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