More Foody Updates

Marina South Pier (MSP) www.can.com.sg/neocan/en/streetwise/unwind/piering_at_marina.html

This is a shot from the Marina South Pier roof top. Jo had suggested to check out the Pier 11 restaurant which is located on the 2nd level of this building. Beautiful view from here as you can see. Extremely windy! How do you get here? Get along the ECP and turn off into Marina South. Follow the road signs all the way to the end of the road... and wala!



Birthday Cake!
Today's kids get to have all the fun! Look at this amazing birthday cake designed like a forest with "flowing" river and animals! Our friend's kid daughter celebrated her 10th birthday last Sunday.


Hog's Breath Cafe (Holland Village outlet) http://www.hogsbreath.com.sg/
Had a wonderful lunch at this quiet outlet yesterday. We had drove to Ghim Moh initially to check out Blue Spoon, unfortunately it was closed so we decided to head on down here. The set lunch is great value for money... I had my Fish & Chips (Beer battered fish served with Hog Tail Fries, side salad and sauce) served with fabulous home made beef soup along with a soft drink at a mere $14.00! Besides, the portions were simply Aussie huge!

Jo had the Hog's Breath Prime Rib (200 grams) @ $19.50 - Best served medium rare to ensure a moist and tender steak. Served with baked potato, classic mashed potato or Hog Tail Fries. Your choice of salad or vegetable. The Prime Rib was really succulent and very tender...certainly one of the better steak outlets around. You don't have to pay $$$$ for a Lawry's or Morton's, just get on down here or to their Chijmes outlet.

According to the staff and the website, they slow cook their Prime Rib for up to 18 hours, then finish with high temperature searing on the char grill to seal in the flavour.




Wild Rocket (Upper Wilkie Road)

Had to venture to Jo's fav restaurant once again. Haven't been here since 2-3 months back.

We both had the set and as usual was beautiful and meticulously prepared. Our only peeve was that the waiting time seemed much longer at approximately 35-45 mins. Food quality remained uncompromisingly superb, which is really important as Jo exclaimed. Jo had the rack of lamb while I had the beef burger. The set came with deep fried cod cakes which was nicely done. In all of it's dishes, Wild Rocket sets itself apart by it's very Asian infused fusion menu. Never heavy, just right. Pictured above is my half eaten burger :) and the Pandan Panacotta dessert. Ahh somehow forgot to snap Jo's rack of lamb....shucks.

CT Scan Tomorrow Morning

Jo's CT Scan is tomorrow morning and appreciate your prayers.
Results will be known on Wednesday noon as we meet with Dr Goh at NUH.

We do hope that the back aches are nothing more than what they ought to be - back aches.

Jo's Food Updates

Here are the long missed updates on Jo's food escapades over the last few weeks...

1. Meidi-Ya Japanese Supermarket (Basement of Liang Court)
Apart from selling all things Japanese, Meidi-ya regularly arranges for special food fairs whereby chefs from all over Japan would be present to show off their culinary skills and foodstuffs. This time round, it was the Hokkaido fair and we joined the queue (and it was long!) to sample traditional Red Bean & Custard Cream "fish" pancakes. It was beyond words and simply heavenly! Take a look at the many photos taken. Sorry you can't get them now, they were here for only a weekend in late December 2006.

2. Corduroy Cafe @ Vivo City (1st Level)
Jo had the caesar salad and shaved chicken with caramel latte. She later shared the cinnamon apple crepe with her friend. The butter cream cake pictured above is very deliciously patterned and obviously rich in butter. 5 stars for the butter cream cake. Selected cakes at 50% off daily after 9pm. Go get it!

3. Yan Palace Restaurant www.yanpalace.com.sg

Perhaps one of the best dim-sum places in town, next to the infamous Red Star (Chin Swee Road). Here the dim sum dishes are all served fresh and piping hot in a modern setting. And like most other cantonese restaurants serving dim sum, you won't find the roving trolleys here either. Jo came here to especially try their signature dim sum dish - paper wrapped chicken also known as "ji bao gai" in cantonese. It was so tender and succulent...fantastic!

4. Cafe de Amigo (Funan Centre 2nd Level)

This restaurant has been around for the longest time. Originally located at the Specialist Centre @ Somerset Road. Jo had escargots with herb & garlic butter. I had chicken chop with black pepper sauce. Simply excellent! They have a large wine cellar here too.

5. Vinco the Doughnut Parlour @ Vivo City (2nd Level)

The Donuts craze has arrived in Singapore! Here, donuts are freshly made on the spot. $1.20 per piece. 18 different varieties. Reheatable. Check out www.vinco.com.sg

6. Coffee Bean's Buster's Weekly Cheesecake

What more can I say? A fabulous strawberry topped cheesecake.

Updates - 22nd Jan

After Jo had completed her course of muscle relaxants last Friday, the pain in the lower back had gradually recurred once again. She is however able to sit and stand up easily still but walking for long stretches is not possible.

We will return to see the orthopaedic doc tomorrow afternoon to seek further advice on this.

Appreciate your continued prayers in this area.

Just last evening, while Jo got out of the car and walked a few steps, she was suddenly immobilised with a sharp ache in her lower back. She gradually made it to our friend's doorstep for dinner. We had a wonderfully home cooked bee hoon with curry chicken meal plus soon kueh and strawberry shortcake from BakerzIn for dessert.

Wisdom Tooth Extraction (Alex)
I on the other hand had an "incredible" time at the dentists today. After 2 years of deliberating, I decided it was time to remove the 2 left wisdom tooths (top & bottom) that had been troubling me for a bit. Since my tooth is impacted, the dentist had to grind and drill it down before removing it in 2 pieces. All this took a simple 45 mins. Amen that all went well and my fears were quite kept under wraps. **Phew** Anyway, I get 5 days medical leave... heh!

Amazing Inspiration!

In life, go straight and turn right.. always and in all ways.

My name is Nick Vujicic and I give God the Glory for how He has used my testimony to touch thousands of hearts around the world! I was born without limbs and doctors have no medical explanation for this birth "defect". As you can imagine, I was faced with many challenges and obstacles.

"Consider it pure joy, my Brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds."....

To count our hurt, pain and struggle as nothing but pure joy? As my parents were Christians, and my Dad even a Pastor of our church, they knew that verse very well. However, on the morning of the 4th of December 1982 in Melbourne (Australia ), the last two words on the minds of my parents was "Praise God!". Their firstborn son had been born without limbs! There were no warnings or time to prepare themselves for it. The doctors were shocked and had no answers at all! There is still no medical reason why this had happened and Nick now has a Brother and Sister who were born just like any other baby.

The whole church mourned over my birth and my parents were absolutely devastated. Everyone asked, "if God is a God of Love, then why would God let something this bad happen to not just anyone, but dedicated Christians?"
My Dad thought I wouldn't survive for very long, but tests proved that I was a healthy baby boy just with a few limbs missing.

Understandably, my parents had strong concern and evident fears of what kind of life I'd be able to lead. God provided them strength, wisdom and courage through those early years and soon after that I was old enough to go to school.

The law in Australia didn't allow me to be integrated into a main-stream school because of my physical disability. God did miracles and gave my Mom the strength to fight for the law to be changed. I was one of the first disabled students to be integrated into a main-stream school.

I liked going to school, and just try to live life like everyone else, but it was in my early years of school where I encountered uncomfortable times of feeling rejected, weird and bullied because of my physical difference. It was very hard for me to get used to, but with the support of my parents, I started to develop attitudes and values which helped me overcome these challenging times. I knew that I was different but on the inside I was just like everyone else. There were many times when I felt so low that I wouldn't go to school just so I didn't have to face all the negative attention. I was encouraged by my parents to ignore them and to try start making friends by just talking with some kids. Soon the students realized that I was just like them, and starting there God kept on blessing me with new friends.

There were times when I felt depressed and angry because I couldn't change the way I was, or blame anyone for that matter. I went to Sunday School and learnt that God loves us all and that He cares for you. I understood that love to a point as a child, but I didn't understand that if God loved me why did He make me like this? Is it because I did something wrong? I thought I must have because out of all the kids at school, I'm the only weird one. I felt like I was a burden to those around me and the sooner I go, the better it'd be for everyone. I wanted to end my pain and end my life at a young age, but I am thankful once again, for my parents and family who were always there to comfort me and give me strength.

Due to my emotional struggles I had experienced with bullying, self esteem and loneliness, God has implanted a passion of sharing my story and experiences to help others cope with whatever challenge they have in their life and let God turn it into a blessing. To encourage and inspire others to live to their fullest potential and not let anything get in the way of accomplishing their hopes and dreams.

One of the first lessons that I have learnt was not to take things for granted.

"And we know that in all things God works for the best for those who love Him."

That verse spoke to my heart and convicted me to the point where I know that there is no such thing as luck, chance or coincidence that these "bad" things happen in our life.

I had complete peace knowing that God won't let anything happen to us in our life unless He has a good purpose for it all. I completely gave my life to Christ at the age of fifteen after reading John 9. Jesus said that the reason the man was born blind was "so that the works of God may be revealed through Him." I truly believed that God would heal me so I could be a great testimony of His Awesome Power. Later on I was given the wisdom to understand that if we pray for something, if it's God's will, it'll happen in His time. If it's not God's will for it to happen, then I know that He has something better.

I now see that Glory revealed as He is using me just the way I am and in ways others can't be used.

I am now twenty-one years old and have completed a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Financial Planning and Accounting. I am also a motivational speaker and love to go out and share my story and testimony wherever opportunities become available. I have developed talks to relate to and encourage students through topics that challenge today's teenagers. I am also a speaker in the corporate sector.

I have a passion for reaching out to youth and keep myself available for whatever God wants me to do, and wherever He leads, I follow.

I have many dreams and goals that I have set to achieve in my life. I want to become the best witness I can be of God's Love and Hope, to become an international inspirational speaker and be used as a vessel in both Christian and non-Christian venues. I want to become financially independent by the age of 25, through real estate investments, to modify a car for me to drive and to be interviewed and share my story on the "Oprah Winfrey Show"! Writing several best-selling books has been one of my dreams and I hope to finish writing my first by the end of the year. It will be called "No Arms, No Legs, No Worries!"

I believe that if you have the desire and passion to do something, and if it's God's will, you will achieve it in good time. As humans, we continually put limits on ourselves for no reason at all! What's worse is putting limits on God who can do all things. We put God in a "box". The awesome thing about the Power of God, is that if we want to do something for God, instead of focusing on our capability, concentrate on our availability for we know that it is God through us and we can't do anything without Him. Once we make ourselves available for God's work, guess whose capabilities we rely on? God's!

Something's never change...
But something's do...
Whatever problems or difficulties you have now, Give them all to Jesus...

Dr Liew

From last Wed to Sun, her back pains grew worse.
Now she takes panadol every 6 hours not so much for the fever but for the pain.

Yesterday we decided to see Dr Liew, Jo's family GP along Henderson Road. Dr Liew is supposed to have specialised in Orthopaedics but his clinic is like any other situated along the ground floor of a row of HDB shops. Both the exterior and interior decor of the clinic seems like it's never been touched since it was here. Dr Liew is a very pleasant doctor and was genuinely concerned for Jo as I sensed.

The last time Jo when to see him for a rib pain, he gave a jab and this solved the pain after 3 days.

This time round, she was jabbed 2 x in her lower back with a muscle relaxant. Doc told her to relax her muscles since they were extremely tensed, thus causing pain. She was also told to do more leg and arm exercises since her muscles are nearly non-existent. He further suggested for me to get a lumbar back support.

We pray that the medication works and she'll be back to her normal mobile self once again.

God Bless.

At The Foot Of The Cross (Kathryn Scott)

AT THE FOOT OF THE CROSS (Ashes To Beauty) Kathryn Scott

At the foot of the cross
Where grace and suffering meet
You have shown me Your love
Through the judgment You received

And You've won my heart
Yes You've won my heart
Now I can

Trade these ashes in for beauty
And wear forgiveness like a crown
Coming to kiss the feet of mercy
I lay every burden down
At the foot of the cross

At the foot of the cross
Where I am made complete
You have given me life
Through the death You bore for me

I'm laying every burden down
I'm laying every burden down

CCLI #4157353Copyright 2003 Vertical Worship Songsc/o Vertical Music, 1000 Cody Road, Mobile, AL 36695All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

Results

We met Dr Goh at 1215pm today.

He flipped the LCD screen in our direction and shuffled between cross sections of the MRI scans.

Initial scans and report seemed to show that everything was in order - no slip disc, broken bones etc except for one portion - at lumbar region (lower back) 2 and 3 there was 2 areas with dark coloured patches which Dr Goh was not quite sure what it was. The report said something like "suspect for tumour infiltration?"

As a follow up to the IRT, she will undergo a CT Scan on Monday, 29 Jan @ 9:00am followed by the results on Wed, 31 Jan @ 12 noon.

I guess things are still inconclusive for now until the CT scan is done. This should tell the full picture once and for all.

Are we worried? Very much so...but with cancer it's always been a roller coaster ride:

Every pain a suspect.
Every scan - arduous.
Waiting for the results - a huge torment.

You do however gradually get over it, by God's grace.

MRI

We got to NUH @ 4pm today and there wasn't much of a crowd.

Jo was already very apprehensive of the whole thing since 2 days ago. If confirmed, she may need to have contrast injected into her to enhance the MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) readings. Having to be pricked again is an extremely detestable thought. The last time round she had blood drawn from her, a small clot developed on her hand...but it's ok now.

As she was helped into the MRI room, she was told that she didn't require the contrast. Amen!

With MRI, one has to lie on a very flat platform that draws you into a huge cylindrical machine that keeps humming very loudly. The patient needs to wear ear plugs or they'll go deaf. The whole procedure lasts some 30 mins. Certainly a very long time for her to keep still. No movement is permitted.

We now await the results on Wednesday. Appreciate prayers that this will not be anything serious.

Thank you prayer warriors.

He Knows My Name

Seeing Jo in her present state for the past 2 weeks has been tough...

We couldn't attend Watchnight Service (on Dec 31, 2006) but instead celebrated the coming of the New Year in meditative worship @ home. It was a real Blessing. One of our favourite songs is captured below. The lyrics speak simply of God's presence, insurmountable love and divine providence for His people. We only need to believe...

He Knows My Name (by Tommy Walker)

I have a maker
He formed my heart
Before even time began
My life was in His hands

He knows my name
He knows my every thought
He sees each tear that falls
And He hears me when I call

I have a Father he calls me His own
He'll never leave me
No matter where I go

On Friday, we studied Joshua 1 in our first Elim SG session of the new year. God spoke to me over and over again in this amazing passage -

"Be strong and courageous..." This phrase is repeated 4 x in Joshua 1.

And as God spoke to Joshua in (v.5) "...As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you."

Updates - 5 Jan

Happy New Year folks!

Sorry for the delayed updates, internet was extremely slow due to the Taiwan cable cuts...and it was impossible to log in after Dec 31 strangely.

We met up with Dr Goh on Wed to get to the bottom of the aches & pains.
First Dr Goh ran through her blood & liver test results which was very positive - all indicators showing an improving liver.

After explaining the aches to Dr Goh, he suggested for an MRI lower back / spine scan scheduled for this Monday (8 Jan) afternoon @ 4:15pm. The scan would provide comprehensive details on anything amiss. Results will be out when we meet Dr Goh again on Wed (10 Jan) noon time.

It's pretty bad now for Jo. She can't get up from bed without my help or before wriggling up after 10mins. Walking is fine. Leaning back, looking down, coughing, deep breathing, sneezing etc is tough. Some pain killers don't seem to work as effective as Panadol. Panadeine, Morphine and Semflex not as good. Thank God her appetite is still fine.

So appreciate your prayers in this area. God Bless.

2006: Looking Back

As the year draws to a close, it's only fitting to relook and ponder all that we've gone through. Sharing briefly what Pastor Alvin said during our YM (Youth Ministry) service last Sunday morning on Luke 2:19 -

"But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart"

In summary, the shepherds had appeared to Joseph and Mary sharing with them what the angel had told them about the baby Jesus. Mary was also going through the toughest time in her life, being a virgin yet being told that she was with child. What would everyone have thought about her and Joseph, a couple unwed? How was she to live her life out, face her family and friends? Tough times truly. But one thing Mary did do as we read above, is that she pondered meditated and remembered the goodness and blessings God had done in her life.

As Pastor Alvin said,

"only when she remembered all these things did she see the hand of God in her life".

2006 has been another "eventful" year in many sense of the word for us. We ponder all that has happened this year:

a. Jo was admitted 3 times into hospital for the following:

- 21- 24 March: Post chemo emesis. She was vomiting hourly on the 2nd day after a new chemo treatment.

- 3-5 July: Constipation colic. She hadn't removed bowels for nearly 9-10 days and had acute pain in her tummy. Doc had to remove her bowels "manually"

- September: nose bleed (ward observation)

b. She's changed treatment regimes 3 times: Xeloda, CPT, Doxorubucin.

c. Had 3 procedures / minor op @ NUH from Oct to Nov.

d. Lost nearly 8-10kg

It probably seemed like a terrible year but it wasn't cos' He's been at work within and around us throughout. Our God has done the following thus far -

a. Provided for understanding bosses that allowed me time off with Jo

b. Blessed me at work and provided for us

c. Opened new treatment options @ NUH for us when all else seemed hopeless at NCC.

d. Introduced another wonderfully patient centred always smiling Dr Goh (NUH). The other being Dr Leong @ NCC. Thank you both!

e. Made the IRT procedure a success in terms of Jo recovering from it rather quickly and with the fever now spread longer.

f. Allowed us to go to 2 trips to Bintan and attend a Cancer retreat in September.

g. Brought us both closer as always

h. Blessed us with such wonderful wonderful family, friends, relatives and colleagues whose ever so concerned and prayerful for us.

So friends won't you join me in thinking about the following:

1. One (or many) thing(s) you're thankful to God for.

2. One thing / thing(s) you'd like to remember, for 2007.

Let us count our Blessings each day... for there are plenty

Back Aches...

Please pray for Jo's aches.

We have no idea why she should be hurting so much...it seems that the aches / pain is getting worse by the day.

When we were out for lunch today, she was walking so slowly and had to sit so upright to ensure that the pain would not be present.

Just an hour ago, she was in pain and in tears as she struggled to get up to go to the toilet. And even when she sat back on bed, it was hurting uncontrollably. She can't sneeze, cough, laugh or blow her nose hard. She later took panadol as ponstan wasn't as effective a pain control.

We read through a few passages from a prayer book and recited through Psalms 23. It was so painful to watch her go thru' this...and was feeling so helpless once again.

We'll be seeing the doc on Wed morning for our next check-up and will highlight this to him again.

"Dear Lord, please remove these aches from Jo. Please remove the suffering she's going thru. You are our divine healer and you are able to do the impossible. Please hear our cries, Father."

Cupcakes!

Jo got this box of 4 wonderful cupcakes from one of her friends last week.

We're Back!

We left Monday morning at 11:00am for the island of Bintan and returned back Wed evening at 6pm. The waters going there were more choppy than that returning and several folks and kids ended up vomiting... Thank God we were all prepared with motion sickness pills (Novomin) and that kinda knocked us out (the kids were first to go) We had 7 adults, 2 children and a toddler.

The first pix was when we arrived. The other pics of Jo and our "gang" were on the last day where the weather was marginally better allowing for us to venture onto the beach the first time. Notice the red flag (no swimming, no nothing), ahhh reminiscence of Hawaii...winds super strong and waves were kinda "big"

Company was great, however the weather wasn't and one word of advice is never to travel during the monsoon season to somewhere else that's affected too. Just like the week before, it poured non-stop in the afternoon of Christmas day. We thought it would all end by the evening, but we thought wrong. It continued right up to Wednesday where it abated a little.

It was a much awaited trip for us since Jo couldn't travel to anywhere too far. I've been trying to get her up to visit our cousins in KL but she dreads the drive up there. So Bintan has often been our next best choice - 45 mins away and it has her greatest love - a nice beach with proper sand and sea :) Food is often left much to be desired there, but it was ok.

Regarding Jo, she's still having severe back aches at this point and was partially aggravated by a pot hole / hump the shuttle bus went over while in Bintan. So appreciate your prayers in this area.

Merry Christmas!

As I write this greeting on behalf of Jo and myself, our mobile phones have been beeping incessantly ... thank you for the wishes. I'd like to post our wishes here instead:

This Christmas may you come to know the Christ in Christmas,
May you celebrate His Gift for us,
May His Blessings be upon you and your family.

God Bless to you all.

PS - We'll be off to Bintan tomorrow morning and back Wednesday. Praying that the waters won't be too choppy...arghh

Elim SG Christmas Party 2006

What a wonderful time we had last evening eating, fellowshipping and importantly celebrating Christmas with our fellow Elim small group & friends.

Log cakes from Prima Deli (Black Forest and Mango flavour)
Caterer from Neo Garden - we had Fried Bee Hoon, Sze Chuan Fish, Lemon Chicken, Stir Fried Veggies, Prawn Tempura, Soon Kueh and Sea Coconut Cocktail dessert and Christmas Ham.

Updates

Always smiling with food in front of her :)

1. The last few days have been hectic getting our Christmas list checked off...and I think we finally have it completed!

2. Jo has amazed me by being able to do some moderate to light-intensive shopping "workouts". I can only say a BIG thank you to our Father for allowing her to do all these during this year end. We honestly thought that she'd be out of action for a bit after the recent IRT procedure (early November). Oh we of little faith!

3. Although Jo doesn't cook, she's a fantastic rapper, err I meant wrapper. She's wrapped ALL the presents we've gotten for friends this Christmas, numbering some 50 of 'em!

4. Fever is still averaging at every 12 hour cycle at this point. Still a BIG progression from pre-IRT days where she would be taking 4 x 2 panadols daily! We pray that this would continue and in His time that Jo would be free from the Panadols altogether. Amen.

5. Aches (lower back, front left ribs) are still present but being managed but the Panadol at this time.

6. Weight has gradually climbed up to the 39kg level. We pray she gains more before the new year arrives...

7. Hair. Jo recently discovered that her hair hasn't quite grown back to it's original state. Must be due to the constant hair-loss / re-growth cycle from the years of chemo...so that's why she's still wearing her bandana / head scarf.

It's always so cute when she gets a question from kids asking "Aunty Jo, why do you have to wear a 'scarf' on your head?" or other versions "why do you have to wear that on your head?"

8. We'll be off to Bintan from 25-27 December for a much needed break with our small group folks from Shalom.

We Are The Reason

This is a classic song (since the 80's) we've sung so often in Sunday School and Church. The lyrics simply hit home to what Christmas is truly all about - the CHRIST in Christmas. Here's the midi version in case you don't know the tune, click here. http://www.arcadiachristianchurch.org/MIDI/davidmeece_WeAreReason.mid

We are the Reason
Words & Music by David Meece Copyright 1980 Meece Music (admin by) WORD Music

As little children we would dream of Christmas morn
And all the gifts and toys we knew we'd find
But we never realized a baby born one blessed night
Gave us the greatest gift of our lives

And we were the reason that He gave His life
We were the reason that He suffered and died
To a world that was lost He gave all He could give
To show us the reason to live

As the years went by we learned more about gifts
And giving of ourselves and what that means
On a dark and cloudy day a man hung crying
in the rain
Because of love, because of love

And we are the reason that He gave His life
We are the reason that He suffered and died
To a world that was lost He gave all He could give
To show us the reason to live

I finally found the reason for living
It's in giving every part of my heart to Him
In all that I do every word that I say
I'll be giving my all just for Him
For Him

And we are the reason that He gave His life
We are the reason that He suffered and died
To a world that was lost He gave all He could give
To show us the reason to live

He is my reason to live

Shopping, Rain and My Neighbours Dog

Well as all of Singapore was drenched for the last 36 hours in non-stop monsoon seasonal rain beginning from yesterday, Jo and her sister were doing some Christmas shopping at Taka, Wisma and then Borders.

While they were shopping, I was at one of my youth's birthday party from 7 - 10pm and had a way of time just hanging out with them (7 of em). Had typical teenage food I'd missed for awhile -hot dogs, beef, garlic bread and corn!

This Morning

Jo was awoken by our neighbours dog yapping away once again at 7am and couldn't get back to sleep after that. She usually would be hungry when this happened, and I'd have to attempt to dish up some edible breakfast. But this morning, she had a craving for Cha Bee Hoon with egg and luncheon meat + other stuff and tea...and so I went off to get the following...

Christmas: The Only Gift Everyone Really Needs

Dear friends, do take some time to reflect on the following this Christmas, a little lengthy but what's a little reading gonna cost you? (from Discover The Book Ministries)

Luke 1:78-79
Christmas is all about gifts; gift giving, give buying, and gift receiving make up so much of these weeks of the year. Many are looking for the most "wanted” gifts; so much so that often these gifts are sold out and become even more sought after. As we open to the last dozen verses of Luke 1 this morning, think about…

THE MOST WANTED GIFTS
The world's largest retailers sent out a beautiful, full color glossy flyer a few weeks ago with the “gifts everyone wants this Christmas”. I was driving as Bonnie read through the items offered: diamonds, home theaters, complete “dream vacation” packages to be with music stars backstage, and on went the list. Then the “ultimate” gift was presented—a million and a half dollar personal jet that seats four! Just what we all really want—diamonds, dream vacations, and private jets, right?

Christmas in America is mostly about gifts I give and receive. Billions and billions of dollars of sales attest to the fact that for these 4-6 weeks we flood the retail outlets and search out and but the gifts that are most wanted, most sought after, most unique, most memorable and so on.

But the real Christmas was the very first one, when God confronted the world with the only gift everyone really needs.

Christmas is about the gift no one seeks but everyone needs.

In fact God came to provide the only gift that everyone absolutely, critically needs—the substitutionary death of His Son, who came to meet our critical, eternal-life-threatening need prompted by our sins.

To help us understand Christmas from God"s perspective: look over the holiday crowds that always seems to get in front of us everywhere we want to go these days; look beyond our house, our street, our city, our state, and even our planet—and look above and remember to see our God on His Throne.

GOD IS ON HIS THRONE
This very moment—as the billions of souls on this world go through their routines of eating, sleeping, working and living--our God is enthroned in the Heavens; He is sitting in power and majesty, He is surrounded by countless angelic hosts bowing before Him and reverently crying out Holy, Holy, Holy.

• Before Him, the Ancient of Days—burn seven fires, reflected in the mirror-like surface of the crystal sea.
• Around Him, the King of Glory—peal endless claps of thunder and flashes of lightning as angelic hosts and saved sinners rise and fall in adoration.
• In front of Him, the Almighty God—rises the constant incense of prayers and worship songs from His redeemed creatures.

Our God sits enthroned in Heaven, as Ruler over the entire Universe.

As the Lord looks down from His Throne upon this planet overspread with people—it looks pretty dark down here. Listen to one picture that God left us; this is His analysis of our human plight. Luke 1:78-79 Through the tender mercy of our God, With which the Dayspring from on high has visited us; To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, To guide our feet into the way of peace.”

WE ARE LOST IN DARKNESS
From God’s perspective, all of humanity is hopelessly lost, sitting in the dark and awaiting destruction. Christmas is the story of the Lord God Almighty, motivated by His great love, sending Jesus to provide the way of salvation to lost humanity sitting in that complete darkness.

Jesus came to Earth as the sunrise from God, to shine the light of God upon all of the lost and sin darkened people of this world. It is always darkest just before dawn, and that is just how it was. The Roman world of the 1st Century had reached the highest levels of science, literature, culture, engineering, transportation, and medicine known since Adam and Eve stepped from the Garden.

Yet with all that advancement most people were still hopelessly lost, and endlessly troubled by an inability to even control their own fears and desires—let alone know how to come to know the Awesome God of the Universe.

So in that darkest hour God sends the only gift everyone really needs. Please stand with me and listen to the entire song of Zacharias in Luke 1:67-79; especially hear these closing two verses, and experience the reality of why Christ came, as we see how hopelessly lost, critically in need each of us are before God upon His Throne this very moment.

GOD VISITS US
Christmas is all about God sending the Dayspring, a heavenly sunrise to sin darkened humans on Earth. Christmas was God responding to meet our eternal-life-threatening needs; it is all about the critical care needed because we were born in such a desperate condition. Without forgiveness, justification, redemption, and adoption we would be unable to survive and live forever. Rather, we would fail to survive and die forever.

God surveyed His creation and found that the crown of creation, the only creatures made in His image had a soul threatening, terminal illness called sin. In every instance of Christ's coming (Christmas) there are clues describing what we needed as exactly what Jesus came to offer us.

If you sift through all God said in the Christmas story, we find that God on His Throne determined that He had to change seven critical areas in our lives to save us. As the Christmas story unfolds, we see more and more of God’s plan to come and rescue lost humanity.

We have already seen in Matthew 1:21 Jesus came to “save His people from their sin” and this is God meeting our first and greatest need which is forgiveness.

Then we saw that all the rest of the critical needs we have in our lost and fallen condition are compressed into the next truth in Matthew 1:23. When Jesus came as God with us, “Immanuel” was a declaration that we would be justified—or God could never live with us. Our redemption, adoption, and so on, were all also reflected by the very statement that God would ever be able to be with us.

Now Luke notes the timing and purpose of Christ's coming.

This Christmas, we need to see ourselves as God saw us.

We are born spiritually blind, and grow up sitting lost, helpless, and hopeless in the darkness of sin; as sinners who have sinned even once in God’s sight—we are guilty of breaking all of God’s commandments (James 2:10).

Christmas from the Divine vantage point as explained in the Bible should make us see ourselves as worst than we think, rather than better; because Christ's death is only for the guilty, only for the hopelessly stained, and only for the helplessly lost. It is in that condition—that we find God’s grace.

DO YOU SEE YOUR CRITICAL NEEDS?
All sinners (so that means all humans that have ever lived on planet earth except Jesus Christ) have seven basic Biblically described critical and soul threatening needs.

If you listen to the messages that God gave about His purposes in sending Jesus to the Earth you find the critical needs we have:

Matthew 1:21 is forgiveness of our sins.
Matthew 1:23 is justification so God can be with us.
Galatians 4:4-5 is redemption and adoption for us slaves to sin and strangers to God.
Luke 1:79 is peace with God and life to us at war with Him and dead in sin.

Briefly summed up, all humans are hopelessly lost, sitting in the dark and awaiting destruction unless seven critical needs are met by God through Jesus. These are forgiveness, justification, regeneration, reconciliation, adoption, redemption, and sanctification.

THE ONLY GIFT EVERYONE REALLY NEEDS
As you think about Christmas, gifts, presents, giving and receiving—why not check and be sure that you have received the most important of all gifts.

Only if we have received Him, Jesus who came to save us from sin, do we really have anything in our possession that matters. Every other possession and gift can be stripped away from us by death, disease, or disaster. Only Jesus will never leave us or be lost; only He can save and keep us forever.

Have you received the one and only gift that you (and everyone else) really needs?

Aches

On Friday evening just as we were preparing to leave for our Elim SG, Jo complained of severe lower back aches which kind of rendered her "motionless" for awhile. She had to move very slowly for fear of causing more pain. After leading worship, I rushed down to the Guardian Pharmacy at Centrepoint to buy 2 packs of the Ketotop muscle ache reliver (like koyok). This is available through the pharmacy only and does not require prescription. I bought her laksa from Prima Restaurant for dinner and rushed back home.

By then she'd taken panadol and Soden (pain killer) and within the next hour, the pain had subsided and she was walking thereabouts again. Phew!

So appreciate your continued prayers in this area. Thank you all.

Updates...

A short & concise update for this week:

1. Well Jo's weight still hovering between 37-39kg currently.
2. She's developed some aches and pains in her right rib cage and lower back area.
3. Legs are weak.
4. Fever has been reduced significantly to every 12 hrs now. Amen!
5. Appetite is still fine.
6. Foodplaces we've tried these past few days:

a. Xiang Xiang Nasi Lemak (below left)
Tanjong Pagar Market Foodcourt (2nd Level), Unit #02-08?
Verdict: Value for $$$ @ only $2 per nasi lemak. Rice, otah, chicken, fishcake and chilli! Fantastic. See the queue below! Waited some 25 mins.

















b. Jubilee Restaurant (above right)
745 North Bridge Road #01-01. Opening hours: 11:30am - 8pm daily.
Verdict: Followed this lead to try our taste buds on a "solid" dish of dum bryani but
it turned out too be just ok only. Rice was good - flavourful and fragrant, but chicken was too dry. Overall the boss was very nice and hospitable. Clap clap! Location is very near the Sultan mosque.

c. Ipoh's Sambal Crayfish Noodles
Crosspoint Coffeeshop 240 Tanjong Katong Road (S) 437028. Opens: 10.30am to 3pm, 5.30 to 9pm; closed on Sundays
Verdict: Didn't turn out as good as the reviews (Straits Times life...) claimed. $4-5 per bowl. The dark sauce was not "saucy" and not flavoursome enough. Crayfish was fine... I guess kudos to the 29 year old for innovativeness...
http://feast.asiaone.com.sg/reviews/hawkers/20060305_001.html

d. Dona Manis Cake Shop.
Katong Shopping Center B1-93 Tel: 6440 7668
Verdict: It's like walking into another era...read this link... http://wineanddine.asiaone.com.sg/reviews/cafes/20061029_001.html

e. Superdog @ Vivocity basement (below)
Verdict: Overall nice seating area. Chillies quite salty, hot dog was ok. Frankly a little over priced for a hot dog (starts from $3.20 to 7.50!). Besides you have to add $3 bucks for a "meal" (add on fries + drink) I had the Superdog (bratwurst sausage) and Jo had the Bacon Chili Cheese. I remember the fabulous US$1 foot long hot dogs available at the mega warehouse super marts such as Cosco and Sam's Club in the US. Those were simply fabulous!!

Star Over Bethlehem

The star Over Bethlehem, guess that's what it might've looked like if we'd been there ...

I had a fantastic 2 nights of worship at the YWCA and Wesley Hall on Wed & Thurs evening. We had our Youth Ministry 2007 Camp held right in our church premises. Will share more later. The latest I got when I returned home this afternoon was that Jo weighed an incredible 37.9kg!!


What's going on man???

Also she had a nosebleed last night again. Exactly similiar to the last incident when we checked into the A&E @ SGH. This time we were ready to treat it:

1. Tilt head forward
2. Pinch the soft portion of the nose for about 10-15mins
3. Spit out all swallowed blood (as it tends to drip down the throat)
4. Lightly dab the inner nostrils
5. Get an icepack and place it over the nose.


After all these steps, the bleeding should stop and it did. It was still a little intermittent till about 2:30am which she finally managed to sleep.

39 Kg?

Since 27 Nov, Jo has gone out 3 times now.

First time out in 1 month was at Elim's SG BBQ at West Coast. Again, she overate but was fine overall. Then on Tuesday she was out with Kim to Regent Hotel's Tea Lounge for lunch. How do 2 women sit for 4 hours yakking and eating? That we poor men may never fathom...

A few hours later that evening, we had curry chicken at Ken & Jo's place. Nice curry Jo Teo! Keep it up!

Her movement is back to normal although not much strength in her legs just yet. Needs help sometimes getting in and out of vehicles, standing up...etc.

So how many of you weigh 39kg??

Yes, thats Jo's latest weight for the past week. Kinda worried but she's been eating ok so far...appetite not the best. We're happy...no complains about this, just the weight. If I recall 39kg for an adult is near anorexic eh? I can literally feel her bones as I brush my figures across her ribs...aiyo...

By the way, 39.8kg (the pic above) was the weight after she had dinner.

Time

First entry for December...already 6 days have whizzed by...how time flies... Which brings me to my point today: How are we managing our time?

Are we putting it to good use? Ensuring each minute is used carefully for God? Have we even prioritised the activities to be done in the day or week?

Or ... are we like the multitudes that simply do not have any time on their hands?

Remember that we are Stewards for all that He has entrusted to us, whether big or small tangible or intangible. We are accountable for what goes on or not and why it has or hasn't happened.

As Spurgeon so rightly puts it:

"A steward is a trustee of his master's goods. Whatever he has, belongs to his master; and choice things are put into his custody, not that he may do as he likes with them, but that he may take care of them. The Lord has entrusted to each one of us certain talents, and these are not our own. Gifts of knowledge, and thought, and speech, and influence, are not ours to glory in, but ours in trust for the Lord alone."

Something to ponder for us all ...