This has been one unforgettable birthday, my 50th! This birthday has stood out to be one that will be remembered for years to come by the family. Looking back, I am still so stunned.
We all have a tendency to remember what we should forget and forget what we should remember. That's why we need to create the right memories that capture what is most important to our hearts. That is why we need celebrations. It helps us to remember what we should never forget.
And Christina and the two children went through all kinds of inconveniences to keep all the planning and preparation from me for months and then sprung an unforgettable surprise on me in the presence of over a hundred people at the birthday bash on Saturday. And that just did it. It locked into our hearts and minds a new series of memories of things we should never forget as a family.
Jesus asked the disciples an interesting question in Matthew 16:9: "Don't you remember the five loaves of bread and the five thousand people, and how many baskets of leftovers you filled?" He gave them a memory with that miracle so that they never forget! It was out of the ordinary. It was loud. It was big. It pointed to the giving nature of God, the mercies of the Lord. It was a celebration of God’s abundance. What happened that day amidst the hungry crowd over the hill slope was meant to be translated from short-term memory into long-term memory!
Thea made a sudden surprise appearance at the 50th Birthday party on Saturday. She had left Leuven in Belgium on Thursday, had to make three train transfers to get to London and then flew 13 hours, arriving in Singapore on Friday evening. To keep everything under wraps she spent the night on Friday at a friend’s house and when I got to the party on Saturday, she hid herself in the toilet so that I will really be surprised. She took that much pains to make space in my mind for long-term memory, notwithstanding the number of “lies” she and the family had to tell me about her whereabouts during those hours that she was ‘uncontactable’ because she was travelling!
I suppose only extreme love can drive a family to such an extent. This birthday party was detailed in extreme love. Christina had been working on it for months (behind my back!) to make this happen. Reuben had to skip classes and spent sleepless nights putting together the videos and the audios for the event. It takes awesome diligence, dedication and drive to perfect an event like that and I am still floored by the devotion my family blessed me with this 50th birthday.
Christina, Thea and Reuben made sure that I never forget what I should always remember – family is first after God and love, loyalty and laughter are worth a thousand celebrations! And that the foundations in values we have laid down for the family through the years; the traditions that we had carefully preserved to mark the different milestone transitions of our lives and the gratitude we feel together over the faithfulness and the mercies of our God, all converged at my 50th birthday bash, making it a celebration none of us in the family will ever forget!
C.S Lewis said, "We need to be reminded more than instructed." How true. One of the primary responsibilities of parents is helping their children and children’s children remember what they should not forget. It's telling the stories of God's faithfulness and mercies through intentional celebrations, over and over and over again. The psalmist vowed,
Thank you so much Hon, Thea and Reuben, for carving out another series of memories for the history of our family legacy!
