Playing one of our favourite Jesus song "Mary, did you know" in the background while mama wrote this blog...it was the dawning of a brand new year, a year of many new beginnings...
(1) You two attended Sunday School! Well, xun took to it really well and asked to go every week. Tong was hesitant but got around to it and always said he enjoyed the services.
On the "3 requests Sunday", aka the first Sun service of the year when Pastor Prince would share the theme of the year, Xun came out with an envelope but we thought it probably was about the three requests and did not look into it on the spot.
When mama got home and opened it, I was astonished to see that you actually made a public declaration to dedicate your life to Jesus and announced that you ARE a child of God!
Intrigued, amused and surprised, I asked if you knew that you always had belonged to God and that you only needed to answer this salvation call once in your lifetime. You nodded absentmindedly as you were playing on the computer at ah ma's house. Ha, I dunno how profound your understanding of this was... but yes, mama was happy, filled with joy and gladness, that you made this step to openly declare you Are Jesus' baby...I thought it was akin to having a baptism...
Moving on to the three requests, we knew that the Sunday Sch teachers told you to bring three wishes to Jesus. So we were asking what wishes had you made, expecting that you would ask for toys and things, like perhaps Frozen toys, more little ponies, ya, what most kids of your age would do...
You stunned us with your very very mature and precocious reply.
(1) for tong to stop having bad dreams. Mama thought the bad dreams could be tong's insecurities about starting school and being away from mama for an extended period of time and with no familiar person around...we pressed tong on exactly what the dreams were about but he never explained...
well...fast fwd to today, tong made less mention of it, so we gave praise to Jesus...more about tong adapting to sch later.
(2) For everyone to have good health
(3) For everyone to accept Jesus into their hearts.
mama was totally floored by your amazingly big-hearted and wise wishes, that none of it was about you at all. And in your generosity and purity of heart, you wished everyone would come to love Jesus, just like you. While mama and papa wished for very specific things that pertained to our lives, like our walk with God, career, the family...you were just thinking about other people...
In that moment, I truly felt I caught a glimpse of Jesus' loveliness, reflected in those innocent and sparkly eyes of yours.
Mama thought maybe the teacher had mentioned such things so that seeded the ideas into your head. So mama asked T shirley about it and she went to ask T rainbow (ya, I was doubtful when you told me that the teacher was called rainbow, what a funny name). She said T rainbow mentioned things like asking for holidays, for mum and dad to stop fighting, for dad's pain in the leg to go away. She asked the kids to close their eyes and let the holy spirit lead them into knowing what to wish for...
So...you were definitely touched and imbued with the holy spirit, my little angel (you loved it when I called you this pet name). Mama told papa that I believed you had a high calling and you would be made to touch many lives in future...dunno how things would pan out, but I knew God had a great destiny for you.
Mama told wai po about it and she affirmed how special you were, saying that you had that spark in the eyes which revealed that you were not an ordinary child. I laughed with papa when we talked about what wai po said, mama said it was more like "cock eyed xun"? wai po said mama got to watch you very carefully as you could turn out to be 大好大坏. Mama had peace of mind for I knew God would lead you in this journey.
(2) Starting School at Ar* ise Kindergarten
Tong all prepared and looking so grown-up in his uniform
papa took leave especially so that he could accompany Tong on this significant first day of school in his life...
Checking out the fish pond, then playground... well this formed our routine everyday..
A cheery and cozy little pre-N class. Would you believe how coincidental things could be? There was another boy called Isaac Tey in the class...born also in January (18th, same as Kayra! another coincidence) but they sure were polar opposites.
That Isaac WH...was something of a terror that school teachers talked about, in that 1.5 hours on Monday, we had seen him thrash on the floor wailing multiple times, snatching toys, shoving friends, throwing things...he was just.... out of control. Xun was very firm and feisty and refused to give him the purple hippo she was playing with. I was glad that jie knew her rights but yet was kind, she offered him the other two hippos, but as you would guess, he only wanted the PURPLE hippo. So, nope, jie would not give it up without a good fight...
you know, in the past, mama would demand jie to give up what she was playing to give to another person in the name of being nice...but having read more books and thought more deeply...i thought I was gonna approach it in a different manner. respecting you two meant also letting you hold on to the toys that you were playing and not just plucking them away from you when some tyrant stomped along and demanded things...no...those people had to learn to be polite and wait too...so long we were polite, we respected people and property, we should stand up for ourselves and not be doormats too.
tong was more conciliatory, when WH wanted the toys he was playing with, he simply moved on to other things, trying to steer clear of the maelstrom's way.
The first day went smoothly. You two especially liked the art and craft session and before we knew it, it was time to go home!
Singing the grace song before tucking into lunch.
TOng's very first craft in school, what an awkward smile. ha
Xun pasted shapes on both the flaps and the base, she was clearly an opinionated one, doing things differently from what the teacher instructed.
WH's mummy shared that he used to attend another prestigious school, L*ittle Hands and commented the teachers were much more experienced and could handle his tantrums. She also liked that they had a really packed schedule, like bursts of 10 min activities, so he learnt a lot of things. hmmm...mama felt it was more important to build up character than acquire knowledge...for...knowledge can be easily learnt..but character? A lifetime...
So on the second day, we took the bus to school.
Did the same routine of seeing the fish then playing at the playground. Little Xun did not like naps very much now, though obviously she would do well with a really short one. So on tues, she played on the own and kept bugging mama when I would wake up to play with her...then I asked her to cuddle with me...and ta da, the very cutie pie sleeping beauty all curled up warm and snug in my arms.
Had not cuddled jie like this for a long time...she was sooo lanky and so hard for the petite and short mama to hug...I wished I could snuggle with this bugga bugga baby all her life...ya tong once told mama that he wished to remain small so he could stay with me forever...the endearing tong tong...
Third DAY.
papa took leave for jie jie, i supposed, it could be an emotional moment for him too, to see his first born go to school. Then mama went to work and papa came to pick you two up, went home for a long nap and headed to Sembawang Country Club to swim, play and eat. I must say, papa had become really much more capable and skilful at taking care of the two munchkins now. He became a better hubby and daddy over the years. Praise the Lord.
jie was glad to go for her own class, she declared she did not want to have to deal with that boy anymore. haha...poor tong whimpered that he did not like it too but he still had to deal with him. wai po called mama and I told her about this. You know the beautiful thing about wai po? She really was an exceptionally unconventional mum and grandma and had such a merciful heart. She told mama to tell tong to love that boy especially much. Hmmm...mama was not so generous, I told tong to be firm and state his boundaries with the boy, and to protect the other little classmate, Sarah, who was smaller and younger. And...to STAY CLEAR from trouble. but...after hearing what wai po said...yes, mama encouraged tong to help WH, that he was having a difficult time, he did not know how to express himself, to forgive him and to love and help him learn to express his needs...
And hor, tong had been learning all those monkey tricks from his classmate, he launched into his whinny bouts more easily and frequently, wailing when he could not get what he wanted...grrrrr...so mama had to set him straight, telling him he would not get things in that manner...that God gave him the power of words to ask...CROSSING fingers.
With xun enjoying school so much (you found another Isabel in class!), mama lamented if I should have put you in earlier...well...you said you wished so...well...you would miss out on all those outings with tong...anyway, I should not dwell so much, not as if I could change anything.
Papa was thankful that you two adapted to school so easily and fuss-free. You even wanted to take the school bus. well...maybe when mama got pregnant...for now, I wanted to enjoy walking you to school everyday.
mama's heart swelled when Lan lao shi praised tong for being independent and well-behaved, she always looked out for tong, I thought maybe she favoured tong, ha. WH's mama also commented what good and easy kids you were and was apologetic that wei hao hit tong again...ha...
so, yes, thank you for being little angels. Thank you for showing me glimpses of Jesus. Thank you for making me grow in my walk with God. Thank you for loving me.
No comments:
Post a Comment