Exploring Our Children’s Potentials

Those living in Jakarta know very well how it is not easy to enjoy a quick family weekend getaway, away from the busy city.

The main reason commonly given is, traffic.

Families often feel reluctant to drive out as they know they’ll most likely be facing heavy traffic – on their way out, on their way back to Jakarta, or BOTH.

So.

Here’s one idea that you may want to consider the next time you feel like ‘escaping’ and ‘relaxing’ without facing the traffic:

a weekend getaway at Hotel Indonesia Kempinski Jakarta!

(One nice idea for Mother’s Day, perhaps? *wink wink* =)

We had our family get-together the other weekend, which to me was like an early Mother’s Day treat =)

It was like … ‘a getaway without getting away’!

Ah.

I have so much to share about our staycation at Kempinski!

Okay, I’ll start by sharing this dining place in the hotel lobby called Signatures Restaurant!

(More posts coming up soon!)

I love how there’s so much to choose from.

Because, it means those who come to dine at Signatures most likely can find something (or more!) that suits their personal liking! =)

Western, Indonesian, Chinese, Japanese, and more.

I personally like their egg station, porridge (yumm!), salmon, and their choices of Japanese food (Miso soup, sushi, etc)

Check this out!

You can find real honey comb!

Even if you’re not so into honey, you should really give this a try!

Oh, of course … who could miss their dessert! =)

The kids (and us) sure didn’t miss it!

Brie: (Finally high enough to see the ice cream spread) ‘Ooh, can I please have the strawberry one?’

Now. I must share with you about this special feature! (Because it’s a rare find here in Jakarta!)

You see, families with children naturally long for family-friendly dining places!

A place where children’s playful need is also met while they dine together with us parents.

And, … you have it here at the restaurant!

Hotel Indonesia Kempinski Jakarta offers this ‘Little VIP Playground’ at Signatures Restaurant!

Go and check it out yourself yeah!

…

Booking in advance:
Recommended

Telephone:
+62 21 2358 3898

Opening Hours:
Breakfast:
Monday – Sunday, 6:00 – 10:30

Lunch:
Monday – Sunday, 12:00 – 15:00

Dinner:
Monday – Thursday, Sunday, 18:00 – 22:00
Friday – Saturday, 18:00 – 22:30

Restaurant Style:
Buffet, A la carte, Family

Dress Code:
Smart Casual

Recently I had a chat with a few friends, … and as we talked, some thoughts crossed my mind.

Here’s sharing them with you …

Nearly everything today is about being ‘instant’.

Instant messaging.

Instant noodles.

Instant printing.

The reality is, many things in life are NOT and CANNOT be achieved in a short timeGenerally, the world aims to let people ‘achieve what they want within a very, VERY short time’.

But.

The reality is, many things in life are NOT and CANNOT be achieved in a short time.

Say, when we plant apple seeds, we need to wait for them to grow and bear fruits.

The same thing goes with parenting.

Relationship, open communication, trust and respect are built over time.

There’s nothing instant about it.

If we had not built a habit of open communication with our children since they’re little, then we could not expect them to open up and share their struggles and lives with us when they are in their teenage years.

If we had not set clear boundaries and limits based on love, trust and respect since they’re little, they would most probably find it hard to respect and follow the boundaries we start to introduce when they’re already teenagers.

If we had not consistently addressed misbehaviours with disciplinary actions based on love since they’re little, they would most likely find it hard to accept and understand our ‘disapproval’ of their misbehaviours when they’re teenagers.

If we had not been lovingly and actively involved in their lives much since they’re little, we could not expect them to let us into their lives when they are teenagers.

Parenting is hard.

(And many parents say, parenting teenagers is even harder!)

Without consistent effort, our time, sacrifice and God’s help… parenting is just not possible.

If you ask me, I really don’t know how things will be later a few years from today.

It may be very tough, super tough.

I probably feel – again and again – that I’ve failed big time as a parent.

Plus, I know how my choice to be a stay-at-home mom does NOT guarantee ‘good children’ and ‘easy-to-deal-with teenagers’.

I only pray that my husband and I are given the wisdom to be the kind of parents God wants us to be.

Because being parents today is not easy.

May God help me, and all of us, and give us the joy, wisdom and patience we need, everyday.

I went on a one-week mission trip together with a group of church friends two months ago.

We went to North Tapanuli, North Sumatra.

We visited schools in the morning and afternoon, and so we had some time in the late afternoon to check out places of visit in the area.

One of the places we went to was ‘Salib Kasih’ (which literally means ‘Love Cross’)

It is located some 6 – 7 hours from Medan (capital city of North Sumatra), at a  city called ‘Tarutung’.

You can see the huge cross from afar, and to get to the top, visitors need to walk uphill for about … 15-20 minutes, from the entrance.

The walkway itself is maintained quite well, I thought.

And I personally love the surrounding tall trees!

We were there at about 4pm on a weekday, so there was hardly any crowd around.

The air was cool and fresh! Very nice.

Once you reach the top, you get see in full view the city of Tarutung, and of course, the huge cross itself up close and personal.

(Check out the ’10 commandments’ signs as you walk uphill!)

‘Salib Kasih’ itself was built for the Batak people to remember and appreciate the works of a missionary named Ludwig Ingwer Nommensen.

Nommensen introduced the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Batak land back in the 19th century.

He served the Batak people whole-heartedly, and he also managed to translate the New Testament into the native Batak language by the year 1878!

And oh, it was believed that Nommensen prayed for the Batak people from this very hill.

When we’re at Tarutung, we also checked out another place of visit, ie. This church, which was one of the early churches that Nommensen built!

The words ‘Dame Ma Di Hamu!’ btw means ‘Peace in your heart’.

(This is known as ‘Gereja Dame Saitnihuta’)

Before we left the church building, we did say our prayers together.

We prayed for the Batak people whom we too served during the mission trip.

We asked for God’s mercy on the Batak land, for the revival of the Batak churches and Christians, for the church leaders to be God-fearing servants of God, and for the true gospel of Jesus Christ to always be preached and shared, just like what Nommensen had done for them.

I felt privileged to have had the opportunity to serve the Batak people.

May God have mercy on this land.

Amen.

Someone had to do a short play in class for his ‘practical final exam’.

It’s the story of ‘The 3 little pigs’, and our 8yo Vai was the big bad wolf =)

Well, since ‘visual aid’ was allowed, I experimented on making a wolf head mask.

You know, just to make it more ‘3-D’, haha.

It was unplanned.

Read: a spontaneous idea that came to mind some 18 hours before the play.

So, here it is.

Our last-minute experiment, made of a used cardboard box taken from a supermarket nearby!

The face was kind of wonky here and there, and the eyes were not ‘fierce’ enough, I thought.

Oh well.

It was fun to make though.

And, the boy was happy with it too!

YAY! =)

Our littlest is going to be four next month.

FOUR.

She is very much independent by now.

She can go and shower all on her own.

Towel herself dry, grab her clothes from the wardrobe, put them on, comb her hair, brush her teeth, put on her socks and shoes, ready to go out.

All by herself.

Brie loves to dance.

Twirling around, shaking her hips, jumping off the sofa with her feet stretched out like a ballerina.

And, she loves to make up new songs and tunes.

Brie loves her brother and sister.

Will get all silly with her brother.

But prefers to be accompanied by her sister at bedtime =)

…

Our little Brie looks forward to turning four.

She tells people how her birthday is NEXT MONTH, and how she’ll turn four by then =)

She is 100cm tall, and weighs 14.5 kg.

Brie,

I feel blessed to be able to spend every single day with you.

To watch you grow, and to be a part of your growing up days.

You are always in our prayers.

You’re very much loved.

And we thank God for you.

Something sweet my husband wrote on his Facebook wall yesterday =)

…

That night, as we both chatted about this and that, I shared with him my thoughts on what he wrote on Facebook.

I said:

You know what?

What you wrote got me thinking.

I enjoyed watching the tennis games earlier! But having said that, I may not be able to always accompany you when you want to do something that you love.

I want you to know though, that whenever I can, I would try to be there with you, regardless of whether I myself enjoy what it is that we’re doing.

Because.

I want you to be accompanied by me (and enjoyed my presence and our time together), and not enjoy the company of others better (worse, enjoying the company of another female).

…

Personally I believe, the enjoyment of another person’s company, other than one’s spouse, IS possible, when the spouse rarely make himself/herself available willingly in the life of the other.

And after some time, one just gets used to doing things ‘alone’ and ‘without the presence’ of the spouse.

*shiver*

I don’t wish for that to happen.

…

Now, don’t get me wrong.

We both have our own time alone and with other people too, of course.

I just feel it should never be a ‘habit’ that undermines that need to enjoy each other’s company.

So yes, this means we both are used to going out with our young kids in tow, just so that we nurture that ‘togetherness’ habit.

(In the top photo, Brie had her afternoon nap in the pram as we watched the tennis games together. We dropped the two older kids to choir practice earlier =)

…

Well.

I don’t know about you, but I personally feel that as a wife, it is important to be connected as much as we can to our spouse.

To know his world and to understand what he likes, and to hopefully be a part of that too.

As a wife, it is important to be connected as much as we can to our spouseTo find things that we can enjoy together.

To go through the highs and lows of life, together.

Now.

The reality is, to always be there for our spouse may not always be possible. And it may not even be easy for many.

But I guess, if we show genuine initiatives and willingness to be involved in ‘his world’ too, … I’m sure it will do more good – than bad – to the relationship, yes? =)

What say you?

Last weekend, our 8yo Vai had the chance to compete in a tennis competition, joining the category of ‘Under 10’.

Something that we’re all excited about.

It was all held outdoors.

And the weather was very, VERY warm.

At least 3 of his games were held around 11am – 1pm.

We sat by the court, under the shade, and even then, it was VERY warm and glary.

…

Having said that though, we never see ourselves as parents who say to their kids:

‘Careful … don’t run or you’ll fall down!’

‘Stay out of the sun! You’ll get a headache!’

‘Don’t get too tired! You’ll get sick!’

And we never will let ourselves do things like :

– Carry our child’s tennis bag
(Vai must pack his own tennis bag, prepare his water bottles, spare clothes, shoes, etc)

– Call the child to the side of the court to wipe his/her forehead with a towel, or help him change clothes, etc

– Give/shout out comments (on what the child should do) when he is already in the middle of a game

Why won’t we do such things?

Simply because the child MUST learn to be independent, focused, hard working, and never-giving up easily.

And, being pampered or constantly commanded by the parents is surely not going to do any good to his mentality.

Also, we believe, when a child is already on the court, in a game, he is to think for himself how he’s going to face the opponent, the kinds of strategy he will apply to beat the other player, etc.

Tennis coaches have also been saying how parents unfortunately often have been the ones killing / dampening their children’s fighting spirit (on and off the court), by giving negative comments or doing things FOR the child.

So to us, last weekend, Vai had a real, hard lesson on striving and struggling to do one’s best, a lesson on endurance and perseverance.

Not easy.

But it was a good training of one’s physic and mentality.

We saw improvements on how he plays his games, and on his mentality when he’s on the court too.

Like, there was a game when Vai already lost 1 – 5, and he caught up to 5 – 5.

Then it was 5 – 6 and 5 – 7.

Vai fought on, and got the game to 7 – 7, then to 8-8!

They went to a tie-break, and it was such a close game.

Vai lost 4 – 7.

It was great to watch him fight hard.

And to us, that matters the most!

And.

Vai came second, for the category ‘Under 10’.

He was so happy! =)

And again, as always, we hope he enjoyed every game, while doing his best.

The trophy and certificate?

Well, they are great bonus! =)

Keep it up, Vai!

You have our full support!

As children grow up, there will always be pressures from their peers.

What if I don’t do what my friends do?

What if my friends ask me to do something that they all do but I actually disagree with?

What ifs. What ifs.

As always, we have a good talk about lots of stuff when we are on the road.

And we talked about this.

These are some of the thoughts shared :

‘Who we are’ is not determined by what our friends, our peers, say about us.

When it comes to ‘who we are as a person’, we should never use other people’s standardsSay, … if you got 50 in your test, and everyone else at school said that you are SO smart for getting 50 (because they all got no more than 25 marks), it does not mean we truly are ‘smart’.

Our peers can say whatever they wish to say, but when it comes to ‘who we are as a person’, we should never use other people’s standards.

Remember this, always :

We only follow and hear what our Creator says about us.

We then talked about Punchinello.

To those who are not yet familiar with the story, here’s a bit about it (well recommended storybook, btw!):

In the story of Punchinello in ‘Best of all’ by Max Lucado, the people in his village said that he was ‘second class’ because he was made out of willow wood. And for some time, Punchinello did believe that he was of ‘lower quality’ than those who were made of maple wood.

Well, until Punchinello met the Wood Carver who MADE him! The Wood Carver made Punchinello special, purposely using willow wood when he first created him.

What the Wood Carver said matters the most. Because the Wood Carver was the Maker, and he truly knew what he was doing and why he made Punchinello in the first place!

Punchinello’s worth and value is determined by the Maker, not by his fellow villagers who were also ‘made by the Maker’.

And it exactly is the same for us.

…

It was a good and honest talk.

And I’m really glad we always have opportunities to talk about stuff openly.

…

May God always watch over each of them, whenever and wherever, so that they can walk in His truth, with the wisdom from above when choosing to do what’s right, even though everyone else may seem to be going the opposite direction.

May God have mercy on our little family.

Amen.