tis been slightly less than a week that I'm back, and it's been pretty interesting so far. Reshuffled the room's furniture with the brother and boyfriend's help, brought Alv back to see mom and to see my godparents and grandmother, spent pockets of time with him (we live 1 hr 45 mins from each other via the bus and tube! sigh.), met up with some friends in church, etc. Will be charting up various costs like driving lessons, medical fees (scheduled an MRI scan for my knee yesterday; might have to go for surgery but am still praying about it), music lessons maybe? A thousand and one things to do. But I must remember not to overdo things; not to fill up my time with unnecessary baggage without His grace to manage; to just zoom into the essentials that He calls me to.
Last week in London was spent catching up with people and trying to read for/write my dissertation. Alv did 95% of the packing for me and I'm incredibly grateful for that. :) On the Saturday before we left, Alv and I went to the Chinese school where Jia Lei teaches Bible Study every Sat to lead the children in some songs. Took two classes, the 4 year olds and the 7-8 year olds, and... man! I couldn't believe how precocious the children were. "Do you like singing!???" (myself in an attempt to enthuse them) "NoOOooOoooooO... singing is for BABIESSSS." (them, after which they shut their ears with their hands). Anyhows. We three had a great time with the kids together. :) Had some feedback from the senior teacher that I really needed to enforce discipline right from the start 'cuz the 7-8 year olds were pretty much climbing over our heads (figuratively)... Nevertheless, we managed to say the sinner's prayer with a little kid called Adrian and there were a couple of times I felt impelled by the Spirit to say some things to two kids. They did look moved, but only God can do the work in their hearts.
The kids, of course, very much took to Alvin. And his guitar. :)
On the last Sunday Beth came up from Guildford and we met for service at HTB, after which we (along with Alv and my housemate Jia Lei) laid a mat out on the lawns for a sunny picnic because it was HTB's 'Big Summer Sunday' (BBQ, hog roasts, games, films, etc. out on the lawns). Jun and Anna came along too so it was kinda like a farewell meet-up. Well wishes, tears, prayers, sandwiches, frisbee, and a temperamental sun. I'll miss these lovely people, HTB, England's lovely summer weather, and more.
But as I left there was already a general sense of an impending new season in life and I was ready to step towards it. God's been gracious in this interim period, and I hadn't felt such ease at home in the past 3 years. But it's been cosy at home, and my heart is very very much encouraged when I see the work that God has done in the lives of my mom and my younger brother over this past year - growing them to become more secure, confident and joyful in the grace and love of the greatest Dad ever.
This concludes my year in London then :) lots of memories, lessons, gifts and blessings, struggles. It's been an amazing 4 years of growth in UK, and I guess I'm all set to settle down in Singapore for the next 6 years at least. For now it's dissertation (deadline in Sept), followed by teaching for a couple of months till the school hols, then the commencement of NIE teacher training in Jan. Am still wondering if I should start a new blog, when I do I'll email round. Guess this is it for this one then?
