Be Inspired and Enriched!

Sitting on the city train this morning with our two boys next to me, I realised how blessed I am and suddenly felt this blanket of joy, peace and fulfilment envelope me. I felt affirmed of the decision my husband and I made fourteen years ago. But it was not easy for me.   After trying to conceive for seven years, we finally decided it was time to take another step in our journey … to go through the adoption process. After two years, I really wanted to pull our application out.  My husband convinced me otherwise.   It was a long drawn process that took a total of about nine years for both of them to join our family. Being a parent is not an easy task.  Making decisions for the family is not easy.  Even making a decision as to which school they should go to takes a lot of thinking, consulting, praying and discerning. Although parenting is not an easy responsibility, I still believe my life is more meaningful, complete and satisfying,...

Recently, due to family priorities, I changed my work schedule and this somehow affected the completion of my usual tasks in the office.   However, this change has also inspired me to reflect on life in general.   My thoughts were on being more prepared for the future. No matter what our age is, we are constantly searching for something.   Some search for new homes and suburbs, new locations for holidays, cheaper airfares, tours and accommodations and better places to buy clothes and food.   Some are still searching for extra income, whether through employment, investments or new business. Many people are also still searching how to live a life on purpose and how to make the most out of our remaining time here on earth. Every day, we are on a journey towards somewhere because life is simply that … a journey. And we all hope that this journey will be pleasant and will bring us to that happy place we desire. But, are we ready to reach our destination?...

At one of our Faith Sharing Group discussions, the topic was about people’s experiences during inheritance distribution in their families. Most of the time, tension and discord are created among family members.   Even the most respected families can be divided simply by an inheritance decision. Some families can be considered blessed when they do not have huge assets to inherit and distribute because harmony in their families usually remain intact.   My family was also affected by this inheritance situation a few decades ago as my grandparents on my father’s side had a huge sugar cane plantation with a sugar processing plant on a few thousands of hectares of land. There were nine children in their family. They all completed university degrees and built rewarding careers.   One of the four brothers became a district judge. Later, they discovered that he sold the land piece by piece by asking their aging and almost-totally-blind father to sign documents allo...