Beyond Measure

I know I haven't been blogging at length or even in depth lately about what's really going on in my life and all. But the days have been really packed for me, so by the time I come home...I'm so tired I can barely muster enough energy to write about the frivalous stuff. :p If you wanna know the personal stuff, we can meet up n chat over a cuppa yeah? Blogs are just too public. :)

I've been singing in church the past 2 weeks...yeah, back to back. While it can be challenging waking up at 5.30am (I can only sleep properly if I take flu medication. haha!), it's been a joy and loads of fun to serve. I realize that it's only been about 6 months since I joined the worship & music ministry, integrated into cell....and joined the church as staff! Honestly, it seems so much longer than that. But anyway, my point is....I feel so blessed to have this community, truly blessed beyond measure. The fellowship rocks! And as Andrea said, with musos...there's always that connection. :) It's just great to be on the stage with an awesome team of musicians who've "got your back," (haha! JM reference), then to look into the congregation and recognise loads more familiar faces, all with their own life stories and testimonies. And we're all in this together.....serving God, loving His people....running towards His heart.

Hmm, even as I write this...I think God is renewing the excitement in my heart, for the power of the church. :)

I'm bound for KL this coming weekend for the Passion Conference (with Chris Tomlin & Louie Giglio), and Wayne & Libby Huirua (who used to front Parachute Band) will be in our church the N'day weekend to spend some precious time with the worship min. I'm really looking forward to it! I think it's gonna be real inspiring to hear from the hearts of such lavish worshippers. :)

Silence of My Mind

"When it gets too crazy and I can't be found
I may be hiding in the silence of my mind
If you're looking for me but I can't be found
I may be hiding in the silence of my mind
Silence of my mind."
- 'Silence of my mind' by Incognito

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After months of waiting, I finally got hold of the new Incognito CD, "Tales from the beach."
(Thanks Romey!)
It's a strange wave of relief that sweeps over me....when I'm lost in the groove again.
That sweet, soul music is a balm to the soul.
So don't mind me if I don't hear u talking to me. :)
This new album is a bit too 'dance-y' for me...but the strong, thumping basslines make up for it.
Ha! I remember what Incognito said to their audience in their "Live in Tokyo" album....
"we're all one nation, under the groove!"
So trippy, but so true! haha!

All this talk about funk and soul music is making me excited about Chijazz 2008 (The annual Chijmes Jazz Festival)!! Not sure what the exact date is...but it should be a Sun evening in Oct. Yeah...am looking forward to chilling out on the lawn, under the stars in the company of gd fwens....bring along your wine/beer/picnic baskets etc. So nice! :)

I got my Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller, Victor Wooten concert tix today! Good thing we got it in time...they were selling super fast. If I miss 3 legendary bassists on one stage, I'll kill myself.

I now have John Mayer's Live DVD in my iPod video.....yeah, thanks to my cool cell leader, Morris. Woohoo! I can watch it on the go!! We had a short JM dvd viewing after cell today. Coolness!

You'll Come

"As surely as the sun will rise
You’ll come to us
Certain as the dawn appears

You’ll come
Let Your glory fall as You respond to us
Spirit rain
Flood into our thirsty hearts again
You’ll come
You’ll come"
- by Brooke Fraser

Invade

I can't believe it.
They invited themselves to my house for a John Mayer DVD viewing party.
Abi & Erica that is. haha!
They're willing to travel all the way from the west to Sengkang!
Wow, my fwens.

[Abi: if you can recognize which Friends Episode this pic is from, I buy u mentos! haha! Clue, its from season 10.]

In Shock

A student came to the counter earlier this evening, to ask for the toilet key. I went to fetch it, and when I returned, I saw her rolling her eyes, and her face turned ashen. I was talking to her but she didn't seem to notice. Then as I was getting the creeps, she collapsed from behind the counter. I was shell-shocked and totally ill-equipped to deal with the situation at hand. I called for help and some of the other coaches came quickly.

Thank goodness we had Geraldine who used to work in a hospital. Thank God the student recovered relatively quickly too. We gave her a hot honey drink while she sat and waited for the giddiness to clear. Turns out she fainted before from abdominal pain. It was a good thing she didn't faint in the toilet. Geraldine accompanied her back home as they stay opposite each other.

Yes, a very drama nite....very "House". I'm so not equipped to handle this.

Death by Grooviness

he turns me to mush...

2 drummers, 2 bassists, 3 electric guitarists, and a horn section playing on stage simultaneously. Mich is about to die from grooviness!!! Watch this video of John Mayer's big band finale- "Belief", taken from his "Where the light is" dvd. I think it's the best number in the whole dvd. You can't really tell that so many of them are playing at the same time from the audio recording....they're so tight, so clean!

Plug in your headphones to hear the basslines properly btw. Hmm...but even then, it's best to hear the original cd/ dvd.

Go out and buy the dvd!!!! Then go home, watch and weep man. :)

JM footnotes:
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Abi: *randomly on msn in the office* "Why Georgia why???"
Mich: Huh? You mean you can hear me playing it from my iPod meh? (my iPod was playing that song on speakers from my cubicle. But we're like seated at opposite ends of the office)
Abi: NOOOOOOO!! I'm playing it at my desk!
Mich: Eeeeeeeee!!!! So freaky!! Not again!
Abi: Oh grosss!!!!

[Later again at night...Mich's msn nickname has been changed to "Standing here with my heart in my hand"-JM]
Mich: Abi!!! Do you recognise the song from which those lyrics come from?
Abi: Yes. I was listening to that song a few secs ago.
Mich: WHAT? "DAUGHTERS"???
Abi: Yahhh!!
Mich: Oh gross!!! AGAIN!!!!!
Abi: Yuckz!! Eeeeeee!!

Andrea: *on msn* "she's always buzzing like..."
Mich: *thinks "OH I KNOW!! I KNOW!!* "NEON, NEON!!!!"

CM Nazi!

I can't believe Muffin is scolding me now for listening to Alarice instead of Corrinne May...apparently I'm like some traitor to CM groupies. He's like some Corrinne May Nazi!! haha!

Tuning Out

Mich needs time out....to chill out in some cafe in Sydney with a cuppa and a good book.

It's becoming more real to me...that some cities are just not good for the soul.
Don't get me wrong....this place is always home because my frens and family are here.
BUT I always get this nagging feeling that our pace of life is just too hectic,
and don't even get me started on the crowds. :(
Sometimes our lifestyle is just suffocating....and people lose their sense of wonder over time.

I wanna see mountains, blue oceans, green fields and lush forests!
I wanna sing and play my guitar on some quaint cottage porch, with a fluffy white cat seated beside me. :)
I wanna go horse-riding through the wilderness of the mountains again.
I wanna look up and see the stars shining in full glory in an open night sky.
I wanna explore the road less travelled in the company of a good fwen.

Till then....I'll be singing "Baby, fly away."

"My home is not a place, it's people"- Lois McMaster Bujold

Thank you for being my fwen! :)

"Each of us needs someone with whom we can be completely open,
someone with whom we can relax our heart. We need someone we trust
and feel comfortable enough with to share the secrets, dreams, and hopes
of our hearts, including matters of the soul.

We need ... a confidant who cares enough for us and respects us so completely that
we do not fear revealing to him or to her the deepest parts of who we are, even those
aspects of our lives of which we might be embarrassed or ashamed: our
failures and fears, struggles and ongoing temptations, even our sinfulness.
We need someone with whom we are able to speak our soul, confident
that they will not betray our trust."- Paul J. Wadell

Excite my heart Lord....

This is my first week into a new term and season...being a full-time part-timer. haha! As in I'm part-time in BMI, and part-time in church. I'm glad to say that I've survived the week pretty well....and that it's been filled with many special God moments. :)

While it has been a packed and bz week, God has enabled me to connect to pple I love most in some way. Some fwens are away (out of the country or just not in the same company anymore), but the msges have still been flying around btw us; God has rekindled old friendships...some special pple I've not been able to meet for years cos of bz schedules; He's strengthened existing ones...it's amazing how God uses us to speak into each other lives. We never realize the full impact of releasing a word into a dear fren's life, until we obey His prompting. And then we stand back in amazement at how wonderful our God is...He knows exactly what we need to hear.

Through the fellowship of fellow musos, He's excited my heart once again with new possibilities, plans, avenues for creativity that I've not even begun to imagine. Just when I think I'm in a rut, God blows my mind and shows me a whole other level! Thank You Lord! :)

We had our first cell group session last night, after a month's break. It was just great seeing everyone again. And we had a truly super 'opening' too. Arun was just strumming away on his guitar, n somehow, I dunno how...Jeremy started singing "Zombie" by The Cranberries. The best part was how everyone automatically joined him at the chorus "IN YOUR HEEEEAADDDD, IN YOUR HEAAADDD, ZOMBIEEE, ZOMBIEEE". It was freaking hilarious!
haha!

But aside from the laughs that we shared, I think there was something new stirring in the atmosphere of worship too. A new hunger, desperation and faith level rising up. I've never heard the cell worship in this way! Andrea agreed..and it was just beautiful. It's something we've been praying and longing for....more pressing into God's heart as a body, as a church. Perhaps it's because a lot of us are going through a season of transitions, or uncertainty..and it's made us more reliant upon God. It's been humbling.

I'm just so grateful for this community. :) It's a blessing to have each other in this journey.

I was listening to the new Planetshakers album. "All for love"...and was pleasantly surprised to hear them covering this old song 'Come Holy Spirit'. It just kinda clicked with my heart....I think we all need that right now, His Holy Spirit to fall afresh on us....so that we can find new strength to serve n love, new inspiration to dream and write God songs, new courage to go into unchartered territory and more.


"Come Holy Spirit
Fall afresh on me
Fill me with Your power
Satisfy my need
Only You can make me whole
Give me strength to make me grow
Come Holy Spirit
Fall afresh on me."