2012?

2012.
I am sure when I was twelve, I could not fathom this in any calendar.
But here I am, at the threshold of it.
it is a big deal - this passing of time. For it's a ticking of our heart and an inching towards the inevitable: our very own passing.

Today, i saw an advert for snail cream. You heard me.... to SLOW down (get it?) the signs of aging from acne to wrinkles.

Go ahead, look good, eat rich, travel wide, so much! But the inexorable force called Life and Death tugs at each of us daily and really, the direction is clearly marked. How can such a simple truism escape us? How can it fail to wake us to 'number our days' and pursue wisdom?

Because the Invitation to really live is daily drowned out by a well-thought and worked through scheme which surrounds, invades, cajoles, convinces us by the moment: this is all there is. So,

 Take it all. If you don't, someone else will. Nothing is safe, no one is secure...take it now.


This mantra is there in pictures, words, sounds, voices. We seem unable to escape. It feels easier to succumb (nicely worded as 'go with the flow').

But then comes a precise point in time. When LIFE rent asunder this madness and denied its power and grip. When LIFE chose the lowly, unlikely, weak and un-esteemed...and whispers through the cold wind, the desperate cries of broken-hearted mothers and the fantastical proclamations of angels to those who could hear.....

Goodwill to men
Peace on earth
Joy!

Since that point in time, we have moved on - many moons, generations, wars and gods later..
and LIFE's invitation continues to ring out in the smile of a infant, the chuckle of a child, the mad dash of a boy let free, the embrace of lovers who know love, the hands that touch kindly, the old woman who prays daily...
each one a tear in the fabric of this tightly woven, suffocating, cloak of inhuman-ness.

and one day, it will be torn asunder and the Glory of LIFE will shine through full.

CHORE-deal countdown!

We returned from Batam on Fri evening and leave for KL on Sun noon.
We have now done 3 loads of laundry in my 5kg machine that is missing a button but still works. We coz i set it up, Abi helped me sort the clothes, the machine goes and then Abi and/or Keith helps bring me the hangers, take down the previous lot...fold ...complete with --

"come on, you can do better than that"




"Keith, just think - everything must become a square or a rectangle ok? neatly now..Abi for goodness! show your brother how to do it....."
"Abi. i taught you all these things patiently..do the same for your brother!"


And God is on my side with sunshine each morning!

i just re-folded the lot Dad tried to fold ! Thankfully he didn't go all glum when i hollered

"i think i need to give you a quick tutorial on folding clothes"...He's at the PC - me tuned out?

It is easy to fixate on the back ache and the grumpy attitudes that inevitably surface..esp when the kids go on about 'hey, this is NOT my chore!'...but thank God's Grace..better ideas invaded my mind. So i slowed down, sat down and while foldng clothes, washing dishes or eating dinner, said.

" what do we do as a family?"
Keith: we help each other
"what do we do when we dont know how to help?"
Keith: we learn or ask someone to show us
"Abi?"
Abi: ya..(returns to her book faster than my next breath)
"i want us to be a happy, family where we help and work together. it is up to us to make our home clean, organised and a place of joy. And each of us needs to do our part ok?"


we pray for Grace.

But just as we are learning this...and they say it takes eight weeks to develop fresh habits..we leave for KL and if all goes as plan, we return to a nice clean home coz my helper would have returned!

THINK fast!

An opporturnity for growth and change must never be squandered....we will visit this in KL - how we have grown and how we can cherish and stay in the growth path.

CHORE-deal continues...

A wave of weariness lapped up and i missed the convenience of having a live-in help. But the sunshine of regaining control, re-imagining family life perks me up each time...In fact, this little kiddy refrain competes with the Christmas carols in my head:
"this is the way i do the laundry, i do the laundry, i do...
this is the way i do the laundry, so early in the morning"

It's fun planning the menu, buying stuff, cooking it all up.
It's fun doing the clothes, putting them away, glad that my family is dressed in clean, sun-warmed clothes and the towels are soft and fluffy again.
It's fun reorganising things to make them more tidy and efficient
It's fun to plan on all the helpful gadgets i will get to help me go about the chores more quickly...that twisty floor mop, the power vacuum, the ...
It's definitely fun to watch the hubby chip in and bark the kids around a bit!

But this mountain we need to climb over in time: me being tired and the children maturing to understand that all this is kindness, collaboration, teamwork, home-work, and Love.