The golden disc in the sky slowly converges. As the sun sets, an old white Mitsubishi manufactured in the seventies, with a speed of 10 kilometres per hour, slowly driven on the asphalt road nearby the residential area. A woman in her 30s, who is holding the steering, was carrying a curly-haired seven years old girl in her car. The girl glared with her round eyes and enjoyed the wind blowing from outside. Her eyes are full of carefree innocence.<\/p>\n
An old white Mitsubishi, manufactured in the seventies, crept slowly along the asphalt road outside the residential area. A curly-haired seven year old was in the car with her mum, staring out of the window and enjoying the cool breeze blowing in through the wound down windows. Her eyes were innocent and carefree as she took in the beautiful sight of the setting sun.<\/p>\n
The car maintained at turtle\u2019s speed, following after a man in his 30s, and keeping a distance of one meter away from behind. The man continued to walk, he kept on playing with a few stones of different sizes, and he turned around his head with an impatient look from time to time.<\/p>\n
The car was keeping pace with a man in his 30\u2019s, keeping a distance of about a meter behind him. The man continued his pace, fingering a few stones of different sizes. From time to time, he would look back impatiently.<\/p>\n
Gradually, the golden disc in the sky disappeared. The night is low and the air is filled with dense fog which was invaded by the chill. The woman looked desperate, and her eyes were in ecstasy; the tears of her eyes blurred her sight. Her hands trembled while holding the steering, she was suppressed with sadness and fear.<\/p>\n
Gradually the sun disappeared from the sky. The evening chill descended with the dense fog. The woman looked desperate. As tears blurred her sight, her hands trembled on the steering wheel as she tried to suppress the sadness and fear that was overcoming her.<\/p>\n
The little girl whispered, \u201cMummy, where are we going?\u201d The tears of the woman rolled out confusedly, and she answered in despair, \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d The little girl asked again, \u201cIsn\u2019t dad going to play with us with the little stones which he is holding?\u201d The woman wiped her tears and said with a sad voice, \u201cDad took the stone to do something.\u201d The little girl continued to ask, the woman was heartbroken. She burst into tears and shouted, \u201cDad wants to throw the stones at us. Dad is having an affair with somebody, he is going to leave us and he won\u2019t allow us to follow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Innocently, the little girl whispered, \u201cMommy, where are we going?\u201d At this she could no longer hold back her tears. In desperation, she weakly answered, \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d Again the daughter asked, \u201cIsn\u2019t dad going to play with us with the stones in his hands?\u201d Sadly the woman wiped her tears, \u201cDad took the stones to do something.\u201d Curious, the girl continued with her questions. The woman burst into tears and shouted, \u201cYour dad wants to throw the stones at us! He is having an affair with somebody and is going to leave us! He won\u2019t allow us to follow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Boom! The girl\u2019s mind was blank, and a chill of the bones soak her body. Her parents used to live happily together and instantly, it is going to turn into history. The girl took a deep breath subconsciously, she got the feeling that she would lose her father soon. She shouted with great enthusiasm, \u201cDad, don\u2019t go! Don\u2019t leave us behind!\u201d However, as if a stranger and with violent voices came out in the night, \u201cBad woman! Go home with the kid!\u201d<\/p>\n
Boom! The child\u2019s mind went blank and a chill swept through to her bones. Her parents had always seemed happy together. And now, in an instant, this would be history. She took a deep breath as she subconsciously figured she might be losing her father soon. Gathering up her courage, she called out to him, \u201cDad, don\u2019t go! Don\u2019t leave us!\u201d In a voice she did not recognize, he shouted back, \u201cBad woman! Go home with the kid!\u201d<\/p>\n
The tearful woman reversed the direction of the car while weeping profusely. The little girl looked at the weeping mother and also burst into tears. She vaguely knew what was going to happen.<\/p>\n
Weeping profusely, the woman reversed the car and left. Seeing her weeping mother, the innocent child also burst into tears. She had a vague inkling of what was going to happen.<\/p>\n
Along the road she heard hymns from the nearby church:
\n\u201cSilent Night, Holy Night
\nAll is calm. All is bright.
\n\u2018Round yon Virgin mother and Child
\nHoly infant, so tender and mild
\nSleep in heavenly peace
\nSleep in heavenly peace.\u201d<\/p>\n
The girl looked out the car window and saw a rapid light shooting across the sky in the dark. This unknown light calmed her turbulent heart a little bit.<\/p>\n
That was Christmas Eve in 1993; my parents were separated and I was only seven years old. In the family, I also had a brother of 4 and three sisters aged 8, 5 and 2.<\/p>\n
I vividly remember the last sentence thrown at us by our father before he left. \u201cYou all need to go to the orphanage because your mother and father have to work and cannot take care of you all. You must learn to grow up to be obedient children.\u201d Dad was \u201clost in space\u201d from then on and he never came back home again.<\/p>\n
No matter under what circumstances, my mother always kept us by her side during our formative years. She bravely faced all consequences and never gave up on us. Over the past many years, she played multiple roles as the sole breadwinner, educator and driver for her children in order to send us to school, doing all household chores when we were still small, and shouldering all responsibilities by herself, in order to make ends meet while being a mother as well as father to us.<\/p>\n
She always shares with us the words of the Lord:
\n\u201cEven there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.\u201d (Psalm 139:10)<\/p>\n
When the girl was 19 years old, she had a dream of becoming a famous film actress. Though her friends looked at her bloated figure and ridiculed, with much encouragement from her mother, she was able to further her studies at University Malaya (UM) graduating with Bachelor in Art (Honours). Later, she furthered her studies and qualified as Beautician, Hair Stylist and Nail Colouring Specialist in Taiwan. Armed with these qualifications and of course, by God\u2019s grace, she excelled in her career.<\/p>\n
My mother tried her utmost to give her five children the best level of education that they were able to cope with. When my youngest sister graduated from her tertiary education, mom had spent all of her pension.<\/p>\n
In the family, my mother\u2019s legacy is a shining example for us to grow to be somebody who is able to contribute to the society in our own small way. To us her children, she is the most capable and multi-talented mother.<\/p>\n
After twenty-five years, I finally understand the rapid light that passed across the sky in the dark that fateful night. It was the light of the angel which illuminated my mother. She fully understood the true meaning of life rising from sorrow. In desperation, there was always a door which would open for her. Therefore, she always shares with us these verses:
\nFor everyone that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
\nOr what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?
\nOr if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
\nIf ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? (Matthew 7: 7-11)<\/p>\n
I am very proud because I am the girl with such a great mother who knows how to utilise the daily 24 hours meaningfully.<\/p>\n
Out of her busy schedules, she was able to contribute to the well being of the society by serving as The Chairlady of The Federation of Heng Ann Association Malaysia \u2013 Women Division. She had won the Secretaries\u2019 awards on numerous occasions, one of which was \u201cThe Secretary of The Year Award in the Annual Malaysia Secretaries\u2019 Conference\u201d.<\/p>\n
More Bible Verses which she has shared are:
\n\u201cAnd he said unto me, my grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.\u201d (2 Corinthians 12:9)<\/p>\n
It is not an easy task for a single mother to bring up five children single-handedly. She entrusts herself completely to the Lord because she knows that everything is going to be fine as He will certainly guide her in all her missions. And with her positive attitude nothing is impossible. She often commemorates the glory to the Lord in prayers, saying
\n\u201cI will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart; and I will glorify thy name for evermore.\u201d (Psalm 86:12)<\/p>\n
My super mother lets me know that as long as she is there, I can fly freely without fear. She encourages us to go wherever we want and do whatever we want but we must always uphold the good name of God in Heaven.<\/p>\n
I am deeply impressed by her endurance, strength, love and caring for others.<\/p>\n
Mom, thank you for enabling us to live happily. You let us grow up in love, understand the true meaning of life and witness how a person can illuminate the lives of many other people.<\/p>\n
Over the past many years, because of your sacrificial love, though fatherless, we never felt any lack of fatherly love in our family.<\/p>\n
We are truly blessed to have you as our mother. We are so grateful because the Lord has given us such a great and caring mother. I would like to dedicate the Song \u201cYou Raise Me Up\u201d to you because the song speaks from the depths of my heart.<\/p>\n
Mom, now it is our turn to take good care of you in every step of your life!<\/p>\n
On behalf of my mother and my siblings, I would also like to take this opportunity to extend our heartfelt thanks and sincere gratitude to all those, especially the HII family, who have contributed so much in kinds and financial assistance to our family and were always with us through our ups and downs over the years. No words can express our sincere and heartfelt gratitude and appreciation to you all.<\/p>\n
\u201cMay Almighty God richly bless you all with the Best of Health, Happiness, Peace and Love always!\u201d<\/p>\n
By Sylvia Loi Shu Ching<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The golden disc in the sky slowly converges. As the sun sets, an old white Mitsubishi manufactured in the seventies, with a speed of 10 kilometres per hour, slowly driven on the asphalt road nearby the residential area. A woman in her 30s, who is holding the steering, was carrying a curly-haired seven years old […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":48980,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[181,221,10],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scaccmm.sarawakmethodist.org\/new\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23749"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scaccmm.sarawakmethodist.org\/new\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scaccmm.sarawakmethodist.org\/new\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scaccmm.sarawakmethodist.org\/new\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scaccmm.sarawakmethodist.org\/new\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23749"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/scaccmm.sarawakmethodist.org\/new\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23749\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scaccmm.sarawakmethodist.org\/new\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/48980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scaccmm.sarawakmethodist.org\/new\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scaccmm.sarawakmethodist.org\/new\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scaccmm.sarawakmethodist.org\/new\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}