Blessed in ways others do not understand

I simply had to stop my chores to pen down these thoughts... cos I know for many years to come, I would want to feel the same way again and again.

CNY is round the bend... and I'm doing what I do every year.. Spring Cleaning. Most of my friends will think I clean obsessively...hmmm, maybe. But yah, i'm one who loves the pleasure of a clean, cosy home to lounge in. Even when I hardly have the luxury to lounge now with the two monsterous kids around.

I'm in bad need of a part time helper. Seriously, its no joke to have 3 guys in a 5-room flat who have little desire to maintain peace, harmony and most of all... neatness! Cleaning up after them is like clearing the walkway, while it is still snowing. Especially now that I'm badly down with flu.

So there I was... earlier on, scrubbing vigorously on the walls of the toilet. I just couldn't understand how can it get so grubby despite me scrubbing it ever so often? I vividly remember a friend once share how his mum made him scrub those tiles with a toothbrush whenever CNY draws near. Poor mum didn't even realised that she was incurring the wrath of her own son while trying to keep a clean house! Suddenly I have the crazy notion that maybe we should let the house turn mouldy like the way people delibrately let their tangerines do so in CNY to 'fa' in their life. hmmm... harmony will prevails since no one need to do anything and who knows, the 'magic' might just work and we get super 'fa'? YUCKS!! i scrubbed the grimes even more thoroughly.

Maybe I should fly off somewhere till the festive is over...

SMACK! The truth hit me real hard!

Friends... whom have known me for years, aren't you happy for me? (For those who doesn't... I was 'orphaned' at 3 and been living on my own since a tender age.) I used to fly off on my own elsewhere during CNY when I was single in order to avoid having reunion dinner with my grandma's family. No, she loves me lots and me too... but she never understood the pain of having 'reunion' dinner when my dad was kicking alive somewhere having his reunion with other families... just not his daughter. Nor did she know that the ang baos she happily deck out on his behalf actually contains my money and its an ironic stab deep into my heart when she hands me my ang bao from daddy.

But now... within the walls of this flat that I grumbly scrubbed, live my loving family. They are the guys whom I know have no qualms in leaving fingerprints on my just wiped door... but never fail to tell me they love me each day as well. Will I exchange another flight for them this season? Definitely NOT!

"Father in Heaven, I thank you for the love ones around me... that makes even scrubbing dirts a worthwhile task... a fulfilment paramounts to a holiday trip, just to see them lounge in a clean and cosy home."

So mums... who are having a 'taxing' time preparing for CNY, may you too find the joy of 'slaving' away for your family this Spring. It is really a wonderful thing to work hard for people you love, than to enjoy with no one to share. Bask in the lovely atmosphere of flowers and blessings...even when cleaning is part of the agenda.

Cheerios!