Beth and her Future Siblings

Beth is so tickled about her future siblings!

Last night, she perched over my tummy to say goodnight to them and to kiss my tummy.

Almost everyday, she lifts my shirt to inspect my wrinkled tummy (although I had to draw the line when she tried to do the same in church) and to stroke it.

Something tells me her involvement this time will make a difference in the outcome of this pregnancy.

As we were preparing for bed, CA was explaining to B why she should behave and what to do if her siblings misbehaved themselves - as Big Sister, she has full authority to "put them in the corner", the maximum punishment for misbehaviour.

Beth was so pleased - she almost looked grown up as she considered what this meant in terms of her status.

I think this will add a new dimension to discipline issues in the household from now on.

Milestone for Mummy: One Month of Teaching Sunday School

I have survived teaching nursery Sunday School for 4 whole weeks!

For SS veterans, this is scoff-worthy.

For an introvert like me who - until I had a child of my own - has always been terrified by smart alecky kids and has no idea what to say to them, this is an achievement worth celebrating.

Last Sun (30 April 2006) was especially precious. As always, I spent the day before cutting out handicraft materials based on what the curriculum recommended.

The thing is, you never know if the children will respond well to your efforts. Thankfully, they liked the paper hearts I made. I wrote "Jesus lives forever. Heb 7:24" on one side (our memory verse for the month) and "Jesus loves _______ (child's name)" on the other.

I also brought a never-before-introduced prop - Shaggy the donkey - which induced giggly fits in the children and really got their attention.

Finally, there was the piece de resistance - the story of Jesus ascending into Heaven, complete with paper cutouts of Jesus and the angels which could be made to slide up and down along a line. You had to hold fast to the cutouts tho', or "Jesus" would fall off - another cause of much merriment among the children, who made me keep repeating the blooper.

I made sure every child got to experiment with the cutouts depending on which storyline they chose. And Shaggy also got to say "I love you" to every child by name. It worked beautifully - for once, every child was fully engaged and interested in what was happening, and actually fought to say their piece.

Truly a lovely way to end my stint...till 3 months down the road. Thank you Lord, for helping me overcome my fear of teaching Sunday School. :)

Beth's Prayers are Heard

Beth has been praying the same prayer for the last few months.

"Dear Lord Jesus, I want a di di (little bro) and a mei mei (little sis). Amen."

Short, sharp, faith-filled and never doubting that Jesus will do exactly as she prays. Indeed, everytime the subject of siblings and pregnancy comes up, Beth always proclaims, "My di di and mei mei are already inside (pointing to my tummy). They will come out when they are ready."

Perhaps I should learn to pray with such simple confidence too.

And how God has answered!

When I shared with Beth that God is making her a big sister, she was thrilled, but not overly so. She had never doubted that God would hear and answer, and this latest news merely reinforced that pattern of belief.

Everyday, she will make an effort to caress my belly, kiss it, talk to her unseen siblings (she believes she will have the twins she's praying for), and beam all over at the prospect of their becoming part of her world.

"I will sayang my di di and mei mei," she declares. "My mei mei will come out first, then my di di," she goes on to prophesy.

It's so cute to see her like this and to hear the lovely soothing words that come so naturally from a child - words of hope, words of faith, words of peace.

No wonder Jesus said,"Unless you become like one of them (a child), you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven."