welcome to the family!

yesterday, our family saw a new addition... my god-brother (who is also my cousin) became a father of a baby girl at 2pm in the afternoon! so by name, i'm a god-aunt! haha... she's the first of the next generation in our family... i'm sure my godma is pleasantly elated! heard from my mum that she wasn't very excited before the birth of her grand-daughter and wasn't going around fussing over what to buy, but now... it seems like she bought so much stuff for the little baby in her home.

mummy and daddy went over to see the baby this evening. she is only one day old and the hospital discharged her already. apparently, it seems like KK was overfilled.. tsk! but according to them, the baby looks healthy and is drinking milk well and good.. so that goes to show that she must be pretty healthy. and mummy said she is quite pretty.. thinking to myself, i thought babies don't look very cute when they are born. coz their features are not very well-developed yet. but since mummy says she looks pretty, i'll just believe her now till i set my eyes on her.

god-brother decided to call her "wei(3) wen(2)"... heng wei wen! but he forgot to think of an english name for her until mummy reminded him just now. so i guess he'll be cracking his head of an english name now. i can imagine how mind-boggling it is to choose a name out of a whole list... mummy was brainstorming with me just now... veronica... rebecca... elizabeth... catherine... jasmine... louisa...

when i think of the baby, i immediately thought of my ah kong. he's now been promoted to "kong(2) tou(4)"... that is great-grandfather in hainanese. i'm sure he must be really happy to know that the baby has arrived! it's his first great-grandchild and i'm quite certain that he is looking forward to seeing her soon...

tears start to well up in my eyes as i bring back memories of my ah po. she would have loved to see this baby... she has always been looking forward to being an "ah tou"... she would have been so excited that i bet she would be going high and low to prepare everything needed for the baby. she would have even offered to help take care of the baby. and i'm sure she would have done a great job (judging from the way all 9 of us grew up to be...). she was always pestering my god-brother when he was going to decide to have a baby. but now, she has left without having a glance at her great-grand-daughter. and she promised to see my children... she told me she would teach me how to take care of my baby... she said she would see me get married! i miss her so much.......................... i know i shouldn't be grieving, and i am not! i just miss her so much... but i know she's in a better place. she has gone to be with our Lord Jesus... and she's in a place without suffering... without pain... with love... and with joy!

i hold firm to the promise God gave me the hour after ah po left...
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1 (KJV)

for those who didn't quite understand that verse in its cheem english...
"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1 (NIV)

some of you reading my blog may be wondering what i meant in my previous lines... just after ah po passed away, i was sitting outside the icu ward, on the sofa, crying badly. and i kept doing nothing but praying. i didn't know what to think and couldn't bring myself to do anything. so all i could do was pray. and i kept asking God, "is ah po going to heaven to be with you?". "were You the one who took ah po away from all her pain and suffering?".

and i wanted to msg some people about my grandma... so i took out my palm. and when i opened it, it was at Ephesians 6:16. the sunday before, jon had borrowed my palm and read this verse. and it stopped there. it said, "In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one." and the word FAITH jumped out at me! bringing me back to the verse i heard bro andy shared in sunday school one day... Hebrews 11:1.

that verse brought peace to me immediately. it simply meant that when i placed my faith in Christ, i can be sure of things i hoped for and things i cannot see. it suddenly became so clear to me. my grandma is definitely in heaven with Jesus! although she had never openly expressed that she believed in Jesus, that new year's party at sis esther's place, when she raised her hand to indicate her decision to be a Christian, God had honoured that desire of hers and she was then taken into God's family.

this might sound really unrealistic to a lot of people... but i truly believed that everything happens for a purpose. i am confident that it was God who led me to discover His Word and gave me comfort when i needed it. we cannot depend on ourselves for there is someone much higher in thoughts and ways than us. our lives reflect God's blessings to us... think about this. in your life, i'm sure there were many things that you can be grateful for. who do you think gave you all those good things? who gave you life to enjoy all these good things? who gave you parents life to bring you to this earth? it all stems from the same source... the Almighty God.

and thinking on God's promises, He has wiped away my tears and gave me the hope to see ah po in heaven again! i have felt God's peace and His presence surrounding me in my time of need... have you?