Departures

Lately....it's been feeling so right that I'm ending a major chapter in my life.
I'm grateful for how much I've learnt during that season, and the incredible friends I've made.
But it really seems time to move on.
Deep inside, I even feel a sense of relief that I decided to step out.
Right now, I can't imagine staying on because its the "safe" decision to make.

Honestly, I never thought I would arrive at this point.
God surprises us at each turn eh?
But I must say, I'm getting more comfortable with the decision I've made,
I'm enjoying the vibrancy of full-time ministry in this wonderful church
(the team that we have here amazes me all the time).
In just the past few months, I've been stretched, challenged, inspired and rejuvenated
both as an artist and as a worshipper in the house of God.
And I'm looking forward to more exciting days ahead. :)

With every step out of the boat, and on the water,
I know I'm walking closer towards Jesus.

"Washed By The Water"- Needtobreathe

Abi and I were commenting on how dreary the weather outside was today....and it all seemed a bit glum until I discovered this song on my new WOW Hits 2009 cd, "Washed By The Water" by Needtobreathe. And soon we were grooving along and smiling just a bit more. [They're a breath of fresh air in CCM today, and I like how their sound reveals bluegrass roots. The soulful organ sounds are a winner. And yes, they use a NORD!!] It just seemed like the perfect soundtrack for our day. :)

We've never heard of Needtobreathe so I had to work quite hard in persuading Abi to give this song a chance...but she loved it in the end and even put it on loop. haha! If you like John Mayer, and "The Bucket List"...you'll probably love this song too. :) Musically, it just seems to have the same vibe as John Mayer's "Say." Oh...and just a bit of trivia, in one of their live renditions of this song, they did a medley with The Rolling Stones, "You can't always get what you want". Coolness!

"Even when the rain falls
Even when the flood starts rising
Even when the storm comes
I am washed by the water

Even if the Earth crumbles under my feet
Even if the ones I love turn around and crucify me
I won't never ever let you down
I won't fall
I won't fall
I won't fall as long as you're around me."- Needtobreathe

The 2008 Birthday Wish List

Hi fwens....it's nearing that time of the year again, and its really sweet how some of you are already asking me what I would like for my birthday. I know I've taken quite long to get back to you, but here's the list finally! :) With something that suits every budget. Once again, do let me know which item you would like to get so I don't get multiple items. haha! Would be quite funny to get 8 scarves. And of course, feel free to surprise me with something outside of this list. I'm just putting it up so some of you don't have to wreck your brains. :)

But hey...above all these gifts, I really appreciate your love & fwenship. Its cheesy but true ok? Am looking forward to meeting up with you guys soon. :)

The 2008 Birthday Wish List:
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1) A nice scarf (Topshop and Zara have nice scarves this season.)
2) "Once" DVD (It's an indie Irish movie)
3) "Through Painted Deserts- Light, God and Beauty on the Open Road"- Donald Miller
4) Tangs Voucher
5) Bobbi Brown Waterproof Mascara (in brown)
6) Eye shadow (in darker shades of grey or brown)

And here's the music wishlist, in order of preference! Go crazy at Trumpetpraise. haha!
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7) Bethany Dillon "So Far: The Acoustic Sessions" (2008)
8) Jeremy Riddle- "Full Attention" (2007)
9) Jeremy Camp's "Restored" Album (2004) or "Carried Me: The Worship Project" (2004)
[I know he has a new album coming out soon, but I'll get that myself cos I'm quite sure I'm gonna be faster than u. hehe!]

Possible Presents for group sharing:
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10) Cordless phone (to be used at home.)
11) Nice watch. :) (my current one is Fossil and its quite old. I would like a dress watch though.)
12) Benetint Blusher
13) Recording Mike for my iPod
14) Groovy Lava Lamp (I dunno where you gonna find it though. ha!)

And those that a girl can only dream of:
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1) Joel Houston (Berno said this one quite hard, and his father won't be very pleased. haha!)
2) Nord Stage (its the only keyboard u'll ever need)
3) New Macbook Pro (need I say more?)
4) Ticket to Sydney

And if you're seriously broke:
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1) Nutella (always a winner!)
2) A month's supply of mentos (8 packs should be more than enough! haha!)

GLS 2008

I know I've posted photos of our GLS rehearsals...but these are the actual day photos. And they're really well done I must say. Brings back great memories too. :)
[Photo credit: Bill Leung]

Here's the set list in case you're interested, which I blatantly cut and pasted from Cheryl's blog. haha! :p

Day 1 [Listen to the recordings here]

Morning
New Doxology (Gateway Worship)
You are Good (Israel Houghton)
Glorious One (Fee)
Item: The Power of Your Name (Lincoln Brewster)

Afternoon
Adonai (Hillsong)
Hosanna (Starfield’s arrangement)
Item/Closing: Say So (Free Chapel Live arrangement)

Day 2 [Listen to the recordings here]

Morning
Everlasting God (Anthony Evan’s arrangement)
Agnus Dei (Third Day)
[Video] My King
How Great is Our God (Anthony Evan’s arrangement)
Item: Empty Me (Jeremy Camp)

Afternoon
For All You’ve Done (Wayne Huirua’s arrangement)
Saviour King (Hillsong)
Item: For the Sake of the Call (Steven Curtis Chapman)
Closing: To Live is Christ

Cheryl and Seng singing the special item song- "The Power of Your Name" by Lincoln Brewster

Andie, our music director, on the red hot Nord Stage! :) What a lovely pic. It was really funny to observe the huge frenzy it created upon its arrival. Everyone kept stroking the Nord lovingly, or going "ooohh" in admiration. haha!

Reggie, our killer bassist...looking like he's in fierce concentration.

Arun

Seng

Sam, our High School Musical fanatic. haha!

Jeremy rockin' it hard on drums

Ivan on electric guit, and Andie in another great shot with the Nord.

Sarah, the GLS producer, with Patricia the stage manager. Their team of staff and volunteers worked so hard behind the scenes. *respect*

Looks like its a band item ("bumper") shot. Everyone looks so high, esp Ivan. haha! The band did an incredible job with the funky band items. :)

Arun proclaiming the Word of God to a very passionate and responsive crowd of delegates

A sacred moment

My fav shot. Arun and I singing Jeremy Camp's "Empty Me" in an acoustic set-up. We even had candles like in the Jeremy Camp dvd. I think I enjoyed this song the most. There's something really magical and intimate about the acoustic setting. :)

Reg and Ivan lifting up their hands in worship. Somehow, when the band members lift up their hands, it never fails to make me go "wow." :) Its a beautiful pic.

The finale

Group shot of the entire GLS crew.

International Shemagh Day

It was "International Shemagh Day" on Tues (cos I declared it to be). And so Abi, Glenn & I wore our shemaghs to work with pride. It a traditional head covering for Arab men...but its now a fashion accessory as well, popularised by the Hillsong United worship team.

We were supposed to take photos of ourselves wearing the shemaghs (the person who doesn't gets kicked with a ball by Marty Sampson. Abi get it?)....but only Glenn managed to. haha! Abi n I were too bz. But here's his pic...wearing a shemagh from Topshop KL that I got for him! I'm so proud of him. haha! (the scary hands at the side are from some billboard)

Mmm...Nutella!!

Nutella...my guilty pleasure and one of the best things in the world. :) Its hard not to feel like life is good after a bit of nutella in your mouth. heh!

Nutella Cupcakes!! Am waiting in anticipation for Andie's next batch. :) Yums!

Soundbites

Abi: *woefully* Look at my "What Would Scofield Do" t-shirt!
Mich: It shrank in the washing machine ah? (this has happened to Abi many times)
Abi: No. :( I got bigger!
Mich: HAHAHA!
(every girl's nightmare rite?)

*Mich and Dawn talking about wearing make-up on stage*
Dawnie: I don't like to wear make-up lah!
Mich: You should lah with the new live video feed. You so pretty...very wasted if you look all washed out on the screen.
Dawnie: Aiya..I'm not pretty. Just cute only.
Mich: !?!?!

Muffin: Hey Mich! You coming for my baptism service this Sat rite? May-Ann is coming too.
Mich: Oh cool. Yeah I'm coming.
Muffin: Great! I'm creating a facebook event for it. RSVP ok? Come and groupie me!
Mich: HUH?? Anyhow one you! Sorry...I don't groupie you. I only groupie Dawn (and Arun).

[And I think this one takes the winner...]
*1st thing I hear during a random phone call from Glenn*
Glenn: "Talk to me...tell me your name. *mumble mumble cos forgot lyrics*" (in bad William Hung accent)
Mich: Huh??
Glenn: *repeats the above lyrics*
Mich: *figures it out by now. It's Ricky Martin's "She Bangs"* This is the weirdest phone call I've ever received in my life.
Glenn: *obviously chuffed on the other line*

Just Courage

"Nothing presents a more compelling and authentic witness of Christian faith in this era than the struggle for justice."- Gary Haugen

In his book, "Just Courage- God's Great Expedition for the Restless Christian," Gary Haugen, President of the International Justice Mission, talks about how he senses a subtle but deep discontent among Christians today. And when we mull over that, it isn't surprising, because God has created us for great purpose and adventure. Gary Haugen goes on to say that the "pathway out of a nearly comatose state of boredom, ineffectiveness and triviality lies in the struggle for justice. How counterintuitive. How unexpected. All of which points again to the surprising nature of God's pathways to transformation."

Now that's something worth reflecting over....
Will a justice generation arise in these times?


Here's an additional excerpt from Haugen's book that resonated strongly with me:
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Using analogies from football, Bill McCartney, in his book Blind Spot, writes about the way the church has become weak from playing defense all the time, that is, just trying to live lives of personal piety and righteousness. The church needs a good offense, says Coach McCartney. "By offense, I mean doing justice in the way the Bible mandates." He continues:

"I believe that if we could more effectively teach justice and bring it out of our people, we would significantly upgrade our offense--and by doing so we would win the lost in far greater numbers. If we in the church really did justice today, we would turn our culture upside down for Jesus Christ. We need the high-powered offense of justice to make head-way in a world deeply suspicious of religious phonies.

Doing justice, without sacrificing righteousness, is a potent way to bring life to a congregation that seems largely comatose. Doing justice, without sacrificing righteousness, is an effective way to keep our children passionate about following Jesus.

Imagine if the guys in our churches ever learned to do justice. Imagine what would happen if they got a taste of a powerful offense. I guarantee you they would come alive."

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All Scarfed Up

Abi, Glenny and I all own a couple of scarves. We share one thing in common. We all love Joel Timothy Houston. Joel loves scarves, and so do we. :) And Brooke too, it seems.

I'm very into buying scarves now, but I have to hold back from overspending. Check out these gorgeous scarves from UrbanOutfitters.com. Feel free to get me a lovely scarf for my bday. One can never have too many scarves. :) Topshop and Zara have some pretty noice ones in this season's collection.

Of Girly Stuff...

[Warning: This is probably not a blog entry the guys are interested in reading.]

I'm really not a fan of eye make-up cos I HATE the idea of gunk on my eyes/eye-lashes. And I never knew how to handle the stuff anyway. But I kinda had to invest in it now, cos the church has a new live video feed system going on now. And according to Janice who saw me singing on stage, "I have no eyes or eye brows" on the videos. Brilliant.

So today, I went down to Robinsons Beauty Hall with Audrey (always good to shop for make-up with a gf in tow). And sadly, the Bobbi Brown and M.A.C products were either over-priced or the staff weren't very helpful. So I stumbled over to the Benefit counter, and to my surprise, I found exactly what I needed- great service, fantastic, easy-to-use products, and value for money. For $74, I got ALL OF THIS in the special limited edition Christmas "Primpsess- Glamourous Eye Primping Kit."

1) eye concealer
2) creaseless cream base shadow/liner
3) 3 powder shadows: for contouring, accenting & lining
4) mascara
5) eye bright instant eye brightener
6) brushes
7) a pamphlet with a beauty lesson.
8) mirror

No need for eye-lash curler cos the mascara curls your lashes on its own , no need for eye-liner pencil and eyebrow pencil cos the liner shadow serves as both!! Genius! If I went out to some other cosmetic counter, I would have to buy the items separately, and it would probably come up to above $100!

The helpful sales assistant at Benefit patiently taught me, the eye make-up idiot, how to use the products step-by-step. And she even recommended a great blusher, Benetint, for my sensitive skin! Service makes all the difference folks. What can I say? I think I'm a new Benefit fan. :)