1 WEDDING and A REUNION. Posted 26 April 2012

1 WEDDING and A REUNION. Posted 26 April 2012

" Time is what prevents everything from happening at once" ~John Archibald Wheeler.

21 April 2012 was a happy day for a memorable occasion. A young man I remember as a once chubby, engaging boy, pledged solemnly before God, family and close friends to love, honour and cherish that one speciail woman who would be his soul-mate; his help-meet in the journey of life. He has made that significant transition from son to husband and head of his own household.

I still cry at weddings - for good reason. It is the beginning of a family unit, of blessings multiplied, of hopeful expectations of dreams to be fulfilled, parenthood,precious lives to be moulded and shaped for the next generation. I also tend to take a walk back into memory lane, reliving the past 24 years since I said my vows to my best friend seated next to me for the dinner reception.

Across at the next table, I spotted two familiar faces, W and A. They were my class-mates at Rhema Bible School two years ago. In the course of establishing our connections to the bride and groom, W said that he was uncle to the groom, N; and brother to the groom's biological mother. I said that GG and I are close friends of the groom's parents, M & J. In the course of that short exchange in between food courses, I learnt of a truth that has encouraged me greatly. N was a believer before his parents were. During a period in his late teens and early adulthood, N encountered some rough patches. W and A were there for him, covering him in prayer. Prayer changes things. Years later, N's parents and extended family, would be led to receive the Lord through different pathways, divinely ordained.

 There's something about old school friends that somehow bridges the long, intervening years in-between and connects you directly from the time you left school to the present. It was YT, my secondary school class-mate ( affectionately known as "yeti", the snow(wo)man ). A period of 33 years redeemed. Her equal half is an eye surgeon who operated on M when he had a detached retina, and restored M's eyesight. It was also at the same time that M did some soul-searching and decided he had enough of his walk in the woods,and ditch it for a walk back with the Lord. ( as revealed by YT ). Sometimes God does have a comic sense of timing and humour, opening our eyes to see....YT and hubby are also neighbours and good friends of M and J who supported and encouraged them in prayer through tough times.

Thanks to YT, I am now part of the parent prayer-support group that meets every Thursday morning to pray for the boys and girls in ACS (I), especially those sitting for their "O" levels and IB gradings. It is a good thing to be among mothers and a few fathers who are going through a challenging year ahead with their chidlren sitting for watershed examinations. A was quick to remind me this morning that MGS also has a prayer support group, so I will be doing double time, in due course. I am so glad to have reconnected with YT. Bring on more weddings too!

Back to THE wedding...never a dull moment. I was also seated next to another charming young man, G, who was there with his Dad. We stayed with them at Melbourne when we last visited 6 years' ago. Back then, he was finishing high school. Today, he is doing the last bit of his NS stint and embarking on his next lap as an eye surgeon at NUH. He asked how I've been ( mistake? ) and I gave him an earful. Much has happened and is happening. He gave back as much as he got as he shared about himself and his family. One particularly poignant incident he revealed was what happened to his sister, S, at a recent Planet Shakers Revival meeting in Melbourne, with Reinhart Bonke. There was an altar call for healing of the sick. S went forward to be prayed for food allergies ( she had a whole list of them ). After hands were laid on her, she felt a hot sensation, and a knowing that she was healed. She can now walk into any restaurant and order anything she wants to eat. PTL!!!

When the dinner was over, and guests prepared to leave, I noticed another familiar face standing across the room,G,  another uncle of N's. He played a pivotall role in faciliating my son, D's, immigration requirements and smooth crossing from JB to Singapore more than 15 years' ago. Those in the know would have heard of the journey we have taken. Thanks to him, and the help he rendered, my Dad could spoil his first grandchild silly, and went to his eternal home a believer, declaring D to be " God's miraculous child." 

In that one evening and wedding reception, I was brought to remembrance and to a timely reminder of the Grand Weaver,who lovingly weaves the colourful  threads of our individual lives to impact others, as a section of an eternal, glorious, tapestry. Each life committed to Him is a yarn waiting to be spun. There are no loose ends, only miracles waiting to happen.....