Arrived in USA- Part 2 Transportation

We really missed Singapore's transportation network! 
Drove around in a rental car for 2 weeks even though we had bought the 10 year old car because of the procedure required in this land. My husband had to get tested for his local driver's license to qualify for insurance then registration of the number plate. Each step presented its own set of challenges! He had so much trouble studying the high way code, feeling the frustrations that even if he can give the correct answer, say 30 feet, he does know how to guage that distance. But he dutifully pressed on and had perfect score and passed his driving test too.  Having seen the trouble he went thru makes me panic! I had not driven for nearly 20 years! Pray for me to overcome my fear.
Then the insurance.
We found a record of the vehicle that it went thru 21 crashes in 9 years! The first company refused to cover this vehicle. Had to source all over again to find a company that is willing! Happily my husband put on the number plate and behold, the battery is flat. We are getting to know the car better day by day and am glad to report that this relationship is working out well with some extra care and loving touches! ( engine oil, brakes, tyres...)

Bicycle.
The drop off / pick up queue takes too long at Daniel's school. We bought 2 bicycles; one for me and one for Daniel on the 1st day of school. Daniel had not riden on a 2 wheel bike before. When he got home from school, daddy taught him and he learnt it in less than 30 minutes! The next morning, we ventured out to school. We had to go slowly and I realised we do not know how to cross the roads. So we had to go a longer route just to avoid crossing any road.
While we are getting familar with biking to and from school, we need to handle the challenge of cycling in the rain. There is no shelter along the way...So looks like I really need to drive.

School bus
The 2 teenagers go to school by school bus.  On the day that my husband was away taking his driving test, Joycelyn missed the school bus coming home! After fetching Daniel (which is later than Middle school timing), I had to cycle to our office to get help. Finally, reached her 2 hours after her dismissal!

We still have some way to go before we iron out our transportation issues. Remember us the next time you are on the road!

Arrived in USA- Part 1 School

So much had happened since we arrived!
Thank God for this time for me to count His blessings. Thank God for GPS! We needed to go places to get proof of residence, health records, physical check up, driver's licence as well as grocery and stationery. The GPS is quite reliable and we could even check an estimated time of arrival at our destination.

Enrolment for school is tedious. Some immunisations done back home was not acceptable and had to be done again plus other compulsory jabs required for school here. Joycelyn had 4, Daniel 3 and Davy 1. Ouch! (When Davy had chicken pok at 6 months of age, I was upset wondering why he contracted it while still being breastfed. Now, I am grateful as Davy hates needles and he was spared from the chicken pox vaccine this time round!) We know that medical cost is very high here and thus were pleasantly surprised that my kids jabs are FREE!
The High School needed some document and fixed an appointment with an office downtown for Tuesday after school had started. We wanted the kids to start school with everyone else on Monday. God uses my husband gift of being very meticulous to spot the mistake. We do not need that Tuesday appointment instead went to another place and got the document done on the spot without prior appointment in less than 30 minutes!

Our children needed a physical done within a month after school starts. Like a true blue Singaporean we rushed down to a school clinic before it closes for the day. But it was too late and the staff were leaving. We stopped them and inquired about the procedure to get an appointment and was told that the slots available are in September but could pay US$40 for a walk in clinic. Anyway, we called back the next day and was surprised that we were given an appointment for the following day! And so we saved some money, got it done and out of our to-do list and know that are kids are very healthy and fit for school! Because Davy and Joycelyn are interested in doing sports, those certificates came in handy to qualify them for sports tryouts too!

Daniel came back from school the first day and declared that he loved school! I asked him why and he said,
" We get to eat snack in class and they served us Hotdog for lunch!"
Well, while he is enjoying his current situation, I am busy fighting to put him into Grade 3! Because he did not complete his P2, the school had to put him back in Grade 2. They did not want to see his report book nor his Mid year exams script for English and Maths but assured us that he will get promoted to 3rd grade if he do well for his exams in October. I really wanted him to settle down with his class as quickly as possible instead of moving him later. We had spoken with the Principal, Vice Princpal as well as authorities outside the school. The teacher will help gather the data and advise us accordingly. Trust God to grant us favor with the school.

The teens are still figuring their way around in this new system and environment. Pray that they will find good friendships that will build and edify.

Our Next Big Step

After a protracted period of praying, seeking counsel, talking with the children, contemplation, soul-searching, and most importantly, seeking the Lord, my husband and I sense Him leading us to serve at the global level. God's call to us to serve Him full time has been very clear even before we graduate. His leading to live out that call in Campus Crusade for Christ has been just as clear right from the start. A year after our marriage, we knew very well that the call was also to a lifelong full time ministry. We feel so privileged to be exposed to a variety of ministries and experiences. And along the way, to get to know many people who have become very close to us.

William's Sharing

In recent days, I have been meditating on two passages of Scripture. One person whom I sought counsel with shared about Acts 1:8 that of being His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. I had served as Director over one campus ministry in Singapore, been a missionary to a neighboring country, the Director over Singapore, a Leadership Team member over East Asia, and a member in the Vice President's team. It seems that next would be to step into the global arena.

In Luke 5, Jesus borrowed Simon's boat and taught the people from there. Simon and his partners were washing their nets and when Jesus was done, He said to put into deep water for a catch. It was as if to say after we are done for the day, putting things back in place to settle down, and then to uproot them all over again to go. To venture to the deep, into the unknown and uncertainties.

We do not know what the future holds but we definitely want to be obedient. Perhaps we will pull up a catch so astonishingly big. That we do not know but leave it to the days ahead.

Both Catherine and I will turn 50 this year. We also rejoice over 30 years of full time ministry for Catherine and 25 years for me. We are extremely grateful for the exposure and experiences accumulated over time. As one person who counseled us put it, all this preparation is for the service ahead. Besides contributing at the global level, my heart is also with the national level leaders and I will really want to continue providing input into their lives and leadership.

In accepting the invitation to serve at the World Headquarters, we will begin the process for Singapore Campus Crusade for Christ to send us as overseas missionaries. Catherine and I are most gratified that the children are supportive of the move. We have been involving them in discussions, allowing them to realize the implications to their stage in life. Of special of concern is our second daughter. JoyAnn does not like changes. However, there were too many that had already occurred in her life. Some of which were not handled in the best possible way by us for her. Yet, she was ready to be uprooted. We are happy for how the Lord prepared them.

For us as a family, both adults and children, we are certainly not entertaining romantic ideals about going overseas. If anything, there were plenty of reasons to hold us back. The children's image of education in the US is - shootings in high schools. Having visited and attended various meetings in the US, Catherine and I are well aware of cross-cultural shock and more significantly, cross-cultural stress we will be facing. We will have to manage those for ourselves while looking out for our children going through them too.

Thank you for journeying with us.

Share My Life

Thanks Victor for loaning me 2 sets of Frames of mind! We have 2 events scheduled for Sunday 20 Dec that would be using this tool! I am also thankful for Mr Lee who provided me some Christmasy snapshots to cater to the occasion and an excellent contact to print it out. It is a relief that things are moving along well for this FOM project.
Reason for the Season CD project had created more stress than I thought. There were obstacles each step of the way that weighs me down and I am not 'out of the woods' yet! No doubt there were great lessons that I could pick up along the way, but ...
Looking forward to our CG's outreach thru caroling at the hospice this Sat, and Children's home on 25 Dec.

Daniel wowed me again!

My son is really concerned about his Chinese paper. Very worried that he cannot do it. When I was sending him to school, there were tears in his eyes. We prayed while waiting for the lift and committed the situation to God.
When he came home from school, he was so excited!
"Mummy, you know what? Jesus was with me when I was taking my exams!"
He just felt the comforting presence of God and was confident about his Chinese exam.
What a difference Jesus can make in one's life! Praise the Lord!

PSLE may be over, but

Wow! Did not realise that I had no time to blog since September! Yes, PSLE may be over but there is a pile of work that I need to attend to and troops of kids showing up in our home after school. My record was baking 6 pizzas, cook 60 fishballs and 1.2 kg of macaroni and cheese for Joycelyn's class party on Wednesday in 2 hours!
Daniel had completed his English and Maths paper. Still need to prepare for Chinese paper on Monday! Really cannot remember the kids studying for exams in P1 but Daniel deligiently followed the teacher's instructions during the PSLE marking days break and flipped thru his files. There seems so much to cover to prepare him for the exams that I cannot believe he is just in P1! It is a different world now.
My ministry in Evangelism Com is enlarging my circle of confidence in doing new stuff. Managed to assemble 6 creative outreach program for Christmas in just one evening! ( Although thoughts and ideas were flying around in my mind for weeks maybe months!) Right now, I am in the process of organising a team to produce a video CD " Reason for the Season" to be used for outreach purposes.
Really excited about that and am looking forward to see God at work!

I found out that my father started smoking on the day that he was discharged. I was really disappointed. Thinking about this matter helped me see that man cannot depend on his own effort no matter what his circumstances are. I hope my father will understand his need for Jesus and choose to trust in His power to set him free!
Thank you also for praying for Joycelyn. We managed to revise quite a fair bit for her prelims. But there is much room for improvement! Pray for stamina to strive on for her PSLE starting 7 Oct!
There is too much schoolwork for this school break! Even Daniel in P1 needs to gear up for oral (English and Chinese)!
Looking forward to our office-family outing on Monday-makan, movie and more!