Monday, November 19, 2007

Sombre Saturday

It was the 17th Nov and I went down to the Club Rainbow family centre at Upper Cross Street for a briefing. They were organising a cruise come December for their Rainbow children and their families.

Club Rainbow (Singapore) is a registered charity committed to helping children suffering from a range of chronic and life-threatening illnesses and Jeremiah was registered as a rainbow child at birth due to his spina bifida condition.

This is the first time we are joining in their activities as they missed us for over a year in their events as they got our mailing address wrong. Then while seeing our neurologist at kkh, she told us to call the centre and we happened to also bump into another volunteer at our church of Christ the King. So we called and we were invited to join them on a cruise.

Anyhow, I found my way to the centre that Saturday and saw a huge crowd hanging outside the place only to realise that everyone was queueing to register for the cruise. While waiting for my turn, I chatted with another mother who shared that two of her children are rainbow children, one with muscular dystrophy and another with some heart problem. She's a strong mum, I must say. She spoke so positively and proudly of her children all and proudly showed their pictures on her mobile to me.

Then we went into the centre and the briefing started proper. We were advised to leave our children at home due to space constraints but nevertheless, some children were there which I believe their main caregiver were the parents themselves. Seeing some of them was already so depressing and I know I am gonna see worst and more in the cruise itself. I think this cruise is gonna open up the world of our eldest son Nat who is as normal as can be and thinks the world belongs to him and things should always be how it should be and will always be how it should be. A child who has taken life so much for granted coz things have always fallen nicely in place for him.

After the briefing, as Tim and I were making our way home, we met our neighbour's children playing downstairs with their helpers. They were two little gals from the fifth floor of the same block we stay. The younger of the two was born the same year as Jere but about 3 months later than Jere. I remember her as a children's day child. She was toddling while her helper held her hands. She was so cute and adorable! Thank God for her mum. Her mum was one brave lady that persisted to carry her throughout the pregnancy going against her whole family as she went for repeated tests that confirm she was carrying a down child. But this little gal, is perfectly normal when born. Thank you Lord that you gave wisdom and courage to this mum and made this wonderful miracle happen to this little gal. I played briefly with her and we went on our way. As we entered the lift to go up, Tim and I was silent. Then I broke the silence saying....
"I can't help feeling really sad seeing the little gal who is younger than Jere already walking and our baby is still crawling"
Tim said "me too!" quietly but clearly.

Lord, please make our Jeremiah walk. Please straighten and strengthen his feet that he can get up and walk. Lord, make this child Jeremiah walk like any other child would. Restore Jeremiah to perfect health. This we ask in Jesus name! AMEN

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Jeremiah's first flight!

God sure has blessed Jeremiah abundantly!

Daddy Tim was sent to Bangkok for work on the 3oth Oct to 4th Nov and dear daddy thought he like to bring his dear wifey and two boys for a break so using the miles he clocked flying for work, he redeemed tickets for all of us to tag along! So off we went!



At the Changi Airport as we were walking towards the gate, we thought we take a pic as our first trip out as a family of 4!



All belted down to Mama and ready to fly. Jere's first flight on SQ979 to Bangkok! Thank you daddy!



A closer look at the cool dude all set to go!
Bangkok, here Jere comes!

Holidays???

A break! The last time we went for a break was our Bali trip back when Jere was still in the tum tum of mama.

Big bro Nat had been nagging us for a holiday but due to financial and the medical worries of Jere, we told him sorry. Daddy Tim also had been wanting a break for the longest time as he was all stressed out by family and work but I said NO too. I told them, well if they prayed hard enough, maybe it would happen.

God heard them :)

I guess they must have been praying so really hard especially Nat that we are having holidays in all modes.

What holidays God have granted us.....

A Bangkok and Pattaya trip by plane in Oct/Nov

and what more He has in store for us.....

A night stay at Conrad Singapore in Nov

A drive up to Malaysia French themed resort in Nov

A cruise on Star Virgo with Club Rainbow! in Dec

A solution to the helper crisis

I had been ranting about the whole darn thing for so long and losing sleep and getting stressed.......... and guess it's coming to an end.

Yes. Praise God! He has found a new helper for us.....*drumroll* please! MARY JANE!

No she's not the spidy man's gal but well, we'll see how things go. Jere seems to adapt to her quite well. She's been with us since Monday night. That means about 3 days and other than the fact that she dropped Nat's piano book on the way to piano lesson, things are going smooth. Thank you Lord. Ok, I don't really think she is to be blamed but our dear trainer cum manager Ros (old helper) did not give her any bag to put the books and ended up they dropped it on the way without realising. This got me a little mad at that moment... but looking back, thank God they did not tell me they dropped something more important. Nat on the other hand is still trying to size her up.

I pray that she will be the one for us. She studied midwifery before and showed no fear or apprehension when I told her of Jeremiah's condition. She even knew the medical term to "water in the head" saying "hydrocephalus" when I told it to her. Apparently she loves reading and has gained this knowledge through her own reading. She also was not put off at all when I told her she had to massage Jere's anus so he can poo poo out every morning and evening. So our journey with our new help begins.

Do pray with us that she would be a good fit for our family and take good care of the children, our wonderful blessings from God.