Lesson and Thought for the Day :)

"Singing lips best express a satisfied soul." (by Beth Moore, from her teaching on Psalms in the series "Stepping Up")

5 My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you. (Psalm 63:5)

Are you singing songs of praise to our loving Lord?

Are you truly satisfied in Him?

Drinking more and more and more...:p

My little girl takes in quite a bit of milk I think...

90ml --> 120ml --> 150ml --> 180ml --> 210ml --> and now.....240ml!! And all these in just 4 months... wow... can't imagine how much she's gonna require when she is 6months old..

I wonder whether she needs to be started on solids earlier..hmmm... :0

"I want to sit!"

My little girl's been trying to sit up without support.... :)

She just turned 4 months' old yesterday! yippee!!!

Super adorable.. as usual ;) haha

She flipped :)

This morning.. Candra called out to us at about 750am and we discovered that she sort of flipped over...:p haha

But she did not know how to flip back so she needed some help there.

Oh gosh.. I am wondering whether she will just start flipping here and there and cry for help when she doesn't know how to flip herself back...How's that going to disrupt her naps? I usually only pick her up from her baby cot at close to 8am..what's going to happen when she cries for help before that, say at 730am? Should I put her back into the baby cot until time's up? Or what?

Aiyo :P But...it's cute.

It's really wonderful to see her grow from milestone to milestone.

About my girl...

:) Candra's been growing well. She's been drinking quite a bit of milk (over 4 meals)...Glory to God!

Hm...I think she's now at a phase where she just can't wait to be able to move her body and limbs a bit more. Lying down on the play mat and playing with the dangling toys is no longer that fun...she prefers to be propped up on her tummy (somewhat like a leopard crawl position) but she can't be in that position for too long as well. We started to let her play in another play gym..where she can play from a sitting/standing position (with support of course)...and she loves it!!!!

We try to leave her on her own to play sometimes, so that she will not be overdependent on adults during her waketime. She's been doing quite well... when she sees us doing our own stuff, she will just stay in her play area quietly, occasionally looking around to see if anyone's going to be free to play with her. :)

She seldom cries.. only cries a little when it's time for her nap... and maybe some fussing in the evening cos she's tired. But when she's angry..she really screams her head off haha!

She just loves to play...so she refuses to finish up her milk at times. We found a way to teach her :) when she protests and refuses to take a full feed, she will be put into the baby cot again! haha!~ We will leave her in there for a few minutes...she will fuss a little... but when we pick her up and explain to her what went wrong, she will seemingly understand and finish up her milk. It works!Thank God...if not I wouldn't know how to prevent her from snacking. Guess she's not really the greedy sort (unlike me!!!)...she prefers to play.

This cute little one never cries when she poos (since birth)! That's a problem.. sometimes we don't know that she has poo-ed..she just never cries when that happens. She will just stay in her bed, awake and playing (with terribly soiled diapers)...until we realise that she has poo-ed. haha!

Both hubby and I have concluded that our little girl is hardly bothered or disturbed by uncomfortable physical conditions. She has never cried because she soiled her diaper, never cried because it's too warm or too cold etc..but she definitely cries when she doesn't get to play! Cute..:p

That's my little girl.

It's truly been enjoyable spending time with her...lovely.

Family time...Relationships

Had quite a bit of family time over the past few days. Relatives gathered at my mum's place on sat evening to see little Candra. :) Brought Candra up to in-laws place for the first time yesterday. Though she did not nap very well there, she tried to sleep as much as she could in the new environment. Visited WG's grandparents after that...they were so happy to see Candra, afterall, she's their first great grandchild.

It's been great spending time together as a family, especially since hubby's undergoing reservist over the next two weeks starting from today.

Life is short...time is precious...we must learn to cherish each and every moment with family, relatives and friends. Only relationships are long lasting and important...and relationships are what make our lives worthwhile.

We had a good time with R,L and kids on saturday morning...we visited Hort Park together...hiked from Alexandra Road all the way to Vivo City and had our brunch at Macs.

Let's spend our time wisely...building meaningful relationships which count towards eternity. :)

Be Strong and Courageous

When I first returned to work two weeks back, I found myself struggling with negative thoughts and a whole lot of worries. Don't quite know how to elaborate right now...basically I was in a mess...

I struggled with a lot of doubts...wondering whether going back to work part-time is "right"...worrying about Candra's development and growth...etc etc...there were many times when I felt terrible about myself and started to think that I am a bad mum etc... basically, my spirit was really down due to the negativity and doubts. It was so bad that I found it difficult to pray and I felt so tensed up.

Until 2 days back, I shared with one of the partners of my firm. She's a Christian too and a mother of 2. She's currently working part-time as well. I poured out my troubles to her. She encouraged me, affirmed me and prayed for me. After that session with her, I realised that I have been allowing the evil one to attack my mind and those negative thoughts and doubts were just lies put into my mind to discourage me.

I was then reminded by this verse,
"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." (Joshua 1:9)

God was telling me to be strong and courageous. I had to surrender all my worries and fears to Him because He is in control. He knows the desires of my heart and He is watching over Candra. As I read about how the Israelites turned their backs on God and complained even after having witnessed God's works over and over again, I felt like I was one of them. Doubting God all of a sudden after having experienced Him in so many ways previously.

It's all in the mind. I was reminded by what the speaker shared last sunday...Satan uses 2 weapons, FEAR and DISCOURAGEMENT to attack God's people. And God wants us to fight the battle by being STRONG and COURAGEOUS. If we are not careful, we will fall into the devil's scheme without realising it. That was my problem.

Yesterday, I went to my primary school teacher's funeral. He died at the age of 71 and the cause of death was heart failure. It dawned on me once again that life is short and time flies. Lately, God has been reminding me that time is precious. If we do not live intentionally for His purposes, we will easily let time pass us by with realising it. Time when lost will never return.

What's most important on God's heart? Lost souls...Broken people who need to know Him in their lifetime.

As I reflected on what's on God's heart, it dawned on me that I have been struggling over things which really only serve to distract me from what's more important. Yes, it's definitely important to take good care of Candra and ensure she's getting enough attention so that she grows well etc...but I should not let that become my primary focus and the centre of all my struggles.

What does Candra really need to see in her parents as she grows up? Kingdom-minded children are raised by Kingdom-minded parents.

"33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (John 6:33)

The struggles are not entirely over...but I have come to realise that I need to put up a fight.