Adrian's blog

Love = Discipline ?

Leianne has reached the age whereby she is beginning to exert her will, and test her limits with us. Her way to show her discontentment is screaming and rolling on the floor, which is unacceptable in the Chan family.

We still have not used the cane on her yet until she reaches the age of maybe 2 or 2.5.. so the only method now is the put her in her cot, without her usual soft toys behind close door when she starts to throw her tantrums. Well, it works... after about 5 minutes, she will cool down and we will bring her out to resume her normal activity...

When we visited Ben and Glen yesterday, there was a comment that even though I'm the one who discipline her more often nowsadays, she is still very close to me.... which is a very interesting behaviour. Maybe a child understands the biblical principles that love = discipline more than those who are grown ups?

Lunar New Year Special - God's Blessings in Our Lives

Its amazing that I actually have time to write this blog but I must to give all glory to the Lord.

Its a long story, if you would bear with me.....

The biggest blessing He has given us is Lucas sleeping through the night(from 1030pm to 7am).... right before the lunar new year at the turn at his ninth week on last friday..... well, we are expecting him to sleep through but didn't know that it will be that soon... so far, average for boys is about 10 to 12 weeks. This is a tremendous blessing to us as we are able to rest properly at night for the past 4 days. Lucas is also able to sleep on the move and that helps us in getting around the visiting although we still need to plan the visits properly for his feed.

With that, we may be able to delay sending Leianne to playgroup. The intention of sending her to playgroup is to give Belle space and time but with Lucas sleep pattern now... guess she will have enough rest to cope with the two in the day. If she doesn't go to playgroup, it will save us about $400 a month! Praise the Lord!

Thank God also for Leianne's recovery from her illness which caused her to vomit and have diarrhea. She was also hospitalised due to fits induced by the diarrhea( or thats what the doctors said). Our hearts ached seeing the IV on her little hand and her immobility for 3 days due to that. Its good to see her in her usual cheery mood and hear her laugher at home.. she's such a blessing to us. She even learnt how to say a few more words.... two that please many are "gong xi gong xi" and "yee por".... because she has 3 "yee pors" and therefore, it pleases their heart hearing the little girl address them...

My sister, bro in law and niece also joined us this lunar new year... Its great to have them since my sis has not been here in Singapore with us for years! Little Keira has grown to become an active little toddler running around with her clasped hands to ask for ang baos... so clever....

Lucas - Another Arrow

Lucas Chan joined the Chan family on 29 Nov 2008. Thank God for a smooth and safe delivery. Today, he's 2 weeks old and I want to share the joy this Christmas with friends and relatives who have been concerned for us and sticking with us through the years.

Auntie Amy especially is a hit to the family. Leianne loves her "yee por" to pieces. She will buy for for us, cook for us during Lucas week one as the confinement nanny has not arrived then... play with the little girl, bathe her and put her down to bed. Thank God for her who gave her time to take care of us and we are very grateful to her.

Mummy has been helping out too... she comes by almost every night to check on us and help us with Leianne.

Now is time to plan for the the full month celeration! The day will likely be 27th and 28th due to our big families and circles of friends. Lets pray for a great time of getting together... a celebration of life - one that Christ has given.

Meaning of his name:

Lucas - Light Bearer

Chinese - Jun Xi. My mum seems to be obsessed with the middle name of Jun. We get to keep Xi, which means light in mandarin. Its the same Xi used by one of the Qing Dynasty Emperor, Kang Xi. Our prayer is that Lucas will shine for Jesus, like that of light.....all the days of his life.

Living Life Purposefully

There were many happenings in the past month... the most significant being the passing of 2 person closed to us, in the church. One was 16 and the other 41. Both happened in a week. One of the reflection I have is that death is going to hit every single person... like what SP says all the time. " The statistic of death is 1 in 1". Yet, sometimes, I realised that we focus so much on unimportant things... The context of what I am writing is w.r.t work... we scrutinised numbers, went into heated discussion about how much money the project is worth to us, the office politicings etc... sound familiar huh?

I guess when death strikes... we bring away nothing of our earthly achievements and wealth accumulation. What do I want my life to count?

On the other hand, we also had the EM GDOP(Global Day of Prayer) on the 31st Oct. We had senior leadership of the corporation joining hearts with Christians all over the globe to pray for our organisation. It was a glorious moment how God united our hearts to be praying with brothers and sisters in other parts of the world.... Houston, Fairfax, Shanghai, Nigeria, Doha, Hong Kong, Taiwan ,Thailand, UK, Malaysia, Panyu, Calgary and Singapore. The EM GDOP was a vision God has given to the late PK, 3 years ago... even though she has gone home to be with the Lord, the seed that she has planted is beginning to bear fruits... The bible says," He who believes in Me, even though he dies, he lives" and surely, what it means is that the work in the Lord continues to "live" on.... just like when Abraham believed God, the nation of Israel was only established 400years later, which lasted till today.... because Abraham believed.

One of the quote that I always find meaningful is from the movie, braveheart.... "Every man dies, but not every man really lives"

How then are you living your life? 

Limited Choice No More

Hah, if I am to name the best highway in Singapore, I will lift up both my hands and legs that its none other than KPE. I even considered if we should move to Telok Blangah in 5 years time.

KPE- Kallang Paya Lebar Expressway is the newly opened highway that connects TPE to ECP almost parallel to CTE. The entrance into the expressway is only a cool 2+ minutes from my carpark along TPE towards Changi airport. The longest underground tunnel in SE Asia can bring us to ECP in a mere 10 minutes even at the speed limit of 70kmph.

The expressway is still very much underutilitised at this stage since its opening about 2 weeks ago. However, I have been using it to get to church in Marine Parade,  Suntec City, Marina Square. Our outing choices have opened up big time and within 2 hours, we can have dinner and do some shopping before getting back home for Leianne's nap/sleep.

On friday, we used it to get to Suntec via Nicol Highway and reached at about 7pm after LA's dinner, we had dinner at Kenny Rogers, followed by grocery shopping at Carefour and guess what, home at 9pm! Yesterday, we hit the expressway again, this time to Marina Square after LA's lunch at about 130pm, we shopped at John Little and discovered a "Children's Land" at one corner of Marina Square which we have never set foot on before and bought a set of Lego blocks for LA. I even had a Carls Junior Burger before we left at 345pm reaching home at a cool 4pm. Wow!

Thank God for KPE! If any punggolites have yet to explore options available with KPE, well, there are many... try it and you will find out more.

Liverpool has beaten Man U and OM

Captain's Winning Penalty Against OM

The Liverpool team has not disappoint this year... unbeaten from the start in the league and Champion's League. Last weekend, we destroyed arch rivals Manchester United at home and swept OM aside away from home. Many believe that there is a real chance of bringing the English Premier League title back to Anfield. Thats the way to go Liverpool..... Keep up the good work!

Lack Nothing- Seek First His Kingdom

The past 3 months have been very eventful and I thank God because I lack nothing.

Recently, Pastor Khong began a series of messages on the "Kingdom of God" and we understood that we should seek first His kingdom (To be on earth as it is in heaven). The main question I need to answer myself is my understanding of Christianity vs what is God's definition of Christianity.

In the past, seek first his kingdom is like.... going to church, doing ministry like attending and leading cell group and counseling those in need... taking care of the sheeps God has entrusted to me etc... churchy stuffs. How narrow minded is that? If my christianity is just like what I have mentioned, I believe I would have missed God's main purpose of my redemption. Well, may the Lord open my eyes to his word and purpose this season and that I will be obedient to him.

As for the happenings... well, many.... but here are some key highlights

Firstly, we know now that we will be expecting a boy this December. We have given him a name , "Ethan". Friends have asked if I am happy that now I will have a girl and boy that the "factory" can close shop. My answer is "no". The bible says :" Sons are hertiage from the Lord, Children are blessings from Him, blessed is he who has many... like arrows in the warrior's quiver and he will not be shamed at the enemies' gate".

Secondly, we started the second Alpha run for the year in the office and have great turnouts. Although a dear sister, PK, who is the catalyst for our company's Office Alpha went home to the Lord a few weeks ago. We see that God is gracious to her in her fight with cancer and like what Apostle Paul said, " I have fought a good fight and finished the race.", we witness that this verse describes her perfectly.  We even have one attendee who is now coming to Alpha because of the testimonies he heard at PK's wake. So, even in her death, God is bringing life. With that we give thanks.

Thirdly, I just got my pay adjustment and God has provided an increment, of more than what we have been praying for. Not just that, I continue to maintain my ranking and am told will be moving on to another job soon just one year into my current job. God is blessing me in the marketplace.

Lastly, a little mishap that happened on my birthday in the warmth of my lovely home. I fractured my little right toe that required a small surgery to put it back in place. Interestingly, I was given 2 weeks of MC and my insurer also paid my $900 for the hospital stay... I kinda made a fortune out of my misfortune... God is good, huh? I had rest and extra money......interesting enough?

I am highlighting the Lord's faithfulness in this Year of Sabbath so that I will not forget that its in Him that we have all we need... seek FIRST his KINGDOM and ALL these will be added.

Live on God's Bread!

Pastor Khong brought the word of God this morning to the entire FCBC congregation on Jesus, the bread of life. I missed him but thank God for him who is labouring for the Lord's purpose in the marketplace arena. We have the victory because God has already accomplished all things!

This Father's Day message is crucial.... if I tell you that I'm not worried about my family finances, I'm lying to you. However, God's word is very appropriate today because the word highlighted that its not Moses( a man) who gave the israelites manna during the forty years in the wilderness... its God who provided. How often we forget the goodness and faithfulness of the Lord?

Well, the background to this is that ever since Belle stopped working last october, our bank account has not been growing.. in fact, we are digging into our savings.. with the second child coming along.... the question I ask is that do I have to check my account everytime I write a cheque to prevent it from bouncing back? I never need to do that in the past... Do I have to stop giving what I used to do to support my fellow brothers and sisters serving in the nations.

Seems that I am counting my troops(money) all the time. But thanks be to God who speaks... I am focusing my attention on the wrong thing.... firstly, I should be eating of the Lord provision, thirst and hunger for him instead of worrying so much of the physical provision, knowing that He will supply all my needs. Although it may not be what I think I should have but it will definitely be enough for me and my family.

Thank you Lord for you have been supplying everything I need. I pray that I will hunger for nothing else but You. Help me because I am weak in my flesh, help me because only you alone are able to. Help me, to believe Only in You.

Lack of Motivation..... to blog

Having been blogging for a while as I have been pretty irritated with the wireless connection lately. Connection get cut off so frequently that everything gets wipe off as soon as its written.

Anyway, am thankful for my second wedding anniversary. Discovered my wife's poetic nature as she penned down the poem pretty effortlessly( Go to her Blog!). God has been watching over us and our household and since the last time I wrote, we are now expecting our second child due 12th Dec 2008!

Parenting is becoming more challenging with 2 in our hands but I am confident that we can find the strength from the Lord. Am experiencing a difficult time with Leianne, who is coming to 11th month old now and she has been pretty fussy lately, with her meals and also during her playtime. Foodwise, think she may be sick of what we have been cooking for her and playwise, she just wants to explore on her own without restraint. In anyway, I'm thankful that we can also turn to the Lord for wisdom and understanding to bring her up.

As for now, hope that we can settle the connectivity issue soon.... if anyone can offer some advices or help in this area.... drop me a comment!

 

Love

This is the word of the week. Love is not just some emotional feeling. I can never understand why during my younger days, people would breakup in a relationship quoting that they don't love the other anymore.... and the weird thing is, today, even adults use this reason to end their marriage because the initial passion and excitment die down after years of marriage, taking care of children or even climbing the career ladder.

I thank God for the love of my wife... this week has been a busy one for me at work and also ministry. I had a presentation to make yesterday and did not have the time to do the powerpoint. My wife too, had a meeting which she needed to lead and also to put together presentation material. Despite the fact that she needed to take care of our baby girl, she helped me which my slides and did hers only after she finished mine late from friday night into wee hours of saturday morning. Love is not self seeking ( 13 corinthians) and I witness that in my wife. Thank you baby.