Many people told me Tasmania is a must-see if I am in Australia. I've wanted so much to visit this island for at least 6 years already. God makes everything beautiful in his time. He delights in the desires of his children and his time is always right. I am so blessed being here in Tassie for the last one week. Exploring the natural beauty and the rich historic heritage is enriching for us as a family. However, I am constantly being challenged to keep my cool and composure as a mum to three very active girls especially Chrisa whose always needing attention.

One day at dinner time, after everyone finished their food I was still eating. All of a sudden the lights went out, without noticing something was going on I said 'turn on the lights'. Round the corner out came a doughnut cake. Some of my friends piled up 8 doughnuts on top of each one, then put candles on everyone. I was so surprised! They put their presents for me in a pinata. I had lots of fun. At the end I was so full I could not eat cake. Ha ha. Isn't that funny? It seems to me.

Here are some of the people we have met so far on our journey and the stories behind them:

We have to start with the people that we spent most of our time with in Melbourne. Selina has already written some about them so here are their pics again. Carrying Chrisa in the back row is Hui Li from Klang. Hau Wei from PJ is next to her. In the front row on the left is E-Lyn, Hau Wei’s younger sister, and next to her is Rachel from Sabah. Then there is the “mother” of the group, Peggen! They are a group of young people who are very warm and possess a very generous spirit.

Chrisalynn’s encounter with a student from Singapore at the PlanetKids Children Ministry when we attended Planetshakers City Church. She was a great help we were able to leave her to enjoy herself while we were at the service. Not something that we get to do very often as Chrisa has been rather “sticky”, esp to mom.

This is Michael and Vivien’s home cell (though there were 2 others who were not there on that day). Well, there is Albert and his wife (both originally from Sri Langka and in red). Then there is Angel from Hong Kong and her husband Brandon from KL (in the front right of the pic), and right in the middle is Heather, from Australia. Of course you can see Mike and Viv there as well. This cell is unique in the sense that they are from different churches. They started from doing the “40 days of Purpose” together and have continued to meet since then. It was encouraging to see people from different churches learning from one another and sharing their lives together.

And while the adults were having home cell, the kids were having their own thing. Seen here next to Nathalynn is Elisa who is now 12 yrs old and Esther on the right of the pic who is now 9 yrs of age. It has been almost 2 years that they last played together.

Pr Kelvin Sim from Johor Baru who is now pastoring Australia for Christ Fellowship. This is the church that Michael and Vivien have been attending in Melbourne. He has been doing that for the last one and a half years. When we arrived at Michael’s home, the whole family were saying that he looks like me, - thus the photo together. Well, we don’t think so, but you can judge for yourself.

Mr John who was one of the workers at Sovereign Hill in Ballarat. He played a significant role for Ashlynn as she had left her bag in his “hut” and forgotten about it. When she realized that it was gone and began searching for it, tracing back her steps and hitting blanks, she realized that only God could bring it back. Just as she finished praying this man walks up to her with her bag. He had picked it up, and knowing who it belonged to, went round searching for her. I guess you can say that both their quests ended when they met each other again. It sort of reminds me of how God works similar things in different people’s lives at the same time, and when they meet and share, then only do we see a bigger picture of what God is doing even in individual lives.

This is a friendly boy by the name of David from China whom we met in the public library. He came and read together with us. The kids say that the people here and very friendly and that causes them to be conscious of what they do and to smile at people - Something that we all can learn.

The Crimson Rosella - the ones that were reported to have fed from my hand 7 times. Although Nathalynn claims that it is because of the colour of my t-shirt, I have my reservations about that theory as not many people were in red that day, but the birds were resting on some of them quite frequently as well.
As I realized, many people were “too eager” to have birds feed from their hands and this prompted them to keep looking up in anticipation. As the birds drew closer, they would stare even harder to the realization that these creatures opted for some other hand to feed from. The key then is to be patient, don’t move, and look away until the bird has rested on your hand. As I reflected on this, it reminded me of how sometimes we are so desperate for something to happen that it eats into our system and we get more frustrated within when we can't excercise patience. The joy and experience that was supposed to be is then no where to be found.

I have to add this in - "The Excel Loo”, a fully automatic toilet from the opening of the doors to the flushing system, soap and water to was your hands. All that except the part where you have to wipe yourself. ;) It caused a lot a “Ooo’s” and “Aahh’s” among the girls when we are at the park. I hear that they have also installed two of these in KL. The difference is that we went in this one for free but I if you were in KL, it will set you back RM2.00 if you want to ease yourself in a techno loo such as this one!

Parenting a child is the work of the community. Every parent desires to be the best dad or mum to their own offspring. They strive to be give the best to their young. The evidences are obvious as one watch the world - any child related business is appealing; from education to clothings.....you name any area which involves kids, it will appeal to parents. However, the community surrounding the child is above the commodity available.
Tonight Ash received a wonderful surprise - an advanced birthday celebration. The friends of the house in Oakleigh East threw a sweet surprise party for her. She was been lavished with fabulous gifts and we could see the overwhelming joy in her expression. She sat speechless. As a mum, I thank God for friends.....for family in Christ. Indeed they showed the young child love. A child growing up surrounded by a loving community will understand love. This is beyond just the parents' roles. It reminded me to love unconditionally. To parent the young irrespective of race, size and shape. Every child deserves to be loved. The community makes a great difference.

Today we went to Grants Picnic Grounds, Sheerbrooke Forest in Dandenong Ranges. On the way there Uncle Michael stopped at Safeway to buy a big packet of sunflower seeds. I was very excited because this is the first time I will get to feed the birds. The journey did not seem very long and when we arrived, there were crowds of people.

Immediately after getting down from the car, we started feeding the cockatoos. We fed the birds sunflower seeds. There were lots of cockatoos. The cockatoos are white with a yellow crown on top of their heads. The cockatoos were a little violent so we went to feed the crimson rosella. It was red in colour with a bit of green and yellow. They loved Daddy because he was wearing red. They came to him and sat on his hand 7 times. They came and fed from my hand 3 times. I felt happy that they came to me. It was a bit ticklish when they were eating from my hand.
When mummy and the others went to wash their hands, Daddy, Uncle Michael and I went back to feed the cockatoos. When I fed the cockatoos, 4 cockatoos came. I was a little frightened when 4 of them came at once. They started fighting and one of them kicked the other. The two on the sides could not reach the seeds from my hand, so they flew away.

After some time, we went in to have a cup of hot chocolate and fries with the rest of them. We had a good dinner after we left Dandenong Ranges. We had lasagna, pasta, and pizza!!!

- Nathalynn

Today was scheduled to explore Dandenong. Since the night before was so eventful with my birthday celebration, we decided to tone down by going for our favourite hang-out - bookshop. This time Koorong bookshop. Our kids are always excited at the mention of bookshop. That's enough to entertain them for a long time.

There is a wide selection of materials in Koorong bookshop which got us all very excited and explored from shelf to shelf. Ooh, how I love the books available - so many to browse through and hopefully to pick some up to add to the kids' collection. I managed to find a small size kids' bible for Chrisa for a reasonable price. Without hesitation, I dropped them into the basket as I didn't bring one to Australia. A children's bible is never compact. So this one is a treasure.

As we moved along the shop, we decided the easiest way to browse was just head for the bargain corners. That also took us 3 hours in total. In the midst of reading the Veggie Tales' series to Chrisa, Nat tugged on me and asked a theological question, "Why did God make the tree of the forbidden fruit if He didn't want Adam and Eve to eat it?" The 7 year old must had expected an immediate wise answer from mummy. My tired brain at the end of the 3 hours' hang-out wasn't quick enough to shoot a brilliant response spontaneously. I looked at her and thought a moment. I said, "Ya, that's really a good question.....can we talk in the car later?"

So here we are begin a search into this question, gathering some thoughts from different people of all ages in the house.....before Nat make her own conclusion.

- Selina -