He grant us wisdom so that the words we speak may ring of His heavenly wisdom.

Hubby just got a new toy for 2011. He has been manic about it. He has been yakking about it. Most times I don't know what he means. I just nod my head. It's not something up my alley.

Heather likes it too. So both of them are just busy snapping away at anything/anyone. Ya... you guessed right!!! He got himself a Nikon 3100. His new baby /girlfriend or whatever you callit!!!

Here are some shots they took which I like.

Happy Birthday to mom & Jordan. When you celebrate your b'day at Beccari, they give you a free cake and the waiters/waitresses will sing for you!!!
Family reunion dinner photos.

Pumpkin & Cupcake

CNY is always soo much fun

I won't tell you what these 2 very naughty boys are up to.

CNY is not complete without flowers. The scent of the lilies wafted through the entire house. I love it.

Masih muda

A night shot of the house


I foresee more photos in future and better ones even. Cool!!!

It's the fourth day of Chinese New Year and it's still not too late for our family to wish everyone "Gong Xi Fa Cai".We are having great fun & thoroughly enjoying ourselves.

The kids are soo immerse in the whole celebration ..receiving angpows left & right and eating all the yummy cookies,cakes and titbits. CNY is a great time to catch up with friends and relatives.
Philip & I were just talking about how nice it was when we were kids and how we looked forward to CNY... the new clothes, firecrackers, angpows,yummy food, visitations etc.
We realised that in many places, these are no longer practised. CNY has become just another rather ordinary day. So we determined to try our best to keep the fun in the chinese new year celebration so that our kids will have something nice to look forward to each year.


To all our friends & relatives whom we were not able to visit this new year.... we just want to say .. there's always more Chinese New Years up ahead to get together.