UK Trip (Pt 2)

Our in-flight entertainment....baby Amelia, of Thai-British parentage.

and her super cheeky brother, Kieran, who loves Cars, Ice Age & Doraemon. You should hear him speak in both Thai & British accented English....so cute!

Playing with Anna

Kieran randomly and quite violently stuck a Cars sticker on Anna's mouth! Hilarious! haha!

The London tube, which we got very well acquainted with

British pub/cafe

Hillsong London @ The Dominion Theatre. This is where they stage "We Will Rock You" too.
Check out the beautiful video display that greets you when you walk in.

Pete Wilson and the Hillsong London worship team

Edinburgh Caste, the spectacular view we got from our window at Castle Rock Hostel

The bustling streets of Edinburgh during the Edinburgh Tattoo

L-R: Me, Abi, Anna, Andrea

Glen Coe

With Doris, the Harry Potter bridge in the background

Face the West, a cool local Scottish band we got to listen to at one of the local pubs

Damien getting us ready for a group pic

Family Potrait?

Magical Faerie Glen

Heart shaped rock at Faerie Glen.

Love is On The Move

Leeland's new album, "Love Is On The Move," has made quite an impression on me, quite surprisingly, considering I've never really listened much to their music. I'm particularly struck by the maturity and passion behind their lyrics. Awesome stuff! :) This is my fav track, "Follow You," which really resonates with me.

Follow You (by Leeland)
=========================

You lived among the least of these
The weary and the weak
And it would be a tragedy for me to turn away.

All my needs you have supplied.
When I was dead you gave me life.
How could I not give it away so freely?

Chorus:
And I'll follow you into the homes that are broken.
Follow you into the world.
Meet the needs for the poor and the needy God.
Follow you into the World.

Use my hands, use my feet
To make your kingdom come
Through the corners of the earth
Until your work is done
'Cause Faith without works is dead
And on the cross your blood was she'd
So how could I not give it away so freely?

Bridge:
I give all myself.
I give all myself
I give all myself... to you.

And I give all myself.
Yes, I give all myself.
And I give all myself... to you.

I'll Leave The Light On

"We are each other's keepers"- Grey's Anatomy

Holding On

What do you do when life seems determined to snuff out all the hope in your soul?
I've experienced it a few times before, but I've always managed to pull through and bounce back with God's help.
This time though, I'm watching it happen to one of my best frens. And its horribly painful to see it unfold. There's only so much a heart can take. I wish I could alleviate her pain. But I'm helpless.

How do you save a family member from the ravages of terminal disease?
What do you do when love dies?
How do you comfort a heart that has been betrayed and hurt beyond belief by a trusted life partner?

Today we sang this line from Jesus Messiah by Chris Tomlin in church,
"All our hope is in You, all our hope is in You.
All the glory to You God. The Light of the world."

I was reminded that more than ever, in times of crisis, during the 'dark nights of the soul,'
we need to hold on and believe in God's truth.
"For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power."- Colossians 2:9

God is greater than our hearts (1 John 3:20) and all the trials we can possibly go through.
We have everything we need in Him...be it strength, courage, hope, healing, faith or the power to overcome....and then to rise.
We just need to believe in His Word and trust His sovereignty.

Recovering the Hunger

"If your motivation is others, I guarantee you, God will use you beyond what you can ever imagine....Building them (the next generation) not just so they can play the guitar well, but we need to build into them character, understanding and the Word of God."- Joel Timothy Houston

Simple but passionate words from my Fluffy. A much needed reminder for me that I'm not here to build my own ministry or career....but to inspire worship and build into lives. Somehow, with the hectic pace of work, that dream of mentoring the next generation got shoved away somewhere. Sigh. God help me not be derailed...help me to recover the hunger.

"Batter my heart"

I picked up my treasured copy of John Donne's "Poems of love" today...in an attempt to breathe some poetry into my soul. :) I really should do this more regularly.

"Batter my heart, three person'd God; for, you
As yet but knocke, breathe, shine, and seeke to mend;
That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow mee,' and bend
Your force, to breake, blowe, burn and make me new."
- John Donne, from the Holy Sonnets XIV

Mist, Myth & Magic: Memories from Scotland

Yes, I am back from the land of lochs, glens, misty mountains, faeries & castles. (I have been for a while, but haven't had time to blog.) :) Scotland is truly a place of breathtaking beauty...so otherworldly that it is the stuff of poetry, myths & magic. And yes Rie, I really did feel like my storybooks were coming alive before my eyes.

As we were trekking down valleys or rolling hills and cliffs (at which point I felt a bit like Elizabeth Bennett in Pride & Prejudice), I was just taking it all in....and just telling God, "This country is just ridiculously beautiful. I can't believe what You created here!" And so Scotland and London has been a much needed respite for this artist's heart and soul. :) I hardly know where to start when it comes to recounting the trip and sharing our massive number of photos!

Perhaps I'll just share this small selection of Abi's best pics on flickr for now. Mine have not been sorted out yet. :)

Some Highlights:
- Hillsong London svce (It was inspiring, learnt so much, fantastic worship & sermon by Judah Smith, super friendly pple....I could definitely make it my home church. :))

- Taking the Tube and making my way around London on my own (felt like I was in some Brit movie. ha!)

- seeing castles and holding real swords in the presence of a real castle heir! (Eowyn moment can??)

- Hearing an awesome local Scottish modern band, "Face the West"

- Doing the traditional Scottish dances, which requires you to twirl your partner and go "bouncy bouncy bouncy bouncy bouncy bouncy bounce." (true story)

- Faerie Glen (I'll never forget that enchanting home of the faeries, or "little people," and the Faerie castle which we climbed up)

- seeing 2 rainbows in one day!!

- My Fluffy, Joel Houston, is actually of Scottish heritage. :) And it was quite cool to find out that the Scottish pronunciation of the 'Houston' clan is actually 'Hooston.' haha!

Blessings:
- friendly locals who offer to help you carry your luggage down the tube station and through the streets of London. (I was really dreading struggling with my ultra heavy luggage.)

- We didn't have personal screens for inflight entertainment on our flight to London, but we were seated behind the most beautiful pair of kids, Amelia & Kieran, who were of Thai-British parentage. It was soooo fun playing with them.

- having 2 seats each for myself and Anna on the return flight home. (think we were the only ones who got to sprawl & sleep)

Home-cooked dinner at the hostel with some of the members of the tour group

We were trying to spell out 'MacBackpackers,' the name of our tour company.

Beauty in the Broken

A few of you may have heard...Jeremy Camp's wife recently had a miscarriage. Such a sad loss, especially since Jeremy lost his first wife to cancer years ago, but their amazing attitude, their unwavering trust in the Lord during this time has been such an encouraging testimony. Read their blog entry here.

Made me wonder what's the song my soul will sing when all that's dear to me has been taken away. Will I succumb to despair or will my soul still sing of His unchanging goodness? Will I still believe? I can only pray that I remain steadfast when that day of testing comes...

Here's a song that I'm listening to now, which was written by Jeremy Camp after the loss of his first wife to cancer, at a very young age.
Lord, I pray that I stay the course, until "faith shall be sight."

I Still Believe (by Jeremy Camp)
===================================

Scattered words and empty thoughts
Seem to pour from my heart
I've never felt so torn before
Seems I don't know where to start

But it's now that I feel Your grace fall like rain
From every fingertip washing away my pain

Chorus:
'Cause I still believe in Your faithfulness
'Cause I still believe in Your truth
'Cause I still believe in Your Holy Word
Even when I don't see, I still believe

Though the questions still fog up my mind
With promises I still seem to bear
For even when answers slowly unwind
It's my heart I see You prepare

Bridge:
Well the only place I can go is into Your arms
Where I throw to You my feeble prayers
Well in brokenness I can see that this is Your will for me
Well help me to know that You are near

Flying Off To Nessieland

After wrestling with a difficult video script (it's completed, YES!), and literally wrestling with my suitcase (to make everything fit. It's still exploding...shall try again tmrw)...I'm more or less ready to fly off to London/ Scotland.

The period leading up to this trip has been pretty stressful in every sense of the word...but I do hope that once I'm there, I'll be able to take my mind off things and enjoy myself. *Breathes in and out* Thanks btw, to all the wonderful souls who prayed for me during my meltdown.

Well, I'm flying off on 21 Aug (Fri), 0740 (I have to be at the airport at 6am. Help me God!) and I'll be back 30 Aug (Sun), 1935 on a Thai Airways jet plane. I've got roaming, so I'm still contactable by sms/phone. And there's always email/Twitter/ Facebook cos Abi brought along her Macbook. Feel free to drop me a note yeah...would love to hear from home while I'm on the road. :)

I'll miss you my fwens! RiverLifers: have a fabulous 18th Anniversary svce + "Defining Moments" young adults outreach.

Please pray for journey mercies, protection from H1N1 and that Abi will not 'lose/loose' me, our money, our phones or our luggage etc.
Glenn...you know what to do if something happens. ("Solution" + "With Everything" + "From the Inside Out.") Marcus...yes, you can have Hedwig.

Farewell my fwens! Till I see you again...

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Random thought: Who's taking care of Fluffy's puppy, Danger, now that he's in the US for the Hillsong United Encounter Conference?? Hmm...

Fluffy got a fluffy

Introducing "Tupac Danger Flash." Joel's new pet puppy. :) Look at those eyes and that chocolate fur! 

Danger is making sounds for I Heart. So cute can die. Today Glenn commented, "Great..now she's crazy about the dog too." haha! Oh c'mon...Joel + doggie is like a lethal combination can? *meltz*

Ouchies for Nigel Hendroff! Danger is gonna grow up to be monster of a dog. haha!