mum just ordered cable tv. must admit its rather addictive. must control myself.
everything is permissible for me - but i will not mastered by anything 1 Cor 6:12
but anw, i was toggling between two channels - BBC news and Discovery though i watched 30 mins of spongebob.

BBC news had this: 53 deaths due to Hurricane Katrina
what really saddened me was not the footage on the devastated landscape but this man who told abt what happened when the hurricane struck his house. his wife said to him "you cant hold me any longer, you cant. take good care of the kids" after which she was swept away along with half of the house they were in. he couldnt find her body after the hurricane left the area. stranded and lost, he plead - in front of the camera and the children his wife left him with.
well, he was a strong able bodied man. it must have took all of his strength and might to keep his wife with him. some how when he told his story, i felt so deeply for him. and then i saw the children. have you ever seen ur dad cry and plead for help in front of you. we are just so protected and sometimes i wonder, if anything close to a natural disaster hit us, would Singaporeans be able to take it. emotionally and economically.
the generation that built the nation from the 60s has passed. this is a new generation that has every been protected and shielded in most every aspect.

Discovery had the exact oppostite: documentary on a handful of births in 9 different countries - UK, US, China, Ethiopia, Paris, India etc
2 chinese couples were featured.
one was blessed with a smooth labour, and a son. they can only have one kid so having a son was more than anything to the families.
the other couple had TWIN BOYS. sounds great isnt it? but the boys were under grave danger. and the couple spent all their live savings to move them to an ICU ward, paying only a portion of the initial costs. the nurses were first concerned abt the money the father has to pay before she moved them to the ICU ward. but the father said "i will pay what ever it takes to get my children treatment" and so the nurses let him through (with verification of the couple's jobs and their ability to pay the outstanding amt of course)

Ethiopia. a lady who lost her husband 5 months ago and endured many tragic events during her pregnancy gave birth to a child. nurses had problems calming her down. for the grief of her husbands death was weighing her down. her son's arrival reminds her of her beloved's departure. now she had to raise her son, alone, somehow.

but all the stories ended well, not all were perfect but it had one thing: hope which was in life. with life comes hope and without it all is lost. brings me back thinking abt the euthanasia and right to die stuff. there was no hope in the case of Katrina. for the search of the body only allows consolation and the path ahead stays the same for the family. a life without the deceased is unchangable.
but though many babies were born with different fates, different status, and some even with difficulties already set ahead..there was a chance.. there was a hope that things could be for the better.

with life comes hope.