This is what God has convicted deeply within me recently about parenting ...

Parenting

- should have the noblest and most satisfying goal of raising my kids to love, fear (respect) and know the true and living God as the wise Creator of the universe who created everything in the most wonderful and incredible way, the Righteous Judge who will hold us accountable of all our thoughts, speech and actions, the Loving Father who gave His only begotten Son to die on the cross and resurrected from the dead to settle the problem of our sins and the Rewarder of those who diligently seek Him

- is not for cowards (those who are afraid of trouble and hardship)

- requires personal sacrifices such as job promotions, forsaking of personal interests, limitation in attending of social functions and social circles, forsaking of personal desire for luxury and materialistic stuff in exchange for more time and energy and heart to spend QUANTITY and QUALITY time with my kids

- requires me to talk WITH (not talk TO, as in giving instructions only) my kids to know their strengths so that i can help them to develop them, their weaknesses so that i can help them to overcome them, the condition of their hearts so that i can help to correct and direct them to what is true and right

- requires me to always discipline my kids out of love and not out of anger/frustration

- requires me to be a good example who live out what i say

- requires me to be more concerned about their character rather than their studies and grades

- requires me to get down on my knees to pray for them daily and for myself and my wife to have the grace to be faithful to our parenting goal

- requires me to treasure and sustain my marriage so that my family has the right structure that provides the balanced love of a father and mother who loves each other

- requires me to put my pride down to admit and ask for forgiveness from my kids when i am wrong or have not done the best things with or to them

- requires me to be simple and lowly enough to play and joke with them and enjoy their presence always

:D

Comment! (1) | Recommend! | Categories: parenting [t]

The Strongest Dad...

Read this whole story and watch the video... it moved me to tears...

[From Sports Illustrated, By Rick Reilly]

I try to be a good father. Give my kids mulligans. Work nights to pay
for their text messaging. Take them to swimsuit shoots.

But compared with Dick Hoyt, I stink.

Eighty-five times he's pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in
marathons. Eight times he's not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a
wheelchair but also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming and
pedaled him 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars--all in the same
day.

Dick's also pulled him cross-country skiing, taken him on his back
mountain climbing. Makes taking your son bowling look a little lame,
right?

And what has Rick done for his father? Not much--except save his life.

This love story began in Winchester, Mass., 43 years ago, when Rick
was strangled by the umbilical cord during birth, leaving him
brain-damaged and unable to control his limbs.

``He'll be a vegetable the rest of his life;'' Dick says doctors told
him and his wife, Judy, when Rick was nine months old. ``Put him in an
institution.''

But the Hoyts weren't buying it. They noticed the way Rick's eyes
followed them around the room. When Rick was 11 they took him to the
engineering department at Tufts University and asked if there was
anything to help the boy communicate. ``No way,'' Dick says he was
told. "There's nothing going on in his brain.''

"Tell him a joke,'' Dick countered. They did. Rick laughed. Turns out
a lot was going on in his brain. Rigged up with a computer that allowed
him to control the cursor by touching a switch with the side of his
head, Rick was finally able to communicate. First words? "Go Bruins!''
And after a high school classmate was paralyzed in an accident and the
school organized a charity run for him, Rick pecked out, ``Dad, I want
to do that.''

Yeah, right. How was Dick, a self-described ``porker'' who never ran
more than a mile at a time, going to push his son five miles? Still,
he tried. "Then it was me who was handicapped,'' Dick says. "I was sore for
two weeks.''

That day changed Rick's life. ``Dad,'' he typed, ``when we were
running, it felt like I wasn't disabled anymore!''

And that sentence changed Dick's life. He became obsessed with giving
Rick that feeling as often as he could. He got into such hard-belly
shape that he and Rick were ready to try the 1979 Boston Marathon.
"No way,'' Dick was told by a race official. The Hoyts weren't quite
a single runner, and they weren't quite a wheelchair competitor. For a
few years Dick and Rick just joined the massive field and ran anyway, then
they found a way to get into the race officially: In 1983 they ran
another marathon so fast they made the qualifying time for Boston the
following year.

Then somebody said, "Hey, Dick, why not a triathlon?''

How's a guy who never learned to swim and hadn't ridden a bike since
he was six going to haul his 110-pound kid through a triathlon? Still,
Dick tried.

Now they've done 212 triathlons, including four grueling 15-hour
Ironmans in Hawaii. It must be a buzzkill to be a 25-year-old stud
getting passed by an old guy towing a grown man in a dinghy, don't you
think?

Hey, Dick, why not see how you'd do on your own? ``No way,'' he says.
Dick does it purely for ``the awesome feeling'' he gets seeing Rick
with a cantaloupe smile as they run, swim and ride together.

This year, at ages 65 and 43, Dick and Rick finished their 24th Boston
Marathon, in 5,083rd place out of more than 20,000 starters. Their
best time'? Two hours, 40 minutes in 1992--only 35 minutes off the world
record, which, in case you don't keep track of these things, happens
to be held by a guy who was not pushing another man in a wheelchair at
the time.

``No question about it,'' Rick types. ``My dad is the Father of the Century.''

And Dick got something else out of all this too. Two years ago he had
a mild heart attack arteries was 95% clogged. ``If you hadn't been in
such great shape,'' one doctor told him, ``you probably would've died 15
years ago.''

So, in a way, Dick and Rick saved each other's life.

Rick, who has his own apartment (he gets home care) and works in
Boston, and Dick, retired from the military and living in Holland, Mass.,
always find ways to be together. They give speeches around the country and
compete in some backbreaking race every weekend, including this
Father's Day.

That night, Rick will buy his dad dinner, but the thing he really
wants to give him is a gift he can never buy. `The thing I'd most like,''
Rick types, ``is that my dad sit in the chair and I push him once.''



It just reminds me of the love of God our Father... :D

Comment! (9) | Recommend! (13) | Categories: strongest dad [t]

A rainy day during the monsoon season...


The people in the marriage support group (MSG)


The kids' kitchen :D


MV Doulos - the oldest ship around by God's grace


The performance of the cadets during my farewell celebrations


The teachers who will be taking over for SJAB: eric, nicholas, yvonne and jenny


The seniors who came back during the farewell celebration


The cake the cadets baked for me! very thoughtful! they know i love soccer! :D


great grandfather's and david's birthday celebrations. One is 84 while the other is 2! :D


me and moses with our birthday cakes! :D


the students who came and gave me the surprise! :D


the boys n the man! LOL!


them again! :D


the balcony people!

Comment! (0) | Recommend! | Categories: november [t], 2006 [t], photos [t]

it is the most memorable birthday i ever had in my life so far... never expect it to happen when i am 30!

i would like to thank my wife and kids for wishing me a happy birthday!

received quite a number of SMSes just after midnight and today! thank you all of your well wishes! in chronological order of the SMSes received, i would like to thank kit yeng, li xuan, aswin, serene, casuarine, jasper, adelaine, josie, grace, nathania, jane, esther, ziqin, christina, melinda, chiu ping, jasmine, cecilina, wan ying, shana and jia ying! :D

my whole family celebrated moses' (christian's good friend) 4th birthday today at the clubhouse and I was very surprised when yvonne and david (moses' parents) baked a cake for me as well! I am thankful to them for their wonderful gift as well! just what i need to fulfill the goal i set to be a GREAT father! another book on parenting! it's called "shepherding a child's heart" by tedd tripp! cant wait to read all about it! :D

the biggest surprise and "conspiracy" finally came in the evening!! i was kept in the dark for months... since the time my wife exchanged numbers with my students during the mid atumn festival (oct) until now, they had been planning all these while... the phoney "game briefing" on the last day of school, the stay over at jasmine place, the weird SMSes from kit yeng, my wife's weird response to a call during dinner, the noise from a large group of people who sounded so familiar, walking up the long flight of stairs outside my house... i was suspecting something when i heard the noise but i thought it was impossible... until i heard the door bell rang and i saw my beloved form class (301!) standing at the door!! they came in and before i know it, i had crazy ribbons sprayed all over me and i was presented with their home-baked choc cake and a gigantic card that has their signatures and our class photo! it was really very touching and wonderful at that moment in time!! i am really thankful for the people who came... it was really wonderful to see every one of them!!

thank you jasmine for organising the surprise party! really appreciate it! thank you for lending your kitchen and place for the experimentation of the birthday cake! it was delicious! dont know who helped in the baking but i am thankful for everyone who was involved!

thank you annabel for the red hot letter and for playing with my kids and teaching ekklesia and ariel to make the cards for me! :D

thank you andaline, borui, huiyu, nathania, serene and wan ying for the personalised pen!

thank you aaron for the choc from japan!

thank you jingxuan, lixuan, jasper, keng yang and yong chang for the photo frame and book mark!

thank you zhiyun and shihui for the lovely card!

thank you cindy, grace, peiying, justine, kerong and junjie for gracing the event!

a big thank you to 301 for making it so memorable and special!

if i do leave out something or someone, my sincere apologies! i tried my best to remember all!! :D

i will be gone for a few days with my family at Port Dickson for a church retreat tmr! See you people around in a few days' time! :D

Comment! (6) | Recommend! | Categories: 301 [t], birthday [t]

i really enjoyed myself during the school's cultural pot. and the child aid concert that i attended yesterday night.

i was awed by the musical talents exhibited during the 2 nights... i can't do anything close to it at all... but i am contented to be able to see and hear them perform! :D

saw many many ex-students during the cultural night... first at the boat quay's mac, then at the victoria concert hall... although i dont really get to talk to any of them for long, i am really happy to see them once again! :D

the child aid concert (fund raising concert for needy students) is amazing! especially impressed by ethan ong, the youngest performer in the concert and the youngest busker in singapore... he is definitely a drum prodigy! he even has his own website! Click below!

http://www.ethanong.com/
http://www.ethanong.com/Ethan-Drum_Solo_At_Busking.wmv Watch him perform! :D

Comment! (3) | Recommend! (1) | Categories: cultural pot [t], child aid [t]

Click on the link below for photos of the open house (courtesy of Mr Peh)
http://asia.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/pteowpeng/album?.dir=7d99scd

I will be going for the school's cultural potpourri tonight! I will be sitting at the circle seats with some of the student leaders who went to thailand! I will be coming with my wife, christian, ekklesia and moses (christian's good friend). ariel will have to stay at home 'cos she don't meet the min. age requirement :(

see you people tonight! :D

Comment! (1) | Recommend!