H O O N P A G E

The lunar new year this year fell on 7th and 8th February. The best timing seemed good because we could have a long weekend and returned to church to worship on 10th Feb, which is the 4th day of the lunar new year.

Most new year is celebrated with reunion dinner in my parents in law’s place. However since the passing on of my parents in law, the reunion dinner is usually held in my brother in law’s place. For this year, we decided to have it in a restuarant. I must say that the food in the restuarant was excellent but the timing was a little, shall I say squeeze. Our dinner slot time was between 5.30 and 8.00 pm. Sounds like a lot of time but considering the fact that some of the family members came late and a number of dishes we hadto go through, it was a rush through the dinner.

The Chinese New Year visitation was good. My family and I managed to stay in my in-law’s place for most of the  afternoon of the first day of the CNY. The girls in my family had a good harvest in terms of red packets(the chinese new year custom). Of course it also meant that we had to fork out more red packets for the other relatives’ children.

The second part of our visitation was to be a reunion at  my brother’s home. It was a spacious and windy semi detached bungalow in Thomson area . We had a lot to catch up with one another  as we have a family of 11 brothers and sisters. My oldest brother is nearly 70. It was not exactly uplifting when we talked about the health of some of the senior members of the family. At least two had heart by pass operation in recent years. One have had diabetes. My youngest brother is already 50. I am second youngest. My only thoughts about them was about their eternal destiny. Some of my brothers and sisters are still non believers, which means if they do not believe soon, they might be lost eternally. I am concern for their salvation yet I find it awkward to open my mouth to share the gospel with them.

The rest of the CNY  was spent entertaining a few friends and relatives. I felt the mood for this festive season was a little non eventful due to I believe a few reasons: the US housing credit crunch, the local stock market downturn, two of my family members having their own financial woes and also because my own brothers and sisters are getting on in age and are not saved yet.

On the other hand, I am most grateful to the Lord for looking after my family keeping us in the pink of health. We are trusting Him for the journey ahead and hopefully to have some good news to share before the next chinese new year. More Power!