how should i thank Thee...?

let me count the ways...

one.
the week started with a lovely green walk with justin, beginning at the foot of mount faber hill through to hort park, where we had a nice sandwich lunch. we walked many steps, saw a lot of plants and quite enjoyed our time together. i shall not forget how justin turned to me while we were climbing up the steps to mount faber, and said in all sincerity 'Dear, you really need to exercise.' :p it was, for me, the most ironic thing to hear from him. yet, those were true words he'd offered. i was visibly panting. the tide has turned. on me... but i'd prayed for a fit boyfriend, and now, i got myself one!

thanks justin for the walk (: i'm really glad we got the time together, and we spent it in a very healthy way! but, more than anything else, thank you for choosing to take the much less literal but much more challenging walk of growing with me through our relationship. may this stretch of the path--bumpy, slow and painful at times--lead us to a higher plain of maturity, wholeness in Christ and joy. i'm thankful for you.


two.
while taking the down-riding escalator to the mrt at cityhall station yesterday evening, i saw three FACES on the up-riding side. merv, leonard and caryn! so i did the most natural thing, i took the ride back up! turns out they were gonna have dinner and so i chupped in :p then along came frankie lee, and so it was a fivesome.

we had dinner at soupspoon (thank you all ;p i know frankie would've preferred rice, but good ol' guy settled for mushroom soup). i had lovely pumpkin soup, but was also covetting leonard's beef goulash. so i'll have that next time i go!

i'm really glad i bumped into you all. you turned what would have been a normal quiet evening into a fun, lighthearted one. and sorry i made you all answer SUCH difficult questions...as if BS isn't enough. :] but you were sporting, and we all had such good laughs. (:


three.
evangelin went home on time today. on the 5.45pm bus with me.
and here's a photo of her boarding the bus to commemorate this special event. for the past month or so (maybe two), my lovely neighbour at work had not seen a spark of daylight when she left the office every day. so this was a very special moment.


four.
i met papa & mommy at westmall for dinner.
we shopped for groceries.
i used my envirosax bag. (and i found out that a head of cabbage can be very very heavy.)
that's 3 very favourite things to do in one night! (:

it might be age, but i'm really enjoying such times spent with my parents. yes, it should be a given. i should, by right, enjoy family time anytime. but in all emily-ish exposure, it hasn't always been this way. there was a time when i'd have preferred hanging out with friends than with my parents. i'm finding that honouring God in this aspect is a lot less laborious and so much more enjoyable now.

i'm finding also that papa & mommy have been making more conscious effort in the past few years to safeguard family time. retirement takes one into a different season, and many things that used to be extremely important--putting rice on the table, carving out a stable financial position, making sure huiyi gets her homework done and watches less tv--begin to lose their sharp focus in the light of the golden years.

but if you ask me, it's when life really begins for our parents' generation of baby boomers (or before). and i see my parents starting to sit back & relax, to enjoy the intangibles such as the exuberant laughter and joy of their first granddaughter when she feeds the fish at the park or the cheery smile that megan gives when she's happy (which is most of the time!)

i'm thankful because i know not every parent has such a luxury. and i'm all the more thankful when i recognise the grace of God in our family's lives and how He has blessed my parents with so much. when they begin to recognise that too and see the reality and love of Jesus, the walks in the parks (our family's favourite past-time) shall never cease, but will take us into eternity.



there are more ways than four, Lord.
but i'll stop here.
for now.