Just before she left for Sydney....
He came over occasionally and they had a few long discussion about where this was leading.
And of course, more than once she expressed her firm belief in staying single...at least for then. But then he had been very stubborn and persistent too.
He called this the exploring phase, even though she couldnt care less.
He used a lot of spidey senses. He called that the borrowed spidey senses. Maybe God loaned them to him.
but...the chemistry started to brew when he used his spidey senses. No one was able to read her mind like he did. He seemed to understand her. Not just the superficial likes and dislikes, but he knows her to the core.
As though her secret wonderland in the mind was being intruded.
She developed this love-hate emotions with his spideysenses. She spent her whole life guarded her secret mindscape; like the Garden of Eden...Just her , herself, and God. No one knows what she thinks. No one reads her mind. No one was allowed to come in to her secret world. She indulged herself with her solitude in her secret garden, her mindscape.
Now it has been intruded. This silly man was curious about what's in her lil head.
Stupid man, how dare you... she spent her life building and guarding this secret garden.
On the other hand, she liked to watch this uninvited stranger finding his way in the secret garden, as though he was hunting for a treasure.
' Come, silly boy, come and find me...No, too close, stay right there....come now, come follow me in this garden, I will show you something... now I am hiding, come find me....'
He was right, she liked it when he read her.
He said, just like he'd had the soldier, the poet, the suit and polo T in his mind, she'd had her girls too. His very existance was like a foreign bubble which occupied a small corner of a room in her mindscape. Her girls perceived the bubble as a threat ; weapons were deployed to extinguish this foreign bubble.
But somehow the bubble survived and thrived in this hostile environment.
She called it the Blue Bubble. Somehow it was in blue. And as for her, she was a Yellow Bubble in his mindscape.
The Blue Bubble was allowed to grow bigger and bigger.
-----
Again, after she came back from Sydney with her mom and sis. July 08. They had a special dinner with the connect group.
He was unusually quiet in the dinner. Maybe he was anxious. The dinner went very well. Her mom seemed to be more enthusiastic than her about this potentially budding friendship.
Her mom's overjoyed reaction about this boy astonished her too. It meant a lot to her in her uncertainty.
The dinner was done. She helped to load some stuff into his car.
She gave him a very big smile, ' Hi, Blue Bubble!'
He smiled too, ' Hi, Yellow Bubble!'
The air was filled with laughter and joy.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
Mrs Wong
There was significant build up for the boy.
The girl had gone to Sydney, had yelled him to go away, then was given a sudden reprieve told him that he would be allowed to stay.
She was coming back with mom and sis in tow and there was to be a dinner hosted for the overseas guests.
He remembers cooking up a storm of the now defunct herbal chicken and bringing it to their connect group. Only to find that the girl had not come (as she had planned to).
He went home that night and woke up early to go to the church service that he always missed in preference for more sleep (He usually went to the evening service see?).
He remembers she reached out to him as the strode past her in the service.
He smiled.
After the service he went to introduce himself to her mom and sister.
Hello Aunty, I'm K, a friend of your daughter's?
Mrs Wong gives the girl the most obvious look that could only have meant, "Oh, is this the one that you have been talking about?"
The boy struggled hard not to look astonished and not to notice the girl's very embarrassed nod of acknowledgment.
After the hellos and dropping her housemate and dad home the boy noticed Mrs Wong checking out German Bob as he drove away.
Whew... he thought, I sure am glad I settled down and sold the sports car... old German bob makes me look more proper he thought to himself...
~~~
He rushed to their friends' house where the big dinner was going to be held, with a car boot full of ingredients and kitchen toys.
He was hoping to share the kitchen with the Wongs and make a good impression with the girl's mom.
On arrival he found out that the girl and family would be cooking at home instead... he sighed and then proceeded to bake and bake and bake.
2 Banana cakes and a large tray of scones with banana spread... (the girl liked her bananas see?)
The boy doesn't remember much about the dinner except that the food was good, their friends were all there and he didn't dare say too much.
He seems to remember it going well enough though...
The girl had gone to Sydney, had yelled him to go away, then was given a sudden reprieve told him that he would be allowed to stay.
She was coming back with mom and sis in tow and there was to be a dinner hosted for the overseas guests.
He remembers cooking up a storm of the now defunct herbal chicken and bringing it to their connect group. Only to find that the girl had not come (as she had planned to).
He went home that night and woke up early to go to the church service that he always missed in preference for more sleep (He usually went to the evening service see?).
He remembers she reached out to him as the strode past her in the service.
He smiled.
After the service he went to introduce himself to her mom and sister.
Hello Aunty, I'm K, a friend of your daughter's?
Mrs Wong gives the girl the most obvious look that could only have meant, "Oh, is this the one that you have been talking about?"
The boy struggled hard not to look astonished and not to notice the girl's very embarrassed nod of acknowledgment.
After the hellos and dropping her housemate and dad home the boy noticed Mrs Wong checking out German Bob as he drove away.
Whew... he thought, I sure am glad I settled down and sold the sports car... old German bob makes me look more proper he thought to himself...
~~~
He rushed to their friends' house where the big dinner was going to be held, with a car boot full of ingredients and kitchen toys.
He was hoping to share the kitchen with the Wongs and make a good impression with the girl's mom.
On arrival he found out that the girl and family would be cooking at home instead... he sighed and then proceeded to bake and bake and bake.
2 Banana cakes and a large tray of scones with banana spread... (the girl liked her bananas see?)
The boy doesn't remember much about the dinner except that the food was good, their friends were all there and he didn't dare say too much.
He seems to remember it going well enough though...
Sunday, November 23, 2008
By Her agian - Oh something in June again
She forgot to mention this...something that she almost forgot.
Something that she thought about when it was in June, this was before his birthday.
He had a job offer in Melbourne. He was torn between going or staying, and he asked her.
She gave him a very neutral answer, go wherever God's called you.
She wasn't sure if he was dropping hint to her, 'so do you want me to stay or go...just ask me to stay and I will stay on in Adelaide...'
But of course he did not say this. This was just her imagination, and she did not want him to stay anyway...'Please don't tell me that you will stay for me...or I will run.'
She did not need to carry this invisible responsiblity.
Yet, deep down inside.....she hoped he would stay on for her. She really did.
Days later he said he'd decided to take the job in Melbourne and signed the contract.
Her heart sank a lil bit. Okay, so she drew the line. That's it. She was right, most men and him included, place their dreams on top of her. She was not important enough to make then/ him stay.
That's it. He was leaving anyway, why would she invest her emotions in vain?Of course not.
In her heart she had already said bye to him.
Something that she thought about when it was in June, this was before his birthday.
He had a job offer in Melbourne. He was torn between going or staying, and he asked her.
She gave him a very neutral answer, go wherever God's called you.
She wasn't sure if he was dropping hint to her, 'so do you want me to stay or go...just ask me to stay and I will stay on in Adelaide...'
But of course he did not say this. This was just her imagination, and she did not want him to stay anyway...'Please don't tell me that you will stay for me...or I will run.'
She did not need to carry this invisible responsiblity.
Yet, deep down inside.....she hoped he would stay on for her. She really did.
Days later he said he'd decided to take the job in Melbourne and signed the contract.
Her heart sank a lil bit. Okay, so she drew the line. That's it. She was right, most men and him included, place their dreams on top of her. She was not important enough to make then/ him stay.
That's it. He was leaving anyway, why would she invest her emotions in vain?Of course not.
In her heart she had already said bye to him.
By Her - July, Sydney
So the story goes on ... dated back in July 08.
They were in the phase of getting to know each other. He had put in a lot a lot of effort to impress the girl, like feeding the powerbox with yummy cakes, like making scones for her, like cooking for her, like sending her sms-es, like dropping her emails, like insisting on sending her to work when her garage was blocked by her neighbour's car etc etc.
Inspite of all her effort to push him away, she actually didnt really want him to go away.
He said, ' I will defend you even against myself.'
He knew where he stood. He advanced when it was right , he stopped when he was not invited. He was very clever and sensitive.
She went to Sydney to visit her mom and sis. She kept telling them about him. Her sister said 'Someone has obviously fallen in love with this man....'
Oh really? Does she like him??? NOOOOOOO wayyy....!
She did not like this at all. The Phantom of the Opera was playing , sitting in the theatre, she could not enjoy the show at all...All she thought about was him. She did not like being out of control.
The 'voices' in her mind told her to get rid of this intruder.
The trip to Sydney did not end very well when some family issue arose...it was mainly about her mom being kinda against her belief in Christ. She felt compressed.
And he rang at a very wrong time, asking her to join him in prayer on the phone. She was like , ' I am not your girlfriend, we are not that close yet,I dun wanna give u the wrong impression that we are in a relationship by joining you in your prayer. Can't you pray by yourself....'
She was annoyed by the whole situation...he rang, and she ignored the multiple calls...she did that many times anyway.
He left her a long voicemail and a song . 'God is able' .
She smiled again. Silly man. His voice was amazing.
She wished she could save that voicemail for a long long long long time.
----
She came back to Adelaide with her mom and sis. Family issues were solved.
Her mom was very curious about this man that her daughter kept talking about. The mom finally met him at church, this man who stood quietly next to her. Her mom was very unsubtle about this, she gave her a very big sheepish smile, thumb's up , and kept nodding her head.
She was drooling over this potential future son-in-law.
She knew what her mom was thinking....' Go ahead! Go ahead! He seems like a good boy.'
Her mom came out with the lamest excuse to invite him to her house. Guess what she did...she invited him over to show her daughter how to operate the coffee machine that he passed on to her, before he relocated to Melbourne.
Her mom was never too excited about her daughter's relationships, but this time she was very positive about him.
How so? Is he really the one for her?
If he wasn't , why was her mom so supportive of him?
They were in the phase of getting to know each other. He had put in a lot a lot of effort to impress the girl, like feeding the powerbox with yummy cakes, like making scones for her, like cooking for her, like sending her sms-es, like dropping her emails, like insisting on sending her to work when her garage was blocked by her neighbour's car etc etc.
Inspite of all her effort to push him away, she actually didnt really want him to go away.
He said, ' I will defend you even against myself.'
He knew where he stood. He advanced when it was right , he stopped when he was not invited. He was very clever and sensitive.
She went to Sydney to visit her mom and sis. She kept telling them about him. Her sister said 'Someone has obviously fallen in love with this man....'
Oh really? Does she like him??? NOOOOOOO wayyy....!
She did not like this at all. The Phantom of the Opera was playing , sitting in the theatre, she could not enjoy the show at all...All she thought about was him. She did not like being out of control.
The 'voices' in her mind told her to get rid of this intruder.
The trip to Sydney did not end very well when some family issue arose...it was mainly about her mom being kinda against her belief in Christ. She felt compressed.
And he rang at a very wrong time, asking her to join him in prayer on the phone. She was like , ' I am not your girlfriend, we are not that close yet,I dun wanna give u the wrong impression that we are in a relationship by joining you in your prayer. Can't you pray by yourself....'
She was annoyed by the whole situation...he rang, and she ignored the multiple calls...she did that many times anyway.
He left her a long voicemail and a song . 'God is able' .
She smiled again. Silly man. His voice was amazing.
She wished she could save that voicemail for a long long long long time.
----
She came back to Adelaide with her mom and sis. Family issues were solved.
Her mom was very curious about this man that her daughter kept talking about. The mom finally met him at church, this man who stood quietly next to her. Her mom was very unsubtle about this, she gave her a very big sheepish smile, thumb's up , and kept nodding her head.
She was drooling over this potential future son-in-law.
She knew what her mom was thinking....' Go ahead! Go ahead! He seems like a good boy.'
Her mom came out with the lamest excuse to invite him to her house. Guess what she did...she invited him over to show her daughter how to operate the coffee machine that he passed on to her, before he relocated to Melbourne.
Her mom was never too excited about her daughter's relationships, but this time she was very positive about him.
How so? Is he really the one for her?
If he wasn't , why was her mom so supportive of him?
Friday, November 14, 2008
By Her - Yes, I will
Yes , I will. She said, on 4/11/08, 9 pm, Rundle Street.
How would she say no to the kneeling man with a ring in his hands? (Other than the fact that she was very embarrassed that this happened in the middle of the street. )
Life has been very different since he came in to the picture.
There is a feeling of peace that she never used to have in her heart.
He fell in love with this so called 'dark, deep and mysterious photographer' who was stubborn like a mule and cherished her freedom and space like a wild eagle; a ship which refused to drop her anchor for any harbour.
What he gets now is a simple, happy and content woman with a lil girl in her heart.
God was right ( well, He never makes any mistake anyway) when He whispered to her, 'He is wonderfully made by Me, he is a blessing from ME for you. Take it. '
She is happy. Not because óh finally she has a fiance', because she was never never desperate in the first place.
I think, she is happy now because she has seen and tasted the evident abundant blessings from God in her life, and him being one of the biggest blessings. Her God loves her and gives her the peace in her heart.
' This is the man I have prepared for you. Walk with him, My dear daughter. I Am delighted in you. '
How would she say no to the kneeling man with a ring in his hands? (Other than the fact that she was very embarrassed that this happened in the middle of the street. )
Life has been very different since he came in to the picture.
There is a feeling of peace that she never used to have in her heart.
He fell in love with this so called 'dark, deep and mysterious photographer' who was stubborn like a mule and cherished her freedom and space like a wild eagle; a ship which refused to drop her anchor for any harbour.
What he gets now is a simple, happy and content woman with a lil girl in her heart.
God was right ( well, He never makes any mistake anyway) when He whispered to her, 'He is wonderfully made by Me, he is a blessing from ME for you. Take it. '
She is happy. Not because óh finally she has a fiance', because she was never never desperate in the first place.
I think, she is happy now because she has seen and tasted the evident abundant blessings from God in her life, and him being one of the biggest blessings. Her God loves her and gives her the peace in her heart.
' This is the man I have prepared for you. Walk with him, My dear daughter. I Am delighted in you. '
By Her- Lets continue here
Lemme explain the way this blog works.
All the posts that he and she wrote in the last few months were about events and memories in retrospect , in a chronological sequence. They occured in the past, long before they got together.
Lets continue here....
----
In her last post, she told the story of the house inspection on his birthday in June, and their first meaningful conversation in the Chocolate Bean, and how she felt he was different....she thought, maybe it wasn't a bad idea to open her heart for this man...
And in his last post , he told the story of her trip to Sydney in July..and how unstable she was , how mean she was to him...
So, lets continue here...
----
This was still in June, before she went to Sydney.
She was probably the most unstable woman he's seen in his life. One moment she told him to stay for 5 more mins on the phone...another moment she was beyond his reach.
He was right, she didn't know what she wanted anyway.
She believed she had a huge calling in her life and she refused to be distracted. She believed singlehood was the only way to serve God and pursue dreams in life.
She believed he's a good man, but even then she turned him away. She was very mean to him, almost icy cold to him. She rejected most of his invitations. She answered his call when she felt like it.
In her prayer, she asked God to take him away.
But, how come there was this persistent small voice in her ear that told her ,' He is wonderfully made by Me, he's a blessing from Me to you. Take it. '
She didnt believe this was God's voice. 'Must be the devil trying to distract my attention. God, take him away...''
---
He was really nice to her, even to the point of compromising his own needs and emotions.
She needed a lot a lot a lot of personal space. Do not come near me unless I say so!
So he gave her the space. He often dropped by her house, left good stuff in the powerbox outside her house to surprise her. Yet he wouldn't ring or come in the house unless he was invited.
He told her, 'I will defend you even against myself.'
Silly but a smart man too.
She was impressed by his perseverance and wisdom to drawback or advance.
The whole world knew he liked her very much.
Yet, she would never give him any promise. She couldnt deliver it.
She must be the strangest girl he'd met.
--- To be continued---
All the posts that he and she wrote in the last few months were about events and memories in retrospect , in a chronological sequence. They occured in the past, long before they got together.
Lets continue here....
----
In her last post, she told the story of the house inspection on his birthday in June, and their first meaningful conversation in the Chocolate Bean, and how she felt he was different....she thought, maybe it wasn't a bad idea to open her heart for this man...
And in his last post , he told the story of her trip to Sydney in July..and how unstable she was , how mean she was to him...
So, lets continue here...
----
This was still in June, before she went to Sydney.
She was probably the most unstable woman he's seen in his life. One moment she told him to stay for 5 more mins on the phone...another moment she was beyond his reach.
He was right, she didn't know what she wanted anyway.
She believed she had a huge calling in her life and she refused to be distracted. She believed singlehood was the only way to serve God and pursue dreams in life.
She believed he's a good man, but even then she turned him away. She was very mean to him, almost icy cold to him. She rejected most of his invitations. She answered his call when she felt like it.
In her prayer, she asked God to take him away.
But, how come there was this persistent small voice in her ear that told her ,' He is wonderfully made by Me, he's a blessing from Me to you. Take it. '
She didnt believe this was God's voice. 'Must be the devil trying to distract my attention. God, take him away...''
---
He was really nice to her, even to the point of compromising his own needs and emotions.
She needed a lot a lot a lot of personal space. Do not come near me unless I say so!
So he gave her the space. He often dropped by her house, left good stuff in the powerbox outside her house to surprise her. Yet he wouldn't ring or come in the house unless he was invited.
He told her, 'I will defend you even against myself.'
Silly but a smart man too.
She was impressed by his perseverance and wisdom to drawback or advance.
The whole world knew he liked her very much.
Yet, she would never give him any promise. She couldnt deliver it.
She must be the strangest girl he'd met.
--- To be continued---
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Will you?
I've decided to fast forward this post and get it down whilst its still fresh.
Nov 4th 2008 - Melb Cup day.
It was an exciting day, yet at the same time mundane in some ways.
I had just been through so much, changing jobs in Melbourne, Moving to Adelaide and a number of job offers each with their own unique pitfalls and draws.
Amongst all this I had flown to Singapore to hunt for a shiny rock, taken a slow bus to KL to speak with her parents.
yes it had been a busy few weeks for me.
The girl had been through a series of changes too, going from hardcore surgeon to be into an ICU doctor (they're called Intensivists I'm told...) and of course the life compression change going from long dist bf to being just down the road.
God had been blessing me and us throughout the entire journey, but it was not without its bumps in the road.
The girl and I had been tiffing about houses and budgets for the nuptials, I being too risk adverse and long sighted whilst she being just a little bit too keen to own something.
Then there were of course, the usual overtures from our pasts that flited about, causing me to jump at shadows with swords drawn.
But we had gotten past those things with the mercy of the great God we serve and was this day happily shopping in Ikea for furniture together (Having given the girl free reign of the interior design of the new house in Ade)
I had been deviously spreading the misinformation for weeks that her ring was being custom made in Melbourne. And in the continuous be moaning of the long process of the contruction, had been buying time for the perfect moment.
However, it dawned on me earlier that morning that given her latest change in work timetables, my initial (and completely brilliant plan) to propose to her would not be going ahead.
Instead my mind had began to formulate a last minute ramp up to asking the question... Today. Afterall we had just discussed plans to go out for a nice dress up date tonight... why not? I asked myself.
These plans were just about shelved as the girl complained of exhaustion, tiredness and a headache as we strolled in ikea. But after an ikea hotdog disappeared down her gillet she smiled and the dinner date was suddenly revived.
After dropping her off to get changed I dashed home to prepare the ring(s).
A quick slice and dice of packing / acoustic foam to pad the ring boxes and I was ready to go.
The little one had dressed in her stunning blue plunge whilst i had donned my red candy striped shirt, walking hand in hand towards the belgium beer bar (heyy its sentimental eh?) we were a happy couple indeed.
Dinner came and went with the promise of hot chocolate at the birthplace of US just round the corner. And just as the little one excused her self to the loo at the end of the meal, I quickly pulled out old Harvard and Yale out of the decoy camera bag and donned our "first meeting" out fit.
She was still smiling as we walked across the corner... where I ditched the bag and dropped on one knee and pulled out the rock...
I think I was as stunned as she was.
Oh wow, I don't believe I"m doing this...
I think I heard myself say.
SW, I've waited all my life for you.
You complete me, and I would like to spend the rest of our lives together.
SW would you please marry me?
She was so stunned all she could do was nod and smile.
Like a moment in a dream I slipped the ring on her finger.
And so that is how this boy asked the question of a lifetime.
:)
Nov 4th 2008 - Melb Cup day.
It was an exciting day, yet at the same time mundane in some ways.
I had just been through so much, changing jobs in Melbourne, Moving to Adelaide and a number of job offers each with their own unique pitfalls and draws.
Amongst all this I had flown to Singapore to hunt for a shiny rock, taken a slow bus to KL to speak with her parents.
yes it had been a busy few weeks for me.
The girl had been through a series of changes too, going from hardcore surgeon to be into an ICU doctor (they're called Intensivists I'm told...) and of course the life compression change going from long dist bf to being just down the road.
God had been blessing me and us throughout the entire journey, but it was not without its bumps in the road.
The girl and I had been tiffing about houses and budgets for the nuptials, I being too risk adverse and long sighted whilst she being just a little bit too keen to own something.
Then there were of course, the usual overtures from our pasts that flited about, causing me to jump at shadows with swords drawn.
But we had gotten past those things with the mercy of the great God we serve and was this day happily shopping in Ikea for furniture together (Having given the girl free reign of the interior design of the new house in Ade)
I had been deviously spreading the misinformation for weeks that her ring was being custom made in Melbourne. And in the continuous be moaning of the long process of the contruction, had been buying time for the perfect moment.
However, it dawned on me earlier that morning that given her latest change in work timetables, my initial (and completely brilliant plan) to propose to her would not be going ahead.
Instead my mind had began to formulate a last minute ramp up to asking the question... Today. Afterall we had just discussed plans to go out for a nice dress up date tonight... why not? I asked myself.
These plans were just about shelved as the girl complained of exhaustion, tiredness and a headache as we strolled in ikea. But after an ikea hotdog disappeared down her gillet she smiled and the dinner date was suddenly revived.
After dropping her off to get changed I dashed home to prepare the ring(s).
A quick slice and dice of packing / acoustic foam to pad the ring boxes and I was ready to go.
The little one had dressed in her stunning blue plunge whilst i had donned my red candy striped shirt, walking hand in hand towards the belgium beer bar (heyy its sentimental eh?) we were a happy couple indeed.
Dinner came and went with the promise of hot chocolate at the birthplace of US just round the corner. And just as the little one excused her self to the loo at the end of the meal, I quickly pulled out old Harvard and Yale out of the decoy camera bag and donned our "first meeting" out fit.
She was still smiling as we walked across the corner... where I ditched the bag and dropped on one knee and pulled out the rock...
I think I was as stunned as she was.
Oh wow, I don't believe I"m doing this...
I think I heard myself say.
SW, I've waited all my life for you.
You complete me, and I would like to spend the rest of our lives together.
SW would you please marry me?
She was so stunned all she could do was nod and smile.
Like a moment in a dream I slipped the ring on her finger.
And so that is how this boy asked the question of a lifetime.
:)
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