Christmas - Before And After

Christmas, so what did I do? We had a small family celebration at Costa Sands @ Pasir Ris. This one is better than the Downtown East in my humble opinion. When having a little break, we walked down to e-hub Downtown East to visit the lovely pond with big fish like Pacu.

There was this huge tent and it looked like was in the Arabian or Mongolian desserts or some kind of mother ship to take you away. Big departmental stores held their sales there.

We did the turkey on the eve of Christmas eve.

Then we hammed it in. Fabulous!

I tried to be conservative.

Then I added beef to my plate.

Certain food has to be consumed with some fats.

We did dancing like para para, volleyball, javelin, long jump and various other sports using the X-Box Kinetics. Young and old can do it.

On the actual Christmas Eve, I visited the House of Red Rock. I had - one beer. Ahem.

And collected some bottle caps.

On Christmas Day, I was invited to the Indoor Stadium for a special service. It was packed to the brim. It harks back to the old days: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God"- John 1:1. 

The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of The One and Only, who came from the Father, full of Grace and Truth. John 1: 14.

Luke 2: 8-14:

8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: 14 “ Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpgaWm2pnNs

There was great teaching. Leviticus 17: 14:

"For it is the life of all flesh. Its blood sustains its life. Therefore I said to the children of Israel, ‘You shall not eat the blood of any flesh, for the life of all flesh is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off." 

This reminds me and is easily accepted that all men are sinners. It is common for example for people to tell small lies. Simple white lies. Then in order to cover up the simple small lies, they have to create more and bigger lies to cover those smaller ones and so on. Another simple reason is that all children lie no matter and you do not need to teach them to. It comes naturally. It is human nature. I know sometimes you lie to me too when I ask you for golf and then lie to the wife when playing golf.

Then there are many of us who are unhappy because we feel unfairly dealt with. I am quite sure Adam would be trouble if we do get to heaven. Because of him, we suffer but we do not see the redemption in Christ like we always cry over spilled milk or the double bogey at the last hole. So why are we liable? It is in the blood! The DNA. Just the same as how your children will take after you. If your business HQ fails, the rest falters even if you are currently making money elsewhere. If our grandfathers died at the age of 10, we wouldn't be here. Now, is that fair too? Drain a man of his blood and he is gone. It's all in the blood.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzayuZuKP7E

I enjoyed the very good drama too. It was touching. I prayed and asked for His blessings. For you and me because in the hustle and bustle of our daily lives, there are people out there who are feeling lonely, empty and lost. Others may be searching for answers or seeking to find the meaning of life.

In the evening, we have another family celebration at the lovely home of the host with the most. Merry Christmas!

Mistletoe and Christmas pine.

The famous Christmas flowers "Poinsettias"

Log cake anyone? But the chocolate and banana cakes baked by the host was awesome.

Local Christmas parties has a East meets West flavour which is lovely.

Presents everywhere. Sometimes, it is a headache choosing gifts for loved ones and friends.

Here is the Guru at his altar where folks pay homage with gifts. Haha, the truth be told. I was simply lazing like what a python would do after swallowing a goat and since there was a photo opportunity, might as well pose.

.....and just mucking around.

This was the greatest joy on Boxing Day when we visited a friend and his family welcoming the bundle of joy. Children are the wonders of life and a testimony to the miracle of life. A gift from God for our temporary care. Those who abuse children also abuse me and the rest of humanity.

It made my day sharing the joy of a friend and his family! 


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