In the Coffeeshop of Life...

Each friend is a premium bean

Grounds for our smiles and laughter

Or, in our local context:

In the Chinese medical hall of life,

friends are like

premium essence of chicken!

Good soup for the recovering body and soul!

PG-Rated

THE GOOD

THE BAD AND THE UGLY

RIIIIGHT........OK.......! Now let's move along now to sunnier shots, shall we?

GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER?

Novi and Edward dropped in on Monday for a visit. As it was Jessie's birthday, we called her to send her birthday greetings. Then Antonietta called and we also spoke to Sam and Leah. It was an impromptu New Zealand reunion for us that afternoon. NICE!

On Wednesday, after we returned from the doctor's, Karen brought Jessica and Benjamin to visit Aunty Ju. My niece Grace also came with fish that my sis Margaret bought from the wet market. She took a very long bus route; it was a wonder (not wanda) the fish were not cooked by the time she got to Ju's place! ;-)






This morning Sharon visited and she kindly drove us to breakfast and to NTUC supermarket for some grocery shopping.

I've been experiencing God's grace in the kitchen. Reminiscent of the days in ICPE NZ when I first started cooking! I probably take twice as long as anyone else to prepare any given meal but I'm glad that the food's been palatable so far! Yeah!

HAPPY EASTER!

Easter Sunday was not within three days of the Transfiguration

but within three days of Good Friday.

Love is not to be measured by the joy and pleasures it gives

but by the ability to draw out of sorrow,

a resurrection out of a crucifixion, and life out of death.

Unless there is a cross in our life, there will never be an empty tomb;

unless there is the crown of thorns, there will never be a halo of light.

- Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

This Easter Sunday was special. No, there wasn't snow like in Allerheiligen but there sure were many other signs reminding us of life in our previous home.

Such as.....

,

It was a special blessing for Ju to be able to participate in the Easter Sunday eucharist and an extra bonus that it was at her own home, thanks to the thoughtfulness of her friend Fr Dominik who is presently visiting Singapore.

We were grateful that we could gather round the table of the Risen Lord with family and friends on Easter Sunday, celebrating all that He has done for us and reminding ourselves to keep our hearts open to the Risen Lord truly alive and living in our very midst.

Ju's getting better day by day although there's still much discomfort from the surgery wound. Thanks once again, to all who have prayed for Ju and shown her your care and love. She's recovering under the graces God is pouring upon her and through your love. Thanks!

Hey Ju...How do you do?

First, the good news.

The doctor told Ju yesterday that the tests were clear. If that wasn't clear, it meant that the cysts are non-cancerous. HOORAY! Praise GOD!

Ju will be writing her own praise report later. For starters, I'm posting a photo-story of Ju's journey over the last few days....

DAY 1, 18 March - The cysts and fibroids are out...and so is Ju.

Day 2, 19 March - Don't know what "43" and "80" on the machine mean,

but Ju's wearing "23". Psalm 23 to be exact.

Day 3, 20 March - What say you?

I'd say we are seeing shades of good 'ol JU!

Day 4, 21 March - Juliana on her way out of Mt Alvernia

Thank God for family and friends............

A heartfelt thanks to all who have carried Ju in your prayers

and called, sms-ed, emailed, visited her!

Where are we?

In case anyone out there may be wondering, Ju is presently in Singapore while Chris is in the Philippines.

We bade "Auf wiedersehn!" to Deutschland in February 2008 at the close of our commitment to the Band of Followers worship ministry and the School of Missions in Allerheiligen.

Ju is on her way to re-join the ICPE community in Wellington, New Zealand whilst Chris has just touched base with her new community in Manila.

After having made Allerheiligen not only our mission base but also our home for almost a year and a half, it holds many fond memories of blessings received both in community and on missions. Thanks to the many ways of communication - and our recent initiation into Facebook! - we are glad to stay connected and the network of friends just continues to grow!

I (Chris) am a tad limited in working on the blog (or for that matter correspond or even google chat!) as some of the keys on my laptop have recently failed. Imagine trying to compose sentences without the help of the letters "r", "i" and "p"...YUP, you got it!

Anyway, thanks a friend's borrowed laptop, I could at least post this entry, just so to assure you that "WE"LL BE BACK" on the blog soon enough!

TTFN!