Trip to North America 27Mar - 10Apr (IV) - Washington D.C.

When I booked the land tour for Washington D.C., all we wanted was a decent hotel near a subway. We got to stay at the Hilton near the Dupont Circle station. The Dupont Circle is pretty far underground and it's a loooong escalator ride up or down.

And when I booked the tour, I didn't even know that it was to be the Cherry Blossoms Festival then. So God blessed us with something we didn't ask for, something that tourists would specially plan for. We took in the sight of the cherry blossoms around the Tidal Basin along with the throngs of visitors through various means - via a river cruise, a guided trolley tour and a duck tour.

While in Washington D.C., we saw many of the iconic buildings, including the National Mall, the Lincoln Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, the Union Station and the National Cathedral in Georgetown.

We went to the one and only Spy Museum in the world and we also went to Madame Tussauds and met Obama in wax :) and also the Postal Museum.

Lesson learnt: God gives good gifts

God loves us and He wants to give us good gifts. On this visit to Washington D.C, i realised that once again, God gave us more than what we asked for.

For example, the hotel that we stayed at is near the Embassy Row and we walked around the area by foot, we found a farmer's market near the Dupont Circle Station and had Morton's of Chicago's steak and ate the famous Potbelly sandwiches and we also went to church on Palm Sunday - the St Margaret's Anglican Church near the hotel!

And the event that capped it all at Washington D.C. is missing our scheduled duck tour by a few minutes due to the bad traffic conditions caused by the crowds and we were sorely disappointed.

The next day, we happened to be at the Main Office of the Duck Tour Company and I explained to the lady on duty how we missed our duck tour the previous day and she told me that they had just opened a new tour at 4pm that day and asked if we would like to be on it. And we were the first two passengers booked for that tour! What can I say?

God is really good!

Trip to North America 27 Mar-10 Apr (III)- Toronto

The original intention of this trip was to visit Cindy in Toronto but in all I spent only 3 nights with her. Despite the short time, it was a good trip to meet up with a special friend, a mentor.

Cindy specially took leave on Thu 2 Apr and drove us to Waterloo where we met Melody for dinner. Enroute we stopped by a mall and I bought a pair of Levi's jeans, a pair of Liz Clairborne pants and a pair of Naturalizer shoes. We also stopped by a quaint Memmonite town, St Jacobs.

Key lesson learnt: Surrender

On 3 Apr, our second and final day in Toronto, as Cindy had to work, we met Felicia's friend, Julie, who was supposed to take us around Toronto. As she was inappropriately dressed for the wet weather with her young son in tow, she invited us to her apartment instead. I must confess that I was rather reluctant to do that in my heart as I was set on visiting Casa Loma. However, as I knew that God had ordered our steps for the day, I surrendered my will to His will and our visit ministered greatly to Julie. And God still blessed us with a visit to Casa Loma.

Trip to North America 27 Mar-10 Apr (II) - Niagara Falls

From NYC we took the Amtrak from Penn Station to Niagara Falls, Ontario.

After we got off the train we walked to our B & B place, Always Inn - a quaint little Victorian-style house that is more than a hundred years old. We stayed in a lovely pink room and the hostess, Sharon, ensured that our stay was cosy.

Niagara Falls is the highlight of this entire trip - I just couldn't get enough of its awesomeness. God's creation is absolutely marvellous.

Before I even caught sight of it the first evening we arrived. I could see some smoke-like thing in the distance - it's the mist created by the waters roaring down. And the first sight of the falls in the golden evening sun is beyond description.

And as it was early Spring, there wasn't many people around and it felt like I owned the falls. I saw it from a distance, from behind it, from above it...

Lessons learnt:

1. To be available

On the 9-hour train ride, I got to know this lady of Jamaican origin - Shirley. We made friends and I found out that she was actually brooding over the fact that she had just visited her elder sister who is stricken by stroke in Philly. She said she was glad that she had someone to talk to and it seemed that God had sent me to her. In my heart, I was thinking - Wow! I was an instrument used by God to cheer a stranger up.

2. To see God in nature and marvel at His works and His love for us

You have to see the Niagara Falls for yourself. God is amazing - the Niagara Falls is just one of God's many creations. It can't happen by chance. Something as gorgeous as this must have a creator. And the incredible thing about the Falls is that it still thunders through the seasons and even though it's really extremely cold and there's ice.

I'm reminded of Psalm 8:3-4a and how God must really love us...

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that you are mindful of him, ...

Trip to North America 27 Mar - 10 Apr (I) - NYC

It's really interesting how this trip came about.

I've been thinking of visiting Cindy in Toronto and was looking for a travelling companion and I was thinking if I were to travel to Toronto, I'd like to make a trip to New York. And I did ask a few people but the timing was not good for them.

I happened to meet Beng Geok at one of our gatherings and I mentioned my travelling plans to her and guess what? She said that she was hoping to visit her friend, Pearly, in New York and wouldn't mind going to Toronto and that she was praying for a travelling companion. And ... her schedule fitted mine perfectly and so off we went!

We did the usual touristy things - visited the Metropolitan Museum, Guggenheim, Central Park, shopped at Macy's, watched a broadway musical - Mary Poppins, went to Times Square, Rockfeller Centre, Wall Street, saw Ground Zero, Brooklyn Bridge, the Empire State Building, and the Statue of Liberty...

But God is good and His fatihfulness was evident in New York ...

(1) during the first weekend we were in NYC, He led us to the Park Avenue United Methodist Church. We were wondering where we could find a church to attend Sunday service and we literally walked right into one, just a minute or so before the service... and I was greatly encouraged to find out about the missions work they are doing in Chile.

(2) and during the last few days of the trip when we returned to NYC, He knew my heart's desire and caused it to snow lightly for maybe a minute or two near Ground Zero though it's was already the first week of April and it didn't even snow in Toronto. :)

Eastertide

The Easter season, also known as the Great Fifty Days, begins at sunset Easter eve and continues through the Day of Pentecost. It is the most joyous celebrative season of the Christian year. It foucses on Christ's resurrection, ascension and on the givings of the Holy Spirit on the first Easter (John 20:22-23) and the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2).

The ancient Christian name of the festival "Pasch", derived from the Hebrew "pesah" (deliverance pr passover), thus connecting the Resurrection to the Exodus. The origin of the English word "Easter" is disputed but may have come from the Anglo-Saxon spring goddess Eastre and her festival.

The liturgical colour for this season is while - symbolising purity and celebration.