My early days of motherhood coincided with the pandemic, making it a very special time indeed
Hello friend,
It’s the second edition of my rebranded newsletter, and I thought it would be the perfect time to tell a little bit of my story.
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I have a superpower: doing well at major exams. As a result, in our achievement-oriented culture in Singapore, I “did well”. I followed a “good path”, went to “good schools”, and got a “good degree”. Through my years in the workplace, I grew as a person and a professional. I gained skills and knowledge that made me good at my job.
And yet, I could not foresee how much life would change once I became a mother.
It wasn’t just about the physical exhaustion of sleep deprivation — to be honest, I did longer hours at work — nor the constancy of physical needs to be met, at least not in and of itself. It was something much quieter.
There was this nagging feeling of being pulled in multiple directions, at all times: the greatness of the task to which I was called (being raising children), against the smallness of the practical tasks it took to get there (washing bums, cleaning snot, and so on), alongside the demands of the track I was on (growing in my career).
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The crucible of early motherhood forced me admit that despite what the world told me, I could not be all the things. In fact, the limitations of my human frailty were set before my eyes so often, that I finally began to understand what it might mean to die to self and take up my cross daily (Luke 9:23, Galatians 2:20) because I simply did not have what it took.
It was sometime in these days (who knows exactly when, early motherhood is all a bleary mess) that my thoughts were directed to a bunch of ideas I had heard of in years past, but never fully grasped: dualism, coram Deo, integral missions, and the like. The common thread in all of these is an underlying understanding that all of life is under the Lordship of Christ; there is no divide between that which is “sacred” and that which is “secular”. When I box God into a container labelled “Sunday morning”, I lose out on seeing how faith is relevant to my everyday life, and I become selfishly concerned about my Ticket to Heaven more than the Kingdom of God.
It was also around this time that I started to read more about an educational philosopher of the Victorian English era known as Charlotte Mason. Her philosophy of education helped me to see what it might look like if faith were applied to all of a child’s life — a beautiful picture I cannot forget.
I started to see my every ordinary moment as being something that counted toward eternity. Something that the almighty God was concerned about. Something that I could live out as worship to the King. And oh, my friend, that is when I experienced the joy and freedom of surrendering all that I cannot to the One who can!
And so, I could not help but to talk about these ideas to anyone who would want to listen.
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A turning point came when a friend innocently asked, “it all sounds so inspiring, but why don’t more people know about it?” which sparked a “yeah, why don’t they?” in me. They should!
I started to be intentional about sharing these inspiring ideas to a wider audience beyond my immediate circles, first on Instagram @atthechias and then through a book club I organised for young mothers.
This soon led to the formation of the first group of women in The Ordinary Matters.
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Since then, I’ve learnt that there are many who, like me, desire to navigate today’s world through the lens of the gospel, holding true to the ancient truths while applying them to contemporary context. We want to make our ordinary days count, to push against the narrative that our worth is valued by the dollars we bring in, and that children are to be raised to become utilitarian cogs of society.
The journey has been nothing short of amazing. And it’s barely even started.
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So I thank you, dear newsletter subscriber, for being a part of this.
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The doors to The Ordinary Matters community membership are open today (early access for you!), until Friday 21 Mar 2025.
If someone you know might benefit from this, would you please forward this newsletter to them?
Or, reply this email and ask me a question!
Soli Deo Gloria,
P.S. If you’re just here for the newsletter, don’t worry, I’m still going to be sending these out for free. Because we all need inspiring ideas. And I’m thankful that my paid work on other fronts helps to make this happen!
From my commonplace
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Here on the mountain, the air is clear and your mind is clear; as you drop down into Narnia, the air will thicken. Take great care that it does not confuse your mind. And the signs which you have learned here will not look at all as you expect them to look, when you meet them there. That is why it is so important to know them by heart and pay no attention to appearances. Nothing else mattters.
– CS Lewis, The Silver Chair
On the blog
If you're wondering about how spiritual formation in the toddler years can look like, check out this post about our morning routine with toddlers when the kids were younger.
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