Life and the Element

Long overdue update on our lives.

Angel and I are cruising along, and despite some hiccups here and there, we are, for the most part managing well (I hope). I suppose it is all thanks to God for providing us with just what we needed, just at the right time.

A big influence on our lives recently has been this book by Ken Robinson. The title is "The Element - How finding your passion changes everything." Some of you might remember Mr Robinson from his TED talk on creativity in schools and the education system in general. The book is an expanded version of the speech he gave for TED.

I strongly suggest you at least listen to the talk here, especially if you are an educator in any capacity. Especially relevant since the lecture title is" Do Schools Kill Creativity?"

A Tribute to Slimey

This was in our draft since eons ago.. but here it is:

Not too long ago, Matt found a snail in his house garden.

If you don't already know, Matt loves animals.. but especially the reptilian, amphibian, insect looking type. He once contemplated on stopping the car at the expressway just so he can carry a turtle who was on the expressway to a safe place away from the traffic. Nevermind his own safey eh?

What made the snail, (which we affectionately named "Slimey") really outstanding was that he was recognisable. He had a little chip in his shell at the top, which said he had been through something. If anything it gave him a bit of character. Night after night he would come back to the EXACT SAME spot to have his dinner. The mystery as to where he went during the day was soon solved as Matt found out he Slimey had been retiring to a well hidden little spot inside an unused flower pot (affectionately named "Slimey's hovel"). Very clever indeed.

Soon Slimely became a part of our lives and our conversation each night would begin with, "Did you see Slimey today? What was he/she doing? (Snails are both male and female)" On nights when Slimely didn't show up, we would get really anxious and think of the worse but sure enough he would show up the next day.

As we observed Slimely more and more, we began to appreciate how happy he was just doing the same routine day after day. How he took the time to enjoy his meals, his slooooowwww walks, his nap time and just life in general. During this time when we discovered Slimely, we were going through so much changes in life and so had so much to do and worry about. But the thought of how God took care of him day after day was reassuring. Even more so, he was thriving and I bet he didn't worry. God took care of Slimey's every need and Slimey glorified God by being what he was created to be. What more us?

Slimey passed on.. won't go into the details. We miss him/her very much but we are thankful for God opening our eyes to the lesson of providence. Next time don't just take time to smell the roses, take time to observe a snail =)