I stood, stunned.
I didn’t even know the gift sender.
Before me, lay a box of personally curated Chinese books for our family.
We had been through multiple moves over 4 countries- nearly homeless every time. By the time we’d returned to Singapore, I was exhausted.
With me working full time to complete my bond as a doctor then, and cooking all meals due to my firstborn’s eczema, I had little time for much else. When we decided to homeschool our toddlers, I knew I’d little left in my tank.
A mum who heard of my return from a friend of a friend who’d recognized me in a playground jumped into gifting us a heartfelt collection of Chinese books because “I have been a follower of your blog for many years.”😭
How’d she know I valued bilingual education? How’d she know I’d no time to shop? How’d she know this job was mine since Cliff doesn’t know mandarin?
Only God knew.
Tears come to my eyes when I think of how God placed a burden on a stranger to gift these to us, through 2 other strangers.🥹
My firstborn is 5, and only now, after years of what felt like Chinese monologues with myself, has she finally started speaking in mandarin naturally. From the days SF protested when I read in Chinese, she now tells me after breakfast, “妈妈，读！”
Do you, like me, struggle with your child not speaking their mother tongue? Are you anxious for being unable to afford Chinese enrichment classes? If you, like me, have a simple grasp of mandarin (even if rusty!), I’m learning- that what makes our littles enjoy Chinese is snuggling on the sofa daily, consistently, and learning together.
Only much later, I discovered this special mum I never met is the curator behind @thestorytreasury. How touched I was that God chose her to bless us.❤️
As these books, curated with love, have touched our lives, we’ve gifted three $50-vouchers to 3 families to enjoy over the hols.
*Here’re some of my fav picks-sadly the Bible & Devo are out of print.
**This giveaway has ended but we would love to do more again. Feel free to join us on IG @tamwaijia where we can continue growing a community of blessers to gift gifts that keep on giving!