Gingerbread Men

Don't these Gingerbread Men look happy and inviting? This is my first attempt of making Gingerbread Men and I was really pleased with the outcome :) I simply love the smell of the spices and they tasted yummy too :)


These are especially baked for the praiseband I am with. When I first joined Genesis 6 years ago, I had this crazy idea to give something each year to the members of this band to remind me each day of God's creation.

Thus, on the first year, I gave them tealight holders with candles because God said "Let there be light and there was light." On the third year I gave them potted catus, representing plants that God made. On the fifth day God made stars so last year I learnt to make stars from my daughter and I placed them in small bottles. This year, which is my sixth year with Genesis, I thought since God created man on the sixth day and I couldn't give them a real man, I made Gingerbread men :)

Even though up till now none of the Genesis members asked about the funny gifts they have been receiving for Christmas all these years, the Lord still gave me the joy in doing so ;)

Hope you had a meaningful Christmas this year.

May the LOVE of Jesus fill your heart this Christmas
And may the HOPE that is found in our Lord and Saviour
Fill you with a new vision for the year ahead.

Blessed Christmas!

How time flies, Renfred will be coming home tomorrow for Christmas! :) Thank God for keeping him safe and in good health (although he is having a soar throat either due to lack of water or maybe sleeping on a dirty pillow) Our family is looking forward to the reunion even though it's only for 3 days. He returns to camp on Sunday night. We are grateful he could be home - in everything give thanks :)

I have been busy baking and making some pocket money during this Christmas period. God opened ways for people to order Rum Fruitcakes, Tarts, Cakes and Cookies and I am truly thankful for the support and encouragement of friends and family members. This is the first year that I started selling my bakes even though I have been baking and blessing my friends and relatives for many years :)

What is Christmas all about? When I was a youth, we would organize carolling about this time of the year to our ex-church members' homes, singing joyous carols, proclaiming the birth of Christ Jesus. It's the time of the year where we sing lots of carols, fill our tummies with lots of goodies, exchange gifts and wish each other well.

Last Sunday, one of my favourite pastors spoke on "Waiting for Christmas". He preached from Luke 2 about 2 seldom mentioned characters in the Bible; Simeon and Anna in Luke 2. How Simeon was waiting for comfort and found it in Christ Jesus. He said that people look for comfort and this is a universal need. How true this is. Not only those who do not know God, those who know Him also need comfort. Anna was waiting for God to rescue His people and when she saw Baby Jesus in the temple, she found what she was waiting for - The Messiah which means "The Annointed One" sent by God to deliver His people from the bondage of sin.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son,
that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life,
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world
But to save the world through Him." John 3:16-17

What does Christmas means to you?
Sharing below a song by Don Moen "Emmanuel Has Come":

"Christmas is about His glory
Christmas is about His grace
Christmas is a gift of love our Father gave us.
More than just another story about a special time and place
Christmas is a time to lift a song of praise.

Chorus:
For God is with us, and we celebrate the glory of His presence.
Christ has come to fill our hearts with love.
He came to save us.
King of kings and Lord of lords, His Name is Jesus.
God with us, Emmnauel has come.

V2
Angels fill the night with singing
God is reaching out to man.
Bringing us a gift of hope in Christ, our Saviour.
More than just a time of giving.
This is God's eternal plan.
Christmas is the reason we can sing again."

National Service

Sunrise at 7am this morning along the TPE.



Clouds in Pulau Tekong.

This is our son, Renfred.

We sent him into Tekong Campsite early this morning to fulfil his obligation as a male Singaporean. We prayed as a family last night, committing him to the Lord as he serve his country for the next two years. Thank God he has the right spirit and attitude, saying that "since I have to go in, I might as well enjoy and do my best." He called tonight to say that everything is okay and he sounded happy.

A few days ago, a good friend of mine asked how I felt about my only son getting enlisted into the army. I couldn't give her an answer because the reality of Renfred's enlistment has not yet set in. But after last night, I was able to tell my friend that even though I was a bit emotional about it, I had peace as I know God is with Renfred and that God is able to take better care of him that we can.

Our daughter, Eliza and Renfred at the NS recruits' canteen.

Renfred and his platoon mates at the parade square, waiting to "check in" to their bunks.

More Baking Orders :)

A friend recommended my bakes to her contacts and I helped to bake the below three types of desserts for one of their meetings. Lemon Tarts, Banana Walnut Cake and Chocolate Cookies.
They wanted 12 pcs of each type.





I baked the 36pcs of the below Blueberry Banana Muffins last Saturday morning for 3 different groups of people in Church.

This week, someone who has tasted my Banana Walnut Cake, ordered a Blueberry Cheesecake for this morning. I baked it late last night after returning from a children's camp.

Our Church's Youth Camp Committee has ordered 140 pcs of Lemon tarts for next week and I need to bake about 8 recipes. Hope they will turn out well.

Thank God for the baking opportunites given to me thus far. Am excited as I await what the Lord has in store for me :)

Our Healer and His Healing Grace

The below 2 songs; My Healer and Healing Grace are dedicated especially to the ladies in my Bible Study Group who are facing illness not within their control. May our God of all comfort grant you faith to trust in Him and peace from all your anxieties.

HEALER

You hold my every moment

You calm my raging seas

You walk with me through fire

And heal all my disease

Pre-Chorus:

I trust in You

I trust in YouChorus:

I believe You're my Healer

I believe You are all I need

I believe You're my Portion

I believe You're more than enough for me

Jesus You're all I need

Bridge:

Nothing is impossible for You

Nothing is impossible for You

Nothing is impossible for You

You hold my world in Your hands

HEALING GRACE

Merciful God and Father, loving us like no other

Hear our prayer, the cry of our hearts as we come to You

We acknowledge our transgressions

We confess to You our sins

Show us mercy and compassion

Touch our lives with Your healing grace again

Bridge:

Release us from our past as we seek Your face

Wash us free at last,

We receive Your love, we receive Your healing grace

Coffee Macarons with Chocolate Filling

I tried this batch of Coffee Macarons with Chocolate Filling yesterday. This time, I did not use a mixer but instead, I used the egg whisk and I also added some water to the coffee granules. The macarons turned out slightly chewier' than the Chocolate ones I made the day before. My daughter likes it and my husband says it tastes more like macarons now :)


Since we live in Singapore and we can find tropical fruits - how about Macarons with:
* Durian Filling
* Jackfruit Filling
* Mangosteen Filling
* Kaya Filling
* Savory Fillings like curry or ham and cheese ? ;)

Well, just let your imagination run wild and experiment - you might end up with a winner :)

Chocolate Macarons

This is my first try at baking French Macarons. I found this recipe on the website. Even though they are not petite-looking like those colourful ones you see in the shops, I am quite happy with the overall taste and outcome. In fact, they are quite delicious :)

Here's the recipe if you are game to try:

1 cup (100gm) icing sugar
1/2 cup powdered almond
3 tbsp (25gm) cocoa powder

2 egg whites
5 tbsp (65gm) sugar

Preheat oven at 175 degrees C. Line baking tray with parchment paper.
Whisk the egg whites for a while. Add in the sugar and whisk till stiff.
Shift all the dry ingredients. Fold the dry ingredients into egg whites.
Pipe out the combined mixture onto the baking tray and bake for about 15-18 minutes,
Remove them from the oven to cool.

Chocolate Filling:
1/2 cup (125ml) heavy cream
2 tsp light corn syrup
120gm chocolate finely chopped
1 tbsp (15gm) butter

Slightly boil cream with corn syrup. Add chocolate and let it sit.
Stir till smooth and add in butter. Mix well.
Sandwich the chocolate filling between 2 pieces of macarons.
Chill and enjoy :)

Banana Walnut Cake

I love this Banana Walnut Cake - it's simple and really delicious :)

Here's the recipe:
1 cup of mashed bananas
6 oz of butter
6 oz of sugar
8 oz of flour sifted with 1 teaspoon of baking powder
and 1 teaspoon of bicarbonate soda
2 eggs
1 dessertspoon of lemon or lime juice with 2 tablespoons of milk
1 cup of walnuts

1) Preheat oven to 175 degrees C. Grease and line your cake tin.
2) Cream butter with sugar and add egg one at a time.
3) Add milk mixture and bananas into the butter mixture.
4) Fold in the sifted flour and add in half the portion of walnuts.
5) Spread the rest of the walnuts onto of the cake batter and bake
for about 1 hour.

Enjoy :)

American Carrot Cake

A friend ordered this cake for her colleague's birthday. It took me close to 4 hours to bake and decorate this double-layer 10" American Carrot Cake. I use California walnuts and Philadelphia cream cheese on top of other quality ingredients. It was really heavy, rich in ingredients - full of walnuts, pineapple, raisins, etc.



I took a picture of the carrot cake without the cream cheese frosting to show you the amount of ingredients you get in one piece of muffin-sized carrot cake. Baked a dozen of this on Saturday morning for the praiseband this weekend :)

New and Old Covenant

At our Bible Study yesterday, we reviewed the differences in the old and new covenants we have with God. As we take a look at the comparison by colour below based on Heb 10:1-18, Jer 31:31-34 and II Cor 3:2-9, it gives us a better picture of the liberty we have in Christ Jesus:

Old Covenant
* The Law was only a shadow of good things to come.
* Sacrifices offered year by year.
Blood of animals impossible to take away sins.
* The Law given by God to Moses, engraved on tablets of stones (external)
* Heart of stone
* Our adequacy is in ourselves.
* Letter written in ink kills
* Glory seen on Moses that faded away
* Ministry of death (for those who cannot fulfil the Law)
* Ministry of condemnation

New Covenant
* Jesus Christ came into the world. Cross/ Grace
* Jesus Christ sacrificed Himself ONCE for all times
* Law put on the hearts of men (internal) by the Holy Spirit of God Who bears witness to us.
* Heart of flesh
* Our adequacy is in God
* Spirit of the Living God gives life
* Glory in Jesus that remains
* Ministry of life in Christ Jesus
* Ministry of righteousness in Christ Jesus

In Jer 31: 33b,-34 God wants to be our God and to make us His people. From the least to the greatest we will know God and He will forgive our iniquity, our sins He will remember no more! To have an everlasting covenant with God! And He will give us the Holy Spirit as our resident Teacher to help and guide us so that working out the Sermon on the Mount which Jesus taught in Matthew 5 in our daily living is no longer impossible!

Thank you God, for Your unconditional love and amazing grace through Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.



"In Christ alone, will I glory,
Though I could pride myself in battles won.
For I've been blessed beyond measure
And by His strength alone I overcome.
O, I could stop and count successes like diamonds in my hands.
But those trophies could not equal to the grace by which I stand.

Chorus:

In Christ alone, I place my trust
And find my glory in the power of the Cross
In every victory, let it be said of me
My source of strength,
My source of hope
Is Christ alone.

V2
In Christ alone do I glory
For only by His grace I am redeemed
For only His tender mercy
Could reach beyond my weakness to my need
And now I seek no greater honor in just to know Him more
And to count my gains but losses to the glory of my Lord."

I love chocolate, don't you?

My son and I made these Double Chocolate Cookies last Friday. I wanted to give them to a church friend who was going back to the missions field and he wanted to give his secondary one CG boys a treat. So we let our powers combine and the cookies turned out quite well :)



As you can see, these are handmade roti. The ones in the green box have chocolate filling and the ones in the translucent box have chocolate coating. They actually taste the same lah ;) I enjoy trying out different ways of making them.

Kingdom of Heaven

Today at BS we started a new book "Lord, I'm torn between 2 Masters". Sister Mimi took us through the week's lesson by drawing the below picture of the Kingdom of Heaven for us to better visualize for the things that has been fulfiled and what is to come.

I know and often say GOD loves me. Today in class, after looking at the list of events on the picture, I could not hold back my tears of gratefulness for GOD's GREAT and AMAZING LOVE. I was in awe of His Holiness, His Sovereignty, His Patience and His Mercy.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.... then He created man in His image. Because of our SINS He had to send His Son, the LORD JESUS CHRIST, to earth to be crucified for our sins. But due to our stubbornness and hardened hearts, many are not able to see the LIGHT. GOD took all the trouble and steps to bring man to Himself again - through the Tribulation, the Second Coming of JESUS CHRIST, the 1000 years of CHRIST's reign on earth, His Judgment Seat, The Great White Throne Judgment to give mankind the 2nd, 3rd and many, many chances to REPENT and accept HIS LOVE for us so that GOD can dwell amongst man in the New Heaven and New Earth.

Wow, from the beginning to the end it's all about HIS LOVE for us, HIS DESIRE for us to know Him, to have a FATHER-son/daughter relationship with us and to DWELL with us in the New Jerusalem.

Thou art worthy,

Thou art worthy,

Thou art worthy, O Lord

To receive glory,

Glory and honour,

Glory and honour and pow'r

For Thou hast created,

Hast all things created;

Thou has created all things.

And for Thy pleasure they are created;

For Thou art worthy, O Lord.

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Barbados in the Caribbeans

Thank God for the opportunity to visit Barbados a few years back.
My husband hit the sales target and was awarded an incentive trip
to the Caribbeans. Below is the Villa we stayed in. We had a butler
cum chauffeur, a couple of housekeeping maids and a chef who
pampered us with delicious delicacies and various types of rum
cocktail during our week stay there.



We took a bus down town. Found this building and harbour
on our way to Mt Gay Rum factory.

Inside Mt Gay Rum factory. We had dinner in this restaurant
on one of the nights when the Villa staff had their day off.

We also visited the Atlantic Ocean during our stay
in Barbados and took quite a few pictures there.








The above three pictures of the Caribbean Sea
were taken behind the Villa we stayed in.