Contributed by Adeline Ting • Jul 29, 2025
We are a small nuclear family; my husband, my son and myself. Our journey in DUMC began as a family, moving from a different church to enable our son to join the Children’s Church (CC). DUMC, being a much bigger church, was easy for us to get lost among the sea of people, so we joined a CG rather promptly to stay connected to the church community. My husband, who has always been serving in a ministry, took to the idea of serving God together as a family like fish to water. He joined the worship/musician team in CC and adapted very quickly. He encouraged me to serve in CC too. But, alas, I am no musician nor a patient teacher for under 12s, so was pretty much ineffective in that ministry. So, for a good 2-3 years or so, my husband was the only one in the family serving in a ministry. Until one fine day, someone helped pass information on the writing group to him. It was God’s plan that not long after, I found myself penning thoughts, no longer for my own reading, but for others too.
And in between, we encourage our introverted son to be involved in his own way to serve God as much as possible too. He started with the Dreamkidz Choir, then to the intergenerational Christmas production in 2019, to voice-overs and videos for CC and Christmas productions during the Covid period, and thereafter to the 140 years MCM choir. We are grateful for the many opportunities, tutelage and support rendered by the amazing people he had had the privilege to learn from. And last year, we were finally able to do something together as a family, as the Christmas carolling team.
Reflecting on this, we, as a family, are eternally grateful for God’s grace and blessings to our family. Nevertheless, we have had our share of ups and downs, within our own family, as well as with our extended, CG, ministry and church families. We have learnt that this usually happens when families lose sight of the God-centred vision, or when self-centredness seeps in. Sometimes, as families grow too familiar with each other, it is easy to take one another for granted. Forgetting birthdays, smaller cliques within groups, favouritism, envy, are just a few common pitfalls that can affect families and consequently their relationship with God.
But through it all, we have also experienced that God’s love can overcome all. We remind ourselves that our God-centred family vision is to serve God in every opportunity according to the gifts that God has blessed us with. Our household will continue to serve the Lord, despite the many distractions and challenges. We have indeed grown much over the years, individually and as a family. We hope to continue to serve either as individuals or as a family whenever possible. We are also inspired by others whom we met; who serve as a family either in CC, community outreach projects, Boys Brigade, Food Bank, among others. We will make a conscious decision to be intentional to love, serve and glorify Him in the way we live.