Cow Sense

Qn: Why did the cow cross the road?
Ans: To get to the udder side. :)
[Joke Credit: Sam Yuan.]

This goes out to my dear fwens whom I spent V'day with, eating the fantabulous ice-cream at "Udders," beside United Square. :) I dunno when we'll actually get to take part in the ice-cream making class there...but I'm looking forward to it.

Listening To The //Remix

"Let me tell you why you are here.
You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world.
God is not a secret to be kept.
We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill.
Now that I've put you there on a hilltop,
on a light stand
—Shine!"
- Matthew 5:14-16 (The Message)

This is why I love The Message version of the bible.
At every turn of the page, I get blown away by the fresh, bold and edgy interpretations.
It reads with a certain rhythm that feels like urban poetry.
Reading the bible has never rocked this much for me!
I urge you to listen to the remix too. :)

"Sing, Sing, Sing!"

This happened quite unexpectedly during the combined band and choir rehearsal last nite. I thought it was so funny as nobody saw it coming.

*Seng conducting the choir for "All Because of Jesus" by Fee. One of the lines has a tricky ending and the choir is sounding a bit messy there.*
Seng: It's alright, I cue you all in there ok??
*shows some hand gestures and ends with a kindly smile*
Choir: *nods appreciatively with wide smiles*
Seng: You all wait long long ah! Go home and practise! *laughs with great satisfaction*

HAHAHA! Seng shows his true colours there.
Isn't it amazing how Singlish has that remarkable ability to melt walls and make that immediate connection between people?

//Pause//

I'm right smack in the middle of crunch-time with my writing assignments. But a girl needs to humour herself with life's frivalous joys to keep herself sane and happy. So, indulge me....:)

1) Dawnie can read my mind. She can read the reviews in the newspapers and predict which movies I'll wanna watch. Way to go gf! haha! (The movie in question is "He's just not that into you". Yes, the chick flick. But have you seen the stellar ensemble cast??)

2) Guitar Ben is going for the Coldplay concert, and paying $250 for top-tier tix. I'm insanely jealous. And have I mentioned that his band is sponsored by Gibson guitars?

3) Life has a way of throwing unexpected/unwanted curveballs at you (ok wait, make it cannonballs), BUT I'm learning to treasure each day as a gift from God. Thank you Berno for the reminder! :)

4) John Mayer won the Grammy for "Best Male Pop Performance" for his song, "Say"!! But that meant poor Jason Mraz lost out in the same category for his breezy number, "I'm yours". Awww poor Jason. But look at what John had to say of Jason in his blog!!

"I think Jason Mraz wrote, recorded and SANG one of the best songs of 2008, and I hope this makes it back to him..."


What a sweetie right?? John's such a great guy! When is he ever going to make it to S'pore???

Anyway, then this ridiculous conversation with Abi ensued:
=======================================================
Abi: John or Jason?
Mich: How many times are we going to go through this?? It's Joel of course!
Abi: You can't choose Joel. He's not one of the options.
Mich: Abi...Joel is NEVER out of the picture. You know this means I'll end up cheating on John! (I would choose John over Jason)
Abi: You cheater!!
Mich: Well, it's YOUR fault. You forced me to choose John when Joel is my true love.
[Joel/John/Jason/Jeremy (Camp)....why do all of their names start with J??]

5) I have decided. I have resolved. To make everyone HEART THE WORLD with my writing.
haha! I'm just short of singing, "heart the world, make it a better place, for you and for me and the entire human race!" I'm not in some hippie/trippy mood...there is a story behind this- something about Dawnie not caring about the plight of the drowning polar bears, and burnt koalas in Melbourne. And me being me, is appalled with her and wants to make her heart the world. But that's a story for another day. haha!

FAIL!

I want this new Threadless t-shirt! It's titled "Fail" for obvious reasons. Super hilarious!

The Next Generation

A blog post by Craig Groeschel that I felt was both thought-provoking and encouraging, especially for those who are serving in youth/ young adult ministries. By the time he made his final point, I was getting the chills. :)

==================================================================
"The Next Generation" by Craig Groeschel

A lot of people believe the next generation will very difficult to reach with the Gospel. I disagree. From my perspective, the coming generation is positioned to be reached and shaped for Kingdom greatness. Let’s build a foundation for our discussion on reaching the next generation.

Here are a few of my observations of the coming generation:

• Their world is smaller and their perspective is broader. Because of technology, most have been raised with a global mindset. My best friend lived across the street. Their best friend might live across the ocean.

• They have a wider definition of “friends”. To me a friend was someone you spent time with and confided in. Today a friend can be someone you may not have ever met before they clicked on your Facebook page and asked to be your friend.

• They’re more experiential. Most in my generation were into accumulating possessions. Many of the younger generation are into accumulating experiences. I read about other countries in school. Many in this generation have visited the countries I read about.

• Most have been under-challenged. Many in this generation have been given much yet they’ve been challenged little. They have more potential than most realize.

• Their world is gray. I was raised believing in absolute truth. Many in the up- coming generation believe truth is relative. “What is true for me may not be true for you.”

• They’re searching for a cause. This generation is looking for something (anything) worthwhile to live for. When they find a cause, they’ll go to extreme measures to make a difference.

When you put all these differences together, I see a generation ready to know Christ and the power of His resurrection.

Why I Love My Fwens

1) They deliberately do stupid things like cutting into my path to annoy me. (ERICAAAA!!!)

2) They help themselves to my food without asking. Heck! They would even offer it to others!

3) It is an unspoken understanding that their music is mine and vice versa! :) Yay!

4) I can sms a random, meaningless "Lalala" sms to them, and receive an equally frivalous reply.

5) I can ask them for money without feeling embarrassed! hahaa! (Abi: I did it to Erica!)
"I don't have money. *mournful pause*
Do YOU have money?? *hopeful look*"

"The Story"

"So you write the title

I'll write the chapters
We could read a story of love gone disaster
You write the moral
And I'll write the lesson
We could read a love that kept us guessin' "
- Tristan Prettyman, 'The Story'

Kidult?

I'm starting to realize that quite a few of my closest fwens are younger than me, or those who are older, are very playful and young at heart.

The truth is....I like hanging out/ serving in church with youths. Ok, initially I thought I was just socially retarded or something...but Dawnie protesteth, and said that I'm just going through a different season than my peers who are coupling or starting families. Grown-up topics can bore me quite a bit to be honest (e.g. investments, house hunting/ renovations, wedding preps etc.) But hanging out with the younger ones, brings out the crazy, fun-loving part of me which is just dying to come out from my introverted core. And yes, people who don't know me well enough don't realize that I'm actually quite drama and ridiculously random. So maybe I'm a kidult (as opposed to adult)? haha!

Ok but in all seriousness, I think I would love to mentor some youths in the worship min, God willing of course. I see so much beauty and potential in them. [And yes Sam, I always feel so proud of you when you're up there worship leading, or even in the congre worshipping with your arms raised high in abandon. :)] I would love to help draw that out even more, and to just journey along with them. It's so important we build into the next generation. After all, I only got this far with the help of some amazing mentors like Jenny Ho and Michelle Poh. They were people who believed in me, even willing to sponsor voice lessons for me, and guided me when I was a blur youth who didn't know what to do with her giftings.

Let's see how God leads in this area. :)
Sam Yuan said something really sweet when I was talking to him about me being a kidult: "Stay the way you are ok? :)" haha! Yay!

The Five Love Languages

Of late, talk about Gary Chapman's "Five Love Languages" has been surfacing during our church staff devotions. It's a great tool in helping one understand how other people are wired, how they express their care and how they like to be appreciated. I took this quiz a long time ago, but recently, I think my results have changed so I decided to take it again. You can scroll down to see my results.

Just an hour or so ago, Dawnie and I spent some time talking about "The Five Love Languages", along with other personality profiling systems, over a leisurely supper. That was right up our alley, cos "quality time" is the primary love language for both of us. haha! Gifts rank lowest with her though. So now I GET IT why I get this very blah, unexcited response from her when I present her with a gift! hahaha!

Anyway, feel free to drop a comment on what your love language is...so I know ya a little better! :)

====================================================================
The Five Love Languages

My primary love language is probably
Quality Time
with a secondary love language being
Physical Touch

Complete set of results

Quality Time: 10
Physical Touch: 8
Words of Affirmation: 6
Receiving Gifts: 4
Acts of Service: 2


Information
Unhappiness in relationships, according to Dr. Gary Chapman, is often due to the fact that we speak different love languages. Sometimes we don't understand our partner's requirements, or even our own. We all have a "love tank" that needs to be filled in order for us to express love to others, but there are different means by which our tank can be filled, and there are different ways that we can express love to others.

Take the quiz