Off to see the Kangaroos, Wombats n Penguins!!

The day has come, I'm flying awayyyyy to Sydney and Melbourne. :) Finally finished packing, had to do it twice...cos the first time, all my stuff wouldn't fit in the smaller luggage. I also dun understand why my bag is always exploding when I travel. Seriously, I've tried to cut down oredi. I TRIED!!! It's been a bit of mad last min rush getting all prepared for the trip...with work to clear, errands to run, stuff to buy, and itineraries to plan. But now that its all cleared, the gals n I are determined to HAVE FUN!! (yes, even with a crazy plan to drive 12 hrs from Sydney to Melb n back.)

I had a 'last supper' (or rather dinner) of sorts with the BMI gals today (we're weirdly attached to each other). And of course, I had to have my Tom Yum Ramen before I leave. :p Berno was so sweet lah....she left that note saying "Wii will miss you...." with Wii, the unicorn, I gave her for Christmas, AND a little pressie of mentos wrapped in yellow smiley faces. The funny thing was just a few mins earlier, I had bought my own share of mentos to bring to Aussieland! Yes, I can't function well without my mints, and Berno knows me so well. Heh! I also passed Mumble, Cokehead and Poof, the dragon over to her, so that she can take care of them while I am away. haha!

Thanks everyone for your outpouring of sweet messages, wishes, and offers of prayer (pls continue to pray for journey mercies)! I'll definitely miss you fwens when I'm gone. :) My phone is on auto-roaming, so I'm still contactable. Feel free to send me smses!! Wld love to hear from you from Down Under. I may not always reply though, cos u know how ex it is. heh!

Muffin Boy and Abi (Dark green and green fwen): Have a rockin' time at the Switchfoot concert! Buy me a nice t-shirt k? :)

Shirley: Thanks for taking over 'mummy duties while I'm away. hehe! Remember to wake Muffy up at 9.15am for Sun svce. teehee!

Pink and Yellow Fwen: Meet up with each other while I'm away!! :) Thanks for your book and mentos! heh! I will miss talking to both of u. What wld I do without u in my life?

Striped Fwen: Enjoy your emo Damien Rice music in Malacca! Mebbe I'll msg u from the Blue Mts. :p And thanks for the map, travel tips (REMEMBER TREES!), and the moleskine!

Darkred Fwen: Thank u, thank u, and thank u for always pwaying. :) Take care of my Boo Fwen too while I'm gone.


Alritey folks, the purply fwen is leaving on a jet plane! Oh, I hope I'll bump into Marty Sampson! hahaha! Anyway, have a fun CNY holiday, be good, go to church, take care, I love ya! :) I'll see you all after the 10 Feb (Sun).

Learning how to pray

Ps Benny Ho came to preach at Riverlife last Sun..teaching us how to integrate theology (essentially the study of who God is) & prayer. It was a very enlightening sermon indeed...much needed message too. It was a timely reminder for me to remember God's character when I pray....that He is sovereign and in control, faithful to His promises, and that I can trust Him to rescue me. It sounds plain obvious I know....but that perspective has really changed the way I pray now.

This is the verse of the moment for me...as I sail on this ship, and wait for the fog to clear.

"We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you."- 2 Chronicles 20: 12

Vague and Duh

The things my fwens say sometimes really crack me up....:)

In Jason's car:
=============
Mich: Abi, where should we park? (we're not exactly familiar with the boat quay area)
Abi: *very slowly* Ermmm.....CARR-PARKK??
Mich: What the??

In the BMI office:
===============
Abi: I'm going to cut my hair after work.
Mich: Oh where?
Abi: Errr...TOWN??
Mich: What's with the vague answers?? (I was expecting the name of the Hair Salon)

Over msn:
=========
Desmond: I highlighted my hair!
Mich: Oh cool! Where? (once again, expecting the name of the Hair Salon)
Desmond: Head.
Mich: ?!?!?! [obviously lah!!!! er duh!]

Over dinner discussing places to visit in Sydney:
=====================================
Mich: So do you think I should go visit the Sydney Fish Mkt?
Glenn: Err...smells of fish.
Mich: Err yeahh....it IS a fish mkt u know.

Glenn: You should visit the Botanic Gdns.
Mich: Oh yeah?
Glenn: Yeah, its quite nice. Lots of trees.
Mich: .....

How to make your colleague happy! :)

On msn earlier:
==================
Mich: Abiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!
Abi: Yesssssssss?? I put Cookie Crisps on your desk. (its this Nestle cereal that is shaped like mini cookies. very cute!)
Mich: *ultra excited* YOU ROCKKKKK!!!! The cereal one??
Abi: Yes...REALLY.

Cookie Crisp Heaven. Yum yumsss. :)

It's in the little things... :)

How to make your teacher happy:
================================
[Tues evening...my vocal class noisily makes their way out of the classroom after a fun lesson. J.N, around 20 yrs old, lingers behind and then walks to my white board.]
Mich: *puzzled* Hey J.N, what are you doing?
J.N: *smiles and then proceeds to wipe my board for me*
Mich & the rest of the class: Awwwwwwwww!! :)
(seriously, that boy melted my heart. so sweet rite?)

How to make your teacher laugh:
================================
[Thur evening....vocal class has ended. Mich is staying behind in the classroom to jam with Glenn.]
J.E (a cool dude around 18 yrs old): *walks in* I'm bored! (he's waiting for his next guitar class)
Mich: Oh come in, and join us! :)
J.E: *looks a bit sheepish* Err....I was in your other vocal studio, and I was tuning the guitar when the strings snapped.
Mich: HUH?? Ok, bring it to the counter and they'll fix it. *tries to contain laughter*

"Baby, it's alright"

Check this out....the number of songs that have the same theme (and I'm sure there are lots more out there). :)Really says something about the universal human condition eh?

===================================================================

"Every little thing's gonna be alright..."- Delirious?

"If I could just see You
Everything would be alright
If I could see You
This darkness would turn to light"- 'Storm' by Lifehouse

"When I'm reaching from the shadows
With my back against the wall
I can hear your voice in the darkness say
'Baby it's alright, baby it's alright'"- 'Baby, it's alright' by Incognito

"I'm on my way, I'm on my way...
There seems to be no end in sight,
but I know I'll be alright."- 'On my way' by Corrinne May

"Just breathe, and every little thing will be alright"- 'Inhale' by Marty Sampson

===================================================================

Abi: *rambling/ stressing out over something on msn*
Mich: It's gonna be ok. Remember, Marty said "just breathe...and every little thing will be alright"!
Abi: But I'm breathing....and I'm still not alright!!!

[hahaha! Sorry...just a bit of comic relief]

Lifesongs

For the first time in years, I woke up at 6am. :)
I was on for choir duty in church, as part of my in-training for the vocalist ministry.
Sleepy and groggy, I made my commute down to church,
and the morning air was strangely refreshing.
(Strange, because I hardly ever get to experience that part of the day. haha!)

At the interchange, I bumped into Clara, an NTU student and the newest member of the choir.
It was a nice, easy chat as we made our way to church together.
In the chapel, we were greeted by more sleepy peepers, which was quite funny.
Instead of starting off us with the usual warm-up exercises,
Karen, the choir director got us to pair up to share and pray for each other.
I really liked that, and enjoyed my little time with Auntie Velina, this very dynamic lady who shared warmly about her family of 3 kids. :) Doing life together is so important.

In fact, the whole day was scattered with short, but lovely conversations with different members of the choir. Some were freshies like Clara, but some were 'old' pioneers from the first batch (*respect*) like Uncle Leslie, who really made me feel welcome. He's moving on to serve in the children's ministry soon though...as God is leading him there. :) What a wonderful heart! There was also Su-Lynn, a humble and gregarious lady who was serving in the choir with her teenage daughter! Isn't that beautiful??

Singing on stage in church again for the first time in years was truly awesome and fun....
I felt so richly blessed, but it's hearing the life stories of all the individuals that make up the choir, or rather this body of Christ that warmed my heart. Thanks Andrea for the opportunity! :) I hope I continue to fall in love with His church...

On Forgiveness...

"God has a big eraser."- Billy Zeoli

"Not all who wander are lost..."

My times are in Your hands God,
I commit my plans to You.
Illumine my path Lord,
I trust that You have a plan to make all this right,
I trust in Your heart.

For there is always hope...

"All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed again shall be the blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king." - J.R.R Tolkien

" Adversity is the first path to truth" - Lord Byron

Excite my heart O Lord...

"You are my strength
Strength like no other
Strength like no other
Reaches to me."
- 'You are my Strength' by Reuben Morgan

I almost didn't make it for service @ Riverlife Church this week cos I was so tired. But Senior Pastor Vincent was sharing the church vision for 2008, so I thought I'd better go as it would be important. I wasn't sorry at all for wiping the sleep out of my eyes, and making the trip down. :)

It was a combined service today with the English Adult, Mandarin/Dialect, and Youth congregations etc gathering as one. There was something electric in the atmosphere...and it was just a beautiful scene. This IS the church....people of different language groups, backgrounds, age groups. I saw families with old grandparents and young toddlers, children sitting all together....and it just warmed my heart. :) I love that about Riverlife Church...it's just so real, so all embracing of different people.

I think Muffin Boy and I were incredibly blessed, recharged and positively excited after Pastor Vincent shared about how 2008 would be a year for us to "Strengthen our Core". It's gonna be an incredible year as we trust God for exponential growth, breakthrough in our worship, and further maturity and depth in our faith. Pastor Vincent called on the church to pray like never before (a burden that God has placed upon my heart since the end of 2007 too!), to grow in our devotion to Christ, and to live out our church core values. We're gonna have to unite as one to breakthrough...but boy, am I excited! :)

Muffy and I were sharing about how wonderful it feels to be able to resonate and flow with the church vision, heartbeat & culture. At the end of service, there was an amazing testimony by a married couple about how their whole extended family came to accept Christ over time, and how they were all attending & serving faithfully in Riverlife Church. In fact, the WHOLE extended family stood on the stage with grandparents, babies, children n all. That family was a living miracle to us....proof of how God can indeed turn the hearts of men towards Himself, we just have to take that small step of faith. Wow!

During the closing prayer, Pastor Vincent prayed this, and it moved me to tears....
"Excite our hearts with the things that excite Yours God!" I thought, "Wow, this church has really got it right!" But if you let it sink in...it's actually rather scary to pray that. Cos if you mean it, you can expect God to take you out of your comfort zones. :) And well, let's face it....love, REAL love is not convenient.

But I really want to love Him more than this...and lay down my life for this cause. I know perfectly well how flawed and selfish I can be.....and that I may stumble along the way....but God keep leading me to Your heart...step by step, to Your beautiful heart.

"Holy Discontent"

"Lack of vision is a dangerous thing."- 'Dream' by Tuck & Patti

I've been eyeing this book for some time, "Holy Discontent" by Bill Hybels, Senior Pastor of Willow Creek Community Church. I thought the title was rather interesting too. So today, after a really inspiring service about the church's vision for the year, I finally went out and bought it. (And don't yell at me about hoarding books, I'm seriously about to finish my latest acquisition, 'Blue like Jazz" by Donald Miller.) Read the book description and see if it captures your interest too. Basically, it's one of those 'change the world' books. :)

And I'm going to say it again....I LOVE MY BOOKS! :) Hee!

"What is the one aspect of this broken world that, when you see it, touch it, get near it, you just can't stand? Very likely, that firestorm of frustration reflects your holy discontent, a reality so troubling that you are thrust off the couch and into the game. It's during these defining times when your eyes open to the needs surrounding you and your heart hungers to respond that you hear God say, "I feel the same way about this problem. Now, let's go solve it together!"

Bill Hybels invites you to consider the dramatic impact your life will have when you allow your holy discontent to fuel instead of frustrate you. Using examples from the Bible, his own life, and the experiences of others, Hybels shows how you can find and feed your personal area of holy discontent, fight for it when things get risky, and follow it when it takes a mid-course turn. As you live from the energy of your holy discontent, you'll fulfill your role in setting what is wrong in this world right!"

Muffin @ the Library

After service and lunch at White Sands, Muffin Boy and I wandered into the Pasir Ris Community Library. Look what Muffy stumbled upon! A cookbook full of recipes for Muffins! It's a sign!! haha! Perfect timing, just as I was 'chiding' Muffy for never buying us muffins in the first place...quite ironic considering his nickname.

Muffin Heaven!

Blueberry Maple Muffins! The recipe that we fell in love with. Now we just need to invade someone's house to bake them...so who has a good oven?? [Muffy did borrow that book in the end, in case you're wondering. :p]

In You

There are frustrating times when people around you just fail to get you or worse still, totally misunderstand you.....even close friends who've known you for years. But thankfully, there's always God who reads our hearts and knows us through and through.

"The Lord has promised good to me
His Word, my hope secures
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow
The sun forbear to shine
But God who called me here below
Will be forever mine
Will be forever mine
You are forever mine."
- 'Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)' by Chris Tomlin & Louie Giglio

Books Actually

"I never liked jazz music because jazz music doesn't resolve. But I was outside Bagdad Theater in Portland one night when I saw a man playing the saxophone. I stood there for fifteen minutes, and he never opened his eyes.

After that I liked jazz music.

Sometimes you have to watch somebody love something before you love it yourself. It is as if they are showing you the way.

I used to not like God because God didn't resolve. But that was before any of this happened."
- 'Blue like Jazz' by Donald Miller

Michelle is very excited...she just bought a new Donald Miller book, "Blue Like Jazz". She's looking forward to plunge right into it and let his breathtaking prose blow her away. :)
Term has started but it seems like my appetite for reading hasn't been satiated yet. Two books which I've recently completed are "Captivating- Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman's Soul" by John and Stasi Eldredge, and "Wild at Heart- Discovering the Secret of a Man's Soul" by John Eldredge.



Reviews of the 2 books will reveal that people tend to either love or hate them. So far, I haven't found any Christian literature for women appealing or impactful at all. They tend to be too unfocussed or emotional and yeah, just plain annoying or cheesy. haha! Yeah, so I was pleasantly surprised by "Captivating" and "Wild at Heart" (the male version). [Thanks Jason for the recommendation!] I personally think that the books were very insightful, inspiring and healing. Basically, they're a must read for everyone. :) It lends one more self-awareness and also helps us to understand and relate better to people in general. And that's always helpful isn't it? Plus they're really easy to read (I finished "Captivating" in two sittings).

So give these books a read! They really made my heart come alive once again. :) God has indeed planted certain desires and passions in our hearts for a reason. Alritey....I'm going to head back to them books now....they're my good fwens!! :)

Annoyed

I don't get it. Instead of nit-picking/ micro-examining people's flaws, and waiting for them to screw up....shouldn't we be trying to bring out the best in each other instead???
Nobody's perfect afterall. But we can all be better people with the right inspiration.

I echo what Abi said in her recent blog entry....
"Be the change you want to see in the world".

Chasing Daylight

"You must live in the present,
launch yourself on every wave,
find your eternity in each moment."
- Henry David Thoreau

The Many Facests of Abi

I couldn't resist taking this pic of Abi using the spacey, retarded looking head set while chatting on Skype in the office. She was talking to the boss who's currently in U.S.

Abi shows her obvious displeasure at being snapped at. haha!

Abi...Trolley Girl?? Yes, she is actually sitting on a trolley and reading her book..the weird things we do in the office. haha!

Random Ramblings

1) I can't believe Audrey and I ate twice at Thai Express today...for both our lunch and dinner. Of course we made sure we went to different branches to avoid embarrassment....and yes, we have the Thai Express card. :p We have a serious Tom Yum soup and chilli padi addiction. We requested for 2 extra servings of chilli sauce to go with our food too. And I don't think I'm sick of Thai Express yet. haha!

2) Term break is almost over....my days of sleeping obscene hours, reading voraciously and watching "Gilmore Girls" dvds for hours are coming to an end. I shall miss the reading the most methinks. :)

The start of a new term is always jittery....I hope the first week of term won't be too insane. On the brightside, I'm looking forward to having 3 fwens taking classes in BMI this term...Jason (Berno's keyboard class), Audrey & Glenn. Ok...I'm actually quite nervous abt Glenn being in my class, cos he's become a fwen, I dunno how to treat him like a student again. And he swears that he's going to be a riot and make me laugh in class. So how?

3) I'm counting down to my Sydney/Melb road trip with the Agents!! Michelle is leaving 31st Jan. Wheee! Michelle was always happy in Australia. :) I can't wait to go horse-riding again, breathe in the mountain air, gaze out at beautiful coastal scenery, browse happily in 2nd hand bookshops and just chill out with the gals. And oh yes....KRISPY KREME!!!! haha!

4) CONCERTS!!! I wanna go for Lee Ritenour's concert, which is part of the Mosaic Festival. I think it's probably the only concert that caught my interest....am a bit disappointed with this year's line up. There's a severe lack of strong female singer-songwriters! Like last year they had Rachael Yamagata and Tristan Prettyman. This year...nada, zilch. Sad.

I also wanna catch "We Will Rock You" (the musical by Queen) cos it's featuring MiG Ayesa of Rockstar INXS fame. :) I loved his voice in the show, and it would be great to hear him live.

5) Berno & I are such music geeks. The other day, I spied a stack of postcards that Maestro Music sent to us...and the entire design was just chords charts (featuring the more difficult chords). Very smart marketing move isn't it to target the musos? Practical and yet beautiful! Anyway, we got really excited and started taking piles of it for ourselves and our friends...then the madness escalated as we thought of using it as our cubicle wallpaper. Jo sighed and shook her head. Then Berno explained that we get easily excited over music notes and chord charts. Teehee!

Strength to strength

The foundations have been laid...
Tested & shaken.
Now we need to stand strong,
For a time such as this.
Courage to hope,
Courage to live deliberately.

Mumble's Christmas Pressie

This Christmas, I received a rather interesting gift from Berno, my Yellow Fwen. She gave me those scent balls for gym bags..and the brand was called "Happy Feet". So in return, Mumble decided to give her a part of himself for Christmas. :)

Mumble: "Thanks for being my fwen Berno! Here's something to remember me by. :)"
(its the "Happy Feet" vcd)

Blown Away

I had an AMAZING thanksgiving/prayer/worship session with my vocal coaches just now. It was our very first too as a department! :) Priscilla and Geraldine actually come in on different days, so it's very difficult to get everyone together. Since it's term break, it was the perfect time for us girls to get together for some much needed bonding time...and of course to pray together.

I was a bit nervous leading the meeting...it's not really my thing, and I didn't really plan it that thoroughly either. If you know me, I much prefer being in the background. But I decided to let God take over, and flow through me...and it turned out to be a truly incredible time! Through that time, we encouraged each other with a time of thanksgiving and sharing of powerful testimonies from our classes. We got to hear each other's heartbeat, desires and even honest struggles. The feeling of seeing their faces light up as I shared with them my vision and dream for the students was so precious. :) It was then that I knew...we were really together in this! And I'm just so thankful that God is using me to challenge/inspire them to dream big. It's a privilege indeed.

It flowed into a time of prayer and worship in which we stood together to uphold the team and the students in prayer for 2008. God's presence was both sweet & powerful...I kept getting goosebumps. We've never sung together before as the vocal department....and the sound of worship that emerged was nothing short of heavenly and beautiful. After we ended....everyone's faces were radiant, and all we could muster up was a "Wow!" Thank you God for that precious, precious time! :) I'm looking forward to more of such sessions.

Awakening the Dawn

I'm listening to the smashing sounds of Dave Matthews Band (live) as I write this post...
And yeah, it's really putting me in the mood. :)
[Hey the Agents: DMB is PERFECT Aussie road trip music!! I'm so hyped about it. 30 more days!!!]
So here we are, the very first day of 2008.
No fireworks or anything spectacular....
Just a sense of quiet, steely (I hope) determination
to face the days ahead.

To be honest, I remember starting 2007 with a sense of hesitation....fear even, of what it would hold for me. Afterall, 2006 was pretty shitty and I barely made it through. So at the start of 2007, I was merely praying "God...please be kind to me this year. I just want some peace and quiet." Alright...so that was a bit pathetic. haha! But those who were with me through that ride would perfectly understand why.

Did 2007 turn out as I had hoped? haha! It hardly ever does right?
Well....to summarise it in the words of the famous 'philosopher' M. Jagger:

"You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes, well you might find
You get what you need"

If you get it...you get it yeah?

This year...I want so much more than just to survive, or get by.
I know that there are some pretty huge challenges ahead of me in 2008.
A new music ministry at Riverlife church to ease myself into...
New directions at work, challenging, new projects to possibly anchor.
And other personal stuff that I won't post up here.
I'm not sure where the road will lead....
And I'm not exactly one who embraces the lack of certainty.

But as I begin the year, I refuse to give in to fear or doubt.
I choose faith and courage.
I choose to embrace the journey ahead in all its possible glorious chaos.
Afterall, I must remember whose I am, and thus who I am.

In C.S Lewis' "Chronicles of Narnia", there's this quote about Aslan,
"Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe, but He's good. He's the King I tell you!"

Oh yeah....so I ain't expecting a safe ride no more.
(I'll bet God is up there winking right now)
I'm quite sure that God's penning the adventure of my life
as I follow His leading.
I'm stepping into the shoes of the "Eowyn" warrior princess
that my King has called me to be.
I will arise...
I will awaken the dawn. :)
(In modern lingo: "Rock' n' roll baby! Bring it on! :p)

Psalm 57: 7-11
=============
My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and give praise.
Awake, my glory!
Awake, lute and harp!
I will awaken the dawn.

I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing to You among the nations.
For Your mercy reaches unto the heavens,
And Your truth unto the clouds.

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
Let Your glory be above all the earth..