i thoroughly enjoyed getting to know August and his family (his parents and sister) and learning about how difficult life can be and what strange assumptions we have about a person who is different from the accepted “normal”.
August has a condition which is one in a billion… there is no one else quite like him… and unfortunately for him, his condition leaves him with a face that people stare at, turn away from and make fun of.
Having been home-schooled for all his life, he could hide from people if he chose to. But NOW he is going to a regular school with loads of other kids! At age 10, that is a huge challenge!
As i follow his journey through the school year, it is heart-breaking to see some of the terrible attitudes of some children and even worse to realise they get it from their parents. However, as in every story there are nice characters too. Characters who make me smile and feel that the world isn’t so bad after all.
The best part of it is watching August discover even though there will always be people who will be mean to him just because of a condition he is born with, there will also be people who will be kind and stand up for a friend.
And it isn’t just August’s journey we get to follow, we also get to follow along with his sister, some of his friends from school and even his sister’s boyfriend and best friend.
This multi-perspective way of story-telling gives such a well-rounded look into the life of a boy who is indeed a wonder!
This quote is my favourite in the whole book (there are also many others i like too):
If you want to know kindness in practical ways, have a read. If you would like your children to have an insight into kindness in action and how to treat people who are different, then have them read this book or read it to them.
syc
PS: i have also reviewed another book (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time) about a person who is different intellectually – see here.
… actually i looked back… just a little… to see where this blog has come in the last couple of years. i also had a quick look at the summary of 2013 which WordPress does for me each year (with very nice graphics i might add).
And do you know which posts got the most views? Our All from Asia series, which advocates for families adopting special needs orphans from Asia.
And on March 20th 2013, we got 157 views with the most popular post of that day being ‘Many Hands… We Need…‘ – which is an appeal to help bring 2 very special orphans home.
It is so interesting that many things i had planned for this blog didn’t get published or even written. Instead God took it and made it something which shows His wonderful plans at work.
The highlight for me in 2013 was this post, ‘He and She are Home‘, in which the very first two special needs orphans i prayed and advocated for, arrived safely home with their forever families. Every time i think of them, i smile.
So what would 2014 hold for this blog? i pray that it will be a platform for much more orphan advocacy as well as how it affects our lives to be part of this wonderful work. And to reflect that i have updated our Tripping Along page.
Of course, you will still hear about our daily happenings, our travel, reading and writing adventures.
i would like to start 2014 with this wonderful quote from the book “Wonder” (which i will review in the next post).
Today is the last day of 2013! Thank you for reading and being with us in spirit through 2013.
So here’s our annual summary of the year for us (our Christmas letter)… click on the links to see specific posts about specific events!
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HiHi
How are you? We hope this finds you well and enjoying this Christmas season with family and friends, remembering that it is the Christ who has made celebrating Christmas possible.
2013 has been a year of stepping up to changes.
Sandra is into her second year of advocating and fundraising for special needs orphans. Many of you who are FB friends with her or read our blog would already have heard much about this ministry. Well, the Lord has given her a more focussed area to pray for and work with; Asia. She has been helping to highlight families who are adopting from Asia as well as Asian special needs orphans. This year also saw the first 2 orphans she prayed and advocated for home with forever families and it truly warms the heart and spurs her on to continue, even though there are times when it seems her efforts has made little difference but the Lord knows and the Lord works in His time and in His ways.
She is no longer involved with Day Association for Women as a team member because the Bern team closed this Spring. But she stayed on as a web content update person for the association in general. The weekly BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) in Bern has also closed this June.
Both of which has opened the door and freed up time to pursue yet another orphan related project. Sandra is setting up a social enterprise, selling handmade crafts where 50% of the sale price would go to special needs orphans. The hope is to have the online shop open in early 2014. So stay tune for that news!
Tobias is in the 3rd grade this school year. He has more time in school now, 5 mornings and 3 afternoons. It also means that the work has become more challenging but he still enjoys school and looks forward to going each day.
He continues going for Judo trainings on Mondays with his best friend. And recently took part in his 2nd internal competition. This year there were much tougher opponents, although fewer of them. He still managed a 3rd place and we are very proud of him.
His passion for playing the violin has grown and this year he has been motivated to try songs he has heard, either on the radio or on YouTube. So Sandra spends a fair amount of time searching for scores to certain songs for him to play. They both played in a Christmas recital recently and their teacher has a few more concerts planned in the next few months.
Walter has had to travel quite a lot this year and mostly to different parts in Africa. He came back in November and fell really sick. We thank God that he made a fairly quick recovery after a week of being ill. Just in time to make the trip back to Singapore in the first week of December to help his parents move into a smaller flat. And of course, when he is here, he continues to lead worship at church.
Travels for us this year consist of the usual; our trip to Singapore to see family and friends and enjoy food we miss so much, and our ski trips – this year we did 2 trips instead of 1 week-long one. Which was great as we got to see / experience a new place – Saanenmoser and enjoy an old favourite, Wengen.
We did not do a farmstay this year but did a number of day trips instead during the Autumn school holidays (Week01, Week02, Week03), this enabled Walter to join us on at least one occasion which is great!
Last year we related the sad news that we lost one of our Gerbils, Nox and this year Puddles passed away (likely of old age issues) early November. We were much sadden and had considered for a while whether or not we would have more pets.
We very recently decided, after much persuasion by Tobias, that we would but because of some strict rules here, we found out that actually the cage we have was a bit small for Gerbils and so took a recommendation to adopt some little mice instead. So we welcome Patch, Patches, Ruby and Sam into our home.
Us having fun at the Singapore Discovery Center in July 2013.
Well, that wraps up 2013 for us.
How was the year for you? Do write and let us know.
Wishing you a Blessed Christmas and a Fulfilling 2014,
With love,
walter, sandra and tobias
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As i look forward to 2014, i’m excited to see how the hopes planted in 2013 will come to fruition in 2014.
Hoping that 2014 will be a year filled with much hope and fulfillment!
This book is WONDERFUL!
trippingdifferently 