18 weeks left… …

There are loads of tasks to do, lots of decisions to be made and time is running out. We are definitely lying if we say we are not feeling the heat. But we trust that our Father above is MOST definitely guiding us through this process.

We are feeling so blessed!! Surprisingly, our friends and helpers are much more enthusiastic than us. Our dear flower girl is looking forward to choosing her dress, our church lunch coordinator is rushing us to choose the food, our banquet lunch coordinator is asking us for details of the band, our ushers are jumping around for joy when they confirm their flight plans to return in time for our wedding… … Truly, the Lord has blessed us with all of them!!! He has put them in our lives to remind us of God’s hand in our plans when we are so tired of the planning; to bring us a smile when we are too tired to smile.

Here’s an update on our sketchy plans. The wedding will be a 2 day affair: Church wedding followed by lunch reception on Saturday and the traditional wedding lunch banquet on Sunday. One thing which we have omitted from our wedding plans: the gate-crash in the morning. The inspiration for such a plan: Honour God first (besides, we really do not see the meaning of gate-crashing).

So here’s what is checked off the to-do list:
- Wedding venue (church & banquet at hotel)
- Gowns, date and locations for photo-shoot (end March)
- Worship team for service

Yup, that’s all. Are you feeling the heat too?? Well, we have lifted up our wedding preparations to the Lord. Please do pray with us. Our prayer is simple and we do this almost every time we need to make a decision: “Dear Father, thank you for opening our eyes to the possibilities and the various options that you have granted us. Thank you for being in the centre of our relationship. Now as we make a decision, please shut the doors that You feel are inappropriate and open up those that You want us to go through. We want to trust You as we take every step of our wedding preparations. Please guide us and help us to make decisions and choices that will bring glory and honour to your Name. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”  

As the countdown continues, let go and let God.

JP

2012. It's gonna be exciting!

It’s a new year. It will be an exciting year.


J & P have both been so very busy the past few weeks!! J was heavily involved in the preparation of his company’s D&D which was also a countdown party. A v different way to enter the New Year, but most importantly, J& P entered it together.

J is excelling at work!! Thank God for an improvement in his job title. When J was graduating and was concern about job opportunities, we prayed to our Father. “Dear Lord, grant J with a job that will be stable like a typical desk-bound job. But grant him the freedom & flexibility to go out of the office for work-related tasks.” Sounds like a tall order? With God, all things are possible (Matthew 19:26b).

Taking on the preparation of the D&D was also a very useful platform for J to shine for our Father Lord. Pray that the increased exposure will be helpful for his growth in the company.

P has just got a new job. Leaving her previous place was a bittersweet moment. Thank God for blessing P with a new job. Pray to God for wisdom in the new job.

J & P are celebrating their 4th year together (2008 - 2012 and counting… … …) Thanks be to God for being their constant support. Thank God for being in the centre of the relationship. Even during times when J & P have forgotten about God, He has never forsaken J & P. Pray for the Lord’s constant help & support and for His Blessings to flow in and through them, that J & P can be a blessing to others.

Wedding bells are ringing!! Counting down the final 25 weeks!! Anxiety TTM!!

It’s a new year. It’s an exciting year.

P

A blessed 2012 to all!

2011 came and went in a jiffy (as with the past 3 years we've been together) and @JustinandPris are so looking forward to the year 2012 as we are going to tie the knot on 7 July.
We spent NYE 2011 together at the Grand Ballroom of Hilton Hotel partying at eLC Holdings Countdown Party and Dinner and Dance (see picture, thanks to Alvin for capturing this photo of us).
Many best wishes and a bessed new year to all of you reading this and please do keep coming back to read Justin and Priscilla's Journey through life together, as it spurrs us on to share more about our lives as we let God lead it in the way He wants. Leave your comments-email us at justinandpriscilla@gmail.com or follow us on Twitter @JustinandPris.

Justin and Priscilla is on Twitter!

Before we get caught up in the boom-boom and the bam-bam of working life, we just thought it would be great if we captured our wedding preparations down on the web. As the wedding D-day approaches closer, J doesn't want to leave gaps and miss out on details leading up to the event. A blog, a Twitter account and maybe a FB account should come as useful and free platforms to post and share snippets of information to the wedding in July next year. Tweet us @JustinandPris !

Justin's proposal to Priscilla

The surprise proposal happened as planned. The idea to do it on Justin's graduation day was coined months before and it had him rounding up his buddies and close friends to brainstorm and bring all of it through to a successful execution. 

The sly Justin had it all planned... with the help of friends, there was the setup of having friends in group photoshoots and the song 'dedication' booth.

Way before 23 August 2011, J engaged Priscilla's favourite photography duo- Melvin and Bobby- of Multifolds Photography to be the ones who would cover the event. But the tables were turned when P accidently chanced on an incoming SMS of Melvin, with a 'Multifolds' extension beside his name. This upsetted plans. But tenacious as J is, he saw opportunity during adversity and remained calm. His next course of action then was to think of a white lie to P on why 'Multifolds Melvin' would be sending me a text message. I finally told her the truth on why they are messaging me. The proposal plan must still be secretly going on.

Then, having just started work and proving to my boss what a young and energetic graduate could do, J ran out of ideas on his proposal. But speaking to friends over beers and hundreds of messages exchanged over Whatsapp, the date also drew nearer. What is the plan? 

Stay tuned to read more about Justin's proposal plan was being planned...  

Starting a Marriage Right Weekend.

This article on the July 3rd church bulletin sprang up to our attention, like a Figure 11 target at the 300m firing range. It was a perfect opportunity in a sense that it didn't require too much commitment of our time. All-you-need-to-know about relationships, compacted over a weekend .
Benny, who facilitated the condensed session, covered various topics that anyone in a serious relationship would be interested in. He began with sharing with us God's design for marriage, different needs of myself and my partner's, points of attraction and repulsion as well as sources of differences. Lyndon came along and started the Sunday morning with a short time of worship before going in depth into God's view on marriage. Some interesting Bible verses to read come from Malachi 2: 15,16; Hebrews 13:4; Ecclesiastes 5:4 and Ephesians 5: 22-25.
In Song off Solomon 2:15, "Catch the foxes dor u, the little foxes that are ruining the vineyards"; we are reminded of the 'foxes' in our relationship that slowly ruins it. Be vigilant for they are like rust which slowly but surely consumes a piece of zinc.
Take home points in creating a healthy relationship would be to coninue being courteous even when you've passed the courtship stage; having never to criticise your spouse/partner in public; not retiring to bed angry and always take the effort to pray together, committing the relationship and its inherent problems.

JP 

Marina Barrage Weekend!

Flying a kite at the Marina Barrage on a sunny Sunday afternoon was incidently one of the things to do in an article "20 Things To Do Under $20" in the Sunday Times (12 September 2010). It really isn't the expensive things we do together, but the time spent with each other that mattered.
Packed lunch boxes of char siew and roasted pork rice and bottled almond soy milk drink along with the company of friends like ZZH, Shuangru and Sheena made it extra special.
Blessed weekend!

J

A trip to HDB hub yesterday, a few papers to sign.

A smile and a thank you.

We've paid our 5% downpayment for our flat!

With assistance from the approved grant and our miserably small sum of money in the CPF, we have managed to make the initial downpayment and secured our flat.

Thank God we didnt even have to touch the $2000 option fee which is refunded back to us. the whole sum will be left in J's trusty hands for investment purposes.

However,a s we celebrate our joyous moments together, we are mindful of those whose hearts are broken among us. It reminds me that I am an individual.
We are not 2 broken halves, completely whole as 1 only when we are together.
On the contrary, we are 2 seperate whole individuals, coming together as 1 couple to enjoy the days the Lord has blessed us with.

P

Updates on our Dawson apartment

Recently, we received a letter from the Housing Board informing us on the Additional CPF Housing Grant  (AHG) and we managed to secure a $30,000 grant from the HDB for our new home! Praise the Lord! Our initial headache of trying to pay off the 5% is now a huge load off our minds. J thought by the time September comes when we are due to sign the Agreement of Lease, he would have to liquidate his equity investments in Capland and Genting SP. He doesn't have to now! 

We recently went up to Genting Highlands with P's family over the National Day weekend. It was J's first time there and a good break from the stressful work life for P. We'd like to thank God for that opportunity too!

Deliverance

As i was walking Pris to AMK central to catch a train home, we encountered 2 people along the way which i would determine, as potentially dangerous people. My apologies for being so quick to judge, but there was first this guy whom i've seen at another AMK busstop blowing a whistle at buses with the intention of telling them to "drive off soon or else...". There he was last night blowing his whistle guiding traffic at the middle of the road. To put it straight, he was just blowing the whistle at vehicles on the road, he wasn't actually guiding anything. We saw 2 ladies scurring off away from him, but the both of us continued to wait for the green man before crossing the road. Second person that we encountered was just 3 mins after we saw that, let's call him the 'whistle-blower'. It was a man in his 30s in a ragged yellow shirt. He approached the both of us asking for cigarettes. We walked past him knowing that we have none of it and giving him money will only encourage him to buy potentially harmful white tobacco-filled sticks. What if he became so desperate he started clubbing us with items he had with him?

Then as i walked back, i thought of the story of Moses bringing the Isrealites out of Egypt in the book of Exodus and the Lord's Prayer.
The Lord's Prayer has this verse:

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. -Matthew 6:13

And all along Psalms (in Psalms 59:2, 71:4, 97:10) we could see how the Bible talks about delivering us from evil and bloodthirsty men. We can only be comforted that God may not always keep us from evil, but He promisses us that He'll be there to see us through. I guess we'll always face tough and trying times, but i'm assured that He's there to carry us through.

Recently, 2 of my good friends have broken up with their boyfriends. I think for whatever reasons, i would choose to believe that God is in control of everything. Man's finite minds cannot see or understand why the world may seem to be crashing down on them, but trust that God's infinite mind is working things out.

J

Accounts of miracles happening from the Isreali people

Managed to watch a good majority of this video series which i managed to borrow from the library. Against All Odds: Isreal Survives has this investigative journalist running around Isreal looking up people from the wars and spys and having them recount their experiences with amazing miracles that took place. I've never gone into the details of the wars that Isreal fought in recent times but I do know that they have triumphed. I'd recomend this vid to guys who are skpetical of Bible stories which may seem eons ago. This is modern day miracles with Isreali Merkava's and AP Mines behind dramatized scenes.

We may be facing a whole lot of $h!t at work sometimes, life may seem as if there is no U-turn out, but look at the trials that these guys go through: zero ammunition left as approoaching enemies draw close; a tank commander being struck by a HE round and yet finding the strength to pull himself out of the burning tank; a section of scouts realising that they are stuck in the middle of a minefield. I think God doesn't give us an easy way out just because we are Christians. He just wants us to put our trust in Him.

Out.

J

SkyTerrace@Dawson Loft unit chosen

20 May 2010
It was one of those days you actually wake up in the morning talking to yourself thinking this is it, the day has finally come to make a big decision. Especially so when property prices in Singapore is Mt. Everestly high and ironically demand is similarly high. Priced on par with a Maserati Gran Turismo, our 6th storey, 4-rm loft unit at Dawson was to preced the Italian Sports Coupe.
At that point of time, there were just 2 loft units left, in which both were on the 6th storey. Decision to take the unit facing the park was marred by another option on the 32nd storey(NW-facing) and 23rd storey (SE-facing).
Just want to thank God for His providence.

Book review

Just finished reading this book: I married you by Walter Trobisch (1971) which was given to me by Vincent.
Both Pris and I took turns reading it, and since i'm a gentleman, i let her read it first. This book is something all young couples and couples who are thinking of getting married and are serious in a relationship, should read. I hope this book would shed some light to what the Bible has to say about relationships, pre marital sex and marriage.

Just a snippet of what i have learnt:

- Marriage is about 3 things- 'leaving', 'cleaving' and 'becoming one flesh'.

"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his
wife, and they will become one flesh." -Genesis 2:24 (New International Version)

- One can never be married until he leaves. 'Leaving' here meant that a couple, once married, leaves both parents to start a life together. There must be a clear cut.

-'Cleaving' meant that the couple sticks together. As Trobisch illustrated, when a husband comes home, he embraces the wife first before the children, showing that both husband and wife are closest to each other.

- On 'becoming one flesh', couples share everything they have- material possessions and physical bodies.

J

We're in the queue!

Yes! Out of 1102 4-room apartments, we're in the 500+ queue to buy a flat at the super convenient, near to MRT, centrally-located Dawson estate.

When P said that God is merciful and has showered His blessings upon us, i quickly told her that even if we weren't in the queue, God is still merciful and we are still blessed whether or not we have a nice queue number.

After the online application in Dec, we decided to let God take over and do the job. Coz no matter what we do to worry/bother/check/scratch head, it doesn't alter the plans God has for us.

For those who are reading and got no. 5000 queue ticket, i'd just like to say continue trusting in Him, coz ultimately God has a plan in all of our lives. I'd like to remember this Bible verse from James 1:

2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. - James 1:2-7

Looking back in Dec when we P was filling up that HDB application form for this BTO, we realised at the end of it that both of us were had no jobs and had not completed our studies. Why would HDB ever want to give us such an atas place to stay when they could easily reject us and hopefully we could apply for one of their cheaper suburb flats in Sembawang or CCK at probably half the price of those in Dawson. And now i remember this verse that came to me during that period of speculation:

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. -Hebrews 11:1

Trust in the Lord!

J

License to drive

Priscilla's just gotten her driver's license! The nagging starts now. "Turn gracefully. No wait. Not this way", "There! The carpark lot is there. Yes, the car fits in there", "Are we there yet?".

Anyway, praise God abt it. It wasn't the prayers from papa, mama, KS and myself. It was just His timing.

J

Happy Valentine's Day 2010!

It was indeed a very early Valentine morning surprise for Pris when I turned up bright and early at 8.30am with a sunflower to fetch her to church. Happy Valentine's surprise baby!

J

Just less than a week till Valentine's Day (which is also the period when we got together) and with this collage completed, i hereby present my Vday gift to Pris! No expensive wines, no elaborate flowers and no fancy restaurants. A blog to commerate our 2 year anniversary as a courting couple. Just looking at the collage, onw can see what we've been up to the past year, 2009- Jurong Bird Park in the begining of the year, Air Supply concert (June), 2 weeks holiday in Perth(June), NDP (Aug), Singtel-Singapore F1 and the Singapore Flyer (September).

I'd like to give thanks to God for this remarkable woman who has stood by me, supporting me as persue my studies, constantly encouraging me and showing me love throughout the year.

Stay tuned to justinandpriscilla.blogspot.com as we bring to the world and to God our Lord and Saviour our commitment to each other.

Justin

Thank God for a new job!

A recruitment company called Priscilla up last week Thursday asking her to attend an interview in a local SME in Leng Kee Road. Before entering the firm, we prayed and committed the interview to God. She was hired on the spot and started work the next day as an accounts assistant. Praise God!

Looking back at 2008 when we began going out as friends, our relationship together has been one of sharing each others' problems and needs, learning how to love and be loved and spending time and getting to know each other better.

We first recognised God as the authority in our relationship and that's where we return to whenever arguments escalate to worrying levels. That's when we also recognise that pride and anger doesn't make us stronger as a couple, but the devil's plan to tear us apart. Prayer is then the solution.

Helping out together in Church was 1 avenue we wanted to go such that our beliefs are aligned and we may seek Jesus together. Priscilla joined me at KKMC co-teach the Primary 5 children where Amos and Jennifer Kwok teaches. Our understanding of the Bible grew to newer levels.