Psalm 23

It's one thing to know about God and it's another thing to know God personally. This story I read recently really inspired me. Thought I'd share it:


                 A story is told of a talent show held in a small country church many years ago. Two performances stood out in people's minds that evening: the first was a visitor from the city. He was a seasoned professional actor, well trained in the shakespearean tradition. Stepping up front, he cleared his throat, and in a deep, resonant voice, the Twenty-third Psalm echoed throughout the chapel. The actor recited the classic psalm with sweeping gestures, masterful poise, and flattering eloquence. He concluded to the brisk applause of a thrilled audience. 
                The pastor let a moment pass as a brief afterglow ensued. Then the pastor nodded his head toward a farmer near the back door. "Joseph, would you be next?" the pastor said.
               "Aw, shucks," the farmer relied. "I don't know nuthin'."
               "Sure you do," the pastor said. "Come on up, Joseph."
Others joined in the coaxing until sheer embarrassment forced the farmer forward. Fidgeting from side to side, he half mumbled, "Shucks, I don't know much; but all I can think to do is quote the same psalm as this other man did. I'm not much one for reading, and it's the only one I ever learned by heart. I'm afraid this other man beat me to it."
                "Well, share it again, then," the pastor encouraged, and soon others were echoing the request.
                The farmer was in his early sixties. Hard times had fallen on his life and little farm but he remained godly and soft-spoken, a man who never complained. Swallowing hard, he stammered and started with his own paraphrase. "The Lord is my Shepherd and 'cause of that one thing, I figured I have everything I need." Detouring on a side note he continued. "Y'all know that my dear wife died six years ago. When my Helen passed, I didn't think I could go on without her. But God never left me and He reminded me that I was gonna be just fine. He said He'd be there for the kids and me, and He was."
                The farmer paused to remember which verse he was on, then continued, "He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still streams. He restores my soul. He leads me..." The farmer paused as his thoughts were interrupted by yet another remembrance. "Y'all know that when the war broke out, my boys felt it right to join up. The day they left was the last day I saw them alive. I run the farm alone now...But the Lord goes before me and prepares my table. I'm never truly alone. And when I don't think I have much left, my cup always overflows."
                Then concluded the Twenty-third Psalm: "Surely goodness and mercy will follow me and I look forward to dwelling in the house of the Lord, and I know it will be my home too, and my wife's and my boys'...forever."
                Without anyone noticing, a profound silence had filled the room; the kind when a deep respect is the only response you can give. It's the kind of silence when you don't know what to do, so you don't do anything at all. Joseph sat down, and no one moved. Then slowly, the professional actor made his way to the front again. Standing for a moment as if to find the words appropriate enough to disturb the silence, he spoke: "I may know the Shepherd's Psalm, but this man" he pointed at the farmer - "he knows the Shepherd, and that makes all the difference."
                 Knowing about God and knowing Him personally are galaxies apart. One might bring notoriety or even fame, but the other brings depth. Recognize the difference and choose well. That one decision will make all the difference.

Pre-marriage Class

A woman signed up for this class. A few days later, her fiance called the class instructor to cancel. He said, "I'm in my 50s and was married before so I've been there, done that. I've danced the dance and I don't think I will get anything out of this class so we're backing out."  I've just started going to a pre-marriage class with Elton. To be brutally honest, I've always been skeptical about these classes in the past. Everytime I heard a friend talking about it, I kind of just rolled my eyes and thought, "Oh boy, another silly recommendation by a church." But this time, call it curiosity, age or perhaps just being tired of going through too many failed relationships, I figured it couldn't hurt. Elton's openness to go actually generated more interest to endure it for the next eight weeks. Since we've started, I've realized how wrong I was with my skepticism. Each week of self-analysis has opened up discussions on how important communication is between 'life partners'. We have weekly readings as homework and even exercises to complete, prompting us to answer brutally honest questions about ourselves. I've often been surprised to learn things about myself in these introspective moments.  As much as we dread putting aside approximately an hour a week to do our homework and complete exercises, these personal discussions have become the most intimate moments we've shared, opening ourselves up in a way we probably would never broach, either out of shyness or just pure lack of time. It's shown me that no matter how right someone feels about something, it doesn't warrant being self-righteous and putting his/her partner down with hurtful words, dismissing their opinion or disrespecting the person overly or even subtly, which can often hurt even more. I'm learning how crucial it is for marriage to last in the long run, to consciously choose to respect my partner as an individual with their own thoughts and reasons for their actions and to realize that we are partners in reaching an understanding that we can both live with in the long run. 


We invest so much on all kinds of classes and celebrate passing exams and yet, we take this 'know-it-all' stance on marriage classes, when we cannot even agree on a universal definition of what 'Love' is! The fact is, we are individuals who are constantly changing. Nothing in life stays the same. Why should we think that we humans are any different. Life's circumstances, people we meet, things we see and hear, the birth of children, added responsibilities and pressures - all affect us, slowly changing our opinions, ideas, motivations, feelings and assumptions as we grow. Often times, these elements cause two individuals to grow apart.  I've discovered that some people take weekend marriage refresher classes every every once a year or couple years. Sounds like a good idea to me. Allows us to step back, refocus on each other, reassess our goals, priorities and get re-aligned with each other's feelings and direction in life. Because if not, marriage can be a very lonely and hurtful place. We can't create a perfect marriage but we can have a better marriage, if we have the courage to change....

Beautiful

I just learned that I can create a playlist of favorites videos in Youtube today. That way, I can always revisit them whenever I log into my account. Wish I knew about this neat took sooner! 


Stumbled upon this video when I was looking up one of my favorite Christian singers and was so blessed. Sometimes, God speaks in such a small, still voice that it stuns me to silence. This was one of those days. Click on this beautiful song written and sung by Kari Jobe called Beautiful.

Ultrasound again

We went for our second ultrasound today. It was amazing to see the baby so well formed already at only 5 months of age. I was amazed by how much it moves or perhaps my baby is extremely fidgety!  It was turning on it's side, to the front and moving its hands around constantly every second! One moment, the hand was on the neck, then it moved above the head, then to the face. Couldn't believe all the fingers were formed already and all the limbs look so strong. At one point, it was kicking its leg like it was throwing a tantrum. I wish I could feel it moving but I still can't feel a single thing at this point. The nurse said some mothers don't feel anything until the 7th month. Can't wait for it to get bigger so I can feel it!

Click on the play button to see the baby's heartbeat

Click on the play button to see the video of the baby sucking its thumb

Click on the play button to see the baby breathing

sucking on its thumb

This is a 3D rendition of the baby at 6oz and 8in(20cm) long. Contrary to popular belief the long object at the bottom is the umbilical cord and not something else...

It already has facial features and we got this picture when it opened its mouth for a moment

Amniocentesis

                Amniocentesis is a procedure that allows a pregnant mother to be tested for certain kinds of child birth defects. Every human is born with 46 chromosomes which make up their DNA. 23 from the father and 23 from the mother. However, when babies are born with more or less chromosomes, it suffers from a certain genetic defect as a result of the chromosome abnormality. One of these is down syndrome. Women above the age of 35 are encouraged to get 'Amnio's. Basically, they stuck a needle into my belly, into the placenta's water pouch where the baby is and extracted one ounce (two tablespoons) of liquid. That liquid contains samples of the baby's skin which contains DNA information on the baby. That's what get's tested. The results come within one to ten days. The ultrasound is on while it's being done to make sure the baby doesn't get poked with the needle. It felt like a sharp ant bite when the needle went in but besides that, it wasn't really painful and didn't take more than one minute.
                I asked the doctor today if Amnios are commonly requested by patients. He said no. Then he told me something interesting. He said his patients on the east coast (eg. New York) are very adamant about doing Amnios but the further west of the USA, the more people don't care to do Amnios and are more apt to 'go with the flow'. And Hawaii is very much on the west of the country and are even more laid back. If the baby is known to have a birth defect, they would deal with it when it was born, since it would most likely just add mental stress to a situation they cannot change. I also learnt that the latest time an abortion can be conducted is in the 22nd month in Hawaii. Every state is different.
                He said there was an instance when a couple chose to do an Amnio and found out that the baby would not survive long after birth. The baby in fact only lived for six hours before dying. The family were prepared for it and were grateful for the precious few hours to spend with the baby. Another family chose not to know. When their baby died soon after birth, they were angry because they did not expect to have so little time and felt cheated. Sometimes in life, the biggest question we will have to ask ourselves is, "To know or not to know?".

Maternity Tour

We went for a Maternity Tour at Kapiolani Hospital today. It's the best maternity hospital in the Pacific so I'm feeling pretty well taken care of. It was nice to be brought to one of the delivery rooms as well as a recovery room where the mother and newborn are kept under surveillance for 48 hours before discharge. It was nice to see a couple newborns too though I couldn't take pictures. Couldn't believe how big they are when just born! Cool to see all the machinery to monitor contractions, heartbeats, labor conditions. It's amazing how high tech things are nowadays. 

The delivery room with the adjustable chair for sitting or squatting for labor

Baby cleaning area within the same delivery room 

Sign Language

I love learning new languages. It's something I've just discovered in my thirties. I had the experience of a lifetime learning Mandarin in China. It opened all sorts of doors for me to communicate with people I would never come close to, let alone understanding a whole new mindset and being humbled by the grace and patience of new friends. 


I've just now started sign language classes. At first, I saw it as another language that would be cool to master as some level to be able to communicate with yet another group of people I share this planet with. That was the only result I was hoping for. Now, barely a month after starting my classes, I find myself enjoying the course of learning more and more. It's opened me to another whole new world of people and form of communicating. 


As with any other language, the deaf and hard of hearing have a communication culture of their own too. I'm realizing so many things I take for granted as a speaking person. For one thing, there are a lot less taboos. Unlike speaking people who pick and choose to say things, I feel like the hearing impaired are more free in expressing words. In a way, it's more innocent and straightforward, with a lot less fear of 'innuendos' inherent in words and the communication less complicated. For example, it's perfectly fine to ask someone their age, if they're married or if their parents are also deaf.  I've been humbled when signing with a deaf friend and wasn't able to understand her signing until the third time and when I realized it, I was quite embarrassed but she wasn't phased at all. Not a single friendly snigger or laugh at my incompetency. I feel they're so much more patient than speaking people like me who have somewhat learnt this bad habit of being easily irritated when we're not understood immediately.