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Faith
edlina & the lynns
Faith the Christmas Sheep (holding a small bible) belongs to a special child, Chrisa!



Faithzgirl Bible, the long awaited "real" bible of Chrisa - is there a fake bible? To her real bible means a complete version so she can refer to the verses as others do (she wasn't contented with just a kids' bible stories volume).

Chrisa is one creative and imaginative child; never lack of fun and always busy with something. She knotted Faith with her new bible. The sheep was hanging on to the bible everywhere she goes. I thought it added weight and is clumsy for her little hands. So I asked her to remove Faith from the bible. But she responded with a profound statement, "Faith must be connected to the bible!". And insisted it remained that way.

"Let it be, mum."





I was left with the statement hanging over me over the days...indeed faith must be connected to the bible...how else do we feed out faith...it must be fueled with the Word.
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Under the Sea
edwardlim
At the beginning of this month, while in Sabah I had the privillage to do something that I had longed for since my youth - To get under the sea! To be able to dive and observe the wonders of the underwater world. It has always been the cost that hindered me from taking my divers licence. Well, this time I made it a point to live in Kingdom mentality and go ahead to take the open water divers certification. The blessing is that when we choose to live in Kingdom mentality, the King himself provides! In fact, the course in Sabah is very cheap compared to what we get here in Penang, but above that God's hand was in everything. All glory belongs to Him!

From Puffers to the poisonous Stone fish and the Lion Fish , Barracudas, Giant Clamps, Lobsters, Green Turtles, the Yellow Box fish, Angles, Butterflies, Sting Rays and the rare Ghost Pipe fish were the few amazing sights of God's wonderful creation under the sea. The only things that I missed out was to have an underwater camera to capture all the sights. Perhaps next time I go for a dive there will be the provision of an underwater camera.

Together with dive instructor Jason (centre) and my dive buddy Dale from England.

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Work is good
edlina & the lynns
I know God will not give me anything I can't handle,
I just wish that he didn't trust me so much.

-Mother Theresa

I've been stepping on the accelerator of my life for the past two months since Ashton's birth (woah, ya...he's already 2 months' old and put on 2 kg). I hit the climax the past week with Ed's absence - having to hold the fort for home and church. Running on high speed and trying to beat the clock - continuosly from one task to another. I wonder how Susannah Wesley did it in her time!

Tending to unending physical needs of an infant, answering endless questions of a curious barely 5 year-old, and meeting the emotional needs of two preteens...grappling with my own insecurity of 'have I done enough?' for homeschooling...and to top it all up in a tall glass to drink - to preach on Sunday...I survived and thankfully didn't get choked!

I know it full well God's grace is sufficient but I am only human to echo the quote above. I wish there is less to do for now. However after catching my breath today (got some moments to regain my sanity), I know God never make mistake. Whatever He entrusts in my hands, I pray He'll establish each of them for His purpose. As for me, there is no higher calling, no greater honour than to be at service for my Lord and King. I praise and thank God for work!
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What is my girl doing?
edlina & the lynns
The room door was closed when I walked past my daughters' room one morning. It's usual morning routine of breakfast, devotion, house chores and school work. Some times, the girls need some reminders to speed up so we can all finish what need to be done the first part of the day. With baby Ashton around, I left the girls to be independent and responsible for many tasks.

Being a task-oriented person, I opened the door and was about to question Nat on dawdling when I spotted her holding her devotional book. On her door hung a sign which read, "In the progress of creative dreaming....."

I smiled at her, closed the door and thought a little about that phrase.

Perhaps it is in such moments big dreams and visions are birthed, creative ideas flow, and masterpieces produced. This is the essence of homeschooling which I thank God for - the opportunity to allow creativity and not having to rush through when the school bell goes.

Just quite recently, I read that we must learn to waste time with God.

Time with God - ever wasted?
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What are we fighting for?
edlina & the lynns
Life is a battle. Different people fight for different things in life. These few days there's been quite a bit of sibling rivalry at home. I was trying very hard to be as fair in my judgement and treatment as possible to avoid the problem or at least not to contribute to the cause. However, no matter how hard I tried, I wasn't spared this common parenting challenge. It is one tiring feat.

The girls were fighting for the least important things (at least in my opinion). Though they reconciled quickly every time it happened, it still bothered me as a mum. We were driving home and I began sharing some thoughts from a recent Mandarin movie I watched - Three Kingdoms.

It is not such a spectacular show but I was reminded again of my Christian journey - it is a battlefield warred with courage and determination. Zao Zilong (Andy Lau) though wounded declared to his comrades that he will not remove his armour when he is in a battle. He threw his buddy a crucial question, "What are we fighting for?" His buddy's response, "I don't know about you. I am fighting for myself." His buddy betrayed Zilong because his vision was to carve a name for himself. Zilong's cause was to unite the nation. He died with dignity and honour for the cause he fought for.

That is so true for the Christian walk. We cannot and must not remove our armour - Ephesians 6:11 commands us to 'put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.' The whole passage gives details of that armour and with that we stand our ground; and declare our faith fearlessly.

With that I asked my girls how will they channel their energy, what is worth fighting for in life? The challenge lingers in my own mind..."What am I fighting for?"
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