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First off, thanks to all who prayed... Dad's eye mini-op was okay - he has to go for his next one in a month's time. The laser serves to coagulate the broken blood vessels behind his left cornea so that they don't further blur his vision. Diabetics are susceptible to this condition called retinopathy, whereby vessels behind the cornea break and cause the vision to blur... and it'll eventually lead to blindness. So in a sense, dad has to go for regular checkups to ensure that broken vessels are arrested and coagulated. Do pray that they don't keep on breaking... cause it can be quite a painful process, the op, that is.

Dori's finally done with her final assesments in school - it was a hectic past few days for her... and both dad and brother had to hectic together with her. Hahaha... she's got a few days to rest before she goes for her bone marrow test next tuesday. Do pray that her general anesthesia will work and that she won't feel too much of a discomfort... but more so that the results will turn out favourable.

Mom... I dreamt some time back that she's actually up and about talking and walking away... an aunty who drops by from time to time to minister to mom told me she had the same dream too... :) It's been close to two years since I've last heard her voice or walked with her or had a meal with her... hehe. You know what.

I am one step closer towards knowing why faith ranks as my top spiritual gift consistently over the years.

It's not about rationalising bad circumstances so that life can be better lived.

I realised that being a Christian really requires a radical change in perspectives - a seriously huge paradigm shift of mindset that we humans can't achieve on our own. It is purely His grace that our minds get renewed as we grow in our relationship with Him.

To know that all things work for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose... the "good" which may not exactly be defined according to the world's standards. More of knowing that everything's in His sovereign hands... that He holds the future, that ultimately everything falls within His masterplan.

Whatever the onslaught, come what may...
I know His grace is here to stay.

Char and I had out tuesday night out this week at Ivins, the peranakan eating place at Binjai Park. I'd been there once to pass no. 1 his 19th birthday gift three years ago but didn't have the chance to eat the food. Gosh... this is one place with good food at really affordable prices!

Much of the night's conversation was centred upon friendships... how it really takes effort and great pains sometimes to maintain them.

Cause people change... circumstances change... sometimes circumstances are such that it's really hard for friendships to be maintained...

Looking back, it's still quite unbelievable that I used to have such close ties with certain individuals back in secondary school, junior college, my first cellgroup... only to find these ties either broken or distanced. I still meet up with some of them from time to time, but it's just not the same anymore.

Come to think of it... I haven't been taking the pro-active role of keeping friendships alive. Friendships are usually formed circumstancially - a bunch of people sharing a common thing at a common point in time (in the same class, club, group, etc)... and how it grows henceforth (especially when the commonality is taken away - graduation, multiplication, etc) depends on how both parties will want to work on growing the relationships.

I'm just thankful that apart from God, there are dear friends who have been relentless and selfless in keeping the ball rolling in our friendships... and I must say (and I will not say enough of it), that the Kakis are one bunch that I really don't deserve.

Thanking God always for you brothers... and a sister. ;)

It's not easy for me to arrive at a point in life that I know that true friendships are God given - they can't really be manufactured... and they can't really be measured by the closeness I feel with others.

Crunch times reveal a lot. And as I told Char that I would most probably respond to a lot of people's crunch times, I wouldn't expect them to respond to mine - sometimes it just happens so that it'll always be a one-sided affair on human ground... lest we forget, that we're loved to love, blessed to bless, given to give.

:)

Hey... I know things can be quite messy at home right now for you. Cling on tight to Pa okay? Sometimes we get so caught up in our present situation we tend to forget what He has already done for us... trust and believe that He'll see you through this season and the many more to come kay?

Press on!!

... and life is worth the living because HE lives. :)