Tuesday, July 7, 2009

70th birthday celebration

Reliving old times again last Saturday. What memories of the past! We were privileged to be invited to James Lim's 70th birthday dinner! Our association goes back a long, long time - before second world war.

His father Norman Lim was my Sunday School teacher way back in the 30's.Balestier Corps was in a shophouse along Balestier Road itself. I was only five years old when I first attended Balestier Corps Sunday School. (1937) That was before James was born! O how I enjoyed handling and playing the figurines in the Sand Tray! Then we would go into class at the back of the hall in the open courtyard where Norman would tell the children's story. One day he was telling the children the parable of the lost sheep. Suddenly he picked me up, and pretended I was the lost sheep! Thank God for Sunday School - the lost sheep was found by the Saviour!

Fast forward to post war. The Corps (church) was now in Martaban Road - an atap house with no electricity or water. We used kerosene lamps! I was a teenager teaching Sunday School kids. We were called Company Guards in those days, and we met during the week with the Corps Officer who explained the lesson to us before Sunday. They called it Company Guard Preparation class. And James Lim was assigned to my class.

The years went by and Andy Lim, James' son became a cadet and I was one of the teachers! Fast forward again, we were appointed overseas. Our children worshipped in Central Corps and Major Andy Lim was their Corps Officer (pastor) How the Army wheel turns.

James' wife, Peggy was our neighbour in Lorong Limau - my family lived in J-13 and Peggy's family J-17. We all shared the same common tap. There were no taps in the tiny Singapore Improvement Trust's flats! So twelve families shared one tap. There was good fellowship there were also frequent fights! I used to get water at midnight or at 5.00 a.m. so missed the fellowship and fights.

So that night I met again my old neighbours - elderly ladies. It's all right, they won't be reading my blog! I don't think they blog.

It's not only the ten course dinner we enjoyed, it was also a trip down memory lane!
Where have all the years gone?

I keep thinking what a wonderful time it will be when we all meet in heaven. When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be! When we all see Jesus, we'll sing and shout the victory. So let's keep pressing on towards our goal. There will be lots of friends and lots of time to reminisce. We'll keep praising God in eternity.

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