Going to school...

Photo from Google image search

Faith spent her first day in school and she took to it quite well. I am beginning to understand the anxiety that parents of school-going kids feel on the first day. It is the worry about how a child will react to a new environment and how the staff will treat him/her, and not so much about academic results. I think Wifey and I suffered from separation anxiety instead of Faith. Maybe she's too innocent to know. Maybe she takes to strange environments better than us. Whatever it was, it marked the start of another phase for her - and us, too.

cranky night

Wifey was up through most of last night trying to pacify a very cranky Faith. Sometimes there isn't much we can do except to be by her side. Maybe dealing with colic is an avenue for parents and babies to bond. After all, it is only by going through trying times together that people bond. Maybe this is true for families with infants. Come to think of it, I'd feel pretty strange if Faith had a fuss-free infancy. Not much to learn about responsibility and sacrifice, is there?

Anyway, she'll be going for the first of 3 Infanrix hexa (a kind of mercury-free vaccine) shots today. Pray with me that there will be minimal adverse reaction.

after a long break

There's always a clustering of holidays around the end of a year and the start of another. It's nice to get long breaks. Proper work starts tomorrow afternoon and I'm going into this with mixed feelings. My hope is that I won't lose focus on what I want to do - provide a listening ear and some encouraging words to people lost in this crazy world. It would be nice to be able to do so for a living. I wouldn't go so far to say that I'm going to make a big impact in anyone's life - that's not up to me but God.

Having time to spend with the family is important too. We move through life too often with muddled priorities - at least that was the way I did it. Thanks to Wifey and Faith, things in life are slowly becoming clear. My friends from church are a big influence in my life too, keeping my feet firmly planted on the Stone that holds all of us up.

and you're beautiful
and i am weakened by the force of your eyes
so shine bright
to separate the truth from the lies

Show you love
by Jars of Clay

The weight of Glory...

Image from Google

so I've lost 3 kgs over the past fortnight, probably caused by the hectic rush to complete my thesis and to settle into a new work environment. I'm now 1 kg away from what I weighed during college days, when I was most fit and packed with muscle. I suspect the weight loss this time round was a result of a loss of fat without any gain in musculature. Anyway, it's a good thing my weight didn't drop to teenage years when I was only 63 kg at 1.76m. At that time, I was so scrawny that one of my uncles suspected I was on drugs.

Spent the weekend with the church guys at some run-down golf resort in JB to map out directions for what we're going to do in the coming year. A very strong message that came to me was this:

Go to the ant, thou sluggard; learn from her ways and be wise

LT asked the visiting pastor about work commitment, which turned into a whole discussion on priorities in life. And I learned that the mundane decisions we make everyday have far-reaching implications in how we conduct our lives at a higher level. I mean, would I take a promotion at work if the higher portfolio's going to eat into family time? Is it merely getting more money that drives us to work longer hours or the fear of what will happen if we don't? Do we have the courage to walk away when things at work get out of hand?

I need to be wise indeed. When to work hard and when to let go. We need the weight of Glory to be upon us for all these decisions.

On a lighter note, we will attempt the stanchart marathon again with the ladies joining us for the first 10 km. Let's see how the preparations turn out through the year. Maybe something good will turn out from this expanded running group.

The men in my life

No, this is not a comment on homosexuality.

It is about father-figures in my life.

Or the lack of it.

A list of substitute fathers in my life. I guess, taken together, they make up the role model I needed at various points.

First Uncle - Confucian

Second Uncle - Resourceful

Third Uncle - Charismatic

Fourth Uncle - Stoic

Fifth Uncle - Cynical

Mr Francis - Civic-mindedness

SHC - Street-smarts

Mr Ngin - Friendliness

EC - PR skills

Uncle Chan - Generous

CK - Forgiving

Well, now that I'm a father.

How shall I do this? Perhaps taking examples from each and every one of those men that influenced my life. Forgive me the mistakes that I will make and grant me strength to see things through to the end.